November 10th is an important day for each and every person who wore the uniform of the United States Marine Corps. This year we celebrate the 242nd birthday of the Marine Corps. Created by the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775 each man and woman who has worn the Eagle, Globe and Anchor and has served our country follows in a long and storied tradition.
The Commandant of the Marine Corps. General Robert B. Neller, wrote this as part of his message this year, “Today, as we celebrate our 242nd birthday, we must remember who we are, where we came from, and why we’re here.“ As we remember this Veterans Day weekend the service of so many we may reflect on those three basic blessings we share as we serve.
God calls us to be of service to one another in love, respect and honor, and praying and contemplating the “who we are, where we came from, and why we’re here” should help us to orientate ourselves to the greater good, the growing in holiness and the strengthening of community which is always the foundation of our faith. The Commandant’s words were not anything new or deeply insightful rather they are meant to help us refocus and recall the who, where and the why of life and service.
As a Marine we were reminded constantly of who we were, it was literally drilled into our hearts and minds in bootcamp and then continually celebrated throughout the years of service. It was a reminder of those who had served, sacrificed and died in dedicating themselves to the truth of freedom and the desire for a better world and how we were called to follow them. We may take this as a faith challenge too. Do we know who we are as children of God? Do we know the stories and blessings of those who have walked before us in faith? And it’s not just the big one like St. Francis of Assisi or our current Pope who took his name for the great saint, but more importantly it is knowing the people around us, who built our parishes, who nurtured our faith and who sacrificed through their gifts to help us live as children of God. As a priest, one of my greatest joys is sitting a listening to the stories of the “old guys” as they talk about their experience and share the stories of their “old guys”…the connection of the “who.” Our challenge in this busy and fractured world is to take time to listen this weekend to God speaking through others of the who we are in life.
The struggles, the battles the triumphs and failures all make up the “where” of life. Where did we come from…it is easy to read the history book, the time line but true where is the hopes and dreams of life and service. As we listened and learned from the stories of “who we are” we saw in them the desires for a greater good. The stories and the women and men behind them were never perfect and their faults and sins were real but the underlying dream of love, hope and justice are always at the center of the dream. It is the trust in the betterment of the lives of all even when our sins seem to cause hurt and injury to others. As people of faith we should always seek to build upon the “where we came from” trusting in the foundation of the Church set by Jesus Christ. It is in the “stone rejected” where we discover the “where” of our call to mission. In a world where faith is often discounted and seen as “silly” or “superstitious” we strive to witness to the truth or as Fr. James Keller M.M. wrote, “The big battle of our day is over man—the worth of man. It is a battle for man’s soul. Are you doing as much to reach all men with truth of their divine origin as are those who deny God and are striving to eliminate all knowledge of Him from the face of the earth?” (p 77 from “Light in the Darkness” by Fr. Jonathan Morris) When we know our “who” and our “where” we then truly discover our “why”.
The “why” is the reality of sacrifice in the service of the greater good. In the Marine Corps we had this simple phrase drilled into us, “God, Country and Corps.” The truth that if we serve God fully and truly, to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.“ (Mt. 22:37) in all that we do then our serving of Country and Corps will always bring truth and justice in our actions. If we choose to serve the “why” in this way then Church, community and world naturally fall in the second, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:39) What other “why” do we need?

Today we pray for all those who have served our country and today carry the joys and sorrows of this service. We pray for those who suffer from PTSD that we may reach out to them in healing and grace through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

ps. Happy birthday to all the “devil dogs, jarheads and leathernecks”

I was so positive I would be writing about something totally different this week. I was ready to write about the joy, the blessing, the relief, the patience, the fulfilled anticipation and yes, the World Series victory of my beloved Dodgers…but alas, I must write about the opposite, the sadness, the heartbreak, the frustration, the waiting and the loss of another World Series of my beloved Dodgers…but I do get to use the word “alas” which is of some consolation, I guess.

In many ways I grew up with the sadness, heartbreak, frustration, waiting and hope during my early years of Dodger love…the ’74 loss to the Oakland A’s, the dual cruelty of the ’77 and ’78 losses to the team that may not be mentioned in addition to all the losses in the NL pennant games. And yes there were good times too, the revenge over that team in ’81 and then against the A’s in ’88…. then the waiting, the bad teams and finally the loss in seven to a team I didn’t like when they played real baseball in the National League and like even less that they now play in the junior circuit. But a loss is a loss and I will repeat once more: “Spring will come and hope will bloom again in my little boy heart and the blue of Dodger blood will continue to run through my veins.”

One of the things you could clearly see in the fateful 7th game was the tightness of the team and players. They were clutching the bat a little tighter, they gripped the ball a little harder, the fluidity of the defense seemed to be jerky and without instinct at times…it is what happens when you begin to think too much and not allow the natural joy of the game to flow through the body.

In many ways it can mirror the lack of trust as we doubt we are good enough and maybe God’s plan for us will be the best plan. Fr. Jonathan Morris in his book “Light in the Darkness” shares with us snippets of the wisdom and faith of Fr. James Keller, M.M. the founder of The Christophers, Fr. Keller writes this story, “One day a small boy was trying to lift a heavy stone, but he couldn’t budge it. His father, passing by, stopped to watch his efforts. Finally he said to his son: “Are you using all your strength?” “Yes, I am,” the boy cried, exasperated. “No,” the father said calmly, “you’re not. You haven’t asked me to help you.”…When we are attempting a task— big or small— we would do well to stop for a moment and pray, in all humility, for God’s help.” (p 161)

I think what Fr. Keller is trying to relate is that by seeking help from the “father” we are able to relax and accomplish great things because we are working in unison with the Father who knows our gifts and talents and strengthens them in the struggles of life. Because our life, when we are seeking the spiritual a corporal actions to build the kingdom of God and to do the work of the Lord, we can often begin to grip our faith a little tightly, clutch at our prayers a bit harder and begin to become herky-jerky in what should be a fluid movement of the service of love to those around us.

When we truly ask God for help then the grace given becomes the joy of playing within the field of the God’s holy creation. If we can do this, then we relax and allow the goodness God created us in and to be to shine through as we see the pitches of the devil and refuse to swing, where our prayers become less labored as we toss them back and forth in a game of catch with God and where we react with natural and gracious love in service of the other.

Certainly God doesn’t care about who won the World Series (if that were the case I’m sure he would have answered my prayers) but rather God desire that we use all our gifts, athletic or other, to give Him glory. To be attentive, to practice and grow our gifts is the true sign of love and then relax, give glory and play/pray.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

I was walking through our parish school yesterday and it would be hard to miss the preparation of the upcoming celebration of Halloween. The hallways, the doorways and the very little and excited bodies of the students screamed out the joy and fun that is anticipated on the night of All Hallows Eve. As Christians we would also note the reverence and veneration with which our 8th Grade students prepared the Day of the Dead Altar with photographs and memories of friends and relatives who had died.
The end of October and beginning of November is filled with life, death and the call to holiness that fills our lives. It is the time of year when as summer fades, fall takes hold and we look towards the winter of life. Our Catholic faith asks us to reflect upon both our purpose in life and in this purpose the ultimate goal of our life. It should be very simple to answer…right? Our purpose is simply to serve God…you know, the first and greatest commandments and yes the second too. And the ultimate goal? Heaven. Easy enough and now we get to live it and that’s the hard part.
This is where the All Saints and All Souls celebrations are found in our faith traditions. St. Bernard shares with us this wisdom, “Calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company, so desirable in itself. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join in the assembly of patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, ths, that is our purpose and our goal. To be loved and united in joy with God…this is what saints do…they celebrate the gift of life through serving God and the other. The great Russian author Leo Tolstoy put it this way, “There is only one thing in this world which is worth dedicating all your life. This is creating more love among people and destroying barriers which exist between them.” (Leo Tolstoy) If God is love, then there can only be this one holy and joy filled purpose. e council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with all the saints.” (St. Bernard, abbot from the Office of Readings, All Saints Day) He reminds us that we are all called to the joyfulness of holiness and greatness and the saints point the way to Jesus the ultimate goal where we are and will be united with Him in the Father and Holy Spirit.
We are all called to be saint
All Souls Day is a reminder of our mortality and the need to pray for those who have died. We profess each Sunday “I believe in life everlasting” as part of our Creed. We understand that no one will get out of life without the moment of physical death, but as followers of Jesus Christ, we also trust in the blessing of the eternal life of our soul. As St. Ambrose reminds us “What more should we say about his death since we use this divine example to prove that it was death alone that won freedom from death, and death itself was its own redeemer? Death is then no cause for mourning, for it is the cause of mankind’s salvation. Death is not something to be avoided, for the Son of God did not think it beneath his dignity, nor did he seek to escape it.” (St. Ambrose, from the Office of Readings, All Souls Day)
We pray for those who have died in the understanding of the need for repentance from sin and the purgation of the soul. The question we should always ask is not: “Do I want to die?” rather “Am I ready for death?” Have I, in Tolstoy’s formulation, allowed God to work in my life to destroy the barriers of hate and open the gate of love: Jesus Christ. If so then our purpose: “to be a saint” and our goal’ “to be in heaven” are always in front of us as we live within the heart of God’s love.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

Fr. Richard Rohr, in writing about how God calls us to community says that there are two great mysteries that bring people together in the interconnectedness of life. The “mystery of spirituality and the mystery of vulnerability and powerlessness.” (p 124)

I believe this truth is made bare in the tragedies of life we have recently been experiencing in our country. The onslaught of disaster we experience can bring out the community we often seem to lack or ignore when life seems to be good. The human spirit that seeks to rebuild in the midst of destruction and the blessings we see from so many people who reach out to help in every way possible are inspiring and hope-filled for all of us.

The challenge for us is to begin to build upon and sustain these mysteries into a deeper relationship with God and community. The “mystery of spirituality” is a reminder of our need for the greater. We can become a mirror of ourselves if we continually focus just on the ME, ME, and ME of life fail to look beyond the mirror into the deeper and more profound truth where in reaching beyond ourselves we discover the true self God has called us to be.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI where he says to us, “The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” We are drawn to the greatness of life when in our spiritual journey we choose to serve, to go beyond the narrowness of the ego ME and reach out into the messy reality of relationship and life. This is where the joining together in worship and prayer become vital and life giving. We, in the celebration of the Mass, are asked to move beyond our self and enter into a community of prayer allowing ourselves to be united around one altar of blessing not because everyone is like us but because and more importantly everyone is not like us. United in our unique differences of seeking a greater and more holy which is union with God we live the mystery of spiritual growth and find truth and blessing.

Then we come to the “mystery of vulnerability and powerlessness” two things we all dread at some level. The natural and man made tragedies and sins of the world bring the reality of being vulnerable and powerless to the forefront. With all the gifts of human intelligence and advancement, the wind, rain, fire and shaking of the earth still remind us of how fragile and precious life is and how easily it can be lost. But is also wakes us up to how the “stuff” that seems to posses us at times cannot fulfill our lives because it disappears within a moment. In the moments of vulnerability and powerlessness we discover the lasting gift of true life and unity as friend, neighbor and stranger reach out in the grace and blessing of the hand, voice and embrace of God. It is the discovering of a love that desires to simply serve without reward or recompense as we seek to heal in grace the hurt, pain and suffering of the other as Jesus reaches out to us in our prayer and desire to be made into love.

We have all heard and read of the gifts given and shared and we are called to continue to serve and to bless. It is in the wonderful stories of service and blessing where we come to understand the greater truth of our faith and religion that draws us more deeply into a relationship of life and grace with God where we learn , “Religious transformation works best when you know you are an instrument and not the origin, an aqueduct and not the source. ( p128)

God bless

Fr. Mark

“What the Mystics Know: Seven Pathways to Your Deeper Self” by Fr. Richard Rohr OFM

I don’t think anyone could have predicted the fall season of disasters and need that is the reality of our country and the world.

Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Irma
Earthquake in Mexico
Hurricane Maria
Las Vegas shooting
Wildfires in Sonoma and Napa Counties

And we could add many others smaller but no less disruptive events for the communities we live in and are surrounded by. It is so very hard on the mental and spiritual life to be asked to continually respond to each event with the same fervor and compassion as the first.

When I first heard about the fires this past week I must admit it was with a shrug of the shoulders and a small prayer because the extent and the damage these fires would cause was just beginning. We’ve had fires before, even with the memories of the Oakland Hills fires, and most of the time, they are just an air quality issue, but this is certainly not the case. I had been with my family in Idaho for my brothers wedding when the fires began and my friend, Fr. Raul Lemus’ Facebook post was the first indication I had of the gravity followed by an email from a friend whose father’s house had been destroyed in Santa Rosa…then I began to pay attention.

And sadly, this is often the case in tragedies both small and large: when we know the people affected by the event we seem to be much more interested in how to help and the outcomes that are found. And this reality is very important to recognize and embrace and yet, we are always and everywhere called to reach out to the ends of the earth in prayer and service to help those in need. St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians reminds us that this act of charitable service is at the foundations of the very beginning of the Catholic faith, “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.” (Gal 2:10)

We will be asked once more to dig deeply in compassion and love to reach out to those whose lives have been disrupted and destroyed by the devastation of the fires. As a Catholic Christian community we see our brothers and sisters in need as neighbor and friend. This is the gift of prayer in and through Jesus Christ. As Bishop Robert Barron so beautifully writes, “It has been said that Christian prayer is listening intently as the Father and the Son speak about you. It is this peculiar intimacy—praying in God and not just to him—that give the Christian practice of prayer its unique texture.” (p 53, Barron)

It is in this prayer where we will discover the virtue of perseverance and fortitude where we find the strength to see the hopefulness not of a dream but of the reality of one family in Jesus Christ working towards the common good of unity and service. My own experience of loosing everything in a house fire as a child showed me the gift of community, family and faith as we were taken in to sleep, clothed with friendship and blessed with the shared gift of the necessary household items to unite our family once more in love. “(F)ortitude is necessary to endure unforeseen trials such as the death of those dear to us, the loss of a friend by separation or misunderstandings, the loss of possessions, sickness, poverty and hardships, all of which are likely to be met with at various times in life.” (p 218, Harrison)

We can despair that it is all too great to be dealt with but the gift of prayer united in the small offerings of love, our faith becomes the mountain of hope from which we are able to sing of new life and the wonders of blessings as we share of our generosity of love. God is even here in the fires, the earthquakes and the storms because this is where we, his holy people, choose to go to be united in the service of life, love and prayer.

God bless,
Fr. Mark

Quotes from,

“The Strngest Way: Walking the Christian Path” by Bishop Robert Barron

“The Everyday Catholic: A Guide to Steady Growth in Holiness” by Fr. Martin Harrison, O.P.

“In the face of horror, there are no responses more important than prayer. Man silently turns his gaze toward God, who allows himself without fail to be moved by tears. The human struggle is necessary in order to combat the powers of evil. But silence is the mysteriously effective hidden instrument.” (#319)

Cardinal Robert Sarah’s words may be echoing in each of our hearts this week as we struggle to make sense of the violence and death in Las Vegas this past week. It has been constantly in my prayers as we look to the news, the commentary and the hope for healing from this senseless act of evil. Many commentators and politicians have loudly and vociferously called out in the last few days that prayer and good intentions are not enough but we must take action of one sort or the other to prevent this type of violence from ever occurring again.

How are we called to respond? First and foremost, we must be proactive in our relationships of encounter and love. It is always necessary to enter into the moment of suffering and tragedy with Christ’s grace and healing but we must necessarily be always moving in the community in and through Jesus’ example of service. Cardinal Sarah shares with us the danger of the knee-jerk reactions in times of violent tragedy, “Today the danger lies in the unbridled activism of the modern world. We are always called to fight, to comb the countryside, to overthrow our adversaries, and to destroy them. Indeed, man is driven to compound one evil with another, whereas he out to let the weeds grow with the wheat. Silence will give us the patience to wait for the moment when the useless plants will fall by themselves. Thanks to silence we will know how to bide our time and to wait for God’s hour with perseverance so as to forge an alliance with him and to work under his guidance.” (#298)

The peacefulness with which are called to engage the sins of violence are the practice of engaging in the peacefulness of God’s love. On October 4th as Catholics we celebrated the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi and remembering his path of seeking God’s peace we may be reminded of the great prayer that bears his name. It is a prayer not of passivity but one of direct action, to become an instrument of God’s peace, mercy and forgiveness and not of the violent and intrusive acts of the world.

If, as Christians, we truly believe our first response (not our only response) should be in turning to God in prayer, inviting silence, then we must seek the conversation of peace through God remembering our encounter with Jesus, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (Jn 14:27) We need to be unafraid to name the sin and know that our response must be through the peace of Jesus Christ. The words we hear Jesus speak to us are words he speaks in preparing for his passion and death, words of life that ultimately lead to resurrection and hope.

When we are able to understand our own need of salvation then our response to violent sin is founded on the rock of peace and hopefulness. Fr. John Crossin writes, “We carry around in us both signs of hope and of despair. Violence is not just outside us but in us. We have angry and vengeful thoughts that manifest themselves in rude behaviors, verbal abuse, aggressive driving and in other individual ways. But we also feel compassion and engage in caring for other. We yearn to be part of something bigger than ourselves, to connect with something that gives meaning and purpose to our existence. While we may be able to do little to change the world, we can change ourselves—and that may lead, in time, to change in our local environments.” (p 16)

Ultimately, prayer is enough because it leads to an active relationship with our God who calls us into a community of love. This is where the true “response” comes from, the heart of the Most Holy Trinity moving us beyond our ego and selfishness and into the humility of love where we respond as a “channel of (God’s) peace” that “where there is hatred let me bring love.”
God Bless
Fr. Mark

Quotes from:

“The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise” by Robert Cardinal Sarah

“Friendship: The Key to Spiritual Growth” by Fr. John W. Crossin O.S.F.S.

“Some of my friends seem to me to be “restless for God”—always seeking this deeper love. They are present-day Saint Augustines, always probing for his will. They are not content with themselves or with the present. Their inner spirit seeks something more.” (p 50 “Everyday Virtues by Fr. John Crossin, O.S.F.S.)

Restlessness is a disease that can drive us in two different directions in life, sin or sacredness, in searching for the one ultimate plan we are invited to fulfill. As the quote above notes, and in Augustines case, this searching leads him through many mistakes and heartaches and finally to the “saint” part of this ultimate journey.
It is interesting to look around our world that is so restless and so very busy seeking to fill this emptiness we feel and wonder why so many of us miss the God moments that bring peace. We witness this often in the anger that consumes so many and fuels the false desires of momentary happiness in the midst of God’s offer for eternal peace.
When we look at our relationships and to others in the world we will often notice how this anger engages: the frustrated person is never more angry then when they are in the presence of a peaceful person, the anxious in the presence of contented person and the lonely in the presence of community. God’s call to peace, contentment and community is at odds with the worlds desire for more, mine and isolation.

“How can we take God for granted when he speaks to us so continuously?” (p 50)

My restless found its vaccine in daily Mass. After university I spent two years teaching at St. Bonaventure Mission in New Mexico. One grace I stumbled into was the routine of daily Mass. In the quiet rhythm of this prayer and sacramental encounter with Jesus Christ I began to hear the continuous voice of God in my life. I can now recognize it as the journey to my priestly vocation, but even then I began to see and understand the something more, not of restless searching, but the more of peaceful assurance that God desires us to act in love and generosity.
We can often fall into the trap of thinking that peacefulness indicates inaction or that contentment is a sign of unwillingness to engage in healing of suffering and sin in the world but it is quite the opposite. We are never more engaged than when as part of a community of love, faith and hope were we engage in the work of blessing, reconciliation and joining together as one. It is when our restlessness is calmed by the gentleness of love that we experience our dignity and sacredness and see our sisters in brothers with the same eyes which God sees us.

“People can’t easily take God for granted because he reaches out and touches them. Occasionally he speaks directly; often he whispers in the gentle breeze.” (p 51)

Modern American society is mobile and on the move. We are constantly engaging something and very seldom encountering someone. It is one of the greatest sins of our time. And yes, I fall into this sin too often for my own comfort. It was in daily Mass where I noticed the first whispers of peace calming the restlessness of my soul. As I began to practice daily prayer, not hit and miss of “I will get to it if I can,” but a practice of seeking God intentionally and actively that the whispers became the voice of my family, friends, students and strangers. It is where the sacramental encounters of discovering God blessings were found even in stalled freeway traffic or the clogged toilet. These too became moments of encounter with the peace and contentment of God’s desire to love me for who I am and for me not to corner God into what I want at the moment.

“As Christians see things, our freedom is for the good, for the true and for the beautiful. It is the freedom to be our best selves. What are we free for? Put succinctly, we are free to be holy. Nothing else matters. We are free to be holy—to be like Christ. We are free to give everything—tragedies, scars, successes and even our inmost thought to God.” (p 51)

Ultimately this is what we discover: our call is to holiness. This is the true peacefulness, contentment and gift of community. To become saints among saints joyfully sharing the goodness of God’s love. It is the freedom to be holy!
God bless,
Fr. Mark

I don’t know how often life interrupts life but it seems to happen to me all the time. I like to think I have at least 20% of my life under control but the rest of life almost always takes the 20% and flips it on its head. This isn’t a bad thing but I am constantly battling my desire to remain in control of the 20%.
Why isn’t it a bad thing? Well, mostly it’s because God’s plan is much better than my plan (even when I’m disagreeing with God) because the surprise of life shows me a new and different way to serve God, obey God and carry my cross with God in a productive and life-giving manner.

God’s plan v my plan
It all begins with the call last week calling me to Idaho for a funeral. My plan was to celebrate with Mauna my older sister for her birthday with family. God’s plan was to celebrate the funeral of my Uncle. What was the blessing? First, was the blessing of the air flight. I had planned to read a specific book but in my rush to get out of the house (I’m a last minute packer) it remained sitting in my room, I found another book in my computer bag, Bishop Robert Barron’s book “The Strangest Way”. It has been sitting in the bag so long I had forgotten I had it…but being given the time to read it was truly a little blessing from God. Then there was the flight from Seattle to Boise. As I settled into my seat and pulled out the above mentioned book I heard in the seats behind me the beginning of a conversation. I really didn’t eaves drop but hearing the two passengers who met on the plane carry on a conversation for the totality of the flight (90 minutes) was uplifting because normally the experience on planes was what I was doing…reading…to my right a person playing video games, to the left someone working on the computer and to the far left another watching a movie on a tablet…in other words…no interaction. This may sound weird but it was a moment of grace two connecting and sharing life. The next gift was because of one funeral (my Uncle’s) I was able to be at the funeral of my Aunt Anne and see many cousins and share stories and time together, truly priceless. At both funerals I was able to hear words of life and love and of the histories that slip away with time but are remembered when two or three are gathered in His name.
And the 20% that would have been the wonderful celebration with my sister and her family, and I truly was saddened by missing this time with family by trusting in God goodness and in prayer being able to open my heart to these moments, the blessings kept rolling in more and more. I chose to stay a few days with my brother after the funeral, sharing a good beer with him and my sister, some early morning walks, celebrating Mass with the community, a breakfast with my high school math teacher, visiting an elderly childhood neighbor in the hospital were all small moments of God’s generosity. Of course having a conversation with my Mom with the ultimate blessing of hearing from her that my godson George and his wife Rachel announced there would be a new addition to the family this spring was the icing on the cake….
But there was one more gift to be shared…on the flight home as I sat waiting for my flight from Seattle to San Jose I looked up and say Fr. Joseph Benedict, the pastor of our Cathedral Parish, walking through the airport. After greeting each other we sat down for a wonderful chat…as they called our flight to board I asked what seat he had? He responded 32D…me 32E. Coincidence…nope…God-incidence.
God’s plan is always better than mine.
God bless,
Fr. Mark

By praying the rosary, we express our gratitude to Jesus and Mary by “calling to mind” the tremendous sacrificial love that they have for us. This act moves the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary to pour out countless graces upon us. Expressions of love from us are reciprocated by gifts of love from heaven.” (p 16-17 “How to Pray the Rosary” by FR. Donald Calloway, MIC)

This week I will be traveling home to Idaho for a short visit to celebrate the funeral of my Uncle Shorty, who was my father’s youngest brother, and my Aunt Anne, the wife of my mom’s brother Henry. While it may be a sad occasion it is also a gift of love from heaven to be able to be with family and friends in remembering both my Uncle and Aunt.
After my brother called early in the morning to tell me that my Uncle Shorty was not expected to live through the day, I almost immediately began to pray the rosary for the repose and protection of his soul and the peace for his family. For me, it is the natural beginning of a conversation as Fr. Calloway notes, in the above quote, we begin “calling to mind” the blessings shared and given.
This is one of the great treasures of faith and hope at the time of death. There is a blessing of meaning and grace to be shared as we remember our love for each other. When the news of each death came, I pondered and reflected on the blessings of Aunt Anne and Uncle Shorty, the joy and generosity of life God shared with us. In this generosity we encounter the living Christ. St. John Paul II reminds us, “The Rosary is also a prayer for peace because of the fruits of charity which it produces. When prayed well in a truly meditative way, the Rosary leads to an encounter with Christ in his mysteries and so cannot fail to draw attention to the face of Christ in others, especially in the most afflicted.” (Rosarium Viginis Mariae #40) It is encountering the face of Christ in our brothers and sisters, especially those in death, where we are able to find true and lasting peace.
In prayer, and in the rosary, we are able to open our hearts to see God’s face, place ourselves in his arms and walk into the experience of peace even as sadness surrounds us. It is not so much that we trust in the more of the eternal but we trust in the more of the love we now offer in hope. It is being surrounded by the love we experience as we gather to share our stories as we cry and laugh in life that is such a blessing. We are able to do this now, in the moment of sorrow because we have practiced it in life together as family and community.
Pope Francis in “Amoris Laetitia” offers us this hope, “It is a profound spiritual experience to contemplate our loved ones with the eyes of God and to see Christ in them. This demands a freedom and openness which enable us to appreciate their dignity. We can be fully present to others only by giving fully of ourselves and forgetting all else. Our loved ones merit our complete attention. Jesus is our model in this, for whenever people approached to speak with him, he would meet their gaze, directly and lovingly (cf. Mk 10:21).” (Amoris Laetitia #323)
It is in Jesus that we truly are able to give “fully of ourselves and forgetting all else” and his mother Mary who offers us the perfect example standing at the foot of the cross in prayer.
In the coming days, as I pray the rosary, I will contemplate with Mary the face of Christ seeing my Uncle Shorty and Aunt Anne in Jesus’ Most Sacred Heart and holding my cousins and family deeply in the Immaculate Heart of Mary our Mother.
God bless
Fr. Mark

One of my younger sisters, Mary Cay, in responding to a string text messages earlier this week where my family was sharing photos and messages about the fires in the Pacific Northwest wrote this, “Holy cats!!!!!!! This year is something else!!!!! Wow.” Amen.
St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans shares these words of hope and grace with us as a Church, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit; whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by others. Let us* then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another.” (Rm 14:17-19) It has been one of those weeks and yes, one of those years where we await the second hurricane in less than two weeks to cause devastation, where in many parts of the country fires are ravaging the land, where political intrigue and violence seem more common than debate and discussion or in other words “Holy cats!!!!!!! This year is something else!!!!! Wow.”
As Catholic Christians how are we called to respond? When everything seems out of control, how do proclaim, “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”? There are no easy answers but one consistent answer that calls us back again and again to life giving service. It is prayer. I know that many people will say, “Is this the answer to everything?” and quite frankly, yes. It is the same as asking what do we need to live and are given a simple one word answer, “air”. It is the foundation of a relationship with something greater and life giving, a relationship where we are drawn out of our limitedness and invited into the eternal work of love.
The small quote from Romans reminds us of this. If we, in response to tragedy, in response to hatred and violence, in response to suffering, only respond with the “food and drink” necessary for the day, then we absent our lives from the healing and caring for the greater person. It is important that we reach out to the immediate needs of our brothers and sisters, but in responding we are called, as Christians, to also reach out in prayer…in the blessings and mercy of God that draws us into a longer and sustained blessing of the other.
Pope Francis, on the first day of his apostolic visit to Columbia, shared with the Catholic Church how we are not an organization of this’s and that’s but the person of Jesus Christ. Pope Francis said, (the Gospel is not) “a programme at the service of a trendy gnosticism, a project of social improvement, or the Church conceived as a comfortable bureaucracy, any more than she can be reduced to an organization run according to modern business models by a clerical caste.” (Pope Francis in Columbia 2017)
This idea of being of service, not as a project but as a person allows us to hear the second part of the quote from Romans with greater clarity. Our service should and must be one of prayerful engagement with the deepest needs of our brothers and sisters. It is the blessing St. John Paul II shared with us in “Rosarium Virginis Mariae” as he meditated on the power of the rosary in our life, “In Christ, God has truly assumed a “heart of flesh”. Not only does God have a divine heart, rich in mercy and in forgiveness, but also a human heart, capable of all the stirrings of affection.” (#26) This is what each saint understands and in our call to holiness (sainthood) we too must strive to grow in: to become the heart of Christ in the world we must, in prayer, know the heart of God’s love for us, to be active in hearing the call of God in our lives where we are engaged in heart to heart service. To be drawn into the deep waters of faith where we hear and move in active service of our brothers and sisters.
In other words, prayer is not a cold and sterile act that removes us from the world but rather it is a heartbeat, the call to active service in the sharing of our time, talent and treasure and sons and daughters of the living and true God. Prayer is the food feeding the dreams of hope changing “Holy cats!!!!!!! This year is something else!!!!! Wow.” from a statement of fear and doubt into hopefulness, mercy and love. This is the true mission of life where Pope Francis reminds of Jesus’ Gospel message, “We are called to set out on mission not with cold and abstract concepts, but with images that keep multiplying and unfolding their power in human hearts, making them grain sown on good ground, yeast that makes the bread rise from the dough, and seed with the power to become a fruitful tree.” (Pope Francis in Columbia 2017)
God bless
Fr. Mark

(Quotes from Pope Francis come from Catholic News Agency’s article http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-lays-out-his-vision-for-churchs-mission-in-latin-america-61182/