christianity

“When tempted to answer her sharply, I made haste to smile”. – St. Thérèse of Lisieux

“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village (Lk 9:54-56).

James and John’s request of Jesus ought to be recognizable to many, if not all of us. How many times when feeling slighted or disrespected do we want to act in kind or offer some retribution to our perceived offender? Often, we do not even think, we just react or we engage in our own tumultuous, internal maelstrom.

Jesus rebuked James and John’s request immediately and moved on. He did not allow the rejection of the Samaritans to deter his course for even one second.

The most helpful response to today’s Gospel is to affirm that Jesus’ response to the Samaritan’s lack of hospitality is a healthier one than that of James and John. If we can agree with resisting to react as our starting point, then we will have a better chance to seek to understand what Jesus can teach us when encountering others.

One approach to others extending unkind behavior is to be understanding. We are all dealing with a lot, and much of what others are dealing with are unknown to us. If we approach another’s unkind or disrespectful action from a place of understanding instead of seeking revenge, we will have a better chance of not reacting in kind and possibly being able to help another to get in touch and reveal something they are struggling with.

Often a negative response may come from misunderstandings. Another response can be one of giving the person the benefit of the doubt. We are not mind-readers and we also are not often the best of communicators so resisting jumping to rash conclusions is a better course of action.

A third approach is to receive a critique with humility. Maybe, we have done something to cause hurt toward another, intentionally or unintentionally. By taking responsibility for that which we have done and apologize for it, we create a better bridge for reconciliation.

We are only responsible for our own actions. We cannot dictate or change the behaviors of others nor are we to be doormats for another’s abuse. We will experience healthier interactions when we approach conflicts and obstacles with patience, understanding, and humility for acknowledging what we have done and what we have failed to do. Even with a more understanding approach, sometimes there are those who will not be open to our efforts. St. Thérese of Lisieux found herself annoyed by one of the sisters. Whenever Thérèse saw her she would pray for her and wrote that, “when tempted to answer her sharply, I made haste to smile and change the subject”.

A smile can go a long way as well as praying for and respecting the dignity of each person we feel challenged by. There is a path between aggressive reaction and passive submission. Jesus is very clear that we are to love in all situations. We will each other’s good by clearly communicating our experience of our interaction, are willing to forgive and seek forgiveness, and to love each other through our idiosyncrasies, mistakes, and sins.

Human relationships are difficult in the best of scenarios, but still well worth the effort. Above all, when conflicts arise it is important to take a few deep breathes, pray, seek, and rely on the guidance of Jesus, and when possible seek out those who we trust. In this way, we will be less apt to react, have a healthier outlet for our frustrations, and instead see some options available that will help us to grow and mature in our relationships.

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Photo: St. Thérèse of Lisieux pray for us!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 1, 2024

We do better when we depend on God.

The Apostle John attempted to prevent someone from casting out demons in Jesus’ name because he was not one in their “company”, he was not one of those handpicked by Jesus as one of the Twelve. This person casting out demons in Jesus’ name was not like Simon the Magician (see Acts 8:9-25) who sought to buy the power of God from the Apostles to perform feats to boost his own fame and ego. He was doing what the apostles were doing and in the proper way, by invoking the name of Jesus.

Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you” (Lk 9:50). The important part about being a disciple is surrendering to the will of God. Jesus consistently pointed this out to his followers. Being a disciple of Jesus had nothing to do with whether or not someone was in or out of their company, or whether or not they were related to Jesus, as was recorded just in the last chapter, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus, in today’s Gospel, is pointing out the danger of groupthink for its own sake. This is something we desperately need to get in our present-day and age. What is important is not putting our self, our family, our tribe, our party, or our nation first. What is important is putting God first.

The man in today’s Gospel did not rely on his own strength or willpower but called on the name of Jesus to cast out demons and he did so not because he was seeking to be great but following the lead of the Holy Spirit. John was more focused on the fact that this man wasn’t in their company, instead of being amazed that he was exorcising demons in the name of Jesus. The man was doing what Jesus had called the apostles to do. Maybe John had been a bit jealous that this man was doing a better job of it as well.

We and John can learn a bit from the humility of Job from our first reading. After losing all his livestock, workers, and children, Job turned to God in humility and said: “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21-22).

“Blessed be the name of the LORD!” Job felt the anguish and pain of his loss but kept the proper perspective and trusted in God. God gave, took away, he would give again. John’s misstep and rash judgment of the man could have come from the fact that he and the other apostles were arguing about who was to be the greatest. They had taken their focus off of God and were focusing upon themselves. Jesus reminded them that the one who is least is the greatest. The one who is willing to depend on God, as a small child depends on their parent for everything, will have greater access to God as did this man and Job.

Photo: Flowers I came upon on my Rosary walk, “they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these” (Luke 12:27). Let us seek God’s will for our lives and radiate his love!

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, September 30, 2024

May we confess and not allow the sun to set on our sins.

In each of our readings for this Sunday, even the psalm, there is conflict. The reconciliation for this conflict is to accept and understand that God is God, and we are not. We are to place all our trust in him, follow his precepts and teachings and we will be in a much better place. Better because we will come to realize that the interpretive key to experience healing for ourselves and guidance through our conflicts, is to accept the invitation of our loving God and Father to be in relationship with him.

We have been created by an outpouring of God’s love, to receive his love, and to love God, our neighbors, and ourselves as he loves us. When we anchor ourselves in this truth, in putting God first, trusting in him and seeking to deepen our relationship with him, our lives will be more properly ordered and we will realize that not only are we not alone when we experience conflicts but we will have a firm foundation in God for guidance. When we have recognized that we have turned away from God through our sin, may we have the humility to seek forgiveness.

In our first reading then when Joshua complains to Moses because he hears about how Eldad and Medad are prophesying apart from the seventy who had come to receive the spirit God sought to bestow on them, Moses pointed out to Joshua that God can bestow the spirit on whomever he wills and, “Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all” (Numbers 11:29)!

This same theme arises in the Gospel when John also complained to Jesus that someone, not one of the apostles, was driving out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus tells him not to prevent him from doing so, “For whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40).

Both Moses and Jesus recognize and acknowledge that the power of God is at work among his people, and that this not to be prevented or inhibited in any way. That people are receiving the spirit of God and acting upon God’s guidance is what we are all to do! To give the spirit and love and for all to receive is what God wants for all of us!!! The love we have received is not for us alone, but for us to share.

James points this out clearly in his letter and reveals the danger of wealth when we cling to it and refuse to share. Wealth given by God is a gift and a gift given not for us alone. We are to be good stewards of what we have received and provide freely for those in need. We are not to grasp for wealth on our own terms apart from God’s guidance nor exploit or use others for our own gain.

One of most egregious of sins is withholding wages from workers that are due their pay; the cries of which “have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts” (James 1:4). Withholding wages of day laborers during the time of James could have devastating effects. It could mean the laborer or his family would not eat, he could not make a payment of debt and could be imprisoned, as well as other complications that posed a risk for those living day to day with no social net or means of support.

In the Gospel, Jesus shows vividly and graphically the seriousness of sin. Without mincing words, Jesus showed clearly that sin was not to be taken lightly and doing so has catastrophic effects not only in this life but for all eternity. This was especially true for those who lead others into sin. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42).

This great millstone or donkey stone was massive. Some biblical scholars state that this stone could have weighed up to a thousand pounds. The donkey was hooked up to the stone, which was in the form of a massive wheel and then led by the donkey in a circle to pulverize wheat and other grains that was placed in a stone trough so to make flour. It is not hard to then imagine what would happen to someone who had this stone attached to his neck and thrown into the sea!

Jesus continued with more imagery by saying that it would be better to cut off a hand or a foot, and to pluck out an eye if any of these members would lead to sin. Jesus used such graphic language to show how destructive sin is in our lives, for each of us as individuals, as well as for families and communities. Sin has horrific consequences because it damages or ruptures our relationship with God and each other. The ultimate devastation would be an eternal life of separation from God.

Better to die a horrific death, than to die in a state of unrepentant mortal sin. Better to die maimed than clinging to a sin that would separate us from God for all eternity. Jesus is not wishing horrific deaths, physical dismemberments, or eternal damnation on anyone. He came not to condemn but to save humanity. His first public statement as he began his public ministry recorded back in Mark 1:15 is: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

Jesus came to wake us up, to lead us away from our selfishness, our self-centeredness, and sin, to heal us from our fears and deepest wounds, and to guide us home to the very source of our being, the infinite spring of our sustenance and nourishment, the core of our deepest desire, which is to remember who and whose we are. To call us to repent, to turn back to God, and believe in the gospel, the good news, that we are God’s beloved daughters and sons. And yet, through a free act of our will, we can reject the love of our Father and choose to separate ourselves from the love that God wants to bestow upon us in this life and for all eternity.

We can also choose to make the psalmist’s words our own: “Cleanse me of my hidden faults” (Psalm 19:12). When we hide in the darkness and cling to our sin, we are listening to the father of lies who seeks division and our death. God will forgive us from anything. God never tires of forgiving us. We tire of asking. Let us come confidently into the light, into the confessional, and ask Jesus to reveal to us our sins. When we have the humility to be contrite, confess, and atone for our sins, we will know and experience Jesus’ mercy, forgiveness and love, and be reconciled to our God and one another now, in this life, and for all eternity.

Photo: Rosary walk, Riomar Beach, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, September 29, 2024

The horizon we gaze upon has an effect on the life we live now.

The term horizon is often defined as where the earth and sky meet. This is actually an apparent horizon or sensible horizon because we see an apparent plane based on our observation point. If we are able to broaden our viewpoint and look beyond the present location we are standing at on the earth, say from the space shuttle, we could then experience a rational or celestial horizon: where the great circle of the celestial sphere whose plane passes through the center of the earth is parallel to the celestial horizon of a given position. Journeying deeper into space we could discuss event horizons, the boundaries marking the limits of black holes.

Before delving any deeper and getting lost in space, let’s return to earth and today’s Gospel where Jesus stated: “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men” (Lk 9:44). What Jesus offers to us in this statement is the horizon of the cross, the place where heaven and earth meet, where the physical and the spiritual, where the finite and infinite meet.

Many of Jesus’ followers were and are still confounded by the cross. As Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 22-23).

Paul echoes what Jesus was talking about – his imminent fate and our ultimate horizon – death. None of us will be able to avoid the final result of our mortality. Jesus taught both through his words and in his death that to be truly free we need to be willing to lose our life to gain it. We have to face and walk through our deepest fears to grow. Our life is not lived until we give it away.

The more willing we are to face the reality of our own death, the less likely we are to take the time we have for granted, and the better we can live our lives here and now. During our final four months together, JoAnn and I experienced God’s grace because we faced the reality that her time was near, we embraced the gift of the time we had together, and through the prayers of so many, we experienced the infinite presence of the love of God in our midst.

There is so much we can experience and enjoy, but if we only limit ourselves to that which we can experience with our physical senses alone and attempt to deny our own mortality, we limit ourselves and distort the sacredness of life. What makes us fully human, alive, and fulfilled is an embrace of both the physical and the spiritual, of both reason and faith, seeking the horizon where the finite and infinite meet, where earth and heaven come together.

This union happens most perfectly in Jesus Christ, who is fully human and fully divine. Jesus helps us to  experience the beauty of God’s creation and our relationships. This happens best when we are willing to enter with him into, instead of resist, the natural rhythm of life and death. We come to appreciate the truth of how fragile our lives really are.

This is not a truth to run from but to embrace. And as we do, we will be less apt to take each other for granted and instead better appreciate one another. We will also be able to slow down and rest more in the moments that God offers in which we can experience foretastes of heaven now. In doing so, we will better prepare ourselves for that time when Jesus will lead us into our own death so that we may rise with him and experience a new and infinite horizon.

Photo: Rosary walk and pause, Riomar Beach, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, September 28, 2024

Jesus calls us to participate in his Father’s plan.

“Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority” (Lk 9:1).

Jesus summons us as he did the Twelve and empowers us for mission in his name. The expression of our service is unique to each of us. We might resist exploring or entering into a deeper commitment of our faith though because we might feel anxious or afraid that God may call us to do something that we would never want to do, or that we couldn’t conceive of being capable of. There also may be some trepidation even when we are clear of the direction God wants us to move in which may arise from our hesitancy to change and move out from our comfort zone. Ultimately, God wants for us what we want for ourselves deep down. We may not even know what that is, but God does.

God knows what will give us and with whom we will experience meaning, fulfillment, and joy in our lives. The challenge for us is to come to know this for ourselves as well. The work of discipleship begins by accepting the invitation of God to walk with him and trust that he knows what he is doing and where he is leading! No matter what our age, we are never too young or too old to begin or recommit to the journey along the path of discipleship. One good practice is to reflect on our dreams and desires, bring them to God in prayer, and imagine ourselves embracing what we desire.

When I first joined the Franciscans to study for the priesthood in the early ’90s, I imagined from time to time my ordination day, especially in our second year as we were thinking about taking temporary vows. When I did so, a puzzling result consistently arose. I did not imagine feeling any excitement or joy. So, a year and a half into formation, I decided to take a leave of absence. I had asked to take off a year, but the minimum time for a leave of absence was two.

Though I balked at first about the two-year time frame required, I came to see the wisdom of my formation director. I would have come back after a year. About a year and a half out then it was that I realized that my vocational path was leading me to the Sacrament of Matrimony and not Holy Orders. Eighteen months after I came to that realization, I met JoAnn. As our relationship grew and we began to talk about marriage, whenever I envisioned our wedding day, I felt excitement and joy. Each year that we had together built on the one before. We grew closer to God and each other right up until the day of her death.

God led me to the Franciscans in my mid-twenties, he then led me out, and then he led me to JoAnn. Almost three years after JoAnn’s death, he led me to seminary to be formed as a diocesan priest. Periodically when I imagined my ordination day, even though the schedule was more intense this time around, unlike during my novitiate year with the Franciscans, this time I felt excited. Now just about four months serving as a priest, it is more amazing than I could have ever imagined!

God loves us more than we can ever imagine, he has a plan for each and every one of us, and he knows what will fulfill us. When we ponder our dreams and desires, and as we investigate, research, explore potential opportunities and continue to pray and discern each step, we will come to see that as we align ourselves with God’s will that makes all the difference. We are not alone in this process, and we have a God who can see the full picture, where we see only a small part.

There will be fits and starts, missteps and slips, doubts as well as confirmations, and desolations as well as consolations. The key through it all, is to remain faithful, to continue to trust in Jesus who called us. He will continue to accompany us along the way. As he did with the Apostles, he will give us the resources and strength we need, and he will send the Holy Spirit to empower and transform our lives. The process of discerning God’s will for our lives is not just for ourselves alone. Jesus is preparing us for mission. We are transformed by the gift of God’s love to go out and share the invitation we said yes to with others!

Photo: Good to take some quiet time each day to be still and listen for God to speak to us in the silence of our hearts. Doing so a few days ago while home visiting my family and friends in CT.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, September 25, 2024

We are one with the Holy Family when we “hear the word of God and act on it”!

He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it” (Luke 8:21).

There are many popular genetic testing kits that are advertised on TV and through the internet. People have asked me is it possible to be a blood relation to Jesus. Jesus’ reply today can help you to save some money. Asking if we are a blood relation with Jesus is missing the point of Jesus’ life and ministry. What is important are “those who hear the word of God and act upon it.” God is to be first, even before family. We may experience a subtle shudder from this statement but to those of Jesus’ time, it would have been apoplectic. Family meant everything in the Ancient Near East.

Jesus is not making the point that we disregard family, he is instead teaching us that if we are to be authentically present to our family this will come about best by following the will of his Father. As we deepen our relationship with Jesus and put his teachings into action, we begin to bear the relational fruits of the Spirit. Would not our familial relationships be much better if we were more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle and practiced self-control? Jesus taught and showed from his own life that the path to fulfilling and intimate relationships flourish best when we put God first because as we grow closer in relationship with him, we also do so with those around us.

Another point we can glean from Jesus’ response in today’s Gospel is that our “family” is to transcend bloodline, tribe, and nation. Any one of “those who hear the word of God and act upon it” is spiritually akin to Jesus the Christ. The point is not that we have a genetic, lineal relation with Jesus, but that when we live and act according to his Father’s will, we are part of the universal family of God’s grace and mercy and our relationship with him and one another grows as we continue to bear the fruit of the Spirit.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we will act with more caring and kindness, seek common ground through dialogue, be more willing to walk and accompany one another and seek to understand instead of judge. The bottom line is that we are to love one another as Jesus loves us! When we do so our lives are transformed.

To hear the word of God, we must have our hearts, minds, and souls open to hearing it proclaimed during Mass. We are also invited to read his word in our own daily time of prayer. In both situations, God’s word comes alive as he shares something of himself with us, to nourish, and give us his life. As we then receive, at times struggle with, seek to understand, and put into practice God’s word, we come to know the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the saints, and our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are one family in the Body of Christ when we “hear the word of God and act on it.” Just imagine what our parishes and communities would look like if we all did this.

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Photo: Praying with the Holy Family in the sacristy of St. Philips Catholic Church, East Windsor, CT. The church where I received my first communion and concelebrated Mass as a priest there for the first time this past Sunday.

The Mass readings for Tuesday, September 24, 2024

We have been made for more.

James, from our second reading today, asks a question that unfortunately needs to be asked in every generation.

Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from?

James gives us a place to start:

Beloved: Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.

Conflict and division come from the disordering of our thoughts, desires, passions, words, and actions. There is something a bit off kilter with us. This disorder or dis-orientation is caused when we choose our self over God. Turning in upon ourselves, saying we are the center of the universe and all is to revolve around us comes from the condition of Original Sin which weakens and wounds our human nature. This condition is made worse by the belief that we can save ourselves.

We seek the truth, to be happy, and to be fulfilled but we follow false promises, substitutes, and apparent goods that appeal to our egotism, our pride, and our fear. St Thomas Aquinas, the thirteenth century Dominican doctor of the Church, categorizes four substitutes or temptations that lead us astray from our proper orientation to God:

Pleasure, Wealth, Power and Honor

In and of themselves there is nothing wrong with any of these, but when we make any or all of them into an idol, our primary focus, when we pursue them to provide our stability, satisfaction and fulfillment, we will be led astray.

Pleasure feels good and it brings us instant gratification. The problem is that once the external agent or stimulus of the pleasure ends, so does the experience, and it leaves us empty and wanting more.

Wealth promises us that if we just have enough money, we can get whatever we want, do whatever we want, we believe that we can also be safe and secure. But again, we will still experience that deep hunger within us that cannot be fed by that which is finite or material.

Power offers the promise of access, of controlling the unpredictability of life’s challenges, yet, as the Catholic historian and moralist, Lord Acton, wrote: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Honor, closely linked with power, we see played out in our present day through the cult of celebrity that is sown into the very fabric of our society. So many seek their fifteen minutes of fame, too many not caring how they can get it.

We witness the Apostles in today’s Gospel, the closest to Jesus and his teaching, falling for the temptations of power and honor as they argue among themselves who is to be the greatest among them. The deeper sadness of their debate is that they are engaged in it just after Jesus has explained to them that he will be handed over and killed. The Apostles are so ensnared in the hierarchical structure of the society of their time that they fail to have the empathy and compassion to be present to Jesus as he shares with them his horrific fate.

We witness time and again, from the ancient times to today, the effects of Original Sin. The English convert to Catholicism, GK Chesterton, wrote that, “original sin… is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved” (Orthodoxy). We can see it in the streets, we in the news, as well as looking back at us in the mirror, for we too fall into indifference, lack of empathy, and resist slowing down enough to be present and accompany others.

We perpetuate the condition of Original Sin when we choose to put ourselves in the center where God belongs. We must resist its lure and acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves, we cannot find happiness, security, joy and/or fulfillment in any finite or material pursuit. While at the same time, we can also acknowledge that even though Original Sin is real, even though we have been wounded and battered by its effects, we have not been overcome, we are not totally corrupt or destroyed by it.

We have been created good by God, and the embers of that goodness remain in each and every one of us. Even if the embers are only a smolder, they are just awaiting to be stoked and set ablaze. God has created us as a living, craving, hunger and desire to be one with God and each other and this is true for the atheist and the mystic alike.

The antidote to the poison of Original Sin is Jesus the Christ. He, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity. In our Baptism, we are cleansed from this condition of Original Sin and are indelibly marked, we are conformed to the very being of Jesus. We become part of his Body.

Yet, while freed from the bondage of Original Sin by our Baptism, we are still tempted to return to the place of our slavery, like the Hebrew slaves yearning for Egypt, like Lot’s wife looking back to Sodom and Gomorrah. We need to keep our eyes focused on looking ahead, to that which is above. Jesus shares with his Apostles in today’s Gospel that we are to turn the pursuit of pleasure, wealth, power, and honor on its head when he states that: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Only a relationship with God will bring us happiness and fulfillment.

We begin our path of walking as disciples by becoming like the small child that Jesus brought into their midst. The child in ancient Palestine was nothing. He had no status, no significance, no wealth, power, or honor. Each child was completely dependent on their parents. This is to be our starting point in being a disciple. We need to reject the notion outright that we can heal ourselves and admit that we need Jesus to restore us to our relationship with our Father and place our sole dependence in him for everything. God, not self, is to be our end goal.

As James wrote, “the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.”

May we receive and live by this wisdom from God and accompany one another as we seek to deepen our journey with Jesus. May we be willing to serve, to give of our time, talent and treasure to build up God’s Kingdom here on earth. May we be willing to seek out and invite others to share in our journey, so that we can feel support and encouragement and realize that we do not have to walk alone. May we be open to pray to the one who created us, read the Bible and ponder on the living word of God, and experience the lives of those who have walked before us in their encounters with God, and read the lives of the saints, those who are now where we seek to one day be! May we participate regularly in the sacraments, our deepest encounters with Jesus this side of heaven.

We are one Body in Christ. All of us seek happiness, fulfillment, and meaning in our lives, to belong and to be a part of something greater than ourselves. This is who God has created us to be. St Augustine realized this when he wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O God, and we are restless until we rest in you.” It is never too late to come to realize that God loves us more than we can ever mess up and more than we can ever imagine. God is our hope, our ultimate goal, and the answer to our deepest desire.

Let us renounce all jealousy, fear, pride, and selfish ambition, and instead surrender our hearts, minds and souls to Jesus in our time of meditation, prayer, service, in his very real presence in the Eucharist celebrated today at Mass, so to be forgiven, healed, renewed, reconnected, and in so doing, find the fulfillment we have been created for.

Once we receive and experience God’s unconditional love, may the embers of our soul ignite with the flame of his love such that we can recognize and distinguish between the voice and enticement of the enemy who seeks to destroy us and the voice of the Good Shepherd who seeks to give us life and life to the full. For in experiencing the life of Jesus, we experience the infinite we have been created for.

Photo: Sometimes taking the time to get outside and look up and beyond helps us to get in touch with the reality that we are physical as well as spiritual beings, not either/or but both/and.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, September 22, 2024

God has made us for communion and relationship.

Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women (Lk 8:1-2).

A simple statement but significant regarding how Jesus again is showing us how to live our lives as his followers, his disciples. Jesus is fully human and fully divine. What he has done and continues to do as the Son of God incarnate is to draw close to us in our humanity, as human beings, so that we can enter into a relationship with him and his Father through the love of the Holy Spirit, thus becoming one with him in his divinity.

From the beginning of his public ministry, throughout his time walking this earth, and continuing on after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, he  invites people to participate in his life and the kingdom of Heaven which is at hand in his very presence. Jesus does so by building relationships. This is how Luke can write the verses that Jesus was accompanied by the Twelve and Mary Magdelene, Joanna, and Susanna. These were real people with whom Jesus developed real and intimate bonds.

Christianity is not a Lone Ranger religion, it is not the survival of the fittest, and Jesus did not teach us to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We are created by God to be in communion, to be in a relationship with him and each other, to experience his love and love one another. That means we need to ask for help from God and each other when in need and to come to the aid of, accompany, empower, and support one other.

We are invited to welcome, engage with, and make time for each other by exchanging in the stories of our tragedies and our triumphs. We need to resist the temptation of withdrawing into our own bubbles. Instead, let us take the risk to be vulnerable and trust. Relationships are not perfect, they will be messy, and conflicts will arise. By making a commitment to God and each other, being willing to be honest even when we are tempted by our fears to be otherwise, keeping an open heart and mind, and being willing to be understanding, kind, and forgiving, we can grow closer together.

Jesus chooses each one of us to accompany him and to forge relationships grounded in mutual respect, where no one is last and where no person is left behind. Our prejudices only survive when we keep people at a distance. When we are willing, like Jesus, to come close and spend time with one another, our biases can fade and friendships can grow. Even when it appears sometimes that our country and our world is about to tear apart at the seams, reconciliation and communion is what our faith is all about. This is why we are a joyful people and an alleluia people!

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Photo: After concelebrating Mass at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in Broad Brook, CT. Enjoyed spending time with and getting to know some of the parishioners afterwards.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, September 20, 2024

When it is time to mourn, we weep, and when time to celebrate, we dance!

“To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep'” (Lk 7:31-32).

Jesus convicted those who held a narrow view of who was a true follower of God by sharing the image of a flute being played and no one was dancing, thus in times of joy, there was no celebration, and when the funeral dirge was sung, they did not weep, they did not mourn. Jesus then tied the analogy to his present condition where there were those who did not accept the ascetical practices of fasting and the call to repentance from John the Baptist, nor did they accept the inclusive table fellowship of Jesus.

In our own time, we have encountered those that are not pleased beyond their own narrow focus and who suffer from tunnel vision. Anything that hints at even a slight variation of change sends tremors of discontent. If we are honest, we all have some resistance to change, but if we are to authentically live the Gospel, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman’s quote is an apt barometer: “To live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often.”

JoAnn embraced change much more easily than I. She consistently helped me, even when I didn’t feel it was helpful, to resist getting too comfortable. She did so again in “changing her address” five years ago to a heavenly zip code. Working through the reality of her death and the new adventure of two years of seminary were two big changes that I embraced with a lot of help, which has prepared me well for my first few months of priesthood.

It would have been easier to seek an early retirement and live a quieter life, but that was not a part of God’s plan. When most my age are thinking of or beginning an early retirement, I decided to embrace the invitation to change again and embark on a new adventure. I am very happy that I did.

The Church, at her best, is a balance between the rock foundation of our core beliefs, such as is outlined in the Nicene Creed, which provides stability, assuredness, and identity, while at the same time we need to be open to the life-giving inspiration of change from the Holy Spirit. Each of us in each generation must make the Gospel relevant. We must enter into the tension of remaining true to what we believe while being flexible to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us. In this way, we can avoid molding the Church into our image, and instead be conformed into the image and likeness of Jesus, who is the embodiment of Love, the Trinitarian communion of which we profess in the Creed.

We can live a life of joy when we resist the temptation to hold on too tightly. Nothing and no one in this world lasts because all is finite. When it is time to mourn, let us weep, and if we do so well, when it is time to embrace life we can do so with joy and we can dance again. What lasts as St. Paul says is love. God is love and God created us out of an abundance of his love. When we are willing to surrender our will to the Father, our heart and mind to the Son, and allow our soul to be led by the Holy Spirit, we can better embrace change and better live our life to the full!

Photo: On my first day in the sanctuary of Holy Cross Catholic Church, Vero Beach, beginning my new journey with some quiet time with Jesus, Mary, and JoAnn.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Let us listen carefully to, pray and meditate upon the word from the Word of God.

Since diving deeper into John Chapter 6 about a month ago, the refrain, “This saying is hard, who can accept it?” (John 6:60) continues to rise up with almost every reading from the weekday and Sunday Masses since then. To read, listen, meditate upon and pray with, the teachings of Jesus is not easy, especially if we want to also put them into practice into our lives. Which means deciding as to whether or not we want to be his disciple.

We may have been tempted to not listen closely while at Mass so not to recall anything that we have heard, we may let it go in one ear and out the other, or we may actually hear God’s word, and then when it is challenging, rationalize why we don’t have to follow it in today’s day and age.

My invitation is to go back and read each of the readings from today’s Mass carefully, slowly, prayerfully, and meditate upon them. This we are invited to do with each of God’s word proclaimed to us or in our own time of prayerful reading. The words we hear or read are not just a dead letter, they are not just an account of history, they are not just lessons to be shared, they are God’s living word in which we are invited to take in, chew upon, struggle with, and allow ourselves to be changed, to be transformed.

The appropriate response to hearing God’s word that we have received comes from the first line of Isaiah: “The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, I have not turned back” (Isaiah 50:5). As with the deaf man who Jesus healed last week, God seeks for all of us to hear his word and when we are willing to allow him to open our ears to hear, he will do so, and when we hear his word may we, like Isaiah, not rebel but receive his word.

Because Isaiah did so, he received the help of the Lord GOD.

Jesus not only healed the man of his deafness, but he also continually strove to heal the spiritual ears of his disciples. But we all have the freedom to choose. We can rebel and walk away as did so many after hearing Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, and even when we don’t understand, we can answer with Peter, “Where else are we to go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68).

Why ought we listen to this man who died almost two thousand years ago? In a sense, Jesus asked his disciples the same question when he asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” and then directly to his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answer for them, “You are the Messiah” (cf. Mk 8:27-29).

In Matthew’s account he shares more of Peter’s response. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). Peter got it right, almost. Once Jesus saw that Peter received this insight from the Holy Spirit and was able to articulate it, Jesus shared with them all what kind of Messiah his Father sent him to be. He was not to be in line with any image the disciples thought of. He was more aligned to the suffering servant that Isaiah prophesied about.

As soon as Jesus began to speak about his suffering and being killed, Peter moved him away and rebuked him and Jesus without hesitation called Peter out: “Get behind me Satan.” Satan is the father of lies, the one who opposes. In one breath, Peter was listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in the next he was listening to the words of the enemy. Jesus was making a clear distinction for Peter, the disciples and us. Whose voice we are to listen to?

Why are we to listen to Jesus’ words, even when they are hard, even when they are challenging? We listen to him because he is the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God incarnate. He came not to condemn us but to save and free us from the sin of the world. Jesus came to open our spiritual ears so that we can hear the Holy Spirit, so that we may discern clearly between the voice of the enemy which leads us to death and the words of God that leads us to eternal life.

And if we want to be his disciples, we are invited to hear anew: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mk 8:34-35).

“This saying is hard, who can accept it” (Jn 6:60)? Resist the temptation to water this invitation down. Instead, let us be like Isaiah and Peter, let us implore our loving God and Father to open our ears that we may hear his word, receive his word, breathe, pray and meditate upon his word and put what we have received, like James guided in our second reading, into action.

How we take up our cross, how we lose our life for Christ, how we surrender is unique to each of us. God meets us where we are and leads us. He shines his light just enough so that we can see two steps ahead. When we take those steps, he will shine a little more of his light ahead of us.

How do we take up our cross and lose our life for Christ? We begin with our willingness to listen and hear the living word of God daily and allow it to transform every aspect of our lives. Such that God’s word becomes our own in our lived experiences. We start with a posture of humility that recognizes that we need and depend upon God for everything, and he desires nothing less than all our mind, heart, and soul.

We begin to deny ourselves and take up our cross when we make the words of Mary our own: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to thy will”(cf. Lk 1:38). And the words of Jesus, “Not my will but yours be done” (cf. Lk 22:42). The words of St. Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” (Jn 20:28) and St. Peter, “You are the Messiah. The Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).

As we say these words to ourselves, as we meditate and pray with them, as we bring them into our daily experiences, as we say them before entertaining any thought, speaking any word, and following through on any action, we invite God’s word into our being so that we may be healed of our blindness and our deafness; so that we will hear the Holy Spirit speak and guide us to understand how to receive and put Jesus’ teachings into practice and so reflect his light into the dark places of our hearts and into the dark corners of our world in the unique ways that God invites us.

Photo: Icon of Christ from the 6th century in St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, September 15, 2024