Did You Really Hear What Jesus Said?

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’


Powerful words from our Savior and such clarity.

I heard Something New in an Old Story Today

We had a guest Priest at our Parish today. He was speaking on today's Gospel passge regarding Jesus telling us to bring him our tired, weary selves and in Him find rest.

Everytime I have heard this I have always thought about people being weary and tired from life. It has always struck me that when I read this in the Bible it seems to me there are a ton of really tired people that are Christians. Why is Jesus so worried about people resting?

Then it was explained. . .

Sin weighs us down. When we rest in Christ - we have confessed our sins and offered ourselves up for Mercy. And Mercy is granted, lovingly.

The Jews Were Never Expecting Jesus

You may have asked yourself (like I have) why didn't the Jews recognize Jesus as the Messiah?

Simple. The Jews were expecting a new, powerful leader like David to arrive. He would be a mighty warrior that would help them overthrow the enemy (Rome) and lead them to the Promised Land. He would be strong and invincible.


Jesus was a poor carpenter from Nazareth (nothing good could come out of Nazareth!). He wasn't a warrior, he didn't have an army, he advocated love and non-violence, and he was tried and executed as a criminal.

Not exactly who the Jews were looking for. Also, in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) there is absolutely nothing that says the Messiah had to die for humanity's sins. He wasn't to die - he was to lead the battle - so they were not expecting it.

Are you expecting it?

Peace Be With You

Foreshadowing of Jesus in the Old Testament

In the Book of Numbers in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) the following passage occurs:

"And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." (Book of Numbers 21:6-9)

As Moses carried this pole with the Serpant on it people who had sinned were healed.

900 years after that, not a serpant, but Jesus was nailed to a pole and all who looked upon him and believed in him were saved.

Think about that connection next time you look at the Crucifix.

It's an awe-inspiring comparison.

Peace be with you.

Think You Let Christ Down? Christ Forgives

Peter was not perfect. Not by a long shot. After telling Christ that he would die for him and follow up to the ends of the Earth during the last supper . . . less than 24 hours later Peter denies that he knows Christ 3 times.

There is an old story about Peter that goes:

"And at the end of his life, Peter did fulfil his promise to Jesus to die for him, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is reported that he was smuggled out of Rome by the church at a time when Christians were thrown in prison and executed on account of their belief in Jesus. Peter was already in safety, travelling away from Rome, when he had an apparition of Jesus walking toward Rome. And Peter asked Jesus: "domine, quo vadis?" (my Lord, where are you going?) And Jesus answered him: "I am going to Rome to be crucified again." And Peter said, "no, Lord, you are not."

"And he turned around, went into Rome, handed himself over to the authorities and was crucified. His only request was, "please don’t crucify me like they did my Lord, because I am not worthy of dying like he did."

Christ not only forgave this believer of seemingly weak faith, he not only forgave his multiple mis-steps, he used this man, Peter, to build his entire Church.

If think what you have done will not be forgiven by Christ think again; Christ is Love and Mercy.

Go to Confession now.

Peace be with you.