16 June 2024 - Prayers of the faithful - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Introduction: Our readings today talk about nature in different ways: about a sower scattering seed, about the land bearing fruit, about a small mustard seed growing into a huge plant, about the might cedars of Lebanon. As we head into the hot humid summer months, we appreciate the shade we receiving from the trees and we spend time out in our gardens. May these stories and parables speak to us in the midst of our reality. We welcome all of our families to Mass today as we celebrate Father’s day.

Penitential Rite:

Lord Jesus, you plant us like trees in the world. Lord have mercy.

Christ Jesus, you tend us and watch over our growth. Christ have mercy. Lord Jesus, you await our bountiful harvest. Lord have mercy.

Prayers of the faithful:

Priest: In baptism, we are established in a firm foundation in the house in the Lord. We pray that all of us may flourish in the courts of our God:

1. That we in the church may continue to sow the seeds of peace and justice, the seeds of love and kindness, helping the kingdom of God grow in the world. We pray to the Lord.

2. That all missionaries may continue to plant the seeds of faith and build up the kingdom in the different parts of the world, feeling Christ’s presence accompanying them. We pray to the Lord.

3. For our farmers, farm workers, and gardeners. For those who work in our farms, our orchards, and our vineyards. We pray for good weather and a bountiful harvest. We pray to the Lord.

4. For our Fathers, Grandfathers, Great Grandfathers, and Godfathers, and for all who have fathered us throughout our lives. We pray to the Lord.

5. That all of us may continue to nurture the seeds of faith that have been planted within us, that they may bear lasting fruit. We pray to the Lord.

6. For healing for the sick in body, mind, and spirit.

7. For our first responders, for the men and women in the military, and for our medical professionals. We pray to the Lord.

8. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. We pray to the Lord.

Priest: God of all, you gift us with the seed of our faith and you entrust us to sow our faith and to nurture it. Hear the prayers that we make today and grant them according to your will, through you son, Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN.

Bulletin Reflection - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 16 June 2024

We hear readings at Mass today about nature. We hear about a tender shoot that will become a majestic cedar, about a small mustard seed that grows into a large plant, about a man who scatters seeds all over the land. As we hear about nature, we pray that the gardens that we are tending will flourish and bear much fruit. We pray that our farmers’ hard work will pay off and give them a bountiful harvest. Even in our Catholic prison ministry, we have been sponsoring a garden project that has really inspired the inmates. With agriculture and farming being so prevalent here in the state of Mississippi, the imagery of nature in our Scripture readings today speak to us in a very real way, encouraging us to help build up the kingdom of God here on earth. Blessings to all of you - Father Lincoln.

16 JUNE 2024 – Homily for 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Mark 4:26-34

    Today, in the middle of our summer months, in the midst of our farmers trying to grow their crops and many of our parishioner trying to grow their gardens with all the rain we’ve been having, in our Gospel today, Jesus teaches us about the Kingdom of God through parables about seeds.  In particular, it is the parable of the mustard seed that intrigues me today.  Jesus spoke in parable in our to help us to better understand the Kingdom of God.  The parable of the mustard seed and these other parables are meant to shed light on the new reality we are to live out when we are called to a life of discipleship and when we begin to cooperate with God’s grace in our lives.

      Grace – that is an interesting concept, isn’t it?  I will have to admit that perhaps we don’t here about grace enough at mass or in our preaching.  Grace is the presence of God in our lives.  Grace is our participation in the life of God.  Grace is a supernatural gift that God gives to us, a gift that comes out of his goodness, a gift that he bestows upon us for our eternal salvation.  Grace is given to us freely. But we have to respond to that grace in order for it to bear fruit in our life. We have the potential to respond to grace, just as the mustard seed had potential to grow into this amazing and wonderful plant. Think of how we can validly receive a sacrament, such as receiving the Holy Eucharist when we come to mass.  But there is a difference between validly receiving a sacrament and fruitfully receiving the graces that this sacrament offers us. We cannot be passive in our faith, just as we cannot be passive in receiving a sacrament.  We receive God’s grace in the sacraments and in our lives through our personal faith, through our expectancy, through the hunger and thirst we have for God in our lives.

      But the grace we are talking about is costly grace, to quote the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was put to death by the Nazis in WWII.  Jesus didn’t die for us and bring us salvation so we could stay trapped in a cycle of sin. He died for us so that we could be transformed and receive new life. If Jesus just had pity on us and did not challenge us to rise from our sins, to be transformed into a new creation, then his death would have been in vain. Then the grace that Jesus offers would be cheap grace. It would be the kind of grace that does not mean anything to us because it does not require anything from us in return.     

      God’s grace calls us to holiness. It calls us to transformation and conversion. We all know that there are certain behaviors and lifestyles that our world deems to be acceptable and even praiseworthy.  But through the lens of our faith, those behaviors and lifestyles are not part of the kingdom of God. That is why Paul boldly asserts today that we walk by faith, not by sight, because the ways of the world can lead us astray and keep us from repentance and conversion. If we don't walk in the light of faith, if we don’t interact with the graces we receive from God, then we remain children of the world, not children of the light of Christ.

      I have mentioned before that I really enjoy this daily devotional publication called Give Us This Day published by the Liturgical Press in Collegeville, Minnesota.  One of the features I like is “Blessed Among Us,” which is a short reflect on saint or a person who has lived out his faith in a meaningful way.  I think that the secular world mistakenly views a saint as a perfect person without flaws and faults. For us Catholics, saints include those people of faith who rose above their struggles in life, who met life in their reality and tried to infuse that reality with faith, who stand as examples of faith for all of us. One such saint is an Irishman named Matt Talbot. He was not a priest or a theologian, but rather a laborer who struggled to make a living, who had almost no formal education, who was an alcoholic since he was a teen. Yet, at the age of 28, he had enough of his miserable existence, he walked into a church, committing himself to a path of conversion and change in his life.   He took a pledge not to drink anymore. He struggled mightily for the first year, at one point collapsing on the steps of a church, not knowing if he could go another step. But daily mass and a devotion to prayer and penance kept him on the right path.  He even tried to make amends to the people he had harmed. We think of the many who struggle in our society with addictions. Cheap grace would excuse those addictions and not challenge us to break out of that cycle.  Cheap grace would let us take the easy way out. But the life of Matt Talbot, an Irishman who died on June 7, 1925 and who was named Venerable by Pope Paul VI and who possibly will be canonized one day, is a witness of faith for all of us.  

      Grace is costly, not cheap.  It demands something for us.  It demands sacrifice, commitment, and faith. Finding a way to respond to grace is a way for us to let that little mustard seed of faith grow and develop in our lives and to bear fruit. 

Catholic Father’s day blessing - JUNE 2024

God our Father, you govern and protect your people and you shepherd them with a father’s love.

Our fathers and grandfathers are a sign of your love, care, and protection in our families and in our communities.

We pray for our fathers with us today that they may be faithful to the example shown to us in sacred Scripture: steadfast in love, forgiving and merciful, sustaining their families, and caring for the poor and the oppressed.

We pray for wisdom for our fathers, that they may encourage and guide their children and members of our community.

Guide our fathers and grandfathers with the Spirit of your love. May they grow in holiness and draw their family ever closer to you.

We ask this blessing for our fathers and grandfathers today – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.

 

Prayers of the faithful - Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary - 8 June 2024

Lord Jesus - you are the Son of Mary. 

Christ Jesus - you bring us the Father’s love. 

Lord Jesus - you proclaim the kingdom of God. 

Priest: As we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary today in a special way, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father with faith and hope: 

1. We pray for the Church. That we may work to form our hearts according to the sacred heart of Christ and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

2. We pray for Pope Francis, Bishop Joseph Kopacz, and all our clergy and lay leaders. That they may serve God's people with joy and that they may receive care and support from the people. 

3. We pray for our Diocese and our parishes. That we may look to the past with gratitude and discern God's will in our present and future. 

4. We pray for those who have been abandoned and rejected. For those battling mental illness, depression, our addiction.  That they may experience their dignity in the love of Christ.

5. We pray for our country. That we may consecrate our lives to the example of Mary and her immaculate heart.  

6. We pray for the sick, the suffering, and the dying. That they may find healing and strength in Jesus. 

7.  We pray for all those who have died, especially for our family members and loved ones and members of our Christian community. That they may rest secure in the Sacred Heart of Christ. 

8. For the prayers we offer in the silence of our hearts. 

Priest: We present our prayers through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN. 

8 June 2024 - homily for the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary - Luke 2:41-51

     Yesterday, we celebrated the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so it is fitting that today we celebrate the immaculate heart of his mother, Mary. Mary was single-hearted in her faith and in her devotedness to God. She is an example and an inspiration for us, as sin and anger, frustration and impatience, our ambitions and our jealousies can take us away from our single-heartedness and our devotion to our faith.  

    Much of the devotion to the immaculate heart of Mary that we have today has its origin in the medieval period of the Church, with St Anselm of Canterbury and St Bernard of Clairvaux. In our modern era, John Paul II had this to say in his encyclical letter Redemptoris Mater: “By her loving consent, Mary first conceived Christ in her heart and then in her womb accepting fully and with a ready heart everything that is decreed in the divine plan. ” 

    In looking at the immaculate heart of Mary, we can say that Mary faced a lot of situations in her life that she did not completely comprehend: including when the Angel Gabriel appears to her in the Annunciation, when she received the prediction from Simeon in the Temple, when she loses track of Jesus on their visit to the Temple, when Jesus is faced with starting his earthly ministry at the wedding of Cana, and when Mary witnesses her son dying on the cross. Mary pondered all these things in her heart.  Mary places her trust in God even when she does not completely understand.  She moves forward in her life and in her faith in her single-hearted devotion.  

    Let us unite our prayers with the prayers of the Immaculate Heart of Mary today. 

21 June 2024 - Friday of the 11th week in Ordinary Time - St Aloyisius Gonzaga - Matthew 16:19-23

Aloysius Gonzaga was born to a wealthy family in Florence, Italy in the middle of the Renaissance in 16th century Europe. His family wanted him to have a military career, but growing up, he felt the call to the priesthood. He chose to enter the Jesuits after being inspired by stories about their missionary work in India. However, he suffered from many ailments as a youth, including kidney disease, skin disease, chronic headaches and insomnia. Young Aloysius had many crosses to bear. The life of Aloysius Gonzaga was cut short. He died in Rome at the age of 23 after he contracted the plague while nursing patients with this dreaded affliction. When I went to Rome in December 2010 with the youth choir from St Richard, the choir sang at the Church of St Ignatius of Loyola in Rome where Aloysius Gonzaga is buried. I remember a young lady coming into the church wanting to see where he was buried. Even today, more than 4 centuries after his death, the faithful still are inspired by the holy life by which St. Aloysius lived. 

When we hear Jesus warn us about storing up all of treasure that are the things of this earth and in the process disregarding those treasures that are of God’s kingdom, we may think about all the different earthly treasures people put their trust in: not only the accumulation of material possessions and material wealth, but also power, control, accolades and accomplishments. When we look at the need for power and control in our society, we see acts of intolerance and violence spill into our daily reality. So many of us are disheartened when we see all the violence around us, as we try to understand how someone could be motivated to carry out an act of violence that affects so many innocent lives. 

Saints like Aloysius Gonzaga show us that there is another way, that we don’t have to store our treasure in the values of the world.