7th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B - 2012

May the Peace of Christ Reign in our hearts.

It’s kind of amazing when you picture this Gospel story in your mind.

Jesus has just returned to Capernaum.

The people of the town are so excited to see him.

There are so many people that they have surrounded his house and have blocked the doors and filled every window.

As they crowd around they listen to every word Jesus says.

All of a sudden while Jesus is speaking there is noise on the roof, than scraps of wood and mud and palm frons begin to fall into the room.

And as everyone watches in amazement a hole begins to form in the roof and by now everyone is wondering what is going on.

Then to top it off all of a sudden a man in a stretcher is lowered into the room next to Jesus.

And if all of this isn’t enough Jesus simply looks at the man and  says “your sins are forgiven.”

When the scribes and religious leaders of his time hear this they complain “Who is this who claims to forgive sins.”

So to prove to them and everyone that He does indeed have the power to forgive sins, Jesus simply tells the man get up and walk.
 
And with those words man who was unable to walk before and had been lowered into the room gets up and walks out.

This whole passage reads like a scene from a movie with one unexpected event after another.

Let’s try and look at the cast of characters

The people have seen Jesus do pretty incredible things... that’s why they are crowding around him but they are not sure if his good deeds are from God or not.

With today’s healing and the forgiveness of sins many are beginning to believe that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

The religious leaders of the time are very confused.
They see good things happening but they don’t know how to react to them.

They are stuck in their conviction that only God can forgive sins and this man couldn’t possibly be God.

Whoever he is they see this new Rabbi as a threat to their power authority and place in society.

They are not happy.

The men who carried the paralytic are pretty extraordinary.

They were men of faith and men of action.

They must have had really big hearts.

They believed in Jesus and would stop at nothing to get their friend or relative to Him.

They probably struggled along the way to Jesus’ house.

We don’t know how long they travelled.

We do know that it is not easy carrying someone on a stretcher.

When they arrived and could not get near Jesus they did not give up or get discouraged.

Filled with faith they did something extraordinary and climbed up on the roof.

The man who was being carried must have been a very special person so special that his friends or relatives would do anything for him.

He too dared to believe in Jesus.
Dared to hope in his power to heal.

Finally from today’s gospel passage we learn that Jesus is slowly but surely drawing those around Him into the mystery of His identity and mission.

With each passing day they learn a little more about Him.

He inspires by His words.
He is compassionate.
He heals people.
For some He is indeed sent by God,
for others He is threat.

Today’s Gospel story is the first time Jesus allows the crowd to know that he can even forgive sins.

You know there is a little bit of us in each of these characters.

Quite frequently we are pulled towards a strong personality like Jesus, amazed at how they are able to communicate or what they have accomplished.

And quite frankly we can be pretty fickle the today’s hero is tomorrow’s failure.

Sadly like the Religious leaders of Jesus’ time sometimes we refuse to change our perspective on what’s going on in our lives.

Sometimes our opinions are set in stone and nothing will change them.

Hopefully like them men who carried the sick man to Jesus, we care about others.

Care about others enough to eve climb  a roof for them.

Which brings us to our weekly questions.

Have we ever really cared enough about another person to carry them?

Carry them through a sickness, or the loss of their job or an addiction or whatever..

Have we ever really carried someone?

When we’ve run into obstacles in our lives have we let them win or have we found a way around them  like the men who would not be deterred and climbed the roof?

Do we really believe that God loves us and will always do what’s best for us?

Finally are we aware of our own brokenness or sinfulness and do we believe that Jesus can and will forgive our sins if we ask him?

As we begin Lent these are all very important questions to ponder.

This Lent may the Lord in His love and mercy call us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and His love for us.

May  he inspire us to  be men and women of faith and action.

Amen

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B - 2012

Once upon a time I was talking with a woman who had been recently diagnosed with cancer.

She told me that her son had come to the hospital and was completely devastated.

In a moment of frustration and anger he said,
“Why did God give you this horrible disease?”

His Mom looked at him with love and said
“Honey, God doesn’t give people cancer, cancer comes from all of the man made chemicals and pollution in our world.”

It’s easy to see how her son thought that God had given his mother cancer.

The people of Jesus’ time were also convinced that sickness was some kind punishment from God.

They believed that either the person who was sick or someone in their family had done something wrong and their illness was a punishment from God. 

Many believed that sickness was God’s way of getting even.

Over and over again in the Gospels Jesus fought this way of thinking.

The sick man in the today’s Gospel was an exceptional person with a horrible disease.

Leprosy has always been a frightening disease it disfigures and isolates a person in so many ways.

For centuries people who suffered with leprosy were driven from their families and lived in lonely isolation.

They were forced to shout unclean unclean when anyone was close.

They were never allowed to touch another person again.

Sometimes the people in the family or village celebrated the sick person’s funeral as if to say your are already dead to them.

Many people burdened with this level of suffering and isolation sank into madness or despair.

Can you imagine seeing your own funeral ?

Yes this man was exceptional because he man did not give up.

Somehow he heard about Jesus and His power to heal and he believed.

When he was finally able to speak to Jesus his request simple and direct.

"If you wish you can heal me," he said.

It was because of his faith, because he dared to believe that he was healed.

That simple request was also a profound profession of faith.

When the leprous man asked Jesus to heal him he was professing his conviction that Jesus did indeed have divine power.

This man’s healing wasn’t only a physical healing it was much more.

When he was healed he was able return to his home and family and hug and touch the people he loved.

The reason Jesus asked him to go to the priests was so that they could certify that he had indeed been healed could return home.

It is important for us to understand that God doesn’t punish people will an illness.

Sometimes we get sick because of poor choices we make.

Sometimes we get sick because our bodies just wear out like anything else.

Sometimes we get an infection or come into contact with something that his harmful to us.

When sickness comes to us or someone we love we need to react like the man in the Gospel.

We  need to react with faith.

We need to profess our belief that God can and will heal us.

Sometimes God will heal us physically.

Sometimes He will heal us spiritually and  simply give us all the grace we need to carry the burden of sickness.

Sometimes we will simply be given the beautiful consolation of a holy and peaceful death.

Whatever the case may be, we will always be  better off if we can face sickness with faith rather than anger, bitterness and despair.

This week we buried 3 beautiful people from our parish and because of their faith each one of them faced death without any fear at all.

Once when I my Mom had a heart attack I sat by her in the hospital and after a long time worked up the courage to ask her if she was afraid to die.

Her response was simple and inspiring “O Rob put that out of your mind I know God loves me.

When we or someone we love faces illness or suffering may we hold on to our faith like the man into day’s Gospel.

May our prayer be simple and direct like his was.

If you want to you can heal Lord.

Amen

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year - B

May the Peace of Christ Reign in our hearts…

Alright I admit it… during my life there were moments when I was definitely a problem child.

I didn’t listen, I was willful and even devious at times.

It was my way or the highway.

And if justice would have had its way with me I would have been in sorry straights.

On the other hand If only love or what appeared to be love was present in my life

I might have been that proverbial spoiled brat

And frankly when I was nine my Aunt Molly told me she thought I was a spoiled brat.

My parents somehow knew how to combine justice and sacrificial love .

They loved me but they didn’t give me everything I wanted or thought I needed.

And when I needed a swift kick in the behind they gave it to me.

As usual in today’s Gospel there are several levels of meaning.

On the surface it appears that these are simple narratives explaining how Jesus began his ministry in Galilee.

Everyone is impressed with him, he speaks with authority and he revealed that he had the power to heal people.

He is a big hit… “Everyone is looking for you” the disciples said to him.

On a much deeper level I believe that Jesus is still wrestling with the manner which  the Father needs him to accomplish his mission.

How is he to win souls for God?

How he is to save the world?

Would the world be saved if he died for our sins as justice would demand,

or would the world be saved if he gave into our needs and desires and won us over with miracles and healings etc.

Jesus must have often wondered how he could win the hearts and minds and souls of the people he loved.

At first glance it seemed that miracles and healings were working.

Everyone was looking for him, seeking him out.

His disciples were thrilled and must have panicked when they couldn’t find him in the morning.

You see the problem was simply this Jesus was an incredibly compassionate man.

When he saw a sick person it was hard for him not to heal them.

Yet every time he did so he inadvertently reinforced the wrong understanding of his mission.

Jesus is a great success in Capernaum and everyone is looking for him but they are looking for him for the wrong reason.

They are looking for him because they want something and they think Jesus can give it to them

They are saying to themselves

Let’s follow him because he can heal us when we are sick

Let’s follow him because he will feed us when we are hungry

Let’s follow him because he can give us what we want

Kind of like when we say, Dear Jesus help me win the lottery or help me win at the Casino.

Everyone in Capernaum was looking for him because they probably wanted to build him a house and have him stay with them and take care of them.

And as word spread and people from near and far started coming to see him the people of Capernaum probably wanted to cash in on his success.

Sadly after their first encounter with Jesus the people of Capernaum were not more inclined to self-sacrifice or selfless love or being faithful to the covenant.

The miracles healed their bodies but not their hearts.

Just like my parents or any parent knows that they will spoil their child if they gave them everything they wanted.

It is so crystal clear that Jesus would not have won many souls for God by setting up shop in Capernaum and beginning a healing ministry.

And so at first glance even though he appeared to be a great success remember everyone is looking for him.

After prayer and discernment in quiet place in the wilderness Jesus was able to once again refocus his mind and heart on Father’s will.

He did not return to Capernaum as the Disciples and the people wanted.

He left the sick and the hungry in Capernaum as hard as that might have been for him.

Healing them and feeding them would not guarantee the salvation of their souls.

After Prayer Jesus knew that he could not stay in that place and he moved on to other villages to proclaim the Gospel.

The temptation to work miracles and win souls would be with Jesus until the very end of his life.

It started in the desert when the devil said to him turn these stones into bread and it would finish In the garden of Gethsemane when he would ask the Father to take the cup of suffering away from him and let him save the world in another way..

We all know how the story ends

Jesus paid the price of our sins with his suffering love.

There is a lot for us to contemplate here

How do we view God and what is God’s place in our hearts?

Do we expect him to take away all of our suffering?

Do we expect him to keep us healthy even though we eat too much and exercise too little?

Do we think that somehow if we say the right words in the right order he will give us what we want ?

How often do we go away to a deserted place and refocus our minds and hearts on God’s will and God’s plan for us?

Are we looking for him because we hope to get something Or are we here in these pews because like Jesus we have come to understand that selfless sacrificial love is the only way for us to save ourselves and save the world.

Very important questions indeed

We adore you O Christ and we praise you

Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world

Amen

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B–2012

Today the Church asks us to continue to meditate on the beginning of the Gospel of Mark.

In fact we will meditate on this Gospel for most of the year.

Up until now,
Jesus moved by the preaching of John left his home.
He was baptized in the Jordan.
He is tempted in the desert and discerned what God needed him to say and do.

Last week we heard how He called his first disciples
and finally today in our Gospel reading we find him in the Synagogue in Capernaum at the very beginning his public ministry.

It is important to note that the very first thing he does is preach.

As he preaches the people are astounded because he taught with authority, his own authority.

He doesn’t depend on other rabbis to back him up,
rather he simply proclaims what he knows to be true.

And to prove that he does indeed have the authority to speak for God  he heals a man possess by a demon and everyone in that Synagogue was astounded.

It is important to notice that he does not heal the man by touching him.

He doesn’t need any kind of medicine to free this man from his burden.

Jesus’ word alone has the power to drive the demon from the man.

And so in the Gospel of Mark
from the very first moment of his public ministry
the evangelist  wants to make it crystal clear that Jesus does in fact have power and authority.

He wants the reader to understand that is no ordinary Man speaking.

Catholics believe that Jesus’ Word has been passed down to us in two forms,
the scriptures which we hear every Sunday,
and the living tradition of the Church.

Today the Gospel calls us to ask ourselves how  we view God’s Word?

How do we understand the place of God’s word in our lives?

Are the Gospels a collection of nice feel good stories or are they God’s Word?

Do we give the Gospels and the living tradition of the Church authority in our lives?

Do we model our words
and our lives
and our dreams after the Word of God
found in the scriptures and the tradition of the Church?

If we just feel comfortable after every Mass,
If we come only expecting to be entertained, 
if the Gospel never challenges us,
then maybe just maybe we missed the point.

Just like Jesus healed the man in Capernam
He can free us from out demons too.

May the Word of Jesus,
the Word of God,
challenge us,
mold us,
heal us, and inspire us   Amen

Catholic Schools Week 2012

Catholic School Week at St. Paul School

As you can see today we begin our celebration Catholic School Week.

There are those who say that Catholic Education has run its course.

They believe that Catholic Schools have served their purpose of educating and integrating a vast sea of immigrants into our nation.

They believe that the time for Catholic Schools and even Catholic Education in general is passed and that the resources we spend on them could be better used elsewhere.

We here at St. Paul… do not share their opinion.

We don’t share it.

Over and over again the people of this parish tell me how important our young people are to them.

The parish survey done a couple years ago showed that our young people were the number one concern.

We have a lot to be proud of and grateful for.
We have a excellent school and an excellent Religious Education Program.

Forming our young people in our faith,
being present in their lives,
helping them understand that they are precious in God’s sight
and loved by God is part and parcel of what it means to be a Catholic.

And just like every family sacrifices for their kids so do we here at St. Paul’s.

Just like the parents in our school and in our religious Education write out their tuition checks.

Every month I write out our “tuition check”
and I do so willingly because I know it is the right thing to do.

All of us should understand that we have a serious obligation to prepare our young people for a world that becomes more and more secular and more and more Godless every day.

With our Catholic School and our Religious Education programs we have the possibility of planting the seeds of faith in the hearts of our children. 

Sometimes these seeds don’t germinate… right away.

Recently I met a beautiful couple
who hadn’t been in Church for years.

They came to talk about being married in the Church.

One of them said to me “Father I admit it I’ve been away from church for a long time.

I don’t go to church regularly but now I want to come back to God and come back to the Church.”

I have to admit I was a little skeptical.

When I pushed a little harder and asked this person why?

They responded,
”Father I just wandered away for a while,
I went to St. Paul School and what I learned there is still a part of me.
I want to live a good life.
I want to raise my kids Catholic.”

I was very moved and simply said
“Welcome home.”

There’s a dividend from our little School which is beyond price

I promise you here at St. Paul Church

We will do all that we can to make our school the best that it can be.

First and foremost it will be deeply rooted in the truths of the Gospel.

It will always be a Catholic School in every sense of the word.

Second of all it will be a place where children learn and learn well..
We will never be able to provide our students with all the extras that they can afford in a public school but,

Last year our third graders were reading on 5 grade level
our 4th graders were reading on 6 grade level
our 5 graders were reading on 8th grade level
our 6th graders were reading on 9th grade level
our 7th graders were reading on a 10th grade level

In math
Last year
our 3rd graders were working on 4 grade level
our 4th graders were working on 5th grade level
our 5th graders were working on 7th grade level
our 6th graders were working on just shy of a 8th grade level
our 7th graders were work on a 9th  grade level

Last year in our school every grade was working above grade level in reading and math.

A couple times they were more than one year ahead and we have the test results to prove it.

We do provide an excellent education.
 
That’s a lot to be proud of.

As we begin Catholic Schools Week. I want to thank the incredibly dedicated administration faculty and staff of St Paul school for their dedication and sacrifices for our children.

I want to thank you for supporting and believing in our young people

When you came in the kids were passing out a little card with a saying which hangs right inside the door of our school.

Let us recommit ourselves to Christ and our young people by praying it together.

Let it be known to all who enter here
that Jesus Christ is the reason for this school,
the unseen but ever-present teacher in all its classes,
the model of its faculty,
and the inspiration for its staff and students.
Amen

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B - 2012

May the Peace of Christ reign in our hearts,

Being a priest you have the privilege of speaking to many people at so many different places in their lives...

We talk to people when they are young or preparing for marriage.

We talk to people who have been away from God for a long time and are wondering how to come back.

We talk to people when their parent is sick or has just died.

We talk to people when they just lost their job.
We talk to people in intensive care.

The other day I sat right there with our Third Graders who were preparing for their first confessions.

They told me it was really hard to be good.

Last year as they prepared for first reconciliation they asked if it was a sin to shoot your father with a nerf gun.

They were so sincere and honest. It was humbling what a privilege.

Yes Priests listen and talk to lots of people…about lots of things

Some of the most moving conversations a priest has with those who are terminally ill or very sick.

When a person finds themselves in that kind of situation they don’t often have the energy or time for facades.

Frequently they simply say what is on their mind or what is on their heart.
 
Some are angry that their time seems to be running out.
Some are afraid.

Sometimes they express gratitude for all the blessings in their lives.

Many lament that they’ve left things undone..

They look back on their lives and remember all the times they did not answer God’s call

They say things like…
I should have spent more time with my kids.
I learned too late how much I really loved my wife and how much she loved me.
I should have planned better to provide for my family.

Today’s readings remind us that time is indeed short.

In the first reading the reluctant prophet and procrastinator Jonah finally gets around to calling Nineveh to conversion.

We all know the parable… he did his best to run from God and only after he was swallowed by a whale and spit up on the shore of Nineveh did he say yes to God’s call.
 
In the second reading St. Paul bluntly tells the Corinthians.
“I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.”

In the Gospel Jesus simply walks up to the some fishermen and calls them to the service of God’s Kingdom.

The scholars tell us that the first apostles probably knew Jesus before he called them
but nonetheless the call was stark and urgent.

Jesus didn’t try and convince them or woo them
He didn’t explain all of the consequences of his call and what it is going to cost them.

He simply says come follow me and they did.

The call of the first apostles was simple, short, sweet and urgent

Sometimes, even when we accept that doing God’s will in our lives is urgent we find excuses not to answer God’s call.

We convince ourselves that we don’t have what it takes,
that we are not qualified to do God’s work

When we’re tempted to use this excuse
it is important for us to look at today’s Gospel and see who Jesus called.

He didn’t call the theologians or the priests.
He didn’t call the scholars of the law.
He doesn’t call the rich or the powerful who could have gotten the job done much easier.

Jesus called simple hard working people, just like you and me.

Holy ones God has called each and everyone of us over and over again
And God’s call is urgent

We all know how quickly  time flies.
Yes each and everyone of us has only has so much time.
And we never know how much we have

Have we answered God’s call in our lives ?
Will we answer the next time God calls?

Will we pick up the phone and call the sibling or parent we’ve been fighting with for way too long?
Will we put aside our own interests and invest more of our limited time in our marriages and in our kids?

Will we be committed to becoming better people holier people more generous people?

It is so important not to leave things undone  or procrastinate in doing God’s will.

All of us have heard the same call that Jesus shared with the Apostles…

Come follow me …

Pray God the next time we hear it… we say yes.

Amen

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B - 2012

May the Peace of Christ Reign in our hearts.

Those of you who are parents… do you remember when you brought your first child home?

Do you remember how you gently laid them in their crib and went to bed only to be awakened a couple of hours later?

Do you remember how long those nightly calls lasted and how many times you got up? Love calls..

You can always tell who the new parents are. They are the ones with the circles under their eyes.

And then when they stopped waking you up to be fed or because of bad dreams or because they were sick,
sometimes you had your whole day planned.

You took this one to soccer and that one to ballet and this one to Boys Scouts and you waited all day with great expectation for that 1 hour before the pickups started.

But finally put your behind in the chair your cell phone rang… Mom soccer practiced ended early can you come and get me ? No rest for you… Love calls…

And then when they were in high school you thought the calls would be over.

However when they were in High School it’s not always them who are calling  but rather sometimes its you who calls.

You call after you lie awake in the wee hours of the morning because they are not home.

You call to ask where are you ? You were supposed to be home at 12:00… etc etc etc… love calls

When I worked in colleges we had to have a special class for parents to know how to deal with it when their kids called home upset.

Most of the time they call in the middle of the night and say things like they hated at school or that  they were failing all of their classes or had no friends maybe that  they were in trouble.  Love calls….

And finally when they are married and out of the house…
You say to yourself whew… we made it no more calls until one night you get the frantic call Mom the baby won’t stop crying what do we do.
 
My grandma Susie used to simple say give him a little schnapps  he’ll be ok and I turned out OK. love calls

You guys aren’t the only ones that love calls. Sometimes I’m in bed and all cozy and warm and the phone rings… at 3 or 4 in the morning and someone needs to be anointed or needs something else and it doesn’t matter that I have 7:00 Am mass

I have to be honest … I don’t jump out of bed and say hurray love is calling  no quite frankly… sometimes I say God you owe me one.

Or I say Lord, make sure the priest gets out of bed when my Mom needs him.
Love / God calls.

Dear friends we’ve all experienced that throughout our life love will call,
and when love calls it is really God who is calling.

We’ve experienced that God rarely calls at a convenient time or comfortable time.

We know that when  God calls it’s almost a given that we will have to sacrifice a little of ourselves and our comfort or our plans or our will.

When God calls and we answer a little bit of us has to die and in some small way we will have to pick of up the cross and carry it for a while.

That’s what God did when humanity needed him.

In today’s readings we learned a lot about how God calls.

First of all we learned that quite frequently God or love calls in whisper. God’s call is not always easy to hear.

We learned that God calls over and over again…
Because Samuel missed God’s call in the first reading God did not give up on him but kept calling.

We learn that when God calls sometimes it’s hard to understand what exactly our response is supposed to be.

In the first reading we also saw that it took Samuel several times to understand what the call was.

In the Gospel it is clear that John felt called to introduce his followers to Jesus…

He did so knowing full well that they would leave him and follow the Messiah…

Yes God’s call is almost always involves sacrifice.

In the Gospel we also see that when God calls he meets us half way.

When John disciples started to follow Jesus timidly he met them half way. He stopped and turned around and saying “What are you looking for…” he opened the door for them…

And finally in the Gospel we see that when God calls us to a deep more meaningful, more sacrificial life… it is our task our job, our privilege to calls others. 

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. didn’t just keep his call to himself. He found Peter and said we have found the Messiah… He shared to call.

Good People
All of this begs the questions.

Do we regularly answer God’s call?

Have we been willing to answer God’s call even when it meant letting go of our own plans and surrendering our will ?

Have we been willing to share God’s call with others?

Following God’s call is just like taking care of our kids it is a life time job.

God will never give up on us he will continue to call us until our very last breath.

The world needs people to say yes to God and yes to love, pray God that we respond with generous hearts.. when He calls.

Amen

Christmas 2011 Lessons from the Manger

 

 

May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts.

OK I admit it in 8th grade I was smitten with Susan Asbell.

Susan if you somehow left Buffalo and are here in Connecticut. I’m sorry to embarrass you.

Yes I was smitten by her
completely smitten
and I did everything I could to simply to be close to her.

She was my first love...and it was wonderful.

You know the Manger scene teaches us so much.
about God and so much about ourselves.

We learn for example that we are indeed God’s first love.

We learn that God is smitten with us,
so smitten in fact that he couldn’t stay away.

The birth of Jesus shows us just how far God
the all powerful creator of the universe
will go to be near to us…

Bethlehem teaches us that God is close.
God is always close.

God could have come into the world in any manner He wished.
He could have come as a mighty King,
He could have just appeared on a cloud,
He could have announced his coming with claps of thunder and flashes of lightning,
but instead He chose to humble Himself and be born to a poor couple in a manger,
surrounded by animals, shepherds and kings.

You see the manger proves that God’s ultimate goal is simply to be loved by us.

Fear and force can rarely open a human heart.

Humble love,
gentle humble love almost always does.

God so desires a place in our hearts that
He came among us in the most humble and simply of ways.

By being born in a manger...
God teaches us that it is ok to have less.

By being born in a manger God tries to teach us that
the materialism and consumerism that drives our economy
and pushes us to seek more more better better newer newer
should not be where we place our hope.

In the long run the things we have are just not that important
if we all understood that lesson from the manger
We would be happier and holier.

And from the Christmas story we learn an important lesson from Mary and Joseph.

Mary and Joseph stood by each other and loved each other and supported each other even though they were in desperate straights.

In our current economy when so many marriages and so many families are strained because of material things
this is an important lesson indeed.

And when Jesus was born in the manger
tradition has it that there came
Simple shepherds from the fields
and distant kings from the east.

They all came to pay him homage and they were all welcomed at the Manger.

The presence of the shepherds and Kings teaches us that God’s message
and God’s love is for everyone,
the rich and the poor,
the noble and the less than noble,
the healthy and strong,
those sick and weak,
good or bad,
addicted or not addicted,
legal or illegal,
no matter what race,
no matter what faith,
no matter what country.
God even loves the people who drive us crazy.
All are welcome at the Manger
and all  have a place in God’s heart.

And so holy ones,
No matter what the new year may bring.

May we learn these simple lessons of the Manger well.
Let us never forget that God is close to us.
Let us walk humbly and be gentle with each other.
Let us try to live simply
and
Let us stand by those we love no matter what challenge comes our way.

Finally, let us share a genuine concern for everyone no matter who they are or
where they come from
or what they have
or have not done.

The Gospel tells us that on that beautiful night in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago.

All of creation  was so moved by the humble love of God that  “suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly hosts with the angel, praising God and singing:

"Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to people of good will."

May that same song spring from our hearts as we contemplate the beauty of the Manger

Thank you God for loving us so much !!!

Good people of St. Paul Church

May you have most blessed and Merry Christmas.

Amen

4th Sunday of Advent Year B - 2011

May the Peace of Christ reign in our heart.

Once during graduation at WCSU a plane flew over with pulling a sign which read Gretchen will you marry me?
Everyone started pointing and waving and cheering. The whole place when nuts…

When the President of the University who was speaking noticed that no one was paying attention to him and everyone was pointing up and yelling he looked up and read the sign.

Then to get try and get everyone’s attention again he asked the crowd… “Well Gretchen what is your answer?”

This woman a few rows ahead of me jumped up and started yelling Yes Yes Yes I will marry you and every one was cheering

Then all of a sudden there was a stir in the crowd because they noticed that on the other side of the graduates there another woman  yelling at the top of her lungs “yes yes yes I love you I will marry you. “

When the two women noticed each other they didn’t know what to do, neither was sure the message was meant for her awkward awkward awkward….

Wonder boy the groom to ge didn’t figure there might be two Gretchens in the crowd both expecting a proposal.

I don’t know how the story ended.

What was obvious from the start when they were asked the big question both responded exuberantly to love’s call.

In a sense in today’s Gospel Mary was also asked the big question and after a moment of doubt she was exuberant in her response to God’s call

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord”, she said

“Be it done unto me according to your will.”

Today’s Gospel relates a real historical event.

And to make sure we understand that it is not a parable or teaching story with a message, the Evangelist situates it in history by giving us the concrete details about the encounter.

He made sure we knew the name of the Angel Gabriel,
the town where it happened Nazareth of Galilee,and the name of the person he spoke to… Mary.

This is the first time we hear her name.

Tradition tells us that Mary was poor.

She was young.

And she was a woman.

And in her times all of these things made it exceptionally doubtful that she would or could ever really amount to anything or make a difference in the world.

Yet it was her yes to God that changed the world.

It is important to note that Mary response was a reasoned response.

She just didn’t say yes blindly. She was confident enough to questions the Angel. How can this be for I do not know man?

And when the Angel answered her question and when she understood Her yes was immediate and exuberant like the Gretchens

And all of this just goes to show us that frequently God doesn’t use things we consider important or people that we consider important to accomplish his plan for our salvation.

Never forget

God’s plan didn’t stop with Mary’s yes

God’s plan continues to transform the world he loves so much and every human being has a role to play in the salvation of the world.

All of us are called to say yes to love as wholeheartedly as Mary.

If you are young

Listen carefully to God’s voice in your heart

God believes in you and so do we.

I am sure that all of us agree that our young people face a much more complicated and difficult world than we did.

They will face so many more challenges

Young adults don’t be afraid you are up to anything that our culture can throw your way.

When God calls you… say yes like Mary… and your life will never be the same…

If you are a woman all I can say is that you’ve come a long way baby since the time of Mary.

Being a woman is no longer a sign of weakness.

I know most of you work and are full time Moms and have a multitude of things to do .

Sometimes I can’t believe how much you have on your plates but when God calls continue to say yes…

And help your families to do the same.  Think about it how many families practice their faith because their mom or their wife encouraged them… lots and lots and lots.

When it comes to holiness I think they often have us beat Gentlemen.

If you are poor and God calls say yes…

Never think for a second that how much you have in the bank, or how much your mortgage is or how much you make really matters to God.

No matter what your financial circumstances you have a role to play in God’s plan.

If we think about it all of us have been called to love and sacrifice over and over and over again in our lives.

And sometimes it has been frightening or daunting, and if we are troubled or afraid when God call  remember what the Angel said to Mary,

“Do not be afraid you have found favor with God”

Now God doesn’t usually put a plane in the sky to call you to love but you never know

he does however call and it is important for all of us to listen especially during this lasts week of Advent lest we miss our special role in God’s plan be it big or small

May all of us Like Mary say yes to God whenever love calls

The God and the world counted on her yes and they count on our yes too.

Amen

The 3rd Sunday of Advent – Year B – 2011

The other day I was in Bed Bath and Beyond and there were lots of people shopping.

All of a sudden I found myself in the middle of a scene.

Evidently this lady was looking at something and then she put it down and looked at something else.

When she turned around to pick it up again it was in the hands of another lady and there were no more on the shelf.

A huge discussion with lots of angry words ensued over a plastic cup for a coffee maker.

That’s mine…. no it’s mine I saw it first…. you put it down

The women  got so angry

Remember getting gas during the power failure.

I saw a man wait for 45 minutes just like me and inadvertently pull in the wrong lane.

He had his wife’s car and he forgot where her gas tank was.

When he tried to get in the right line so he could fill up people thought he was cutting in line.

What a mess, more angry words.

You know that storm brought out the best and worst in us.

In the CVS I saw a woman go off the deep end when her daughter asked for gum.

I was so embarrassed for the woman who lost it
and it let me tell you she really lost it.

Everyone in the store could hear and everyone in the store was uncomfortable.

Living in the presence of anger and bitterness is never easy.

Sometimes I hear from married couples who are so frustrated.

She drives me crazy he drives me crazy.

I thought he would change.

Ladies take a look love them as they are because what you see is what you get and what you got.

The other day I was exhausted and fed, up worried about a multitude of things, and I allowed those darn seeds of resentment or anger to take root in my heart.

Sometimes we play the one bad conversation over and over in our mind and forget all the good ones…

Dumb Dumb Dumb

You know when you think about it being angry is a choice and being angry is the easy choice.

We can chose to be angry or chose to not be angry.

St. Paul reminds us in the second reading that
God wants and needs more from us.

Show me in the Gospel where it says be bitter.

Show me in the Gospel where it says be resentful

Yet quite frequently we hold on to our resentments for dear life.

We refuse to let go of our hard feeling for fear that someone will get the best of us.

I’ve known families siblings etc. who have been angry at each other for years…

Why?

Never forget…. your family is your family is your family let it go…

To combat our propensity to be angry and bitter

In the second reading St. Paul calls to root our lives in prayer

Pray without ceasing he says.

Sounds good but how do you do it?

I believe that praying without ceasing is more than string of Hail Marys.

Praying without ceasing is simply making ourselves constantly aware of God’s place in our lives day in and day out. 24/7 as the kids say.

When we live in the presence of God our lives becomes a prayer.

Prayer allows us to put things in perspective and sort out what is really important.

Living in the presence of God allows us to see things as God would have us see them and deal with them as God would have us deal with them.

All of us need to weed out anger and bitterness from our lives.

In this angry frightened world of ours;

in this world where the fuse is just very short

and so easy to light,

we need to live peace filled lives.

We  need to forgive, live, and love like God would have us forgive live and love.

When we can accomplish this in our lives,
then like John the Baptist we can be a voice in the wilderness calling the world to be peace filled lives.

And  only when we live peace filled
joyful lives in the presence of God we will

• bring glad tidings to the poor,
• heal the brokenhearted,
• proclaim liberty to the captives,
• and release to the prisoners,

You get the point….

This is Guadete AKA Joyful Sunday one of the two Sundays in the year when the priest gets to wear a vestment that looks like a bottle of Pepto-Bismol.

Today the Church reminds us that with God it is so very possible to live  happy, peace filled, even joyful lives free from anger or bitterness.

And when we do we  like John the Baptist we will  Prepare the way of the Lord

No matter what challenges life throws our way.

Amen

1st Sunday of Advent Year B - 2011

This Sunday’s Readings

May the Peace of Christ reign in our hearts.

With this 1st  Sunday of Advent we begin many things anew.

We begin a new translation of the Mass.

It is a translation which sounds a little foreign and maybe even awkward the first couple times you hear it.

However, it is a translation which the scholars tell us is much more faithful to the text of the Mass said all over the world.

It will be hard for us to keep it all straight for a while but sooner or later the old translation will fade in our minds and all we will know and love will be this new translation.

As you all know the first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the new Church Year.

The  page in our lives for this next Church year is blank.

While we have been created in the image and likeness of God,
and while God gave us the ability to understand and choose,
the best possible choice for a follower of Christ is to allow God to shape mold our lives.

As the Gospel pointed out we are at our best when we realize that we are the clay and God is the potter.

We are at our best when we allow God to mold us and shape our lives according to His will and His plan.

You know being a pregnant teenager never figured into Mary’s plan to be sure.

I am sure that  Mary’s pregnancy never figured into Joseph’s plan either but that’s what God needed and so they surrendered their will to God.

You know Elizabeth and Zachariah were childless and alone.

Having John the Baptist was great joy for them but if they had had their way they would have had John the Baptist when they were young.  

God had other plans. Elizabeth’s pregnancy even at an advanced age helped Mary accept God’s will in her life,  for as the Angel Gabriel said “nothing is impossible with God.”

You know John the Baptist was a courageous holy man.
From his childhood he desired to do God’s will.

The scholars tell us however, that there is a good chance that as he took his step into manhood he probably envisioned himself more as a zealot a kind of guerrilla warrior sent to drive out the Romans by force than a humble itinerant preacher.

Once he opened his heart to God’s will he ended up living in the desert and calling people to repentance through baptism.

In his youth he would have longed to die in battle,
instead he died in prison.

His head was presented on a silver platter as a gift to a girl who knew how to dance and her evil mother.

John’s words “He must increase I must decrease” haunt anyone who has ever heard them and understood them.

They could only have been uttered by a man who surrendered everything to God.

You know even Jesus... slowly came to understand God’s will in His life.

The Gospel of Luke  tells us  that “he grew in wisdom, understanding and love of the Lord.”

One day probably early in his life he must have realized that he had special relationship with God.

Some say at his baptism he understood that he was called to be the Messiah and accepted this call.

And then with the temptation in the desert he figured out just what kind of Messiah his father was calling him to be....

What is God’s plan for us this year ?
What does God have in store with us?
What challenges will we face?
What blessing will we receive ?

A wonderful Italian lady from New York and a dear friend always used to always say to me.

”Fr. Robert if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans.”

This new Church Year

Let us ask ourselves
Where do we fit into God’s loving plan for humanity?

Will be we be ready and attentive when he calls or will we have grow complacent.

Pray God let us be attentive and let us surrender ourselves to God’s will and God’s plan.
Amen

32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - 2011

This Sunday's Readings

This week I have a few questions for all of us to ponder...

How many of you have had a crazy week ?

How many of you got frustrated ?
How many of you lost power ?

Don’t worry I'm not going to ask those who didn’t lose power to raise their hands.

One lady told me...
“Father I almost feel guilty because I never lost power”,

I heard of another lady who pretended she didn’t have electricity because everyone else in her office lost theirs and they were upset.

How many of you still don’t have power?

How many of you received a call from one our High School Kids checking up on you?

We have great kids here in Berlin.. As I wrote in the bulletin Tuesday two of our High School Kids made 573 calls... they called and checked on every household with some one 80 or older....incredible.

How many of you just want life to get back to normal ?

I have come to understand in my own life that when things get tough, when some or many of my comforts are stripped away, when life throws me a challenge or 2 or 10, I really see what I’m made of.

And I think that this rings true for everyone.

When life throws us a challenge we really see what we are all made of... as individuals, as a family, as a parish, and even as a town or state.

When life throws us a challenge or challenges we learn how well we really are prepared to carry them.

The Gospel today tells us the story of the 10 Bridesmaids or virgins... five were prepared for the arrival of the groom even if he came late and five were not prepared...

And when the moment of crisis came and they were running out of oil the five foolish or unprepared bridesmaids were not able to get their act together soon enough to be admitted into the wedding.

The difficult circumstances that many of us have faced this week and how we reacted to them should give us pause.

It’s important that we reflect on this week and see how well we were prepared.

All of us should ask ourselves if were we prepared with the supplies we needed to weather the storm, (no pun intended,) and how could we have been better prepared.

But even more important this past week should cause us all to stop and ask ourselves....
How did we respond personally to this crisis?

Were we calm or did we get testy when some of our conveniences were taken away... ?

By the way the conveniences we lost were things that many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world may not even regularly enjoy.

Perhaps the most important question we need to ask ourselves is this...

Were we completely self absorbed or were we able to think beyond ourselves and our own problems during the storm?

During this week of sacrifice and difficulties did we think of others ?

Did we call anyone or walk down the street and check on anyone ?

When we got our lights back or if we never lost them did we welcome anyone into our home?

Did we send warm food to anyone without a gas stove?

Did we look after anyone who was not a member of our family ?

If we failed to do even one of these things then not only weren’t we prepared physically for the storm but most importantly we were not prepared spiritually.

If we failed to do any of these good deeds it means that like the foolish virgins or bridesmaids we were not prepared to answer when love called.

You know I’m ashamed to say if something happened and I needed to run a mile right now I would probably fall flat on my face or die of heart attack.

I am not prepared to run even a mile, as much as I would want to run it I just wouldn’t be able.

But if I started running a little ever day
(easier said then done)..

If I walked then ran and walked then ran slowly but surely I could probably get up to a mile or more...

It’s the same way with the practice of virtue...

Like I can’t expect to run a mile today
We just can’t expect to be generous all of a sudden if you don’t practice being generous every day of your life.

If we don’t practice being generous then when when the storms hit,
when the wires fall,
when we are left in the dark and cold and someone needs us we won’t even be able to respond with a generous heart.

Like the foolish virgins we will not be prepared...

Fear not... 

A very wise man told me never waste a good crisis

Let us all make this past storm a moment of grace,

if we need to be better prepared with supplies and if we need our hearts to be more  practiced in generosity let’s begin  now

For we all know that someday in the not too distant future love will call gain and we will be better prepared to respond with a generous heart.

While we have time
Let us do good.

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - 2011

Today’s Readings   

You know as friars we live in and work in community.

As itinerant men we move from community to community and every friary we live in is different because we live with different people.

Some friaries are neat and spic and span some friaries let’s just say have that celibate man lived in look.

Ladies like when you leave for a couple of days… and come and look at your home.

One friary I lived in had a million rules…

There everything had it place.
When I arrived I had to learn how to load the dishwasher in the correct way, where the television remote had to be placed, how the cushions on the couch were to be fixed when you got up.

And I learned to never to kick off your shoes in the living room and leave them there.

Once I kicked off my shoes in the living room and went to bed the next day I got up and I couldn’t remember where my shoes were.

I had the early Mass and searched high and low…

Finally I had to wear my slippers to Mass.

After searching all morning I asked the guardian of the house, Have you seen my shoes I can’t find them anywhere?

He said to me “hmmm

I think I saw them in the front closet behind the vacuum cleaner.”

Needless to say I got the message and learned another rule.

He was a man who lived by rules.

Rules Rules Rules….

It wasn’t bad for me to live in that house.

I think it was harder on them than it was on me.

Obviously I needed more structure and that Guardian was more than happy to provide what I needed.

When I was transferred to a different friary…

I started asking about all of the rules of the house.

The guardian looked at me and said…

Say your prayers, do your work, and love our people.”

That was a much more comfortable place to live and I would say a much more productive generous and holy friary.

We still lived comfortably and the house wasn’t a mess and we didn’t need a million little rules everyone just chipped in.

In the law which governed the common life of the Israelites and their relationship with God there were over 613 laws

There was a whole class of people needed to interpret the laws and how to live them.

They were called the Pharisees, we call them lawyers today and we need them just as much as the people of Jesus’ time.

If you go to the town of Berlin’s website there is a whole list of ordinances governing everything in Town from garbage, to proper disposal of tree limbs, to animals, to taxes and walking on the street, to portable classrooms and portable bathrooms, the list goes on and on

Berlin has 193 pages of town ordinances

I started to count the laws in the State of Connecticut but gave up

I didn’t even bother to google federal law….

In today’s Gospel Jesus sums all of those laws into two.

"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. “

When you think about it every single law that was ever written is rooted in these two simple phrases…

If we love God we give Him His rightful place in our lives.

If we love our neighbor we will always try and act in his/her best interest.

If we loved our neighbor we won’t put up huge ugly fences between our properties.

If we loved out neighbor we would help them out if they fell on bad times.

If we love our neighbor we would properly dispose of our garbage.

If we loved our neighbor we would not block their driveways when we come to church… hint hint…

If we love our neighbor we would contribute to the common good by sharing our resources in the form of taxes or assistance.

If we loved our neighbors all over the world there would be better relationships between nationalities, and religions and races.

If we love our neighbor we will live within our means and not take more than we really need.

I was recently in Seattle and there were protests called Occupy Seattle..

One afternoon I sat there a long time listening to all of the speeches and reading the signs. Some of them you can’t repeat in Church.

The main point of the protest or the main frustration was simply that the protestors felt that some people and or corporations seemed to be taking so much more than they really needed or deserved.

There was a lot of frustration and anger there and a lot of weirdness too… It was a great place to watch and pray for people.

If we love God I mean really loved God

a lot of what we do,

and what we want,

and what we feel we need,

would change and change radically.

If we loved our God and our neighbor we would go beyond the letter of the law or the bare minimum.

Love always gives more.

If we really loved our neighbor we wouldn’t need the pages and pages of laws and ordinances our society has found it necessary to write and enforce.

If the first thing we asked ourselves was “what is love calling me to do?”

Then…

our families
our towns
our state
our country
and our world would be such better places.

And our lives would be so much richer

Pie in the sky you say…

Jesus said…

"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. “

According to Him we really only need two rules.

Let’s take him at his word.

Amen

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A 2011

Sunday’s Readings

Both this week and last week we heard Jesus reach out to the religious leaders of his time with an almost desperate voice, a desperate love.

He saw where they were headed
(he sees where some of us are headed)

He knew how much they were entrenched in their sin
and he longed to call them to conversion.

He loved them.
(Sometimes you yell the most at the kid you love the most)

Last week the religious leaders of his time were represented as the unfaithful tenants in God’s vineyard.

They were the ones who refused to listen to the prophets and even killed the Son.

This week the religious leaders they were the invited guests to the wedding banquet.

It was the custom of the time to send runners out with invitations Informing the invited that there would be a wedding feast soon and to get prepared.

When the meal was ready (no microwaves back then)
the runners would return to bring back the guests.

The guests (the Jewish people and religious leaders of his time) knew that they were invited.

They knew they were the chosen people.
They knew that it was a special occasion
and theirs was a privileged place.

They knew that had even received several invitations
God had invited them to fellowship over and over again in their history.

Yet somehow and they refused.
They were busy.
They were otherwise concerned
one went to his business, another his farm,
some even beat up those bringing the invitation.

The guests were being invited into happiness
Into joy.

They were being invited into friendship and fellowship with God.
What kept them away?
Why did they refuse ?

The answer is probably different for each of them.

Some were too focused in the moment
they were probably overwhelmed by what was happening at that moment in their lives.
(That happens to all of us some time)

Some just were not interested
They were betting on themselves
they thought that they had a good life already
they didn’t believe that the banquet would be better.

Because of their hardened hearts they lost their chance.
Because of their refusal of God’s love
they did not enjoy the banquet of the Lord.

So the king invited a whole other group of guests
People who never thought they would get an invitation.

They were the outcasts
the religiously incorrect
the sinners, the broken ones
those burdened with addictions,
the bandits, the prostitutes, you get the picture.

He invited people who never thought they had a chance
and
when they received the invitation which they never expected
they responded.

They responded with a conversion of heart.

They did their best to leave their sad pasts behind them.

They trusted the king and they came.
They dared to hope for more.

They dared to hope for a better life a holier life.
And they even came properly attired For the feast
They came dressed with the desire to live virtuously.

Sadly one man tried come without this change of heart
He entered the banquet without being clothed in virtue
or even the desire of virtue.

He wanted the benefits of the Heavenly banquet without being willing to pay the price.

The King even approached him and asked him why he was not properly attired.

Probably in the hope that he could reason with the man
give him one more chance.

Sadly the man was not ready to change
He was not ready to even try to be
the person that God created him to be
And he was thrown out back into his sadness

Friends…
The Word of God transcends time

The Word of God was not only addressed to the Jewish people at that sad moment in history

The Word of God is also addressed to us.

We are the guests.
We are the invited.
We are the chosen ones.
We who have the gift of faith.

We have to ask ourselves…Which one of these characters in the this parable are we?

Which one?
All of us have been invited.

Have we accepted the invitation
or are we too busy?

You know the drill you find yourself thinking
I have so much to do.
so much is calling for my attention.

How many of us have found ourselves saying thing like
I want holiness
I want to life a virtuous life, a good life
but I don’t have time now.
(That’s what St. Augustine wanted.)

How many of us trust ourselves our world and our riches
more than God.

How many of us kind of say Yes I’ll come to the banquet but when I’m old and when I don’t have any better options.

Yes Today in this Scripture God speaks to us

God speaks to each one of us
with a kind of desperate voice
a desperate love.

He longs for us to enjoy the heavenly banquet.
Pray God we all say yes.

Amen

 

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