Gospel, Homily and Coffee

It is sad and frightening to see such violence, such division; here in our biggest little city.  Here so close to home.  It creates anger because we expect our own to act better. The word “catholic” means universal. The intent from the original Greek means “universally for all people”. We are for all people. The Good News is for all people; and I stress ALL people. God; to be Christian means to believe in One God and Three Persons. God is Trinity; God is Unity; God is diversity. These are inherent of God, therefore inherent of humanity.  The Holy Spirit, part of the Divine community of God, actively binds the community as one. Love acts as the binding force. Love meaning to see the goodness of the other and desire to bring forth that Goodness.  The Father, so complete in Love, sees and knows the Goodness of the Son and gives of himself completely to the Son. The Son, so complete in Love, sees, knows and accepts the Love of the Father totally, and in response...

Sacraments gift us as Catholics in so many ways. Sacraments make visible the invisible reality of God in this world and how God works in our world to build up the Kingdom of Heaven here. Sacraments make visible our work for God as well. Today our Church celebrates the Feast of the Ascension. Luke writes about it in the Acts of the Apostles, but Matthew’s version from the Gospel is different.   When we read in Matthew about the Resurrection and then on to the end, it happens rather quickly. There are no 40 days. Jesus rises from the Tomb, encounters Mary Magdalene and other women, tells them to tell the disciples to meet him in Galilee. The disciples actually listen to the women, and this is where our Gospel for today picks up. This is also the end of Matthew’s Gospel, the Great Commission. The Great Commission to GO to the ends of the earth,; to spread the Good News. Doubts arise as we live out our lives. We have questions. We don’t understand. We become frustrated. ...

Certainty...people crave or at least desire to know about life, to have definitive answers. We think and we feel this will make us safe. We want to know where we stand. We want to know what is going to happen. Clearly at this time people crave it. One question often posed “Tell us when the churches will be open!” People want a definite date. Then the anger comes, from a few, when the response, the only response, is “When we can, when it is safe for all people.” The reality is, in this mysterious world of which we are mere creatures, very little is certain. We have very very little control over anything.  Sure there are little things that will be certain; like the rain will fall down, not up; the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. These are facts though, based on natural laws.  Imagine though the wonder of waking up one day, and the sun rose from the west, from behind the sierra? Or water on our ground, formed droplets and went up? Imagine if we...

I was a very picky eater as a child. I only would eat certain things, usually quite plain things. For example, I only ate pepperoni pizza; nothing else better not be on that pizza.  I don’t think it wasn’t until college that I experimented; mushrooms, peppers, thick crust, thin crust. Now, except for the evil of pineapple, I like a lot of different varieties of pizza. Variety is the spice of life, so they say.  Variety comes through imagination and adaptability; because there is a need to adapt to new situations and to new experiences.  Adaptability helps us to respond and grow. Remaining in the same way, same place, same attitude brings stagnation. It limits us. It is adaptability that fueled our evolution.  And Imagine if pizza was only just a tomato paste and pepperoni? Most of us have grown and changed since we were young. Even our young people change and adapt now.  This also applies to our religious lives, our faith lives too.  We have to adapt ...

As a Vocational Director one of the questions I get asked when someone comes to me about the possibility of becoming a Priest is “How do I know?” “What signs does God give?” I smile. When I meet with couples preparing for the Sacrament of Matrimony one of the questions I ask each is “Why do you want to marry him or her?” I almost always make the guy go first so that he can’t “Borrow” from the gal. And I hear wonderful things. “She/He is so kind, so generous, so loving, etc. He/She makes me want to be better. I trust him/her.” I smile. People come to me seeking guidance. They try to understand their path. They have a decision to make and they want an answer; often they ask “Father, what am I supposed to do?” I smile. Discernment, it is a wonderful part of our Tradition and our Spirituality. Discernment is to seek our path in life. It is to make choices.  This is beyond a call to religious life or vocation and marriage; discernment really applies to aspects o...