27th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - 2011

This Sunday’s Readings

May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts.

In this Gospel there is lots of symbolism
and so we really have to be thoughtful when we try to understand its meaning.

The vineyard…symbolizes creation, or the world.
The vineyard also symbolizes our life.

Like the landowner gives the vineyard to the tenants to bear fruit.

God gives us our life to bear fruit.

Not just what we produced with our work
but who we become.

The Grapes and wild grapes…
are the fruit of our labor,
the work of our hands. 

The Landowner is God…
God who gives us everything we need.

Like the vineyard described in the parable is beautiful
God gives us a wonderful world, a beautiful vineyard
a place which is capable of providing for us abundantly, richly.

God like the landowner wants to enjoy the work of our hands.

God wants to be proud of us.

God wants to rejoice in our successes and is very patient with us.

He is so desperate for us to live as we should
that he repeatedly sends
servants or prophets to encourage us and guide us on our journey.

The patience and perseverance of God is astounding.

Remember that powerfully tragic line in the parable,
“but the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.”

The landowner does not give up on the tenants
Even when they are steeped in sin and violence.

He forgives all these horrible offenses
and sends his Son his own flesh and blood to
help these evil tenants change their ways.

Moved by jealousy and anger and incredible greed the tenants kill his son.

Just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ time killed God’s Son.

And only after that does the landowner take his revenge.

As you can see this parable is intense.
Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders of his time
because he loved them even with all their sins.

With this parable He showed them who they were and where they were headed.

He didn’t sugar coat.
They had done horrible things.
Motivated by greed and
a lust for power they
killed the Messiah.

We all know that roughly 40 years after Jesus’ death
in a terrible war of destruction,
the Romans destroyed all that was dear to the Israel ju

st like the landowner put the evil tenants to death.

But because the scriptures are the word of God
They not only speak to the people of his time…
they speak to us.

The parables are like mirrors where God shows us who we are and who we ought to be.

Here are some questions for us the tenants of the vineyard.

God has given us the vineyard of our lives what are we doing with this incredible gift

Is the fruit of our lives, or our grapes, bountiful or wild?

Are we taking care of the vineyard?

Are we caring for it so future generations can enjoy it and benefit from it?

Are we sharing the vineyard’s, abundance fairly?

Do all of our brothers and sisters have the ability to share in its resources?

Is our first impluse to think of ourselves or others?

Do we think we know it all like the tenants?

Do we listen to the prophets and teachers that God
repeatedly sends us over and over and over again or
do  we persecute them or marginalize them, ignore them make fun of them?

These are really important questions.
We are in a difficult economic crisis.

It seems that many in our country are also motivated by greed.

What place does greed have in our lives?

Are we working for only ourselves like the tenants or are we living the generous holy lives that God calls us to live ?

This parable is as powerful today as it was when it was proclaimed over 2000 years ago.

Let us look in the mirror that Jesus holds up for us in this parable and let us see who we are.

Let us listen and learn.
Amen

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - 2011

This Sunday’s Readings

Today’s Gospel passage includes a story which we have all heard many times.

Let’s look at 3 different symbols in the story and see how they relate to us.

The vineyard owner represents God,
God who is desperate for the harvest.

The Vineyard Owner was worried about his grapes.

God is worried about our souls.

He is so worried that He will do anything except take away our freedom to bring us home to Him in heaven.

God is so desperate that he sends his foreman out into the market place over and over and over again until the last moment of the day to find workers for his harvest.

Like the vineyard owner God is recklessly generous.

It doesn’t matter if we’ve worked for God’s Kingdom from our youth or if we
seek him in the last moments of our lives,
our reward is the same everlasting life with Him in heaven.

The workers are us.
Some of us are hard workers, some of us are not.
Some of us have worked for a long time, some of us have not.

Like the workers who waited all day in the hope that they would get at least some work so that they could feed their families,
all of us want a good life and want to take care of those we love.

Sometimes, like the workers in the vineyard we become jealous of what others have, even though God gives us all or want we need.

With all of our faults we are still loved by God and needed by him.

The work of the harvest is saving souls,
our soul and the souls of others.

Sadly, lots people mistakenly believe that their work
or their purpose here on earth is to amass as much as they can for themselves and those they love.

We all know people who drive themselves just about crazy trying to do just that.

The scripture we heard a couple of weeks ago rings so true
“What profit a man to gain the whole world and in the process loose his soul?”

We need to remind ourselves over and over again that our work and our purpose is to find our way home to God and to bring as many people as we can with us.

If we were able to write that very important truth on our hearts lot of what we do and how we do it would change.

God needs workers.
God needs us to bring in his harvest.
Our purpose and our mission is God’s work,
not worldly success.

The reward for our work is great everlasting life.

If we are not ready or willing or able to do God’s work,
God will not give up on us.

Rather, He sends his foremen to the Marketplace of our lives over and over again,
until our very last breath to seek our help in his most important work.

Thanks be to God…

Let us be about God’s work… the harvest is great the workers are few. AMEN

24th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - 2011

Today (Tomorrow) is September 11^th. 11 years ago it was just another day.

10 Years ago the date September. 11^th took on a whole new meaning and our lives changed.

We all remember where we were when it happened.

On 9/11 I was in Washington DC and as looked South west in the sky I say the smoke from the Pentagon rising in the sky.

The whole university of 6000 pretty frightened young people and faculty gathered in the National Shrine for Mass. Some were afraid to come in thinking that a terrorist might mistake the dome of the Shrine with the Capital Building dome.

We had all night confessions and Eucharistic Adoration. They were very well attended.

At that Mass Cardinal McCarrick said something that has remained with me since that fateful day.

He begged the whole university not to let hate win.

You see hate wins and evil wins when they cause us to hate or do evil.

Think about it when someone treats us in a hateful and evil way and we respond in kind, then evil wins and love loses.

Your Boss has a bad day at home. He comes to the office and he is not him/herself they start chewing out the people that work for them, including you.

You have a miserable day and awful day and you go home and your kid runs up to you and asks you to play with them. Or your wife asks you a question.

You are still hurting from the experience at work and your respond poorly.

And sometimes that the chain of hurt or hate or anger or bitterness goes on and on and on and on.

Whenever we respond to evil with evil or anger with anger or hate with hate.

Evil wins.

If the last person in the last row of church hit the person next to them and that person hit the person next to them and that person next to them etc.

The hurt which began in one heart would be now written on many hearts.

In situations like this the Gospel calls us to respond to hate and anger and resentment in a radical way.

As followers of Christ we can’t let any hurt or anything evil take root in our hearts.

And when we are hurt we have to respond with love not 1 time not 7 times not  times but 77 times… in other words forever.

Followers of Jesus must never ever respond to evil with evil, or hurt with hurt, or anger with anger.. we are called to respond to evil with love.

We don’t have to be sucker and just allow ourselves to be repeatedly hurt. We can remove ourselves from hurtful situations however we can’t respond to evil with evil.

I know its hard.
I know it may even seem impossible,
but that’s what Jesus did and that we he calls us to do.

“Love your enemies do good to those who persecute you” Mt 5:44

“Father forgive them they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

Has no one condemned you then I do not condemn you John 8:10

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone John 8:6

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. Mt 18:22

If anyone here thinks that it easy being a follower of Christ…

If anyone here thinks that it is easy to be Catholic…

Then they haven’t read the instruction manual.

The only place that we can stop hate or anger is in our heart.

The only place we can prevent another Sept 11th is in our hearts.

There are two other announcements.

As many of you know the First Sunday of Advent this year we and the whole English speaking Catholic world will begin using a new translation of the Mass.

Archbishop Mansell asked that we use this Sunday to begin to prepare you for the change.

The first translation after the VCII was done 40 years ago and was never intended to be the final translation.

We all know that there are several translations of the Bible, some are translated in a literal way and others offer a generalized translation.

This new translation was requested by Blessed John Paul II in 2000 and it remains much more faithful to the original Latin Text.

It is so important to remember that this is a new translation not a new Mass. And the new words which we use to pray can push us on to a greater appreciation and reverence for the Mass.

In the Bulletin for the next several weeks we will provide additional inserts to help you understand the meaning of the changes and help you renew your appreciation of the Mass.

There will also be a lot of resources on our parish website. Including some great videos explaining the changes. On the first Sunday of Advent you will find pew cards in the pews to help us learn what to say.

Change is never easy but the promise of this new translation of the mass is that we will be able to enter more deeply into the mystery of our Faith and the Mystery of God’s love for the World.

Once again this year we will be starting up our RCIA Program. This is the program the church uses to welcome people into our community. If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a Catholic please visit our website for more information. Last year 7 very fine people became members of our Church. All are welcome we look forward to hearing from you.

God Bless You All

23 Sunday of Ordinary Time Year–A 2011

This Sunday's Readings

Love is the most noble things a human being can do.
With love there is often joy and we all know that with love there are also tears and sacrifices.

Love supports,
love surrenders, love heals,
love forgives,
love encourages,
love exhorts
love gives life.

Today’s Gospel teaches us about an essential characteristic of love which many of us would prefer to forget or put aside.

Jesus reminds us today that when our love is real,
when we love like God loves
we must also care enough to humbly correct or challenge those we know and love.
   
We all understand this when it comes to our children.

What parent would let a little child play around a stove with boiling water on it and not correct them?

What parent would let a little kid run into the street and not stop them and correct them?

However this type of love is just so hard when our kids get older,
or with our friends, our peers and our families.

Quite often in these situations when we see a person making a bad choice we chose to remain silent.

We don’t say a word.
We cop out with phrases like…
“It’s none of my business.”
“I’m no Saint”
“Who am I to say anything?”

Sometimes we know something is going on in a marriage.

Sometimes we know that a person is stealing from the job or

we know that a person is becoming more and more dependent on alcohol or some other substance

but  we prefer to stay quiet, removed and safe from the situation.

We simply don’t want to get involved in the mess sometimes.
 
Even when the mess is someone that we love.

Then when disaster hits that person’s life we may even say something like…
“I saw that coming for a while.”
“I knew that marriage was going to end.”
“I knew that he or she was a DUI waiting to happen.”

I knew said nothing

Why are we so hesitant to love like Jesus calls us to love?

Maybe we are loath to say anything because we don’t’ have our own house in order.

Often we sit back and watch our friends and our loves ones paddle a canoe over the falls because we are so afraid that we don’t know what to say or how to say it.

I understand all of these excuses I’ve used them myself.

Jesus wants more from us
And Jesus and our loved ones need more from us.

In today’s Gospel He gives us some pointers on how to love someone enough to correct or challenge them.

The first point he makes is simply this.
Don’t remain silent….

If we see someone living contrary to the gospel,
or if we are hurt or upset by someone,
then love does not permit us to look the other way.

Jesus does not want us to humiliate someone.
Whenever something is wrong our first obligation is to address it privately,
confidentially, humbly.

Maybe we could say something like
“I love you so much I can’t keep quiet anymore.”

If a one on one conversation doesn’t work love does not let us off the hook.

Jesus would then find others who are worried and concern and bring them into the discussion

Once again this type of intervention should be done humbly and quietly.

If the person sinning continues to refuse to see the error of their ways
then Jesus once again tells us to try again and widens the circle a little more asking us to even involve the church in an attempt to save them from themselves.

Finally when all else fails Jesus says treat them like you would as a tax collector or a gentile.”

At first glance this seems to indicate that we should distance ourselves from the person we are concerned about.

The Jews of Jesus’ time looked on gentiles and tax collectors with distain.

It is important to remember however that Jesus did not.
He loved sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes.

Jesus was a friend to them even before they changed even if they never changed he loved them.

Holy ones let’s write this on our hearts.

Love real love cannot remain silent when a brother or a sister is headed in the wrong direction

Love cannot remain silent when someone is hurting themselves or others or not following God’s law.

Love always corrects and challenges in a humble way.

Love never permits us to give up even when a person refuses see the error of their ways.

Love must be persistent and patient with a person who sins.

Love endures

Lord take away our fear

and please help us love always.

Amen

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A – 2011

The Readings for this Sunday

When you love someone you want what is best for them.
Quite frequently you spend a lot of your time trying to figure out just how to help them find what that is.
Some people give complete freedom to their children or loved ones and step back ready to help them pick up the pieces when or if things go bad.
Some people hold their loved one on a very tight rein and do everything in their power to keep them from miss-stepping.
Some plead and some scold, some scare and some inspire their loved ones to do the right thing.
It should come as no surprise to us that throughout his life the humanity of Jesus struggled to figure out how to love the world and bring us all to God.
After his Baptism in the Jordan,
Jesus was tempted in the desert.
The Devil tried to convince him to relate to the world in three different ways:
He tried to convince Jesus to use big displays of power to scare us into being good.
He he tried to convince Jesus to buy our love or bribe us by giving us everything thing we could ever dream of. (Turn these stones into bread)
Finally he tried to convince Jesus to simply compromise and lower his standards
You see the Devil was desperate to keep Jesus from using suffering love to save the world.
Jesus’ sharp response to Peter in today’s Gospel shows that he continued to struggle with the same temptations he experienced in the desert.
When Peter tried to convince Jesus not to carry the cross and not to choose suffering love, it was as if Jesus found himself back in the desert facing off with Satan find the same temptations.
Hence his harsh rebuke to Peter “Get behind me Satan”
And just before he was arrested we see Jesus being tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane once again to avoid death on the cross once again.
With his passion and His death Jesus chose suffering love to redeem the world and bring us all to God.
His examples should inspire us all to do the same.
Holy Ones..
We all know that you can scare a person into being good for a while
We all know that you can bribe a person into being good for a while
You can make tons and tons of rules and laws in a vain attempt to make people do good.
I was a college chaplain for 20 years and I learned that you can make all the rules you want in a Residence Hall/dormitory but unless you change the hearts of the kids who live in there things can go very bad very quickly.
Jesus knew that the only way you can change a human heart is to love a person unconditionally and be willing to suffer for them.
In fact I would venture to say the only real way you can know if you love someone or are loved by them is ask yourself the following questions.
Am I willing to carry their cross and suffer for them ?

Would they be willing to carry my cross and suffer for me?

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life"
As Hurricane Irene comes our way
Stay Dry
And Stay Safe
Look out for your neighbor
Amen

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - 2011

But you who do you say that I am?

But you, who do you say that I am?

Holy Ones…
This is one of the most fundamental questions a human being has to answer.
If we believe that Jesus was just a good man or pious legend
then how he lived and what he said doesn’t really matter.
If we like Peter profess that Jesus is the Messiah,
the very Son of God,
then our lives will never and can never be the same.
Everything changes.
First of all we realize that this is not all there is…
This life, whatever challenges it presents, and everything that happens here is but a moment in eternity.
It’s all just a moment just a moment…
Second when we say Jesus is the Messiah or Jesus is Lord
we realize that our life has been given to us to give away.
It follows that we should spend our lives giving rather than receiving,
letting go rather that holding on.
That’s what Jesus did and that’s what we are called to do.
Third when we understand who Jesus really is then
God’s will and God’s law and God’s plan matter.
What written in the Bible matters, the age long tradition Church matters.
If we believe that Jesus is Lord then our lives have to be guided and directed by God’s Word and Gods’ truth every single day.
Finally if we believe that Jesus is Lord
If we can say that from the depths of our heart …
Then No matter where we find ourselves
No matter what happens
No matter how dark life seems,
there is always a light in the distance.
Even if is only a pin point of light
If we as imperfect as we are would not leave the ones we love in the darkness of despair.
How much more will God who loves us never leave us alone in the dark.
There will always that tiny glimmer of hope which orients us.
There is always a tiny light
which show us where we should put our next step
and guides us home.
I admit of late my eyes have grown strained looking that pin hole of hope.
You all know it someone said to me Fr. Robert the Bags under your eyes even have bags.
I admit it and that’s no surprise to you.
However, the other night sitting right over there in that pew I found that tiny light
in the Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ
If your eyes are strained looking for it I encourage you to come do the same.
Just come here and sit.
Sit as if you are in the presence of the person who has loves you the most in your life.
You can pour out your life or sit in silence
You can cry or smile…
Hope will come… I promise.
Some beautiful parents have written me and asked me not to communicate explicitly about our current situation at Mass.
They want to be able to communicate with their children as they see fit.
I am so grateful for your insight.
And I hope this homily and these words have not violated your wish.
Please know that you are in our hearts every day.
Fr. Raymond and I pray for you every day..
We’ve done so for a long time.
Our whole Franciscan Province is praying for this parish.
It’s rare that a morning or an evening should pass without receiving a text message an email or a call from one to the friars, our brothers promising prayers and thoughts.
We have a veritable army all over the country and world praying with us.
We are not alone. We are so far from being alone.
And Fr. Raymond and I are so grateful for and humbled by your prayers, love, concern, and your support… I can’t tell you how much it has meant and continues to mean to us.
Jesus said to them, "But you who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter said in reply,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply,
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
The gates of our weakness shall not prevail
The gates of our sinfulness shall not prevail
The gates of our psychological problems and all the baggage we drag around shall not prevail.
The gates of our anger and bitterness and shame shall not prevail.
Nothing shall and nothing can prevail against God’s Love and the work of God’s Kingdom.
We have a beautiful school to get ready and there are children to educate
There is a huge Religious Ed Program to get up and running
By the way as always we need teachers so come on and jump in the trenches
our kids need us more than ever.
There are senior citizens who are lonely
The sick need the comfort of the sacraments and an ear willing to listen
There are Marriages to prepare for and weddings to celebrate
There is a ton food to collect so many depend on us for food.
There is a Parish Picnic to prepare, and Italian and Polish Nights to plan not to mention the Berlin Fair to get ready for.
We have baptisms galore coming up and we need to find ways to support our young families many work so hard are really tired.
Whew….
The list goes on and on and on.
Dearest Friends of St. Paul Church
More than ever let us be about God’s work,
humbly, mercifully and lovingly.
Amen

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time–Year A - 2011

Today’s Readings

May the peace of Christ Reign in our hearts.

Today we heard the story of the Canaanite woman.

It is a touching story of faith and perseverance.

I'm convinced that Jesus knew the woman in the Gospel before she came.

He knew how much she loved her daughter.

He knew that she was not an Israelite even though she saluted him as the Son of David.

He knew that she had come understand that He could help her and that he would help her.

He knew that in the end he would indeed grant her request.
   
And somehow the woman knew all of these things too.
In some incredible way God had gifted her with a strong faith.

She approached him ….courageously and respectfully.
She was not deterred when he did not respond to her.
She did not let His reaction to her or seemingly harsh words deter her in any way.

And because of her faith in Him
and because of the love that she had for her daughter Jesus granted her request.

We read about her story in the Gospel because God wants us to understand how much power this kind of faith has.

The story of the Canaanite woman should cause us all to stop and reflect on the quality and depth of our own faith.

When we pray do we really believe that God hears our prayer?

If we don’t receive what we requested do we have the depth of faith to understand that the answer was simply no.

I have to be honest as I look back over my life I am grateful that God has not given me everything I prayed for.

In the heat of the moment I’ve asked for some ridiculous things.

There is also so another important lesson in this Gospel story.

The Cannanites were hated by the Jews, they were non-believers, the Jews considered them the scum of the earth yet by granting the woman’s request Jesus teaches us that no one, no human being, no matter what, is beyond God’s love.

Nationality / Race / Gender / Sexual Orientation / Personal Sinfulness / Religious belief or practice or lack there of / nothing nothing at all can separate us from the love of God.

The people of Jesus’ time were shocked that he granted the woman’s her request like they were shocked that she would even dare to ask.

Jesus’ disciples really did consider her and her people no better than a dog yet Jesus love her and granted her request.

What should we take home… from this Gospel
What should we ponder as we go about our lives…

First of all we should realize that faith isn’t just a feel good feeling, rather the stronger our faith the more it can change our values change our choices and change our lives.

I think that this Gospel passage also  teaches us that we never really know how much we are loved or how much we love until the going gets tough.

When love and life is easy, when love does not find itself challenged we never really know how strong it is.

Think about it only when there has been a problem or a challenge in your marriage or with your kids or in your family did you understand how strong your love was and how much love costs.

The woman was willing to do anything because she loved her daughter so much.

God gave her the power to beseech Jesus and his followers over and over agan. She never gave up even when she was ignored… that’s how strong her love was.

Finally if Jesus was even willing to heal the daughter of the Cannanite woman a sworn enemies of the Jews we have to work hard to transcend our prejudices, and our resentments.

His healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter proved that no one should be excluded from our love our mercy and our forgiveness.

So holy ones…
As we go about our lives… let us ask ourselves…

Are our faith and our love as strong as the faith and love of the Canaanite woman ?

She never gave up on her daughter and she refused to give up on God’s love.

Have we ?

Amen

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year–A 2011

The Gospel today paints an incredible scene.

St. Peter steps out of a boat in rough seas and begins to walk on the water.

How could it have happened?
What gave Peter a simple fisherman the courage to step out on the water in the midst of a storm?

The answer is simple.
It was his Faith, he believed in Jesus
Peter believed that Jesus even had the power to make him walk on water.

We all know that as he walked toward Jesus
Peter began to be afraid and he began to doubt.
Once he took his eyes off our Lord he began to sink.

There so much to learn from this simple story.
The message is simple but daunting.

As followers of Christ we can do incredible things
if we have faith.

As followers of Christ we should expect to do incredible things if we have faith.

Throughout the history of the Church very ordinary people like you and me have done extraordinary things.

Some have feed the hungry
Some have cared for the sick
I know a woman who cared for her handicapped Son her whole life. Even when she was in her 70s and he was 50 she took care of him with a strong loving faith.

She never wavered
She would be the first to tell you that her love and her faith gave her an incredible stamina.

I know a man whose wife developed MS in her 30s and he still takes care of her and their two children along with working a full time job.

He is an ordinary man like you or me.
He never expected to face such a challenge but he too was called to step out of the boat and surrender some of his dreams for love and he has..

He is hero in my book, and with all that he does he never misses Mass, never.

I know another man who divorced his wife when she got MS because he felt her illness was simply too big a burden for him carry.

Over the centuries ordinary people at great risk have practiced their faith and attended Mass or celebrated Mass even when it was a capital offense.

How many of us would be here today in these pews if it meant risking our lives.

There have even ordinary people who have accepted death rather than renounce Christ.

The blood of Martyrs is the seed of the Church

Ordinary people, People like you and me have stepped out of the boat and into the sea no matter how rough it was over and over again.

Ordinary people like you and me have stepped out of the boat of their comfortable lives and made a huge difference in every age.

It’s kind of obvious isn’t it…

After hearing today’s Gospel all of us should be asking ourselves what extraordinary thing is God calling us to do?

What extraordinary thing does God need us to do?

When life throws a challenge our way even a daunting challenge,
an overwhelming challenge,
When life throws us an extraordinary challenge if we keep our eyes of faith fixed on Jesus
He will never let us sink

And even if we falter for a moment…
Jesus will pull us back into the boat

Peter didn’t drown when he was afraid
He didn’t drown when he doubted and neither will we.

He lived on to do incredible things with his life
And he eventually even gave his life rather than renounce his faith.

The world would be a very sad place if no one ever took a risk or got out of the boat for someone in need.

Amen.

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time–Year A 2011

The Gospel today paints an incredible scene.

St. Peter steps out of a boat in rough seas and begins to walk on the water.

How could it have happened?
What gave Peter a simple fisherman the courage to step out on the water in the midst of a storm?

The answer is simple.
It was his Faith, he believed in Jesus
Peter believed that Jesus even had the power to make him walk on water.

We all know that as he walked toward Jesus
Peter began to be afraid and he began to doubt.
Once he took his eyes off our Lord he began to sink.

There so much to learn from this simple story.
The message is simple but daunting.

As followers of Christ we can do incredible things
if we have faith.

As followers of Christ we should expect to do incredible things if we have faith.

Throughout the history of the Church very ordinary people like you and me have done extraordinary things.

Some have feed the hungry
Some have cared for the sick
I know a woman who cared for her handicapped Son her whole life. Even when she was in her 70s and he was 50 she took care of him with a strong loving faith.

She never wavered
She would be the first to tell you that her love and her faith gave her an incredible stamina.

I know a man whose wife developed MS in her 30s and he still takes care of her and their two children along with working a full time job.

He is an ordinary man like you or me.
He never expected to face such a challenge but he too was called to step out of the boat and surrender some of his dreams for love and he has..

He is hero in my book, and with all that he does he never misses Mass, never.

I know another man who divorced his wife when she got MS because he felt her illness was simply too big a burden for him carry.

Over the centuries ordinary people at great risk have practiced their faith and attended Mass or celebrated Mass even when it was a capital offense.

How many of us would be here today in these pews if it meant risking our lives.

There have even ordinary people who have accepted death rather than renounce Christ.

The blood of Martyrs is the seed of the Church

Ordinary people, People like you and me have stepped out of the boat and into the sea no matter how rough it was over and over again.

Ordinary people like you and me have stepped out of the boat of their comfortable lives and made a huge difference in every age.

It’s kind of obvious isn’t it…

After hearing today’s Gospel all of us should be asking ourselves what extraordinary thing is God calling us to do?

What extraordinary thing does God need us to do?

When life throws a challenge our way even a daunting challenge,
an overwhelming challenge,
When life throws us an extraordinary challenge if we keep our eyes of faith fixed on Jesus
He will never let us sink

And even if we falter  for a moment…
Jesus will pull us back into the boat

Peter didn’t drown when he was afraid
He didn’t drown when he  doubted and neither will we.

He lived on to do incredible things with his life
And he eventually even gave his life rather than renounce his faith.

The world would be a very sad place if no one ever took a risk or got out of the boat for someone in need.

Amen.

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - 2011

Reading 1

Responsorial Psalm

Reading 2

Gospel

You know when we fall in love

when we really fall in love it's as if our whole being changes.

We move from thinking about ourselves

to thinking about the one or ones we love.

Suddenly we have the ability to make incredible sacrifices.

We find within ourselves the power to forgive any offense

even when we really hurt.

We all know that you can love someone and forgive them but still be perturbed or disappointed with them.

When we love we willingly go without so that we can give to those we care about and we harbor no ill will because of our sacrifice.

Don't get me wrong love is not all rosy.

Love is certainly not easy

We all know that.

You know it's not easy being married.

I know that it is not easy being a celibate priest.

Every life has its ups and downs.

You know that bringing children into the world is filled with joys and filled with challenges.

I know that being the Pastor of a beautiful parish like St. Paul's is filled with joys and filled with challenges.

Yes there is a very high price to pay when we love.

If we find love too easy we might not be loving at all.

Yet without a doubt love permits us to do super human things,

holy things.

When we are able to love we conform ourselves more closely to the image and likeness of God.

We become more and more like Him.

The Gospel today reminds us that our commitment to God and God's Kingdom,

have to be as strong as our commitment to those we love.

In other words when the man discovered God and God's Kingdom he went and sold everything he had to purchase the treasure he had found.

If our faith does not demand from us the same level of sacrifice there is something wrong.

It is not easy to be a Catholic

It is not easy to follow Christ

It is fool hardy or naive to think that just as Christ's life led him to the  cross somehow and our lives can avoid that same sacrifice.

But even with the high price that our love of God and God's Kingdom demands many of us can't even conceive our lives without our faith.

It is indeed like a treasure buried in a field

Its value is beyond measure

and it is worth every sacrifice.

So Holy ones everyday let's try to let go of what we have

and what we want so that we too can purchase the treasure in the field and deepen our relationship with God and each other..

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 

Let us go and do the same with our fear.

Amen

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time–Year A

May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts.

When Jesus spoke to his followers he used simple examples.

He spoke to ordinary people in ordinary words about the profound truths of life and love and our relationship with God.

In today’s Gospel we hear three different parables

They all speak about the Kingdom of God and these parables are as meaningful for us today as they were for the people who heard them from Jesus himself.

After a long winter a gardener can’t wait for the ground to thaw so that they can get their hands in the soil

In the early spring when life begins to pop up all over earth if you go to your garden you will see all kinds of green things breaking through the soil.

It is almost impossible to know which ones are weeds and which one will be flowers or vegetables.

The temptation is to simply pull everything out but that’s not what God would have us do.

It is only after a while sometimes a long while that you can figure out exactly what is really growing in your garden.

The gardener will always ask himself Is this wheat or is it a weed?

The land owner (God) does not want the us to pull out what seems to be weeds because they might actually be wheat.

The moral of the story is simply this.

We need to be patient

Patient with each other and patient with difficult situations.

You know a person might seem like a weed their whole life and than in one incredible moment of grace turn out to be a beautiful stalk of wheat.

You might be in a job which seems like a weed sucking the life out of you and everything around you but after a while it may turn into something life giving for you.

Your teenager might seem to be like a weed from another planet but… you just never know give him/her a chance and  they may actually turn out to be the beautiful stalk of wheat you remember them as.

All of us have weeds in our lives.

Some of us may even be convinced that we live with weeds…

God wants us to be patient

We should never give up on a person God never does

And the most incredible thing to remember is this

God’s transformative love is so powerful that He can even change a weed into wheat whenever it is ready.

All of us need more patience.

We must never forget how patient God is with us…

The second parable speaks about a Mustard seed..

Mustard seeds are really small and seem pretty insignificant by any standard.

Yet they contain within themselves incredible power,

and when they are watered, nurtured and cared for they can become a huge tree.

Someone recently said to me there is so little good in the world and so much bad.

I’ll admit sometimes it seems that way.

And sometimes it’s just hard to cope.

We must never forget that as long as there is even the tiniest bit of good even good the size of a mustard seed There is something good to hope for.

As long as there is the tiniest seed of good in our marriage

As long as there is the tiniest seed of good in our job

As long as there is the tiniest seed of good in our relationships

There is something to hope for

God wants us to dare to hope.

The Kingdom of God is indeed present  in this world

As this parish has faced some pretty significant challenges these last couple weeks we has seen God’s presence in a wonderful way this week.

At first goodness and hope seemed so small…

but now we know that God is here and the events of these last two weeks have brought us closer together rather than farther apart.

Finally Jesus spoke about yeast

Yeast which has the power to change….

We must be like the yeast.

Yeast which has the power to transform a glob of wet flour into a loaf of wonderful bread.

I used to live in a Friary with a bread machine.

When we first got the machine  we baked fresh bread everyday. It was wonderful to wake up and smell it.

One day when it was my turn to set up the bread machine .

When we woke up the next morning the smell was different .

I went to the bread machine only to find a big mess.

I had forgotten to put in the most important ingredient… the yeast.

Just like flour and water need yeast to make bread

The world needs good patient people even just a few to build up God’s Kingdom

We are the yeast

By our sacrifice, by our forgiveness, by our devotion to truth and justice,bBy our generosity,

we can change the world into something wonderful just like the yeast turns a glob of dough into a loaf of bread.

So let us be patient with the weeds in our lives especially those weed which have two legs

Let us refuse to give up even when there is only the tiniest amount of hope. hope the sign of a mustard seed.

Armed with patience and hope we can indeed be like yeast for a world so desperate to be transformed into the Kingdom of God.

Amen

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ –Year A - 2011

When a soldier goes to war frequently he/she carries a picture, a picture of a loved one,
a picture which in some small way makes him/her feel the presence of that special person whenever they look at it.
When Daddy goes away on a business trip many times a mother will show their little children his picture.
“Here’s daddy” they say to remind the kids that he loves them, and cares for them, and misses them.

Sadly a picture is not enough it is never enough.

What the soldier needs on the battle field is a kiss or an embrace.

What the little girl needs is to dance on Daddy’s feet or to lay on his chest and feel his heart.

What the little boy needs is to throw play ball with his Dad or be tackled by him.

No a picture, or a memory, is never enough
they never satisfy.

Pictures and memories never fill the space which exists in our heart when we are alone,  absent from the ones we love.

Human beings need presence.
We yearn to be in the presence of the one we love.

God understands the human heart and God understands the human body.

He created them and God Himself became incarnate.
Remember the Word was made flesh and dwells among us.

And when you think about it and pray about it.
Our bodies are they way that God has given us to be in communion with each other
and His Body is the way we can live in communion with Him.

Our bodies are how we relate.
Our bodies are like a  window to the soul of the one we love
an embrace,
a touch,
even a smell,
- bring us into communion with each other

A long time ago I met a woman who refused to wash a pillowcase because it smelled like her deceased husband. It made him present in a special way.

What a gift it is to be in communion with someone else,
what an incredible gift.

And just like we need our bodies and the bodies of others to be in communion with each other…

Jesus understood that we could only be truly in communion with Him if we shared His Body, His Blood , His Soul, and Divinity.

That is why we come here to be in the presence of God…
That is why this place is holy
That is why this beautiful little church is set apart
That is why we call it a sacred space
That is why some of us genuflect or bow when enter and leave.

That is why we should try not to talk unnecessarily
As if we met someone in front of JC Penny’s in West Farm Mall..

In the synoptic Gospels we hear the narrative of the Last Supper, in which Jesus plainly says,
“THIS IS MY BODY
THIS IS MY BLOOD.”
He doesn’t say this could be my body.
He doesn’t say this could be by blood.
No, He says “THIS IS MY BODY.”

And sadly for some strange reason,
some who read the scriptures literally in every other aspect….
those who believe that
there were really seven 24 days during creation,
and Moses was really 120 years old, etc.
refuse to take Jesus literally when He says, “this is My Body.”

So how do we know that Holy Communion is really the Body and Blood of Christ ?
Jesus also says He is the vine and we are the branches.
and in these cases he is speaking figuratively.

To find more evidence that Jesus was not speaking figuratively and meant what he said…we have to go to the 6th Chapter of John’s Gospel and the Bread of life discourse.

Which is what we read today. In it Jesus said
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood you have no live within you.”

Many took Jesus literally as he intended and turned away.
They say to themselves… this is too weird for me.
How can this man give us his flesh and blood to eat?
They leave because they refuse to comprehend or accept this incredible teaching of Jesus.

They refuse to accept Him at His literal Word and they make the mistake of their live time and walk away.

Knowing that they are leaving because they are taking him literally JESUS does not call them back and say wait you misunderstood I’m talking figuratively or symbolically.
 
No He lets them go their way in the hope that someday they would understand and return.

Then He simply turns to the Apostles and says.
“Are you going to leave me too?”

To which Peter, the impulsive  one, responds.
“Lord to whom shall we go You have the words of everlasting life?”

No a picture is not enough
And a memory is not enough
God understands that just like we need the real presence of those whom we love to live in communion with them….

God understands that we need His real presence, His body and His blood to live in communion with Him.

Why is this so hard to understand?
Why is this so hard to believe to accept?
If God can make the whole universe with all its wonder and beauty..

Why can’t we accept that God can take some bread and some wine, ordinary things and turn them into his body and his blood his real presence so that we might live in communion with Him?

Holy ones… our world, our culture, our nation, our neighborhoods and sadly even our families  are becoming more and more isolated and isolating.

Don’t be afraid
It is possible to live in communion with God,
and God longs to be in communion with us much more than we could ever desire to live in communion with Him.

“Eat his flesh and drink his blood”
Live in communion with Jesus the very Word of God

Those who do can never be alone…
Never…
He is here
He is present
Not simply in a memory or a written text or a picture
He is here His body and His blood, His Soul and divinity.
He longs for you to live in His presence of and be nourished by His body and blood.
To be in communion with him

This Church  has been filled with people longing to sit in the very presence  of God.
for over a hundred years.

People come here
To sit with him
To listen to him
To sing to him
To pray to him
To be with him in a special way.

May we always find great solace both at the celebration of the Eucharist or at the feet of our Lord at  present in the Blessed Sacrament.
May be always strive to be in communion with God who loves us so much that He gives us His Body and Blood.
God is near very near indeed 

Amen

The Feast of Pentecost Year A - 2011

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

I would like to propose three thoughts for us to ponder on this Feast of Pentecost 2011...

THE FIRST IS THIS...

A person can get along without a lot of money.

There are a many people who don't have a lot of money these days.

We can get along with minimal food. We certainly don't need all that we eat.

We can get along without the latest fashions and toys and gadgets and we can have a very good quality of life.

A poor boy in China didn't understand that and sold one of his kidneys for an IPAD.

However, it is very very hard to get along without other people.

God made us to be in relationship, relationship with others and relationship with God.

That's why is solitary confinement so difficult to bear for a person in prison.

Its so difficult because it denies our very fundamental need for relationship our fundamental need to be with others.

If a child it is not held, if it is not nurtured he/she will never thrive, sometimes they will even die.

This fundamental fear of being alone manifests itself is so many ways during our lives:

• Bullying is so hard to bear for a child because it implies rejection. No one will play with me. I will be alone...
  

• One of the most important things for a young person growing up is being accepted. They try so hard to be a part of the group. Educators spend so much time helping them understand and deal with and figure out peer pressure... or pressure to belong.
  

• A little later in life people fear that they will not find someone to spend the rest of their life with. They  fear that they will be alone. This fear is so strong and  sometimes so reinforced by family members that in desperation it is not uncommon for people to marry the wrong person or the first person to come along. Disaster disaster disaster...
  

• After the loss of a spouse of many year, people long for companionship and relationship. When their spouse of many many years dies sometimes its as if a part of themselves has died. It is so very painful.

All of this is true because we are made to be with others and we are made to love.

It is indeed so painful to be alone....

Today is the feast of Pentecost.
Today God promises to be with us always.

Jesus said “I will not leave you orphans.

I will send you the advocate, the comforter the Spirit of Truth.”

POINT TWO

I becomes clear from today's readings that Holy Spirit was not given to the apostles individually for their own benefit or purpose.

The gifts of the Spirit were given to us in the context of the community the Church.

The apostles and Mary were gathered together in prayer when the Holy Spirit came.

That's how God wanted the gifts of the Spirit to be received and only when they were gathered together as Church did they receive the Holy Spirit.

We all know that the Church is not perfect.

If you don't know that I don't know where you have been living these past 10 year or last 20 centuries.

You think things are bad now you should have been around during the time of St. Francis or St. Theresa of Avila. What a human mess.

Jesus knew that we would make mistakes.

Jesus knew that our community our church would be broken and holy at the same time.

Jesus knew that there would be scandals and problems in every age, yet he still chose to ask the Apostles the first leaders of the Church to be gathered together in prayer to receive the Holy Spirit.

And it is the Church which is tasked with recognizing and channeling the gifts of the Holy Spirit where they are needed the most.

Many say that Pentecost was indeed the birthday of the Church and it is through the community of the Church that the gifts are shared.

POINT THREE

The second reading today reminds us that each member of the community receives a different gift and each of these gifts are holy and special.

Some can preach, some can discern God's will,
some are great prophets,
some can be lost in prayer,
some have incredible energy and strength and stamina and are constantly able to serve their brothers and sisters,
some are smart, really smart etc etc etc

Yes we have a multitude of gifts to share and all of our gifts are to be placed at the service of  God’s Kingdom and each other.

And so on this the third most holy day of the year
after Easter and Christmas,

on this day when we celebrate and recognize the both the gifts and the presence of the Holy Spirit,
let us find comfort in the fact that God is really present in our lives.

Men and women of faith can never be alone..

When Jesus said I am with you always until the end of time

He meant what He said.

He is with us always in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Let us remember that the Holy Spirit did not reveal himself to individual people but rather in the presence of the community or Church gathered in prayer.

Authentic use of God's gifts will always be at the service of the community of faith and they will always build up the Church.

Finally Let us recognize the gifts that each of us has been given.

We all have gifts every person in this Church has gifts to share.

Let us and rejoice in the diversity of gifts that can be shared in the church.

We should never be jealous of the gifts a person has received.

We should never be prideful of the gifts that we ourselves have received.

We must be grateful for the gifts God has given us.

Every gift we have must simply be put at the service of others.

Come Holy Spirit fill the heart of the faithful and in-kindle in us the fire of your love send for your spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Amen

8th Grade Graduation Homily….

Dear Graduates of St. Paul School,

Today is a special day.  Today is a day many of you have waited for with expectation; a day you have been ready for and a big step forward in your lives. When many of you came to St. Paul’s years ago, it seemed so big; and now for some of you, it seems so
very small indeed.  That’s OK… Your desire to move and explore new horizons, your desire to try something different and raise the bar a little, all of these things mean that St. Paul School has served you well.

Everyone has been telling you that High School is really different and it is.  However, we know that you are ready. You’ve done well here and you have the ability to do well wherever you go. I was so proud of you when the Office of Catholic Schools told me that the Science scores in our Middle School were in the 90% percentile.  Let me tell you, I was never that smart in Middle School. In addition to preparing yourselves intellectually in the classroom and physically in the playground, the parking lot and the basketball court, it is my fervent hope that we have helped you understand that you are special in God’s eyes. God’s love is not dependent on what you say, or how you act, or what you accomplish.  God’s love is unconditional.. He loves you now and He will love you forever, even if in the end you choose not to love Him.

You chose the 1st reading wisely… because it speaks of light, God’s Light.  Let me teach you a little phrase which is very special to me.  Deus lux mea est (God is my light). Let me assure you God’s light will never grow dim; it will be a light which will always be visible somewhere in the distance no matter how far you wander away.  Deus lux mea est. I know people who have been lost for years and years and years, people who have been lost for decades even,
and have finally chosen to look up and follow the light of Christ. If you ever get lost, and I hope you don’t, look up and you will find the light of God’s love in the distance.  I promise.  Follow it home.  Deus lux Mea est.

In the Gospel you chose, we hear the call of the disciples.  They were just normal people; hard working men trying to make ends meet. They were not theologians or scholars of the law; they probably weren’t even as smart as you, yet God chose them to found the Church.  He entrusted them with the power of the Gospel and the salvation of the world. And once they got it, once they understood who Jesus really was and what God needed them to do, (and let me tell you it took them awhile to figure it out), they were so brave.
They were so courageous that they willingly gave their lives for Jesus and the Gospel and for love.  They willingly gave their lives for love. Think about it…Deus lux mea est.

Dear 8th Graders, God has a plan. God has a plan for you.  Each and every one of you is a very important part, an indispensable part in the wonderful puzzle of God’s loving providence. There is nothing more disappointing to spend tons of time putting together a huge puzzle and finding a piece missing. When that happens, everyone who looks at the puzzle and your hard work notices the piece that is missing.

In the next four years of High School, begin to dream, but remember. . . .Deus lux mea est. Find what you like to do.  Try lots of things… make sure that they are all legal, age appropriate, and exciting.  Maybe God will begin to show you where you fit into the puzzle of his divine providence.  Maybe God will show you where he needs you.  Listen carefully when Jesus says come follow me.  He may lead you to be a teacher, a computer programmer, a financial guru, a priest or friar, a religious sister, a doctor or lawyer, a social worker, a counselor or, whatever…..Yes, high school is a time when God begins to let you understand the dreams he has had for you from the beginning of time.

Well Holy ones, it has been a privilege for us to be a part of your lives.  I wish I could have had the chance to get to know you more… the first year in any new assignment is always hard. You have to figure out where all the light switches are.

Dear 8th Graders,  Say your prayers, follow the light, dream your dreams, find your place in God’s plan and
remember to keep us posted on where your dreams take you.  And never forget. . .

Deus lux mea est.
Yes, He is and may He always be.   Amen.

The 7th Sunday of Easter–Year A 2011

May the Peace of Christ Reign in our Hearts

You know I used to live in Rome and Assisi.
In fact I lived there for 6 years

I’ll never forget being so moved the first time I saw St. Peter’s at the end of the “Via della Consolatione.”

Sad to say the utter fascination and awe I experienced when I saw St. Peter for the first time slowly but surely wore off.

So much so that after I while I would glance over toward St. Peter’s as I was running for the bus on “Lungo Tevere” as if to say oh yeah there’s St. Peter I hope I didn’t miss the 97 bus to Trastevere.

I visited Florence so much that it became like going to Rocky Hill for me.

You know it’s part of our human nature that wonder and awe don’t always last as long as we would like.

Each and everyone of us have been given a wonderful gift, an incredible gift. It is the gift of our faith.

Our faith roots us in God’s love.

Our faith gives us hope when everything and everyone else tells us to give up hope and throw in the towel.

Our faith helps us understand what is right and what is wrong, how to live and how to love.

Because of our faith we stand on the shoulders and benefit from the life experiences of the countless men and women who have come before us mark with the sign of faith.

Because of our faith every generation does not start from scratch trying to find their way.

There are very few challenges and experiences that humanity hasn’t dealt with before and our faith helps us understand how to deal with them.

Our faith,
our faith in Jesus Christ,
handed down to us from the time of the Apostles,through the faithful ministry of the Church,
a church both broken and holy at the very same time,
is indeed a most precious gift.

Sadly,
Like I grew to take the warmth of Assisi, the beauty of Florence, and the majesty of St. Peter’s for granted when I lived in Italy.

Quite frequently we forget, the incredible gift of our faith.

It’s beauty,
its warmth,
its majesty fade and we take our faith for granted.

Frequently we simply get stuck in the everyday worries of life.

Think about it, are grateful, are we in awe, of the incredible fact that right in that tabernacle,day in and day out is the real presence of Jesus Christ.

God Almighty, all loving, all merciful,
the creator of heaven and earth.
Right there… right there.

Sometimes,
actually most of the time, I feel that my heart and mind and my soul aren’t able to take all of that in and appreciate it.

How many times has our faith been a consolation in times of sadness or sorrow?

How many times has our faith been a light in what seemed to be a sea of darkness and confusion?

How many times has our faith pushed us to look beyond our own needs and wants?

How many times has our faith pushed us drawn us to something more
something greater
Some One holy?

Yes our faith is a gift, a privilege,
a consolation
and a hope which so very many of us take for granted.

Our faith has been entrusted to us by God.

Which brings me to the second point.

Our faith is not ours to create.
We cannot rewrite the Gospel in every generation.
We don’t adapt the Gospel to fit our culture.

It is our task to bring our culture in communion with the Gospel.

When the Gospel points one way and the world and our culture goes another we have to change the world not the Gospel

Someone one said to me recently in a very angry and bitter tone .

Fr. Robert

Our faith is old fashion, get with it,times have changed the Church has got to change,
our faith is got to change.

There was so much emotion when she spoke that something very personal had to be going on in her life.

I pray that God gives me the chance to talk more to that person.

It was as if she felt that somehow we know better than God

As if somehow we have the wisdom

or maybe the arrogance to think that we can change the very Word of God.

In school we used to play a game when I was a little boy which we called telegraph

A long line kids would form a circle and the first one would whisper a phrase to the second person and by the time it got to the last person in the line it was all changed.

If every generation felt it could change to Word of God

What would we have left of God’s self revelation?

Would our faith resemble in any way the gift that Jesus died on the cross to share with us.

No

Our faith is not ours to change.
Our faith is not ours to adapt.
Our faith is ours to preserve.

Our faith is ours to hand on to the next generation.
Just like someone gave it to us.

We must pass it on so that they many may also share it’s wonderful consolation and
benefit from its challenge
and understand the warmth, beauty and majesty of God’s love.

We must pass on our faith In season and out of season.

When its popular and when it’s not.

Let us always be faithful to the wonderful gift that God has given us in our faith.

Please repeat after me.

Lord help me believe

Lord Help me seek You

Help me see to love you Lord

Help me be faithful

And help me pass on to the next generation

the Wonderful gift you have shared with me

my Catholic Faith.

Amen