6/3/2015 – Wednesday of the 9th week in Ordinary Time – 3:1-11a, 16-17a

      The Christian Orthodox tradition looked at Paul’s challenge to pray unceasingly and it came up with a prayer called the Jesus prayer.  This prayer is offered as a means of concentration, as a focal point of prayer in our inner life.  Simply put, the Jesus prayer states: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

      I thought of prayer in general and the Jesus prayer in particular when I read today’s first reading with the prayers that both Tobit and Sarah offer God in today’s long reading from the book of Tobit.   In his suffering, in his grief, and in his anguish, Tobit turns to the Lord.   He acknowledges the sinfulness of human beings, how they have not been loyal to God and his commandments.  Tobit asks the Lord to deal with him as he pleases, but asks that he be allowed to die and be put out his misery.  Tobit would rather die than endure this horrible suffering that he is experiencing in this moment in his life.

      On the very same day that Tobit offers his prayer, a woman named Sarah offers a prayer to God as well.   Sarah has been married 7 times, and all 7 husbands have died.  She says a blessings to the Lord, but she also wishes to take her own life to put herself out of her misery.  The Lord hears the prayers of both Tobit and Sarah, sending his Angel Raphael, his special messenger, to bring healing into their lives. 

       Sometimes in our despair and our sorrow, we turn to the Lord in words that very painfully come out of our hearts.  When we are in such a painful moment, it is difficult to approach the Lord.  When we see those who despair around us, let us be there for them.  Let us put structures in place in society that bring them help and support.  For the terminally ill in society, some would offer euthanasia or assisted society as the solution, but we in the Church propose that they be able to die with dignity and peace, surrounded by loving care that can be provided by a place such as hospice.  For the young like Sarah who can reach a point when they see no hope in their lives, they are to know that there are alternatives out there and people who can understand and not judge, people who want to help no matter how desperate things seem. 

        Let us pray today that our prayers and the prayers of others may spur us to both advocacy and action. 

6/2/2015 – Tuesday of the 9th week of Ordinary Time – Tobit 2:9-14

      Last week we had our first readings in the daily masses from the book of Sirach, one of those Deutero-Canonical books that is found in our Catholic Scriptures but not in the Hebrew Scriptures or the Protestant Bible.  Our first readings this week are from the book of Tobit, another one of those Deutero-Canonical book.  If you have not read Tobit in recent years or if you cannot recall the story, I advice you to read it all the way through.  It is a very enjoyable read and a very instructive tale from the Old Testament.

      Tobit had been a Jewish man who held a very high ranking in the Assyrian court, yet he got into trouble when it was found out that he was secretly burying Israelites who were being persecuted and killed by the Assyrian king. Tobit loses his eyesight in today’s reading, but the reader is left to speculate if this is due to a freak accident that happens by chance, or if Tobit was a good man being tested by God, similar to the circumstance of the book of Job.  When Tobit accuses his wife for falsely acquiring a goat for the work she had done, her wife expresses her thoughts: Where have your good deeds gotten you, Tobit?  How are you being rewarded for the good that you do? Sometimes we want to be rewarded or recognized for our good works, don’t we?  In our life decisions, we take risks and expose ourselves to dangers, which can lead to hardship and suffering.

      Recently, I read an article that named this date, June 2, as the date that the trial of Bridget Bishop began.  She was the first person accused during the Salem Witch Trials.  She was put to death on June 10, 1692.  From February 1692 to May 1693, 72 people were accused and tried in the Salem Witch Trials, with 20 put to death.  We know look at those witch trial as an example of mass hysteria that can happen in society.  We may condemn it, but we probably can all think of examples that happen in our own day. We can get caught up in our own piety, we can become judgmental of ourselves and others.  It is a fine line that we can cross.

       As we listen to the readings from the book of Tobit this week, let it help us reflect upon our own lives as followers of Christ, on the values we follow in our lives, and the ways in which we are called to boldly live out our faith.

St Justin Martyr – the Saint of the Day for June 1

"This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus." St Justin Martyr

 Justin Martyr is the saint we celebrate today.  I heard a lot about him while I was in seminary at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Wisconsin, because even though he died way back in the year 165, his description of the mass is the earliest one we have.   Justin shows that the mass we celebrate today has all the elements of the Eucharistic celebrations in the early Church.  Justin was a philosopher of pagan religions, having grown up in the West Bank area of Palestine.   Yet, he converted to the Way of Jesus, and was an ardent defender of the faith in the early Church.  He died a martyr of Rome for the faith.  The above quote describes how the early Christians viewed the Eucharist, a view that we Catholic share today.  We give thanks to the Early Church Fathers like Justin Martyr who, by their words and their deeds, passed down the faith to us. 

Mass at St Thomas in Saltillo celebrating the Most Holy Trinity

Mass celebrating the solemnity of the Holy Trinity in SALTILLO this Sunday - For all of our St James parishioners and especially those who live out in Saltillo – we will have a celebration at St Thomas in Saltillo on Sunday, May 31, beginning at 5:30 pm. We will celebrate mass for the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. We will have a May crowning of Mary and will celebrate the sacrament of the anointing of the sick for all who would like that sacrament. And then we will have a potluck dinner afterwards. Everyone is welcome to join us for the festivities this Sunday evening!

31 de mayo de 2015 – La solemnidad de la Santísima Trinidad – Mateo 28,16-20

      Yo tenía mucho gozo cuando me daba cuenta que el 31 de mayo caía en un domingo este año.  El 31 de mayo es la fiesta de la Visitación de la Santísima Virgen María a su prima Isabel.  Es una fiesta muy linda en la vida de la Virgen María y en la historia de nuestra salvación, y para mi personalmente, es el aniversario de mi ordenación sacerdotal, que marca 7 años de mi sacerdocio.  Sin embargo, hay una jerarquía de las fiestas y solemnidades en nuestra Iglesia, y hoy, el domingo después de Pentecostés,  siempre celebramos la solemnidad de la Santísima Trinidad.  Entonces, hoy celebramos la Santísima Trinidad en lugar de  la Visitación de María a Isabel.

      Antes de enviar sus discípulos al mundo para ser misioneros del Evangelio, Jesucristo explicó: “Vayan, y hagan que todos los pueblos sean mis discípulos, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo.”  Es un mandato claro y directo para los primeros discípulos de Cristo y es un mandato muy claro para nosotros también.   El Padre nos dio su Hijo para nuestra salvación.  Y el Padre y el Hijo nos dan el Espíritu Santo como la presencia de Dios con nosotros en la tierra.  La Santísima Trinidad no es algo nebuloso -  vive en nosotros como una realidad concreta.  San Gregorio de Nisa escribió mucho sobre la Trinidad en el siglo cuatro cuando la iglesia tenía un discurso amplio sobre este tema.  San Gregorio explicó que “el santo Bautismo se nos imparte la gracia de la
inmortalidad por la fe en el Padre y en el Hijo
y en el Espíritu Santo.”  Conocemos mucho sobre Dios & sobre la Santísima Trinidad, pero, en su realidad, la Trinidad es un misterio de nuestra fe.  Este misterio de la Trinidad es el punto de partida de toda la verdad cristiana que tenemos.  Es la base de donde procede la vida divina en nuestro mundo con nosotros.  En verdad, podemos declarar sin duda que somos hijos del Padre. Podemos decir que somos hermanos y seguidores y discípulos de su Hijo. Podemos declarar que somos peregrinos caminando continuamente en la luz de la fe con el Espíritu Santo en cada momento de nuestro camino.

      Podemos proclamar al mundo que estamos aquí para hacer cuatro cosas como discípulos de Cristo:

(1) Amar a Dios

(2) Amar al prójimo.

(3) Vivir como discípulos.

(4) Hacer discípulos.

No es algo complicado.  No es algo muy difícil.  Es algo un niño puede comprender.

      Podemos decir con sinceridad y humildad que siempre tenemos mucho para aprender sobre Dios y sobre nuestra fe.  Siempre hay aspectos de Dios y la vida nueva que tenemos en Cristo que no entendemos, no importa el nivel de formación y experiencias que tenemos.  Hay muchas maneras para conocer y experimentar el Dios en la realidad de la Santísima Trinidad.  Dios nos revela su naturaleza divina a través de los profetas y de la Sagrada Escritura, a través de nuestra relación con nuestros hermanos y hermanas en Cristo, y por medio de la comida que compartimos juntos alrededor de la mesa del Señor.  Pero, San Agustín, uno de los teólogos en nuestra Iglesia, dijo esto: Dios no es lo que usted entiende. Dios no es lo que usted piensa que entienda. Si usted piensa que entiende a Dios, entonces usted sabe que ha fracasado. Sin embargo, en nuestra fe, buscamos la comprensión y en la forma en que crecemos en nuestra comprensión, crecemos en nuestra fe también. La fe y la comprensión son dos aspectos de nuestro viaje como cree que un complemento de la otra. Pero, a veces parece que se habla en los círculos o se habla en paradojas acerca de nuestra fe.  El Credo de Atanasio, escrito en la Iglesia Primitiva en el año 500, dice lo siguiente: Las tres personas de la Trinidad, el Padre, el Hijo y el Espíritu Santo, no son tres eternos, sino un solo eterno, no tres todopoderosos, pero uno todopoderoso, no tres dioses, sino un solo Dios.  Es fácil de decir, pero no es tan fácil de comprender.

        La Trinidad es una doctrina importante en nuestra fe, por supuesto. Pero, también, tenemos una nueva vida en la Trinidad a través de nuestro bautismo y en nuestro camino como discípulos en Cristo.  Para nosotros, como creyentes, la Santísima Trinidad nos da la vida, nos da la respiración, nos da una nueva realidad.

One of our parish cats - Blessing - finding a warm spot to sleep on

May Crowning with the Chase family - St James Catholic Church - Tupelo, Mississippi

Our little kitty cat Mary resting after a hard day

Confirmation mass at St John the Evangelist Catholic Church - Oxford, Mississippi

Traveling down the Natchez Trace

Living in Tupelo, and having to travel to Jackson quite a bit, which is a 3 1/2 hour drive for me, I often find myself traveling down the Natchez Trace, one of the little known gems we have in our country. The Trace goes for about 440 miles from Natchez, Mississippi on the banks of the Mississippi River all the way up to Nashville, Tennessee.  The Trace goes through parts of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.  It is not really lit at night, which makes for a rather spooky drive when it is dark.  The speed limit is 50 mph and commercial vehicles are prohibited from using it.  It find it to be a very meditative, relaxing drive, but a speedway it is not.  The modern Trace takes the place of a travel way that was used by the native people of North America for centuries, and then a trail used by European explorers and traders.  Here are some photos I took on a rest stop on my my back to Tupelo from Jackson.  The first two photos show what the old Trace would have looked like. 

The First Dandelion by Walt Whitman

We have had a very rainy winter and spring here in Tupelo.  As a priest, I read a lot of poetry for inspiration and reflection for when I write homilies.  I recently saw this poem by Walt Whitman.  I reminds me of the transition for spring to summer that we are going through here in Mississippi.

The First Dandelion 

Simple and fresh and fair from winter's close

emerging,

As if no artifice of fashion, business, politics,

had ever been,

Forth from its sunny nook of shelter'd grass—

innocent, golden, calm as the dawn,

The spring's first dandelion shows its trustful

face.

WALT WHITMAN.

5/31/2015 – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – Matthew 28:16-20

     I was really excited when I saw that May 31 fell on a Sunday this year.  May 31 is the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth.  I really love that feast, especially since it is the anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, which marks 7 years today.  However, there is a hierarchy of feasts and solemnities in our Church, and since this is the Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity today rather than the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. 
     To tell you the truth, the Trinity presents the pastor a much more difficult topic to preach on when compared to the Visit of Mary to Elizabeth.  Trying to understand God and concepts like the Trinity can be daunting, even for those of us with degrees in theology and divinity.  We use big words like omniscient, omnipotent, and consubstantial to describe God, words that we don’t really use in everyday English.  In seminary, I took a very challenging course on the Trinity with the interesting title: The Mystery of God.  Yes, the Trinity and a lot of the concepts about God seem to fall under that great concept we use in our faith: mystery.  It consoles me to know that St Augustine of Hippo, one of the great Christian theologians and scholars, had this to say:  God is not what you understand.  God is not what you think you understand.  If you think you understand God, then you know you have failed.       Yet, in our faith we seek understanding, and in the way we grow in our understanding, we seek to grow in our faith.  Faith and understanding are two aspects of our journey of faith that complement one another.  But, it sometimes seems like we talk in circles or talk in paradoxes about our faith.  The Athanasian Creed, written in the Early Church around the year 500, says this:  The three persons of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are not three eternals, but one eternal, not three almighties, but one almighty, not three Gods, but one God. Easy to say, but not so easy to comprehend. 
     On a practical level, we can see how the unity of the Trinity and the relationship of the 3 persons within the Trinity are our best examples of the community aspect of our faith and our relationship with our neighbor.   Our US Bishops wrote in one of their documents: “Christians look forward in hope to a true communion among all persons with each other and with God. The Spirit of Christ labors in history to build up the bonds of solidarity among all persons until that day on which their union is brought to perfection in God’s Kingdom…. Theological reflection on the very reality of God as a Trinitarian unity of persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—shows that being a person means being united to other persons in mutual love.” The Trinity is not only the source of our faith, but it is the goal of our lives.  We receive the mandate from Jesus in his great commission to his followers at the end of the Gospel of Matthew to go out to the world to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  How do we make disciples?  Our Church’s call to a new evangelization says that we need to start with ourselves, that we need to awaken and re-energize our own faith in order to be effective in bringing the Gospel message to others.  Pope Francis would say that while the mass is the source and summit of our lives as Catholics, we need to do more.  Small groups and different ministries are a great way of getting involved in our parish.  If you have not filled out one of our time and talent surveys that we did earlier in the month, I encourage you to do so - you may get a copy of it from an usher today.  A couple of people have commented to me that I seem to have a new energy and a new focus since I went on the Camino of Santiago last January.  And another parishioner mentioned that he has rarely seen anyone so enthusiastic and energized by something as I am with my call to pilgrimage.  That is an aspect of our Catholic faith that calls out to me; I respond to that call and it certainly supports me and edifies me on my journey.  We all need to find something we are passionate about on our journey of faith, something that keeps us going on those tough parts of our journey. 
      You have noticed, the themes I have touched on in this homily have naturally gravitated to the mission that Nativity parish in the Rebuilt book adapted for itself: Loving God, loving neighbor and making disciples.   Even though there will always be more we can learn about God, there will always things we don’t understand about God, there are so many ways we can learn about and experience the Triune God, as God reveals his divine nature to us through the prophets and through Holy Scripture, through our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and through the meal that we share together around the Lord’s table.  The Trinity is indeed a doctrine, but we also have new life in the Trinity through our baptism and our discipleship in Christ. For us as believers, the Trinity is indeed a living, breathing, life-giving reality.  

     

5/25/2015 – Memorial Day and the Venerable Bede

      It is a very rainy day here in Tupelo.  I have had much of a break lately, so I was looking forward to going on a hike on the Tanglefoot Trail.  However, the rain put a stop to those plans, so instead I am taking care of some errands and work around the rectory that I need to do.  We celebrate Memorial Day today.  We have a lot of veterans in our parish.  I think of their service and their sacrifices.  The city of Columbus is located a little more than an hour from Tupelo.  Friendship cemetery in Columbus is a place where many prominent Mississippians are buried, as well as many Union and Confederate soldiers from the Civil War. According to local historians, it is here that Memorial Day got its start when the young women of the town decorated the graves of fallen soldiers on both sides of that great conflict.

         Besides Memorial Day today, we celebrate the feast day of the Venerable Bede today on May 25.  I have always loved his name – the Venerable Bede, rather than St Bede, attributing to how he is loved and venerated in our Church. A Benedictine monk and priest, he lived in the 7^th and 8^th century.  A skilled linguist and translator, his translations make the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers accessible to the Anglo Saxons.  Yet, he is most known for being the Father of English History.  In fact, I remember reading his book The Ecclesiastical History of the English People in my Western Civilization history course in college.  I found it interesting that the term “the Venerable Bede” that has been named comes from the inscription on his tomb in Durham England.  The Latin words say:  “HIC SUNT IN FOSSA BEDAE VENERABILIS OSSA.”  In English, it says: “Here are buried the bones of the Venerable Bede.”  What I love about our Catholic faith is the history and the continuity that ties us together.  I love that we honor an English historian from so many centuries ago, remembering his contributions to our faith and to our Church.