Today’s Thoughts: As we celebrate this Sunday on New Year’s Eve we do so honoring the family, specifically the Holy Family, but in honoring the Holy Family we remember all families. In my homily on this Feast of the Holy Family I mentioned one of my favorite fictional characters from TV, Special Agent, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, from the show NCIS. During an episode a few years ago, part of the story line was Abby’s struggle with family. She finds out that she is adopted. In a very touching scene she goes to Gibbs and says that she doesn't know who she is now, and Gibbs' reply goes something like this, "Abby, family is more than science and DNA, family is about the people who care about you and you have a lot of people who care right here." To me it was a touching scene that reflected some of Gibbs' wisdom but also it reflects our feast today.
 
We might look are the Holy Family and say how can the Holy Family be an example of family life? They were the perfect family how could my family even begin to measure up to them? They were special people, blessed in a unique way by God. Jesus is the Son of God. Mary came into the world without sin. An angel came to both Joseph and Mary. How can we ever measure up to the Holy Family? In a word by caring!
 
Gibbs was right the basic value of family is that family cares no matter what. And it doesn’t always come from DNA. Haven’t there been times when you considered a person family even though they don’t have your DNA? You considered them family because in some way they cared about you, about your family.
 
All of the stories we hear about the Holy Family, we hear about people who care for each other and for those around them. The gift of the Holy Family is the grace of caring! Perhaps our challenge today is to remember the people who care, those we are connected to us by DNA and those we are not – all of whom we call family!
 
Have a great Holy Family Sunday everyone and may you find a little time for God today too!

Today’s Thoughts: “To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.
 
Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” (Thomas Merton)
 
This quote from Thomas Merton is one of my favorites because it always brings me back to what my life should be about, gratitude. Gratitude for the very gift of life itself and gratitude for God’s love that created this life.
 
We live in a world, a culture, a society, a nation, a city, a church that is too often fragmented, too often divided and too often filled with ingratitude all of which leads to violence, hate and injustice. We seem to be more willing to turn our backs on those we don’t like; those whom we think have done us wrong, those who are different than us rather than finding – the common ground, the common gift, the common presence which is God’s love for all of us.
 
St. John reminds his community, in the first reading, of just what they have, the presence of God. They are to remember that and not forget it. They are to be grateful for God’s presence and not give in to the things, the ways, and the enticements of the world. They are not to put their trust in what will pass away but in what will not!
 
Anna is a person of gratitude. She never lost faith, she never lost trust in God and we find her today giving thanks, being grateful. Anna was a person of hope who did not give in to the enticements of the world but waited patiently for God’s love.
 
As Merton tells us everything is gift, everything is grace. It is our choice – do we turn our backs on God and others or do we enter into the experience of God with gratitude and hope? For if we do it will make all the difference!
 
Have a great Saturday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: Feast of St. Thomas Becket – We find ourselves listening to the story of Simeon in our Gospel from Luke today (Luke 2:22-35). I have always liked the story of Simeon. It is a very tender scene. However, there is something missing in our Gospel today. From my perspective it should read just a few verses more so that we also encounter the story of Anna; to me it just seems natural to include both stories. Two people who have dedicated their lives to God waiting for this moment. You can hear the joy in their voices as they realize the purpose of their lives coming to completion, both embraced by the Holy Spirit graced with the gift of hope.
 
They do not sugar coat their message they tell it like it is – or should I say like it will be. There will be sorrow and struggle but also life. Rather than speak about the "rise and fall" Simeon speaks of the "fall and rise." The cross is part of Jesus' story, but it is not the end. Death leads to life, doubt is embraced by faith, sorrow and struggle turns to joy!
 
Perhaps as we listen to Simeon today we need to remember that in being a person of faith our direction in life is always "upwards." Hope means that no matter how difficult things seem to get, no matter what the struggle – God is always with us. If we can be patience like Simeon and Anna the light of God will always direct our way, death, doubt, struggle and sorrow will become life, faith and joy!
 
Have a great Friday everyone and may you find peace, hope and joy as you journey through your day!

Today’s Thoughts: Today is the feast of the Holy Innocents. It has special meaning for me because when I took my vows as a Passionist my title was Paul Raymond of the Holy Innocents. I took the Holy Innocents as my title, because before entering the Passionists I worked as a social worker and my responsibilities were abused and neglected children. I also worked with hard to place adoptive children. So, when I entered the Passionists I wanted to honor children particularly those often forgotten by or unwanted by the world. I thought what better way to honor and to remember the children I served, worked with and encountered by placing them and myself under the protection of the Holy Innocents.
 
There is not a day goes by that I don’t pause to remember many of the children that I encounter in my work. I often wonder what happened to them. Many of them were wonderful children who just need a chance to break the cycle of abuse and neglect. They were children with gifts who often didn’t get the chance to realize those gifts because of decisions that adults had made. I continue to commend them and children around the world to the care and protect of the Holy Innocents.
 
The Holy Innocents are martyrs and saints. The spirits of God who care for those often not cared for or forgotten. Through the celebration of their feast today and through their always present spirits may we come to value the gift of children and the gift of life.
 
Blessings upon all mothers and fathers who want to bring life into the world, blessings upon all expectant mothers and blessings upon all children today!
 
Have a great Thursday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: Feast of St. John the Evangelist – “Beloved: What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touch with our hands concerns the Word of life….” The opening lines from the First Letter of St. John which was read at today mass (1 John 1:1-4). They have always been comforting yet challenging words for me. They are certainly profound words today as we celebrate the feast of St. John, the apostle, evangelist and beloved friend of Jesus. As we often refer to him, the youngest of the apostle or at least the fastest as we hear in today’s Gospel (John 20:1a and 2-8).
 
John by tradition lived the longest and was not martyred as the rest of the apostles were. In his old age he became a prisoner in exile, a mystic, a hermit and certainly a profound writer of the story of Jesus. Unlike his fellow evangelists John’s story is steeped in images, stories not found in the other Gospels and personal expressions of faith. John’s story of Jesus soars to the heights of the mystery of God, thus John is often imaged as an eagle.
 
In some ways we are all like John, living our life, running ahead when we can, believing when we get the chance to enter the mystery. We use the stories of our lives to proclaim the presence of God. We have seen things; heard things and touched things and they have all been about and from God. We are all God’s beloved.
 
May the spirit of St. John bring out the mystic in all of us today. May we look beyond what we hear, see and touch to the presence of God born in each of us this day!
 
Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: Here we are on the day after Christmas, the day after the wonderful scene of Mary holding her newborn infant in a cave just outside of Bethlehem. In today’s readings, the scene has shifted to a place outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem. It is not a tranquil scene but one of mob violence as they drag a young man out of the city to his death all because he believes. Stephen becomes the first martyr of the new church.
 
On Thursday we will celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the baby boys martyred by Herod because he was so afraid of the infant Jesus. My point here is that in these early days after Christmas two of the feasts we celebrate, St. Stephen and Holy Innocents, stand in stark contrast to Christmas and they do so as a reminder that being a person of faith, that believing, comes with a challenge, comes with resistance from the world.
 
Christmas is not a happily ever after story. It is the beginning of a journey of faith that will take us from a cave outside of Bethlehem to a hill outside of the Jerusalem and beyond. Christmas is the beginning of a challenge to wake up every day and find Emmanuel, God with us, in our lives.
 
As we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen today we are reminded that the world will not always see things as we do.  Sometimes the world’s reaction to what we believe will be harsh and at times even deadly. But like Stephen we are asked to believe, to trust and to know that God is with us.
 
In our prayers today, we ask St. Stephen to help and protect all who are persecuted because of what they believe. We pray for peace among religions, peace in our world!
 
“Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.” (Thomas Merton)
 
Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: Some thoughts for a Christmas Day…
 
“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.
 
Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” (Thomas Merton)
 
While it is good that we seek to know the Holy One, it is probably not so good to presume that we ever complete the task.”
 
“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
 
“Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ)
 
“Just because something is impossible, doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.” (Dorothy Day)
 
“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”
 
“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol)
 
“Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store.” (Dr. Seuss)
 
“Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.”  (G.K. Chesterton)
 
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:5)
 
“We are all meant to be mothers of God...for God is always needing to be born.”
 
“Every creature is a word of God and is a book about God.”
 
“We are celebrating the feast of the Eternal Birth which God the Father has borne and never ceases to bear in all eternity…. But if it takes not place in me, what avails it? Everything lies in this, that it should take place in me.” (Meister Eckhart)
 
All of these thoughts have something to say about our celebration of Christmas. However, I think Eckhart, the great Dominican mystic of the Middle Ages, has his finger on the meaning of the Christmas feast we celebrate today. Yes, Christ was born in history some 2,000 plus years ago and yes Christ will be born again at the Second Coming but what is most important for us is that Christ is born each day within us. As Eckhart says, “Everything lies in this, that [Christ’s birth] should take place in [us].” In other words, each day we need to take on the responsibility of giving birth to Jesus by the living of our lives. We should bring the presence of God to the world each day.
 
If we are lucky we will encounter or have encountered children joyfully celebrating the gift of Christmas in song, in story, in pageant. We will or have experienced them as angels, shepherds, Mary and Joseph. We will or have watched them place the child in the manager and proclaim, “Glory of God on high and Peace on Earth to all people of good will.” We will or have seen the joy, the excitement, and nervousness on their faces. And after all is said, sung and done we will or have for a moment sense the true meaning of Christmas that God is with us!
 
My hope is that this Christmas, as you celebrate the mystery of the Christmas Eucharist, as you gather with family and perhaps friends, amid good food and choice drink, as presents are frantically opened and enjoyed you will look around at the faces of fellow parishioners, guests, friends and family and see the wonderful gift of God’s presence.
 
We are lucky people – no, we are blessed people because Emmanuel is born within us each day all we need to do is believe!
 
“Let us draw from the crib the joy and deep peace that Jesus comes to bring to the world.” (Pope Francis)
 
A Blessed and Holy Christmas to all!

Today’s Thoughts: It is truly an unusual day. The Fourth Sunday of Advent in the morning and then by late afternoon the beginning of the celebration of Christmas. It makes it difficult for parishes as they move so quickly from Advent to Christmas. Mass schedules are often turned upside down and a question that is often asked is – “Will this mass fulfil my obligation for Sunday and Christmas?” Truly an unusual day!
 
So, with that thought in mind I began my homily last evening by talking about a television program called Scorpion. Yes, an unusual way to begin a homily. The show was inspired by a true story about a man named Walter O’Brien who has an IQ of 195. He brought together a group of friends who are also brilliant, and they work as a team helping Homeland Security. Each person on the team has a special gift. In the show they solve problems not by fighting or the use of guns but with their intelligence.
 
However, they have one major struggle as a team, they find it very difficult relating to people who are not as intelligent as themselves. Helping them with this aspect of life is Paige a young woman who is not intellectually brilliant like the others, but she knows how to relate to people. Paige has a gifted son, so the team helps Paige understand her son and she helps the team relate to people.
 
This might seem like an odd way to begin a homily, but my point is that our readings today and at this time of year remind us of the human element in the story of the Incarnation. Yes, it is a mystery and yes, nothing is impossible for God. However, Mary’s yes; Joseph’s yes, the stories of Elizabeth and others long the way are important to us because they remind us of the need to have faith, trust and hope in the presence of God. Like the character of Paige in the Scorpion the unexpected heroes and heroines of our faith story help us to understand God’s plan for us!
 
May we be God’s unexpected heroes and heroines who respond with a yes and bring God’s faith, hope, joy and love to a world that so desperately need it.
 
Have a faith filled Sunday everyone and don’t forget it is Sunday in the morning and Christmas late in the afternoon, two different celebration, two different obligations. So, don’t forget to give God a little extra love and time today!

​Have a great Fourth Sunday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: “What then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” I have celebrated a few baptisms in my life as a priest and there is one thing I do the same at each one. During my homily, I ask all gathered to consider asking themselves two questions as they celebrate the baptism of the child. When they get a chance during the party that usually follows the baptism, to hold the child for a moment, they are to ask themselves – First, what do they, wish, dream, hope for this child? Second, how will they help this wish, dream, hope to come true?
 
As I prayed with the Gospel (Luke 1: 57-66) this morning the picture that I painted above of a baptism came to mind. If you have ever taken a baby in your arms perhaps one of the first questions that came to your mind was – “What will become of this child?” The same question people asked at the circumcision of John. I think it is a natural question to ask when seeing a new born. What will this child be? What gifts, what talents, does this child have? What kind of life will this child encounter, live? What lies ahead for this child?
 
Another thought when looking at a new born is the fact that this child has come from God. I use an image in one of my mission talks of a new born child coming into the world. The image is that when a child is born, the child, she or he comes directly from the hands of God. The last face before coming into the world a child sees is God’s. If the child could speak in words that we could understand she or he could tell us about God. Unfortunately, by the time the child can speak in words we understand she or he have forgotten what God looks like and like us, the child spends the rest of her or his life making the journey back to those hands of God. Just think the first hands to embrace us after we take our last breath will be God’s. The first face we will see will be God’s. In other words, the hands of God are with us at birth and throughout our life.
 
The story we find in the Gospel today about John’s circumcision is all of our stories. When we came into the world people wondered what we would become. People looked at us with love and knew God’s hands were at work. Yet, unlike John we don’t know the end of our story. It is still being lived out, it still needs an ending. We know what John became. We know how John lived out God’s call. We know how John allowed God’s hands to be at work in his life.
 
Who then are we? How then are God’s hands at work in us? These are our questions for this day. These then are our questions for the celebration of Christmas. These then are our questions for the beginning of a New Year.
 
Have a great Saturday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: Mary's Magnificat one of the most beautiful prayers. It is a reflection of her trust and faith in God. It is a reflection of her commitment to God's plan for her. Each evening I pray this prayer hoping that as I live life I can have the same trust, faith and commitment in and to God.
 
Both women in the scriptures today teach us about commitment, trust and faith. Mary and Hannah are models of what it means to be a friend of God, of what it means to be beloved by God. They teach us true friendship and commitment.
 
Perhaps as we prepare in these final days before Christmas we might look at our own friendship with God and renew our commitment to proclaim God's greatness in our life!
 
Have a great Friday everyone!