Paul has a strong message for the Corinthians, but my sense is that he does not do so to chastise them, but rather to speak the truth and to reach out to them in their reality. Sometimes I have to do that as a priest, and that is often not an easy conversation to have. It would be easy just to ignore reality sometimes. I know that as parents as well, it is hard to have tough love sometimes. Paul is telling the Corinthians that they are still spiritually immature, that they have a long way to go in their journey of faith. It is sometimes so easy to be immersed in the world and to ignore our journey of faith. And that is where the Corinthians were at on their journey. They still had not made the transition to being disciples of Christ. If Christ says that we are in this world but not of this world, what does that really mean to us? Are we really disciples of Christ if we don’t let our faith mold us and transform us and change us? It is easy to talk the talk. It is a lot harder to change our lifestyle. It is not a matter of following a certain leader. We see mega church being so popular in our society where they have a charismatic leader whom people follow. But that does not last forever. As Paul said, he and Apollo are just earthly messengers of the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are loyalty and membership is to be members of God’s kingdom, not of manmade earthly realm. We are not suppose to divide into little groups or cliques. If we are not truly the Body of Christ, then who is?
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
9/1/2016 - Mass of world prayer for the care of creation - Genesis 1:1-25, John 1:1-14, Psalm 33
Back in August of 2015, Pope Francis established the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation for the Catholic Church. through the Church’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. This unites our Catholic day of prayer with the world day of prayer for the care of creation establish under the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church in 1989.
In the letter establishing this day of prayer, Pope Francis wrote, “The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”
Throughout history, we have examples of saints and holy men and women who brought attention to God’s creation in unique ways. I think about St Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, and Teilhard de Chardin. No matter what our faith tradition, no matter what our spiritual charism, I think we can all agree that our earth is in need of greater care and stewardship as we pass down our planet for future generations to live here.
Our two readings today give us different perspectives on the story of creation - for Genesis in the Old Testament and the Gospel of John in the New Testament. Those readings tell the story of God’s relationship with his creation. It is our story, a very personal for us who are disciples of Christ. Indeed, this story is not ancient history. This story is no one that was completed long ago. It is a story that is timeless, that is eternal, that continues to unfold to this day. God who created the world is still active in the world today. He is still active in each one of us today.
As Christians, it is our duty to care for creation. It is our duty to bring this awareness to others - to be prophets and proclaimers of this message. I would like to close our homily today by having all of us read “A Christian prayer for union with creation” which was published in Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Laudato Si. This prayer calls all Christians to pray for inspiration to take up the commitment to creation set before us by the Gospel of Jesus. Let us pray:
Father, we praise you with all your creatures.
They came forth from your all-powerful hand;
they are yours, filled with your presence and your tender love.
Praise be to you!
Son of God, Jesus,
through you all things were made.
You were formed in the womb of Mary our Mother,
You became part of this earth,
and you gazed upon this world with human eyes.
Today you are alive in every creature
in your risen glory.
Praise be to you!
Holy Spirit, by your light
you guide this world towards the Father’s love
and accompany creation as it groans in travail.
You also dwell in our hearts
and you inspire us to do what is good.
Praise be to you!
Triune Lord,
wondrous community of infinite love,
teach us to contemplate you
in the beauty of the universe,
for all things speak of you.
Awaken our praise and thankfulness
for every being that you have made.
Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined
to everything that is.
God of love, show us our place in this world
as the channels of your love
for all creatures of this earth,
for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.
Enlighten those who possess power and money
that they may avoid the sin of indifference,
that they may love the common good,
advance the weak,
and care for this world in which we live.
The poor and the earth are crying out.
O Lord, seize us with your power and light,
help us to protect all life,
to prepare for a better future,
for the coming of your Kingdom
Of justice, peace, love and beauty.
Praise be to you!
Amen.
8/30/2016 - Tuesday of 22nd week in Ordinary Time - 1 Corinthians 2:10-16
We are back to hearing from the letters of St Paul in our daily mass reading. St Paul knew that the message of Christ was for all, not just a select group. But, according to Paul, unless we allow the spirit to work in our lives, unless we allow ourselves to grow in our faith, then we will not be open to the message Christ has for us. The Holy Spirit helps reveal the mysteries. The Holy Spirit is always at work in our lives to reveal the mysteries of God and to bring us deeper understanding of the message of Christ’s Good News.
The Holy Spirit can lead us to different things in our lives. When I was in Indianapolis last week, two different friends told me about statues of St Fiacre that they had in their gardens. One of those statues I mistook for St Francis of Assisi. St Fiacre was an Irish monk who lived in the 7th century. Fiacre traveled to continental Europe in order to be a missionary to the pagans there. He settled among the Franks near the town of Meaux, not far from Paris, where he told the local bishop that he sought silence and solitude. Fiacre build a monastery where he could live where he tended a garden to sustain himself. He became adept at using herbs to heal people, which drew many of the faithful to come to his monastery. He has been known as the patron saint of gardeners since the medieval period. A trivia note as well - St Fiacre became the patron saint of Parisian taxicab drivers as well. We might wonder how that came to be - there does not seem to be a logical connection between gardeners and taxicab drivers, does there? It began at the Hotel de Saint Fiacre in Paris, which rented carriages back in the 17th century. People began referring to these carriages as “Fiacre cabs”, and then simply “fiacres”. Thus their drivers took on St. Fiacre as their patron and protector.
May we pray for wisdom and understanding. May we pray for the Holy Spirit to help us grow in our faith. And may we pray to St Fiacre for our farmers and gardeners as our summer comes to an end.
Readings for the mass of word day for prayer for the care of creation - September 1, 2016
A reading from the book of Genesis
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,
God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”
God created man in his image;
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:
“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.”
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.
The Word of the Lord
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as in a flask;
in cellars he confines the deep.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
The Gospel of the Lord
Mass for the world day of prayer for the care of Creation - September 1, 2016
(St Fiacre - patron saint of gardeners)
At St James Catholic Church in Tupelo, Mississippi we will celebrate a mass for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation at 8:00 am.
Last Sunday, Pope Francis called attention to the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to be celebrated this coming Thursday, September 1st. A major global ecumenical stewardship initiative, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation began in 1989 under the leadership of the Orthodox Church.
Pope Francis established the Day for the Catholic Church by a letter dated August 6th, 2015.
Pope Francis says, “The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”
St Fiacre - patron saint of gardeners -
This is an illuminated image of St Fiacre from the Middle Ages. I just learned about him last week. He is a very fascinating saint. I mention him in the homily today on his feast day.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
8/28/2016 – Reflection on St. Augustine on his feast day
August 28 is normally the feast day of St Augustine, but
because it falls on a Sunday this year, it is not recognized in our liturgical
calendar. Nonetheless, as a priest, I
owe a great deal of gratitude to St Augustine, one of the great theologians and
leaders in the history of our faith. So
I want to include a short reflection on him on my blog today. St. Augustine was the Bishop of Hippo in
present-day Algeria in the early 5th century.
He is a doctor of the Church, an accolade only accorded to a select group
of 36 men and women throughout Church history.
He is considered one of the most influential theologians in the history
of the faith, even though he died almost 1600 years ago in the year 430.
What makes Augustine such a popular saint in our own modern
era is the fact that as a young man, before he converted to the faith, he tried
to live a very worldly life according to a philosophy that was popular in the
secular world of his era, Manicheanism, a totally rational religion &
philosophy that saw our world divided by 2 principles: good & evil. Augustine came to our faith influenced by the
prayers and Christian faith of his mother, St. Monica, and the eloquent
preaching of St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan.
Augustine’s spent a great deal of time reconciling faith
& reason, something that perhaps many in our secular world today fail to
understand today. Augustine states – “I
believe in order that I may understand” – showing us that believing helps pave
the way for us to enter into the threshold of truth. But Augustine also is able to state – “I
understand, so the better to believe” – showing us how the believer is called
to scrutinize and examine the truth in order to find God along our journey, in
order to truly believe. Many of us still
struggle with a balance of faith and reason in our lives as we try to grow in
our faith, following in the footsteps of Augustine and many of the other early
Church fathers.
We also struggle with a lot of divisions in our modern Church today, just like Augustine did. Like Augustine, many of us also struggle to live out our faith against a secular world that seems to have a different agenda and a different system of values. May we remember the words of hope that Augustine prayed: “God of life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and wear us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening; when our lives have no music in them and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, we beseech you; turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise.”
We also struggle with a lot of divisions in our modern Church today, just like Augustine did. Like Augustine, many of us also struggle to live out our faith against a secular world that seems to have a different agenda and a different system of values. May we remember the words of hope that Augustine prayed: “God of life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and wear us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening; when our lives have no music in them and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, we beseech you; turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise.”
8/26/2016 – Friday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time – Matthew 25:1-13 - short reflection
Today's parable from the Gospel of Matthew about the maidens is probably
familiar to us, especially with its teaching that we should be prepared at all
times since we do not know when Jesus will come again. Perhaps we can identify with the foolish, unprepared maidens at one time
or another in our lives when we have not been as prepared as we should have
been. We
can remember those times when we procrastinate in life, putting something off
to the last minute. We
need to learn from those times we are not ready when we should be.
Those of us who put ourselves under the
rule of God's kingdom as Christ's followers should always be ready and prepared
to play our role in the on-going story of God's relationship to us. Yes,
we are called to learn from the experiences we have in life. The
main fault of these foolish maidens was not that they fell asleep or that they
failed to have the oil ready in their lamps, but rather that they were not
ready to welcome the bridegroom with joy when he arrived. We,
too, are to joyfully welcome the coming of God's kingdom to all, to welcome
Christ's arrival with joy when he comes again.
8/28/2016 - 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Luke 14:1, 7-14
If you think about the stories we hear in the Gospels week after week about Jesus and his disciples, a lot of it involves Jesus’ interaction with the people of Ancient Israel and his sharing of meals with them. In fact, some Scripture scholars humorously report that Jesus ate his way through the Gospels. Scripture Scholar Father Robert Karris, a Franciscan priest at St Bonaventure University in New York states: “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.” In fact, elsewhere in Luke’s Gospel, the scribes and Pharisees accuse Jesus of being a glutton and a drunkard in the way they see him always eating with others, trying to discredit him and tear down his ministry. But, since sharing meals with others and inviting others to a meal is such an important part of Southern hospitality, we here in Mississippi perhaps understand Jesus’ behavior a bit better than others. In many ways, Jesus reveals different facets of God’s kingdom to us in the way he shared his meals with sinners and tax collectors, with the poor and the outcasts and the marginalized in society. In today’s Gospel, as Jesus’ conduct is being observed while he is dining at the home of a leading Pharisee, Jesus presents a parable that addresses the Christian virtue of humility when Jesus sees the Pharisees trying to grab the seat of honor when they sit down for a meal.
If you search the internet for quotes from the saints and different theologians about the virtue of humility, you will be overwhelmed with how many wonderful quotes on humility you find. St Augustine, Doctor of the Church and Bishop of Hippo in Africa, whose feast day we celebrate on Sunday, August 28, had this to say: "No one reaches the kingdom of Heaven except by humility”. The great mystic St Teresa of Avila, also a Doctor of the Church, saw humility as as the foundation to our growth in holiness: “Humility must always be doing its work in us like a bee making its honey in the hive: without humility, all will be lost.” Father Thomas Keating of the Trappist monks, one of the spiritual fathers of centering prayer, had these profound words to say - ““Humility is an attitude of honesty with God, oneself, and of all reality. It enables us to be at peace in the presence of our powerlessness and to rest in the forgetfulness of self.”
We know that Jesus’ journey here on earth is the greatest example of humility we can have. Jesus emptied himself. He came as a servant. He came in human likeness. By humbling himself, becoming obedient to death, to his death on a cross. Jesus explains in the Gospel today that we should follow that example. If we try to exalt ourselves, we will be humbled, but if we humble ourselves, we will be lifted up. We have many examples of humility all around us that can inspire us and encourage us on our journey of faith. These examples come not only from the famous saints whom we honor in our faith, but by those we meet in our everyday lives. I immediately thought of many of the religious sisters I knew in Ecuador. Sister Gemma. Sister Elena. Sister Julia. Sister Monserrat. Sister Celia. Sister Rosa. Their names still stay with me after more than 20 years. They served in the jungle with the poorest of the poor. They never asked for any honors or accolades or recognition. They never asked for comfortable living quarters. They served in humility, generosity, and graciousness. They served others with love, compassion, and Christian charity. They encouraged others and made them feel confident in themselves. Their very lives encouraged others to want to live their lives as Christians.
And yet, in the last couple of days, I thought of others, due to circumstances that have occurred - sad or tragic circumstances. We heard the news of the passing of Father Gus Langenkamp, SVD. I had heard of Father Gus when I first arrived as a parishioner at Sacred Heart parish in Greenville, a historically African American parish in the Mississippi Delta where Father Gus served as pastor prior to coming to Tupelo. Father Gus was so fondly remembered by the parishioners there just as he is remembered so lovingly by the parishioners here at St James. Having served as a missionary in Ecuador, Father Gus had a great love for the Hispanic people and was a pioneer in Hispanic ministry here in our Diocese. Father Gus and his 59 years of priestly ministry had a great impact on so many people, not for how great he was and not for how he wielded power, by for the humble way he lived out the Gospel in his life each, for his service to people, for the everyday things he did to be a part of the lives of the people. Then we have Sister Margaret and Sister Paula who served the poor of Holmes County. Both of them served in Mississippi for years. As nurse practitioners, as proclaimers of Christ’s Gospel through the health care they provided to those in need, through their compassion and their missionary spirit, they are being remembered throughout our Diocese and throughout the nation. The humble spirit that Jesus brought to us that was embodied in the ministry of Sister Paula and Sister Margaret overcomes any hatred or violence or anger that tries to drown out his Good News.
Like any of the valves of the Gospel, it is not just an academic theory we discuss. It is not something that we can force into our lives. Humility is a fruit of the holy spirit, just like faithfulness, charity, and patience. By following the Gospel in our daily lives, by studying and growing and practicing our faith, values like humility will be fruits of that faith. I really love this quote by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr: "Humility and human come from the Latin word, humus, dirt. A human being is someone . . . taken out of the dirt. A humble person is one who recognizes that and even rejoices in it!” Humility is called to be an integral part of the earthly, messy reality of our lives. Yes, we are called to rejoice in our humble identity. We called to allow God to live in us and fill us with his spirit, to do his will throughout our journey of faith. In our humility, in our humble lives of service, may we always be instruments of God’s peace and goodness and graciousness.
St Augustine on humility
Humility is the theme of our readings this weekend on the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. There is so many great quotes on humility that I wove throughout my homily. We also have this quote from St Augustine, who feast day we celebrate on Sunday, August 28.
"Humility is so necessary for Christian perfection that among all the ways to reach perfection, humility is first, humility is second, and humility is third....Humility makes men angels, and pride makes angels devils."
Thursday, August 25, 2016
2,000 posts!!!!!
Little did I know when I started this blog in 2010, that I will be writing entries some 6 years later. This marks my 2,000th post. Like life, we all have our ups and downs. Some days writing a homily brings so much joy to my heart. Some days it is a struggle. Since my first entry on my blog, I have gone on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain three different times. I thank everyone who has written my homilies and everyone who has encouraged me along the way. I hope to continue writing on my blog. Thank you all for reading.
Happy BIrthday to my Mom
Today, August 25, is my mom's birthday. She would have been 90 years old today. Lila Rose Spannenberg was born in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. She brought so much joy to a lot of people. The only child of William Spannenberg and Clara Schramm, her love of music, her love of life, and her joyful laugh touched so many people. She was loved greatly by her family and friends, especially her four children. She passed away on Labor Day weekend of 1991. My prayers go out to my mom today. I remember her in a very special way today. I hope you know how loved you were by so many.
And I know that you, Aunt Alice, Uncle Spud, Uncle Dick, and all the Spannenberg clan are rejoicing at how well the Cubs are playing this year. I am rooting for the Cubs with all my heart and I remember you and all your wonderful family - club fans forever!!!!!
21 de agosto de 2016 - vigésimo primer domingo del tiempo ordinario - Lucas 13: 22-30
¿Qué debemos hacer para ser verdaderos discípulos de Cristo ¿Quién será elegido para entrar en el reino eterno de Dios? En esencia, esto es lo que se le preguntó a Cristo en el Evangelio: "Jesucristo, quien va a entrar la vida eterna con usted? ¿Quién va a recibir salvación? ¿Muchos o pocos?” En la respuesta de Jesús a esta pregunta, tal vez hay otras pregunta que necesitamos pedir también.
En el año 1894, nació un muchacho que se llamaba Reymundo en un aldea muy humilde y pobre en Polonia. Reymundo era un niño muy travieso, siempre se metió en problemas y no obedecía a sus padres. Su mamá, perdiendo la paciencia con él un día, gritó: Señor, ¿qué va a pasar de mi hijo Reymundo? Al reflexionar sobre lo que dijo su mamá, Reymundo oraba a la Virgen María. María respondió en una visión. Nuestra Señora presentaba dos coronas a este muchacho: una blanca, otra roja. Ella le preguntó si él estaba dispuesto a aceptar cualquiera de estas coronas. La corona blanca simbolizaba que él debe perseverar en la pureza, la roja que se convertiría en un mártir. Dijo que iba a aceptar estas dos coronas. El próximo año, a la edad de 12 años, Reymundo entraba en la congregación de los Franciscanos, donde tomaba el nombre religioso Maximiliano. Recibió su ordenación al sacerdocio a la edad de 24 años. Establecía la misiones católicas en China, en Japón, y en India. Él promovía una dedicación a la Virgen María el los pueblo donde él servía. Volvió a Polonia a su monasterio cuando había problemas en su país. El monasterio tenía una estación de radio y una imprenta. Después de la invasión alemana de Polonia en la segunda guerra mundial, la estación de radio y la imprenta hablaban en contra los nazis. El monasterio fue cerrado y el Padre Maximiliano Kolbe fue detenido por los alemanes. Finalmente, fue enviado al campo de concentración de Auschwitz, era el prisionero # 16670. Su celda se convirtió en una capilla en la que invitó a todos los demás prisioneros para rezar el rosario, para cantar himnos a la Virgen María, y para celebrar la Eucaristía. Porque era cura, recibió muchos golpes de los guardias. Cuando un prisionero escapó, los guardias seleccionaban 10 de ellos para vivir en una celda juntos sin agua y sin comida para morir de hambre. El Padre Maximiliano no estaba escogido inicialmente. Sin embargo, cuando supo que uno de los hombres tenían una gran familia con una esposa y niños, con el fin de evitarle, el padre Maximiliano Kolbe se ofreció para ocupar su lugar. El Padre Maximiliano hizo un ministerio con los otros prisioneros hasta el momento de su muerte. Fue el último de los 10 prisioneros de morir. Murió el 14 de agosto de 1941. Es el santo de este día en nuestra Iglesia católica. Durante la canonización de Maximiliano Kolbe en 1982, el Papa Juan Pablo Segundo lo llamaba el patrón del siglo veinte, un siglo que vio tanta guerra y violencia y crímenes contra la humanidad.
No creo que el Padre Maximiliano Kolbe estaba preocupado por la pregunta que se hizo en el Evangelio por alguien en la multitud: ¿Cuántos estarán salvos? Como se dice en el Evangelio, algunas de las personas en la época de Cristo estaban pensando: Asistimos con usted en la calles y en las sinagogas, escuchando su enseñanzas. Hemos comido y bebido con usted. Fuimos parte de su grupo de discípulos. Ciertamente entramos en su reino de salvación al fin de los tiempos. Jesús nos llama a una vida de discipulado. Él nos llama a ir más allá de la superficie, para dejar que sus enseñanzas penetrar en nuestro corazón, de estar abierto a la conversión, el cambio, y transformación. Por lo tanto, en lugar de hacer preguntas acerca de cuyas va a ser salvo y la preocupación de que, tal vez tenemos que concentrarnos en la profundización de nuestra relación con Cristo, para crecer más cerca de él y los valores de su Evangelio. Fuimos salvos en el pasado en nuestras vidas, en el momento de nuestro bautismo, en el momento de nuestra iniciación en la fe, en nuestra vida de discipulado. Somos salvos en el presente, como Cristo nos llama a la conversión, a la renovación y a la nueva vida. Y seremos salvos en el futuro, en la gracia que nos ofrece de Dios cada día. Se nos invita a entrar en la puerta de la fe cada día de nuestro viaje como pueblo peregrino aquí en la tierra. Algunos días, la puerta puede parecer muy difícil para entrar, muy estrecha. Me encanta la imagen que el Papa Francisco nos dio cuando el Año Jubilar de la Misericordia comenzó en el diciembre pasado. El Papa dio inicio al Año Jubilar mediante la apertura de la puerta especial en San Pedro de Roma que sólo se abre durante años jubilares especiales. Y él lo hizo no sólo al abrirse esta puerta en una manera normal. Él tomó un martillo y derribó los ladrillos, abriéndola a los peregrinos para entrar en su visita a San Pedro. Algunos días, habrá una gran cantidad de ladrillos para nosotros derribar también. Con la misericordia y la gracia de Dios, vamos a tener la fuerza para hacerlo.
Prayers -
I am in Indianapolis this week visiting some friends to rest and sleep, to try to recover from my recent bout with pneumonia. I give thanks for my dear friend Anne Belcher and her son Marty for always welcoming me and taking such good care of me. I offer my prayer for these tragic events that have occurred recently -
For the victims of the earthquake in Italy - for aide for the survivors and prayers for those who have died.
For Father August "Gus" Langenkamp, SVD, who passed away in Chicago earlier this week. We thank him for his many years of service in the Diocese of Jackson and in the parish of St James in Tupelo in particular.
For the repose of the souls of the two nuns who were murdered in their residence in Holmes County, Mississippi. Sister Paul Merrill of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky and Sister Margaret Held of the School Sisters of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We give thanks to God for their lives and for their service. May they rest in peace.
For our city of Tupelo - for peace, healing, reconciliation, and dialogue.
We pray to the Lord.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
8/21/2016 – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C – Luke 13:22-30
What do we have
to do to truly be a disciple of Jesus? Who will be chosen to enter into God’s eternal
kingdom? In essence, that is what Jesus is asked when
someone questions him as he's teaching in the towns & villages on his way
to Jerusalem: “Jesus, will only a few people be saved? Will I be among them?” In Jesus’s response to this question posed to him
by the crowds, perhaps he is telling us that it is entirely another question
that we need to be asking instead.
Back in the early years of the 20th century,
there was a little boy named Raymund Kolbe living in a poor village in
Poland. Raymund was a very mischievous young boy, always
getting into trouble and never obeying his parents. His mother, losing patience with him one day,
cried out: Lord, what is going to become
of my son Raymond? Reflecting upon what his mother said, Raymond
prayed to our Blessed Mother: Mother Mary, what is to become of me? Mary responded to him in a vision. Out Lady
came to him holding two crowns: one white, the other red. She asked him if he
was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that he
should persevere in purity, the red that he would become a martyr. He said that
he would accept both of these crowns.” The next year, at the young age of 12, young
Raymond entered the order of the Conventual Franciscans, where he took the
religious name Maximilian. He was
ordained a priest at the age of 24. He undertook missions to China, Japan, and India,
where he founded Franciscan monasteries.
He promoted a deep love and devotion to the Blessed Mother wherever he
went. Finally, he returned to Poland, where as a young
priest he had founded a monastery just outside of Warsaw. The publishing house and radio station that
ran out of the monastery were very influential in Poland. We think of how today we use apps, blogs,
cell phones, and websites as the latest technology to evangelize to the world
in our own era. This young Polish priest
had the same idea back in the early decades of the 20th century,
using the newest technology available to him at the time to reach out to
others. After the German invasion of Poland, the radio
station and publishing house started speaking out against the Nazi regime. The monastery was shut down and Father Maximilian
Kolbe was arrested. He was eventually
sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, becoming prisoner #16670. His cell became a chapel where he invited
all of the other prisoners to pray the rosary, to sing hymns to the Blessed
Mother, and to celebrate the Eucharist. Because he was a priest, he was subject
to harassment by the camp guards, who singled him out for beatings and
lashings. Just two months after his arrival at Auschwitz, a
prisoner from Kolbe’s barracks escaped.
As punishment to the other prisoners, 10 of them from that barracks were
chosen to be sent to a special bunker where they would be starved to death.
Kolbe was not one of those who were initially chosen. However, when he learned that one of the men had a
large family with a wife and children, in order to spare him, Father Maximilian
Kolbe volunteered to take his place. During their time in the bunker, Kolbe led the
other prisoners in prayer and tried to reassure them of God’s fidelity to those
who live as disciples of Christ. He was the last of those 10 prisoners to
remain alive after 2 weeks of confinement, so in order to end his life, the
guards injected him with carbolic acid. He died on August 14, 1941, 75 years
ago last Sunday. The prison guards cremated his body on the next day of the
feast of the Assumption of Mary, our Blessed Mother to whom he was so devoted. During Maximilian Kolbe’s canonization in 1982,
Pope John Paul II called him the patron saint of the 20th century, a
century that saw so much war, violence, and crimes against humanity. We commemorate St Maximilian Kolbe’s feast day last
Sunday, August 14.
Monday, August 15, 2016
8/19/2016 – Friday of the 20th week of Ordinary Time – Psalm 107
The
psalmist sings praises to the Lord today – Give thanks to the Lord, for his
love is everlasting. The
Lord delivers the faithful – he rescues them from the hands of their foes, he
hears their distressful cries and he delivers them from their distress. Sometimes we cannot imagine the struggles and the challenges that others
experience on their journey of faith. Sometimes in the midst of our struggles and sufferings, we can still give
praise to the Lord, having faith and hope that he will deliver us. St
Helena’s feast day is celebrated this week.
She is best remembered as the mother of the Emperor Constantine; he
attributed a decisive victory he experienced in battle at the Milvian bridge to
a vision of the cross that he had. Helena,
a woman who was born in humble origins, and who was divorced from Constantine’s
father, embraced the Catholic faith after her son declared Christianity to be
an officially recognized religion in his empire. In
her old age, Constantine commissioned Helena to travel to the Holy Land. Legend has it that she discovered the
cross on which Christ was crucified – slivers of that cross were distributed
throughout the Roman empire. Helena died in the year 330 after spending her final years in a convent in the
Holy Land. St Helena, in your humble faith, we unite our
prayers to yours.
8/15/2016 - Una reflexión sobre la Asunción de la Virgin María
El papa Pío XII proclamó el dogma de la Asunción de María en el año 1950. El Papa Pío XII declaró que la madre de Jesús fue llevado cuerpo y alma a la vida eterna sin tener ninguna corrupción corporal en la muerte.
Hoy en nuestro mundo moderno, en mucho sentidos, no valoramos el cuerpo humano. En verdad, nos gastamos millones de dólares en cosméticos, dietas y ejercicios para hacer el cuerpo más atractivo, pero en una manera superficial. Ahora en nuestra sociedad, el cuerpo no está honrado como la vasija terrestre del nuestro alma inmortal. Para mucha gente, el cuerpo sirve para dar la satisfacción en cualquiera manera disponible.
El Catecismo explica que “La Asunción de la Santísima Virgen constituye una participación singular en la Resurrección de su Hijo y una anticipación de la resurrección de los demás cristianos” (#966). La importancia de la Asunción para nosotros como seres humanos es en la relación que hay entre la Resurrección de Cristo y nuestra resurrección. La presencia de María, un ser humano como nosotros, quien en cuerpo y alma ya está glorificada en los cielos es una anticipación de nuestra propia resurrección.
El misterio de la Asunción de la Bendita Virgen María al cielo nos invita a reflexionar sobre el sentido de nuestra vida aquí en la tierra y sobre la vida eterna que tenemos junto con la Santísima Trinidad, con nuestra Madre la Virgen María, con los ángeles y con la comunidad de los santos. Sabemos que María ya está en el cielo glorioso en cuerpo y alma. Con este conocimiento, con sus oraciones y sus intercesiones, nos renovamos la esperanza en nuestra futura vida en Cristo.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
8/17/2016 - Our Lady of Knock - Wednesday of the 20th week of Ordinary Time - Psalm 23
I think every Christian knows very well the verses of the 23rd psalm, of Jesus as our Good Shepherd who leads us and guides us and cares for us, leading us finally to the life giving waters of eternal life. Jesus is not only the Good Shepherd, but he is alway the Lamb of God who is sacrificed to take away the sins of the world. This ties into the story of Our Lady of Knock, a Marian apparition that occurred in Ireland on August 21, 1879. The feast day of Our Lady of Knock is celebrated today- August 17.
On the evening, two women from the small village of Knock were walking near the local church when they noticed several luminous figures. They recognized one of the figures as the Blessed Virgin and the other two as St Joseph and St John the Evangelist. The family members and other villagers gathered to see the apparition. In addition to the three figures, they saw an altar with a lamb on it, a cross and angels hovering over the altar. There was no sound and no verbal message.
At the time of the apparition of Our Lady of Knock, the Archbishop made an investigation, but no definitive statement for or against the apparition was made. Over time, the apparition was officially acknowledged by the Church, culminating in a visit from Pope John Paul II in 1979. The symbolism of the lamb, the cross, and the altar were seen as pointing to the sacrificial death of Christ and the Mass. With Mary’s figure in front of the altar, she is seen as the Blessed Mother who always intercedes for us.
The apparition of Mary at Knock took place in County Mayo in Ireland in an area that suffered greatly from famines, forced evictions, and desperate immigrations to other lands in the 1870s. Mary always has a great love and compassion for the poor and for those who are going through trials and tribulations. Like her Son, the Good Shepherd, Mary is always there for us with her loving care. Her apparitions such as Our Lady of Knock remind us of that.
8/18/2016 – Thursday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time – Psalm 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
Our
psalmist declares today: “I will pour clean water on you and wash away all your
sins.” We
can all feel burdened by different things in our lives: past hurts, struggles
with addictions, anger and frustration that we harbor in our hearts, the
inability to forgive, and the sins we cannot leave behind. Yet,
we were washed away from our sins in the waters of baptism, but we can fall
back into our sins and into temptation, in need of conversion and renewal. Christ comes to us again and again in the sacraments of the Church to heal us –
the Eucharist, the anointing of the sick, and the sacrament of reconciliation. In
his Easter homily in his first year as pope, in the light of Christ’s
resurrection that we celebrate on Easter morning, Pope Francis had this to say:
“Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be closed to the newness that God wants
to bring into our lives. Are we often
weary, disheartened, and sad? Do we feel
weighed down by our sins? Do we think
that we won’t be able to cope? Let us
not close our hearts, let us not lose confidence, let us never give up: there
are no situations which God cannot change, there is no sin which he cannot
forgive if we open ourselves to him. God
will indeed pour clean water on us and wash away our sins if we repent and
continue to try to follow Christ’s Gospel in our lives.
8/15/2016 - Celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Monday, August 15, we celebrate the Assumption of Mary at St James Catholic Church in Tupelo, Mississippi. Join us for mass - 12:10 pm in English and 6:00 pm bilingual mass.
“Today the liturgy invites us to contemplate Mary, taken up body and soul into heaven. By a special privilege, she was enriched by divine grace from the moment of her conception, and Christ, who ascended to the right hand of the Father, opened the doors of his kingdom to her, first among human creatures." (Pope John Paul II).
Thursday, August 11, 2016
8/13/2016 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C – Luke 12:48-53
For
the last several weeks, we have been hearing from the 12th chapter
of Luke’s Gospel. In
that chapter, Jesus is attracting huge crowds who are very interested in what
he has to say. Some
in the crowds are his followers and disciples.
They take his teachings into their hearts, reflecting upon and
meditating upon his words. They want to
learn and grow from what he is teaching them. However, there are others such as the scribes, temple officials, and the Pharisees
who are interested in what he says, but they’re also concerned about
criticizing Jesus and making life difficult for him. Today’s Gospel is just 5 short verses, but it certainly gives us a lot to think
about. And it is certainly not an easy
Gospel to understand. As
disciples of Christ ourselves, we know Jesus as the Prince of Peace, the Son of
God who proclaims God’s kingdom of justice and mercy. But,
in our Gospel today, Jesus says that he has come to set the earth on fire. Why
would he say such a thing? He
says that he has come to divide, rather than unite and reconcile. Isn’t
there enough division and turmoil and discord in our world already? How could this be a part of Christ’s Good
News?
I
thought back to the spring before I left for my missionary work, back in 1992. I
stayed with my dad in the Los Angeles area for a year just after my mom passed
away, helping him get readjusted while I worked there for that year. He was suffering from the beginnings of
Alzheimer’s disease at the time. On an
April morning, I had a work meeting right in downtown Los Angeles. As I was driving back that afternoon to
Orange County, I was hearing news that an acquittal verdict had been reached
for the police officers involved in the Rodney King case. There
was a lot of tension brewing in the city. When
I arrived home, I walked in as my two sisters where glued to the TV set, seeing
scenes of violence and looting as riots erupted all over Los Angeles, including
the very area where I had just been several hours earlier. It
took many weeks for the anger and violence and tension to start settling
down. The
division that Jesus talks about in today’s Gospel seemed to be playing out in the
streets of southern California where I grew up as a teenager. Just
this week, as I was writing this homily, the front page of our Tupelo newspaper
featured an interview with Mayor Jason Shelton, talking about the need for
rebuilding community trust and community engagement in our city of Tupelo. It seems like our world has become more and
more divided and polarized. But is that
what Jesus really wants?
8/16/2016 – Tuesday of the 20th week of Ordinary Time - St Roch - Matthew 19:23-30
Today's
readings warn us how the excessive attachment to riches can lead us away from
the Gospel message. Jesus speaks about how our attachment to the
earthly goods of this world can be an obstacle to us in attaining eternal
life. For
all of us as Catholics, in our lives of faith, participating in charitable
works of mercy as fruits out of our journeys of faith can really helped us
realize what is most important in life. And
sometimes these works of mercy don’t need to complicated or on a huge scale. When
the youth were talking about the upcoming school year of CYO and religious
education, talking about the subject of service, several of the youth mentioned
that their favorite service project of last year involved bringing chocolate
chip cookies and snacks to the policemen, firemen, Mayor Shelton, and other
public servants in our city of Tupelo. No
matter what work of charity or mercy we engage in, reaching out to others helps
us experience God in a very real way in our lives, giving us the means to live
out the values of the Gospel in our lives.
Today happens to the be the feast day of a
member of our community of saints who appeals to my heart and my imagination in
a very real way – St Roch, who is also known as St Rocco or St Roque. He
lived way back in the 13th century in France. His
father, the governor of Montpellier in France, died when Roch was 20, spurring
Roch to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. Legend
has it that Roch cared for the victims of the plague in Rome and in various
other cities until he came down with the plague himself. He
was banished to the forest for the fear people had of this affliction, where he
set up a small shelter where he lived. The
dog of one of the villagers had pity on Roch, coming to visit him each day, bringing
him a piece of bread in his mouth to eat and licking his sores. Roch
recovered from the plague, but was imprisoned when he came back to Montpellier,
having been accused of being a spy. Roch
refused to divulge his true identity, not wanting to revel in the glory of the
world, and he died while imprisoned. Roch’s
interesting story and example of holy life made him a very popular saint in
Europe in the Middle Ages. There
is a major shrine dedicated to him in the city of Venice, Italy. Roch is the patron saint of dogs and of those
who are unjustly accused. As
Roch responded to the reality he faced with compassion and works of charity,
let his example inspire us in the way we approach our journey of faith.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
8/15/2016 – Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Luke 1:39-56
In
her book on the devotions that the Christian faithful have to our Blessed Mother, author
Marina Warner has this to say regarding an ancient tradition practiced in honor
of Mary’s Assumption: “As early as the
tenth century, the intimate association between the aromas of herbs and flowers
and the victory of Mary over death was celebrated in the ritual of the feast of
the Assumption. Medicinal herbs and plants were brought to church on that day.
Periwinkle, verbena, thyme, and many other ingredients of the herbalist's art
were laid on the altar, to be incensed and blessed. Then they were bound into a
sheaf and kept all year to ward off illness and disaster and death. But the
ceremony was abolished in England at the Reformation, and is extinct everywhere
now except in some towns of northern Italy."
As I sat
writing this homily on the Assumption, I had just finished celebrating the mass
in honor of the Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major, the basilica
dedicated to Mary’s honor in the holy city of Rome. Then,
next month in September, we honor Mary as the Sorrowful Mother, as the Mother
of Jesus who kept vigil with her son as he carried his cross, who never left
her son and who kept faith and confidence in him and his mission, pondering all
those sorrows and sufferings in her heart. I
truly believe that the Catholic faithful have such a deep and loving devotion
to Mary because she is not only Jesus’ mother, but the mother of our Church and
the mother of our Lord. Mary,
the young woman who sang a song of hope and joy in the Magnificat in response
to the gracious greeting that she receives from her cousin Elizabeth, is our mother who listens to our prayers, who
unites our prayers to hers, who presents those prayers to her son with a
mother’s love and compassion. Like
the ritual described by author Marina Warner from England in the 10th
century, we honor Mary in so many different ways with flowers and lit
candles.
When
we look back at when the Assumption was declared as a dogma of our faith in
1950 by Pope Pius XII, it came in the midst of a very tumultuous 20th
century. The world had experienced the
Russian revolution, the Spanish Civil War, two world wars, the Holocaust, and
the start of the Korean War. By
declaring the Assumption of Mary into heaven body and soul, Pope Pius XII was
responding to the requests of the faithful, but at the same time he reaffirmed
the dignity of the human body and the sacredness of our human journey. The
real meaning of the Assumption is not just found in the literalism of what
occurred in that event, but also in the divine mystery that the Assumption of
Mary represents in our faith. In
our world of cell phones and computers and fast, comfortable travel throughout
the world, with space exploration and man landing on the moon being almost two
decades away when the Assumption was declared in 1950, we can sometimes take
for granted the way we currently see the world and the universe and our place
within that reality. It is
noteworthy that preeminent Swiss psychologist Carl Jung considered the
Assumption to be the most important religious declaration of the twentieth
century. There
is a theology and a tradition in the solemnity we celebrate today, to be sure,
but at the heart of our celebration today is the love and honor we bestow upon
our Blessed Mother and for the way she accompanies us with so much love and
tenderness on our journey of faith.
Friday, August 5, 2016
8/12/2016 – Friday of the 19th week in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6
The
psalm we hear today is not actually from the book of psalms at all. It
contains verses from the 12th chapter of the book of the prophet
Isaiah. Sometimes
we don’t know what words to say in our prayers, do we? We
have emotions, feelings, and thoughts that are difficult to put into words. Thus,
the words we hear from the psalms, from the prophets, and from the other books
of the Bible help us express our feelings to the Lord. We
have heard in a few different places in the Gospels the disciples asking Jesus
how to pray. In
the words of Isaiah, we hear from someone who places his trust in the Lord, as
he says: “I am confident and unafraid, my strength and my courage is in the
Lord…. With joy, you draw water at the fountain of salvation.” Even
in the midst of our fears, our doubts, our frustration, and our confusion, we
are called to turn to the Lord for strength, for consolation, and for
courage. That
is not always an easy thing to do, but the more we do it, the easier it will
become. Pope
Francis has said that a life of action and a life infused with faith must
always be rooted in prayer. He states:
“Listen well: ‘Evangelization is done on one’s knees.’ Without a constant relationship with God, the
mission becomes a job…. No. It is not a
job, but rather something else. The risk
of activism, of relying too much on structures, is an ever-present danger. If we look toward Jesus, we see that prior to
any important decision or event he recollected himself in intense and prolonged
prayer. Let us cultivate the contemplative dimension, even amid the whirlwind
of more urgent and heavy duties." To those words of Pope Francis, I say: AMEN.
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