Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary.

At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
He revealed himself in this way.
Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We also will come with you.”
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.
When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”
They answered him, “No.”
So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something.”
So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad,
and jumped into the sea.
The other disciples came in the boat,
for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards,
dragging the net with the fish.
When they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.”
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”
because they realized it was the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
Jesus said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

I have sinned many times and still do.  I then feel guilt.  I now have a choice. I can repent and come back to God or I can rationalize that I was born a sinner, everyone else is sinning, it is part of my nature, or that it wasn’t that bad.  Then, I recall the Passion of Christ. Jesus Christ loved me so much He “who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21  I rush to confession like the Apostles did when they saw the Lord today, the third time He has appeared to them since the Resurrection.  Peter repents, is filled with sorrow, and comes back to the Lord.  Judas did not. Today, Peter’s repentance is a three fold “Yes, Lord you know that I love” for the three times he denied the Lord on Holy Thursday night.  As a disciple of Christ, the most difficult part of the journey is recognizing we are sinners and losing.  

We must learn to lose.  The key though is in what we do after we have lost. Recognizing the whole purpose of our Savior, Jesus Christ, coming to earth to give us hope, forgiveness and mercy, and love.  Jesus came down in the mud and the muck of human sin and suffering to raise us up out of it. If you want to get out of sin especially an addictive sin, you must come to know Jesus personally and you will learn how to rise above the mud and the muck. His grace came to destroy what sin has damaged. Ultimately, Jesus became Man to reconcile us with God the Father, our maker.  God desires nothing more than for us to repent and be with Him. He loves us so much. Each time we do, the closer we get to conquering sin. Jesus gives us the power to conquer sin through the Cross.  

After we recognize this we begin to find what is leading us to sin and try to avoid it.  We pray harder.  We talk to Jesus more. We learn more about God. We come to the Scriptures.  We most importantly come to Jesus in the confessional, repent, receive His grace to fight sin better, and then receive Him more worthily in the Eucharist.  God cannot give us anymore than Himself, the Eucharist. This is the purpose of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. God brings us out of the world and its problems and into heaven, into His grace, and allows us to offer our sin and suffering up through His Son on the altar. Then, we see the light and begin to overcome the darkness and sin in our life. Jesus had to go through the Passion to get to the Resurrection. We can learn to repent, die to self, come to God’s grace in the Catholic ER (Eucharist and Reconciliation) and prepare ourselves for our heavenly home or choose to stay stuck.  Thank you God for giving us your Son, Jesus Christ, so that I may repent and come back to you.

Today’s challenge: Recognize that every little sin is sin.  Totally and completely come to Jesus with a good confession. Receive the Eucharist more worthily.  Learn to lose, repent, and live in the light.  Prepare yourself to avoid the next sin, especially judging others.

#Christian YOLO

Be a servant, become a saint!

No Bible no breakfast, No Bible no bed. -Fr. Larry Richards “Become a Man”