Gospel, Homily and Coffee

Idolatry, it means to make something an absolute, when it is not.  Over the years I have heard stories from people and from other sources about families broken up. Broken up because one person follows a certain political figure, and another does not.  Broken up because one person believes in one way, and others do not.  Broken up because a child will come out as gay. Broken up because someone wants to marry someone different.   Broken up because of addictions.  Broken up for a whole myriad of reasons; some serious, others not.  Broken up, because people idolize their individual view of how a family is to be. People Idolize egos. King Herod killed his siblings, his children, his wife; all because of power.  What a family!  I so love St. Joseph more and more. Here is a man who adapts. Here is a person who flexes. Here is a person who sees beyond himself to the needs of his family and love.  He allows God to change his u...

I have a confession. Let’s just keep this between you and me. I love living in Northern Nevada. Some of you know I was born and raised in Ohio, and the majority of my family still lives there. I moved here in my early 20’s to work as a geologist in the gold mines of Elko. The incredible and sometimes raw beauty of this part of creation astounded me. Even to this day. And I know it is just not me. How many recent photos of incredible sunrises have I seen on social media of late. Look at creation around us. Listening to the Whooping cranes fly over head in the late fall on their migration. The amazing transformation in the spring to the green of our desert. The views of Tahoe, the Truckee River.  The sights of the stars away from our city! Creation is good. We believe as Catholics that all of creation reflects God. Creation is NOT God, but reflects God. Therefore all creation is designed to reflect the beauty of the Divine. From the Big Bang Billions of years ago...

To be Human is to dream and have dreams.    God created us. God too has dreams for all of creation, therefore, we created in God’s own image, we   dream.   We dream. We plan. We imagine. We hope. We dream of our loves in life. We hope for the perfect job.  We make plans for our vacations.  We hope for our children and their future.  We desire a wonderful life. What happens when our plans, our dreams, our hopes go awry?  What happens when we become disappointed or devastated. One young married couple hoped for a baby. So they tried. It happened. They were soooo excited and they rushed to tell everyone. Everyone rejoiced with them.   Then they miscarried and they were equally devastated. It got worse. They found out they could not conceive in the future.  The husband and wife made the decision to adopt. They went through all the hoops, all the forms, all the evaluations, spent a lot of money to get into the proc...

There is that saying: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”   How do we hear this? I think there are two ways. First, it can be interpreted as when situations become difficult we run away, we get going away.  Another interpretation is that we get going to work on it. We engage the situation and grow. In the book “Prizzi’s Honor” the main character Charlie Partanna had a woman issue. He placed women on such high pedestals and fall in love with the woman, or that ideal of woman he had formed in his head. Inevitably women failed to live up to his ideals and he immediately fell out of love. That failure could be as simple as a little burp at a meal.   People believe they have the perfect romance, then something happens contrary to their ideal and there is disarray. People believe they are the smartest person, then that is demonstrated not true: devastation. People believe that this country is the greatest, and when shown the racism, t...

Two people were walking over a bridge one day. One noticed some ducks in the river and remarked to the other: “Wow, they are really moving fast!” “Because they are swimming downstream with the current.” said the other. As a priest, people will me ask for direction; in what way do they need to go, what do they need to do; “Should I do this?” “Should I do that?” “Go here or go there?” “Does God want me to do this or that?” “Will God get angry to i choose this and not that?” We will have our doubts, our uncertainty...it’s part of our human condition, many also want total clarity, but we don’t get that either. We want someone to tell us we are okay, we want someone to tell us the answer. We want certainty.  We get frustrated when we do not get that.  Our Anxiety levels grow. “A disciple once complained, ‘You tell us stories, but you never reveal their meaning to us’”. Said the master, ‘How would you like it if someone offered you fruit and chewed it before giving ...

Nasruddin became prime minister to the king. Once, while he wandered through the palace, he saw a royal falcon. Now Nasruddin had never seen this kind of a “pigeon” before. So he got out a pair of scissors and trimmed the claws, the wings, and the beak of the falcon. “Now you look like a decent bird,” he said, “Your keeper had evidently been neglecting you.” One of the preeminent philosophers of the 80’s into the 90’s once said, “Reality, what a concept”. That would be Mr. Robin Williams. Reality, what we think of it as is not truly all of reality. Our minds construct reality with the information it receives. It makes intelligible what our senses perceive.  The trap is to believe that what we construct in our minds is all that is.   Conspiracy theories have plagued us throughout our history. We know they exist and people will hold onto them no matter what. We even have shows about them: X-files, Fringe, Mr. Robot. I was in Roswell two weeks ago, that is a ...

In the Eastern Rites in the Marriage ceremony both the Groom and Bride receive a crown on their heads. They become through marriage the King and Queen of their own little Kingdom, the family. A kingdom built upon divine love, meaning that each sees the good in the other, each commits to supporting the other in bringing forth that goodness; each commits to building up their family with this value. During an Engaged Encounter weekend couples preparing for the sacrament of Matrimony make a journey to be even more open to the wonder of what they will commit to. One part of that journey is for them to begin to think how they will form their family.   The family begins, not when those kids arrive, but when each says “I do”. Yet the groundwork begins way before that, with each saying this good is what is important to me and both agreeing what “good” will be valued and become an active part of the family: generosity, mercy, compassion. In the beginning, the book of Gene...

A brief history lesson.  In the 70’s, the 1970’s not the 1870’s, the United States experienced the Oil Embargo, and then later began to worry about the world supply of Oil. It would run out in the next century!!!!!!!! That was the panic. A movement began to begin to conserve, to find alternative sources and to use what we had more efficiently. Today, look at the expansion of solar, electric vehicles, of way more efficient machinery. Also in the late 70’s into the 80’s, ACID RAIN and our polluted lands. Our clothes would burn off our bodies, forests were dying. LA air was horrible, the panic! A movement began to care for our planet, to reduce air pollution, to clean up the environment. Today, look at the progress we have made. Today, Global Climate Change, White Supremacists and the rise of Nationalism, rise of Russia, rise of terrorism…Always something that can scare us. The best words my spiritual director ever gave to me: “DON’T PANIC”  When we do not pani...

Being lost can be a scary situation. I have a great sense of direction and being a geologist, who used maps and compasses, helped. Yet, one time, while hiking in Northern New Mexico I got seriously lost. Thinking I could save some time, I got off trail on a shortcut of my own devising. But when I got amid the trees, and it was cloudy, so I could not see the sun, I lost all sense of direction. I began to panic. I swear I even heard a wolf (coyote) howl. So I remember telling myself stop, breathe. I was able to re-trace my steps, got back onto the path, and eventually got to where I needed to be. My heart racing a bit, humbled a lot. These days with our technology getting lost seems less to happen, or so it seems. However, it still happens.  And there are still places where that technology will not work. Technology does not help with other and maybe even more serious kinds of lost.  How many of us get lost in our depression, our addictions, our heads?   ...

The other day, on Nature the TV show on PBS, they did an episode on the Okavango Delta in Africa. This is a huge marsh, that goes through a yearly cycle of rain and flooding. A complex relationship amid all the animals keeps this marsh thriving and healthy. The Elephants keep the vegetation at bay and to stir up nutrients. Fish clean up materials and be food for others. It goes on and on. The trees of forests rely on a complex web to remain healthy. A forest of just one type of tree is not as healthy. It requires diversity. And what makes it work is that their roots intermingle and between the roots there exists a fungus which transfers nutrients between the trees. So that in the summer when the deciduous trees make lots of food they share with the conifers. And in the winter, the conifers share nutrients with the deciduous.  Amazing God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A diverse community interconnected through mutual love. Love, the choice and desire to help bri...

"It is our salvation to give you thanks" If you have not watched the Show “The Good Place” I highly recommended it. It’s really a show of ethics and morality, and of redemption. The setting the good place, heaven, and the premise is a group of 4 people are in heaven, but one knows she does not belong, so she seeks to earn her way in. And one other character, also realizes that she also does not belong. She raised millions upon millions of dollars for charity..a good thing. But her motivation was all wrong. She did it to compete with her sister. But in a moving scene with her sister they realized that their parents set them up to compete for their affection. They reconciled. Children seek the attention and approval of their parents and trusted adults. Even as babies, when they are learning, they look to their parents. As they grow into kids we hear “Mom, Dad, Uncle Bob, Father Bob look at me!!!” as they play, try new things. They want to know they are doing goo...

                                                        When relationships are new there are lots of questions. We have a curiosity about the other person. So our questions fill up first dates; what kind of food do you like? What kind of music? Where did you come from? Dark chocolate or all other inferior kinds? I had a lot of questions thrown at me when I became pastor. And if you hang around me, I can be quite the interrogator myself, asking lots of questions because I am curious about people and their journeys. Also, these questions and answers, our histories, help us to find connections: maybe we have common roots, and if Reno, we probably know others people, probably someone else’s relatives. When we connect, then the relationship really blossoms. There was a heresy called Marcionism. This belief from the second century was a rejection of...

If we want to know what is important to a person or organization, look at the budgets. We all have various resources, and where we place them tells us what really matters for us. We reflect our Maturity and Wisdom in how we use our resources; how we spend our energies. This is not just about money. This also includes our emotional energies. Think on how, or to what and or to whom we give our anger, our fears, our sadness and grief; then reflect on what really makes us joyful. Granted, some aspects, especially material resources, are beyond our control. We need to devote our resources to rents and mortgages, to food and power...we need to live and be comfortable. There is nothing wrong with wanting a warm house and a full belly.  And at times we have a right to be angry, sad or scared, this is natural. Yet emotionally, spiritually, materially, how much do we give to really what in the end does not matter or does not create joy.  It serves only our egos. I...

One of those simplest of pleasures...after a long trip, sleeping in one’s own bed. With our own pillows and sheets….ahhhhhhhh It’s Coming home...coming back to where we feel safe. Not always a specific place, for at times safety is only found in our hearts and in our minds. I think Safety is a basic human drive. We want to feel safe and create a safe place. It is what helps us to build homes. And for some, it is why we also move. And for others, forced to move… to feel safe, and truly be safe. Safety means we do not feel a threat to ourselves and to what we honor. Whether it be our family or our integrity. This is more than being comfortable but this is much deeper. I have been comfortable sitting on the edge of a cliff, but I did not feel safe! When we experience safety then we have freedom to do what is truly good. Safety allows us to use the energy we have to do what is good and just, and NOT have to defend ourselves, or prove ourselves. This drive or need for safety forms ...