17 November 2022 - Thursday of the 33rd week in Ordinary Time - Luke 19:41-44

      In our Gospel passage today, Jesus approaches the holy city of Jerusalem for the last time during his public ministry here on earth, during which he is overcome with emotion.  He weeps for his city and for his people, knowing in his heart that destruction and calamity will befall them soon. Jesus knew that the Jews of Ancient Israel struggled throughout their history to follow God, to be true to God’s commandments and laws, and  to honor their covenant with him. For the many times that they strayed, the Jews were often recalcitrant and willfully disobedient. Perhaps on our own faith journey through life, we may struggle with the same things that the Jews did in Ancient Israel.  

       I was listening to a podcast, produced by a high school teacher at a private academy in Portland, Oregon. This young man has contributed many writings and broadcasts to promote the pilgrimage of the Way of St James in Spain, a pilgrimage that has its roots in the Catholic faith, as its end point in the Cathedral in Spain that contains the remain of St James the Greater, Apostle. Even today, certificates for the completion of the pilgrimage are issued by the Diocese of Santiago de Compostela. I have listened to more than 30 different podcast episodes that this young man has produced, enjoying them immensely.  However, it shocked me when he stated in one of his podcasts that he considers himself a secular pilgrim and does not bring an attitude of spirituality and faith when he approaches his pilgrimage walks on the Camino. He says that he is not a Christian and not a believer. That comment shocked me a bit, because he is such a big fan of the pilgrimage route and nothing he had said previously led me believe that he approached pilgrimage from a non-religious and non-spiritual perspective.  As Catholics and as disciples of Christ, we are called to approach life through the lens of our faith, to be faithful witnesses to Christ's Gospel.  We are called to undertake great sacrifices and hardships for the sake of the faith.  As opposed to how Jesus saw the people of Jerusalem of his day, may he be able to say to us at the end of our journey: “Well done, faithful disciple.” 

16 November 2022 - Martyrs of El Salvador - Homily for Wednesday of the 33rd week of Ordinary Time - Luke 19:11-28

     Today, in a parable from the Gospel of Luke, we hear of 10 servants receives a gold coin – the equivalent of about 3 months of wages according to Scripture Scholars, so it certainly was not an insignificant amount of money.  Those who invested their coin and used what the king gives to them are rewarded, but the servant who kept the coin hidden and did not invest it is punished.  The end of the parable says that Jesus continued on his journey to Jerusalem.   We as modern-day disciples of Christ know that Jerusalem is the city where Jesus met his death on the cross, but it is the place of resurrection and salvation as well.  As disciples of Christ, to live out the resurrection of Christ in our lives here on earth and in anticipation of the resurrection that will bring us salvation and eternal life, we are called to use our gifts and talents in the way God calls us to do so for the glory of his kingdom, not to leave them hidden and unused.  

         God calls us to use our gifts and talents in the reality and the circumstances of our lives, to make sacrifices for the faith, and sometimes the ultimate sacrifice. Today, we commemorate a very stark reality that happened in our own lifetime: the anniversary of 6 Jesuit priests who were martyred in the country of El Salvador in Central America on this date in 1989 at their residence at the university in the capital city of that country. These men of God gave up their lives for the faith in the midst of a revolution and the great political turmoil in this poor Latin American country. In our own way, in the reality of our own lives, we are called to live out our faith courageously and sincerely in order to find Jesus in our own lives and to be witnesses of the Gospel in the world around us. “The struggle against injustice and the pursuit of truth cannot be separated nor can one work for one independent of the other.” These words were spoken by Father Ignatio Ellacuria, the superior of that Jesuit community that was martyred.  His profound words challenge us to live out the justice that God’s truth calls us to, a justice that cannot be separated from our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - 13 November 2022 - prayers of the faithful

Introduction: As we get close to the end of the liturgical year, our readings today look ahead to the end of the world and the second coming of the Lord.   In the end times, the faithful we face persecutions and many challenges, but they will be vindicated in the end.  May we always have confidence in the Lord.  

Lord Jesus you are the Son of Justice. 

Christ Jesus, you are our sign of peace and reconciliation.  

Lord Jesus, you lead the just to salvation. 

Priest: As we place our trust in the Lord, who watches over us and who consoles us in our suffering, let us call to mind our needs and the needs of the world: 

1. For the Church, that we be faithful to our mission to bring Christ to others.  May we be a sign of justice in times of persecution and a sign of hope in times of despair.  We pray to the Lord. 

2. For governmental leaders around the world.  May they lead us in being good stewards of God’s creation and our natural resources.  We pray to the Lord. 

3. For those we are incarcerated, both guilty and innocent.  That they find mercy and peace in the Lord.  We pray for those serving in Catholic prison ministry in our Diocese.  We pray to the Lord. 

4. As winter approaches, we pray for the homeless, for the unemployed, and those who are struggling to provide for their families.  We pray that they receive the help they need.  We pray to the Lord. 

5. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed.  For our deceased loved ones and family members who are enrolled in our book of remembrance.  We pray to the Lord. 

6. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for all of our intentions spoken and unspoken.  We pray to the Lord. 

Priest: God of justice and mercy, we pray that you lead us safely through our trials and tribulations.  Hear the prayers we offer you today through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.  

bulletin reflection - HOLY SAVIOR CATHOLIC CHURCH - Clinton, Mississippi - 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - 13 NOVEMBER 2022

       We are getting to the end of our Church’s liturgical year, with the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe being celebrated next weekend.  After that, we celebrate Thanksgiving and the season of Advent as we get ready for the arrival of Jesus at Christmas. As we approach the end of the liturgical year, Jesus speaks in the Gospel about the end times.  I think of the “Y2K” hysteria that happened with the turn of the millennium in the year 2000 when it was predicated that all the computers would crash and that there would be a huge crisis in the world.  I knew of people who were stockpiling food and water at the time.  As we know, those predictions never came true. We have no control over when the end times will come.  We don’t know the day or the hour.  Instead, we should focus on a life always being centered on the values of the faith, of always being prepared. 

     Last Monday, I had the opportunity to celebrate Mass for the inmates at the federal prison in Yazoo City.  The Nobertine priests who resided in Raymond were very devoted to that ministry for many years.  I participated in that ministry back when I was pastor in Yazoo City from 2010 to 2013.  There had not been a Catholic Mass celebrated there since March 2019 with the departure of the Norbertines from our Diocese.  It seemed like I was thanked more than 100 times while I was at the federal prison for Mass this past Monday.  Even the warden came up to me and thanked me.  With the pandemic, I think we don’t take the Mass for granted anymore.  But for the prisoners, it means so much for a priest to be able to visit them and to celebrate Mass with them.  I see visiting the prisoner as an important work of mercy and an important part of my priesthood. 

      I look forward to being with all of you at the Masses this weekend.  Blessings.  Father Lincoln. 

15 November 2022 - homily for Tuesday of the 33rd week of Ordinary Time - Luke 19:1-10

     How often do we go out on a limb for our faith?  Do we make an extraordinary effort to search for God in our lives and to find the ways he is present to us?  Today, we hear the familiar story of Zacchaeus, which we just heard in our Sunday liturgy back on October 31. We see Zacchaeus literally climb a tree and go out on a limb in order to find God in his life.  He responds to meeting Jesus, to having Jesus call after him, by conversion and repentance, by offering to give half of his possessions to the poor, by willing to make amends to those whom he extorted money from during his work as a chief tax collector. 

    Zacchaeus originally just wanted to have a glimpse of Jesus, an external encounter with him.  But Zacchaeus now comes to see Jesus in a much deeper profound sense.  He sees Jesus in a way that changes and transforms his life. I bet that all of us, too, want to see Jesus in a deeper sense in our lives, just like Zacchaeus did. Only then will we know what it mean to be a true disciple of Christ. When Jesus says to each one of us, “I want to stay in your house today,” may we joyfully open our door to welcome him in.

13 November 2022 - homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 21:5-19

   We are nearing the end of our Church’s liturgical year, with the solemnity of Christ the King being celebrated next weekend. Today, we hear Jesus talk about the end times from Luke’s Gospel.  As Christians, we can be so tempted in putting our own interpretation on our Church’s teaching of the end times. Throughout history, there have been many different false prophets who have done this, who have predicted when the end times were going to happen. You might remember the Left Behind books that were popular in the 1990s. There have been other novels and TV shows about end times events in which large numbers of people disappeared without an explanation. Then there was all the hysteria in the marking of the new millennium in the year 2000, when people were stockpiling food and water and predicting that all the computers were going to crash.  Even though Jesus explicitly told us that we could not speculate as to when the end times would happen, many cannot resist the temptation.  

     So, in order to correctly interpret today’s message, we need to put the Gospel into its proper context, as it is a part of Jesus’ teachings in the Temple. The Temple was destroyed six centuries before Jesus’ birth and then rebuilt.  All of Jerusalem was in ruins and much of Israel’s population was sent into exile to Babylonia for 70 years. The Jews finally returned to their beloved city to rebuild the Temple, but the Temple never achieved its former glory. Under King Herod, during the days of Jesus, a rebuilding project was undertaken to expand the Temple.  The people saw the Temple as the place where God resided. Indeed, if a Jew in Ancient Israel wanted to encounter God, he went to the Temple. Jesus had already had cleansed the Temple of the merchants and money changers by the time today’s Gospel takes place.  Now, he predicts the destruction of the Temple, warning that its stonework and votive offerings will come tumbling down. To the proud people of Jerusalem, Jesus’ prediction was blasphemy and an insult to God. They believed that God would not allow this to happen. Yet, within 40 years of this prophecy, Jesus’ words would be mostly fulfilled, with the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in the year 70 AD. By the time Luke’s Gospel was written, this had already occurred. The Christians of this time period had to decide: Now that the Temple and Jerusalem have been destroyed, now that there was a time of persecution, what was God calling them to do?  Jesus assures his followers in the Gospel today, calling them to believe in his words in the face of persecutors and false prophets. Jesus’ teachings today show us how we can use every circumstance for the glory of God and as an opportunity to be witnesses to Gospel message.  

      Rather than trying to predict the end times that are to come in the future, perhaps we Christians need to be more concerned about how we live out our faith each day of our present times. The everyday practice of our faith will help us be prepared for the eternal life to come and strengthen our relationship with Christ. I remember attending an International Stewardship conference in New Orleans several years ago, where the first workshop session I went to was entitled: Everyday Stewardship: Spirituality for the Ordinary, Everyday Person.  The title alone intrigued me. The first thing the speaker mentioned in the talk was our calling to walk with Jesus each day and to live our faith in the present moment, in the here and now.  As modern Christians, we can often focus on the future, neglecting the present. We’re called to be mindful of our relationship with Jesus and mindful of our faith, seeking him out in the everyone moments in our lives.   This everyday spirituality concept echoes the Jesuit spiritual concept of finding God in all things, in the different moments of our lives. We can often put our faith into compartments, focusing on what we do once a week when we go to Sunday mass.  Mass is very important, but we are called to infuse our faith in our daily lives in a focused, mindful way. 

       This is a difficult, stern Gospel message for us to reflect upon today.  At the heart of this Gospel message, we are called to trust: to trust in Jesus, to trust in our faith, and to trust that we will persevere.  We are to place our hope and trust in the way that Jesus will accompany us through any trials and tribulations that come our way.  We are not to wait for the end times to come in order to find the courage we need to be disciples of Christ: we are to learn from Christ’s wisdom and teaching as we journey in faith each day.

8 November 2022 - Tuesday of the 32nd week in Ordinary Time - Luke 17:7-10

       Today’s parable about a master and his servant is an analogy about our relationship with God. In this parable, perhaps Jesus is telling us that any good thing we do for God and his glory is small compared to what he has done for us and for humanity. We do not serve God mainly in expectation of gratitude and rewards in return. We are the ones called to have an attitude of gratitude, thanksgiving, and humility. The common preface IV for daily 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 thanksgiving, we know that God is not in debt to us, that God does not owe us anything.  Today is our national election day.  We the contentious political reality we have been facing in recent years, I know a lot of us will be relieved when this election cycle is over.  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.”