Let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

On the Day of Atonement,the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people, the high priest, carrying the blood of the sacrifice would enter the holiest part of the Temple. Once a year he would pass through the temple curtain and enter the Holy of Holies and there he would pronounce the name of God. The name consisted of four letters and was so sacred that it was never spoken at any other time or place. The Jews would substitute the name, Adonai, which means ‘Lord’, when saying the divine name. When the High Priest spoke the holy name, it made God present; and atoned for the sins of the nation of Israel.

This holy week, as Christians, we celebrate The Great Atonement (Heb.4:14;9:12) with the death of Jesus the Messiah, not only for the sins of Israel, but for ‘the sins of the whole world’(1John2:2; Romans 3:25).

St. Paul sharing a hymn of praise of the early church that existed before he wrote his letters tell us:

Christ humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the Name which is above every name,

St Paul does not use the divine name rather he uses Adonai (in Greek Kyrios, Dominus in Latin, and Lord in English). He goes on to tell us:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2: 8-11

By using the word Lord, St Paul means exactly the name that means God! This is the incredible truth of our faith! Jesus is the ‘I AM’. He is the everlasting almighty God. He has 'all authority and all power.' (Matt.28:18-20).

After the first Easter the proclamation, “Jesus is Lord!” took the place of the proclamation that our Lord made, “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” The early disciples were telling everyone that, ‘Jesus is risen, He is the Messiah, He is Lord!’ They were telling the most incredibly good news that Jesus, the King was at hand and, He is the Lord!

This was the heart of the good news! It is what is called the kerygma, the basic Gospel message. In these words are the power and authority of God that transforms lives as nothing else can. For those who have come to know the truth of this profound self -revelation of God it is revolutionary and imparts a confidence in what He can do through our proclamation. It elevates our faith in the Lord Jesus present among us in the Holy Spirit to save and continue his mission of redemption.

This proclamation, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ is like a buried treasure that must be uncovered and restored to the rightful place of prominence in our preaching and in our sharing with others. Yet currently it is a point of spiritual warfare and there is great resistance within the church to embrace the simplicity and humility that this proclamation calls us to. St. Paul tells us, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel!” (Rom. 1:16). We too must not be ashamed of the kerygma. For, “it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith…”(Rom 1:16b)

St Paul tells us, ‘every knee shall bow.’ That is the posture we need to have if we are to proclaim the essential gospel, that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’ It is a call to humility, and it is a call to obedience to God.

This Holy week, let’s seek the Lordship of Christ for our personal lives, families and friends, and reflect on his great mercy displayed at Calvary for sinners like you and me! Let us like the early Christians proclaim the joy of Easter, He is risen, Jesus is Lord!

If you have never asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life, of your everything, ask Him. Tell Him you want to surrender your entire life to his Lordship. Ask him to come as your God to lead you!

How do you get to heaven?

Lots of people, Christians and those of other religions or no religious belief at all, believe in heaven. Fewer people seem to believe in hell or at least don’t want to think about it. And now days many don’t seem to give much thought to how you get to one place or the other.

Christ talked about the existence of both frequently, and urged everyone to do what was necessary to go to heaven. As Christians our reason for believing in the existence of heaven and hell is because we believe in Him and He believed in them!

Back in the 1970’s I taught religion at a Jesuit boys high school. At some point during the courses I taught I would ask the question, “When you die what is the reason for getting to go to heaven?” I almost always got the same answers: Because I was good, I didn’t hurt anyone, I was sincere. Rarely was Jesus mentioned as the answer. Many of the students had received Catholic education throughout their schooling yet did not understand what Christ Jesus had to do with eternal life.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6) He also said, “eternal life is this to know you the only true God, an Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

The Church teaches, “By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has “opened heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remain faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into him.” Check it out in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 1027

The essential answer for our getting to go to heaven is, Christ. Jesus has “opened heaven to us.” He is the way we can be eternally with God. By his death and resurrection Jesus accomplished what we in and of ourselves could not accomplish - our redemption. It is the love of God made manifest on the cross, bearing our sins, granting us forgiveness and through the Spirit entry into relationship with God. It is God’s initiative, not ours that allows us this access to eternal joy with the Trinity and all of the saints and angels! The Father wants us to be with Him eternally and through the Son has made the way for us be with them, happily ever after! It is our responsibility to respond to this grace of God with faith doing his will in our daily lives.

Let me make one comment on hell. Hell is the consequence of our free will. We can choose it for ourselves. God does not cast anyone into hell against his will. If we truly are creatures with free will then we have the capacity to say no to a loving Creator. That is essentially what hell is. Eternal separation from the One who loves us so much that he allows us to choose to be with Him, or not. Take a look in the CCC, 1033-1037.

The Church also teaches that even those who have not baptized and responded with faith in Christ may be saved (under the impulse of grace) who “sincerely seek God and strive to do his will can also be saved without Baptism (Baptism of desire).” CCC,1258-1261. It is a mystery and thank God He is the judge of all and not me or you! It is not our responsibility to judge who is or isn’t going to heaven when they die.

Our responsibility is to pray for salvation for everyone and to be witnesses of the eternal life that begins here and now in knowing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (See John 17:3 noted above). What is important for those of us who know Christ and are seeking to do his will, is to graciously be available to share the good news of what God has done in Jesus our Lord so that all might have fullness of life here and eternal happiness in heaven! After all, if we believe in a heaven and hell we certainly want to help others to be in heaven and to know the way to get there!

Set apart a day of praise and thanksgiving to God!

In 1863 during a time of severe human tragedy and division within the United States, President Lincoln called the nation to stop everything and set apart a day to remember with thanksgiving and praise the Father from whom all good gifts come. Really! That is exactly what he called for.

This proclamation is one worthy of reflection precisely in the times we are living in. In the midst of conflicts and shaking throughout the world and here in the U.S., we would do well to again set apart a "day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwells in the heavens."

Lincoln's Proclamation of a National Day of Praise and thanksgiving to God.

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October, A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

Abraham Lincoln

Call to prayer for our Nation & Video

Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on him. (Isaiah 55:6,7 see also vs.8-11)

We are, I believe, at a pivotal time in the history of the US and the world. Here in the states we are approaching a very significant presidential election, we are faced with very troubling economic issues and, with the nations of the world, face multiple serious threats to humanity.

The Christian people have the responsibility and the power of prayer to effect change. To cry out for mercy not judgment to come upon our country and the nations. We desperately need God's intervention. We need an explosion of forgiveness and grace bringing about what only He can do- change us from the inside out. Heartfelt change. Beginning with His own body, the Church, who are called to give a counter cultural witness of what it means to be fully human, fully alive, at- one-ment with our Creator and Redeemer. Not conformed to the patterns of thinking of the world systems that are opposed to the Lordship of Christ and, which tell us right about now is the time to live in fear and anxiety. Rather St. Paul tells us at times like this we are called to live in the peace of God which transcends all human understanding and to pray! See Phillipians 4:4-7

I urge you to commit to pray on behalf of our country at this time. Pray for mercy and not judgment to come upon us. Join with others to earnestly seek the Lord.

Pray for the election.

AND exercise your responsibility to vote!

Take a look at this inspiring video from CatholicVote.com Pass it on to all of your friends!

What then shall I compare the people of this generation?

What then did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, `Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.' ... (When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

"To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, `We piped to you, and you did not dance;we wailed, and you did not weep.'For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, `He has a demon.' The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."Luke 7:25-35

God is not distant and removed from creation and his creatures. He is with us! He is not static but active, creative, redeeming-moving in his all powerful Holy Spirit in our 'today.' The Lord Jesus points out the purposes of God coming in two very different persons. John the prophet forerunner preparing the way, and Jesus the Messiah. The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purposes of God for themselves in what He was doing in their day. They missed his activity, his will for them in the persons of John and Jesus. They couldn't see God working among them.

There are many Christians as well as unbelievers that have no understanding of this truth. They don't know the good news of Emmanuel, God with us today! Here and now. Jesus said, I am with you always. In Christ God the Father has given us the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us as Church but also personally in our daily lives (have you read the Acts of the Apostles recently?).

This reality effects everything. Who we are and what we do. How we pray personally and when we gather together. Anticipation and openess to the Holy Spirit's guidance. Attentiveness to His providence in our lives and in interacting with others, and with circumstances we are in daily. Our faith in His faithfulness in all details of our lives. Our confidence in his mercy coming through times of joy (we danced for you) and in times of sorrow (we sang a dirge for you). His grace in presenting his life to us in the church by different kinds of churches as well as different types of people that we can identify and respond to. John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus were very different as the Lord himself pointed out.

In this time, in our generation, the Lord continues to fulfill his purposes. Let's pray for our eyes to be opened to see what he is doing and our ears to hear what He saying and to obey Him! (See John 5:19,20 to learn from the Master). He wants us to know with confidence that He is with us and wants us to join Him in fulfilling his purposes in our day!

Lenten Retreat!

"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." - Mark 6:30-31

Sometimes in ministry it's easy to become caught up in all the work that needs to be done that we don't make enough time to rest and simply be in Christ's presence. We can't give what we don't have ourselves, and even the Apostles went into solitude with Jesus to rest and regain their strength for their mission.

I am so blessed that I am working for an Apostolate that places the greatest emphasis on each person's individual relationship with Christ. From that relationship and the power of the Holy Spirit, the "work" of the ministry flows. As a ministry, ChristLife's staff begin each work day with prayer and praise to God and every year we take two retreats - for Advent and Lent. We recently had our Lenten retreat and it was such an amazing time of refocusing on the Lord and His love, and quieting our souls so that we could listen to His direction in our lives and in our ministry! We were able to use the lovely Franciscan Friary grounds for the retreat, and enjoy the beauty of the Lord in His creation!

One of the things we meditated on during the retreat was a Lenten sermon by Fr. Cantalamessa entitled, "Crucified through weakness, Christ lives through the power of God." It was great being able to reflect on that sermon and allow it to resonate in our hearts, and then discuss it as brothers and sisters in Christ. The part of the sermon that really struck me was when Fr Cantalamessa said "God's weakness is therefore caused by his love for man. What a sorrow it is [for God] to impotently stand while a loved one destroys himself with his own hands." This made me see the love and compassion of God in a whole new light. It amazed me to imagine that God would allow himself to be weak out of love for us. It is by giving us free will that He must stand helplessly and watch us fall, and this fall so greatly wounded God's heart that He allowed himself to become weak "taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearence, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:7-8). Thank you Lord for the becoming weak to show us the debth of your love for us!

Fr. Cantalamessa also comments on Jesus' cry to His Father when he says, "Father forgive them!" Fr. Cantalamessa that these are the most powerful words ever uttered! As we enter into this Holy Week I hope we can reflect on these mighty words of love from our savior that saved us from sin and death!

Why did shepherds get invited to His birth?

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:8-15

Why Did Shepherds Get Invited?

Have you ever wondered why shepherds, - out in a field on night watch, minding their own business, - were the first to receive the good news that the Savior of all people, Christ the Lord had been born?

Why them? Why did God tell them, why did He invite them to see the Birth of all Births? The Miracle of all Miracles,- the Incarnation of God!

What do you think?

I have some personal thoughts, from meditating on this passage and study, that I wanted to share with you on why they were invited. But before sharing them, I can tell you a personal reaction, - wouldn’t it have been awesome to have been there with them that night!? Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there? Can you imagine it! Put yourself there! That is part of how we start to prayerfully enter into why they were invited.

So why shepherds?

God has an affinity for shepherds.

Think about it. Abraham, Issac and Jacob were shepherds. So was David (he may have shepherded in the same fields where these guys were when the angel appeared to them). God was referred to by his people, as the Shepherd of Israel. The Psalmist personally exclaimed, “the Lord is my shepherd.” St Peter referred to Jesus as the Chief Shepherd. Jesus referred to himself as the good shepherd who was willing to lay down his life for the sheep (that includes you and me). See John 10. He is the Shepherd King of all humanity, and by the way, he happens to have a special love and longing for straying, misbehaving, knuckleheaded, lost sheep (that includes you, me and our family and friends and non friends)! See Luke 15.

God has the heart of a shepherd. God was coming in person to gather the lost sheep of Israel, and all of humanity to himself. He told the news to fellow shepherds first! There is probably something there that he wants us to pay attention to.

They were the low life's who were not part of the ‘in crowd.’

On the other hand, some Jewish wisdom during the time of Jesus’ birth advised father’s against shepherding as an occupation for their sons. It was not considered a good livelihood. Additionally many Jews frowned upon shepherds. They were looked down upon, not trusted, even scorned. Apparently they were often peripheral to Jewish life and culture. Outcasts. Low life’s.

What was it that Mary exclaimed about God exalting the lowly?

They were certainly not who you would invite to a party. Certainly not to T-H-E BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Shepherds were the types of people you don’t invite to parties. They’re people who were not part of the ‘in crowd’ of synagogues or social groups, and get this,- they were the only ones God invited to the birth of Jesus the Savior and Lord! Gentiles, the wise men, would come later! If it were wise women they probably would have been there in advance and helped to clean up the stable, prepare meals and, help with the delivery!

St. Justin Martyr, a Palestinian, was personally familiar with Bethlehem. He lived a little over a 100 years after Christ and writes that the stable Jesus was born in was a cave in the hillside. That is where the Shepherds would have headed in response to the message of the angel. They were humble folks and I imagine they didn’t even notice the outrageous conditions that the Christ was born into. Most likely they had to bow down to enter the cave,- no problem for lowly shepherds. And they knew who this baby was!

God has come among us.

The Creator of everything became the creature,- fully God, fully man,- so we could see what God is like, up close and personal. And he humbled himself so that EVERYONE could identify with him, even the low life’s of the world. The outcasts, the broken hearted, sinners and totally broken people. God was and, is at eye level for anyone willing to bow down and “see this thing that the Lord has made known to us.”

If you encounter the stirring of grace to know who it is that is born in the manger, in this food trough for animals(the Bread of Life), then you will join the angels and shepherds in adoration.

God had become one of us, in order to rescue humanity and creation!

When the angel told the shepherds this momentous, historic, outrageous, fantastic news that God had personally come as Messiah to rescue humanity, the angel hosts could not contain themselves and burst into our world in adoration. Why?

Because of His great mercy! He had become one of us, in order to die for our sins, so that we might have peace with God! The angels worshipped, singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" Our peace with God is the result of what He has done for us in Jesus Christ. Coming down from heaven, becoming a man to die for our sins, to be raised as the glorious Lord who would pour out His Spirit to empower us to live new lives as his children, at peace with him. It is His gift to you and me to receive, if we respond and acknowledge that Jesus as the Lord and Savior of my life and of all.

It was not hard for the Shepherds. They were the lowly who God exalted. They were use to stooping down to enter stables. They simply responded to the message the angel had told them. You can too! He loves us so much that he became one of us in order to forgive our sins and give us the gift of his peace and of new life.

A couple of closing questions.

Would I (you) invite these guys to the party? Do I share the heart of God the Father for the lost and brokenhearted? For those who are not part of my 'in crowd?'

On the other hand, if I (you) feel like I can identify with the shepherds, not a part of the in-crowd of church or society, do I know that Christmas is all about shepherd types! That you are personally invited to join this celebration and come to know the Savior who is Jesus Christ the Lord? You are invited! It is God's wonderful gift to you right now in this moment! You may feel like you are out in a field by yourself, but there is a party just about to get underway and you are invited!

If you have never known the love that God has for you personally below is a simple prayer you can pray, asking Jesus to be your Lord, to be the leader and Savior of your life. Even if you were baptized as a Catholic-Christian, you may have never known that you can enter into personal relationship with God through what Jesus has done for you and for all of us. You can pray for release of the power of the Spirit given to you in Baptism right now, at this point in your life.

Lord God,

Please forgive me for all the things I have done wrong. I turn to you and turn away from sin (here you can pause to think of anything particular you might want to ask forgiveness for).

Jesus, please be the center of my life. I welcome you personally as Lord and Savior of my life.

I ask you Holy Spirit to fill me and empower me to live as a son/daughter of God. I want to have your grace to truly live a new life.
Thank you, Lord! Amen!

If you do pray this prayer for the first time, entering into personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, please contact us so we can support you and help you connect with the Church!

Have a very blessed Christmas!

ChristLife
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