11/2/2015 – All Souls Day – Wisdom 3:1-9, John 6:37-40

      The commemoration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day in our liturgical year on November 1 and November are important occasions that remind us that we as a Church belong to an extended family that's not limited by time or space.  Yesterday, on the first day of November, we celebrated the saints of our Church: both the famous saints who've been beatified or canonized, those known throughout the world, but also those saints who are less well-known, those we may have been known personally in own our lives before they entered eternal life, or those whose faith was known to only God alone.   On today's celebration of All Souls Day, we remember in our prayers those souls who have died and who are still in a state of purification, those who are still in need of our prayers.

      Our first reading from the book of Wisdom stands up against the common belief in the ancient world that life ends with death.   The book of Wisdom assures us that the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, that torment won't touch them.  The foolish of the world believe that the righteous have come to their end in death, but Wisdom assures us that they are now at peace with God.  We Christians believe that all those who share in the Spirit in baptism become one in the Body of Christ, that we are united in that Body both in life and in death.  In eternal life in heaven, in a state of purification, or on earth, the faithful are united as members of the Body of Christ: we're all connected to one another.   We're called as part of that Body to pray for the souls who are in a state of purification.  We believe with all our hearts that the community of saints helps us with its intercessory prayers. 

       In today's reading from the Gospel of John, we are told that if we live in faith, we enter into a relationship of life and love with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit of God.  As disciples, there is a mutual in-dwelling: we live in the Father and the Son, and the Father and the Son live in us.  This mutual indwelling leads us to eternal life.  In our faith, we begin a relationship with God the Father and God the Son: this relationship continues into eternal life.

       God always meets us in the reality of our lives.  This year, we may have had a loved one who has died recently, or we may particularly feel a void in our lives of a loved one who passed away many years ago, but whose presence here on earth we still miss so achingly.  We may miss a parent or spouse who has passed away or a child who passed away at a young age.  No matter where we are on our journey, our faith meets us both in the good times and the difficult times, in all we experience in our lives.  It is in this context that we celebrate the Feast of All Souls, to pray for those souls who have touched our lives, for our loved ones who are now in eternal life.  We experience grief, sadness, and pain at the death of a loved one, but we should also feel a sense of thanksgiving, thanking God for those who have blessed us on earth with their lives.  May we continue to pray for those souls in a state of purification not only today, but throughout the year. 

Celebration of St Jude - mass

Friday evening we celebrated the feast of St Jude and St Simon with a mass with our Hispanic community in Verona, a small town just outside of Tupelo. That feast took place on October 28, but we celebrated it tonight with a mass and dinner. Our Hispanic community has a great devotion to St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes and desperate cases. We had more than 100 people in attendance. It is great to celebrate the faith of the people and their love for the Church and its saints.

01 de Noviembre de 2015 – La Solemnidad de Todos los Santos - Las Bienaventuranzas - Lucas 6: 20-28

      Si somos niños o adultos, podemos tener un montón de diversión con las cosas simples - cosas como las pompas de jabón.  Sin embargo, sólo hay un problema con la alegría que viene de estas pompas de jabón: sólo dura un momento.  El momento que queremos tocar la pompa de jabón, puf, estalla. O cuando no podemos tocarla, estalla de todos modos cuando golpea el suelo.

      Podemos comparar la felicidad que tenemos en la vida con la vida de una pompa de jabón.  En algún momento, la felicidad que tratamos de entender es fuera de su alcance.  O bien, hay momentos en que pensamos que tenemos la felicidad en la palma de nuestra mano, y la pompa de jabón estalla de repente, para nuestra sorpresa y la felicidad se fue.

      Podemos perseguir muchas cosas en nuestra búsqueda de la felicidad. Podría ser dinero, comida, placer, posesiones materiales, la promoción profesional, y ser popular con los amigos o compañeros de trabajo.  No es que estas cosas son malas en sí mismas; si de hecho, estas cosas traen gran placer a nuestras vidas y estas cosas pueden ser muy positivo y que da la vida por nosotros cuando no se lleva al extremo. Pero si hacemos cualquiera de ellos nuestra prioridad en la vida, entonces, podemos tener un a vida vacía de la felicidad verdadera. 

      Jesús sabía que buscamos la felicidad y la satisfacción en muchos lugares. En las bienaventuranzas, Cristo sugirió que podemos ser felices o bendecidos si estamos pobres de espíritu, de luto, misericordiosos, hambrientos de justicia, y perseguidos por causa de la justicia.  ¿Por qué Jesús sugirió algo así? Normalmente, no miramos estas cosas como algo que nos trae la felicidad o el placer.

       Sin embargo, cuando somos pobres en espíritu, es más fácil para tener confianza en Dios por lo que es importante en la vida.  Cuando somos pobres en espíritu, pero aún no confiamos en nuestras riquezas o los valores del mundo secular para la felicidad.  Cuando somos pobres en espíritu, entonces podemos poner todo en las manos de Dios, por lo que Dios puede ser la base de nuestra vida.

      Cuando lloramos en la mitad de nuestra realidad -  cuando lloramos en medio de la tristeza y de la lucha - podemos poner toda nuestra confianza en Dios para consolarnos y para aliviar nuestro dolor.  En nuestro luto, en la confianza que ponemos en Dios, tendremos la oportunidad de unir nuestros sufrimientos a los sufrimientos que Cristo tenía en su pasión y en su camino a la cruz.

        Cuando tenemos hambre de justicia, somos más capaces de entender que hay muchos niveles de hambre más allá de nuestra hambre física.  Tenemos hambre de justicia y de sentido y de una relación profunda con Dios.  En el reconocimiento de nuestra hambre física y las otras hambres que tenemos, entonces podemos entender que el hambre más básica que tenemos como seres humanos es un hambre espiritual de conectar con Dios en nuestra vida aquí en la tierra.  Sólo Dios puede satisfacer esta hambre que es una parte esencial de nuestra condición humana.

       Cuando somos misericordiosos, cuando mostramos misericordia a otros, entonces podemos realmente entender y apreciar la misericordia de Dios nos ofrece como un don gratuito.   Dios nos da este regalo de la misericordia, a la espera de que respondamos, aceptarla, para pasar esta misericordia a otros.

        Cuando somos perseguidos por causa de la justicia, por extraños, vecinos o incluso nuestra propia familia y amigos, nos damos cuenta de que tenemos un verdadero amigo en Jesús.   Jesús es un compañero y un amigo que nunca nos deja, que él siempre está ahí para nosotros en los momentos buenos y malos, tanto a través de nuestras persecuciones y alegrías.

       Todos nosotros queremos encontrar la felicidad en la vida, ¿no es cierto? Pero no debemos perder nuestras burbujas tiempo persiguiendo una felicidad que no dura, para que una felicidad que no importa en el largo plazo. Debemos mirar a Dios - que es nuestra fuente de la verdadera felicidad.

All Saints Day and All Souls Day - St James Catholic Church - Tupelo, Mississippi

Celebrating All Saints and All Souls Days at St James Catholic Church in Tupelo - We have the tradition in our parish of preparing an altar cloth with the names of our deceased family members and loved ones. Write the names of your loved ones on the altar cloth this weekend and join us for our celebrations. 

All Saints Day masses - October 31 and November 1 (Saturday at 4:30 pm, Sunday at 8:00 am, 10:30 am, and 1:00 pm in Spanish)

Fall Festival (Festival of the Saints) - Sunday November 1 at 5:00 pm (starting with Trunk or Treat, then dinner and a parade of the saints by our first communion children. There will be a special guest appearance from the Witch of Yazoo City, reading her story from Willie Morris' book Good Old Boy. There will be a lot of fun and fellowship and games).

All Souls Day masses - November 2 (Monday at 12:10 pm in English and 6:00 pm bilingual in English/Spanish)

Blessing of the graves and mass at St Thomas cemetery in Saltillo (Sunday, November 8 at 5:00 pm)

Join us for our joyful celebration 

10/30/2014 – Friday of the 30th week in Ordinary time – Romans 9:1-5

      We’ve been hearing from Paul’s letter to the Romans these last several weeks.  Paul felt the call to be the evangelizer to the Gentiles, to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all, but in today’s passage, Paul appeals specifically to the Jews, to his own people.  Paul was not only a Jew, but, specifically, he was a Pharisee.  And he approached the Pharisees in the book of Acts by announcing, “Brother, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.”  Paul knew from where he came, and he spends several chapters in his letter to the Romans addressing the Jews as the Chosen People in the history of salvation. Paul expresses a sense of sadness and melancholy because the Jews had been offered salvation in Christ first before any other people, and they had rejected that offer. 

      The Pharisees make an appearance in today's Gospel as well.  They keep on trying to trap Jesus, scrutinizing his every move.  Jesus tries to explain to them that it is not bad to do a good act for someone on the Sabbath, that it is not breaking the spirit of God’s law. 

        God calls out to us no matter who we are – whether we and our ancestors have lived in the same town for generations, or whether we are newly arrived to a place.  It does not matter if we were born into Christianity and have always had a strong relationship with God, or if this is something new for us.  Maybe we’ve been going through the motions of our faith for a while, and maybe this is the best we can do right now.  No matter where we are on our journey, our faith calls out to us, and God hopes for us to respond.  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. 

St Meinrad Seminary - Indiana

Last month, I traveled to St Meinrad seminary in southern Indiana to give a presentation at a seminar for new pastors.  It is always great going to St Meinrad - great place in the midst of the corn fields of southern Indiana.  

10/28/2014 – Santos Judas y Simón, apóstoles – Lucas 6:12-19

      La comunidad de los santos es una fuerza muy grande en nuestra vida de fe.  Hoy, celebramos la fiesta de dos santos: los apóstoles Judas y Simón. Como todos los miembros de la comunidad de los santos, ellos son nuestros intercesores ante de Dios.  Pero también, ellos son los grandes modelos para nosotros en nuestro propio camino de fe.  Ellos son guías y amigos para nosotros.  Estamos aquí, con miembros de nuestra comunidad hispana, porque ustedes tienen una devoción a San Judas.  En nuestra vida de fe, San Judas es el patrono de situaciones desesperadas, de casos imposibles y causas perdidas. Y hay días cuando estamos desesperados en muchos sentidos.  Entonces, San Judas es un santo para todos nosotros.   En muchos países en el mundo – en Alemania y en Italia, en México y en los Estados Unidos, tienen numerosos devotos que consiguen por su intercesión la ayuda de Dios, especialmente para conseguir empleo, una casa y otros beneficios.

       Celebramos la fiesta de los Santos Judas y Simón en el mismo día porque según una antigua tradición los dos iban siempre juntos todas partes a predicar la Palabra de Dios al mundo.  Simón y Judas se murieron juntos en su trabajo misionero en el país de Irán, y sus tumbas se ubica abajo del altar de San José en la basílica de San Pedro en Roma.  Como explica el Evangelio de hoy, estos dos santos Judas y Simón fueron llamados por Cristo para formar parte del grupo de los doce apóstoles.  Judas y Simón recibieron el Espíritu Santo en forma de lenguas del fuego en el día de Pentecostés y miraron los milagros de Jesús en Galilea.  En estatuas y iconografía, podemos mirar Judas con llamas sobre su cabeza – es un símbolo de su testimonio al día de Pentecostés y la presencia del Espíritu Santo.   Simón y Judas fueron presentes en la visita de Jesucristo al grupo de los apóstoles después de su resurrección.  Judas y Simón – ellos son testigos de la fe y mártires de la fe. San Simón murió con las heridas de una sierra y San Judas cortándole la cabeza de un hachazo.  Su devoción a San Judas y la comunidad de los santos es un testimonio al mundo.  San Judas y San Simón – rueguen por nosotros. 

Sacerdote:  Celebrando San Judas y su testimonio de fe, presentamos nuestras oraciones a Dios. 

1. Dios es la luz de la Iglesia. Oremos por los que han sido iluminados en el bautismo, por los que creen ver pero no se comprometen y por los que necesitan la visión que sólo la fe puede dar. Roguemos al Señor.

2. Dios es el creador del mundo. Oremos por los pueblos que son explotados, por los pueblos que viven en la pobreza y el miedo.  Roguemos al Señor.

3. Dios es el sanador de los que sufren. Oremos por los enfermos que aspiran a la plenitud y por aquellos que el sufrimiento o la soledad les impide ver a Dios. Roguemos especialmente por los enfermos de nuestra comunidad.  Roguemos al Señor.

4. Dios es la vida de los difuntos. Oremos por nuestros familiares cuyos ojos la muerte ha cerrado para que gocen de la visión de Dios.  Roguemos al Señor.

5. Oremos con San Judas y nuestro patrón Santiago por los victimas del huracán Patricia en México.  Roguemos al Señor.

Sacerdote – Gracias Dios Padre por las bendiciones que tu nos da.  Te lo pedimos por su hijo nuestro Señor Jesucristo.  AMEN. 

Always a Cubs Fan

The world series finals are starting this week.  It was so heartbreaking to see my beloved to go out 4-0 to the Mets.  Growing up in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the Northside of Chicago until I was 12 years old, I grew up as a diehard Cubs fan.  I remember how much my mom and aunts and uncles and grandparents loved the Cubs, especially on my mom's side of the family. As Cubs fans, we always hope for next year.  I am proud of my Cubbies and proud of my hometown Chicago.  Good luck to the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals and their fans - may the best team win.  And we will hope for a good 2016 season for our beloved Cubs.

10/28/2015 – Wednesday of 30th week in Ordinary Time – St Simon and St Jude – Luke 6:12-16

       We celebrate the feast of St Jude and St Simon today, two of Jesus’ apostles.  In Scripture, there are not a lot of details given about the apostles, but we also know about them from the Tradition that has been passed down to us.   Jude has become a popular saint in the Church.  He is mentioned in the list of the apostles in the Gospel of Luke and in Acts.  St. Jude is known as the patron saint of lost causes and desperate situations in our Roman Catholic tradition.  This is due to the tradition that, because his name was similar to the traitor Judas Iscariot, few Christians prayed for his intercessions, out of the mistaken belief that they would be praying to Judas Iscariot.  As a result, St. Jude was little used, and so became eager to assist any who asked him, to the point of intervening in very dire circumstances.  To encourage veneration of this "forgotten" apostle, the Church maintained that St. Jude would intervene in any lost cause to prove his saintliness and zeal for Christ, and thus St. Jude became the patron of lost causes.  Isn’t it interesting to see the roots of some of the traditions we have in our Church?

        Simon is mentioned on all four lists of the apostles.  On two of those lists he is called "the Zealot.  The Zealots were members of a very nationalistic Jewish sect that saw the Messiah coming to restore them to military greatness and to lead a free and independent nation. Tradition has it that Simon and Jude went to Persia together as missionaries, where they were martyred for the faith.  They are buried together in the same tomb in St Peter’s basilica, below the St Joseph Altar at the left transept of the basilica. 

        Even though we don't know a lot of details about many of the apostles, we do know that they are responsible for passing down the faith that we practice today, that they suffered and sacrificed in order to spread God’s word throughout the world.  As we hear in the Gospel of the 12 apostles whom Jesus called by name, we know that they were not the richest, not the most intelligent, not from the most prestigious families in society, but rather that they were very human in their weaknesses and their flaws.   They came from all walks of life, including tax collectors, tradesmen, and fisherman.  Some of the apostles were so fiery in personality that they were called “the sons of thunder.”  In the midst of our human flaws and weaknesses, the Lord calls us to be his followers, to live out our faith in the reality of our lives.  May we all hear that call.

Lunch at Culvers -

On a recent road trip to southern Indiana, I stop by Culver's, probably my favorite fast food restaurant.  Culver's is headquartered in Wisconsin, so I when I was up at seminary in Milwaukee, we would frequent the Culver's down the street from us.  I had a patty melt, fries, and a Pumpkin spice shake for lunch in Owensboro, Kentucky, when I stopped by on my way to St Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana, 

11/1/2015 – All Saints Day – The Beatitudes – Luke 6:20-28

     Children can have a lot of fun with simple things – things like blowing bubbles.  However, there is just one problem with the happiness that comes from blowing bubbles: it just lasts a moment.  We may want to hold onto a bubble, but the moment we reach out & touch it, poof, it bursts.  Or when we can't reach the bubble in time, it bursts anyways when it hits the ground.

      We can compare some of the happiness we reach for in life to a short life of a bubble.  Sometime the happiness we try to grasp is out of reach or we just can’t get to it in time. Or, there are times when we think we have happiness in the palm of our hand, and the bubble suddenly bursts, much to our surprise, and that happiness is gone. 

      What are some of the things people chase in their search of happiness, putting them above everything else?   It could be money, food, pleasure, material possessions, career advancement,  & being popular with friends or co-workers.  It’s not that these things are bad in themselves; if fact, these things bring great pleasure to our lives and these things can be very positive and life-giving for us when not taken to the extreme.  But if we make any of them our main priority in life & see one of them as our key to happiness, then we’ll be disappointed.

       Jesus knew that people often look for happiness and fulfillment in the wrong places. In the beatitudes, he even suggested that we might be happy or blessed if we were poor in spirit, mourning, merciful, hungry for righteousness, and persecuted for the sake of righteousness.  Why would Jesus suggest such a thing?   We don’t usually look at those things as bringing us happiness or pleasure.

       However, when we’re poor in spirit, it’s easier for us to trust in God for what’s important in life.  When we are poor in spirit, we don’t rely on our wealth, our material possessions, or the values of the secular world for happiness.  When we’re poor in spirit, we can then turn everything over to God, making God the true foundation and bedrock of our lives.

       When we mourn, when we cry in the midst of sadness and struggle, we can put all of our trust in God to comfort us and to ease our pain.  In our mourning, in the trust we put in God, we’ll have the opportunity to unite our sorrows to the sufferings that Christ endured as he endured his passion and made his way to the cross.

        When we hunger for righteousness, we are better able to understand that there are many levels of hunger beyond our hunger for food.  We hunger for justice and for meaning and for a deeper personal relationship with God.  In the recognition of our physical hunger and the other hungers we have, we can then understand that the most basic hunger we have as human beings is a spiritual hunger to connect with God in our lives here on earth.   Only God can satisfy this hunger that’s an essential part of our human condition. 

       When we’re merciful, when we show mercy to others, then we can truly understand & appreciate the mercy God offers to us as a free gift.  God gives us this gift of mercy, waiting for us to respond, to accept it, to pass this mercy on to others.

       When we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, by strangers, neighbors, or even our own family and friends, we realize that we have a true friend in Jesus.  Jesus is a companion who never leaves us, who is always there for us in good times and bad, through both our persecutions and joys.

        All of us want to find happiness in life, isn't that true?  But we shouldn't waste our time chasing bubbles for a happiness that doesn’t last, for a happiness that doesn’t matter in the long run. We should look to God – he’s our source of true happiness.