2015

Come!  Go! 

You have just lost a loved one; a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, a grandmother, a grandfather, a cousin, a spouse,  a close friend. We have definitely have had our share of loss in this parish in the last couple of months. Do you remember at your times of loss how you felt?

All partings, especially the loss of a loved one, is difficult. It is never easy to say goodbye! I remember back in 1997 when I told my father it was o.k. to leave and that the family would be o.k. all the time thinking in the back of my mind that he would never leave. It is really hard for us to let go, even when someone is dying.

…

AscensionRead More »

Do you remember Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem? …“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach…” Those poetic, tender words express all that encompasses the character of human love—especially on this weekend of Mother’s Day. Our love is expressed in beautiful, captivating music, in art, in literature, and in the dynamics of our personal relationships with each other—by our actions. And, love is the essential ingredient of our faith.

But it was not always so….I am old enough to remember some Protestant and Catholic clergy talking about the “old faith”… our faith before the Church started talking about love (and mercy and forgiveness). For them, there was right and wrong and punishment. There was fear of God and the following of the law. These “old faith” clerics would say that since Vatican II and the theology of love, everything has been watered down and made easy. They knew there was a place for love, but now it has taken over everything and made a mess of the church. I have often wondered if, before Second Vatican Council, today’s Scripture readings ever recited at Mass?

…

6th Sunday of EasterRead More »

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” Jesus is using an image that his early audience could relate to. A vine is made up of branches woven together, working together to produce fruit, but a branch when cut off cannot survive on its own. Jesus is giving us a lesson in living life fully; to do so, we must see ourselves as being connected, like branches, to one another.

Too often, we forget that our actions speak louder than words. “He says that he loves me but he’s never here!” cried one wife, hurt and angry by the turn her marriage had taken. “We kiss each other every morning and he says, ‘I love you,’ but then he calls me from the office to tell me that he’ll be working late and won’t be home for dinner. ‘I love you,’ he says before hanging up. But how am I supposed to believe him? He doesn’t do anything to show me that he loves me!”

…

5th Sunday of EasterRead More »

The readings during the Easter Season continue to paint for us images and understandings of the early Christian Church. They proclaim the basic teaching of the early Apostles –“all who desire salvation must repent and be baptized.”  The cornerstone of our redemption and salvation is Jesus Christ. Baptism is our immersion into Christ’s mission of this world’s recovery by bringing the Good News to all people.

This Fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday and the Gospel is always taken from the 10th chapter of John where Jesus speaks of himself as the “good shepherd.” In today’s passage Jesus emphasizes three insights: (1) self-sacrifice- the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep; (2)the mutual bond of love and intimacy- the shepherd knows his sheep and they know him; and (3)evangelization- the good shepherd deeply desires that many other sheep should come to identify themselves with him.

…

4th Sunday of EasterRead More »

“Thus, it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations beginning in Jerusalem.” Jesus was calling upon his Apostles to be true disciples spreading his Good News of love and forgiveness. He was calling them to be preachers as he is now calling all of us to preach the Good News to all.

I have heard some say, “I am not a preacher. I cannot preach to anyone.” They might think that they cannot preach so they think they are off the hook!! Are you off the hook? After all, we have our priests like Father Rick, deacons like myself and Deacon Clark.; we have nuns, monks, friars, missionaries, those in religious life, lay apostolates, ministers of all kinds to be the disciples of Christ preaching the Good News. But you see, we are missing the most important preachers of our Church and that is you! Yes, you and you and you and you.

…

3rd Sunday of EasterRead More »