Prayers of the faithful - Tuesday of 1st week of Ordinary Time - 12 January 2021

 Lord Jesus - you bring us love - Lord have mercy. 

Lord Jesus - you bring us hope - Christ have mercy. 

Lord Jesus - you call us to faith - Lord have mercy. 

Out of our humility and simplicity of heart, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father: 

1. For the Church – that, by our lives, we give witness that ‘the kingdom of God has come near,’ and that we follow the Way of Jesus in all that we do.

2. For community, national and international leaders – that in this year, 2021, leaders will strive to address injustices relating to race, poverty, oppression, and the protection of the environment. 

3. For Christian unity – that we continually open ourselves to to the truth of God’s Word and seek unity with all people who are hearers of the Word.   

4. For healing from covid-19 and other diseases – that vaccinations, medical supplies and hospital care will be available to all, especially those whose lives are vulnerable or precarious.

5. For all teachers and educators – that their work of educating will enrich and bless their own lives, and that their preparation will hope those in their care have rich opportunity to learn and grow.  

6. For the prayers in the silence of our hearts. 

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

Book Review - Savoring the Camino de Santiago: It's the Pilgrimage, Not the Hike - Kindle Edition - by Julie Gianelloni Connor

       When I first went to the Camino of St James in 2003, there were very few books about it out there. Now, many pilgrims have published either guidebooks or memoirs on the Camino, seemingly in the hundreds if you look on AMAZON. I have read at least 20 books on the Camino throughout the years, possibly way more than that. I have now been on the Camino five times and would have completed my sixth time if the pandemic had not hit. 

       There are many different ways to approach the Camino. We all have our own stories and our own personalities. We all have different expectations and comfort levels. I have been on five different Caminos and have had five very different experiences. I would say that in recent years, the pilgrims have greater expectations of the Camino and what it provides. I have hiked the Camino three different times in the middle of winter, when there are few hiking on the Camino and where atmosphere is much less geared toward a tourist. 

        I enjoyed reading about the author's personal perspective on the Camino. Some of my experiences have differed quite a bit from the author's. I must disclose that I am a Catholic priest myself, so people tend to talk to me about spiritual matters especially on the Camino. On the surface, it may seem like a lot of people don't approach it as a spiritual pilgrimage, but I have found that in conversation, their spiritual quest will often come out, sometimes in surprising ways. So, when the author says that the Camino is no longer a true pilgrimage and that very few people do it for religious and spiritual reasons, I do not agree with that observation, as that has not been my experience.  I will say that the American pilgrims group does approach it in a very secular way, influenced by the secular approach to the pilgrimage by many of its leaders.  But, many of the people approach pilgrimage in a more spiritual or religious way.  

Also, unlike the author of this book, I like the trails that are old and worn and that are irregular and full of history. To me, the trails of the Camino are a part of history. I walked the Camino three years a row in winter. It was cold and stark and harsh. I was going through a very rough time in my life and I needed the Camino to be there for me. Going on pilgrimage on the Camino each time is like meeting up with an old friend. 

          I want to thank the author for telling her stories and sharing her experience of the Camino.  I enjoyed her description of the different Camino stages, her advice on preparing for the Camino, and being truthful as to her struggles on the hike.  I very much appreciated her honesty and candor.  

11 January 2021 – Monday of 1st week in ordinary time– Mark 1:14-20

      In today’s Gospel message, Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God.  He calls all to repent and to believe his Good News. Then, Jesus immediately calls others to be his disciples and gives them a mission to bring others into the kingdom of God.  As the first disciples, Jesus chooses fishermen, not scholars, or scribes, or the Temple priests, or the learned. He chooses people from the common, ordinary ranks of ancient Jewish society.  When the Lord calls us to serve, we must not think that we have nothing to offer.  The Lord uses us for greatness in his kingdom. 

        In recent years, the Church has really concentrated its efforts in promoting vocation awareness, which is now celebrated in November in our Church’s calendar.    God calls us all to a vocation, just as he called these young fishermen to a specific task in today’s Gospel reading from Mark.  It is our responsibility as followers of Jesus to try to discern where God is calling us and to follow him based on that call and that discernment.  Jesus can call us in many different ways: to be a priest, a monk, a religious sister or brother, a lay ecclesial minister, a missionary, a Catholic school teacher, or a single or a married lay person as one of Jesus’ loyal disciples.  No matter what Jesus calls us to be as his followers, we are called to give glory to God, to be faithful to the Gospel, to be loyal to Jesus and to the holy Catholic Church.  May Jesus fill us with the joy of the Gospel.  May he help us to be a good witness to the kingdom of God to others.  

13 January 2021 - homily for Wednesday of the 1st week of Ordinary Time - Mark 1:29-39

      In our Gospel reading today, it states that Jesus rose early before dawn and went off to a deserted place to pray.  The words that he preached in the synagogues of the nearby villages and the manner in which he able to drive out demons were born out of the intimacy he experienced in silence with the Father. On Saturday mornings, I meet with a group of men through ZOOM, most of whom were my parishioners at one time or another.  I know that many have complained about ZOOM, but I appreciate the way it has helped keep my connected with people all over the country, and sometimes all over the world, in ways that I could not have done in person in the pre-COVID-19 era.  In fact, this past week, I had conferences on ZOOM that originated in Milwaukee and Philadelphia, conferences that were very helpful to me.     

       Anyhow, in this men’s group, we are reading the book THE POWER OF SILENCE by Cardinal Robert Sarah.  Before serving in the Vatican, Cardinal Sarah was the Bishop of Conakry, Guinea, one of the poorest countries in the world that is majority Muslim and that has a very small Christian minority.  In fact, when I served in Guinea with the Peace Corps, I lived on an island of about 10,000 inhabitants and I was the only Christian on the entire island.  Cardinal Sarah mentioned how his predecessor Archbishop Raymond-Marie Tchidimbo spent almost nine years in a “sordid prison.”  He stated that the only way Archbishop Thchidimbo was able to survive was thanks to an intimate encounter with God in the silence, enabling him to believe that he would persevere and enabling him to face his daily trials in serenity.  I love this statement made by Cardinal Sarah: “The silence of God is an illumination, simple and sublime, little and grandiose.”

         Listening to God in silence, learning from God in silence: these are perhaps a lost art.  May we practice the silence of our faith.  May we learn from God in silence.  

15 January 2021 - homily for Friday of the first week in Ordinary Time - Hebrews 4: 1-5, 11

      Our reading from Hebrews talks about entering into the rest of God, a rest only God can give.  Rest has a deeper meaning beyond a physical rest.   The promise that God gave to the Israelites is a foreshadowing of that  promise given to Christians in Christ’s Good News.  The Israelites saw the Promised Land as the place of rest that God provided for his people.  For the Israelites, the Promised Land was a share in God’s own rest, which he enjoyed after he had finished his creative work as told in the book of Genesis. The author now relates the meaning of God’s rest to Psalm 95, which we heard yesterday: “Therefore I swore in my anger: ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” Our reading today tells us that we should take the opportunity of God’s rest when it is offered to us since the Israelites in the desert did not take that opportunity when it was given to them.  The Israelites doubted the word of God and thus were forced to wander in the desert for many years before they were able to enter the Promised Land.  We Christians are invited to a different promised land - to God’s kingdom and to the salvation that Christ offers to us.  Our hope is that one day we will gain entry to that perfect place of rest: eternal life with God.  And even now, we are called to a day of rest on Sundays, on the Sabbath, on the Lord’s day.  Do we accept that invitation? 

Reflection - spreading love rather than negativity and hate

 

I follow a group on Facebook called Sancta Familia, which is a communications and evangelization group operating out of the Diocese of Motherwell just outside of Glassgow, Scotland.  This Catholic communication group had been struggling to find their niche in the world of ministry, but during the pandemic, with the streaming of Masses, weddings, and funerals, they have found that their services and expertise are very much in need.  They also advise parishes and Catholic groups as to how they can use the internet and technology to reach out to their parishioners.  It is interesting how through the struggles and challenges of the pandemic, they have found a way to reach out to others and to flourish in their ministry.  

We can dwell on a lot of negativity right now, can't we?  Many of us can get very stressed out at times. Many of us have seen a very much increased workload during the pandemic and little opportunity to get away to rest or relax or unwind.   During the pandemic, we are having to rely on technology for so many things.  We are not able to meet in person and do things the ways we have done them in the past.  But, let us think about the blessings of technology.   Without technology we would not be able to stream the Masses.  We would not be able to have drive-in Mass without the FM transmitter we use.  I have attended virtual conferences during the pandemic that have been streamed in the virtual world from Milwaukee, Denver, Los Angeles, Philidelphia, New Orleans, and even Rome, just to name a few of the places.  If they had been held in person, the cost and the distance would have prohibited me from attending any of them.  

We need to look at our blessings.  We need to encourage each other.  We need to continue to make an effort and not give up.  Our lives of faith are not all about ourselves.  How are we reaching out to others?  How can we make a difference?  

For quite a while now, we have been a very divided society.  We are a very divided country.  We are a very divided world.  Are we mired in negativity and hatred?  Or are we willing to engage in dialogue and to sow seeds of compassion, understanding, and love?

12 January 2021 - homily for Tuesday of the 1st week of Ordinary Time - Hebrews 2:5-12

      This week, our first readings in our weekday Masses come from the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament.   Hebrews is located in the New Testament at the end of the letters of Paul and right before the letters from other authors.  In early Church tradition, authorship was attributed to Paul, but many had reservations as to whether Paul wrote it, including Origen and Clement of Alexandria.  Many of its characteristics differ from Pau’s other letters, such as the lack of the usual Pauline greeting and introduction.  Its inclusion in the canon of Scripture was ratified by the Council of Trent in 1546 bu the Council chose not to state categorically that this letter was written by Paul.  The Pontifical Biblical Communion in 1914 also refused to assign definite authorship to Paul.  However, the Biblical Communion believes it is most likely that Paul is the indirect author of this letter, as it was probably written in the scope of Paul’s teachings by one of his companions. 

        Our reading today discusses Jesus nature, to those early Christians who are having trouble understand Jesus’ humanity and suffering alongside his divinity and sonship.  The author of Hebrews emphasizes the dignity of humanity, saying the it was humanity not angels who were brought here by God to earth.  Our psalm today echoes a common theme, stating the insignificance of humanity compared to God, but also noting humanity’s stewardship of the rest of God’s creation on earth.  In recent times, we in the Church have more conscious of the importance of the theme of stewardship of creation, especially as we gain greater understanding of our impact on the environment.  It is indeed a mystery that the glory of God and our salvation are brought about by the son of God made incarnate and through his passion and death on the cross, of suffering terrible pain and humiliation.  This is our proof of Christ’s love for us, and ultimately, the Father’s love for us as well.  We as human beings often see suffering as punishment from God.  However, the author of Hebrews see is as a source of God’s grace.  Indeed, that is a mystery that is not easy for us to comprehend.