Our discipleship of the Lord Jesus is about us as a Eucharistic community witnessing to the love of Jesus in our lives,

 

Twentieth Sunday in OT  B  2024

This Sunday’s Gospel is the fourth consecutive Sunday that the Gospel is taken from the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel.   The Bread of Life Discourse from the 6^th chapter of John’s Gospel reaches a crescendo with startling hopes and startling claims.  “The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”   The second claim is:    “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

You will recall the 6^th chapter of John’s Gospel began with Jesus feeding 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish.  After the miracle of the 5,000, everyone wanted to follow Jesus.  “Free Food,” they declared, anticipating that Jesus was another Moses who was going to shower down manna and quail on his followers.  Everyone was touched with the offer of free food – a graciously abundant gift and a welcome relief to their hunger.  Even now, the best way to get a good crowd at a parish event is to offer food – “Free Food.”

But today’s Gospel is not about Jesus as a worldly cafeteria manager; Jesus is drawing a radical line in the sand.  We are followers of Jesus not because we attend potluck and social gatherings that we call Christ-centered.  Rather, we are the followers of Jesus when we share in the Body and the Blood of the Lord.  “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”  There is no diet on earth healthier than this.

Our discipleship of the Lord Jesus is not just about getting free food; it is about us as a Eucharistic community witnessing to the love of Jesus.  It is about our union with Jesus as the way to eternal life.

To share in the Body and Blood of the Lord expresses our willingness to be the followers of the crucified Christ as well as the Risen Christ.  We need to ask ourselves the questions:  Are we willing to die with Jesus?  Are we willing to share in the same suffering that the Lord Himself experiences?  This is what it takes to be a follower of Jesus.

The question for our gospel reflection today is how far are we willing to go with Jesus?  Do we want eternal bread or do we want everyday bread?  The desire to grab a free meal can disable us from hearing Jesus’ invitation to the eternal.  In this Eucharistic discourse, Jesus is drawing lines, dividing his followers between those who are looking for a handout and those who will go the distance.  Quite literally, Jesus is telling us:  “If you are not willing to share in my death and drink from my suffering, then you should turn back now.”

When you consume Christ, he becomes part and parcel of who you are.  He energizes you to do His work of ministry.  The bread of our Lord is empowering.  It not only can fill the heart, but it can also lead the recipient to overflow into actions of love.  As was said of Francis of Assisi, “It is in giving that we receive.”  We are called to bring the love of Christ to the broken places of our Church and of our world.

The Church at Eucharist is a community aware of its sinfulness and repentant of its sins.  It is a community convinced of the power of God’s grace, a community ready to serve others, i.e., to carry out “the breaking of the bread” beyond the church, and a community, here and now, open to the presence of the Lord and the Spirit.  This is the community we become when we share Jesus’ real food and real drink together; constituted as such by the Eucharist, it becomes both the privilege and responsibility of all who eat the Bread of Life together to become bread for the life and salvation of the world.

At Eucharist, we are interconnected with Jesus, and we are interconnected with God’s people.  In Eucharist, we are committing ourselves to being connected with the Church.  The Eucharist is a Sacrament of the Church.

Yes, we can find bleeding in the Church and in the world today.  We come before the Lord seeking for the grace to trust again in each other.   We are still missioned and it is still both a privilege and a responsibility of all who eat the Bread of Life together to become bread for the life of the world.

Have a Blessed Day,

 

 

The Bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

 

Nineteenth Sunday in OT  B  2024   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Growing up, I was one of six children to Adam and Grace Schwartz.  We lived on Inglewood Drive in the city of Rochester.  Nothing fancy about our house.  Three bedrooms – one for my parents, one for my three sisters, and one for my two brothers and myself.  One bathroom.  My dad worked for the Rochester Telephone Co for 45 years, and my mom was a stay-at-home mom.  She did have six children in nine years, and so she had plenty to do.  My dad was a conscientious provider.  None of his six children look underfed.  Education was an important priority for my dad, and he was a strict disciplinarian.

 

I certainly loved my parents and, as I say, my dad worked extremely hard to provide for his large family.  As a youth, I depended on my dad to provide whatever we needed, and that he did.  As I grew older,  my relationship with my dad matured and I saw my dad as much more than a good provider.  I saw him as a person who loved and needed to be loved.  I grew to experience more the joys and challenges of his life.

 

I tell you about my relationship with my dad as a way of explaining the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel that has been the Gospel in the Sundays of this summer.

 

The sixth chapter begins with Jesus feeding the five thousand with the miraculous miracle of the multiplication of the five barley loaves and two fish.  The disciples of Jesus thought that this is as good as it gets.  And so, they followed Jesus to get more food and have their physical hunger needs satisfied and their bellies filled.

 

After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus is seeking to lead his disciples into a deeper relationship with him.  Instead of just being a good provider to their physical hunger, Jesus is now tapping into a deeper relationship with his disciples, Jesus now says:  “I am the Bread of Life.”  Jesus is now speaking to the deepest hunger of the human heart – their spiritual hunger for God.  Jesus wishes to enter a deeper relationship with his disciples – more than a worker of miracles to satisfy their physical hunger.

 

Just as a youth, l primarily looked at my dad as an excellent provider to the many needs of his large family, as I grew older and more mature, I had a deeper relationship with my dad and saw him much more than just as a provider but as a person who loves and wishes to be loved.

 

When Jesus tells us in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.  He who eats my flesh will never hunger.  He who drinks my blood will never thirst.”  Jesus is sharing is divine life with us in the mystery of the Eucharist so that we can experience God’s unconditional love for us.

 

Just so, when our relationship with God begins to mature, we begin to understand our calling to care for God’s creation.  We are prompted to show mercy for those struggling in life.  We value forgiving others, having experienced God’s forgiveness ourselves.  We become free to be generous with the blessings we have received, humbled by the truth that everything we have was gifted to us and that our treasure is in heaven.

 

As we seek our mature relationship with Jesus in our lives, we wrestle with questions and doubts even as the first disciples questioned who Jesus was for them.  In their murmuring, the first disciples said:  “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?  Do we not know his mother and his father?  Then how can he say, ‘I have

come down from heaven.’  Maybe that is our equivalent of the Mass becoming such a routine part of our lives. Homilies cease to inspire.  We have lost the wonder.   We have lost the mystery.  The Mass is too ordinary, too routine.

 

It is worth pondering whether we spend more time murmuring and complaining or whether our time is spent with gratitude with the blessings of life?

 

We ask for the grace to see with the eyes of faith.  As a Eucharistic people, we are fed and nourished with the bread of life and the cup of salvation; our lives are transformed by the love of Jesus within us. The Israelites were amazed at the manna that came down from heaven.  May we be more amazed with Jesus, the Bread of Life, that has come down from heaven.  Indeed, this is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it. 

 

The process of Eucharistic conversion for all of us is the deepening of the awe, the expectancy of being fed by the bread of life and the chalice of salvation.

 

If the Eucharist is only a Sunday morning thing, if there is anger and hatred in our hearts toward others, if our attention is only mixed at best, if we are hassled about many things, we have not opened our hearts to the transforming love of God revealed in the Eucharistic mystery.

 

To unlock the mystery of John’s Bread of Life discourse from his sixth chapter, we need to plummet the last line of today’s Gospel.  “The Bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”  Jesus’ crucified body is bread?  It is hard to imagine how Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross actually feeds us.  The cross is a place of glory for Jesus.  It is on the cross that Jesus will draw all people to himself.

 

For Jesus, his death on the cross was the pathway to resurrection.  For us, the great mystery of our faith is that in dying we are born to eternal life.  In dying to ourselves in the crosses of our lives, enables to live more freely in the service and love of others in praise of God.

 

The sacred mystery of the Eucharist is the connection between the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in giving his live so that we may live sharing in His risen life. Save us, Savior of the world, for by your cross and resurrection you have set us free.

 

Have a blessed day.

 

 

 

 

 

In the mystery of the Eucharist, it is Jesus, the Bread of Life, that feeds our souls.

 

Eighteenth Sunday in O T   B  2024

 

 

In the first Scripture reading from the Book of Exodus, the Israelites weren’t having a good time.  Their complaints were mounting.  Nothing was going right for them.  Moses their leader was on the hot seat. 

 

God patiently works with them and responds to their complaints with bread from heaven.  As they gather the manna each day of their journey, they may learn to trust that God will always care for them.

 

But the truth of their journey lies in the reality that until the people learned to trust in God, they would never make much progress towards the Promised Land.

 

This is the truth of our spiritual journey as well:  Until we trust in God’s faithfulness to us, we wander a bit aimlessly.

 

In today’s Gospel,  remembering when Jesus fed five thousand people with only two fish and five barley loaves, the crowd chased Jesus down to ask for more, as if Jesus had a magic picnic hamper always full of food.  Jesus tells to look for a different kind of food.  Jesus said to them:  I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.

 

It is as if the Israelites who were grumbling in their journey in the desert and the followers of Jesus who had just benefited from the multiplication of the loaves and fishes were looking for more fast food.  We Americans know quite a bit about fast foods and the convenience and the tastiness of fast food restaurants.  I read a statistic that says the average American each year spends about $1,200 on fast food.  It’s easy and handy, don’t you know.  But in no way is this a healthy way to live compared to a healthy, balanced diet of fruits and vegetables.

 

My question for us to ponder, is there such a thing as fast-food faith?  Quick and healthy but without lasting spiritual benefits.  Indeed this is the message of Jesus in today’s Gospel.  The disciples had just experienced the miracle of the loaves and fishes and thought this is as good as it gets.

 

Perhaps the quick fix faith is that our prayer life lies dormant until we are in a fox hole and desperate for the Lord to bring healing for our lives.  We need to ask ourselves whether we pray in gratitude over the blessings of life as much as we do in the more needy circumstances of life.  Do I come to Mass to give thanks or the mindset well I didn’t get anything out of this boring and so it’s not for me.

 

The faith we seek is more that a fast food faith but rather a trust that Jesus accompanies in the crosses as well as the joys of life.  The more we trust in God’s plan for us, the more our life is filled with meaning and much love.

 

Jesus is now teaching his disciples about their deeper spiritual hunger when he says:  I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.

 

Last week in the Gospel miracle, we learned that God sent Jesus to do exactly what God did for the Israelites:  feed the multitude.  But now Jesus invites us into more than just a quick fix for their hunger.  In the sixth of John’s Gospel, Jesus recognizes that people are just coming to watch him fix the world’s problems quickly.  In other words, for most people he’s just the God who rains down manna and meets their immediate needs.

 

 

Jesus seeks now to have his disciples take the next step in their journey of faith.  In saying, that I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE, Jesus is inviting his disciples into a relationship with Him that satisfies their deepest hunger in a way that last for eternity. 

 

 

Jesus now says that the deepest hungers and thirsts of the human heart are satisfied through the person of Jesus.  He is food for our souls.  Jesus is inviting us to a personal relationship with him.

 

Jesus is trying to refocus the inquiring minds of his disciples.  They are seeking him because they have filled their bellies on the loaves of bread.  But they have not understood the loaves as signs of God’s care for people.  They are well acquainted with their physical hunger and deeply attached to filling it.  But they are less acquainted with their spiritual hunger and unsure how to fill it.  Jesus tells them that he himself is the one who feeds them with eternal food.

 

It’s important to note that the teaching in today’s Gospel points to the mystery of the Eucharist when Jesus says:  “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

 

While the Mass is about external ritual with music, Scripture readings, a homily, a gathering of the parish community, the receiving of Communion, but unless the Mass is also a prayerful encounter with the Risen Lord, the ritual will never fully satisfy us.  This is the message of today’s Gospel and the entire sixth chapter of John’s Gospel.

 

 

 

Getting back to the Mass, the Mass is about hospitality, making people feel welcomed, the gathering of the parish community, it is about good music, it is about good homilies, it is about ritual and liturgy, but most of all, it happens on a deeper spiritual level, it is about our encounter with the Risen Lord.  It is about the Lord speaking to us the words:  “I love you.”  And our response of gratitude and love to the Lord.  Unless we experience the Lord in the mystery of the Eucharist, our spiritual hunger remains unsatisfied.

 

Today we gather with our parish community who are always grateful for our daily manna but are even more grateful for the unending love we experience in our relationship with the person of Jesus who comes to us in the mystery of the Eucharist.

 

As miraculous as the feeding of the five thousand was at the beginning of this sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, may we ponder the words of Jesus:  I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never hunger, whoever believes in me will never thirst”

 

 

 

What are your five barley loaves you are called to share?

 

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY in OT  B  2024

 

 

Today we remember the most famous picnic in religious history.  Today’s Gospel recounts the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand with the multiplication of the loaves and the fish.

 

I invite you to envision this well-known miracle story of Jesus feeding the five thousand people with five barley loaves and two fish in a new way.

 

Imagine that the hungry crowd of 5,000 people represents all the people we will encounter through this coming week, beginning at the dismissal rite of this Mass.  These are the people God puts in our path as we journey this week … obviously your family members, the people who have gathered for this Eucharistic celebration in our parish community, the people you work with and vacation with, the incidental people you meet during the course of the week, the person in the car driving ahead of you and so on and son on.

 

These are all God’s people.  In some real ways, they are hungry for that which gives them life.  They may or may not be physically hungry, but they are spiritually and emotionally hungry for the fullness of life.   Lord calls us to move out of our comfort zone and do something about it.

 

Do we think of ourselves as people having a responsibility to feed the hungry in our midst?  To be clear from the Gospel, we are missioned to feed the hungry – the physical, emotional and spiritual hunger of people whom the Lord places in our lives.

 

 This is our spirituality.  This is the meaning of stewardship.  Pope Francis in his homily on this miracle account says its spiritual message is more about sharing than multiplying.

 

As the Body of Christ, we are commissioned to wash the feet of God’s poor and feed the hungers of people we share life with.

 

 

But to be clear, we are called also to share ourselves in feeding the spiritually and emotionally hungry that the Lord places in our lives.  In the Gospel account, God met the hunger of the people, beginning with the generosity of one of the least among them – the young boy who was willing to share his five barley loaves and two fish.  May this young boy who was willing to share be our examination of conscience for us.  What reasons do we give for not sharing some of our perfectly disposable gifts?

 

This young boy also provides an inspiration:  Whenever we are discouraged by the demon of “What good can my little bit do (whether of money, time, or effort), we should remember that God can multiply our little bit.”

 

So, what are your five barley loaves?  Your barley loaves are the ways you serve in the life of the parish -- as a liturgical minister,  as a catechist, volunteering at Penfield Hope, the ways you provide pastoral care and love to another, the ways you serve in our community.  Your barley loaves are your willingness to share the talents you have with others.

 

Your five barley loaves are your willingness to share your treasure in the life of our parish community and with all who stand in need.

 

Your five barley loaves are your willingness to share of your time, talent and treasure.

 

May we also take responsibility for our mission collectively as a parish community, we are sent forth as the Church of St. Joseph’s to be a Church of Mercy.  As we are fed and nourished in the mystery of the Eucharist, we are to share the giftedness we have been given.  We are to share our five barley loaves and two fish so that the Lord reveals His love to the hungry through our generosity.  The Lord is merciful to us so that we can be merciful to others.

 

This Gospel miracle account is good news because it tells that God is concerned about people who hunger.  It is good news because it reminds us that God can work wonders with the little we have if we are willing to give it all.  It is good news because it reminds us that with God in our midst, we can always make a banquet out of what seems to be pretty poor fare.

 

In the Gospel account, there is more here than just a great number of hungry people being wondrously fed and satisfied.  Jesus is gathering with the hungry in the context of a shared meal, not only to feed and to be fed but to enter into covenant with all those present.  Here Jesus sets an example for those who follow him in ministry.  Our task is not simply to dole out food but to take, bless, give thanks and share our food together with the hungry and the poor, thereby sealing our relationship with them.  We are to offer nourishment as well as commitment, food as well as fellowship.

 

The true miracle is not the multiplication of loaves and fish, but the multiplication of God’s grace.  The God who is the source of all life offers us the possibility of participating in the divine life by our sharing with others our five barley loaves and two fish.

 

When Jesus and the disciples ate together with the crowds who had gathered that day by the Sea of Galilee, they were announcing by their sharing that a new relationship was being established between Jesus, the disciples and all the hungry whom they fed.

 

Moreover, the meal of barley loaves and fish by the Sea of Galilee anticipated another even more significant meal that Jesus would host with his own.  This meal would remember the gift of himself on the cross and the covenant made with sinful humankind through his blood.  That meal would celebrate the union in love that believers would forever thereafter enjoy with God, with Jesus, with one another, in the Spirit.

 

 

 

The bread we receive from the hand of God is more than mere barley loaves.  It is the Eucharistic bread of full life, life in all its dimensions, life in Christ.  As we are fed and nourished at the Table of the Lord, we are sent forth to share our five barley loaves and two fish with the hungry people in our midst.

 

Have a Blessed Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May our prayer lead us to service of others.

 

Sixteenth Sunday in OT  B  2024

Propagation of the Faith

 

 

In the Gospel, Jesus is calling the apostles to rest.  Jesus said:  “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” 

 

The message here about our need for rest and renewal is genuine, not selfish.

 

In the rhythm of the spiritual life, there needs to be both a time apart and a time with others.   In the time apart, we need to be comfortable with solitude – time to be, time to be still in the presence of God.  It has been said wisely:  Beware of the person who cannot be alone. This person can use community as a way of running away from themselves.

 

We need to find time in our day for prayer.  But it is often said:  “Father, my day is too crazy.  I’m too busy.”  If we are too busy to pray, yes, we are too busy.  I invite you to find sometime in your day to waste time with God.  That is what prayer is – wasting time with God.

 

Back to the Gospel, “when Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.”  In the rhythm of our spiritual life, there needs to be time for personal prayer; there also needs to be time in which we do what Jesus did.

 

Our spiritual life is not merely about our personal piety; our spiritual life is to be lived out in the service of people in need.  This is how Jesus lived.  This is how the disciples of Jesus are to live. 

 

 

In the rhythm of our spiritual life, prayer leads to our service of one another, and our service of one another leads us back to prayer.  It is the Lord who is the Good Shepherd of the lives of us all.  The Lord is be a part of the rhythm of our lives.   Our responsorial psalm is psalm 23.  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.”  May we always know that we are never abandoned by a God whose love is made known to us in Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

 

 

 

Today we are celebrating our annual propagation of faith weekend.  The second collection is to support St Mary’s School in Mazindu Ju in an area of Tanzania that is characterized by extreme poverty.  St Joseph’s  and Holy Spirit has been supporting this most worthwhile tithing commitment  years now. I along with five other parishioners from St Joseph’s had the blessed opportunity of visiting first-hand this academic and residential high school for 1200 high school girls in this rural and  poor area region of Tanzania in 2018.

 

Our parishioners have made three pilgrimages to this incredible school for your Tanzanian women under the leadership of a Benedictine priest from Elmira, NY,  Fr Damien Milliken.  The school is staffed by the most inspiring group  of religious women – the sisters of Usambara.

 

Following the Lord’s example, Fr Damien went to Tanzania 50 years ago and his experience led his to the conviction that these your Tanzanians were like a sheep without a shepherd.  He was missioned to do something thing and started this school for high school girls – 1200 students.  He was joined in this ministry by the religious sisters of usambara who provided the teaching faculty for this school.  He has also sought out the financial and spiritual support of our parishes to enhance this ministry.

 

To describe St Mary’s School in Mazinde Ju in Tanzania is a bit of a challenge.  It is a residential school where these students live during the academic year and are able to get three healthy meals each day.  The dormitories these students live in are filled with bunk beds.  Each girl has a tiny cubicle which houses all her worldly possessions including all her clothing.  I have a beautiful grandniece for whom to put all her clothes in this tiny cubicle would simply be impossible.  My grand niece has much too learn from these Tanzanian high school girls.

 

These high school students, these beloved daughters of God have no sense of entitlement by which they expect people to take care of them.  They are so grateful for every opportunity in life that is given to them.  They are not saddened by the effects of the poverty of the country; they are joy-filled in the opportunity that is given to them as students in this quality academic setting that is filled with so much love and so much spirituality.

 

I tell you this first-hand from having the privilege of sending time with these students in Mazinde Ju in Tanzania to be inspired by their faith, their desire to learn, the way they care for one another, and the opportunity St Mary’s School gives these students to continue their education.  Under the inspired leadership of this Benedictine priest Fr Damien Milliken and the religious sisters of the Usambara, these students are formed and fashioned after the mind and heart of Jesus.

 

 

 

 

Six years ago, when I was in Tanzania,  I had the profound privilege of spending some time with this young Tanzanian girl I had been sponsoring for the last three years.  I tell you I had to tell myself: “Be still my heart” when I realized the opportunity I was giving this daughter of God in my prayer and in my tithing commitment.  In all truth, l cannot think of a better use of this money.  I continue to give a $1,000  a year in support of this young girls who are so deserving of the outreach of St Joseph’s Church.

 

Another profound image that I have from my Tanzanian pilgrimage:

 

In my 56 years as a priest,  I have never experienced a liturgy in which at 6:00 am on each and every school day 1,200 high school girls in full Catholic school uniform sing the opening hymn with enthusiastic voices accompanied only by one of their own beating her heart out in striking a well-worn drum.  I tell you looking out from the altar at these Tanzanian girls was a mystical moment of prayerfulness and joy.

 

The goal of our liturgies is to have the full, active participation of  the entire assembly in praise of God in the celebration of the Eucharist.  I tell you our only comparison here at Holy Spirit  is our Christmas Eve liturgies.  I don’t say this in criticism of our excellent liturgies.  I say this under the complete inspiration of young women who are thankful to God of the opportunity they have to give thanks to God for this education opportunity, for this spiritual opportunity of becoming more aware of God’s unending love for us.

 

 

May God give you peace and the spirit of generosity.

 

 

These Tanzanian high school students are not saddened by the poverty in which they live; they are over-joyed with the educational and spiritual opportunities they have.

 

Fifteenth Sunday in OT  B  2024

Propagation of the Faith

 

In the Gospel, Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.  He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money in the belts.”

 

In this Gospel, Jesus’ mission becomes the mission of the Twelve -- and our mission.  Jesus’ instruction to the Twelve are his instructions to us as well.

 

I would suggest a key word in the commission of Jesus to his apostles is baggage or perhaps the need not to be hindered by baggage in bringing the message to others.  “Jesus instructed them to take nothing for the journey.”    Jesus is calling us to a Gospel simplicity -- possessions are not to weigh us down or to keep us from being dependent on God’s providence.

 

The baggage that sometimes weighs us down is physical baggage of it that flies in the face of Gospel simplicity.  There is also emotional baggage that can us weigh us down.    What emotional baggage do you carry around that is not of the missionary spirit Jesus calls us to?

 

n  Hurts from a significant relationship.

n  Judgments you make about other people.

n  Fears that keep you confined to a safe comfort zone.

In praying over this Gospel, all of us need to do an inventory of our physical and emotional  baggage that weighs us down.  We need to pray for the grace of healing of memories that keep us from being more free?

 

There is for me a powerful example of some beautiful young women that are not bogged by baggage.

 

Today we are celebrating our annual propagation of faith weekend.  The second collection is to support St Mary’s School in Mazindu Ju in an area of Tanzania that is characterized by extreme poverty.  St Joseph’s has been supporting this most worthwhile tithing commitment for about 10 years now. I along with five other parishioners had the blessed opportunity of visiting first-hand this academic and residential high school for 1200 high school girls in this rural and poor area region of Tanzania in 2018.

 

Our parishioners have made three pilgrimages to this incredible school for your Tanzanian women under the leadership of a Benedictine priest from Elmira, NY,  Fr Damien Milliken.  The school is staffed by the most inspiring group  of religious women – the sisters of Usambara.

 

I have many treasured memories of our pilgrimage to St Mary’s School.

 

I will speak to just three powerful images that speak volumes that this school is on very holy ground.

 

The first image speaks to the Gospel message on not being hindered by unnecessary baggage.

 

To describe St Mary’s School in Mazinde Ju in Tanzania is a bit of a challenge.  It is a residential school where these students live during the academic year and are able to get three healthy meals each day.  The dormitories these students live in are filled with bunk beds.  Each girl has a tiny cubicle which houses all her worldly possessions including all her clothing.  I have a beautiful grandniece for whom to put all her clothes in this tiny cubicle would simply be impossible.  My grand niece has much too learn from these Tanzanian high school girls.

 

These high school students, these beloved daughters of God have no sense of entitlement by which they expect people to take care of them.  They are so grateful for every opportunity in life that is given to them.  They are not saddened by the effects of the poverty of the country; they are joy-filled in the opportunity that is given to them as students in this quality academic setting that is filled with so much love and so much spirituality.

 

I tell you this first-hand from having the privilege of sending time with these students in Mazinde Ju in Tanzania to be inspired by their faith, their desire to learn, the way they care for one another, and the opportunity St Mary’s School gives these students to continue their education.  Under the inspired leadership of this Benedictine priest Fr Damien Milliken and the religious sisters of the Usambara, these students are formed and fashioned after the mind and heart of Jesus.

 

 

A second important message from today’s Gospel is Jesus sent his disciples two by two.  To take a moment to reflect on this message as it applies to the students of St Mary’s School in Mazinde Ju.

 

The commission of Jesus to his apostles tells them what not to bring but also what they are to bring in announcing the Good News of the Gospel.  Jesus sent them out two by two.  They were not  to be lone rangers.  They were to companion one another on the journey and be companioned by others. 

 

Jesus has not sent us alone.  We are meant to rely on one another so as not to be distracted by our belongings, by our stuff.  Many of us have more stuff than we need.  I count myself in this number.  Our stuff can certainly be a distraction from the ministry of evangelizing.

 

By God’s providence, we are missioned to accompany to accompany these young Tanzanian women is their educational and spiritual journey.

 

 

Six years when I was in Tanzania,  I had the profound privilege of spending some time with this young Tanzanian girl I had been sponsoring for the last three years.  I tell you I had to tell myself: “Be still my heart” when I realized the opportunity I was giving this daughter of God in my prayer and in my tithing commitment.  In all truth, l cannot think of a better use of this money.  I continue to give a $1,000  a year in support of this young girls who are so deserving of the outreach of St Joseph’s Church.

 

Another profound image from profound image I have from my Tanzanian pilgrimage:

 

In my 56 years as a priest,  I have never experienced a liturgy in which at 6:00 am on each and every school day 1,200 high school girls in full Catholic school uniform sing the opening hymn with enthusiastic voices accompanied only by one of their own beating her heart out in striking a well-worn drum.  I tell you looking out from the altar at these Tanzanian girls was a mystical moment of prayerfulness and joy.

 

The goal of our liturgies is to have the full, active participation of  the entire assembly in praise of God in the celebration of the Eucharist.  I tell you our only comparison here at St Joseph’s is our Christmas Eve liturgies.  I don’t say this in criticism of our excellent liturgies.  I say this under the complete inspiration of young women who are thankful to God of the opportunity they have to give thanks to God for this education opportunity, for this spiritual opportunity of becoming more aware of God’s unending love for us.

 

 

May God give you peace and the spirit of generosity.

 

When I am strong, I am strong.

  

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN OT B 2024

 

On this Fourth of July weekend, perhaps you have enjoyed a family cookout, watch some fireworks, perhaps a round of golf, reflected in gratitude on the blessings we enjoy as a nation.

I commend you for making this celebration of the Eucharist a spiritual moment in your holiday weekend.

 

The Scripture readings today invite us to experience God moments where we least expect.

 

St. Paul in the second Scripture provides us with a deep insight in experiencing God where we least expect.

Paul writes: “A thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.  ‘Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’  Paul then said, for the sake of Christ, ‘when I am weak, then I am strong.’”

Certainly anyone who knows much about the life of St. Paul would not view him as a weak man.  This is the man who, through his strong faith, puts his life in jeopardy constantly.  He endured imprisonment and shipwrecks.  Yet, he admits to having weaknesses.

There is something humiliating in admitting one’s weakness.  Pope Francis reveals his humility in beautiful ways.  In his first description of himself as our Pope, Francis humbly says: “I am a sinner.”  The message of this scripture passage is that recognizing and admitting our shortcomings is essential for us to have the strength Paul demonstrates.

The reason St. Paul finds strength in his limitations is because he is aware that the Lord will provide the power needed in the midst of those deficiencies.  Paul’s life is God-centered.  For the Apostle Paul, his true God-centeredness came from his weakness, rather than his strength.  For in his weakness, he grew to trust in God’s grace for his life.

However, note that Paul’s first prayer was that his thorn in the flesh would be removed so that he might be a better preacher of the Gospel.  So too, it is for us, we pray that we finally overcome the sins we have been confessing all our lives.  We finally want to get it right and prove that we have the will power to live the kind of life we can be very proud of.

 

Yet, conversion happened for Paul happened when he switched gears.  Instead of praying that his thorn of the flesh would be removed, he boasted of his weakness.  Paul then said: “For the sake of Christ, when I am weak, then I am strong.”

How would that work for us?  Can you imagine yourself boasting of your weakness?  And then say: “When I am weak, I am strong.”

What success have you not achieved that is very important to you?  What would you like to give your children but are unable to?  What illness or handicap or addiction are you dealing with? What loss leaves an emptiness in your life?  What secret is too vulnerable for you to share with others?

These I suggest are your thorns in the flesh?   How can we embrace the virtue of humility and confess our shortcoming and acknowledge our need for God’s grace in our life?  This path, I would suggest, is your journey of conversion.

The virtue of humility does not come easily for anyone of us and certainly not us as a nation.  We would like to see ourselves at the top of the ladder than the bottom of the ladder.  The way we are wired is that we want to be among the best and the brightest.  Yet, Jesus has given us the example of the cross; he washed the feet of his disciples; and he came not to be served but to serve.

 

 In the Gospel today, when Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth to preach in the synagogue, the people who knew him best responded with disbelief.   They said: “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother James and Joses and Judas and Simon?”

By way of parenthesis, it was customary in the time of the evangelist to refer to close relatives as brothers and sisters.

As far as the hometown folks of Nazareth were concerned, Jesus was too local to be important.  As one sage puts it, “an expert is someone who tells you everything you already know but comes from of town and is carrying a briefcase.”  Jesus should be home making tables like his dad, instead of preaching in synagogues and working miracles and casting out demons. 

A question for our reflection is whether our preconceived notions of Jesus hinder us from recognizing his presence in the circumstances of our life.

The people of Jesus’ time might expect a word of God from the high priest in Jerusalem temple, but not from a carpenter, not from Nazareth.  What we believe in the mystery of the Incarnation is that God is not an expert from heaven with a briefcase.  Rather God is to be found in our neighbor, our friend, our hometown wisdom.

Who for you is a most unlikely person to reveal God’s presence to you?

May you find the presence of God in those you know and love so deeply?  No one is too local or too ordinary to be a bearer of God’s love for you.

These Scriptures appropriately come to us during the ordinary time of the Church year.  The take home message for us during the ordinary time of the Church year is to find God in all of life, and to discover God’s presence in the ordinary and the unexpected moments of the day.

 

May God give you peace.