12 June 2024 - prayers of the faithful - Thursday of the 10th week of Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you bring us new life. 

Christ Jesus - you give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Lord Jesus - you are seated at the right hand of the Father. 

Priest: With faith and trust, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father: 

1. That those who announce Christ’s Good News may faithfully and joyously proclaim God’s loving presence and generous forgiveness. 

2. That the Holy Spirit will help our youth and young adults recognize their gifts and talents and stir up within them a desire to use them for God's glory. 

3. That the Holy Spirit will inspire us with a renewed sense of mission in confronting the values of society and in building a society of justice and peace. 

4. For all who have been initiated into the new life of Christ this Easter season, that they may continue to listen to God, build up the Church, and grow in love. 

5. For Christian unity, that the Holy Spirit will bring forth forgiveness for past wounds, a new spirit of trust, and opportunities to work and pray together for God’s glory. 

6. For healing for the sick in body, mind, and spirit. For those in the hospital, hospice, and nursing home. 

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

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

12 June 2025 - homily for Thursday of the 10th week in OrdinaryTime - Sigrid Undset - 2 Corinthians 3:15-4:1 and 3-6

We have our community of saints who have been officially canonized by the Catholic Church. However, we also have those faithful Catholics who have not been canonized, but are amongst the community saints in heaven.  Sigrid Undset was a Norwegian author born in 1882. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928. She is one of the youngest authors to receive that award and one of the few female recipients. She  converted to Catholicism in 1924. Her masterpiece is considered to be the immense medieval historical novel Kristin Larvansdatter, published in three different volumes. I read that work last year. It was daunting to read a work of literature almost 1300 pages long. Undset also wrote an acclaimed biography of Catherine of Sienna. She had been raised in a home with little faith, but was originally introduced to Catholicism while living and working in Rome. She explored her Catholic faith in her writing and in the way she lived out her life. She lived as a single mother after the collapse of her marriage, which included raising children she adopted from her husband’s first marriage. Even with those struggles, she donated the money awarded to her in the Nobel prize to two children’s charities. She truly tried to live out Christ’s Gospel message in her life. 

In his second letter to the Church in Corinth, St Paul tells us that we do not preach ourselves, but rather our Lord Jesus Christ. Our preaching and our Gospel message are to reflect the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the Holy Spirit inspires us to do. Indeed, the Holy Spirit inspires us in different ways. I think of St Paul who was called by God to bring the Gospel message to the Gentiles, to enculturate the Gospel message in a way they could understand, at a time when Peter and many of the other Church leaders wanted the Gospel message to be directed entirely to Jews. May we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us in the way we preach the Gospel and in the way we live out our faith. 

11 June 2025 - St Barnabas - Wednesday of the 10th week in Ordinary Time - Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3

We honor St Barnabas the Apostle today. He was one of the group of disciples in the Early Church who helped spread the way of Jesus throughout the ancient world. He worked closely with St Paul, as we hear in today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles. We don’t know a lot of details about many of the apostles and disciples in the Early Church, but we know that they worked tirelessly spreading the Gospel message and encouraging the faithful.

As we are engaged in a new evangelization in our world today, as our world is becoming increasingly secular, we find encouragement in St Barnabas and St Paul, of their great missionary spirit. We will celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ in a couple of weeks.  We are called to see a missionary spirit inherent in the spirit of the Eucharist.  On the night before Jesus died, he instituted the Holy Eucharist in the Last Supper that he celebrated with his followers. He did this so that his sacrifice on Calvary, which would be consummated on the following day, might be celebrated in every time and place and for all of humanity. Reflecting upon the Lord’s Supper, Pope Benedict XVI has this to say: “At the Last Supper, Jesus entrusts to his disciples the sacrament which makes present his self-sacrifice for the salvation of us all, in obedience to the Father’s will. We cannot approach the (Eucharist) without being drawn into the mission which, beginning in the very heart of God, is meant to reach all people. Missionary outreach is thus an essential part of the Eucharistic form of the Christian life.”

We need to break out of our comfort zones, to find new and exciting ways to grow in our faith and to evangelize. The New Testament recounts ways in which Paul and Barnabas encountered barriers and obstacles in their efforts to evangelize, even to the point of having their lives threatened or being kicked out of towns. We should not get discouraged when things don’t go as we optimistically hope for.  May we find strength in the Eucharist and in our community of faith. May we accept the call to be missionaries. 

11 June 2025 - prayers of the faithful - Wednesday of the 10th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you encourage us on our journey of faith. 

Christ Jesus - you give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Lord Jesus - you increase our faith and hope. 

Priest: With faith and hope, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father: 

1. That God will pour out the Spirit on the Church in new & abundant ways to renew all believers and to strengthen us to further Jesus’ mission. 

2. That God will heal the divisions between women and men, poor and rich, and every race, so that we may work together for unity and the fulfillment of God’s plan

3. That all Christians may manifest love, joy, peace, and all the fruits of the Spirit in our lives

4. That the Spirit of God will lead us into a greater understanding of who we are and of what God is asking of us. 

5. For all gathered here at Mass, that we may fully use the gifts of the Spirit to encourage one another on our journeys of faith and build up the Body of Christ. 

6. For all the prayers that reside in our hearts, including those prayers that seem impossible to fulfill. 

Priest: As we return to ordinary time, we present our prayers thru your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN.   

10 June 2025 - prayers of the faithful - Tuesday of the 10th week of Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you call us to be thankful in our faith - Lord have mercy. 

Christ Jesus - you call us to share the Gospel with others - Christ have mercy. 

Lord Jesus - you bring us hope and courage - Lord have mercy. 

Priest: In the midst of our daily reality, may we be guided by the Holy Spirit as we present our prayers to God: 

1. That we may be blessed with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, so that we may grow in love of God and love of neighbor.

2. We pray for the Church in the United States and throughout the world, that we will be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as we seek renewal and wholeness.  

3. For the wisdom and insight to care for the earth and environment and to preserve God’s gifts of water, land, and climate.

4. For the sick and the homebound. For those battling addictions and mental illness. For care givers and medical professionals.  

5. For our government officials in the United States and throughout the world, that they may be guided by the Holy Spirit when addressing the challenges facing us. 

6. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed.  For their entry into eternal life. 

7. Let us remember in silence our own personal prayer intentions and the intentions of those who have asked for our prayers.

Priest: Father, help us to profess with our words and with our lives your undivided unity with your Son and with the Holy Spirit.  We make these prayers through Christ, our Lord forever and ever. Amen. 

10 June 2025 - Tuesday of the 10th week in Ordinary Time - Antonin Gaudi - Matthew 5:13-16

You are the salt of the earth.  You are the light of the world.  What great images we have in our Gospel today from Jesus - well known images.  We are bring light to our world, especially those areas that are in darkness or shadow.  We are to be the salt of the earth, a certain flavor that we can give society as disciples of Christ. 

Antoni Gaudi (1852 – 1926) was a celebrated architect who lived in Spain. As a young man, he lived a extravagant lifestyle. He became well-known for his unique architectural style, which I would describe as whimsical. When I visit Spain, I marvel at his architecture.  Gaudi built the episcopal palace in the city of Astorga to be the residence of the bishop.  Astorga is an important city on the Camino pilgrimage route. His friend, the bishop there at the time, had commissioned him to build a new residence when the old one burned down in the late 19th century. Most of Gaudi’s projects are located in the Catalan region of eastern Spain.  I love the wonderful Park Güell that Gaudi designed for the aristocracy in Barcelona. It is the Church of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia) that is Gaudi’s crowning glory and an expression of his Catholic Faith. That church is finally close to completion almost 100 years after Gaudi’s death. It has been designated a basilica and has brought many visitors to experience its beauty. Gaudi started attending daily mass and dressed as a humble laborer while working on that church. Gaudi died on June 10, 1926, after having been struck by a street car.  He is proposed as a candidate for canonization. Earlier this year, he was declared venerable. 

8 June 2025 - homily for Pentecost - John 20:19-23

This weekend we celebrate, Pentecost, a celebration of the Holy Spirit and the end of the Easter season. In our Gospel today, we hear of Jesus appearing to them in the upper room as they are gathered in fear. He brings them a greeting of peace and breathes upon them the presence of the Holy Spirit. We can see this moment of the coming of the Holy Spirit as a special moment in the life of the Church. The coming of the Holy Spirit marked a special form of renewal in the lives of those first disciples. Continuously, the work of the Holy Spirit here on earth renews our lives of discipleship as well. 

As disciples of Christ, we are to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives and into our hearts. The spirit is there to give up hope and strength in the midst of our fears and misgivings. In the Gospel, Jesus live-giving breath reflects the breath of God that gives life to the human race at the beginning of creation, taking the clay of the earth and making human beings a living creation. As Jesus states in the Gospel, this divine indwelling of the Holy Spirit gives us the power to forgive and to continue Christ’s saving mission and ministry here on earth. The incarnation of the risen Lord is present in our lives of faith, in the body of Christ in the Church, in our mission and ministry. Through our mission and ministry, through acts of forgives, we can help the Holy Spirit renew the face of the earth. 

In a world where there is a lot of violence and division, our celebration of Pentecost this weekend is a good reminder of the connection between the gifts of peace and forgiveness that we receive as disciples of Christ and the actions of the Holy Spirit. We as the Church are called to be God’s reconciling and healing presence in the world. This reconciling presence is to be a way of life for us. In situations of conflict and anger and tension, we are to be agents of peace and harmony. 

Our Gospel today comes from the 19th chapter of John’s Gospel. Elsewhere in John, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, a Greek word meaning Advocate, Counselor, Comforter, Helper, Encourager, or Enabler. We might not be aware how the Holy Spirit works quietly within us and through us each day behind the scenes in the everyday events and activities of our lives and in the lives of the people around us. The Spirit is there in all his fullness wherever people worship and pray in the name of Jesus. When we believe and trust in Jesus, we have that faith through the Holy Spirit working within us and filling us. The Holy Spirit helps us to turn away from our sins, reassuring us that we are still loved in spite of the ways we sin and our struggles with temptation.  The Spirit is there to confront us and urge us to examine ourselves and to head in the right direction. The Spirit not afraid to challenge us and to go above and beyond to do things in the name of our faith, perhaps things we have never done before or things we could never imagine ourselves doing. The Spirit calls us out of our self-centeredness and to put the focus on Christ, to allow our faith to be the center of our lives. 

As our Easter season comes to an this weekend, may the joy of our faith and the joy of the risen Christ always be in our hearts and our minds.