23 June 2024 - Homily for Mission appeal at St Patrick Catholic Church in Providence, Rhode Island - homily for 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 4:35-41

It is very wonderful being with all of you here today to celebrate Mass around the table of the Lord.  My name is Father Lincoln Dall.  I come to you as a brother in Christ from the Diocese of Jackson in Mississippi, in the deep South, where it is already hot and humid. When you receive a visit from a missionary, you probably expect a missionary who is working overseas. However, I am from a missionary Diocese in our own country.  Our Diocese has the lowest percentage of Catholics of any Diocese in the US, about 3%. Most of our 90 parishes are small and located in rural areas, far different from the reality here in Los Angeles. 

Our Gospel today builds upon last Sunday’s Gospel, in which Jesus spoke about a mustard seed that seems small and ordinary, but which has the potential to grow into a huge plant. Our faith is like that; if we accept the small kernel of faith from God, even though it may seem small and insignificant when it starts out, it can grow and grow. Today, however, the disciples give into their fears and do not remember these teaching about them, as they fear the great storm that is overwhelming their boat. We all face storms in life, but we can still sow seeds of faith in the midst of those storms. 

 In the Diocese of Jackson, we try to bring the Catholic faith to others and sow those seed of faith in different ways. The Catholic schools in our Diocese bring a Catholic education to both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Our inter-cultural ministry efforts bring our Catholic faith to the many Hispanics and African Americans who are in our Diocese. We have small parishes scatter in the rural areas of the state, helping them to continue to grow the Catholic faith amongst the people of Mississippi. 

You probably do not detect a strong Southern accent in my voice.  That is because I am not originally from Mississippi.  I am actually originally from Chicago.  However, you meet note a little bit of Southern California in my accent as well. My family moved here to Southern California when I was a teenager and I live down in Santa Ana in Orange County.  I still have family in the area, so it is nice to come back here to the Los Angeles area this weekend. I am currently the pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Raymond, MS and Holy Savior Catholic Church in Clinton, MS, two towns just outside the city of Jackson. I have also been serving as the vicar general of the Diocese for the past five years. 

In wanting to share some specific ministry stories with all of you, I thought of the prison ministry in our Diocese, something that is very dear to my own heart. I have been involved in prison ministry most of my priesthood.  I go out to the federal prison in Yazoo City, which has about 6,000 inmates, and the Mississippi state prison just outside of Jackson, with about 3,500 inmates.  For many years, we struggle to even get access to see the inmates.  Often, at the state prison, I would have mass at the foyer of the building where the inmates lived, or sometimes in the fire station at the prison.  About a year ago, we got access to have Mass in the chapel and have been able to go out every week, which has made a huge difference. If you have read any John Girsham novels, you have read descriptions about prisons in Mississippi, and unfortunately the reality is close to the terrible reputation they have.  If you can believe, most of the inmates live in housing units that have no air conditioning at all.  Unbelievable. Yet, our ministry has changed so many lives out there.  We sometimes have more than 200 inmates attending Mass during any given week.  We have had more than 20 men enter the Church this year.  I have inmates themselves as the leaders of our Catholic community at the prison, even Eucharistic ministers. They try to bring others to the faith.  You can tell I am very passionate about the prison ministry.  It is amazing to see God at work in this mission environment. 

I am here as a priest from the missionary Diocese of Jackson to share some of our stories with you as a part of our Church’s larger missionary effort.  Pope Francis has said that we as a Church should never lose our missionary identity. We always need to be a Church who goes out into the world and invites others to our faith. Pope Francis calls all of us to be missionary in spirit, for all Catholics to be a part of the universal mission effort of the Church.  And I think most importantly, in a world torn apart by divisions and conflict, we must recognize each other as our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we see ourselves as missionary in spirit, when we encounter our neighbor and invite him into our faith, it will open up so many possibility for us as well on our own journey and to see the Gospel in a new wonderful light. 

I am so grateful to be here with all of you this weekend. To celebrate around the altar of the Lord.  Your parish is going to have a second collection to help us with the missionary needs of our Diocese, to help our prison ministry, our rural parishes, and our rural schools. I want to thank you for any help you are able to give. Also, I am ask for your prayers for our Diocese of Jackson.  And be assured that I will keep all of you and your parish in my prayers as well.  

16 June 2024 - homily for Mission appeal at St Vincent DePaul Catholic Church in downtown Los Angeles - homily for 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 4:26-34

It is very wonderful being with all of you here today to celebrate Mass around the table of the Lord.  My name is Father Lincoln Dall.  I come to you as a brother in Christ from the Diocese of Jackson in Mississippi, in the deep South, where it is already hot and humid. When you receive a visit from a missionary at your parish, you are probably expecting a missionary serving in a faraway land overseas. However, I am from a missionary territory in our own country. Our Diocese has the lowest percentage of Catholics of any Diocese in the US, about 3%. Most of our 90 parishes are small and located in rural areas, far different from the reality here in Los Angeles. 

Our Gospel today talks about a little mustard seed that seems small and ordinary, but has the potential to grow into an amazingly large plant with huge branches.  We are all to be like that little mustard seed.  To take that little seed of faith that God gives us, and to grow our faith beyond our imagination.  In the Diocese of Jackson, we try to bring the Catholic faith to others in many different ways. The Catholic schools in our Diocese bring a Catholic education to both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Our inter-cultural ministry efforts bring our Catholic faith to the many Hispanics and African Americans who are in our Diocese. 

You probably do not detect a strong Southern accent in my voice.  That is because I am not originally from Mississippi.  I am actually originally from Chicago.  However, you meet note a little bit of Southern California in my accent as well. My family moved here to Southern California when I was a teenager and I live down in Santa Ana in Orange County.  I still have family in the area, so it is nice to come back here to the Los Angeles area this weekend. I am currently the pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Raymond, MS and Holy Savior Catholic Church in Clinton, MS, two towns just outside the city of Jackson. I have also been serving as the vicar general of the Diocese for the past five years. 

In wanting to share some specific ministry stories with all of you, I thought of the prison ministry in our Diocese, something that is very dear to my own heart. I have been involved in prison ministry most of my priesthood.  I go out to the federal prison in Yazoo City, which has about 6,000 inmates, and the Mississippi state prison just outside of Jackson, with about 3,500 inmates.  For many years, we struggle to even get access to see the inmates.  Often, at the state prison, I would have mass at the foyer of the building where the inmates lived, or sometimes in the fire station at the prison.  About a year ago, we got access to have Mass in the chapel and have been able to go out every week, which has made a huge difference. If you have read any John Girsham novels, you have read descriptions about prisons in Mississippi, and unfortunately the reality is close to the terrible reputation they have.  If you can believe, most of the inmates live in housing units that have no air conditioning at all.  Unbelievable. Yet, our ministry has changed so many lives out there.  We sometimes have more than 200 inmates attending Mass during any given week.  We have had more than 20 men enter the Church this year.  I have inmates themselves as the leaders of our Catholic community at the prison, even Eucharistic ministers. They try to bring others to the faith.  You can tell I am very passionate about the prison ministry.  It is amazing to see God at work in this mission environment. 

Today we celebrate Father’s day with all of you. We are so grateful for our Fathers and Grandfathers, for the Father figures we have in our lives.  We are thankful for the Fathers and Grandfather who provide examples of faith for the families, who bring their wives and children to the faith and provide love and care for them. It is like the parable in the Gospel today who sows seeds in the ground.  Then on their own, the seeds grow and mature until they are able to provide a bountiful harvest.  I encourage all of our Fathers and Grandfathers to sow these seeds of faith in their families and beyond - in their work environment, in their friendships, and in the community.  We never now how those seeds of faith are going to take root and grow. 

I am here as a priest from the missionary Diocese of Jackson to share some of our stories with you as a part of our Church’s larger missionary effort.  Pope Francis has said that we as a Church should lose our missionary identity. We always need to be a Church who goes out into the world and invites others to our faith. Pope Francis calls all of us to be missionary in spirit, for all Catholics to be a part of the universal mission effort of the Church.  And I think most importantly, in a world torn apart by divisions and conflict, we must recognize each other as our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we see ourselves as missionary in spirit, when we encounter our neighbor and invite him into our faith, it will open up so many possibility for us as well on our own journey and to see the Gospel in a new wonderful light. 

I am so grateful to be here with all of you this weekend. To celebrate around the altar of the Lord.  Your parish is going to have a second collection to help us with the missionary needs of our Diocese, to help our prison ministry, our rural parishes, and our rural schools. I want to thank you for any help you are able to give. Also, I am ask for your prayers for our Diocese of Jackson.  And be assured that I will keep all of you and your parish in my prayers as well. 

25 June 2024 - homily for Tuesday of the 12th week in Ordinary Time - Matthew 7:6 and 12-14

Jesus tells us we should enter through the narrow gate, for the wide gate is the one that leads us to destruction. As I thought about this verse, I reflected up the criticism that the Church often receives. In the eyes of the secular world, we are often a prime target. But, we need to realize that bringing God’s love into the world doesn’t mean that what we say and what we do are going to be politically correct. Standing up for what we perceive to be the truth is not always easy and comfortable. While we see many in our society trying to go through the wide door, what sense does that make of the narrow door that Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel? As a parish, we try to reach out to the least of our brothers and sisters, to the children and the youth. We can always do more, but we try to live out our faith as best we can, and that is always a huge challenge.

All of us need to look into our hearts to see how we are living out the Gospel.  But if we believe that the Gospel of Life calls us to be against abortion and against capital punishment, that puts us out of line with our society as it tries to look for the easiest and most convenient way out.  If we say we define marriage between a man and a woman in our Church, it is not because we are against at certain groups or individuals in society, but rather it is because we believe that that marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman who are united before God in a holy way.  Standing up for the freedom to practice our faith may not be the entrance through the wide door of our secular world.  But, in standing up for our rights to practice our faith, we do so because we believe it is the right thing to do.  In a lot of ways, we are in the Church are really the ones who are counter-cultural to the ways of the world. 

26 June 2024 - prayers of the faithful - Wednesday of the 12th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you are the seat of justice. 

Christ Jesus - you are the light of the world. 

Lord Jesus - you are the beloved Son of the Father .  

Priest: With joy in our hearts, let us present our prayers to our heavenly Father:

1. That God’s healing Spirit will free all who are facing trials and sufferings, open them to new sources of strength, and restore their lives.  We pray especially for those struggling with addictions, depression, and mental health issues.  

2. For healing for the sick and for strength for all medical professionals and for all who care for the sick. 

3. For our first responders, for the men and women in the military, and for all veterans. For their safety and for the well-being of their families.  

4. For all who are persecuted for their faith and for those who put themselves in danger to spread the Gospel Message, particularly missionaries. May God preserve them from harm and encourage them in their faith.  

5. For leaders of the Church, government, and communities: that the Holy Spirit will inspire them in ways to resolve the issues of injustice, violence, and domestic abuse, so that all may live in peace and safety.

6. For the faithful departed, for their entry into eternal life. 

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

Priest: With joy in our hearts, we present our prayers today through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  

25 June 2024 - prayers of the faithful - Tuesday of the 12th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you call us to justice.

Christ Jesus - you bring us the love of the Father. 

Lord Jesus - you call us to faith.  

prayers of the faithful: 

Priest: With love and hope in our hearts, let us present our prayers to our heavenly Father:

1. For a deepening of virtue in our lives. For growth in patience, endurance, fortitude, and hope.  

2. That God’s generous love will call us to transformation, helping us handle any impatience and frustration that meets us in daily life. 

3. That the new life of God within us inspire us as we grow in our human relationships. May we learn to better share our lives with our brothers and sisters. 

4. That God will inspire us to work for the common good of our parishes and our Diocese, to encourage and accept each other, and to make room for the gifts of our neighbors. 

5. For all who are preparing to celebrate the sacrament of holy matrimony: that God will form them into a community of life, strengthen their commitment to each other, and help them to encounter Jesus in their love for each other.

6. For healing for all of us in body, mind, and spirit. 

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

Priest: With the month of June dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we present our prayers through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.  

26 June 2024 - Wednesday of the 12th week in Ordinary Time - 2 Kings 22:8-13 and 23:1-3

On this day in 1988, Jesuit priest and Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar entered eternal life. He had been named by Pope John II to be a Cardinal, but died prior to being elevated to that position. Von Balthasar and his good friends Joseph Ratzinger and Henri de Lubac founded the influential theological journal Communio in 1972, reflecting the spirit of the Second Vatican Council in which all three participated. During his lifetime, he authored 85 books and more than 500 articles and essays.  Ordained a Jesuit priest, he later left that order after he helped found the community of St John with his friend Adrienne von Speyr.  That group is a Catholic institute of consecrated lay people that works toward the sanctification of the world.  He then became incarnated as a Diocesan priest with the Diocese of Chur in Switzerland.  A major Catholic theologian in the 20th century, he never held an academic position.  In the homily at the funeral of von Balthasar, Pope Benedict XVI said that in his teachings and writings, von Balthasar “points the way to the sources of living waters.”  Along with his collaborator, Adrienne von Speyr, the Diocese of Chur has opened up their cause for canonization.  

We have been hearing from the 2nd book of Kings these last several weeks at Daily Mass; these readings have jumped around many centuries to recount the different prophets and kings who had authority in Ancient Israel.  Today we hear how the book of the law of God was found in the Temple after having been lost for many centuries. Many modern Scripture scholars believe that this is the Book of Deuteronomy that was found.  King Josiah is contrite and repentant when he hears God’s law read to him out of this book. The words of Scripture speak to him deeply. He realizes how he and his people have strayed from God’s law in so many ways. 

Although not all of us are called to be theologians or prophets, we are called to grow in our faith, to learn more about our faith, and to apply our faith in our daily lives. May the Lord continue to lead us and guide us on our journey, helping us to grow in our faith. 

23 June 2024 - 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 4:35-41- Homily for prison ministry

Last Sunday, as we heard the parable of the mustard seed from Mark’s Gospel, a parable about faith  Today, in a continuation of Mark’s Gospel, we hear of Jesus and the disciples caught in a terrible storm, which continues to address the subject of faith. We might think that we know a lot about faith, but let’s try to reflect about faith in the context of today’s Gospel.

The first thing that sticks out to me in today’s Gospel story is this question that Jesus asks the disciples: “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” I want to relate a story to you from my missionary experiences from Ecuador, and reflecting upon that experience, unfortunately, I have a large source of stories of things that terrified me from my days as a missionary.  One afternoon, I had just arrived in a canoe at the docks of our mission site.  It was a very busy day; many people walking down the streets of the village and going to the marketplace to do their shopping.  I was carrying a large box of plants and seedlings for my garden, so I had my hands full and had a hard time seeing what was in front of me. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I saw this little scraggly, mangy gray dog, barking and snarling, headed right toward me with a bunch of other dogs with him.  Before I knew it, these dogs had surrounded me. I was very scared.  Before I knew it, I felt a terrible stabbing pain on my thigh, and then felt the wetness of blood all over my leg.  One of dogs, a German shepherd, had bitten me on the leg. I knew that I needed medical help immediately, so I rushed down to the medical clinic a couple of blocks away to get the wound cleaned and stitched up.  Unfortunately, this is not the end of my story.  Since that day, I was petrified of the dogs that wandered around our village all day long.  Attacks from these dogs were not uncommon; they were accepted by the villagers as a part of life. I avoided the busy marketplace where I had been attacked, even when it meant having to walk more than twice the distance to get to the school where I worked each day. Finally, after about a month, I decided to confront my fears and walked through the marketplace.   Wouldn’t you know, as soon as I got there, I heard barking and I saw that mean gray dog headed toward me. Frightened beyond belief, I panicked. I started screaming like a crazy person, throwing my backpack and getting out of there as fast as I could. When I arrived at the school, I told my students the story of what happened, and one of them went back to retrieve my backpack. Luckily it was still there. To this day, barking dogs in the street still terrify me. There are things in life that terrify us. Perhaps, we have things that we fear that can be stumbling blocks in our journey of faith. Perhaps we fear failure or fear taking a risk or fear making a commitment to our faith. 

We would be naïve to think that our faith life is going to smooth sailing, that we are not going to hit rough patches.  It may be a challenge to stay committed to our faith when things are going well; we might not feel like we need God in those moments, feeling engaged with God at the time.  Other times, it may be a challenge to stay committed to our faith in moments of crisis or grief, in times of suffering or loss, feeling that God has abandoned us. Some of us go through long periods of doubt and questioning and searching for something in life that we feel is missing.  Yet, God always meets us in our reality, whatever that reality is. God reaches out to us in our reality, but we have to reach back.

Sometimes, like the disciples on that boat, we may fear that we are going down in the stormy waters around us. We might have felt that way this year during the pandemic. But, in our fears and in our weaknesses, we are called to be courageous, we are called to walk by faith.  May we hear Jesus calling out to us:  “Fear not! Do not be afraid!”