11 June 2023 - Homily for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ - John 6:51-58, Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a

    The Jewish people were tired, weary, and angry on their journey. But God had Moses remind the people that through their hardships, he had delivered them from slavery, he had guided them through the dangers of the desert, he had provided them water to drink and manna to eat. God reminded his people of their blessings, how he cared from them and provided for their needs. 

      As we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ today, we are reminded how the Lord has cared for us in the midst of our reality.  I am reminded, too, that I first came to Mississippi in June 2000 as a member of the Mississippi Teacher Corps. It is really hard to believe it has been 23 years. I had never been to Mississippi before that time.  I arrived at the Ole Miss campus, ready for summer school, ready to take the Praxis teacher exam, ready to teach Spanish at Greenville High School in the Mississippi Delta. Well, I say “ready”, because I thought I was ready, but really, I wasn’t ready for the reality that awaited me.  

      Four of us lived together in a house in Greenville as roommates, all of us members of the Teacher Corps.  It was a two year commitment, teaching high school and earning a Masters degree in Education at Ole Miss, but I ended up staying another two years at Greenville High School. I remember that after class on that first week of school, one of the students came up to me and told me that her mom had heard that I was Catholic and wanted to invite me to their Catholic church. I told her that I had already attended Mass at St Joseph parish the first two weekends I had been in town, but she told me that there was another Catholic church in Greenville as well. It surprised me that there would be two Catholic Churches in this town in the Mississippi Delta. I guess I really did not figure it out until I arrived at Sacred Heart parish that Sunday morning to realize that this was the historically African American parish in town. By the end of mass, it felt like everyone in the parish had greeted me and had made me feel very welcome. On that visit Sunday I had visited the parish, they had already asked me if I would teach religious education classes. They had bombarded me with many questions.  But, for my four years in Greenville, Sacred Heart became my second home.  I loved my parish family there. And I really felt a part of the Body of Christ in that community. I continue to feel a gratitude, love, and thanksgiving for that community that I cannot put into words, for I know in my heart, if it was not for the love and kindness of that nurturing community, I would not be here right now as a priest in the Diocese of Jackson. 

      We receive the body of Christ in the Eucharist, as we hear Jesus tell us in our reading from John’s Gospel. We Catholics hold the Eucharist dear to our hearts.  I recall how in the pandemic, how the stay-at-home orders prevented us from public celebrations of the Eucharist for a while. Jesus tells us today that he is the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever. We long for this bread when it is not available to us. 

      We receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. We are to be the Body and Blood of Christ in the world as well. I told you the story of coming to Mississippi, of teaching in Greenville, because it was the way I lived out being a part of the Body of Christ at that time in my life.  I take great joy in celebrating the Eucharist with all of you here at the parishes in Clinton and Raymond.  And I take great joy bringing the Eucharist to the VA hospital in Jackson and the prisons in Pearl and Yazoo City, knowing what it means to bring the Eucharist to the Catholics who are incarcerated in those facilities.  

        Sister Thea Bowman certainly exemplified the spirit of the Body and Blood of Christ in our Diocese and in our modern world. Sister Thea has her roots in Mississippi. She was born in Yazoo City and raised in Canton.  Even though she went to Wisconsin to join an order of Franciscan sisters, where she taught in Catholic schools and where she celebrated the richness of African American Catholic spirituality, in the last years of her life before she died of cancer at the age of 52, she worked in the office of intercultural diversity in our Diocese of Jackson.  Her spirit is embodied in this prayer that we are going to pray together.  May these words inspired by the life and work of Sister Thea not be just words for us - may they call us to examine our hearts, and may they call us to action. 

Ever loving God, in your infinite goodness, you inflamed the heart of your servant and religious, Sister Thea Bowman with an ardent love for you and all people. May her prophetic witness continue to inspire us to share the Good News with all, but especially with the poor, oppressed and marginalized. May Sister Thea’s life and legacy compel us to walk together, to pray together, and to remain together as missionary disciples ushering in the new evangelization for the Church we love. Gracious God imbue us with the grace and perseverance that you gave your servant, Sister Thea, for in turbulent times of racial injustice, she sought equity, peace, and reconciliation. In times of intolerance and ignorance, she brought wisdom, awareness, unity, and charity.  May her light be a beacon of goodness and holiness in our troubled times.  We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

8 June 2023 - Thursday of the 9th week in Ordinary time - Gerald Manley Hopkins - Tobit 6:10-11; 7:1 and 9-17; 8:4-9a

    We hear a long reading from the book of Tobit today, which we have been hearing from all week in our first readings in daily Mass. In answer to the prayers of Tobit and Sarah, God sends the Angel Raphael to answer their prayers as a special messenger.  In obeying the instructions of the angel, Tobias is unafraid and trusting in the Lord, even when he hears that seven other men married Sarah and did not live past their wedding night. I love the prayer that Tobias and Sarah offer God in order to bless their marriage. Tobias and Sarah acknowledge that their marriage not only fulfills their love for each other and their desire to be husband and wife, but that their marriage is instituted by God. Because they know in their hearts that their marriage comes from God, they pray confidently to God, asking for his help in their marriage.  This wedding prayer from the book of Tobit is commonly chosen for Catholic weddings, with many brides and grooms identifying with the wishes offered up to God on their wedding night.

      As we hear of the faithfulness of Sarah and Tobias from the book of Tobit, I want to mention a Jesuit priest who died in obscurity on this day, June 8, in 1889.  Gerald Manley Hopkins was born in England in an upper-class Anglican family.  However, after excelling in his studies at Oxford University, his family was very disappointed when he decided to leave his Anglican faith, entering the Catholic Church and becoming a Catholic priest. A gifted poet, he abandoned writing poetry until he decided to write a poem about a shipwreck off the coast of England, on which a group of Franciscan nuns perished as they were traveling to the United States to work with the immigrant community there.  That poem is entitled The Wreck of the Deutschland.  It is considered one of Hopkins’ most significant poems.  Hopkins died of typhoid in 1889, not having any of poetry published during his lifetime.  Hopkins kept up a correspondence with Robert Bridges, a friend of his from Oxford.  A celebrated poet himself and the poet laureate of the country of England, Bridges received all of the poems that Hopkins wrote in that correspondence, publishing them after Hopkins’ death. Today, Hopkins is considered a ground-breaking poet in the English language, one of the great poets of the Victorian era. Plagued with self-doubt and mental illness, Hopkins never saw the acclaim that his poetry achieved.  Hopkins wrote: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”  

7 June 2023 – Wednesday of 9th week of Ordinary Time – Tobit 3:1-11a and 17-19

       Tobit offers a prayer to the Lord in our first reading today; he is suffering and is stricken with grief. Tobit acknowledges the sinfulness of man, how we are often not loyal to God and his commandments.  Tobit asks the Lord to deal with him as he pleases, but asks that he be allowed to die and be put out his misery. He would rather die than endure this suffering in his life.

         As the same time, a woman named Sarah says a prayer as well. She has been married 7 times, and all 7 husbands have died. She says a blessing to the Lord, but she also wishes to take her own life to put herself out of her misery. The Lord hears the prayers of Tobit and Sarah, sending his Angel Raphael as his special messenger to bring healing into their lives.   

       Outside of the Basilica of St John Lateran in Rome there is a building that houses the sacred steps that Jesus walked up to meet with Pontius Pilate in the events of his passion. These marble stairs were brought to Rome by St Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine, after her pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  They are a very popular pilgrimage site in Rome; the faithful go up the steps on their knees, which is certainly very painful and uncomfortable. The pilgrims lift up their prayers on each step, lifting their prayers up to the Lord.  On my visit to Rome last week, I was able to go up these steps. They were crowded with many the faithful, both young and old, desiring to lift up their prayers as they went up the steps on their knees. Like Sarah and Tobit, let us lift up our prayers, especially in times of turmoil and struggle in our lives.   Let us be confident that the Lord will hear our prayers.  

6 June 2023 - Homily for Tuesday of the 9th week in Ordinary Time - Tobit 2:9-14

       Tobit buries a dead man, giving him a proper burial, even though the consequences may be dire for him. Rather than receiving a blessing for such an act, Tobit suffers from a freak accident, as droppings from bird fall on his eyes while he is asleep in his courtyard. When Tobit accuses his wife of falsely acquiring a goat, although she had earned the goat for work she had done, his wife cuts to the heart of what she and his friends believe: What have your good deeds gotten you? How are you being rewarded for the good that you do?

         Of course, it is nice to be rewarded or at least recognized for our charitable works and good deeds. But, ultimately, that is not why we do our good works. In our life of faith, we are called to undertake risks and dangers as well.  Sometimes, hardships and sufferings will come with these risks. 

         A life of faith, a life filled with good works and works of mercy,  are not assurances of blessings in our lives.  Many of the great missionaries in our Church went to faraway lands knowing that danger and risks awaited them. I think of missionaries such as Jean de Brebeuf who ministered to the Huron people of Canada, Father Damien who ministered to  the lepers in Hawaii, and Father Daniel Comboni who ministered to the people of the Sudan in Africa.  Many of these missionaries suffered greatly while serving God. Many of them died violent or tragic deaths in their service to God. Yet, the faith of these missionaries was so great that they made such sacrifices with joy in their hearts. May we not be afraid to take risks for our faith.  May we follow the Lord wherever he calls us with a joyful heart.  

5 June 2023 - homily for Monday of 9th week of Ordinary Time - Tobit 1:3 and 2:1A-8

      Today, we start hearing a series of readings from the book of Tobit.  The book of Tobit comes from the Old Testament. It is a Deuterocanonical book, meaning that it is included in the Catholic Bible but excluded from the Protestant Bible.  It was written around the 2nd century before Christ’s birth.

         Tobit describes himself as a righteous man.  He shows his righteousness by wanting to invite the poor to share a meal at his table and by wanting to bury the dead. Burying the dead had previously brought him to this land of exile; now, he could be facing even worse consequences, so he is mocked and warned by his neighbors.  Even today, in our Catholic faith, burying the dead in a corporal work of mercy. 

         We know that sometimes doing the right thing according to our faith is not what is right from the point of view of secular society.  Sometimes being righteous and adhering to the laws of God can be contrary to man’s laws.  We know that from the very first passages of this book that we are going to be taught a moral lesson by the way Tobit tries to be righteous in living out his faith in the face of suffering and adversity.

       In big and little ways, we are tested in our faith many times.  Being in solidarity with the poor and the outcasts in society may have negative consequences for us. However, we are called to live out our faith in that same spirit of holiness, solidarity, and righteousness that Tobit tries to follow in life.  May the Lord help us to stay on this path of steadfastness and righteousness.

      I also want to mention the saint we celebrate today, St Boniface, Bishop and Martyr. Boniface was born in England, but he was sent to bring Christ’s Gospel message to the Franks of present-day Germany. Boniface faced a lot of failure in his ministry, but he always persevered. He first tried to minister to the people of Holland with no success at all. With the Franks, it was also a slow frustrating process, but he was able to convert many souls. Boniface met his end when a group of pagans struck him down while he was in the process of confirming into the Church some newly baptized members. Today, Boniface is the patron saint of Germany, and he is an inspiration and example to many in the faith.

         We come to the Lord with our prayers today.  Out of our humility, out of our faith and steadfastness, we ask the Lord to bless us as we offer up our blessings to him. May the Lord increase our faithfulness through his graces.  May Tobit and St Boniface serve as great examples for us on our journey of faith.

03 June 2023 - prayers of the faithful - Saturday of the 8th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you lead us to God’s wisdom. 

Christ Jesus - you are the beloved son of the Father. 

Lord Jesus - you accompany us through our journey through life. 

Priest:  As a community of faith, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father. 

1. For our Church leaders: that they may always grow in wisdom. 

2. For our governmental leaders, that they work for the good of the people they serve. 

3. For our families, our children and our youth, for a blessed summer vacation for all. 

4. For our modern day prophets, that they may call us to God’s truth. 

5. For healing for the sick.  For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed.  

6. For our belief in Holy Trinity, that the Lord may bless us in our greater understanding of the divine.  

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts.  

Priest: As we celebrate the Holy Trinity in a special way at Mass this Sunday, we present our prayers to God the Father, through the Son and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. AMEN

3 June 2023 - Saturday of the 8th week of Ordinary Time - Sirach 51:12cd-20

It is good to back for Mass with all of you.  I really enjoyed my trip to Rome.  We have been hearing from the book of Sirach this past week, a book of Jewish wisdom literature from the Old Testament. Sirach is a rather long book in the Bible, spanning some 51 chapters.  The other meditates on his relationship with Wisdom as a seeker through life.  At the end of the book of Sirach, we can seek the author looking back on his life’s journey with wisdom in his old age, how he searched for wisdom in the different circumstances of his life.  The author states that he needs to give grateful praise to wisdom, who is his teacher. 

I remember being in a faith sharing group with a group of friends, and one of the participants who obviously did not prepare for the meeting, said that he already knew all this material, that he did not need to go over it again.  That really is not the point of our journey of faith, in which we are constantly moving, changing and developing.  We may be at a very different point in our faith than just a week ago, let alone a year ago or ten years ago.  God’s wisdom will help us learn and grown on our journey, following God’s truth and his law.  May we never discount the importance of wisdom on our journey