Monday, September 28, 2015

10/2/2015 – Friday of 26th week in ordinary time – Guardian Angels – Baruch 1:15-22

       In our first reading today, the prophet Baruch tells us how the people in Israel were contrite for their sins during their exile in Babylon, how they recognized the ways they and their leaders strayed from the faith to which God was calling them. The people recognized the ways that they rejected the word of God in their lives, the ways that they turned away from him even though he brought them to the dessert to the land of milk and honey.
        Sometimes we don’t understand what God is communicating to us, so he sends special messengers our way.  We in the Catholic Church believe in angels. In fact, we just celebrated the feast of the Archangels earlier in the week.  We see angels as spiritual being who were created by God.  Our English word “angel” comes from the Greek word “angelos”, which means “messenger”.  Today, we celebrate the feast of the Guardian Angels.  We see the role of the guardian angel as to guide us to good thoughts, in good works, and in good words, to keep us from succumbing to evil. Since the 17th century, the Church has celebrated a feast honoring the Guardian Angels in month of October.  We talk about how our American society is becoming more secular, but I was looking at an article from Time Magazine from 2008 that quoted statistics from a study on religious belief in American conducted by Baylor University, which stated that 55% of those surveyed agreed with the statement that “I was protected from harm by a guardian angel.”  Very interesting. 
         I love the prayer to the Guardian Angels.  It is a favorite prayer of many Catholic children, and many Catholic adults remember this prayer from their childhood.  If you remember this prayer, please join me in praying it: Angel of God, My Guardian Dear, to whom God's love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard and rule and guide. Amen. 
         In the prayers that we say, we communicate with God and we grow in our faith.  May the angels and the saints hear our prayers and pray for us as members of the kingdom of God. 

9/29/2015 – The Archangels – Michael, Raphael, Gabriel

      Every year on September 29, we celebrate the feast day of the three Archangels – Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael.  We’ve been celebrating the feast day of these three archangels together since 1970, when their feast days were combined together in the revised Roman calendar after the Second Vatican Council. 
     In a homily he gave, Pope Gregory the Great clarified that the word “angel” denoted a function rather than a nature.  Gregory noted that the holy spirits of heaven have always been spirits, but they are called angels when they serve the function as messengers of God, when they deliver some sort of message for him.  Angels are those who deliver message of lesser importance, while Archangels are those spirits who proclaim messages of supreme importance, such as when the Archangel Gabriel visited the Blessed Virgin Mary, to tell her that she was with child, that she would deliver the Son of God.

      Back in the 1980s, there seemed to be a lot of interest in angels, so much so that many in popular culture who were not even professed Christians believed in angels and believed in the divine messages that they brought to our human world. Apart from those popular beliefs, we celebrate the Archangels in our Catholic faith today.  In our preface before starting the Eucharistic prayer in the mass, we proclaim that we join the angels and archangels in their song of praise to the Lord.  Let us join in their song of praise.

9/30/2015 – Wednesday of the 26th week in Ordinary Time – St Jerome – Luke 9:57-62

      Today, we celebrate the memorial of St Jerome, who lived in the late 4th and early 5th century.   Jerome is known as one of the greatest Scripture scholars in the early Church.  Jerome was chosen as one of the four original Doctors of the Church in 1298, along with St Ambrose, St Gregory the Great, and St Augustine.  In fact, the great theologian St Augustine once said: “What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known.”  Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, which was the common language of his day.  That version of the Bible, the Vulgate, was the official text of Scriptures in the Catholic Church for over 1,500 years and is still held in high esteem today.  Jerome had a very feisty personality and was well-known for his sarcastic whit.  He decided that the pomp and politics of Rome was not for him, so he retreated to the Holy Land where he lived in a monastery and later in a cave.   He also founded a free hostel where pilgrims to the Holy Land could lodge.   Jerome is the patron saints of librarians, students, archeologists, and translators.
      As we honor St Jerome today, we hear about those in the Gospel who approach Jesus with certain conditions as to how they will follow their faith. Many of us can approach our faith with conditions and expectations.  In many ways, Pope Francis has shaken up the way we look at our faith and discipleship.  In fact, in his famous book, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated that there is indeed a cost to our discipleship.  Our Gospel today and the example of St Jerome remind us that we cannot place conditions on our discipleship – we either follow Christ with all our hearts and all our souls, or we do not follow him at all.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

9/27/2015 - Vigésimo sexto domingo del tiempo ordinario – Marcos 9,38-43.45.47-48, Santiago 5, 1-6

       Muchas veces, nosotros, como creyentes en la fe, queremos una religión y un Dios que podemos poner en una caja, que podemos definir sin problemas.  Como seres humanos, queremos una vida más clara que el agua.   No nos gustan las persona que hacen olas o que nos hacen pensar.  Queremos respuestas muy claras por nuestras preguntas, pero tal vez estemos incomodos con las personas que nos desafían, que empujan los limites en nuestra fe, que practican su fe en una manera diferente que nosotros.  En el evangelio de hoy, los discípulos critican las personas que expulsaban demonios en el nombre de Jesús, pero estas personas están afuera del grupo de discípulos.  ¿Qué pasa en el mundo de hoy?  ¿Qué pasa en nuestra comunidad aquí en Tupelo?  Podemos decir: No me gusta este programa.  No me gusta este maestro o este sacerdote o este obispo o este Papa.  Quiero alguien mas.  Quiero algo mas.  Escuchamos el evangelio de hoy en la luz del evangelio del domingo pasado, donde los discípulos argumentaban sobre quien estaba el mas grande.  En el mundo secular, muchas veces, es una persona contra otra persona, un país contra otra país, nosotros contra ellos.  Esta mentalidad pueden existir in nuestra Iglesia también.  Pero, en nuestra fe, algo diferente debe existir. 
       Escuchamos el mensaje de la carta de Santiago por cinco semanas en nuestras misas dominicales.   Santiago dice que necesitamos ser hacedores de la Palabra de Dios no sólo oidores, que nuestra fe no debe quedar simplemente en nuestros corazones, que nuestra fe necesita hacer frutos en nuestra vida y en el mundo.  El mensaje de la carta de Santiago resuena en el mensaje del Papa Francisco en su visita a nuestra país.  El Papa dijo que tenemos la obligación de cuidar el medioambiente y la creación de Dios en el mundo, que necesitamos dar la bienvenida a los pobres y los inmigrantes con dignidad y respeto. Papa Francisco mostró esto con sus acciones, no sólo con sus palabras - con su visita a un refugio de las Caridades Católicas en Washington, donde dijo a los residentes que veía en ellos la cara de San José y en su visita a una escuela católica de inmigrantes en Nueva York.  El Papa hablaba sobre 4 personas en la historia de nuestra pais en su discurso al Congreso -
(1) El presidente durante nuestra guerra civil - Abraham Lincoln – que liberó los esclavos en nuestro país.
(2) Un líder de los derechos humanos - Martin Luther King Jr.
(3) Una mujer que ayudaba a los pobres y los oprimidos con mucha compasión y amor – Dorothy Day.
(4) Un monje que trabajaba en el diálogo entre culturas y religiones -  Thomas Merton.
       Las acciones del Papa y su ejemplo son diferentes del ejemplo que tenemos en la carta de Santiago donde los ricos acumulan sus riquezas materiales y sus posesiones, sino que lo hacen en las espaldas de los pobres y en sus acciones de injusticia. Este grupo de ricos tienen recompensas materiales aquí en el mundo, pero no encontrarán su recompensa en el Reino de Dios en la vida eterna. Podemos utilizar nuestra influencia y riquezas para ayudar a los pobres, en las obras de la caridad y de la misericordia.  Podemos proveer por nuestra familia y seguir los valores del Evangelio con justicia, o podemos utilizar nuestras riquezas contra los valores de nuestra fe y contra la proclamación del Reino de Dios.
       Nuestra tendencia humana es temer a aquellos que son diferentes a nosotros. A menudo, queremos excluirlos de nuestro grupo y marginarlos en nuestra sociedad. A menudo nos sentimos ofendidos por personas que nos desafían en lo que pensamos o lo que creemos, que desafían las normas y los supuestos de la sociedad. Los discípulos queriendo excluir a los que hacen buenas obras en nombre de Jesús, pero que no forman parte del grupo de discípulos.  Nos vemos en Francisco un deseo para dialogar y trabajar juntos, para encontrar que tenemos en común y para cuidar el bienestar de todos.  En comparación de los discípulos en el Evangelio, el Papa Francisco ve la realidad del mundo en una otra manera.  En nuestra parroquia, necesitamos dialogar en lugar de criticar.  Necesitamos respectar las diferencias en nuestro prójimo. Necesitamos trabajar juntos en la evangelización de la Buena Nueva de Cristo.  Hablamos por muchas años sobre la necesidad de tener un programa de evangelización.  Debemos seguir juntos en este camino.  No necesitamos un ambiente negativo con mucha critica.  El Papa Francisco hablaba en estas palabras en su discurso ante el Congreso: "Nuestros esfuerzos deben restaurar la esperanza, corregir los errores, mantener los compromisos, y promover el bienestar de los individuos y de los pueblos." Es un mensaje que nos une en lugar de conquistar o dividir.  Ojalá el mensaje del Papa y el mensaje de nuestro Evangelio pueden penetrar nuestros corazones y nuestras vidas de fe. 


Saturday, September 26, 2015

9/27/2015 – 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time – James 5:1-6, Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48

      It has been an exciting week here in the United States with the first visit of Pope Francis to our country.  He is the first pope to ever address a joint session of Congress.  He has captured the hearts of so many, both Catholic and non-Catholic, both Christian and non-Christian.  I was listening to the report of his address to the United Nations in New York on National Public Radio; the reporter was so excited to share an interview she did with a Muslim lady who works for the United Nations.  The United Nations had a lottery to choose which of its employees would be able to attend his address in the assembly hall.  She said that she prayed again and again to Allah that she would be chosen, and she was so full of joy that she had been chosen and would be able to hear him in person.  The reporter found it so exciting that a believer in another faith tradition would pray to her own god in hopes of being able to see the Pope. We had quite a number of people from our parish travel up to Philadelphia and Washington to be there for the Pope’s visit.  I have loved seeing their photos that they’ve sent in texts and on the internet. We look forward to hearing their stories when they get back.  
      The message that we’ve heard from the letter of James these past five weeks is that we need to be doers of the Word not just hearers of the Word, that our faith is just not be something that remains in our hearts, but rather our faith is to bear fruit in the world – boy does that message coincide with what we have heard from the Pope this week on his visit to the United States, of how we are obligated to be good stewards of the environment, of how we are to treat the poor and the immigrant with dignity and respect.  Pope Francis showed this with his actions, not just his words – with his visit to a Catholic Charities Shelter in Washington, where he told the residents that he saw the face of St Joseph in them, a man who had no shelter and no home in which his child could be born, and to his visit to a poor Catholic School in East Harlem, New York.  Many people who heard the Pope’s address to Congress were impressed with the 4 Americans he mentioned as people of faith and doers of God’s Word: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton. Though we Catholics are very familiar with Day and Merton, many in the secular media did not know much about them, and were scrambling to find out who they were.  What is interesting is that both Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton were individuals who lived very secular lives as young adults, lives very much apart from God, but once they had conversions of heart, they devoted their lives to living out God’s call for them in their lives, very radical lives indeed.  Pope Francis praised Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, for her social activism, her passion for justice, and her love for the poor and the oppressed.   He singled out Merton’s work toward greater respect and dialogue between different cultures and religions, in the way he challenged the assumptions of his day.  And Merton did this while living as a Trappist monk in the Abbey of Gethsemene near Bardstown, Kentucky. 
       The Pope’s actions, and the examples he gave, are in contrast to those whom James points out in his letter, of the rich who store up their material wealth and possessions, but who do so on the backs of the poor whom they disrespect and oppress.  They have great material rewards here on earth, but will not find their reward in God’s Kingdom. We can use our influence and riches to help others, in works of kindness and mercy and goodness, we can earn a good living and still follow the values of the Gospel, or we can use our wealth and riches in ways that do not proclaim God’s Kingdom on earth.  We see many examples of this in our present day.  This past week, news broke that a company run by a former hedge fund manager bought the rights to an obscure drug that fights toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can be severe in those patients with compromised immune systems such as those who have cancer and HIV.  This company promptly increased the prices of this 62-year old drug from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill, a level that was seen as exploiting the poor and vulnerable just to make a profit. As James challenges us today, do we amass our riches on the backs of the poor, through oppression and injustice?
     Our human tendency is to fear those who are different from us.  Often, we want to exclude them from our group and marginalize them in our society.  We often are offended by individuals who rock the boat or who challenge what we think or what we believe, who challenge the norms and assumptions of society.  In the Gospel today, we see the disciples wanting to exclude those who do good works in Jesus’ name but who are not part of the group of disciples.  We see in Pope Francis a desire for us to dialogue and work together, to find common ground and to care for the well-being of all.  So many people in the world today see our reality as the insiders vs the outsiders, as the liberals vs the conservatives, as one country vs another, as us vs them. Pope Francis sees it differently.  Our Catholic faith sees it differently.  This is one quote from Pope Francis that I took away from his address to Congress: "Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples."  It is a message that brings us together, that does not conquer or divide.   Hopefully the message Pope Francis is bringing to our nation and the world this week through his visit to the United States will challenge us in the way we live out our faith as individuals and as a society. 

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Silver Rose Ceremony - Tupelo, Mississippi - St James Catholic Church




Yesterday, we had a ceremony at our parish honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe of the Patroness of the Americas, the Patroness of the Unborn, and the Patroness of the Pro-Life Movement.  Thank you Knights of Columbus for honoring Mary at our parish last night.  


Tuesday, September 22, 2015

9/23/2015 – Wednesday of the 25th week in Ordinary Time – Ezra 9:5-9

      Ezra was a scribe and priest at the time of the return from the Babylonian exile that happened in the 6th century BC.  This week, in our first readings, we have two readings from the Book of Ezra before we move on to the Prophets Zechariah and Haggai later this week.  Ezra is very upset about how the people of Israel had sinned and turned their backs on God.  Being in exile was a very dramatic and horrific experience for them, but they had intermarried with a lot of the local people, and had abandoned their faith and religious traditions for the pagan traditions of the native people.  Ezra was calling the people to at return to God’s law, but he was despondent and angry at how slowly the people were responding.  We live in a busy world today where we have a lot of things competing for our time and energy.  Sometimes it is not convenient or easy to commit ourselves to the faith.  But what it is our faith calling us to do? Ezra displays a simple humility in the way he approaches God in our reading today.  We are excited about the Pope’s visit and the energy and positive attention he has brought to the Catholic faith.  Are we willing to put that enthusiasm into action in the way we live out the faith in our daily lives and in our evangelization to others?  Perhaps we need to ponder that question.

Mexican Independence Day Celebration - St James Catholic Church - Tupelo Mississippi







9/22/2015 – Tuesday of 25th week in Ordinary Time – Ezra 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20

     From the scribe Ezra in our first reading today, we hear about the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem after the return of the people of Israel from their exile in Babylon.  According to Jewish Tradition, Erza helped reintroduce the Torah – the Word of God - to Jerusalem after their exile.  From the description of the rebuilding of the Temple and the return to Jerusalem that we hear today from the book of Ezra, all sounds orderly and successful, doesn’t it? However, from other description of the rebuilding of the Temple and the return from exile in the Old Testament, we know that there was a lot of confusion, arguments, and frustration regarding what took place.  Some thought the new Temple was not good enough compared to the Temple that Solomon built.  Also, there were a lot of tensions and accusations going back and forth between those who were sent into exile and those who remained behind. We see tensions in our modern Church today on many different levels, and looking at those tensions from the lens of what went on in Ancient Israel, perhaps we can better understand it. But rather than accuse or attack someone who thinks a little differently than we do in our Church, perhaps we can learn from them and try to get along, perhaps we can celebrate and appreciate the diversity that exists within our community of faith.  Hopefully Pope Francis’ visit this week will bring about a spirit of unity and solidarity and positivity within our Church.  At least we can hope so.

More photos from St Matthew Catholic Church - Ripley, Mississippi




Thursday, September 17, 2015

20 de septiembre de 2015 – homilia - Domingo Catequético – XXV domingo del tiempo ordinario – Santiago 3,16-4,3 Marcos 9,30-37.

      Este fin de semana, el tercer domingo de septiembre, nuestra Iglesia Católica celebra el domingo catequético. Hoy, nuestros maestros de la doctrina y nuestros catequistas recibirán una bendición especial.  El domingo catequético es una gran oportunidad en nuestra comunidad para reflexionar sobre el papel que cada persona tiene, en virtud del bautismo, en la transmisión de la fe y en el testimonio del Evangelio en el mundo. Domingo catequético es una oportunidad para reafirmar nuestra dedicación a nuestra misión como una comunidad de fe.  Nuestro tema este año es: salvaguardar la dignidad de toda persona humana.
       Estas semanas, reflexionamos sobre las lecturas de la Carta de Santiago - este es el cuarto domingo en seguida que tenemos las lecturas de esta carta.  La carta de Santiago tiene consejos para vivir una fe vibrante, para poner en práctica la Palabra de Dios en acciones y obras de misericordia.  Santiago escribió esta carta al pueblo de Israel, pero con su consejo y su crítica social, parece que habla directamente al mundo moderno.  El tema del domingo catequético - la dignidad de cada persona humana - es inherente a la lectura de Santiago.  Santiago alaba los pacificadores en nuestra comunidad, pero se lamenta de los que siguen con sus celos y sus ambiciones.  En nuestra sociedad, el mensaje es que queremos mas y mas. Es bueno para tener ambiciones que dan frutos y que son constructivas y saludables, pero Santiago nos advierte que nuestras ambiciones pueden conducir al espíritu de amargura en nuestras vidas. En el mundo moderno, luchamos con un montón de pecados y adicciones, pero tal vez el mayor pecado en nuestra sociedad es nuestra codicia y la forma en que codician lo que no es nuestro. Santiago nos lleva a la necesidad de caminar juntos como una comunidad con solidaridad y unidad, en la que trabajamos juntos y afirmamos mutuamente. En lugar de centrarse en algo que es profundo o dramático o grandioso, tal vez tenemos que centrarnos en los valores de la sencillez, la humildad, la hospitalidad y el servicio - estos valores tendrán el mayor efecto en nuestras propias vidas y en las vidas de las personas a nuestro alrededor.
      La llamada al servicio que encontramos en la lectura de hoy de la carta de Santiago y en el Evangelio de hoy se pueden encontrar en los hombres y mujeres que sirven como maestros y catequistas y líderes en las pequeñas comunidades y en nuestro programa de formación en la fe.  Ellos sacrifican mucho para servir nuestra comunidad de fe.  Tal vez no expresamos nuestra gratitud y agradecimiento con la suficiente frecuencia por lo que hacen.  Si los maestros de la doctrina y de la formación religiosa, los líderes de las pequeñas comunidades, y los miembros del comité de evangelización – pongan de pie para recibir una bendición: 



      La actividad pastoral de la Iglesia necesita de la colaboración del mayor número de cristianos, para que las comunidades y cada uno de los creyentes alcancen la madurez de su fe y la proclamen siempre mediante la celebración, el compromiso y el testimonio de su vida. Son los catequistas quienes prestan esta colaboración, cuando llevan a cabo la iniciación cristiana de otros y cuando los van instruyendo y formando integralmente como discípulos de Cristo. Los catequistas, iluminados por la Palabra de Dios y la doctrina de la Iglesia, comunican al pueblo de creyentes lo que ellos antes aprendieron a vivir y a celebrar.  Ahora, bendecimos al Señor por estos cooperadores nuestros e imploramos sobre ellos la gracia del Espíritu Santo, ya que la necesitan para este servicio eclesial.

Oremos:  Señor, con tu bendición paternal,
robustece la decisión de estos servidores tuyos,
que desean dedicarse a la catequesis;
haz que lo que aprendan meditando tu Palabra
y profundizando en la doctrina de la Iglesia
se esfuercen por comunicarlo a sus hermanos y así,
junto con ellos, te sirvan con alegría.

Por Jesucristo, nuestro Señor.  Amén.