[00:00] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. In today's readings, the first reading of the letter of St. Peter, our Lord St. Peter writes to us reminding us that our first vocation is a call to holiness, that no matter what state of life we are in, priest, religious, laity, single, married, single, widowed, no

[00:37] matter what stage of life we're in, state of life we're in, we are called to holiness, that holiness is our first vocation, and that each day is a gift from God for us to be renewed in this desire to achieve holiness and to unite ourselves ever more perfectly with our Lord in striving to imitate Him and following Him, and it's so important for us never to allow ourselves to get discouraged or disheartened because of our sins, because of our faults, but to persevere with confidence in His, and trust in His mercy, using the sacraments that

[01:12] our Lord provides for us to help us. In the gospel, our Lord also gives some insight into those, in being detached, that we are all called to be detached from the things of this world, to be detached from things of this world so that our hearts may be more firmly rooted in Christ and following Christ, and our Lord promises when we detach ourselves or give up things for Him, we will be even

[01:43] more blessed, even more blessed in our following Him, but our Lord also includes in the blessings of receiving of the houses and mothers and fathers and children and lands, He also promises persecution, that we are all, in that He assures us that we will not be without trials, trials, and that in this we must have renewed strength and courage in loving Him and following Him

[02:15] and persevering. Today we honor St. Philip Neri, St. Philip Neri is known as the Apostle of Rome and he died in 1575, he founded the Oratorians or the Priest of the Oratory, and he is renowned for his preaching and his great love for Christ, and he was praying on Pentecost one year for increase in love, and increase in love, and he was in the catacombs of St. Sebastian,

[02:52] and he was praying for an increase of love, an increase of fervor and zeal for Jesus, and a globe of fire appeared and entered his mouth and entered him, and this globe of fire enlarged his heart to the point where it even broke some of his ribs, and it was found after he died and examining his heart that his heart had been enlarged, and he was then constantly filled with such a divine fire of love for Jesus that he was, people

[03:27] that touched him said that it was like touching a stove or an oven, a hot stove or an oven, so on fire was he for love of God, love of God. He is known of course for many things, first that he had a great sense of humor, he liked to make jokes or play jokes and do jokes, he was known to have a great sense of humor, and once a wealthy politician invited him to his home for a reception with other noble

[04:01] guests, and St. Philip Neri knew that the politician, rich man, had invited him just to show off a saint, and so he shaved half of his face so that he would be humble, and that he would be humble, he also had a beautiful quote that he would say, and he would sing in the streets with the youth or the orphans, "I prefer paradise, I prefer paradise, I prefer paradise," and in this always lifting his heart,

[04:35] and he said this also when he was offered to be a cardinal, he turned down the invitation by the pope to be a cardinal, he said "I prefer heaven, I prefer heaven, I prefer paradise," so he did not accept that invitation. He also had performed many miracles, multiplying food for the poor was an often, often was a frequent miracle when food was running short and he would go back to the pot to fill up more bowls of food, it would be miraculously

[05:11] filled. Also, a 14-year-old prince died before he could get to him to hear his confession and give him the last rites, and he said a prayer over the dead body's boy, the boy's dead body, blessed him and sprinkled him with holy water, and the boy awoke and he was able to go to confession to St. Philip Neri, receive the last blessing, and St. Philip Neri said to him,

[05:43] "are you ready now to go to heaven to be with your mother and your sister," and he said yes, and he fell back to sleep and died peacefully. St. Philip Neri also, he had a wonderful remedy for temptations, he would say every day this prayer, "Lord place your hand on Philip's shoulder lest he betray you, Lord place your hand on Philip's shoulder lest he betray you," and that's a beautiful prayer he would say every day. He was also known for his oratory, his order to

[06:16] reform clergy and to help clergy in preaching and doing their duty, so he was a great reformer in helping renew the priesthood. Today we can ask St. Philip Neri to help us that we may have that desire for an increase of love for Jesus, and also that we may have this same sense of joy that he had, that he had a sense of joy that was recognizable, and that joy of course

[06:50] was rooted in Christ, that joy sustained him in his, even in trials and difficulties, knowing that he belonged to Jesus, and that he was with Jesus and united to Jesus, and that same reflection should fill our hearts with joy and help us, no matter what we face in life, that we are united to Christ our Lord and Savior. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[07:27] Amen.