Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Perhaps you remember that last Sunday we heard two miracle stories in the gospel reading – the story of the healing of the woman who had been ill for 12 years, and the little girl who was raised to life. Both these stories were inspired by faith – the first miracle, by the faith of the woman who believed that she would be healed simply by touching Jesus’ garments; the second by the faith of Jairus, a synagogue official. Jesus commended both these people for their faith. Especially to the woman, Jesus had said, "Daughter, your faith has saved you" (Mk 5:34). For that matter, all of Chapter 5 of Mark is made up of stories of faith. In Chapter 5, the story before the stories of the woman and Jairus’ daughter is the story of a demoniac who was possessed by Legion (a multitude of evil spirits). In that story, even the Legion acknowledged Jesus’ power and confessed that Jesus was the Son of God. He cried out “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (Mk 5:7).
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Graciousness - excellence of manners or social conduct. The synonyms of graciousness are kindness, courteousness, politeness, affability, benevolence. Perhaps you will agree with me that the pandemic brought out the best and worst in people. For example, during the time of mask and social distance mandates, some people showed up in church with one motive – to violate the mandates and test the resolve of the community to implement it. On the other hand, the graciousness of our community also came to the fore. The cooperation of our people, the willingness to be inconvenienced to keep others safe, and the willingness to follow safety protocols was truly exemplary. And then there was the financial generosity that flowed like river. Strangers donated time and resources to help those who lost jobs, those were confined at home, and those who were ill. Finally, when the parish made a collection for the those who did not benefit from the covid relief checks, the parish collected more than three times the goal. These is what scripture calls graciousness.
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In my homily today I would like to focus on the story of Jesus calming the storm (Mk 4:35-41). I would like to concentrate on the introduction to the story. Mark tells us that “As the evening drew near, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side” (Mk 4:35).” I would like focus only only this one proposal Jesus makes, "Let us cross to the other side."
This weekend, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati celebrates it bicentenary, two hundred years since its founding. It has an amazing history, and I would like to begin this homily with a brief history of the archdiocese.
The first Catholic diocese west of the Allegheny Mountains was established in 1808 in Bardstown, Kentucky. Because the territory it covered was enormous, in 1821, Pope Pius VII decided to divide the Bardstown Diocese to better serve the growing population of Catholic settlers, immigrants and Native Americans. Thus, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati was created, with Father Fenwick, a travelling missionary priest, as its first bishop. It would be the eighth Catholic diocese established in the United States and encompassed Ohio, Michigan and parts of Wisconsin. The first two parishes of the Archdiocese would be St. Joseph in Somerset and Christ Church in Cincinnati. Emmanuel Church was Dayton’s first parish.
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Freddie Figgers is an inventor, an entrepreneur, and a telecoms millionaire. His present net worth is close to a billion dollars. This story is not about him but the people who are responsible for his success – Nathan Figgers, a maintenance worker and his wife, Betty Mae Figgers, a farm worker. They picked up Freddie near a dumpster when he was two days old. He had been abandoned as a newborn baby in Quincy, North Florida.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
What is the most precious thing you have gifted to someone? You’d probably agree with me that the dearer the person, the more generous we are. The more we love somebody the more deeply we give. Think of today’s feast of Corpus Christi as God’s complete and total self-gift to us. It is an expression not only of God’s immense love for us, but also of how precious we are to God.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
When it comes to the Holy Trinity, good and smart preachers ultimately end their sermons saying, “It’s a Mystery!” Not just the concept of the Trinity, but ultimately, God is mystery. Today, I am going where I have been hesitant to go before in my reflections on the Trinity. I am approaching this homily from the perspective of ‘mystery.’
A few years back, I composed a prayer for the parish as we observed the year of the Eucharist. The prayers began addressing God as Father, Mother, Creator, and Friend. For years, it is how I had addressed God in my personal prayer. The parish was fine with it, and we prayed it for a whole year. One day, though, we had an out-of-state visitor at one of the Sunday Masses. He had come to Dayton for his son’s soccer tournament. Being fervent Catholics, he made sure that they attended Mass. I think it is commendable. After Mass, however, he met me in the vestibule, and castigated me about the prayer. He said his son was now totally confused because we addressed God as father and mother. I offered every possible explanation, but he was not convinced. Finally, he left saying he was going to write to the archbishop. He did, but the actually went to Fr. Dave. You can imagine my relief. Fr. Dave replied to him backing my theological reasoning. That was the last I heard about it.
Pentecost Sunday
In these long months of the pandemic, one of the greatest inconveniences we have adopted is the mask. Among other things, the mask protected others and us from the impure breath. Moreover, one of the common symptoms of having the virus was the inability to breathe. Many simply died from the lack of breath. Breath – it is the difference between life and death. Breath is life and life is breath. No breath, no life. No life, no breath.
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
I would like to reflect on the feast of the Ascension in two parts. The first part is the reality of the ascension of Jesus. As sure as the death and resurrection of Jesus, scripture recounts the ascension of Jesus with total confidence and certainty. (Acts 1:1-11). Today, like the disciples who were left behind in wonderment and awe, perhaps we too are left in amazement. Yet, do we have questions? I am sure we do! Nevertheless, the ascension of Jesus remains an essential article of our faith.
The second part is the ‘great commission.’ In the Markan version of the great commission Jesus says to his disciples, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). Today’s the scripture readings not only introduce us to this mission, but also the suggests the spirit in which the gospel must be proclaimed to the whole world and to every creature.
Sixth Sunday of Easter
It is common for me to meet with couples who are at a critical juncture in their marriage. Sometimes the problem is about finances, communication, or divergent views on important issues. On rare occasions, there is a deeper problem - there is no love left. At least for one of them, not only is the love totally gone, but they do not even have the energy to try to rediscover it. I believe that if there is even an ounce of love, the relationship can be salvaged. But once love is lost, all is lost. Whether it is marriage, family, friendship, or work, once love is lost, everything is lost, is it not? What good is it if there is no love?
If religion was not about love, would you still be a believer? If heaven was not the fulness of love, would you still strive for it? If we did not know “God is love”, would we still love God? If salvation does not lead us into divine love, would we desire it? Think about these questions this week. All I can say is that of all the ways in which God is described in the scriptures, none motivates me to be a believer than John’s description, “God is love.”
Fifth Sunday of Easter
There is a story my second-grade teacher told us in my catechism class. Strangely, I still remembered the story as I read today’s scripture. One day, Michelangelo walking through a garden in Florence, saw a block of marble in a corner protruding from the earth. It was half covered by grass and mud. He stopped suddenly as if he had seen someone. Then he said to his friends who were with him, exclaimed: "An angel is imprisoned in that marble; I must set him free." And, armed with a chisel, he began to work on that block until the figure of a beautiful angel emerged. The teacher continued, “Each of us is an angel in the making. And God is the artist. The chisel is the Word of God. God uses his word to bring out the best in us.” Later when I got older, I verified the truth of Michelangelo’s story. It turns out, that my teacher was correct. The angel is now in the Basilica of St Dominic in Bologna, Italy.
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Recently, I acquired some baby chickens. I figured it would better to spend money on a hobby than on therapy. Nevertheless, taking care of these chicks has been very interesting. Besides feeding them well, I have to make sure I take them out during the day when it is warmer and bring them inside on cold nights. The first day I put them outside, there were three hawks circling over the coop. A little carelessness and the chicks would be food for the predators. My biggest challenge is to protect them from yet another fierce predator – sweet little Tutu. She is having a rough time. All her life I have taught her to fetch, and she simply cannot understand why I will not allow her to fetch the chicks. Since I got the baby chickens, I have been given some interesting pseudo names. Somebody called me a ‘chicken-tender’ the other day. Someone even called me a ‘chick magnet.’ Just so you know, the real term for someone who tends chickens is, ‘poulterer’ or a ‘chicken farmer.’
Third Sunday of Easter
It is rare for all three Sunday liturgy readings to have a common theme. Today is one of those rare Sundays. Sin, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation—we discover that all of these themes are prominent in each reading, in one way or another.
What sins? Repentance from what? Reconciliation—but how? We understand the meaning of personal sin, personal repentance, and personal forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But there are also social sins, social repentance, and social reconciliation—sins that affect us as the human family. Today I could easily have chosen to write a feel-good reflection about sin and reconciliation, and everybody would go home happy. But I am going to take a cue from Peter, in today’s First Reading (Acts 3:14-15) and muster the courage to reflect on the more complicated, complex, and difficult aspect of sin and reconciliation—the social dimension.
Second Sunday of Easter, Sunday of Divine Mercy
This is the story of Maria Faustina Kowalska, the nun to whom we owe the Divine Mercy Devotion. She lived for a brief 33 years. That is the same number of years we assume Jesus lived. Born in Głogoweic, Poland, in1905, she first felt the call to become a religious at the age of 7. Her parents refused her because of her young age. Then at 16, after a social dance at a park, she literally ran away from home to go to Warsaw. She knocked at the doors of many convents but no place would accept her. One of them even said, “We do not accept maids here!” Finally, when the mother superior of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy did receive her, she did not have the money to pay for her religious habit. She then worked as a housemaid to make the money she needed. After her religious profession, and then as a nun, she was often assigned menial tasks, sometimes as a cook and other times as a gardener in the convents. It was during these times that Christ was beginning to reveal himself to her as ‘Divine Mercy.’
Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord
A question has always plagued my mind. If the incarnation of Jesus, his life, his death and resurrection was indeed meant to be the turning point in human history, then why is the world still a mess? What really is the implication of the death and resurrection of Jesus? Here we are in Church, celebrating Easter! But in various parts of the world violence is still raging, wars are still being fought, children are still dying of hunger, human life is still being unconscionably destroyed, creation is still being ravaged by our endless consumerism, and we cannot even still fathom that beneath the color of our skin we are all God’s children. You would think that a global pandemic could bring us all together. We have surrendered even that opportunity. Don’t get me wrong. I am not being pessimistic. I am not looking at the glass half-empty. I am not oblivious to the presence of immense goodness in the world. I am merely regretting that the power and potential of the resurrection of Jesus has not yet been realized. Perhaps I am too eager to see God original vision for the world realized in the here and now.
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
We have been through a lot in the last one year. As the human race, as a global community, as the people of God, we have been ground in the mill. Yes, today we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the memories and the experience of the pandemic is still very fresh in our minds. Many of us are still grieving. Many of us are still hurting. Many of us are still enduring losses. Many of us still need help. The toll that the pandemic has taken of our physical, mental, emotional, fiscal, and spiritual health is simply incalculable. And then, there is our humanity. Our pride, our dignity, our self-reliance, our self-sufficiency have also taken a hit. Indeed, we have been through a lot the last one year.
Fifth Sunday of Lent
This is the story of Sr. Ann Rose Nu Tawng, a Burmese nun. As we are aware, recently the military assumed power in Burma (Myanmar) in a coup that overthrew the democratically elected government. Many young people have since taken to the streets in peaceful protests. Unfortunately, the military has resorted to violence and indiscriminate shooting upon the protestors, and as a result many young people are now dead.
On that day, a group of young protestors were escaping the brutal violence unleashed by the military police. They protestors took refuge at a clinic run by the nuns where Sr. Ann Rose Nu Tawng was a community member. The police were there right away to take the young people to task. Kneeling before the heavily armed military police, Sister Ann Rose begged the police officers to spare the youngsters. She pleaded with them and said, “Take my life, instead!” The image of the Catholic nun in a simple white habit, spreading her hand and pleading with the authorities has since gone viral. That day, many lives were spared. The courage and the sense of self-sacrifice of this unarmed, defenseless, yet brave nun has captured the imagination of the world. It is a striking echo of what Jesus says in the gospel reading, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (Jn 12:24).
Fourth Sunday of Lent
The parish has always maintained its archives. Recently, the staff made a humungous effort to clean and organize it. But we have also begun something new. We have begun a book of chronicles. We have begun to record significant happenings of the week. The goal is that future generations can have an insight into the community in more detail that the bulletins provide. Hopefully when future generations read these chronicles, they will encounter not just an institution, an organization, or a parish, but a community of disciples – a community that thinks, talks, and acts like Jesus.
Third Sunday of Lent
Human nature - there is much to be said about human nature. We have heard the saying, “To err is human; to forgive is divine.” At its core, this saying is about nature – human nature and divine nature. Or think about the times you wanted to do one thing but ultimately did something totally opposite. And you wonder, why! Here is an example from my life. During Lent, the day I decide to fast, that is the day I feel more hungry than other days. I blame it on human nature.
Second Sunday of Lent
There are things we know, there are things we don’t know, and then there is the unknown. The things we know help us to manage life. The things we do not know, we try to learn and master. But the unknown is what unnerves us. The unknown when someone loses their job; the unknown when divorce hits a family; the unknown when someone loses their spouse; the unknown when someone awaits a transplant; the unknown when someone is deployed; the unknown when someone we know battles addiction;, the unknown when someone is diagnosed with terminal illness; the unknown when someone goes missing – these unknowns take a heavy toll.