Homilies by Msgr. John Cihak

As St. John the Baptist calls us to repentance, St. Paul calls us to true joy. Their calls are one and the same, and the biggest obstacle to following that call is sin. Sin distorts our desires for the good into temptations to what harms us- so how do we make sure our desires stay holy?

"Receiving the Lord’s forgiveness starts it all, because there we find how much He loves us, delights in us and how far He’s willing to go for us. That gives us the power to extend it to others and have it extended to ourselves."

Advent is a time of patient but active waiting. Our task is to engage Jesus and invite grace to do what grace does: heal, sanctify and save. So when our world is crashing down around us, we are not to duck and dive for cover: rather, stand erect, and lift your eyes to Him who is coming to you.

So many of our hearts’ wounds are caused by a lack of love. Jesus reveals in His Kingship that He is the King of love through healing those wounds caused by a lack of love. He is the King of truth and crushes the lies we believe about ourselves and others which hold us bound. So how does His healing get into us?

Our Lord promises to call us to account for our sins on the last day. If we receive this call as an invitation to examine our wounds honestly and courageously, then we allow our Lord to save us, and to give us true hope.

"Take that pain, even if you don’t know exactly where it came from or what it is. That’s your two small coins. Put them in the Temple treasury, that is, put them in Jesus’ wounds. His wounds show us that He has already gone 'all in' for us." -Msgr. John Cihak

To know the young Margaret of Tuscany, you would never once think she would be a saint. It was nothing more or less than Jesus's healing mercy that transformed her into the great St. Margaret of Cortona- and so it is with every saint in heaven, and with us here and now.

So many of us live life thinking “This is as good as it gets.” We carry inner wounds of discouragement, of feeling abandoned, of a broken and wounded heart- and we carry them so long, we cannot see that there is any possibility of living life whole. We need to be set free. We need to be healed.

When the culture of death is so prevalent today, how do we answer? Jesus tells us, "I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly." And one of our strongest aids in fulfilling His mission is His own foster father.

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It's not so easy to accept Jesus's offer of rescue: His encounter with the rich young man shows us that we need to respond courageously. So what does it mean to respond to Jesus? How do we say yes to Him, both personally and in the mission He calls us to join Him on?

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--- Visit us for Mass: https://ctk.cc/

--- Sign up for our weekly e-bulletin: https://bit.ly/2MNcXPm

--- Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristTheKingMilwaukie