This is Really Good... a few words from Archbishop Dolan

2nd Sunday of Lent Year C - 2010

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

I would like to concentrate on the first reading this week
because it speaks volumes about the mystery of God’s relationship with us.

First of all from this reading of the covenant ceremony in 2nd Genesis
we understand that
God longs for our friendship.

We know this because it is God who took the first step.

God introduced himself to Abraham,
our Father in Faith.

By reaching out to Abraham
God also reaches out to us his descendents.
When He introduces Himself to Abraham He introduces Himself to all of humanity for all time.

During His encounter with Abraham God even mentions us when he says.
“Your descendents will be as numerous as the starts.”

It is important to note that when Abraham asked for proof of God’s love;

God used the rituals and symbols common to Abraham’s time to establish His covenant and make His promise clear.

During Abraham’s time, to prove one’s faithfulness to a covenant or solemn promise it was the custom to
slaughter some animals,

which were very valuable possessions,
split them in two,
which was no easy task,
and then have both parties walk through them.

When a person walked through the carcasses it was like saying,
if I break my promise or my covenant
then may I end up like these animals
dead and split in two.
It kind of inspires fidelity doesn’t it.

Notice that Abraham does not walk through the carcasses,
probably because God knew that we his descendents would be unfaithful.

In this covenant ceremony only God makes the promise of faithfulness.

While waiting for God to appear and seal the covenant,
we read that a terrifying darkness came over Abraham and the covenant sacrifice.

Birds of prey swooped down and tried to steal the sacrifice of the covenant.

Scholars tell us that the birds of prey in this passage represent Satan’s desire to distract us or frighten us from God’s covenant and our promise.

It becomes clear from that line that keeping the covenant will not be easy.

During the ceremony God revealed His presence in two ways.

God appeared in the form of a smoking pot which represents God’s holiness.

And He appears in a flaming torch.

When God appears as a flaming torch it was
His way of promising that He would guide us on your journey.

So from the torch we learn that the light of God’s love
and God’s word
and God’s actions will guide us home.

What does all of this mean to us?

God has given us life.
God has given us relationship with Him through covenant He made with our Father Abraham.

Our relationship with God is a covenant a serious commitment a solemn promise.
It should never be broken

However collectively and individually we have broken over and over again,
yet God remains faithful in every age and every generation.

The covenant proves
He loves us and longs to be loved by us.
The covenant proves to us that our God is not distant
or removed or hidden from us.

God could have expressed His covenant or relationship with us in any way he wanted
but he chose to use the rituals and customs of Abraham’s time.

He chose to use what was familiar to Abraham.

This teaches us that we should never look for God only in big or mysterious signs.

We should not look for God only in His power and might.

We need to recognize the signs of God’s presence in our everyday lives.

God’s presence can be found in…
In the silence of an empty Church
In the good works
Kneeling before the Eucharistic presence
The beauty of creation
The love and companionship of a friend or family member

Yes, concrete signs of God’s love are present everyday of our lives.

Indeed everyday every hour and every moment of our lives.

With the Covenant ceremony God reminds us that,
He will leave the footprints of His love in ordinary things here and now.
We have to grow better at noticing them and appreciating them.

When we are afraid,
when we feel that we are lost,
when all that surrounds is the darkness of doubt and fear,

The covenant ceremony teaches us that God’s light will be there in the darkness,
like it was on that evening with Abraham
and like it has been over and over again throughout history.

We must simply and patiently search it out. God want us to find it.

Without the light of God’s truth we would never be able to find our way home to him.
Without the light of God’s truth we would never really understand ourselves of the meaning of our lives.

And finally the reading shows that God’s covenant demands a response from us.

It shows that living the covenant will not always be easy.

Like Abraham fought the birds of prey we must fight the temptations of infidelity.

This little passage should challenge us by God’s example
to be more faithful
in our own relationships with each other and with God.

We need to be faithful even when others are not.

It sounds so hard but that’s exactly how God is with us.

Over and over we are unfaithful
Over and over we break the covenant
And
Over and over God takes us back

God always remains faithful
Always.

The covenant ceremony push us to try with our whole heart to love like God loves.

So much of our pain and the pain of others,
So much of our hurt and the hurt that others experience,
is because of infidelity,

infidelity in our business relationships,
infidelity in our friendships,
infidelity in our marriages,
infidelity in our religious vocations
infidelity in our families,
infidelity to God’s will and God’s law.

The world would be such a different place
If we simply were ever able to be faithful like God is faithful

God of faithfulness help us be more faithful.

Amen

1st Sunday of Lent Year C - 2010

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

May the Peace of Christ reign in our hearts.

Every first Sunday of lent the Church encourages us to reflect on the temptations of Christ in the desert.

At 12 Jesus realized that he had a special relationship with God and just like any precocious 12 year old he wanted to jump into manhood and be about his father’s business.

Like any good parent Mary had to reign him in and she did.

And like any good kid he listened to her.

Around 18 years later when he was 30 Jesus stirred by the preaching of John the Baptist went to be baptized and in doing so he accepted the mission that the Father had for him.

In all the synoptic Gospels the temptations follow the baptism because Jesus has to figure out how he was to accomplish the awesome task of saving the world.

The three temptations are not complicated though volumes have been written on them.

The first is simply to turn the stones of the desert into bread.

In other words the devil tempts Jesus to provide the world with all it’s earthly needs.

Bread to the hungry
Health to the sick
Companionship to the lonely
In other words the devil is saying.

Give mankind everything they need or want and they will worship you.

It is a pretty shallow temptation.
We all know that the more we have the more we want.

The better we have the better we want.

That’s precisely one of the most pressing problems in our world today.

A few of us have so much more than the rest of the world and we are not satisfied.

The countries and people who have all that they need and all that they want have slowly but surely pushed God from their lives.

Their churches are empty and their cultures glory in becoming more and more secularized.

Remember what Jesus said it is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.

The second temptation is sadly one which the people of God or the Church has succumbed to for centuries.

The devil shows Jesus the whole world and promises that he can rule over it politically if he compromises and admits a little evil into the world.

For centuries the Church has battled this temptation and been emeshed into the political power and intrigue of the world.

We had armies, and worldly power, and influence and sometimes it was used for the good of the people.

Sometimes it was used to defend the poor and protect the weak.

But alas we all now it was also used to oppress and to dominate to defeat and to conquer.

We all know that worldly power corrupts.

Jesus did not choose worldly power or influence to bring the world to salvation he chose the Cross or suffering love, sacrificial love.

The last tempation is to demand a sign from God or to force God’s hand.

The devil quotes scripture and says put yourself up in the parapet and throw yourself down and make God save you because in the scriptures He promised he would.

This temptation is an attempt to take faith out of the picture in our relationship with God.

The devil is trying to get Jesus to attempt to remove any doubt from the relationship between God and his people.

Think about it…

If somehow God gave us irrefutable proof of his power and majesty would we be free to choose Him ?

Would we be free to love Him?

Would there be any place for faith in our relationship with God?

Without the possibility of doubting
we would not have the possibility of believing or choosing God or even of loving God?

And to be honest even with the greatest extraordinary signs from God look at the wonders of creation… doubt always slowly returns into our lives.

Sadly doubt is part of our fallen nature all of us have to live with it and wrestle with it.

We will never be free from doubt until we rest in the loving arms of God for all eternity.

So what does this all have to do with us.

First of all we have to ask ourselves…

Have we given into the temptation to want more and more and more and more and more and better and better and better?

Do we really some how think if I had a better job or a bigger house or more money in the bank that our life would be any holier and more loving ?

Would having all of our physical needs taken care of, would having “all of the bread we need” really be better for us.

Are we still working our way through that temptation?

Look around when compared to the rest of the world so many of us have so much more even with our latest financial problems.

Our affluences has gotten us … more suicides, more drugs, more broken homes, more shootings in school etc. etc. etc.

Having more and more and more just doesn’t work.

And as far as the second temptation is concerned everyone who has ever had a broken heart because of unrequited love knows that Love can’t be forced it must be freely given.

Just like Jesus did not give into the temptation to force people to believe we should never try and force our love or our faith on someone.

It should be a gift freely and humbly offered
We should inspire people to believe by the holiness of our lives.

We should never look down on those who have not yet arrived to the fullness of faith.

We must patiently love them to more.

Finally today’s Gospel calls us ask ourselves if we regularly like the devil try and put God to the test or force His hand.

Do we try and force him to act with petitions like…

Lord give me this..
Lord I need that..

Yes, elsewhere in the Jesus encourages us to… Ask and receive, seek and to find, knock and the door will be opened…

However do we trust that no matter what our petition God will give what we need when we need it?

Do we really think we know better than God what is best for us and best for the world?

We don’t need to force his hand he loves us.

Holy ones, temptations will come and temptations will go.

As we saw today Jesus himself faced them with faith.

Every time we are able to overcome a temptation we are so much more able to face it the next times it comes around.

This lent may we work everyday to face our own unique temptations and over come them without fear.

Amen

Ash Wednesday

May the peace of Christ Reign in our hearts.

My Mom is 85 years old and she sends me an email every night.

She checks her bank account on line to see if her Social Security check is deposited.

I believe that she has lived to 85 because she is always willing to try something new always willing to adapt.

She can’t climb on a ladder so she changes her curtains with a pole she made out of a broomstick

The pipe was broken outside and the ice was freezing on the driveway… I noticed it is now wrapped in aluminum foil and is no longer leaking.

She can’t shovel snow anymore so she floods the neighborhood with coffee cakes all year round and people happily show blow her sidewalk.

When she comes to a problem or a challenge she adapts.. It keeps her young and it keeps her spry

When she gets confused on her computer she x’s out as she says, closing the little x box in the window until she is where she wants to be.

When that doesn’t work she resets the computer by holding the power button in and when that doesn’t work

she simply gets on her hands and knees and pulls the plug and then plugs it back in again. She’s never afraid to start over and figure things out.

She never gets discouraged. she turns it back on and she keeps going.

Today is Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday calls us to reflect on three things.

The first is simply this..
Our world
our life
and our routine  are simply not all there is to life.

If you thought this was all there was there would be no reason for you to be here.

Why would you be here if you didn’t believe in God or the eternal life God offers us.

Some of you may have doubts but you are here to hedge your bets…. because you are not willing right now to completely give up your faith.

Ash Wednesday reminds us in fact that our life on earth is but a blink of an eye when compared to eternity.

Remember that you are dust and until dust you shall return

Not only will we turn to dust,

but all we own will turn to dust.

The people we love will turn to dust
and much of what we did during our lives will turn to dust. 

It’s true a few us will live on in the memory of those we love for a couple of generations but after a while our name will only  appear in a baptismal record someplace and not much more.

With all that set it is important to look and prepare for the future, the future beyond out life here on earth.

It is so important to understand and reflect on the fact that

Our future  will either some day end up in a perpetual loving union with God or eternal loneliness.

Said more starkly we will either be in  Heaven or Hell. There are no other options.

The second thing that Ash Wednesday  and actually all of lent calls us to do is to examine our lives,
How are we living and how do we need to change.

We have to learn to adapt as you will just like my Mom does.

Sometimes we just have to x out of our current choices,
Sometimes we have to hit the reset button or even crawl under the computer desk and pull the plug and start over.

I’ve often reflected on why so many people come to Ash Wednesday.

On Ash Wednesday our chapels are always full.

We are all here because we  know that there are things  we have to change in our lives.

We are here because we all know we can do better.

We are  here because we just can’t let go of the hope which springs from our inner most being that we too can love more.

Finally the third thing Ash Wednesday calls us to do is to begin to make the changes we know we need to make.

Why fast
Why give up something we like

Because being able to say no to ourselves enables us to better say yes to God and God’s will

Being able deny ourselves good things enables us to and love other people more.

Denying ourselves good things is part of every virtuous life

What kind of Mom or Dad doesn’t have to deny themselves all kinds of things for their children.

Think of how much of a sacrifice many of your parents are making right now to have you come to Catholic and sit in those chairs.

Holy ones at the end of this lent… may our works of self denial and charity bring us closer to each other and bring us closer to God.

May we live thoughtful lives this lent and find the courage, and the strength and the wisdom to hit the reset button and begin anew.

Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.

Repent and believe the good news.

Amen.

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C - 2010

You know when you read the  four Gospels it becomes clear that they are not copies of each other.  

If they were why would we need four?

God inspired the four evangelists to meditate on the mysteries of the life of Jesus,
His teaching,
His death and resurrection,
and then to convey the meaning of these saving events to their communities,
the people they cared about,
the people they loved.

The evangelists  were four people inspired by God with different perspectives, and different experiences.

They meditated on the same profound mysteries, and wrote  to different audiences with different needs.

It’s as if you and I see the same event and when we recount it we accent different things in different way.

Our stories would be both the same and different because of our own background and the needs of the people we were talking to.

Today we see this very clearly, Luke’s version of the beatitudes is different from the other Gospels.

There are common passages but then Luke  makes a special effort to warn the rich, those who are satified,
those who laugh,
and those of whom everyone speaks well.

“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false
prophets in this way.”

He probably feels compelled to do this because he loves the rich and sees where they are headed.

It is also clear from his Gospel that Luke has a special concern for the poor.

Over and over again in Luke’s writings we hear about the special place the poor have in God’s heart.

Remember the Magnificat where he wrote,
“The hungry he will fill with good
things ”

or remember when Luke recounted Jesus’ homecoming in Nazareth

In Luke’s account ,
Jesus begins.with a quote from the Prophet Isaiah.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He appointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.”

And in today’s Gospel Luke writes
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours.”

Frequently Luke makes the effort to warn the rich of their peril. Here are some examples

Once again in the Magnificat we read
“The Rich he sent away empty”

The story of the rich man in the parable of Lazarus ends sadly we all know where he goes.

And remember the rich man or rich fool, who worked hard all his life and had so much to show for it that he needed bigger barns..

Luke recounts how he died never to enjoy any of it.

There are so many more examples that fit this pattern in Luke’s Gospel that the scripture scholars even have a name for it.

They call it the “great reversal. “ because  the parables often take a surprising turn.

When you think the rich are going to fare well it is the poor who come out better.

The strange thing is that it doesn’t seem to matter why someone is poor and someone is rich.

The rich man in the story of Lazarus was not mean, it doesn’t say that he became rich at the expense of the poor, he simply was blinded by his affluence and didn’t notice Lazarus.

That was his sin… he didn’t notice the poor and because of this sin he was was forced to call out from “a place of torment.” for all eternity.

You know I was so blessed to work in a desperately poor neighborhood in Rome when I studied theology. 

When you live and work with the poor it becomes apparent that it is easier to preach the Gospel to them.

Easier because they don’t have as many distractions.

When life’s questions close in on a poor person he can’t distract himself by going and buying himself something.

He may not even have the resources to go to the movies or find some other kind of entertainment.

He has to face the questions of life, and many do so through the eyes of faith.

The poor, not all but many, turn to God because there is simply no other place to go.

The poor, not all but many, can also be  much more sensitive to the needs of others.

When we were in Tanzania an elderly woman told me, in my village no one will die of hunger we will always cut the loaf of bread so that all may eat, even if that means that no one really gets enough.

Luke understands that the converse is also true.

The rich have so many distractions and consolations that it is possible for some to go through life without ever really feeling the need to even know or love the Lord or be concerned about the poor.

And while not always true, sometimes those who have more hold much tighter to what they have, than those who have little.

Holy ones

We live in the most affluent country in the whole world.

People all over the world go without the bare necessities of life.

In panama I knew people who worked for $5.00 a day.

When we take the time to really understand, it is almost scary how we disproportionately use the resources of the world to support our standard of living.

Sometimes I wonder if Luke’s Gospel shouldn’t have a special place in all of our heart.

If Luke were here today would we have been his designated audience ?

When we hear the beatitude of Luke we have to ask ourselves which ones apply to us?

as indviduals
as a Church,
and as a nation,

And the answer to that important question has to affect the way we choose to live and the choices we make.

There’s lots to think about and lots pray about here..

Amen

 

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C 2010

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Once, when I finished swimming at the YMCA in Danbury CT I noticed that in the far lane near the windows there were several women with babies.

The babies were being held in the water and were moving their arms and legs and making happy sounds.

Then as I watched in amazement a life guard took each baby from the mother and gently let them drop out of their hands into the water.

Each baby instinctively held their breath when their heads went under the water and then they rose to the surface and began to float and move their hands and feet.

They didn’t seem to mind even though they were in way over their heads.

They didn’t seem to be afraid at all.

They were definitely in deep water at least it was deep for them.

In today’s 1st and 3rd reading we are clearly dealing with people who feel that they are in over their heads.

Isaiah felt he was in way over his head,
because he had been in the very presence of God.

In fact he was sure he was going to die  because he knew he was a sinner and so unworthy to be in the presence of God.

Peter felt he was in over his head
when he saw the incredible catch of fish they had made.

He knew he was a sinner and he knew Jesus must have been a very holy man.

“Depart from me he said for I am a sinful man.”
He said..

How often have all of us shared the same sentiment, the same feeling?

Both Isaiah and Peter felt that they were not worthy and probably they weren’t.

And yet Isaiah went on to be one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament.

And Peter who would even deny Jesus three times
became the leaders of the Church, a fisher of men. (and women)

Both of them were called by God who obviously knew all about them.

He knew that they were sinners.
He knew their strengths and weaknesses.
And he knew they were up to the challenge.

Both took a risk
and because to their willingness to do so
both of these men
both of these sinners
did incredible things.

Peter’s risk shows just how abundant God’s grace can really be.

Remember the nets were filled to overflowing ….
even to the breaking point.

Because of his willingness to put out into the deep water even when it didn’t make any sense at all.

Peter did not just catch a few fish he caught a ton of them.

All of us are called to take risks
All of us are called to go into the deep

All of us are called to venture into uncharted territory
It is not easy.

Sadly some of us are never able to over come our fear of doing so. 

There have been so many times that I have felt I was not up to the task,
so many times I felt I was In deep water in over my head.

I felt over my head when I entered the novitiate and kept tripping on my habit.

I felt over my head when I faced a classroom full of kids for the first time.

I knew I was over my head when I flew to in Italy to go to graduate school only knowing the word for bathroom.

I felt over my head when I came to Catholic to interview and I had to talk to a Cardinal.

I feel over my head when some people place before me the their life’s story
and I don’t know what to say or how to comfort them.

I always feel in over my head when I have to talk in public it is so uncomfortable for me.

It would have been so easy for Peter to say no.

It was morning and everyone there knew that you fished at night.

Jesus’ request just didn’t make any sense at all.

God can ask us to do things that make no sense.

But these readings prove that when we answer God’s call
things will still work out if we trust him.

So holy ones… we all have to understand that…
God can use us despite our sinfulness
God can use us despite our fear
God can use us in ways that don’t make sense to us at all

When God’s call comes to you…

When you know God is asking you to "Go out into the deep water...

When what God asks you to do something that flies in the face of reason…..

When you feel you are absolutely not up to the call,
And not worthy of the call,

whatever it is
put out into the deep.

Every single one of us knows that there is something God wants us to do

God needs us to do.

Yes All of us have thoughts like.
Why me..
I can’t..
It makes no sense
Depart from me for I am a sinful man.

When God Calls
Have no fear
Hold your breath
and Say yes..

And get ready for the Great Adventure.

AMEN

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C 2010 -

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

You know like many of your parents I was born in the 50s.
1955 was a good year.

I was in eighth grade in 1968 the zenith of the hippy days.
We all sang along with the Beatles.

“You say you want a revolution well you we all want to change the world.”

I can remember in my freshman year of High School going clothes shopping with my Mom and Dad.

We got the ties and dress shirts and Blazer that I needed for Bishop Turner Catholic High School.

But as we were walking out of the store
I stopped and asked my Mom for a pair of bell bottom pants.

There was a long family discussion and she let me buy them
as long as I paid for them myself,
and I promised never to wear them in front of my aunt and uncles, who happened to be her brothers and sisters.

The drinking age was 18, that meant people drank at 14 enough said.

I loved Jethro Tull, Neil Young and of course the Beatles.

I loved the Beatles even though they said that they were more popular than Jesus.

We were hippies and we gloried in it.
Well I was kind of a hippy.

Let’s say I aspired to be a hippy and a rebel.

But I don’t think I ever made it to full hippy status.

I never lived in a commune or I did not go to Woodstock.

I was one of the editors of my yearbook and this is the cover we chose.

When Fr. White the Principal saw the finished product he almost refused to let us hand the yearbooks out.

BTW we used to call him God but never to his face.

He asked us if there were secret message embedded in those drawing.

He asked us why we wanted to remember our high school with a year book that looked like a bad drug experience.

He seriously told us that people who looked at our yearbook might have seizures.

He was not happy at all.
(They were different times)

We were young and we were pretty naïve.
Yes we all believed in love.

We also believed that love was easy.

We believed the essence of love was being loved, being satisfied, being nurtured and cared for.

Another Beatles song we used to sing in our sleep was…
“All you need is love… da da da da da
All you need is love…. da da da da da
All you need is love love
Love is all you need.”

And you know I still believe the Beatles.
Love is all you need.

But I have come to understand that love is not what we thought it was in the days of our youth… in the days of the Revolution.

I have come to understand that…
Love is not a happy pill.
Love is not only a warm fuzzy feeling.
Love is not easy.

I have come to understand that if I find that love is easy
I might not even be loving at all.

Experience has shown me that love is really not about receiving or getting something at all.

Love is about giving, sharing, pouring out or lives for others.

As the second reading said so clearly
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.

Life experience has shown me that
in today’s second reading St. Paul knows more about love than the Beatles.

In his letter to the Corinthians he wrote

Love is patient,
but we all know that being patient is not easy.

Love is kind,
but there are lots of moments when we would rather be anything but kind.

Love is not jealous,
and yet we have this propensity for comparing ourselves to others.

Love is not pompous,
yet so often we want to put ourselves first and impress others.

Love does not brood over past injuries
yet it is so hard to let go and forgive.

Love does not seek its own interests,
yet we know how much of our day
and our week
and our lives are spent seeking our own self interests?

As St. Paul said…
Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Yes love is all you need,
real love is all you need.

Love like the Mom and Dad who work constantly to give their kids a chance.

Love like teacher who refuses to give up on the kid in the last seat of the third row who challenges her or him ever single class.

Love like the father who goes to a job he hates everyday because he knows it is how he must support his family.

Love like the parent who refuses to take a big promotion because he/her does not want to move his family when the kids are in High School.

Real love is the love that Jesus had for us as he poured out his life from the cross.

Real love is selfless
Real love is always directed toward the well being of others.

Yes there maybe moments of consolation and comfort when we love and are loved.

But the moment that consolation and comfort become the reason we love.
The moment our love is not completely free
what we do ceases to really be love at all.

Sometimes it really costs a lot to love
Sometimes real love is a harsh and dreadful thing
And yet that is how God loved us… on the cross and
How God calls us to love..

Our faith teaches us that love is why we are here.
We were created to Love God and Love our neighbor there are no exceptions.

The prophet Jeremiah in the first reading risked everything because he loved.
He was afraid but he kept loving.

The people in Nazareth were under the false impression that salvation was assured to all Jews so they though that how they lived didn’t really matter.

Somehow they had convinced themselves that they had a get out of love free card.

In the Gospel Jesus went to his home town and challenged the people he had grown up with because he loved them.

He didn’t go just to get them angry or upset even though that is what he knew would happen.

He went home knowing full well how he would be received.
But love compelled him to go.

And so holy ones let us take to heart the words of St. Paul.,
Let us take them to heart,
and let us love as God loves.

If we really want that revolution
we have to think about giving rather than receiving.

We have to have heartfelt concern for the poor and those who are lost

If we really loved as God would have us love
The world would be a different place indeed

For in the end there are only three things that last
Faith Hope and Love
And the greatest of these is love

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Today’s readings should cause us all to stop and reflect on the importance of the God’s Word in our lives.

They should also cause us to stop and reflect on the importance of our words in the lives of others.

Words are powerful, they very powerful indeed.
As we will see in the first reading words have the power to build up and encourage.

Sadly, we all know that words also have the power to destroy.

I know people who have been haunted for years things that have been said to them.

I know people who have suffered horrible consequences because of the words that they have spoken.

Sometimes families are torn apart because of words, poorly spoken, or angry, ignorant words.

With the end of the Babylonian Exile
the Jews slowly but surely returned home.

They didn’t all return at once but rather they returned in waves.

They returned to Judah and to Jerusalem
and when they returned they had a lot of work to do.

In the first few years of their return they were in survival mode.

They spent most of their time re-establish  their society.

They started to rebuild the temple and the walls of their city.
They rebuilt their homes.

They planted their crops so that they could eat.
They began to produce goods.

And as they settled in, they began to reestablish their covenant with God.

And that’s what was happening in the first reading.
The Prophet Ezra called the people of Judah together in Jerusalem and
he began to proclaim God’s Word to them.

He proclaimed God’s word to anyone who could understand, Men, Women and Children.

And as they listened to God’s Word
they realize that God was faithful and that He loved them.

And as the Word of God was proclaimed they began to weep.

They wept because they bitterly regretted the sins of their forefathers.

They wept for joy because they knew that they were forgiven.

They wept because they were finally home
in their own land among their people.

They wept because they understood that they were strangers and aliens no more.

They wept because through His Word their covenant with God was once again renewed.

The Gospel paints a similar picture.

Jesus returned to his home town
And the first thing he does go to the Synagogue and proclaim the Word.

And with the Words of the Prophet Isaiah

Jesus proclaimed who He was and what he had come to do.

As we heard Jesus proclaimed

”The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.?

And with his words He tried to help them understand that a new age of hope has begun.

They all looked at him intently because his Word stirred in their hearts.

The power of the Word can indeed inspire and lift up the human heart.

Holy Ones
I propose that we take two simple points from this God’s word this week

The first is simply this
God’s word has to be a part of our lives.

It has to be read and meditated on
God’s word is indeed powerful

But unless it is read
Unless it is proclaimed
Unless we make it a part of our lives we can never really say that we know God.

Sometimes I hear comments like this..

Father I feel I don’t know God.
I don’t know how to love Him.
I don’t understand my faith.

How can we expect the Word of God to change us if we never read it
if we never meditate on to it
Or we never make it a part of our lives?

How can we expect to know God if we never listen to His Word?

The readings today also should cause us to think and mediate on our own words,
what we say and the manner in which we speak.

There used to be a student here who I knick named “easy pass”

Whatever was on his mind passed easily thorough his lips… there were no filters

Sometimes the things he said were wonderful
sometimes they were outrageous.

He wasn’t a bad person but he just couldn’t understand the power of his words.
And when he misspoke he would be dismayed at the destruction he was able to cause.

In our families and in among our friends our words are so powerful.

I would propose to you and myself that we have to be very careful how we use our words.

If you don’t know what to say
Or if your heart is beating fast or if your are angry or upset.

Maybe it would be a good practice to say nothing.

If you are angry or frustrated or fed up… don’t say anything that you can’t take back.

Rather it might be better to get into the habit of saying something like…

I don’t know what to say. I need some time to think.

Thankfully the more God’s Word becomes a meaningful part of our lives,

the more our words
and our actions and our lives will be transformed in to the image and likeness of God.

Let us  always speak carefully and reverently
and let us resolve to listen ever more attentively to God’s word.

That our hearts and our lives may be transformed.

AMEN

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C 2010-

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

May the Peace of Christ Reign in our hearts.

Recently I saw a facebook announcement for a 5 keg party and I thought to myself ….. that’s a lot of beer.

(Sometimes people obviously forget that when they “friend me” I see all of their status updates.)

Being an inquisitive soul, I asked myself how many gallons 5 kegs would make?

The incredible internet told me that each keg has 15.5 gallons so 5 kegs is 77.5 gallons of beer

It sounds like a lot but a five keg party has nothing on the wedding feast of Cana.

With his first miracle Jesus made 120 gallons or 444 bottles of wine…That’s a real lot of wine.

Lots of things pop into our heads when we read the story of the wedding feast of Cana.

First we learn a lot about Mary.

Cana was very close to Nazareth which was where Mary and Jesus lived.

St. Jerome says you could see Cana from Nazareth.

Mary must have known the couple getting married because she and Jesus were invited to the wedding.

Mary seems to have been involved in the preparation of the wedding because she knew the wine was running out and when she spoke the stewards listened to her and sprang into action.

The account clearly shows us that Mary was compassionate she didn’t want the Bride and Groom embarrassed.

It shows us that Mary understood what Jesus could do.

When she told Him about the problem she didn’t think He was going to go to the wine vendor and buy some.

She knew a miracle would follow.

And finally Mary seems to have understood Jesus’ mission.

She knew it was time to start even though it appears that he didn’t.

She knew what the miracle would start.
She knew how much it would cost her
She knew Jesus would be leaving home.

She had experienced the incredible grace of God in her lives and She knew he was calling her to let go…

Every mom, every parent someday has to let go…
They know it and it is never easy to do.

When he was 12 Jesus he left his parents in Jerusalem and wanted to preach in the Temple.

When they found him he said that he had to be about his Father’s business.

Mary told him to come home and he did.

Now it seems that Mary had to convince him that it was time to leave home and begin His Father’s business.

The account also teaches us a lot about Jesus.

As we heard he was at a wedding with his disciples.

Jesus was not afraid to have fun
Jesus was not afraid of wine. He made 120 gallons of it.
Jesus was a real person who mixed with real people
Jesus loved his Mother.

When he called her “Woman” the biblical scholars tell us it was like calling her Ma’am and that he was expressing his respect for her.

And we know that with this first miracle Jesus was in… as they say.
There was no turning back.
When he left the party he began his eventual journey to Jerusalem and the Cross.

The Gospel of John is very complex filled with symbolism
It is the last Gospel written.
It reflects not only the real events in the life of Jesus
but also the faith of the church which had mediated on his life and works for many years.

By the time the Gospel was written many people had given their lives rather than renounce their faith in Jesus.

Some say that John chose to mention 6 large stone vessels because that was one less than seven because he wanted to show that with Jesus’ ministry that the faith of the Jewish people was be made complete .

The scholars tell us that the account shows us that God’s grace is recklessly abundant
just like the wine Jesus created at Cana was recklessly abundant.

The Gospel also teaches us a lot about ourselves.

It gives us the hope that just as Jesus was compassionate on the host at the wedding he will be compassionate to us.

It reminds us that he understands normal people with normal problems in everyday situations.

Jesus did not sit back, removed and aloof from people
He was present in their lives
And we have to have faith that he is willing to be present in every day and every moment of our lives

Jesus is with us
When we are good
When we are bad
When we have we celebrate and have fun
When we are lonely
When we are afraid
He is with us when we pray and when we play.

He may even be with us at the Thirsty Turtle… (Yikes)
Do they serve wine there ?
Don’t forget Jesus made 120 gallons of wine…

Like Jesus and Mary we too have to discern when it is time to follow God’s will.

Mary and Jesus were willing let go of a wonderful life they shared together in Nazareth because it was time.

We have also have to be willing to let go.

When God calls
We have to let go of our plans and our comfort
and even the ones we love.

We were created to follow Jesus’ example and live our lives as God would have us live them.

Over the 30 years that Jesus lived quietly with his mother and father in Nazareth he must have repeatedly meditated on God’s plan for him.
So too must we.

The compassion that Mary and Jesus shared for the bride and the groom should inspire us to be compassionate people and a compassionate Church.

When the hosts ran out of wine…. A very embarrassing thing indeed.
Mary and Jesus didn’t say…
Oh they should have planned better.
Or that the problems was their own fault.
Or It’s none of my business, not my problem.
Or whatever
Their compassion led them to help.

So often we use the the faults of others to withhold our compassion from them.

That’s not what Jesus and Mary did… that’s not what we should do.

When faced with a difficult situation
Mary simply told the stewards do whatever he tells you.

She challenges us to do the same.
Good advice indeed.

Amen.

Here’s another really good reflection on the Wedding feast of Cana check it out.

The Baptism of Our Lord – Year C 2010 -

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

May the Peace of Christ Reign in our Hearts

So much has happened in the life of Christ from last week to this week.

The Luke tells us that Jesus was baptized when he was 30 years old

And so we move from the scene of the Magi bringing gifts to the new born king which we commemorate last week.

To the banks of the Jordon River where Jesus steps up to begin his ministry

We know precious little about the 30 years before Christ.

We know as a boy he left his family and wanted to begin preaching to the Priests in the temple

We know that when he was found by his anxious parents that he remained obedient to Mary and Joseph and stayed home with them

We know that Joseph died during those years after having passed on to Jesus his profession as a carpenter

We know that Jesus lived in Nazareth a kind of rough and tumble town and that he worked supporting Mary his mother.

And the scriptures say that during this time he grew in wisdom and knowledge.

And it follows then that during these thirty year Jesus was a man of prayer trying with his whole heart to discern God’s will and live it

When John came

Jesus was moved by his preaching

And through the Ministry of John Jesus understood that it was time

Time to follow God’s will and begin his public ministry

He had probably reflected on this day over and over again

By asking to be baptized
Peter said in the second reading
Jesus received the power and understanding of Holy Spirit.

And his work began
The nature of the mission is clear in the first reading, which is a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah

It would be
The mission of a servant leader

A bruised reed he will not break
A smoldering wick he will not quench
And he will establish justice on the Earth

There are many things for us to ponder on this feast of the Baptism of the Lord

The first is essential for anyone preparing to take their place in the world

Jesus needed an interior life before he began his mission
It was a private life, which lasted thirty years
Depending on which Gospel you read Jesus mission lasted between 1 and 3 years…

Ratio of training to ministry was either 30 – 1 or 30 to 10

Our time in college is a time of preparation it is a time which we dedicate ourselves.….to learning and getting the skills to assume our place in the world

How much time have we dedicated to developing an interior life

Yes we have to learn the skills to be nurses and Architects and businessmen and even politicians

But if we are to follow our destiny we have to learn how to be men and women of God

Open to God’s word
God’s will and
God’s plan for us

What a tragedy to be the world’s best engineer but miss The husband or wife that God had planned for us because we were not in the habit of listening to God’s will

What a tragedy to be to be a great politician and miss the mission or task which God need us to accomplish because we had no interior life.

Jesus understood that whatever he did had to be rooted in God’s will and the power of the Spirit..

Thus he is obedient even when it doesn’t make sense

To the casual observer or even to John himself it made no sense for Jesus to be baptized but he did so because he knew it was God’s will

How often are we obedient to God’s will when it doesn’t make sense to us.

Or How often do we pick and choose how we will follow the will of God

And how often does our obedience depend on
What others say
Or what is comfortable to us.

For Jesus following God’s will involved leaving things and people which gave him comfort.

If we study the scriptures and the lives of the Saints there always seems to be some kind of dying to oneself when we are called to follow God’s will

For all that we know Jesus had a good life in Nazareth.
He had his way of living
His routine
The comfort of his mother and friends and relatives

Yet because of God’s call
He Embarks on the life of an itinerate preacher
And leaves all that is familiar to him

How many times… have we said
I’ll follow God’s inspiration as long as it doesn’t cost me too much
As long as I don’t have to leave my comfort zone

It there is one thing that is clear on every page of the scriptures
Love has a great price

Why do we often refuse to pay it

And finally
There is one more lesson we should notice
That is the lesson which John the Baptist teaches us..

Somehow some way from all of the thousand who were coming forward to be baptized John recognized Jesus

How did he recognize him ?

Maybe he knew for a while who Jesus was
Maybe the Holy Spirit inspired him at that moment

How often has Christ presented himself to us in the poor
In those in need
In the instruction of our parents or good advice of a friend and
We either missed it or refused to accept his presence

What a profound tragedy to miss or refuse the very presence of God in our lives

And so dear ones
As you prepare to find your place…. To make your contribution
To live the wonderful life that God has gives you…

Let us strive to develop our spiritual lives and live in the presence of God
Let us discern God’s will and obedient to it even if it doesn’t seem to make sense

Let us be willing to make the sacrifices that following God’s plan will necessitate

Let us be very sensitive to the presence of God

These are some to the lessons, which the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordon offers us

Let us be attentive.

Amen

This is beautiful... lots to think about here....

The root of man’s joy is the harmony he enjoys with himself. He lives in this affirmation. And only one who can accept himself can also accept the you, can accept the world. The reason why an individual cannot accept the you, cannot come to terms with him, is that he does not like his own I and, for that reason, cannot accept a you. Something strange happens here. We have seen that the inability to accept one’s I leads to the inability to accept a you. But how does one go about affirming, assenting to, one’s I? The answer may perhaps be unexpected: we cannot do so by our own efforts alone. Of ourselves, we cannot come to terms with ourselves. Our I becomes acceptable to us only if it has first become acceptable to another I. We can love ourselves only if we have first been loved by someone else. The life a mother gives to her child is not just physical life; she gives total life when she takes the child’s tears and turns them into smiles. It is only when life has been accepted and is perceived as accepted that it becomes also acceptable. Man is that strange creature that needs not just physical birth but also appreciation if he is to subsist . . . If an individual is to accept himself, someone must say to him: “It is good that you exist” – must say it, not with words, but with that act of the entire being that we call love. For it is the way of love to will the other’s existence and, at the same time, to bring that existence forth again. The key to the I likes with the you; the way to the you leads through the I.

Principles of Catholic theology: building stones for a fundamental theology - By Pope Benedict XVI

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C – 2009

I wrote this homily with 102 temperature so if it doesn’t make sense be merciful.

Today if I could crawl into your little heads,
I think I would find thoughts like;

I can’t wait until these exams are finished.

I can’t wait until I have nothing due.

I can’t wait until I can sleep as long as I want and then roll over and sleep some more.

I can’t wait for my mother’s cooking.

I can’t wait t see my friends.

I can’t wait to be with my family.

I can’t wait to be in my own room.

I can’t wait to be home.

Today is the third Sunday of Advent.
Today we lit the pink candle.

It is usually called Gaudete Sunday, or the Sunday of Joy

Try preaching about joy to a church filled with students facing a week of final exams.

I would rather call today “I can’t wait Sunday”
Or “expectation Sunday.”

In the Gospel we heard that upon listening to John the Baptist everyone was filled with expectation.

They couldn’t wait for the Messiah and neither can we
They couldn’t wait for freedom and neither can we
They longed for the joy which we would enjoy with his coming and so do we.

You see when we have faith, when we choose to believe,
it is impossible to live our lives without expectation
and it is impossible to live our lives without joy.

If there is no joy in our lives
if there is no expectation we have to ask ourselves what have I forgotten?

Where has my hope gone?
Or maybe, where has my faith gone ?

When you have faith,
real faith,
life giving faith,
it is impossible not to be filled with hope.
The two go hand in hand.

When you have faith…
It is impossible not to think or dream about the next beautiful possibility that God who loves us will send our way.

Now your exams are the most important thing on your mind. Maybe some of you have papers to write…

Next you will be worried about comps and if you graduate.

Next you will be worried about who your spouse will be,
some of you are already worried about that.

Next you will be worried about where you will work and if you boss likes you.

Next you will be worried about your kids and how many friends they have.

Next you will be worried about your job and who is getting ahead of you.

Next you will be worried about what college your kid can get into and how you will pay for it.

As the aches and pains of life creep up on you,
you will worry about your health and the health of those you love.

Someday you will be worried about your 401 K

I would venture to say that very few of you here even know what a 401k is.
Trust me, Someday you will worry about it.

Life will always be filled with worries..

And sometimes there will be challenge after challenge after challenge,

but “I can’t wait Sunday” reminds us to be filled with expectation and hope

To be honest
I can’t wait till all of you go home, especially the kid you gave me the flu.

And I know
that I won’t be able to wait until all of you come back.

Get your work done.
And don’t complain that you have too much to do,

You’ve had the whole semester and
you had lots of fun so suck it up.

No matter where you are in life
Be filled with hope
Be filled with expectation and
Be filled with joy

That was the message of The prophet Zepheniah in the first reading

That was the message of Gospel.

And that is the message of “I can’t wait Sunday.”

Second Sunday of Advent Year C 2009

In the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Baruch,

God gives hope and healing to his people,
He gives hope and healing to his people who mourn.

They mourn the loss of their children,
They mourn the loss of their families, and their friends

They watched with unspeakable sadness as those whom they loved were marched off into exile by the Babylonians.

Can you imagine seeing your family, being marched away?

Can you imagine how it felt having little hope of ever seeing them again?

The people in the first reading mourn the destruction of their city,
the loss of the temple,
and they especially mourn the loss of their relationship with God.

Even though Baruch probably wrote 400 years after the Babylonian exile.

He calls it to mind to give hope to his own people. They too faced terrible persecutions.

His message is simple.
God gave hope to His people during the Babylonian exile,
and God will give you hope.

All hope comes from God.

And so in the first reading the Prophet tells the people of Jerusalem to go to heights and look to the East and the West.

He wants them to see the return of those who were taken away.

He wants them to see the power and mercy of God.

He wants us all to know that those who were lead into exile were “remembered by God”
He never forgot them.
He never stopped loving them.

God’s love is so great that He even lowers the mountains and
fills in the valleys
to make their journey home easier.

He wants to make it easy for them to come home.
He wants to make it easy for everyone to come home.

In the Gospel, Luke situates the ministry of John in a specific time and place.

He sets the date of John’s ministry according to the reign of the Roman Emperor

He announces that John’s ministry is taking place in Galilee

And he announces the religious leaders of the time.

Luke wants us to know that John was a real person.

He wants us to know that he was not a pious legend but a real person.

John  lived at a specific moment in time, and at specific place on earth just like me and just like you.

What is John’s message ?
it is simply this..

He challenges us to Prepare the way of the Lord…

Just like God prepared the way for the return of the exiles to Jerusalem

We have too prepare the way for God to come in our lives.

We must level the mountains of pride which make it so difficult for us to really love God and our neighbor.

We must fill in the valleys of our weakness and selfishness.

We must make the path to our heart straight by living thought filled, reflective and holy lives.

What does all of this have to do with us?

Like the people of Jerusalem all of us have been in very desperate straits.

All of us have had moments when we were tempted to lose hope.

And all of us have had to acknowledge that our weaknesses and our sins have often been the source of our despair.

The first reading reminds us that God’s love is greater than our sin or brokenness.

It reminds us that God’s love is greater than our infidelity.

The Prophet Baruch reminds us that God’s mercy is beyond limits.

With God there is always hope.

The Gospel clearly tells us that we must prepare a way in our hearts for God.

Just like God prepared for the return of His people 
We must prepare for the coming of our savior.

Like God we must lower the mountains and fill in the valleys. 

Our hearts are filled with so many things

We have
Mountain of distractions.
Mountains of worries and concerns
Mountains of desires
We believe in mountains of false promises
Who among us doesn’t have Mountains of stubbornness and pride

We must level those mountains.
and
We must fill in the valleys of laziness .

We must Fill in those valleys of bad habits which we just don’t want to give up.

And what about those valleys of bitterness and anger when we refuse to forgive?

We have to fill in those valleys so that God can come.

We must make straight the pathways to our heart by living thought filled and thoughtful lives.

So often we wander around life being pulled in this direction or that direction.

So often we place ourselves under the influence of whatever catches our eye and the pathways of our life are crooked indeed.

The readings today remind us that

Advent is a time of preparation.

It is a time of expectation.

It is a time of hope.

Advent demands an active response from us

We are half way there… next week we light the pink candle.

We all know that the closer we get to Christmas the less time we will have.

If we haven’t carved out a little more space or time in our life for God during this advent it is not too late to do so.

“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.”

Amen

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Christ the King – Year B - 2009

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

In the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel we read about a powerful figure who Daniel calls the Son of Man.

The Son of Man will arrive on a cloud to judge the world.

He will do so with power and majesty.

The scripture goes on to say that He has,
glory,
and kingship
and power and that
all peoples, and all nations, will serve Him.

Throughout the scriptures Jesus often referred to Himself as the Son of Man.

The picture painted in today’s Gospel however is very different.

In the Gospel we hear a conversation between Jesus and Pilate.

At first it appears that Pilate is the powerful one and that Jesus is simply a broken and betrayed man.

If you listen carefully however, everything is not as it seems.

You see Pilate is afraid.

He lives in constant fear of insurrection, rebellion and the intrigue of the Jews.

He is hated by the people he rules, and they are always up to something.

On the hand the emperor in Rome cares only about the taxes he receives.

Caesar cares nothing about Pilate and expects him to efficiently govern the rebellious Jews and support the empire.

Failure is not an option.

Pilate is under pressure from both sides. He is always caught in the middle.

As he talks to Jesus it is clear that he he is trying to figure out just who this man is.

Pilate wonders, why the leaders of the Jews hate him so much?

Why would they turn him a Jew over to me for judgment?

Is this some kind of a trap?

What kind of threat does he pose to them and what kind of threat does this Jesus of Nazareth pose to me?

Behind the façade of his authority and power Pilate is afraid, he is filled with fear.

In the end he will hand “The King of the Jews” over to be executed not because Jesus did anything wrong, but because he is afraid of the crowd
and afraid of the priests
and afraid of Caesar.
Pilate is afraid of everyone.
He is even afraid of Jesus.

It is a terrible thing to live your life in fear.

Jesus on the other hand is calm.
He seems in control of the conversation.
He knows that he has to face the cross.

For a long time he had battled the temptation to flee the cross but now he has chosen it.

From that moment of truth he experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was able to face the cross without fear.

Jesus was able to face the cross because he loved and trusted the Father.

Jesus was able to face the cross because of his love for all of us.

Pilate who appears “powerful” is weak and afraid.
Jesus “who appears weak” is strong.

The Church gives us the feast of Christ the King because she wants us to reflect on the type of King that Jesus really was and the role he should play in our lives.

I found this on the internet and it helped me reflect on the Kingship of Christ I hope it helps you.

-Kings are usually born in a palace, places of privilege, but our King was born in a stable.

-While most kings spent all of their time building up wealth, Jesus our King owned nothing at all.

-Kings are usually surrounded by servants; Jesus chose to be a servant.

-Instead of riding into town on a big white horse surrounded by soldiers, Jesus our King rode into town on the back of a donkey.

-Jesus was the friend of regular people, working class people, fishermen and carpenters.

-He is the friend of the lowly, the poor and even the friend of sinners.

- Kings usually only associate with important people

-Our King’s crown was not gold or silver.
It was not a symbol of power studded with precious jewels.

-Instead they crowned Him with thorns.
His crown was a sign of his willingness to suffer for love.

-Instead of robes and jewels he wore a cloak and tunic

-He was powerful but also powerless

-Our King’s throne was not an ornate symbol of his power instead he ruled from the cross.

-Like many good Kings, Jesus gave his life for his people; unlike any other king death had no power over him.

On this feast of Christ the King it is important to ask ourselves;

What does Jesus our King ask from us?
How should a disciple of Christ the King live?

Here are just a few examples…

-Love you enemy, do good to those who persecute you,

-If someone wants your shirt give him your coat as well.

-Feed the hunger, clothe the naked, heal the sick, visit prisoners.

-Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers you do to me.

-Forgive not 7 times but rather 70x70 times.

-Lend to those who cannot pay you back.

-You are the light of the world.

-Take this all of you and eat.

-Do this in memory of me.

Put so simply Christian discipleship sounds so radical.

If we really lived that way the world would be such a different place.

To truly follow Christ the King is radical and it takes courage.

Today we all have to ask ourselves…
What guides and motivates our life?
The fear of Pilate..
The hate of the Jewish leaders…
Or the courage and love of Christ our king…

A very important question indeed.