Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Daily HOMILY for June 15, 2016: Commissioning Service

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Commissioning Ceremony
The Institute
June 15, 2016
ZACCHAEUS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  This memorable story demonstrates the generosity of our God
Ø  To be generous is to give freely and abundantly; it is not to be stingy or reluctant to bless
Ø  Notice that Zacchaeus does not even have to ask for love, forgiveness, or mercy
Ø  All he has to do is be curious about who Jesus is
Ø  So climbs a tree, out of curiosity, but that is enough to open himself to overwhelming generosity of J
FROM DEATH ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  Zacchaeus was held bound by profit & extortion, and turning his back on his own people
Ø  Whatever our boundary crossings, whether we were exploited or we exploited others,
Ø  Our lives became unmanageable in some way
Ø  Before coming to SLI or during R therapy here, we were ready 2B curious about another way of living
TO NEW LIFE +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  In prayer, therapy, & community, we encountered a Savior who didn’t shout words of condemnation, who didn’t judge us in any way
Ø  Instead, as Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus, we were blessed with Jesus’ attention and care
Ø  The worlds we left, where others had reason 2 complain about what a sinner we’d been, we encountered a Lord that didn’t join in the criticism
Ø  And it was that, that paved the way 4 us, as for Zacchaeus, 2 respond in freedom to G’s generosity
Ø  It allowed us to open our hearts to a divine love that knows no human limits
CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  Zacchaeus got the point, for his response to Jesus’ generosity transforms him
Ø  1 who’d been greedy & selfish, now’s living proof of abundant love of G, freely giving ½ of all he owns to the poor & restoring what he’d stolen four-fold
Ø  No one tells him or requires him to do anything
Ø  No one has to, because he’s been transformed by the mercy, love, & gracious abundance of Jesus
Ø  He has received a generous blessing and he becomes a generous blessing to others
Ø  The die is cast for great things to take place with Reggie as well, as he leaves us today, for he’s been touched by the Lord as was Zacchaeus
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Daily HOMILY for June 15, 2016: Wednesday of the 11th Week of Ordinary Time

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Wednesday 11th Week OT
St. Luke’s Institute
June 15, 2015
JESUS’ WORDS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  When Jesus says, “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you”
Ø  He’s saying several important things about effective prayer
1st INNER ROOM ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  1st something about the “inner room”
Ø  Remember that in the Palestine of Jesus’ day the house consisted of one large room in which all members of the family lived
Ø  There were no rooms as we know a house today
Ø  So Jesus, in speaking of an “inner room,” is clearly talking about a space within oneself,
Ø  An inner place where prayer, encounter with God, and transformation might take place
2nd IN SECRET ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  2nd pray in secret
Ø  In this “inner room” you will find an eternal spring of God’s life — a secret place — hidden deep within us that bubbles up and out from our depths
Ø  And there’s nothing we need to do to create it
Ø  It merely needs to be acknowledged and tapped
Ø  And prayer “in secret” is a way of cultivating an openness to that transforming source of life and love
3rd FATHER’LL REPAY ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  3rd the Father will repay
Ø  That is to say the gift of the Father within is a movement of grace from the inside to the outside
Ø  So we need not look at transformation as having its source from things outside the inner secret room where God is encountered
CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  How available that potential for transformation is!
Ø  All we need to do is let go of outer appearances, what we or others think of us, and enter into our hidden life in God
Ø  Stop clinging to the outer world and with confident faith surrender all to God in simple wordless prayer…
Ø  And the grace will flow!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++