Blessing of the Graves - All Souls Day - 2020

Let us pray:

God of Abraham and God of Moses,

Lord of the living, who visited Jesus within his grave

And filled him with the fullness of eternal life,

Hear our prayers this day as we come to our cemetery at St Michael Catholic Church in Paulding, this holy place of burial.

With reverence, we visit here where the sacred bodies of our loved ones have been placed in the womb of the earth to await the final day of glory.

We pause in silence to be united with our loved ones. (Pause)

Lord, we have come on this pilgrimage of prayer in order to keep the flame of love alive in our hearts.

As we bless these graves with our prayers and with holy water, we give thanks that the names of these loved ones buried here have been written for all ages in the palm of your hand.

May the breath of creation that surrounds these holy graves – the trees, the grass, the birds, the wind, and the sun – join us today in prayer.

May this pilgrimage we make today remind us of what our faith teaches us – that our souls do not die, but rather are transformed into new life through Christ.

Holy are these resting places.  Holy is this earth that has held in gentle embrace the bodies of all who are buried in this cemetery.

Lord, with reverence, we leave our prayers and our love at these graves, and we remember in faith the reality of that earthen Easter morning when all the holy dead shall rise in the splendor of your glory.

Until that day, eternal rest be unto those whose graves we visit today, and to all the holy dead.

We place this prayer before you through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

  

Prayers of the Faithful - 29 October 2020 - 30th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you are our hope. 

Christ Jesus - you are our strength. 

Lord Jesus - you are our Savior. 

We present our prayers to our heavenly Father. 

1. We pray for a deeper commitment to the stewardship of our planet. May we find ways to secure the Earth and her resources for our children and future generations.

2. For all in special need. For those who suffer from anxiety or worry. For those who struggle through illness, death or grief. 

3. For the grace of true conversion, that we in the Church may address the needs of our world, not only with words, but with determination and action.

4. May we turn away from self-righteous attitudes. We pray, Lord, that you free us from the need to control, from pride and selfishness. May we learn to serve others with love, patience and humility.

5. For those who have turned away from virtue, touch and heal their spirits.
Draw them toward fuller life and a deeper recognition of how they hurt themselves and others.

6. For those prayers we hold in our hearts today.  

Heavenly Father, we present our prayers this evening through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.   

29 October 2020 - Thursday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time - Luke 13:31-35

     The Pharisees always think that they have the answers, don’t they. They are always are criticizing Jesus.  They are always trying to bring him down.  They try to entrap him and ensnare him, focusing so much on that that they are not open to the wisdom and goodness that he is trying to bring to them as a part of the proclamation of the kingdom. As Jesus says, they reject the prophets that God sends to them.  They are unwilling to see the signs that God sends them. Pope Francis, in an interview with America Magazine shortly after he became pope, had this to say about the openness we need to have for God in our lives:  “If one has the answers to all the questions - that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties; we must be humble.”  As we search for God in our lives, are we concentrating so much on the answers we think we have, that we aren’t open to hear God’s voice as it comes to us in unexpected ways?  We need to be open to mystery, ambiguity, and uncertainty.  We to be open to truly listening not only to God, but to our brothers and sisters, to their lives and their journeys.  No, we don’t always all the answers.  But that’s ok. 

Reflection for All Saints Day and All Souls Day - Parish Bulletin - 1 November 2020

     I love the celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day that begins the month of November. It was known in Old English as All Hallows’ Day, which is how we got the term Halloween for the secular celebration the night before (All Hallows’ Eve).  In the Early Church, martyrs were honored for the way they had given up their lives for the faith, which was a common occurrence in the first centuries after Christ's death on the cross.  That definition of saints was expanded to those holy men and women who had led exemplary lives of faith.  All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation in our faith.  It takes the place of the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time since it falls on a Sunday this year. 

      Remembering the martyrs of the Church on a specific day started in the 4th century.  In the early 7th century, Pope Boniface IV declared a Feast of All Holy Martyrs in the month of May.   Pope Gregory IX extended the scope of this feast day to include all saints in the early 9th century, moving this feast day to November 

       All Souls Day on November 2 give us the opportunity to commemorate the faithful departed.  We specifically pray for the souls in purgatory on that day who are in the process of purification for their sins, preparing for eternal unification with God in eternal life.

       There has long been a tradition in our faith to pray for the dead. Since the 7th century, a prayer for the Office of the Dead was read in church on All Souls’ Day.  This year at St Jude, we will hold a Mass of Remembrance on All Souls Day that will be streamed over the internet on our Facebook page.  Saturday, October 31, I will be going to St Michael Catholic Church in Paulding to bless the graves in the cemetery there on the parish grounds.  In many European and Latin American countries, visits to the cemetery in honor of All Souls Day and a cleaning of the graves is a long-honored tradition. In Mexico, in this same spirit, they commemorate the Day of the Dead.  A day to offer prayers for the dead was popularized by the influential monastery in Cluny, France in the medieval period.  

       I send up my prayers for all of you today as we celebrate these wonderful feast days in the Church.

Prayers of the faithful - feast of St Simon and St Jude - 28 October 2020

 Lord Jesus - you call all of us a life of discipleship. 

Christ Jesus - you call us to be missionary in spirit. 

Lord Jesus - you are seated at the right have of the Father. 

As we celebrate St Simon and St Jude today, we present our prayers to you: 

1. For church leaders and world leaders. May they promote justice, compassion, mercy and forgiveness in the world.

2. For all who have suffered rejection or violence. For those who have been hurt in any way by this pandemic  and all who are depressed, suicidal or addicted.  We ask that our wounds be healed and that you give us hope and courage.

3. For a deeper spirit of gratitude for God’s many gifts. May we recognize in each other all that is truthful, just, honorable, pure, and gracious. 

4. In the tradition of our patron saint, St Jude, we ask for his prayers and intercessions for those seemingly impossible and lost causes that exist in our lives. 

5. We pray for a greater respect for human life from the womb to the tomb. For an end to abortion, the death penalty and all types of hatred and systemic prejudice. May we learn how to care more deeply for all human life, hear the cries of the poor, the homeless and the starving.  

6. For the sick and shut-ins, the repose of the souls of the faithful departed, and for those prayers we hold in our hearts today.  

We united our prayers with the prayers of St Simon and St Jude today.  We present these prayers through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.  

Our upcoming national election: a reflection from a Catholic priest

Our national election is coming up next Tuesday.  I am sure a lot of you have voted already in the early voting here in Mississippi. I would be remiss if I did not address the election in terms of our responsibility as Catholics. I want to start with a quote from a document promulgated by the Second Vatican Council in 1965: Guadium et Spes, which is the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: “Catholics are called to participate in promoting the common good and, as far as possible, to take an active part in public life. Indeed, “by fulfilling their civic duties, guided by a Christian conscience, in conformity with its values, the lay faithful exercise their proper task of infusing the temporal order with Christian values.” (paragraph #36). 

The Diocese of Jackson and I as a Catholic priest are not called to enter into supporting nor condemning any particular party or candidate.  Instead, it is our role to provide information to the faithful about Church teachings related to the issues to allow the faithful to make their own determination through thoughtful reflections around those teachings in making and informed decision in the way they vote.

“The consequence of this fundamental teaching of the Second Vatican Council is that the lay faithful are never to relinquish their participation in public life.” (Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life, #1).  To fulfill this calling to participate in the public life in the community in which they live, Catholics have the responsibility to be informed, active, and responsible participants in the political process. They must be knowledgeable about the political process and have a grasp of the moral dimensions of issues that face us as a society. To do so, Catholics are called to understand the role of government in society, to be aware of their political rights as citizens, and to know how to influence public policy so that they may work within the political structure to effect change. They need to know about current social issues, to understand the Church’s teachings about their moral dimensions, to form their consciences in light of their faith, and to act out of their moral convictions.

This month of October is Respect Life Month.  You have heard me and the Church talk about issues that are important to us in the respect for human life.  That is something to consider when voting in this upcoming election and in deciding what candidate to support.  

Another important point for us Catholics to understand is that not all election issues carry the same weight.  Here is a quote from a document issued by the US Bishops entitled: Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: “In making these decisions, it is essential for Catholics to be guided by a well-formed conscience that recognizes that all issues do not carry the same moral weight and that the moral obligation to oppose policies promoting intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions. These decisions should take into account a candidate's commitments, character, integrity, and ability to influence a given issue. In the end, this is a decision to be made by each Catholic guided by a conscience formed by Catholic moral teaching.” (paragraph #37).  

As we vote in the upcoming election for our elected officials, I pray that God grant us wisdom and prudence in making our choices.  Let us pray that we may choose elected leader who, despite their imperfections, we can deem in good and informed conscience closest to being decent, hard workers, committed to the common good, respectful of human life and dignity, devoted to truth and justice, knowledgeable of the important issues we face as society, and able to work with other elected officials in our country, both on the local and national levels. My prayers are with all of you as we vote in the upcoming election.  

Prayers of the faithful - 30th week in Ordinary Time - 27 October 2020

Lord Jesus - you are the word of God. 

Christ Jesus - you are the only begotten son.  

Lord Jesus - you bring us God’s love. 

Priest: We pray in communion with the Church in today’s mass, presenting our prayer to our heavenly Father. 

1. We pray that families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly “schools of true human growth.” 

2 We pray for a greater sense of the common good: that we may recognize that God’s gifts are for the benefit of the whole human family and never allow them to become idols that control us. 

3. We pray for wisdom and inspiration for government leaders: that the Holy Spirit will give them insight into the true issues and the needed steps for change to promote the welfare of everyone.  We pray for our upcoming national elections next week.  

4. We pray for the unemployed, those under financial burdens, for those mired in poverty:  that God will sustain them each day, open new opportunities for them to use their gifts, and open our hearts to be generous in their time of need. 

5. For the sick and shut ins. 

6. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed.  For Audrey Phillips whose funeral mass was held today. 

Priest: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the way you accompany us on our journey.  We present these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN. 

27 October 2020 - Tuesday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time – Luke 13:18-21

      There is so much to learn about God's kingdom.  No matter how long we journey in faith, there will be so much more to learn about God’s kingdom. Jesus wants to teach us about God’s kingdom, so he uses parables.  The kingdom of God is like a small mustard seed that grows into a large bush that can provide shade and that can feed many birds through the delicious seeds it produces.  The kingdom of God is like this small seed in our lives, in that it starts out in its smallest beginnings in our human hearts, in which we open up our lives to God’s word and God’s will. God’s kingdom transforms us from within, in ways we could never imagine, in ways we could not change through our own efforts.

         Leaven is another image that symbolically describes God’s kingdom.  Leaven is a powerful agent of change.  Without leaven, the dough cannot be transformed into fresh bread when baked in the oven.  Without leaven, there is no bread. The bread of life provides us nourishment and stamina, the staple of life for us human beings. 

         Like leaven helping bread to rise or a small seed growing into a lush bush, the kingdom of God can transform those who are open to God’s grace, to those willing to receive new life in Christ. 

         Lord, may we be open to the ways the kingdom of God can transform us.  May we increase in our zeal for your kingdom.  May you, O Lord, instill in us a holy desire to live out our faith in proclamation of your kingdom, so that we may announce your glory to all.

3 November 2020 - Tuesday of the 31st week in Ordinary Time - Philippians 2:5-11

      After celebrating All Saints and All Souls Day in our liturgical year, we return to our daily mass in Ordinary Time today, returning to the readings from the letter of St Paul that we have been hearing in our daily masses these last several weeks.  Today, in Philippians, we hear what is probably an ancient Church hymn quoted by Paul. Even though Jesus was God, he did not regard equality with God something to be used for his advantage or something to be exploited.  Rather, Jesus willingly emptied himself, coming to humanity as a servant, humbling himself to his death on the cross.  But Jesus was a passive victim.  Rather he, willingly and openly accepted his mission here on earth.  He did not claim honor and glory.  He came to serve others.  Death on a cross was even seen as too shameful of a death for Roman citizens.  It was a death reserved for slaves and rebels. 

       Today, as we hear this hymn about Jesus, we commemorate a saint who also humbly served the people of God and the Church: St Martin de Porres. Martin was born in Peru in 1579, less than 50 years after the defeat of the Incan empire by the Spanish conquistadors.   Martin was born of a mother of African descent and possibly some indigenous descent who was born in Panama and a father of Spanish origin. Martin’s parents never married.  Even though Martin’s birth was finally acknowledged by his father, his father abandoned the family.   Martin grew up in severe poverty and was discriminated against because of his dark skin.  After working as an apprentice as a medical assistant, Martin applied to be a Dominican lay helper.  After living and serving with the Dominican community, he later became a lay brother in the Dominican community.  His life as a Dominican was characterized by acts of humility and service: ministering to slaves who arrived from Africa, founding an orphanage, visiting the sick and the poor, nursing sick animals to health.  In the Dominican monastery, Martin worked in the kitchen, the infirmary, and the laundry room, taking care of the monks and making sure their needs were met.  Martin died in 1639.  He was canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1962.  Martin is often depicted holding a broom, which he used to sweep clean the homes of the poor that he visited.  He is also depicted with a cat, a dog, a bird, and a mouse, all eating out of the same dish, showing his love of animals and the harmony he saw in God’s creation.  He is the patron saint of race relations and social justice.  Martin de Porres is certainly a relevant and timely saint in our modern world.  We unite our prayers with his prayers today.  

2 November 2020 - All Souls Day - John 6:37-40

      The month of November starts out with important commemorations in our faith.  Yesterday, on November 1, we celebrated the feast of All Saints, the community of saints who are in eternal life in union with God, whose example of faith and whose prayers accompany us on our journey.  Today, we commemorate a special group of the faithful departed. 

      As I think of these two feast days, I think of them in this way.  We have those in the community of saints who have died and who are now in eternal life with God, who have a face to face relationship with God for all of eternity.  We also have the community of saints, the members of the Church, who are still here on earth, living as disciples of Christ.  These baptized Christians are part of the pilgrim Church on earth, on their journey in hopes of ultimate union with God.  Then we have the group we commemorate today especially on All Souls Day, those who have died but who are in the midst of a process of purification, getting them ready for their union with God.  On earth, we strive toward perfection, but do not reach that perfection.  Those souls need this purification process before their enter eternal union with God.  Today, we lift up our prayers for the souls in purgatory, helping them and praying for them in the midst of this process of purification. 

       Today, also, we remember our loved ones who have passed away this past year.  It is challenging and difficult for us when our loved ones leave this earthly life and enter eternal life.  We remember them in a special way in our mass today.  We pray for them, for ourselves, and for all those who mourn and grieve at the loss of a loved one.  In our Gospel today, Jesus tells us that he has come to do the will of the Father, and it is the will of the Father that everyone who see the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, that Jesus will raise them up on the last day.   That is a central belief of our faith, a belief rooted in Christ’s life and ministry.  We here at St Jude offer our prayers and love for you and for your dearly departed loved ones as we commemorate All Souls Day and our mass of remembrance.   

28 October 2020 - Wednesday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time - St Simon and St Jude - Luke 6:12-16

      Today, we celebrate the feast day of our parish’s patron saint, St Jude, which is always celebrated in our liturgical calendar in conjunction with St Simon. St Jude is only mentioned in the lists of the apostles.  He is named Jude in the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, he is called Thaddeus.  Spanish Catholics refer to him by these two names, San Judas Tadeo, St Jude Thaddeus. Most biblical scholars do not see St Jude as the author of the Letter of Jude in the New Testament. 

      Simon is mentioned as one of the apostles in all four Gospels. He is referred to as a member of the Zealots in two of the Gospels. Who were the Zealots?  The Zealots were a Jewish sect, like the scribes and Pharisees.  The Zealots were Jewish nationalists, who saw the promise of the Messiah in terms of nationalism, as leading their nation back to greatness. The Zealots saw God alone as their king.  They saw the Roman government in Israel as blasphemy against God and against their Jewish faith.  

      There are different traditions passed down about the different apostles, about how they died and where they were sent as missionaries. Tradition holds that Jude and Simon preached as a missionary team, traveling to Armenia to bring the Gospel there.  Tradition holds that they were both martyred in Lebanon and that their remains are buried in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  St Jude is known as the patron saint of lost or impossible causes because it is believed that few early Christians invoked his name in prayer because his name was so similar to that of Judas Iscariot, Christ’s betrayer, that those prayers would be mistakenly received by St Judas Iscariot.  Belief holds that St Jude would be eager to help anyone who prayed to him for help, to the point of interceding in the most dire and impossible of circumstances.   

        We conclude our novena to St Just today.  We unite our prayers with his prayers.  We ask him to help us with the seemingly impossible causes that exist in our lives.   

30 October 2020 - Friday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time - Philippians 1:1-11 -

       Today is the last weekday mass in the month of October, the month dedicated to Mary and the Respect for Life.  In the last several weeks, we have been hearing from Paul’s letters to the Galatians and the Ephesians.  Today, we hear from the beginning of his letter to the Philippians.  Like some of Paul’s other letters, this letter was written while Paul was in prison, which makes the joy that permeates this letter all the more striking and meaningful. 

     I am leading a virtual group for THE SEARCH through Zoom every Thursday evening.  Last Thursday, we looked at the story narrative our faith and in the Bible.  One of the quotes from the host of The Search Chris Stefanick noted that “for a Christian, joy isn't what happens when life is going perfectly; it's what happens when you know you are loved perfectly, even when life is a mess.”  We all know that life can be a mess sometimes, that things don’t work out like we want them to, and that we often deal with crisis, struggle, and brokenness.  But that does not mean that we cannot feel the joy of our faith in those moments.  If Paul felt the joy of his felt in the midst of his struggles and his time of incarceration in prison, then we can feel the joy of our faith in the midst of our ups and downs as well.  The Philippians to which Paul writes are located in Macedonia, north of Greece, and was named after King Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. At the time Paul was writing to them, Philippi was a part of the Roman empire, so its inhabitants were proud Roman citizens. 

      Paul states in the beginning of this letter saying that he gives thanks to the Philippians as he remembers them, praying with joy for them in his prayers. Paul remembers of that the Philippians have done since the day of their conversion.  They have provided material help to the poorer churches and they have endured their sufferings for the said of the Gospel.  

       Having joy in our faith can be a challenge sometimes, can’t it, in the reality of our lives, a reality that can be very harsh sometimes.  Hopefully Paul’s journey of faith can be an inspiration for us.  

1 November 2020 - ALL SAINTS DAY - Matthew 5:1-12A

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

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

        What are some of the things people chase in their search for happiness, putting them above everything else?   It could be money, food, pleasure, material possessions, career achievements, or being popular.  Those things are not bad in themselves.  In fact, these things bring great pleasure to our lives.  They can be very positive and life-giving when not taken to the extreme. But if we make any of them our main priority in life and put them before God, if we see them as our key to happiness, then we’ll be disappointed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

         All of us want to find happiness in life.  That’s true for all of us, isn’t it?  But we shouldn't waste our time chasing bubbles for a happiness that doesn’t last, for a happiness that doesn’t matter in the long run. We should look to God.  He is our source of true happiness. And unlike a bubble, God is with us for our entire journey. 

4,000 published blog posts

 Well, it is hard to believe that as of today, not counting this post, I have 4,000 posts to my blog, which I started when I was pastor of St Mary Catholic Church in Yazoo City in 2011.  Four more assignments as a priest later, including being the interim director of finance for the Diocese and now currently vicar general, I am still blogging.  I am thankful to the Lord to be able to continue with this part of my ministry.  

Bulletin reflection - the signs of the times - 25 October 2020 - St Jude Catholic Church - Pearl Mississippi

      Most of you know that before I became a priest, I taught high school in Greenville for four years as a member of the Mississippi Teacher Corps prior to entering seminary.  As a part of that experience, I received a grant from the US Department of Education to study in Argentina and Chile the summer of 2002.  It was an amazing experience to see those two countries first-hand and to learn so much about them.  Chile is considered one of Latin America’s success stories, having the highest per capita GDP in South America.  However, like in a lot of countries in the world, there is a lot of income inequality in Chile and a lot of people struggling to survive.  Catholicism is very strong in Chile as well.  One of my favorite saints, St Teresa of the Andes, a patron saint of the youth, was a Carmelite nun in Chile. One year ago in Chile, there were protests against poverty and income inequality.  This past weekend, Chile had street demonstrations to mark the one year anniversary of the protests. Last weekend, I saw that two large Catholic churches in Santiago, Chile, were burned down as a part of those protests.  

We have all seen photos of Catholic churches and statues of Catholic saints around the world destroyed or vandalized in recent months, even here in our own country.  An outside garden and statue were vandalized at St Richard in Jackson several months ago.  The mission of San Gabriel just outside of Los Angeles, one of the original California missions, was burned down in suspicious circumstances several months ago as well. All of this is very sad and very disturbing.  In the name of freedom of religion and in the name of people of good will, this violence and destruction is not acceptable.  In response, we not only pray, we speak up for our faith, and we look at those structures and sins in society that need to be changed.  However, as I said, such violence against our faith and our houses of worship is never acceptable.  We work for justice.  We perform acts of justice and mercy.  We are called to practice our faith to the best of our abilities with joy and with conviction.  

Prayers of the faithful - 20 October 2020

 Lord Jesus - you bring us salvation

Christ Jesus - you call us to repentance 

Lord Jesus - you call us to carry our crosses 

We bring our prayers to our heavenly Father today with simplicity and humility. 

1. We pray for the Church: that we who have died with Christ in baptism, may recognize our dignity in being children of God, and sisters and brothers to one another. 

2. We pray for Pope Francis, Bishop Kopacz, and all our Church leaders:   that the Spirit of the Lord may be upon them, giving them counsel, strength, & fortitude in leading God’s people. 

3. We pray for the Holy Spirit’s presence for our elected officials, giving them wisdom in making decisions in these challenging times. 

4. For our seminarians, our deacon candidates in formation and all discerning a vocation, for grace to receive God’s will. 

5. For the men and women in the military, for first responders, police officers, and fire fighters, for safety and protection.  

6. We pray for those directly affected by the current pandemic; for healthcare workers serving on the front lines; and for those searching for treatments and a vaccine. 

7. For those prayers we hold in our  hearts today. 

Heavenly Father, we present these prayers through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN.  

25 de octubre de 2020 – Homilía – El XXX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario – Éxodo 22: 20-26; Mateo 22: 34-40

      Las lecturas de nuestra misa dominical nos enseñan sobre el amor de Dios y sobre su ley.  El amor de Dios y su ley – son dos cosas importantes en el camino de fe.  Es interesante.  En el mundo antiguo, siempre un ídolo era al centro del Templo.  Pero, con los mandamientos y la ley que el pueblo de Israel recibió, era la primera vez que la ley era al centro del Templo. La ley era en la arca de la alianza.  En la montaña de Sión, Moisés recibió la ley y los mandamientos de Dios.  Dios enseñaba a su pueblo sobre su conducta a su prójimo.  La viuda, el huérfano, los pobres, el extranjero: ellos eran las persona en los márgenes de la sociedad de Israel.   Y para nosotros, en el mundo moderno, a veces es difícil para conocer quienes son las personas en los márgenes de nuestra sociedad.

      Los leyes de Dios y la conducta de los seguidores de Cristo son al centro de nuestro Evangelio.  Los fariseos quieren hacer una prueba con Jesús.  Ellos mandan uno de ellos, un doctor de la ley, para preguntar a Jesús por el mandamiento más grande de la ley de Moisés.  Los escribas tienen un punto de vista muy rígido de su religión y su espiritualidad.    Ellos contaban que hay 613 mandamientos de la ley - 365 prohibiciones y 248 preceptos.   El fariseo en el Evangelio quería conocer si todos los mandamientos tenían el mismo valor, o si habían algunos mandamientos que eran más importantes y otros menos importantes, o si había uno que era el más importante de todos las leyes.

       Según Jesucristo, el más importante de los mandamientos es amar a Dios con todo el corazón, con toda el alma con todo el ser.  Y Jesús nos enseña que el segundo mandamiento es semejante: para amar al prójimo como a uno mismo.  En realidad, esta enseñanza de Jesucristo no es algo nuevo;  el nos confirma lo que está expresado en el Antiguo Testamento.  La actualidad de esta enseñanza es profunda y inmensa: que en la realidad de nuestra fe cristiana, no podemos separarnos del amor a Dios, y del amor al nuestro prójimo.  Es una reflexión de la compasión y del amor de nuestro Señor.  En un curso que yo tomé en la Universidad Católica de la ciudad de Washington, yo leí un libro con el titulo: Reconstruido. Este libro es la historia de una parroquia en la ciudad de Baltimore aquí en los Estados Unidos y su camino de fe como comunidad cristiana.  La parroquia en este libro tiene una frase de misión – Ama a Dios.  Ama a su prójimo.  Haz discípulos. Es una frase muy sencilla, y es el centro de nuestro Evangelio hoy.

      Si Dios es amor, si necesitamos tener el amor de Dios y el amor de nuestro prójimo en nuestra vida, necesitamos practicar las obras de caridad y misericordia en nuestra vida también.  Y si hacemos estas obras, podemos abrir las puertas de nuestra vida a Cristo.  Cuando servimos a nuestro prójimo, a los pobres, a los enfermos, a los abandonados, servimos a Jesús mismo.  Y para hacerlo como una comunidad cristiana, como una parroquia, es algo muy importante.  En verdad, la comunidad hispana que tenemos en St Jude, es una bendición para nuestra parroquia y nuestra diócesis.  Tenemos mucho éxito en la manera que vivimos nuestra fe, pero tenemos mucho trabajo para hacer.  Necesitamos la colaboración y la ayuda de todos ustedes para vivir nuestro papel como una comunidad de discípulos de Cristo.   

FLOCKNOTE REFLECTION: Seeing God in the midst of our daily life

     We have a lot of different responsibilities and tasks in our daily lives, don’t we?  During the week, I am normally downtown at the chancery office, working in administrative duties for the Diocese. In the evening and on the weekend, I try to attend to my duties at St Jude, but I still have a lot to do during those times regarding my duties with Diocese.  These duties are diverse and many.  It includes a lot of meeting. One of the employees at the chancery office told me, "Father Lincoln, it seems like you are always at a meeting or planning a meeting." Having been the interim finance director of the Diocese for almost a year, I have a lot of involvement in the financial administration of our Diocese.  As you all know, this summer, the federal government completed its investigation of our Diocese with a deferred persecution agreement.  Last week, we met for the first time with the compliance oversight board and the federal attorney to review and listen to suggestions on the reforms we have been making at our Diocese, especially in the areas of policy, procedures, administration, and compliance.  As a part of these reforms, we have implemented a fraud prevention hotline.  We know that our daily lives at times can be complicated, challenging, and difficult.  I was called to be a priest here in the Diocese of Jackson.  At the present moment, God is calling me to these administrative duties as a part of my service as a priest. In the midst of our daily lives, we ask God for a blessing.  I wanted to share with you the prayer that started our compliance oversight board meeting last week.   God hears our pleas and he meets us inner reality.  

Let us pray: 

Lord God of holiness and mercy: We come to you today as servants to your Church and to your people.

As we meet today as the compliance oversight board, we ask for the grace of your guidance, especially during these challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

May the true needs of our Diocese and the common good of all be our concern.

May your will become our will.

As we meet today, we ask for your blessings for our Diocese. 

May the Holy Spirit who inspired the apostles when they met together visit us today and grant us the light of divine wisdom, leading us and guiding us in our meeting today.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  AMEN. 

20 October 2020 – St Paul of the Cross – Tuesday of 29th week in ordinary time – Ephesians 2:12-22

       We hear Paul talk about the unity we have in Christ in his letter to the Ephesians.   The Ephesians at one time were without Christ, estranged from Israel, strangers to the covenant with God.  Now, through the covenant they share with Christ, the wall dividing them from others came down, and now they have found peace and are reconciled with God.  Like the Ephesians, we are members of the House of God. However, we live in a world that is still so divided, with violence, social unrest, and terrorism. Our faith urges us to work toward that peace, to work toward the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. 

       In the midst of our own struggles and challenges, in the midst of the division we see in the world, we are called to carry our crosses and to unite those crosses with the cross of Christ.  We are called to unite our struggles and our challenges to the passion of Christ. Paul of the Cross is a saint whose feast day we celebrated yesterday.  After serving a solider in Italy, he turned to a life of prayer and developed a devotion to Christ’s passion.  In Christ’s passion, Paul of the Cross saw the love and mercy Christ has for us rooted in his passion.  The preaching of Paul of the Cross on Christ’s passion really touched the heart of the people.  In fact, Paul founded the Congregation of the Passion in 1720, known popularly as the Passionists.  The Passionists added the vow of spreading the memory of Christ’s passion to the people to the traditional vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity.  May we find comfort, love, and mercy in Christ’s passion and cross.

21 October 2020 – Wednesday of 29th week in Ordinary Time – St Hilarion -- Luke 12:39-48, Ephesians 3:2-12

       In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks about the grace of God, of how it should be open to all.  It does not matter if we are Gentile or Jew  -  God offers us his grace and his salvation.  With his grace, we can draw ever closer to the Lord on our journey.

       It is sometimes difficult to discern God’s grace, to recognize it in life, with all the noise and chatter surrounding us in the world today.  I bring this up because this is the feast day of St Hilarion, a man who went into the desert in the 4th century after being converted to the Way of Jesus after studying in the ancient center of scholarship in Alexandria, Egypt.  Taking only a humble set of clothing with him in the desert, he wove baskets and sold them to make a living.  The cell where he lived in the desert later became a monastery by some of his followers.  He was made famous in the writings of St Jerome.   The example of St Hilarion and the other desert father paved the way for monasticism in the coming centuries, which would have a great affect on the Church and on civilization.  I am currently reading a book by Cardinal Robert Sarah or Guinea, West Africa entitled The Power of Silence. I thought of St Hilarion and the monastic movement when I read this quote.  Cardinal Sarah writes: “Monastic life, the life of men of solitude and silence, is an ascent toward the heights, not a rest on the heights. Monks climb higher every day because God is ceaselessly greater. On this earth, we will never be able to reach God. But nothing can accompany our earthly journey toward God better than solitude and silence.”

     As we commemorate St Hilarion today, may we open our minds and our hearts to God’s grace, to God’s silence, to God’s word.   

23 October 2020 – Friday of 29th week of Ordinary Time – Ephesians 4:1-6

      We have been hearing from Paul’s letters to the Galatians and the Ephesians these past several weeks.  Today, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes how he is a prisoner of the Lord.  Paul indeed was imprisoned in Rome at the time that he wrote this letter.  Even though he was behind bars, he was able to exhort the Ephesians to be patient, gentle, and humble.  He was also probably praying that he himself would be follow those same virtues in his challenging situation in life.  I used to tell the prisoners that I used to visit and minister to in the state penitentiaries that there were far worst prisons that can confine them in their lives than the bars that they were behind.  We can be imprisoned by the addictions we have, and those addictions can take many different forms.  In fact, many of the prisoners I visited admitted to me that they still were addicted to the drugs that they got their hands on even behind those bars. We can be imprisoned by false expectations and sense of values, imprisoned by clinging the to values of the world and our worldly appetites that never seem to be satisfied. Paul calls us to the one Body, the one Spirit, the one faith.

     As we hear this exhortation from St Paul, we celebrate the saint of the day, St John of Capistrano. When I grew up as a teenager in Orange County, California, the town named after him, San Juan Capistrano, home of the famous California mission founded by St Junipero Serra, was close by.  We could perhaps relate to St John of Capistrano today, since he lived in an era of great crisis and turmoil.  As we think of the challenges we face today, imagine the era St John of Capistrano was born into in the 14th century. The bubonic plague wiped out 33% of the population and 40% of the Catholic clergy.  A schism split the Church where there were rival popes.  England and France were in the midst of the 100 Years War.  We are faced with turmoil today with the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest, but it pales in comparison to the reality of St John of Capistrano in the 14th century.  After serving in government, he was ordained a Franciscan priest.  In an era of great religious apathy and confusion, John of Capistrano traveled around Europe with his Franciscan companions, trying to revive the faith of the people.  His work was not easy.  He was also enlisted to preach a crusade for the defense of Europe.  He died after the siege of Belgrade in 1456.  St John of Capistrano, pray for us.  

18 de octubre de 2020 - Vigésimo noveno domingo del tiempo ordinario - Isaías 45:1, 4-6

     Octubre es un mes especial para nosotros en la fe católica.  Es el mes de María, nuestra Madre. Es el Mes del Respeto a la Vida. Este domingo es declarado Domingo Mundial de las Misiones por la Sociedad de la Propagación de la Fe en la Iglesia Católica.

       Este domingo, nos unimos en solidaridad con nuestros hermanos en todo el mundo para celebrar la responsabilidad de la Iglesia de difundir el mensaje de la Buena Nueva de Cristo. Desde que Cristo envió a sus apóstoles y discípulos al mundo como misioneros para predicar su palabra, cada generación sucesiva ha respondido a este misma llamada misionera. Los Sacerdotes, los religiosos consagrados, y los laicos comparten la responsabilidad de llegar a los que no conocen el mensaje del Evangelio y a los que no creen en Jesús nuestro Salvador. El mensaje que recibimos hoy es que todos podemos ser misioneros - pueden ser en a una tierra lejana o en nuestro pueblo en la realidad de nuestra vida diaria.  Todo el mundo tiene la llamada a contribuir al plan de Dios a través de la oración, de nuestras acciones y nuestro ejemplo, y de nuestros esfuerzos de evangelización.

      Del profeta Isaías, Dios proclama que nosotros que tenemos fe, debemos compartir esta fe con los demás y comunicar esta fe a nuestro prójimo: Isaías dijo: “Te llamé por tu nombre…para que todos sepan, de oriente a occidente, que no hay otro Dios fuera de mi.  Yo soy el Señor y no hay otro.”  Nuestra relación con Dios debe ser la parte más importante de nuestra vida.  Nuestra relación con Dios debe definir nuestras palabras, nuestros pensamientos y nuestras acciones. Si el sacrificio que Jesús hizo por nosotros toca nuestra alma y todo nuestro ser, entonces debemos desear que nuestro prójimo tenga la oportunidad de comprender y aceptar su misericordia tal como nosotros lo hemos hecho.  Por nuestra relación con Cristo, estamos llamados a tener un espíritu misionero que nos permita decir: Aquí estoy, Señor, envíame.

      Las clases de la doctrina son importante en nuestra fe para educar y formar a los niños y los jóvenes. En este tiempo de la pandemia, por esta clases de la doctrina, tenemos clases aquí en la iglesia el primer domingo del mes.  Las otras semanas de la semana, utilizamos el internet y lecciones con la familia en la casa.  Yo tenía una clase de doctrina en español el año pasado por los adultos, pero con poca gente.  Para mi, es importante para buscar una manera para formar nuestros adultos hispanos en la fe.  Yo utilizo mi vida como ejemplo.  Yo servía nueve años como misionero y doce años como sacerdote.  Yo tengo seis diplomas de la universidad y del seminario.   Pero, con estas experiencias y con esta educación, yo hago muchos esfuerzos para crecer en la formación espiritual y en la vida de fe, en la vida de discipulado. 

      La creatividad es importante en la forma en que vivimos la fe durante la pandemia. Estamos llamados a mirar fuera las estructuras normales en cómo practicamos la fe, en cómo expresamos la fe y en cómo crecemos en la fe durante la pandemia. Debemos ser igualmente creativos en nuestro espíritu misionero, en nuestra llamada a la evangelización. La llamada a ser misionero sea más importante ahora que en cualquier otro momento de nuestra vida con este momento de crisis en el mundo. Jesucristo nos llama a todos en la Iglesia a ser misioneros en la realidad de nuestra vida en el presente. Ojalá escuchemos este llamada en el Domingo Mundial de las Misiones.

   

Prayers of the faithful - 28th week in Ordinary Time - 16 October 2020

Lord Jesus - you are the Son of the Father.

Christ Jesus - you came as a servant

Lord Jesus - you love us with your sacred heart

As we honor St Mary Alocoque today, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father.

1. We pray for the Church: that we may recognize the length and depth of God’s love for us, and reach out to all who have become estranged from God or the Christian community.

2. We pray for leaders of all nations: that God, who reconciled the world to himself in Christ, may inspire the powerful of the earth to thoughts of peace and deeds of life and justice.

3. We pray for all recovering from floods, wildfires, or hurricanes: that God will give them strength, heal their wounds and fears, and speed the resources that they need to rebuild their lives.

4. We pray for the Gospel of Life during Respect Life Month - that we may respect all human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.

5. We pray for all vocations in the Church - to the ordained ministry, lay ministry, and religious life.

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

Heavenly Father, we present our prayers today through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  

18 October 2020 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 45:1, 4-6, Matthew 22:15-21

     October is a busy month for us in the Catholic faith.  It is the month of Mary.  It is Respect Life Month.  And this weekend, the 3rd Sunday of October, is declared World Mission Sunday by the Society of the Propagation of the Faith in the Roman Catholic Church. 

     On World Mission Sunday today, we join in solidarity with our brothers and sisters throughout the world to celebrate the Church’s responsibility to spread the message of Christ’s Good News.  Ever since Christ sent his apostles and other disciples out into the world as missionaries to preach his word, each successive generation has answered this same missionary call.  Priest, consecrated men and women, and lay people share the responsibility to reach out to those who do not know the Gospel message and those who do not believe in Jesus our Savior.  The message we receive today is that we all can be missionaries, whether we go off to a far off land or whether we remain right here where we live.  No matter where we are, we are called to contribute to our Father’s plan through prayer, through our actions and example, and through our evangelization efforts. 

      From the prophet Isaiah, we hear how God expects those of us with faith are expected to communicate that faith to others, as our reading today states: “I have called you by name… so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun, people may know that there is none besides me.  I am the Lord, there is no other.”  A passage from an earlier chapter of Isaiah gives us the theme of World Mission Sunday 2020: “Here I am, send me.”  Our relationship with God must be the most important part of our lives.  Our relationship with God must define our words, our thoughts, and our actions.  If the sacrifice Jesus made for us touches our soul and our entire being, then we will desire others to have the opportunity understand and accept his mercy just as we have.  Out of our relationship with Christ, we are called to have a missionary spirit that enables us to say: Here I am, Lord, send me.

       For the last couple of years at St Jude, we had the ALPHA program to help us grow in the faith and to introduce the faith to others.  We saw the ALPHA program change a lot of lives and to introduce people to the Catholic faith who may have never consider it before.  ALPHA helped stir a sense of interest and joy in the faith of those who perhaps had become complacent or who were not super active in their faith. But, we know that like many things, the pandemic hit the pause button on our ALPHA program right in the middle of our sessions. We have been excited to get out small faith groups going again with THE SEARCH with Chris Stefanick that have been meeting through ZOOM these past few weeks.  We are going to be offering an Advent series with small groups, starting in late November with the beginning of the Advent season. We will be offering some groups for our adult parishioners to enter. We will also be encouraging our parishioners to form group and to have our ALPHA table leaders reach out to those in the ALPHA program. Our Advent program will be multi-media, with videos, readings, and songs.  We are excited to continue in our small group faith formation programs.  Very excited.  It is a way for us to be missionary, to grow in our faith ourselves, and to reach out in our faith to others.  

       Creativity is what is important in how we approach our faith during the pandemic, how we are to approach faith formation.  We are called to look outside the box as to how we practice our faith, express our faith, and grow in our faith during the pandemic. We are to be equally creative in our missionary spirit as well, in our call to evangelization.  And perhaps the call to be missionary is more important now than at an other time in our lives.  Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries in the reality of our present lives. May we hear this call on World Mission Sunday. 

The Holy Spirit in our lives:

 I saw this post from a priest friend of mine today: what wonderful words of wisdom: 

Not only the Holy Spirit inspire us to respond with joy and speak the words of God, but only the Holy Spirit can inspire us to be quiet and listen, to apologize, and to examine our lives. 

World Mission Sunday Reflection - “Here I am, send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

     For World Mission Sunday this year, celebrated on 18 October 2020, Pope Francis began his message by recalling his words from a day of prayer that took place on March 27 at the beginning of the worldwide pandemic.  Even in the midst of fear, uncertainty, and panic as the world experiences a crisis that we could have never anticipated, the Lord continues to ask: “Whom shall I send?”  The call to mission reaches out to us today in a special way, as the missionary spirit is an essential part of our life of discipleship.  The call to mission is an invitation to step out of ourselves for love of God and love of neighbor through service and prayer.

       As Jesus was missionary himself, he calls us to follow him in this missionary spirit.  Pope Francis states that as Jesus accomplished his calling and mission by dying of the cross for the salvation of humanity, so we too find ourselves when we give ourselves to others.  Our mission, our call, and our willingness to be sent as missionaries in to the world originate in Jesus’ own vocation as a missionary.

      Perhaps in this time of pandemic and social upheaval in our own county and around the world, the call to be missionary is more important than ever.  The creativity to which we are called to practice our own faith in these challenging times call us to be equally creative as Jesus sends us to be missionaries today.  We do not have to go to a far off land to be missionaries for Christ.  Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries in the reality of our present lives.  May we hear this call on World Mission Sunday.  

Flocknote Reflection - Wednesday - 14 October 2020 - St Teresa of Avila

         Tomorrow, October 15, we celebrate the feast day of St Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite nun from Spain in the 16th century.  She was born in 1515, two years before the publication of the 97 theses by Martin Luther, which is seen as the starting event of the Protestant Reformation in Europe.  It is in this era of great reform that she called her order of Carmelites to reform as well. A mystic, a theologian, a Doctor of the Church, a Church reformer, and a founder of many Carmelite monasteries, St Teresa is an important figure in the history of the Catholic faith.  I have been honored to have visited her home city of Avila, Spain on three different occasions, telling you of the esteem and devotion I have to this wonderful saint.  

     Here is one of her quotes: "May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us." 

      To me, St Teresa’s words remind us that sometimes we can lose sight of the love and peace of Christ that we can pass along to others.  During the pandemic, we have seen so much unrest, anger, and violence spill out to the street.  We have seen so many attacks, both verbal and physical.  The peace we are to bring to the world must begin with our own internal peace, a peace we have in our faith and in our relationship with Christ.  We are to take that peace that we nurture in our own hearts and spread that peace to our families, our friends, our co-workers, and our community.  Suffering, pain, and loss will still be a part of our experiences on our journey through life.  Yet, through it all, we are called to be instruments of peace.