2-22-22 Which Speck Do You Spot?

Spanish Translation at the bottom

We find ourselves in a rather unusual spot this Sunday as we usually do not observe the Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time because we are usually into the Season of Lent before it comes our way. So here we are and here we go. I suggest we pay attention because I am not sure when we will be able to meet here again.  I remember when I was driving a Prius, it seems as though I saw a lot of other Prius(es) on the road. I never really noticed them before, but I suppose they were always there. Then when I began driving a Sonata, it all of a sudden seemed like all these other Sonatas made themselves known. Have you ever noticed that kind of thing? When I need a haircut, as I very much do right now, I become keenly aware of other folks who just had their hair cut, and it reminds me of my dire need. (I certainly hope that my hair is cut before I give this homily, because if not I will be very self-conscious indeed!)  But then I noticed something that is very troublesome to me to this day, but I know now to be on the lookout for it. I am now very much aware that if I notice a fault in someone else, there is actually a very good chance that I also am victimized by that same fault. If I notice something about someone else that is annoying to me, it could very well mean that I have first noticed it about myself. It’s actually a pretty good way of keeping myself in check. So what about you? What about the speck that you spot? Do you think that just maybe I might not be the only one afflicted in this way? Check it out next time. The next time you spot a speck in someone else, check out whether or not you can spot pretty much the same speck in yourself. And if you do, take care of your own speck, before you help them with theirs.

¿Qué Defecto Ves?

Nos encontramos en un lugar bastante inusual este Domingo, ya que generalmente no celebramos el  Octavo Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario porque generalmente estamos en la Temporada de Cuaresma antes de que se nos presente. Así que aquí estamos y aquí vamos. Sugiero que prestemos atención porque no estoy seguro de cuándo podremos encontrarnos aquí nuevamente. Recuerdo cuando conducía un Prius, parece que vi muchos otros Prius en la carretera. Realmente nunca los había notado antes, pero supongo que siempre estuvieron ahí. Luego, cuando comencé a conducir un Sonata, de repente pareció que todos estos otros Sonatas salieron a relucir. ¿Alguna vez has notado ese tipo de cosas? Cuando necesito un corte de pelo, como lo necesito ahora, me doy cuenta de otras personas que acaban de cortarse el pelo, y me recuerda mi extrema necesidad. (¡Ciertamente espero que me corten el cabello antes de dar esta homilía, porque si no, me sentiré muy avergonzado!) Pero luego noté algo que me preocupa mucho hasta el día de hoy, pero ahora sé cómo estar al pendiente de eso. Ahora soy muy consciente de que, si noto una falla en otra persona, en realidad hay una gran posibilidad de que yo también sea víctima de esa misma falla. Si noto algo sobre otra persona que me molesta, podría significar que primero lo noté sobre mí mismo. En realidad, es una muy buena manera de mantenerme bajo control. ¿Y qué me dices de ti? ¿Qué pasa con el defecto que ves? ¿Crees que tal vez yo no sea el único afligido de esta manera? Compruébalo la próxima vez. La próxima vez que veas un defecto en otra persona, verifique si puede o no detectar más o menos el mismo defecto en usted mismo. Y si lo haces, cuida tu propio defecto, antes de ayudarlos con el de ellos.

2-20-22 The Hardest Part

The Hardest Part

Today’s Gospel, I believe, brings many of us to the most difficult part of Jesus’ teaching; at least I know it is for me. Jesus says “Love your enemies, do good to those who hurt you, bless those who curse you…” He tells us to turn the other cheek!   It is easier for us to avoid sexual immorality than to avoid hating someone who has hurt us, but that is what He is calling us to do.  It is easier for us to make tremendous sacrifices for the needs of others than to avoid lashing out at someone who has hurt us or our families, but that is what He is calling us to do. Following Jesus means fighting off the hatred that is in the world-and destroying it-by beginning with the anger that is in our hearts and souls. Jesus says that we must be compassionate as our Heavenly Father is compassionate. We need to be concerned with the needs of others by being charitable, sympathetic and forgiving. Just as we are dependent on His care, we need to offer the same to others and especially to those who are the most difficult for us to love. By holding grudges we are allowing God’s love and mercy to be limited-who gives us the right to do that? Who gives us the right to add to the sum total of hatred in the world? By returning anger and hatred with anger and hatred, all we are doing is becoming like the ones to whom our anger and hatred is aimed and we only hurt ourselves. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We are called by the Father to participate in the transformation of the world into the Kingdom of God and our major opportunity to do so is by changing ourselves with His grace. This may be the hardest part of Jesus teaching, but it also is the best part.  It enables us to live and to die in His love.

2-13-22 Blessed are Those Who KNow That They are in Need of God...For the Kingdom of Heaven is Theirs

It is good for us, while we are still in the early weeks of the season of Ordinary time (or, as I like to call it, the “season of real life”) to contemplate and reflect on the Beatitudes, which we hear today from the Gospel of St. Luke, since of course they are the centerpiece of Jesus’ teaching for us and for all people of all time.  If we read them with fresh eyes, listen to them, with fresh ears, and receive them with a newly opened mind and heart, we will indeed be better able to live these days of Ordinary Time in an extraordinarily good way.  First, it is probably good for us to remember the context in which they were given and to whom they were spoken.  The crowd to which Jesus spoke was made up precisely of those who were poor, who were suffering, who were mourning, who were persecuted, who were hungering and thirsting for justice, etc. and He told them that they were blessed for heaven would be theirs. Imagine what His words must have felt like to people who were seen and treated as the outcasts of society and realize that in hearing them we should feel the same way.  However, He is not saying that we should strive to be financially poor, or to be in a state of mourning or that we should want to be persecuted.  He is saying that if we are wealthy by worldly standards, if we are not  hungering for Him, if it does not sadden us if our loved ones are not following Him, and if the world thinks well of us, than we face the ominous peril of being cursed to an eternity without Him because we perceive no need of Him. However, if we recognize our dependence on Him, and not for the things of the world, if we hunger for His justice and mercy, if we mourn for those who do not realize their dependence on the Lord or hunger for His kingdom, and if we stand up for the kingdom in the face of persecution than we are truly blessed. Why?  Because if we live as people who are fully aware of our need for Him, of our true poverty, than the kingdom of heaven is indeed ours.

Bienaventurados Los Que  Saben Que Tienen Necesidad de Dios…

...Porque De Ellos Es El Reino De Los Cielos

Es bueno para nosotros, mientras todavía estamos en las primeras semanas de la temporada del Tiempo Ordinario (o, como me gusta llamarle, la “temporada de la vida real”) para contemplar y reflexionar sobre las Bienaventuranzas, que escuchamos hoy en el Evangelio de San Lucas, ya que por supuesto son la pieza central de la enseñanza de Jesús para nosotros y para todas las personas de todos los tiempos. Si las leemos y las escuchamos con ojos y oídos abiertos y las recibimos con una mente y un corazón recién abiertos, estaremos en mejores condiciones de vivir estos días del Tiempo Ordinario de una manera extraordinariamente buena. En primer lugar, probablemente sea bueno que recordemos el contexto en el que fueron dadas y a quiénes fueron dirigidas. La multitud a la que Jesús se dirigió estaba formada precisamente por los pobres, los que sufrían, los que lloraban, los perseguidos, los que tenían hambre y sed de justicia, etc. y les dijo que eran bienaventurados porque el cielo sería de ellos. Imagínese cómo se deben haber sentido Sus palabras para las personas que fueron vistas y tratadas como marginadas de la sociedad y dese cuenta de que al escucharlas debemos sentirnos de la misma manera. Sin embargo, Él no está diciendo que debamos esforzarnos por ser económicamente pobres, o estar en un estado de duelo o que debamos querer ser perseguidos. Él está diciendo que, si somos ricos según los estándares mundanos, si no tenemos hambre de Él, si no nos entristece que nuestros seres queridos no lo sigan, y si el mundo piensa bien de nosotros, entonces enfrentamos el abominable peligro de estar condenados por una eternidad sin Él porque no percibimos ninguna necesidad de Él. Sin embargo, si reconocemos nuestra dependencia de Él, y no de las cosas del mundo, si tenemos hambre de Su justicia y misericordia, si lloramos por aquellos que no se dan cuenta de su dependencia del Señor o tienen hambre de Su reino, y si defendemos el reino frente a la persecución, entonces somos verdaderamente bendecidos. ¿Por qué? Porque si vivimos como personas plenamente conscientes de nuestra necesidad de Él, de nuestra verdadera pobreza, entonces el reino de los cielos es verdaderamente nuestro.

2-06-22 "Here I am Lord, Send Me"

“Here I am Lord, Send Me”

Those words from Isaiah haunt me till this very day. I remember when I first felt the call to the priesthood, I could not get the words of the hymn “Here I am, Lord” out of my mind. What I remember so clearly during that time was the sobering realization that I/we only have one shot at life.  We only get one life.  We need to make the very best of it- we need to get our vocation right.  We need to serve God in every aspect of our lives. Some of you might be asking yourselves, as I often ask myself, “Am I good enough to serve God in the way that He wants me to serve Him?” All three readings this week answer that question.   Isaiah was not good enough at first.  Then an angel touched Isaiah’s mouth with the ember from the fire.  He was made clean.  In the second reading Paul reminds us that he started off by persecuting Christians. He was brutal to those who were living according to the new way. He would round up men, women and children and bring them to the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem.  He watched and approved as an innocent and meek Stephen was stoned to death by a mob.  Paul was a spectator at the lynching, but he cheered on the mob and left excited to find the mob’s next victims. But despite all this Jesus transformed Paul into an apostle.  “I am who I am,” St. Paul says, “through the Grace of God.”  In the Gospel, Peter wants Jesus to leave him because he is so aware of his own sin.  Jesus basically says, “No way.  I have work for you, you will be catching men.” And Jesus says to you and to me, “Stop hiding behind your human failures.  How dare you say that I cannot send you?  I am God.  I have work for you to do.  I will cleanse you.  I will send you.”  I remember when I left home to go to the seminary, my pastor, the priest who inspired me said to me that the priesthood is the life. I do believe that over the years I have come to a deeper understanding of what he meant when he spoke those words but I have also learned something else: when it comes right down to it the only life worth living is the life into which the Lord sends us. Therefore, our response to Him should always be, “Here I am Lord, send me.

Aquí Estoy Señor, Envíame Esas palabras de Isaías me persiguen hasta el día de hoy. Recuerdo que cuando sentí por primera vez el llamado al sacerdocio, no podía quitarme de la cabeza las palabras del cántico “Aquí estoy, Señor”. Lo que recuerdo tan claramente durante ese tiempo fue la realización edificante de que yo/nosotros solo tenemos una oportunidad en la vida. Solo tenemos una vida. Tenemos que aprovecharla al máximo, tenemos que acertar con nuestra vocación. Necesitamos servir a Dios en cada aspecto de nuestras vidas. Algunos de ustedes se estarán preguntando, como me pregunto a menudo, "¿Soy lo suficientemente bueno para servir a Dios en la forma en que Él quiere que le sirva?" Las tres lecturas de esta semana responden a esa pregunta. Isaías no era lo suficientemente bueno al principio. Entonces un ángel tocó la boca de Isaías con la brasa del fuego. Él fue hecho limpio. En la segunda lectura, Pablo nos recuerda que comenzó persiguiendo a los cristianos. Él era cruel con aquellos que vivían de acuerdo a la nueva ley. Él era malo. Él apresaba hombres, mujeres y niños y los llevaba ante las autoridades judías en Jerusalén. Observó y aprobó cómo un inocente y manso Esteban era apedreado por una multitud. Pablo fue un espectador del linchamiento, pero él animó a la multitud y se fue emocionado por encontrar a las próximas víctimas de la multitud. Pero a pesar de todo esto, Jesús transformó a Pablo en apóstol. “Soy quien soy”, dice San Pablo, “por la Gracia de Dios”. En el Evangelio, Pedro quiere que Jesús lo deje porque es muy consciente de su propio pecado. Jesús básicamente dice: “De ninguna manera. Tengo trabajo para ti, serás pescador de hombres”. Y Jesús te dice a ti y a mí: “Dejen de esconderse detrás de sus fracasos humanos. ¿Cómo te atreves a decir que no puedo enviarte? Yo soy Dios. Tengo trabajo para ti. Te limpiaré. Te enviaré." Recuerdo cuando salí de casa para ir al seminario, mi párroco, el sacerdote que me inspiró me dijo que el sacerdocio es la vida. Creo que a lo largo de los años he llegado a una comprensión más profunda de lo que quiso decir cuando pronunció esas palabras, pero también he aprendido algo más: cuando se trata de eso, la única vida que vale la pena vivir es la vida en la que el Señor nos envía. Por lo tanto, nuestra respuesta a Él siempre debe ser: “Aquí estoy, Señor, envíame”.

1-30-22 Louie Knew

Louie Knew

Although it is very hard for me to believe this, it has been over 30 years now, that I, while as a seminarian on break, can remember visiting with parishioners one Sunday after Mass at my home parish, Sacred Heart in Oxford, PA.  As I was greeting many people whom I had not seen for a while, a young man of about 13 or 14 who I knew from the parish CYO came up to me to say “Hi” I said “Louie, it’s great to see you, how are you?” He said “OK” in a less than an enthusiastic manner to which I responded, “Are you sure; is there something wrong?” “No,” he said, “it’s just that I have to go to CCD class.” (CCD is what we in Oxford used to call religious education classes for children who did not attend Catholic School). “That’s not so bad is it?” I asked. “I guess not,” he said,” except for the fact that they keep on talking about the same old things, things I already know all about.” “Oh,” I said, “can you give me an example of something that they keep on talking about of which you already know?” He said “you know, Love.” Now, it is very true that I am not so sure that young Louie’s understanding of love would match that which is displayed in the words of St. Paul in our second reading which are as follows: “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.” However, it did show me that there was something very valuable that he did understand; there was a connection that he had made. He may not have known all about Catholic Education, but he definitely had a sense that it always pointed to love.  As we begin Catholic Schools Week that is indeed a connection of which we need to be aware. All the wonderful learning that we experience in all of the different grade levels and all of the different subjects and activities is always about helping us to know, to understand, to experience and to share the love of God. That is what it is always about. We learn about the truths of God’s universe so that we can better receive and share His love.  And this education does not stop. We never ever get to the point, even though Louie thought he had done so, where we can say that we know all about love. And that is what makes our lives so adventurous and exciting. So, my young friend Louie does have a lesson that remains valid and valuable to each and every one of us to the present day and throughout eternity: Catholic Education is indeed always meant to be all about love. That’s what Louie knew.

1-23-22 "rejoicing in the Lord Must Be Your Strength"

What is your strength?  We all have strengths; they have been given to us by God. Do we know what they are?  I bet if you were asked what your weaknesses were, you would have an easier time identifying and listing them then you have identifying your strengths. But really folks, we should know our strengths at least as much as we know our weaknesses. Why?  Well not so that we can become proud and brag about them but so that we know that we have them at our disposal to help us overcome our weaknesses and so that we can put them at the Lord’s disposal in building up His Kingdom. And there is another reason, which we will come back to after looking at our scripture readings for a bit.  Our first reading gives us a snapshot of the story of Ezrah and Nehemiah. Their story in the scripture captures that part of the Jewish history from the end of the Babylonian Captivity to the restoration of Jerusalem, including the rebuilding of its walls.  Today’s reading describes the historic scene of the priest Ezra reading the sacred Law to the people for the first time in generations. Imagine the emotions that must have been present in the hearts of the faithful that were present there.  Now fast forward to the Gospel scene in which Jesus, still very much at the beginning of His public ministry unrolls the scroll of Isaiah and reads these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” My guess is that the emotions of the people hearing these words of Jesus were very similar to those who heard Ezra reading the words of the Law hundreds of years before. Both were occasions that were marked by feelings of freedom, joy, heeling and restoration. Yet we are told that many were brought to tears as they heard the words of the Law being read Why- were they tears of joy? Perhaps, but maybe as people heard the words of the Law, they realized how much they feel short from it in living their lives. I bet there were the same kinds of tears in the synagogue when Jesus read those words from Isaiah as well. Those words reminded them that in their lives they experienced many imperfections, many weaknesses. They were enslaved, they were oppressed, they were afflicted. They needed to be healed, to be freed, to be restored. But Nehemiah and Jesus reminded them that despite their many weaknesses they were strong. And the same is true with us. We need to be able to see our strengths up against our weaknesses as we said before. But even more than that, we need to see our strengths, so that we can begin to see our greatest strength-who is the Lord Himself. And rejoicing in the Lord, must be our greatest strength.

1-16-22 Do Whatever He Tells You

There are many lessons in the story of the Wedding Feast of Cana. Today I will mention a few of them.  First Jesus needs to be invited into our lives just like He was invited to the wedding feast. He would not have gone if He were not invited. He will not come into our lives, our minds, our hearts, or souls if we don’t invite Him in. He simply does not force Himself upon us. So, do we want Him in our lives? Do we invite Him in? How so? If we want to be open to miracles in our lives, it would be best if we do our best to clearly let Him know that we want Him to be part of them. Second, we should be sensitive to the needs of others. Mary’s sensitivity to the needs of others is the reason why this miracle happened. If she was oblivious Jesus would never have been called upon.  Our sensitivity to the needs of others creates the possibility for miracles to happen. Third, we need to bring our needs to Jesus. I bet there are a lot of needs that we have of which we aren’t aware, or that we simply haven’t brought them to Him. Jesus is especially open to prayers that place the needs of others ahead of ourselves and, yes, He is particularly moved when His mother intercedes for us. Fourth, it is indeed when we obey His commands that miracles happen. I actually wonder if it isn’t our obedience to Him that is in fact the greatest miracle of all. Remember, scripture, continually reminds us that the Lord looks for obedience much more than He looks for sacrifice. Fifth, we need to give Him something or do something that shows Him that we are cooperating with Him if we hope that He will provide a miracle for us. Remember the five loaves and two fish that the young boy brought to Jesus that fed over 5000 people?  In this story, the people brought Him the six water jars that He transformed into approximately 900 bottles of wine! We must be active participants in the miracles we seek. We need to bring Him something, we need to act, we need to do something so that Jesus has “stuff” from us to perform the miracle. We can’t simply be a bystander, nor can we throw up our hands and say we don’t have anything to offer, we need to give Him what we have and show that we have a stake in what we are asking for. Jesus can do amazing things with just a little bit of faith but we have to show it to Him. Lastly the wedding feast of Cana reminds us that our whole faith journey is about a union, indeed a wedding, between God and us that begins with us inviting Him into our lives, being sensitive to the needs of others, bringing our needs to Him, doing whatever He tells us and ends with us actively demonstrating our faith in Him.

1-09-22 In Baptism He/She/We Died with Christ

In Baptism He/She/We Died with Christ

At every Funeral Mass the priest prays in these or similar words: “In Baptism, N died with Christ. May he/she share with Him everlasting life.”  Indeed, it is an integral part of our faith that in the sacrament of Baptism, we do experience a spiritual death.  As the Father, in this same sacrament claims us as His beloved children, we accept the call to die to ourselves and our selfish wills so that we might live fully for Him as His true sons and daughters. Perhaps we know the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the priest who, while in a Nazi concentration camp, gave up his own life so that another man would live. When asked how he was able to make such a choice, he explained that he was a Catholic priest, and that in a very real way he had had already given up his own life-on the day of his ordination. Actually, all of us have already given up our own lives, if we are truly living out our baptismal calls.  So-what about the baptism of Jesus?  If we believe that in our own baptisms, we have died with Him, then isn’t it correct to say that it was at His own baptism, that He died with us-every bit as much as He died for us on the Cross?  Jesus’ Baptism is so significant because it marks the time of His decision to follow the will of His Father. It was on the day of His Baptism that He laid down His life for us. From the day of His Baptism, He never strayed from His journey to Jerusalem and the Cross. No wonder it was at this time that His Father proclaimed Him as His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased.  Now, what about us?  Have we truly died with Christ at our baptisms or have we strayed away from our baptismal callings and from our own personal Crosses?  Are we living for Christ, or for ourselves? We are doing either one or the other-which is it?  Do we believe that Christ is in fact the one who was pointed to by all the prophets, etc. during the Advent/Christmas Season and proclaimed as such by God the Father Himself as the season comes to its end today-or not?  The answer to these questions will become clear to us as we examine how we live out our baptismal calls during the days of Ordinary Time-which begin tomorrow.

1-02-22 Mr. Rose's Epiphany

Mr. Rose’s Epiphany

As a newly ordained priest, I met a man named Mr. Rose who was a parishioner in the first parish to which I was assigned as a priest.  My guess was that he was about 45 years old but I never really knew for sure. I don’t think I ever learned his name until my second year in the parish but I had become familiar with his face almost as soon as I had arrived in the parish.   He came to Mass every Sunday and attended almost every parish activity by himself.  He sat in the middle of the center pew of the church, he wore one of two very similar looking suits every time I saw him, and although he was very polite I don’t know that I ever saw him engage any one in an actual conversation.  If I ever encountered him personally it was after Mass while I was greeting parishioners. He would simply nod as he went by.  He was intriguing because of his almost complete silence, his persistent presence and the sadness that always seemed to emanate from him. I wondered if I was ever going to get to know him and his story; and then one day he called the parish office for an appointment and wanted to see me.  We met several times over the next few months.  He was a single man who worked at a grocery store. He explained that he had been feeling sad ever since his mother died and he did not know how to shake it. At first, I told him that it was very normal to feel sad after losing a parent and that at the very least it would probably take a full year before things would begin to feel somewhat normal again. But he explained that it had been several years and he still felt pretty much the same way. I asked him how long it was since his mother had passed and he said that it was now well over 10 years ago.  I have to say that this was very surprising to me. Here was a middle-aged man who had been talking to me as if his mother had died in the very recent past but now I realized that he had been in this state of malaise for over a decade and saw no way to ever change his life situation. It was as if the life he had lived had simply been dealt to him and that he had no control or even influence over it. He was an only child who had lived in the same house from the time he was born and was now living there by himself since his mother’s death. I saw, however, that he did want to rise above his sadness, and although, I did not know the answer, I hoped very much that I could help him. Then finally at one of our meetings I asked him the following question.  “Mr. Rose,” I said, “have you ever done anything for anyone?”  He kind of looked a bit puzzled at first, as if he wondered what my question had to do with his situation, but after a bit of a pause he said that he really could not remember any time that he extended himself to anyone.  I explained to him that helping other people always tended to lift my spirits and I thought maybe it would help him as well. The rest, as they say is history. Mr. Rose agreed to help out at a local soup kitchen and became a regular there. Eventually he became very involved in the parish, and especially in any service activities. He became much more socially outgoing and his spirits rose almost exponentially. He wrote to me a couple years after I had been transferred and thanked me for the time I had shared with him and that he come to see my question as an “epiphany,” that literally brought him to new life.  You know what, folks?  I think Mr. Rose’s epiphany can be an epiphany for each of us. If we ever feel like we are in a rut that we can’t get out of, there is nothing like asking ourselves what we can do for others to pick ourselves up. Isn’t that what the three wise men did?  They took themselves out of their own safe little comfort zones and ended up walking differently for the rest of their lives. That’s what happened with Mr. Rose. He brought himself to new life. I’m thinkin’ it could happen to us too.

12-26-21 A Baby Changes Everything!

A baby does change everything, doesn’t it?  I have seen it many times. Being the 2nd of nine children I remember some of my younger brothers and sisters coming home as new borns. The house, the home, the family was never the same after the arrival of the newest little one. Not ever. From the moment they came on the scene they became the center of attention and affection etc.  I’ve seen it several times as with my brothers and sisters as they over the years have welcomed my 15 nieces and nephews into their homes. Indeed each of those new little ones immediately transformed their lives in the most dramatic fashion. All mothers and fathers and can testify and witness to the radical changes they experienced in their lives and their very character as a result of the appearance of that new little human being, who cannot do anything for him or herself.  And that’s what we celebrate at Christmas- the coming of a new born baby.  But this baby is different than all other babies that we’ve been talking about so far. When a baby breaks into the world of a family, real change is inevitable; it can’t help but happen. The baby demands it. But what’s different about the Baby Jesus is that He doesn’t demand it. He invites us to enter in. He invites us to let Him in-to our hearts, our lives, our minds, our souls. That’s what Advent was about, preparing our lives to make room for the coming of the Lord.

We have brought ourselves to Church to celebrate the birth of this new baby, and that is indeed a wonderful thing.  The challenge for us is to take the baby with us and invite him into our lives as if He is our own, or actually as if we are His, because we are. I think that many parents will agree that once our children came into our lives we developed into people that we would have never imagined that we could have become. Just imagine for a moment the people we might become if we truly invite the Christ child into our lives as we did with our own flesh and blood. Allowing Christ in our lives, through His invitation, will transform us in ways we cannot imagine. Let’s take the baby home with us. Merry Christmas to all of you.

12/19/21 - 4th Sunday of Advent: From Mary to Jesus

Because of Mary’s eternal “yes” to God, all His love is poured out and made available to us. The great wonder of it all is that in Jesus Christ, who is at once both God and Mary’s son, each one of us can be another Mary. Each one of us is now a temple not only of God’s love but God’s very life living within us. Each one of us is a sacred space. In each one of us others can sense the presence of the Living God. Like Mary, the living presence of God the Son abides within us, not just for our own sakes, but so that we, like Mary, can give Him to the world around us.  Each one of you, and I along with you, can make an infinitely significant response to God’s offer of love. When we are told that we are loved, and we respond with a “yes”, our lives are changed. Something is placed within our hearts that never goes away.  This Christmas give God a most precious gift – some of your time. Give Him your undivided attention, a period of time in which you do nothing but open yourself up to His presence. Even if you think that nothing happens, something will happen. We are all so concerned about what we must do, particularly at a time when we’re so caught up in doing things. The best thing we can do is to do is to simply “be” in God’s presence.  Think of three good attributes that pertain to you, three really good ones, and then thank God for each of them individually and specifically. They are God’s gifts of love to you. Wouldn’t it be a nice gift to give Him your gratitude? Wouldn’t that be a nice gift to give Him for this Christmas? There’s a hidden benefit for you in doing that. If you have an attitude of gratitude you cannot at the same time have a sour or negative disposition. Also you could ask God what He wants for you. Ask God to reveal what He wants to say to you, what He wants to show you or give you. That’s another wonderful, precious gift to give God.  He so very much is longing for you simply give Him your undivided, loving attention.  When you’re with a friend, what do you want? Isn’t it simply to be with your friend? We all know that being is more important than doing; that it’s who we are that’s more important to those who care for us than what we accomplish. Well, that’s true with God, as well.  God has gone to great lengths, unreasonable lengths, to be our Friend. This Christmas, why not let Him?

12/12/21- John the Disturber

No, I did not make a mistake, at least not with this title; it was not a victim of autocorrect. The Baptist certainly was and is one whose intent is to disturb us, to jar us out of our “comfortability” this time of year and all year. John rather abruptly reminds us that our Gospel is one with a social conscience. For him and for Jesus it is not merely a question of God and me but rather God, me, and others. This is especially so when the others are in need. John is indeed very explicit about the way he answers the three questions put to him in today’s Gospel passage. In answer to the question of his audience, he says: "If anyone has two overcoats, he must share with the man who has none, and the one with an extra loaf of bread must do the same." John the Disturber commands them and us to give out of our surplus to those who do not have. To the tax collectors he says that they must not take more than the fair share from anyone and he commands the soldiers against practicing, extortion, falsely accusing anyone and grumbling about their wages. John basically gives us the flip side of the same coin that St. Paul gives to the Philippians when he said, “Let your generosity be manifest to all.” Both of these men, spoke on behalf of our social consciousness and they are determined to not let us become complacent in the service of justice or extending a hand to those in needand without judging why they that is the case. John reminds us that the message of Advent is designed to give a bit of jolt to one's spiritual nervous system. It is true that Jesus cannot be born again, but we can be. And that really is what Advent is all about. It is actually a very demanding season in which John the Disturber helps us to see that we give birth to our best selves once again.

12/5/21 Faith = Gratitude in Advance

Faith= Gratitude in Advance

I believe that order to truly experience and live the season of Advent we must intentionally strive to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Ingratitude is absolutely incompatible with happiness yet it remains a trap into which we are very susceptible to fall. We fall into it even though we know that cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a much better way to live. There are all kinds of reasons why we fall into this trap but perhaps one of them is that we are try to do too much too fast perhaps especially during this time of year. When we do this the trials and tribulations that are always seem to become more and more difficult to navigate and this makes it very difficult to focus on the goal that lies ahead-if we can even remember what that might be. The goal of this Advent/Christmas season needs to be positioning ourselves and our families etc. in the best way we can to receive all the blessings that God has for us during this wonderful season. If we are practicing gratitude we come to realize that just as God has continually blessed us in the past and in the present, He will only continue to do so in the future.  We come to know that there are blessings behind every burden and this knowledge inspires and encourages us to go forward, to keep moving toward the blessings and to even thank God for them before we receive them. That is what faith is. Faith is gratitude in advance of the blessings that lay beyond the burdens. On this Second Sunday of Advent St. John the Baptist offers us the great hope that one day our path to the salvation which God offers will be made level and straight. We can help to straighten our own paths by thanking God in advance for the blessings to which they lead. In so doing, even the burdens begin to look a bit less burdensome. We might even find ourselves focusing even more on the Lord than the blessings that He has for us. We come to understand more clearly what we are looking for.  And what we are looking for we tend to see.

Happy Advent Everyone! [11/28/21]

Happy Advent Everyone!

When I was about 6 years old my Mom and Dad traveled to Connecticut for the wedding one of my mom’s cousins. They took my youngest three brothers with them but they brought me and my oldest two sisters to stay with my Aunt Helen while they were away. I really enjoyed my time with my Aunt Helen and fondly remember that weekend as a very special one.  Although I had visited her many times before and many times after that particular visit, all of my encounters with her after that one seemed always to point back to that one. I can remember even looking forward to some special time in the future when she and I could again share a time that was as special as that one. My memory of my relationship with my Aunt Helen causes me to reflect on our collective relationship with Jesus. We, as the human race, shared a special time with Him in which He actually walked the earth with us.  Ever since then all of our encounters with Him both point us back to that special time and at the same time cause us to look forward to that special time in the future in which we, collectively and individually, will be with Him once again.  That’s what Advent is all about. During this special Season we are called to reflect on the three “comings” of Christ: His coming to us as our Savior in the past, His coming to us in prayer, word and sacrament in the present, and ultimately, His Second Coming at the end of the world.  With this mindset, let’s “dive” into this joyful season knowing that Jesus, out of His great love for us, came to us in the past, comes to us each and every day, and will come to us again.

The King. The Way. The Truth. The Life. Period.

Today, as we come to the end of our Church’s year, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King.  This is indeed the conclusion, the culmination of all that the Church teaches about Jesus and about what He teaches us about Himself.  He, Himself tells Pilate that He is king and He tells us in the Gospel that He is the way, the truth and the life.  But He doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say that, “No one gets to the Father except through me.”  He does not mince any words.  So, as we come to the end of one year and prepare for the beginning of another, how do we respond to the teachings that we are presented?  Actually, it doesn’t much matter.  He  is the way, the truth and the life and no one gets to the Father except through Him. It doesn’t matter what we do with Him, whether we crucify Him (and we do), or what we say or what we think.  As sure as a flying plane must at some point come down from the sky, as sure as our lives on this earth will one day come to an end, Jesus Christ is King of the Universe. His way is the way that will prevail. Not only that, our eternity will be determined by the manner in which we conform, to His way and His truth on this earth, on how we accept Christ as our King.  Jesus, although He is King, does not impose His will on us, His truth always sets us free. This means that in freedom we either choose to follow Him or not, but He is the only way to eternal salvation.  The sooner we truly accept that reality, the sooner we can take the steps to conform our lives to His way, His truth and His life. Of course the question will arise as to what happens with those who have other beliefs, or belong to other faiths, or who have never heard of Jesus-can they not be saved?   First of all, let’s be clear that it is God’s desire that all be saved. He does not want to lose anyone.  Therefore this means that anyone who is saved is saved in Christ. They don’t have to know it and they don’t have to believe it, but if they are to be saved, they will be saved in Christ. Another question that will arise is that if we maintain that Christ is the only way to the Father, the only way to salvation, aren’t we saying that we are better than everyone else?  Well, in all reality, that is not what we are saying at all.  What we are saying is that Jesus is superior to all of us. In conclusion, our challenge is that we, who need to take those steps that clearly establish that Christ is our King- that is what disciples do. They follow Him step by step as the Way to the Father. Hopefully the following acronym (STEPS) will help us to do just that. Here is what each letter stands for: Serve.  Tithe. Engage.  Practice.  Share.  Christ is not, our King, we are not His disciples, if we do not serve Him actively, if we don’t use our brains, our brawn and our talents for Him in a way that costs something.  To be a disciple, for Christ to be our King we must be on the road to tithing. We must have a plan to figure out how we are going to get there. The gift of our treasure must be planned, it must have priority, and it must move progressively toward the tithe. If Christ does not have our treasure, He will not have our heart. He cannot be our King, we cannot be His disciple if our hearts are not His.  If Christ is to be our King we must be engaged in His Faith. It must matter to us, it must be what defines us.  Others must be able to readily identify us as a disciple.  If Christ is to be our King, we must participate in and we must practice our faith.  Disciples go where they are supposed to go and do what they are supposed to do and they don’t just go through the motions. Sitting in a pew is not enough.  Disciples share their faith, they share the good news. That’s what the King commanded His disciples to do.  If we were privy to knowledge of a singular cure for a disease from which a loved one is suffering, would we not immediately share it?  Christ teaches that He is the only way to the Father-this is news that must be shared!  Christ is our King.  He is the way the truth and the life. No one gets to the Father except through Him.  That is the bottom line; that is the Good News-that is our hope. Our challenge is to take the STEPS in our lives that we need to take in freedom to truly make Him the King of our lives.

Time to Get Ready to Get Ready [11-14-21]

It is hard to believe, but we are just two weeks away from the end of the Church’s year and the beginning of Advent. At this time of year, although our Scriptural Readings are on the ending of life and the hope that the promised Messiah brings, the world around us celebrates with very little reflection, simply wanting to have a good time.  As the Christian tradition asks us to quietly ponder the mystery of our being visited by God, and to wait in wonder for the Christmas encounter, the world around us pops all the corks, lights up the trees, fills the streets with parades and the shops with fancy gift ideas and tells us to party long and loud. For the world around us, Christmas ends up being the day for exhausted partygoers to crash – and it’s not much different for Christians; we can’t easily escape the hype and the pressure, the revelry and consequently the exhaustion.  The world around us – and of which we’re a part - celebrates Christmas before it comes. So today’s readings calling for caution, reminding us of the ending of things; seems quite out of place. But it’s the world around us that misses the point. The Christian story begins, not with Christmas, but with a sense of expectation. Our story, like the story of life, is essentially one of waiting.  The Hebrew prophets pointed to a time when God would provide a way through the maze of problems, doubts and anxieties that confront humankind and we believe Jesus is that way. Year by year we celebrate that coming, but we also need to keep tuned in to why He came. Uncertainty and fear are still part of the human condition; we remain vulnerable to selfishness and the pain it can cause. We need to keep returning to the source of our peace and we need to keep trying to be worthy of the gift that is Jesus.  That is why the time before Christmas is important not for partying but for preparing. The party should come with Christmas itself. The ads announce there are less than 40 shopping days left till Christmas! While we can’t avoid that kind of pressure, we can take some of those days to shop in the spiritual market for moments of quiet to put our lives in order, to heal a relationship, to strengthen our awareness of just how much we are loved by God and how we might respond to that love.  We need to realize, however, that without adequate preparation we’ll never fully appreciate either the privilege or the gift that God gives to us every day of our lives.  If celebrations continue to cancel preparation, Christmas will be over before it arrives and we’ll be no wiser as to what it really means.

The Rich Widows [11-07-21]

Yes, that is what I am calling them, the “rich” widows, even though we know them as poor.  The reason that I am calling them “rich” is because I believe that they show us how to be rich.  These two widows the one depicted in our Gospel passage-and the widow of Zarephath in the First Reading, show us how to be rich, but we will get to that a little bit later.  First of all, let’s look at what St. Mark tells us about Jesus, at the beginning of this passage. He says that Jesus sat opposite the treasury and watched how the crowd put money into it.  Could you imagine that happening here?  I suppose Jesus did not get the memo saying that’s just simply not something He was supposed to do.  And then He said that this poor/rich widow gave more than everyone else. Why? Because she gave a much higher percentage of her wealth than the others did-and that is what makes her rich and the others not so much.  Her perspective and relationship to money and wealth is different than the others who put money into the treasury-as well as to the perspective that many of us still have today.  We think of money as something that we want to get, to acquire, and to pursue.  We hope to get money so that we can get rich.  These widows don’t see it that way at all. They see everything that they have as gifts that have been entrusted to them by God, which they are to use for His Kingdom.  The widow of Zarephath gave her last bit of bread to the man of God. The widow in the Gospel gave her last bit of money to the Lord. And therefore they became rich. Neither their bread nor their money ever ran out and we can be sure they are reaping eternal benefits to this day. Instead of serving money they served God. So what about us? This is one of those relationships we need to get right. Jesus talks about it all the time and He even watches how we work it out. Do we want ultimately to serve God or to serve money-we cannot serve both. Do we want to get rich, or do we want to be rich?  “Getting rich” may or not ever happen for us, but it will never make us happy or solve this dilemma.  “Being rich” is something that can happen right now and the rewards are eternal.

Integral, Whole and Sincere [10/31/21]

That’s how Jesus wants us to be: integral, whole and sincere. He does not want us to be at war with Him, His will, with anyone else or with ourselves.  He commands us to love Him with our whole heart, our whole mind and our whole soul. He does this not for any arbitrary reason or because He is authoritarian but because He loves. Because of His great love for us, He wants nothing more for us than for us to be at peace.  We cannot be at peace if we continually allow ourselves to be pulled in all kinds of different directions.  We cannot be at peace if we have something against our neighbor or if our neighbor has something against us. God knows that if we are divided against Him or others or ourselves we ultimately will not be able to stand.  The purpose of His great command is to give us an anchor in our lives that we desperately need. Without it we would flounder at best. With it, we have freedom, the freedom to choose to heed His command or to go another route. And so many times in life we will choose to go in another direction only to learn and relearn the lesson that only His way, keeps us in one piece and at peace. We also, because of His command, ultimately learn that the most surefire way to peace is surrender to His will. His will is our peace.  We cannot obey the first commandment without by definition obeying the second commandment and if we do not obey the second we cannot obey the first.  Another way of saying what I’m trying to say is this: Peace comes from loving God with every aspect of our humanity, and then serving this presence, His Presence in others. And that’s what it means to be integral, whole and sincere.

Are We the Crowd? [10-24-21]

This weekend’s Gospel is about Bartimaeus, the blind man from Jericho. I have always found this short story heart wrenching, because there are so many emotions experienced: the excitement of the crowd as they follow Jesus out of town; the absolute misery, despair and humiliation that Bartimaeus wakes up with and goes to sleep with each day; the moment of hope that Bartimaeus experiences when by chance Jesus of Nazareth, a healer passes near him; the annoyance of the crowd and their efforts to render a helpless person even more helpless; the panic and heart break that Bartimaeus must have felt. When the crowd works to reinforce his sense of worthlessness; the awful loneliness that Bartimaeus must have felt at that moment knowing that outside of Jesus, he was truly all alone. It is this last “emotion” that strikes me the most. How terrible, how awful it is to feel alone; that there is no one in your life who values you enough to stand by your side; appreciates your troubles or feels that you are worth their heart, their effort. In a story such as this, it is natural for us to focus on Bartimaeus or on Jesus; however, I would encourage you to focus on “the sizable crowd.” For all that they have been exposed to; namely, the power of Our Lord’s words; the example of His compassion; His refusal to prejudge a person; His sense that everyone has a right to His time; His willingness to presume good in every person; they proved to be the persons who were truly blind. There is a lesson in this for us, and those who don’t see it, should be a bit frightened. We can so easily be like the crowd from Jericho. I am certain, that basically they were decent people, persons inclined to be good, but they hadn’t learned a thing from Jesus. Like the people of Jericho, we too have been exposed to the teachings of Christ. We too have received His love. Yet, what have been the experiences of the Bartimaeuses in our lives? When, in their imperfect way, they cried out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me,” what did they experience from you: The “Crowd” or Jesus? When your spouse, a parent, one of your children, a classmate or neighbor in their troubles say “Master, I want to see.”, and you looked around knowing that there was no one else to hear that plea, what do they experience from you? Silence; an excuse that “I didn’t know”; or an alibi that “I have troubles of my own”? They have many faces and they are just not “Poor Souls.” These pleas come from lonely senior citizens, family members or friends with addictions, widows/widowers, parents with a troubled child, those who suffer from depression, and those who need forgiveness but are too proud to admit it. Ordinarily, their blindness isn’t cured as quickly as Our Lord cured Bartimaeus; their cure requires patience, a kind of spiritual stamina that is tough to practice. Yet it can be done, if we rely on the Lord. So, my brothers and sisters, in your daily prayers, ask the Lord to help you always remember that you and I are our brother’s keeper and that we will never have reason to regret making ourselves available to the Bartimaeuses that come into our lives.

Jesus and Marriage [10-03-21]

I do not mean to shock any one by writing this but speaking about marriage and divorce is not on any short list-or long list for that matter-of my favorite things to do. And I believe my sentiment is rather typical of other priests as well. But Jesus taught about marriage and divorce and what He teaches is the truth and His truth sets us free. So here we go.  First of all we can be sure that if Jesus is teaching us about anything, it is aimed at our own good and our freedom.  In the case of divorce, Jesus is looking out for the well being of the women and mothers of His day.  Did you notice that at the end of this Gospel St. Mark tells us that “people were bringing children to Him that He might touch them?” Who do you think those people were? Bet your bottom dollar they were the children’s mothers.  Jesus, in his teaching against divorce was standing up for them. In His time a husband could cast aside His wife on a whim-for virtually no reason at all. Jesus was saying that this practice was wrong because the “two are to become one flesh.”  The love that exists between a husband and wife is meant to mirror the love that exists between Christ and His Church. Marriage is not a relationship that is meant to be easily cast aside. You might say “Get real, Father, look around you. It’s just not working out that way.”  It is true that some studies document that nearly half of all marriages will end up in divorce-but that doesn’t mean that it is supposed to be that way or that we or our children are better off because of it. Actually that is why we so much need to hear Christ’s teaching on this subject.  Also we should know that if a couple goes to Church together every Sunday, there is less than a 2% chance that they will be divorced and that if they study scripture and pray together that chance drops to less than one in 500.  God’s teaching works because His teaching is true. I will close with some words of advice from an unknown author for husbands and wives as they strive to live out the vows of their marriage to the fullest degree: "I will do more than belong, I will participate. I will do more than care, I will help. I will do more than believe, I will practice. I will do more than be fair, I will be kind. I will do more than be friendly, I will be a friend. I will do more than forgive, I will love."