Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

Gospel John 10:22-30 The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” Reflection When someone tells us something that we have not thought of before, or that involves some kind of information that we don't yet have, and we simply don't hear what they're saying, we don't grasp it. We don't understand it. And it seems that was so much what was going on when Jesus would be teaching in the temple. People would listen to him and be intrigued by what he was saying, but they wouldn't believe it because they couldn't understand it. And then he makes something so clear, and yet this would be way beyond their pay grade, so to speak. He's saying to them, you have to understand that the father, God Himself, is in me. And when you see me, you see the father. When you hear me, you hear the father. That was so out of their range of understanding. And in truth, it's out of the range of many of us who don't understand the mystery of the indwelling presence of God, the intimacy of God within us. It is a source of the love that we long for, that heals the world and changes hearts and brings them into the light of life. Closing Prayer Father, we long to know who we are in you and with you. Open our hearts to understand this in a way that goes beyond logic, beyond what we think of as normal, and be open to mystery and mysticism. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Gospel Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Reflection It's amazing to me how this call on the part of Jesus to all of us to understand that love is what this kingdom is all about. How clearly it is that we just don't seem to grasp the fullness of this. It's not unusual for people in positions of authority within the church to judge and condemn people for an action they might perform. And yet it’s clear that the job that we have is to love those who fail, those who are evil, knowing that that is a powerful healing element in this whole process of living in the Kingdom. To love someone is to give them an energy, a grace, the presence of God, to help heal them of whatever evil they have done. Closing Prayer Father, give us a keen awareness of where judgment flares up inside of us, when we see someone or hear something that someone has done. Train us to realize that the only obligation we have is not so much to change people, but to love them and believe that loving them is the greatest power to change them. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 5:20-26 Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.” Reflection Jesus had such a hard time with the judgment against him from the scribes and the Pharisees, and he’s warning his disciples that they should not ever fall into the trap of judgment against someone. It's like he's saying, you have to understand that the kingdom of God is about a flow of energy that goes between God in Jesus, to other people, and when that is not a loving, forgiving, nurturing presence, the kingdom cannot happen. So whether you've offended someone or someone has offended you, whatever is causing division among you before you can truly be a worshiper of God, you need to make peace with everyone. Closing Prayer Father, one might say that forgiveness is one of the major teachings that we have coming from the lips of Jesus. It is the mark of whether or not we are in the kingdom of God. Bless us with awareness of that and motivate us, perhaps by the very selfish notion that we would want to be treated better. Why do we treat someone in a way that is less than we would want? It's one of the key teachings of the kingdom and we need to follow it. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus said to his disciples: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.” Reflection The Kingdom of God is our work here on this planet. We are here to participate in its becoming. And it doesn't just come to people. There's something within us that longs to understand it. So it's a beautiful way that Jesus is talking about how we participate in the Kingdom. We need to ask for wisdom. We need to seek answers. We need to ponder questions. And most especially when we do this, the promise is that we will knock on the door of the kingdom and we will be allowed in. Closing Prayer Father, you make it clear that the kingdom is something that is experienced, both now and forever. And as we participate in its being founded on this earth, we are reminded that there's a simple rule that you could use, and that simply do to other people what you would like them to do to you. It's so simple, but yet so powerful. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Luke 11:29-32 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here." Reflection Jesus talks about the kingdom of God and what it means to believe in it. What is this sign that we're looking for? It's so interesting that Jesus, when he looks at the generation around him that's always asking for signs, he points out what the core sign truly is, the sign of Jonah. And what does that mean? It means that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, three days he was in the stomach of the whale, and then he was released. He lived. That image is the image of what Jesus has come into the world to establish. The end of evil's power, to destroy. And basically, what we see in Jesus is his own death, he gives in to evil. Everyone thinks there again, evil has done something awful and destroyed the good it was in Jesus. And what we need to realize, no he rose three days later. He destroys the death that evil could cause before our redemption. Closing Prayer It's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that things are going in the wrong direction. That is evil is winning. Nothing is further from the truth. Evil, when it's exposed, is vulnerable. And the vulnerability that is there is the realization, in the believer's, that they know that evil has been destroyed and there is no fear of evil. Only hope and trust in the mystery of the sign of Jonah. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices