Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Alleluia, Christ is risen! As the season of resurrection continues, we are reminded through today’s readings that God is Trinity. The readings affirm our belief in God who sent us Jesus and empowers us with the Holy Spirit us to let God’s way be known among all the nations.
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
There is an interesting tension in today’s readings. One on hand, we see the power of the Gospel to transcend vast differences. On the other hand, we see the rejection its truth regardless of how many times it is spoken. We certainly live in troubled times. Truthful Words and deeds from faithful men and women are often met with skepticism, even their truthfulness seems plainly clear. Today’s readings challenge us to rejoice in the Gospel when we encounter it with openness and grace.
Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
There have been many times in my life when I have found myself following the ‘rules’ of the Church rather mindlessly. Habit or commitment, and even fear, have all been part of the reason. That is just the way I grew up and that is where I have ended up on more occasions than I like to admit. What I have learned is that living in that ‘space’ is rather deadening. I have never found any joy there nor do I find much motivation to become a better Christian. On the other hand, the times I know I am following Jesus, when I am working to deepen that relationship, I experience gratitude, joy, and great motivation. During these times, I find I no longer even think about the rules; the rules just seem to take care of themselves!
Fourth Sunday of Easter
For Charles Gladden, home is a makeshift bed on a sidewalk next to D.C.'s McPherson Square Metro Station. He sleeps with his shoes by his side, and a few blankets to keep him warm. Gladden wakes up before sunrise, when he and the other homeless men and women here are kicked out, before the bustle of morning commute. He collects his worldly possessions -- which fit into a single bag – and begins his own trek to work. And his job is at the U.S. Capitol. For 8 years he has worked in Senate cafeterias, washing dishes and doing janitorial work. Gladden is 63, and makes about $11 an hour. He takes home about $360 a week. But he said he gives a lot of it to his children and grandchildren, who have their own financial troubles. "I take care of them," he says, "I don't want to be a burden on my kids." He also said, “I'm an embarrassment. I don't want to be an embarrassment to this country, the country I was born and raised in."
Feast of Saint Mark, Evangelist
There are a number of memes (an image, phrase, etc. that is adapted and spread rapidly by Internet users) that have the hashtag, “thingsJesusneversaid”. Not all of them are great, but there are some gems. The good ones can be funny and thought provoking, while the other ones can range anywhere from dumb to offensive. These memes came to mind when I read Jesus’ opening words in today’s gospel. He says, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” This is Mark’s version of the Great Commission and I will use the #thingsJesusneversaid to hopefully help unpack this commandment.
Friday of the Third Week of Easter
Joel and I have a table grace that we say at meals when we have guests. It's the table grace we sang at our wedding: "Be present at our table, Lord - be here and everywhere adored. These people bless and grant that we may feast in paradise with thee. Around this table may the Lord be ever and always adored - the weary find a welcome rest and all who suffer want be blest." We love bringing this small reminder of our wedding to our family practices of hospitality. We are reminded often that the practice of hospitality is part of our vocation as Christians.
Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
“Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” (Acts 8:36) These words, spoken by the Ethiopian eunuch in the first reading, teach us a refreshing way to approach life. I love that this man had been taught about Jesus from Phillip – had learned about our savior and immediately took his words and his lessons to heart.
Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
Sometimes the joy of the resurrection is harder to participate in when times get tough. When we are in the midst of facing the loss of job, or struggling through the pain a shattered friendship, or even journeying with a loved one who is near death, Easter joy might seem vanquished. We may not feel it, but these times are when the Lord is trying even harder to remind us of his desire to feed us and lead us to from death to new life.
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Today’s first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. It is the account of the church’s first known martyr, St. Stephen. This also happens to be one of my favorite passages from Scripture to teach. I use it to talk about what was so radical about Christianity. Stephen is being persecuted for his Christian faith, and overseeing the whole thing is none other than St. Paul, called Saul before his conversion on the road to Damascus. Refusing to renounce Christ, Stephen says to his persecutors that although they are observant Jews, they remain “uncircumcised in heart and ears.” He is implying that they have not been open to God’s new work in Jesus Christ.
Monday of the Third Week of Easter
Just this past week a group of young women and men were confirmed at our parish. When the Bishop anointed them with chrism he said, “Be sealed with the Holy Spirit!” When I read today’s gospel, I was struck by the verse, “For on him, the Father God, has set his seal.” Not only has God set His seal on Jesus, but He has sealed us with His Holy Spirit. So what does it mean to be sealed by God, and how are we called to live in response to this marking? In the biblical times, seals were often made of wax, and then they were embedded with a personalized imprint of their guarantor (e.g. a signet ring would be an example of a seal.) A seal was used to guarantee security or indicate that the object/ person belonged to the person placing the seal. A seal could also be placed on a document to give it proof of its authenticity.
Third Sunday of Easter
Last week, a most gruesome video of an apparent chlorine gas attack in north-west Syria emerged. The footage shows the attempts of doctors to revive three children, all aged under four. All the three children died. Last week, more than four hundred immigrants drowned in the sea as they tried to escape the violence parts of Africa and the Middle East. Last week, New England Patriot’s rising star Aaron Hernandez was convicted of the murder of his time friend, Odin Lloyd. His contract with the Patriots was worth $ 40 million. Last week, an acquaintance of a very dear friend of mine was convicted of child sexual abuse. He is awaiting his sentence. These are serious crimes. If we examine own our thoughts, words and actions last week, we probably realize that even though we may not have committed serious crimes, there are times when we fell short. Perhaps a blatant lie, an unhealthy or impure thought, some form of prejudice, an unfair judgement, an unkind word, an omission, unjustified anger or a habitual act may have been part of our life. If, you are somebody with rationality and freedom and you were free of any of these things last week, please come forward; we would like to light a candle to you.
Saturday of the Second Week of Easter
We belong to a culture obsessed with replies. We like to have answers to every question and bumper sticker slogans to every situation. Sometimes that falls short though. For instance, maybe someone faces a tragedy and our first response is, “I don’t know what to say.” Why do you have to say anything? I think that we are so present to one another digitally that we have forgotten the power of real presence, but I think today’s readings remind us of the power of presence.
Friday of the Second Week of Easter
It is so, so easy these days to feel a lot of anxiety about the world we live in: will we lose all our drinkable water by 2020? Will there be a nuclear attack from North Korea? Will the Catholic Church keep hemorrhaging members (currently 30% of the American population considers itself ex-Catholic)? Am I doing enough to fight poverty? Am I doing enough to maintain my health? And so on. The anxiety-producing questions are both global and local in scope, both focused on the needs of others, as well as the needs each one of us has individually.
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
We adopted our dog, Luna, as a puppy while we were still living in Virginia. She is a mixed breed, part Border Collie or Australian Shepherd. She had a lot of energy as a puppy and even for the first few years as an adult dog. I grew up with dogs and had even owned one with Vince prior to Luna, but she was my “wild child.” She acted up and challenged my authority as the “alpha dog,” especially when Vince was away on trips. I eventually took her to an obedience training class to better learn how to train her so that she would listen to me. It worked and helped improve my relationship with her so that we had much more positive interactions and I was much less angry and frustrated with her. I think I’m fairly typical in wanting my dog and my children to be obedient, to listen to me. And yet I sometimes resist the notion that as an adult I am called to be obedient as well.
Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
As a chaplain at a hospital, I have begun to look at scripture and the paschal mystery in whole new ways. It happened that after having read today readings I thought of the fact that sometimes we put restraints on patients who may hurt themselves. Metaphorically, I began to think of all the restraints that are put on us, many of which we put on ourselves through the choices we make. Restraints are things that hold us back or confine us. In my own life, restraints may take the form of lacking the ability to trust that the Lord is completely in charge.
Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
What if we read today’s readings in the opposite order: the gospel of John first, then the Acts of the Apostles?
In the gospel, we are listening to Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, the kind of guy who really likes the rules, and really likes to understand how God works, so he can do his religious duties exactly right. Along comes Jesus, telling him something baffling: he needs to be “born from above,” or “born again,” as we heard in yesterday’s reading. Nicodemus doesn’t get it. An important question for you and I is, do we get it?
Monday of the Second Week of Easter
In these weeks after Easter, the readings from the Acts of the Apostles seem suitable material for the big screen. It is hard to believe these characters are the same lowly, at times bumbling, disciples who first began following Jesus three years earlier. Knowing this is quite a comfort to most of us as we can so closely identify with the gradual process of coming to know and believe in Jesus with all the fits and starts we personally experience along the rugged road of discipleship. And looking back on where we have come from it becomes clear the, just like the disciples, our journey is one of shedding the darkness in which we live. And Jesus meets us right there—we encounter Jesus in the depths of our darkness.
Second Sunday of Easter/Sunday of Divine Mercy
I am wandering off my trodden path for my homily today. This homily is more of an exposé than a scriptural reflection with my typical three practical implications. I am doing this because today is Divine Mercy Sunday. The celebration of the second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday is a very recent development. It was on this Sunday in 2000 that Pope John Paul II canonized Sr. Faustina Kowalska. It is to her that we owe the origin of this celebration. On that day, JP II announced that “from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” Sr. Faustina was born in Poland and she became a nun in the Congregation of the Sister of Mercy. Her life was characterized by deep spiritual interiority. On Feb 22, 1931, Sr. Faustina experienced a life-changing vision of Christ standing in a white robe with two rays of light emerging from his heart. It is the signature image of the Divine mercy devotion. Faustina died at the very young age of 33. In his life-time, John Paul actively promoted the message of Sr. Faustina and this was probably the rationale behind his 1980 encyclical, “Rich in Mercy.”
Saturday in the Octave of Easter
Today, in Acts, we see Peter and John before the Sanhedrin. Though the leaders, elders, and scribes want to quiet them, they rely more on threats than severe punishment because the Apostles currently have popular favor. This scene brought a few thoughts to mind.
Friday in the Octave of Easter
Sometimes I think it is very difficult to comprehend, let alone believe, that Jesus rose from the dead. Death for us is something final. It is something that we have to deal with and confront because we cannot undo time and make someone come back. That finality makes it quite hard to see that perhaps death does not always win – that God’s Son rose from the dead.