6 September 2020 – Homily for Sunday of 23rd week of ordinary time - Cycle A – Ezekiel 33:7-11, Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 13:8-10

         Our readings today don’t console us with a parable about God’s love and mercy; they don’t tell us about Christ healing the sick; they don’t present a story about Jesus’ compassion for the outcasts and the poor.  Instead, our readings today challenge us about sin, about how we are to help our brothers and sisters confront the sins they have in their lives, about how we are to help them through a process of reconciliation.  Confronting the existence of sin in our world, helping our brothers and sisters overcome sin: these are not topics that anyone normally enjoys addressing.  Often, in modern America, we either want to judge or condemn our brothers and sisters for their sins, or we want to brush their sins under the carpet and not deal with them at all.  

In seminary, we were encouraged to help our brother seminarians deal with any problems or issues with which they were struggling. I remember once when a seminarian friend of mine started skipping mass for no apparent reason at all, and I confronted him with it.  Boy was he angry at me – really angry.   He yelled at me: “How dare you talk to me that way.  Who do you think you are?  My guardian?  My watchdog?  Mind your own business.”  I responded to him that as a brother seminarian, as a friend, and as a deacon in the Church at that time, I felt that it was my duty and responsibility to point this out to him and to help him along his journey of faith in that way.  I told him that I wasn’t doing this to be mean or judgmental; I was trying to help along on his journey in trying to discern his vocation to the priesthood. Obviously, he did not have the same perspective.

         It is interesting that this seminarian asked me if I thought I was his watchdog, because in a way I was.  We hear the Lord tell the prophet Ezekiel that he is a watchman, a lookout, a sentinel.  Ezekiel was to alert the people as to the ways they’ve strayed from their path of faith, to call them out for their wickedness and to bring them back to the straight and narrow.  The Lord tells Ezekiel that it is his responsibility to speak out to his brothers and sisters, to warn them.  And Ezekiel will be held responsible if he does not fulfill this role. 

         Yet, we’re not to be a watchman out of arrogance or self-righteousness. We don’t do this out of a desire to make ourselves look good or to boost our egos like the Pharisees did. We are to do so out of love and compassion. Paul tells us that we are to owe nothing to our neighbor, but what we do owe them is love.  Love is to be at the heart of our faith and to motivate everything in our lives, just as it was the foundation of Jesus’ ministry and his proclamation of God’s kingdom.

         So often we want to solve problems that are far out there, but it’s more difficult to look at the problems and sins that are right before us, those sins that are in our lives or in the lives of our brothers and sisters that are a part of the fabric of our community.  I remember that as a missionary working at the soup kitchen in Winnipeg, I tried hard to get the young adult group at our church to come and volunteer.  Many of the young adults in this group were very altruistic and did a lot to reach out to others throughout the world. Many had been to Haiti and other poor countries on mission trips.  Yet, to get them to come down to a soup kitchen located in their own community was something they were not comfortable doing.  To be honest, they were very judgmental of the people who went there. They were not comfortable in facing the problems of drug addiction, homelessness, and poverty that tore apart their own city.  Yet, I never gave up in asking them. The young adults eventually went down to the soup kitchen, and they even helped organize a food pantry at their own church to address some of these same issues. The food pantry is still operating today almost 30 years later.

         Paul and Jesus ask us to help each other out in reconciliation, to help each other look at the sins that exist in our lives. Paul sees the love of God and love of neighbor that we live out in our lives as the fulfillment of God’s law, while Jesus presents us a detailed schematic of how to help our neighbor address the sin in his life, especially when he sins against us.  If we take this commandment to love seriously, that love will not remain disjointed and abstract in the shadows and in muffled whispers, but instead that love will become an integral part of the nitty-gritty reality around us.  In our day-to-day reality, in the call we receive from our faith, it’s our responsibility and our calling to decide how we’re going to love our neighbor. It is a great responsibility indeed.  We all must realize that in the messiness of our daily lives, in the dynamics that exist in our human relationships, this is not easy at all.  Just being nice and politically correct aren’t going to fulfill this responsibility.  Sometimes we will have to be very courageous.  Sometimes we will have to confront our worst fears and those things that make us most uncomfortable in life.  Sometimes the choices are make are very tough; sometimes none of the alternatives are to our liking.  The road of faith is not always easy.  Yet, if we truly proclaim God’s kingdom here on earth, this is what we’re called to do. 

4 September 2020 - Friday of the 22nd week in Ordinary Time - 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

      This past week and this week we are listening to readings from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in our daily masses.  What wonderful reading these are. Today, Paul is telling the Corinthians that he sees himself and his fellow missionaries as servants and stewards of the word of God and the mysteries of God that has been entrusted to them, not as lords or masters.  By mysteries, they are truths that we can only begin to comprehend in our human understanding of things only by the grace and help of God.  Paul aspires to be trustworthy, reliable, and conscientious, but he knows that he has his critics, that they are ready to pounce on him and criticize him every chance that they get. We know the reality of our current society, of how missionaries and the saints are being criticized and attacked for things that are not even close to being the truth. St Damien is being accused by a member of Congress for being a symbol of white supremacy.  His reputation is being attacked in this way, but in truth, he chose to voluntarily live as a priest amongst and minister to the lepers living in isolation in Hawaii, taking on this ministry when he knew the risks and dangers, and dying as a leper himself.  We are in a world today where missionaries and saints have to be defended, that they are assumed to be bad and to have their ulterior motives by many in our secular world. Paul and his companions were very courageous evangelizers of the faith.  They took risks and gave their lives for the Good News of Christ’s Good News.  May we open our hearts to the message that Christ is bringing us today.  

2 September 2020 - Wednesday of the 22nd week in Ordinary Time - 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

        I remember when I first became a priest 12 years ago, even though I knew Spanish fairly well, having lived in a Spanish speaking country for three years and having studied and taught Spanish for four years as a high school teacher, it was still difficult jumping into Spanish in the masses and liturgies as a priest.  Looking back at those first baptisms, masses, funerals, and weddings I had in Spanish, I think back to how they were so rough, since I had never celebrated them before in Spanish as a priest.  I think of now, how 12 years later, I am as comfortable in celebrating in Spanish as a priest as I am in English.  Quite a change.  

      I thought of this listening to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians today, of how he calls them infants in the faith, how they are just learning the faith and that they have to first learn the basics.  I think of how in RCIA class there are so many basics to teach, aren’t there, that we cannot go into minute detail into a lot of the topics, because other basics in the faith will be ignored.  I think of some of the questions I received recently as a priest, asking me the different between an archangel and a regular angel and asking if the Blessed Mother had died an earthly death when she was assumed into heaven, or if she was still alive.  Good questions, for sure.  And that is why even though I have two graduate degrees in divinity and theology from a Catholic seminary and another graduate degree from a Catholic University, why I still need to study and grow in the faith as much as any believer.  Some of the books I read are advanced books in theology and spirituality, but others are more basic to reinforce and renew what I have already learned.  Paul mentions how his role is to do the planting of the faith in Christian communities, while the role of Apollos was to come after him to nature and help grow the believers in their faith.  But in it all, we all belong to God. God is what really matters, not those humans who bring God’s message and nurture the believers in the faith.  We give thanks for those who have nurtured us in the faith and who have brought the faith to us.  We give thanks to God.  

1 September 2020 - The Annual Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation - Tuesday of the 22nd week in Ordinary Time - 1 Corinthians 2:10-16

       Wow - the first day of September - hard to believe.  We are 2/3 the way through 2020.  And what a year it has been so far.  We hear Paul speaking about the true nature of our spirituality.  The truly spiritual follower of Christ, is not filled with a worldly spirit, but rather the spirit of God. The spirit of the world may be filed with the spirit of the present age, not the spirit of the eternal truth of God.  

        As we hear this discussion of Paul, today, September 1, Pope Francis calls us to an annual day of prayer for the care of creation, which was established back in 2015. This day gives us an opportunity to pray, reflect, and act to care for God’s creation.  All of us, both those who most contribute to climate change and those whom it most affects, pray today for our stewardship of the Earth.  This day unites our Catholic day of prayer with the world day of prayer for the care of creation established under the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church in 1989. 

       This is what Pope Francis wrote when he established this day of prayer: "The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as custodians of creation, raising to God our thanks for the marvelous works that He has entrusted to our care, invoking his help for the protection of creation and his mercy for the sins committed against the world in which we live."

I want to close my homily with one of the prayers that Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical letter LAUDATO SI in 2015.  That encyclical addresses our “urgent challenge to protect our common home … to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change."

A Prayer for Our Earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty. 

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united

with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace. 

                        -From Pope Francis, Laudato Si

Bulletin Reflection - Listening to God

  One of the goals I made for the year 2020 was to read more.  When I made that goal in December right before the new year began, little did I know that in a few months a pandemic would strike us and change our reality.  Within that goal to read more, I wanted to read more books in Spanish, which I have been doing this year.  I try to read at least one book in Spanish each month.  I also want to read the entire canon of novels written by the English Catholic author Graham Greene. So far, I have read five of his novels.  Many of the books I am reading this year are in the realm of spirituality and theology, which you would probably expect for a priest.  

One of the books I am reading was recommended to me by one of the Presbyterian pastors in Tupelo who was a part of our ministerial association.  This book was written by Presbyterian minister, Zach Eswine and it is entitled: The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus.   He tackles a lot of topics that can be challenges for those of us who are priests or pastors.  In one chapter, he addressed the need for us to listen, which can be a challenge for us pastors, since we are always writing homilies and reflections and communicating with people.  You cannot imagine what daily  schedule is as Vicar General.  As I am writing this, I look at my schedule for the next day and I have eight different meetings scheduled.  I would have several more, but I could not fit them in! You can imagine that is a challenge to find silence in the midst of my busy schedule. 

Two quotes stand out to me in Eswine’s discussion about the importance of silence.  One quote is from German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Silence means nothing other than waiting for God’s word.”  The second quote comes from author Richard Foster: “Simply to refrain from talking, without a heart listening to God, is not silence.”  

I strive to listen to God in the silence.  That is why I love to hike.  As I hike, I listen to God in the silence and I listen to God in nature.  Our modern lives are so packed with noise and talking.  Do we make time in our lives to listen to God? That other thing that I want to continue to do is to read good books and to learn from the authors, to reflect on the words and to see God in what I read.  

I want to encourage all of you to read good books and to make room for silence in your lives in order to listen to God.  Blessings to all of you - have a blessed week.   

Flocknote reflection - the prayer intentions of Pope Francis - July, July, and August 2020

Each year, Pope Francis sets prayers intentions for the months of that year.  I always find it interesting to see the prayer intentions that Pope Francis chooses.  His prayers reflect his concern and care for the whole world.  These are the Prayer intention for the last three months:

June - The Way of the Heart - We pray that all those who suffer may find their way in life, allowing themselves to be touched by the Heart of Jesus. (We all suffer in different ways, don’t we?  But, there are those in our world who suffer in such a terrible intense way that they have become lost in life, that they do not let Jesus to touch their heart.  We pray for those who are enduring such terrible suffering.)

July - Our Families -  We pray that today's families may be accompanied with love, respect and guidance.  (Family life is particularly challenging right now in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic.  We pray for our families.  We pray for our children and youth who face the school year with a lot of fears and uncertainty.  We pray that the members of our families may treat each other with love.  We pray that they may respect each other.  We pray that they may turn to God for guidance on their journey of faith.)

August - The Maritime World - We pray for all those who work and make their living from the sea, among them sailors, fishermen and their families. (Our fishermen have faced many challenges in recent years, with over-fishing and environmental destruction creating many problems and difficulties.  We pray for our fishermen and our sailors and all who make their livelihood from the sea.)  

May we lift up the prayer intentions of Pope Francis in our hearts today.  May we unite our prayers with his prayers and with the prayers of the universal Church. 

Prayers of the faithful - feast of St Augustine - 28 August 2020

 Lord Jesus - you call us to learn more about our faith

Christ Jesus - you are a light shining in the world

Lord Jesus - you reached out to the poor and the oppressed

As we celebrate the feast day of St Augustine today, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father

1. For all of our governmental leaders - that hey will dedicate themselves to justice, authentic freedom, and the generous defense of the poor. 

2. That God give us the strength to discern his divine will and reject the false promises of this age.  

3. That God grant our Church leaders wisdom and courage as they lead the people of God.  

4. For those affected by natural disasters, especially Hurricane Laura here in the South and the wildfires out West.  

5. For blessings on all students, teachers, and administrators as they begin a new school year.

6. For an increase of vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated life.

7. For the sick and shut in, and for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed.  

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

Heavenly Father, we unite our prayers with the prayers of St Augustine today.  We present these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever.  AMEN. 

Prayer for the Diocesan Finance Council Meeting - Diocese of Jackson - 25 August 2020

 Lord God of holiness and mercy,

You have called us to be the servants to your Church and to your people.

As we meet today as the finance council of the Diocese of Jackson, 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 the spiritual and financial well-being of 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.  

30 de agosto de 2020 - Homilía de vigésimo segundo del Tiempo Ordinario - Ciclo A – Jeremías 20:7-9; Mateo 16, 21-27

       En las palabras del profeta Jeremías, él busca un señal de esperanza en medio de las amenazas de sus enemigos. Jeremías sienta que está abandonado por Dios. Pero, después de comunicar con gritos y lamentos a Dios, Jeremías puede decir: Yavė, tu estás conmigo.  Tu eres mi defensor muy poderoso. Contigo a mi lado, los que me persiguen - no me vencerán. En verdad, en la mitad de las luchas y en los desafíos que tenemos en la vida de fe, podemos gritar a Dios como el profeta Jeremías. Podemos repetir estas mismas palabras, cuando nos sentimos que las dificultades y los problemas de la realidad del mundo nos agobian.  Hay personas en nuestro mundo que viven constantemente preocupados por los acontecimientos adversos y por los obstáculos que se agarran sin un sentido de esperanza. Pero, no necesitamos vivir como eso.  Nuestro Señor Jesucristo nos invita a unir nuestros sufrimiento con sus sufrimientos. Él nos invita a comportarnos y a vivir como verdaderos hijos de Dios.  Él nos invita a tener confianza en su misericordia, en su amor abundante, en su gracia como un don para nosotros.  Como hijos de nuestro Señor, podemos confiar en nuestro Dios misericordioso, en nuestro Dios que cuida de nosotros.  El Señor está siempre con nosotros.  Debemos confiar en él, porque el Señor nos da las fuerzas cuando tenemos los sufrimiento y las dificultades de la vida.

       Juntos con el mensaje del profeta Jeremías, escuchamos en el Evangelio de San Mateo.   Jesús habla con sus discípulos con mucha sinceridad y mucha ternura.  Él les habla sobre sus sufrimientos y su muerte, pero también la presencia de su resurrección. Para muchos de los discípulos, este asunto puede parecer como un catástrofe o la fatalidad de su destino como el Hijo de Dios.  Pero, para nosotros, con la cruz de Jesucristo, con sus sufrimientos, tenemos nuestra salvación, tenemos la vida nueva.  El reino de Jesucristo no es un reino terrenal que existe solo en este mundo.  No es un reino terrenal donde todos sus seguidores iban a conseguir buenos puestos en su gobierno.  En sus enseñanzas, nuestro Señor trata de desmontarles que el reino de Dios es algo diferente.  El reino de Dios no es solamente terrenal - tiene otra dimensión invisible para el momento presente

       En una semana, celebramos el Día del Trabajo en los Estados Unidos, el 7 de septiembre.  Siempre celebramos este día el primer día del septiembre.  Pero este día tiene significado importante - es mas de un día de vacaciones, un día sin trabajo.  El Día del Trabajo nos da la oportunidad de ver cómo el trabajo en Estados Unidos coincide con los elevados ideales de nuestra tradición católica.  En la Iglesia Católica, los asuntos de paz y de justicia son importantes.   Nuestro reto en este Día del Trabajo es ponernos a la altura del desafío de la solidaridad planteado por Cristo en su proclamación del reino de Dios.  El Catecismo de nuestra Iglesia Católica nos enseña, "Los problemas socio-económicos sólo pueden ser resueltos con la ayuda de todas las formas de solidaridad: solidaridad de los pobres entre sí, de los ricos y los pobres, de los trabajadores entre sí, de los empresarios y los empleados, solidaridad entre las naciones y entre los pueblos.”  

       Para ser seguidores verdaderos de Cristo necesitamos negarnos a si mismo, tomar nuestra cruz, y seguirle.  A veces, necesitamos cambiar nuestras ideas sobre Jesús y sobre su reino.  Necesitamos mirar la realidad de nuestro mundo y poner los valores de nuestra fe.  Para tener solidaridad con nuestros hermanos y para tomar nuestra cruz, debemos vivir y proclamar los valores de nuestra fe.

Faith in the time of COVID-19

     I recently read an article in America Magazine, a Jesuit publication, about faith in these challenging times.  The author states that the pandemic raises medical, ethical, and logistical questions.  It raises questions of faith as well.  The author proposes several suggestions from the Ignatian sphere of Catholic spirituality.

      First, we are called to resist panic and fear.  We are to find God in the midst of our reality.  Panic and fear take us away from God.  We are to look into our faith and into our hearts, to continue to practice our faith.  

       Second, we are not to demonize others.  One thing we have learned through these past months is that we all react differently and we approach these challenges in our lives in different ways.  We are called to be respectful of others and to respect and protect the safety of others.  

        Third, we are called to care for the sick and to reach out to others in need.  Recently, I called a friend who is a doctor in Tupelo, who is going through the challenges of taking care of COVID-19 patients and seeing many of them suffer and die.  I promised her that I would pray for her and thanked her for her spirit of love and service during these challenging times.  

        Next, we are to pray.  There are many because of their underlying health issues and their vulnerability, they cannot physically return to mass.  Those who cannot physically return to mass can watch mass online and can unite their prayers with the prayers of the community of saints and the community of faith here on earth.  We can find creative ways to live out our faith even in these challenging times.

        Finally, we are to trust and remember that God is with us.  Jesus lived in a world where illness was even more serious and widespread, where lifespans are much shorter than they are now.  He had a presence with the people.  He lived with them in their need and in their suffering.  God is with us as well, including in circumstance that we do not quite understand.  God understands our fears and our worries.

        Blessings to all of you during these challenging times.  Prayers for all of you.  

 

28 August 2020 - Homily for Friday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time - Memorial of St Augustine of Hippo - Matthew 25:1-13

      Today’s parable from the Gospel of Matthew about the maidens is probably familiar to us, especially with its teaching that we should be prepared at all times since we do not know when Jesus will come again.  At one time or another in our lives, we probably can identify with the foolish, unprepared maidens when we have not been as prepared as we should have been.  We can remember those times when we procrastinate in life, putting something off to the last minute.  We are called to learn from those times we are not ready when we should be.  Those of us who put ourselves under the rule of God's kingdom as Christ's followers should always be ready and prepared to play our role in the on-going story of God's relationship to us.  

      As we hear about those maidens who were unprepared, we celebrate a saint today who is considered one of the most significant theologians in the history of our faith: St Augustine.  Born in the middle of the 4th century as the son of a very devout Christian mother, St Monica, and a pagan father, Augustine did not become a Christian until the age of 33 after living a very worldly life and after having followed many different philosophies.  Several years after converting to Christianity under the tutelage of the very influential Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, Augustine was ordained a priest, and then later he himself became Bishop of Hippo in North Africa.  Recently, I read for the second time the Confessions of St Augustine, one of the first autobiographies, and a very important account of his conversion story.  In the Confessions, Augustine writes: “And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.” Augustine worked tirelessly to bring others to the faith.  His theology has a lasting impact on our Church to this day.  We unite our prayers with the prayers of St Augustine today.  

26 August 2020 - Homily for Wednesday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time - Psalm 128

     I remember how my professor in seminary who taught courses on the Old Testament told us not to forget to preach on the first readings and the psalms from time to time.  We hear a very interesting psalm refrain today from psalm 128: “Blessed are those who fear the Lord.”  I don’t think we appreciate the way the Jewish people would have perceived fear.  It was not as much being afraid of punishment or retribution from God, but rather having a healthy respect for him. So what are some learnings we can take away from this psalm?  

First, fearing the Lord means to be in awe of his holiness, to give him complete reverence and to honor him as the God of great glory, majesty, purity and power.  For example, when God revealed himself to the Israelites at Mount Sinai with thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and with the loud blast of a trumpet blast,” they trembled in awe and wonder.  

Next, true fear of the Lord and respect for him should call us to a great faith.   True fear of the Lord calls us as disciples of Christ to place our faith and trust in him alone for salvation. Think about the reaction of the Israelites after they had crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground and saw the destruction of the Egyptian army by God.   In response, they feared the Lord and put their trust in him.  They grew in their faith in God. 

Also, fear of God calls us to greater obedience. If  indeed we fear the Lord, we will desire to follow his commandments and his law, to live according to his holy word and to turn away from sin. In the book of Exodus, on Mount Sinai, God inspired fear in the Israelites so that they would learn to turn away from sin and to obey his laws. 

As a missionary, I was attacked several times by feral dogs.  Thus, such dogs are something I fear.  I am afraid of being attacked by them and getting hurt by them.  I do think of fear of God in the same way.  I don’t fear being attacked by God like I was attacked by a feral dog, but I am in awe of his power and might, as the creator of the universe.  

25 August 2020 - homily for Tuesday of the 21st week in ordinary time - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 13-16

       So, for the last couple of weeks, in the weekday masses, we have been hearing from the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, reading that include a lot of very vivid and imaginative visions and prophesies for a people who were being thrown into exile in Babylon.  We are shifting this week to readings from St Paul in the New Testament, with those readings coming from the 2nd letter to the Thessalonians today and tomorrow. Thessalonica is a large city in Greece.  It held a Christian community founded by Paul.  Paul probably wrote to the Thessalonians from Corinth around 51-52 AD. In this letter, Paul addresses the 2nd coming of Jesus, telling them not to listen to false prophecies or rumors regarding Jesus’ return that would lead them astray.  Paul tells them to hold fast to the true teachings that have been passed down to them. 

      In this context, I want to mention King Louis IX of France, a French Catholic monarch who lived way back in the 13th century.  You would not think a 13th century saint would be at the forefront of controversy in modern America, but recently, some protestors tried to tear down the statue of King Louis IX that stands in front of an art museum in metropolitan St Louis Missouri.  The issue is that King Louis led a crusade against Muslims in North Africa and the Middle East. Yet, that is not the reason he was named a saint just a couple of decades after his death in 1270.  King Louis, by all accounts, was a man of faith who tried to rule as a Christian leader.  He lived a life of honesty and integrity. His reign in France is seen in history as a reign that tried to institute justice and peace after two kings who rule with violence and terror.  He founded hospitals, orphanages, libraries and churches. He often visited the sick and tended to people with leprosy.  He is one of the patron saints of the secular Franciscan order for his life of justice and outreach to the poor.  His outreach to the poor included distributing food on a daily basis and even inviting the poor to join him for meals, just as Jesus did. C. To me, both as a Christian and a human being, King Louis IX is a great example of faith.  We united our prayers with his prayers today.  

Reflection - St Louis of France (1214 - 1270) - feast day August 25

One of the images that stands out to me during the months of the pandemic, during the months of protests and social unrest that we have had in many parts of our country, is the image of a young priest from the Archdiocese of St Louis trying to protect the statue of St Louis of France from an angry group of protestors outside of the St Louis Art Museum.  The priest has a microphone in his hand.  He tells the protestors: you are all shouting questions at me and you want answers, but you need to stop shouting and yelling at me in order to hear what I have to say.   

My first impression of that scene of yelling and shouting, with demands to remove this statue of St Louis of France, is this:  Do those who want to remove this statue even know who King Louis IX of France was, since he was born more than 800 years ago in the year 1214?  Do they know anything about the times in which he lived? 

Having been to Spain six different times as a priest to study and to go on pilgrimage, I have learned a lot about that part of the world.  One fact that most Americans do not know: Muslims from North Africa invaded Spain in the year 711 and were not expelled until 1492 - that is eight centuries of foreign Muslim rule in a European country.  The Muslims tried invade France and the rest of the Europe during this time as well, but they were defeated in battle and were not successful in their efforts.  Yes, King Louis of France fought in the Crusades, but the Crusades have to be seen in the context of the trajectory of history and the context of its times.  We cannot judge history only based upon our own experiences and the little that we might know about that era.  

What is also said about King Louis IX: he was a man of faith who tried to rule as a Christian leader.  His reign in France is seen in history as a reign that tried to institute justice and peace after two kings who rule with violence and terror.  He founded hospitals, orphanages, libraries and churches. He often visited the sick and tended to people with leprosy.  He is one of the patron saints of the secular Franciscan order for his life of justice and outreach to the poor.  During Advent and Lent, he himself would bring meals to the poor and the hungry.  

Will erasing history solve the problems we have in society? Is it fair to let angry mobs to tear down our statues in the middle of the night?  I don’t think so.  But learning about history, about the triumphs, challenges, and mistakes of the past, that perhaps will help us in our own day.  And we think we know people and their story, but often times we do not.  Many you may not know that my first name of Lincoln is a common name in my family.  I am actually the fifth person in the Dall family with the name Lincoln, the first one being my great grandfather’s youngest brother, who worked on ships on the Great Lakes and who died in Chicago in 1890 at the age of 24. To this day, I don’t know how he died, if it was due to a shipwreck or due to illness.  My first and middle name, Lincoln Spencer, came from my grandfather’s first cousin, a man my dad greatly admired.  I had heard stories about him my entire life.  Yet, earlier this year, doing some genealogy research, I discovered that he had been a gold miner in Colorado at the end of the 19th century as a young man with other members of his family, something I did not know at all.  I was amazed and fascinated to learn that fact about him.  There is a lot we can learn from history.  I love learning about the saints.  If we open our hearts and try to learn from history and learn from the saints, it can help us greatly on our journey of faith.  Learning about history and historical figures can help us in our society as well.  

21 August 2020 - prayers of the faithful - Friday of the 20th week in ordinary time

 Lord Jesus -  you bring us new life - 

Christ Jesus - you call us to discipleship

Lord Jesus - you reach out to the poor in spirit and the lonely 

We present our prayer to God, confident in his love and mercy

1. For the Church: that we may keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and be encouraged by the faithfulness of our fellow Christians

2. For the grace of perseverance: that God will strengthen us in times of conflict and division so that we may remain faithful disciples

3. For teachers, staff and administrators as they start the school year: that God will give them wisdom, patience, and understanding for each student with whom they will work this year

4. For peace in our towns and cities and throughout our land: that the Holy Spirit will guide every heart to work untiringly to end violence and promote the safety and dignity of each person

5. For all who are in need, the homeless, the sick, those with addictions or mental illness. 

6. For all parishioners and loved ones who have died: that God will embrace them on their journey to eternal life.

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

God of mercy, as you inspired Pope Pius X to renew your Church, we ask you to renew all of us in spirit as we make these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever.  AMEN.  

21 August 2020 - Friday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time - Ezekiel 37:1-14

     We have been hearing readings from the prophet Ezekiel in our daily masses these last couple of weeks, readings that brought us a lot of vivid images.  However, I think the image of the bones coming to life in today’s reading is one of the most famous passages from Ezekiel.  How unforgettable is this image of a valley of dry bones coming to life after hearing the word of God. It does not exactly tell the timeframe of when this passage took place, but biblical scholars believe it took place about a year after the Babylonian exile.  The image of the bones coming to life is a message of new life and hope that the people in exile needed to hear.  Their city, their Temple, their society had suffered ruin and destruction.  They were now separated from their homeland and all that was important to them.  But, in the midst of their present harsh reality, there was new life ahead of them.  God did not abandone them.     

       In the early 20th century, three of the four popes were named Pius, so to me, it is difficult separating them and telling them apart.  Today, we celebrate the first of those popes named Pius in the 20th century - Pope Pius X. Installed as pope in 1904, and serving right after the influential Pope Leo XIII, Pius X served as pope for 11 years. I found it interesting that as a young priest, he helped his people serving a terrible cholera epidemic that spread through northern Italy in the 1870s - it is so interesting how the saints we celebrate relate to what we are going through in our own lives. He took as his motto as pope: To restore all things in Christ.  One of his important reforms along those lines was to encourage the frequent reception of holy communion, something that had gone of favor in the Church at the time.  To do that, he lowered the age of reception of first communion to the age of seven, seen as the age a child could reason between right and wrong and could understand the sacrament he was receiving.  He also started an important reform of canon law and the reform of Church music, including the revival of Gregorian chant. He also worked to combat the philosophies of modernism and relativism, with relativism being something that pervasive now in our own day.

       Every era needs renewal.  Every era has its own challenges and obstacles.  May we see hope and inspiration today in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel and in the life of Pope Pius X. 

24 August 2020 – homily for the 21st Sunday in ordinary time – Matthew 16:13-20

        Who am I?  Who do people say that I am?  Who do YOU say that I am?  What do you believe in your life of faith?  This gets to the heart of the questions that Jesus asks his followers today. 

         When we see Jesus in today’s Gospel, he’s in the midst of his ministry here on earth.  He and his disciples are going all over the countryside proclaiming the kingdom of God.  In our Gospel readings in recent weeks, we’ve seen Jesus speak to great crowds, performing the miracle of multiplying the loaves and the fish.  People have come to him for healing and change in their lives.  At this point, Jesus is wondering what the people have learned, how they perceive him.  So he asks the disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

         Put that question in the context of our own day.  When we meet someone for the first time, we wonder: “Who are you?”  And if you ask someone to tell you about himself, what that person says and does not say can be very revealing.  We can answer a question based on profession: I’m a teacher, a farmer, a lawyer, a prison guard.  We can answer based upon religion: I’m Catholic or I’m Jewish.  We can focus on relationships: I’m a father or a brother, a wife or a daughter.  We can focus on our geographic identity or ethic group: I’m from Pearl, or I’m Irish-American.  There are so many way we can identify ourselves – the list is endless. 

         Well, Jesus got a lot of answers about how the crowds identify him.  Some say he’s John the Baptist, while others see him as Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. 

         After Jesus’ death and resurrection, his followers spent centuries debating Jesus’ identity and what they really believed about him.  These followers struggled to understand how Jesus was both fully human and fully divine, a concept that is indeed difficult to comprehend.  They struggled to understand how God manifests himself in our world as a God of three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The beliefs of the early Church that developed after Jesus’ death and resurrection are reflected in the Apostles’ Creed.  Later, at the Council of Nicea that was called by the Emperor Constantine in 325, the early Church started writing the Nicene Creed, which we still profess today.  Professing this creed as what we believe as Catholics reflects our roots in the early Church, the faith passed down by the apostles and the early Church fathers and mothers.

         When Jesus asks the disciples bluntly and directly about what they believe about him, Simon Peter takes the lead, proclaiming with great enthusiasm: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  We are called to profess that same belief in our lives of faith here in the modern world, that Jesus is indeed the Savior of all the world who redeems us through his death and resurrection. 

         Who do we say Jesus is?  That is an important question.  But who do we say we are as a Church?  Avery Dulles was a Jesuit priest from here in the United States.  He spent a lot of his career as a university and seminary professor.  It is unusual for a priest who is not a bishop to become cardinal, but he was honored by Pope John Paul II by being named as cardinal in 2001.  One of his celebrated works is a book called Models of the Church.  I had chosen this as one of the five spiritual books that made an impact on my life when Deacon John and posted a video on that topic.  Dulles states that these models are essential aspects of the Church, that we don’t choose one and disregard the others.  According to Dulles, we as the Church are a mystical communion, united by the Holy Spirit, connected to God and to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are Sacrament, the visible sign of Christ in the world, a sign and instrument of God’s grace.  We are also servants, an instrument of social justice reaching out to the least in society just as Christ did.  We are also heralds of Good News, proclaiming the kingdom of God in the world and being evangelizers of Christ’s message.  We are also an institution of structure and order built upon the rock of Peter, on which Christ established his Church.  Finally, we are a community of disciples, a community of people learning how to follow Jesus, with Jesus as our model in the way we live out our lives.  All these models of Church are important to us in the way we identify as the people of God, as followers of Christ.  

I love when the Gospel asks us questions. Questions are an important part of our journey.  Deacon John was just telling me the other day that the questions we ask as we learn and grow in the faith are so important - crucial, actually.  Let the questions Christ asks us today help us to learn and grow.   

Bulletin reflection - Our New Reality - 20 August 2020

     You can imagine, that as the vicar general of the Diocese, I have to address a lot of questions these days from various parishes and priests, questions that we would not have thought about in “normal” times before the pandemic.  Is it safe to serve food at a youth group meeting?  Can we have family and friends come to a baptism, or just the parents and godparents?  Can a plan for a youth group trip next spring?  How many people can I have a meeting in the parish hall or in a meeting outside? 

       Our reality is certainly very different these days, isn’t it?  And in the midst of all these questions we get these days, we hear a couple of important questions in the Gospel today.  First, Jesus asks the disciples: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  Then, Jesus turns this into a more personal question, a question that each one of us needs to answer: “But who do you say that I am?” 

         We answer that question with our words and our actions.  We see in our world today how people are lashing out in anger and frustration in so many ways.  In the Diocese, as we are trying to address a lot of issues and situations that need to be fixed, I am always thankful for the priests who are willing to work to make things right and to find solutions.  I think all of us get frustrated at those who are very quick to point the finger and to show you what the problem is, but who do not what to be a part of problem-solving and resolving the problems.  We see this in the world today.  Solving the big problems that face us are going to take a lot of hard work and patience.  Answering this question of who Jesus is in our lives, that we giving a certain approach to life, that will give us certain values to follow.  

        May we look into our hearts today to see how Jesus would want us to answer that question: What do you say that I am?  

19 August 2020 – Wednesday of 20th week in Ordinary Time – Ezekiel 34:1-11

       Well, the first thing that hit me when I was looking at the readings and seeing the date - I just can’t believe it is in the middle of August already.  Ever since March when things shut down during the pandemic, we have been living these strange surreal lives, haven’t we?  Our normal lives and normal routines have been disrupted.  Most of the things we had planned were just thrown out the window.  For me, with a normally heavy workload, my work has just increased, not decreased.  And with a routine that is so out of wack, I guess a lot of us are struggling for direction and a foundation in our lives.  In the context of this pandemic reality, we hear about sheep and shepherds in a couple of our readings today. This is so relevant to what we are going through today in our lives, because more than ever, we need good shepherds and good leaders to lead us and guide us.  Jesus as the good shepherd is one of our strongest images of him.  In the Gospels, it talks about Jesus looking out at the people and having compassion for them, because he sees them as sheep without a shepherd. We hear in Ezekiel today not of good shepherds, but of shepherds who do not take care of their flock, who rather look for gaining advantage for themselves, not for the well-being of their sheep.  They enjoy the benefits of having a flock of sheep, drinking their milk and dressing themselves with their wool, but rather than be grateful and gracious to their flock, they are shown mistreatment in return. Ezekiel sees the shepherds of Israel, the rulers of the people, as neglecting their flock.  They do not care for the weak.  They do not seek out the lost.  They allow them to be preyed upon without coming to their defense.    

        In answer to this situation, Ezekiel says that God will call his shepherds to account and will become their shepherd himself, looking after his flock and keeping it in his loving view.  We need good shepherds in society, for sure, even in normal circumstances, but especially now during these challenging times. We need good shepherds in our Church and in our government. However, in addition, we need good shepherds in many facets of society: good parents, good teachers, good medical personnel, good first responders.  May we challenge our leaders in society to be good shepherds. May we challenge ourselves to be good shepherds as well. 

Flocknote reflection on Gratitude

 “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”  GK Chesterton (1874 - 1936)

“Remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, look forward to the future with confidence.”  St John Paul II (1920 - 2005) 

“Gratitude is riches.  Complaint is poverty.”  Doris Day (1922 - 2019)

Some of you may have seen on Facebook that Monday was National Black Cat Appreciation Day.  I posted a photo of my black cat Mary Woodward.  There seems to be a holiday commemorating just about everything.  Some people see black cats as bad luck.  Many animal shelters say that black cats are some of the hardest animals to place in homes.  So, I think that Black Cat Appreciation Day is trying to combat that myth.  I have not had a lot of pets in my life, so when the religious education coordinator of the parish in Tupelo found this little black cat in a bush in her back yard, she decided that I needed a companion.  I have had Mary Woodward the cat for seven years now.  She and Blessing have been good company for me as a priest.  I know a lot of you have pets, so you can relate to the way pets can be members of our families.  

It is good for us to show our appreciation and gratitude. In fact, showing gratitude and giving thanks are a part of our faith.  These three quotes that I have posted above are good meditations on gratitude.  As a society, I think that sometimes we don’t show gratitude enough, that we can have a sense of entitlement and not express our thanks to others.  I mentioned at the masses last weekend how I travel to the parishes in the towns of Newton and Paulding for mass once a month.  Even though they only have that one opportunity for mass in the month, they are very grateful for that once-a-month visit.  I remember when I was pastor in Tupelo, one parishioner was very angry that I did not have mass at 8:00 on Sunday morning because I had to help out at a neighboring parish at that time, even though we had daily mass every weekday, and four other weekend masses.  That was nine masses a week we offered!  But because she liked the early Sunday morning mass and that was no longer a possibility, she expressed her anger with me with some very harsh words.  

Even though this time of pandemic has been hard on all of us, perhaps it would be good for us to count our blessings.  During these months of pandemic, even though we have been physically separated from people in a lot of ways, I give thanks for the way we have been able to connect with others in different ways.  We had never streamed our masses on Facebook prior to the pandemic.  I had never attended a Zoom meeting.  Yet, now those things are ways I connect with others.  

I give thanks for all of you, our parishioners.  I give thanks for our faith.  I give thanks for our staff and our volunteers who may ministry at our parish of St Jude possible, even during the challenges of the pandemic.

Blessings to all of you.  Have a blessed week.  Father Lincoln.