​Today’s Thoughts: At times when I look at the Church I think we are always trying to pour new wine into old wine skins or we are trying to sow a new piece of cloth on an old piece of clothing and the results are not so good. We seem to spend a lot of time looking back at how things were, “the good old days” – “the golden age.”  Then we try and hold the present moment in these “days gone by” skins.
 
Perhaps it is a human condition that we are all afflicted with, that desire to hold on to what we think was good, pure and without problems. People often refer to the “good old days” with a sense of longing and a memory that has forgotten many, if not all, of the struggles, difficulties and problems. We long to put this moment, this time of life back into those “good old days” but it never works.
 
In the Gospel today, Jesus reminds us, the new wine needs to go into new skins, in other words we need to be about this moment, this time not the past. We need to patch old with old and new with new. We need to be in the present moment to encounter the presence of God in our life today.
 
Jesus is not negating the old for the new or vice versa. He is just reminding us to always be in the present moment. The Church is alive; it is a living structure and if something is living it needs to grow. If it doesn’t grow it is dead. There is a famous quote from the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, when Andy says to Red, “Get busy living or get busy dying.” Perhaps that is Jesus’ challenge for us today.
 
So, friends in faith let us be busy about living today and have a blessed and holy Friday.

​Today’s Thoughts: I have a couple of thoughts from today’s readings – “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written God catches the wise in their own ruses, and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” (1 Cor. 3:18-20) These opening words from St. Paul seem fitting for our time as well as his. We have many who are deceiving themselves in this age and their wisdom is vain and a ruse. Let us trust in God’s wisdom that they see as foolish!
 
My second thought, perhaps a more positive one, comes from our Gospel today. “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” I am not sure how many times I have uttered these words in my own mind over the last 46 plus years. It seemed very simple 46 years ago, I got rid of most of my possessions and packed up what was left in my little orange Chevy Vega and headed east from St. Louis to Philadelphia to begin my journey into religious life and priesthood. At the time it seemed freeing, liberating. Yet not long after arriving in Philadelphia did the doubts and struggles start, the challenges of letting go of people, possessions and a way of life.
 
And to make matters more challenging throughout these 46 plus years there have been amazing moments when I have paused and said, “Why am I here? Depart from me, Lord, I don’t deserve this, I am a sinful man!” It is the ebb and flow of life that makes who I am, who any person of faith is a challenge. One moment we are in the midst of everyday life, doing what is expected, doing what we always do and then God seems to step in, in a profound way and we feel humbled, we feel undeserving.
 
I had one of those moments a few summers ago when I was the responsible adult for my three grand nieces, who at the time were 9, 5 and 1 years old. They were my responsibility for about 30 hours. Encountering the gift of life, of creation, the gift of love and the gift of family that these three little women offered me was a humbling experience. The 30 hours with them was a challenging and at times a struggling experience for someone like me who usually only experiences this kind of love and family life from a distance. But then you get the opportunity to be with three wonderful little women, and you recognize the profound presence of God just like Peter did. And you think to yourself “I don’t deserve this; I am a sinful man!”
 
However, even though undeserving like Peter and the rest of the crew on the seashore that day each morning I rise and follow Jesus once again. If you happened to encounter God in a profound way today and have that feeling that you don’t deserve it remember you are in good company!
 
Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone.

Today’s Thoughts: “We have never preached violence, except the violence of love, which left Christ nailed to a cross, the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome our selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us. The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood, [of sisterhood,] the violence that wills us to beat weapons into sickles for work.” (St. Oscar A. Romero, The Violence of Love)
 
St. Paul and Jesus in our readings today (1 Corinthians 3: 1-9 and Luke 4:38-44) tell us that they have come to proclaim the Good News. St. Paul does it indirectly and Jesus does it directly. Their goal is to bring the Good News to whomever they meet, whether it is the community of believers at Corinth or the people in Capernaum or the many towns beyond.
 
The Good News that Jesus and Paul bring is the same Good News brought by Bishop Oscar Romero many centuries later. It is the Good News of love. It is the Good News of the Cross. It is the Good News of community. It is the Good News of no more selfishness and inequality!
 
I believe there comes a point in a believer’s life when we need to say enough. Enough violence! Enough war! Enough hate! Enough abuse! Enough disrespect for life! Enough bullying! Enough racism, Enough negativity! Enough selfishness! Enough inequality! If we are truly a great silent majority, if we truly want a world based on peace then it is time to say enough with one great voice! It is time to proclaim and live the Good News.
 
Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: “Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist. We are collaborators in creation.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.)
 
This quote by the great philosopher, scientist, theologian, Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. came to mind as I was praying with our Gospel for this morning (Luke 4:31-37).
 
Jesus in the Gospel today is helping people to experience the gift of God in their lives. His teaching has power and authority. But what gives Jesus’ teaching so much power and authority? We might say it is because he is the Son of God and we would not be wrong. However, we might also say that Jesus’ teaching has power and authority because of how he treated people. In the Gospel today, he expels a demon spirit so that a man can get on with his life. Throughout the Gospels Jesus takes people where they are and helps them to grow, to recognize the grace and presence of God in their lives.
 
Jesus knows that limits to our ability do not exist, because anything is possible with God. So, let’s live this day in God’s presence. Let’s look beyond what appear to be our limits and let’s work with God to make a better world. Let’s be collaborators with God to bring about peace!
 
Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: I have always liked our Gospel reading for today (Luke 4:16-30) though I have spent most of my time with the first half of the story rather than the second half.
 
I have done a lot of Confirmation retreats over my 40 plus years as a priest and if the retreat ended with the celebration of mass, I almost always used the first half of today’s Gospel. In my homily I tell those who have made the retreat that the Gospel calls to mind two pictures and if I include the second half of today’s Gospel, I might as well say three pictures.
 
The first is a day in the life of Jesus. He has returned home, perhaps for a long weekend, and like a good young Jewish man he goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath to pray. Because he has gained some prominence as he has begun his public ministry, he is asked by the leader of the synagogue to do the reading. Jesus stands up, takes the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and reads those now familiar words to us, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me…” Then after finishing the reading, he sits down, and everyone is focused on him. Perhaps feeling uncomfortable, perhaps feeling inspired Jesus then tells all those gather that “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, this is what my life from this moment forward in going to be about. This is reason why I have come into the world this is my mission!
 
Now in painting my first picture on a Confirmation retreat day this is where I would stop however today there is a little more to the picture. Yes, everyone is excited and amazed at Jesus’ words but doubt quickly becomes part of the picture. How can this be? We know him he is Joseph’s son, a simple carpenter. We know his family. We watched him grow up. How can he be this smart, this wise, this self-assured? They have put Jesus into a box and all he can do is challenge their perception of him which only makes them mad. So, a day, a picture that started out so well becomes a day, a picture that has Jesus’ leaving town because people think they know better.
 
The second picture painted by these words is a day in our life. Perhaps our Confirmation Day or our Wedding Day, or our Ordination Day, or the day we took vows in religious life or some other important day in our life of faith. We like good women and men of faith gathered with others for a celebration of faith and when the celebration ends people spoke highly of us. It was a day like Jesus’ day when we began our journey of faith by choosing a path, a mission, a vocation, a ministry that we would fulfill by the living of our life like Jesus.
 
The only difference between these two pictures is that we know the end of Jesus’ story. He did fulfill all that he read from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah that day by the living of his life, however we don’t know the end of our story it is not complete. How will we fulfill the mission God has given us in the living of our life? How will we make God’s presence known to the world?
 
The third and final picture is that in the living of our life we will have moments when doubt, preconceived ideas, notions and perceptions of us will make the journey difficult. We will encounter people who doubt our gifts, our abilities, our faithfulness. We will encounter people who see us as nothing special and refuse to accept the grace, the blessing, the gift of God that we bring to that moment of life. So, the question is how will we respond to these moments of challenge, disappointment and disrespect? Will we give up or trust in the presence of God?
 
Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone.

​Today’s Thoughts: Our readings today, start with a section of the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah that is often called “Jeremiah’s Confessions. It is not an original part of the book. It was only found after the prophetic book was completed and edited in. We might say we are reading part of Jeremiah’s personal diary, words only meant for Jeremiah and God!
 
 Like most prophets Jeremiah is a reluctant prophet, he really did not want the job and his opening words today tell us how he feels. “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped.” If that doesn’t say it all I don’t know what does. Have you ever felt like Jeremiah?
 
I remember when my novitiate class was working on the readings for our profession mass. One of the readings suggested was our first reading from Jeremiah. We laughed as it was read out loud. Had God duped us by calling us to religious life? Well, to tell you the truth at times over the last 44 years I have thought that I was duped by God. I think we all feel that way when life gets difficult.
 
The job of a prophet was not an easy one. The prophet was not a fortune teller, but a spokesperson for God. The prophet invited the people into a relationship with God by asking for and sometimes demanding faithfulness.
 
A prophet was not just about words. The prophet was about action, the action of his or her faithfulness to God. In the words often heard these days, the prophet not only “talked the talk” but also had to “walk the walk”.  A true prophet witnessed God’s vision for humankind especially to the leadership of the faith community. This was not easy task and often ended in death for the prophet. Why, because nobody likes to hear that what they see as important is wrong, especially those who think they have the power.
 
Jesus along with being God’s Son was also a prophet. He speaks to us about his fate as a prophet in today’s Gospel. Jesus challenges Peter today, because Peter wants to sugarcoat the message. Peter, like Jeremiah, like all of us, would rather that prophetic message be about joy and gratefulness.
 
Jesus knows that to be faithful to the Father, to the message, to the prophetic vocation and call, he must take up the cross and we are invited to do the same. Jesus must lose his life. We to must lose our life to find it. Are we being duped?
 
Absolutely not! No, we are called to be faithful prophets. At the end of the Eucharist, we are asked to “Go and continue to proclaim or announce the Gospel of the Lord” or “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your lives.” By announcing the Gospel and glorifying God in the living of our lives we are to be the Jeremiahs, the Isaiahs, the Esthers, the Judiths of our time. We are saying we are willing to lose our lives in order to find them.
 
Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time today!

Today’s Thoughts: Today we celebrate The Passion of St. John the Baptist, and our Gospel (Mark 6:17-29) is the famous story of Herod and John the Baptist. It is a rather gruesome story, it is hard sometimes to think of a young girl being presented with some one's head and then turning and giving it to her mother. Yet, I guess gruesome things happen in life every day, thankfully not in my life.
 
I am always struck in this story with the fact that Herod is moved by John, that he likes to listen to him, yet he gives in to the worldly pressure around him. I get the feeling Herod knows that John is right, but his power, his self-importance; his ego will not let him say yes. Herod has surrounded himself with people who push him in the wrong direction. We might say that he gives in to the peer pressure of his time!
 
There is a great line in the Letter to the Hebrews that I reflect on often, "Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels." It is great advice! Perhaps it is advice that Herod should have heard or heeded. He certainly had one of God's angels, John the Baptist in his presence.
 
We need to be aware that God can come to us, be present to us in many ways. We need to trust that God is with us always. We need to remember that we are a community of faith not just individuals and we need to always be aware of the struggles and joys of others because they can often bring God into our midst.
 
Today we are reminded in the Alleluia verse – “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” May St. John the Baptist help us to see – God as our light and our salvation, and thus never fear!
 
Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: In our Gospel today (Matthew 25: 1-13), Jesus is focused on the end time, whether it is his final coming or the day that God calls each of us individually. And his point is that we need to be awake and we need to be ready like the five wise virgins because not being ready, not being awake has dreadful consequences.
 
Jesus’ story today about the ten virgins emphasizes and illustrated his message from yesterday’s Gospel and helps us loo once again at things a little differently. Jesus is not just talking about the end time or the day God calls each of us home, he is also talking about this moment and what we are missing if we are not prepared. What graces? What joys? What blessings? What experiences of God’s presence are we missing if we are not prepared, if we are not ready?
 
It is not always about the negative, about the end time, about wailing and grinding of teeth. It is also about the opportunities we miss each day, each moment of our life because God is trying to give us good things, but we are more concerned about what is going on around us. We are prepared, we are focused on God, we cut corners and the oil runs out!
 
Are you prepared? Do you have enough oil in your lamp? Or are you going to miss the wedding feast?
 
Have a blessed and holy Friday!

​Today’s Thoughts: “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” (St. Augustine of Hippo) I was thinking about these words from St. Augustine in terms of our Gospel today (Matthew 24: 42a, 44). Yes, I know that Jesus is focused on the end time, whether it be his final coming or the day that God calls each of us individually. Yes, we need to be awake and ready because not being ready, not being awake has dreadful consequences, (see wailing and grinding of teeth).
 
However, I believe Jesus words of “Stay Awake!” or maybe put another way “Be Ready!” can be looked at another way. Jesus might not be just talking about the end time or the day God calls each of us home, he might also be talking about this moment and what we are missing if we are not awake or ready. What graces? What joys? What blessings? What experiences of God’s presence are we missing if we are not awake, if we are not ready?
 
It is not always about the negative, about the end time, about wailing and grinding of teeth. It is also about the opportunities we miss each day, each moment of our life because God is trying to give us good things, but our hands are too full!
 
Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: "Woe to you..." Jesus continues his reflections on people who only seem to care about the non-essentials rather than the essentials. He reminds us that only taking care of the outside can have disastrous effects on the true meaning and purpose of life.
 
Perhaps Thomas Merton reminds us of the same thing but rather than using “Woeful” statements he asks us to focus on God’s creative act that the psalmist voice proclaims to us in Psalm 139. “To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name.” (Thomas Merton) "Your hand shall guide me; your hand holds me fast." (Ps 139:9-10)
 
It is not just that outside that is created by God it is the whole person. We are made in the image and likeness of God and this act of love is the very reason for our existence. “And for this reason, we [need to] give thanks to God unceasingly” (1Thes 2:13), by the way we live our life. So, let us live our life today valuing those we encounter and ourselves.
 
Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone!