Confession

My grandson Gabriel made his First Communion about three years ago, just prior to my ordination.  Gabriel was going to his first Confession before his First Communion when he said, “Granddad, just think, if you were already a priest you could hear my Confession.”  That caught me off guard, but I told him, “Gabe, I want to be your Granddad.  It’s better for you to go to another priest.”

And then something happened that was wonderful, but absolutely normal.  Gabe’s father came into the room and said, “Let’s go, Gabe” and took Gabe with him to the Church for Confession.  It was such a normal act: Boy followed Dad out the door to go to Confession.

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Corpus Christi 2013

The Mass is ancient.  From all the evidence, it probably began in Jerusalem, as the Apostles’ and the first Christian’s primary worship form in the very first week after Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead.  The Apostles taught it wherever they went.  We heard St. Paul teach about the Mass in the second reading.  Sometime in the 50’s, Paul was writing to the Corinthians, a large city in Greece, to warn them against changing the Mass, or mixing the liturgy with other social activities.  Previously, Paul had lived among them for about a year and a half.  The Church at Corinth subsequently became one of the largest Christian communities in the Roman world.  However, in Paul’s absence, they were turning their meetings into common meals and social gatherings, not for the original intent, to worship the Lord in the Eucharist.  Writing from the city of Ephesus, Paul told the Corinthian Church,

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Pentecost and the Sacred Heart

Pentecost 2013

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

And with that, the Church that Jesus founded was born.

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Christian? How Do You Know?

The first Christians were Jews first.  Circumcised Jews.  They wanted all new Gentile Christians to be circumcised Jews.  The Apostles, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, opposed this teaching.  It was enough to be Baptized to be Christian.  The Gentiles didn’t have to become Jews, but just believe in Jesus Christ.

How do you know you are Christian?  How do I know that I am Christian?  It is a pretty important question.  Today we heard in the Gospel.

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Resurrection: What Now?

I want to engage your imaginations.  Let’s go back to the year 33.  It is the week after Passover; the week after Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead.

What does the Church do now?  There are no Missals or Catechisms.  Nobody has ever seen or heard of a priest or a nun or a Pope or a Bishop.  Nobody has ever seen a Church.

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Easter 2013

Easter changes things!  Once you have experienced Easter things can never be the same.  Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God cannot die.  Yes, our machines wear out; our bodies die.  But, people who love and follow Jesus realize they cannot die.  They come to believe that human death is like “sleep”, as Jesus often said.  Once you come to understand the reality of Easter, human history can never be the same.  History itself is not cyclical.  Instead, we know there is a “beginning”, a “middle” and an “end”.  [Read more…]

Holy Thursday 2013

God sent Jesus.  Jesus chose twelve disciples.  He formed them and shaped them into ministers.  He ordained them to serve His Church.  He appointed Simon as the head of the disciples and named him “Rock”, “Peter”, and told him he would build his Church upon him.

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Holy Oils 2013

Today Fr. Uche and I concelebrated Mass with our Bishop and the other priests of our Diocese in the Chrism Mass, which is held every year during Holy Week.

The Chrism Mass is the primary celebration for the local Church when the Bishop gathers around the altar with his priests to share our commitment to serving the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Fr. Uche and I don’t have our own priesthood, but share in the Bishop’s priesthood of Jesus Christ.  Together with our brother priests we renewed the solemn promises we made at our ordinations to spend our lives serving Jesus Christ and you, the People of God.

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Cana and Our Lady of Guadalupe

They ran out of wine!

This story is highly symbolic.  Our religion is highly symbolic.  John recounts the story years after the event to a Christian community that well understood the symbolism of this story of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  The “Wedding at Cana” is Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John, from the beginning of the second chapter.  What was John doing, placing this story first?

He was reminding us that the Jewish religion was barren.  It didn’t produce feast or wine, but was corrupt and bankrupt.  Jesus was the only way out of the malaise in which they found themselves.  John’s audience would not have missed the meaning of Mary’s comment to Jesus,

“They have no more wine.”

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Gaudete 2012

Rejoice!  “Rejoice in the Lord, always” says St. Paul.  It is a blessing to be joyful.

I am overjoyed with many wonderful experiences here at Sacred Heart Parish.  This past week I have been overjoyed with the experience of our parish celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  It was something I will never forget, with such an outpouring of simple faith.  The parish groups that planned and implemented the events before dawn and the Mass in the evening did a tasteful, masterful job.  In the morning we had an estimated 1,000 persons come for Mananitas and serenading by our own musicians, a beautiful rosary, Matachines and an abundance of hot chocolate and pan dulce for all.  To me the event was inspired, spirit-filled and delightful as a faith event.  Many memories were made Wednesday morning for men, women and children.

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Advent 2012

As Christians, we believe God came into our history.  First, we believe God came as a man, Jesus Christ, his son.  Second, we believe Jesus will come again, at the end of time.

As Christians we believe that Jesus is moving toward us from the future.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  Christ is the “Word”, the source of all creation.

History will have an end as will our own personal life story.  We don’t know when this end will occur.  The end will come in our personal lives.  The end will also come at the end of history, the end of the world, the time of Judgment.

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The End of Time

There are only 32 days left. That doesn’t mean shopping days to Christmas.

According to popular prophecies, there are only 32 days left until December 21, 2012, and the end of the world.  If that is true, then don’t worry about shopping for Christmas.

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William Francis Hamlet’s Baptism

Here is an important concept:  Eternal life is only possible with God.  Without God, away from God, there simply is no eternal life:  It doesn’t exist apart from God.  Apart from God there is only mortal life.  After mortal life, life on earth, there is only eternal death.  So the choices are eternal life with God, or Eternal death without God.

When I was a youngster, there was a game that taught trust.  Some of you may remember this.  A person had to close his eyes and allow himself to fall backwards into the arms of others.  Most of us would catch ourselves by stepping backward instead of just allowing ourselves to fall freely into the arms of others.  It is hard to give up our personal control and trust in another.

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Jesus Loves Marriage

Jesus loves weddings.  His first recorded miracle was at the wedding at Cana (John 2).  At the urging of his mother, Mary, he saved the marriage party from shame when they ran out of wine, turning water into wine for them.

Jesus loves marriage, and he defended marriage with a firm, clear teaching.  When asked about divorce he flatly rejected it.  Jesus explained that Moses had weakened in the face of public pressure when faced with this same question, and Moses allowed divorce.  Jesus does not back down, saying,
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Spiritual Maturity

Spiritually mature persons know that they must choose whom they will serve. Spiritually mature persons know they must serve someone. It is the spiritually immature who attempt to live as if they serve no one but themselves. This is key to today’s readings.

Joshua led the tribes of Israel back to the land of Israel, and told his people,

“If it does not please you to serve the LORD,
decide today whom you will serve,…
As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

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