Thank You for Your Prayers

I Thank God and all of you who offered prays for me.

Yesterday I had a cystoscopy and received a clean bill of health, NO CANCER.

The next check will be a year from now and if that is clean then it will be every 2 years.

I now can concentrate on preparing for our booth at the Boston Pride Festival on June 12th.  There is printing to get done and I am also hopeful that I can get to make more visits to members of the mission now that the weather has improved and the car holds up.

I am also praying that more donations will come in to reduce the huge deficit of more than Three Thousand dollars.

Again I want to thank all who prayed the the cancer had not returned and let you know that you are all held in my prayers and thoughts daily. 

May God's infinite love and blessings fill you with comfort and peace. May you have an abundance of joy, love, peace and good will for you your family and friends.
Fr. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus
Franciscans of Divine Mercy
All Materials are copywriten (c) Franciscans of Divine Mercy

Divine Mercy Sunday Reflection

Divine Mercy Sunday 2010

From Readings:, Acts 5:12-16, Psalm 118, Revelations 1:9-11, John 20: 19-31

By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD

Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

 

 (Like new born children you should thirst for milk, on which your spirit can grow to strengthen, alleluia, alleluia) these are the opening words of Mass for this Sunday.  It is a beautiful simile for the grace and love of God.  Milk without guile, meaning without cunning, craftiness or deceit. A milk that is sweet and nourishing and with which a new born can grow healthy and strong. That is what the grace of God can do for those who seek it out.

 

The liturgy for this Sunday is dedicated to Divine Mercy of Almighty God.  The image of Divine Mercy shows Christ glorified with rainbow rays emanating from His Sacred Heart and His hand raised in blessing.  It is a graphic picture of how God's heart is filled with love and mercy for all of His children with no exception.

Today is also the anniversary of the founding of our order Franciscans of Divine Mercy.

 

Most of us grew up with the image of a vengeful God who weighed our good and bad deeds and always seemed ready to condemn us to the fires of Hell if I but made one small mistake. I lived in fear as a young man that I would die and go to hell because I masturbated or told a lie.  It never dawned on me that as a mere human I would always be found wanting and never become perfect because only God is perfect.

The God proclaimed by Christ in Scripture a God of infinite mercy, love, forgiveness and generosity somehow did not sink in possibly because all the preachers ranted hellfire and damnation instead of mercy and love.

 

It wasn't until I began to really study scripture and take my courses in Theology that I began to see a God who  shattered all the laws and ideas of not only mere mortals but of the Jewish tradition that He grew up with.

Christ introduced a new path to follow, a path of forgiveness, mercy, compassion, understanding, love and of grace. The path to God was one of caring for our brothers and sisters, of being the Good Samaritan to those we found in need.  God's Grace is given freely to us all we are required to do is turn to Him and request it and try to live as Christ instructed us.

It is truly appropriate that the Sunday after Easter be dedicated to the Divine Mercy of God through Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God is "the God of all grace".   Throughout all the New Testament we find affirming words concerning God's grace.  "But Jesus said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:19) and "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—(Ephesians 2:8) and "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. (Ephesians 4:7) "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)

 

Let us not be like the Apostle Thomas in today's Gospel and the two men on the road to Emmaus who did not recognize God until he broke the bread.  Don't wait to believe in Him until he shows us His wounds or performs a miracle for us.   "We have seen the Lord!"   But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." John 20:25  

Let us rather proclaim the words of Thomas out of faith and trust in God.  "Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:28-29

The Grace of God is freely given, there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and nothing we can do to make God love us less. It means that we, who as most humans, are sinners but through the Divine mercy and Love of Almighty God are invited to take our place at the table in God's family. 

We gain that place at table by praying to God for His mercy and forgiveness which He also gives freely and by loving one another as God Himself loves us, unconditionally and with forgiveness and compassion for all God's children regardless of their race, creed, sexual orientation of marital status.

AMEN

Easter Greeting

 

May the blessings of the Resurrected Christ bring you peace and may the knowledge of God's infinite love for you giver you comfort and peace.

May your Easter basket be filled with the gifts of Health, happiness, love, prosperity and a long life surrounded with family, friends and companions.

A Blessed and glorious Easter to you from

Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus

Easter 2010 Reflection

Be Not Afraid, He is Risen
Readings: Acts 10:34-43, Psalm 118, Colossians 3:1-4, Corinthians 5:6-8, John 20:1-9
A 2010  Easter Reflection by Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org

 

Alleluia, Alleluia "This is the Day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad" (Psalm 118:24). "Do not be Afraid, You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, He is not here, He has risen" (Mark 16:6). "Why do you search for the living among the Dead" (Luke 24: 5 ) "He is not here, He has been raised, exactly as He had promised" (Matthew 28:6). "Rabbouni (Hebrew for teacher) ….I have seen the Lord" (John 20:18).
These words taken from the four gospels telling of the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ should have special meaning for us and fill us with hope and trust in God.
The first phrase, one that I especially love and keep deep in my heart, is "Do Not Be Afraid" simply put, if you have faith in God and the truly believe the promises of Jesus Christ, there is nothing in life that you need to be afraid of.  By placing your trust in the will of God and believing that everything in life has a God given purpose, even the dissention that causes  separation, bickering, and the power seeking of all those who profess to be followers of Christ.  In these days where division seems to be all around us in government and even faith communities we need to seek out what the root cause of it is.  At the heart of most of the discourse is the desire for power, control and most of all, MONEY.
How foolish are we mere mortals, we allow our pride, greed and envy to cloud our eyes so that we forget the message proclaimed by Jesus through His resurrection. The message that with God, all things can be conquered, even death.  We also seem to conveniently forget what Christ has taught us by His life, words and deeds. "Love one another as I have loved You"  Christ proved His love for us in the ultimate way, by willingly accepting death, not just any death, but the ignominious death of crucifixion. What greater love can a person have but to be willing to give up their own life for another.
Christ not only conquered death, he conquered our sins because by His overcoming death and with His resurrection he brought us forgiveness for our weaknesses and gained for us the promise of everlasting life.
Jesus came to us from Almighty God to be a "Rabbouni" teacher to us. He came to teach us the way to our own salvation and glory. The sad thing is, all too often, we are either not willing to truly hear the teachings of Christ or if we do hear them we choose not to follow them because they are inconvenient for us.  All the proclamations of Halleluiah, all the prayers, all the ceremonial trappings and fancy vestments are for naught if we do not follow them through with actions.  If we do not assist the poor and needy, speak out against injustice and discrimination and share our gifts with those who are less fortunate.   We need to affirm, as Mary Magdalene did when she proclaimed "Rabbouni" that Jesus was the teacher and we learned His lessons and follow them.
Jesus was, is still, and always will be the head of the church. He is still directing those who believe through the Holy Spirit, "the giver of life who proceeds from the Father and the son. With the Father and the son, is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets." (Nicene Creed)  He speaks to each and every one of us who desire to know His truth and seek it out.  He does not just speak to the hierarchy but to all who, through Baptism, have been called to "priesthood" not just those who have been consecrated as "Presbyters".  Each and every person who has been born again in Baptism need to open their own hearts and minds to listen  for the voice of God speaking within us and judge how what we are feeling and hearing complies with what Christ taught us in not only His words but by His actions.
We need to acknowledge Christ by seeking the truth as found in His teachings. We need to act in our daily lives in the manner that Jesus instructed us.
"Why do you search for the living (Jesus) among the dead? "He has been raised, exactly as He promised"
Jesus is alive; he is alive in the hearts and souls of all those who have been reborn through Baptism and who faithfully live according to His instructions. Christ is alive in every person who partakes of the "living Bread" he gave us in the Eucharist.
He gave himself to us, died for us and rose from the dead to conquer forever death from sin.  Jesus taught us the way in order  for us to know how to carry on His work here on earth while he and the Father watch over us.  On this Easter day, we need to believe and accept God's will as taught by Christ in words, deed and actions and emulate them in our life.
On this glorious day when we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Let each of us who believe in Him and accept the call to "Come Follow Me" (Luke 18:22) work together to bring all who believe in the message and teachings of Christ together. Each and every one of us needs to make a concerted effort to repair the breaches that have torn us apart into separate factions, usually over some man made regulations that were instituted for the purpose of gaining control, power or political gain and which have nothing to do with God's will.
There is only one God. There was only one Jesus Christ.  Christ, though His Apostles established one church, one faith.  It was not until that church, for political gain under Constantine, began to selectively pick and choose the teaching that fit their agenda and objectives that separation began and culminated when one Bishop decided that He, and only He was infallible and those who were supposed to be his equals were now subservient to him.
 Every Baptized Christian is called to be His servants, His disciples. All of us are called to live our faith and the teachings of Christ in our thoughts, words, and actions and not just by giving lip service.
We need to not only talk the talk but we need to Walk the walk.
Those of us who have been called to be shepherds and presbyters of His flock need find ways to work together with one voice just as Jesus spoke with one voice. We need to stop the name calling and jockeying for power and financial gain and come together in unity with  one message, the message that Christ claimed was the two greatest commandments, "Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind, soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself"
By living that way when we proclaim Easter Sunday morning, "Alleluia, Alleluia, This is the Day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be Glad, Jesus Christ has risen, Jesus is alive. Alleluia, Alleluia." we are saying that Jesus lives today in each of us and we are carrying out His way each and every day.
Let us pray; "Give praise to the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endures for ever. Alleluia, Alleluia. Send down Your spirit of love upon us and through your goodness make us of one mind who you have bless with the Paschal Sacrament.  All glory honor and praise be yours, now and forever".  AMEN.

 

Good Friday Reflection

By the Cross, Christ Redeemed the World
A Reflection for Good Friday by Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus/Franciscans of Divine Mercy
www.missionstsergius.org

 

"We Adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World" these words we say during the Stations of the Cross are a powerful affirmation of what this entire Lenten season, especially what we commemorate on Good Friday, is all about. Without Christ's death, we would not have the gift of redemption. When Jesus went to the cross, he did so willingly. He knew that he was taking all the sins of the world with him. That by the shedding of His blood, Christ made peace by reconciling everything with God according to Saint Paul. By Christ's death, a new light was brought to all men.
By his death, Christ asks us to emulate him and willingly pick up the crosses we are burdened with and to follow him.  In today's society there are many crosses being offered for us to take up. Can we carry the cross of speaking out against injustice even though it may bring us scorn and reproach by friends and family? 
Can we speak out against acts of discrimination and bigotry even though by doing so we may find ourselves in the minority?
Can we have the courage to speak out against Government leaders who are insolent and refuse to serve the will of the majority of people they are supposed to represent? 
Do we have what it takes to allow ourselves to be stripped of all our pretensions and allow the world to see our true selves? 
Can we give of ourselves enough to be of assistance to those who are not able to provide the basic necessities of life for themselves?
All these are things that require us to give of ourselves and deny ourselves of being comfortable.

 

By Christ's offering himself up as the sacrificial lamb on the cross we have been given the promise of Salvation, peace, compassion, love and triumph. Without the cross, the tree that gave us the promise of everlasting life, we would still be floundering around in the darkness of sin and confusion.
The Cross becomes a symbol of triumph, the triumph of Christ over the power of evil.  The completion of the mission to overcome the forces of evil is now in our ballpark.  Are we up to the challenge?
The triumph of Christ is not something of the past, it is a living thing. It is something we are called to live every day. When we are faced with oppression, illness, rejection, alienation we need to recall that all these were faced by Jesus Christ. By his life and death, Christ made holy every aspect of the human experience. We need to look upon our lives and live them with that in mind. Our lives are holy, they are holy if we are willing to work hard to live by the example Christ gave us.
Christ spoke out against injustice, so must we. Christ welcomed the outcast, so must we. Christ challenged the rules of the High Priests and the Sanhedrin and government of his day, so must we. When our government is wrong and creates laws that are oppressive, we need to speak out loudly against them.  When a government our Religious leaders insist on mandating anything that is contradictory to the teaching and example that Christ gave us we need to be willing to challenge them as Christ did.  
By living in this way we sanctify Christ's passion and relive it daily by our willingness to take up our crosses and carry them willingly.
The cross is a symbol of Christ's triumph and this Paschal Season is our liturgical means of participating in Christ's gift of redemption.  Our challenge is to live it every day of every year.
On Good Friday we celebrate the love of God; a love so great it allows us, even urges us to be co-workers in Christ's great act of love by sacrificing Himself on the cross for us.  Let us then celebrate Christ's willingness to suffer the indignities of the passion and a criminal's death on the cross, which brought us the forgiveness of our sins and our salvation and make it ours by being faithful to Him and living daily carrying our crosses proudly for all the world to see. AMEN

Passover/Holy Thursday Reflection

This is My Body
A Reflection for Holy Thursday 2010
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
www.missionstsergius.org

 

For more than 3000 years, the Jewish people have celebrated a Seder which is called Pesakh, Pesach, Pesah), or Festival of Unleavened Bread in remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. The Exodus includes the deliverance from slavery in Egypt as well as the covenant between God and His people at Sinai.  Jesus and His followers, like faithful Jewish person gathered together to fulfill their obligation of celebrating the memorial of the feast of Passover. The word for memorial in Hebrew is Zikkaron and in Greek is ( anamnesis) meaning a liturgical celebration that celebrates and re-presents past mysteries of salvation.
If you remember the story, Moses told his people to sacrifice an unblemished young lamb and slaughter it and spread the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes, in that way the angel of Death that would sweep through Egypt would spare all those within.
The Jewish people were told to remember this passing on the fourteenth day of the first month of their calendar year. (This year 2007, the Passover began at sundown Monday April 2) This memorial celebration is what Jesus and His followers were celebrating. 
The Passover "Haggadah" or telling is broken into 15 divisions or order of the Seder.
The Passover celebration today is a celebration of all the deliverances God has provided and Jews still look for the final deliverance and exodus of the coming of the Messiah.
Christians see Christ as the person who fulfilled all things that the prophets foretold the Messiah. Even the title "Christ" means the anointed one, which is what Messiah means in Hebrew.
Christ told us he came to bring us a new covenant, Christ became the sacrificial Lamb, It was His blood that set us free from the bondage of sin. Even the words that Jesus spoke and we proclaim at every liturgy of the Eucharist " Blessed are you O Lord our God, king of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth" in Hebrew (Barukh ata Adonay, Elohenu, melekh ha olam, Ha motzi lechem min ha aretz) are the words Jesus spoke. When Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to His apostles saying, "This is my Body, take and eat" and the wine "This is my Blood, the Blood of the new covenant, it will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this is remembrance of me" He became the sacrificial lamb of the Passover.
Every time we partake in the Eucharistic Celebration we are reliving the Passover Celebration, we are carrying out the command of Jesus Christ  that we celebrate the memorial feast "The memorial feast of our redemption", we recall the memory of Jesus Christ, His suffering, death and resurrection. It is most unfortunate that our English language does not really convey very well the true biblical meaning of memorial (anamnesis {GREEK} and  Zikkaron {Hebrew}.
Like the Jewish people today who faithfully follow the old covenant made by Moses with God. We, who believe Christ to be the promised one of the prophets, by our participating in the Eucharistic Liturgy, personally die and rise with Christ and we become redeemed together with Him.
By understanding the Passover, we better can understand the beautiful and fulfilling mystery of our faith and of the Eucharistic celebration.  Let us work together to realize that as true believers of Christ we need to honor and respect the traditions of the faith that gave us our redeemer and savior Jesus Christ.
PRAYER:
Blessed are you, O Lord God, king of the universe, who has redeemed us from the land of bondage to sin and brought us to freedom and salvation by your willingness to become the sacrificial lamb of the new covenant. Unite your brothers and sisters of all nations on this earth your Almighty Father created together in love and unity so that we can gather as one family giving Almighty God and you thanksgiving and praise. AMEN

 

 

Palm Sunday Reflection

Hosanna In The Highest

A Reflection for Palm Sunday 2010

Based on the readings from  Isaiah 50:4 – 7, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:14 - 23:56 (Passion of Our Lord)

By Fr. Robert Johnnene OFD

Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/Franciscans of Divine Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

 

"Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel" (Matthew 21:9) shouted the people lining the road into Jerusalem. This joyful reception by the Jewish people to Jesus entrance into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, could compare to the accolades and reception that the winners of the World Series or the Super Bowl experience on return to their respective cities. They are received as conquering heroes and indeed Jesus was just that kind of hero and still is to those of us who believe in Him and accept Him as the only begotten son of God.

It can be assumed that many of those same people who were shouting Hosanna, four days later would be in the crowds shouting, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him" because he did not meet their expectations of Him or because they succumbed to greed and accepted bribes from the powers of the temple elite.

We have seen in our lives just such a turn around by a super hero of the World Series who deserts the team he played with that won the series and goes over to an opposing team because they offered him a huge sum of money that the deep pocket owner could afford and who places winning over all at any price.  When the player returns to his former team he is no longer cheered but booed and treated with contempt.

In the past few years we have seen a great deal of publicity about the newly discovered Gospel of Judas, the supposed discovery of the tomb of Jesus and a resurgence of publicity about THE DIVINCI CODE and HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL, THE LOST GOSPELS and other "New discoveries that call into question the basis of Christianity. 

The speculation, by some, is that these new revelations might change our beliefs.

I do not know how our beliefs or the truth of Jesus teachings could be changed by these supposed new revelations.

The truth is, Jesus Christ lived, Christ died, Christ was resurrected, and Christ came to save all people of the world, not a select few. 

During Christ's life He broke all the rules and regulations of the Jewish faith and did not discriminate against anyone.

If anything, these discoveries should only serve to strengthen our faith and belief in a loving and merciful God.

They change nothing about the main facts.

These "New Discoveries" along with numerous non-religious historical documents acknowledge that Jesus was real.   All of them affirm that he gave us a new covenant, "LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART, MIND, SOUL AND BODY AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU"

The "Gnostic Gospels" as they are called are all based on the writings of the early Christians communities; and in most cases, they support and have much of the same information as we find in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which we were raised on.

The Gnostic Gospels, as the lost Gospels are called, proclaimed that salvation could be achieved by knowledge.  

That statement is true; we need the Knowledge of who God is.  

We need to know how we can serve God. We need to know God's intent and desire for us. In order to know, love and serve God as we have been instructed to do we have to know God's lesson plan for us and then follow it.

None of the so called "New Discoveries" disagree with what we find in the Gospels concerning the events of the final days of Christ.

Jesus Himself told us; "Seek and you will find, Knock and it will be opened to you, Ask and you shall receive" none of these "recent" findings change a thing.

The Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the versions being read today by either Matthew or Luke, opened the road to everlasting salvation for us.

Even if the most recent finding "The Gospel of Judas" has any truth, it affirms that Jesus had to die in order for our salvation to be assured.   It is purported to state, "For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." By that, scholars familiar with Gnostic thinking said, "Jesus meant that by helping him get rid of his physical flesh, Judas will act to liberate the true spiritual self or divine being within Jesus."

This year the Passion of the final days of Christ's life will be read by all Christian churches, including the Orthodox churches, reminding us of the last hours of Christ on earth and what Christ was willing to endure for our sake.  Matthew and Luke's Gospels begins with the celebration of Passover and the creation of the Eucharist, followed by the agony in the garden and Christ's saying, "Father if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevereless, not as I will, but as you will".  Every day as part of my morning and evening prayers when I am petitioning God I end each petition with these words; "But not my will but your will be done Lord".  

The Gospel continues by detailing the betrayal by Judas, the trials, the way of the cross and the crucifixion and ends with the burial of Christ.

Saint Paul's letter to the people of the Church community at Phillippi explains who Christ was and why He endured these sufferings. "Jesus Christ, although he shared God's nature, did not try to seize equality with God for himself; but he emptied himself and took on the form of a slave, by becoming a human man – not in appearance only, because he humbled himself by accepting death – even death on a cross.  For this, God has raised him high, and given him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bend, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will proclaim "Jesus Christ is Lord", to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2)

During this final week of Lent, especially as we go through the holy Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday let us think about how we live and practice our faith every day.

During Passion Week, let us find ways to put an end to the dissentions and petty jurisdictional divides which exist mostly for  power and profit which have separated the followers of Jesus Christ into many churches and find the means to unite the  One Holy Catholic (Universal) Apostolic Church we profess in the creed as it was in the first centuries of Christianity.

The time  is now to be faithful to God and our faith and not allow ourselves to be swayed away by supposed "New Truths". 

Let us work together to find ways to join together as the family of Christ and children of God and gather  as one family of faith in Christ.    

Let us begin living in our daily lives the message of Jesus Christ in our actions, thoughts, words and deeds.

Let us be completely faithful to Almighty God and His beloved son Jesus Christ and proclaim loudly, "HOSANNA, HOSANNA, TO THE SON OF DAVID, HOSANNA! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST!"                              AMEN