3 March 2019 - 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle C - Luke 6:39-45

   This weekend, we celebrate the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time as we get ready to start the holy season of Lent this Wednesday.  We will not return to Ordinary Time again until the middle of June. As I was reading today’s Gospel, I thought about how all of you, the people in the pew, want to know how our faith and the teachings of Jesus intersect with our daily lives, how it affect we live each day.  

     This Sunday, we hear a very challenging Gospel message, as Jesus tells us that we should notice the large wooden beam in our own eye before we notice and criticize the splinter in our neighbor’s eye. So I thought about what application today’s Gospel message might have on the way we live each day.  I thought about those things that plague us in our lives and hinder us on our journey of faith.  One of the things I hear again and again in the sacrament of reconciliation is the way most of us struggle with anger.  We can lash out in anger before we know what is going on.  We might not even realize what is setting us off. Anger seems to be an emotion that is taking over our lives and taking over our modern world. However, we need to deal with our anger in a constructive manner because it will hurt our relationship with God and our relationship with our brothers and sisters if we don’t.  Our anger can also have very negative affects on our physical, spiritual, and mental health, and on the physical, spiritual, and mental health of others.  

        We need to recognize, however, that there is a difference between righteous and unrighteous anger.  The prophets in the Old Testament had valid reasons to be angry, as they saw the people worship false idols and turn away from the one true God. Jesus got angry at different times in the Gospels as well, such as the time he confronted the money changers in the Temple.  We still need to deal with righteous anger in a constructive, healthy way.  Unrighteous anger is something else.  Based on how we perceive a given situation, we may get angry and  blow that situation out of proportion. Unrighteous anger can happen when someone blows up in road rage or lashes out at someone when they disagree with his point of view. We can see that happening in political discussions all the time these days, can’t we. 

         We need to realize that when we try to deal with anger is an appropriate way, our relationships in our personal lives and in the workplace are usually enhanced. Here is an example of that.  You can imagine that in my work in the finance office in the Diocese right now, with the challenging situation we have been under, things can get a little tense sometimes.  Other priests or bookkeepers at other parishes can lash out at me and my staff at the finance office.  There was an incident that recently happened that left me speechless and angry too, how one of my finance office staff was treated.  I had a conversation at the parish where it happened, confronting the situation.  In the end, I would say that the other priest and I cleared up the situation and hopefully averted any future misunderstandings.   However, the opposite can happen when anger is repressed or expressed in a destructive way; then our relationships can easily deteriorate.  

        So, how can we deal with our anger in a way that is appropriate to our journey of discipleship?  First and most, importantly, we can take time tout and cool down.  Don’t make that phone call and don’t send that email when your anger is getting the best of you. When that situation happened to me with that other parish, I waited two weeks before I confronted the priest, letting emotions calm down.  

        Also, it is important take time to reflect and pray.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you look at the true cause of your anger and help you decide the best way to handle it.  Ask the Blessed Mother through the rosary pray to give you patience and a clear vision.  

         We can also talk to a friend or a trusted advisor.  They can give us an objective opinion and help you identify options you might not have thought about.   And just by saying the words out loud to another person, we can see what is going on in a clear light. 

          One thing that is important is to not deny how you are feeling.  If you are angry, admit you are angry and try to deal with it in an honest, constructive way.  Try to identify what you are angry about.  If you try to deny your anger, it can fester and can manifest itself in some really awful ways in your life.  

           Finally, going through an examination of conscience and the sacrament of reconciliation on a regular basis can help us better deal with our anger and be more proactive in living out our Catholic faith. 

      If we are not used to expressing our anger in a positive, constructive way, dealing with our anger will take time, effort, and prayer. It is not easy dealing with our anger, that is for sure.  But, if we are going to truly live as disciples of Christ, we must find ways to develop the virtues and the skills to deal with our anger.  

27 February 2019 - Wednesday of the 7th week in Ordinary Time - Sirach 4:11-19

    In the ALPHA retreat this past weekend, we were discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Paul wrote about in his first letter to the Corinthians.  Paul mentioned wisdom as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I asked the ALPHA participants at my table how they would divine wisdom.  Wisdom is the ability to discern what is right and good.  Another saw wisdom as the ability to see the world through the eyes of God, the creator of all that is good.  

      Sirach illustrates the role of wisdom in the lives of those who seek her.  According to Sirach, wisdom is to be received and acted upon in those who love her.  Wisdom is seen as practical and down to earth.  

        As individuals we are called to pray for wisdom.  As a community, we are called to do the same.  What goes against wisdom?:  prejudice, malice, rash judgment, gossip, arrogance, and sarcasm. In praying for wisdom, we pray for patience, tolerance, transparency, and fortitude.  We are called to listen and dialogue with others, not just to speak our own minds.  We need to be with Christ, or else we are against him.  

          Let us pray to the Holy Spirit today for the gift of wisdom.  We are called to pray for wisdom each day.  It is a constant process.  Wisdom, ultimately a gift from God.  A gift of his grace.  An extraordinary gift.  

1 March 2019 - Friday of the seventh week in Ordinary Time - Sirach 6:5-17

    “There is nothing on this earth more prized than true friendship.”  That is a quote from the great Catholic theologian from the 13th century, the Dominican priest St Thomas Aquinas.  Our first reading today from the book of Sirach is about friendship.  Sirach was written in Alexandria, Egypt by a Jewish scribe about two centuries before Christ’s birth in the tradition of Jewish wisdom literature.  This book gives us a lot of wise advice.  Sirach tells us that while we will have a lot of acquaintances in our lives, a true friend or a true confidant will be one in a thousand. Father James Martin has said, in order for us to be a true friend of Jesus, in order to be his true disciple, we cannot put Jesus in a box.  We need to understand him as truly human and truly divine, as our God who inviting us into a friendship and a relationship with him. I look out at our group today gathered for mass, and I see so many friendships and relationships on so many different levels.  Indeed, Church is more than just coming to mass.  Making friendships and relationships and being a true part of the community are a part of our calling.  If you claim to be Catholic and ignore the community and friendship aspect of our faith, then I think you are missing a big part of what it means to be Catholic. I think we use the word “friend” so often in our modern secular world, that the true sense of friendship has lost its meaning.  Yes, to have a friend, we need to be a friend, to reach out to others.  Like the word “love” that has so many different worldly connotations when compared to love in the context of our faith, the sense of friendship has an entirely different meaning from our perspective of faith. Indeed, true friendship is based on genuine love.  As we come to mass today to celebrate around the Lord’s table as a community, as we come to have Jesus bring healing to our lives, let us thank God for the true friends we have in our lives, those friends who are there for us no matter what. 

5 March 2019 - Tuesday of the 8th week in Ordinary Time - Sirach 35: 1-12

      According to the dictionary, an oblation is an offering, something presented to God or offered to God. Each time we celebrate Mass, gifts of bread and wine are given to God as an oblation.  It struck me that in our reading from Sirach today, it explains that when we keep God’s law, it is an oblation or an offering that we give to him. I guess I never really consciously thought of it as that way.  It certainly adds to our understanding of why we are called to keep God’s law and commandments.  Sirach goes on to say that the one who keeps God’s commandments gives a peace offering to God.  Tomorrow, we enter the holy season of Lent with our observance of Ash Wednesday.  I really love the holy season of Lent, a time when we look into our hearts to see how we might have missed the mark on our journey of faith, to see where we have failed and where we need reconciliation and healing in our lives.  Ash Wednesday is one of the most crowded days in our church, a day that resonates with the faithful.  The last couple of weeks during Sunday Mass, we have heard from the Sermon on the Plain from the Gospel of Luke, in which Jesus tried to break through the false piety and rigidity and hardness of heart that the Pharisees had in the way they approached God’s laws and commandments. Pope Francis has warned us about a rigidity of heart as well, saying that while meekness, forgiveness, benevolence, and goodness are gifts from God on our journey of faith, rigidity is not one of those gifts.  Pope Francis added that “the law was not drawn up to enslave us but to set us free, to make us God’s children”.  As we end Ordinary Time today and get ready for the start of Lent, may we see our lives and our love of God’s laws and commandments as an oblation to God and a gift of our faith. 

28 February 2017 - Thursday of the 7th week in Ordinary Time - Sirach 6:5-17

    For two weeks, we heard first readings in our daily masses from the Book of Genesis.  This week, our first readings have come from the Old Testament Book of Sirach.  This book of wisdom teachings was written by a Jewish scribe living in Jerusalem about two centuries before the birth of Christ. The book was translated from the original Hebrew into Greek by the scribe’s grandson, who was living in Alexandria Egypt at the time and who added a prologue to the book.  Today, Sirach advises us about the dangers of allowing money control our lives and allowing our money and power to manipulate others.  Sirach also advises against giving ourselves over to the pleasures of the heart, forsaking our faith and God’s laws and commandments in the process. I find it so interesting how teachings from the Early Church and before the time of Christ still speak of truths that seem so relevant and timely in our modern world, like they were written by some of our Church leaders today. Yes, I guess that even though the world changes, human nature does not change very much, does it? 

      One other thing of note that I wanted to mention today.  Since we were mentioning the original Biblical languages, it is interesting to note that on this day, February 28 in the year 1759 Pope Clement XIII gave official permission for the Bible to be translated into vernacular languages spoken by Catholics around the world. Even though the Protestant Bible was translated into the different vernacular languages during the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century, it was not until more than two centuries later that this was approved by the Catholic Church.  Wow, has this development changed the way we practice the faith, as the Church now encourages all Catholics to read and study the Sacred Scriptures with fervor and zeal.  We take a lot of things in our lives for granted, don’t we? 

24 de febrero de 2019 - séptimo domingo del tiempo ordinario - Ciclo C - Lucas 6:27-38

     Algunos mensajes del Evangelio son fáciles de entender. Ellos dan un mensaje directo que podemos reflexionar fácilmente. Pero el Evangelio de hoy tiene un mensaje desafiante y difícil para nosotros: Ama a tus enemigos. Ora por los que te maltratan. Haz bien a los que te odian. Esas cosas no nos son fáciles de hacer. Ese consejo ciertamente no es el camino del mundo moderno.

     Cuando era un nuevo sacerdote en Jackson, comencé a visitar a un prisionero en la cárcel. Esa fue mi introducción al ministerio a los prisioneros. Este joven esperaba juicio por asesinato de un joven en Jackson. El prisionero era otra parte de los Estados Unidos - no tenía mucha familia aquí en Mississippi. Recuerdo que yo recibí una llamada de su madre un domingo por la mañana, diciéndome que a su hijo le ofreció un acuerdo de culpabilidad de cadena perpetua en lugar de buscar la pena de muerte por él. Después de una semana de visitas con él, de muchas conversaciones intensas, él aceptó el acuerdo en el último minuto. Recuerdo que lo acompañé ante el juez. Ninguno de los miembros de su familia estaba allí con él.  La familia y los amigos del hombre que fue asesinado también estaba allí. Tuve que pasar delante de todos de ellos para entrar en la sala del tribunal. Yo podía sentir la ira y el odio por el asesinato de este joven que era su hijo, su hermano, y su amigo. Estoy seguro de que ellos vieron al prisionero quien hizo el asesinato como el enemigo. A través de los valores del mundo, podemos entender sus sentimientos.

        Es en este medio que escuchamos el mandato de Jesús: ama a tu enemigo. Es una orden, no una sugerencia. En verdad - es difícil para vivir.  Amar a nuestro enemigo no es un ideal, sino una forma de vida. Para ser un auténtico discípulo de Jesús, debemos esforzarnos por vivir este mandamiento, no importa lo imposible que pueda parecer.

         ¿Qué hacemos con la declaración de Jesús de que cuando alguien nos golpea en la mejilla, también debemos ofrecer la otra mejilla? No creo que Jesús nos dice que necesitamos someternos a la violencia, sino que Cristo dice que no debemos responder a la violencia con violencia, porque eso nunca soluciona nada.

         Sabemos que estamos llamados a amar a nuestros enemigos, pero, luchamos con la manera que podemos vivir este espíritu de perdón. El perdón puede ser una de las cosas más difíciles que hacemos. Podríamos preguntarnos: ¿por dónde empezamos? Estamos llamados a comenzar con Jesús, a volvernos a Cristo crucificado, escuchando las palabras que él habla desde la cruz: "Padre, perdónalos porque no saben lo que hacen”. Las palabras de Cristo debe entrar en nuestros corazones y se conviertan en nuestros. palabras.

            Vivimos en un mundo muy complicado. A una persona de fe le hace falta amar a nuestro prójimo y sentir odio cuando alguien nos hace mal. Sin embargo, esto es lo que Jesús nos llama a hacer. ¿Cómo podemos recibir a Cristo en la Eucaristía y creer que él entra en nuestra vida de esa manera especial y luego dar la vuelta y odiar a alguien? ¿Cómo podemos recibir al Dios de amor en nuestros corazones, solo para tener ese corazón bloqueado por el resentimiento y el odio? Necesitamos arrodillarnos y pedirle perdón a Dios y pedir su gracia para perdonar a los demás.  Nuestro Evangelio de hoy ciertamente nos pide que examinemos nuestros corazones y vivamos este mandamiento.  

26 February 2019 - Tuesday of the 7th week of Ordinary Time - Sirach 2:1-11

   This week and next week, we hear from Sirach in our daily masses.  We are perhaps not too familiar with the book of Sirach, but it contains great wisdom and advice that is still relevant for us today.  With the endearing salutation, “my son" that begins our passage today, we know that Sirach is going to give us some intimate advice. It is also a typical opening in Jewish wisdom literature.  So, what can we take from today’s reading?  Sirach advises us that serving God doesn’t mean that our lives will be without trials and tribulations.  However, even in those trials and sufferings, we are called to serve with sincerity, generosity, and perseverance. Our trials and tribulations will help purify our faith.  In everything, we are called to be faithful and to trust in God.  Today’s reading brought to my mind a post that I made on the pilgrims’ forum for the Way of St James in Spain.  A pilgrim wrote that she had been hiking on the Camino for one week and was wanting to give up and go home.  She asked if any of us pilgrims had felt the same way, wanting to know how to dealt with such feelings.  I wrote the following response: “There were days when I have been discouraged on the Camino too. There have been days when my plans on the Camino were thrown into disarray. When I reflect on the Camino (and I have been on the Camino five different times), it is through the struggles and the unexpected things that have happened to me that I have found the greatest blessings. I was struggling with a lot in my life when I went on the Camino in January 2017. I had a lot of struggles on the Camino as well - I hurt my knee, I was vomiting for several days, and afterwards never got back to a normal routine of eating for the rest of the Camino. However, through those struggles, I received a lot of wisdom and knowledge from the Camino. My Camino really helped me examine my life. It has brought me a lot of peace. Sometimes we don't get the Camino we expect or want; sometimes we get the Camino we need, even if that Camino isn't easy. Ultimately, it is our decision whether to continue on the Camino or not, and I truly believe that there is not a ‘right’ way or ‘wrong’ way to follow the Camino. We are called to follow God’s will for us.  We are called to follow our hearts.  We are called to persevere.” 

24 February 2019 - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C - Luke 6:27-38

Some Gospel messages are easy to discern, right?  Some Gospel passages give a direct message that we can easily understand and reflect upon in great detail.  But today’s Gospel has a challenging, difficult message for us: Love your enemies.  Pray for those who abuse you.  Do good for those who hate you.  Those things are not easy for us to do, are they?  And that advice is certainly not the way of the world.  

When I was a new priest at St Richard, I started visiting a prisoner at the Hinds County Detention Center. That was my introduction to prison ministry.  This young man was awaiting trial for murder in the Belhaven neighborhood in Jackson.  The prisoner was from Indiana, so he did not have a lot of family here in Mississippi.  I remember getting a phone call from his mom one Sunday morning, telling me that her son was being offered a plea bargain of life imprisonment instead of seeking the death penalty against him.  After a week of visits with him, of a lot of intense conversations, he agreed to the plea bargain at the very last minute.  I remember accompanying him as he was sentenced in front of the judge.  None of his family members were there with him; I was there a couple of parishioners I brought with me from St Richard.  The family of the man who was murdered were there too.  A large group of his family and friends were present for the sentencing.  I had to pass in front of all of them to get into the courtroom.  If looks could kill, I would have been dead in that instant.  I could feel the anger and hatred they had for the killing of this young man who was their son, their brother, their friend.  I am sure they saw the man who murdered their loved one as the enemy.  Through the lens of the ways of the world, we can understand their feelings.  

It is in this midst of this that we hear Jesus’ command: Love your enemy.  It is a command, not a suggestion.  It is a very far reaching command that is so tough to live out in our everyday lives.  Loving our enemy is not an ideal, but instead a way of life.  To be an authentic disciple of Jesus, we must strive to live this commandment, no matter how impossible it may seem. 

What do we make of Jesus’ statement that when someone strikes us on the cheek, we are to offer the other cheek as well?  I don’t think Jesus is telling us to submit ourselves to violence again and again, but rather I see him telling us that we are not to respond to violence with violence, for that never solves anything.  

We know that we are called to love our enemies, but many of us struggle with how we can bring about this spirit of forgiveness in our lives.  Forgiveness can be one of the hardest things we do.  We might wonder: where do we begin?  We are called to begin with Jesus, to turn to Christ crucified, listening to the words he speak from the cross: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.”  May Christ’s words enter our own hearts and become our own words.  

What actions can we take after we forgive? Perhaps a phone call, or letter, or a friendly knock on someone's door will help us express our forgiveness. Just as the sacrament of reconciliation requires the action of penance, the act of forgiveness requires an act, if that is possible. 

We live in a very difficult, complicated world and it does not seem like it is getting easier. It takes a person of faith to love our neighbor and to feel hate when someone does us wrong. However, this is what Jesus calls us to do.  How can we receive Christ in the Eucharist and believe that he is entering our lives in that special way and then turn around and hate anyone? How can we receive the God of love into our hearts, only to have that heart blocked by resentment and hatred?  We are called to kneel down and to ask God for forgiveness for ourselves, but also to kneel down to ask God to help us forgive others.  Our Gospel today certainly asks us to examine our hearts and live out this command.  

22 February 2019 - Homily for the Chair of Peter - Matthew 16:13-19

     We hear Jesus tell Peter in the Gospel today: “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  (Matthew 16:19)

       Today, we celebrate the Chair of Peter. It is not an actual physical "chair" that we celebrate today, but rather Peter the Apostle and his function within the group of apostles and within the early Church. We honor all the men who have served in the Chair of Peter throughout history, remembering in particular Pope Francis, our current pope, in our prayers today.  

          I had not been pastor of St James’ Catholic Church in Tupelo for very long when the news of Pope Benedict's resignation hit.  I was approached by a couple of reporters and asked about the impact that the pope has on our local parishes here in Mississippi.  Indeed, the pope has a great impact.  While some Protestant denominations are very loosely structured in terms of hierarchy, our pope is a very active leader who has a very real role in the lives of Catholics, even in a place like Mississippi that is located so far away from Rome. 

        Tomorrow, in our Diocese of Jackson, we are having an afternoon celebration at the Cathedral of St Peter in downtown Jackson to award the Bishop Chance medals to lay people who have made significant contributions to our diocese. Kathleen Edwards and Dominic Lopez from St Jude will be two of the recipients of these medals this year.  It always touches my heart greatly to have parishioners recognized in this manner.  I give thanks to God for all of our wonderful St Jude parishioners who contribute in so many ways to our parish and to our universal Church.  

17 de febrero de 2019 - sexto domingo del tiempo ordinario - Lucas 6,17, 20-26

      El sacerdote franciscano, el padre Richard Rohr, escribió lo siguiente en su libro cayendo hacia arriba:  ”Siempre me he preguntado por qué la gente nunca quiere poner un monumento de piedra de las Ocho Bienaventuranzas en el jardín del palacio de justicia como hace por los Diez Mandamientos.” Tal vez las Bienaventuranzas no son tan directas como los Diez Mandamientos. No son tan fáciles de entender.  Se supone que las Bienaventuranzas son bendiciones, pero ¿cómo puede ser una bendición llorar o ser pobre o ser odiado? Podemos decir que cuando estamos expulsados ​​de nuestra zona de confort o cuando tenemos desafíos, cuando nos empujamos o cuando nos estiramos, esos son a menudo los momentos de mayor crecimiento y enriquecimiento en nuestras vidas. Tal vez las Bienaventuranzas nos desafíen en nuestros valores y en nuestra cultura.  Tal vez en las Bienaventuranzas nos desafíen en nuestra seguridad, nuestra seguridad y nuestra complacencia. Tal vez tenemos muchas preguntas y inquietudes en las Bienaventuranzas, aunque escuchamos el menaje de las Bienaventuranzas muchas veces en las Sagradas Escrituras. Sabemos que los sabios ancianos en nuestra sociedad son los que ejemplifican los valores de las Bienaventuranzas para nosotros. No son las estrellas en el televisor o las estrellas de los equipos deportivos. Las bienaventuranzas describen a las personas humildes y sin pretensiones que tranquilamente viven los valores de la fe en sus vidas.

       El 12 de marzo de 1622, el Papa Gregorio XV hizo santos a cinco hombres y mujeres españoles. Los primeros cuatro anunciantes ese día eran figuras muy famosas de la Iglesia en España en esta época: Ignacio de Loyola, Teresa de Ávila, Francisco Xavier y Felipe Neri. Todos se preguntaban quién sería el quinto santo. Se anunció que era Isidro Labrador, un campesino pobre de Madrid que nació en el siglo XI.  Nadie sabía quien era.  No era conocido como los demás. Cuando Isidro era joven, sus padres no podían proveerle económicamente, ya que eran muy pobres. Fue enviado para trabajar como obrero en una finca. Vivió una vida muy santa.  Asistió a la misa cada día. Isidro amaba a los pobres y amaba a los animales. Un milagro de la multiplicación de los alimentos ocurrió cuando Isidoro alimentó una bandada de pájaros hambrientos. En otra ocasión, Isidoro compartió su comida con un grupo de mendigos. La santidad cotidiana de San Isidro lo incluyó en este grupo de los otros grandes santos españoles. En su simplicidad de espíritu, en su humildad, Isidro Labrador ejemplifica el espíritu de las bienaventuranzas.

19 February 2019 - Tuesday of the 6th week of Ordinary Time - Genesis 6:5-8, 7:1-5, 10

     When I taught high school in Greenville, one of my professors at Ole Miss told me that I would not understand the reality of the Delta today unless I learned about the Great Flood that took place along the Mississippi River in 1927.   In fact, the levee broke just north of Greenville.  It was not only the devastation and destruction of the flood that affected Greenville and the other communities of the Mississippi Delta that hug the river, but it also is the mistakes that were made in the recovery efforts that had such disastrous affects on those communities.  

      I bring up the topic of the Great Flood of 1927 today because in our first reading from Genesis, we hear of Noah and the great flood. It is interesting, that in other narratives from Mesopotamia and Babylonia from the same era, there are a lot of similarities in their great flood stories. Yet, whether this story is interpreted as being a literal historical account or as a parable, the important thing is to discern the eternal truth that is contained in this narrative:  that God is just and merciful, that human beings have turned away from God, but that God saves his faithful ones. The Flood is a divine judgement which is a foreshadowing of the final days. We can see the salvation of Noah as a foreshadowing of the saving waters of baptism.

14 February 2019 - Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop

    In the Middle Ages there was a great moment of peoples throughout Europe.  Bringing Christianity to these groups was a goal of the Church.  Cyril and Methodius, two brothers we celebrate as saints today, were sent from Greece to be missionaries to the Slavic people.  Cyril and Methodius learned the vernacular language of the Slavic people and were able to bring God’s word to them in their own language, making their missionary work very successful. In fact, these two brothers also invented a Slavic alphabet into which they translated Sacred Scripture.  Today, Cyril and Methodius are remembered as the founders of Slavic literature.   The Slavic liturgy that Cyril and Methodius wrote is still used in many Churches in the East.  We honor Cyril and Methodius today, remembering their contributions to our universal Church.  

21 February 2017 - Thursday of the 6th week in Ordinary Time - Genesis 9:1-13

   Before God’s covenant with Abraham, before his covenant with Moses, God made a covenant with his people through Noah today after the great flood: that is the covenant we hear about in our first reading from Genesis today.   Through this covenant, God promises that he will not send another flood to destroy the earth again.  The sign of that covenant is the rainbow that crosses the sky.   Just as rainbows are signs of sunshine after the rain, the rainbow is a reminder to the people of God’s covenant with them. Later, God will make a more specific covenant with Abraham and his descendants.  Then there will be covenant between Moses and Israel, entailing corresponding obligations: fidelity to God’s commandments and observance of the Sabbath.  We live today under the final covenant between God and his people -  the New Testament covenant between God and the world through which we receive our redemption and our salvation in the blood of his son on the cross.  We celebrate this new covenant each time we gather around the altar of the Lord in Mass. We renew this covenant each time we celebrate the Eucharist, each time we reconcile with God and our brothers and sisters, each time we live out the Gospel in our lives. We are indeed a covenant people.  May we never forget that.  

17 February 2019 - 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Luke 6:17, 20-26

    Franciscan priest Father Richard Rohr, wrote the following in his book Falling Upwards: A Spirituality Through the Two Halves of Life:  “I have always wondered why people never want to put a stone monument of the Eight Beatitudes on the courthouse lawn,” like they do for the Ten Commandments.  Perhaps that is because the Beatitudes are not as straight forward as the Ten Commandments.  They are not so easy to understand, are they?  The Beatitudes are supposed to be blessings, but how can it be a blessing to grieve or to be poor or to weep or to be hated?  Then I think about how when we are thrown out our comfort zone or when we are challenged or pushed or stretched, those are often the times of the greatest growth and enrichment in our lives.  Perhaps the beatitudes challenge those things that we assume to be the foundation of our culture and our values.  And it is good for us to be challenged sometimes, isn't it?  To look at what we believe and what we stand for in a critical way.   Perhaps they challenge our safety, our security, and our complacency.  Perhaps we don’t quite know what to make of the beatitudes, even though we have heard them again and again in Scripture.  Perhaps the wise elders that we have in society are the ones who exemplify the beatitudes to us.  They are not the rich reality stars or sport stars that we see on TV.  They are not the ones who bring attention and accolades to themselves, who think that they speak for others and who think they have it all figured out.  The beatitudes describe the humble, unassuming individuals who quietly go about living the values of the faith in their lives.  

     On March 12, 1622, five Spanish men and women were made saints by Pope Gregory XV.  The first four announce that day were very famous figures from the Church in Spain: Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, Francis Xavier, and Phillip Neri.  Everyone wondered who the fifth saint would be.  It was announced that it was Isidore, a poor farmer from Madrid who was born in the 11th century.  As a youth, his parents were unable to financially provide for him, as they were very poor.  He was sent to a rich landowner to work as a laborer.  He lived a very holy life, often going to daily mass. Isidore loved the poor and loved the animals. a miracle of the multiplication of food occurred when Isidore fed a flock of starving birds.  On another occasion, Isidore shared his food with a large group of beggars.  Isidore’s everyday holiness included him in this group of other great Spanish saints.  In his simplicity of spirit, Isidore the Farmer exemplifies the spirit of the beatitudes.  

      

15 February 2019 - Friday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time- Genesis 3:1-8, Mark 7:31-37

       We hear about senses being opened up in different ways in our readings today.  In our reading from Genesis, the serpent seduces Eve, resulting in both Adam and Eve eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, with their eyes and their minds being opened to shame and embarrassment.  In the Gospel, there was another kind of opening: the opening of the ears of the deaf man through Jesus’ command.  The deaf man was filled with joy when speech and hearing were restored. The people who witnessed this healing were filled with wonder, saying "(Jesus) has done all things well; he makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Adam and Eve were punished for their disobedience.  They were driven from the garden. God’s justice and mercy are the themes of our readings today. 

      We can open up ourselves to good things on our journey of faith, things that will help us and encourage us and strengthen us in our faith.  Or, conversely, we can open up ourselves to temptations and the works of the evils and things that will take us off our journey of faith or that will weaken our faith.  What I see in a lot of young people, and adults as well, is that they think they can fool around with things, things they know they should not be doing, thinking they are not dangerous and that they will not lead to an addiction or negative consequences in our lives.  However, like Adam and Eve being seduced, we can be tricked into things and we can be seduced as well.  Doing things that will educate us in the faith, forming our conscience in the teachings of the Church, practicing devotions of our faith and being an active part of our faith community - these are all things we can do to help us be open to the good thing of our faith, while helping us resist temptation.

13 February 2017 - Wednesday of 5th week of Ordinary Time - GENESIS 2:5-9, 15-17

     When God placed his breath into us from the clay of the earth, he breathed life into us and showed us how to take care of his creation.  Recently, in the RCIA program, I was talking about the sacrament of reconciliation.  A big part of that sacrament addresses the Catholic moral life, God’s laws and commandments, and  the sins we can commit, both venial sins and mortal sins. As our first reading tells us today, man could eat of any tree of the garden besides the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  That tree can be likened to the many opportunities that are presented to us in life. Of those opportunities, God asks that we not choose evil. We know this in our hearts, right, but in our lived reality, it is not always easy to resist temptation and to give way to evil.  It is not just an objective isolated theory, but a messy, lived reality.  God’s unconditional love for us is always there, calling us to turn to the Gospel message and to turn away from sin. God’s love is there for us even in the midst of our sins and all we do wrong.  Out of our free will, we are calle to be to turn back to him even when we sin. As we journey in these weeks of ordinary time before the liturgical season of Lent begins on March 6, once again we will turn to repentance, conversion, and renewal.   Once again, we are called to trust in our faith.  May we see this as a new opportunity in our lives, no matter how tough our reality is, no matter what temptations we face.  

12 February 2019 - Tuesday of the 5th week in Ordinary Time - Genesis 1:20-2:4a

      The first readings from yesterday and today present to us the story of creation from the first chapter of Genesis. Today, we hear about the creation of the fifth and sixth day, completing God’s creation of heaven and earth, with God resting on the seventh day, making it holy. In reflecting on today’s reading, in recent years we have interpreted it as a responsibility that we have to be good stewards of God’s creation, realizing the impact we human beings can have on the environment.  Rather than good management and good stewardship of God’s creation, we as human beings often seek domination, control, and exploitation of the earth’s resources for our own benefit. Indeed, all of creation is put into our human hands to supply our needs; however, we still need to realize that we are only one part of creation, that a mutual interdependence exists between all of creation on planet earth.  Pope Francis’ had this to say in an address to the youth in the Philippines, bank in 2015:  “Respect for the environment means more that simply using cleaner products or recycling what we use. These are important aspects, but (it’s) not enough. We need to see, with the eyes of faith, the beauty of God’s saving plan, the link between the natural environment and the dignity of the human person… As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to make the earth a beautiful garden for the human family. When we destroy our forests, ravage our soil, and pollute our seas, we betray that noble calling.”  From to mighty galaxies to the sub-atomic particles, there is a seamless garment of creation; we human beings must see our selves as stewards of creation in a holistic way that will benefits our entire ecosystem here on earth. As we discuss global warming on a national level and a global level, as each family makes decisions each day that affect the environment, it gives us a lot to think about, doesn’t it? 

10 de febrero de 2019 – quinto semana del tiempo ordinario – Lucas 5:1-11

       En el Evangelio de hoy, Jesús encontró a Simón y a sus compañeros.  Estos pescadores lavaban sus redes a la orilla.  Jesús dijo a Simón – “Lleva la barca más adentro y echen sus redes para pescar".  Simón y sus amigos eran pescadores con mucha experiencia.  Ellos pescaban toda la noche, y no tenían nada.  Ellos pensaban  – Tal vez, Jesús es loco.  ¿Qué sabe él que no sabemos?  Pero, Simón y sus compañeros tenían confianza en él.  A la orden de Jesús, ellos echaban sus redes al mar.  Y ellos cogían una abundancia de pescados, que sus redes se rompían.  Era en el mismo lugar donde ellos trabajaban todo el día y la noche – un lugar que ellos conocían muy bien.  Y un milagro pasaba aquí mas que ellos podían imaginar.

       Simón Pedro se abrumó con esta experiencia, sintiéndose indigno de recibir tal bendición de Dios. Y podríamos preguntarnos: ¿Tenemos ideas preconcebidas y expectativas rígidas acerca de Dios que limitan la forma en que Dios trabaja en nuestras vidas, que son obstáculos en nuestro camino?  Simón Pedro grita: "Aléjate de mí, Señor, porque soy un hombre pecador". Ciertamente somos pecadores.  Todos nosotros somos pecadores, sin duda.  Podemos sentirnos tan limitados e insignificantes si reflexionamos  en nuestra identidad como seres creados, en nuestras luchas de fe y confianza.

      A veces, nuestra visión de Dios se distorsiona, aun cuando tenemos intenciones buenas, cuando tenemos una verdadera experiencia de Dios.  Por ejemplo, cuando era misionero en el Ecuador, muchos de los jóvenes tenían un gran temor de Dios, al ver a Dios como un ser poderoso que los castigaría.  Sin embargo, cuando las Escrituras hebreas hablan sobre temer a Dios, es en el sentido de tener respeto y reverencia.  Nuestra experiencia de Dios puede darnos los sentimientos de paz y alegría y maravilla, en lugar de sentimientos de vergüenza e indignidad.  La cruz, el sufrimiento y la pasión de Cristo, y nuestro llamado de obedecer a Dios: estas son verdades esenciales de nuestra fe, pero debemos contestar la cruz y la muerte de Cristo y nuestra obediencia a la salvación y la redención que recibimos libremente de Dios en la resurrección de Cristo.

      Para entender los sentimientos que Pedro expresa hoy, tal vez no sea realmente una vergüenza lo que sienten, sino una expresión de humildad en su intento de determinar cuál es su posición en la realidad de Dios. Cuando nos encontramos cara a cara con la santidad de Dios, nos enfrentamos a nuestras debilidades y limitaciones humanas.  Tal vez Pedro realmente entendía que su luz era pálida en comparación de la luz brillante de Dios. La humildad que sentimos en la presencia de Dios puede ser algo muy bueno si nos ayuda a estar más abiertos al amor de Dios y a su presencia en nuestras vidas. 

       Pedro y los pescadores obedecieron a Jesús al arrojar sus redes. Y ¿qué hay de nosotros? ¿Hay aguas profundas allí donde necesitamos poner nuestras redes más allá de nuestras expectativas, más allá de nuestra zona de confort?  Necesitamos usar nuestra imaginación y liberar nuestras mentes para ver verdaderamente las formas en que Dios está presente en nuestras vidas. 

7 February 2019 – Thursday of 4th week in ordinary time – Mark 6:7-13

      It always strikes me how Jesus sent his disciples out on their journey to bring the Good News to the world with so few things.  After having moved all of my belongings several times as a priest, I realize how many books I have - they are probably my most numerous and prized possession, and it is so hard to downsize and weed them out.   We can have things that weigh us down in life, and that is what Jesus wanted to prevent as he sent his disciples out to be missionaries to the world.  He wanted them to place their full dependence on God, not on material things.   We can have so many preconceived ideas or notions as well that can hinder us in living out God’s Good News and in brining it to others. 

    Five times now, I have gone hiking on a pilgrimage in Spain on the Camino of Santiago de Compostela.  The last three times I have gone my myself in the middle of winter.  January of next year, I am planning to take a group on the Camino - I have a group of six lined up to go, and possible a few more will join us.  You can imagine, carrying everything on your back, you have to be very selective in what you take.  So I was thinking of the 5 most important things I take with me.  

1. backpack 

2. walking stick 

3. wool socks

4. sleeping bag

5 guide book 

        I have never heard of a pilgrim regretting taking too little on a journey, but I have heard many say that they have taken too much.  We don’t want to be unprepared, so we carry more than we need to. 

         As we get close to the holy season of Lent, if would be good for us to think about what we need to unpack and leave behind as we enter this stage of our journey.  What are we relying on in our lives that does not leave us free to follow the Lord?

10 February 2019 – 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Luke 5:1-11

       We all have different experiences of God in our lives and different images of God that come to our minds and to our imaginations.  When I served at St Richard parish in Jackson as a new priest, the students made handmade prayer cards with the prayer of St Richard of Chichester on the back.  These prayer cards showed the different ways the children see God in their lives.  One prayer card that really enchanted me was drawn by a 4th grader, showing a tiny cardinal flying in the sky above the mountains. Like many people, I often see God in the beauty of nature, so to me this was a wonderful image of God’s glory.  But the image of this bird flying through nature also brought to my mind how small I can feel as a part of creation in comparison to the all-powerful God who created us.  Our readings today perhaps call us to take a look at our feelings of unworthiness and insignificance that we might experience in our faith.  What could these readings be telling us about such feelings?

         The calling Isaiah receives to be a prophet involves a vision he had. Isaiah sees God on a throne high in the heavens, with choirs of angels praising God and the glory with which he fills the earth. In the midst of God’s glory, Isaiah reacts with unworthiness, feeling that any words coming from his mouth wouldn't be worthy of God.  An angel swoops down to Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal to purify his lips and his words. Even though Isaiah feels unworthy, God still calls him to be a prophet, showing the confidence God has in him.  

          Then, in today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters Simon Peter and his fishing companions as they're washing their nets. He tells Peter: “Put out into the deep water – let down your nets for a catch.”  Yet, Peter explains that he and the other fishermen had worked all night, having caught nothing.  We wonder: Does Jesus know something that the fishermen don’t know?   But they trust him. At Jesus' command, they lower their nets.  They bring up an abundance of fish, enough to tear their nets to shreds and sink their boats.  Having come up empty the night before at the same place, now they have a catch beyond all imagining.

         Simon Peter is overwhelmed by what has happened, feeling unworthy to receive such a blessing from God.  And we might ask ourselves: Do we have preconceptions and rigid expectations about God that are limiting the way God works in our lives, hindering us on our journey?  Simon Peter cries out: “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  We are indeed sinful; we can feel so limited and insignificant if dwell on our identity as created beings, on our struggles of faith and trust.

         Sometimes, our view of God becomes distorted, even though we think we're backing it up with our experiences and what we read in Scripture. For example, when I was a missionary in Ecuador, so many of the youth I served had a great fear of God, seeing God as a powerful being who would punish them and seek retribution. Yet, when the Hebrew Scriptures talk about fearing God, it's in the sense of having respect and reverence, of being in awe of God. Our experience of God is to lead us to peace, joy, and wonder, rather than feelings of shame and unworthiness.  The cross, Christ's suffering and passion, and our call to obey God: these are essential truths of our faith, but they must be connected to the salvation and redemption we freely receive from God in Christ's resurrection. 

          In order to understand the feelings Isaiah and Peter express in our readings, perhaps it's not really shame they're feeling, but instead an expression of humility in their attempt to determine where they stand in the reality of God.  When we come face-to-face with God's holiness, we're confronted with our human weaknesses and limitations and faced with our “createdness” and “creatureliness,” Perhaps Isaiah and Peter truly understood how they paled compared to the bright light of God. The humility that we feel in God's presence can be a very good thing if it helps us to be more open to God’s love and His presence in our lives. Isaiah’s humility and feelings of awe from his vision of God in heaven allow him to answer God’s call, in saying: “Here I am God, send me!” 

         Peter and the fishermen obeyed Jesus in casting out their nets.  And what about us: Is there deep water out there where we need to cast our nets beyond our expectations, beyond our comfort zone and familiar surroundings? Is God calling us to cast out our nets somewhere in order to bring up the wonders that God has waiting for us?  Are we open to using our imagination and to freeing our minds to truly see the ways God is present in our lives? Perhaps in our humility, we will find the courage to take that chance.

5 February 2019 - Tuesday of the 4th week in Ordinary Time - Hebrews 12:1-4

       I have enjoyed the readings from the Letter to the Hebrews that we have had in our daily masses these past two weeks.  Today, what struck me in the reading, was the mention of the “cloud of witnesses” that surround us on our journey of faith. Yesterday, we had a wonderful ALPHA session on prayer. It mentioned how we Christians usually present our prayers to the Father, through the Son, by the presence of the Holy Spirit with us. There are different styles and manners of prayer in our Catholic faith. Yes, the cloud of witnesses, the community of saints, those who are great examples of faith, are there for us.  They are not observers who stand at the side and watch us.  They are there to help us, to lead us, to guide us, to pray with us.  We pray with the community of saint and through the community of saints.  Through learning about the saints, through uniting our prayers with theirs, they are a integral part of our journey. 

       St Agatha is the saint we celebrate today.  She was martyred as a young lady in the Early Church in the first half of the third century on the island of Sicily, Italy.  The year after died, Mount Etna erupted on Sicily; her intercessions are attributing to the calming of that volcano.  Today, St Agatha is remembered as the patron saint of nurses, miners, those suffering from breast cancer, and Alpine guides.  

As we remember St Agatha and the members of the community of saints, we unite our prayers to theirs and we thank them for their presence in our lives of faith.  

8 February 2019 – Friday of the fourth week in ordinary time – Hebrews 13:1-8

    The writer of the letter to the Hebrews gives us some interesting advice this morning, telling us that we should not neglect hospitality, for through our hospitality we may unknowingly have entertained some angels.  I think of how Mother Teresa of Calcutta always thought about serving Jesus in disguise as she ministered to the poor of India.  Then, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us to be mindful of prisoners as if we were sharing their imprisonment.  Sometimes through the difficulty I have had in getting into the prisons to minister to the prisoners, I feel like I have shared in their imprisonment.  I think of how mean the guards can be to me, a priest, and how I can be mistreated, of how much worse it could be for the prisoners.  Archbishop Sean O’Malley is well-known for his dedication to prison ministry, which he started as a newly ordained priest, just like I did.  He had this to say about his prison ministry: “My presence (with the prisoners) is a signal to them that they are not forgotten, that they are important to the church, that they are a part of our family.”  I could not have said it any better than Archbishop O’Malley.

         The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews is trying to expound on the spirit of the Gospels by giving this advice, of the spirit of welcome and hospitality and solidarity we are called to have.  If we allow the Holy Spirit to live, breathe, and move within us, this spirit of the Gospels will enter us and grow within us.  The writer of Hebrews proclaims that: The Lord is my helper – I shall not be afraid.  May the Lord’s spirit take over our lives; may it lead us and guide us on our journey.