God wanted to be born into a human family.

 

Holy Family   2023

On this First Sunday after Christmas, while we are still in the joyous climate of this celebration, we are pondering how God broke the silence of the centuries to reveal himself to us in the helpless infant of Bethlehem.  The power of God is revealed through a baby.  This is the Christmas mystery.

 As we continue the Christmas season in celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family, the Evangelist Luke tells the story of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – not as individuals, but as a family.  The dawning of our salvation is revealed to us in the context of family life.  This is such an important dimension of the Christmas mystery.  God wanted to be born in a human family.  He wanted to have a mother and father like us.  Wow!

 This family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is the holy family.  As we ponder the Scriptures today, we reflect on our own family life as well.  The message is that our family is a holy family.  We need to claim who we are.  Jesus is within each one of us and may we claim the centrality of Jesus in our family life.

One of the most difficult things for some Catholics to admit is that no Christian biblical author seems to suggest that the contemplative life is the ideal way to live one’s faith.  This is not to say that the contemplative lifestyle is not inspiring, but we see in both OT and the NT that our faith revolves around how we relate to others.  Though our relationship with God is always a first priority, the first step in forming that relationship is to connect with the people around – especially those closest to us: our family.

Family is the story of how each one of us has originated.  It is in family life that we first learned how to pray and to live our faith.  It is in our family we discover our holiness.  Our faith is interwoven, for better or for worse, with our family life.

There is a special presence of God in the family.   In the love that is such a beautiful part of family, God is present.  In fact, God is present in all aspects of family life.

God isn’t very fussy!!!  This is such an important dimension of who God is.  God is not fussy.   God isn’t very fussy where He lives and moves and has His being.  God desires to be part of our wonderfully imperfect family.

As we know, family life is very varied:  divorced and separated parents, gay parents, widowed parents.  All are welcome.  While all are welcome, the church does clearly and unmistakably propose that the family of mother and father is the most beautiful expression of the sacrament of marriage.

No matter what stresses there are in family life – the sacrament of marriage promises the help of God and the faith community.

The church encourages family prayer, like visiting the crib.  The Gospel today is about the life of Jesus growing in humanity and wisdom in his family life.  He was brought to the temple.  Mary and Joseph taught him to pray.  May the prayer of Mary and Joseph help us in our family life.  Bless us, O Lord, with the joy of love, and strengthen all families in your loving care.

The Gospel tells the account of Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to the Temple.  There they encountered the elderly Simeon and Anna.  What causes two elderly people to encounter two young parents – Mary and Joseph.  Jesus brings together the young and the old.

In families where there is not an elderly person, life can, at times, be easier.  But they also may be missing the wisdom of our elderly.  The eyes and the hearts of our elderly teach us faith and the real meaning of life.

Now our family life is blessed and treasured yes, yes, yes, but family life can be a source of challenge and lead us to question the meaning of our faith journey.  In the second Scripture from the Letter to the Hebrews, we encounter what I would term the “Isaac Dilemma.”  In their old age, Abraham and Sara gave birth to their son Isaac, their beloved Isaac.  God had promised his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.  All this would come through their beloved son Isaac.  But then Abraham was given the ultimate faith challenge as he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Could there be a more unthinkable request from God than offering up your only son to God?

As we ponder the meaning of the Isaac dilemma in terms of our journey of faith, what in your family life has been your Isaac dilemma?  Could it be when your son or daughter has made life choices that don’t make sense to you?  Could it be death or significant illness in your family?  Could it be dealing significant depression or anxiety? What has caused sleeplessness for you in your family life?

 

In one way or another, we all face the Isaac dilemma in our family life.  In those situations, can we continue to trust that God goes with us?

At the end of the day, your family is not meant to be anyone else’s family life.  God’s plan for your family is to be exactly who you are.  Your particular family dynamic is not an accident; it is by God’s design you are who you are. 

God is present in your family life – with its joys, with its challenges, with its beauty and with its messiness.

Further, may we commit ourselves as a Church to reach out beyond our own family life.  May we be about finding solutions to homelessness and poverty in family life.  We need to be aware of the stresses of other people’s family life, to understand them and find funding for caring for them, especially children.

Today’s feast reminds us to seek God’s love anew through our loved ones in our own family.  It may be hard to spot at times.  The key to finding God in our family is for us to find God in our own lives.  God is within us, and God is with us in our family life.

Lord God, we ask for the spiritual sightedness to recognize your presence in each and every family relationship we are gifted with.

Have a blessed day.

 

What about Christ are we keeping in Christmas?

 

CHRISTMAS 2023

 “Keep Christ in Christmas.”   We see this manta on many posters around Christmas time.

My question for our prayer today is: “What about Christ are we keeping in Christmas?” 

Yes, we are celebrating the birth of Christ to Mary and Joseph in the Bethlehem crib.  As we celebrate Christmas in 2023, what is the meaning of the story of Mary and Joseph and the baby?

 It is about God becoming part of our daily struggle, transforming the world through us. Pope Francis says the church should be like a field hospital.  Each of us has our own  wounds, our own sins, our own disappointments, and we need to hear words of comfort from God.  We need comfort and healing.  Tonight, the Christmas message is that love has conquered fear; new hope has arrived.  God’s light has overcome the darkness.   Celebrating Keeping Christ in Christmas is about welcoming the birth of Christ in the inn of our hearts in 2023.

The real meaning of Christmas is that God is with us.  In the inn of our own hearts, there is an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

God comforts us in the Christmas mystery not simply that we may be comfortable but the real Christmas message is that God comforts us so that we can comfort others.

Keep Christ in Christmas.  It also means that we need to keep in Christmas the message that all are welcome at the Bethlehem crib.  What is the housing situation in the inn of your own heart?  Is there room in the inn of your heart for the family member for whom you have difficulty getting along with?  Is there room in the inn of your heart for people who think differently than you -- politically, religiously, or in any way whatsoever?  Is there room in the inn of our hearts for Jesus who lives in the hearts of the poor, the immigrants, and children of all cultures and of all ways of life?    How many people in our world today experience “no room in the inn” because of race, color, religion, gender, or sexuality?  The Son of God was born an as an outcast in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God.  To say again, the Son of God was born as an outcast in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God.

It means also we need to keep in Christmas the compassion and love and joy and the light of Christ that shines through all the dark places of life, transforming the world through us.  We are the people who walk in darkness – the darkness of sin, the darkness of war, the darkness of relationships that are broken, and the darkness of the threat of violence and terrorism.   The message of Christmas is that Jesus comes for people like ourselves in dark places.  The real, lasting, and deep joy of Christmas is that light shines in the darkness.

We recognize on this Holy Night that even after centuries of knowing Jesus Christ, our world still wanders in darkness. There is war in the Holy Land. Even after proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, our hearts are not yet converted completely to Him and our world even less so.  We humans are a broken people and each of us is broken.

Yet, even in the humanity of each one of us, we are missioned to be the keepers of the mystery of Christmas – God is with us. We give birth to Christ when we allow the light that is within us to extend to our family, and our parish family, and to all of creation.  The Christmas mystery happens when we allow ourselves to be loved by God.

Keep Christ in Christmas.  It also means keeping in Christmas the humility and simplicity of his birth in the Bethlehem crib.  Do our exterior Christmas decorations obscure how we are to discover the presence of Christ in our lives in 2023?   The Bethlehem crib reveals the extreme humility of the Lord, at the hardships he suffered for love of us.  In the Bethlehem crib, simplicity shines forth, poverty is praised and humility is related.  As we ponder the Christmas mystery, are we able to get in touch with the simple, the ordinary, the humble moments of our day and to know in that simplicity we will best discover the Bethlehem crib in our lives?

Keep Christ in Christmas.  It also means the mystery of Christmas happens for us when we connect the story of our lives with the story of Christmas.  Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.  The Christmas message is the story of God’s unconditional love for us.  As his disciples we are to fill this world with many other stories that mirror and give witness to God’s love for us.  That is the meaning and wonder of the Incarnation.  Keeping Christ in Christmas happens when we love to be loved – to be immersed in the merciful love of Jesus.

It also means that Christmas is to be found in the presence of Jesus among us and in our love for one another.  The story of Bethlehem points to a vision of hope, one that relies not on the exercise of military power but an on appeal to the common instincts of the human heart.  These common instincts of the human heart are very spiritual – a spirit of peace, a spirit of joy, a spirit of family, a spirit of love, the spirit of Christmas

We are missioned to be the keepers of the mystery of Christmas – God is with us. We give birth to Christ when we allow the light that is within us to extend to our family, and our parish family, and to all of creation.  The Christmas mystery happens when we allow ourselves to be loved by God.

. 

 

Yes, we need to keep Christ in Christmas in all the ways we communicate that all are welcome at the Bethlehem crib.  We are to love thy neighbor, no exception.  We are to keep in Christ in all the ways we welcome God to become part of our daily struggle and to transform these struggles by allowing the love of God into our lives.  We are to connect our story with the story of Christmas.  We are to keep Christ in Christmas through our faith-filled awareness that God is within us.  In the inn of our hearts, there is infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Have a blessed Christmas day.

 

 

 

 

 

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.

 

Third Sunday of Advent  B  2023

 

This third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday -- Rejoice Sunday.  We light the pink candle of the Advent wreath.  We wear the pink vestments expressing that the joy of Christmas is beginning to invade the Advent season.

In ten words, St Paul expresses the theme of today’s liturgy:  Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks.

My hope for myself and for you is that the joy of Gaudete Sunday is the joy that you experience everyday as a disciple of Jesus:  rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in all circumstances give thanks.  At every Mass, we begin the Eucharistic Prayer with the preface dialogue, we say:  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Today is Gaudete Sunday, Sunday of Joy. The Church asks us to be aware of the joy of the coming of Christ we will commemorate on Christmas.

The Gospel puts us in touch with our Advent guide:  John the Baptist.

 

Who are you?  The Jews from Jerusalem asked this question of John the Baptist.  As we pray over today’s Scriptures, this same question is asked of us:  Who are you?  After you give your usual contact information, the question is still asked of you before the Lord:  Who are you?

John the Baptist knew his identity.  He knew who he was and who he was not.  John said: “I am not the Christ…I am the voice of one crying in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord.”  John went on to say: “There is one among you whom you do not recognize.”

John’s mission was to help people recognize the presence of Christ who is in our midst. 

As disciples of the Lord, do we know who are and who we are not?

 

The gospel today challenges us to identify who we are.  As Pope Francis tells us, we are called to be missionaries of Jesus. We carry Jesus to others because we have been touched by him. We have been transformed in Christ. Christ’s love accompanies us in all we do. That is who we are. That is the cause for joy.

 

The question of faith for all of us:  Can we genuinely rejoice when we struggle with all the challenges that we are dealing with?  What if there is loneliness or anxiety in our hearts this Christmas season?   What if we have experienced a significant loss? What if the wars and the divisions that are so much a part of the world scene get the best of us?  We rejoice because God goes with us.  Are these just pious words or is this the truth of our life?

 

The mission given to us at our Baptism is the same mission that was given to John.   We are to witness to the presence of God in our midst.  In so doing, we rejoice.  We rejoice even in the midst of the violence that surrounds racial conflict and the threat of terrorism that we live with.   We rejoice because God is present among us.

 

 

 

 

But we get fooled because John the Baptist is in the desert eating locusts and wild honey.  He may not seem like a person with an infectious smile out there in the desert.  Yet, make no mistake about it, John the Baptist experienced the joy of knowing the Lord.  Joy is one of the characteristics of God’s spirit in the human heart.

So, we ask ourselves the question:  What helps us to recognize the presence of Christ that is in our midst?  Also, we need to humbly ask what blinds from recognizing the presence of Christ in our midst.  We might be so intent on something that we miss the gem right before us.

 John was filled with a faith-filled vision in recognizing Christ.  John lived his life deflecting attention away from himself so that the focus might be fully and directly on Jesus.  John had plenty of time to focus on Jesus because nothing else mattered to John.

May we in this Advent season exercise a John-like role directing attention away from ourselves and witnessing to the Christ who is in our midst.  May we find joy, Gaudete, in helping others recognize the presence of Christ.   It is my prayer that my preaching can help others know Jesus in their lives.  Yours is an even more important witness.  You are to preach without words.  How?  By a simple smile that communicates friendship, and in all the ways we wash the feet of God’s poor, we witness to the mystery of Christmas.  Our God is present to us in human flesh – in your human flesh and in mine.

May the Church of the Holy Spirit in this Advent season herald, give witness, give voice to the presence of Christ in our midst.  May our Advent attitude be: “Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks. 

Today asks us the question, what is joy? The gospel is telling us that joy is to look at Christ and know he is there for us. It is to tell his story to others by how we speak and how we act. It is to take the focus off me and put it on the joy of living the gospel.

People all around us are poor today because they struggle economically, but also because they feel alone, unsupported, isolated and fearful.  We bring good news by our constant joy, a joy that comes from our encounter with Jesus and our mission to bring his joy to others.

. Be a person of joy today and have  a blessed day.

 

 

 

 

When we place God first in our lives, the joy of the Gospel motivates us to share what we have been given.

 Second Sunday of Advent  B  2023

Today we move along on our Advent journey.  John the Baptist calls us to move from the wilderness of sin and discouragement to a state of hopefulness and trusting expectation.

In this  Advent season, John the Baptist  calls us to repentance in our Advent journey.  Additionally, in the second Scripture reading, Peter also calls us to repentance.  Peter says: “God is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

I would like to reflect with you the on the meaning of repentance that the Lord calls us to in our Advent journey -- a kind of repentance that is given to us when we encounter the Lord.

In today’s Gospel, the evangelist quotes the prophet Isaiah:  “A voice of one crying out in the desert:  Prepare the way of the Lord.”  John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

We can ask ourselves in the frenzy and business of the Advent season:  Where is our desert?

Sometimes the desert is found within ourselves:  the habits, the addictions, the self-centeredness, the pride that keeps us from placing God first in our lives.

Sometimes the desert is to be found in those situations  when we encounter  those who are not like us, not of our race or ethnic group, the most needy, the sick, the stranger. We must clear out the thinking that we are superior to others, the judging others as being less because they are different from us, the quick ways we condemn others.  Advent tells us Jesus comes in all of these that we look down upon and more. We must prepare to see and receive him. Something must change to allow us to do this.

When we enter into the suffering of others, as much as we can, we see that things do not always have to be as they have been in the past. It is a call to help make a change. We can make a new world. That is how we prepare for the coming of Jesus.

 

For many the word repentance is a word that belongs to yesterday.  It is equated with sackcloth and ashes.  Some see repentance as something that we do only if we get caught.  But repentance is far more than blurting our “I’m sorry” if we get caught cheating on our taxes or are engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior.

When John the Baptist calls us to repentance, he is not talking about self-incriminating scruples but for a radical open-mindedness.  The Greek word is metanoia. It means going beyond our normal mindset.  It speaks of a change in our vision of life.  It is about placing God first in our lives.

Repentance means to “rethink.”  Repentance calls to rethink and to reform our lives.  To repent means to see things differently and, as a result, to live differently.

When we place God first in our lives, the joy of the Gospel motivates us to share what we have been given.  We then prepare our hearts for the coming of the Prince of Peace.  Repentance is not negative and down faced.  Rather, it looks up and looks forward.  It breaks the chains of sin and death that hold us down.  Don’t get stuck in the notion that repentance means feeling sorry and miserable.  It is simply this.  It means you have stopped doing what is wrong, and now you are going to do the right thing.

However, make no mistake about it, John the Baptist calls us to confront sin in our life.  One of the temptations of our times is to applaud the absence of guilt.  Some people are pleased that guilt has been dethroned.  In some quarters, the absence of guilt in today’s society makes it very difficult to talk about sin and the need for repentance. 

True repentance means a willingness to confront sin in our lives.   But we are not to be bogged down in our sinfulness.    While are of us are God’s beloved and made in the image and likeness of God, none of us are perfect.  All of us are sinners.  All of us have need for the Savior.  All of us are called to repentance in this beautiful Advent season of repentance.  But be assured that God’s judgment is that we are worth saving.  God’s judgment comes to us in in His grace and mercy.

“Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord,” says the Prophet Isaiah.  That prophecy has great meaning when we apply it to our own hearts.  It is in our hearts that we need to prepare a way for the Lord.  It is in our hearts that we need to make a straight highway for God.  It is the valleys of sin in our own hearts that are to be filled with God’s mercy and healing.

One of the beautiful ways to experience repentance is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  In this Sacrament, we encounter the merciful and healing love of Jesus who fills the valleys of sin in our hearts with God’s mercy and healing.  When we realized how much we are loved and forgiven, we are motivated to metanoia.  Like Zacchaeus, we then want to share the love we have received.

Advent is that time for us. It is a time of hopeful expectation, of preparing to receive the Lord, to see and recognize Jesus whenever he comes and however he comes. Hope is confidence in the promises of God. Things will be better, but it challenges us to make that this a reality by who we are and what we do. Make yourself ready!

This Advent we salute the forerunner John the Baptist who prepared the way by challenging the people’s sins. He was not after the popular vote. He had eyes only for God. With eyes fixed on God, John announced that the Messiah  came not to condemn but that the world might be saved through Him.

 

Are we ready to share in the work and mission of John the Baptist?  In recognizing our need to repent, may we be led to announce the merciful love of Jesus to one and all?

Advent is a call to new beginnings. That is why it is a season of hope. Things do not always have to be the same. What new beginning do you need to make this year? Do it now!

 

Have a blessed day

In a trial, would you be convicted for being a disciple of Christ the King?

 

FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING  A  2023

 

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, the Lord of the Universe.

This is ironic because Jesus never acted like a king.  He embraced poverty, not wealth. He taught humility, not arrogance.  He emphasized service, not domination.  He chose a cross, not a palace.  Kinship, instead of kingship:  This is what Jesus is truly passionate about.  Kinship with “the least, the lost, and the last.”

As we reflect on Christ the King and ask if Jesus has authority over our lives, remember the qualities of the Kingship of Jesus.  Jesus embraced poverty; he taught humility; he emphasized service; and he chose the cross.  In a trial, would you be convicted for being called Christian, a disciple of Christ the King?

The Gospel describes the Last Judgment scene.  “The king will say to those on his right. ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.  Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food…The righteous will respond, ‘Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you…And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers or sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

There is nothing mysterious or difficult to figure out about today’s Gospel.  Each of us will be judged upon our performance of the simple works of mercy we hear in the Gospel. 

The Gospel suggests that our leadership in religious organizations doesn’t count for too much before God.  In the last judgment, the only thing that really counts is humble service.

As we gather on Sunday to celebrate the beauty of our liturgy Sunday after Sunday, the Gospel reminds us of the liturgy of life without which all other liturgy in Church has no meaning.  Plain and simple, if we are not focused in the liturgy of life in our service of one another, all other liturgy, no matter how beautiful it is, is pointless.

 

 

 

Jesus doesn’t even use big words like justice or democracy to explain what is going to be on our final exam.  He simply talks about food, clothes, water, and shelter – the basics of life.  Jesus took his stand with the needy people of this world and said in effect: “This is where I live.” These are my people.  I belong to them, and they belong to me.  Jesus not only cared about the needy and sought to help the needy. He completely identified himself with the needy.  There was His hunger.

God has no other name than Mercy.  Where is the Lord of the Universe to be found?  He has disappeared among the hungry, thirsty, naked, lost, sick, imprisoned, alien and persecuted of this world.  Our King is hiding in the least of our brothers and sisters.

That’s where you and I belong. This is how we strengthen our trust in God.  It isn’t as if the needy are people who need help, and we are the people who give help.  We all belong to the fellowship of the needy.  Who are the needy?  I am; you are; everyone is.  Today I may help you, but tomorrow I may need you to help me.  We are members of the same family, sharing our love, sharing our resources, sharing our needs.

The primary message of this Gospel account is not to inform you about what will happen at the end of time, but to teach how to behave today.  In the words of the writer Stephen Covey, we need to begin with the end in mind.  Jesus is suggesting how we must live.

The prayerful questions we ask ourselves:  In what ways is Jesus the ruler, the king of your life?  How does God’s love inspire us to show mercy?

Presently as we are dealing with war in the Middle East and in Ukraine and with the fear and threat that has been generated by random acts of violence, sexual harassment, and terrorist attacks.  Is the message of love and forgiveness professed by Jesus as the Lord of our lives get modified as we are gripped with fear of terrorists?  How safe are we from the threat of senseless violence?  Are we still expected to look with love on those whose hearts may be filled with hate?  Can we welcome refugees with love in our hearts if we are paralyzed by our fear that refugees are a threat to our safety?

 

 

 

We mourn the breakdown of our global family and the violence in so many places when humans created in the image of God choose death instead of life, when they choose revenge instead of mercy.  Yes, we need to ask how is Jesus the king of the culture we live in?  It is we who lose when we allow the venom of hatred and revenge to circulate through our spiritual lives.

Closer to home, is Jesus the king of your family life?  Is each and every member of your family treated with the love that Jesus has for each member of your family?  How much of a commitment do you have for family prayer?  Can you really say that Jesus is the King of your family life if you are too busy to pray together?

Our parish  commitment to grow our Penfield Hope initiative is focusing on our desire to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked.  What the Lord asks of us is to make a difference in the lives of our neighbors; we are to lift each other up in hope and in humble service.  Penfield Hope responds to critical unmet needs of Penfield area residents through meaningful encounters, dialogue, and practical services.

Again going back to the Gospel, in His last words to us in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is telling us in advance that when we each stand before our God, we won’t be given a test that will be confusing or difficult.  It will instead involve only the most practical questions:  Did you feed the hungry?  Did you shelter the homeless?  Did you care for the sick?

And our answer will be….

 

Have a blessed day.

 

The Lord holds us accountable for how we use our God-given giftedness.

 

Thirty Third Sunday in OT  A  2023

Today’s scripture readings prepare us for the end of the liturgical year. They challenge us to understand our life in terms of its ultimate purpose. On this the second last Sunday of the liturgical year, our prayer centers around the accountability the Lord will ultimately ask of each of us. In terms of the Gospel parable of the various talents given to the three servants, we too have been generous recipients of blessings and talents from our loving God.

Our prayerful question is one of accountability. What are we doing with the talents God has given to us? Have we buried our talents, or have we used them to make a difference in the lives of others? 

The second Scripture reading from St Paul tells us the Day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night. We know not the day or the hour.   The apostle Paul   told people not to get too worried about end times, but not to get too comfortable either. What really matters on the Day of the Lord is what we are doing with the graces and talents that have been given to us.

The message in the parable is about trust. God is entrusting us with God-given talents. God trusts us. In turn, we are to trust God in taking the risk and making the commitment to share the talents we have been given in the service of others. Our precious God-given talents are not ours to keep. Our talents are not to be buried in the ground. Rather that are given to us to live out the commandment of love, the first requirement of a disciple of Jesus.

Our talents are not our personal wealth. These talents are our God-given gifts that are meant to be multiplied and be life-giving for all.

We need to get our head around the talents that we have been given. As we are parishioners of Holy Spirit parish, for this reflection I invite you to think of talents as what Jesus has given to His Church:  the Gospel, the message of salvation intended to transform the world and create a new humanity; His Spirit who renews the face of the earth, and even Jesus Himself in the Sacraments; and then his power to heal, to comfort, to forgive, to reconcile with God.

These are the talents given to the three servants in helping us understand the meaning of the parable. The three servants are members of the Church. To each of them is given an assignment to be done so that this wealth of the Lord may be put to good use. According to one’s own charism, everyone is called to produce love.

The second part of the parable describes the different behavior of the servants, two are enterprising, dynamic, hardworking, while the third is fearful and insecure. The first two servants learned to love what the master did.

In the third part of the parable, we witness the rendering of accounts. The reward the first two servants receive is the joy of their Lord, the happiness that comes from being in tune with God and His plan.

Then the third servant, despite not being a main actor, appears to be the principal character of the parable. The central message of the parable is the master’s rebuke of the slothful servant:  the only unacceptable attitude is disengagement; it is the fear of risk. He is condemned because he let himself be blocked by fear.

This third servant is held accountable for not sharing the talent of forgiveness, of compassion, of loving those who are difficult to love. These talents are not to be buried in the ground. Refusing the trust that he had been given, he buried his master’s offer in the grave.

And so, we ask ourselves are we burying our God-given giftedness in the ground?

Our life as a disciple of Jesus can never be just as a spectator; we are to be active participants in sharing our God-given talents in making a difference in the lives of others. We begin within our own family. We begin within our own parish community. But the Gospel call to love demands that we move beyond our comfort zone and bring the message of the healing love of Jesus to one and all.

We are to pray over this parable individually and as the parish community of the Church of the Holy Spirit?

Has the sharing of our talents resulted in candidates for the priesthood, consecrated life as a religious, or the commitment to serve the Church as a lay ecclesial minister? Who has emerged from our faith community to serve in leadership ministries in our Church?

Has our sharing of our faith and love led others in our neighborhood to join and become active participants in our parish community?

Are we known in the neighborhood as a welcoming parish, as a family friendly parish?

How have we as a parish community shared our giftedness and talents with those who are in need? What we have been given, we are given to share. We are called to wash the feet of God’s poor.

It has been said that for us to enter the kingdom of heaven we need a letter of recommendation from someone who is poor. Who is going to write that letter for you and who is going to write that letter for me?

Have we made a pledge to support the CMA this year? Will we lend our support to empower our diocesan ministries to serve people in need?

The challenge for all of us to place God first in our lives. It’s too easy to bury our baptismal talent in the midst of a life that is filled with activity from one moment to the next.  The potential talent we have as a parish community is limitless if we commit ourselves to be a parish community that gives praise to God and if we commit ourselves to use our talents in the service of one another.

And so, as we come to the end of this liturgical year and we reflect on the accountability that is asked of each one of us and is asked of us as a parish community, may we rejoice in the joy of the blessings of life that we have been given and shared. May we also hold ourselves accountable that we have not yet finished the work that the Lord has given us to do. The Lord will hold us accountable for how we shared our faith, our compassion, our forgiveness, our welcome, and our love with one and all.

Have a blessed day!

Is is a compliment or an insult for Catholicism to be called a sinner's Church?

 

 

 

Catholicism down through the centuries has at times been called “the sinners Church.”  Now I ask you thoughtfully:  is this a compliment or an insult to be called a sinners Church?

Certainly, we all know too well that there is much sinfulness in our world. The war in the Middle East with Hamas, the Palestinians, and the Israelis, the war in Ukraine, the violence too often seen in the streets of our cities, even in the halls of Congress there is much too much polarization among our political parties.

As we begin each and every celebration of the Eucharist, we participate in the penitential rite acknowledging our sinfulness and entrust ourselves to the mercy and love of our forgiving God. Yes, we are a sinner’s Church.

There is weakness in all of us. This is why we belong to the Church. This is why we know that we stand always in need of the forgiving love of Jesus. We are sinners seeking to be saved. May we always rely on the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We don’t preach ourselves.  We preach the power of God’s love that is within us. In the power of God’s love for us, we have the means to set the world ablaze.

What is stunning to me in today’s Scriptures is that Jesus had little trouble with sinners but had his greatest troubles were with the religious leaders of his day, religious leaders who were hypocrites. To pick upon a contemporary expression, Jesus wasn’t concerned about fake news. He was concerned about fake religion.

In speaking to his followers, Jesus said: “The scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulder, but they will not lift a finger to move them.”

 

Of all the evils that Jesus confronted, one of the greatest was the evil of hypocrisy. The Pharisees and scribes exalted themselves and made their mastery of the law a badge of social privilege. Worse, they lorded the law over the people.

Today’s Gospel brings us into the core of Jesus’ moral teaching. What Jesus demands of the people of the covenant is humility, being who you say you are, making all your behavior an expression of your beliefs, no matter the cost.

The critique of Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees is that they did not walk their talk. The question for us:  Do we walk our talk? This is a question for all of us, not just for preachers. What is our talk?

Whereas the scribes and Pharisees were preoccupied with their desire to be honored and exalted, Christian leadership is a call to service following the example of Jesus who came not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many.

Whereas the scribes and Pharisees were laying down heavy on the shoulders of others, Jesus invited us: “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Yes, there was considerable tension between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. What about today? What about ourselves? Do we exercise our leadership in imitation of the servant leadership of Jesus? Do we walk our talk?

As parents, as you teach your children to be patient, kind, forgiving, generous and loving, are we examples to our children of the message that we teach them?

In our sister parishes, we have 96 mostly second graders preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, do we as a parish community witness to the value of this sacrament of God’s forgiveness by the example of our lives? Is the Sacrament of Reconciliation part of our spiritual life?

Do we participate in the annual diocesan Catholic Ministries Appeal as a way of serving the needs of the poorest among us in the diocese? Are we a Good Samaritan or an indifferent bystander?

Are we witnessing to the dignity and the sacredness of all life as we stand against abortion, poverty, prejudice, euthanasia, and the death penalty. Are we pro-life both before and after birth?

As sister parishes of St Joseph’s and Holy Spirit, do we generously support the faith life of both of our parish communities. Are we better together in the ways we help and serve each other?

In the October synod at the Vatican, Pope Francis invited delegates from all over the world to Rome to reflect on the mission of the Church. Pope Francis has warned of the dangers of being too clerical a Church, he challenges us to a listening and discerning Church who can read the signs of the times and be a Church that washes the feet of God’s poor.

And so on and so on,

Rather than keeping our love under a bushel basket, may we follow the example of St Paul who proclaims:  With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well.

The apostle Paul preached by the example of his life. So must we give our very selves in the ways we give witness to the love of God.

May we never try to be people who we are not. The critique of Jesus was that fake religion is intolerable. Fake Religion is when in our hypocrisy we pretend we got it all together. Fake religion is when we do not walk our talk in trusting in Jesus as the center and the North Star of our lives.

Yes, we acknowledge the brokenness and sinfulness in our lives personally and in our lives as a Church. Thanks be to God. Our God is a loving and forgiving God who embraces us with the fullness of mercy, forgiveness, and love.

Have a Blessed Day.

Our neighbor is anyone and everyone, unconditionally, no exceptions.

 

Thirtieth Sunday in OT A  2023

For parts of the last two weeks, I was on my annual retreat – an eight day silent, contemplative Ignatian retreat at a Jesuit retreat house in Gloucester, MA.  I have participated in this silent retreat atmosphere for the last fifty years in this retreat house known as Gonzaga Eastern Point.  This annual retreat is such a blessing to my life.  Its purpose is to deepen your relationship with God as a God who loves unconditionally and that our response to God is gratitude and to return our love for God.

Now if this is true confessions, I did sneak out on the last night for dinner in Gloucester with Fr Al Delmonte and my sister Jean.  Fr Al and my sister Jean were on this retreat as well.  But to be clear, other than that one exception, silence and prayer with the Lord was the retreat atmosphere.

As I pray over this Gospel of the two great commandments – love of God and love of neighbor – this retreat further convicted me of the inextricable link between these two commandments.  One cannot love God without loving all that is of God.  Our love of God leads us to love and serve and care our neighbor.

If you ask yourself, what does God want of us, what is God’s priority for us?  God’s priority for us is that we love our neighbor as ourself.   For Jesus, our neighbor is anyone and everyone, unconditionally, no exceptions.  To say again, for Jesus, our neighbor is anyone and everyone, unconditionally, no exceptions.

 

The metaphor that is meaningful to me is that our of Jesus in the “fixed tabernacle” here in Church leads us to reverence Jesus in “mobile tabernacles” in our lives – that is to say, Jesus is present in our neighbors wherever and whenever we encounter them.

 

Yes, the great commandment begins with our encounter with Jesus.  Please God we continuously seek to deepen our relationship with the Lord.  My retreat helps me to focus on what is most important in my life.  The Lord accompanies wherever I find myself.  I pray each day for the spiritual sightedness to recognize that all is a gift of God. and His presence is with me each and every moment of the day.

 

 

 

As I often remind myself, if I am too busy to pray, then I am too busy.  Something else must give.

 

Our encounter with Jesus leads us to those Jesus loves.  All of humanity are the recipients of the love of Jesus.

 

One of the ways I like to pray the two great commandments is the God-given challenge to EXPAND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Expanding your neighborhood includes the member of your family that is so difficult to get along with.

Expanding your neighborhood include the people you disagree with:  perhaps their sexual lifestyle; their way of practicing their religion; their racial views; their political views;  whatever it is that gives you cardiac arrest.

As we think globally, EXPAND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD doesn’t give us the right to invade another country.  As we ponder the destructiveness of war in the Middle East with Hamas, the Israelis, and the Palestinians and equally the tragedy of war with Russia and Ukraine, we pray for peace.  EXPAND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD means that we reverence and respect the dignity of those who are different than ourselves.

Love your neighbor, no exceptions.

Meaningful discipleship is not found in the mere observance of law.  Meaningful religion is lived out in a triangle of love – love for God, love for others, and love for self.  In that triangle of love is found the secret of a fulfilling life on earth and a foretaste of the life to come.

In our reflection on the parable of the Good Samaritan, Pope Francis challenges us with the meditation that each day we have to decide whether to be a Good Samaritan or indifferent bystanders as we come upon the needy and the hurting people of our community.  The Pope asks:  “Will we bend down and to touch and heal the wounds of others?”

Our intimacy with the Lord will be based on the love and intimacy we have shared with all of God’s people.  The first Scripture reading from the book of Exodus concretizes Jesus’ teaching.  The alien, the orphan and the poor are our neighbors.  Immigrants whether documented or undocumented, saints or sinners, every member of LGBTQ, your family member whom it is most difficult for you to

 

 

relate to is your neighbor to be loved and is the barometer of the depth of our love of God.

The implication is that loving our neighbor means more than being kind to our friends and relatives, or to the person who lives next door. Loving one’s neighbor means doing right by any widow or orphan: seeing that the hungry are fed and the homeless sheltered, that the poor have their basic needs met, that the unemployed do not suffer from want, that the young are educated and the old are cared for.

To do less is to fail in our love for neighbor.

The commandments to love God with all one’s heart and to love one’s neighbor as oneself are the heart and soul of Christian morality.

Then St. Paul in the second Scripture in his Letter to the Thessalonians emphasized thar we must walk our talk in living the commandments of love.  The actions of our lives need to witness to the love and care we have for one another.

With each Eucharist we celebrate, in the Penitential Rite we acknowledge the areas of our life in which Jesus is not yet Lord, the ways that we have not loved God and our neighbor.  Thankfully and gratefully, we are the recipients of the merciful love of Jesus.  I am broken and yet I am welcomed into Christ’s presence.

It has been said that if some of the gatekeepers of the Catholic Church had been present at the Last Supper, Jesus would have dined alone.  To pray about this statement, we may find a grain of truth.

Yes.  We are flawed human beings who are continuously who are the recipients of the merciful and forgiving love of Jesus.

As we have forgiven, so also are we to forgive.  To repeat, we are to love our neighbor, no exceptions.

Have a Blessed day.

 

The vineyard of the Lord is within us.

 

Twenty Seventh Sunday in OT  A  2023

 

The Scriptures today speak of the vineyard of the Lord. The vineyard of the Lord is the reign of God, the blessings of the Lord. The vineyard of the Lord is among us.

In the first Scripture reading and in the psalm response, the vineyard of the Lord is the House of Israel.

In this homily, I invite you to ponder where the vineyard of the Lord is to be found?

n  IN YOUR OWN HEART.

n  IN THE CHURCH

n  IN THE WORLD.

In the Gospel parable the vineyard is the reign of God that is to be found within us. The vineyard of the Lord is to be found in our own hearts. God goes to great lengths to prepare incredible blessings for the vineyard. We are nurtured by God’s Word, fed at God’s table, helped by the commandment of love. All we need do is to let God tend us and bring us to produce good fruit. We are invited in this celebration of the Eucharist to invite Christ into the vineyard of our own heart and to open our hearts and our minds to his loving presence.

 We become our best selves when we open ourselves to giving and receiving the love of others. The vineyard of the Lord is to be found within us, but this vineyard is connected to our brothers and sisters with Christ as our cornerstone. This is the mystery of the Church of Jesus. We are better together.

This leads us to a second image of where the vineyard of the Lord is to be found. The whole Church is the vineyard of the Lord. Ultimately, in a wider sense, the whole world is the vineyard of the Lord.

The Gospel parable gives a warning of what can go wrong with this beautiful imagery of all of us together being the vineyard of the Lord. From the Gospel parable, the tenants to whom the vineyard is entrusted got greedy and wanted everything for themselves. Plain and simple, there is rebellion in the vineyard. Yes, there is sinfulness and demons in the vineyard.

There is rebellion in the vineyard of our own hearts when we get greedy and want everything for ourselves and are unwilling to share. In the end, the greed of the tenants becomes their undoing for the king will have no part with them.

What would life be like if we had the spiritual sightedness to believe that everything is on loan to us from God? We are temporary tenants. We don’t own anything, even though sometimes we act as if we own it all. Everything ultimately belongs to God.

We must also look within and ask whether we at times we are the tenant farmers who abuse the giftedness we have been given? What is the produce that comes from the vineyard of our own heart, and do we give it back gratefully to God our landowner?

Our lives are a vineyard that God entrusts to us. Each of our lives, each of our vineyards, is richly blessed. The voice of God’s Son calls out to us to share our talents, our riches, our giftedness with those around us and with those who have less. May we be conscious that like the tenant farmers in the Gospel, we are tempted to be greedy and provide only for ourselves. When we excuse ourselves from generous sharing and love of others, when we become more interested in security rather than a Gospel commitment to sharing, we fail to respond to the call of God In our lives. The vineyard of our own heart is ripe for the harvest, and God calls out to each one of us: “Come, share what you have and discover that the real treasure is not what you possess but in what you are willing to give away.”

As we reflect on the vineyard of the Lord as being the Church, we pray for the success of the synod that is now talking place at the Vatican at the invitation of Pope Francis. In calling the synod, Pope Francis desires us to a listening and a discerning and a welcoming Church. All the people of the God, the community of the baptized need to be listened to, in their particular place and time, in order to know that the Spirit of God is calling the Church to be.

Now you may ask what in the world is a synod? It is another word for collegiality.        A synodal church is a listening Church, a church of encounter and dialogue. It is not afraid of the variety of Catholic ideas and people but values it. A synodal Church is open, welcoming and embraces all.

Ultimately a synodal church is a church of discernment where we listen attentively to each other’s lived experience, we grow in mutual respect and begin to discern the movements of God’s Spirit in the lives of others and in our own. Pope Francis is aware of different points of tension in the Church, not conflicting hopes conflicting identities, our different understandings of what the Catholic Church should be -- issues around the expanding role of women in ministry, the inclusion and welcome of LGBTQ sons and daughters of God.

For some, the idea of a universal welcome, in which everyone is accepted regardless of who they are, is felt as destructive of the Church ‘s identity. They believe identity demands boundaries, but for others, the very heart of the church’s identity is to be open and welcoming.

Pope Francis wants us to be Church, the community of the disciples of Christ listening to the Spirit and continuing Christ’s mission in the world.

Now I think Pope Francis has a wonderful vision for our parish and for the whole Church – that we listen to each other, we learn from each other, and the workings of the Holy Spirit is to be found in our love for one another.

But going back to the gospel parable, it is easy for us to be the rebellious tenant farmers who get greedy and self-centered in the vineyard of the Church. We too easily find division and debate and tension in what the Church of Jesus should be. There are both critics of People Francis and people like myself think that is leadership of our Church is Spirit driven. Yes, the sinfulness that is in all of us can work havoc in the vineyard of the Lord.

 

What is the take home message of today’s Scriptures? We are tenants of this earth, stewards of what has been entrusted to our care. We are stewards of the church, entrusted with the awesome task of ministering to the needs of a broken and hurting world.  May we offer back to the owner of the vineyard a portion of the giftedness we have been given.

 

 

Have a Blessed Day.

Do the prayers we say lead us to love our neighbor, no exception?

 

Twenty Sixth Sunday in OT  A  2023

 

If you remember last week’s Gospel parable, it was rather shocking and seemingly unjust. The landowner sent workers to work in his vineyard at different hours of the day. The master then paid the workers who worked one hour the same pay as those who worked in the heat of the day all eight hours. It wasn’t fair. It is difficult, is it not, to give up the religion of merits and believe in the gratuitous love of God.

To repeat, it is difficult to give up the religion of merits and believe in the gratuitous love of God.

In today’s Gospel parable, a man had two sons whom he wished to send out to work in the vineyard. The first said initially no and later changed his mind and then went to work in the vineyard.  The second son said yes but did not go to work in the vineyard. Which of the two did his father’s will?

Today’s Gospel parable is a conversion story. A man said to his first son: ‘Son out and work in the vineyard today. He said in reply, ‘I will not go,’ but afterwards changed his mind and went. Saying yes to God means giving up one’s own thoughts and accepting His. Conversion happens in our lives when we open ourselves to God’s plan for our lives.

Conversion for ourselves is not a onetime happening in our lives but each and every day we are challenged in our discipleship of the Lord Jesus. On this day, are we opening ourselves up to God’s plan for our lives?

Where do we find ourselves in this Gospel parable?

The scribes and the Pharisees were ones who said yes to the kingdom of God as the religious elite. Their Achilles’ heel was their illusion of being saved by their pious religious practices, and yet Jesus in this parable is being very direct and confronting with the religious leaders of his day by saying the tax collectors and prostitutes were going to enter the kingdom of God first. The kingdom of God welcomes unexpected folks.

This parable challenges us as well:  what effect have our prayers and religious practices had on our daily life?

Are we motivated in our prayer to love our neighbor, no exceptions? Does our prayer enable us to let go our judgments and our negativity? Are we led to share more generous with people in need?

 

In the second Scripture reading, Paul begins his beautiful hymn to Christ by encouraging the Philippians to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. Paul writes: “Have in you the same attitude that was also in Christ Jesus. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; he humbled himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on a cross?”

What does it mean for you to have the same attitude as Jesus Christ? Are you in touch with your own conversion story? God calls us who are sinners, who have said no to God’s call in our sinfulness, but now may we open ourselves to the grace in our lives and trust more fully in the Lor Jesus.

In today’s Gospel parable, the father told his two sons to work in the vineyard today. As you pray over this gospel, into what vineyard is the Lord sending you today -- the vineyard of your family, of your neighborhood, of your parish? Into what vineyard is the Lord sending you to?

Indeed, the Lord sends us to the vineyard of supporting others in need throughout our 12-county diocese. We can do this by our generous support of the annual diocesan Catholic Ministries Appeal.

This is the time of the year when we focus on the annual diocesan Catholic Ministries Appeal --- CMA. The CMA reminds that we are all part of the bigger church…we are citizens of the Kingdom of God. We are called to a life of stewardship. We are to share what we have been given.

People are still poor, hungry in need of pastoral care, education, and employment. The faithful are in need of ministry and a vibrant parish life. Our youth and young adults are yearning to learn and grow in their relationship with Christ. The Church and our Diocese are in need of trained and educated seminarians, deacons, and pastoral leaders to our lead our Church into the future. We cannot close our eyes to these needs.

Our support of the CMA is part of our stewardship commitment to share our giftedness with people in need. I intend to increase my giving to the CMA this year. And I ask you to do the same if you are able.

We will never regret our generosity in supporting people in need.

Our parish goal this year is $87,000 to support the Catholic Ministries Appeal. Instead of this number as a mandate, may we see it as an opportunity to share what we have with those in need. Last year, we had 251 generous donors last year. Our goal this year is to exceed that number. Hopefully, you received a letter with a pledge from Bishop Matano and me this past week.  It would be great if you responded to the request in a timely manner. Or you can go to our parish website and give online or there are envelopes at the entrance of Church for your convenience.

May we all give in the spirit in which we have been blessed.  No amount is too large or too small.

Like the sons in the Gospel, are we saying yes or no to God’s way in our life? May a component of our conversion story be a desire to share, to share in supporting people in need in our diocese, in our commitment to building up the Church.

Have a Blessed Day.