Saturday, August 27, 2011

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A – 2011

Cross-bearing
When you love someone you want what is best for them.
Quite frequently you spend a lot of your time trying to figure out just how to help them find what that is.
Some people give complete freedom to their children or loved ones and step back ready to help them pick up the pieces when or if things go bad.
Some people hold their loved one on a very tight rein and do everything in their power to keep them from miss-stepping.
Some plead and some scold, some scare and some inspire their loved ones to do the right thing.
It should come as no surprise to us that throughout his life the humanity of Jesus struggled to figure out how to love the world and bring us all to God.
After his Baptism in the Jordan,
Jesus was tempted in the desert.

The Devil tried to convince him to relate to the world in three different ways:
He tried to convince Jesus to use big displays of power to scare us into being good.
He he tried to convince Jesus to buy our love or bribe us by giving us everything thing we could ever dream of. (Turn these stones into bread)
Finally he tried to convince Jesus to simply compromise and lower his standards
You see the Devil was desperate to keep Jesus from using suffering love to save the world.
Jesus’ sharp response to Peter in today’s Gospel shows that he continued to struggle with the same temptations he experienced in the desert.
When Peter tried to convince Jesus not to carry the cross and not to choose suffering love, it was as if Jesus found himself back in the desert facing off with Satan find the same temptations.
Hence his harsh rebuke to Peter “Get behind me Satan”
And just before he was arrested we see Jesus being tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane once again to avoid death on the cross once again.
With his passion and His death Jesus chose suffering love to redeem the world and bring us all to God.
His examples should inspire us all to do the same.
Holy Ones..
We all know that you can scare a person into being good for a while
We all know that you can bribe a person into being good for a while
You can make tons and tons of rules and laws in a vain attempt to make people do good.
I was a college chaplain for 20 years and I learned that you can make all the rules you want in a Residence Hall/dormitory but unless you change the hearts of the kids who live in there things can go very bad very quickly.
Jesus knew that the only way you can change a human heart is to love a person unconditionally and be willing to suffer for them.
In fact I would venture to say the only real way you can know if you love someone or are loved by them is ask yourself the following questions.
Am I willing to carry their cross and suffer for them ?

Would they be willing to carry my cross and suffer for me?


Then Jesus said to his disciples,

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life"

As Hurricane Irene comes our way
Stay Dry
And Stay Safe
Look out for your neighbor
Amen

Friday, August 19, 2011

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - 2011

But you who do you say that I am?
tiny light
But you, who do you say that I am?

Holy Ones…
This is one of the most fundamental questions a human being has to answer.
If we believe that Jesus was just a good man or pious legend
then how he lived and what he said doesn’t really matter.
If we like Peter profess that Jesus is the Messiah,
the very Son of God,
then our lives will never and can never be the same.
Everything changes.
First of all we realize that this is not all there is…
This life, whatever challenges it presents, and everything that happens here is but a moment in eternity.
It’s all just a moment just a moment…
Second when we say Jesus is the Messiah or Jesus is Lord
we realize that our life has been given to us to give away.
It follows that we should spend our lives giving rather than receiving,
letting go rather that holding on.
That’s what Jesus did and that’s what we are called to do.
Third when we understand who Jesus really is then
God’s will and God’s law and God’s plan matter.
What written in the Bible matters, the age long tradition Church matters.
If we believe that Jesus is Lord then our lives have to be guided and directed by God’s Word and Gods’ truth every single day.
Finally if we believe that Jesus is Lord
If we can say that from the depths of our heart …
Then No matter where we find ourselves
No matter what happens
No matter how dark life seems,
there is always a light in the distance.
Even if is only a pin point of light
If we as imperfect as we are would not leave the ones we love in the darkness of despair.
How much more will God who loves us never leave us alone in the dark.
There will always that tiny glimmer of hope which orients us.
There is always a tiny light
which show us where we should put our next step
and guides us home.
I admit of late my eyes have grown strained looking that pin hole of hope.
You all know it someone said to me Fr. Robert the Bags under your eyes even have bags.
I admit it and that’s no surprise to you.
However, the other night sitting right over there in that pew I found that tiny light
in the Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ
If your eyes are strained looking for it I encourage you to come do the same.
Just come here and sit.
Sit as if you are in the presence of the person who has loves you the most in your life.
You can pour out your life or sit in silence
You can cry or smile…
Hope will come… I promise.
Some beautiful parents have written me and asked me not to communicate explicitly about our current situation at Mass.
They want to be able to communicate with their children as they see fit.
I am so grateful for your insight.
And I hope this homily and these words have not violated your wish.
Please know that you are in our hearts every day.
Fr. Raymond and I pray for you every day..
We’ve done so for a long time.
Our whole Franciscan Province is praying for this parish.
It’s rare that a morning or an evening should pass without receiving a text message an email or a call from one to the friars, our brothers promising prayers and thoughts.
We have a veritable army all over the country and world praying with us.
We are not alone. We are so far from being alone.
And Fr. Raymond and I are so grateful for and humbled by your prayers, love, concern, and your support… I can’t tell you how much it has meant and continues to mean to us.
Jesus said to them, "But you who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter said in reply,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply,
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
The gates of our weakness shall not prevail
The gates of our sinfulness shall not prevail
The gates of our psychological problems and all the baggage we drag around shall not prevail.
The gates of our anger and bitterness and shame shall not prevail.
Nothing shall and nothing can prevail against God’s Love and the work of God’s Kingdom.
We have a beautiful school to get ready and there are children to educate
There is a huge Religious Ed Program to get up and running
By the way as always we need teachers so come on and jump in the trenches
our kids need us more than ever.
There are senior citizens who are lonely
The sick need the comfort of the sacraments and an ear willing to listen
There are Marriages to prepare for and weddings to celebrate
There is a ton food to collect so many depend on us for food.
There is a Parish Picnic to prepare, and Italian and Polish Nights to plan not to mention the Berlin Fair to get ready for.
We have baptisms galore coming up and we need to find ways to support our young families many work so hard are really tired.
Whew….
The list goes on and on and on.
Dearest Friends of St. Paul Church
More than ever let us be about God’s work,
humbly, mercifully and lovingly.
Amen

Saturday, August 13, 2011

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time–Year A - 2011

Today’s Readings

CanaaniteWomanTouchMay the peace of Christ Reign in our hearts.

Today we heard the story of the Canaanite woman.

It is a touching story of faith and perseverance.

I'm convinced that Jesus knew the woman in the Gospel before she came.

He knew how much she loved her daughter.

He knew that she was not an Israelite even though she saluted him as the Son of David.

He knew that she had come understand that He could help her and that he would help her.

He knew that in the end he would indeed grant her request.
   
And somehow the woman knew all of these things too.
In some incredible way God had gifted her with a strong faith.

She approached him ….courageously and respectfully.
She was not deterred when he did not respond to her.
She did not let His reaction to her or seemingly harsh words deter her in any way.

And because of her faith in Him
and because of the love that she had for her daughter Jesus granted her request.

We read about her story in the Gospel because God wants us to understand how much power this kind of faith has.

The story of the Canaanite woman should cause us all to stop and reflect on the quality and depth of our own faith.

When we pray do we really believe that God hears our prayer?

If we don’t receive what we requested do we have the depth of faith to understand that the answer was simply no.

I have to be honest as I look back over my life I am grateful that God has not given me everything I prayed for.

In the heat of the moment I’ve asked for some ridiculous things.

There is also so another important lesson in this Gospel story.

The Cannanites were hated by the Jews, they were non-believers, the Jews considered them the scum of the earth yet by granting the woman’s request Jesus teaches us that no one, no human being, no matter what, is beyond God’s love.

Nationality / Race / Gender / Sexual Orientation / Personal Sinfulness / Religious belief or practice or lack there of / nothing nothing at all can separate us from the love of God.

The people of Jesus’ time were shocked that he granted the woman’s her request like they were shocked that she would even dare to ask.

Jesus’ disciples really did consider her and her people no better than a dog yet Jesus love her and granted her request.

What should we take home… from this Gospel
What should we ponder as we go about our lives…

First of all we should realize that faith isn’t just a feel good feeling, rather the stronger our faith the more it can change our values change our choices and change our lives.

I think that this Gospel passage also  teaches us that we never really know how much we are loved or how much we love until the going gets tough.

When love and life is easy, when love does not find itself challenged we never really know how strong it is.

Think about it only when there has been a problem or a challenge in your marriage or with your kids or in your family did you understand how strong your love was and how much love costs.

The woman was willing to do anything because she loved her daughter so much.

God gave her the power to beseech Jesus and his followers over and over agan. She never gave up even when she was ignored… that’s how strong her love was.

Finally if Jesus was even willing to heal the daughter of the Cannanite woman a sworn enemies of the Jews we have to work hard to transcend our prejudices, and our resentments.

His healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter proved that no one should be excluded from our love our mercy and our forgiveness.

So holy ones…
As we go about our lives… let us ask ourselves…

Are our faith and our love as strong as the faith and love of the Canaanite woman ?

She never gave up on her daughter and she refused to give up on God’s love.

Have we ?

Amen

Friday, August 05, 2011

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year–A 2011

PeterwalkingonwaterThe Gospel today paints an incredible scene.

St. Peter steps out of a boat in rough seas and begins to walk on the water.

How could it have happened?
What gave Peter a simple fisherman the courage to step out on the water in the midst of a storm?

The answer is simple.
It was his Faith, he believed in Jesus
Peter believed that Jesus even had the power to make him walk on water.

We all know that as he walked toward Jesus
Peter began to be afraid and he began to doubt.
Once he took his eyes off our Lord he began to sink.

There so much to learn from this simple story.
The message is simple but daunting.

As followers of Christ we can do incredible things
if we have faith.

As followers of Christ we should expect to do incredible things if we have faith.

Throughout the history of the Church very ordinary people like you and me have done extraordinary things.

Some have feed the hungry
Some have cared for the sick
I know a woman who cared for her handicapped Son her whole life. Even when she was in her 70s and he was 50 she took care of him with a strong loving faith.

She never wavered
She would be the first to tell you that her love and her faith gave her an incredible stamina.

I know a man whose wife developed MS in her 30s and he still takes care of her and their two children along with working a full time job.

He is an ordinary man like you or me.
He never expected to face such a challenge but he too was called to step out of the boat and surrender some of his dreams for love and he has..

He is hero in my book, and with all that he does he never misses Mass, never.

I know another man who divorced his wife when she got MS because he felt her illness was simply too big a burden for him carry.

Over the centuries ordinary people at great risk have practiced their faith and attended Mass or celebrated Mass even when it was a capital offense.

How many of us would be here today in these pews if it meant risking our lives.

There have even ordinary people who have accepted death rather than renounce Christ.

The blood of Martyrs is the seed of the Church

Ordinary people, People like you and me have stepped out of the boat and into the sea no matter how rough it was over and over again.

Ordinary people like you and me have stepped out of the boat of their comfortable lives and made a huge difference in every age.

It’s kind of obvious isn’t it…

After hearing today’s Gospel all of us should be asking ourselves what extraordinary thing is God calling us to do?

What extraordinary thing does God need us to do?

When life throws a challenge our way even a daunting challenge,
an overwhelming challenge,
When life throws us an extraordinary challenge if we keep our eyes of faith fixed on Jesus
He will never let us sink

And even if we falter for a moment…
Jesus will pull us back into the boat

Peter didn’t drown when he was afraid
He didn’t drown when he doubted and neither will we.

He lived on to do incredible things with his life
And he eventually even gave his life rather than renounce his faith.

The world would be a very sad place if no one ever took a risk or got out of the boat for someone in need.

Amen.

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time–Year A 2011

PeterwalkingonwaterThe Gospel today paints an incredible scene.

St. Peter steps out of a boat in rough seas and begins to walk on the water.

How could it have happened?
What gave Peter a simple fisherman the courage to step out on the water in the midst of a storm?

The answer is simple.
It was his Faith, he believed in Jesus
Peter believed that Jesus even had the power to make him walk on water.

We all know that as he walked toward Jesus
Peter began to be afraid and he began to doubt.
Once he took his eyes off our Lord he began to sink.

There so much to learn from this simple story.
The message is simple but daunting.

As followers of Christ we can do incredible things
if we have faith.

As followers of Christ we should expect to do incredible things if we have faith.

Throughout the history of the Church very ordinary people like you and me have done extraordinary things.

Some have feed the hungry
Some have cared for the sick
I know a woman who cared for her handicapped Son her whole life. Even when she was in her 70s and he was 50 she took care of him with a strong loving faith.

She never wavered
She would be the first to tell you that her love and her faith gave her an incredible stamina.

I know a man whose wife developed MS in her 30s and he still takes care of her and their two children along with working a full time job.

He is an ordinary man like you or me.
He never expected to face such a challenge but he too was called to step out of the boat and surrender some of his dreams for love and he has..

He is hero in my book, and with all that he does he never misses Mass, never.

I know another man who divorced his wife when she got MS because he felt her illness was simply too big a burden for him carry.

Over the centuries ordinary people at great risk have practiced their faith and attended Mass or celebrated Mass even when it was a capital offense.

How many of us would be here today in these pews if it meant risking our lives.

There have even ordinary people who have accepted death rather than renounce Christ.

The blood of Martyrs is the seed of the Church

Ordinary people, People like you and me have stepped out of the boat and into the sea no matter how rough it was over and over again.

Ordinary people like you and me have stepped out of the boat of their comfortable lives and made a huge difference in every age.

It’s kind of obvious isn’t it…

After hearing today’s Gospel all of us should be asking ourselves what extraordinary thing is God calling us to do?

What extraordinary thing does God need us to do?

When life throws a challenge our way even a daunting challenge,
an overwhelming challenge,
When life throws us an extraordinary challenge if we keep our eyes of faith fixed on Jesus
He will never let us sink

And even if we falter  for a moment…
Jesus will pull us back into the boat

Peter didn’t drown when he was afraid
He didn’t drown when he  doubted and neither will we.

He lived on to do incredible things with his life
And he eventually even gave his life rather than renounce his faith.

The world would be a very sad place if no one ever took a risk or got out of the boat for someone in need.

Amen.