Good day brothers and sisters.  It’s the Fifth Sunday of Easter.  Today we are going to talk about our connection with Christ.  Let’s see what the Smart Book has to say;

John 15:1-8 Amplified Bible

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you]. 4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. 5I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.

Yeshua (Jesus) declares that He is the vine and His Father is the vinedresser.  We must bear fruit or the Father will remove us for the fire.  If we produce fruit He will continually prune us back.  We must remain in Christ and He will remain in us.

When we are born again we are given the Holy Ghost and He gives us gifts for us to share.  We are to be fruitful with the gifts we have been given.  The Father will prune us back so that we can be more productive.  The longer we walk with the Lord the more like Him we will become as we are continuously consecrated for Him.

So glorify God and He will be honored as you bear much and prove yourselves to be His true disciples.  You will thus find your joy in the Lord.  Before the Lord had chosen Israel as His people, but now He has chosen YOU and grafted you into the vine as His child.  Let’s enjoy our privileges as members of His Kingdom.  Be good ambassadors for Christ.  

The Lord bless and keep you, His Face shine upon you,

Chaplain Loehne

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Bishop Robert Barron

Cycle B

Easter

5th wk of Easter

Bible References

John 15:1-8

Friends, our passage today is from the beautiful, evocative, and challenging fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus declares that he is the vine and we are the branches. He is the power and energy source in which we live. This vine and branches image is closely related, therefore, to Paul’s metaphor of the Body of Christ.

The point is that we live in him and he in us. Jesus is the source of supernatural life in us, and without him we would have none of it. If you are separated from the vine, you will die spiritually; if you are connected to it, you will live a supernatural life.

What does this mean concretely? It means a steady immersion in the prayer of the Church and steady communion with God, speaking to him on a regular basis. It means an immersion in the Scriptures and soaking in the truth of the Bible. It means engaging in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

And you must participate in the sacraments—especially Confession and the Eucharist. By the sacraments, we stay close to the Christ who forgives our sins and enlivens our spirits.

Gospel Reflections

Meditate on Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron

David had to find a faith that worked

In his first 37 years of life, David wrestled with addictions, suicidal thoughts, and ungodly music. But after watching the movie Hacksaw Ridge—the story of a World War II hero named Desmond Doss—he was inspired to find a deeper relationship with God. The faith of Doss, a conscientious objector and a Sabbath-keeper, was new to David and led him on a quest that changed his life. Before he decided to follow Christ, David’s life was pretty “normal” from a worldly point of view. “I went to worldly events, listened to heavy metal music, and had ungodly relationships,” he recalls. “I also struggled with depression and anxiety and often thought about taking my own life, sometimes several times a day.” Speaking with a Christian psychologist didn’t help. Inspired by the faith of Desmond Doss, David began looking for truth and eventually discovered Amazing Facts. “I was browsing on YouTube one day and looking for religious programs when I first saw Pastor Doug,” he remembers. “I felt like I had finally found a pastor whose messages clicked with me.” What he heard and the way the Bible was presented changed David’s views on how he should live his life. Since David was a young teen he had struggled with lust and always felt the guilt of viewing impurity, although never enough to stop. “But when I started listening to Pastor Doug, began having daily devotions, and faithfully reading the Word, those thoughts became greatly suppressed.” He finally gave his addiction over to God, asked for forgiveness, and prayed for the power to avoid situations that would lead to bad thoughts. David’s life has changed. He says, “I’ve stopped watching programs that I used to view and I’ve also quit listening to heavy metal music. My eyes have been completely opened to the evil and sin in the world.” He admits that it hurts to remember the things he used to do, especially the pain he brought to God when he shunned Him. Today, David is on a path to better care for his physical health. He is also committed to staying in the Word and helping anyone he encounters as he keeps moving forward on his own Christian journey. David finally found a faith that works. Reflect: Are there some books, magazines, or movies that God wants you to stop watching? Confess your sin and commit yourself unreservedly to Jesus.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Psalm 119:9

Good day brothers and sisters. How should we be with one another in these last days? Let's see what the Smart Book has to say about it;

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 Legacy Standard Bible

Sanctification and Love

4 Finally then, brothers, we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us as to how you ought to [a]walk and please God (just as you actually do [b]walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from [c]sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to [d]possess his own [e]vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in [f]lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. 7 For God did not call us to impurity, but [g]in sanctification. 8 Consequently, he who sets this aside is not setting aside man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

9 Now concerning love of the brothers, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, 10 for indeed you do practice it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel still more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you will walk properly toward outsiders and [h]not be in any need.

Footnotes

1 Thessalonians 4:1 Or conduct yourselves

1 Thessalonians 4:1 Or conduct yourselves

1 Thessalonians 4:3 Or fornication

1 Thessalonians 4:4 Or acquire

1 Thessalonians 4:4 Body, wife

1 Thessalonians 4:5 Lit passion of lust

1 Thessalonians 4:7 In the state or sphere of

1 Thessalonians 4:12 Lit have need of nothing

So let's continue to walk and please God. Let's continue the work of sanctification, that is being set apart for God. Let's not be like the people of the world. Love each other and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands.

Chaplain Loehne

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Bishop Robert Barron

Cycle B

Easter

4th wk of Easter

Bible References

John 14:7-14

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares his mutual indwelling with God: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

Charles Williams, a friend of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, stated that the master idea of Christianity is “coinherence,” what he described as mutual indwelling.

We sometimes forget that we are all interconnected. Yet how do we often identify ourselves? Almost exclusively through the naming of relationships: we are sons, brothers, daughters, mothers, fathers, members of organizations, or members of the Church.

Read the Gospel today and see how Jesus identifies himself. Jesus reveals the coinherence that obtains within the very existence of God. “Master,” Philip says to him, “show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus replies, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

How can this be true, unless the Father and the Son coinhere in each other? Though Father and Son are really distinct, they are utterly implicated in each other by a mutual act of love. As Jesus says, “The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.”

Gospel Reflections

Meditate on Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron

Pandita Defender of Widows

When Pandita Ramabai, a woman who grew up in an impoverished Brahmin family in India, gave her life to Christ, she began to practically work for the betterment of poor widows and orphaned children in her country. She published her most important book, The High-Caste Hindu Woman, which revealed some of the darkest aspects of the life of Hindu women. It exposed the practice of child brides, the challenges of child widows, and the oppression of women. In 1889, Pandita founded the Mukti Mission for broken women and orphaned children. She created a safe haven to educate women and provide them with hope. At the risk of her own life, she went throughout India to rescue poor women who were being forced into servitude. At Mukti they fed, nurtured, and educated the women. Many went on to become influential women in India and around the world. During a severe famine, just a few years after the mission opened, Ramabai traveled through villages with a caravan of bullock carts and rescued thousands of outcast children, child widows, orphans, and other impoverished women. She brought them to a shelter constructed at Mukti where they were fed and cared for. The mission is still active to this day and is now called the Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission. Pandita knew seven languages and, in the last decade of her life, worked to translate the Bible into her mother tongue—Marathi—from the original Hebrew and Greek. During the completion of her work, Pandita’s daughter died. Then Pandita lost her hearing, but she pressed on with her translation. The women of Mukti helped to set type for the Marathi Bible, and Pandita would carefully go over the proofs. When she became seriously ill, she prayed that God would give her ten more days to finish her editorial work. After completing her work, ten days later, she went to bed and died in her sleep on April 5, 1922. Because of her Christian faith, Pandita’s story was not widely known for years in India, but over time many came to value her valiant work for the oppressed women of their country. In 1989, the government of India issued a commemorative postage stamp to honor her. Reflect: If you could bring more Bibles to any country in the world, which country would you pick? Did you know one of the signs of Christ’s soon return is taking the gospel to all the world?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

Good day brothers and sisters. Today we are going to talk about something no one likes to talk about....sin. Let's see what the Smart Book has to say;

Matthew 5:27-37 Legacy Standard Bible

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 But if your right eye makes you [a]stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you [b]to lose one of the parts of your body, [c]than for your whole body to be thrown into [d]hell. 30 And if your right hand makes you [e]stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you [f]to lose one of the parts of your body, [g]than for your whole body to go into [h]hell.

31 “Now it was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who [i]divorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a [j]divorced woman commits adultery.

33 “Again, you have heard that [k]the ancients were told, ‘[l]You shall not [m]make false vows, but shall fulfill your [n]vows to the [o]Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or [p]by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is [q]of the evil one.

Footnotes

Matthew 5:29 Sin

Matthew 5:29 Lit that one...be lost

Matthew 5:29 Lit not your whole body

Matthew 5:29 Gr Gehenna

Matthew 5:30 Sin

Matthew 5:30 Lit that one...be lost

Matthew 5:30 Lit not your whole body

Matthew 5:30 Gr Gehenna

Matthew 5:32 Or sends away

Matthew 5:32 Or sent away

Matthew 5:33 Lit it was said to the ancients

Matthew 5:33 you and your are singular here

Matthew 5:33 Or break your vows

Matthew 5:33 Lit oaths

Matthew 5:33 In OT, Yahweh, cf. Deut 23:21

Matthew 5:35 Or toward

Matthew 5:37 Or from evil

There you have it. Our thoughts can be sin. This scripture makes it clear that with the Lord there is no gray area. Sin is sin. Not only that, but our word needs to be our word. When you commit to something or not it should be a definite yes or no.

We should allow the Holy Ghost to help consecrate us for the Lord. When our thoughts go astray, listen to the Holy Ghost. When we make decisions for our lives such as marriage, do not waver, but commit yourself to the marriage till death we part. God has blessed you and your marriage so don't throw out God's blessing.

Chaplain Loehne