tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81655281032063887502024-03-13T06:53:09.230-05:00 Missionary By Our Very Nature Reclaiming the Church's Missionary IdentityFather Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-88349164226764099402015-05-03T10:30:00.001-05:002015-05-03T10:30:22.220-05:00Being Homesick at Home--Homily for this Weekend<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“I am the vine, you are
the branches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever remains in me and
I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Today we have the
privilege as a community to celebrate the sacrament of baptism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, it is true, that baptisms are wonderful
moments in the life of our community, in the life of the family who is
involved, and especially for the person receiving baptism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s also a bit strange, if we think
about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a few minutes, we will
embrace this child, Benedict, as a community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A child that is quite cute and precious like all children are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we will admit something quite strange and
countercultural:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that actually, excuse
me Andrew and Julia, despite how precious your child is, there is something
about him that is a bit flawed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I
mean, is that somewhere underneath all the cuteness of who Benedict is, there
exists that presence of original sin that will one day make him do the things
he does not want to do: question his faith, turn his back on you, choose the
wrong door, and wrestle with questions of life inside of him, and perhaps even
struggle with the reality of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">But he will not be any
different from any of us sitting here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
it is the same condition that sadly faces us all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are in the least bit reflective, we
know, that something inside of us just isn’t quite right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a pull inside of us to do the things
we don’t want to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">However</i>, recognizing original sin and
its consequences should not be a moment of panic or despair for any of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I would propose, in good company,
that it can be a moment for us to rejoice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because it is, paradoxically in many ways, the reality of this sin that
warrants and invites us to long for something so much more:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for a deeper relationship with the Vine, with
Jesus, in whom we can all bear much fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">It was reflecting on the
reality of the fallenness of the world and of his own fallen humanity that G.K.
Chesterton, a 20<sup>th</sup> century theologian, actually, quite surprisingly,
found tremendous joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his own
experience of conversion, documented in his book entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orthodoxy</i>, Chesterton, commented on his own feelings of being out
of place in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“The modern philosopher
had told me again and again that I was in the right place [in this world], and
I had still felt depressed even in acquiescence [to the philosopher’s advice].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I heard [from Christianity] that I was in
the wrong place, and my soul sang for joy, like a bird in spring. I now knew
why I could feel homesick at home.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">In Benedict’s baptism,
there is something admitted by all of us who are here today that has roots in
the one to which he is named after, St. Benedict:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there is always going to be a tension for us who
live in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a tension
between, on the one hand, belonging to the world and enjoying and transforming
what it offers to us. And, on the other hand, the knowledge that what can be
offered to us in this world is not the entire story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That we are called into a relationship with a
loving God that transforms every moment of every day of every action that we
experience:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it is a relationship that
brings eternity into our existence of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">I think this is what Jesus
is trying to explain to us all today in the Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is true that we can accomplish a lot of
things apart from explicit recognition of God, and still experience some kind
of joy in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There still remains
enough goodness in nature that allows even the most avid atheist to love in
some manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The beauty of the flowers
will still be beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The taste of an
ice-cold Trippel will still satisfy our thirst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The smell of grass can still awaken our senses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can still hope to find love among the
people around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all of this can be
placed in the scales and found wanting:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>for it cannot compare to our experience of life when we are in a
relationship with Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">In him, the flowers become
even more beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In him, beer is
filled with even more flavor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In him, the
smell of grass goes from being something earthly to heavenly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in him, our love is transformed from merely
human efforts to being something almost divine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Today, Benedict will
receive the forgiveness of original sin, he will enter the door to the sacred,
he will become ontologically changed, he will be joined to people both living
and dead in the one Body of Christ, he will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
that will remain with him in both the brightest and darkest moments of his
life, he will be given charisms that only time will begin to show how
magnificent they are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">But above all, I think, he
will be brought into a relationship with a community that will sustain him for
the rest of his life, and a savoir whose love has no competitors, whose
sacrifice ended all sacrifice, whose intimacy transcends all intimacy, and
whose life was given so that all of us, including Benedict, can now be called
children of God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">In the earnest desire of
his parents, with the basic elements of water and oil, with the utterance of
human words, another life is united with the Vine that it may bear much fruit,
both now, and for eternity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-80958698938262560912015-04-28T03:52:00.000-05:002015-04-28T03:52:04.829-05:00The Inclusivity and Exclusivity of Christ<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is painful to be excluded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being involved in youth ministry over the
years I often had a heart for the kids that did not quite seem to fit in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were the last to be picked for an
activity, they often did not have a partner when our program called for it, and
they sometimes found themselves awkwardly alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
situation was even sadder when I would find out that people were being excluded
because of the exclusivity of the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For arbitrary reasons, kids were deciding that others should be left
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so they were.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lest we think we are much better though, we all know that in
society arbitrary exclusivity has wreaked havoc on many lives:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>women were excluded from voting, blacks were
excluded from being fully human, and Jews were excluded from being human at
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in the Church we have not been
much better at times; we all know what it can be like to go to a new community
week after week and never be acknowledged by anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worse, many people feel that in the Church they
simply cannot find a home:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>whether
because of their past, their family, or because they have been hurt. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Now
all of these kinds of exclusivity are an abomination and need to be overcome at
all times, especially by people of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we are to be an evangelizing community it is our job to be
hospitable, especially keeping an eye out for those people who seem to be
excluded by false notions of exclusivity, those people on the margins of
society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>With this being said, I think it is important to mention the
other side of the coin:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that
perhaps in our efforts to overcome exclusivity, we—meaning modern society—have
taken inclusivity too far, and this has been detrimental to our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So priests give homilies in order to not
offend anyone, people place aside parts of the Tradition in order to make
others a bit more comfortable, and theologians even work their best to prune
the particularity, the exclusivity of Christ, so that he becomes just one more
good historical person, but certainly not a savior, and certainly not God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Yet
I believe this is truly detrimental to our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For as we see in the scriptures today:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>our faith is grounded exclusively on the
exclusivity of Jesus being the Christ, and it is the uniqueness, the
inimitability, the exceptionality and the particularity of Jesus that allows us
to truly be a inclusive community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We can
only be loving, we can only be hospitable, we can only be inclusive, because of
who Jesus is.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And so who is this Jesus?</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first
reading, we see that he is the one who offers healing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the crowds were amazed at the healing of
the crippled man, Peter had one answer for them that should be the same answer
we speak today:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was in the name of
Jesus Christ the Nazorean, whom God raised from the dead:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in his name this man stands before you
healed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And healing comes from no other
place, even today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we are sick and are
plagued with problems and struggling to survive and filled with horrors and our
soul is bogged down:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in the name
of Jesus Christ the Nazorean where we can be healed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in no other name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And it
is because we have been healed, in body and soul, that we can extend that
healing to others, to love the sinner, recognize the goodness in others,
welcome the stranger, and be the inclusive community that we are called to be.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">But who else is our savior?</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the second
reading today we see that he is the one through which we can all be called
God’s children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lest we forget the
reality of sin, that once we were all far off, that once we rejected, over and
over again the hand in covenant that God has given us, that once God became man
in order to unite us with himself once and for all—and we rejected him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lest we forget that even though rejected that
same God-man took to the cross, died and rose again to set us free and unite us
once again with the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No other
person, deity, god, idol, religion, system, philosophy can offer us this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in Jesus Christ that we can now be
called children of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in no
other name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And being children of God means that we are all connected, that we are
all drawn together into one family as the People of God: and therefore the
exclusive adoption that comes exclusively through Christ is what constitutes us
as an inclusive family, as brothers and sisters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">But who else is our savior?</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Gospel
we see that he is the Good Shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like that ancient icon painted on a wall in the dark dungeons of the
catacombs in Rome, Christ has from the beginning been our Good Shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When each of us is that ‘one sheep’ who goes
astray he leaves the 99 in order to seek us out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we are un-deserving of his mercy and
stink with the filth of sheep he sets out in search of our souls. When we run
from him to carry out our own will, when we think we are autonomously
constituted, when we move onto the wrong path and follow the broad way, he is
there with his crook and his staff to bring us back to his embrace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he alone is the good shepherd, for he
alone had the ability to lay down his life freely for his sheep, and he alone
had the freedom to raise it up again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was in him and only him that we who were once far off were brought back to his
love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And it is only because of him, that we too can search for lost sheep to
bring them home to God’s inclusive love.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It
is true that there can be elements of truth in goodness outside the visible
structures of the Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet they are
derived from only one source.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only
in the exclusivity of Jesus as the Christ, the savior, that truth, goodness and
beauty are once again made available to the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when asked by skeptics and hopeful
secularists and zealous haters of religion how it is possible for all of
humanity to be gathered together in one inclusive family, hopefully we have the
courage to say as Peter did:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">There
is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only in Jesus can we be saved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-91643671805288738442015-03-08T14:46:00.000-05:002015-03-08T14:46:58.127-05:00Relationships are Tough: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Let’s
be honest here:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>relationships are
tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are born into families without
our choosing, and we are called to be in familial relationships with people who
sometimes, well, we feel like we could just punch them out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
make friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are lucky we make
one or two good ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And these are
people who really, really know us. But these relationships take a lot of
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when we feel we know someone,
and there seems to be no strings attached, we can still get hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
most often the pain is worth it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
for some of us we marry or join a religious community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are amazing moments where it seems like
everything is perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there are
moments where we sometimes wonder how we got into these relationships in the
first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">For
most priests the experience of the first few years of priesthood is an
education in how complicated and difficult relationships are for people—for
themselves included.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tears are shed,
people are let down, and yet we still continue to move towards others, for it
is how we have been created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
been created to be with others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
readings we encounter today show us that we have a God who knows how hard
relationships can be for us—just how hard it is for us to love other
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Since
the time of the Fall God has been working to guide his people into right
relationships:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not only with him, but
also with each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gave us the Ten
Commandments, as we see in the first reading, as an expression of love to help us
discern how we are supposed to act in relationships. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How we are to love God; and how we are to love
each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
yet it is still so tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though we
know the way to act, we still can’t seem to get it right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oftentimes, it is not the short-term
relationships that are the most difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is the relationships where we are invested: the relationships where
we are committed for the long term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
my experience getting to know married couples from all around the world, there
always seems to be two different kinds of couples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now both clearly have their issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have had moments of darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had moments where they could not stand
the other person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They love as best as
they can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But their relationships still
pick up baggage along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
difference, though, between the two types of couples was almost always
this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>some are able to work towards
healing, shedding the baggage that has accumulated along the way; and some are
not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those that work through the healing
have their relationships purified and strengthened, and have a deep, abiding
love that mirrors God’s own love for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those who do not drift further and further apart, until the bitterness
and discord have simply become too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
think this is part of what happened between the Israelites and God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The relationship God continued to try to
renew with his people had just become too filled with hardship, discord, and
problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of the actions of
Israelites, there was too much baggage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
Jesus had to come to purify this relationship—to create it anew. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
the Gospel today we see Jesus doing exactly what he was sent to do: he is purifying
the relationship between Israel and their God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a forceful, zealous and even crazy way he is driving the impurities and
the struggles and the hardships and the pain away from the from their
relationship, by cleansing the temple, to bring about something new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is helping Israel to get rid of its
baggage, and to see that something new could be offered through him: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that no matter what had taken place between
God and his people, the relationship could still be healed and purified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
are in the midst of the Lenten season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
of our Lenten traditions is to be purified, to drive out those things that we
have accumulated that negatively affect our relationships:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not only in our relationship with God, but in
our relationship with others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lent is about clearing out the obstacles,
confronting the pain, healing the hurts, making something new out of something
that perhaps has become old, tired, and in need of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
so I invite then, each of us here today, to consider doing the following two
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will not be easy by any
means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But just as God from almost the beginning of
time has called us to be reconciled to him and each other, he still invites us
to do the same today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">First</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">, I want to speak to all
of us here who are sons or daughters:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>this should include us all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
all have different experiences with our parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some not so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people’s experiences have probably been
more painful than others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I would
invite us to consider the following:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>find sometime during Lent to repair the relationships with your parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some this might just be simply saying we
are sorry for something that we have done to hurt them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For others, it might mean something much,
much more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps offering forgiveness
for being hurt. For some this might be nearly impossible. In the end, it might
just be saying a prayer for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we are able, during this Lent, to find
a small way to heal this relationship—then purity might be brought into our
lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Second</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">, I want to speak to the
married couples here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I of course don’t
know first hand what it means to be married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t claim to know the joys and the struggles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t claim to have many answers at all.
But I have had the chance to work with couples in many different stages of
life. And I would like to make just one suggestion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either before this Lent is over or sometime
as soon as possible for you all to do this one thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Find
a way to get away from the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether
you can make it an entire evening away, or just one long afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go somewhere where it can be just you and
your spouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turn off the phones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turn off the TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turn off the computers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then sit together, close, and hold each
other’s hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look into each other’s
eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then taking turns, one of you say
just a few ways in which over the last year you have been hurt by your
spouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not about making your
spouse feel guilty or bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not
about winning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is about being honest.
As the one speaks the other just listens:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>no defense, no rebuttal; just listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When your spouse is finished, then if you are able, simply
apologize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Say you are sorry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then allow the other person to do the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">When
you have finished take the opportunity to purify your marital love in the
perfect way that God has given you to purify that love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
all know that relationships are tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Loving is tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we have
a God of reconciliation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a God
who purifies us, and purifies our relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We
have a God with the words of everlasting life.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-517368567519010222015-02-18T12:52:00.002-06:002015-02-18T12:52:33.566-06:00Ash Wednesday 2015<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">On
a dirt floor inside a scrap metal hut a girl of just 14 lies exposed and open
as her clammy, convulsing customer tears himself off of her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A tear of desperation forces its way through
her duct; but she will not let it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So she grits her teeth and kills the last sense of dignity that attempts
to touch her soul. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She and her brothers
will eat tonight and that’s all that matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the world looks on in silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">A
child of just 2 months screams in hunger as his ribs rack his very skin
stretching it to the point of tearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That skin longs for nourishment; but no nourishment will come from the
arid breast of his malnourished mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The heart that protrudes from his chest beating for a chance to live
will soon beat its last. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the world
looks on in silence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Somewhere
in the Western world an old woman walks the lonely streets at dusk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For five years now no one has as much as
recognized her existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She will soon
give the world what it wants as she fades into the shadows of the streets to
disappear forever under the drip of an I.V. hastening the last responsibility
that has been yanked from the hands of a dying God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the world looks on in silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Yet,
perhaps not so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For what begins as just
a soft melody, a faint sound in the distance, gains force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What once was barely perceptible now becomes
audible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the sound of a trumpet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A trumpet being blown from the tops of spires,
belfries, domes and towers throughout the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From St. Peters to St. Patrick’s to St.
Kwinten’s to Notre Dame the watchmen sound the horn as the Christian community
rises together from its slumber to say “no more.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No more” to death, “no more” to hunger, “no
more” to lost innocence, “no more” to violence, “no more” to objectification, “no
more” to sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The simultaneous shout
from the Church united this evening, this Ash Wednesday, from around the world disrupts
the march of evil that has been prowling for too long. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">So
we rise and proclaim a fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fast
from the banality of pop culture and the senseless streams of Netflix
binges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fast from the protruding
poses of Internet pornography and our wasteful habits of consuming without
care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fast from our hasty judgments
and our petty preferences and our murderous gossip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when</i>
we hunger with lust inside for those things which are no longer ours we
remember in solidarity the hunger which took the life of the child in his
mother’s arms, we remember the hunger for justice of the girl who simply wanted
to be just a girl, we remember the hunger for hope and recognition of the
elderly woman who no longer walks the streets, and we remember that somehow we
too are implicated in all of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Yes,
we too are implicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam’s blood runs
through our blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam’s blood which implicates
us in the evil that continues to exist in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The very blood that spilled out from Cain’s
murderous lust towards Abel that has polluted the world ever since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blood that invites the screams and howls
of the world longing for something more, for redemption, for freedom from
slavery and sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blood that makes
us say with St. Paul that “What I do, I do not understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For I do not do what I want, but I do what I
hate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
the blood of Adam is not the only blood in our veins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not the only blood that has been
spilled out on this earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For there is
another’s blood that drowns out the drip of the I.V. in the shadows of the
night. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the blood of our savior who
gave his blood for us, that lamb slain upon the altar as the world looked on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the blood that we drink this
evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this blood flows in our
veins too, flowing like a stream from that New Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For we have drank from the one chalice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chalice of blessing, the cup of
everlasting life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore our hearts
pump not just malice and hatred, they pump love and mercy and sacrifice and
peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so little by little this
confused concoction in our veins is purified to become a hypostatically
constituted reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is purified to
become like the lamb’s, the lamb who was slain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So our veins pump this blood that has the potential to renew the face of
the earth, to clean the pillar of profanity and the darkness of death and
decay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
so we rend our hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We rend our
hearts to let this blood flow from our chests onto the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That in the rending of our hearts we might
give to the world the priceless alms of eternal life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We rend our hearts to let out the blood of
blessing and let in the feelings of pain that have so long dominated this Earth
that we might hear the cry of the poor and respond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
so we pray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray that this Lent might
be different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray that we might be
changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray that we might rise from
the rubble of our decadence and be restored to something new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray that we might be set free from our
solipsistic selfishness and no longer walk in a wasteland of sin but stand
together as brothers and sisters, ambassadors of Christ, in a shared sacrifice
of praise and thanksgiving. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
we receive the mark on our foreheads. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not the mark of Cain or the mark of the beast,
but the mark of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cross of
ashes on our foreheads is sign of contradiction to the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A sign to a deconstructed world that has
wallowed long enough in its own fruitless flight from reality that now is the
time for redemption—now is the time for a re-constructed Adam and Eve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mark on our foreheads says to the world that
this night things will be different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This night things will change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This night I will try my best to live the calling that was given to me
in my baptism; and should I fail I will rise again from the ashes absolved to
live yet another day for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
the trumpets quiet down and the cries cease to exist and the dripping evanesces
there is no utterance on the lips of the world – and no utterance on our lips
either, of “where is your God?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
there is just the sound of bending knees, knees bending from North to South and
East to West, from Heaven to Earth to under the Earth, and a resounding proclamation
that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-56919691110248420922015-02-01T04:04:00.002-06:002015-02-01T04:04:27.711-06:00Does the Church Still Have a Prophetic Voice?<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">During
his trip to the Philippines, Pope Francis said this about Blessed Paul VI in
regards to the controversial 1968 encyclical <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Humanae Vitae</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“In
a moment of that challenge of the growth of populations, he had the strength to
defend openness to life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“He
looked to the peoples beyond. He saw the lack and the problem that it could
cause families in the future. Paul VI was courageous. He was a good pastor, and
he warned his sheep about the wolves that were approaching, and from the
heavens he blesses us today.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
a small, but not insignificant way, the pope called Blessed Paul VI a prophet—one
who was willing to stand up in the midst of discord, as a minority, and speak the
prophetic word of God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
we all know the reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter which
statistics one chooses to cite, it is clear that most of the Western world does
not regard Paul VI as a prophet in this particular stance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, many people attempt to live the
ideal offered by the church. Some even struggle and fail, but virtuously try
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for the most part, the
church’s teaching on contraception is viewed as one small mistake in her
deposit of faith and morals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
this homily today is not about contraception. It’s not about making people feel
guilty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is not my intention at
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This homily is about raising some
questions for us in regards to today’s readings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Who
are the prophets of our time?</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
Blessed Paul VI was not a prophet, and if Saint John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and
now Pope Francis were wrong too in seeing him as a prophet:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>where are the prophets in our day? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
the first reading today we hear Moses addressing his people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After being a prophetic voice to his people
who consistently denied him, who complained, and who questioned him, Moses
makes a promise to the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says
that the Lord will raise up prophets for them after he goes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord will place his words into their mouths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These prophets will convey to them what God
wants them to hear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This
promise was fulfilled down through the ages with various, courageous voices who
spoke out even when they were ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It continued, of course, until the appointed time when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the</i> Prophet came to the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Prophet who spoke with power and
authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Prophet who spoke with
both firmness and condemnation, but also with mercy, compassion and by his
example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Prophet who was the truth,
and held up that truth on the cross for the world to see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
where is the prophetic Jesus today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
one sense he has left us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his
Ascension he has returned to Heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
could we believe that he would leave us without guidance?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would he leave us to wander this life of exile
without knowing what to do, how to act, where to turn?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even less than perfect parents desire for
their kids to go through life with at least some guidance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much more would our Heavenly Father
desire to guide us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so Jesus let the
truth be discerned within his Church by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s what any good parent would do if they
could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is what he has done for us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
we have to be honest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know that the
Church is not seen as prophetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At best
the Church is seen to offer good advice that is applicable to some people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it certainly does not speak for all of
humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does not even really speak
for all Catholics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is most often
seen as fallible, weak, sinful, misguided, out of touch, encroaching on our
freedom, and on and on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But if the prophetic
role of the Church is gone, then where do we turn?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For most of us we turn to ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We take it upon ourselves to determine what
is best in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We create and construct
and arrange our own sense of morality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
find some passage in the bible to support our stance, we claim that this is our
context, or we find a theologian or a bishop who will support our own sense of morality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so everyone becomes a prophet, and then
no one is really a prophet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now
there is a very healthy sense that we must personally struggle with all of
these issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must seek to form our
conscience and determine how to act and live our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of that is true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But at the end of the day, when we are quiet
and lying in bed:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are we really that
certain that our own prophetic voice is the one we should follow?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we sleep in peace at night knowing that we
are relying on our own limited knowledge of life and love and justice and truth,
as compared to a Tradition that is promised to serve as our guide and help?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
is obvious that in this homily I am asking a lot more questions than I normally
do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do so treading lightly on this
subject for I know it goes to the heart of so many of our lives as we struggle
to live as Catholics in the Modern world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I am convinced that this is one of the fundamental, decisive issues
for the church today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Does the Church have a prophetic voice? Do
we as Catholics as least make an attempt to follow that voice?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
is a fundamental issue for many reasons, and it bears upon many consequences,
but I will name just three that perhaps we can consider:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">First,
if we laugh in the face of the Church and her teaching, if we slough it off
mockingly as if it is out of touch and wrong, then we laugh in the face of so
many people who have gone before us, and who live with us now, who take the
Church’s guidance seriously. People who have struggled valiantly, but certainly
not perfectly, to live the life that God is calling them to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And these people are our family members—biologically
and spiritually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And family members
don’t treat each other this way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian charity calls us to more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Second,
if we think the prophetic voice of the Church is gone, and we are each left to
ourselves, then it will continue to be nearly impossible to spread the Good
News?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who would want to be part of
something that cannot be distinguished from the world?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Church is just as unclear about how we
are to live our lives as the world is, if the church leaves us to our own
selves to determine what is right and wrong—then why be part of her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When so many people who profess to be
Catholic turn a blind eye to what the church asks of us, this is in the end
what people see—a body of semi-believers of a Tradition that doesn’t offer much
more than can be found in the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is difficult to call this Good News. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Finally,
if we don’t at least attempt with a sincere heart to live what the Church asks—AND
I KNOW HOW HARD THIS IS—I UNDERSTAND THIS IN MY OWN LIFE—what is there to
assure us that we are really following Jesus at all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Jesus is the foolishness to the Greeks;
he is the stumbling block for the Jews; he is the stone rejected by the
builders; he is the suffering servant; he is the flesh beaten down on the
pillar; he is the head hallowed with thorns; he is the friend betrayed by his
loved ones; he is the leader denied by the Rock; he is the king crucified on
the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
he calls us to the same thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His fate
is our fate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His death is our
death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A disciple is not greater than
the master.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following Jesus means the
same end for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we don’t at
least try to live the prophetic voice of the Church even if we fail:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is there to guarantee that we are really
trying to follow a savior who calls all of us to enter into the same sacrificial
and difficult fate as his—to die on a cross in order that we might rise?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
is true that Jesus speaks with authority, that he has the power to cast out
demons, that He has the power to raise us up on the last day:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but we must first be willing to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-91585847008706114512014-12-07T07:08:00.000-06:002014-12-07T07:08:03.864-06:00When the World Fell Asleep: 2nd Sunday of Advent<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Perhaps
the Israelites were just tired. Tired of being chosen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of bearing that burden and responsibility of carrying
the mystery of monotheism to the Nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tired of having to defend themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of persecution and the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired
of the exiles and the traditions and the Passover, of having to remember, to
hear, tired of Shema.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of waiting
for the messiah to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of
waiting still.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Perhaps
Europe is tired too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of its
history and of wars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of being the
cradle of Western civilization:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the apex
of art and music and architecture and philosophy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of councils, of orthodoxy, of parsing
words and defending the faith (and living the faith too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And tired of being chosen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chosen to bear the light of faith <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ad gentes</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps Pope Francis and Benedict before him
are right: Europe is asleep, like a tired old woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sleeping soundly. For being chosen to carry
the truth to the Nations is tiring. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Perhaps
we are tired, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of turning
every corner and having to defend our faith. Tired of the scandals, divisions, of
trying to live up to an ideal that seems so far out of reach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of waking up every morning to be a
parent, of respecting our spouse when he or she is not in the mood, of arguing
for procreation and for marriage and for decency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of living up to a life that we can’t
quite seem to fit into. Tired of being chosen, of trying to be a light here in
the city of Leuven. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
problem is that realized eschatology is not always so glamorous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being a chosen people—if we can call
ourselves that anymore—is not always so easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It requires patience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It requires
service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it requires suffering:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>suffering because the message is so valuable,
service because it is ours to hand on, and patience because we await the
fullness of the promise once given that has not yet come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">But we
are not so good at being chosen</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
we sin and we divide and we excommunicate and we war and we blame and make
excuses and on and on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we
place the ideal aside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are tempted to
water down the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We doubt whether
it is real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we grow tired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even go to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">There
was a moment in my first year as a priest, where after driving up and over the mountaintop
over and over and over again to go to my other parish I just grew tired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of climbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tired of the mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frustrated that the work seemed so
great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saddened that the message was so
beautiful, but so few wanted to hear it. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">But
then Advent came around</b>. The example of John the Baptist rang so true to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t about me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t about my work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t about the mountains nor was it about
my comfort. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was about the one who
came and who is to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was, and is,
about Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
so in the dark, in the quiet hours of the night when the world has gone to
sleep, a voice begins to ring out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
voice of one crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make straight his paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A voice that is like the alarm going off in
the morning when we have been out too late drinking Rochafores:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wake up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Prepare. Your savior comes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make
straight the paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let him in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let him know you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let him love you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
reason that John the Baptist could leave his life and live in the desert,
detested by many, clothed like a crazy man, eating such odd food, and willing
to give up his own life is the one reason that supplies the only solution that
will wake us up, that will wake Europe up, that could wake the Israelites up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HE KNEW THE CHRIST.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knew that Jesus was the one that they had
been waiting for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knew him and he
loved him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
sat on a plane coming back from Rome this last weekend and listened to a
Flemish woman talk on and on and on about the problems in the church until I
was hoping that we would hit some really bad turbulence so as to end the
conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told me of the
problems with the mass, of language—Latin and Dutch and English and French, of
conservatives and of progressives, of priests, of the hierarchy, of the
teachings, of the music…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And don’t get
me wrong many of her complaints were well grounded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But at the end of the day her biggest problem
from what I could see was not all of those things:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it was that she had fallen asleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had fallen asleep to the reality that God
in Jesus Christ has come to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">know her and
love her</b> and only in responding to that relationship could she wake
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that if she just knew Jesus,
then the mountains of her problems with the church, and with the world, and
with everything else would be leveled and she would wake up and be part of the
solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Many
of us sit in classes day in and day out, we read books and research until our
eyes cannot stay open anymore. We are searching, along with so many others, for
something to wake us up from our present context. Some of the best minds in the
world wonder what program will work the best to alleviate suffering, what
structure must be put in place to bring justice, and what model of secularity
will best assure the future of democracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And these questions are important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But these things don’t contain in them that which the world longs
for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These things don’t contain the
answers to a world in need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And these
things will only make us fall into a deeper sleep unless we heed the words of
John today:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Prepare
the way of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make straight his
paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He desires to come to us and to meet us and to
love us. He desires that we know him and meet him and love him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only this will wake us up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only this can make that tremendous burden of
being chosen really possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this
is realized eschatology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the love that God
desires us to feel and know in him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">For
many years the world was asleep in shadows and darkness and then the light on
the horizon shown forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That light woke
up the world and gave us saints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gave
us Mary and her Magnificat and Paul and his pen; it gave us Cecilia and her
song, and Benedict and his book; it gave us Catherine and her consistency and Thomas
and his truth;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gave us Michelangelo
and his masterpieces; Dante and his Divine Comedy, Shakespeare and his Sonnets,
Leonardo and his Last Supper; Bernini and his Baldequino, and it gave us Teresa
and her tenderness, and Pio and his piety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And it can do the same for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
only in Christ does the human person wake up to the fullness once promised so
many years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If
we’ve forgotten what it means to know Jesus, then perhaps this Advent is a moment
for us to remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we’ve perhaps
never fallen in love with him, then maybe this Advent is a time for something new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we have grown tired, perhaps it is time to
wake up, and for us to wake the whole world up, to a savior who has come to set
us free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-49072985213399945172014-11-15T09:44:00.001-06:002014-11-15T09:44:49.064-06:00Rest in Peace, Fr. Jerry Dorn: Homily for the Funeral of a Good Friend and a Great Missioner<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">We all know
that Jerry was creative and had many artistic talents.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">But I think it is safe to say that one could
never really nail down just what kind of artist Jerry was nor could you specify
what medium he usually used.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">There was
paint, to be sure, but there was newspaper, mud, grass, bushes from the yard,
concrete, pinecones, I think you get the picture.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">What made up his artwork was as diverse as his
creativity would lead him.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">His missionary life, as a work of art, was
just as diverse and creative, too.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last night we
heard much about the work of art that was Jerry’s missionary life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to tie some of those memories
and a few more in with the scriptures we heard today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As most of you know I knew Jerry much later
on the scene than many, just after he finished up in the administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think perhaps when I met him he was
entering into a new phase of life:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>one
more of reflection, perhaps a little less energy, a few more health problems,
less mobility, but still filled with joy and a missionary spirit—that spirit
never left him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much of what I share is
actually stories of the way he saw life when reflecting back on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know he had a tendency at times to, well I
don’t want to say exaggerate, but color his stories as they were told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So please forgive me for inaccuracies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think part
of what went into the artwork of Jerry’s life as a missioner would include a
tension between letting go, and in letting go, receiving so much more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He understood this to be: God cannot be
outdone in generosity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
experience of letting go began early in Jerry’s life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told the story often of his first trip to
Glenmary with his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jerry always
said that when they arrived in Cincinnati he was more scared on that day than
maybe ever: scared of what was to be, scared of not knowing, but especially
scared of having to let go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would say
that they drove around the property 3 or 4 times before finally having the
courage to enter the residence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jerry
said his dad knew his fear and said to him:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Give it one year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a year,
if you don’t like it, I will come and pick you up and we will farm and make a
million together.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Jerry chose to let
go, and so much more came<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Letting go
was also part of his novitiate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
time for him of seclusion and solitude. He chose to let go of the world for
that year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In doing so, he found an
abiding love for Jesus and for mission that would stay with him his entire
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The year was so profound that his
family, his parents especially, said the letters he wrote home were the most meaningful
they ever received from him in his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some time
later in Western Kentucky, known then as Brother Jim or BJ, he shared his heart
and joy with the people, but that same heart would be torn open when a scroll
of hundreds of names written as a petition to the president of Glenmary to keep
him in that mission, could not keep him from changing assignments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Driving to Cincinnati with tears in his eyes
he let go, but much more would come. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">And then
there was the Farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New groups coming
in, other groups leaving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With all of the
singing and guitar strumming and decisive volleyball playing, there were many
friends that came and went, lives that were changed forever, but letting go
that had to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">From the
beautiful homes of Connecticut to the prisons of Eastern Kentucky, from the
mountains of Georgia and Tennessee to the hills of Arkansas and St. Meinrad, letting
go but always receiving more produced the piece of art that was Jerry’s missionary
life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">From the
outside one could easily ask why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why go
through the pain of having to let go, over and over again, of being separated,
of loving when you are at first not welcome nor loved, and leaving when no one
wants you to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do this mission
when it is so tough?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">But Jerry had
a deep theology on this. He talked about this a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He understood it in the same way we see in
today’s Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is getting ready
to leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knows he has to go. His
disciples have that hollow feeling of emptiness forming in their hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t want him to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he says that he must.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that if he does, they can be assured that
he will be waiting for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that
the spirit will come in his place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
his leaving there will always be something more given.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">But believing
Jesus’ words requires faith, and it requires trust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For us in the midst of our loss this day it
might not be so easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But perhaps
thinking back on our memory of Jerry can give insight into how we can make
sense of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For if there is another
element that went into the work of art that was Jerry’s missionary life, it
would be the faith and trust he had in both God, and in others, something that
was an example to so many of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are
people here who probably were once 50 feet up in a tree or on a cliff listening
to Jerry yell up to them:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Trust a
brother, Trust a brother” as they prepared to repel down to the ground below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">And trust was
important for Jerry, too, serving on the Council or serving with others in the
mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would always want to check
in and see how the group was doing, to be honest even if it hurt, but to always
hang there when times were tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">When Jerry
was elected to the administration he often said that deep down inside he
wondered how people could have so much confidence in him to do that job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He actually went back home and asked his
parents this very question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Mom and
dad,” he said, “why do people keep trusting me with these different responsibilities?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a long period of silence his mother
responded:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“when people sit across from
you they think that you truly understand them, and that they can trust you,
through and through.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Perhaps that
is the way that most of us have been affected by Jerry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His ability to sit down and listen for hours,
sometimes all through the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
when he listened to you, you pretty much knew that you were loved and that
there was at least one other person in this world who knew you, and you could
trust him to love you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is this
kind of trust and faith that Paul is inviting the Romans, as well as us, to
consider today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can be so hard for us
to trust in this world. It can be especially difficult in a time like
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Paul says that we can trust
God’s love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And absolutely nothing can
separate us from that love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of us
learned that trust and love from Jerry and so we can believe that the same is
possible in God, along with so much more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The last element
that I would like mention that I think went into the piece of art that was Jerry’s
missionary life was that of joyful, faithful commitment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I want to say
to his family here today:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know you
know this, but he was so committed to you all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He talked about you all constantly, he hung up every picture he received
around that beautiful portrait of his parents, of your parents: Mr. and Mrs.
Dorn, next to his mother’s rosary and his father’s wrench.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He prayed for you all in so many Masses,
uniting you all to Jesus in the Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the foundation of joy and commitment he learned from you all he
carried with him into every assignment he had. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The last year
or so of Jerry’s life while he was living in East Tennessee he told me often of
how happy he was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He found in that house
on the hill a place of quiet and peace where he could reflect on what he had
experienced and learned over his 50 plus years as a missioner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said that the overwhelming feeling that
kept coming back to him in the quiet of his heart was thankfulness to God for
his call to missionary life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">To us
Glenmarians and to others who knew Jerry, his commitment was no less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He loved this community to the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would often mention that we were certainly
a wild and crazy group of missioners, and that for all practical reasons there
is no way we should still be going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
he believed that God wanted and wants us to continue on—to continue to spread
the love of Christ to those most in need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To continue doing what he joyfully tried to do for over 50 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He always said that it was important to him
to stay committed as a priest and committed to his Glenmary Oaths until his
death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well that
time has come now for Jerry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The piece
of art that was his missionary life is complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">And now he waits
for us in that banquet of heaven (and he is probably telling God how to prepare
the food, but of course eating it, too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our work as missioners is not yet complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But with the help of grace we will one day be
united with Jerry in that Heavenly banquet with the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sure we will be singing Alleluia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But probably also, “Hey its good, to be back
home again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes this old farm,
feels like a long lost friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey its
good to be back home again.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-52476882128166967202014-10-19T07:07:00.000-05:002014-10-19T07:07:27.529-05:00The Family Rendering Unto God What is God's<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If
we render unto God what is God’s, what is left for Caesar?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
have often found observing children, especially as they play, to be a good
source for reflecting on theology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
afternoon I was visiting with a friend and his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have a son, Matt, who is about 5 years
old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had invited another couple
over, who also brought their little 5 year old daughter, Samantha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We adults carried on doing adult things, and the
children carried on doing childish things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have to admit that the childish things seemed far more
interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But being an adult I could
only observe from a distance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt was
being a good little boy trying to play with Samantha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But clearly, this was a bit of a struggle for
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For having Samantha there meant
that he had to share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watching them
play, there were clearly toys that Matt was willing to share with Samantha, and
toys that she, as long as Matt had something to do about it, was not going to
touch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would push the toys that he
wanted to share towards Samantha, and then back away guarding the others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This of course made the other toys only more
enticing to Samantha, and within minutes a fight broke out and parental
policing was needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">These toys were like a part of Matt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there were clearly parts of himself that
Matt was willing to share, and other parts that he was not going to give up.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If
we render unto God what is God’s, what is left for Caesar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
Gospel we heard today has been used in many ways to defend and develop numerous
types of political theologies and philosophies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has even been used to defend liberal
democracies, especially as seen in the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not going to enter into that debate
here. But I do believe that this Gospel poses to us all a challenge that most
likely we (and this includes myself) struggle to live:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A challenge that can be seen in light of Matt
and his toys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Matt, there are parts
of ourselves that we are willing to render unto God, and parts of ourselves
that we are not yet willing to hand over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
my first two years in the missions I would get so excited for Christmas and
Easter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only because this
represented the highest liturgical time of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But also, because at this time, I would be
able to see the classic “Chreasters” return to Mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, the people who are Catholic and
only go to Mass on Christmas and Easter, hence Chreasters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I know that it is easy to get frustrated
with these people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the one hand it is
good that at least they are making an effort to be present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least they haven’t forgotten completely
about their faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, we
know that FAITH IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THIS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When Jesus says that we must render unto God what is God’s, he is not
saying that thinking about faith twice a year is sufficient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is saying that God requires all of us, he
requires everything, he asks for our full devotion and dedication and will. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of our love. This is what differentiates
Catholicism from many of the post-modern manifestations of religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Catholicism requires all of us: and this is
why it is both a path to true joy, but also something that requires tremendous
sacrifice and even pain on our part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
before we become too hard on the Chreasters, it might be worth admitting that
maybe we all are Chreasters in our own way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We come to church
and light our candle and we feel good about ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we have done our prayer deed, and don’t
think about praying for another month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We check Sunday
mass off the list and then give little thought to worshipping God out in our so-called
public lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We volunteer on a
committee at church and think that well, we are doing quite a bit, and so we
have figured out what it means to be Christian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We give to charity
and support the church, but we don’t give much thought whether the way in which
we are earning our money is actually doing more harm to others than good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
list could go on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are all guilty of
this: priests, laity, and religious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
all are Chreasters at some level in our own heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do
our minimum, and oftentimes these are very good things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we fail to see that faith could be so
much more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Part
of the problem, as many of us know, is the way in which modern society is set
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything attempts to stand on its
own; to be autonomous, and therefore everything becomes fragmented and
separated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What happens at church stays
in church, what happens at work stays at work, what happens on Friday night
stays at Friday night. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morality exists
at church and ethics becomes what is done in public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then get caught up in this system that
dissects us and fragments us, we become this kind of person here and that kind
of person there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if we are lucky, we
barely render unto God what is God’s on Sunday morning. And then it can only be
true that the Mass becomes boring, that faith becomes irrelevant: for faith is
meant to be universal, to penetrate every part of our lives and every part of
reality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is what it means to be
catholic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
suppose some could deny this narrative, and they are free to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is bleak and not something that
particularly makes us happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my
experience as a priest in the missions, especially when dealing with families
highlights this reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hispanic
families would emigrate from Mexico and move into the rural areas of the
South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first generation of
parents faith was everything. They came from a heavily Catholic culture. They
rendered unto God what was God’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
rendered everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But just one
generation later, as I listened to these parents with tears in their eyes,
their own kids no longer cared about faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Caught up in the culture of the United States God was forced from the
lives of their kids to being something only in the Church, then only in the family,
then only personal, and then it was gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
this first session of the Synod on the Family comes to an end, I think it is
important to highlight this crisis of faith as being the biggest threat to the
family, and thus to the church and to society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have the greatest admiration for the families that go to St.
Kwintens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have gotten to know many of you
already and look forward to meeting many more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You sacrifice tremendously for your kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are trying and your efforts are
inspiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But out of love as your
priest and also a friend, I think it is important that we ask this question
together:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will make our families
here any different from those Hispanic families in the missons?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will we have the same tears for our children
a generation from now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know there are
exceptions to every rule and that even when some families do everything right their
children don’t remain in the faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BUT
this should not keep us from asking this important question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can families model to their children that
we are called to render unto God what is God’s?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For it is only within family that we can learn that our belief in God,
our Catholic faith, must penetrate every single aspect of our being and of our
lives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless we fight for this
everyday and make cognizant that so much in society is pushing our families in
the opposite direction we will be no different than those countless Mexican
parents wondering what happened to their kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">When
my friend’s son Matt struggled to share all of his toys with Samantha, he got
down on his knees and modeled to his son what it meant to share all of himself
with others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May we get down on our
knees and ask God that we might be able to model to our kids what it means to
render unto God what belongs to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the end, let us pray that there is nothing much left for Caesar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-25525232787678155172014-09-21T07:18:00.001-05:002014-09-21T07:18:20.593-05:00Restlessness in Leuven: Opening Mass for American College St. Damien Community<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">There
is a restlessness in the city right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Students are back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some coming
from near, some from far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some sure of
what they are doing; some not sure of much at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fritteurs are hot and ready to go, grease
is steaming away. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can smell fries
flowing, wafting through the air. The kegs have all been tapped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cellars are stocked with that much-prized
Belgium brew (thanks be to God for those monks).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for the past few nights you could see the
masses of young people making their way to the center of the city:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the famous Grote Markt and Oude Markt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My guess though is that probably not many of
them are going to Sint Pieterskerk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
many going to stop off and fill up at the Sedes Sapientiae.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary probably has had fewer customers these
days than De Rector, De Kroeg or The Capital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But even though students may not stop off at the church that does not
mean that their hearts are not restless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For all of our hearts are restless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All are searching for something more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s just that sometimes we don’t know where to seek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we don’t even know where to begin
to ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
Israelites were a restless people too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They searched for God in many places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even when God revealed himself to them, they still weren’t really sure
where to find him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they sought him in
pagans God, in idols of smooth stones and in sorcerers’ wisdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They searched for him on mountains; they
searched for him in valleys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were
restless and looked in so many places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But Isaiah simply said to them:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seek the Lord where he may be found: call on him while he is near.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew where God could be found: in the
covenants and in the promises, in that culture sustaining monotheistic
belief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they weren’t always so
sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So their restless hearts searched
in many other places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 13.0pt;">One
of the goals of my last assignment as a priest was to build community beyond
the walls of the church—especially with the youth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went out one night in an attempt to do
just that, and were going to a play together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was driving and I had my GPS set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now I am terrible with directions, but the GPS has really enhanced my
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It told me to take a right and so
I followed the directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It brought us
into this cul-de-sac, I could literally see our destination just in view, but then
the GPS started going crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It told me
to go right, then left, then right again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We kept winding around these houses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It said that we were right next to our destination, but it kept telling
me to turn and turn and turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
couldn’t find our way out of these houses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I kept my cool. I wanted to seem like I knew what I was doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally in a fit of frustration I turned to
the other chaperone sitting next to me and asked:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>do you know how to get out of here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wondered how long you were going to wait to ask me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is just up there straight ahead and take a
left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was correct, and we proceeded
to our destination, no thanks to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
have all embarked on a new journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps up to this point we have followed our inner GPS well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps unlike many of those parading to the
center of town the past few nights, we have been graced with the gift of faith.
And so we have chosen to come to Leuven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For many of us we have chosen to stay in a community because something
inside of us encouraged us to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
have all chosen to follow some intuition inside to choose the field and subject
matter we are invested in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the midst
of all of that, hopefully, we have asked God for guidance and help in making
these decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">This is a wonderful thing, but we can’t stop there</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must keep searching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For oftentimes when we think we are on the
right path, when we think we are following correctly, it is then that we start
to rely a little too much on ourselves, and it is then we find ourselves a
little like the Israelites, searching to settle our restlessness in the wrong
way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If
the first reading is a gentle invitation to us all to search for the Lord where
he can be found, the Gospel today should be a bit more challenging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we see that it is not always so easy to
understand God’s ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us are
probably like the workers who worked hard all day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have tried to be faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are at least asking the right
questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know of our own
restlessness and want to find rest in God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And yet it was just those who did all the right things, those who were
faithful and hard working in a good Palegian fashion, who misunderstood the
ways of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps we think we have
done the right things and so we should know what to expect from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then the words hit us in the gut:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God’s
ways are not our ways</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">For in Christ God
changed everything</span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The old order was flipped on its head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Christ when we think we have everything
figured out we must think again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>For
in Christ:</u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
first become last <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
last become first<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
wretched are redeemed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
redeemed are asked to suffer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
scoundrel is saved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
saved are sent out<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
tax collector becomes a saint<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
saint is then despised<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
wise become foolish<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
the foolish are given a chance to see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
soon as we think we have it all figured out, as soon as we think we are certain
of our path, as soon as we think we have found the place where our hearts need
to rest, it is then that we must seek the Lord even more, ever more, always
more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
will have the chance to read a lot of books and take a lot of classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will know a lot about God and about faith
and about religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is exactly at
this point that we should beg God for the humility to say that we really do not
know that much at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not a
nihilistic skepticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather this is admittance
that our ways are not always God’s ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When we think we have things figured out we must step back in humility
and beg God for assistance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
will have the chance to get to know each other in community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will laugh and cry and rejoice and get
frustrated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even when we think we
know each other well we should beg God for the humility to see that there is so
much more mystery in every person that we still don’t see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
have assurances that we know where the restlessness of the world can find its
rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But lest we lose our place of rest
in Jesus we must always bring ourselves back to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">So
in our studies we seek the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
our meals we seek the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
our tears and joys and frustrations and triumphs we seek the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
all things we seek the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
we know where he can be found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right
here in this community that is gathered, in his church, in this historic chapel
that has for years connected America and Leuven, where for over 150 years,
right here, in the basic elements of bread and wine we see that our ways are
not God’s ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For in this sacred
institution narrative God actually comes again and again and again to be with
his people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he says to each of us, and
to each of those restless hearts in the city of Leuven:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am waiting for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-11465651333906134252014-09-15T09:46:00.001-05:002014-09-15T09:48:10.704-05:00St. Kwinten's Catholic Church, Leuven, BelgiumI just thought I would include a link to the parish where I help out occasionally here in Leuven. It is a wonderful community, many of the members being students in the Faculty of Theology or the Higher Institute of Philosophy. But many others are engaged in a lot of different studies and work in the area. <br />
<br />
The community contains members from all over the world. It has been a nice home away from home for me, and I am grateful for that. <br />
<br />
Here is the website:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sintkwintenleuvenenglish.wordpress.com/">http://sintkwintenleuvenenglish.wordpress.com</a>Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-33601033601893155312014-09-07T16:11:00.002-05:002014-09-07T16:12:42.791-05:00A Sixth Category for Glenmary Mission....Inter-Religious Dialogue? <br />
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Most folk know that Glenmary operates under five general categories of mission: Catholic nurture, working with the Universal Church, ecumenism, social outreach, and evangelization of the un-churched. But perhaps just for a day I added to those missionary tasks Inter-religious Dialogue. <br />
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Back in 1986 in Assisi, Italy, St. John Paul II began a tradition of bringing together people from all of the world's religions, as well as people of good will, in order to pray for peace. Of course, this was a complicated task given the diversity of beliefs and practices. But his motivation was genuine: get people together to think, talk, dialogue and pray for peace in a world that desperately needed it.</div>
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Today, I was able to attend a continuation of this dream of Saint John Paul II in Antwerp, Belgium, as the Saint Egidio community put on a program entitled "Peace is the Future." Once again, people from various religious backgrounds, civil leaders, and people of good will came together to reflect on what peace might look like in our world, and how we can possibly move towards realizing some of these dreams. Given the recent atrocities in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine, as well as continued violence in other parts of the world, it was certainly a timely event.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70t0ZWpQWlJmK_gNCYK1xmYByOd4BcYGEU_bYgzy0sGfIGa2Crj5JWnBvZtccTg_SWsaPW61fc2Lgvr7zM998A0QH0MXGLmwHXLHcHSNZ88dxdaS0q3XnTv4GGfYbOAvNIETaMFPEdg/s1600/2014-09-07+08.51.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70t0ZWpQWlJmK_gNCYK1xmYByOd4BcYGEU_bYgzy0sGfIGa2Crj5JWnBvZtccTg_SWsaPW61fc2Lgvr7zM998A0QH0MXGLmwHXLHcHSNZ88dxdaS0q3XnTv4GGfYbOAvNIETaMFPEdg/s1600/2014-09-07+08.51.35.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right: Hilde Kieboom (St. Egidio), Abraham Skorka (Rabbi and friend of Pope Francis),<br />
Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp, Vian Dakheel (Yazidi Community and MP of Iraq who was recently pleaded in the news for her persecuted community in Iraq), and Andrea Riccardi (founder of the St. Egidio community)</td></tr>
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One of the most moving speakers was Vian Dakheel, a MP of the Iraqi government and a member of the Yazidi people. She has recently been featured on the news begging for international support and response for her people who have been slaughtered and scattered as refugees due to the inhuman and barbarous acts of ISIS. She again brought many to tears, describing how ISIS finally left the Yazidi area they had been occupying because the smell of the corpses or her slaughtered people began to be too much for them to take. She certainly made real the suffering of her people to so many who are isolated from the direct effects of this violence.</div>
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Equally moving was the presentation of Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East (pictured left). He talked about visiting many different sites throughout the Middle East where his followers lived only to see countless acts of genocide, killings, starvations, and persecution. He mentioned how faith in the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ, is the only way to achieve lasting peace. But he said that in visiting families and speaking to survivors it was sometimes difficult to communicate this. </div>
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There was also a presentation by Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam, Grand Mufti of the Arab Republic of Egypt (see below). As a Muslim, he emphatically proclaimed that extremism and terrorism are not part of the Islam. He said that unfortunately much of the violence done in the name of Islam today is being led by radical leaders who have had little to no education in Islamic tradition, and who are motivated by complex and irrational reasons for their atrocious acts against humanity. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyEWdm7o07RHtzHG7fw0LK3lrLr1lAY6Ul6nunPtLqwdyllkK980urdOMOK8BSTKvXDcsqU0LZgjVqIz2iRJ9CP2XQMmdajhYWiiVRxbsub9QR51CuYMhYw16LQgCyrD8FdXzM450tA/s1600/2014-09-07+11.02.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyEWdm7o07RHtzHG7fw0LK3lrLr1lAY6Ul6nunPtLqwdyllkK980urdOMOK8BSTKvXDcsqU0LZgjVqIz2iRJ9CP2XQMmdajhYWiiVRxbsub9QR51CuYMhYw16LQgCyrD8FdXzM450tA/s1600/2014-09-07+11.02.15.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> This was a moving event for me. Being surrounded by thousands of people, many of which are leaders of their respective religious traditions, indicated a sign of hope in our tumultuous age. Yet the path to peace is a difficult and complex one, that must consider all of the various elements that add to violence in our world. Many hope in governments to provide the answer, or better distribution of the world's resources to bring about the solution. These all certainly can help the situation. But for myself, I only think that peace will be achieved as the world is drawn closer to the one who frees us from our sinfulness, frees us from our selfishness, and the one who turned from violence and aggression and gave us his own life instead: Jesus Christ. May we who believe in him pray more fervently for peace in our hearts and in the world, and may the world continue its dialogue and search to realizing the peace that we all desire. </div>
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Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-39858914763734679172014-09-07T15:03:00.003-05:002014-09-07T15:03:41.035-05:00A Subversive Faith--Homily from this Weekend<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
was nothing more than a little incense dropped into a bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Drop it in and the public sacrifice was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appeared seemingly innocent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was much more than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the early Christians it was a denial of what
had become so dear to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A denial
that there really was only one Lord to whom they devoted their entire
lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they refused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were subversive to the reigning
culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some lost their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the faith lived on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
the camp no one spoke up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Silence
pervaded the ash filled air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life was work,
sleep, and try to stay alive—or perhaps not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Faith was impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope
completely lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love unimaginable. Yet
when one man was called forward to receive the punishment for three that had escaped,
an act of love would come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A subversive
act by a man named Maximilian. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would
lose his life, but the faith would live on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">There
is something about the Christian faith that is always subversive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For if it is not subversive than the Church
either admits that the Kingdom has come, or we are simply apathetic to the
Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is never subversion through
violence or even coercive power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
subversive by simple acts of love, living the very example that Jesus has left
us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
the safety that many of us here experience in the Western world, we will
probably not risk losing our lives by being subversive. Yet it will take great
sacrifice none-the-less. I believe that today’s Gospel is actually speaking to
us as a community to be subversive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is not the subversion of violent regimes or political oppression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is subversion of elements of the culture
in which we find ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A culture
that is not always so conducive to faith:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>one that insidiously creeps in on us without our knowing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
gospel begins by saying that if our brother sins against us, we should go and
tell this person. This is the first invitation to live a subversive faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is by being a community of discipline. It
means first being willing to let someone know when they are acting in the
wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is also our own ability to
allow others to invite us to deeper conversion. This might seem simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in our culture it is really unheard
of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">For
we live in a time and place that holds tolerance to the highest degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seemingly, no one can do anything wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In private anything really goes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even if someone should act in an
incorrect way publicly, it is really no place for someone else to say
something. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We determine what is right
and wrong for ourselves, and no one should bother us otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talk about what is right and wrong is even
taboo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For your right and my wrong is
all that matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is not much that
binds us together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Stanley
Hauerwas states that we live in an age that has thrown discipline out. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only in society has this been
eclipsed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is also gone from the
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says that the church has
remained only a place of care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it
has lost the art of discipline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
therefore it has lost one of its subversive qualities, and it is weakened at
being the Sacrament of Salvation to the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">For
us then, one of the most powerful acts of subversion that we can image to the
world is a mutual openness to discipline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It says that we ultimately don’t determine what is right and wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That often we are mistaken; that not all
things are relative; and that not all things should be tolerated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We certainly will be misunderstood, mocked
and maybe even laughed at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will have
to unlearn some of what culture has taught us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It will be painful, but the faith will live on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
next way the Gospel is inviting us to be subversive is found in one simple
verse: “If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In matters to determine the truth of a
situation the good news of Jesus invites us to appeal to authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now
anyone versed in some philosophy knows that the appeal to authority went out
long ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For as Chesterton writes
“Modern man will accept nothing on authority, but will accept anything on no
authority.” With the hermeneutic of suspicion of anything but “pure reason”
authority was sent back in a time machine to the Middle Ages where some would
say that it belongs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those of us
considered theologians or at least theologians in the making we know about how
far appeal to authority gets us in our arguments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for parents I am sure when asked over and
over from your kids why they need to go to bed, “because I said so” doesn’t always
seem to work so well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
our willingness to appeal to authority, and to accept that authority, is a
subversive act in our current culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For it says that we have limits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That as glamorous as science is: it is still limited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As brilliant as our God-given minds are: they
are not infallible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as deep as we
are able to plumb the depths of meaning and understanding in this world: the
depths are limitless and not fully attainable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are limited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are weak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to admit we need to appeal to an authority—a
God given authority based on God’s word—is a subversive act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It admits our creaturelyness. We shouldn’t
feel foolish about hanging on to tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We shouldn’t feel foolish about appealing to authority. We may be
misunderstood and deemed irrational and seen as foolish in doing so, but the
faith will live on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
would like to illustrate the final way in which our Gospel today calls us to be
subversive by a little story from when I was in the missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Agnes
was the grandmother of Samantha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
Saturday evening she would drop her granddaughter off at the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her granddaughter, a 14 year old convert to
Catholicism, one of the first converts in our missions, would run inside and be
greeted by the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Agnes
would stay outside in her van.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would
park close enough to be able to see what was going on inside. But she never
came in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Week after week she simply sat
out in her van.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began making it a
habit to join her after mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes
if we had hospitality I would bring her juice or cookies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would talk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But she never got out of her van.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And she never stepped foot in the church. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I asked her why she always sat outside
rather than joining us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
responded:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve looked for God a lot in
my life but rarely have I found him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
now I have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that God is there in
your little church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can see it by that
candle that is always lit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can see it
as the people gather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can see it in
how my granddaughter has changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is as close as I need to
get for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
Gospel today makes a promise to us that where two or three are gathered in
Jesus’ name, he will be there in their midst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Believing in that reality is perhaps as subversive as we can get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the world is longing to know where to
find God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And unfortunately many charged
with the responsibility to point people to wear God can be found have let the
world down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether through sin or
through unbelief or through pride we have become convinced that we are not sure
where God can be found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We walk around
in a haze of the “false humility” of fragmentation and uncertainty and we don’t
know where to look. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
what we will do here in just a few minutes subverts all of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the baptism of Manuel—whose very name
indicates that we know where to find God—we gather as a community and answer
the question that is written on the human heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We answer the question that the world in its
lust for idols, a world with its sky line of towers to babel searching for God,
it its technological frenzy to achieve transcendence is dying to have
answered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Where
is God:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where two or three are gathered, he is
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And thus the negative elements of the reigning
culture are subverted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we and the
world are transformed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-69262245273366708032014-08-10T06:08:00.001-05:002014-08-10T06:08:50.475-05:00Faith Amidst the Storm--And Given ISIS in Iraq, the Storm is Certainly Brewing<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Faith
requires us to step out into the storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">There
was a storm gathering around the disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They must have seen it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Jesus
seemed to attract a storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like clouds
gathering on the horizon people gathered around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they gathered they brought their needs:
food, water, healing, forgiveness, wholeness, life and peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like strong winds their needs were
overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Jesus responded to
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
his popularity grew so did the rumble of thunder: thunder from the religious
leaders of his day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thunder of
skepticism, disbelief, jealousy and envy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rumbles of rejection even from his own people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Jesus was gaining popularity and making
claims that seemed to be simply blasphemous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How could they be true?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so
the storm started to gather and pick up strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lightening
also struck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lightening that took the
life of his cousin, John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lightening
that seemed to strike pretty close to the other disciples, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For if John could lose his life, why should
they be kept safe?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so the storm
gathered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
they said yes to follow him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That day on
the seashore when he asked them to leave everything and follow, they said
yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed that faith required them to
say yes to step out into the storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
was no different that night on the boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The storms had gathered around the disciples and they were scared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scared of capsizing; scared of drowning and
of death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their fear only grew when they
saw the man approach on the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was
it a dream? A nightmare? Was it a ghost?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They cowered in fear for it was too much for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that beautiful voice broke through the
winds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That voice they had come to
trust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That voice that whispered to
them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew that voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew what it meant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">So
Peter in his glory, in his attempts at being a leader, remembering his first
call on that seashore asks Jesus if he can still follow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For he knows what faith requires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Faith required him to step out into the
storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
don’t think that our situation today is much different than that which is
described in the Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the storm
continues to build around us too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
thunder rolls and lightening strikes in Iraq and so many other parts of the
world where converts to Christianity, and really many of the faithful, are persecuted
and crucified in the heat of the desert sun. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their bodies hang on trees much like that of
their founder. They are evidence that the storm still rolls on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
earth also cracks and shakes as deeper divisions happen in our church:
divisions of ideology; divisions of power, divisions of class. These divisions
threaten to tear our own temple asunder. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
there are the rains of skepticism and atheism that seem to flood our
faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They accompany winds that blow
fiercely against the shelter of our own Christian lives as we attempt to live
our faith in a place where it is not always so easy to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
in the midst of the storm Jesus says the same thing to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He whispers to us: Take courage, it is I; do
not be afraid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come, and follow me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For faith requires us to step out into the
storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
many have stepped out into the storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
matter how dark or scary it had been, they were brave and courageous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their witness assures us that there are
followers of Christ who are willing to step out of the boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From St. Peter to St. Mary, St. Kwinten to
the martyrs of our own day, many have heeded the call of the Lord—they understood
that faith required them to step out into the storm. And these brave witnesses
are all around us, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
couple that remains open to having children and raising them in the faith steps
out onto the water in the midst of the storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
student who decides to leave her own country to pursue a degree in a foreign
land amid a foreign language in order to better her country and her family
steps out onto the water in the midst of the storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
theologian who attempts to think with the church even though it is not always
the most popular thing to do steps out onto the water in the midst of the
storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
community that gathers for Mass as the church bells ring, bells whose symbols
have lost their meaning in the present culture, when they gather they step out
onto the water in the midst of the storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Over
and over again disciples throughout the ages have headed the call of Christ—even
in the midst of the most tumultuous storms—and been courageous enough to step
out onto the water and follow him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my brothers and sisters I believe we must
also be aware of what happens next in today’s gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For most likely, if we step out into the
storm to follow Christ, we may inevitably begin to sink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps we even need to sink.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Peter
was certainly confident in his will to follow Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he began to sink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this would not be his only moment of
weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And down through the ages the
greatest of saints stepped out onto the water and began to sink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For sometimes the storm is too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes our faith is just not that
strong<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
our own time we will probably begin to sink, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the midst of cancer we will curse God and wonder
where he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waking up to attend to our
children for the third time in one night we will wonder if the sacrifice was
worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having the opportunity to
stand up for our faith we will hide safely in the background, blending into the
crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overcome by the lure of an overly
sexualized culture, we will have our moments of weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overwhelmed from leaving the familiar we will
cry tears at night thinking that it is simply too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We too will sink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For our faith sometimes just isn’t strong
enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
we can be assured, that in our darkest hour, in our greatest moment of despair,
in our most shameful self, he will be there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His hand will grab us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will
lift us up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will bring us to
safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His voice will whisper in our
ear that it is him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
with faith like a child let us hope that we too might be able to say on that
day, and every day until we see him face to face:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Truly,
you are the Son of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-54101282672090012442014-07-26T15:31:00.000-05:002014-07-26T15:31:13.304-05:00German Class: An Environment for Good Theology<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The end of another week has come
here in Leuven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, it is also the
end of an intense yet enlightening experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the past two weeks I have been in German class for 8 hours a day,
and probably studying it for 4 hours each day on top of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dropping oneself into a foreign language
course in a foreign land is not something I would really recommend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I don’t know if I could do it
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am satisfied with the amount of
German I learned; but it certainly was not easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I believe that God had a little more
in mind for me from this class than just learning German.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is usually the way He seems to operate with
me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The real gift of the class for me
was the other students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the first
time in a long time that I found myself around such a variety of people, with
different ages, backgrounds, areas of study and well, personalities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was one young woman studying Classical
Greek and Latin, who even wanted to be able to speak Latin herself (which is
fascinating because for all intents and purposes it is a dead language---of
course she would disagree!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was
another young man majoring in physics, who could wax eloquently about the most
abstruse and esoteric problems like he was speaking poetry (it brought me back
to my days of mathematics).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was
also a pilot, who midweek left the class because his airline needed someone to
fly to southern Africa somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
there were two philosophers: one just finishing up her degree and another just
beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was also an architect
who loved to talk about acoustics, a soon-to-be doctor, a research biologist
and a young historian who practiced Medieval Marshal Arts (that means real big
swords and stuff like knights used to use!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then you had the ole priest, me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When we had pauses during the class
we would talk about cultural differences, we would engage each other’s subject
matter, we would philosophize, and with the guidance of a few Belgian hops
(mostly after class), we would even try to solve some of the world’s problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What struck me the most in the midst of these
exchanges was that this is perhaps how the best theology can be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the midst of God’s people: some believing,
others never having heard of God, and even others professing belief in no God
at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in the midst of varying
levels and areas of expertise, where science and language and history and faith
could all intersect, agree, disagree, stimulate and even bore, but each could
have its own place and yet each could be intimately connected to the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am not one who believes that
knowledge should ever be judged solely on its usefulness and practicality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly people have to work and an
education is helpful in securing a job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I believe that education and knowledge, and for me especially
theology, touches the soul, changes a person, and is as much a journey to the
depths of the heart as are relationships and faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it seems to me that the best way to allow
knowledge to affect one’s soul is not simply to have each faculty and subject
isolated and restricted to its own place. But rather, to have them intersect,
communicate, dialogue, challenge and enhance each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose it is much like the people of my
German class did for me. So I say thanks to my German class members as yet
another week passes here in Leuven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks
for touching my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks for a good
first two weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-53298136629255377812014-07-16T14:41:00.000-05:002014-07-16T14:41:13.325-05:00A Day in my Life at Leuven: Has it Really been a Week!!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Has
it really been a week?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just can’t
believe that one week to the day I arrived, jet-lagged, disoriented and
excited, in Leuven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured one day I
would want to remember this first week, and so here is a little reflection of a day in my life at Leuven.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I wake up around 6
am each day. The city is quiet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun
is out—this is an improvement since it rained the first 5 days I was
here!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good friend gave me his coffee
maker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It makes dark, black coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
throw open my windows without any screens and sip my coffee while praying,
sitting in my bed, and munching on granola bars and bananas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bed is absolutely awful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pillows are misshaped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet I actually sleep well in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go figure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t normally shower in the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, I’m not showering regularly (yep, I wrote that).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you have to walk down one flight of
stairs and share a small, impossible to turn around in shower including a
malfunctioning head you probably wouldn’t shower much either. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
dress, brush, and sanitize, then I am out my door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walk quietly in the house because my one
roommate is still sleeping—in fact he will be sleeping at least until
noon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is from the Netherlands, though
with a Chinese mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speaks a little
English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Studying Chinese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t interact much because of our
schedules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out the door I go praying I
don’t forget my keys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know what
I would do if I got locked out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Then
it’s walking the streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve never
walked so much in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought new
Nike’s for running and now wear them everyday to save my feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cobblestone streets can do a number them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dodging cars and praying I don’t get hit by a
bike (yes, it will be a bike that does me in here) I take in this ancient city
with its Medieval layout as I make my way to the German school about a mile
away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enter class and am always the
first one there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teacher smiles and
doesn’t even attempt to talk to me in German except with </span><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE;">Guten</span><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">
Morgan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a mutual understanding!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
class is one of the most humbling things I have ever done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew no German (null, </span><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE;">nicht</span><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">)
before coming here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the other
students except one man are just out of high school and I’m thinking I could
have had them in a youth group in another life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And they know some German.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or at
least they know Dutch, which is so close that they all understand the teacher
who doesn’t speak any English at the beginning. I don’t know what the heck is
going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t even follow a basic
dialogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drowning, I begin to master
the art of observing everyone else. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
begin to float and even swim. Little by little I make progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will get through this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually love it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But boy it takes patience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
are in class for 8 hours a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>8
hours!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have lunch period where I run
errands: groceries, bank (I am still trying to get money lined up), and the post-office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cook myself some food and then run back to
class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
end class and I walk quickly home to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I throw on my clerics and I’m off to Mass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
church I found here is glorious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
truly like a Mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gives me a sense
of community and stability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s made up
of people from all around the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
provides a home for so many looking for spiritual nourishment in this once
Catholic stronghold. I can hardly pray, though, and hope I say a valid Mass
since my mind is mush from the German.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">After
Mass I walk some more to get home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
then either pass out on my bed for 10 minutes or proceed to cook supper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love having to cook, even if it takes
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have just enough cookware to get
by (thanks again, Thomas!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eating out
here is expensive, though sometimes necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the grocers have good variety and I am finally learning what I am
buying (it is in Dutch, of course).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">After
supper (and Evening Prayer) I go to my room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now it’s study time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using a
great Internet program and also my notes I try to make sense of what I learned
this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can tell my brain is tired,
though, but ironically I have good physical energy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Usually
I’m up until midnight or later as I continue studying, sometimes Facetiming
with my family (I am in contact with them more now in some ways since I have
been here, despite the seven hour difference).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My sister just had her first child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am an Uncle!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wow!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Sleep
pretty much just about overtakes me and I discern whether or not I am going to
shower. Sometimes yes, and it is flip-flops on down the stairs into the closet
bathroom (I think Harry Potter had it better).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sometimes, its no.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Back
in my room my fan comes on, Night Prayer commences, and then I lay in bed
trying to shut out the German phrases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Morning will come soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just
about fall asleep and I hear footsteps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My housemate is going to the bar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s
a crazy experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am so thankful
to be here. Has it really been a week?!?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-67991559106296781632014-07-07T20:33:00.001-05:002014-07-07T20:33:51.823-05:00The Rise of the Introvert!! Praise for Susan Cain's: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Susan
Cain’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quiet: The Power of Introverts in
a World that Can’t Stop Talking</i> is a breath of fresh air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For all people who have felt trapped in a
world of noise, who have desired to sit at home at night reading rather than
going out with friends, who prefer silence and solitude to meaningless chatter,
and yet feel guilty and out of place for desiring these things, this book is a
God-send.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Through
comprehensive and intriguing study and research Cain reveals how an “Extrovert
Ideal” dominates our American culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From the Harvard School of Business, to Congress, to even Evangelical
Christianity, extrovert qualities are emphasized as being the best, if not the only
mode of operation. Yet, this obsession with extroversion has not always
produced the best results for society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cain
unravels this dilemma and goes on to show how some of the most creative people,
the most significant breakthroughs in history, and some of the most powerful
leaders have been introverts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is
the qualities of these leaders, paired with the strengths of extroverts, that
can help our society advance responsibly into the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">I highly
recommend this book for the following reasons:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Affirmation for Introverts, Understanding
from Extroverts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those with introverted tendencies will read
this and feel at peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where they
perhaps once felt insecure or inadequate because of their personalities, they
will now find renewed confidence and an ability to utilize more effectively
their personality, but also develop other more extroverted tendencies to
thrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Extroverts will find in this
book a better understanding of nearly half of the population; that is, if they
are willing to stop and read this book the entire way through (hehe).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Insight into Religious Life and
Family:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both families and religious communities have
to deal with the tension that arises from both introverts and extroverts
attempting to exist together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For true
harmony and for the best outcomes, both of these groups would do well to better
understand the different personality types, their roots, and the ways in which
they both can work together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Mission:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Contemplation vs. Action—</span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">There is often a tension in living
the Christian life between how much time one should spend acting on their
faith, and how much time one should spend reflecting, praying and learning
about one’s faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often in our American
culture, we seem to highlight action over contemplation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that Cain’s work offers caution to
that bias, and becomes an argument for providing more space for the introvert’s
way of being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face";">Personally
I cannot be thankful enough that I stumbled on this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a Myers-Brigg’s Personality Inventory I
always tended to be right in the middle between an introvert and an extrovert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in these latter years of life,
especially since beginning my life as a priest, I have found a greater tension
existing inside of me where I seem to manifest a few more introvert
qualities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book gave me the freedom
to explore those longings, to learn more about where they arise, and to see how
they too can contribute well to society, but ultimately to the Kingdom of
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-31928143081735239132014-07-02T20:53:00.001-05:002014-07-02T20:53:24.096-05:00Love, Faithfulness, and Motherhood: A Review of the Language of Flowers, a novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">How do we learn to
love if love has never been communicated to us before?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This to me is the essential question posed by
the novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Language of Flowers</i> by
Vanessa Diffenbaugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
the novel, Victoria is a child in the foster system in San Francisco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She moves from one children’s home to the
next, and from one foster family to the next, never really finding a place that
she can call home, nor people she can call family. Because of her experiences
as a child, she is never given the chance to even begin to understand what love
is and how it can be communicated or shared in life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, it only reinforces in Victoria
distrust, bitterness and grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
Victoria, the only solace she finds in life is her interest in flowers and the
significance, or language, that each flower communicates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">As the novel progresses and Victoria turns
18, it is this interest in flowers that gives her a chance to regain her
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She secures a job with a local
florist, and then meets Grant, with whom she falls in love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through this relationship and their shared
interest in flowers, she begins to find her own language of love, where she is
able to deal with some of the darkness and sadness of her past in an attempt to
take ahold of her future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
would highly recommend this novel because of the way it highlights the
following themes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Learning how to love</span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Vulnerability and trust are scary and painful even for those with
semi-normal upbringings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For most of the
world that has experienced pain and suffering, loving becomes even more
difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The beauty of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Language of Flowers</i> is that it shows love is possible for
everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we simply have to find a
way to learn how to love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes doing
something as simple as learning the language of flowers can help teach us the
language of love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Faithfulness in adversity</span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So often in life we find it easier to flee
from our relationships when they get tough. Or, we find ourselves alone after
someone has left us because staying together is simply too difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, we all need people in our lives that
will stay even when it is painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
we, too, need to learn how to remain faithful even when leaving seems to be the
easiest choice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This faithfulness in adversity is
emphasized in Victoria’s relationship with both Grant, and also one of her
foster-mothers, Elizabeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both provide
Victoria with a glimpse that faithfulness in adversity is possible, and that
she too can discover this virtue in her own heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Anyone can have kids; not everyone can be a
parent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we need parents!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This novel exposes the pain of the foster
care system, and how difficult it is for kids in that system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It shows the negative effects from children
being abandoned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is honest about
the downright sacrifice it takes to be a parent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it shows how life is utterly sucked from
someone who tries to be a parent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
kids need their parents, whether they are biological or foster parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Parents will always make mistakes, but it is
faithfulness to their kids that matters the most, not perfection. And it is this faithfulness that in the end gives parents life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In
closing, I would simply say that personally, this novel gave me a greater
sensitivity to how difficult it is for all people, myself included, to learn
how to love especially after we have been hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It also made me appreciative of motherhood in general, and the intimate
and special connection mothers must have with their children. It gave me an
even deeper appreciation for what my own mother must have went through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also made me think about how faithful I
have been with my relationships in the midst of adversity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, it reminded that even for those who
have been ran through the gutter of family life and relationships, learning to
love can always be possible—it just takes one flower at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-15140396073104847072014-06-30T10:56:00.001-05:002014-06-30T10:56:18.339-05:00Three Missionary Loves -- Homily for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul and Glenmary Mission Appeal<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is a
very well kept secret in the church today that I think needs to be shared with
you all:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">every Christian is called to be a missioner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>That is right, each one of you sitting
here right now, myself included, is called to be a missioner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has called all of us by our baptisms to
bring the love of Jesus to the world around us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">But what in
the world does that mean? We all understand that the church has had missioners
for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who would go to
the far ends of the world: places like Africa or South America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is still taking place today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what this sometimes keeps us from
recognizing is that all of us are called to the mission field:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it might be far and distant, but it might be
right in your home, your work place, or in your state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All people are called to be missioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">That is why I
think the church invites us today to reflect on two of the churches first
missioners:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter and Paul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">We know that
Peter was our first pope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His mission
field was mainly in Jerusalem and then in Rome where he went to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Paul, his mission field was basically the
entire known world at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But both
were missioners, and both knew they were missioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, their very beings moved towards
mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They shine to us as examples
reminding each of us that we too, no matter where we are, are called to be
missioners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">But what does
it take to be a missioner today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would
simply highlight three basic things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These are what I call the three missionary loves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">First, it takes what I call a teenage missionary
love</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know this sounds weird, but I think this is
necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the love that we all
probably felt in some way when we were young and met the right person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were infatuated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we would do anything for this
person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wouldn’t even necessarily
think through the consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would
just follow and go wherever this person went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter and
Paul had this love for Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they
could finally accept that he was their savior nothing could stop them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were like crazy teenagers willing to
follow wherever he called them to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The same must
be true for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We oftentimes become
hardened by love and stop believing in its power to motivate us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what’s so neat about teenagers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They haven’t been hardened yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They still believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be missioners we still have to be willing
to follow Christ with that teenage love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The second missionary love is what I like
to call the parental missionary love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the kind of love where one pours
themselves out in service and care to the mission of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the kind of love that parents must
sacrifice for the children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all know
how life changed instantly as soon as that first baby is born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From that moment on they pour out their lives
in caring and sacrificing for them. More than their kids will ever know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they put their hearts on the line to be
let down and hurt so bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they do it
out of love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of my
good friends and his wife just had a very scary experience with their son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was playing basketball in a gym and
somehow hit his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hours later he was
going in and out of consciousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a bleed inside of his skull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It did not look good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emergency surgery took place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hours passed while the parents waited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything was on the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They hearts were being poured out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow, Gabriel their son, made it through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">To be
missioners we have to be willing to pour hour hearts out in service and love
for others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter and Paul did this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They talked about it today in the
readings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They poured their hearts out
in service of the Good News.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They did so
that all people might know the love of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The final missionary love I think we need
is the grandparent missionary love</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would be the love that slowly lets go as
they prepare themselves for the end of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the elderly see many things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
see much death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They see loved ones come
and go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they see their own time
coming to an end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet they face all of
this with tremendous courage. With a confidence that can only be given from
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For they can let it all go knowing
that in the end all things, including their lives, are God’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter and
Paul had this love, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They willingly
walked towards death and imprisonment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They left their missions in the hands of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were willing to let things go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew that it was all in the hands of
God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is
important for us too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For unless we are
willing to let go of comfort, success, money, and having the answers, we can
never be missioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will never be
able to go where God wants us to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Right now God
is calling each person in this church to leave and enter his or her own mission
field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are to be faithful just as
Peter and Paul, then we should try to embrace these three missionary
loves:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the teenage love, the love of a
parent, and the love of a grandparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we can do these things, God will reward us abundantly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">For the last
75 years the Glenmary Home Missioners has been trying to live these three
missionary loves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">First of all, we have tried to embrace
the teenage missionary love</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For we have had members get up and leave
everything they knew to serve in a land that is foreign to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We go areas in the south and southeast that
are pretty much non-Catholic and even non-Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the areas where we serve the Catholic
population is less than 1 percent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still
more, the number of unchurched people is around 50 percent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The areas are filled with poverty, broken
homes, drug addictions, and poor education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is not a place where people are flocking to go. But for us
Glenmarians, we here the call, and we leave with that teenage love in our
heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Also, we try to embrace that parental missionary
love</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do so in creating faith communities or
families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically we go into an area
and begin advertising in the local paper that the Catholic community is going
to be in the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We gather what few
Catholics are there together, and we start having mass in a person’s home or in
our rectory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We reach out to the poor,
we work with local churches, and we go door to door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as the group grows, we then move into a
store front and make that into our church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The hope in the future is to finally build a church to worship in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the while we pour ourselves out into the
people, sacrificing how we can, but receiving so much in return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally, we practice the love of a
grandparent</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When our work seems to be done, we either
accept a new assignment and move to a different mission area, or we simply hand
the entire mission over to the diocese and move on to a new area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of the more challenging aspects
of our ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For we pour our hearts
into these missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We bleed and sweat
and cry into these missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But ultimately
it is not ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately it is
God’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
missionary life is amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is
not just Glenmarians who are called to live this life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is all of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may go to rural America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you all have your own mission land,
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">So I close
with simply asking that you would support our ministry in any way that you are
able.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please pray for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are able, you can support us
economically during this Mass’s second collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you very much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-20057054257139413332014-06-23T20:39:00.003-05:002014-06-23T20:39:38.163-05:00Homilia para la Fiesta de Corpus Christi--Cuerpo y Sangre de Jesus<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Muchas gracias por esta oportunidad para hablar con ustedes y compartir
la palabra y algunas cosas de mi servicio y trabajo en la iglesia Católica. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yo he sido un sacerdote por solamente dos anos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Posiblemente yo soy un Padre joven!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero en este tiempo, yo he tenido muchas
experiencias con los hispanos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>En el
área donde yo hago mi trabajo como sacerdote hay dos comunidades de los
hispanos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Los dos grupos son diferentes:
con diferente trabajo, familias, y lugares de nacimiento.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero yo he visto una cosa en común de los dos
grupos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Los dos grupos, y posiblemente
todos los hispanos, les gusta comer!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Claro que si todo de ellos les gusta comer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>La comida es parte de la cultura.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ellos le gustan fiestas, fiestas, y fiestas,
y cada fiesta tiene mucha comida:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hay pozole, menudo, carne asada, pollo a la parilla, tómales,
chicharrones, sopa de pollo, enchiladas, y quesadillas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hay guacamole, pico de gallo, salsa, y chilis.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y siempre hay suficiente tortillas y
arroz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Si es la verdad, parte de la vida
de los hispanos es comer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y gracias a
dios, porque a mi me gusta comer también, especialmente la comida
mexicana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mi comida favorita es los tómales!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pero yo di un cuenta algo de mi trabajo con los hispanos: ellos les
gustan comer, pero siempre, en dos o tres horas después de comiendo, ellos tendría
hambre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Es la realidad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comemos, pero después, nosotros vamos a tener
hambre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No hay comida que satisface
suficiente.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Este domingo nosotros celebremos la fiesta del cuerpo y la sangre del señor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Este es uno de las fiestas más importantes en
la iglesia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Es una fiesta sobre
comida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero esta comida es diferente.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No es sobre comida física. Es sobre comida
espiritual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Es una comida que
aliméntanos para siempre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Es una comida
que cuando nosotros comemos, no vamos a tener más hambre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vamos a tener vida eterna. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Es una comida que satisface nuestras almas,
corazones, y vidas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">En la palabra de dios hoy, nosotros escuchamos a las palabras de
Jesús.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Él dice que su cuerpo y su sangre
es comida real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y cuando una persona
come de esa comida, no va a tener hambre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No va a morir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Va a vivir para
siempre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Entonces, cuando nosotros
comemos de esa comida, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la eucaristía,
dios va a vivir a dentro de nuestros corazones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Él va a vivir en nuestras almas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Es un regalo muy grande y precioso para nosotros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pero hay un problema.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Desafortunadamente,
mucha gente no cree en esta comida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mucha gente no quiere comer de esa comida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y mucha gente no sabe ni conoce que esa
comida es Jesús.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Él quiere darnos esa
comida, pero mucha gente no quiere aceptar su regalo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Es muy triste.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">La pregunta para nosotros es muy
simple</span></b><span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: creemos
nosotros en la eucaristía?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>¿Creemos que en
la misa que el pan y el vino transforman para ser el cuerpo y la sangre de
Jesús.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y si nosotros creemos en esta
realidad, tengamos que vivir nuestras vidas alrededor a Jesús y su
iglesia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tengamos que compartir ese
milagro a todo el mundo, también.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Porque
hay mucha gente que tiene hambre espiritual, y ellos necesitan esa comida de dios.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yo soy un misionero que trabaja aquí en los estados unidos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mi comunidad llamada Glenmary Home
Missioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somos misioneros aquí en los
estados unidos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nosotros vamos a partes
muy rurales y pobres donde la mayoridad de la gente no cree en la eucaristía.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mucho de la gente no conoce la iglesia
católica, ni los padres, ni la misa, ni la eucaristía.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>En estas áreas, antes el trabajo de mi
comunidad, la gente tiene un gran hambre espiritual, pero no tiene la cosas que
puede satisfacerlo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No tiene la
eucaristía ni todos los sacramentos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Entonces, mi comunidad, Glenmary, va a estas áreas para compartir el
evangelio con la gente.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero más
importante, compartimos el milagro del cuerpo y la sangre de Jesús con la
gente. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y estos milagros, entre el
espíritu santo, cambian las vidas de la gente.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Empezamos con una invitación a la gente del área.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reunimos para la misa en una casa de uno de
los católicos en el área, o en una tienda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Porque nosotros no tenemos un templo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Y después, nosotros trabajamos con la gente en el área e invitamos la
gente para aprender mas sobre de la iglesia católica.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A veces, hay muchos hispanos que regresan a la iglesia católica.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>También, hay mucha gente que se conviertan
para ser católica.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Por ejemplo, nosotros
tuvimos doce personas que se convirtieron para ser católicos en este ano
pasado.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Era un milagro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Y después de más tiempo, nosotros tenemos procesiones de fe, tenemos
fiestas de la virgen de Guadalupe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y
tenemos un templo también para adorar y alabar a dios.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y la eucaristía es la cosa más importante
para la gente. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Si ustedes creemos en la eucaristía, y si Jesús es importante en su
vida, imagínese una situación donde no hay iglesia católica, no hay una misa,
no hay la eucaristía.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Este es la situación
en las áreas donde yo trabajo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Entonces, si ustedes pueden ayudarnos con nuestra misión, sería muy especial
para nosotros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Por favor, recen por nosotros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y si pueden ustedes, comparten dinero con
nuestro grupo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vamos a tener una colecta
para mi grupo durante esta misa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">La fiesta del cuerpo y sangre de cristo es un momento cuando nosotros
podemos reflexionar en la importancia de la eucaristía en nuestras vidas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero hay muchas personas que no saben ni
conocen Jesús en la eucaristía.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Por
favor, ayude nuestra comunidad para compartir ese regalo a las personas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
Gracias. Dios les bendiga ahora y siempre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-61474050089006715842014-06-23T20:35:00.000-05:002014-06-23T20:35:31.342-05:00Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ--Corpus Christi<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do we
know of the food that the Lord gives to us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My
siblings and I were very picky eaters when I was growing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mom can attest to that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would work her tail off preparing
wonderful suppers for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we would complain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would gripe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we wanted was hotdogs and mac and
cheese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then of course we went off to
college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as all kids do in college,
we became the experts on everything. We especially became the experts on food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So now when we came together as a family one
of us siblings would do the cooking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
we would add all of these ingredients and try all of this new food and talk
about how great it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we would
say: Mom, why didn’t we eat this when we were growing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mom would have to hold off on strangling
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would say: “I tried to get you
all to eat this, but you didn’t want it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We missed out on so much great food, because we simply weren’t open to
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of
the things that we as Glenmary members do in our ministry is support our brothers
and sisters in Christ from other Christian denominations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This last week I was up in Baltimore for the
Southern Baptist Convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sure
you all have many Baptists here in Owatonna.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well I was really, really impressed with the Baptists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are mission driven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have tremendous faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They really love Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they know their Bible really well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But one question that came up in my mind, and
it was also a question that I asked many people who were there:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>do you know of the food that the Lord gives
you to eat?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you know of the
Eucharist? For so many of them, though they love Jesus probably even more than
I do, they did not know Jesus in his body and in his blood: in the
Eucharistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But we
are Catholics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I wonder how we would
respond to this question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we know the
food that the Lord gives to us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
scriptures today are inviting us to remain open to a new kind of food and to
think about this question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It starts
out with the Israelites in the desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were wandering around without anything to eat. And so God gave them
food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a different kind of
food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They did not know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it sustained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It prepared them for the food that later on Jesus
would give them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the
Gospel we have Jesus speaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is
speaking to the Israelites again. But he is also speaking to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says to them:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you know the food that God wants to give
to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will sustain you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it is my own Body and Blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the people really wrestled with
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In fact
the Church came to wrestle with this for ages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Paul had to go around and ask the young churches:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>do you know of the food that God gives to us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He writes this question when he is in
correspondence with the Corinthians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Struggling
with this teaching is not new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
hard teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a challenging
teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And so the question comes down to us too, today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we know the food that God gives to
us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we know of the life changing
sacrament that in just a few moments God gives to us around this altar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would be willing to bet that many of us do.
But perhaps there are some of us who do not.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When you are traveling around and speaking to different
parishes you can often say things that you maybe wouldn’t say to your own
people because you have to live with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, well, I am going to be leaving here after this weekend so it is a
little safer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But however, I am asking
for money so maybe that constricts me a bit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But I
would say that by in large the world does not know the food that God gives to
them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we, too, as Catholics do not
know the food that God has given us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
if we knew the food, we might act a little different:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We would never miss Mass</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we knew the food, we would be the first
ones to come and the last ones to leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For this food is God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No one would leave the Catholic Church</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah it’s full of
sin and it’s full of boring priests and sometimes the music isn’t so good and on
and on and on:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but we would look around
and realize that no other group has this food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No other group knows of the food that God gives to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so no one would leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the excuses would simply fall to the
side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We would impart this teaching on our kids</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going to mass
wouldn’t be an option for our kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because if we truly love them, and we know how hard it can be for our
kids, we would not want them to miss one single time to take in the food from
God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We would invite new people every week to come to Mass</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would knock on
doors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our week would center around this
food and not on a ball game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we
wouldn’t stop talking about this food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But it’s
a hard thing to believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a hard
teaching to accept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why over and
over the Bible reminds us of this food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And over and over again we need to celebrate the Feast we celebrate
today:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Feast of the Body and Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are blessed today, because we get to hear about this food
and at least ponder the question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
perhaps we will change our lives just a little more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there still exist areas in the United
States where people have never been given the chance to know of this food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And many who know of it simply do not have
access to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I just
finished my first assignment with the Glenmary Home Missioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I served in East Tennessee in the mountains
in two different counties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three years
ago before Glenmary went to these counties there never existed a Catholic
presence in the entire county.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
entire county.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So thousands of people
had never heard of the gifts of the Catholic church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No Mass had been celebrated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No Sacraments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people had never met a priest
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And people certainly did not
have access to or even know of the Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But as is
typical in Glenmary, we went into these towns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We began to advertise that we will have sessions on the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We knocked on doors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We invited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And we prayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We centered our
prayer around the Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we waited.
Amazingly the people started coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They came from the mountains and from the lakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They came from the hollers and the
hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They came because they started to
believe in the gifts of the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
started to believe in the Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
their lives changed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
people longed for the Eucharist, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kids would pester me because they were not yet old enough to receive the
Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little babies would reach
their hands out to grab the Host in the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>People would reconcile their marriages so they could receive the
Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we went from just 6 or 8
people, to now close to two hundred at both places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This includes around 15 converts between the
two places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have bought land and we
are in stages thinking about building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But this
change was not on my account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not
on the other priests and brother’s account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was because people started to honestly address the question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>do you know the food that God gives to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am
convinced my brothers and sisters, that if we just get to know this food a
little more each and every day, then our lives, and the world, will start to make
more sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our world will start to
reflect that divine majesty that we consume in the Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The young girls in Nigeria will come home.
The bombs will stop over Baghdad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
politicians will actually listen and speak to each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our families will stay more united.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And our hearts will find peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I close
simply in asking you all to support our ministry as best as you can. Please
pray for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And know we are praying for
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider coming to one of our
volunteer programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you are able,
please assist us finically. There will be a second collection today to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thanks
for your time and for allowing me to be with you all here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
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Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-78212738627717432122014-06-12T19:37:00.003-05:002014-06-12T19:37:55.888-05:00The Southern Baptist Convention 2014: A Catholic Response
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I
had the privilege to attend the Southern Baptist Convention in Baltimore this
last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among many other reasons, I
attended to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ as they move ahead
another year, but to also show them support from the greater Catholic
community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just a small way of
working towards greater unity and understanding among Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">This
was my first Convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope to be
able to attend regularly in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
following are simply my reflections after attending the Convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They offer both praise for our Southern
Baptist brothers and sisters, but also gentle encouragement for those
interested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they are helpful that is
great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not, then feel free to throw
them out!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Mission:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Southern Baptists are committed to
mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the buzz-word of the
Convention—in fact, it is the reason for the Convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it was great to see that they focused their
mission to the un-engaged. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is, they
focused their mission to those not currently living in a relationship with
Jesus Christ and not animated in their walk of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their commitment to mission was modeled in
the sending of many missioners to far-distant places where their lives could
easily be in danger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Prayer</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are a people committed to prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I walked the Convention floor and explored
the many exhibits, I was invited to pray with many people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was encouraging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is always good when we take time to pray
with people from different denominational backgrounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may not be united in all things, but we
can certainly be united in prayer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Common Ground</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people thanked me for the ways in which
Catholics and Baptists have found common ground to work together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This mainly concerned cultural issues that we
are both facing as religious groups centered on the threat to our religious liberty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was good to see that together we can
tackle tough issues needing a strong, united front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully in the future we find many more
ways to work together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Hospitality</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was impressed by the hundreds of people
that welcomed me, invited me to dine with them, said hello, engaged in
theological discussions, and just simply thanked me for being present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That kind of hospitality is so important.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The Spirit’s Presence:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Though I am not the final say on the
presence of the Holy Spirit, for what it is worth, I felt the presence of the
Holy Spirit working with the members of this Convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was uplifting to see how the Spirit continues
to guide the group, slowly leading them on, helping them discern theological
and cultural issues, helping them to pray, and finally, helping them to discern
leadership for the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Scripture:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was inspirational to be reminded again of
their commitment to the Word of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, it is always a moment of conviction for me in my own life when I am
around Southern Baptists to never stop plumbing the depths of the Word of
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A few words of
encouragement:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Science and
Reason:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe it will be important
for Southern Baptists to find ways to integrate Science and Reason properly
into their reflection on Scripture and faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Public Stance to
Unity:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray in my heart that they
continue to commit themselves more deeply to Christian unity to further the
cause of Christ, both as they are informally, but more in a public manner,
making it part of their commitment to mission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Eucharist and
Communion:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a Catholic, it is obvious
that the Eucharist is very important to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would simply invite my Southern Baptist friends to reflect more deeply
on what Jesus intended with the Last Supper, and to especially ask for the
Spirit’s guidance while reading the sixth chapter of John. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Be
encouraged:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realize that the number of baptisms are maybe not what would be hoped for, and that many of the Southern Baptist churches, especially the
smaller ones, are struggling to maintain membership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would simply say to you all to be
encouraged, continue the good work you are doing, and believe mightily that
just as many other groups of Christians are struggling at this time (including
Catholics) the Holy Spirit is guiding us all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>May we be united in our mutual struggle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Thanks
again to the many friends and acquaintances I met during this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks to Fr. Frank Ruff for leading me on this
venture and showing me the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally,
thank you to our Lord Jesus for the grace and life that he offers to us all,
and especially to this Catholic priest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Be assured of my prayers for the new President of the Convention, Dr. Ronnie Floyd, and to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Peace.</span></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-91284238960669959202014-06-03T18:23:00.000-05:002014-06-03T18:23:58.971-05:00Paschal Tears: Homily I Gave at the Opening of Glenmary's 2014 General Assembly<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I served the Lord with all humility and with tears...<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">For Paul the tears must
have fallen often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recalling his past
mistakes in life they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mistakes
that made him murder and persecute the very thing he would come to love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traveling with no clear directions; locked in
prisons and in houses and in his mind they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a struggle for the Gentiles they
fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell from being misunderstood
by his own people: being shipwrecked and homesick and heartbroken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angry at those foolish Galatians and those
capricious Corinthians they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
let us not forget those false prophets, drunken believers and gluttonous
converts, so they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wrestling with his
thorn: that prickly reminder of his own weakness; that prickly reminder of his
savior’s shameful walk to Calvary, they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">But it was not only in
sadness and anger that they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
also in joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell for the faith of
the Thessalonians whose fame was known throughout the faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell for the slave Onesimus who now
owned his own fate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell for
converted hearts towards the cause of the gentiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for generous hearts that helped the poor
in other churches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell from
inspired songs and intense theology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They fell for faith, hope and love: these theological virtues that
defined his destiny. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell for the
thousands of converts to the faith who would transform the known world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For in good times and in bad these tears
continued to fall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">St. Charles Lwanga must
have had a few tears fall, too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell
when his leader Mkasa was slain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
fell when countless believers were defiled by the king.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he could not protect those whom he loved,
they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the newly baptized were
carted off on a 37 mile trek to their own death, they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was not just tears of sadness; there
were tears of joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tears of faith that
had the power to persevere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tears of joy
to walk that lonely road as Christ did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tears that spilt blood would be the seeds of faith for countless
generations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so they fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell all the way to his own death, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell but the fire could not quench them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">We Glenmarians are really
no different than those witnesses that have gone before us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For us, too, the tears have fallen
often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell when a founder searched
for support and was only laughed at and disregarded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell from nights pondering the immense
no priest land and wondering if God would be faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell when converts were not so easy to
make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a founder died far too early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a mass exodus like a gushing artery
could not be stopped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell when the
land was desecrated and the poor disregarded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They fell when vocations were in short supply and the future was not so
certain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell with aging, with
debt, and death and with incarceration and with fewer and fewer missions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was not just in sadness that they
fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also in joy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">They fell when a
community was established.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a
seminary was built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell when the
community burst at the seams with members and nothing could stop us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They fell when churches were built across the
nation, blacks came to believe, Hispanics returned to the faith, locals cast
aside suspicions and the poor were rescued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They fell for us in both good times and in bad times, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">You see, I think the
tears have to fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the tears are
the Pascal mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Paul they had to
fall that he might realize that his own power was perfected in Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That only when he was weak was he
strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to fall so that he
might stop living for himself and live for others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So that he could confidently say <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I
consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the
ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of
God’s grace.”</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so they had to
fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">And they had to fall
for St. Charles and his companions, too, these tears of the Pascal Mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to fall so that countless future
generations would embrace the faith. So that Christianity in the Global South
would raise up the falling faith of the Global North.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to fall so that discrimination would
be destroyed, tyranny would be defeated and persecution would be
paralyzed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to fall so that the
seeds of faith might be sown for future generations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to fall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">And they had to fall
for us, Glenmarians too, these tears of the Pascal Mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fall so that we might let go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let go of what we thought Glenmary should be
and embrace what God wanted it to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let go of control so that we hand it over to the one truly in
control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to fall so that we
might be able to say with Paul that our lives alone, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and our life as a society</b>, are of no importance to us, if only we
may finish the course and the ministry we have received from the Lord Jesus, to
bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they still have to fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These tears of the Pascal Mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">But with tears falling
where do we go from here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where do our
tears fall on that road map to life<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Paul and Charles, as with Jesus before
them, we know we have only one place where we can go:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We go to Jerusalem.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We go to face our own Pascal Mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With dignity we arise together and we
walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We walk hand in hand to meet whatever
God might have for us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We walk that 37
mile trek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Pascal tear blurred eyes
we stare down Jerusalem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We contemplate
Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ponder Jerusalem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see Jerusalem as our Paschal end and we
move towards it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end of an assignment,
the end of a friendship, the end of a calling, the end of a life, the end of a
community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pascal end. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With honesty and sincerity and united together
in the Spirit we move towards Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">But we know that just
with Paul and with Charles and especially with Jesus that what might seem like
an end is not really an end at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
we and they and all of the cosmos are shrouded in the resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When that tomb was closed and that body lay
bloodied and bruised and dead, and dead, and lifeless as a frozen cadaver it
was not the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For in Christ it is
never the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Christ Jerusalem is
always the beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">So for us, what might
appear to be the end may not be the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As we approach this Jerusalem we don’t know what to expect. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we stare down that end. We contemplate
that end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With eyes filled with Pascal
tears, tears falling and hearts falling, we walk towards that end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the end might truly be the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-47603684267353949962014-06-01T19:16:00.002-05:002014-06-01T19:17:25.271-05:00Mi Ultima Homilia en Mi Primera Asignacion: La Ascencion<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">La vida de los discípulos
era difícil. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ellos habían seguido a
Jesús por mucho tiempo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Habían visto sus
milagros, su multiplicación de pan, su transfiguración, su última cena, su vía
crucis, su crucifixión, y su muerto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cuando Jesús murió los discípulos ya no tenían esperanza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ellos tenían miedo y se escondieron en sus
casas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero ellos también experimentaron
la resurrección.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesús ha resucitado
como él ha dicho.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y las lágrimas
cambiaban a sonrisas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>El miedo a la
esperanza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Los discípulos pensaban que
Jesús habría quedado con ellos para siempre y juntos ellos habrían podido
cambiar el mundo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero lo no era a
pasar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Porque Jesús necesitaba
salir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>El necesitaba regresar a su
padre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Él no puede quedar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y los discípulos eran tristes otra vez.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ellos dijeron: ¿Por qué él no puede quedar
con nosotros?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>¿Por qué él no quiere
permanecer aquí con nosotros?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Los
discípulos tuvieron despedir a Jesús, pero no lo querían.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ellos eran tristes y no entendieron la
razón.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">A veces esta situación es
igual con nosotros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Una persona sale de
nuestra vida y nosotros no queremos despedirla. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Una muchacha sale por la
universidad y los padres necesitan despedirla.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Un hombre sale por los
estados unidos y la familia necesita despedirlo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Una muchacha quiere casar y
el papa necesita despedirla.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Un sacerdote tenga que mover
a otro lado, y la comunidad necesita despedirlo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">O una persona muere, y todo
necesita despedirlo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Siempre es difícil y siempre
es muy triste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A veces no entendemos la
razón y no queremos despedir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Pero las escrituras hoy
tienen una promesa para nosotros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dios
tiene una promesa para nosotros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Cuando Jesús salió de esta
mundo en la ascensión, el continuaba a cuidar a su pueblo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>El mandó el espirito santo para vivir con la
gente y guiar la gente cada día.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y
también, él invitaba a los discípulos para continuar su trabajo en el
mundo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Su trabajo de salvación y renovar
de todo el mundo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>En una manera era
buena que Jesús salió, porque él podía mandar el espíritu santo, y los
discípulos podían continuar su trabajo en el mundo con mucho mas poder y animo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Entonces, para nosotros
también, a veces es bueno para despedirse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Porque cuando una persona sale, es posible que la vida cambia por lo
mejor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">La muchacha recibe una
educación y puede apoyar su familia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">El muchacho puede mandar
dinero a su familia allá y tiene otra familia acá.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">El papa recibe una familia
más grande con el esposo de su hija.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">La comunidad crece más en su
fe debido a los recuerdos del sacerdote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">O la persona esté reunida
con su familia en el cielo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">No es siempre fácil, pero a
veces cuando una persona sale, la vida cambia por lo mejor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Era la situación con Jesús y sus discípulos,
y es la situación con nosotros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Pero por fin, es importante
para recordar que en Jesús, en nuestra fe, no hay momentos de “adiós”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Solamente hay momentos de “Hasta luego.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Porque en la eucaristía, en la misa, y con el
espíritu santo, todo el pueblo de dios están unidos y nunca están separados.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="ES-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-US;">Este es el misterio de la
Ascensión.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>En Jesús, nosotros estamos
unidos para siempre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-5139879711420498322014-06-01T19:13:00.001-05:002014-06-01T19:13:16.939-05:00Final Homily for My First Assignment: Caught Between Letting Go and Never Truly Letting Go
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">It
was one of the first dates I remember going on. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And well, I thought I was in love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As much as a sophomore in high school can be
anyway. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were going to see
Titanic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turns out I ended up loving
the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The graphics were impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was loaded with history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And well, I think it is safe to say that I
have a little bit of a man crush on Leo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But there was that dreaded scene at the end of the movie as Jack and
Rose are floating in the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rose wakes
up and Jack is lifeless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had shared
so much and now it had come to an end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She had to let go of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So she
removed her hand and his frozen body sank into the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As his body sank she simply said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will never let go. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was caught in the midst of letting go and
never letting go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">Life
seems to be filled with these kinds of experiences:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>experiences where we find ourselves having to
let go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet at the same time we know
we will never be able to fully let go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s a tension that exists and it is oftentimes one of the most painful
experiences we can have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for
whatever reason, and this is so hard to understand, it seems that God has
allowed this to be part of the plan of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">It
is like the mom and dad who watch their kids get on the bus for the first day
of school ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their heart breaks for
they know that in some ways this day they have to let go of their kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet in letting go, they will never be
able to let go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">And
there is the father handing his daughter over to marry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She walks down that aisle and his world simply
stops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In an instant she is his baby
girl, getting piggy back rides, she is putting makeup on for the first time,
she is crying at her first broken heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And now she is going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same
time he is both letting go of her, and yet never truly letting go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">And
there is the death of a loved one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
good friend lost his brother who was only 12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Only 12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was just a young boy
with so much ahead of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talking to
the mom weeks after it happened she said to me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I see him all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see him
walking in our backyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see him on
the stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know he is gone. But yet
he is still here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was letting go of
him, but never truly letting go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">The
Feast that we celebrate today is a lot about letting go and never really
letting go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Scriptures have been
preparing us for this moment for weeks now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus has been saying to his disciples that he needs to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is God’s will that he go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For if he goes than the Holy Spirit will
come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a sense, they will be given
something even more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they don’t want
him to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They want him to stay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is everything to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">Yet
the scene we have from the first reading is so powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The disciples are staring up at the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is taken away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He returns to Heaven to be with his
Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet the disciples are
transfixed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t seem to
move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They know they must let go, but
they also know they will never let go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And so they are stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t
seem to move. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t really know how
to go forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">I
really believe this can happen to us, too, as we are asked to let go, and yet
not really let go in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the
parent seeing their child go off to school, for the father handing his daughter
over in marriage, or for a person trying to grieve the loss of a loved
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can be so difficult for us to
know what to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know we must let
go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we will never be able to let go.
And so we become stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want the past
and yet the past is gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want what
we used to have but that will never be possible again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And somehow it seems like we will not be able
to move forward in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">But
notice what happens to the disciples in today’s first reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they are stuck, when they can’t move
forward, when they are caught between letting go and never letting go, they are
visited by angels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two people clothed in
white visit them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They visit them to
give them the nudge they need to move forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They visit them to remind them that God is in control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God will take care of everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">There
is no doubt in my mind that over the next few months all of us are going to be
stuck in our own process of letting go and yet never really letting go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For myself it will be very difficult to move
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have told people that I have not
even given much thought to the next assignment in these past few weeks simply
so that I can say goodbye to people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
it is hard to move forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is hard
to leave when people have shared so much together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But yet I know that we all will be called to
move from that place of being stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are called to move well through the process of letting go and never letting
go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to do this, I think the scriptures
invite us to look for our angels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
look for the things in life that nudge us on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To look for the things that help us to integrate our loss, to let go,
but to never fully let go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">These
angels can come in so many different ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They can come from a good cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They can come from a friend listening to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can come from a hug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A smile, or even a gentle goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can come from a homily, a book or even a
movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can come from a song. They
can come from new people who appear in our life without us knowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But God is faithful, and he wants us to be
able to move forward, and so we need to look for these angels all around
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">It
is truly important that we allow these moments to happen to us in our
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we find ourselves in the
midst of letting go and not letting go, we must find a way to listen to the
angels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For God always has something
more in store for us:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for you and
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has not given up on us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continues to send us out to love and be
loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To bear witness to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To bring about his kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We just have to listen to the angels around
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will help us and lead us on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8165528103206388750.post-36975060326309249532014-05-11T18:57:00.000-05:002014-05-11T18:57:02.653-05:00Being Good Shepherds -- Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">As
many of you know I worked on a hog farm growing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But one summer the owners got tired of mowing
the lawn so they bought sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They put
up a fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then they threw a horse
in the pen with the sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well that
horse became the shepherd for those sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wherever it went, the sheep went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They looked to it for protection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They even slept right next to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">Now
you never know what you get to do on a farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And one morning the boss told me that it was time to castrate the sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids if you don’t know what that is you can
ask your parents later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I went into
the pen to try and catch the sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
it was near impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That horse
started running, and so did the sheep, and it was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sheep never stopped following that darn
horse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t catch one. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally I came to my senses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I brought the horse in close with feed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sheep followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tied up the horse so it couldn’t move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sheep stayed near it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I was able to catch the sheep and do my
duty—whether the sheep liked it or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
learned that sheep will always follow the shepherd’s lead, no matter if it is
good or bad for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">The
image of the shepherd and the sheep is a very common one used throughout the
bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It often describes the
relationship between a religious leader and his or her followers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not saying that people are dumb for
blindly following a leader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is that
people desire to have good spiritual leadership. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People want to be led and fed spiritually, and
will take the lead from others whom they think are their shepherds. When
shepherds are good it is an amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
what happens when you get bad shepherds?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">Today’s
gospel was written just before the turn of the first century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Christians were experiencing bad
shepherds. The Jewish leaders of the synagogue were tired of the Christians
because they keep saying that Jesus was God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And well, he was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for some of
the Jewish leaders this was too much to take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So they started throwing the Christians out of the synagogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine the shepherds throwing the sheep out
of the pen to fend for themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
doing so the Christians were no longer protected from abstaining from public
worship to the emperor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who didn’t
suffered serious persecution. This was a terrible problem for the early
Christians. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It cost Christians their
lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">This
is obviously a bad example of how a shepherd should treat the sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what can be said of our shepherds
here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all know that the pastor of our
church is a very important person. We also know that the same goes for the
associate and the religious brothers and sisters that are here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And heaven forbid that we would be such bad
shepherds so as to act in any way that would throw people out of the church:
either directly or indirectly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But one
thing we all know is that the church isn’t just us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is all of you, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of you is called to be shepherds in your
own way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of you will be able to
reach people that we would never be able to. Each of you has relationships with
folks that are very special that keep us united together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is a question worth asking:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">In
what way do we all sometimes throw people out of the church? </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In what way, do we all act as bad shepherds
who are thieves and robbers and leave the sheep fending for themselves?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">I
would say the first way we act as bad shepherds is by throwing ourselves
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah that seems weird. But we
throw ourselves out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be seen in
people who feel they have committed sins that simply could never be forgiven, and
they remove themselves from the flock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This can happen when shame invades peoples and they think they do not
have a right to be around others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
this can also happen when our practice as Catholics becomes lax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We say we are Catholic but we really don’t
show it in the life we live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be
even more dangerous, because this can also be an indirect way of kicking others
out:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they see lax examples of us as
Catholics and they think it really isn’t necessary for one to be part of our
group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Jesus is the good
shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he says to us:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">Come
back to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never grow tired of
forgiving your sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing you have
done can keep you separated from me if you only ask for forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I desire to offer you mercy and compassion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Return to me that you may have life and have it more abundantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is always a chance to come back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">I
think we also throw others out by not being sensitive enough to the
complexities of the faith journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
journey of faith is complicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
all searching and trying hard to find this God who loves us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we as shepherds kick sheep out of the
flock by not being sensitive to each person’s journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a way we try to force others into the
faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This comes across in harsh judgments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This comes across in not respecting another
person’s freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This comes across in proselytization
and rather than dialogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This comes
across in forgetting that God is the one who is ultimately responsible for each
person’s faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these moments we need
to turn to the good shepherd to hear his voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">He
says to us: listen to the stories that people carry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sit with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wait patiently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The right time will show itself when you can
help someone back to the flock. Try to hold off on judgments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember the times you too have misunderstood
your faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember the times when you
too have strayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Approach them with
humility and gentleness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trust that I am
the one caring for the sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Help me by
loving them into life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">Finally,
I think we throw others out by forgetting that we must always be
missionary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most dangerous thing for a church is when
the people start saying:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this is how
things have always been done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
happens when the church turns in on itself rather than turns out on the world
all around them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When this happens, we
will have to listen to the voice of the good shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">He
says:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never forget the missionary
beginnings that you have had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look to
the poor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look to those who do not
believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Find ways to reach out to
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have been given a gift; now
share it with the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things may have
always been done that way, but it is time for a change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is always time to open the doors and let
in new life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt;">Peter
our first pope was a good shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
heard today that he baptized 3000 people with just one speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us be good shepherds, not removing people
from the flock, but welcoming them, and ourselves, back to the fold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We might be able to one day tell Saint
Peter:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3000 was nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to what we did back in Maynardville
and Rutledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Father Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02042853256376677690noreply@blogger.com0