4/5/2015 – Easter Sunday – John 20:1-9 -

      Our masses this weekend are a very important moment in our Church’s liturgical year and in our journey as Christians.  We have been preparing for many weeks all during the Holy Season of Lent for this day – that long period of preparation shows how important this day is to us.  We celebrate the risen Lord today – we celebrate Christ as our Savior and Redeemer.

       I always enjoy looking at the history of words and traditions that we have in our faith, so I wondered: Where does the word “Easter” come from?  The word “Easter” comes from an Old English word that means the “East”. Think of the sun that rises from the East, bringing us light, warmth, hope, and a new day.  The sun rising in the East is a symbol of the Risen Christ – Christ who is the light of our world, the light of our lives.  Last night, at the Easter Vigil mass, we lit the Paschal candle in the darkness of the night from the Easter fire.  The light of the Paschal candle, the light of Jesus, entered the darkness of the church, the darkness of the tomb.  The Paschal candle will be kept by the altar area during the 50 days of the Easter season.   Christ the light is indeed with us in a special way during this time of the liturgical year.

       When we were reading the Passion of the Lord from the Gospel of John in our Good Friday liturgy, I was drawn to the words that recounted how the Virgin Mary, Mary of Clopas, Mary of Magdala, and the beloved disciple John all were there at the cross as Jesus was crucified.  In our Easter Gospel message, it is the same Mary Magdala who comes to the tomb early in the morning, presumably to anoint Jesus’ body.  When she finds the tomb empty, she runs off to tell Simon Peter and the beloved disciple about what she had just found.  Were these disciples afraid of what they had seen?  They had witnessed the death of Jesus – their friend, their Savior, their great teacher.  They had witnessed his violent death on the cross.  Did they think about the heavy stone that would block them entry into the tomb? Did they think of the other obstacles they would encounter?  Of the Roman soldiers who might arrest them or put them to death?  The answer is probably yes.  They were probably very frightened by what they had just seen.  They were probably very aware of the obstacles and dangers they themselves would face.  They could have fled into hiding.   But they chose not to.  And while we, as modern day Christians, have an understanding both in our hearts and our minds what the resurrection of Jesus is about, Mary of Magdala and the beloved disciple were just getting a glimpse of what the resurrection might be about.  Yet, their fears and obstacles did not prevent them from believing in Jesus.  They did not prevent them from being loyal to him even as he lay in the tomb.  The beloved disciple still had not taken everything in, still had not understood what had happened, but Gospel reports that “he saw and believed”.

       Sometimes our actions say a lot.  I was very edified by what I saw in our parish this Lenten season.  I saw many of you taking your Lenten promises very seriously.  We had great attendance at our daily masses and Stations of the Cross and other Lenten devotions.  Beyond that, I feel a really good energy in our parish right now. At the end of this month, we will mark the one year anniversary of the tornado that tore through our city and that did a lot of damage to our church and to many of our parishioners.  So many parishioners have worked so hard to make the needed repairs and to get our church back on track.  The two weeks leading up to Holy Week, there was a big effort to refresh our church with paint and cleaning and new floor, and the results have been amazing.  It shows the great love and dedication so many people have for our parish.  Living out our faith, living out the joy of the resurrection, and being a part of the community – that is a big part of the Easter message.  The first thing Mary Magdala did when she encountered the empty tomb was to go out and to and tell the other members of the community.   Our Catholic faith has never been about living it out individually or in isolation – it is about being a part of the community.  Think about how the resurrection message of Easter is calling out to you today, how it is calling out to you to be a more involved part of our community.  Pope Francis wants us to be a warm, inviting, diverse and joy-filled Church where all are welcome to be disciples of Christ, where we in turn go out and make disciples, where we proclaim the kingdom of God to all.  And that is what we want to be here at St James.  This Easter morning, Christ has conquered death, he grants us new life, he grants us his peace.   Let us be a part of this Easter message of joy!

4/4/2015 - Easter Vigil Mass – Mark 16:1-7

      Our liturgy this evening began in darkness.  The darkness of this evening represents all the darkness in the world, all the darkness in the universe, all the darkness in our human hearts.  But there is power and hope in the darkness.  In the darkness of this evening, a light is struck.  The darkness is broken by Christ the light. 

       The symbolism of a light in the midst of darkness speaks to us today at our Easter Vigil mass.  As the Easter fire spread throughout our community with the lighting of our individual candles, as the Easter proclamation is sung while the Paschal candle came front and center in the church, we saw how the light of Christ enters our lives and enters our world.  The light that God sends into the world is present in different ways that we hear in our readings tonight.  God sent his light into the world when he created it.  God lit the way for the people of Israel to be liberated from slavery and oppression.   God sends us life giving water to refresh us and bring us new life through the message of the prophet Isaiah and through the passion, death, and resurrection of his Son.

       Tonight, we celebrate the Easter mysteries in a special way.  Not only do all of us renew our baptismal promises, but we celebrate the baptism and entry into our Church of our two catechumens Mark and Lee.  We celebrate 3 adult Catholics who are being confirmed tonight and 5 Christians from other denominations who are entering into full communion in our Catholic faith.  And we celebrate first Holy Communion with a group of children and an adult.  This is an exciting evening for all of us as we celebrate our Catholic faith and the resurrection of our Lord.

         From the beginning of time, human beings have searched for meaning and have searched for something greater than themselves.  The search can bring us some wonderful, unexpected joys in our lives.  But, unfortunately, that search can also lead us to some dark, foreboding places as well.  Tonight, we know that this search that we undertake as Catholics is to lead us to only one place: to the salvation, redemption, and new life that we have in our Lord.  The saints have accompanied us on our journey this evening and we invoke their presence through the litany of saints.  The saints are here in their prayers and intercessions, uniting with us around the Table of the Lord on this joyful night.  With us tonight are saints who accompanied Jesus during his earthly journey – John the Baptist, Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and Mary of Magdala.  With us tonight are saints who were preachers of the word: Paul, Francis of Assisi, and Pope John XXIII. With us tonight are holy men and women who lived their faith in the reality of their world: Teresa of Avila, Benedict, and Elizabeth Ann Seton.  We unite our prayers with those of the saints and we ask for their continued help on our journey.

       The Easter Vigil mass fills our hearts with joy tonight with the light of the paschal candle, the smell of the incense and the sounds of the bells, the joyful Easter hymns sung by the choir, and the Gospel message of Christ’s resurrection, of the ladies who come to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body only to find the tomb empty.  The stone has been rolled back from the entrance to the tomb.  Jesus has risen!  May the joy of the Easter season that fills our hearts help us remove those stone that are holding us down.  But tonight is not an end.  As we continue our journey through the Easter season in the upcoming weeks, may we continue to allow the Easter mysteries to convert our heart and live in our daily lives.   

Triduum at St James Catholic Church in Tupelo, Mississippi

The Triduum at St James Catholic Church in Tupelo:

Many parishioners came to our commemoration of Holy Thursday yesterday, which was a great show of faith by our Catholic community in Tupelo. Here is a reminder of the rest of our Triduum and Easter liturgies. We hope to see all of you there.

Friday - April 3 - 
12:10 pm - Stations of the cross in English
2:00 pm - Live stations of the cross on the Church grounds as dramatized by our youth and our Hispanic community - in English and in Spanish - followed by Good Friday liturgy in Spanish.
7:00 pm - Good Friday liturgy and veneration of the cross in English
8:00 pm - Service of the 7 last words of Jesus in Spanish - in Shelton Hall in the Catholic Life Center.

Saturday - April 4
8:00 pm - Easter Vigil Mass, followed by a reception to welcome the RCIA candidates and catechumens who entered the Church this evening.

Sunday - April 5
8:00 am and 10:30 am - Easter morning masses in English.
1:00 pm - Easter mass in Spanish.
2:30 pm - Easter egg hunt for all children of our parish - sponsored by our St James Hispanic community.

Blue lights for autism awareness - Thursday - April 2, 2015

We had blue lights in front of our church yesterday in solidarity for autism awareness in collaboration with the city of Tupelo and the other churches of our community.

4/3/2015 – Viernes Santo – Juan 18,1-19,42

       Desde los primeros año de la Iglesia, en la liturgia de Viernes Santo, no se celebraba la Eucaristía – no hay una misa. Solamente tenemos una celebración de la Palabra y la Comunión.  La Iglesia está de luto.  Es el día de la Cruz.  Es el día que los fieles dan veneración a la cruz de Jesucristo.

Por eso, el Altar está vacío: sin mantel, sin velas, sin el Cuerpo de Cristo.

       Sin duda que este vacío del altar nos ha llamado la atención. Es la imagen de nuestra soledad y nuestros sufrimientos y nuestro viaje con Cristo a su cruz.  Al escuchar hoy la narración de la Pasión y la muerte de Cristo del Evangelio de San Juan, podemos reflexionar: ¿Cómo es posible que Dios permita que su Hijo amado tiene estos sufrimientos y esta pena?
  ¿Si Dios nos ama, por qué permite que nosotros lloremos hundidos en el sufrimiento, cuando Dio, que es todopoderoso y omnipotente, puede evitarnos las lágrimas, la tristeza y el dolor?
  El mismo Jesucristo, el Hijo Unigénito, el Amado del Padre, se hizo hombre como nosotros. Como hombre, Cristo conoció el hambre, la sed, el cansancio, la injusticia, la soledad.  El tuvo que sufrir la muerte como parte de su condición humana.


         En la pasión de Cristo nos encontramos diversas actitudes y emociones: la ira, la traición, la cobardía, la injusticia, la arrogancia, los celos, la manipulación, y el egoísmo. Por eso, decimos que en la realidad de la cruz de Cristo, podemos unir la realidad y las emociones que tenemos en  nuestra propia cruz, porque la cruz de Cristo es la cruz de la condición humana.  La muerte es una parte de nuestra condición humana.  El pecado es una parte de nuestra condición humana.  Pero, la muerte de Cristo es diferente - es una muerte victoriosa porque vence a la muerte en su propio terreno.  Hoy, por supuesto, conmemoramos una muerte dolorosa, injusta y cruel hasta el extremo.   Pero, es una muerte con sentido. Es una muerte que cambió todo en la historia del mundo.  Con su muerte, Cristo salvó a la humanidad y nos preparó para nuestro reencuentro con Dios, para nuestro unión con Dios.


         Jesús en la cruz nos redime.   Jesús en la cruz nos rescata de la esclavitud del pecado.  Jesús en la cruz perdona nuestras culpas y nos da la salvación.  En este acto de amor tan grande, que Jesús realiza sin esperar nada a cambio, nuestro agradecimiento debe nacer de nuestra libertad y amor.


         Si Cristo nos ha amado hasta el extremo de darnos vida, hemos de amarlo poniendo en su servicio todo cuanto somos y tenemos.  Por eso, la cruz es una parte esencial de nuestra identidad como cristianos.
  Esa cruz da sentido a nuestra vida y a nuestra muerte. Hoy, hay la muerte y la cruz.  Hoy, hay la veneración de la cruz de Cristo. Pero, no es toda la historia.  Mañana, viene la resurrección y la vida eterna.  Es el misterio pascual de Cristo.  Es nuestra nueva vida en El.  

2 de abril de 2015 - Jueves Santo - Éxodo 12: 1-8, 11-14, Juan 13: 1-15

       Desde el Miércoles de Ceniza, caminamos en las semanas de Cuaresma.  Hoy, entramos en un nuevo movimiento del año litúrgico de la Iglesia: el Triduo.  Cada liturgia en estos tres días del Triduo nos ayuda a entrar más profundamente en el misterio pascual de la muerte y la resurrección de Cristo.  Hoy, conmemoramos la noche cuando Jesús celebró la cena de Pascua con sus discípulos.   

       Conmemoramos la manera que Dios estableció la tradición de la Pascua con los israelitas en su liberación de la esclavitud en Egipto.  Dios anuncia a los hijos de Israel – “Este día será para ustedes un memorial y lo celebrarán como fiesta en honor del Señor. De generación en generación celebrarán esta festividad, como institución perpetua.”  En efecto, los judíos modernos recuerden y recrean ese evento en la cena de Pascua que conmemoran hoy. Al igual que los israelitas que fueron esclavizados en Egipto, nosotros fuimos llamados al comienzo de cuaresma para mirar las cosas que nos esclavizan en nuestra vida y que son obstáculos para nosotros en nuestra llamada para vivir como hijos de la luz.  Hicimos promesas a Dios al comienzo de cuaresma – en esta pulsera de goma que tenemos - que anunció "sacrificium" - "sacrificio".  A veces nos mantuvimos estos compromisos todos los días de cuaresma.  Otras veces, tuvimos problemas y desafíos con nuestras promesas. Terminamos con nuestras liturgias cuaresmales y llegamos hoy al monumento del Jueves Santo de la Última Cena.  Esperamos que los deseos y el hambre y la sed que hemos mantenido en nuestros corazones durante nuestro viaje de cuaresma nos acompañan esta tarde a nuestra celebración de los misterios pascual.

      En la Pascua original, los israelitas tenían que sacrificar un cordero sin mancha, para mojar una rama de hisopo en la sangre del cordero, para poner una mancha de la sangre en los dinteles y jambas de la casa, y para comer el cordero en una comida ritual.  El sacrificio de Pascua no es completo con la matanza del cordero, sino cuando los judíos comen su carne en su comida conmemorativa.  En el nuevo pacto y alianza que Jesús estableció con sus discípulos en su última cena, con su muerte y su resurrección, Jesús se convierte en el eterno sacrificio que hacemos cada vez que celebramos la misa juntos.  Los israelitas consumieron la carne del cordero – y nosotros recibimos el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Cristo en la cena eucarística – el Cuerpo y la Sangre del Cordero de Dios.

        El ritual en el que Jesús lava los pies hoy nos acompaña en nuestra celebración eucarística.  Jesús no sólo lava los pies a los doce representantes de nuestra comunidad esta noche – Jesús se lava simbólicamente todos nuestros pies.  Tal vez es difícil para aceptar este papel -  que le permita a Jesús servirnos – para que El entra en nuestras vidas y cambia nuestros corazones.  Tal vez hay resistencia, independencia, caprichos, y complacencia que nos mantenemos aparte de Jesús, que nos impiden en esta experiencia de lavar nuestros pies y quitar nuestros pecados.  El papel de Jesús como siervo tienen un desafío y un mandato también: “Les he dado ejemplo, para que lo que yo he hecho con ustedes, también ustedes lo hagan”.  Cristo nos dice: “Amen los unos a los otros como yo les he amado".  Amar a los demás no significa sólo cuando es conveniente y cuando se siente bien y cómodo. Amar a los demás significa que necesitamos salir de nuestra zona de confort y nuestras nociones preconcebidas.  Estamos llamados a ser servidores y lavar los pies de nuestro prójimo cada día en nuestro viaje como discípulos.  Hoy estamos llamados a sentir el poder del don que Cristo nos da, para sentir el mandato de la misión que nos da en confianza y esperanza.  Hoy, tenemos los pies y los corazones lavados y almas alimentadas por el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Cristo.  Hoy es una preparación para celebrar el misterio de su pasión y resurrección en los días del Triduo que vienen. 

4/2/2015 – Holy Thursday – Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, John 13:1-15

       Since Ash Wednesday, we have been journeying through the Holy Season of Lent.  Today, we enter into a new movement and rhythm of our Church’s liturgical year: the Triduum.  Each liturgy within the three days of the Triduum helps us to enter more deeply into the Lord’s Paschal mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection.

        As we commemorate the evening when Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples, we hear how the Lord establishes the Passover tradition with the Israelites whom he set the free from slavery in Egypt.   God announces to the Israelites - “This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate.”  And indeed, modern Jews today remember and recreate that event in the Passover meals they commemorate to this day.  Like the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt, we were called at the beginning of our Lenten journey to look at those things that enslaved us and that kept us from living in the true freedom as children of the light.  We made promises and commitments to God as we wore an wristband during Lent that announced “sacrificium” – “sacrifice”.  Sometimes we kept those promises and commitments – other times we struggled and broke them.  As our Lenten liturgies come to a close, we come today to the Holy Thursday memorial of the Last Supper.  Hopefully, the desires and the hunger and the thirst that we have held in our hearts all during our Lenten journey brings us hope and anticipate this evening as we get ever closer to our celebration of the Easter mysteries.

        At the original Passover, the Israelites were to sacrifice an unblemished lamb, to dip a branch of hyssop in the blood of the lamb, to put a smudge of the blood on the lintels and doorpost of the house, and to eat the lamb in a ritual meal.   The Passover sacrifice was not completed with the killing of the lamb, but rather when its flesh was consumed in their commemorative meal.  In the new covenant that Jesus established with his disciples at his Last Supper, with his death and resurrection, Jesus becomes the eternal sacrifice that we make each time we celebrate mass together.  The Israelites consumed the flesh of the lamb – we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in our Eucharistic meal.

        The ritual in which Jesus washes our feet today accompanies our Eucharistic meal.  Jesus today not only washes the feet of the 12 representatives of our community tonight – he symbolically washes all of our feet.  Perhaps it is difficult to have him wash our feet, to allow him to serve us, to enter our lives, and to change our hearts.  Perhaps there is resistance, independence, whims, and complacency that keep us apart from Jesus, that keeps us from allowing him to wash our feet and wash away our sins.  Jesus’ role as a servant to us today does not keep him from challenging us: “Love one another as I have loved you.”   Loving others doesn’t mean just when it is convenient and when it feels warm and fuzzy.  Loving others means bursting out of our comfort zone and our preconceived notions.   We are called to be servants and foot washers ourselves as we live out our discipleship each day.  Today we are called to feel the power of the gift that Christ gives us, to feel the mission mandate he gives us with trust and hope.   With washed feet and hearts and souls fed by his Body and Blood, we ready ourselves to celebrate the mystery of his passion and resurrection in the days to come.