John 8:31-42, 51-59 and Father Leo's E-Mail Blast

Gregory Mussmacher, " God, loving you is the wisest thing we can do. Serving your church is one of the best things we can do to help improve society. Praying for guidance is the only way we will know the difference between foolishness and truth. Help us O Lord to grow in understanding our call in life, even if others will consider us foolish. With the prayers of the angels and saints, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen." Father Leo



Foolishness!

This April Fool’s Day, this priest isn’t fooling around!
Foolishness can either come from the world’s judgment or from God’s. Consider this quote from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians:
“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18)



The fact is, people who choose not to believe in God may consider the doctrines, practices, and disciplines of believers – and even believers themselves as “foolish.” On the other side, people of faith can actually be foolish if they are uncharitable and dismiss people without trying to help them know God’s wisdom.

At a recent mission at St. John Neumann Church, located in picturesque Berlin, Maryland, I was edified to see so many people not fooling around with their faith. This mission, like all my mission experiences, give me great hope, not just for the Catholic Faith, but also for the Grace Before Meals movement!



Pastor, Fr. Protack addressing large crowds for every night of the mission and also at the dinner presentation. The St. Paul Penne and Pollo Pasta Recipe will be posted soon. Stay Tuned



At this dynamic parish, the pastor has an MC program, similar to what I had at my former parish. It’s a program that encourages young men to consider a priestly vocation by allowing them to continue altar serving beyond childhood and thus facilitating their growth as potential liturgical leaders. These guys were smart, talented, and unafraid to grow closer to God, even though it may not be considered “cool” by young people standards.



Kenny, one of the MCs – a talented musician and golfer! He’d make a great priest!

During one of the dinners, Kenny joined the priests for a fabulous meal and conversation. It was like a Grace Before Meals episode. We talked about vocations and how to prayerfully discern God’s will, even if people think it’s foolish. The pastor told the story of a mother who actually said her boys would become priests only over her dead body. As a priest, that hurts.

This unfortunate antagonism or judgment of foolishness is everywhere. It’s true for lawyers and Hollywood stars. Msgr. Nalty’s decision to leave a high paying job at a law firm, and Mother Dolores decision to leave acting after playing the leading female role opposite Elvis Presley were considered by many to be utterly foolish.



Msgr. Nalty and Mother Dolores, Holy Trinity Apostolate, Michigan.

Our saints prove that being a “fool for Christ” is really an act of wisdom. St. Francis of Assisi was looked down upon, even by members of his own family, because he wanted to serve God, especially in the poor.

St. Philip Neri did all sorts of tricks, which many thought were foolish, just to get people to listen to his message about God. I wonder if he was willing to cook for them?



Me standing next to a cut out of St. Philip Neri in his museum room.

You may think I’m only talking about becoming a priest, nun, or a saint! But there’s unfortunate suspicion even among other Christian Believers!

Meet Dr. Scott Hahn, a renown Scripture Scholar who was branded a fool because he made the very difficult decision to become a Roman Catholic, even though he showed promise of being a one of the leading Presbyterian preachers.



Recently, Dr. Hahn came to Mount St. Mary’s to give a lecture on St. Paul. It was perfect timing because he helped explain the passage I quoted above about the “foolishness” of the Cross. He offered so much by way of spiritual insights – a scriptural all you can eat. Despite what many considered a foolish decision, his entry into the Catholic Church has been one of the biggest blessings for me. I still remember hearing his personal conversion story and how it aided me in my own personal conversion and vocational discernment. His decision couldn’t be that foolish because it helped me wise up and listen to God more in prayer.
One thing he said that stuck with me: The foolishness of God is wiser than all earthly wisdom put together. Because God’s “foolishness” is based on His love for us.

The fact is love makes us do all sorts of foolish things. And the Cross, which we celebrate in a unique way during Lent, seemed like the biggest failure in all of world history. But God’s “foolishness” transformed the cross into the most powerful sign of love – a love that is willing to endure suffering for the beloved.



Image of Christ, Scourged and Crowned with Thorns.

In our modern and very information-oriented society, make sure we try not to become so smart we no longer need God or look to Him for guidance and truth. That would be the worst trick we can play on ourselves. It would lead to being a fool, not just one day a year, but suffering foolishness for all eternity.
This April Fool’s Day we recognize how some people choose not to believe in God because faith challenges people to do seemingly foolish things. Some would rather spend time worrying instead of spending time in prayer. Some find it smarter to trust in the stock market than in God. Unfortunately, many want to put their hope in a president, rather than hope in the Omniscient Lord.
But consider how worry doesn’t help us, how the stock market itself needs bailing out, and how many people in government promote foolish laws that kill unborn babies.
With such a track record of foolishness, I can honestly say that I’d gladly be a fool for Christ every day of the year. Because ultimately, the joke won’t be on me!




No Fooling with Tuna!



Some of the members of my ordination class.

A few months ago I had the pleasure of spending time with my brother priests at the Nalty Family Tree Farm in Brewton, Alabama. It’s an annual event that gathers our ordination class (this year celebrating 10 years of priesthood) for fraternity and support. We help each other deal with foolishness – the world’s and our own. This year, Msgr. Nalty and I had a cook off. The secret ingredient: Yellow Fin Tuna!




He made the main course: a sesame crusted tuna, topped with a wisabe aioli, along with a funghi porcini risotto.





I made an appetizer: a sweetened, soy-seared tuna on top of a crisp cucumber, stuffed with a rice pilaf and marinated apples. Our friend, Fr. Bahash was the taste testing judge. When we asked him, “Who won?” He claimed he was the winner – since he had the job of eating these delectables!





See below for the recipe to my showcased tuna. If you make this during a Friday of Lent, your family will know you’re not fooling around either!

Sweetened, Soy-seared Tuna
1 cucumber, pealed (leaving some green around the edges)
½ pound fresh tuna
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ brown sugar
1 lemon
1 bag microwavable rice pilaf
½ apple, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons apple vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt & pepper
Fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil

Prepare cucumber cups by pealing sections of the skin off the cucumber. Cut cucumber into 1 ½ inch circles. Use a melon ball scoop to cut out a small bowl in the cucumber.
Prepare the rice and apple filling by heating the rice in the microwave per the instructions. Cut the apple into thin “match stick” sized pieces. Mix with the rice, adding vinegar, salt, and pepper. You can also throw in some fresh cilantro with the rice as well. Put some of the rice combination in the “bowl” of the cucumber cup.
Prepare the fish marinade by combining the soy sauce, brown sugar, and the juice of one lemon until sugar is completely dissolved. Cut the fish so that it is shaped like a long “tube” (as much as possible). Marinate fish for about 20 minutes in the soy, sugar, and lemon mixture. Heat olive oil in non stick pan. When oil reaches smoking point, carefully place fish in the pan to sear all sides. Cook for 1-2 minutes at most on each side of the fish. Remove and let rest before cutting into ½ inch “mini steaks” and placing on top of the cucumber cup filled with the apple flavored rice. Top off with cilantro and some lemon for garnish.







Avoiding Foolishness, Except in Christ


Let us pray: God, loving you is the wisest thing we can do. Serving your church is one of the best things we can do to help improve society. Praying for guidance is the only way we will know the difference between foolishness and truth. Help us O Lord to grow in understanding our call in life, even if others will consider us foolish. With the prayers of the angels and saints, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.




Ask Fr. Leo for fatherly advice.
Any submissions may be used in future Grace Before Meals publications.


Daily Reading & Meditation
Wednesday: (4/1): "The truth will make you free"
Gospel Reading: John 8:31-42

31 Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33 They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say, `You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father." 39 They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what Abraham did. 41 You do what your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

Old Testament Reading: Daniel 3:14-20,91-92,95

14 Nebuchadnez'zar said to them, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up? 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up." 19 Then Nebuchadnez'zar was full of fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

Meditation: What saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego from the fiery furnace? It was their obedience to God’s will. They were willing to suffer death rather than disobey their God. God was with them in the fiery furnace and he rewarded them for their faithfulness. Jesus came to do the will of his Father in heaven. He was not spared the cross which he willing embraced for our sake. His obedience reversed the curse of Adam’s disobedience. The Father crowned him with victory over sin, death, and Satan. Jesus shows us the way to true freedom and victory – by freely submitting our heart, mind, and will to an all-merciful, all-loving, and all-wise God. What the Father offers us in exchange is a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans14:17). The happiest, freest people are those who delight in God. Their joy is the pleasure of doing the Father’s will. Do you know the joy of obeying God and trusting in his life-giving word?

The world presents us with a false notion of truth and freedom – “truth is relative so I choose my own criteria for what is true” and worldly freedom means “I can do whatever I please – regardless of what God or others might think.” This is really a mask for slavery to one’s passions and unruly desires. Jesus offers his disciples true freedom – freedom from slavery to pride and arrogance, disbelief and ignorance, selfishness and greed, hatred and revenge, fear and anxiety, despair and depression, and a host of many other hurtful desires and addictions which cripple our lives. The good news is that Jesus Christ has truly set us free from sin and its destructive force in our lives. How is this possible? Through the gift and power of the Holy Spirit we can choose to renounce sin and we can yield to God's grace which enables us to walk each day and each moment in Christ’s way of love and holiness.

A disciple is a follower and a listener. If we want to follow Christ and live as his disciples, then we must listen to the words of Jesus, with a humble and teachable spirit. As we listen with faith and obey with trust, Christ himself gives us grace – the enabling power of his Holy Spirit – to live, think, and act in the truth of his word. Do you believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to change your life and to set you free to walk in Christ's way of love and holiness? .

"Lord Jesus, write your words of love and truth upon my heart and make me a diligent student and a worthy disciple of your word."

Psalm 18: 25-27

25 With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal; with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless;
26 with the pure thou dost show thyself pure; and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse.
27 For thou dost deliver a humble people; but the haughty eyes thou dost bring down.



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(c) 20Daily Reading & Meditation
Thursday: (4/2): "Before Abraham was, I am"
Gospel Reading: John 8:51-59

51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death." 52 The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, `If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death.' 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you claim to be?" 54 Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God. 55 But you have not known him; I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad." 57 The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." 59 So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 17:3-9

3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.

Meditation: Do you submit to Jesus' words as if your life depended on it? Jesus made a claim which only God can make – "if any one keeps my word, he will never see death." St. Augustine of Hippo, in his commentary on John's Gospel, explains this verse: "It means nothing less than he saw another death from which he came to free us – the second death, eternal death, the death of hell, the death of the damned, which is shared with the devil and his angels! This is the real death; the other kind of death is only a passage." [Tractates on the Gospel of John 43.10-11]

When God established a relationship with Abraham, he offered him an unbreakable "everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:7). Jesus came to fulfill that covenant so that we could know the living God and be united with him both now and for all eternity. God made us to know him and to be united with him and he gives us the gift of faith and understanding so that we may grow in the knowledge of what he has accomplished for us through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus challenged the people of Israel to accept his word as the very revelation of God himself. His claim challenged the very foundation of their belief and understanding of God. Jesus made a series of claims which are the very foundation of his life and mission. What are these claims? First, Jesus claims unique knowledge of God as the only begotten Son of the Father in heaven. Since he claims to be in direct personal communion with his Father in heaven, he knows everything about the Father. Jesus claims that the only way to full knowledge of the mind and heart of God is through himself. Jesus also claims unique obedience to God the Father. He thinks, lives and acts in the knowledge of his Father's word. To look at his life is to "see how God wishes me to live." In Jesus alone we see what God wants us to know and what he wants us to be.

When the Jewish authorities asked Jesus who do you claim to be? he answered, "before Abraham was, I am." Jesus claims to be timeless and there is only one in the universe who is timeless, namely God. Scripture tells us that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus was not just a man who came, lived, died, and then rose again. He is the immortal timeless One, who always was and always will be. In Jesus we see the eternal God in visible flesh. He is God who became a man for our sake and for our salvation. His death and resurrection make it possible for us to share in his immortality. Do you believe the words of Jesus and obey them with all your heart, mind, and strength?

"Lord Jesus, let your word be on my lips and in my heart that I may walk in the freedom of your everlasting love, truth and goodness."

Psalm 105:4-9

4 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!
5 Remember the wonderful works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
6 O offspring of Abraham his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He is mindful of his covenant for ever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant which he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac



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