Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul
Today's Mass Readings
The media did not devote too much attention to it; the Catholic Church did not try to get mileage out of it; the Church of England did not even comment on it; TIME magazine could have dedicated its cover page to it but did not. I am talking about one of the most high profile conversions to the Catholic Church that went almost unnoticed. December 2007, Tony Blair, the outgoing prime minister of Britain became a Catholic. In reality, the news should have generated huge interest and the Catholic Church should have made a big deal out of it. The media usually loves high profile, controversial events like these. And there was controversy. Why did Blair wait to leave office before he converted? Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister and it would have been a boost to the Catholics in a historically Protestant country. A new research had just shown that for the first time in decades, the number of Roman Catholics attending Sunday services in Britain had fallen behind the Anglicans. Secondly, Blair’s record on life issues and war has contradicted the Catholic Church’s teachings. Can one become a Catholic while rejecting core Catholic values? Having debated all the controversial issues, in the final analysis, we have also to view this conversion from God’s point of view. After all, the lives of Peter and Paul, whose feast we celebrate today, looked very different from human perspective and God’s plan.
Today's Mass Readings
The media did not devote too much attention to it; the Catholic Church did not try to get mileage out of it; the Church of England did not even comment on it; TIME magazine could have dedicated its cover page to it but did not. I am talking about one of the most high profile conversions to the Catholic Church that went almost unnoticed. December 2007, Tony Blair, the outgoing prime minister of Britain became a Catholic. In reality, the news should have generated huge interest and the Catholic Church should have made a big deal out of it. The media usually loves high profile, controversial events like these. And there was controversy. Why did Blair wait to leave office before he converted? Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister and it would have been a boost to the Catholics in a historically Protestant country. A new research had just shown that for the first time in decades, the number of Roman Catholics attending Sunday services in Britain had fallen behind the Anglicans. Secondly, Blair’s record on life issues and war has contradicted the Catholic Church’s teachings. Can one become a Catholic while rejecting core Catholic values? Having debated all the controversial issues, in the final analysis, we have also to view this conversion from God’s point of view. After all, the lives of Peter and Paul, whose feast we celebrate today, looked very different from human perspective and God’s plan.
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday Mass Readings
On my trip to France last year, I stayed at my friends house which overlooked the amphitheatre where Blandina was put to death in 177 AD. Blandina, was a slave and a Christian who had been taken into custody along with her master, also a Christian. She was bodily frail and her friends feared that she might not remain steadfast under torture. But in spite of her terrible torture, torture that even her executioners became exhausted of, she remained faithful and repeated to every question "I am a Christian and we commit no wrongdoing." She was bound to a stake and wild beasts were set on her. They did not, however touch her. After this for a number of days she was led into the arena to see the sufferings of her companions. Finally, as the last of the martyrs, she was scourged, placed on a red-hot grate, enclosed in a net and thrown before a wild steer who tossed her into the air with his horns, and at last killed with a dagger. We certainly know that her faith was strong. We look at Blandina’s faith and we admire her courage, faith and conviction.
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday Mass Readings
I came to know Greg and Lucy Kramer about six years ago. I met them along with their two beautiful children Christi Ann and Andrew who are now 10. From the time I have known Greg I have always seen him in his wheelchair. Lucy plays the flute at the Sunday evening ‘Rock with Jesus’ mass and her children help Linda set up for mass. Greg works for the Access Centre for Independent living, and usually sits at the back of church when the band practices and actively participates in the celebration. Of course it was always tempting to ask them about Greg but I did not want to be rude either. I assumed that some illness had struck him early on during their married life. It was when I was invited to dinner couple of years back that I came to know the real story. Greg was involved in a swimming accident when he was merely fifteen. When they fell in love with each other, he was already in the wheel chair. I have never asked Lucy why she married a man who was so severely restricted in so many ways. Of all the choices she could have made, why Greg? I have to admit that I have rarely met anyone as courageous as Greg and as unpresumptuous as Lucy. Yet what they have achieved together has remained for me an inspiring and true act of love, commitment and faith. For both of them, there must be a reason for their choice, there must be a price to be paid each day for their choice, and there must be a purpose that comes from their choice.
Sunday Mass Readings
I came to know Greg and Lucy Kramer about six years ago. I met them along with their two beautiful children Christi Ann and Andrew who are now 10. From the time I have known Greg I have always seen him in his wheelchair. Lucy plays the flute at the Sunday evening ‘Rock with Jesus’ mass and her children help Linda set up for mass. Greg works for the Access Centre for Independent living, and usually sits at the back of church when the band practices and actively participates in the celebration. Of course it was always tempting to ask them about Greg but I did not want to be rude either. I assumed that some illness had struck him early on during their married life. It was when I was invited to dinner couple of years back that I came to know the real story. Greg was involved in a swimming accident when he was merely fifteen. When they fell in love with each other, he was already in the wheel chair. I have never asked Lucy why she married a man who was so severely restricted in so many ways. Of all the choices she could have made, why Greg? I have to admit that I have rarely met anyone as courageous as Greg and as unpresumptuous as Lucy. Yet what they have achieved together has remained for me an inspiring and true act of love, commitment and faith. For both of them, there must be a reason for their choice, there must be a price to be paid each day for their choice, and there must be a purpose that comes from their choice.
Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday Mass Readings
Sept 11, 2001 – The twin towers of the World Trade Centre collapsed. Sept 14, 2001 - Just three days after the tragic event, President Bush declared the day to be observed as a national day of prayer and remembrance. Sept 14 in the Catholic tradition is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. In the most mysterious of ways America got the chance to reflect upon the events of those days under the shadow of the cross. The following weeks and months were times when churches overflowed as people prayed for protection. Partly out of fear and partly out of confusion people flocked to places of refuge for comfort, for help and perhaps even answers. Some overenthusiastic evangelists interpreted the death of some three thousand people as God’s punishment for Americas increasing godlessness. Others said that this was God’s way of bringing America to its knees. I personally did not subscribe to any of these views. However, for some time there was a sense that America was returning back to God. But, as tragic as the events of Sept 11, the fervor waned away as quickly as it had appeared. Seven years down the road many people may not even remember the day they spent in prayer as a nation.
Sunday Mass Readings
Sept 11, 2001 – The twin towers of the World Trade Centre collapsed. Sept 14, 2001 - Just three days after the tragic event, President Bush declared the day to be observed as a national day of prayer and remembrance. Sept 14 in the Catholic tradition is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. In the most mysterious of ways America got the chance to reflect upon the events of those days under the shadow of the cross. The following weeks and months were times when churches overflowed as people prayed for protection. Partly out of fear and partly out of confusion people flocked to places of refuge for comfort, for help and perhaps even answers. Some overenthusiastic evangelists interpreted the death of some three thousand people as God’s punishment for Americas increasing godlessness. Others said that this was God’s way of bringing America to its knees. I personally did not subscribe to any of these views. However, for some time there was a sense that America was returning back to God. But, as tragic as the events of Sept 11, the fervor waned away as quickly as it had appeared. Seven years down the road many people may not even remember the day they spent in prayer as a nation.
Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday Mass Readings
I heard two contrasting stories on National Public Radio this week. One showed the superficiality of our culture, the other the depth of the human heart. I heard a rather lengthy commentary on some Iraqi women’s sense of freedom in Iraq. It was the criterion that was used to measure freedom that baffled me – that in some part of Iraq women could now use make-up. I see all you lovely ladies here and some of you with make-up and you look beautiful. But you know and I that if our sense of security and freedom had to come from our make-up that would be rather superficial. When it is all said and done, make-up is exactly that – make-up. And then I heard another commentary. It was the story of a man who came to the United States from India when he was seven years old. He is now the Hindu priest of the Hare Krishna temple in New York. His own quest for the meaning of life began with a simple question - What is the cause of the uncertainties or fluctuations of life? And then he picked up the Bhagvad Gita – one of the main Hindu Scriptures. In them, he found his answers. It changed his life. He built his life around the answers he discovered and now he tries to help others to find their own answers. These two stories are contrasting examples of people’s search for meaning and purpose of life.
Sunday Mass Readings
I heard two contrasting stories on National Public Radio this week. One showed the superficiality of our culture, the other the depth of the human heart. I heard a rather lengthy commentary on some Iraqi women’s sense of freedom in Iraq. It was the criterion that was used to measure freedom that baffled me – that in some part of Iraq women could now use make-up. I see all you lovely ladies here and some of you with make-up and you look beautiful. But you know and I that if our sense of security and freedom had to come from our make-up that would be rather superficial. When it is all said and done, make-up is exactly that – make-up. And then I heard another commentary. It was the story of a man who came to the United States from India when he was seven years old. He is now the Hindu priest of the Hare Krishna temple in New York. His own quest for the meaning of life began with a simple question - What is the cause of the uncertainties or fluctuations of life? And then he picked up the Bhagvad Gita – one of the main Hindu Scriptures. In them, he found his answers. It changed his life. He built his life around the answers he discovered and now he tries to help others to find their own answers. These two stories are contrasting examples of people’s search for meaning and purpose of life.
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Today's Mass Readings
If you have been to the groceries lately you may have noticed that the price of food items has risen enough to make us think twice about what and how much we buy. What we in more stable countries perceive as a price rise is only a symptom of what the United Nations has warned to be a serious food crisis. For example, food prices have risen by an average of 83% in the past three years. At least 100 million people could be tipped into poverty as a result. Food riots have broken out in at least a dozen countries. A range of factors have been blamed, including poor harvests, partly due to climate change, rising oil prices, the dash to produce biofuels at the expense of food crops, and speculation on commodities markets. The fact that there is much money to be made at the cost of other people prompted Jean Ziegler , a UN's official to comment, "This is silent mass murder." It is my opinion that our inability to banish hunger is a grave collective sin and that providing food security to the poor of the world would in itself be a great act of evangelization.
Today's Mass Readings
If you have been to the groceries lately you may have noticed that the price of food items has risen enough to make us think twice about what and how much we buy. What we in more stable countries perceive as a price rise is only a symptom of what the United Nations has warned to be a serious food crisis. For example, food prices have risen by an average of 83% in the past three years. At least 100 million people could be tipped into poverty as a result. Food riots have broken out in at least a dozen countries. A range of factors have been blamed, including poor harvests, partly due to climate change, rising oil prices, the dash to produce biofuels at the expense of food crops, and speculation on commodities markets. The fact that there is much money to be made at the cost of other people prompted Jean Ziegler , a UN's official to comment, "This is silent mass murder." It is my opinion that our inability to banish hunger is a grave collective sin and that providing food security to the poor of the world would in itself be a great act of evangelization.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Today's Mass Readings
Even at this moment humanity is dealing with two catastrophic natural disasters: the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. I have to confess that I have had a difficult time dealing with the death of over one hundred thousand people in two weeks just to natural disasters. I have been afraid to look at pictures of the disasters. The one picture I did see was a naked and decaying dead body in the middle of an inundated rice field. “This body is made in the image and likeness of God,” I said to myself. There was a repulsion in me to even think that a holy thing like that should lie so desolate and so decadent. Of course, this is not the first time that the world has been affected by natural disasters of such magnitude. But as I read the readings for today – the feast of the Holy Trinity - I have struggled all week to reconcile these human tragedies with “God” who “loves the world so much that he gave his only Son…” (Jn 3:16). The question, then, is about making sense of human life as we experience it in relation to the life and nature of God.
Today's Mass Readings
Even at this moment humanity is dealing with two catastrophic natural disasters: the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. I have to confess that I have had a difficult time dealing with the death of over one hundred thousand people in two weeks just to natural disasters. I have been afraid to look at pictures of the disasters. The one picture I did see was a naked and decaying dead body in the middle of an inundated rice field. “This body is made in the image and likeness of God,” I said to myself. There was a repulsion in me to even think that a holy thing like that should lie so desolate and so decadent. Of course, this is not the first time that the world has been affected by natural disasters of such magnitude. But as I read the readings for today – the feast of the Holy Trinity - I have struggled all week to reconcile these human tragedies with “God” who “loves the world so much that he gave his only Son…” (Jn 3:16). The question, then, is about making sense of human life as we experience it in relation to the life and nature of God.
Pentecost Sunday
Today's Mass Readings
Last Tuesday evening I was invited to a banquet organized by the National Youth Advocate Program, where I was to speak to foster parents of children who need critical care. There was a small group of wonderful people who in an act of overwhelming generosity take into their homes children who otherwise no one would want. They take in juvenile sex-offenders, critically ill children, and even children with serious psychological problems. While my talk was addressed to the foster parents I was totally unaware of who I was actually reaching. Two days later, I received a phone call that one of the staff at the Program was returning to mass after fifteen years. The Holy Spirit of God is still alive and working in our midst. The Holy Spirit works in ways we can never imagine. On this the feast of the Pentecost I believe the Spirit is truly alive in our midst.
Today's Mass Readings
Last Tuesday evening I was invited to a banquet organized by the National Youth Advocate Program, where I was to speak to foster parents of children who need critical care. There was a small group of wonderful people who in an act of overwhelming generosity take into their homes children who otherwise no one would want. They take in juvenile sex-offenders, critically ill children, and even children with serious psychological problems. While my talk was addressed to the foster parents I was totally unaware of who I was actually reaching. Two days later, I received a phone call that one of the staff at the Program was returning to mass after fifteen years. The Holy Spirit of God is still alive and working in our midst. The Holy Spirit works in ways we can never imagine. On this the feast of the Pentecost I believe the Spirit is truly alive in our midst.
Feast of the Ascension of Jesus
Today's Mass Readings
I studied in the seminary twelve years before I was ordained in the year 1994. About half way through the studies, I confronted a situation with the seminary’s rector which disillusioned me. It will take me too long to explain the situation but it will suffice to say that I realized that the rector’s stand on the matter was dishonest and unjust. I wanted to be a priest but was also aware that if I opposed the rector I would probably be shown the door for being rebellious. I decided that I would quit my seminary training rather than face such problems. I decided to write to my parents about my dilemma. It was mother who wrote back. She said I was welcome back home and that they would support my education. The very last line of the letter was really what decided my future course of action. She wrote, “No matter what you decision, I am with you.” I read that sentence again and again. I needed the reassurance. I could go back home because my parents were so supportive. But finally this is what I said to myself. “If my mother is with me then I am going to go ahead and continue my studies inspite of the problems.” The words “I am with you…” gave me the courage to face the situation rather than escape it. Those four words… they didn’t’ change the situation, but they changed me... changed me enough to face the situation and here I am.
Today's Mass Readings
I studied in the seminary twelve years before I was ordained in the year 1994. About half way through the studies, I confronted a situation with the seminary’s rector which disillusioned me. It will take me too long to explain the situation but it will suffice to say that I realized that the rector’s stand on the matter was dishonest and unjust. I wanted to be a priest but was also aware that if I opposed the rector I would probably be shown the door for being rebellious. I decided that I would quit my seminary training rather than face such problems. I decided to write to my parents about my dilemma. It was mother who wrote back. She said I was welcome back home and that they would support my education. The very last line of the letter was really what decided my future course of action. She wrote, “No matter what you decision, I am with you.” I read that sentence again and again. I needed the reassurance. I could go back home because my parents were so supportive. But finally this is what I said to myself. “If my mother is with me then I am going to go ahead and continue my studies inspite of the problems.” The words “I am with you…” gave me the courage to face the situation rather than escape it. Those four words… they didn’t’ change the situation, but they changed me... changed me enough to face the situation and here I am.
Reflection on the Passion of Our Lord"
Readings for Good Friday
There are very few things in human history for which humanity as a whole must take responsibility. For example, humanity as a whole is responsible for world hunger. In some way, each of us plays some part in it. We could not say that of slavery, of colonialism or even of the holocaust. In more recent times, “global warming is one such phenomenon.” Human beings have been on the face of the earth for thousands of years. But it has taken us this long to realize that our actions and our lifestyle have consequences. If there is anything “global warming” is teaching us it is this, that we must take responsibility for our actions. To look at the melting ice in the artic region; to see rising sea levels causing untold hardships to the poor in low lying areas; to see the change in weather patterns across the world; to see the dramatic increase of droughts in Africa and Australia, flash floods in East and South Asia and hurricanes and tornadoes in the Americas is indeed a heart wrenching experience. The most sobering experience for me has been to look at all these natural calamities and realize that in some way, I am responsible for this.
Readings for Good Friday
There are very few things in human history for which humanity as a whole must take responsibility. For example, humanity as a whole is responsible for world hunger. In some way, each of us plays some part in it. We could not say that of slavery, of colonialism or even of the holocaust. In more recent times, “global warming is one such phenomenon.” Human beings have been on the face of the earth for thousands of years. But it has taken us this long to realize that our actions and our lifestyle have consequences. If there is anything “global warming” is teaching us it is this, that we must take responsibility for our actions. To look at the melting ice in the artic region; to see rising sea levels causing untold hardships to the poor in low lying areas; to see the change in weather patterns across the world; to see the dramatic increase of droughts in Africa and Australia, flash floods in East and South Asia and hurricanes and tornadoes in the Americas is indeed a heart wrenching experience. The most sobering experience for me has been to look at all these natural calamities and realize that in some way, I am responsible for this.
Reflection for Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday Readings
Last week a major scandal shocked America and indeed the entire world. New York Governor, Elliot Spitzer resigned after being linked to a prostitution ring. I am not referring to him at the beginning of this homily to condemn him from the outside. In fact, each of us at some time has said one thing and done the opposite. I merely bring Spitzer’s example us to draw attention to the dark side of human nature. One look at the world and we see the darkness that human beings can create – betrayal, murder, rape, violence, war, poverty, misery, infidelity, abuse, injustice and much more.
Palm Sunday Readings
Last week a major scandal shocked America and indeed the entire world. New York Governor, Elliot Spitzer resigned after being linked to a prostitution ring. I am not referring to him at the beginning of this homily to condemn him from the outside. In fact, each of us at some time has said one thing and done the opposite. I merely bring Spitzer’s example us to draw attention to the dark side of human nature. One look at the world and we see the darkness that human beings can create – betrayal, murder, rape, violence, war, poverty, misery, infidelity, abuse, injustice and much more.
Reflections on the Fourth Sunday in Lent
Sunday Mass Readings
I was sitting at my desk Wednesday morning, trying to put my thoughts together for my homily this Sunday. Just when I thought I was on to something, the intercom rang and the receptionist informed me that there was someone here who wanted to talk to a priest. I reluctantly went up and there stood this eighty year old man. Numerous things went on my head. May be I should make an appointment with him for later, may be I should ask him to wait till I got my homily done. Instead we sat and talked. He said how at this age he wanted a new beginning. He shared about how he had moved away from the church and his faith. Although, over the past ten years he had been going to Church, he still felt he needed something more. He shared about how he was ready to make a confession, come back to God, and begin all over again. His story was so moving. I went back to my room and sat there still for a moment. This homily was triggered from this experience. As I will reflected on today’s readings, I realized how this man was so much like the man who had recovered his sight. Here was someone else who had come from darkness to light and from mediocrity to making Jesus the undisputed Lord of his life.
Sunday Mass Readings
I was sitting at my desk Wednesday morning, trying to put my thoughts together for my homily this Sunday. Just when I thought I was on to something, the intercom rang and the receptionist informed me that there was someone here who wanted to talk to a priest. I reluctantly went up and there stood this eighty year old man. Numerous things went on my head. May be I should make an appointment with him for later, may be I should ask him to wait till I got my homily done. Instead we sat and talked. He said how at this age he wanted a new beginning. He shared about how he had moved away from the church and his faith. Although, over the past ten years he had been going to Church, he still felt he needed something more. He shared about how he was ready to make a confession, come back to God, and begin all over again. His story was so moving. I went back to my room and sat there still for a moment. This homily was triggered from this experience. As I will reflected on today’s readings, I realized how this man was so much like the man who had recovered his sight. Here was someone else who had come from darkness to light and from mediocrity to making Jesus the undisputed Lord of his life.
"Transfiguration: An Encounter with God"
Today's Mass Readings
If each of us looks back at our lives, most likely there are certain core experiences that have shaped us. Marriage, separation, childbirth, loss of a child, death of a loved one, a major success or failure, illness, a powerful encounter will the poor or a saintly person – these can transform us. Take for example, Stephen Kazmierczak who went into his classroom and shot down five people yesterday at the Northern Illinois University; there must be on experience that led him to become who he has become – a killer. Experiences have the power to transform us. I would like to add another kind of experience to the mix – God-experience. Let me give you an example from my own life. It is not uncommon for me to ask myself, “Why do I continue to be a priest?” I was telling one of my friends the other day, “If I did not have a passion for the things that I do; if somehow God did not grip my life the way God did, it would so easy to give it all up.” But I can look back to when I was about nineteen years old and that first experience of God’s all- consuming love. Life has not been the same. I am not saying that I have been immune from bad decisions, failures, mistakes, and sins; but that one single God-experience has colored all my other experiences.
Today's Mass Readings
If each of us looks back at our lives, most likely there are certain core experiences that have shaped us. Marriage, separation, childbirth, loss of a child, death of a loved one, a major success or failure, illness, a powerful encounter will the poor or a saintly person – these can transform us. Take for example, Stephen Kazmierczak who went into his classroom and shot down five people yesterday at the Northern Illinois University; there must be on experience that led him to become who he has become – a killer. Experiences have the power to transform us. I would like to add another kind of experience to the mix – God-experience. Let me give you an example from my own life. It is not uncommon for me to ask myself, “Why do I continue to be a priest?” I was telling one of my friends the other day, “If I did not have a passion for the things that I do; if somehow God did not grip my life the way God did, it would so easy to give it all up.” But I can look back to when I was about nineteen years old and that first experience of God’s all- consuming love. Life has not been the same. I am not saying that I have been immune from bad decisions, failures, mistakes, and sins; but that one single God-experience has colored all my other experiences.
Reflection on the First Sunday in Lent"
Sunday Mass Readings
I had just finished with the Ash Wednesday service at St. Helen. It was a long day and I was ready to go home, have a bite to eat, and crash into bed. Except for this young man in his twenties, who walked up to me and asked me for the schedule for confessions. I asked him if would like to make his confession right away. I must admit, I was hoping he would say, “No!” Instead, he said “If it is alright with you.” I sat with him and he shared with me how he felt that God was speaking directly to him during the homily and how he had decided to make his confession. For three years, this young man had tried to convince others and himself that God did not matter. Sitting in the confessional this young man was making a choice. Right there and then he turned his life over to God. As I placed my hands over him and said the prayer of absolution, he wept. He hugged me in the end, told me that I can share his story and he left. I don’t know if I will ever meet this man again. But that does not matter. God had met him and he had met God. That is all that mattered.
Sunday Mass Readings
I had just finished with the Ash Wednesday service at St. Helen. It was a long day and I was ready to go home, have a bite to eat, and crash into bed. Except for this young man in his twenties, who walked up to me and asked me for the schedule for confessions. I asked him if would like to make his confession right away. I must admit, I was hoping he would say, “No!” Instead, he said “If it is alright with you.” I sat with him and he shared with me how he felt that God was speaking directly to him during the homily and how he had decided to make his confession. For three years, this young man had tried to convince others and himself that God did not matter. Sitting in the confessional this young man was making a choice. Right there and then he turned his life over to God. As I placed my hands over him and said the prayer of absolution, he wept. He hugged me in the end, told me that I can share his story and he left. I don’t know if I will ever meet this man again. But that does not matter. God had met him and he had met God. That is all that mattered.
A Reflection on the Beatitudes"
Today's Mass Readings
There is a controversy brewing here in Dayton. If you read the Dayton Daily News last week, there is much heated debate about the mosque that is proposed in Sugarcreek. Unfortunately, this has become a Christian-Muslim issue. I am not going to discuss the validity of the decision that the civil authorities have made to deny permission. However, the religious tone this debate has assumed is very unsettling. Unfortunately, the negativity around this debate was the contribution of some Christian Churches. These churches have not spared the opportunity to express their condemnation of other religions. They have not spared the opportunity to let the event of Sept 11 and the war in Iraq affect their attitude toward an entire ethnic and religious group. Thus, a pastor at the First Baptist Church was quoted as saying, “We just feel that Christianity is right and Islam is wrong… we take a stand to see a mosque not in our community.” I am amazed at the arrogance, the false pride, the indignation, the presumption of knowing God’s will. As if this was not enough, the Wednesday paper reported that Westboro Baptist church would be picketing at Maria Lauterbach’s funeral (She is the marine who was murdered recently). This church will be picketing to let America know that God hates the US military and that Iraq war is a punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality. I would like to reflect on these events in light of the scriptures that we have as our reading today. They do not offer a lesson in arrogance, pride, condemnation, or prejudice. Rather, they offer a lesson in humility as we strive to follow Jesus closely.
Today's Mass Readings
There is a controversy brewing here in Dayton. If you read the Dayton Daily News last week, there is much heated debate about the mosque that is proposed in Sugarcreek. Unfortunately, this has become a Christian-Muslim issue. I am not going to discuss the validity of the decision that the civil authorities have made to deny permission. However, the religious tone this debate has assumed is very unsettling. Unfortunately, the negativity around this debate was the contribution of some Christian Churches. These churches have not spared the opportunity to express their condemnation of other religions. They have not spared the opportunity to let the event of Sept 11 and the war in Iraq affect their attitude toward an entire ethnic and religious group. Thus, a pastor at the First Baptist Church was quoted as saying, “We just feel that Christianity is right and Islam is wrong… we take a stand to see a mosque not in our community.” I am amazed at the arrogance, the false pride, the indignation, the presumption of knowing God’s will. As if this was not enough, the Wednesday paper reported that Westboro Baptist church would be picketing at Maria Lauterbach’s funeral (She is the marine who was murdered recently). This church will be picketing to let America know that God hates the US military and that Iraq war is a punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality. I would like to reflect on these events in light of the scriptures that we have as our reading today. They do not offer a lesson in arrogance, pride, condemnation, or prejudice. Rather, they offer a lesson in humility as we strive to follow Jesus closely.
A Reflection for Ash Wednesday"
Today's Mass Readings
Today, we begin the holy season of Lent. This reflection will focus on what is really important during to address during Lent – relationships. There are three relationships we are urged to pay attention to: our relationship with God (Mt 6: 1-4), with others (Mt 6: 5-15) and with self (Mt 6: 16-18). At the end of the Lenten season if we can find ourselves in deeper and healthier relationship with God, others, and self, then our Easter joy will indeed be a divine experience.
The gospel reading leads us in the direction of relationships. Jesus picks out three areas that his disciples need to focus on: almsgiving (relationship with others), prayer (relationship with God), and fasting (relationship with self).
Today's Mass Readings
Today, we begin the holy season of Lent. This reflection will focus on what is really important during to address during Lent – relationships. There are three relationships we are urged to pay attention to: our relationship with God (Mt 6: 1-4), with others (Mt 6: 5-15) and with self (Mt 6: 16-18). At the end of the Lenten season if we can find ourselves in deeper and healthier relationship with God, others, and self, then our Easter joy will indeed be a divine experience.
The gospel reading leads us in the direction of relationships. Jesus picks out three areas that his disciples need to focus on: almsgiving (relationship with others), prayer (relationship with God), and fasting (relationship with self).
The Scandal of God's Love"
Sunday Mass Readings
What do you do when you a fifteen-year old high school kid comes weeping to you for the fear that she is going to hell because her teacher said so? And believe me, this was no dumb kid. Last Tuesday, I had a very smart and attractive sophomore who came to see me along with her aunt. Her fear? – That she had committed enough mortal sins for God to send her to hell. I have never seen someone so frightened of God. Not that this youngster is a prodigal sinner, or that she is not serious about her faith. In fact, her agony is caused because she is serious about her relationship with God. But her religion teacher in a Catholic school is convincing her class that unless the kids watch out God will send them to hell. I think the teacher is trying to get the kids to stay out of trouble. However, it is one thing to teach kids to take sin seriously and quite another to teach them to be afraid of God. I think young people should be taught to take sin seriously because Gods love for love them not because God is waiting to punish them.
Sunday Mass Readings
What do you do when you a fifteen-year old high school kid comes weeping to you for the fear that she is going to hell because her teacher said so? And believe me, this was no dumb kid. Last Tuesday, I had a very smart and attractive sophomore who came to see me along with her aunt. Her fear? – That she had committed enough mortal sins for God to send her to hell. I have never seen someone so frightened of God. Not that this youngster is a prodigal sinner, or that she is not serious about her faith. In fact, her agony is caused because she is serious about her relationship with God. But her religion teacher in a Catholic school is convincing her class that unless the kids watch out God will send them to hell. I think the teacher is trying to get the kids to stay out of trouble. However, it is one thing to teach kids to take sin seriously and quite another to teach them to be afraid of God. I think young people should be taught to take sin seriously because Gods love for love them not because God is waiting to punish them.
"“If Anyone Comes to Me Without Hating His Father and Mother"
Sunday Mass Readings
Perhaps, one of the most controversial events of our times is the war in Iraq. The nation, and indeed, the world finds itself divided on the issue. In spite of the controversy surrounding the war, thousands of young people have joined the armed forces and some of them from this parish. Why on earth do young people with bright futures choose to go into the very midst of death? Yes, some do out of financial compulsions, and others for an education. And then there are those who find in their commitment, a cause higher than their own survival. For them, direct participation in the war in not about the war but about their love and commitment to a nation – a commitment that supersedes their relationship with their father, mother, brothers and sisters, and even their spouses and children. In other words, human beings sometimes are instinctively capable of heroic sacrifices that defy any rational explanation.
Sunday Mass Readings
Perhaps, one of the most controversial events of our times is the war in Iraq. The nation, and indeed, the world finds itself divided on the issue. In spite of the controversy surrounding the war, thousands of young people have joined the armed forces and some of them from this parish. Why on earth do young people with bright futures choose to go into the very midst of death? Yes, some do out of financial compulsions, and others for an education. And then there are those who find in their commitment, a cause higher than their own survival. For them, direct participation in the war in not about the war but about their love and commitment to a nation – a commitment that supersedes their relationship with their father, mother, brothers and sisters, and even their spouses and children. In other words, human beings sometimes are instinctively capable of heroic sacrifices that defy any rational explanation.
"Those Who Humble Themselves will be Exalted"
Sunday Mass Readings
The last issue of Time magazine dedicated its cover story to Mother Teresa. This rather well written article is a commentary on the latest book about her titled, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light. Compiled and edited by Fr. Kolodiejchuk, the book contains Mother Teresa’s correspondence with her confessors and superiors over sixty-six years. Whereas most people expected her correspondence to be warm and fuzzy about her spiritual life, in reality, they express her feelings of abandonment at God’s hands.
Let me read just one of her entries. Lord my God, who am I that you should forsake me? The Child of your Love—and now become as the most hated one—the one—You have thrown away as unwanted—unloved. I call, I cling, I want—and there is no One to answer—no one on whom I can cling—no, Non One.—Alone… Where is my faith—even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness and darkness—My God—how painful is this unknown pain—I have no Faith—I dare not utter the words and thoughts that crowd in my heart—and make me suffer untold agony. So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover them—because of the blasphemy—If there be God—please forgive me—When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven—there is such convicting emptiness that those every thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul.—I am told God loves me—and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?
Sunday Mass Readings
The last issue of Time magazine dedicated its cover story to Mother Teresa. This rather well written article is a commentary on the latest book about her titled, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light. Compiled and edited by Fr. Kolodiejchuk, the book contains Mother Teresa’s correspondence with her confessors and superiors over sixty-six years. Whereas most people expected her correspondence to be warm and fuzzy about her spiritual life, in reality, they express her feelings of abandonment at God’s hands.
Let me read just one of her entries. Lord my God, who am I that you should forsake me? The Child of your Love—and now become as the most hated one—the one—You have thrown away as unwanted—unloved. I call, I cling, I want—and there is no One to answer—no one on whom I can cling—no, Non One.—Alone… Where is my faith—even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness and darkness—My God—how painful is this unknown pain—I have no Faith—I dare not utter the words and thoughts that crowd in my heart—and make me suffer untold agony. So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover them—because of the blasphemy—If there be God—please forgive me—When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven—there is such convicting emptiness that those every thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul.—I am told God loves me—and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?
"Lord, Will Only a Few be Saved?"
Sunday Mass Readings
I would like to deal with the same question that the disciples asked Jesus, “Will only a few people be saved?” (Luke 13:23) That is a good question. Who will be saved? Jesus gives no direct answer to this question. The Bible itself has no one single answer. In Matthew 25: 31-46, acceptance into the Kingdom or rejection from it depends on the “feeding, clothing, or caring for the least.” Those who cared about the least will be welcomed into the kingdom. The rest will go off to eternal punishment. In the beatitudes, the poor in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers, the ones who mourn, the persecuted are the ones to whom the Kingdom is promised (Mt 5: 1-12). In both these places there is no indication those who are saved have to be believers. On the other hand, there are other scripture passages, which seem to suggest that the only way to be saved is to have explicit faith in Jesus. For example, in the gospel of John, Jesus says, “No one come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In the letter to Romans, St Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). In the Act of the apostles it is even easier. Acts 2:21 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Sunday Mass Readings
I would like to deal with the same question that the disciples asked Jesus, “Will only a few people be saved?” (Luke 13:23) That is a good question. Who will be saved? Jesus gives no direct answer to this question. The Bible itself has no one single answer. In Matthew 25: 31-46, acceptance into the Kingdom or rejection from it depends on the “feeding, clothing, or caring for the least.” Those who cared about the least will be welcomed into the kingdom. The rest will go off to eternal punishment. In the beatitudes, the poor in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers, the ones who mourn, the persecuted are the ones to whom the Kingdom is promised (Mt 5: 1-12). In both these places there is no indication those who are saved have to be believers. On the other hand, there are other scripture passages, which seem to suggest that the only way to be saved is to have explicit faith in Jesus. For example, in the gospel of John, Jesus says, “No one come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In the letter to Romans, St Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). In the Act of the apostles it is even easier. Acts 2:21 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”