Gospel, Homily and Coffee

“Maintenance to Mission” This is phrase in church circles describing a movement, or a return actually to our roots. Each October, dioceses around the country, including ours, takes what is called the October count. The number of people are counted at all the masses to provide an indication of mass attendance. This is one of my tasks as Chancellor. Last Fall I presented to our parish council a graph showing our October counts for the past 18 years and it shows a gradual decrease in mass attendance. The Council was somewhat alarmed at this. “What are we going to do about this?” was their question. Across the world, and clearly in the united States, mass attendance has declined, especially in younger people. Yesterday we celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation for around 20 some teens. It was great. But me, and many others are concerned about how many of these young persons will continue to follow the Catholic Faith. Study shows that people leave not because they do not believe in

Salvation...it’s not necessarily about us getting into heaven, but about us, working for God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to bring heaven here on earth. Salvation transforms us, so that as God’s children, we transform the world. When God’s ways thrive in this world, there is God’s glory. Were any of us struck by this Gospel passage? It starts off with Judas’ departure… and we know he is going to arrange the betrayal of Jesus. Judas then becomes the catalyst for Jesus’ arrest and betrayal. Judas symbolizes the sinfulness of humanity; those who wish to create a world of their own making, in their own image; a world based on their own power, their own money, their own ideas. Judas becomes the symbol of selfishness, self-centeredness. Jesus, in his death and resurrection, exposes this sin. Jesus reveals God’s way, God’s kingdom...reveals God’s glory. A God of justice, compassion, mercy. A God of utter humility. God, who does not wish to punish, nor condemn, but only to raise up. In o

Inside a golf ball is a tightly wound solid core which makes the ball, if hit correctly, go further. It gives it is bounce, its resilience. Wiffle balls, those plastic balls, they are bigger than golf balls but they are also hollow. They don’t bounce or do they travel as far. We have a solid core. We are children of God. This is our core identity. Nothing, absolutely nothing can rob us of this, nor take it away. The more we live this core, the farther in life we will travel and bounce back. This is Truth. The Christ leads us to this Truth. The Christ leads us by living it first, being born as human and divine as Jesus. He showed us through his actions and teachings what it means to be a Child of God; he revealed the Truth of the Father. He died for that Truth, and revealed its fullness in the resurrection. The search for the self for identity is a great tale. It makes for great movies and literature. We see this in ancient Greek literature. It’s in our own modern litera