John 18:37 - Respondit Jesus: Tu dicis, quia Rex sum ego. Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni in mundum, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati: omnis qui est ex veritate, audit vocem meam. Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a King. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth, heareth My voice.

Mark 13:31 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Matthew 23:11-12 The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Thessalonians 2:13 In receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.

Matthew 22: 34-37 He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:21 He said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

This is the key truth of the Gospel: we must die and rise in Christ.

Matthew 21:42 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Philippians 2:9-11 – Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BEND, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 1: 27a - Conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ

Sirach 27:30-28:1 – Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).”

Tomorrow, we will join with our fellow Americans in celebrating Labor Day. Many will have the day off. We should take some time to pause and reflect on the dignity of all work.

To have a grateful heart is to see that one is blessed in so many ways, actually too many to count. 

Matthew 16: 15-19 – He (Jesus) said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

“harvest is great, but the laborers are few.”

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This is unusual because it is celebrated on a Sunday only when August 6 falls on a Sunday. Nevertheless, we hear of this great manifestation each year in the gospel of the Second Sunday of Lent.

Usually, during a California summer, the image of rain coming down on us is rather remote. However, when I was a child in Pennsylvania and later Indiana, summer rains were common. I still remember listening to the pitter-patter of raindrops, safe and snug in bed under the eaves in our cozy Cape Cod house; or, as a young man, on the sides of a pup tent after a day of hiking. There was always a sense of peace and calm before the voice of God in nature. I felt assured to rest in the Lord’s loving embrace.

In our secular society we accept the same challenge St. Paul made in ancient Rome in his letter to the Romans: “You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. ..For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” More than ever we are true patriots when we are devoted and faithful Christians.

Dear Parishioners and Friends, May God bless you and your loved ones on this Fourth of July weekend!