7 November 2019 – Thursday of 31st week in Ordinary Time – Romans 14:7-12

    Today, St Paul makes some bold statements in his letter to the Romans.  Paul writes: “If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord.”  Do we really believe this?  Do we really live out this reality that Paul is talking about? As this Vicar General of the Diocese, every day I hear about the different realities that exist in the different parishes of our Diocese.  Some of our parishes do not have a resident priest, so they have a sacramental minister come for mass.  Many parishes have a hard time finding a priest who will cover for masses when their priest is on vacation, even here in the Jackson metro area.  Last week, for the All Souls Day masses, I not only had my three masses at St Jude, but I also had masses at three other locations where I have ministries.  There realities of trying to live out our Catholic faith are not only difficult and challenging for the laity.  They are difficult and challenging for us priests as well in the midst of our increased duties and the shortage of priests in the Church.  As our world becomes more secular, the freedom to live out our faith and to attend mass might become something that will become more difficult and more of a challenge. So in light of today’s message from St Paul,  what does it mean to live for Christ?  What does it mean to make sacrifices for our faith? Those might be good questions we can ask ourselves. 

Prayers of the Faithful - ALL SAINTS DAY MASS - 1 November 2019

Lord Jesus - you bless the poor in Spirit - Lord have mercy. 

Christ Jesus - you comfort those who mourn and cry out to you - Christ have mercy. 

Lord Jesus - you call us to hunger for justice - Lord have mercy. 

As we unite our prayers with the prayers of the community of saints, we present our prayers to God. 

1. For the Holy Catholic Church, for Francis our pope, Joseph our bishop, and for all of our church leaders, for wisdom and clarity of mission, we pray to the Lord:

2. For the leaders of the world, that they would promote justice, holiness, and life, and work together for the good of all, we pray to the Lord:

3. For our church community, that we would model our lives after the holy men and women of God, becoming more like Christ in all ways, we pray to the Lord:

4. In thanksgiving for the saints of God, for the love and mercy they have shown to the world, we pray to the Lord:

5. For those who are sick or suffering in any way, may they be comforted with the love of Christ. For healing for all of us in mind, body and spirit.  We pray to the Lord:

6. For all those who have died, that the light of Christ would shine upon them, we pray to the Lord:

7. For our own needs and intentions, that we now recall in our hearts [6 second pause], we pray to the Lord:

As we honor the saints today, we make these prayers thru your son Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever.  AMEN.  

St Jude Catholic Church - schedule for All Saints Day Mass - 2019

Vigil mass - Thursday - 5:30 PM

Mass of the Day - 6:30 AM and Noon

Mass at St Joseph High School in Madison - 9:50 AM

Mass at Whitfield State Hospital - 2:00 PM

3 de noviembre de 2019 - XXXI domingo del tiempo ordinario - Lucas 19,1-10

      Probablemente recordamos el cuento del Evangelio de Lucas donde el joven le preguntó a Jesucristo lo que debe hacer para entrar la vida eterna.  Esta joven sabía las leyes y los mandamientos de Dios, pero cuando Jesús le dijo que él debe vender todo lo que tiene y distribuir este dinero a los pobres, este joven salió desanimado, no estaba dispuesto a hacer un compromiso firme para vivir como discípulo de Cristo.  Este joven estaba buscando algo, pero él estaba perdido en su camino de fe al mismo tiempo.  En el Evangelio de hoy, también del Evangelio de San Lucas, hay otro alma perdida - el cuento de Zaqueo.  Pero este cuento tiene una diferencia.

      Jesús se encontró a Zaqueo en la ciudad de Jericó. Jericó era una ciudad muy rica - Zaqueo ganó todo su dinero cobrando los impuestos de los judíos por los romanos.  Zaqueo era muy rico, pero probablemente tenía pocos amigos porque los publicanos extorsionaron multas de los judíos cuando cobraron los impuestos. Los publicanos eran despreciados por su pueblo. Los judíos en Jericó le consideraron a Zaqueo como ladrón y traidor.

      Era la temporada de la Pascua - había miles de judíos que pasaban a través de Jericó en su camino a Jerusalén. Jesús pasaba por la ciudad de Jericó también.  Jesús estaba muy famoso en este momento en Israel - muchos de los judíos que pasaban por la ciudad quería verlo.  Zaqueo estaba muy interesado en este rabino de Nazaret que tenía amistad con los marginados de la sociedad, incluso a los pecadores y publicanos.  De hecho, Zaqueo probablemente sabía que Mateo, que salió su trabajo como publicano, fue elegido para ser miembro del grupo de los apóstoles de Jesucristo.  Zaqueo tenía este anhelo para tener contacto con Jesucristo.  Para escapar de las multitudes y para acercarse a Cristo, Zaqueo subió al árbol, escondido en sus ramas.   Jesús veía a Zaqueo y en su grito comunicaba las ganas de visitarlo en su casa. En el momento en que Jesús llamaba a Zaqueo en el árbol y le presentaba esta invitación, el corazón de Zaqueo llenaba con gozo y alegría y él se convertía como discípulo en un instante. Considerando que antes Zaqueo extorsionaba el dinero de los ciudadanos, ahora se compromete a ayudar a los pobres y devuelve cuatro veces lo que robó.  El encuentro entre Jesús y Zaqueo es un ejemplo de su proclamación en el Evangelio de hoy - “El Hijo del hombre ha venido a buscar y a salvar lo que se había perdido.”

     Zaqueo tenía defectos.  Zaqueo tenía pecados.  Pero Zaqueo era buscador y literalmente subió al árbol para encontrar a Jesucristo.  A veces, estamos perdidos en nuestro camino de fe, pero no no damos cuenta. A veces, buscamos algo en la vida y no sabemos lo que buscamos. No sabemos cuales son preguntas que necesitamos preguntar. No sabemos las respuestas que queremos recibir.  Estamos llamados de tener corazones abiertos al cambio y transformación como Zaqueo.  Y a veces, como él, tenemos que subir al árbol para hacerlo.

23 October 2019 - Unity Day - National Bullying Prevention Month

October is a month when we try to bring awareness to bullying.  If you have ever been the victim of bullying, you know what I mean and I don't have to explain anything.  I went to an inner city high school just outside of Los Angeles.  The bullying and the pain I experienced almost everyday at that terrible place is something I hope I never have to experience again in my lifetime.  At the time, it felt like the pain would never end.  It also felt like there was nowhere to hide from it.  I think a lot of us who go through experiences like that are almost afraid to admit it out of shame and embarrassment.  That is why we all have to work toward ending bullying.  It should never be tolerated.  

3 November 2019 – homily for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C- Luke 19:1-10; Wisdom 11:22-12:2

     Often, what we read Holy Scripture goes against the norms of society and against what we might expect, since the ways of God can be very different from the ways of our world.  Listening to today’s Gospel, we might ask ourselves: Would the people of ancient Israel expect Zacchaeus, a wealthy man with an important job in the Roman government, to run around like a crazy man and to climb up a tree in order to get a better look at Jesus?  Since Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, he was considered to be a sinner and an outcast for the way he betrayed his own people in collecting taxes from them for the enemy government, for the way he interacted on a daily basis with non-Jews.  It would be unexpected for a holy man like Jesus to eat at a tax collector’s house. It would have been a shock to see a man like Zacchaeus repent and give half of his possessions to the poor.  We might ask: How can we explain this unexpected behavior in the encounter between these two men? 

     Something stirred within Zacchaeus as he saw Jesus passing through town. Zacchaeus was called to go outside the norms and social structures of his day in order to get a better view of Jesus.  What was it that touched his heart, that struck his imagination?   

      God can touch our hearts in many ways through his presence in our world.  I don’t know if you’ve ever looked up in the night sky and marveled at the majesty of the stars and the universe.  As a Peace Corps volunteer on a small island off the coast of Guinea, West Africa, I was far away from the bright lights of a big city.  I looked up into the African sky for the first time, marveling at the thousands of stars scattered in the sky, at the immensity of the universe, at its reflection of God’s marvelous creation. Although the universe seems immense to us from our human point of view, according to the book of Wisdom, the universe from God’s perspective is like a grain of sand taken from the balance of a scale, like a drop of morning dew on a blade of grass.  The immensity of the universe pales in comparison to God’s majesty. Since every human being is such a small speck on the earth and an even smaller speck in the universe, we might not be able to imagine that God would love us or care about us or try to get to know us. Yet, the book of Wisdom tells us that God loves all of creation because he fashioned it and willed it.  God loves us because his imperishable spirit dwells within us. Zacchaeus was a small man, a small speck in the immense universe.  Perhaps the spirit of God dwelling within him called him forth to climb up that tree to see Jesus for himself. Jesus saw Zacchaeus from a distance, calling him by name, calling him to repentance and conversion. 

     In the beginning of his great work, The Confessions, St. Augustine states -  “Great are you, O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; your power is immense, and your wisdom beyond reckoning. We who are a part of your creation, long to praise you…You arouse us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and have drawn us to yourself. Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

     Zacchaeus reached out to Jesus by climbing up that tree. Jesus reached back to him. Although Zacchaeus lived a restless and sinful life, the kind of life that Augustine describes, God didn’t withhold his grace from him. Jesus called him, waiting patiently for him to get down from the tree. Many of us in our modern society have restless hearts, but so many in our society turn to things other than to God to satisfy these longings: alcohol, drugs, work, worldly pleasures, even things like the internet and video games. Still, there’s an empty feeling in our hearts that the things of the world cannot fill.  Our hearts are only fulfilled in our relationship with God. 

     God meets us in our reality, he enters into our lives just as he entered the life of Zacchaeus. Where is God calling us today in the midst of our reality?  Are there any trees we need to climb in order to seek out God?  May the restlessness of our hearts keep tugging at us until we find what we’re really looking for, until we find that place where God is calling us.

30 October 2019 - Wednesday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time - Luke 13:22-30

How many will be saved?  We hear this question being asked of Jesus as his ministry expands, as more and more people hear his proclamation of God’s kingdom.  At our ALPHA program a week ago, we spoke about the ways that God leads us and guides us in life.  Most of the time, it is not easy discerning God’s will for us.  Jesus is not hear to answer our questions in his flesh and blood like he did in answer to the questions of the people of Ancient Israel who heard his proclamation of the kingdom.  I spent more than a month in the Ignition exercises in Spain, listening to God speak to me through a disciplined method of prayer and silence.  At first it was difficult and challenging praying in such an intense disciplined way.   But, as the day went by, I appreciated the time experiencing God in that way in my life, praying and reflecting on the Sacred Scripture passages that I was reading.  But prayer is more than a technique.  There is no magic formula as to how to pray to God.   Prayer is a relationship.  Prayer is experiencing God as a reality in our lives.  God may not be with us in flesh and blood in the form of the historical Jesus who lived in Ancient Israel.  But God is indeed present to us in so many ways and he communicates with us in our prayers. 

Cotton Fields - the town of Egypt Mississippi - Holmes County

I had a meeting in the city of Greenwood in the Mississippi Delta today.  I passed through Holmes county and took these photos of the cotton fields.  Having lived in Greenville and Yazoo City in the Mississippi Delta, cotton fields are a symbol of my adopted state of Mississippi.  Although I was born in Illinois and grew up there and in California, I have lived in Mississippi longer than any other place.  It is home.  

29 October 2019 - Tuesday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time - Luke 13:18-21

A Clean and Unpharisaical Heart

Happy the enamored heart,

Thought centered on God alone,

Renouncing every creature for Him,

Finding in Him glory and contentment.

Living forgetful of self,

In God is all its intention,

Happy and so joyfully its journeys

Through waves of this stormy sea.

These words were written by St Teresa of Avila, a 16th century Carmelite nun and mystic from Spain.  Our hearts can only be full of joy in the midst of our struggles and challenges with the aid and acknowledgment of God’s grace in our lives.  When I visit a parishioner in the hospital who sick with long-term heath problems; when I walk through downtown Jackson on my way to the chancery office and see the homeless men and women lined up, waiting for to eat breakfast, carrying their possessions in plastic bags or old backpacks; when I go to the state prison in Pearl, celebrating mass with them in the midst of their journey of fulfilling their prison sentence - I think of all the heavy burdens we human beings can carry in our hearts.  Sometimes the problems and issues we face in our daily lives can seem overwhelming.  But with God’s grace, with a faith that can be as small as a mustard seed, we can meet our challenges and struggles with a joyful heart, with a heart open to God’s love and mercy.  

Bulletin Reflection - St Jude Catholic Church - 27 October 2019

     As I write this bulletin reflection for this weekend, as I have just come back from a meeting in Greenwood with those priests working in that area with the Redemptorist priests in Hispanic ministry, I think about all I have been involved with as a priest these past couple of weeks.  I have had masses not only in our parish of St Jude in both Spanish and English, but also masses at Millsaps College, at St Joseph High School, at Whitfield state hospital, and at the state prison here in Pearl.  I have planned weddings and have had baptisms, but I have also had funerals, not only for the Catholic faithful, but also have gone to Greenville for funeral for a retired priest of our Diocese as well.  I have also gone to meetings about many different things in my role as a vicar general in our Diocese, and have looked into things that affect our own parish, such as repairing the stained glass windows in our church and figuring out how we can make more space for all of our classes and meetings.  Yes, our lives are busy and full of some many different things.  We all have joyful occasions, but we also have times that are sad, painful, and stressful.  In the busy reality of our lives, we can reflect upon our Gospel message for this Sunday.  We can approach the busy reality of our lives and our faith like the Pharisee in a selfish and self-centered way, wanting to lift ourselves up to God in a prideful and self-righteous way that can not get beyond our ego and our own needs.  Or we can be like the tax collector who comes to God in his humility, aware of his faults and his sinfulness, but also aware of the hope that he is offered in God’s love and mercy.  The Pharisee has a lot of good things going on in his life, but because he is so centered on himself, he does not open himself to all the ways that God’s love and mercy can change him and transform him. 

      This weekend we close out the Month of Respect Life and the Extraordinary Missionary Month.  But, the call to respect life and to be missionary spirit remains there for us throughout the year.  Let us ask God for a humble spirit that is open to all the possibilities he offers us in our faith.  Let us give thanks to God for the opportunity we have to journey with him as his disciples.  

27 de octubre de 2019 – trigésimo domingo del tiempo ordinario – Eclesiástico 35:15-17, 20-22 , Salmo 34,2-3, 17-18, 19, 23; Lucas 18,9-14

    Cuando trabajaba como misionero en Canadá, trabaja en un comedor en la cuidad de Winnipeg.  En este comedor, la gente de calle podía comer gratis. Mi primera vez allí cuando empecé mi trabajo, estaba durante la celebración de Navidad.  El comedor estaba lleno de gente.  El himno preferible para ellos era “Amazing Grace” – “Sublime Gracia.”  Este grupo de prostitutas, personas de la calle, y drogadictos cantó – “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”  En español -  “Sublime Gracia del Señor, un sonido muy dulce, que a un infeliz como yo salvó, Fui perdido, pero ahora me halló. Era ciego, pero ahora puedo ver.” Los miembros de este grupo era las personas mas humilde en la sociedad. Ellos estaban a los margines a la sociedad.  Ellos vinieron a Dios en su pobreza y en su humildad, en las circunstancias duras de su vida.  Me quedo atónito como ellos alababan a Dios con mucho gozo en la mitad de su miseria y sus sufrimientos y sus desafíos. 

     El salmista dice hoy en el salmo 34 – “Si el afligido invoca al Señor, él lo escucha.”  Pero, ¿que significa esta frase?  Si Dios nos escucha, en verdad, ¿él va a eliminar nuestros problemas?  Tal vez, tememos la respuesta de esta pregunta en la primera lectura del libro de la sabiduría de Sirácide.  El hombre Sirácide, un maestra de la filosofía y de la palabra de Dios, vivía en Egipto dos siglos antes del nacimiento de Cristo. Sus alumnos eran de la familias ricas, pero Sirácide explicaba a estos chicos que Dios no escuchaba sus oraciones automáticamente porque eran privilegiados.  Según Sirácide, Dios escucha específicamente a los pobres porque Dios tiene una ternura especial para ellos en su humildad y en sus sufrimientos.

    Tenemos la llamada de venir a Dios en nuestra pobreza del espíritu.  Es decir que no debemos tener un sentido de soberbia como el fariseo en el Evangelio.  Si tenemos el foco siempre en nosotros mismos, en nuestro egoísmo, en nuestro sentido de derecho, no podremos mirar las maneras que Dios trabaja en nuestra vida.  No podremos abrir el corazón a su gracia.  Cuando venimos a Dios en nuestras oraciones con humildad, podemos darnos cuenta que todo empieza con él, podemos darnos cuenta que nuestra bondad viene de El, la fuente de la bondad en la creación.  En nuestra humildad, podemos darnos cuenta que sin la gracia de Dios y sin el Espíritu Santo, no podemos hacer nada en nuestro camino de fe.  

     Podemos reflexionar sobre el grito de los pobres que debemos escuchar en la humildad de nuestra fe como discípulos de Cristo.  Podemos reflexionar sobre el mes de octubre – el mes del respeto de la vida, el mes de las misiones y el espíritu misionero de la Iglesia, el mes del rosario.  Podemos recordar la humildad del publicano en el Evangelio de hoy, con la humildad que él puso en las manos de Dios, con su rendición a la voluntad de Dios. Podemos orar esta tarde que nosotros podemos buscar la voluntad de Dios como lo hizo el publicano.  Y que podamos pasar estas bendiciones a nuestro prójimo en un espíritu de humildad y de ternura. 

23 October 2019 - Wednesday of 29th week of Ordinary Time - Psalm 124

    “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”  Tradition has passed down that this wonderful psalm was sung by pilgrim worshipers to sing as they traveled to the city of Jerusalem to worship at the temple during the major Jewish feasts.  This psalm recognizes how God has delivered them from disaster, from the hands of their enemies, from their struggles and their strife.  The psalmist declares that things would have been so much worse if God had not been with them. 

     As we declare our help comes from the Lord, I wanted to mention a Saint we celebrated yesterday, Mary of Salome, since she shares that day with John Paul II, and is definitely overshadowed by him. Tradition has it that Mary Salome was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the apostles John and James the Greater, the Sons of Thunder, two of Jesus’ close friends and two of the 12 apostles.  Mary of Salome, their mother, is referred to as one of the "three Marys,” who, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene,  followed Jesus and helped to minister to him and his disciples. Some Bible scholars speculate that Mary of Salome provided financial assistance to Jesus and his companions. Mary of Salome was a witness to Christ’s crucifixion and entombment and one of the women who anointed Christ’s body.  Legend passes down that after Pentecost, Mary of Salome traveled to Veroli in central Italy where she preached the Gospel for the rest of her life. 

As we hear in the psalm trust in the help God gives us, we can just imagine the great faith that sustained Mary of Salome, as she watched her son leave everything they had to follow Jesus.  This must have been frightening for her.  May also of us follow her example as a person of faith and love.  

1 November 2019 - homily for ALL SAINTS DAY - Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14

I was recently reading a newspaper article from USTODAY about the power of prayers.  The article interviewed a hospital chaplain in Louisville, Kentucky who stated: "I love praying for people because I believe that prayer works…. Any time I can spend praying or talking or just comforting, that's a wonderful thing.”  Yes, prayer remains an important message of comfort and encouragement, especially when we are going through a painful or challenging time in our lives.  We in our Catholic faith not only see prayer as a means of communicating and maintaining a relationship with God, but we also see prayer as a way of communicating with the community of Saints.  As I was writing this homily in the rectory, I walked over to my foyer and saw all the images of the saints that I have there: statues or icons or images of our Blessed Mother Mary, St Damien of Molokai, St Francis of Assisi, St Joseph, St Michael and St Gabriel the Archangels, and St James the Apostle.  A lot of us in the Catholic faith see our relationship with the saints as something as real and tangible.  The saints have a real presence in our lives; it is not just something we imagine.  

         Think about when we are searching for a job, when we are taking a test, when we have a crisis or an illness going on in our lives in the life of a family members, when are feeling unfulfilled or lost or confused on our journey through life.  In those situations and in many other situations in our lives, we ask others for prayers and best wishes, not only from family and friends, but sometimes from people we barely know.  Why is that?  Perhaps we feel solidarity in the presence of others in our lives, even in the presence of their prayers. In the prayers of others, in the prayers of the saints that accompany us on our journey as we unite our prayers to theirs, we realize that we are not alone on our journey, that we are a part of something bigger than us, something eternal that is beyond our life here on earth.  We journey with the community of saints, with our brothers and sisters in the faith.  As our reading from the first letter of St John tells us, we are all children of God, we are all part of one family.  As we celebrate All Saints day, we recognize those members of God’s family we have entered eternal life with him, who are a part of the community of saints in heaven.  We recognize not just those saint who have been officially canonized as saints by the Church, but also all the faithful departed who are in union with God in eternal life.  May we be consoled and encouraged by the vision of the multitude that St John has in the book of Revelation.  As our prayers unite with the prayers of the community of saints today, may we feel their presence with us.  

Prayers for the Mass - Memorial of St John Paul II - October 22

COLLECT

O God, who are rich in mercy

and who willed that the blessed John Paul the Second

should preside as Pope over your universal Church,

grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching,

we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ,

the sole Redeemer of mankind.

Who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. AMEN. 

PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS

Accept this sacrifice from your people, we pray, O Lord, 

and make what is offered for your glory, 

in honor of blessed John Paul the 2nd, 

a means to our eternal salvation.  Through Christ our Lord.  AMEN.  

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION 

May the Sacrament we have received, O Lord our God, 

stir up in us that fire of charity

with which blessed John Paul the 2nd burned ardently

as he gave himself unceasingly for your Church.  

Thru Christ our Lord.  AMEN.  

Prayers of the faithful - feast of John Paul II - October 22

As we celebrate John Paul the 2nd today on his feast day, we unite our prayers together to our loving God. 

For all Church leaders, especially our Pope Francis and Bishop Joseph Kopacz, may they lead the Church in unity and courage in the spirit of Pope John Paul the 2nd. 

For all of our governmental leaders, for our upcoming elections in Mississippi this November, may the Lord lead us and guide us in choosing our elected officials

For all missionaries, for a missionary spirit in all of us, for great understanding and dialogue amongst the religions of the world. 

For our children, our youth and our families, for a strengthening of our faith and the way we reach out to others in our faith.  

For those who are struggling through life, for those who have recently been affected by brush fires and tornados, for healing and help for those who need it. 

For the spirit of Respect life month to last throughout the year, that our society may have a greater respect for life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.  

For the sick and shut-in and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. 

Heavenly Father, as we unite our prayers with the prayers of Pope John Paul the 2nd, we present these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever.  AMEN.  

22 October 2019 - Tuesday of the 29th week in Ordinary Time- John Paul II - Psalm 40

        Today we celebrate the feast day of Pope John Paul II, who is now a saint.  Since he served as Pope from 1978 to 2005, quite a long period of time and very recently, I think many of us have many memories of him as pope.  One thing that always impressed me was how he traveled to so many countries and had such an influence on world events, coming from Poland and having fought so hard for the end of communism in his country and throughout the world.  I also think of how Pope John Paul II reached out to the youth in a special way, especially in the World Youth Day Catholic gatherings that he would have throughout the world.  His devotion to St Therese of Lisieux and to the Divine Mercy of Jesus, with the establishment of Divine Mercy Sunday right after Easter, are also things for which he will be remembered.  I can also remember how he survived a assassination attempt in 1981, how he offered mercy and forgiveness to the man who attacked him.  Yes, in many ways, John Paul II was a Church leader and witness to the faith who very much shaped our modern Catholic Church. 

The psalmist declares today: Here I am Lord - I come to do your will.  The so much describes John Paul II and his spirituality, trying to listen and follow God’s will in his life, trying to lead the faithful according to God’s will as the world becomes more and more secular and materialistic.  We celebrate John Paul II today.  May his spirit of evangelization and his missionary spirit continue to inspire us.  

27 October 2019 - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C - Luke 18:9-14

    When I was working as as a lay missionary in Ecuador, prior to coming to Mississippi, I hosted a group of high school students from Cincinnati, Ohio for a two week long mission experience.  In this jungle province of Ecuador, there were more than 100 missionaries doing all kinds of work. We were working not just in ministry in parishes, but also running schools, health clinics, orphanages, and community outreach projects.  I had arranged for a canoe to bring the youth and their leaders to a village where I did a lot of work as a missionary.  The canoe ride was about 4 hours away from the mission site where I lived.  As the canoe was speeding down the huge river with the immense rain forest jungle all around us, one of the students in the canoe turned to me and said: “I feel like we’ve been transported to the pages in National Geographic Magazine.”  A lot of people see this mission field in that way: as an exotic location thousands of miles away from us in the United States. However, in recent years, our Church has been trying to educate the faithful with the reality that whole world is a mission field, that all of us are called to be missionary in spirit as disciples of Christ.  

     We have been celebrating Extraordinary Missionary Month all during October. Since 1926, our Church has celebrated the world missions during the month of October as first declared by Pope Pius XI and the Pontifical Society for the Propagation for the Faith.  How the mission world has changed since that year.  Back in 1926, many of the priests in our diocese in Mississippi, which at the time was the named the Diocese of Natchez, came from Ireland.  Now, with no more priests coming from Ireland, we have priests in our Diocese from India, Vietnam, Nigeria, Colombia, and Mexico, places that used to be thought of as the mission field.  We are working hard to cultivate home-grown priests from the parishes within Mississippi to provide the priests we need. 

     Humility is the common theme in our readings today.  And humility plays an important role in how we pray to God, in how we live out our life of discipleship, in how we bring the message of Jesus Christ to the world as missionaries of his Good News.  We hear of a Pharisee who is praying to God in today’s parable.  In actuality, what the self-righteous Pharisee said is not really a prayer to God, but rather a means to brag about himself. In fact, he really says this prayer to himself.  The Pharisee looks down at others, labeling them “sinners”.  The Pharisee actually does a lot of good things in his life, but he is arrogant and proud.  God calls us to humility and compassion toward our brothers and sisters, very different from the attitude this Pharisee embraces. 

     The tax collector’s prayer is very different from the prayer of the Pharisee.  The tax collector stands at the back of the Temple, rather than assuming a position of honor up in front.  The tax collector is so humble that he won’t even lift up his eyes to God.  He confesses his sins and asks for forgiveness, praying out of the deep recesses of his heart.  The tax collector has done many bad things in his life, but he possesses the virtue of humility, which leads him to repent and to ask forgiveness from God, the merciful Father.  The Pharisee prays without recognizing his need for God’s forgiveness, but the tax collector prays knows that he needs forgiveness, and so he receives that forgiveness from God.   

       How do we approach prayer in our lives? Out of our pride, power, and self-righteousness?  Or out of our humility and obedience?  According to the 19th century existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, “Prayer does not change God, but (prayer) changes him who prays.”  In addition, according to scripture scholar Raymond Brown from University of Notre Dame, “If no change occurs (in a person) as a result of prayer, then one has not really prayed.” Out of our humility and repentance, like that shown by the tax collector in today’s Gospel, our prayer life can open us to transformation and change.  The tax collector surrenders himself to God’s grace in his humility and openness. But, the Pharisee thinks he had all the answers; God’s grace has no room in his life.  The spirit of today’s Gospel, of humility, repentance, and faith, can be found in the prayers in the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy: “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.  For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world.”

     We here in the Diocese of Jackson are a missionary diocese. We reflect the missionary nature of our universal Church, our desire to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus throughout the world, and to share our Catholic faith with others.  Two weeks ago, we had a continuing education workshop in our Diocese on spiritual direction.  Priests, sisters, and lay people, all working as pastors or lay ecclesial ministers or pastoral associates in our Diocese came together.  Some came from the Jackson area, while drove almost 5 hours.  Many came from the rural communities where most of our parishes are located.   In our Diocese, many of us in pastoral ministry try our best to work together, to help each other out.  It is not always easy. It is sometimes frustrating and exhausting.  But our collaboration in the missionary spirit of our Church is what we are called to as brothers and sisters in Christ.  As we celebrate the universal call we have to be missionary, we acknowledge how that call begins on the parish level.  We want all of you to be a part of our mission here at St Jude.  As we reach out to our fellow parishioners, our children, and our youth, as we reach out to the community and beyond, all of us can be a part of this missionary mandate.  That is one of goals here at St Jude - to fulfill this call to be a missionaries in the world. 

25 October 2019 – Friday of 29th week – Luke 12:54-59

      I remember visiting a patient in hospice in Tupelo.  He had been a Methodist minister in the Jackson area but had converted to Catholicism.  We were talking about the need for us pastors to speak about the topics of the day and what was going on in the reality of the world.  It was around the time of the Supreme court decision that recognized marriage between two men and two women.  The patient’s wife, who still attended a Methodist church, told me that her pastor would never preach on Church’s stance on topics such as gay marriage or birth control, since those topics were too controversial.  Along that same theme, Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth once famously stated that preachers of God's word should  preach with the Bible in one hand & the newspaper in the other.  Barth understood the relationship between the word of God and the word of the day, that they are intrinsically bound together in such a way that one should always interpret the other.  Today's Gospel from Luke addresses how some in Jesus' day could interpret the weather from the clouds and the appearance of the earth, but they weren’t able to discern the signs of God’s kingdom that Jesus proclaimed to them.  Jesus message is still applicable to us today.  We’re so technologically advanced, yet we often miss the message that God is trying to convey to us.  “The signs of the times” was an important theme of the Second Vatican Council, as it called us to interpret God's Word through the signs of our modern era, yet to also be true to the original message of Jesus and the message preached by the early Church fathers.  We have a lot of issues we are facing as a society, which are all the more difficult due to the fractured and volatile political climate we live in. It is important to take these matters to prayer, to see through the lens of our faith, and to reflect upon our Catholic teachings.  May we pray to the Lord today that we are able to authentically interpret his word through the signs of our times, while still being true to the truth and wisdom that speak to us through God's holy word across time and history.  

24 October 2019 – Thursday of 29th week in Ordinary Time – Psalm 1:1-5

   “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord” We hear this refrain in our psalm today.  Some translations use the word “happy” instead of “blessed,” which makes sense in a way, because we indeed should feel happiness in our souls if we are in a state of blessings from the Lord. The message in the psalm today is to bring us a message of hope as well, as we as disciples of Christ and are thus to place our hope in our faith, in the salvation we have in Christ.  
       Yet, our readings today also hold us accountable and responsible as disciples of Christ as well.  Paul tells in the 6th chapter in his letter to the Romans that before they were slaves to impurity and lawlessness, but now they are called to live in righteousness as disciples of Christ.  Sometimes in what we are going through in our daily lives, it came be difficult to have hope. Yet, our readings challenge us today in our faith. Probably many of us have gone through different times in our lives.  Perhaps we have gotten through those difficult times only by the hope we have put in Christ.  May we never forget that sense of hope. 

20 de octubre de 2019 - homilia del Vigésimo noveno domingo del tiempo ordinario – Lucas 18,1-8, Éxodo 17,8-13

      La persistencia es un tema importante en las lecturas de hoy.  Podemos pensar en la importancia de persistencia en nuestra vida, cuando estudiamos, cuando trabajamos, cuando vivimos en familia, cuando tenemos una perspectiva diferente de los de mas.  Es interesante que la persona que tiene persistencia en el Evangelio de hoy es una viuda.  En el mundo de Israel antiguo, las viudas, los huérfanos, y los extranjeros tenían el puesto mas vulnerable y mas bajo en la sociedad. Los profetas siempre decían que estas personas necesitaban nuestra ayuda y nuestra compasión. Pero, la viuda en el Evangelio no es pasiva – ella es franca y afirmativa para tener un juez.  Ella no aceptará una respuesta negativa. Quería una respuesta positiva de este juez corrupto. El juez admite que no respeta ni Dios ni los seres humanos.  El juez dio una respuesta positiva a la viuda, no por su compasión, pero por la parte de la persistencia de la viuda.

      Jesús nos explica que necesitamos persistencia en nuestras oraciones y en nuestra relación con Dios, como esta viuda la tenía. Dios quiere que oramos sin cesar, sin desanimarnos, y para tener confianza que la voluntad de Dios puede prevalecer.  Pero, en nuestra realidad diaria, a veces es difícil para tener persistencia cuando tenemos días oscuros.  Tenemos como ejemplo la Madre Teresa de Calcuta en India.  Muchas personas en el mundo tienen mucha admiración para su compasión y su testigo de fe, para su trabajo con los pobres.  Es muy famoso que la Madre Teresa tenía una lucha con la oscuridad en su vida de fe, con el abandona que se sentía en su relación con Dios.  Pero, siempre estaba fiel en el camino de fe, en la búsqueda de Dios, in el ministerio a los pobres y en la predicación de Buena Nueva de Cristo al mundo.  En los momentos de oscuridad y de abandono, la Madre Teresa podía identificar con los sufrimientos de Cristo y con su camino a la cruz, y podía identificar con la oscuridad de los pobres en sus momentos mas difíciles. Ella tenía mucha comprensión de la realidad de su viaje de fe, y quería ser una inspiración por sus hermanos.  Ella escribió en el año 1959: “Si yo me hago santa, quiero ser una santa en la oscuridad, para encender la luz en las personas caminando en la oscuridad del mundo.

     En la primera lectura, Moisés tenía la ayuda de Aarón y Jur para soportar sus brazos extendidos para ganar la batalla.  Nosotros, también, necesitamos el apoyo de nuestros hermanos, pero a veces, no los tenemos. Tenemos la llamada de tener perseverancia en nuestra vida de fe, con la confianza que el amor de Dios siempre está con nosotros, no importa si nos sentimos otra consuelo o otras garantías en nuestra vida.  Debemos orar sin cesar, pero mas de eso – nuestra vida y nuestro ser deben convertirse en una oración. Tenemos la llamada de confiar completamente en nuestro Dios, para siempre tener animo en nuestra fe.

20 October 2019 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 18:1-8

     We are called to perseverance and persistence in our prayer life, in our faith, in our life of disciples.  We’re called each day to perseverance and persistence.  So what is the context of the Gospel story we hear today, of this brave widow who never gives up on her fight for justice against an unjust judge.  In Jesus’ day, judges traveled from town to town, holding court in tents. The judges set their own agenda, so that the only way someone could have his case heard at court was to bribe one of the assistants to have it brought to the attention of a judge. This widow had much to overcome - being poor, being a woman without a husband - she did not have very high social standing in Ancient Israel. It would have been so easy for her to become disheartened and to give up, but she persevered and persisted until she achieved justice.  On our journey, we are faced with the same dilemma: How do we keep praying and keep the faith and not lose heart?

      Jesus asks us in the parable today: “Will not God secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?”  When most Christians hear these words, they might immediately think of their own needs and wants, of the de­sire to have their prayers answered.  But sometimes our prayer life can be self-centered, not going beyond our own needs, wants, desires and outlook on life.  As we reflect upon today’s Gospel, the first step is to move the focus out from our selfishness and self-centeredness to the prayers and needs of others.  When hearing this Gospel, instead of asking ourselves, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?”, we should ask: “Whose lives cry out for God’s justice?  Whose lives cry out for our prayers? Whose lives does God want me to reach out to touch, to help God answer their prayers?”  So, we might ask ourselves: Are we praying for families in a society where the family seems to be devalued?  Are we praying for our youth and young adults who have so many temptations in our society, who are lured away from the faith by the values of the world? Do we pray for those on the periphery and the margins of society, for those who are searching for something in life, for those who feel like they don’t belong?  The prophets of Ancient Israel spoke about compassion for the outcasts in their society - the anawim - the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner.  And Jesus himself reached out in his ministry to the poor and the oppressed, to the sinner and the forgotten.  

     At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus asks:  “When the Son of Man comes (again), will he find faith on earth?” If we look at our own prayer life, if we look at our own faith journey, how would we answer that question?  In our prayer life and in our actions, we must be conveyers of God’s love and mercy to those who cry out for justice like the widow in the parable.  We must be willing to collaborate with Christ in the work of faith, to do the work of Christ’s ministry here on earth.  Collaborating in that way is a long, constant, life-long task.  

     Perseverance and persistence in our prayer life is essential.  But are the words in our prayer life corresponding to our actions and the way we live?   Last week, I spoke about Respect Life Month that we celebrate during the month of October.  Our prayers are important for Respect Life Month. There are certain aspects of our respect for life in our Catholic faith that we hear a lot about - an end to abortion and capital punishment, an end to violence and terrorism, the care for the sick and the dying, care for our earth and our environment. There are other respect life issues that perhaps don’t get as much attention - the importance of hospice care at the end of life, mental health issues, ways to overcome addictions, and the tragedy of suicide in our modern society.  In addition to our prayers, ongoing education, advocacy, and policy within are Catholic community are important part of our respect for human life.  God will indeed help us be persistent and to persevere in our prayer life and also on our journey of faith.  

Bulletin Reflection - 20 October 2019 - St Jude Catholic Church - Pearl Mississippi

Since this is World Mission Sunday, I thought I would share some quotes from the saints from around the world that I have quoted in homilies recently.  

Meister Eckhart (Dominican priest from Germany - 1260-1328) - “If the only prayer you say in your entire lives is thank you, that is enough.” 

Teresa of Avila (Carmelite nun and mystic from Spain - 1515-1582) - Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you. All things are passing; God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who possesses God lacks nothing: God alone suffices.

Ignatius of Antioch (Bishop in Syria - 35-108) - “It is not that I want merely to be called a Christian, but to actually be one. Yes, if I prove to be one, then I can have the name.”

Damien of Molokai (Belgian missionary priest in Hawaii - 1840-1889) - “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all for Christ.”

St Augustine (Bishop of Hippo in Africa and theologian - 354-430) - “Great are you, O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; your power is immense, and your wisdom beyond reckoning. We who are a part of your creation, long to praise you…You arouse us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and have drawn us to yourself. Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”