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This link will keep 'parishioners-at-large' in touch with current creative liturgy sources and resources that respect a variety of 'traditions' within the Church.

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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

Readings: Acts 20:17-27 Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21 John 17:1-11

I am in the world no longer, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. [John 17:11]

Shakespeare ‘penned’ the phrase quoted above. I didn’t understand it as a student of Shakespeare in high school but I began to understand it when I waved goodbye to my family as I sailed off to Italy on September 21, 1963 for a three-year stretch in Rome. In fact, it has multiple meanings and applications that I appreciate now more than ever before.

There is another phrase that perhaps gives credence to my thoughts so poorly expressed and it’s this: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Ah, that’s it. At times we need to separate from ‘the source’ in order to appreciate how important it is to stay connected.

The farewell speech of St. Paul in Acts and the farewell ‘prayer’ of Jesus in John’s gospel were more likely composed by the authors of these texts along the lines of the farewell speeches of great leaders of their times in order to attract the attention of Jesus’ followers.

The departure of Jesus and later that of Paul created ‘fallow’ time in the hearts of the neophyte believers that was absolutely necessary if they were to grasp the significance of Jesus’ message and the teachings of St. Paul.

We are once again in ‘fallow’ time as we prepare for Pentecost. It’s a time of discernment during which we are invited to ponder the words and deeds of Jesus so that in his absence, we may come to know his presence in the Spirit that remains within us and around us.

As we ponder, it is important to reflect on the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and reverence of the Lord. And the fruits of the Holy Spirit are qualities that are characteristic of a community living in Christ: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty self-control and chastity.

There is much to ponder as we wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

Independence Day

Wednesday July 4, 2007

+ Independence Day

We are free to be faithful.

Readings: Philippians 4:6-9 Psalm 85:9-14 Matthew 5:1-12

“Finally, my sisters and brothers, your thoughts should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise. Live according to what you have learned and accepted, what you have heard me say and seen me do. Then will the God of peace be with you.” [Philippians 4:8-9]

“Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.” [Psalm 85:11-12]

On patriotic ‘feasts’ we select bible texts that affirm who we are not just as individuals but also as a nation. In fact, I believe these texts are not about ‘who’ we are but about who we want to be as individuals and as a nation.

We Americans pride ourselves as a nation founded on basic principles consistent with the core beliefs of most religious traditions or at least on the rule of God. As a nation, we are a melting pot of many cultures—religions and nonreligious. Without forsaking our own personal religious heritage, we have had to broaden our views beyond tolerance to a genuine acceptance of people of very different religious persuasions and even those of no religious persuasion.

The religious freedom that we enjoy is cast in constitutional granite, which is even more important than any religious monument erected for whatever purpose on the lawn of a courthouse or fastened to the wall of any courtroom.

As Christians in the Catholic tradition, we would do well, however, to review our own Christian constitutional document rooted in the ‘Beatitudes.’ The domain of God is broader than anything the American dream can conjure. Under God we are truly a global village.

We are free to be faithful not only to our American constitution but to the vision of Christ that all human persons have a place at the ‘feast’ and at the global table.

No one of us has the wherewithal to make it happen on our own but if the movement of the wings of a butterfly can have an impact on the atmosphere and affect the direction of a storm, so too can every effort we make as individuals change the direction of a warring world. No challenge will be too great, no effort too small.