Gospel, Homily and Coffee

The movie “Parenthood” an old old film from 1989 starred Steve Martin as the uptight, but very worried and concerned father. He struggles with what he thinks a good parent is; and in this struggle creates tension with his family. The cathartic moment comes when utter chaos happens in a school play and everyone around him laughs, but he, initially horrified, finally gets it and engages in the chaos and the humor and laughs. Always committed to family, but he needed the humility and the flexibility to be truly engaged in his family. When we priests get together we swap stories. The even older guys also share the infamous stories of days gone by; especially how certain priests after the Vatican II council and the changes that occurred resisted and hated those changes, and just became grumpy mean guys, even yelling at other priests at mass. They were committed, but lacked humility and flexibility. Their days did not end in joy, but in bitterness. Couples married for years and with jo...

Last week I used physics in my homily and someone challenged me to include string theory. I said I could do it. But don’t worry, not in this homily. BUT…  Wherever you are, reach out and touch something; hold onto it. What do you hold? Now, what if I were to tell you that you are not actually touching anything. That in reality at the very very very small level, the electrons that form the atoms on your skin are reacting to the electrons on the atoms of the object you are trying to touch and there is space between them. There is actually no physical contact with the object.  Freaky eh? Now, on the day to day it really doesn’t matter. But still, the reality that we perceive is not always the fullness of the reality that exists. This is a very Catholic sensibility by the way. Think of the definition of a sacrament: a visible sign of an invisible reality. We believe that through objects and words a deeper reality is being communicated to us. A Reality that is much greate...

Physicists for decades have searched for the great theory of everything. They seek to explain how the material universe is connected, from the very very small of the quantum particle to the greatest size of all, the known universe. It challenges them. They believe in the unity of the universe, but do not know how to express it. They believe since as Fr. George Lemaitre, a Belgian Catholic Priest and Physicist theorized that the Universe began from a single point of extreme energy and density. We humans crave unity as well, do we not? We crave it in our relationships with those we love. We wish for it among our connections in the community and in the world. We are social animals, even the best introvert among us, desire union with others, or at least an other. This craving, almost a constant craving, forms our music and art. Think of the longing in our music, this ache of wanting to be connected. And then there is the other part that forms our music and art,,,when unity fails, ...

Decision making…not always the easiest thing to do or accomplish. And that is just on our own and what we want for breakfast, or whether we give into the dark side and place pineapple on our pizza (Don’t!).  Then add in decision making with a group of people over something that becomes more important and has an effect on even more people… Remember the series “The Good Place”? It was a brilliant show on so many levels. One level was about ethics and how we make choices and live them out. Chidi, the professional ethicist of the group, used to be paralyzed in his decision making because he would go through all the possible outcomes but never be able to make a decision. It was in part why he was not actually not sent to “the Good place.” Spoiler alert. How do we make decisions? What forms the basis of our ethics? Our morality? Probably most of us have never thought about it, yet we all have a system of ethics. We become inculcated in a system as children, passed along through ...

In the 2nd Reading from Revelation, did we notice something? A popular misconception is that this book talks about a future end of the world. Yet it never speaks of the destruction; yes, trial and tribulation, but the end is that Heaven and Earth are one. The Heavenly city of Jerusalem comes down to Earth, they are one. And John does not speak necessarily of a future, but of a reality that was taking place in his time. He was speaking about the rise of the Christian faith and those who believed in the message of Jesus Christ, the Son of God come down from Heaven. He spoke of the faith of disciples. God’s great will and plan have always been the unity of Heaven and Earth, the spiritual and the material. God created humanity to help fulfill this plan; but humanity has rejected it and many of us still do so. It is the “Original Sin”. Almost two years ago we embarked on a process of transforming the culture of our parish, called “Belonging leads to Believing”. We build up community,...

My therapist who helped me gain control over depression taught me a valuable lesson about voices, especially those in my head. He said that my voice and God’s voice will speak from the heart with clear language. Other voices that are not mine will always use “should” or its variants (ought). It was a major step for me. I have asked this question and it has been asked of me many times…how do we hear Jesus, how do we hear the voice of God? 99.9999999999% of the time it is not an audible voice, but a pull, an intuition towards goodness.  Not easiness, but goodness. The cross was not easy, but it was good. Jesus will speak the voice that says “Forgive. Trust. Accept forgiveness. You are loved.”  These do not come in mystical visions, or apparitions, but often in those moments of decision. “What do I need and/or want to do?”  And we have to practice listening to Jesus. The more we stop ourselves, really try to make the effort to listen to him and hear his voice, the ...

Ever long for simpler days? When Life gets confusing, seemingly difficult, hard to figure out? Ahh, why can’t we go to simpler times, when everything made sense and we thought we had it easier.  Of course, it means looking back with a bias, forgetting that maybe back in the day, it wasn’t so fine. We just conveniently forgot all the unfortunate stuff. Adulting can be difficult.  We have responsibilities and duties; many have those little ones that insist on being fed, clothed, taken to various events, want clean sheets, tucked in. We have doctor appointments, aging parents, friends whom we want to spend time with, priests making demands of time and money….. Parishioners making demands of time and money. Bosses and employees, groceries, cleaning, bills, repairs, chores…CALGON take me away!!!!!!      Add to the mix, we don’t always get life correct. We make mistakes. None of us like this, and for some, getting past mistakes can be really difficult. We feel ...