Gospel, Homily and Coffee

A Zen tale. Once when a spiritual teacher and his disciples began their evening meditation, the cat who lived in the monastery made such noise that it distracted them. So the teacher ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening practice.  Years later, when the teacher died, the cat continued to be tied up during the meditation session. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the monastery and tied up. Centuries later, learned descendants of the spiritual teacher wrote scholarly treatises about the religious significance of tying up a cat for meditation practice. What customs, habits, practices, rituals do any of us have in our homes, in our lives; ones that maybe we have gotten so familiar with we have forgotten the why we do it, we just simply do it? Sometimes these become part of our coping mechanism.  Watching Rafael Nadal serve can be maddening; he has this long involved pattern before he will serve. But, also that helps him to focus, and let’...

We know in the Catholic Church, especially in the United States but also in other European Countries, there are some challenges. One challenge is that people are leaving the practice of the faith. That is the very obvious one. There are a litany of reasons as to why. Another challenge too, people demand the faith change their own needs and their own ideas rather than let themselves be changed, grow or be transformed. They seek to remake Jesus and the faith to conform to their own views. The results of this are division, disintegration and death. Why do we remain as believers of Jesus Christ? Why would we allow ourselves to be changed, grow and transformed? I joke sometimes; I am one of 7 kids and the only one that still goes to mass. I go because I get paid to go to mass. I admit there are days, moments when I ask myself is this all worth it? Moments of doubts and anger; sadness; loneliness; moments when I am challenged in my ways. Moments when I become disappointed in the inst...

John of Patmos, author of the book of Revelations, was sentenced to exile on the island of Patmos for being Christian. This was done by the Roman civil authorities amid a persecution of Christians. John probably was despondent and fearful and then he had this vision. If read superficially, it may seem violent, weird, but it is ultimately about hope and trust. John hopes that even as Christians struggle to birth the faith into a hostile world, God will win and this world will be transformed. NOT DESTROYED, but transformed and healed. As the Church, some 2000 years later, we celebrate hope. Hope as signified in this and every Eucharist and in the sacrament. Hope signified by the feast day we have today, the Feast of the Assumption. Let’s face it, we will have bad days, weeks, months, and maybe even years. We struggle with our health, with our relationships, with our finances etc.   It weighs us down. We do our best to do what is good and right; we try to be caring, givin...