Father Bill says...for the Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Adirondack Mountains

This Sunday our Gospel reading at Mass returns to a reading from the Gospel of St. Mark - after five weeks of reading John 6 - I recently found this interesting take on this Sunday's Scriptures.

The primacy of the heart - as compared with the head. When we judge a person - it is usually by the heart - one of the most damning things we can say about anyone - "he has no heart" - "he has a cold heart" - "he has a hard heart" - the best things we can say - "he has heart" - "he is warm hearted" - "he is soft hearted."

Often when we judge a person - it is by the heart - "his heart is not in it" - "he is only half-hearted" - or - "his heart is in it" - he is whole hearted."

Sorrow or joy is often placed in terms of the heart - "her heart was broken" - "She went with a heavy heart" - or "her heart is overflowing with joy" - "she went with a light heart"

And, even in worship - we speak of the heart - "is this person's heart in it or not" - or is this person only giving lip-service to the Lord - or does it truly come from the heart.

When we speak of badness or goodness - a corrupt heart is the worst form of badness - means to be bad to the core - a pur heart is the best kind of goodness - means to be good to the core.

Today's Gospel reading - places an emphasis on the heart - the heart - the source from which all our thoughts, words and deeds flow - the Pharisees paid more attention to the outside actions than what comes from the inside - it is the heart that matters - may we have a heart that glows with the Lord - only God can see what is in the heart - and only God can make it into what it should be.

I remember talking with a baseball scout - and I asked him what he looked for in a prospect - and he said two things - a strong arm - and heart - without heart the player would not be a good team member and would not bring much spirit to the team.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God - my Father - change my heart into yours - give me a heart overflowing with love and peace - a heart that is sacred because you have touched me in such a perfect way - this is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we join together in saying the Lord's Prayer.

Father Bill says...for the Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Christ knocks at the door – will you be there to answer

This weekend the question presented to us is whether we will continue to make our decision for Christ or not. Again, this Sunday the Gospel reading is from the Sixth Chapter of John – for the fifth consecutive Sunday we read from the same chapter – it is an important chapter – basic to our belief in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. As we finish these readings from John 6 on Sundays – it is a good time to read the whole chapter together – as a sort of review of what we have seen.

This week – our liturgy connects a reading from the Old Testament Book of Joshua – with our Gospel from John 6. Joshua, now the leader of the Hebrew people after the death of Moses – is met with grumbling and complaining from the people – and he demands a decision from them – “If it does not please you to server the Lord, decided today whom you will serve – as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

In this closing reading from John 6 – Jesus is met with grumbling also – and the Gospel writer tells us that many refused to continue walking with Jesus – so Jesus asks the Twelve – “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answers for the group – “Master, to whom shall we go! You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

So, this message presents us with a similar challenge – what is your decision? Actually, it is a continuing question – a daily question – a decision we must make often in life – a decision for Christ. Have you – will you continue to make your faith your own – have you taken the time today to make a personal choice about faith.

I have noticed that often when a decision must be made – it is often a rejection – many young people solve the question of a decision about Jesus and faith by simply rejecting the whole business. My worry is that this decision is made without sufficient knowledge of all that Jesus and the Church teaches – of all that is ours because of our faith – of all that we can become – that we must become as people of faith. This, of course, is not simply a way out for young people – it happens to others at many different stages in life.

I believe that our task as a parish – to do something – so that all of us understand better our faith, our beliefs as Catholics, our way of life as follows of Jesus – and that we do better at helping others, especially our young people in understanding more about this challenge of making a decision for Christ.

The first step is that all of us must make our faith our own. This demands finding meaning through a personal experience of the Lord – faith – is not the acceptance of a lot of beliefs or rules or such – but rather – for a Christian – faith is a belief in and a commitment to the person of Jesus. We must get to know Jesus better – and make all that Jesus is more alive and real in our lives. Then our decision for Christ will truly make a radical change in our lives.

One way for this to begin – our daily reading of Sacred Scripture – a family reading of Sacred Scripture – that can well begin with John 6.

One brief note – the other reading this Sunday – from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians – contains that sentence that gets far too much attention these days – he writes, “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.” I will probably not talk about this on Sunday – I’m not certain what I would say – and since I am a man and a bachelor, many wives will certainly believe I don’t know anything about it, anyway – and that may be true. I have heard many explanations of Paul’s meaning – I must admit I don’t know – it was a different age – he may be trying to associate marriage – with his image of Jesus as the Bridegroom of the bride that is the Church – and the Church should be subordinate to Jesus – I don’t know – but he does add later on, “Husbands, love your wives.” I will leave the rest up to you.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my Father – hear me as I pray today – strengthen my faith, Lord – as I make this decision today for Jesus – to listen to Jesus – to walk with Jesus – to try to live my life as Jesus lived. May my life reflect the life of my Savior – therefore, I again – this day – choose Jesus over all other things. This is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Father Bill says...for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

FOR THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
AND
THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY


This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the ordinary Sunday of the Church Year. When the Assumption is on a weekday, it is a special feast of its own – but this year since the 15th is a Saturday – this feast day is joined together with the Sunday Mass.

But first let me tell you about my week – lots of very interesting and unique activities. Tuesday was the day of my brother Tom’s surgery – I traveled down to see how he came through the whole thing – and he seemed to do very well – and by the next day they had him up and walking the floor – I am certain that the nurses and aides didn’t know what they had gotten into – as he charged around visiting everyone – and trying to get a few more students for LeMoyne.

And in the evening – I had a new experience – going out to a local pub near the University – having a drink with my nephews – Bill and Paul – and Susan, Paul’s wife – you might say it was an investigation of how the other half live – and I met some old friends at the hospital – the Graham’s – Carol and John – as well as their son, Dan – and his new wife, Rachel – the last time I saw them was at the wedding.

On my way, home – I had supper with Father Joe, in Rome – and as I left to head into the Adirondack I came upon the most beautiful rainbow, I have seen in a long time – I truly felt that I was driving right into the middle of it. I must add a note of thanks to Father Joe for supper – and another thank you to my young friend , Mark, for the hot dog after the 5th hole on Friday – and also another thank you – a lovely gift from the folks at Silver Bay – when I stopped out there for a special Mass – Friday night – in honor of the Blessed Mother’s Assumption. Oh, yes – thank you to Jean and Jim who took me out to supper after that Mass. It was a good week – and the weather was gorgeous to boot.

Now – two quick ideas – the Assumption – for us, Catholics, devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is extremely important – and in faith we are called to imitate Mary – just as she brought Jesus to this world as the Mother of the Savior – so we are called to bring Jesus to our world. And we do that best by imitating the Blessed Mother – by being a faith-filled, loving and peaceful people. She was rewarded by being assumed into Heaven – and from there becomes our Mother and model – always ready to walk with us through the days – the good ones and the tough ones – of life.
The message of the Gospel of the ordinary Sunday Mass – still from John 6 – reminds us that our Eucharist is about the sacrifice of Jesus – who offer this First Eucharist the evening before he would be crucified – and also the words of Jesus reminds us and verifies for us that Jesus was truly a man – a human being. Some over the ages have often thought of Jesus as sort of a strange person – a divine person, walking around in our human world. No – Jesus was truly one of us – so he speaks of his flesh and blood.

“The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” – “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day.”

So we believe – firmly – in faith – that in the Holy Eucharist – the presence of Jesus comes to us – completely – though not physically – Jesus still is truly present to us – Body and Soul – Flesh and Blood – in this most wonderful sacrament. When we receive the Holy Eucharist – we truly are united with our Lord and Savior – literally – the Lord goes with us as we leave the Eucharist – to be part of our lives – to give it more life than ever – to truly put fire into all that we are to do. And as we join with all of our family and friends in this Eucharist – we become united in such a beautiful way – we become family – united in the Spirit of our Savior – so that we may live in the Spirit of our God that is ours in this Eucharist.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my Father – on this day, I pray through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of Jesus – as Mary brought Jesus into our world – I long to have the faith and love of Mary – that I may bring the Jesus who comes to me in the Blessed Eucharist – into my world by living in the love and Spirit of my Savior. This is my prayer. Amen.
Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Father Bill says...Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time


I am always impressed by the size of my diocese, the Diocese of Ogdensburg, I noticed this even more this past when I drove over to the western side of the diocese – and also was again deeply impressed by the Adirondack Mountains – as I drove through the Adirondack Park. The purpose of the trip was the summer gathering of the priests from this diocese who have served for a time in our parish in Peru, South America. The ride was about three hours – and traveled through the heart of the Adirondacks – on a rather beautiful day – and did bring back many memories of other adventures in the various parishes that I drove through.

St. James Church, Gouverneur, was the very first parish that I served in after ordination – as an Associate to Monsignor Joe Bailey, the pastor. One of the first friendships that I established as a young priest was with an eighth grader in Gouverneur all those years ago – she is now living back in Gouverneur – so I called and arranged to visit her and her husband for lunch on that day. It turned out to be a sensational visit – I spent the good part of the afternoon with Mary Beth and her husband, Phil – remembering all sorts of stories from the past. I remember her mother well – she enjoyed breaking in new, young priests in those days – with all of her advice – I still remember many of her rather timely suggestions. And to add to the day – her brother, Rick, was visiting from California – and her sister, Rita, from Oneonta – they were all still in school when I was in the parish – and it was great fun to hear about their families and various successes.

The priests’ gathering was equally rewarding on that day - an opportunity to remember – share from that wonderful parish in Southern Peru, in which we had all served. It was a unique ministry for us – we were not professional missionaries by any means – but we did get a wonderful taste of the life of a missionary. We did get to share in this new and different culture and had our opportunity to learn a new language. It was further interesting that now we could communicate with many of the folks down there in ways we could not before – like email and facebook and such.

So – it was a fascinating week for me – now a brief moment to consider this Sunday’s Scriptures – again, this week – as for the last two – the Gospel reading is from the same chapter of John’s Gospel – John 6 – the Discourse on the Bread of Life. I must admit that I am still struggling a bit in deciding how I will continue the teaching on the Holy Eucharist – in a way that will be understandable to the people – make this sacrament touch their lives in a special way.

This Sunday’s reading from John 6 begins with the people having difficulty in accepting Jesus – as someone sent to bring this sacred and profound message to them. And their first response is that they know his parents – and there is also implied that we have known him since he was a child. They hesitate to listen to Jesus – they just can’t accept him. Could it be possible that even today – Mass and the reception of Holy Communion have become so ordinary for us – that we miss the magnificence and importance of this moment in time – that we miss the grandeur of this moment.

Jesus goes on attempting to teach the people – and us – of how much he wants to be a part of our lives – through this sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. He says, “I am the living bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Our first reaction is much like that of those people of old – too much to accept – I say to you now – trust your experience. I believe that those who have experiences the Holy Eucharist – those who have received Holy Communion often – for those who have made the Holy Mass a frequent and important part of their lives – know only too well how different their lives are – Jesus brings to us his life and spirit – so what we do and how we live is in the Spirit of Our Savior. I know only too well in my own life how important and precious the Holy Eucharist is for me – it is my strength and my support – it is my life – it is my way of bringing Jesus more completely into my life. I know Jesus – I know God – better – through this Sacrament – than through some book – Jesus reveals more of his identity to me – Jesus brings the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – into my life – to abide with me.

The reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians – gives us the pattern to live by – a huge challenge – and, yet, with the constant support of the Holy Eucharist – it is possible – “All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Be imitators of God – live in love.”
So we have the challenge – but we need a strong relationship with Our Savior – and we find that in the Blessed Eucharist. It is our very sustenance – Jesus comes to us in the Sacrament and stays with us as our guide and Lord – when we are open and accepting.

What a moment. I remember well a conference of some sort for us priests – and the presenter – a priest – reminded us of the importance of the distribution of Holy Communion. He used the expression – this is their moment – I remember this often when I prepare to receive the Holy Eucharist at the altar – this is my moment – my opportunity – to bring Jesus into my life – in a such a special way.

What a sacrament we have in the Eucharist.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my Father – I thank you, Lord – I thank you for your care and concern for me – I thank you for the Blessed Eucharist – you have blessed me through my ordination to offer Mass, to bring your presence into the Mass – into the Eucharist – into this community – help me – that I may always be aware of your presence with me at the altar – and in my life – that I may live well in your Spirit and bring that life and Spirit to all who I meet. This is my prayer. Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.

Father Bill says...the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

For the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time


This Sunday is parish picnic Sunday – that is always a fun event – after the last Mass on Sunday – we will move on down to the Knights of Columbus Pavilion with lots of food and other activities – last Sunday, I gave the folks the blanket permission to wear picnic clothes to Mass – I have no idea what that means – and so I will be very anxious to see what comes about – do you suppose they will discover my shorts under the Mass vestments?

During the past week, I attended the Clergy Golf Tournament in Malone – each year a great opportunity for us, priests and deacons, to get together – it was more about getting together and having fun than golf. It turned out to also be a time of remembering those golfers from our clergy group who are no longer with us – those who have passed on to the Heavenly courses – That is always a bit sad – but it I also a reminder of the passing years for the rest of us – well, so does the shorter and shorter drives.

This Sunday’s Gospel continues the reading from John 6 – as will the next three Sunday’s gospels – John takes us through Jesus’ Discourse on the Bread of Life – his introduction of the apostles and each one of us – to the wonderful and central Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Last Sunday’s Gospel – a reading that begins this chapter – is the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with five loaves of bread. The next part of John 6 – that is not read at Mass – describes the apostles taking their boat across the lake – and the gospel then tells us of Jesus approaching the boat – walking on the water – and he joins them in the boat. Today’s liturgical reading begins with the people – those who were among the 5,000 – rush over to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. And then begins the Dialogue that is the rest of John 6.

A couple of things to notice – the folks wonder how Jesus got there – Jesus uses this as an opportunity to sort of confront the people – “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God has set his seal.”

Then they wonder – “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus responds, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” Belief in Jesus – following the message of Jesus – today, this is really very different from ages ago – like when I was a child – as a child, I knew faith in God and living by Jesus’ teachings were a part the very culture of my family and neighborhood and my family. For example, in those days, you needed a good reason – not – to go to Church. Today – people seem to need a good reason to go to Church. Today – we need a real anchor to faith – we need something to help us find support for our faith and living that faith each day. We need a truly deeper source to give us meaning – to continue living our faith – that support comes best through our relationship with Jesus – we must find the way, the truth, the life – we find that best in the Eucharistic Jesus – the bread of Heaven will fill our hunger and need – Jesus’ gift of the Blessed Eucharist gives us the life and support we need.

We come to the Lord – just as those people of the Gospel story – because we have hunger – the hunger for support for our faith – support that we may find the way to lie that faith well.

I found this idea in the writings of Father Ron Rolheiser – the first words out of Jesus’ mouth – a question – “What are you looking for?” And he proposes this image – one of the Easter Gospel stories – concerns Mary Magdalene. She comes to the garden – searching for Jesus – he comes to her – but she does not recognize him, thinking it is the gardener – He speaks to her – same question as in today’s Gospel – “What are you looking for?” – Mary replies that she is looking for the body of the dead Jesus and could he give her any information as to where the body is. And Jesus simply says, “Mary.” He pronounces her name in love – She immediately recognizes him.

This is the whole Gospel – what we are ultimately looking for – the desire to hear God pronounce our names in love. To hear God, lovingly say: “Mary”, “John”, “Meagan”, “Peter” –

This is our anchor – when we face misunderstanding or depression.

LET US PRAY

Almighty God, my Father – I come to you this day – to find you – I come because I am in need – I need you with me to support me and guide me – I need to hear you say my name in love. This is my prayer - Amen.

Please join me as we say together the Lord’s Prayer.