From the 3rd Sunday of Easter, Finding Peace and Joy in the Eucharist with Fr. Dom

From the 3rd Sunday in Easter, Fr. Dom discusses the importance of the Holy Trinity in our lives and how it can transform us to becoming kind, loving, courageous, and brave. It emphasizes the power and dynamite we receive from the Holy Spirit to fulfill our mission of kindness and love. This homily also highlights the examples of the early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles, who were bold and courageous in proclaiming Jesus despite persecution. The readings from Acts of the Apostles serve as a guide for modern Catholics on how to live and act in the world. Fr. Dom's homily concludes with a reminder of the peace and joy we can experience through recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Takeaways

1. The Holy Trinity is essential in our lives and can transform us
2. We receive power and dynamite from the Holy Spirit to fulfill our mission of kindness and love.
3. The early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles serve as examples of boldness and courage in proclaiming Jesus.
4. Reading Acts of the Apostles can guide modern Catholics on how to live and act in the world.
5. Recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread brings us peace and joy.

Thoughts to Chew On

• "Let kindness be your life mission and love your legacy."
• "We have dynamite from the Holy Spirit."
• "If you want to know what it's like to be a Catholic, read the Acts of the Apostles."

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Transcript

James Caldwell (00:00.142)
Welcome to the Manly Catholic. In this podcast, we will inspire, challenge, and equip all men to become the men they were created to be. Join us as we journey together to become the best versions of ourselves and strive to change our communities one man at a time.

Fr. Dom (00:21.806)
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday I saw someone wearing a shirt that said, let kindness be your life mission and love your legacy. Let kindness be your life mission and love your legacy. So I've been thinking about that since yesterday. I've come to the realization that I can't do that on my own and neither can you.

We need someone, don't we? We need the Holy Trinity. We need the most Holy Trinity. And as we moved out of Lent and we've celebrated Easter, the great resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and as we're in the midst of this great 50 days of celebration towards Pentecost, I think it's very important for us to understand that...

Over the past 2 ,000 years, and it's only been 2 ,000 years, we as human beings have had access to the fullness of God, the most holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. For in the Old Testament, they didn't have full access to God, did they? And even in the New Testament, where we see Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the dead, we still do not yet have the fullness of the most holy Trinity.

to that Pentecost, the descent of the third person of the Holy Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. And from that moment on, nothing's the same. Everything is different. There's no more prophets. There's no more this full revealing of who God is. We have access to the most Holy Trinity. Amazing. What a gift.

Fr. Dom (02:23.79)
Should we pray to God the Father, we pray to Jesus, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I want power from the Holy Spirit to help me. But just roll everything into one and start praying to the Holy Trinity. It's only been 2 ,000 years. That's one thing that has hit me. Another thing that hit me this past week and even into this Sunday was this text messaging. I was going back and forth with a friend of mine, a really good...

friend of mine, a Protestant, and we were texting about something. He wanted me to weld something, fabricate something for him. And then I said to him, hey man, happy Easter. He texted back and he said, hey dummy, every day is Easter. Of course, every day is Easter.

It doesn't matter if it's a Saturday morning or a Tuesday evening mass or every time we celebrate mass here, it's everything that happens. The Holy Trinity we have access to. Every day is Easter. Don't forget that. Remember, they will know we are Christians by our what? Yeah. So we need the Holy Trinity to do that. They will know we are Christians by our love. And so when we have that power, or in the Greek, dynamous,

More properly translated in English from that word dynamite, we have dynamite from the Holy Spirit. It's only then can we truly make kindness our mission and love our legacy.

Every day is Easter. Every day you wake up, you can participate fully in the Holy Trinity. Wow. Does that change your life?

(04:14.702)
Should that change your life? Yes, it should change our lives every day. What are you doing to allow the Holy Trinity to transform you every day so that you can become kind, you can become loving, you can have courage, you can have bravery?

Because we can hear in our Acts of the Apostles reading, Peter, our first Pope, Pope St. Peter, is being very bold, isn't he? Well, didn't we just witness through the triduum, Peter denying God three times, and now we hear in Acts of the Apostles after he has the fullness of the Holy Trinity disposed upon him, that he is proclaiming Christ risen from the dead boldly. So much so that a...

A few decades later, he's murdered upside down on a cross, and he does not stop preaching Jesus.

If you've paid attention to our readings from Tuesday till Saturday this past week, and I often encourage you to do so, read the mass readings every day. At least the Gospel. But if you've been reading the first reading of every mass since Tuesday to today, it's been Acts of the Apostles. So I encourage you to keep doing that because I guarantee you one thing, that if you at least read the mass readings through the week up to Sunday, when you hear the Sunday Gospel,

you will have a better and deeper understanding of it because you have been preparing yourself by immersing yourself in Holy Sacred Scripture. So the Catholic Church has put great writings before us, St. Luke's, Acts of the Apostles.

 (06:01.774)
So I'd like to share with you just briefly.

pieces of each first reading from Acts of the Apostles on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

And as I read these, think of the power of the Holy Trinity now given to them and the strength they have of proclaiming Jesus and building the Catholic Church and converting people and baptizing them. And the Eucharist and confession because this is Acts of the Apostles. If you want to know what it's like to be a Catholic, read Acts of the Apostles. If you want to know how to act in our modern world as a Catholic, read Acts of the Apostles.

Acts of the Apostles isn't some dead letter and it just stopped. Acts of the Apostles is still going and that's us here, now. Why? Because we're still going to pagan nations. We're still building Catholic churches. We're still baptizing and confirming in the Eucharist and reconciliation. It hasn't stopped. It's still going. That's us. And so we can do well by reading Acts of the Apostles and those are our marching orders as baptized Christians.

So this is what the early Christians were doing, most specifically the apostles, our first bishops. Tuesday, a piece of Acts of the Readings said this, the community of believers was of one heart and mind. All the Christians. There was no schisms. There was no fighting. There was no inserts of political, secular ideology that destroys them. They were of one heart and one mind because they were one with the Holy Trinity.

(07:38.478)
Any of their possessions was not their own, for they shared everything in common, and with great power, and with great dynamite, the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of Lord Jesus. And throughout all these readings, they're getting thrown in jail, then the Lord will release them. And they go to the temple and teach, they're thrown in jail, then the Lord will release them and say, go and teach. And they go to the temple. This is what's happening in the beginning of Acts to the Apostles. So the Sadducees,

Like the law of Israel, like the big guys that are leading Israel.

Sadducees filled with jealousy laid hands upon the apostles and put them in the public jail because they were teaching in the temple. Catholicism is just not private. It's very public. But during the night the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, let them out and said, go and take your place in the temple area again and tell the people everything about this life, the Christian life. So when they heard this, they went to the temple area in the morning and taught. You would think that if you're getting in trouble for doing something,

that you would stop or you would go someplace else. But no, they went right back into the lion's den. They were so filled with the Holy Trinity. On Thursday, actually the apostles said this, the high priest questioned them because they were caught again and they were brought back into the temple to be judged by the scribes and the Pharisees and the high priests. The high priest questioned them. We gave you strict orders. Did we not to stop teaching in that name?

Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter, our first pope, and the apostles, the other bishops, said in reply, and I love this, such courage, such bravery. They said, we must obey God rather than men. Imagine that you're in this position, but imagine it's today. Imagine that the great high Supreme Court of the United States has brought you before them. All the power of the United States is upon you.

(09:44.238)
And the whole world is watching.

And these judges say before you, stop talking about Jesus.

Imagine that, the whole world's watching. And they say, stop talking about Jesus. I hope that if that ever comes to me, I will have the power to say, nope, I will not. Because that's what they're doing. Finally, on Friday, Acts the Apostle says this, after recalling the apostles, again, they're in the temple, they get brought back to the Sadducees for questioning again.

The Sadducees are getting sick and tired of this. After recalling the apostles, they had them whipped and flogged, ordering them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus and dismiss them. So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming Christ Jesus.

What power and acts of the apostles that show us how to live as Christians. And finally, just touching on our gospel today. When we do these things, when we do the things that we hear in our second reading from St. John who says, if you love me, you'll follow my commandments. If you say you love me and you don't follow my commandments, you're a liar and the truth is not in you. That's a tough statement. A cut to the heart. But see, when we give ourselves over to the Holy Trinity, the Holy Trinity works through us.

(11:15.054)
And when we're put before governors and princes and kings, we don't have to worry about what to say because the power of the Holy Trinity will speak through us like they were with the apostles. And when we do that, we can enter into that great peace that Jesus says to Peter and the apostles when he reveals himself to them. He says, peace be with you. That's what we want in life. We want peace. Even in the midst of chaos, we can have that peace and joy. And how do we know that we have peace? Well, Jesus says this, that they recognize them in the breaking of the bread.

They recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread, the most holy Eucharist that we get to receive today. Oh, what great joy it is to be a Christian in this world. So today, my brothers and sisters, as we receive the most holy Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity of God, let us give thanks that he has called us to be witnesses to the world of the most holy Trinity given to us. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

James Caldwell (end) Thank you all so much for tuning in to another episode of The Manly Catholic. If you have not already done so, please hit that subscribe button wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss a single episode. It will also help grow the show and reach as many men as possible. We truly think this podcast can change families and help men to change the world. Thank you again so much for tuning in and God bless you.