TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 29, 2021
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27;
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
When I read today’s first line from the Letter of St. James, my mind immediately goes to the musical Godspell. “All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…” It is a strong reminder of what our Lord and God provides for us. It should cause all of us to reflect on two very important realities. The first is that we — made in the image and likeness of God — are brought to perfection in baptism. All Gift! God doing! — with us doing absolutely nothing. Every aspect of our beings is a perfect gift from God. Not one aspect of mind, body, spirit or soul is lacking perfection according to God’s giving. The second reality we need to be aware of is that we are called, as firstfruits of his creatures, to live as doers of the Word planted in us. For those having lived a Cursillo weekend, it’s the first two talks by a Spiritual Advisor — Habitual Grace and Actual Grace — God doing and God calling man into His doing!
Having received the perfection of God in baptism, we are made one in, with, and through Jesus Christ, the “Word of truth” planted in us. Accepting this can have life-saving effects, or it can lead us to self-destruction. You see, bloated egos can easily take us from what God has created as we attempt to build ourselves into the persons we choose to be., deluding ourselves with alterations and shadows caused by change. In this we move away from the Giver and the gift.
In looking at Moses addressing the Israelite community, he is reminding them of what they can be when living as God directs them — a great nation that is truly a wise and intelligent people. Such a nation will reveal a God who is intimate with them, unlike pagan gods. The directive is simple: live as God lives and all will be well. This is the underlying message of the commandments. The Letter of James is basically restating the words of Moses — “All good giving and every perfect gift is from above.” AND, “religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their afflictions and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” — Live the commandments as they should be lived — in love!
Remaining “unstained by the world” is difficult as we all know. And once we allow things of the world to enter into our lives, they can quickly consume us, change us, move us from the state of perfection God created in us. So we always have a choice. This is what Jesus is facing with the Pharisees and scribes who are moaning about Jesus’ disciples not fulfilling the ‘traditions” in various circumstances of life. They ultimately condemn themselves when they say, Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders…” The traditions of the elders were not commandments of God. And Jesus jumps on this shortly afterwards as we heard.
I’m not typing out the whole passage, but the message is very clear. Basically Jesus is saying, “If you’re going to cling to things from the past, go all the way back to the commandments and understand them in absolute love!” He nullifies the traditions that have been established by the Jewish leaders. And He affirms what we’ve considered in the first two readings — seeing ourselves as recipients of “all good giving and every perfect gift from above.” Let’s face it, we are going to be confronted by many things of the world that belong to those of the world. If we wisely choose what enters our lives — minds and hearts, what will come from us will only be good. Choose grace and grace will flow forth in our own lives.
If however, if we choose to use mind, body and soul for personal preferences, we choose to be defiled and open ourselves to the defilement of others through our actions and words — contrary to what Moses spoke of and contrary to what St. James preached — not worldly ritual, but care for orphans and widows in humble giving as God shares His life with us. We see a Church divided today because of ritual which is hardly as ancient as the Church and because the worldly rejection of caring for all people has filled the hearts of those who profess with words but not actions. All worldly. All concerned with self.
Who is free from all of the evils mentioned by Jesus? Evil thoughts, unchastity (which can come about from reading inappropriate novels), theft, murder (not just physical but also of spirit or reputation), adultery (including pornography and its inherent results), greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly may well be in our lives — along with prejudice, bigotry, self-gratification in many forms, unforgiveness, slanderous speech — many things that move us and others to live as did the Pharisees and scribes. These are real and can be transmitted to the most innocent of persons simply by our own espousing them in our lives.
What sins do we have in our lives that have been passed down from previous generations — language, mediocre prayer and worship, disregard for the orphaned or for those living with disabilities or personal preferences. A quick test: How would you react if told that an family from Afghanistan was being relocated in the house next to you? Your immediate thoughts and gut feelings? A family from Mexico? An African-American family? Or that the house next door was to become a community home for adults with emotional and psychological disabilities? How about an Irish family?
Brothers and sisters, in imitation of the perfect gift given us in Jesus Christ, and as recipients of all good things — from God and not the delusional goods of the world — we are called to be imitators of God, doing as He does so others in the world can come to know the God we did not create, but the God we worship with lives made holy by the One alone who is holy. As ones who believe in the real presence of Jesus in the sacrament of the Eucharist, we cannot be a hindrance which keeps the Eucharist from feeding others.
What we take in at the Mass must be that which comes forth from us in mind, body, spirit and soul as we are called to feed a longing people — as did Moses, Jesus and James, each in their own acceptance of God’s grace. All three of today’s readings direct our thoughts to how we live and share the love of God — for us not simply to receive the Eucharist, but as we pray at Mass, that we become Eucharist feeding with undefiled truth those needing to know and accept “all good things that come from above, coming down from the Father of lights,” beginning with His life through Jesus Christ. We remember that we do not call others into past traditions, but into the life of Jesus Christ. We cannot feed others with past traditions, but only with the life of Jesus Christ. May the words of Isaiah which Jesus quoted never be directed to us.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
NOTE: I will be having surgery this Friday and will remain in the hospital for a few days — away from the computer. So don’t be surprised if you do not receive a reflection next weekend.
SOLEMNITY OF THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY
EVE: I Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16, 16:1-2; 1 Corinthians 15:54b-57; Luke 11:27-28
DAY: Revelations 11:19a; 12:1-6a; 10ab; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56
I’m glad that this Feast of Mary falls on a Sunday this year since so many Catholics are found everywhere except at Mass on this Holy Day when celebrated on a summer weekday. That’s not a slam on the people. It is a reality which we as the Church need to correct. A Sunday celebration allows for a homilist to preach the truth of a Catholic tradition begun in the Early Church and which became dogma, a definitive belief of the Church as declared by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950. The Feast of the Assumption, celebrated during a Sunday liturgy, reminds the whole Church that divine revelation is made known through Scripture, Creation and Sacred Tradition. And since this tradition is almost as old as the Church, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven fits the bill. Not found in scripture!
It is acknowledged that Mary died and was entombed. Her burial site is clearly defined at the foot of Mt. Zion, across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem. The belief that decay did not touch the body of Mary remains true for all Catholics. The body must give up its life in order to attain the resurrection. Christ did the same in dying on the cross. We do not believe that Mary was taken to heaven alive as some may suggest.
All Catholics believe that the Assumption of Mary is the consumption and culmination of all the other great mysteries celebrated in the life of Mary. It is the crowning of all virtues attributed to Mary in her life. The fact that we believe that Mary was assumed into heaven — body and soul — free from the corruption of sin and death —testifies to God’s call to her as the perfect Mother of God, and Mary’s willing participation in God’s grace, just as the resurrection of our risen Lord calls us to live in all of eternity once we too are free from these frailties of our humanity.
St. Paul’s first Letter to the Corinthians reminds us that all who live the victory of Jesus Christ are conquerors with our Lord over death, meaning sin. Mary’s life is a reminder of the grace we receive in order to conquer sin and live in the life provided for our attaining the will of the Father — eternal unity and oneness. Mary, ever faithful to the giving of life, now does so for us. She was given as Mother of the Church at the cross. Following the resurrection she was God’s giver of grace that sustained the Apostles and followers of Jesus through the Day of Pentecost.
As from her acceptance of the Father’s call to be the Mother of our Lord, she now becomes the Mother of all believers, continuing her life of grace as our Mother. As Queen Mother of heaven and earth, unlike the stoic Queen Mother of England or any other sovereignty, Mary is up close and personal with us, aiding us in our human afflictions and constantly drawing us to the abandonment of self for the glory promised — resurrected life where our own bodies will be transfigured as was Christ’s, as was Mary’s, into glorified bodies free from sin and corruption.
We move toward this state even now while on earth as we carry with us the life of our Lord, living the will of the Father and proclaiming His goodness for all to see. Our words need to echo those of Scripture which Mary also echoed: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” All good things are of God, beginning with our own lives. All good things are to proclaim the greatness of God and rejoice always in our Lord’s sharing of life and calling to eternal life, when we too will be transfigured into His eternal likeness.
As Mary, full of grace from the very beginning, provided support to our Lord, to His disciples, to His Apostles and followers, so too does she do so for us — the greatest of all intercessors now privileged to be one with the Lord in bringing salvation to God’s people. For our part, we must hear the words of our Lord: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Lk 11:28) We too must live what Mary took from Psalm 119 and believe it in lives dedicated to oneness with our God in all things: “He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.” (Lk 1:54-55; also see Ps 119)
Mary, our Mother, has the gift of knowing the fullness of the Father’s will and acts in accordance of his will for our sake, leading us to the life that she carried within herself — to Jesus Christ who is our Lord and Savior. Mary’s life from beginning to end points us to Jesus.Perfect in all things, following death Mary was assumed into heaven. Perfect in all things by the grace of God, she continues to be perfect in sharing divine life with her children — you and me. In this, we are graced to move toward that same perfection which will change our mortal bodies into glorious bodies, joined forever in oneness with the fullness of God, Father, Son and Spirit, with Mary, and with all the Saints.
When the angel of the Lord greeted Mary at the Annunciation, it was “Hail, full of grace…” St. John’s Gospel reminds us of Jesus’ entry into the world as “”the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (1:14) The Feast of the Assumption is a reminder to us of grace being received, grace being lived, and grace moving us in the truth — always. Grace is always at our disposal if only we seek it, learn its truth, live it, and bring it, as did Mary, to the world hungry — to know the Divine Giver.
This oneness Mary shared in the life of our Savior is the same life we receive in the Eucharist. It is grace — the life given to Mary and the life given to us — so we may carry divine life and bring others to that life as Mary does today in all the glory given her.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — August 8, 2021
1kINGS 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:300-5:2; John 6:41-51
This Gospel account from St. John is rarely — if ever — preached in many Christian churches. It demands a belief that the Eucharist is the real presence of our Lord and Savior; that His Body and Blood are to be taken into our lives as Eucharist; that which feeds and sustains far greater than the food which fed and sustained Elijah the prophet — more than bread and wine. Combine this Gospel with the Eucharistic accounts from the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and from St. Paul’s account in his First Letter to the Corinthians — “This is My Body...This is My Blood” — there is no doubt that what we believe as Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus Christ. Jesus says: I AM THE LIVING BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world. What does this “Taking in — Eating” include, — bring about within us — for us?
During Eucharistic Adoration Friday afternoon the Lord reminded me of the many I AM statements attributed to Jesus in this gospel. Seventeen times Jesus identifies Himself with the phrase given to Moses by God as He freed His people from captivity. These attributed to Jesus include:
— I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6)
— I AM the Light of the World (9:5) that came into the world to shine in hearts seeking My oneness
— I AM the Sheep Gate……..I AM the Good Shepherd (10:1-18)
— I AM the True Vine (15:1-5)
— I AM the Son of God (10:36)
— I AM the Living Bread of life that came down from heaven (6:51)
They are all meant to bring each of us from the captivity of sin and to move society from its failure to see God present at all times. It is bewildering that “believers” will say they believe the “I AM” statements but not the last and most important: “I AM the Bread of Life…” A pick-and-choose gospel is not a life-giving word, but a profession of want.
The Lord continued to speak — which happened to be the Feast of the Transfiguration:
— I AM your transfiguration, moving you from your mere humanity to a Divine sharing.
— I AM the means of your salvation — not found in things of this world. Your salvation is only in Me.
— I AM the essence of your life— for without Me you can do nothing in this world that matters in eternity.
— I AM the source of perfected love.
— I AM the only joy that can allow you to stand against the wickedness of what is found in society.
— I AM the very cause of you being here — and the same cause that will strengthened you in announcing all that I AM
to a deprived society searching in all the wrong places in all the wrong ways.
And He added: You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. Do not forsake this life and action of Mine now in you.
St. Paul cautions us against the misuse of the life the Holy Spirit brings to us. It is the Spirit of God that enables us to see the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist and in our lives. When we enter into the fullness of God through Jesus Christ — the I AM — we are enabled to live in oneness with our Lord now and in eternity and we are enabled to become His true presence in the world. We must be open to how the Spirit enables to change our lives and offer change to the lives of others. Not accepting this enablement is rejecting the power of the Eucharist.
The Lord continued
Be imitators of Me and live in love — becoming sacrificial offerings which lead to your sharing in My glory. Live lives that are transfigured into the life I share with the Father. My transfiguration was — and is a call, as it was for Peter, James and John as well as all the Saints who have gone before you — to share in My glory in a oneness with the Father to be for all eternity gloriously triumphant. It all comes down to what we believe, and what and how we choose to live what we believe.
When moving Patty from a fifth floor apartment to one on a lower level of the high rise, everything could go in the exact location as in her old apartment — that is until you looked at the limitations caused by a renovation that would impede Patty’s abilities. The same could not remain the same. Handicap accessibility was not in the thoughts of those who did the renovations. It would not work. Adjustments had to be made to assure that she could do for herself and was able to live in freedom. It meant changing the thoughts of some, including Patty. All is well following some changes and Patty is more free than ever. The same must be true of our faith, our believing the words of the Gospel, and our living what we believe. If we don’t open to other possibilities, the Eucharist and the Gospel can remain issues for head cases and not matters of the heart.
If we do not believe in in the I AM statements as the TRUTH being spoken we will definitely not KNOW THE WAY, and not come to THE LIFE, since we are not attached to the vine and not being fed by His life. We will become wanderers, straying from the Good Shepherd; we find ourselves living in the darkness of sin rather than the light that produces goodness.
So it comes down to this:
These are what God wants for us always!
Fr. Tom Galvin
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — August 1, 2021
Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35
What’s on your “To Do” list you have created for God to fulfill in the days to come? Stop and think about it before reading any further. What have you taken to the Lord in prayer that, just perhaps, you are to accept rather than have changed? What is on the list that you can change, or that you, or someone you are praying for, can live with despite having to live with a little hardship? Of these things, which are about earthly satisfaction and fulfillment and not directed toward eternal oneness with God? How many have been on your list for a very long time?
The Israelites had not learned to trust God enough to accept His call for them to be His chosen people — and to believe that He would not allow them to die of famine in the desert. So they complained and even considered going backwards to slavery under the Egyptians. They failed to recognize that they were creating a new slavery for themselves by not looking to something greater than the here and now. The same was true for the Jewish people who heard our Lord’s call to something greater, and all they wanted was sign after sign after sign. Jesus, in John’s Gospel had just fed the 5,000-plus (6:1-15, which we heard last Sunday). That wasn’t a big enough sign to show God’s care for them. They weren’t satisfied.
There is spiritual as well as physical feeding taking place in these accounts. However, the intentions of the people were only about themselves and their pre-conceived ideas of how God was to act. All this was totally known by our Lord. So when Jesus says I AM the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst,” their minds, totally worldly, failed to remember how God had just fed the 5,000, nor remember how He fed their ancestors in the desert. St. Ignatius tells of his own conversion to the spiritual from the worldly. He looked for joy in the here-and-now. Slowly his heart and mind moved to the joy he found in reading of the life of Christ and of the saints, finally realizing that God was his joy and Jesus was the fullness of God sent from the Father.
Now, the people in both the Exodus account and the Gospel have hearts and minds closed to what God is offering them. The Israelites failed to see God doing, so Moses had to explain, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat” knowing that the Lord was to send down bread from heaven. The Jewish people confronting Jesus recall this only to have Jesus correct them by affirming it to be the giving of “my Father”. And now Jesus strikes them hard, using a phrase they knew well. He says, “I AM the bread of life…” It is God present, giving in His fullness. Yes, this shakes many of us even today as belief in the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist is minimized or an unbelief. But as Jesus said, “...whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” It goes far beyond human satisfaction of the fulfillment of human expectations.
As a side note: This “I AM...” is one of 17 times in John’s Gospel when Jesus is directly saying that God is present to them. It is the I AM which Moses heard and used when identifying the God who was going to free them from slavery. They didn’t get it. When Jesus met Nicodemus in the middle of the night and said, “I AM the light of the world,” it caused this Jewish leader to seriously reflect on who Jesus was.
As all the Gospel accounts have pointed us to over the past few weeks, today’s also points us to the Eucharist. And we know that in the Eucharist, it is about a spiritual joining of self with God, as He does to us through the ongoing giving of Jesus. St. Paul gives us a directive of what must occur in our hearts and minds through his Letter to the Ephesians. “Put away the old self of your former way of life...and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”It is what St. Ignatius had learned to do and what we also must do — if for no other reason than to tear up the “To Do” list we expect God to handle.
I am often concerned about how people dress when coming to Mass these days. “Casual Friday” has infiltrated our lives in every aspect. And many often complain to priests about this. But really, what is it all about? May I say outward appearance? I will. Judgment is made in what is seen without the heart of the person ever being known. It is, in modern times, the very people mentioned above — making judgments by what they have seen or perceive which may be far from the truth. But it says to those, who make comparisons to ancient times (our youth), that they do not live in the Spirit of God who knows our inner thoughts and wishes to form the heart and mind to His — since they are more concerned with living what they expect — everything from what to wear, to how to pray, to the actions judged as irreverent.
In one particular nursing home, a man has been in bed — 24-7-365 — for four years. He can never get out, sit up, and is unable to walk, loaded with a slow but aggressive cancer. He has never shown anger at God but rejoices in the Eucharist, God feeding him, and in my short visits with him. There is no desert experience here. There is no demand for a sign. He believes the Eucharist carries him from month to month and his prayers carry him from day to day in the assurance of God’s love. He is one of many I make sure I am present to with each visit to the facilities.
Brothers and sisters, if we live in the Spirit of God, there is no reason to have a desert experience and no demand for a sign — which usually is part of our “To Do” list for God to fulfill. Rather, there is joy in our joining with our Lord in the Eucharist and in the same joining God is calling others to realize and celebrate in their lives, having turned from worldly expectations to new completeness in oneness with our God. We need to get over our “looking for joy in all the wrong places,” as the world is not going to fulfill us or our dreams. Only God, who is always giving of Himself, can fulfill our longings as He did St. Ignatius and any other saint whose life you choose to study.
God is giving — always has been and always will be. And God is patient in waiting for us to accept what He is giving us and of our joining with Him — in the Eucharist where he feeds the soul, heart and mind — and in the world where we become Eucharist, with one Spirit, for the lives of others.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
A Personal Note: Thanks for your prayers. The PET scan did not show any growth, which is good. I see the surgeon this week to determine if we’ll do minimally-invasive surgery on the lung or just watch it for another three months. It’s in God’s hands.
17th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — JULY 25, 2021
2 KINGS 4:42-44; EPHESIANS 4:1-6; JOHN 6:1-15
We know of Moses imploring the Lord on behalf of the people in the desert and how God fed the multitudes with manna and quail. Keep that in the back of your head for a few moments. Today we hear from the Second Book of Kings of how God fed the one hundred people through the prophet Elisha. And in the Gospel we hear Jesus feeding the 5000 men with bread and fish (no one counted the women and children). In each situation there was an abundance left over after all had had their fill. Connect the dots!
God has cared for man — always present and active in their lives — even those who were found grumbling, as in the desert and even when sinful and rebellious. God gave. God gives. God will always give. That’s what God is! He is always giving of Himself for us to become one with Him, not simply for satisfying a human hunger. So it should not surprise us that the above mentioned “feedings of the people” direct us to the most perfect giving of Divine Life in Jesus Christ. It is Christ who now calls all people to share in the Divine Banquet established at the Last Supper and Calvary. The events of the Old Testament always point to Christ. I pray that we all are in agreement of this fact.
So why is this section of St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians included in these readings? As I thought about this, I found other passages from St. Paul’s letters that speak of miraculous feedings that could be aligned with the story of Elisha and of Jesus. And I thought, why not one from the Acts of the Apostles when the early Christian community shared in a similar way as did the above-mentioned “feedings”? Well, if you look at this passage from St. Paul carefully you’ll see there is more than just feeding the physically hungry. We should realize those who feed on the Body and Blood of Christ can see that God’s giving continues to 2021. And, we are not simply to be fed, but are called to be Moses, Elisha, and most importantly the presence of Christ in the world today, feeding others with the gift of Christ’s life given to us in the Eucharist. Everything that St. Paul mentions in this passage is Eucharist. So it is appropriate to apply it to our lives.
St. Paul says: “I...urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received…” What we have received is the life of Jesus Christ. A worthy life is first seeing ourselves in Christ, and then allowing Christ to move through us to touch others. In other words, we, as St. Paul says, are to act in “humility, gentleness and patience” — all done in love of God and of others. It is a fallacy for us to expect God to act in our plans or in our thoughts. We are called to act in His. Only then do we live the Gospel we may think we are proclaiming. Elisha was always filled with the gift of discernment which allowed him to follow the directives of God. Moses had done the same in complete confidence and trust. In His own time Jesus did the same as we know He constantly went to the Father in prayer, even at His time of impending death. They worthily lived their calls and the gifts they received.
Remembering that since all words of Scripture retain their power and purpose, we can hear St. Paul calling us to continue in the sharing of the gifts we have received. To do so we must listen, listen and listen, so to discern how God is moving us to feed others, extend ourselves to others in faith, so we may discern God’s will and move our lives into His. This is important as we may try to discern God’s will, for us as individuals, and then try to impose our will on others, failing to recognize that the discernment of God’s will is meant for us to do as St. Paul says, …”striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace…” We must see ourselves as sharing the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not personal wants. Discernment means opening to the Holy Spirit.
This past Friday I had a PET Scan taken. I had never done this test before. After injecting dye into the body you are taken to a “relaxing room” to sit in a recliner for an hour — with no music, no TV, no books, no nothing except a clock to look at. The purpose for this hour is to make sure the dye goes through the entire system. The clock was only a source of agitation. I used this time as an opportunity for prayer, to lift up others for many reasons and not for myself while refusing to focus on the clock. The time went quickly, thankfully. Now if I had focused only on that darn clock, time would have dragged and I would have become frustrated. Instead, I used it for something better, and even gave over my dreams of getting out of Shadyside before the rush hour. I allowed the Holy Spirit to move me instead.
In the same way, if we are to be — as St. Paul says, “one Body and one Spirit...called to the one hope of your call: one Lord, one faith, one baptism…” we must forgo our wants in order to feed others, to become Eucharist for others, remembering our hope for ourselves and all people is “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” It changes our attitudes concerning our prayer, as well as what we may think essential for the purpose we have established for ourselves. It changes our actions, providing the needed courage and conviction. We see the fullness of the Triune God in a different way. The message of all Scripture — Old and New Testaments — is Jesus Christ who is our way to the Father and the fullness of life. He is the means of our gaining salvation. And the Spirit, sent from the Father and the Son, is meant to enable us to move beyond ourselves as we feed others with the caring and love of God. It is not about us, or how we pray, or what we seek. It is about the One who cares for us, feeds us and enables us to act in oneness with Him in our sharing with others. It is us becoming Eucharist in, with and through Jesus Christ.
The feeding of the masses would not have happened in Elisha’s time, or multiple times during Jesus’ ministry, if they had not realized that what was received was then to be shared. The “manner worthy of the call you have received” is to transform hearts and minds of others — not just those we know, but all those we touch. It may mean understanding our call in a new light — as we say in Cursillo, those we live with, work with, recognize as leaders capable of having hearts and lives transformed, the wayward, the disillusioned, and on and on. No one should stand outside of the spectrum of persons we may be called to share Jesus Christ and the fullness of God. It is not by accident that Mark mentions that what Jesus did was near the Jewish feast of Passover — when God freed their ancestors from slavery. Jesus’ giving here, and forever, is to provide freedom to believers. Ours is to work in oneness with this freeing of the many caught in the slavery of sin and the sin of the world.
We do this in, with and through the love of God and the gifts we have received. Nothing else is needed except our openness to the Father’s will and us taking the time to discern the gifts we have received from the Spirit. This will require us to consider St. Paul’s other Letters, especially to the Romans (12:1ff) and 1Corinthians (12:1ff), even though there are many other gifts given. Consider taking the time to read these passages as a call to a “relaxing room” where His plan is discerned, devoid of what we may think important — and His Spirit moves us joyfully to the feeding of a world hungry for something greater than that which is seen.
Love and prayers.
Fr. Tom
16th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — JULY 18, 2021
Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34
Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians is a message of comfort, hope and strength. It is also a call for Jew and Greek alike to see their oneness with and in Jesus Christ — on Body of believers. Jeremiah’s message is one of warning and then one of hope, comfort and strength, which the leaders of the time failed in doing, but what God will do out of concern for their salvation. The Gospel of Mark reveals the compassion of Jesus toward the people longing for the one who would take them to a caring God. And Psalm 23 is that great gift of comfort, hope and strength and the assurance of the Lord shepherding His people.
When I was 19 years old a close friend was found filled cancer. He died three weeks later. Needless to say, I was devastated. Psalm 23 became the gift of comfort from our Lord that I needed. It reminded me then, as it does now, that our God is not a God of the past but One of the present. I couldn’t change what had happened. And I didn’t really know how to be mad at God, despite my questioning and emptiness. His was, as we see in the Gospel today, being present to me whenever I needed. His was a way to see Him in the present, helping me through my human limitedness. It led me to grow in contemplative prayer, moving me to see the compassion of God with a much clearer understanding.
When we study these readings, we can see that this is what God is all about, never looking at the past and not dreaming in the future, but always in the present moment, calling us to see him and to live in Him in each moment. His only look to the future is in regards to our eternal salvation. But He also knows that if salvation is to be ours, He must be realized in the present —daily, in growing intimacy. But this calls for a conversion and turning of heart to conform to God in all that we do. While some will see this as a lessening of self, it is, in reality, a finding of self rooted in the grace of God. It provides a freedom to act in accord with Jesus Christ.
When hearing confessions I so often can take a multitude of sins and group them into one difficulty — a lack of intimacy with God. They may pray and fulfill the Sunday obligation, but they are words and actions outside of their everyday life experiences, but do nothing to bring about an intimacy. Living without this intimacy that God desires for us is synonymous going to a doctor to eradicate a medical problem and then not taking the prescriptions or following the doctor’s orders to change our lifestyle. If we want intimacy with God we need to take the time to listen to the Lord’s call instead of setting up false expectations of how God should be seen, or determining how close we wish to fall into the security of His open arms.
Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the downfall of the leaders of Israel is epic. The leaders will be discarded forever. Zedekiah was the king, but appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, and not following the Davidic line, fulfilling the promise of God. Zedekiah feared man more than he feared God. He is very much like many people, even believers, in the world today — men and women in positions of distinction as well as men and women living in a twisted worldly society found in our communities. Jeremiah speaks to us; and his prophecy so often falls on deaf ears in our day.
In the Church today there are those who claim to know the truth. Some of these are ordained and some are members of the laity. They stand against the movement of the Holy Spirit in the Church. This is not simply a disregard of Church teachings since Vatican Council II, but is historic within the Church from its beginning. God is always calling for a repentance and an awaking to His way, His sharing, His life. The obstinacy of man is magnified in our time through the relativism espoused by so many believers who bring societal expectations into faith.
Notice how St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians is calling for a unity among all believers. Believers are not about themselves but rather about Jesus Christ and His ministry for all people — to be found in oneness with Himself and each other. Relativism does not conform to the message of the Gospel. The Church and our faith are not to conform to the relativism of today’s society.
All the baptized are called forth to announce the message of Jesus Christ as they meet people looking for new hope, desiring an intimacy of Heart to heart — His Heart to our heart. We were anointed in the priesthood, prophetic ministry, and the kingship of Jesus Christ for this purpose. Even though He had taken the disciples away to rest after their sojourns through towns and villages, announcing a message of hope and giving witness to it through miraculous deeds, He responds to the people’s needs. He sees the longing of the people for a new message, a message of intimacy with God, not a god who keeps himself cloaked in an aura that causes a distance between man and God.
The same God is intimate with us, and today gives that gift of intimacy to reveal His love for us and others in the very present moment, being lived in the present time, not in the past and not dreaming of “what if’s?” If we profess this, then we must also profess that the Spirit of God is providing grace and direction for the life of the Church. We must also have faith that the Church is given the ability to make God’s intimacy — as preached by Jesus, the Twelve, St. Paul, and now us — known and relevant in today’s society without losing the effect of the Gospel, and without diminishing the holiness of God. It doesn’t come with hoops to jump through, but a living Heart to heart.
This is often the difficulty we face as we seek to evangelize our environments, to take the message of Jesus Christ to others. Making known the loving presence of God to the masses while recognizing that, being lifted up to a oneness with Him, we cannot change God, His will or His way. This means leaving behind ‘what was’ in our lives, minds and hearts to see ‘Who is’. To announce that God is present requires a faith that acknowledges the activity of the Holy Spirit — in us, and more so in the teachings and activities of the Church.
It is through the Holy Spirit as St. Paul wrote, that we have access to the Father. Our lives must be rooted in oneness with Jesus Christ for this to happen. We need to take on His heart to be effective. It is no longer our will, but that of the Father, Son and Spirit. This needs to be acknowledged in our prayer lives if it is to be lived in the world. Our focus must be on our intimacy with the Lord and less on our unworthiness. The intimacy sought will bring awareness of our spiritual needs and provide proper correction. That’s what God does through his comfort and concern for us.
Living in the moment is seeing the face of God in the mirror, in our actions and words, and in one another. As Jeremiah announced new hope to the Israelites, he announced that the promise of God for them to be His people had not dissipated. God will fulfill His promise. As we go about living an intimacy with God, the promise made through Jesus is being fulfilled. “I am with you always.” (Mt 28:20) And His teaching remains solid: “If you know me, then you also know the Father.” (Jn 14:7)
Ours is to grow in our knowledge of God as taught through Scripture, as fashioned in a prayer life desiring oneness, and lived as always in the intimate presence and care of our God.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
(Please keep me in prayer as I am taking tests concerning possible lung cancer and possible lymphoma.)
15th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — JULY 11, 2021
Amos 7:12-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13
So there I was writing sports, planning my future, looking forward to having a wife and kids, not that my salary would have been sufficient for everything I dreamed of. I was the “good Catholic” going to Mass on Sunday and saying some prayers — fulfilling obligations. Then God called, and called, and called, and called, and called. Finally I said “Yes.” Need I say more? I will. Saying “Yes” to our Lord that first time was not going to be the final “Yes” I would have to give assent to. And As I learned, it was adequate for the time, but so insufficient. It would be the first of many steps opening me to the power of the Holy Spirit while moving me to a deepening union with our Lord. To the day I find myself being called to give yet another “Yes,” needing to open myself to the many requests coming from our Lord. Amos learned the same thing as did St. Paul, and as would “the Twelve.”
And folks, this is the life God wants all of us to live, filled with one “Yes” after another and another, never growing weary of how God is calling us. You see, every person we meet or think of is an invitation to say “Yes” again.
Interestingly enough, as we are brought to say “Yes” more and more, the less resistant we are to God’s want and ways. The concerns that Satan may plant in our lives, running contrary to God’s plan for us, become weaker and more feeble.
When we give over our concerns we are moved to hope and fulfillment — and fulfillment moves us to true joy that is not defined by worldly standards but rather by inner peace, contentment and a new understanding of fulfillment. We see ourselves moving in oneness with the Lord, through whom comes power and might as He, in concert with the Father, pours the Holy Spirit into our lives, enabling us to see beyond the immediate horizon of human limitations.
Look at the Twelve. Jesus had given them, unknown to them, a share in the Holy Spirit. It produced conversion of hearts, freedom from demons, and the curing of many — the very works they witnessed brought about in Christ’s ministry and life. And we know they came back from their mission filled with joy — exuberant at what had occurred. Now if that could happen to the Twelve who did not recognize or understand the presence of the Holy Spirit, how much more can gifts of the Spirit move us in our living of our baptismal life — we who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit?
Notice, in speaking of the work of the Church, the first believers, St. Paul sees those baptized as living in the Holy Spirit, “...the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession.” God is revealing His desire to own them — and us — completely. All is done to the praise and glory of God. Joy in our sharing in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, who takes us to a share in the Father’s love, causes praise and glory to be given and to be rejoiced in. It is the only response that makes sense as we recognize superhuman, spiritual powers at work in and through us. These gifts are not found in human mentalities nor in meeting societal norms. They are not found in a spirituality of religiosity where prayer is kept to a one-on-one relationship with God if these do not lead to a change in our minds, our hearts, and our actions in the world. This was my life before that first “Yes.”
So as we look at our own lives, we can examine as to whether they display a relationship leading to joy in our own lives as well as in the lives of others. Or do they remain on a superficial plain of mere human existence? Do we, in our thoughts, words and actions share in making known the Kingdom of God?
“In love, he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ in accord with the favor of his will for the praise and glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.” This letter to the Ephesians is a letter to the whole Church then and up to the baptized today. It is the Church being reminded to bless the Lord for all that He has done, and intends to do with the affirmation of our “Yes.” It is also a blessing for believers who daily enter into the mind and heart of our Lord; a strengthening for believers and the whole Church leading to a giving over as well as a renewal. Each of us is called, as was Amos, to leave behind what we think is life so we may find true life; to give over what was or is, for what can be.
It begins in our honesty concerning the sins we live in and the habits which control our lives — those we’ve fashioned in our own lives and those we carry from generational disfunctioning. And we do carry much religious dysfuctioning lived by parents and grandparent generations. It calls for a change and a willingness to see as God sees. As St. Paul says, “In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplished all things according to the intentions of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory…” (1:11)
Now some will say that the more we say “Yes” to God’s call, the more we give over our freedom. That’s Satan talking. In reality, when we reject God’s invitation, we reject a freedom to share something greater than the world can provide.
Some will ask, “When do I begin to simply enjoy the fullness of God rather than having to forever praise and give glory to God?” These people fail to recognize that the more we enter into living the life of our Lord, the more joyful and content we become; the more fulfilled we find ourselves; the greater the freedom we live in from the false expectations of society. We become like Amos and the Twelve who saw that it was God who was doing the work. It is His power and might acting through us; it is He who is ready to free us from worldly entrapments to awaken in us His life and love.
So we learn, as did Amos, the Twelve, and the Early Christians, that our “Yes” is a moment-to-moment opening to the work of our Lord. It brings with it a peacefulness that allows us to see God working when we cannot; the ability to love when we would rather remain separated from; to bless instead of curse; to lift up rather than tear down individuals; to not allow Satan to stand in the way of our redemption and salvation. “In wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.”
The mystery of the Eucharist which we take into ourselves at Mass is so much more than what Jesus provided the Twelve when He sent them out. He didn’t send them out alone. He was with them in Spirit even though His promise to be with them always had yet to be given. We have that promise — and His life. We live in His promise and life. It is not stagnant simply because the Spirit cannot be understood as stagnent. It does not rest on the past. It comes alive in the present. It calls for a “Yes” that comes deep from within, an emptying of self for the sake of receiving an overflowing fullness for ourselves and others — all things in Christ as God desires.
Fr. Tom Galvin
14th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — JULY 4, 2021
Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6
As we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day — a day when our forefathers made a stand against oppression and a stand for our freedom to celebrate our lives and our faith — we are called to remember that this and the other freedoms sought and fought for, need defended today, as they have needed defended and brought to our attention every day of our country’s existence. You see, our freedom has been challenged every day since the founding of our country and the writing of the constitution:
“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, and preserve domestic Tranquility…”.
It is challenged from outside our borders and from within. That’s simply because people see freedom the way they want it to be, and not for a common good and the lifting up of all lives.
This is also true when we look at our Catholic faith in this country. From the founding of our country Catholics have had to take a stand for their faith, very often being considered second class citizens because of their beliefs — despite the protection of the first amendment. Catholics, well into the 20th century, were bypassed for promotions and pay raises because of their faith. All was controlled by the Masons. Church burning, oppression, physical violence was happening into the early 20th century in Philadelphia. The Ku Klux Klan targeted Catholics in their scourges across the country and continues to do so in a subversive manner today. Through it all the Church survived, persevered and grew.
Yet in our country today we find that we again need Ezekiels, we need Pauls as prophets. Society wants to force the Church into living a secular way of life and away from the Gospel. In our pick-and-choose, relativistic and atheistic society freedom is misused. It is seen for personal benefit and does not always adhere to the thoughts of our country’s forefathers, let alone to God’s plan for our salvation. It is only about the here-and-now.
Many in society are, as we’re told in the Book of Ezekiel, “rebels who have rebelled against me...hard of face and obstinate of heart.” Ezekiel will face many trials because he freely accepted the call of God as prophet. But that is what a prophet does — stand against the grain in favor of the truth. What St. Paul speaks about as a “thorn in the flesh,” may well mean standing against the two-faced nature of the Corinthians who first gave him joy in their coming to faith, but became a source of great trial. “I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and constraints for the sake of Christ.” In all of this, Paul the prophet remained strong, knowing that he was being led by the Spirit of God. “My grace is sufficient for you.” This alone gave great freedom to the believer then — and to today’s prophets who are called to speak the truth of the Gospel in the 21st century.
Jesus is no different. He freely made known that the kingdom of God was present to all people. Yet his own people rejected him to the point of His “not able to perform any mighty deeds there...amazed at their lack of faith.” Their freedom hindered their faith, and therefore, the ability to accept the power of God present to them — unlike many others who found healing, solace and forgiveness from our Lord.
What do these witnesses say to us today? Struggles cannot take away our freedom to listen, to choose to walk and live with God, to act in God’s grace, knowing grace means life within a person. When one chooses to enter into the complete living in God’s life, His will becoming that person’s, the battle is won, freedom cannot be removed or taken away because hearts are set on a greater reward than the present age. The choice of Ezekiel, Paul and Jesus to act in the power of the Holy Spirit allow strength to be prophets of their times, despite others plans in their societies.
Now, Religious freedom does not mean freedom to do as we please, but rather, as God means for us to speak and act. It does not fit into our “individualistic society.” It accepts that the prophet will face the repercussions of living that freedom and the freedom of choice despite what this life offers. We fail in this even as we profess our faith.
Yes, a group will stand against one evil in society or another, but fail in protecting and lifting up of all aspects of life needing a moral compass. If we are pro-life, we must equally be protectors of immigrants and the oppressed; if concerned with social justice, we must also stand against bigotry and prejudice in every and all cases; if we are concerned with the environment, we must also be concerned for the disabled and handicapped; if standing against the degenerative push from the LGBTQ community we must also lift up the dignity of these and all individuals; if we say we are “one nation under God,” we cannot be governed by racism or nationality rejection as confronted by members of Asian and Latino communities.
Jesus teaches us “Let your ‘Yes’ mean yes and your ‘No’ mean no.” It’s not a pick a choose Gospel we adhere to. We must stand to live the Gospel of justice, peace and truth. And Jesus is the truth — as seen in how He responded to all people. This is what we are to proclaim and lead others to believe and live.
I grew up, as many who will read this did, singing “God Bless America” along with Kate Smith. It crossed religious persuasion and political affiliations. I no longer sing this song. It actually makes me sick, as it would have Ezekiel, Paul and Jesus. When we look at all the blessings — spiritually and temporal — we have received from our God — and how we as a society have misused or ignored them, we need instead to be on our knees asking for forgiveness.
How can we stand in the presence of God, beat our breasts, ask for forgiveness and then go outside and treat others with disdain because our minds have not changed and our hearts remain cold? The solemnity of ritual must be seen lived out in the holiness of life. And life can become holy only when we freely choose to live in oneness with Jesus Christ.
The infamous Canonsburg 4th of July parade just ended. It is a mile-and-a-half long giant block party, the second largest 4th of July parade in the country. It lasted two hours and 40 minutes. Chairs lined the streets for three days, saving places for the young and old. Five minutes after the parade not a chair was found along Pike Street. The people dispersed and went back to living their lives as they did beforehand. Within an hour the street crews had everything back to normal spotless as if nothing had ever happened. The parade was a break from the daily grind, but a failure to remember why we celebrate the day.
Can the same be said about our attending Mass and our departure afterwards? Or have we been strengthened to be prophets for this society? And, if so, what must we do to make the truth of the Gospel known? Are we properly and completely using our freedom to celebrate God and announce God’s goodness in a sinful society that rejects the truth and is deaf to one another?
Brothers and sisters, because Ezekiel freely chose to become the mouthpiece of God to the wayward Israelites, the leaders would be out to silence him. The same is true of Paul by those who chose to fight the Christian faith. And we know the end result of Jesus’ life on earth. His three years of ministry constantly brought about rejection and ultimate death — all because he sought to make known the truth, which stood against the leaders. The early Church in the United States did the same — but its persecution only brought strength. Can we see the pattern that follows from Ezekiel, Paul and Jesus.
Freedom carries with it a responsibility. Accepting the grace to live the prophetic ministry given us at Baptism, carries with it a responsibility. Coming to the Eucharist carries with it a responsibility to live the grace, the truth we receive, to be that presence of Christ to a world in need of a proper understanding of freedom and truth. Freedom of religion allows us to give witness to the truth of the Gospel — not a gospel of “make-me-feel good,” but one of lifting up, renewal, and respect for every person God has created.
Prophets are those freely accepting God’s call to announce freedom to live our faith, freedom from sinful ways, and freedom to live lives which move us and others to the freedom won for us in Jesus Christ — a call to eternal oneness rather than a temporary worldly happiness. It comes at a cost that few are ready to freely choose. God has given us the freedom to choose. It’s up to us.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME REFLECTION — 6-27-2021
Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24 2Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15 Mark 5:21-43
The Fraternity of Priests’ Mass and Prayers for discernment and healing, as always, was a work that only God could do. One could feel the power of the Holy Spirit moving in so many ways — expected and unexpected. I was really pleased to see so many young adults and teens in attendance. But the most surprising for me was the number of people — young and old — asking for prayers to break their struggles with anxiety that were being experienced. I figured some of this issue came with the age of the person; some came with life situations such as employment, etc.; and some is a from the Covid virus and the after affects of the pandemic. Of themselves, these issues can be overcome. Combined with a society that is constantly projecting false expectations and fulfillment goals on individuals — and has more and more moved from face-to-face social interaction to obscure social media isolation, these issues can be devastating.
Imagine the anxiety Jarius, the synagogue official, felt concerning his daughter, and of the woman struggling with a long-term illness which absolutely left her financially and mentally empty. Both found that the world was not going to remove their fears and anxieties let alone bring healing. The world did not give life to Jarius’ daughter, nor did it heal the woman who had spent every cent she had. Jesus became their last resort and faith was lived. Remember that word “lived.” The people who came to the Healing Mass, no matter what they were praying for, are the Jarius and woman of 2021. In many of these present situations Jesus was being recognized as their last resort. Nothing in the world had helped or led them to a peace within — nor a peace concerning their own identities as children living in the life of God.
I say it all the time, “Our goal as children of God is to understand and become the person God created. And since only God knows that person completely and perfectly, He is an absolute necessity if faith is to be “lived.” The world cannot offer this. The world offers lies, takes from the person (like the old woman), and diminishes the wholeness of every person, wanting them to become generic individuals. Faith “lived” is our turning to our Lord constantly in an admittance of our limitations and those of the world.
We look at the reading from the Book of Wisdom as it gives understanding to each of God’s creations, especially the human person fashioned in God’s own nature. There is a spiritual dimension of each person that society doesn’t want to acknowledge. If it did, society would have to change drastically. And we know that is not going to happen since there are individuals who want to have control over the masses. We can see this when dealing in how insurance companies controll what the medical field can and cannot do. We see this as big businesses use any excuse available for reason to send costs of necessities skyrocketing — even when the problems are fabricated lies or cover ups for their own mistakes. These are just a couple examples of societal struggles.
St. Paul is speaking of our example — Jesus Christ — the one the synagogue official and woman came to for healing and renewal. They went against the cultural expectations of their day. Their coming to Jesus was faith “lived,” even if only minimally at the time. It would grow in the healings that would follow. Christ stands in sharp contrast with how society expects others to live. Faith was “lived” in their movements to the Lord as it is in our coming to our Lord to find awareness of the person created by God — the one we are coming to understand and accept as we continue to follow His example of living in the power of God.
When power left Jesus to heal the woman, he knew who, what, where, how and why. The disciples couldn’t understand this as the mob around them was like society pushing in on people today. After Pentecost the disciples would experienced the action of God’s power again and again. It happens today when we allow the Spirit to be the power in our lives and to take control of how we wish to live in God’s oneness with us. While many may be surprised by feeling God’s power coming to them during a Healing Mass, the priests anticipate and expect it. This is why the Fraternity tries to make the Church — all its members — aware of the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, enabling each member to move to a “lived” experience of God.
Anxiety is not going to be overcome in a person’s life without an awareness of the spiritual life God has created in them. Nothing in the world can stand in comparison. But this is true of every inner human condition where the mind can so easily be persuaded by the “envy of the devil.” Nor will these emotional difficulties be eradicated without the Church exhibiting a “lived” faith and is ready to offer others an invitation to meet Jesus in a new way! We are to be the invitation to the wholeness of life in and with Christ. But if the “culture of death,” as Pope Saint John Paul II called it, is permeating the members of the Church with a spirit of oppression and neglect; a spirit of abuse, ignorance and indifference; a spirit of selfishness and individual concern, then hope will not be experienced, seen, of felt. The same anxiety of emptiness will continue.
Those claiming Jesus Christ as their own must always examine themselves to see if they are moving to become the person created by God. This includes our willingness to do as St. Paul says — see others with the same dignity we seek for ourselves and, more so, the dignity God has given each person — beginning with ‘the other.’ We cannot be carrying a mentality synonymous with that of the people creating the din in Jarius’ house. Unlike in the world, we need to find the trust that motivated the suffering woman and the faith of the synagogue official — and then “live it.” I’m sorry to say it, but many people, believers, look for God in all the wrong ways, therefore keeping God at a distance, fearing Him, making Him what He is not, offering what He doesn’t want, and offering others these fallacies.
You see, God is love and wishes to have an intimate relationship with each of us. He wants the heart where an awareness of His image and likeness are found first and foremost. The sharing of His divine life through Jesus Christ should cause us to move in a “lived” experience of the divine. The woman said to herself, “if only I can touch his clothes I shall be cured.” What faith! There is no fear just as there was none in Jarius (who obviously became a believer in the early Church).
We’re told that the woman only became fearful when she had to go face-to-face with Jesus — and the whole mob present, and she would have to share her whole story with everyone hearing it. She overcame that fear and became, by her “lived” faith, an evangelist. Yesterday as I was present for the ordination of Fr. Joe Uzar, I was taken back 39 years ago when I was ordained. The Church was different then. I could only imagine what this newly ordained man was thinking of seeing the Church now and in the future. He was to be an evangelist in a whole new experience. I admire his conviction that God was calling him to this ministry and unique opportunity to be the light of Christ in a most demanding and rewarding way.
Brothers and sisters, the Church needs to stand as a beacon of hope for this purpose — to remove the created anxieties not meant to exist by our Lord or the emotional weaknesses that cause so much other damage in ourselves and others. We have to get the word out that God wants only good for us, if only we make our faith a “lived” reality for others to witness. Those in society need to know that the Church is a harbor of hope and fulfillment, and not a bastion of fear and anxiety, for each and every person — according to God’s wishes. Unlike in the Gospel, we are told to overcome our own fears and anxieties in order to make known God’s goodness — in all the ways it comes to us.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom Galvin
TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — JUNE 20, 2021
Job 38:1, 8-11; 2Corinthians 5:14-17; Mark 4:35-41
Looking at today’s Gospel, we need to understand that the disciples (according to Mark’s Gospel) have witnessed the cure of a demoniac; the cure of Peter’s mother-in-law along with other healings in Capernaum; a cleansing of a leper; the healing of a paralytic; the exposure of the misinterpretation and understanding of the Pharisees; a cure of a withered hand; seen many more healed of all types of diseases; witness Jesus going toe-to-toe with Scribes; and heard many teachings. Jesus had done a lot in showing His divinity. No wonder He allowed the former fishermen to tend to the boat. His humanity was shown as He fell asleep in the back of the boat on a cushion. It’s surprising that the fishermen-turned-disciples hadn’t recognized the incoming storm. Maybe they were former meteorologists who failed the tests for local television prognosis.
Let’s cut to the chase. The storm — described as a violent squall, meaning high winds with rain, lightning and more — battered the boat with strong waves, high peaks capable of flooding the craft. And the disciples woke Jesus and said to Him (it should almost be read “cried out hysterically”) “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” They are us when we are battered by life situations — personal and societal. That’s usually when we call out to the Lord. It’s most often in the worst storms of our lives — real storms — like the storm the disciples faced in the Gospel today — as well as the storms that may well disrupt the way we live, the way we expect things to be — concerning finances, health, family issues, the Church, etc.
The question confronting us is whether or not we choose to allow ourselves to hear God in the middle of the storm, or, are we so set on our own expectations of what God should be doing that we have shut down our hearts, thereby limiting our faith? Can we reflect on the many times Jesus has been present in our lives or are these times forgotten due to the immediate situation in which we may find ourselves? Have the turmoils of our personal lives caused us to wane in faith? Has what we perceived as the lack of immediate action from God caused us to question God, or even get mad at Him?
How many times have the struggles of life been like waves crashing against our boat and we didn’t call out in faith? The same is true concerning problems faced in society today.
When I think of 9/11, I remember the churches suddenly being filled, and almost as quickly finding them back to “normal” attendance. Reflecting on 15 months ago when all churches were suddenly shut down, was the Lord heard in the silence of hearts saying “I am here with you?” Many went running to “find Jesus” everywhere and anywhere, forgetting about the temple of their own person and the God who resides within. So in many lives the answer was a resounding “No.” The fullness of God’s presence was lost and faith resembled the faith of the disciples in the boat — fearful instead of secure. And many non-believers then asked “Where is your god?” as did the friends of Job.
Well my sisters and brothers, the Church has always been compared to a boat or ship. There’s no reason we shouldn’t see the boat as the Church in this story with the Church’s first-to-be-members having to weather the storm. Look at the Church today — a boat being tossed about by waves caused by a society growing further and further away from calling out to the Lord for help. We live in an ever-increasing, turbulent, anti-Christian, anti-Catholic, anti-God world. The waters are being stirred by more and more individuals or groups of individuals wanting to write their own rules of life — how they expect everyone to live and what to believe. Immoral choices concerning individual lifestyles that are completely contrary to the teaches and commandments of God; government breakdowns of religious freedom; and lack of protection of the constitution are daily challenges to life as it was created by God — and our living in the very life of God.
Society is quickly becoming a people that has no concept of sin, evidenced by its lack of belief or faith in God and/or of its modifying the proper understanding of God, describing Him as they wish to create Him, sometimes at best, to be a forgetful God or one who overlooks the evil man wishes to live in. There is no spiritual heart, mind or soul to be feared. Sodom and Gomorrah is today.
Brothers and sisters, faith moves us from fearing the world and all its ill-advised ways of living. Truth stops us from misinterpreting the value and purpose of life — seeing love spelled, as it were, with a capital ‘L’ rather than a lower case ‘l’. We remember that Love in its truest form comes from God who is Love. Faith helps us so that fear is found only in our being separated from God. At the same time faith lessens or removes our fear of man — our fear of being ignored, shunned, marginalized by others in society who demand their way above all else. It moves us to not hold to friends of the world, but to our truest friend, Jesus. And it moves us in proclamation of what we believe.
The Lord says to us, “I have conquered the one who causes the storms in life. Our Lord looks from His throne and invites those of us in the boat to have the conviction of faith that He will show His power, that He will share this power for us to speak, to proclaim, to live in truth. Think about it. Mary Magdalene was moved from being possessed to being the first disciple to announce the resurrection; within three days (in John’s Gospel) the disciples went from fear and doubt, being locked in a room, to unbridled proclamation; in a matter of minutes Thomas’ faith went from doubt to proclamation; in the moment of Pentecost Peter and the Apostles moved from lacking faith to proclamation.
These same disciples had cried out to Jesus out of fear. But there had to have been a hope also in their cries, having seen the power of Jesus prior to this event and the turbulent sea. And what is the goal of hope? It is already in the boat — the kingdom, the presence of God in Jesus Christ. In our own lives Jesus is in the boat as the waters pound against the Church. His kingdom continues today to stand against the sins of sexual abuse as well as sins against the dignity of the body. There are more than sufficient teachings found in Scripture concerning the immoral behavior of people. We have the truth! Yet in the Church, its members are part of the many who denounce Scripture as out of sync with the times. They want to devalue the message of hope and of life. His kingdom stands against the Pharisees and Scribes of today, as they did in the time of Christ, whose pietistic observances overshadowed the need to live in the Love that is God. His Kingdom stands against the very hypocrisy found in the Body — against fair weather believers when all is well.
Poor, faithful Job. Despite losing his family, home, livestock — everything, he remained faithful to God. But as he was badgered by three friends, Job did what a righteous Jewish person in a covenantal relationship with God would do since it was his right to do so. He defended his righteousness. Job does not accuse God of negligence, in a lack of ability, or of having a deaf ear. He asks for an understanding. Now notice the phrase from 38:1 — the first line — “out of the storm.” It shouldn’t surprise us that the Lord spoke to Job from out of a storm — a storm Job was experiencing at the time. God does this all the time to us, even though we are upset or even irate with God for acting on His timetable. Read the rest of the Book of Job. God quiets the heart of Job and rewards Him ten times over for his faithfulness.
Notice how the disciples in the boat became fearful when Jesus settled the storm. It is a reminder for us. Silence can bring fear of the unknown into our lives, hearts and minds — to the point that we may again desire the turmoil of the noisy storm. And faith can then be lost as we become comfortable where we are. Spiritual storms move us one way or another — to greater or lesser faith — to action or lethargic states — to hope or despair.
I was on the Priest, Deacon and Seminarian Retreat at Franciscan University (Steubenville) this past week. I knew the Lord wanted to talk to me there. He didn’t wait to smack me with His “Sacred Sledgehammer.” The Lord laid His plan out for me Monday night as the retreat began. “You must overcome some fear that you’re holding to. To give it over is essential for your participation in what happens this week — and beyond.” The gifts of prophecy and of knowing hearts is difficult to accept and live. My introvert side tends to limit what I say or should say to priests and laity alike, even when I know the Lord is hitting me upside the head. So, with the Holy Spirit directing everything, I allowed God to take me to whomever He wanted me to go and to say whatever His word was to one person after another. It happened all week. I’m not bragging. I was shocked as while praying over brother priests issues they were dealing with were addressed. God validated all of it. The storms were calmed.
God will validate our actions of moving hearts and minds to Jesus rather than our own expectations. He will bring comfort to us even as we face storms when our faith fully exposes us to His call to make known the kingdom of truth. Fear is not part of a Christian’s life.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — June 13, 2021
Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34
“This is how it is with the kingdom of God.”
Folks, it’s not about us but completely about God. So as that wise priest, who taught us about parables while in the seminary, said, “Always put yourself in the role of the lowest person.” Well, the lowest person in these parables is a simple, little seed. Of itself it can do absolutely nothing. Only when planted can something happen. Only when it accepts what is given it, can it become what it is meant to be. So immediately we need to remember that we cannot become something we are not meant to be and that we are completely reliant on God for our becoming who we were created to be.
That said, as shown in these parables, the seed is not about itself — ever. It doesn’t produce fruit for itself, the tree doesn’t grow to provide shade for itself. No, the fruit is meant for another of God’s creations as is the shade which the tree provides for other creations of God. It’s never about itself other than doing what it was created to do, which is how we will have to respond when we stand before the throne of Christ as St. Paul says. Ouch! That may well sting the ego.
Now, if you wish to see ourselves as the farmer, be prepared to work. The soil must be prepared in the fall and in the spring before planting ever takes place; weeds need kept down or eliminated as best as possible; water must get into the soil. And when all is said and done, it’s not the farmer who determines if a seed produces what is expected. I’ve learned this working with a family farmer for many years. There are points throughout this process when control must be totally given over to the seed accepting what is needed to produce the fruit or become the shade tree. The same can be said of people acting in the same way — accepting or rejecting grace needed for physical, social, emotional and spiritual growth.
Equating these parables to a spiritual understanding, the kingdom of God is based completely on the love of God. As individual units, we are planted in good soil, nurtured and feed, and allowed to grow in the love of God through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. It depends completely on what we come to take in or reject. Remaining in this love of God, we become like my farmer friend who must place his trust in the Lord. We know we are good seed since God makes nothing bad. So now we must choose — not just as to whether we will grow, but either to choose or not choose to bear the fruit we are to bring forth for the building of the kingdom of God — again, not for ourselves.
God planted the seed of His life in us through the gift of Baptism, reminding us of His giving of life through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. It is His life that feeds and nourishes. It is His life that strengthens through the grace sent through the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Why did we just celebrate Pentecost, Trinity Sunday and the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ? These are meant to bring a greater awareness of our participation in the very life of God.
There were two readings from Mass this past week that everyone should read — and hear again and again. They come from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (3:4-11 and 3:15-4:1, 3-6). St. Paul, who studied the Torah and knew the Jewish laws well, is scrutinizing those who live by the law of Moses, thereby living in a veiled life that Satan would want them to do. Those who live in unveiled lives, says St. Paul, live in love and they come to see and share in the glory of God and in the fullness of His giving for others. Those with veiled faces do not see clearly the God of love and therefore act as Satan, their god, in a ministry of death, a veiled existence created by doubt, confusion and self — as Satan would want. St. Paul says that by living in and being guided by the Spirit, believers come to know the freedom of God, a freedom that only knows love and acts accordingly since ”God is love.” Please read them. They speak of the difference between the true believer and the Pharisee.
Now that farmer friend of mine produces enough to sustain his family, continue the business next year, and provide a large portion to the needy, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and many other non-profits. An abundance of profit this year is not going to change how he must repeat the same process next year and the year after. We are reminded that God’s love is constantly creating anew. The action of Him giving of Himself and His love never ends. Therefore, we can forget about changing God to who we want Him to be. So if we see ourselves as the farmer, be prepared to share love and an invitation to love again and again and again. The work of evangelization never ends. If your love is not God’s love, it will be rejected, and your feeding others through true evangelization will also be nullified. So don’t try creating something that is not of God — just share it.
In the same way, if you see yourself planted in the faith God has for you, don’t try changing God’s plan for you. Rejecting the grace to grow as He deigns doesn’t produce fruit. Fashioning your faith on a one-on-one relationship with God is critical. It should lead you to the full person God created. If it is for you alone, however, it may produce a plant without a purpose. As St. Paul says today, “We aspire to please him whether we are at home or away...” To please God is to become and do what we were created to do. Our worship of God must produce fruit so all people feed off of it. It cannot be selective nor attempt to direct the faith of others in one way or another. You may be stopping the revelation of the Holy Spirit and His fruits in the lives of others.. And there is no discrimination in the love of God. As we’re told by the Prophet Ezekiel, the majestic cedar, Jesus, was planted for all.
The ultimate fruits of the Holy Spirit will come alive in and through us as we allow no personal ambition to interfere, just a unity with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our sharing in the Body of Christ will enable us to recognize the needs of others. Love, peace, joy, hope, and faithfulness will be rooted in God and not of the world.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
THE FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST — JUNE 6, 2021
Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. And it does so in two ways, the first being in sacramental form in the Eucharist, the real presence of Christ given to us under the form of bread and wine. This is of great importance since so many who call themselves Christian fail to see how Scripture points us to the ultimate sharing of this mystery where the power of the Holy Spirit is called upon and acts in accordance with the Father’s will.
Jesus tells the believer, as we hear in John 6:52-57, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you...Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him…” Now connect this with Mark 14:22-26 heard in today’s Gospel. “Take it; this is my body...This is the blood of the covenant…” This Last Supper action and directive, joined to Christ’s crucifixion is the giving of love in an absolute form which continues to this day. The Mass is not something new each time the faithful gather together. It is ongoing from the Upper Room and Calvary.
Now, this life we have, as we believe and share, in Christ’s life is to become the other part of our understanding of the Body and Blood of Christ. It is the Church, the Sacrament of Christ’s presence in the world today. That’s why the Church is called the Body of Christ. That’s why it shares in the very act of love given at the Last Supper and on the cross. “Do this in memory of me,”(Lk 22:19) is not simply remembering a meal as many would want. The actions of Jesus in the Last Supper and on the Cross — as with any words and actions of Jesus Christ, are eternal happenings, never losing their power or purpose. They are, as they were then, the giving of love to heal, restore, buildup the Body of Christ.
Through Baptism we become the very Sacrament of Christ, receiving the grace — the life and love of God — meant to be shared in the world. We, in, with and through Christ, are to be the manifestation of Christ in the world for all people. As St. Augustine said concerning reception of the Eucharist, “We become what we receive and we receive what we already are.” At every moment of life we have the ability, through the Spirit of God working in and through us, to be sacrament in the world for others. This requires that we see Christ in one another, even when they do not. It requires that we respond as Christ to the needs of the Body, wishing it to be made new and whole; strengthening it for living the life Jesus said we would have in Him now and in eternity.
Brothers and sisters, it is hard to be Christ in the world. I’ll repeat that. It is hard to be Christ in the world. We don’t like being seen as different, of not being liked, of being rejected or shunned. It hurts, if in no other way, our human egos. These issues are about worldliness, not divine sharing. The marks of Christ came out of love for us. We are called to wear the marks of Christ in our own lives. Unfortunately, this is not seen by faithful and unfaithful alike, so don’t pat yourself on the back just yet. Too many have false expectations of people, others, all established by their own ideals of how the Church, the Body of Christ is to be seen or how it is to respond to others. In reality, the Church is not pristine, elevated, and can never be seen as sanctimonious. All this is Pharisaical, exactly what Jesus tood against while on earth.
To joyfully celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is to get down and get dirty; to put life on the line; to free ourselves of “what was” so the Spirit of God can direct us in love. If anything, “what was” has taught us that our concerns and expectations of how to display our faith and what parish life should be were too much focused on worldly understanding and not sufficiently enough on the Body of Christ being poured out for all — from the time of Calvary to the present day. In our humanness, we want to pick the scab from the body. Unfortunately, it may well leave a lasting mark. Spiritually, many in their want to have the Body of Christ seen in its glory want to pick the scabs — those person being healed and needing healed — from it. This only leaves a mark. “Love is patient; love is kind…” It sometimes takes months or years for love to bring about a change of heart.
As the Body of Christ feeding, and being nourished by the Body of Christ, it is ours to offer with Christ our lives for the oneness He brought to us and reveals to us as He takes us to the Father, who in turn fills us with the Spirit He shares with the Son. This is Eucharist. This is for a purpose — that we may truly glorify God in what we do, what we say as members of the Body of Christ being led by the Spirit, the will of the Father. We reveal, as it were, the fullness of truth, of life and of love.
We are empowered when we come to the table of our Lord to receive that Sacrament which sustains our living in Christ — so that we may take the Banquet of life to the table of the world where truth, life and love need to be renewed and restored in the fullness of God’s plan. Our prayer then changes from “Lord, I am not worthy…” to “Lord, show me your ways, your will so I may be free of my own and live in communion with you.” We see that He has made us worthy, not with blood sprinkled on us, but in His call for us to share in His life completely.
Love and Prayers,
Fr. Tom
THE MOST HOLY TRINITY REFLECTION — 5-31-2021
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20
The minute I began praying and reflecting on this day — the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and the Scriptures, the word “Intimacy” came to me and stayed with me. I’m not going to lie, it didn’t make this reflection easy. And I could have done what others have done in the past — simply say, “It’s a mystery. Let us continue with Mass.” But we know that God does not wish to remain a mystery to us. If He had, Jesus would not have come to reveal the God’s fullness, and the Holy Spirit would not have come to open our minds.
But you see as humans “intimacy” most often has a connotation of a physical sharing and oneness. And that’s good if we see that in a husband and wife growing in intimacy with one another. It moves them into a greater oneness as the Sacrament provides the grace to do. But what about a couple, a man and woman coming to know each other — called to do so in an intimate relationship without a physical sharing? Or how friendships are develop without or beyond the physical attraction and activity? Or of a married couple incapable of physical relationships because of illness or age? Do you get my drift and where I’m heading? So we need to clear our heads so we can come to understand that intimacy can at different levels in different ways.
That said, if we look at the Most Holy Trinity, can we see an intimacy so great that it reveals the oneness of God in His fullness, void of a necessity to be in union with any created being or object? Yes, this can be since we believe that God is totally “other”. And yet it cannot be since God is love — and love requires a sharing and intimacy — a complete giving of self for the sake of another. So while there is an intimacy in God Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this intimacy must, if we understand God properly, become intimate in other ways. Otherwise God’s love would be self-gratifying, narcissistic, and therefore insular and destructive. So in the intimacy of the fullness of God, He chooses to love all mankind with the same love He has for Himself.
Enter God coming into human existence. God became man — Jesus Christ — so we may come to share in His intimacy. Offering Himself, today, He continues to make His love known through the intimacy shared in one Spirit — a Spirit that joins Father and Son — and now us. Is it possible for us to see how a complete union can exist with no division of God other than how He chooses to reveal Himself to us, each person (as our language allows us to say), and to call us into that same intimacy — One God — one action, one mind, one Being?
To think of the three Persons of God as separate entities in and of themselves is to destroy the intimacy of oneness which exists, and therefore, destroy God as we believe God is. The fullness of the Father is present in the Son, God revealed in a human form. The fullness of the Father and Son is present in the Holy Spirit, again revealed in a complete act of oneness and love. God is not parceled out and we need to keep that straight. Three distinct aspects of God we call “persons” are found with one mind, one will, one purpose. How do we come to understand — and then to live in — this intimacy of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
First we need to reflect that through Baptism Jesus takes us to the fullness of God. We see ourselves as full heirs of their intimacy as we more and more enter into the Father’s will — the intention of God for us to be in complete union with Him as He is with us. It means learning love in its most perfect form — complete giving in love. This is when we see and understand the life and giving of our Lord Jesus Christ. Baptized, we become heirs to all that Jesus possesses, coheirs of all that He shares with the Father and Holy Spirit. Stop and reflect just on those words. We share in His intimacy with the Father. This is something that we do not spend sufficient time on in prayer.
Secondly, we need to reflect on how Divine love — God — is revealed through the outpouring of the Father and Son in our lives so we may, by word and action, display an eternal intimacy with the fullness of God. All of this is beyond what we would consider human experience. And it is. It must become Divine experience lifting us beyond our humanness.
Now I’ve been told many times that priests don’t know anything about intimacy with another person. In a worldly mentality, to some degree they are right. Priests, as the old country western song said, sleep single in a double bed. They learn how to be intimate with others on a higher level than a worldly perspective. Coming to this is the hardest part of entering into the priesthood. A priest’s intimacy must begin with a oneness with Jesus Christ, becoming persona Christi, the presence of Christ, in all things and not merely when performing a ritual. Sacraments, for the priest, must be moments of extreme intimacy with the fullness of God — and therefore with every one of God’s children — lived in the sacraments as well as beyond the sacraments.
All of us must seek to grow in intimacy with God if we are to grasp the intimacy of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — the ultimate oneness. This only comes through prayer, self-sacrifice of human desires, humility, our free will, and knowing God in the heart. The Fruits of the Spirit as Divine gifts — joy, peace, hope, love, gentleness, generosity, self-control, patience and faithfulness — are indicators of our intimacy with our God and reveal a growing personal relationship with our Lord rather than a temporary satisfaction found in the world. They change our lives!
It is through God — taking us to the fullness of His life and the ongoing outpouring of His life that we can, as Scripture affirms again and again, call God our Father and know that, as we remain one in the Body of Christ, we possess all that is our Lord’s. But this intimacy also calls for us to see the fullness of God in one another. We are children of God in complete intimacy — when we allow this to happen in our hearts and minds. St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans: “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons [and daughters] of God.” If intimacy is to happen in our hearts and lives, it must be shared as it is shared with us. But we have the promise of our Lord: “I am with you always.” Physically this is not so. Spiritually, it is completely.
As I elevate the Eucharist at the consecration, the intimacy of God with every person present (and beyond) is realized. But I wonder why at that moment people do not look with hope and faith at the very instance of intimacy God desires for each of us. For in the Eucharist we share in the fullness of God in the form of bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We see the fullness of God each acting in unison for one purpose — sharing intimacy with us.
It is Divine love happening — one action of one God revealed to us in many ways — through the Father’s love for us — the Son’s giving freely for us — the Spirit’s power coming upon us — and our joining as sons and daughters to His eternal life shared intimately with one another. It is perfect intimacy revealed and offered — shared so we can do the same. In this we come to experience God in His fullness. Our understanding of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit grows and the mystery of God lessens.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST — MAY 23, 2021
Well, we know what happened at Pentecost. And we know what happened after that moment on the day of Pentecost. All we have to do is read the first few chapters of the Acts of the Apostles to know those who had received this powerful gift of a share in divine life immediately acted upon it; and then how the Early Church came to function and share this powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. So we’re not going to have a history lesson concerning the reception of the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised.
We also know that the Holy Spirit was given to the Church for all believers, and that it came to them through the gift of the Sacrament of Baptism — you know — when the life of Christ lifted them up to possess His divine sharing as intended by the Father. And we’re all aware that the Spirit of God acted in all believers through the various gifts of the Holy Spirit for the building up of the Church. We know this from the Letters of St. Paul, St. Peter, St. James, and the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews. We don’t need a history lesson. We simply need to again read the Acts of the Apostles, particularly the first four or five chapters, as well as the New Testament Letters.
Now we need to stop and seriously reflect on the Church then and the Church now. There is a major difference. As I’ve said for a long time, I consider the Holy Spirit, which animated the Church in its early years, as the Missing Person of the Trinity in our time. He is treated as “something” which happened in history. I’m afraid this has come about for a number of reasons, the biggest reason being that we have ritualized the Holy Spirit and left it in the ritual of the Church. In the Early Church the action of the Holy Spirit was directly connected to the Baptism received. This is not done today as the new life we receive at Baptism has more of a focus on the removal of original sin. “Okay, the baby’s safe if something should happen to him or her.” The life given, of the fullness of God, is not given much thought — if any. So why should the Spirit be sought, despite the fact that He is the one who will animate the believer in the future?
We view the Sacrament of Confirmation as erroneously as Baptism — a ritual of a happening and not the empowering by the gifts that see me growing in my wisdom of God as He is; my knowledge of the person God made and calls into fullness with Himself; and the understanding of how I am now empowered to act in the fullness of the Father’s will as was Jesus. No. It’s an event not a revelation. It is a moment of taking control instead of giving the Spirit more control in a person’s life.
The Holy Spirit is MIA — missing in action in the Church, among the vast majority if not all of it’s members, and therefore in its ministry to make known the love and life of our God through Jesus Christ, who took us with Him to the Father at the Ascension. The Spirit’s absence is perpetuated from generation to generation as the Church has failed to go into the world as did those in the Upper Room following the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them. Remember, we’re told that there were devote Jews outside who heard the noise of the Spirit’s arrival and then heard the disciples speaking — as if the Spirit thrust them from the self-imposed enclosure into the world. About 3,000 people were baptized in water and the Holy Spirit that day.
In contrast, admittedly, the Church today has been found leaving the Spirit in the enclosure, in the ritual. Seen readily is the lack of believers becoming Eucharist in the world in every aspect of life. The Spirit, who brings Christ’s life to the elements of bread and wine, is the same Spirit who brings life to us at Baptism and who strengthens it in our reception of the Body and Blood of Christ who said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you do not have life within you...Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood remain in me and I in him…” (Jn 6:53ff) The result of entering into a ritual is to be our taking on of the action of the One whose life becomes alive and present through the ritual — an inner action seen in an outward sign.
When we consider how the lives of the Apostles, disciples and early believers of the Church changed through the power and gifts given by the Spirit, we can see that fear was not a factor any longer. Yet so often we live in fear of rejection and in fear of how we may be changed when accepting the action of the Holy Spirit, the will of the Father, in our lives. It’s as if we lock ourselves in the Upper Room once again. Read the instructions given by a bishop, or in our current situation by the pastor, during the Rite of Confirmation.
In our day the coming of the Holy Spirit in confirmation is no longer marked by the gift of tongues, but we know his coming by faith. He fills our hearts with the love of God, brings us together in one faith but in different vocations, and works within us to make the Church one and holy.
The gift of the Holy Spirit which you are to receive will be a spiritual sign and seal to make you more like Christ and more perfect members of his Church. At his baptism by John, Christ himself was anointed by the Spirit and sent out on his public ministry to set the world on fire.
You have already been baptized into Christ and now you will receive the power of his Spirit and the sign of the cross on your forehead. You must be witnesses before all the world to his suffering, death, and resurrection; your way of life should at all times reflect the goodness of Christ. Christ gives varied gifts to his Church, and the Spirit distributes them among the members of Christ’s body to build up the holy people of God in unity and love. Be active members of the Church, alive in Jesus Christ. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit give your lives completely in the service of all, as did Christ, who came not to be served but to serve.
We know that the Early Church had but one sacrament (not called that at the time) — Baptism, with one ritual — the laying on of hands while calling down the Holy Spirit. They were one action. In our time, with infant baptism, we realize that as we mature we grow into the activity of the Spirit in our lives. The Church’s responsibility is to continue to make those to be confirmed aware of the activity, gifts and power of the Holy Spirit in their own lives; to encourage participation; to demonstrate our own courage in living in the Spirit rather than fearing the world or leaving faith in a ritual. It is also our responsibility to make known the very reality that it is God’s will that we enter into — His sharing, despite our weaknesses and failures. He makes us worthy by lifting us from our humanness to a share in divinity. This is affirmed when we consider the Fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) when human emotions and living are seen from a divine perspective and sought with a divine initiative.
Pentecost needs to be realized every day! It is, as it became for the Apostles and Early Church, a way of life. This is not in some abstract understanding but a realization of the Spirit of God breathing divine life within us at all times; of Baptismal waters washing over us, giving us newness of the life of Christ again and again; of fire burning within that we need to make known and share so we are no longer smoldering logs on a fire but flames that give life and light to the world.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER — MAY 16, 2021
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1John 4:7-10; John 15:9-17
In seminary I was assigned to a state hospital. Most residents were nor fully cognizant of what was going on around them. This varied according to time of day, medications, and their health issues. It was not out of the ordinary for one or another to blurt out whatever was on their mind at a any given time. It was good training for my role as a chaplain for skilled care nursing facilities now. Pre-pandemic I would take seminarians with me for Mass at these facilities. They experienced people speaking out whenever, and people falling asleep during Mass, which they’re allowed to do since they’re 90 and just finished lunch. And the seminarians would wonder if the people were aware that Mass was going on at that time. Well, they learned quickly. When it came time for communion they were all wide awake and focused — and the seminarians stood in disbelief.
These young men forgot about the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of God, which brought these people to Mass. They forgot about God’s wanting all people to know His love and presence. They learned that the Holy Spirit is far greater than what we can ever imagine.
As we hear in the Acts of the Apostles today the Holy Spirit acted even as Peter spoke, not afterwards and not once the people were baptized. The Spirit was leading them to baptism, to the love of God, to an awakening of His life within them, God’s desire. He moved through them as revealed through their “speaking in tongues and glorifying God.” Only afterwards were they baptized. That’s really what we experience as we watch adults come to faith when baptism had not previously been received. The Spirit fills the heart and mind with a desire that words cannot express, so the Spirit speaks on our behalf. Peter’s words inflamed the love of God in the people he spoke to in that instance.
Brothers and sisters, when we live in the Spirit and allow the Spirit of God to be made known through the words we speak and the love we show, the same results can happen. We become like Peter, a mouthpiece offering love that is not of our making but rooted in the source of all love. Those “far-away” persons that we hear spoken of in Cursillo — whether baptized or not who have left God out to dry — respond in a new way. The words of St. John’s First Letter come alive for us and through us as what we say and do happens through a simple love of another — with no stipulations and no expectations. Ours is to make known the love of God, plain and simple. Period! Done! If I ever judged the people attending Mass in those nursing homes by standards often imposed on people in church, by people who think they are the Church, they’d never receive the love of God.
Jesus’ words call us to examine our words, actions and expectations concerning our role in the movement and activity of the Spirit as it is to be found and awakened in the lives of others. We must remain in His love — and there are no qualifications, only our complete giving over for the sake of the persons God has placed in our lives. That “far-away” person may not be that far removed from knowing God and may have a desire to return to the Lord, feeling the Spirit’s stirrings coming from within the heart. If we place any qualifications or our own expectations on the love God wishes for us to reveal, we may create a barricade. So we must measure our words. We must let God control our actions. We’re not called to give someone something that God has not already given them. We’re called to awaken anew that which has been received through the life of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
It sounds simple, but it’s not. Our humanness creates a picture for ourselves and each person of how they should respond in contrast to how they are called to respond by the life of the Spirit. If Peter had denied the presence of the Holy Spirit coming upon the people who were listening to him, he would have become a stumbling block to them and the faith they were being called to live. If he had said that baptism was required before they could awaken to the Holy Spirit within, his efforts would have produced nothing. The Spirit is the manifestation in the world today of God’s love. It moves us in faith to change hearts and minds. It is freeing rather than restrictive. It is giving-over on our part for the sake of others, emulating the very giving of God the Father who gave over His Son, and who in turn has given us His love and life shared with the Father. It is the Person we call the Holy Spirit.
None of this makes any sense if we do not first accept the reality that God loves us. Any qualifier placed on this is a hindrance to love and our words will not produce the Holy Spirit for others to see. This past Friday we heard this as the Early Church struggled with ancient Jewish traditions and the opening of the Gospel to the Gentile communities. Was the act of circumcision necessary or not? Earlier in the week we heard how they had to question whether their dietary habits were valid in light of the Gospel or not. They realized that they had nothing to do whatsoever with the love of God and the Spirit happening within them. Their former actions were obstacles to grace being manifested.
Now, what of our own acceptance and openness to the Holy Spirit? How about the many gifts given by the Holy Spirit we have heard of — as examples, in St. Paul’s Letters (1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12; Ephesians 4)? Has proper discernment of the gifts of the Spirit been given so that they are properly lived? Or are they thought an impossibility and therefore ignored? They may cut against the grain of what a person believes he or she is capable of. But again, we are talking about what the love of God can do. If these are not recognized as given at particular times of our lives, we may miss bringing others to the true understanding and depth of the Fruits of the Spirit, as heard in Galatians 5.
So who did God put in your life yesterday that you did not love? I’m not talking about saying anything. Did you pray for them? Did you honor them as God does? Did you even silently ask for an awakening of the Holy Spirit in your life or that of the person standing in the checkout line or at the gas pump, or in the car next to you at the red light? Did you allow the Holy Spirit to open you to glorifying God at any of these moments? We need to see things differently if we are to change our mentality concerning oneness with Jesus Christ, and ultimately our heavenly Father.
And when was the last time you remembered that it was the Holy Spirit who moved you to God — and not your own efforts — always mindful that God loved us first, and then calls us to do the same for others.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
4th SUNDAY OF EASTER — APRIL 25, 2021
Acts 4:8-12; 1 John 3:1-2; John 10:11-18
As I meet people in the hospital, I continuously am confronted with rejection of sacramental life. It is by individuals who have left the practice of the faith and the Church while blaming reorganization, the blown-out-of-proportion and untruths concerning the sexual scandal, the erroneous promulgation of the views of former or non-practicing “Catholics,” by non-Catholics, by the pandemic which has created a “couch” religion and mentality, and by a society which has created a moral standard concerning its own definition of truth — meaning there is none at all if we do a closer examination. We live in a society that sees no reason for God.
Individuals have redefined “person” by an ever-changing standard that has no foundation. Hence, for the various reasons mentioned above, and others, the flock has been scattered. The teachings of Jesus Christ have been abandoned for self-interests, ambitions, and goals that can change as fast as our weather in western Pennsylvania. These personal preferences are readily affected by outside influences rather than the recognition of the Lord’s voice and presence coming from within.
Each of us who have been baptized are children of God! We cannot escape this reality. It is total gift from God. We believe that He does not take away what He has given. We may ignore His life, but we can't remove it. We are God’s children! As children, we are called to hear the Father’s voice as we would our earthly father, which is meant to strengthen our resolve to respond through Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh, the Word spoken.
When we consider what we’ve heard from St. John’s first Letter, it is ours to grasp the desire of God far more than simply being called children of God. That’s what I want to instill in the second graders making their First Communions today. As adults with lives rooted in Jesus Christ, we need to recognize that there is a maturity which needs accepted and developed. This can only happen when we see that we are called to be more than mere children. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are called into a oneness with the only Son of God, Jesus Christ, who takes us to oneness with the Father. The revelation is that “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as He is.” Translated, this means we will act in oneness with Jesus Christ as we hear his voice and respond in continuing His work in the world today — becoming His voice to a lost society.
Those who become one with our Lord also open themselves to be the voice of the Lord, calling others from worldly deprivation to new life and a fuller understanding of God’s gift of life and love. This is what Peter did following Pentecost, as we hear in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus Christ became the cornerstone to be built upon in faith for the Apostles, disciples and the Early Church. They realized that a “person” finds the depth of divine life awakening within themselves; that the fullness of “person” is not simply worldly. God’s plan for each of us — and others — is beyond our humanness.
Now Jesus was probably getting the Jewish leaders upset using the metaphor of a good shepherd and sheep. They knew the many warnings that came through the prophets concerning how shepherds were only shepherding for their own wants — and that they were not ready to give over themselves for the sake of the people. My brothers and sisters, if we are truly one with and in our Lord, we are going to ruffle some feathers when we speak the truth of the Gospel. The Apostles, disciples and Early Church faced this constantly. What we face in our announcement of God’s love and life in a world daily separating itself from a divine sharing will unlikely lead to our martyrdom. It may separate us from some, but we always need to evaluate the pros and cons.
As St. John say, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” A watered-down message of the Gospel will not move people to break from the worldly entrapments they encounter. Only a solid faith in the life (grace) we have come to share with our God will make a difference. Done with a sense of joy, a sense of hope of what may be, a faith that is rooted in the promise of Jesus Christ and entrusted to the power of the Holy Spirit — God acting in us, we become the voice of fulfillment that many find lacking in worldly offerings.
Our prayer to the Holy Spirit strengthens us to break down the parameters we have established concerning God’s desire for all people to come to salvation. “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.” A couple of years ago I wrote a paper for a diocesan evangelization effort. (It never got anywhere as that commission was disbanded shortly afterwards due to reorganization.) But it spoke of the struggles of the Early Church, of the early Church in the United States, and the many struggles confronted by those who spoke the truth, who became the voice of the Shepherd calling the sheep. If we know Church history, everything that we face, as mentioned above, and more, was faced as the Church grew. And it grew simply because people were not ashamed or afraid to provide proper teaching and correction when necessary — all done in a love that moved hearts and minds.
We — you and I — are not graced to bemoan a dwindling Church. We are called to build up the Body of Christ as our Lord desires. We are endowed as children of God to grow in maturity of faith and of life in union with God. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the voice of hope, the call to fuller life, with the ability to change worldly mentalities, leading one individual at a time to the person God created. Our invitation to see the foundation of love happening constantly in our sharing, and our willingness to place our lives on the line is critical. If not us, then who?
We know that we cannot return from this pandemic as the Church that “was.” The Church must be seen as a vibrant witness to the call of Jesus. This can only be done when we allow the Holy Spirit to act within us, move us to make as bold a proclamation as did Peter and John, the Early Church, and those who built the Church in this country. It won’t come without a struggle. So if you are looking for an easy way, stop considering it and go pray. Then pray some more so you can accept what the Lord leads you to do, to those individuals wanting to see themselves as “person.”. We can’t expect to be like Him if we choose not to be like Him now — when everything we desire for the future is already ours. Be joyful and make a joyful noise in the name of the Lord!
Love and prayers,
Fr. Tom
I am currently revising the booklet concerning the Early Church. I’ll let you know when it is completed.
Second Sunday of Easter — April 11, 2021
Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31
The First Letter of St. John is a Reader’s Digest version of the Fourth Gospel attributed to St. John. And what he does in this part of his letter is create a puzzle for the believer to finish. You have five pieces to fix in place to see the whole picture. —The first is belief in Jesus Christ — “The Begotten”;
— the second is love;
— the third is keeping the commandments which are not burdensome;
— the fourth is seeing ourselves also a “begotten”;
— and the final piece is in the Holy Spirit.
All of these are themes running through John’s Gospel.
Now this may seem strange, but some people try to believe in God and yet question the authenticity of Jesus Christ. There are some who quantify love according to worldly understanding. There are those who find commandments as “suggestions” rather than what is needed to enter absolute love. Failing to accept that we are called “begotten” simply means many have limited God’s love to affect them as it is meant to do, seeing the “self” as “unworthy.” And the final pitfall for many is not seeking an understanding of the Holy Spirit—God’s presence — active in their lives.
I run into all of these people when I make my rounds at the hospital . It’s a sad situation as some have given up on God, some feel unworthy, some limit the grace and life of God being extended to them. For some a conversion of heart and mind can take place in a few minutes. For others, such a change will never take place. I have my best chance with those who are in rehabilitation and will be stuck seeing me for a few weeks until insurance runs out.
Now, we’re given a glimpse of what happens when these “pieces” are fit into the lives of true believers. We’re told that the Early Church “Was of one heart and mind...and great favor was accorded them all.” These were believers in Jesus Christ, believers in a victory over the world — something quite different than what they found in their day-to-day lives. They are believers in the Holy Spirit received when baptized and when they heard the words Jesus’ followers heard in that Upper Room — “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
So when we look at that Gospel account we hear Jesus repeat words that He had spoken in that Upper Room — in what we call The Last Supper Discourse beginning in Chapter 14 when Jesus prays for peace in their hearts and minds. But now these words — Peace be with you — are filled with a commission, a new way of life. Peace be with you is meant for the gifts of courage and fortitude to be in them, knowing peace of heart and mind was necessary to fulfill the commandments and live in His love as begotten sons and daughters. They allowed the fullness of Jesus’ teachings to move them with confidence, needed to preach what others had not experienced. This confidence is found in removing their own thoughts from consideration and their allowing of the Holy Spirit to direct all that is said and done. What a gift they find as the commandments to love become joy and not a burden, a source of hope and fulfillment rather than emptiness.
As our world opens up more and more and people begin to get back to normal, if we think they will refocus on the God who is loving them, we better think again. These folks are the ones we need to confront in the love of God, in oneness with our Lord and Savior. We will need to carry with us the truth from the Holy Spirit — received at baptism, strengthened in our confirmation of faith — that we, and all the baptized are “begotten” sons and daughters in and through Jesus Christ, given the gifts to use in ministry which Jesus used in His own. Only when we do this will they will recognize Christ in us as they see His marks as our own as we take on the misdirection they may be living in the world.
As we pray for a greater awareness of the Holy Spirit within us, let us do so with the openness of the early community heard of in the Acts of the Apostles — being ready to share our lives in Jesus Christ as sons and daughters of the Father — begotten in His faithful love. All of this — the truth of Jesus’ presence alive — love — commandments that are not burdensome — our being begotten — and the Holy Spirit — come to us in our sharing of life in the Eucharist. Eucharist happens when we allow for a transformation in ourselves, and live its commissioning in proclaiming endlessly the victory of Jesus Christ as “begotten.”
Fr. Tom Galvin
[Folks, there may not be a reflection sent next week since I'm working a Cursillo Weekend Thursday through Sunday.]
EASTER SUNDAY — APRIL 4, 2021
A year ago minus one week — 51 weeks ago — we were all in lockdown. We were bemoaning not being able to celebrate Easter Mass and receive the Eucharist. We lived with this for a long period of time. We continue to live with certain restrictions. That’s okay as some more vulnerable individuals remain concerned and fearful in a society that sees infections numbers swing back and forth and pray for that very society for which they have no control over.
Here we are 359 days from an “Isolated Easter.” Some people have yet to celebrate Mass in church; some are coming for the first time on Easter; some will not come as churches have opened to 75% capacity. And some have become comfortable “watching Mass” on television when indeed they could share at church.
What the Church will look like in the future is questionable. The fear of the older population — our most faithful demographic — will lessen in time as the infection rate continues to drop. But what about the many who have come to feel comfortable in the “upper room” they have created — willfully choosing to believe faith and its many expressions are dead, or can remain shelved as they currently are? These people need a resurrection experience. But who will provide it? Who will tell the story of new life?
As I reflected on the readings on Good Friday, I was shown that our relationship with and in Jesus Christ allows us to bear the infirmities of others so that we are moved to the perfection in Christ and glorified by the Father — called to become, through Christ, the source of eternal salvation for all who will listen. In our lives as resurrected believers we are going to find people who act like the Jewish guards, who feared and hid their faces when Jesus said “I AM.” We are going to confront the Peters who stay in comfortable situations even in their denials. We are going to face Pilate, who recognized divine life in Jesus, in those who are silenced by the truth.
You realize that it is not so important that we have people return to “church”, but that they return to a Church that has changed, grown in a new way — to an Easter people celebrating resurrected life. But this can only happen if we have allowed ourselves a greater understanding of our Lord giving on the cross — each of us moving to be washed anew in water and blood — the giving of human and divine life. We must be new, seek newness in and through Christ, and proclaim this to others. If we haven’t been doing this during the past year, we likely will not do it now unless we have a drastic change of heart as did Peter. If we’re going to cower in a room and think we’re safe, Christ is going to appear when we are least expecting.
The past year has been a full year of Lent for many people. I wish I could show you the faces of the many in care facilities who have had lived a much greater Lent than we. But I also wish I could show you the faces of the many when I was able to be with them to provide ashes they sought on Ash Wednesday and was able to celebrate Mass with them a few weeks later. I celebrated Easter early with them. There was great joy. They shared with me and I with them. It didn’t matter when Mass began or when it ended (except perhaps to a few Activities Directors looking at the time). The sharing was so important to them. It stopped only so they could celebrate the Anointing of the Sick. And then their sharing resumed. The only sadness in their voices came as they expressed concerned for a society that hadn’t changed.
This sharing needs to be our Easter for every brother and sister who hasn’t been around; who wonders if he/she will return; or who may have given up on such thoughts, relying on their own sense of relationship with God and not concerned with a sacramental sharing of the Eucharist in the church and as the Church. And it needs to be every day. Imagine the result if everyone who read these words brought one person into a deeper relationship with the Lord and His Church.
What the Lord said most clearly while alone in our Adoration Chapel while reflecting on those readings is that our stories have to tell of where we were as well as where we are. Anything less is bragging about our success when the success is the Lord’s. Jesus’ death on the cross is the ushering in of the Kingdom of God “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of Heaven.” At his death, victory happens. Heaven is opened. The Father and Son are one. Now through His resurrection, we too are taken to the Father. Our story is how these wonders have made us new (through Baptism), enabled us to sing a new song, to proclaim love happening, and to speak of acceptance and joy in Jesus’ giving. Our stories will speak of Jesus’ giving in and through us, motivating us to herald a joyful proclamation.
We are called to be the Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus of today. Both gave over prestige, power and position at the cross. They gave over themselves completely. We too must do the same if we are going to invite people to the Church — not a Church that was, but a Church that is alive, vibrant and ready to share resurrected life in a joyful celebration of faith — experienced in the “Church”, the people of God, in joyful liturgy and active participation of building a people of God anew. It is taking Jesus into the streets without fear or trepidation; to lovingly offer another avenue for the restoration of God’s Kingdom in their own hearts.
All of this is because we share the very Eucharist that is Jesus, become that Eucharist, and offer that Eucharist to others. So we cannot remain bystanders to the Kingdom. We are participants. We must realize that, of ourselves we possess no power to do so. But through His victory we are made new and can sing an “Alleluia!” in and through our lives. We can speak of God’s faithfulness and love no matter where we live in this country.
No, we are not in an “Isolated Easter” as we were 359 days ago. We are not tombed up or locked away in an upper room. Really, we never have been through the past 51 weeks. We just often acted as if we were. No more!
Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!!
A Blessed Easter and Easter Season, and a year filled with joyful proclamation of God’s love for every person we meet.
Fr. Tom Galvin
PALM SUNUDAY, March 28, 2021
Mark 11:1-10; Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47
Now you are going to start (or have started) the Palm Sunday liturgy singing “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” It’s the same as what we sing during every Mass. We’re not going to do anything with this at this moment. But keep it in the back of your head.
The prophecy from Isaiah is the third of four such “Servant Prophecies” found in this book. The true servant recognizes that God has acted on behalf of the servant, and provides strength for what lies ahead. Confidence in this is a necessity if a servant is to fulfill the will of God. The servant has faith that God will be faithful in providing something greater. Now in Isaiah, Jesus is at the center of this prophecy as He is of all Old Testament prophecies.
St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians reminds Jews and Greeks alike of the humanness of Jesus. It was Jesus who “emptied himself” as would be expected of any servant. It wasn’t enough that He took on human form and weakness, but He did so to the point of death. [Reminder: It was not for himself.] He did this to serve the Father, and us. Humility is shown as an essential element of servitude.
The account of the Passion and death of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark is concise and to the point. The servant has come to the final act of life. Yes, it is giving over a desire for this life for the fulfillment of all that has been promised by our faithful God. Does it bring support from others? Well, when we look at Mark’s Gospel the only ones who remained faithful servants were a handful of women. Betrayal is found in Judas, Peter, the crowds and all the apostles. They were there when all sang “Hosanna,” and then they acted in their humanness.
Brothers and sisters, the “Hosanna” has to be sung in our lives — in what we say, and in what we do day-in and day-out. As we enter into Holy Week, we must examine our faith as it is placed on the line. We’ve all sung “Hosanna to the king!” Now we must choose to either follow and act as a faithful servant, or side-step our call to be servant in announcing the goodness of God’s gifts and His presence. Does the fulfillment of the prophet come alive in our lives or does it reveal the human frailty in which we exist? Far too often we are among the “betrayers” of Jesus, as we have the ability to act in the gifts from the Holy Spirit, but opt to do otherwise. Even our silence, when we are presented opportunities to speak of God’s life being shared with us, is a betrayal of the promise “not to be put to shame.” Joseph of Arimethea is an example of this silence in his life as was Nicodemus who we hear of in the Good Friday Gospel from St. John.
So, when we sing “Hosanna” will we be grouped among those who find human frailty a reason to back away when confronted by others? Are we ready to take any charges made against us from others for anything we say or do to fulfill God’s plans as a faithful servant and come to all that is promised?
Through baptism into Christ Jesus — His life, His passion and death, and His resurrection — the servant of today is called to become humble, taking on the weaknesses of faith that others may be living so to lift them to a new awakening of the love God has for us and them. There needs to be a giving over for something greater. When we live this life given through the “Suffering Servant” we live lives worthy of others singing “Hosanna” in reference to our acting in God as Jesus did.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” can refer to you and me. Those who live in Christ can never be counted among the betrayers, the ones who go back to living life as if nothing has happened — or is happening in our lives. Faithful followers will go to the cross if need be. Faithful servants will go to the cross if need be — again and again!
In every Mass we are called to offer ourselves with the gifts of bread and wine so that our lives may be transfigured into new life being shared, so we may become Eucharist in the world — not simply for our sake, but for the many others God places in our lives. Servitude is always for the “other.”
“Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!” That kingdom was a dream of a human kingdom. The kingdom Jesus was revealing, and has called us to reveal as well, is the eternal kingdom of God. That’s why we have been gifted to endure beyond the human struggles that bog so many down in the world. Faithful servants will reveal that a divine sharing is being offered to all people who dare to humble themselves to live in the divine life Jesus as brought to us. Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus changed their lives, gave over their positions and humbly lived in the Early Church, ready for whatever may be thrown at them. Peter and the Apostles found humility their strength as the power of God worked in and through them. The same can be true for us.
As the Suffering Servant gave of Himself for our sake — and does so today at the altar, so too are we — who come to the cross at the altar — called to offer ourselves, taking from the cross, the altar, the life to be humbly shared as promised by the One who calls us into Himself.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT — March 14, 2021
1 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21
GOD WORKS!
Period! Done!
We often forget that God is not a thing, an object. God is action. We’re told in Scripture that God is love and where there is love there is God. We fail to realize that God would stop being God if He stopped acting, stopped loving.
So for us to live in God, our action must be God’s action that we are fulfilling, not our own!
Getting back into the nursing homes has been great. Now many residents wished to “go to confession.” That was an impossible task. And the more important gift God wanted to give them was Himself, the presence of Christ renewing them and forgiving them through the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Anointing of the Sick. So I had to explain to them that general absolution would free them from all their sins and that this gift from God would be re-enforced through the reception of the Sacraments. I also knew that there would be two sins each would want to confess. One, missing Sunday Mass, was not a sin. The second was their getting upset with those in the world and how they were acting, which caused problems for those in the care facilities who were kept from seeing family members and friends.
But they were most thankful for me being present to celebrate the life of Christ with them. They were being restored. Their prayers were answered. They had been in exile not for anything they did, unlike the people of Israel who were in exile for the choices they made in life, rejecting God’s actions brought alive in the many covenants shared with them. They were, in a sense, exiled because of the lack of love lived out by others who were caught up with themselves and lacked the responsibility for others that love requires. The faithfulness of God was seen in my being with them to share sacramental life. For those exiled from Israel, theirs came when they were allowed to return to Jerusalem after their hearts and minds again reflected God’s (as we hear in 2 Chronicles).
St. Paul is speaking about the need of believers to allow God to do — with no interference, with complete acceptance, which the people of Israel did not do over and over again. He is saying that unless we move our hearts and minds, our desires, thinking and acting, into that of our Lord’s, we are not living in the Lord and in His gift of life and light. We are reminded that we are “Created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.” This is a big difference from our good works appeasing God and our works leading us to the light of Christ. Good works start with God whose love is ever happening — always active! St. Paul is saying that through Christ’s giving of self through His passion, death and resurrection we are already one with the Lord. It’s up to us to become aware of this oneness and then live it in love. God’s faithfulness and love sanitizes the soul!
In John’s Gospel, “believers” are not simply those who profess in their words. No, “believers” are those who enter into the very action of God. That’s what His covenants with His chosen people were always meant to do — reveal God working through the actions of believers. The people of Israel professed through words and rituals, but failed in living the action of God. Jesus is reminding Nicodemus that He is the light of the world, and the light is to change our behaviors, move us so that our actions correspond to our words: “But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” The sanitized soul acts in God’s faithfulness ever happening.
Our works are to be seen in God’s — not God in our works. Our works often just lead us to showing people how holy we think we are, when, indeed, we were made holy through Baptism, Christ’s death and resurrection. Absolute love being lived is far different than the love we may have fashioned in our lives. It is inclusive of every person as is God’s. Anything else is limiting in nature. It is fateful rather than faithful.
As the Church continues to move into living as the light — as being the light of Christ in the world, many changes are seen happening. Yet many people are putting the brakes on its living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They want the Church as it was when they grew up. They allow ritual to replace living faith as did those found in captivity. They fail to see that the offering of ourselves in these changes is to be joined to the offering of Christ on the cross. Jesus preached a change of heart and mind, to get away from what had been lived from the time the chosen people of Israel were exiled.
Those who formed the Early Church in Ephesus and other cities preached to by Paul and the Apostles were reminded that they were to reveal God’s actions in the world — His call to His heart. Remember, Nicodemus learned this and finally came to be with Joseph of Arimathea, taking Jesus from the cross. Nicodemus came to give over his old ways as he realized what God’s action, loving, was calling him to. Joseph of Arimathea, a secret believer, also came to live in the light at this time.
Those people in the Nursing Homes were exuberant that they could celebrate the sacraments again. They were also exuberant to be with one another again, renewing relationships, loving and caring for one another. None of them wanted to leave the room when all was done. And they didn’t want me to leave, but were extremely happy that I was going around to share the sacraments with those who could not be with us in that room. They were celebrating God’s acting on their behalf, and were ready to act in like manner.
Through these readings we are reminded of the faithfulness of God. His acting is done in love for us. His action is forever. His desire is for us to realize that we already live in His fullness. Until we come to that fact, seek that sanitizing gift of life, we continue to have a need to seek the light of Christ. You see, God’s desire is for us is as eternal as He is!
We are called to become His action calling others to a new way of life, caring for all people without exception or preference. It means seeing our faith as a living of God’s love.
The last weekend of Advent we discussed, “All I need for Christmas is: Peace.” While preparing my homily, I read several articles about what it takes to achieve “Peace of Mind”. One article was a study from Duke University that focused on eight factors which contributed greatly to a person’s emotional and mental stability and happiness that I would like to share.
Factor 1: The absence of suspicion and resentment.
Nursing a grudge was a major factor in unhappiness.
Factor 2: Not living in the past.
An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures
leads to depression.
Factor 3: Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change. Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it.
Factor 4: Force yourself to stay involved with the living world.
Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during
periods of emotional stress.
Factor 5: Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal. Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some
sorrow and misfortune.
Factor 6: Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues--love, humor, compassion
and loyalty.
Factor 7: Do not expect too much of yourself.
When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet the goals you have set, feelings inadequacy are
inevitable.
Factor 8: Find something bigger than yourself to believe in.
Self-centered egotistical people score lowest in any test for
measuring happiness.
I hope you can reflect on these factors in your own lives. Achieving Peace of Mind is the foundation for attaining a knowledge of the Peace of God.
Blessings,
Deacon Tony