July 2024

Homily for July 21, 2024, 16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Deacon Dave LaFortune

Hello everyone. It’s so good to see you as we gather to celebrate the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Let us begin in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Heart of It All

At the heart of our Christians faith is the relationship we have with God through Jesus; the call to that special, innocent intimacy found between a child and parent; the very intimacy God longs to share.

The image I often have of that intimacy God desires with us: Imagine a young child running into the outstretched arms of a waiting grandparent. Imagine what that child feels when his/her grandparent’s arms wrap tightly around that child. That child feels safe, secure, and totally loved! Don’t we all want that feeling?

I fondly remember, many years ago, the times I went to pick up my daughters after they’d been on a field trip to Darian Lake Amusement Park. Standing there—waiting for the bus to park and the doors to open—when the children would spill out and rush to find their parent(s) in fits of joyful screams. After the hugs came the children’s excited chatter as they would share a minute-by-minute account of what they’d done, what they had seen, and who’d said what to whom.

Today’s Gospel captures that same intimacy, excitement, and innocent joy as Mark tells how “the Apostles rejoined Jesus and told Him all they had done and taught.” Such a joy-filled image, relaying everything they had seen and done while away from their rabbi, their Lord.

As I reflected on this scene, I found myself thinking about my relationship with our Lord. Doesn’t Jesus tell us those who are like children will enter the kingdom, who will find God, and who will approach Jesus? Was I allowing myself to approach Jesus with childlike innocence, excitement, and joy? Did I encourage this closeness to God with my children and grandchildren, building a prayerful life on this beautiful relationship?

Answers to all my questions: I know I can do better!

Back to the aforementioned Darien Lake day trips and the parent-child reunions: As all good parents will tell you, once the excitement slows down, there’s a need for calm. A chance to refocus their children, feed them, allow them time to draw a deep breath, and yes, finally rest. This is what the Lord sees in the Apostles: the need for some physical and spiritual refreshment to replenish what had been given on their journeys during their ministry to the people.

 The Need for Our Quiet Place with the Lord

It’s this image where we see the challenges so many of us live out daily.

Have you noticed there’s an expectation—a demand almost—in every minute of every day that we must be ‘busy’ by doing or contributing something and being productive? Images bombard us 24/7, emails set us toward the next task on our forever ‘to do’ list. Social media goads us into believing we’re not living as full a life as our 600+ so called ‘friends.’

From the moment our alarms go off in the morning we finally lie our heads on the pillow again, our day is mapped out with stuff! We’ve become addicted to being busy, and for those still working 9 to 5 and think things slow down when you finally retire, I have some really bad news for you: They don’t!

Even on days off, we’re bombarded with emails, texts, and all the other ways we feel compelled to communicate. All the while, trying to get our children or grandchildren to sporting events, after-school clubs, or their next social engagement.

When do we find time to head off to our ‘lonely place’ and simply sit in the presence of our Lord?

Jesus understands this as we’ve read today and knows what we really need, what our family really needs—moments of peace with the Lord in our quiet place.

Mark tells us that not only does Jesus understand our predicament, but He also looks on us and ‘takes pity on us’ because we are “like sheep without a shepherd,” searching for meaning but looking in all the wrong places.

In our frantic rushing and searching, Jesus remains our true peace, our chance to breath and put life’s chaos into perspective. As St Paul says, Jesus ‘is the peace between us’–the peace between Himself and us and between each member of our parish family.

The Catholic Church supports finding that quiet place to spend time with Jesus; in fact, every ordained priest and deacon is required to make an annual retreat for at least one week. This retreat provides an opportunity to get away from our normal routine that keeps us way too busy. It’s an opportunity to put the chaos into perspective and spend some quality time with our Lord.

In our Diocese, there are places where priests, deacons, and even lay people can go to “rest a while with God.” For example, there is the Trappist retreat center in Piffard, NY, and the Benedictine retreat center at Mount Savior Monastery in Pine City, NY. We’re also blessed to have the Notre Dame Retreat Center in Canandaigua, NY.

I’d like to leave you with this thought: Soon, we will come together at the Lord’s table and receive the Body of Christ and make our prayers of thanksgiving. Then, we’ll head back to the world.

As we journey through the week ahead, take a few moments each day to find that quiet place in your hearts—to find peace—and in that peace, allow yourself to be with Jesus as a child, getting off the bus after your day trip and running to greet Him, sharing all you’ve done and seen while embracing your inner child.

Because Jesus is waiting to receive His children with outstretched arms.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Homily For Sunday, July 14, 2024, 15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Homilist: Father Patrick Connor

What It Means to be a Disciple

We hear in today’s gospel acclamation: “May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ / enlighten the eyes of our hearts, /that we may know what is the hope /that belongs to our call.”

Hope and call are words to keep in mind as we take time to listen to God as He speaks to us not only through the scripture readings we have heard, but also—and hopefully—through this homily based on these readings.

In our missalettes’ commentary at beginning of our readings, it says: “Though we are neither prophets nor apostles, we are called to be disciples by virtue of our baptism.”

Webster’s dictionary defines disciple as “a pupil or learner” in the Latin origin. Webster’s dictionary further defines apostle as “one who is sent.”

Before the Twelve were given the status of apostle, they were disciples of Jesus. This means He was their model and teacher, and He always used their mistakes or even sins as teachable moments.

At one point, after Jesus predicted his passion and death to his disciples, this happened:

Peter said, “This shall never happen to you!”

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Notice it says Jesus said to his disciples—those who were still learning—not in some classroom but by being right there with Jesus, the teacher. Further, Jesus doesn’t tell Peter to get behind me to shame him or make him inferior. No, Jesus is inviting Peter to follow and to learn from him, so Peter will someday be an apostle (one sent on a mission) as the other eleven disciples would be.

Our Hope and Calling

Perhaps this is a good place for us to consider how the two words—namely hope and call—are a part of our lives.

As our gospel acclamation referred to “the hope that belongs to our call.”

 What is our call? It’s expressed perfectly in that passage when Jesus called Peter “Satan” (even if Peter wanted to save Jesus from his passion and death) and then told Peter to get behind and follow.

Our call is to follow Jesus. He is with us every day and all day. He, the Good Shepherd, is always beside us, even though we may not always feel His presence. Yet, we’re one of the sheep of his flock, and He loves all in his flock without exception. Even the lost sheep, He goes to find and bring them back and never rejects them.

So, each day we should ask Jesus for the grace to follow Him. We’re his disciples who still have things to learn, and He is our teacher.

As we go through each day, it would be highly favorable to ask Jesus to open our minds, hearts, and souls to His revelations and teachings. In this way, we’re faithful to our call as disciples to follow and learn from Jesus. We have hope because, despite of our weakness and sins, Jesus never abandons us or rejects us.

Then comes that time in our lives when we enter a new relationship with Jesus…as his apostles. By our baptism, we’ve been put on the path God intends us to take as we go forth and spread the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

How do we do this? Here I would like to refer to our parish’s mission statement found in our bulletin. If you have a copy of the bulletin, I invite you to read the bottom of the front cover:

We are a Catholic community of faith united in our love for Jesus Christ. We strive to maintain and carry the message of hope and salvation to others through works of evangelization and examples of sacramental life.

Then we have our vision statement there, too, which says: “We will promote a stable parish, with a vibrant, spiritually nourishing, learning environment to grow ourselves and others as disciples of Christ.”

So, we have a purpose—a call from God—to let the light of Jesus shine through our words and actions. We can do this through the grace of God, which we receive here in the Mass through God’s word and the word make flesh as the Bread of Life in Holy Communion.

As the first line of the Prayer of Saint Francis says, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”

He does that by helping us to learn from him as we follow Jesus. He teaches us how to show mercy and love to others—beginning with ourselves. We can be our worst critics and not love ourselves. Yet, if it starts there, we can begin to love others. We’re not perfect, but that doesn’t mean we are not lovable.

God loves us because He sees the image of his son, Jesus, in us.

Jesus loves us because He sees us as God’s gift to this world.

When we’re faithful to our call, the day will come when we’re called from this world to Heaven. There, we’ll see Jesus at the gate of Heaven. He will see our lives and all we did to try to spread the Good News of His Kingdom. At some point, He may say, “In looking at all the love you tried to show others in my name, I see myself in you.”

 Then, turning and pointing a finger at the gate of Heaven opening, He will look at us, smile, and say, “Enter now into the joy of My Kingdom.”

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Homily for July 7, 2024, 14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homilist: Deacon Dave LaFortune

 In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Pain of Rejection

I think you would agree rejection is always a painful experience and wounds to some extent—at least emotionally—and rejection can take many forms:

• Rejection because of one’s race, nationality, or religion
• Not taken seriously
• Not accepted or being left behind
• Children who don’t make the team, or teens not invited to their prom
• A broken marriage engagement
• And perhaps most painful: rejection due to estrangement between parents and their children.

Unfortunately, many also reject God.

God Doesn’t Give Up

 Rejecting God is the worst decision any person or group can make because rejecting God jeopardizes our future life and our eternal salvation.

In the passage from Ezekiel, God complains He has been rejected repeatedly by His Chosen People. The people have become stone-faced and obstinate of heart.

But God reveals He doesn’t give up. God keeps trying. He continues to reach out.

As their lives unfold, the people recognize Ezekiel as a true prophet who spoke for God! Further, they learn rejection leads to dire consequences. For rejecting God—and God’s commands—always brings about self-deterioration and ultimately destruction!

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is rejected by the very people who should have been most receptive to him. But they were envious of his growing fame and blind to their own faults. Like their ancestors, they, too, were obstinate of heart.

There will always be those who discredit others because of their own mediocrity. And so the villagers used ad hominem arguments against Jesus: “Just who does he think he is? He’s no better than the rest of us! How can he be anyone special? He’s only a carpenter. Where did he get his training as a rabbi? We know all his cousins. He’s just the son of Mary!”

We’re told Jesus was amazed by their lack of faith.

Obviously, the villagers had no real relationship with God. Otherwise, they would’ve been more open to Jesus and his message. Sadly, they missed so much of what Jesus could have done for them!

God’s Grace Is More Than Enough

In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul recognizes his weakness and imperfection. An angel of Satan has afflicted him in some way. Paul asked God to deliver him from this affliction, so he could minister more effectively.

But God refused. The affliction kept Paul humble. God’s grace would make powerful any weakness on Paul’s part.

So, Paul rejoiced in his weakness because God’s power gave him the strength to continue his work despite all the rejection and hardship Paul would face!

As I reflected on today’s readings and the theme of rejection, I thought about my earliest memories of being rejected. I was born with a speech impediment. When I was in grade school—especially in first and second grade—whenever I spoke, my classmates would laugh at me. This caused me to be very quiet in class.

Many years later after graduating from college, I joined the Carmelite Order to study for the priesthood. The year I was to profess my final vows and become ordained as a transitional deacon, I decided to leave the Carmelite Order, in part because I didn’t want to preach due to my speech impediment.

Look at me now, standing here preaching this homily! I finally came to believe God’s grace would overcome any weakness I had.

My friends, as members of a fallen, sinful human race, we will experience rejection. We’re not perfect. Those around us are not perfect.

But no matter our faults and sins, God doesn’t reject us and sends His grace. God always hopes we can be better than we are right now.

Consequently, we should use any human rejection in a positive way.

• What can we learn from what others say to or about us?
• Do we impede others by how we treat or say about them?
• Do we use ad hominem arguments to discredit the truth someone else speaks, or the good that they do?

As God’s children, we were created for some special work and unique purpose. Thus, as believers and disciples:

• May we never let rejection overpower us,
• May we trust always in the grace and the power of God,
• And may we always be faithful children of God and true sisters and brothers of Jesus—amen!

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

June 2024

Homily for June 23, 2024, Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary  Time (Cycle B)

Homilist: Father Patrick Connor

They Called Him “Teacher.”

In today’s Gospel, we see a different side of Jesus—the Sleeping Jesus. Prior to this, Jesus has been very active, preaching to a large crowd of people. This is Chapter 4 of Mark’s Gospel, with the first verses of this chapter saying:

“On another occasion, he began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at great length in parables.”

 It said  Jesus only spoke in parables to the people, but  when finished, he spoke with his disciples but not in parables. The Gospel says: “Without parables he did not speak to them (the crowd), but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.”

Then, the Gospel goes on to say: “On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us cross to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.”

That phrase “just as he was” raises some questions in my mind. What was Jesus like at that time? I find myself trying to picture Jesus just as he was.

Knowing how he would fall asleep when the disciples were on the boat with Jesus, and they were heading out to sea, I wonder if that phrase about Jesus just as he was may have indicated a Jesus tired from a very busy day—full of preaching and probably doing other acts of reaching out to the gathered crowd to help them. Perhaps he healed some of the sick or fed some of the hungry. Whatever his actions, Jesus gave his all, so it’s no wonder he falls asleep in the boat.

Picture yourself in that scene when the storm comes. The gospel says: “A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.”

 Imagine the waves rocking the boat, and one wonders how Jesus could sleep in all that commotion. It just goes to show how tired Jesus must have been!

But the disciples were overcome with fear. So, the Gospel says: “They woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing!’”

Notice they called him teacher and not Jesus, or Lord, or any other names we associate with Jesus. Considering all the teaching Jesus had been doing to the crowds in parables, it’s not surprising he would be called teacher.

The Storms of Our Lives

Perhaps it would be good to pause here and ask what storms in life are you facing? What is happening to you that might be causing fear and panic and being dragged down like you were drowning in all your problems? These are like a raging sea threatening to destroy the boat that takes you through life.

In other words, can you name your fears? Listen again to Responsorial Psalm 107:

They who sailed the sea in ships / trading on the deep waters, these saw the works of the lord / and his wonders in the abyss.

His command raised up a storm wind / which tosses its waves on high. They mounted up to heaven; they sank to the depths; / their hearts melted away in their plight.

They cried to the Lord in their distress; / from their straits, he rescued them, he hushed the storm to a gentle breeze; / and the billows of the sea were stilled.

They rejoiced that they were calmed, / and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness / and his wondrous deeds to the children of men.

 Keep in mind that phrase “from their straits he rescued them, he hushed the storm to a gentle breeze.” Jesus lives these words in how he stopped the storm for the disciples in the boat. The gospel says after they called out for him: “He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm.”

Now try to take this scene and apply it to your experience of life’s troubled times— disrupting your boat that takes you through life. Try to imagine Jesus by your side, looking at the storms of your life, and saying to those storms—“Quiet! Be still!”—and then suddenly, finding great calm in yourself.

“God knows what it’s like to be in your skin.”

Webster’s dictionary defines straits as “a narrow space or passage and also a situation of perplexity and distress.” So, the Gospel says Jesus saved his disciples in the boat from their distress.

Now, think of Jesus by your side rescuing you from your distress and feeling great calm. If you don’t feel any peace, don’t worry. God has a plan. Just place your trust in Him. As our responsorial psalm refrain today said: Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.

As you receive Jesus in Holy Communion today, offer him your thankfulness for that love he brings you. Don’t worry…you aren’t receiving a Sleeping Jesus, but one who is fully awake and fully aware of everything about you. As I heard a priest once say in his homily: “God knows what it’s like to be in your skin.”

So, place all those fears in his hands and trust in his help and love.

I end my homily with the opening prayer from Mass today:

Grant, O Lord, that we may always revere and love your Holy Name, for you never deprive of your guidance those you set firm on the foundation of your love. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen,

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 Homily for June 16, 2024, 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Homilist: Deacon Doug Farwell

 God’s Promise of Restoration.

We don’t hear much from the prophet Ezekiel; however, his contribution to the history of prophecy is unique. Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel was a priest, but what made him a standout among the other prophets was his unparallelled attention to the temple and the liturgy that eventually earned him the title of “the Father of Judaism.” Further, in 597 B.C., Ezekiel was exiled to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar along with many of his countrymen and became a prophet while in exile—the first to receive the call to prophecy outside the Holy Land.

For most prophets, delivering God’s message wasn’t an easy task, and Ezekiel was no exception. He foretold of the destruction of Jerusalem, which would be devastating news to the Jewish people. Ten years later in 587 B.C., the message he tried to prepare his compatriots for became vindicated when the Jewish temple was destroyed as he had predicted.

After the temple’s destruction, Ezekiel’s message changed. From this point on, his message was about the promise of salvation that would be brought about by a new covenant with God. Ezekiel gave his fellow exiles hope by believing that once God’s allotted time for the exile was accomplished, salvation would be granted, and Israel would be restored. The famous story of the animation of the dry bones in Ezekiel, Chapter 37, expresses Ezekiel’s firm belief in this forthcoming restoration.

Today’s reading from Chapter 17—titled “The Eagle and the Vine”— denotes God’s promise of restoring Israel. In this chapter, God speaks metaphorically of the eagle tearing off a mighty cedar’s topmost branch, from which new shoots will prosper; these new branches will become dwellings that provide shade and shelter. This metaphor for restoration is what God has promised to the Israeli people: restoring to them the land of their forefathers under the Davidic kingdom.

We Walk by Faith—Not Sight

Our reading today from Paul to the Corinthians also speaks of restoration upon the return of Christ. However, this restoration will require courage while we are home in the body—meaning our earthly life. For while we’re home in our bodies, we are away from the Lord.

It will take courage because we must walk by faith and not by sight. Faith will grow within us if we aspire to please God. We know not how it will grow, but we must live our lives through moral and ethical ways. It require courage today as it did in the days of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. It may seem we’re living in uncertain times, but we, too, can draw strength by focusing on the promise of everlasting salvation of the kingdom of Heaven via the new and everlasting covenant in Christ.

In listening to God’s Word, we nurture the seed planted by God.

Mark saw Jesus’ public ministry as foretelling the coming reign of God into this world. In keeping with that focus, our gospel reading from Mark today recalls the first words Jesus speaks upon returning to Galilee after being baptized and spending 40 days in the desert.: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As we’re all familiar, Jesus used parables to describe God’s kingdom, utilizing images and real-life experiences to help people understand his teachings. Today, most of us are no strangers to Jesus’s parable of the mustard seed that symbolizes how the kingdom of God will grow in this world; starting out small, perhaps, but once sown, growing huge such that all who accept it will have a place to dwell.

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 14 begins the “Last Supper Discourses,” where Jesus begins by telling his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith in me also. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” This speaks of the vastness of the heavenly kingdom.

Remember that Christianity started with only twelve. They became the Sowers of the Word, which once planted, God will make grow. Today, our job as disciples is to also be Sowers of the Word. and allowing that seed to grow; for if it is never sown, there is nothing to grow.

As we heard from Ezekiel, many have fallen away or are in a sort of exile. So let’s given them hope of restoration. We’ll need to instill courage in them to return to the Lord and live ethical and moral lives, so that all may dwell in the vastness of the heavenly kingdom. When we do this, we can boldly proclaim the words of the Psalm: “Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.”

Homily for June 9, 2024, Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homilist: Deacon Dave LaFortune

Hello, everyone. It’s so good to see you here today as we gather to celebrate the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

So let us begin in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Where did our resolutions go?

As the days lengthen and summer comes, it’s a good time to step back from our daily routine, at least for a short while, to look around and consider where we stand in the world—today, this week, through the year—and likewise take the time to consider how close we stand to God.

For many, the fresh ambitions that launched a re-energized faith for a new year—for a new life with Jesus—have quietly dissipated; so much so that we feel like that first man (Adam) in the Garden of Eden from our reading in Genesis today as God calls out, “Where are you?” The plans we had crafted so carefully in the depth of winter have been re-shaped beyond recognition as the challenges and distractions of this world have tossed our lives about through the changing seasons. Or maybe, it’s the routine and mundane that has, well, remained routine and mundane. Life carries on much as before.

As the months drift by, there may be times, perhaps more often than not, when we’re overwhelmed by the worries of the world and find our lives are less than joyful even in these summer days of sunshine and holidays.

True Joy

But, as Pope Francis tells us, we may not always be happy, as the challenges of life press on us, but we are always to be joyful.

But where does the joy come from?

My friends, joy is found in knowing that God loves us. Joy is also found through sharing in the life of Christ and sharing the Good News with others.

Celebrating ten years since publishing Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel, the letter that set his papal ministry’s priorities, Pope Francis once more calls us to proclaim the Gospel with joy. As Pope Francis says, the question isn’t what particular Good News we share, but whether we communicate that same news with joy. He further challenges us by noting, “Either we proclaim Jesus with joy, or we do not proclaim him.”

Let’s spend time being open to the Holy Spirit, who reveals the joy we already have in knowing how close we are to Jesus, who tell us in today’s Gospel: “Here are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and my sister and my mother.”

There is also the joy of knowing we’re always close to our heavenly Father for as St Paul tells us in his Second Letter to the Corinthians: “[W]e have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture… knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side …”

So don’t worry that life often moves quicker than we might like. Instead with joy and confidence, let’s strive ahead by sharing the Good News in word and deed, but knowing:

• God is always with us.
• We are filled with the Holy Spirit.
• We walk with Jesus as a brother or sister.
• And in the fullness of time, we’ll be by the side of our Heavenly Father forever.

Thus, in the busyness of the day or in those quiet moments when we hear God calling us, let’s answer with joy, “Father, I am here with the new man—your Son, Jesus—and filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, ever ready to do your will.”

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Homily For June 2, 2024, Corpus Christi Sunday (Cycle B)

Homilist: Father Patrick Connor

The New Covenant

I happened to read the introduction to today’s readings in the missalette. It offers a bit of background I think that is important. So, in case you didn’t read it, I’ll share some of it with you now. (Here, I read the excerpt from the missalette.)

It makes reference to the blood of Jesus, termed as “the blood of the new and eternal covenant,” which binds us ever more closely in love, in service, and in life to the Lord.

Our responsorial Psalm 116 today reads: “How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.”

Since the days of the COVID pandemic, Holy Communion under both forms of bread and wine was discontinued, with Communion given only under the one form of bread. We still don’t serve communion with the cup until our bishop lifts the ban, which was given to protect people from the disease.  Yet, we still receive the blood of Jesus in the consecrated host. The sacred host is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our lord Jesus Christ.

So even though we do not receive from the cup, in the words of our responsorial psalm, receiving communion under the one form of bread only, we still “take up the cup of salvation, and we call upon the name of the Lord.”

To invoke this sacred name is to call down the blessings of the Lord upon us. Just as in our baptism we became one with the Lord, so, too, in receiving holy communion we are one with the Lord.

Go Forth and Make Disciples of All the Nations.

This is Jesus’ gift to us that he made possible by his life, death and resurrection. When we are united with Jesus in Holy Communion and receive His Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity, we also share in the union of The Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus brings us into this intimate union so we may experience the power of God’s love for us—i.e., the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—coming into our souls and dwelling there so that we may find the wisdom, the love, and the strength to be disciples of the Lord; to go forth and make other people disciples of the Lord by spreading the gospel.

This same charge was given by Jesus to the apostles before His ascension into Heaven when he he told them, “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

This command from Jesus is not just a matter of word but also actions.

In Imitation of Christ

It reminds me of what Saint Francis told his friars whenever he sent them out to preach: “Preach the gospel at all times, but only use words when necessary.”

Saint Francis wasn’t saying words are not important, but he was saying people are drawn to us by what they see in our actions. Then—when we have their attention and interest based on our actions—they are open to hearing our words.

This is why I like the “Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi” because the first line is: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”

As we prepare to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let’s pray for the grace to be the hands and heart of Jesus. When people see our example of Jesus living in us through our imitation of Christ, we open a door for them to enter into a place where words will truly help them to have better union with Jesus—leading to a time when their union with Jesus will become their deeper communion with Jesus.

So let us join with the Church in giving thanks and praise to Jesus for this gift of His Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

As it said in our opening prayer of Mass today:

“O God, who in this wonderful sacrament have left us a memorial of your passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

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May 2024

Homily For May 26, 2024, The Most Holy Trinity (Cycle B)

Homilist: Father Patrick Connor

Truly, We Are Children of God

In our second reading from the New Testament, the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, we read: “You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but a spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”

Sometimes we hear the phrase “fear of the Lord.” Some people mistakenly think this translates as “afraid of the Lord.” But fear of the Lord is not a matter of being afraid of God but giving reverence to and love to our God as well as our obedience to God’s will.

As St. Paul said, we have received a spirit of adoption. It’s in this Gift of the Spirit that we cry to God, “Abba, Father!” This is a term of endearment, a term of trust, hope, and love.

We heard in today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 33: “Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield.”

Stop and think about what the words “help” and “shield” mean for you in your life, with all the challenges and problems you may be facing this day. Now, apply the words help and shield to any of your problems that you may be going back to when you leave Mass today.

It reminds me of those verses in Psalm 23, known as the Good Shepherd Psalm. Not only does it refer to green pastures and still waters—i.e., times of peace—but also acknowledges times of difficulty where it says: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff that comfort me.”

The “valley of the shadow of death” describes those times and circumstances where we feel like God is absent from us; when we can’t feel the presence of the Good Shepherd by our side with his rod and staff to comfort us. Many of the saints experienced such times to the point that it was referred to as the dark night of the soul.

During this period, the soul experiences a lack of peace and closeness to the Lord—a spiritual dryness. Whereas before the saint had strong feelings of faith and peace whenever he or she would pray—during this dark night, the good feelings that came with prayer are suddenly gone. This dark night of the soul is God bringing the soul to a stronger faith and deeper union with Him. It’s not a punishment but a growing process…growing in holiness.

There are times, continuing in the words of Psalm 23, when one is going through that valley of the shadow of death. The death refers to dying to self, living for the Lord, and doing His will. Though it might create a sense of one’s own weakness, at the same time, the soul experiences a growth in holiness through a stronger trust in placing our lives in the Lord’s hands.

Not Just Words

Today we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. In one of his talks about The Holy Trinity, Pope Francis said, “Today we can ask ourselves if our life reflects the God we believe in: do I, who profess faith in God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, truly believe that in order to live, I need others, I need to give myself to others, I need to serve others. Do I affirm this in words or with my life?”

So the doctrine of the Trinity isn’t just something we find in a textbook of the teachings of the Church but something that affects our actions. It’s not just a matter of words, but of being the hands and the heart of Jesus to others. This is how we spread our faith—not just words but actions as well where we try to show the love of Jesus for those we meet.

Our parish mission statement on the front of our bulletin, reads: We are a Catholic community of faith united in our love for Jesus Christ. We strive to maintain and carry the message of hope and salvation to others through our works of evangelization and examples of sacramental life.

The message of hope and salvation is what Jesus brought to the world. it is God’s gift to us all. One way we carry the message is by being open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sends to us. This Holy Spirit helps us to evangelize—not just by words, but more importantly, through our actions.

In last Sunday’s homily, Deacon Doug referred to the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, which began last Monday when the Easter season ended with the feast of Pentecost. I can’t remember his exact words, but I recall it was something like Lent was a time for growing in holiness, but Ordinary Time isn’t a time for us to stop living our faith. Rather, it’s a time to get busy and be committed to showing our faith…like our parish mission statement.

It’s also part of what Jesus meant when he told the disciples before His ascension into Heaven:

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I told you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.”

Jesus is truly with us. The Good Shepherd is ever by our side with his rod and staff that give us courage. So, let’s take that courage with us today.

Let us be open to Jesus as we receive him in Holy Communion today.

Let us not fear going forth and being his instrument of peace, but trust he accepts us just as we are even with all our weaknesses and sins.

But he doesn’t leave us there. He calls us to get behind him just as Jesus told Peter and the disciples about His coming passion, death, and resurrection.

Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing will ever happen to you.”  Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus was not calling Peter the Devil but indicating Peter was not thinking of the ways of God but of the world. Telling Peter to get behind Jesus wasn’t some type of punishment but an invitation to follow Jesus and learn from him. Jesus says the same to us: Get behind Me– so that we can become more like Him as he changes us from…Sinner to Saint.
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Homily for May 19, 2024–Pentecost Sunday (Year B)

Homilist: Deacon Doug Farwell

Ordinary Time is Not Time to Rest

The final words of Jesus to his disciples before he ascended into the heavens were: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The weekdays after the Ascension up to the Saturday before Pentecost are days spent in anticipation for the coming of the Holy Spirit, with communities praying novenas of renewal in preparing for the Feast of Pentecost. These weekday readings dive further into the Acts of the Apostles—encouraging the disciples of the Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit—to proclaim the kingdom of God; even encouraging St. Paul, while in prison, on his mission to Rome.

And it’s that very Spirit who encourages us to do the same. Through the Spirit—despite what our world endures today—we must continue our mission by proclaiming God’s kingdom.

This weekend marks the end of the Easter season and the return to Ordinary Time. But Ordinary Time isn’t a time to relax but to get to work. What did we hear on the Ascension when Jesus was taken into heaven? We heard: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

These words say you have work to do before he returns, so now get busy!

Come Holy Spirit!

Today’s Gospel from John comes from the what is known as the “Last Supper Discourses,” which covers Chapters 14-17. Here Jesus tells of the coming of an advocate sent from the Father. In Greek, the term for advocate is “paraclete,” but it has a wider range of meanings to include mediator, counselor, and comforter. Many names, perhaps, but one Spirit. Jesus speaks at length about the role the Holy Spirit will play in the lives of the disciples. Let us also listen!

In Judeo-Christian historical tradition, Pentecost celebrates two different events. For those Jewish, it’s known as Shavuot, which has a two-fold meaning. Initially, it was a thanksgiving for the first fruit harvests of spring—usually pertaining to winter crops such as winter wheat. Later, Shavuot became associated with the giving of the Law of Moses on Mount Sinai—one of the defining moments in Jewish history in their relationship with the Lord. The law was understood as a gift from God, intending to restore Israel’s prominence. This law defined and separated Israel from among all other nations.

For us Christians, Pentecost celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit onto the disciples—the promise of the Father as Jesus referred to it. The descent of the Holy Spirit fulfilled the prophecy of John the Baptist and the promise of Jesus upon his Resurrection and Ascension. Upon receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples’ very nature changed. They were no longer frightened of what might happen to them but rather boldly proclaimed the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.

Further, this event marks the birth of the early Christian Church. As with the Mosaic Law, the bestowing of the Holy Spirit to the Church was God’s gift empowering the disciples to begin their mission. Today, it is meant to do the same—to empower us, the faithful—to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.

The reception of the Holy Spirit does the same for us if we’re open to the Holy Spirit’s workings! The manifestation of the Holy Spirit in each person is given for some benefit. Each is given a different gift of the Spirit, but no matter the gift, it’s the same Spirit in all. If you can’t figure out what that gift is, I’ll share a secret with you: Simply pray, “Lord, use me as you see fit.”

The Conflict

All need to pray because there’s a conflict within us—the conflict of gratifying the flesh versus gratifying the Spirit. The list of the desires of the flesh in today’s reading from Galatians is in direct contrast to the workings of the Spirit. When written, this passage reflected the Hellenistic cultural norms of the day. But don’t be fooled—our modern culture is on track with these same vices. This is our very real battle today. Empowered by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we should promote the virtues of the Spirit against such behaviors even if there are no supporting laws!

Jesus tells his disciples the Spirit will have four main functions: to witness, to guide, to announce, and to glorify. The Holy Spirit will bear witness to others about Jesus, just as disciples are called to do; the Spirit will testify to the risen Christ to others as the disciples are called to do; the Spirit will guide the disciples to the truth; the Spirit will declare to the disciples the things to come; the Spirit will glorify Christ by providing for His disciples all that the Son has.

All that was commissioned to the disciples is also commissioned unto us as we, too, have received this same Spirit upon our baptism. This assures us that we’ll have divine assistance in our mission as Christians. But to accomplish this, we must live in and follow the Spirit. Then the very nature of our lives will be changed!

 

Homily For May 12, 2024, Seventh Sunday Of Easter (Cycle B)

Homilist: Father Patrick Connor

We hear in today’s first reading from the acts of the apostles about the election of a new apostle to replace that of Judas Iscariot who betrayed our lord. The name of this new apostle is Matthias. In Hebrew this name means gift of the lord or gift of God. How fitting, for this new apostle is not only gifted by God, but a reminder how all the apostles, and all those who have been baptized are now gifts of God, gifts of the lord.

You yourselves can also be named Matthias, for each of you is a gift of God, a gift of the lord. As we gather here for Mass, we recognize and believe that Jesus, whom we are soon to receive in holy communion, is a gift of God, a gift from the Father.

But not only that—each of you is also a gift of God to Jesus. Our gift is our love for Jesus—a love by which we take him with us from this church, to be his hands and heart to all we meet.

This means that in the spirit of Matthias, we are also God’s gift to all we meet…especially those who may be hurting and in need of God’s help and strength. You never know who God will send to you so that you can bring them hope and help.

In our gospel acclamation we hear, “I will not leave you orphans, says the lord. I will come back to you, and your hearts will rejoice.”

This is taken from the 14^th chapter of John’s gospel, when Jesus and the apostles are at the last supper. Jesus will be arrested in chapter 18 and his passion begins. Before that chapter, the four chapters of john are showing us Jesus at the last supper, gathered with his apostles.

Put yourself in the place of any of the apostles and listen to the words Jesus speaks. In our gospel, we hear Jesus say in his prayer to the father: now i am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely…i do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one…as you sent me into the world, so i sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they may also be consecrated in truth.”

Now, substitute the word you in some of Jesus’ phrases. Now it will read: I speak this in the world so that you may share my joy completely…I do not ask that the Father takes you out of the world, but that he keeps you from the evil one…as the Father sent me into the world, so I send you into the world, and I consecrate myself for you, so that you may be consecrated in truth.

So we are all called to share the joy of Jesus completely. But to share in His joy, we must also, like him, share in His passion. Our sharing in the passion of Jesus refers to those sacrifices we make in trying to help others. We may even face rejection or hostility as we try to be the hands and heart of Jesus to others. We will never be able to embrace Jesus in the glory of heaven if we first do not embrace him in the poor and the suffering, who in his parable of the last judgement referred to them as the least of my brothers and sisters.

Perhaps you may already be involved in this type of ministry, and also sharing in suffering, and perhaps even feeling abandoned by God as there seems to be no end to your pain or sorrow. In those times, the devil, the Father of Lies, is right there to speak into our minds and hearts and souls lies about God to try to convince us that God hates sin and hates sinners. This lie goes way back even to the garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were made so scared of God by Satan that they ran and hid in the bushes from God when He called their name to go walk with him in the garden.

God knew exactly what had happened, and why they were hiding. But He wanted them to discover his love. So he asked them to tell him about it…and in the process, they discovered God hates sin but loves the sinner. God hates sin because of the harm it does to our souls, the wounds so to speak. He loves us so much he does not want to see us harmed. So he tries to help us avoid sin, but He gave us free will, so he cannot force that on us.

However, He sent his son into the world to conquer sin and death. Even though we are sinners and will also experience death, his love helps us discover his mercy and life. Even though our bodies will die, on the day when Jesus returns for the last judgement, our bodies will be raised from the grave to be united with our souls and both share in the glory of heaven forever.

So while we are here in the world, we are not of the world—our hearts and souls are called to that heavenly world in the kingdom of heaven. Meanwhile, we face times of struggle in this life. But let us find strength and hope in Jesus’ words in our gospel acclamation:

I will not leave you orphans, says the lord.

I will come back to you, and your hearts will rejoice!

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Homily for May 5, 2024, The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Homilist: Deacon Dave LaFortune

Hello, everyone. It’s so good to see you here today as we gather to celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter. So, let us begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

God has always loved us first.

Before we go into today’s readings, let’s recall last Sunday’s message of the biological analogy of Jesus’ intimacy with us: the parable of the vine and the branches. Jesus taught just as the very life of the vine flows from the vine into the branches, so does the very resurrected life of Christ flow from Him into us.

Today, Jesus speaks more personally. Today’s beautiful letter from John reveals what Jesus’ life is:

Love. “God is love.” His life/love flows from him into us.

It’s been suggested the word “love” in our culture is in serious need of a bath. It has become so overused, misused, and abused that it needs to be power washed to renew its sparkle.

This word ‘love’ appears in one form or another in this Sunday’s readings an amazing twenty times. God’s meaning of precious, unconditional faithfulness needs to be our focus for love. Our experience of human love is ideally a reproduction of God’s own love for us. Too often, though, it is a poor reflection.

Perhaps there is a short circuit in our love lives? Our preconditioned belief that we need to earn love, which has been a perception for everyone at some level:

• Love from our teachers—earned for good grades and conduct.
• Love from our employers—earned for success in the workplace.
• Love from parents—earned (by some, unfortunately) for being ‘good’ boys and girls.

Because our personal experience has been based by earning love, it then becomes a stretch for us to accept that God doesn’t work that way.

Basil Hume once said it is easier to believe in God than to believe God loves us.

But the simple truth is we cannot “earn” God’s love—we’re wonderfully and blessedly “stuck” with it.

You see, God has always loved us first.

 “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.”

That wonderful revelation: Love is who God is, and what He does. We hear: “Love, then, consists in this: not that we have loved God, but that He has loved us.” That’s the heart of today’s readings. Love exists not because we love, but because we are loved. God loves us whether we recognize it, or even if we accept it . . . or not.

We hear in the Gospel: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” The depth of that statement is often missed. Jesus is saying that the same, intimate relationship he experiences with his Father is also passed on to us as disciples. That reality of being unconditionally loved empowers us, as Jesus says, to “love one another as I love you.” We are part of this magnificent circle of love with the Father, Jesus, and one another.

Jesus taught this best at the Last Supper when he washed the feet of his disciples and gave us example of how to be toward one another in service. Then he turned around and gave himself to us in the Eucharist, allowing us to commune with Him in word and body/blood in the communion called holy.

This is God’s plan.

We need to make God’s love an essential part of our ongoing dialogue with ourselves. We all have this constant dialogue in our heads and hearts—the places where we talk to ourselves, and our self-image talks back. It is here that the conviction of God’s love for us must prevail.

We need to bask in His love. We become empowered to respond in love both to Him and one another and by conveying the love in our hearts to others, thus completing the circle of love. This is God’s plan.

If Lent was self-examination, then Easter needs to be a life-giving, life-enabling exercise that instills in us the ever-present conviction of God’s love for us. Our challenge is to appreciate, to really accept that God loves us unconditionally —just as we are.

Today’s Gospel is the very core of Jesus’ last supper discourse. We need to keep this reality always in our ongoing dialogue with ourselves, so we may constantly listen and live lovingly.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the holy Spirit. Amen.

April 2024

Homily for April 28, 2024, The Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Homilist: Deacon Doug Farwell

The Road to Damascus is One of Conversion for All

Beginning on Friday of the Third Week of Easter, we first hear of the conversion of Saul (i.e., Saint Paul) in which he asks the high priest’s permission to go to the synagogues in Damascus to arrest and bring back any followers of “The Way”–a name used by the Christian community for itself–which included any man or woman that belonged to The Way. It then skips the readings we hear from today and goes directly to the evangelization of people throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria.

Today from the Act of the Apostles, we focus on the conversion of Paul, who would become, as Bishop Barrron notes, one of the indispensable men of our faith. As the author of the Acts of the Apostles, Luke puts great significance on Saul’s conversion, so much so that Luke offers three accounts of Saul’s conversion. Here in Chapter 9:1-19, in Chapter 22: 3-16, and again in Chapter 26: 2-18. The latter two times are in defense of his actions of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Jewish authorities in Asia and Caesarea.

As Paul attempts to join the ranks of the disciples, they are leery of his intentions because of his past reputation. It is Barnabas, a man of social esteem in the community, who testifies to Paul’s actions in Damascus. His testimony is enough to convince the apostles this was no longer Saul of Tarsus who went about persecuting the Jews, but Paul who had truly experienced and accepted the risen Christ.

Afterward, Paul becomes the target of persecution by the Hellenists because of his boldness in speaking in the name of Christ. As Paul himself describes it, he’s merely standing trial because of his hope in the promise God made to his ancestors.

Paul traveled extensively and made at least three missionary journeys in his lifetime, with plans for more if he had lived. He traveled around the eastern end of the Roman Empire, through Asia Minor, Cyprus, Greece, and Macedonia. He went to Antioch, Troas, Derbe, Ephesus, and across Europe to Philippi. From there, journeying to Athens, Corinth, and Thessalonica.

Here, Paul warns against false prophets and attests to his own validity by proclaiming his resumé. Paul’s background is found in Phil. 3:4-7, telling all how he had observed the Jewish law, had been circumcised on the eighth day, hailed from Israel—belonging to the tribe of Benjamin as a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage. Further in observance of the law, he’d been a Pharisee and a zealous persecutor of the Christian Church. However, everything he’d once gained by his birthright and actions, he now considered a loss. Through the supreme goodness of knowing Christ Jesus, the righteousness of Paul’s heritage meant nothing, but the righteousness he’d gained through faith in Christ justified “the way” to truly please and serve God.

It’s because of Saul’s zeal that Jesus picked Paul as an instrument for His good. The events on the way to Damascus were done so Paul would be witness of the risen Christ and then convinced of Jesus’ Lordship of which Paul would boldly proclaim.

More Than Words   

Today’s letter from John speaks of the same belief in the name of Christ, boldly proclaiming it, while also following Jesus’ commandment to love one another. John also emphasizes that it’s more than word or speech but also includes deed and truth. To know if one is following this commandment is to examine our own conscience. Our hearts will know if we have hearts for God. This is something all of us fall in and out of throughout our lives. Therefore, we must constantly perform these self-examinations and seek reconciliation to strengthen ourselves through our deeds and truth.

Today’s Gospel speaks of the vine and the branches. Our belief in Christ makes us branches of the true vine that is Christ. We must remain in Christ, but (again) that takes more than just words. We must bear fruit as well and that can only come from deed and truth. We come to church because we need pruning from time to time. How we bear good fruit is by boldly proclaiming faith in Jesus as the Christ—Son of God—to others as well as loving one another.

As Paul continued in his speech to the people of Philippi from Chapter 3, picking up from verse 10, “to know him and the power of the resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it since I have been indeed taken possession of by Christ.”

Thus, it’s not enough to come here today, partake in Holy Communion, and be satisfied that we’ve done our part. Rather as you so often have heard here, it’s what we do after we leave today: “to take Christ with you out into the world, boldly proclaiming Christ by your life.”

Amen.

Homily for April 21, 2024, The Fourth Sunday of Easter           

Homilist: Deacon Dave LaFortune

Hello, everyone. It’s so good to see you as we gather to celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Let us begin, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

That Sacred Dignity

I read an interesting story this week about a pop quiz given to a class of first-year nursing students. Most of those students did well on the quiz until they came to the last question that all of them left blank.

That question: What is the name of the woman you see every morning who cleans the school?

The students thought the question was a joke until they found out the professor was counting it toward their grade.

When they protested, the professor replied, “In your careers, you’ll meet many people—all of whom are important. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say ‘hello’ to them every morning.”

The students never forgot the lesson or the cleaning lady’s name.

To be a disciple of Jesus demands that we respond to everyone the same way the Good Shepherd responds to all. Every person possesses the sacred dignity of being a child of God. Likewise, every baby is the most important child ever born—a unique reflection of our God—equally deserving of the Lord’s love and care on this earth and shown through each of us.

This is why Christian charity must reach beyond our family and friends, beyond the parish family, and even beyond the family of citizens of our own country.

We must be concerned about those who are starving, suffering, or dying throughout the world. Our charity cannot be limited by anything, including only our faith community. St. Teresa of Calcutta, for example, reached out to the poor of Calcutta and throughout the world—most of whom she helped were Hindu and not Christian, as all peoples everywhere are made in the image of God.

Easier said than done . . . but still something we must do.

Truly, all of this is easy to say but difficult to do.

Sometimes, I’m worse at this than anybody. My mind often wanders with too many things to do. I often block out everything around me as I scamper from one task to another.

Perhaps you do this, too. You might be on the run and totally oblivious to a neighbor who is down in the dumps. Or you might be so caught up in your kids’ hectic schedule—bringing this one to baseball, that one to karate, dance, school meetings, etc.—that you don’t notice your children have needs far greater than all the extracurricular activities you take them to.

Following the Good Shepherd requires our never being too busy to be aware of, and respond to, those around us who need help.

The One Voice

I heard another true story that relates to the presence of the Good Shepherd in our lives.

A number of years ago, there was a terrible fire in an apartment building in New York City. A little girl was trapped on the fourth floor of the building perched on a window ledge. To make matters worse, she was blind. The firefighters couldn’t maneuver the ladder truck in such a way to reach the girl, so they set up a net and told her to jump.

But because of her blindness, she was too terrified to move.

Then her father arrived on the scene and shouted to her that he was there to catch her, and she should jump when he told her. The girl did and was so completely relaxed that she didn’t break a bone or even strain a muscle from the four-story fall.

All because she trusted the voice that she knew loved her.

It’s the busyness of our lives—noise, distractions, even calamities—that obscures what we desperately need to hear.

That is the voice of calm, the voice of reason, the voice of assurance.

And let’s not forget the voice of unconditional, unqualified love: the voice of Christ speaking to us in the quiet of our hearts, in the love of our family and friends, in the cries of those calling around us.

The Good Shepherd calls us calmly and lovingly. He tells us to take that leap of faith and trust in Him as he will never be too busy to care for us.

The Good Shepherd is the Risen Lord. He is always with us and will never leave.

Today, we ask Our Lord to allow us to slow down and hear his voice.

In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen,

March 2024

Homily for March 17, 2024, The Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year A—optional readings for the Scrutiny)

Homilist: Deacon Doug Farwell

We grow together.

Today, our readings are again (and for the final time) taken from Year A and pertain to those of our parish’s Elect, i.e., those candidates journeying toward full reception into the Catholic Church, along with many other Elect in our diocese, our country, and worldwide. The readings pertain to the Scrutinies, rites that follow the Rite of Election, where a candidate’s sponsor first gives testimony, to the candidate’s acceptance of the faith. After that testimony, approval is then asked from the attending congregation for their acceptance of the candidates faith journey. Upon the congregation’s approval, the bishop (or in his absence, the designated priest) then gives his consent and prays for these candidates to continue their journey through Lent until full reception at the Easter Vigil.

The Scrutinies are meant to uncover, then heal, all that is weak, defective, or sinful in the heart of the Elect (RCIA study guide). Thus, the Scrutinies are a time of close self-searching, repentance, and above all, have a spiritual purpose.

It’s the same journey we’re on during this Lenten season, preparing us for the glory of Easter.

Our parish candidates are Rebecca and John Paul Reynolds. They’ve been attending St. Catherine’s in Addison and will soon become full-fledged members of Saints Isidore and Maria Torribia Parish—synonymous with full reception into the Roman Catholic Church.

During these last three weeks, the gospels have dealt with the Initiation Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion. On the third week of Lent (the first week of the Scrutiny), we heard readings pertaining to water; particularly from the gospel story of the Samaritan women dealing with the “living water” (Jn 4) that represents the waters of baptism, cleansing us of original sin and sustaining life—more specifically, the hope of eternal life.

Last week, our readings encompassed our blindness (Jn 9)—not just physical, but spiritual blindness due to sin. Further, we were told humanity doesn’t see as God sees. Rather, humanity only sees the outward appearance, while God pays no mind to external appearances but looks directly into the true desires of our hearts. Through baptism, we are cleansed of sin. And through our acceptance of the gospel and profession of faith, we’re brought into the light of Christ, becoming “People of the Light.”

All will be renewed.

This week, our readings encompass a new beginning beyond our earthly mortality, leading to our resurrection when our merciful, compassionate God raises us up in new life, just as he did Jesus Christ.

Our reading today deals with the Exile, soon after the destruction of the capital city of Jerusalem, along with the decimation of the Jewish people’s sacred temple. For the Jews, this utter desolation seemed as if God had abandoned them, and all hope lost. However, Ezekiel tells them of his vision of being led into the desert to a pile of sun-bleached bones. (If you’re not familiar with this story, I encourage you to read it in its entirety [Ez 37: 1-14].) There, Ezekial is told to prophesy over those bones, telling them to hear and obey the Word of God by commanding them to come to life, at which point, the bones grew flesh, and the spirit of God placed within them. This vision instills hope all will be renewed. This reading about the dry bones vision focuses on the new life God will give to the Israelites—even opening the graves of those already deceased—and giving them a new spirit so they may live. Further, God would also settle among them. Thus, Ezekiel testifies to God’s promise of restoration and hope to the Israeli people.

For many early Christians, Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead fulfilled God’s promise proclaimed in Ezekiel’s vision and seen as the restoration of Israel. For today’s Christians, Christ’s resurrection is seen as God’s promise extended to the entire world. Paul’s letter to the Romans reiterates that same message: God brings life to the soul, even if the body is dead. As Christians, we have received the Spirit of Christ, and if Christ’s spirit dwells in you, then your mortal bodies will be raised just as that same Spirit raised our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Resurrection and the Life.

This is what today’s story of Lazarus foretells: If you believe and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will be raised up on the last day.

Jesus purposely delays his arrival upon hearing that Lazarus is gravely ill, saying Lazarus’s illness would not end in death, but glorify God. In last week’s gospel, Jesus proclaimed something similar. When his disciples ask about the reason for a blind man’s blindness—implying that reason was due to the man’s or perhaps his parents’ sin—Jesus replies the man’s sightlessness wasn’t the result of any transgression; instead, the work of God was to be witnessed through him.

And it would be Jesus who makes visible his Father’s work in both stories, showing God’s divine power over life and death.

By the time Jesus arrived in Bethany, we’re told Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. After this time, Lazarus’s would normally have begun decomposing, as Martha’s notes there would be a stench when Jesus asks for Lazarus’s tomb to be opened.

However, Jesus tells Martha to believe and then calls out to Lazarus, who walks out on his own, fully alive. Just as the dry bones in Ezekiel’s story were restored to life with flesh and spirit, so, too, was Lazarus. But this story of the raising Lazarus is more than a story of compassion it reveals Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life.

Thus, this last Scrutiny is about the resurrection—something glorious that John and Rebecca will inherit like all who have received the Sacraments. Like the Jewish people’s faith was restored with Ezekiel’s message of hope, it’s also about believing and restoring our faith as Christians:

• Believing in the word and power of God.
• Believing as Catholic Christians in the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
• Believing in Jesus’s profound, unbounded love for the Father and for us, such that he would sacrifice himself for our sins so we may have everlasting life.

Amen.

March 10, 2024. Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year A)

Homilist: Deacon Dave LaFortune

Hello, everyone. It’s so good to see you today as we gather to celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Let us begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Do you thirst for the living water that Jesus offers you?

Last weekend, Fr. Pat shared that we currently have two people, John and Rebecca, who are participating in the RCIA process, being facilitated by Deacon Doug. John was never baptized, and therefore considered a catechumen. He’ll be baptized at the Easter Vigil. Rebecca was baptized in another Christian denomination, and she’s considered a candidate who will be welcomed into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. Both John and Rebecca will receive their First Communion and be Confirmed at the Easter Vigil. Did I mention John and Rebecca are married to each other and have a beautiful family? We’re blessed to welcome John and Rebecca and their family into our parish family.

Last weekend, our parish community celebrated the Rite of Election and the First Scrutiny with John. The Scrutinies are rites of conversion and repentance fully intended for Catechumens, now known as the Elect, and celebrated on the middle three Sundays of Lent.

The Elect are those preparing for Baptism. During the First Scrutiny, the focus of the Gospel was on our thirst for the living water that Jesus offers. The main question for the Elect, and for each of us, is: “Do you thirst for the living water that Jesus offers you?”

Do we see the way Jesus sees?

This weekend, we celebrate the Second Scrutiny with John. The focus of today’s Gospel has to do with how we see. More specifically, do we see the way Jesus sees?

Notice how the Gospel story begins! The disciples ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Notice how sinners operate! Instead of having compassion for the man born blind, they want to assign blame so they can feel comfort in believing they can avoid this infirmity.

Jesus doesn’t offer them this comfort, replying, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”

Thus, it’s the disciples who begin this story blind.

Jesus is asking them to see God’s glory and love shine through infirmity. People with a physical disabilities ought to be treated with the same love and respect as anyone else. Jesus makes that very clear when he restores sight to the man born blind. Indeed, after Jesus gives sight to the man born blind, we see Jesus’ gift of sight isn’t limited to the man’s eyes–the former blind man also gains spiritual sight as the story progresses.

The once-blind man begins by referring to his healer as “the man called Jesus.” His spiritual sight grows even more when he refers to Jesus as “a prophet.” At the end of the story, his spiritual sight becomes crystal clear when he confesses Jesus to be “Lord”–a title reserved only for the Deity.

Meanwhile, as the man born blind gains this spiritual sight, the religious leaders in the story become progressively more spiritually blind. They don’t take the man at his word, so they bring in the man’s parents for questioning. The religious leaders can’t get past their bias that Jesus is, in their eyes, a sinner. The drama heats up as our formerly blind hero’s spiritual sight blossoms to the point where he becomes an evangelist.

Just like the woman at the well last week, the story begins with this man alone and isolated. After an encounter with the Lord, the man becomes an evangelist. The religious leaders, refusing to see the amazing grace at work in this man’s life, shut their eyes to the miracle that has taken place, denounce the man as a sinner, and throw him out of the synagogue. Thus, by the end of the story, a reversal of faith has taken place. The blind man truly sees, and those who claim to see are truly spiritually blind.

We are all the blind man.

My friends, who are we in this story?

I’d like to suggest all of us are that man born blind. The sight given to us at birth isn’t sufficient for seeing God. We need a different sight for that—the sight that comes from faith.

All of us received a special gift of spiritual sight at Baptism. Just as Jesus sent the man born blind to the waters of Siloam, we were sent to the waters of baptism. We’re now challenged to see the world differently because of that amazing grace.

What would happen if we saw the world around us with Jesus’ eyes? Think about it!

• Would we look at our family members differently if we saw them with Jesus’s eyes?
• Would we look at our co-workers differently if we saw them with Jesus’s eyes?
• Would we look differently at the unborn, struggling families, people who live on the margins, people with infirmity, people experiencing homelessness, if we saw them with Jesus’s eyes?
• Would we see world events and our politics differently if we saw these things through Jesus’s eyes?

My friends, would you look at the person in the mirror differently if you saw yourself with Jesus’s eyes?

Can you look in the mirror with the same love and kindness Jesus has for you?

Can you accept the invitation to see yourself with a different sight like what an unnamed man saw in the waters of Siloam?

As the song goes: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found. I was blind, but now I see.”

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

February 2024

Homily for February, 25, 2024, Second Sunday of Lent

Homilist: Deacon Dave LaFortune

The Key Word: Listen

Hello everyone! It’s so good to see you.

Let us begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. There’s one sentence from that Gospel I want us to focus on: “[F]rom the cloud came a voice. ‘This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.’”

The key word here is “Listen!”

During Lent, we’re reminded that we must listen to Jesus.

But how do we listen?

First, turn off all that distracts us; turn off the tv, the laptop, and the cell phones. Then, take some quiet time to read from one of the Gospels and listen to what Jesus may be saying to you.

Another way to listen to Jesus is to simply talk to Jesus. When you talk to Jesus, take time to clearly listen to what Jesus may be saying to you.

During this Lenten season, take time to really listen to Jesus. You might be surprised by what you hear!

State of the Parish

Today. I want to talk about the “State of our Parish.”

A few years ago, our parish was really struggling—especially financially. Something that became clear from the various town hall meetings: The parish leadership needed to do a much better job communicating to our parishioners, and we had to be much more transparent about what is going on in our parish.

Unfortunately, we haven’t done a decent job of being transparent or communicating to you. We acknowledge that we must do a better job!

During our most recent Finance Council meeting held on February 7^th, we reviewed the first six months of our fiscal year: July-December, 2023. The good news: Our total operating revenue outperformed our operating expenses by almost $7,000. Our regular collections for the first half of this fiscal year saw an increase of $16,592 when compared to the same period last year.

My friends, thank you for your outstanding generosity! You have truly blessed our parish!

You’ve heard the good news regarding our finances. Now, the more challenging news!

These last six months of the fiscal year for our parish will be challenging. Typically, we see a decline in regular collections and other operating revenue. This is understandable, especially this year. If you’re like me, living on a fixed income, you might find it challenging to make ends meet. I know I do. Whenever my wife and I go to Wegman’s or Tops, we feel the pinch of buying groceries. The same is true when we buy gas. While we recognize the challenges, we also recognize the needs of our parish. I pray we will continue to be as generous to our parish as your means allow.

At the end of our most recent fiscal year (June 2023), every parish was required to pay toward the settlement in the Diocesan bankruptcy case. Our parish paid $110,000 from our operating revenue. Now, our plan is to gradually repay our operation funds for the funds used to pay the aforementioned settlement and anticipate it will take 3-5 years to accomplish.

One last point regarding our parish’s financial situation: For the past two years, we’ve successfully met our assigned parish goal for the CMA. I pray we’ll meet our goal for this year. Unfortunately, we’re far behind in reaching our goal. If you’ve already contributed to the CMA, thank you! If you have not, please prayerfully consider doing so soon.

Now, let’s turn our attention to some other areas of our parish life.

For example, during these past six months, did you know we have celebrated four baptisms, three weddings, and four funerals? Further, I anticipate over the next few months we’ll celebrate even more sacraments—such as first confessions, first communions, and confirmations!

More exciting news is in our Faith Formation programs at both St. Catherine’s and St. Stan’s. Before I go on, I want to acknowledge the amount of time and hard work that the adults involved in our faith formation programs and youth group put in every week. Thank you for your generosity.

At St. Stan’s, we have fourteen young people involved in the Faith Formation program.

• One young person is preparing to celebrate both First Reconciliation and First Communion.
• Another young person is preparing to celebrate the sacrament of confirmation. And when the sacrament of Holy Communion is celebrated, they will also have a May crowning!
• I also understand there are plans to have a Senior Supper for the students during Holy Week. They could use some volunteers to help! Reach out to Sherry Sandford for more information.
• The Food Pantry next to St. Stan’s helped feed many individuals/families this past Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• Stan’s also just hosted a Poor Man’s Supper, which I understand was well attended.

At St, Catherine’s, we have forty young people who are participating in the Faith Formation program.

• Three young people are preparing to celebrate First Reconciliation and First Communion.
• Fourteen young people are preparing to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation: eight of these young people will receive this sacrament in May, 2024, the balance will celebrate the Spring of 2025.
• Also, there are nine participants in the parish youth group that meets at St. Catherine’s, which is open to any youth of any faith who are of high school age.
• Catherine’s youth group and confirmation students hosted the October 2023 “Sweet and Greet” coffee hour held after Mass, where 100 people participated.
• Catherine’s also hosted the annual Addison Area Christmas baskets and toy program serving the needs of families and individuals in the Addison area.
  • Parishioners from St. Catherine’s collected 632 cans of soup. (The goal was 350!).
  • This event served 175 individuals/families this year.
• The Faith Formation students from St. Catherine’s won 1^st prize in the annual Knights of Columbus “Keep Christ in Christmas” poster contest.
• Three youth group members were awarded the Diocese of Rochester’s Hands of Christ award, given to this year’s high school seniors. Check out this weekend’s bulletin for more information about these events!
• Catherine’s will host the 32^nd Irish Dinner in a few weeks with music provided by Pat Kane!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the monthly Exposition and Adoration Hours that Deacon Doug organizes. Deacon Doug is also responsible for training new altar servers as well as overseeing the RCIA program for our parish. We have an adult preparing for baptism and celebrating their First Communion. We have another adult preparing to be welcomed into the Church. All this will take place during this year’s Easter Vigil.

My friends, this “State of the Parish” reflection intends to communicate some of the many activities currently happening in our very vibrant parish. I certainly have not mentioned every activity taking place at our three church sites.

I’m aware of the many hours some of our parishioners put in serving on our Pastoral Council, our Finance Council, our Strategic Planning Committee, our Buildings and Grounds Committee, and our choirs and music ministers at all three churches. I’m also aware of the Rosary Society at St. Stan’s, and the parishioners who assist with the money counting at St. Catherine’s.

We’re grateful and blessed by those who volunteer their time and talent to our parish!

I’d like to end my reflection by stating that many of those currently serving on our parish councils have done so for many, many years. They’d love to have other parishioners volunteer their time and talent to the parish.

We’re also looking for someone to take responsibility for putting together our weekly parish bulletin, which would normally require about 2-4 hours/week of your time.

Please take this season of Lent to LISTEN to Jesus and discern how you might volunteer your time and talent to help serve your parish.

As I stated at the beginning of my homily, the parish leadership intends to do a much better job of being transparent and communicating with you about the state of our parish. Today, I’ve only presented a snapshot of our parish’s current financial status and didn’t go into detail. If you’d like a more detailed explanation of our current finances, please let me know.

On behalf of Fr. Pat, Deacon Doug, and the members of the Finance and Parish Council, thank you for listening!

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Homily for February 18, 2024,  1^st Sunday of Lent (Year B)

Homilist: Deacon Doug Farwell

God’s Plan for Salvation: The Covenants

Our first reading from Genesis deals with the covenant God makes with Noah and his sons. The theme in our reading is about covenant, which is mentioned five times. We’re very familiar with the story of Noah and the Ark and the great flood, which covers a major portion of the beginning of Genesis (chapters 6:5 – 9:29), and the first explicit covenant God makes in the Old Testament.

Genesis’s first eleven chapters deal with creation, sin, destruction, and recreation. This storyline can be said of the entire Bible and throughout history, can it not? God creates, humanity sins—which affects creation, resulting in destruction—and God either re-creates or re-establishes the relationship. We see this pattern throughout Israel’s history in the Old Testament, and this pattern comes to fruition in the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Christ in the New Testament.

A covenant is a promise between two parties and not to be broken by either party and much like a contract, which is also entered into by two parties.

However, there’s a difference between a contract and a covenant.

Theologian Scott Hahn says this about the difference: “The singular difference is that a contract determines “what is mine” [w]hile a covenant determines “who is mine.” The covenant God makes with Noah and his family isn’t just for humanity, but with all creatures that roam the earth and were spared.

A covenant usually involves a sacrifice to seal the promise, but a sacrifice was also offered as a sin offering whenever the covenant was broken. In Bishop Barron’s book, This Is My Body: A Call to Eucharistic Revival, the bishop explains the purpose of making sacrifices was a reparation required by Jewish law to put oneself back into right relationship with God. Sacrifice was symbolic of pouring out one’s own life in devotion and thanksgiving. Bishop Barron further states, “No matter how many times the covenant was taught, renewed, reaffirmed, it was broken by stubborn Israel, a ‘stiffed-necked people’ (Ex 32:9).” If this particular Bible passage were written today, it would certainly incorporate all of humanity—not just Israel.

The reason God flooded the earth was because sin had become so rampant that it affected creation. Even the creatures of the earth and sky were destroyed. More so, it affected the relationship between humanity and God. Genesis 6:5-6 says, “When the Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth and his heart was grieved.”

Bishop Barron goes on to say, “And no matter how many sacrifices were offered in the Temple, Yahweh was still not properly honored, and the people still not interiorly renewed.” Regardless, today we hear God was remorseful. In His mercy, God establishes a covenant with Noah and his sons and all creatures that never again would He destroy the earth by the waters of a flood. And as proof and a constant reminder for ages to come, when the clouds cover the earth, the rainbow appears, and God himself will recall the covenant He made.

Numerous covenants will follow this first covenant with Noah—later covenants would be made with Abraham, Moses, King David, and Isaiah. But this first covenant has an interesting feature: God makes an unconditional promise not to destroy the earth with water, with no condition or terms placed upon humanity to uphold for the covenant to remain intact. Future covenants weren’t so simple, such as the covenant of circumcision with Abraham (Gn 17) or the covenant of the Law with Israel (Ex 20-24).

But this first covenant would be the simplest of terms: God would take it all upon Himself.

Repent and Believe

The greatest covenant, though, was yet to come through God’s direct intervention. It was the prophet Jeremiah who had the foresight. Again referencing Bishop Barron: “He [Jeremiah] expresses Yahweh’s own pledge that He himself would one day fulfill the covenant and forgive the sins of the people.”

Today’s gospel from Mark doesn’t present the details of the temptations that Jesus went through in the desert. However, we are made aware of Jesus’s time in the desert fasting and praying (forty days), which correlates with the Israelites’ time spent wandering in the desert (forty years). Although lacking detail of Christ’s exact trials, Mark’s critical point focuses on Jesus emerging from the desert victorious over the temptations of sin and proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, announcing, “This is the time of fulfillment, the reign of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel!”

“Repent and believe in the Gospel”—perhaps those were the very words spoken when you received ashes on your foreheads on Ash Wednesday.

As we enter the Lenten season, marked with ashes, we enter our own desert to pray and fast, give alms, to recall our own sinfulness, while seeking repentance, reconciliation, and a renewal of the covenant. The “time of fulfillment” is still at hand, and Christ has made it available to us through his own death and resurrection. Our 40-day journey is our opportunity to come out on the other end of Lent renewed, victorious as Christ was in the desert.

We’re still caught in the pattern of creation, sin, destruction, and recreation, but we can thankfully recall God’s promise: “Never will I doom the earth because of man, since the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living things, as I have done (Gn 8: 21).” As the waters of the flood once destroyed the sinfulness on earth but also cleansed it, now the waters of baptism established by Christ will wash away our sins to cleanse us.

For this day, God has given us something better: the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of His Son, the righteous, for us, the unrighteous, that Christ might lead each of us to God.

He’s given each of us a choice to be saved, with a tangible sign of this new covenant as our reminder: the Body and Blood of the Eucharist.

This greatest covenant of all promises us eternal life.

Thus, God did his part and ours, so repent and believe in the Gospel!

Homily for February 4, 2024,  5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homilist: Deacon David LaFortune

Hello, everyone. I’m so glad to see you here today as we gather together to celebrate the 5^th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Now, let us begin, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Taking God at His Word

For the past two weeks, we were blessed to have Fr. Dan Condon, the Chancellor for our Diocese, break open the Word of God for us. I thought his homilies were very pastoral.

Two weeks ago, Fr. Condon suggested we should take time during the week to read The Book of Jonah or the Gospel of Mark to see how God might be speaking to our hearts. Last weekend, we heard that Jesus taught the people with authority. His authority came from his relationship with His Father. When Jesus taught, His words opened the hearts of those who heard Him. Fr. Condon reminded us that we are all called to open our hearts to God’s Word.

This weekend, our first reading from Job is very depressing. Job is very articulate as he voices one woe after another. Job’s days are full of misery, and he can’t even get nightly rest to prepare for what he must face the next day.

Have you ever felt like Job—overwhelmed by life? I know that I have!

Job doesn’t solve the problem of suffering for us. He offers no interpretation—just gives us a gloomy picture of human life and work. If he’d given us some resolution, it might help people bear their pain, knowing their suffering isn’t in vain. Instead, suffering remains a mystery.

Job’s lot is a painful, complex one, and he doesn’t think it will ever end. By laying out his misery, he seems to be hinting to God, “Do something!”

Job’s plight puts us in the minds of those suffering from physical or emotional distress, endless days and nights of misery, starvation, and fear in places like Ukraine, Gaza and so many other places throughout the world. I don’t think any of us here can truly understand the fear that these people are feeling. Losing control in our lives due to exterior or interior forces, can make us feel like Job: “a slave who longs for shade.”

However, if read the entire Book of Job, we would discover Job concludes he’ll never have the answers to all of his problems. He realizes that he must place his trust in God.

Like Job, we too must place our trust in God, especially when life becomes overwhelming.

God Heals

Jesus’ actions throughout the Gospels and in today’s passage, speak clearly to us. God does not send us pain or suffering. With Job, we look for relief. It may not come in the form we want, nevertheless Jesus shows us that God is always reaching out to heal our brokenness.

The Psalm today stirs our faith to proclaim, “Praise the Lord who heals the brokenhearted.”

Jesus lived in a world full of problems.

Many of the greatest challenges the people of Jesus’s day endured were various sicknesses. We read in the Gospels of people suffering from leprosy, paralysis, epilepsy—to name a few. We hear about the blind and the deaf. Scores of people pushed against Jesus. They wanted to be healed. Jesus knew sickness wasn’t not part of the Father’s plan. These people were suffering the result of mankind’s choosing death over life, choosing to push God aside in favor of the material world. They were innocent as individuals, but all suffered from humanity’s guilt. Jesus’ heart went out to them. He hurt for them.

And Jesus did heal many people—lepers, a man with a withered arm, cripples—and many, many more. It’s no wonder large crowds continually pressed on Jesus, pleading with Him to heal them.

Notice, though, what Jesus did before he healed someone. He prayed. He prayed to His Father. His human nature stayed in touch with his divine nature as he went off to a deserted place to pray. And His prayers were answered with such power that he could heal.

We don’t know the reasons for so many problems in the world.

We don’t know why good people suffer.

We don’t know why children die.

We do not even know the extent of suffering around us.

What we do know is that if we keep a relationship with God, we can see all difficulties for what they are: temporary. “This too will pass,” the wise say.  So, we meet challenges head on, knowing God will fight with us, helping us win the battle here, so we can join him in the eternal celebration of His victory.

And so, we pray.

We welcome the spiritual into our lives. We welcome the Presence of God into our lives and witness Him strengthening our faith life. And we witness the power of prayer. Over and over, people tell me stories of how they or their loved ones survived and grew closer to God due to prayer. I have witnessed people healed through the Sacrament of the Sick. And how many people have gone to healing services and been healed? It isn’t the person who leads the service who does the healing. The healing is due to the power of God answering prayers.

Jesus heals. He heals the pain not just of the people of the past—those we hear about in the Gospels. Jesus heals the pain of the people today.

We Are Not Alone

Some receive healing immediately. Others receive healing in stages.

All who call to the Lord are healed. Some are healed physically. Some are healed emotionally, able to accept their condition in life. All receive spiritual healing as they unite their pain to the Cross of Christ.

We who carry Christ within us, carry within us the One who heals. If we believe in Him, if we trust in Him, then we refuse to join Job’s cry of despair. We recognize Christ is present when we need Him the most, healing our internal and our external turmoil.

We need to remember we are not alone. Jesus is always with us.

The last words of the Gospel of Matthew are so important: “Know that I am with you always until the end of time.” He is here to protect us from the doubts and despair that plagued Job. He is here to give us the courage to walk with Him over the threshold to a new life.

Today, we’re told that when we suffer, in any manner, we must reach out to the presence of God.

We believe He is present for us; that He is with us.

We believe that He cries out with us, sharing our pain.

We must use this special presence of the Lord to come closer to the God who loves us, who was one of us, and who gave his life for us.

So, we ask our God, “When the difficulties of our human condition weigh heavily upon us, dear Lord, teach us how to pray.”

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

January 2024

Homily for January 7, 2024, The Epiphany of the Lord (Year B)

Homilist: Deacon Doug Farwell.

All nations are invited to sing the Lord’s praises, for they’ve been called to hear the good news and worship the long-awaited Messiah and King.

Each year, the Church uses these powerful sets of readings for the manifestation of the Lord that we celebrate as “The Epiphany of the Lord.”

The first reading from Isaiah is prophesied during Israel’s exile in Babylon around 550 B.C. Here, the prophet offers a vision of better days ahead filled with unimaginable joy! We can only wonder how hard this would have been to comprehend since the Israelites had been exiled from their promised land of Jerusalem for almost two generations. However, Isaiah isn’t only offering hope but challenging them, too, by telling them God would restore them to glory as He had done for their ancestors.

While this encouragement is expressed mainly for the Israelites’ benefit, Christianity likewise sees hope as the prophesy states all nations shall walk by the light—a prophesy fulfilled by the birth of Christ, including everyone in God’s design for salvation. It’s true that God specifically chose the Israelites to be His promised people—a priestly and holy nation—yet there was much more to God’s plan. Israel became that beacon of light to the entire world, so through Israel, all peoples of every nation would be gathered unto Himself. Importantly, this theme is also found in the final words of Matthew’s Gospel, expressed by the resurrected Christ, when Jesus tells the disciple to go forth and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Saint Paul writes of the mystery exposed in the letter to the Ephesians. This mystery, made known to Paul, didn’t come to him through flesh and blood (Gal 1:11-12), but through the risen Christ. This revelation is also proclaimed at the beginning of the letter to the Galatians and again at the end of Romans (Rm 16:25). That mystery not only reveals Jesus Christ as the Son of God, but also the salvation of the Gentiles, who will become coheirs—members of the same body and copartners in the promise of Christ.

The Epiphany we celebrate today isn’t solely about recognizing the infant Jesus as the Messiah, as expressed on our Gospel, but a personal epiphany that all people, because of their faith in Christ, are members of the same body. God makes himself manifest to all nations through the life, death, and Resurrection of his divine Son. This is the insight  proclaimed today in the Epiphany of The Lord!

The wisemen who traveled from the East represent all nations.

It’s thought the three wisemen came from Persia (Melchior), India (Caspar), and Arabia (Balthasar). This account from Matthew, read every year for the Epiphany, continues the universal theme including all people of every nation. It’s here that Isaiah’s prophecy is finally fulfilled.

The wisemen travel a great distance from the East in search of a king. Not only does their long, difficult journey speak of something special about this particular king, but their offerings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh offer more insights, too. Their gifts represent royal dignity (the gold), the greatness of the priesthood (the frankincense), and intermingled with human mortality, Christ’s divinity as the Messiah, the anointed one (the myrrh).

In reflecting on these readings, I thought about the conditions in our world today and how Isaiah’s words affect us. . . .

The war in Ukraine is approaching two years in February.

Palestine and Israel are now engaged in conflict.

We, too, are experiencing divisions, politically and socially, within our country.  These conflicts have impacted the world as we’ve seen these divisions widen.

Despite all this, do we see only darkness caused by these thick clouds, or do we still see the radiance of the Lord shining through?

Isaiah’s words can offer encouragement and hope, but still challenge us today as well!

How do we see through the darkness of our turbulence today and look upon the radiance of God?

Where does the manifestation of our Lord occur?

The answer to these questions is found in the Eucharist. There, through the Body and Blood of Jesus, is the radiance of God’s countenance and God made known.

And in the end, we realize that we have something more precious to offer than gold, frankincense, and myrrh—our very selves!