11/8/2016 - Tuesday of the 32nd week in Ordinary Time - Luke 17:7-10

       Today’s parable is about a master and his servant, but what it is really about is our relationship with God. What I believe Jesus is trying to say today is that any good thing we do for God and his glory is very small compared to what he has done for us and for humanity.  We are not called do what we do for God in expectation of gratitude and rewards in return.  We are the ones called to have an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving and humility. Common preface IV from the mass for weekdays states:  “For, although you have no need of our praise, yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift, since our praises add nothing to your greatness but profit us for salvation through Christ our Lord”.  If we live out our lives of discipleship in gratitude and graciousness, we know that God is not in debt to us, that God does not owe us anything.  On this election day, I remember what President John F Kennedy, a practicing Catholic, famously challenged us to do in his inaugural address in 1961: And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” What great words we can apply to our lives of faith.  May all of us, both as individuals and as a community, honor God with our life of faith and with our service.”  

11/9/2016 - Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome - Lectionary 671 - Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12

      Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.  There are four major basilicas in Rome: St Peter, St Paul, St Mary Major, and St John Lateran. It seems like that St Peter seems to get more attention and glory when compared to the other basilicas. However, it is St John Lateran Basilica in Rome that is the oldest and the highest ranking of those four basilicas. St John Lateran is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, the official ecclesiastical seat of the Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome. St John Lateran Basilica is also called the Church of Holy Savior or the Church of St. John Baptist. In ancient Rome this was the church where everyone was baptized.  St John Lateran is the oldest church in the West, built in the time of the Emperor Constantine and consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324.

       Our first reading today from Ezekiel gives us the vision of a new temple, with life-giving water from from the temple. We know that through Israel’s history, they chose to leave God’s path many different times.  While in exile, Ezekiel responds to God’s call to become his prophet. Ezekiel communicates his prophetic visions to the people of Israel, calling them back to the Lord. Ezekiel makes many different sacrifices in order to follow this prophetic call. In our reading today, Ezekiel’s vision foresees the glory of the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, when the Jews will be able to return back to Jerusalem from their exile.  

       Our celebration of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica today speaks to us about the importance of our parishes as places of community and worship. Our buildings and the Body of Christ that lives within them are important symbols, as is the symbol of each believer being a holy temple where the Holy Spirit lives within.  As Ezekiel and the other prophets suffered and worked for the building up of God’s kingdom, may we continue to be living stones in God’s kingdom as we celebrate this historic basilica of Rome today, our Mother Church. 

11/6/2016 - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 20:27-38

      A funeral home asked a young priest if he would have a graveside service for a homeless man who had no family or friends. The funeral director explained that it was a brand new cemetery out in the countryside; this man was the first to be buried there. The young priest did not know this area very well.  As he drove out into the countryside, trying to follow the directions given to him, he became lost. He couldn’t find his location on the GPS.  There was no one around where he could ask directions. He was relieved when he found the cemetery about an hour later. The back hoe was there and the crew was taking a break. The hearse and the people from the funeral home were nowhere around. The new priest apologized to the workers for being so late.  As he looked into the open grave, it appeared that the vault containing the casket was already in place. He asked if the workers would gather around him in prayer to pay their respects.  He said he would not keep them long.  The workers gathered around. The young priest poured out his heart in his prayers.  A couple of the workers voiced their approval, saying “Praise the Lord,” and “Alleluia.”  When the short prayer service was over, the young priest thanked the workers and started to walk to his car.  He overheard one of the workers say: “I have never experienced anything like that in my life.  And I’ve been installing septic systems for more than 20 years!”  

   Thankfully I have never made the mistake of giving a graveside service for a sceptic tank, at least not that I know of. Today’s readings getting us to thinking about the resurrection and eternal life, which is appropriate during November, the month of remembrance, and with just a few weeks before we begin a new liturgical year.  We’ve just celebrated All Saints Day and All Souls Day, lifting up our prayers for the faithful departed and for those souls in the process of purification in purgatory. As Christians, we place our hope in the resurrection, in the eternal life we have in Christ, so we might ask ourselves: Why would Jesus get questions about the resurrection and eternal life from his fellow Jews?  We hear a lot about the Pharisees and the Sadducees in Scripture, but perhaps we don’t know a lot of background about them. The Pharisees were a religious group that did not have political ambition.  They accepted both the Torah and the prophets, but they also relied heavily on the Tradition that was passed down to them, just as in our Catholic faith Tradition is important to us as well.  Observing the letter of the law was important to the Pharisees. They placed their hope in the coming of the Messiah. Even though the word “resurrection” does not appear in the Torah, their Sacred Scripture, thoughts supporting that concept are found there, so the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead. 

      The Pharisees were different than the Sadducees in many aspects.  They were a group of wealth and power.  With nearly all the priests being members of the Sadducees, the Sadducees controlled the Temple worship. The Sadducees only accepted the Pentateuch - the first 5 books of Hebrew Scripture - as authoritative.  They rejected the oral tradition accepted by the Pharisees and did not give as much importance to the teachings of the prophets.   The Sadducees did not believe in the coming of the Messiah.  In addition, they rejected the idea of the resurrection, because it was not found directly in the Torah. So, the Sadducees are the ones who question the idea of the resurrection to Jesus, posing this really absurd situation to Jesus, asking him to explain it.  The resurrection is such an important part of what we believe in our Catholic faith.  We profess this belief in different ways in the prayers at mass, such as in the memorial acclamation when we profess: “We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection, until you come again.” So even though we don’t question the resurrection the way the Sadducees do in today’s Gospel, perhaps we also are not living fully in the light of the resurrection in our daily lives here on earth. All of us as Catholics can name a lot of martyrs who have died for our faith. We can name those who have done great things for the faith.  But as St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta and St Therese of the Little Flower have reminded us many times, doing the little things in our daily lives as acts of love and charity flowing out of our faith are what will mark us as Christians. I think of those who are always there working in the kitchen in the CLC, lovingly preparing meals for whatever event we have. I think of the little army of worker bees who come and clean the church every Sunday afternoon once the Spanish mass is over. There was a young man from our Hispanic community who almost single-handedly planted all those juniper bushes in the hot sun under the bridge to the CLC to help fight off the erosion of that hill. The resurrection of Christ can be present in our lives in a lot of ways. 

      And the resurrection of Christ can be present to us in a brave action of hope. Back in 1982, Vice President George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, who had served as the head of the government of Soviet Union for 18 years. Since the Soviet Union does not exist as a country anymore, many of our youth may not realize that as a Communist country, the Soviet Union did not allow any type of public religious expression. Yet, as the funeral was coming to an end, Bush was touched by what he saw.  Brezhnev’s widow, Viktoria, stood by the coffin.  As the soldiers touched the lid in order to close it, Mrs. Brezhnev reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest.  What an amazing act of Christian courage and hope this was in a country where practicing the Christian faith was illegal.  In this action, she expressed the hope that this earthly life was not the end, but rather that there would be an eternal life that is promised to us by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this act of making the sign of the cross, Mrs. Brezhnev was placing her hope that Jesus would have mercy on her husband’s soul. May all of us place our hope in the resurrection.  

St James Catholic Church Tupelo - #iGiveCatholic

St James Catholic Church in Tupelo will participate in #iGiveCatholic to raise funds to pave the parking lot on our church grounds.

#iGiveCatholic is the first-ever online giving day for the Catholic community. It is a call to share of our blessings with the Church and those the Church helps and supports in our communities. It will take place on Tuesday, November 29, 2016.

This year, #iGiveCatholic is being celebrated by 6 Catholic parishes in the southeast region: The Archdiocese of New Orleans, Diocese of Austin, Diocese of Baton Rouge, Diocese of Biloxi, Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, and Diocese of Jackson.

Stay tuned for more information!!!!!

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1 de noviembre de 2016 - Todos los Santos - Apocalipsis 7:2-4, 9-14, Mateo 5:1-12a

      Al acercarnos al fin del año litúrgico de la Iglesia, hoy celebramos la solemnidad de Todos los Santos.  Algunos de los adultos de nuestra parroquia me dijeron que no aprendieron mucho sobre los santos en su niñez. Ellos conocen que los santos existen, pero no los estudiaron tanto. Afortunadamente, con el Concilio Vaticano Segundo, con el énfasis en aprender más sobre la Iglesia de los Apóstoles y la historia de la Iglesia, hay mas interés en los santos en nuestra época.  Por lo tanto, cuando pensamos en la celebración de los santos de hoy, podríamos pensar en aquellos santos canonizados o beatificados por nuestra Iglesia.  Pero, la celebración de los santos es mas amplio.  En el Día de Todos los Santos, celebramos a todos los cristianos bautizados que han muerto y que ahora están con Dios en el cielo en la gloria eterna.

      Siempre es interesante para escuchar el Evangelio del Día de Todos los Santos: las Bienaventuranzas del Evangelio de Mateo.   Cuando pensamos en la santidad, podríamos pensar en los Diez Mandamientos y las otras leyes de Dios que debemos seguir como discípulos de Cristo.  Y cuando pensamos en los valores de la Buena Nueva de Cristo, las Bienaventuranzas no son lo primero que viene a nuestra mente.  Pero al igual que nuestra parroquia tiene una declaración de misión, las Bienaventuranzas también pueden ser la declaración de misión que necesitamos seguir como cristianos.  Somos bendecidos, felices y afortunados cuando seguimos los valores de las Bienaventuranzas, porque demuestran que Dios el centro de nuestra vida.  Los santos vivían las Bienaventuranzas en sus vidas en muchas maneras diferentes. Somos pobres de espíritu cuando nos damos cuenta de que a través de nuestras debilidades humanas necesitamos la ayuda y el apoyo de Dios, necesitamos a Dios en el centro de nuestras vidas.  Somos mansos en el sentido del Evangelio cuando nos acercamos a nuestro prójimo con ternura, compasión y cuidado, siendo conscientes de sus necesidades y conscientes de nuestra conexión como hermanos en Cristo.  Tenemos hambre y sed de justicia cuando tratamos a nuestro prójimo con dignidad y respeto, cuando trabajamos para asegurar esta dignidad y respeto, incluso si tenemos que hacer sacrificios.  Somos misericordiosos cuando extendemos la misericordia de Dios, la compasión y el perdón a nuestro prójimo, misericordiosos con ellos en el sentido de que Dios Padre es misericordioso con nosotros.  Las Bienaventuranzas describen las actitudes y los valores que debemos tener como discípulos de Cristo. Los santos vivían estos valores también. Su testimonio y sus intercesiones nos ayudan a esforzarnos por alcanzar la perfección de estos valores de la Buena Nueva.

       Nuestra lectura del Libro de Apocalipsis nos da la visión de San Juan de los santos en la gloria, unificada con Dios en su reino: "una muchedumbre tan grande, que nadie podía contarla. Eran individuos de todas las naciones y razas, de todos los pueblos y lenguas. Todos estaban de pie, delante del trono y del Cordero; iban vestidos con una túnica blanca; llevaban palmas en las manos.”  La celebración del Día de Todos los Santos hoy nos recuerda que estamos llamados a formar parte de esta muchedumbre de santos cuyos números son tan grandes. Recordamos la comunidad de los santos de hoy.  Damos gracias a Dios por la comunidad de los santos.  También oramos por su ayuda e intercesiones.

11/2/2016 - All Souls Day - Wisdom 3:1-9, Romans 3:6-9,

       I was recently listening to a reflection on All Souls Day on the Vatican Radio Station by Monsignor Peter Fleetwood of the Archdiocese of Liverpool in England. He saw the Feast of All Souls Day not only as a time of remembrance, but also a time for us to respond to the grief, sadness, and loss that we have in our hearts at the death of a loved one. Indeed, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and the entire month of November is a special time of the year when dedicate time and prayer to the memory of our dearly departed loved ones. When one of our loved ones departs this world, we still miss them.  We do not entirely get used to this new reality.  Our liturgies in the Church during this month of November recognize the very real need to remember and commemorate our deceased loved ones.  

       Today’s celebration of All Souls Day is based on the theological basis that some of those who have departed from this world have not been perfectly cleansed from their sins or have not fully atoned for their past transgressions.  These souls are in purgatory until they complete a process of cleansing and purification. We assist those souls through our prayers, through our works of mercy and charity, and through the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. But rather than seeing purgatory in a negative way, we are to see purgatory as a very positive aspect of our relationship with God, since with these sins and transgression not yet purged from their souls, these souls not yet ready for unification with our Lord.  

       Our readings on All Souls Day remind us that God’s grace touches our lives in different ways.  The Book of Wisdom was written in the first century BC.  It reflects the belief in the afterlife that was developing in the Jewish community of that era.  Many people of that day thought that an earthly death meant the end point for that person, but the author of Wisdom states that these souls are still alive in the eternal life they have in God.  They are in the hands of God, where he will take care of them.  By the trials and sufferings they went through in their lives on earth, they souls were proved worthy by God’s grace of immortality in the next life with God.  Paul reaffirms this, by asserting that our baptism in Christ unifies us and makes us one in his Body and Blood, making us into new beings who are free sin, rising to holiness in life. Reaffirming the thoughts of the author of Wisdom, Paul sees the grace of God working in us bringing us to a newness of life that will live forever, to the immortal destiny we have in Christ. United with the community of saints that we celebrated yesterday on All Saints Day, we pray for the faithful departed today, especially for the souls in purgatory, as we are one with them in our common faith. 

Reflexión - Los Fieles Difuntos - Sabiduría 3:1-9, Romanos 6:3-9

 Hoy, conmemoramos todos los fieles difuntos.  Con esta conmemoración, reconocemos que nuestra Iglesia siempre nos impulsaba de orar para los fieles difuntos desde los días de los apóstoles. San Agustín de Hipona, teólogo de nuestra Iglesia, dijo – “Si no preocupábamos de los difuntos, entonces no tendríamos la costumbre para orar por ellos.” Esta misa de todos los fieles difuntos del 2 de noviembre tiene su costumbre en monasterio benedictino en Cluny en Francia desde hace mil años. 

     Celebramos los fieles difuntos hoy como una comunidad de fe, recordando las debilidades y las imperfecciones que tenemos como seres humanos. En nuestra lectura de Sabiduría, escuchamos sobre una creencia en el mundo antiguo, una creencia que muchos en nuestro mundo moderno tienen también, que nuestra vida termina cuando nuestro cuerpos terminan su existencia aquí en la tierra. En nuestra fe católica, no necesitamos temer que mucho en este mundo es un misterio para nosotros, pero con todo que aprendemos sobre Dios, siempre tenemos mas para aprender, nunca aprendemos todo sobre Dios. Entonces, hay mucho sobre la muerte que es un misterio para nosotros. 

     El autor del libro de Sabiduría nos asegura: “Las almas de los justos están en manos de Dios y no los alcanzará ningún tormento.”  La muerte es un misterio, pero confiamos que Dios está con nosotros - con nosotros en nuestra vida aquí en la tierra y en nuestra muestra terrenal.  En este misterio, confiamos en el misterio infinito de Dios.  En el espíritu que vino el las aguas de nuestro bautismo, en la manera que morimos con Cristo en estas aguas, ganamos la vida nueva en El, y continuamos unidos con el Cuerpo de Cristo después de la muerte de nuestros cuerpos terrenales. Oramos por los fieles difuntos hoy y por las almas en el purgatorio, unidos con ellos en nuestra fe en Cristo.