Gospel, Homily and Coffee

What is a life with God like? I remember asking my therapist “when do I “Graduate” from therapy”? Meaning how do I know when I am done. He, in a very Socratic way, asked me what I think it will be. I pondered it, and said I will be like a stone buddha, impervious to all the mess of life; just kind of fat and happy.  He laughed. He laughed at me. And then proceeded to tear down that fantasy and replace it with reality. Best - worst thing to ever happen to me. I think all want an idyllic life, or some semblance of that life. We want the perfect family and spouse; the perfect household, the perfect job, the perfect parish, pastor and parishioners, and bishop. All is well, nothing bad happens. Nothing bad in the wishing. In fact, the story of the Buddha was that as a young boy his father sought to prevent any suffering for his child. He was never allowed to see sick or aging persons, never allowed any kind of grief, sadness, all his wants and needs were taken care of. He was ...

There is an old adage, a saying, echoed by philosophers known as the Rolling Stones, “we may not get what we want, but we may get what we need.” All of us will experience moments of choice, or transition, of crises. We will face disillusionment, betrayal, heartbreak. We will see our well thought out plans dissolve, goals no longer obtainable. We will face health issues for ourselves, and our loved ones. In our day and age there is no shortage of crises, choices, struggles, challenges. What seems to be lacking is a vision, a way beyond. I've been there; I would guess most of as adults have. I also see our young persons struggling too. We get to a point and we SEE no way through, or we are locked into a way of life. We see what we think we want; but it is not what we may need. And yet these moments can also be one of the most powerful moments, life-changing. We can move from death to life; from want to need. If we will only be open to a new way. If we will trust. Jesus faces a cr...

Character development, in literature or movies, character development is essential. Literature and movies will introduce main characters by setting a stage for them, setting up the “why”. It will hook us into the story that needs to be told. Think of Luke, in the first Star Wars movie. We first see him on that desert planet, working for his uncle and aunt, but then looking off to a sunset. Brilliant way of saying this “small town”boy is destined for something.  We can think of "Pride and Prejudice"; Lizzie’s character we learn is an intelligent and strong woman; maybe a bit too headstrong, but we are charmed by her and follow her narrative. We learn the characters by their interaction or even introduction by others. Sacred Scripture uses this too. We follow a narrative, a story line to get to know the character. In the Old Testament, the story of David begins decades before he comes onto the scene. It begins with the prophet Samuel’s conception and childhood, then prog...

A couple times a year there are those moments when I am exposed to the mountains, or to the desert, or to some extraordinary Nevadan vista; and I say “This, this is why I do not live in Ohio.”  Also a couple times a year it seems I get this comment: “Father, I don’t need to come to church. I go to the mountains and find God.” Learning and learning new things or learning how to do something keeps us alive, alert and engaged. Our brains and hearts need that stimulation. How does this happen?  Think about learning to cook, or even expanding our ability to cook; we try new recipes, we make our family and friends test subjects. Which means we really do cook; we do not simply read the recipe and say, humm this is nice.  Or learning Pickleball, right? We can watch it, read the rules and regs, but the real fun is when we get that paddle and start hitting that ball and earning points and defeating our opponents; and getting that heart rate up a bit!  Those who are educato...

Why was the Son of God born as human? Philosophers, theologians, thinkers looking at our contemporary culture; examining aspects of the violence, the turn towards fringe groups, conspiracies, the rise of pornography, social media et al, addictions, rates of depression, narcissism… find that loneliness/alienation plays an important part, if not a vital cause for so much.  Ironic that in a time when we can talk with people on a video who live on the other side of the world, we can feel so disconnected from others. This disconnect not only is people without people, but people will feel there is nothing in the universe; it is simply cold, material, a nihilism.  And because we do not feel or experience that intimacy, that connection, we try to find it, or make meaning in groups that we seemingly offer it: gangs, white supremacists, nationalists…and at times others will take advantage of this.  Or because we feel like nothing, everyone also is nothing too, and therefore those...

NOW that I have a full church and a captive audience, we are going to have a Catholic Religious Education class…somewhat.  A definition, the best definition that I can think of, although there are a couple of others, A, the Best definition of a Sacrament is…A visible sign of an invisible reality. I will repeat, A visible sign of an Invisible reality…now you repeat it back… Catholics have this wonderful theology, this spirituality of sacraments. When we ponder sacraments more and more, this spirituality gives us an amazing concept about life, the world and us. We can even understand our connection to God at a deeper level. What our definition of Sacraments tells us is that within our reality of senses; taste, smell, feel, touch, hear…there is also a reality underneath it all that sustains it; an invisible but yet very, very potent invisible reality that becomes known through visible signs. Baptism we use water and the words “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the So...

King Ahaz was quite the person. He was King of Judah, and during his reign two other kings had come to him from Israel and Damascus, wanting to form an alliance against Assyria. Assyria being the rising power in the region. Ahaz does not know what to do; what are his choices? Isaiah the Prophet comes to him and says to trust in God. God will grant anything for Ahaz. Ahaz feigns piety and humility, but he is in reality not pious nor humble. Still God offers him a path; even though Ahaz defers and deflects. Ahaz needs to trust in God’s plan.  What will happen is that Ahaz will not trust God: in fact, he will go behind these kings’ backs and do something that will protect himself only. He forms an alliance with Assyria who will ultimately defeat and conquer these two kingdoms. Yet, the cost will be that Ahaz becomes subservient to Assyria, and he will even change the worship of God to match Assyria’s, and will also sacrifice to their idols. Imagine Joseph and what he experi...