• Bulletin Board, Announcements, Calendar
• Welcome and Website Protocol
• Editorial - Op Ed
• Article Archive

Print this page

Article Categories

• Book Reviews
• Open Letter
• Editorials
• Notes, Quotes & Comments
• Pastor's Study
• Project Millstones
• Sidebar Comments
• Weekly Message

Links

AMERICA Magazine
A balanced Catholic weekly magazine published by the jesuits of the United States for an intelligent Catholic readership. Go online to subscribe.

Liturgy
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.

Voice of the Faithful
A 'movement' of lay Catholics 'inspired' by the abuse scandal calling for greater accountability of bishops to 'Catholics in the Pew.'

Survivos' Network for those Abused by Priests or Religious
A National Network of self-help support groups for people abused by clergy or religious.

Bishop Accountability
Vital information about the disclosure of sexual abuse and related issues affecting Catholics in the pew and the manner in which Bishops continue to exempt themselves from accountability

National Catholic Reporter
A national Catholic lay newspaper covering events not usually covered or presented with a clerical bias in the local diocesan press or but of concern and interest to Catholics.

COMMONWEAL Magazine
A 'lay' Catholic weekly publication with an accent on an intelligent analysis and commentary on curent issues, trends and concerns of interest to Catholics.

Search

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.

Daily Scripture

Wednesday December 31, 2008

+ 7th Day in the Octave of Christmas

Readings: I John 2:18-21 Psalm 96:1-2, 11-2, 13 John 1:1-18

The end is just the beginning – again!

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. [1 John 2:18]

-In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God and the Word was God_. [John 1-1]

I cam across this quote from T.S. Eliot’s poem, The Four Quartets, In my end is my beginning. / Love is most nearly itself / When here and now cease to matter. / … We must be still and still moving / Into another intensity / For a further union, a deeper communion. [Homily Helps edited by Diane M. Houdek, St. Anthony Press, Cincinnati, OH 2008]

Notwithstanding the fact that it has been stated a thousand times and more that Jesus has changed the course of human history, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I am not suggesting by any means that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus has had little or no impact on civilization. I am suggesting that in the words of Candhi, Christianity has yet to be fully tried. The tension between good and evil is as daunting as ever.

Then what difference has Jesus made? I think the difference resides in the fact that Jesus’ interventions have not been spent and that the life of grace surely makes a difference in the manner in which we deal with the tension between good and evil.

The first letter of John seems to be concerned with a Gnostic influence within the community of faith. Gnostics were those who believed that Christ was an emissary of a remote supreme divine being with esoteric knowledge that enabled the redemption of the human spirit. John believed that salvation is not achieved only by knowledge but by living in Christ, i.e., knowing God through the indwelling of the Spirit of which Christ is the exemplar or paradigm.

John’s gospel assures us that those who live in love, live in God and it is in Christ that we have been lifted up to become daughters and sons of God.

Notwithstanding the advice of some to the contrary, some folks will be thinking about New Year’s resolutions today. Others will wait until tomorrow after the hangover. New Year’s Eve provides a wonderful opportunity for some down time, quiet time to think about letting go of some of the baggage that we have been carrying around over the last year and longer, e.g., long standing grudges. Some hurts can be healed only by “kissing them up to God.” Grudges clutter up the mind and heart and de-energizes us. It also drains our creativity in paving a new path to the future and establishing a path toward positive thinking.

Make one basic resolution and stick to it. If the movement of the wings of a butterfly can make a difference in the climate thousands of miles away, so also can a change in our attitude effect a change in world events. I’m using hyperbole of course but the dramatic implications are worth considering.