Tuesday, June 30
I am back. Back from retreat. What a great week to pray, rest, listen to the wisdom of a veteran retreat master, renew some old friendships and, as the kids say today, just chill'en out.
Malvern has become a spiritual oasis for me in recent years. Being spiritually comfortable in familiar surroundings is an important ingredient at this point in my life journey. There are enough surprises in life to contend with. I want no surprises on retreat. I want to know where everything is. There is peace and calm in security. Perhaps some may call this a "rut". I see it differently and I know my spiritual needs at this moment and avoid as many obstacles as I can.
The Year of the Priests began on Friday, June 19th. Three days later I began my retreat. What a good way to begin this special year! With retreat.
We focused on St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests and, indeed, patron of all priests. Generally, I know a fair amount about the Cure D'Ars but I found out also how little I know about Vianney. So, I have committed to reading his life right now. I am waiting for the book to arrive in the mail - hopefully, this week.
At this moment in my life I share priesthood with four other priests and two seminarians. This is healthy and good and I feel that "it is good for me to be here". We gather daily for evening prayer. Dinner follows and is usually quite lively with exchanges from a wide scope of experiences. Those of us older enjoy the input of the younger men and the seminarians seem open to listening to the experiences of men ordained many years. Good laughter echoes thoughout this cavernous rectory made much less cavernous since it is blessed to be filled right now.
Tim Dolan, Archbishop of New York, talks about priests being and manifesting their hapiness. It's the best vocation promotion. I couldn't agree more. I have always been happy and living with happy guys, just loving what they do, makes me even happier.
So, Lift up your hearts - Sursum Corda.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary - June 20, 2009
On Monday I will begin my annual Retreat. It is a few days that I look forward to every year. These are days of spiritual renewal and renovation of the heart and mind. I will be under the tutelage of a Redemptorist Priest (tradition of St. Alphonsus) for the week. I have always jealously guarded this time and I am glad that I have. It is my way of going into the desert and facing my God with all my human weaknesses and asking for his strength and the Grace of the Holy Spirit.
My retreat comes at a great time - coinciding with the beginning of the Year of the Priest. I have much to think about. Much for which to give thanks. May I ask any readers to pray for me especially during this week.
Much has happened since my last retreat. For one thing my life has radically changed. I am in a new assignment responding to the challenges of a new parish, new parishioners, new surroundings .... everything is new. I rely on the prayers of God's People in my work and, most of all, I rely on God.
The Gospel for tomorrow asks the Apostles not to be afraid. And so, that is my pray that I not be afraid. There are storms and there are storms. In the vineyard there are many storms but with the Grace of God the waters can be calmed so as to preach from a boat less agitated.
Tomorrow I am preaching about prejudice and violence in our society. Pretty much encouraged by an article that I read last week that greatly disturbed me. So much so that I am even afraid of mentioning it on this blog. So I won't. But I will need courage as I speak Sunday from the pulpit. The pulpit is a place of authority and I pray to convey my message with authority but also without any hostility.
..until next week and after retreat.
On Monday I will begin my annual Retreat. It is a few days that I look forward to every year. These are days of spiritual renewal and renovation of the heart and mind. I will be under the tutelage of a Redemptorist Priest (tradition of St. Alphonsus) for the week. I have always jealously guarded this time and I am glad that I have. It is my way of going into the desert and facing my God with all my human weaknesses and asking for his strength and the Grace of the Holy Spirit.
My retreat comes at a great time - coinciding with the beginning of the Year of the Priest. I have much to think about. Much for which to give thanks. May I ask any readers to pray for me especially during this week.
Much has happened since my last retreat. For one thing my life has radically changed. I am in a new assignment responding to the challenges of a new parish, new parishioners, new surroundings .... everything is new. I rely on the prayers of God's People in my work and, most of all, I rely on God.
The Gospel for tomorrow asks the Apostles not to be afraid. And so, that is my pray that I not be afraid. There are storms and there are storms. In the vineyard there are many storms but with the Grace of God the waters can be calmed so as to preach from a boat less agitated.
Tomorrow I am preaching about prejudice and violence in our society. Pretty much encouraged by an article that I read last week that greatly disturbed me. So much so that I am even afraid of mentioning it on this blog. So I won't. But I will need courage as I speak Sunday from the pulpit. The pulpit is a place of authority and I pray to convey my message with authority but also without any hostility.
..until next week and after retreat.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thursday before Corpus Christi - June 11
Sunday is a great feast of the Church. Regretfully, it is often a forgotten day and not celebrated as the sacred liturgy asks. Corpus Christi actually asks that we pull out all stops, utilize all the bells and whistles available to us as a Church to celebrate the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist.
The Liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fountain from which all her power flows. (Const. on the Sacred Liturgy, Vat. II, Chap. 1, number 10)
The power of the Eucharist is "Presence" - Divine Presence.
So, we, as a parish, will celebrate with a Solemn Mass at Noon time which will be followed by a procession through part of our neighborhood, punctuated with three stops for the triple Benediction. All concludes on the front portico of the church. The purpose of the procession is to give witness to our faith.
Consider joining us. You will not be disappointed.
A guest will speak at all Masses this weekend promoting Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Our guests are both lay women who have personal stories of how they came to so greatly value weekly Adoration.
Weekly Adoration here at SMT will take a somewhat new form. Wednesday will be THE day of Adoration all the time. It will begin following the 8:30 A.M. Mass and continue until 5:00 P.M.
This will be All of the time, all of the year. Adorers are needed - to give whatever amount of time you can. It is time well spent. Saturday Exposition will be suspended. Each Wednesday Adoration will conclude with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Benediction.
Here follows a quote from the sermon of Pope Benedict, Corpus Christi 2005:
We bring Christ, present under the sign of bread, onto the streets of our city. We entrust these streets, these homes, our daily life, to his goodness. May our streets be streets of Jesus! May our houses be homes for him and with him! May our life of everyday be penetrated by his presence! With this gesture, , let us place under his eyes the sufferings of the sick, the solitude of young people and the elderly, temptations, fears - our entire life. The procession represents an immense and public blessing for our city: Christ is, in person, the divine Blessing for the world. May the ray of this blesisng extend to us all.
Sunday is a great feast of the Church. Regretfully, it is often a forgotten day and not celebrated as the sacred liturgy asks. Corpus Christi actually asks that we pull out all stops, utilize all the bells and whistles available to us as a Church to celebrate the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist.
The Liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fountain from which all her power flows. (Const. on the Sacred Liturgy, Vat. II, Chap. 1, number 10)
The power of the Eucharist is "Presence" - Divine Presence.
So, we, as a parish, will celebrate with a Solemn Mass at Noon time which will be followed by a procession through part of our neighborhood, punctuated with three stops for the triple Benediction. All concludes on the front portico of the church. The purpose of the procession is to give witness to our faith.
Consider joining us. You will not be disappointed.
A guest will speak at all Masses this weekend promoting Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Our guests are both lay women who have personal stories of how they came to so greatly value weekly Adoration.
Weekly Adoration here at SMT will take a somewhat new form. Wednesday will be THE day of Adoration all the time. It will begin following the 8:30 A.M. Mass and continue until 5:00 P.M.
This will be All of the time, all of the year. Adorers are needed - to give whatever amount of time you can. It is time well spent. Saturday Exposition will be suspended. Each Wednesday Adoration will conclude with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Benediction.
Here follows a quote from the sermon of Pope Benedict, Corpus Christi 2005:
We bring Christ, present under the sign of bread, onto the streets of our city. We entrust these streets, these homes, our daily life, to his goodness. May our streets be streets of Jesus! May our houses be homes for him and with him! May our life of everyday be penetrated by his presence! With this gesture, , let us place under his eyes the sufferings of the sick, the solitude of young people and the elderly, temptations, fears - our entire life. The procession represents an immense and public blessing for our city: Christ is, in person, the divine Blessing for the world. May the ray of this blesisng extend to us all.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Trinity Sunday - June 7, 2009
We are having a Flea Market in the parish parking lot today and as I walk about I am hearing the same message - how the recession is touching each family, senior citizen, individual. It's a common theme today, it seems, every where one visits. A member of my own family was on pins and needles just a few weeks ago. After 30 years with the same company, he wasn't sure if the end had come. Thank God, it didn't but once there is a threat of your job becoming history, stress levels rise .
I had the unpleasant task of calling together our entire staff this past Thursday and notifying them that there would be no raises this year. I hated doing it. I have never done that in all my years as a pastor. I asked for their understanding. It was all I could ask for. I wasn;t happy giving the news and, to be sure, they were not happy receiving it.
I need to do some research. How did the Church handle the Great Depression? It seems that being a Church right now takes on new dimensions that pastoral ministers like me have never explored before. I heard about the Depression from my parents and grandparents. But I am not clear of the mission of the Church at that time. I don't think that we just keep on going "business as usual", at least I don't think so.
By-products of recessions are homeslessness, violence...and I could go on and on. You can l;ist them. So can I. Yet, as I think of this I am amazed at all the greed that we still see. Do recessions ultimately spring from greed? When one gets too much someone else does not have enough and there is enough in the world for everyone. Basic human wants are not satisfied because the school of hedonism teaches that pleasure is the principle good. There is a blindness to basic human needs.
The family of mankind must take a lesson from the family of God that we know as the Most Holy Trinity. The Trinitarian dynamic of love is the absolute opposite of the hedonistic dynamics of pleasure and selfishness. "Greater love..."is the message of the Trinity. It is the message of the Son, the second person of the Family of God. It is the Father whose love gave birth to humanity and it is the Spirit that continues to infuse life and grace into all of creation.
Look back on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.
We are having a Flea Market in the parish parking lot today and as I walk about I am hearing the same message - how the recession is touching each family, senior citizen, individual. It's a common theme today, it seems, every where one visits. A member of my own family was on pins and needles just a few weeks ago. After 30 years with the same company, he wasn't sure if the end had come. Thank God, it didn't but once there is a threat of your job becoming history, stress levels rise .
I had the unpleasant task of calling together our entire staff this past Thursday and notifying them that there would be no raises this year. I hated doing it. I have never done that in all my years as a pastor. I asked for their understanding. It was all I could ask for. I wasn;t happy giving the news and, to be sure, they were not happy receiving it.
I need to do some research. How did the Church handle the Great Depression? It seems that being a Church right now takes on new dimensions that pastoral ministers like me have never explored before. I heard about the Depression from my parents and grandparents. But I am not clear of the mission of the Church at that time. I don't think that we just keep on going "business as usual", at least I don't think so.
By-products of recessions are homeslessness, violence...and I could go on and on. You can l;ist them. So can I. Yet, as I think of this I am amazed at all the greed that we still see. Do recessions ultimately spring from greed? When one gets too much someone else does not have enough and there is enough in the world for everyone. Basic human wants are not satisfied because the school of hedonism teaches that pleasure is the principle good. There is a blindness to basic human needs.
The family of mankind must take a lesson from the family of God that we know as the Most Holy Trinity. The Trinitarian dynamic of love is the absolute opposite of the hedonistic dynamics of pleasure and selfishness. "Greater love..."is the message of the Trinity. It is the message of the Son, the second person of the Family of God. It is the Father whose love gave birth to humanity and it is the Spirit that continues to infuse life and grace into all of creation.
Look back on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Day after Pentecost
...so, what are those Works of Mercy that define who we really are as disciples of Jesus Christ, anointed with the Holy Spirit, called to faith and good works.
The Corporal Works of Mercy:
+ to feed the hungry
+ to give drink to the thirsty
+ to clothe the naked
+ to visit the inprisoned
+ to shelter the homeless
+ to visit the sick
+ to bury the dead
The Spiritual Works of Mercy:
+ to admonish the sinner
+ to instruct the ignorant
+ to counsel the doubtful
+ to comfort the sorrowful
+ to bear wrongs patiently
+ to forgive all injuries
+ to pray for the living and the dead.
Read Matthew25: 31ff.
Pax et Bonum!
...so, what are those Works of Mercy that define who we really are as disciples of Jesus Christ, anointed with the Holy Spirit, called to faith and good works.
The Corporal Works of Mercy:
+ to feed the hungry
+ to give drink to the thirsty
+ to clothe the naked
+ to visit the inprisoned
+ to shelter the homeless
+ to visit the sick
+ to bury the dead
The Spiritual Works of Mercy:
+ to admonish the sinner
+ to instruct the ignorant
+ to counsel the doubtful
+ to comfort the sorrowful
+ to bear wrongs patiently
+ to forgive all injuries
+ to pray for the living and the dead.
Read Matthew25: 31ff.
Pax et Bonum!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)