“We don’t read scripture, scripture reads us and with unending call to greatness our Lord begs the question, “Who do you say that I am?”” (p 108 from the essay “Heroism Survives Secularism by Jared Zimmerer from “Man Up!”)

I read this quote several weeks ago and it has been part of my prayer for these past weeks as I asked the question: “What does this exactly mean?” To give a little context to the quote above, the author is speaking about heroism in the Christian sense of a call to the virtues which help us to be the man (person) God has created us to be and how choosing to live these virtues in the sacrificial love modeled perfectly in Jesus Christ and then lived out by countless saints in heroic self giving/sacrifice of their lives for others.
Once again we may ask, “What does this exactly mean?” As I prayed about this I went back to front with the question that Jesus poses to his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Lk 9:20) Because this is where it will all begin. If we can answer, as Peter did, “The Christ of God.” (Lk 9:20) then to quote the author once more, “the first steps of the adventure has been taken and in the words of Bilbo Baggins, “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of our door..You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.” (p 108) If our affirmative answer is we know Jesus to be the true Son of the living God then we begin an adventure that is a conversation of love and blessing.
We have all had these conversation of love and blessing where scripture reads us…we just need to pause and thinks about it for a second…and ask what does this look like. In conversations with friends or even stranger we are often struck with someone saying something out of the blue that just makes sense for the situation or problem in our lives. As a priest people will often say to me after Mass that what I said during my homily was exactly what they needed to hear. I made the mistake one time of asking what it was and when the woman told me I had a Holy Spirit moment because I never said what she heard and yet it was exactly what she needed to hear. Jesus, in the same way enters into these conversations with us through Sacred Scripture when we sit and listen and speak with him through the depth of our hearts.
Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not advocating that we each interpret scripture how we want to as to fit what we want to think. Just the opposite, as we sit with God, in the family of the Catholic Church, we are able to hear to authentic voice reading us and responding to our needs as we take time in prayer and study of the living word of God.
Because this is what we believe. When we sit with a good friend or family member who knows us well because we have been with them through good and bad, through joy and sorrow, through life and death, they read us, as the saying goes, like a book. They may ask, “What’s on your mind?” and when we respond, “Nothing.” They wait patiently to ask again reading us knowing the burden on our heart needs to be heard and healed. The word of grace spoken in love.
This is how “scripture reads us,” because Jesus who is the living word of God, reads us and offers us his word of grace spoken in love. When we know Him intimately through the conversations of prayer, scripture and sacrament He reads us and offers us words of healing and truth that bring us back into communion with God and each other. This is the great adventure that leads us to where God desires us to be: one family united in heroic love.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

“Hear my voice, O God, as I complain, guard my life from dread of the foe.” (Ps 64:1)
I prayed these words this week on the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul as part of the Office of Readings. It was a wonderful way to start the day and reflect on these two great saints and the trials and tribulations they encountered following Jesus Christ. The Psalm is a plea to God to help when we are being slandered, abused and lied about and treated with contempt. It is a prayer of hope that all of these things will boom-a-rang on the people committing them and I will be given a life of peace. How many times have we prayed something similar?

Here is the same verse translated slightly different: “Guard me, God, I need protection. Everyone seems to be sharpening their sword agains me.” (Ps 64:1 from “Prayers before an Awesome God: The Psalms for Teenagers” by David Haas) It is often good to hear the prayer of our hearts said in different ways. It is the entering into a deeper conversation where our hearts become united through a common desire with the heart of our ultimate desire to be loved deeply and profoundly by God. In our crying out to God we also need to enter into the silence of God. It is listening with our heart and mind attentive to the reality that is around us because God is with us.
Cardinal Sarah in his book “The Power of Silence” shares these words, “The silence of God is understood by faith, in meditation on the communion that can exist between him and men. The divine silence is a mysterious revelation. God is not insensitive to evil. At first, we may think that God allows evil to destroy men. But if God remains silent, he nonetheless suffers with us from the evil that tears apart and disfigures the earth. If we seek to be with God in silence, we will understand his presence and his love.” (#165 p. 90)

“Listen and help, O God. I’m reduced to a whine and a whimper, obsessed with feelings of doomsday.” (Ps 64:1 “The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language” Eugene H. Peterson) Cardinal Sarah reminds us of two very important things…we need to cry out and we need to enter silence. God invites us to cry out to him in need. He commands us to ask for help, to seek reconciliation, to fight against the sin of the world but he also invites us into a communion of silence where the comfort of God touches the inmost heart. The perfect image of this is a child with a parent. The child wailing in anguish and hurt seems inconsolable until the mom or dad lift him into their arms. They comfort the child with whispers and gently kisses of love and the child enters into this same silence of love where ultimately no more words are spoken except the word of love that is only heard by the presence of one with the other. It is the word of love spoken again and again as husband and wife hold and embrace, as friends listen and bless as the stranger reaches out to serve and be grace to the other.

“O God, hear my anguished voice; from a dreadful foe protect my life.” (Ps 64:2) Each of us, as disciples of Jesus Christ, are blessed with the abundance of love and gifts that we are all called to share. In Matthew Kelly’s book “Resisting Happiness”, that we have shared before, he reminds us of the necessary movement is sometimes as simple as crying out in need. “When you are discouraged or caught up in procrastination, simply do the tiniest thing to move whatever you are working on forward.” (p181) The movement will ultimately be in holiness towards God. This is our destiny.
So don’t worry about crying out, complaining, or shouting at God…he’s a big boy he can take…but don’t forget, in the movement, in the going forward to allow the silence of his love to comfort and heal us as we sit with him in peaceful quiet.
God bless
Fr. Mark

It has been hot! Very, very hot! And boy can I complain with the best of them about the heat. And then I remember…my 3 years as a Marine mostly stationed in Mississippi and South Carolina, my summer in San Antonio TX, eleven weeks in Yuma AZ, my two week mission trip to Nicaragua and a few years ago a month in Ghana Africa…and then my complaining takes on a slightly different tone.
It has been hot and uncomfortable but we are always challenged to put it into perspective…don’t you just hate that. It is what God asks us to do when we look out into the world, seeing the joy and suffering, the justice and injustice and the beauty and evil and put it into perspective. I hope that we all wish to alleviate suffering, stamp out injustice and correct the evils of the world but it must be done in the perspective of human dignity, stewardship of the gifts of life and trusting in a goodness beyond our limited view of the world and particular situation.
We all know how this works in life and as the great Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote once “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Darn it! Life gives us a natural perspective on the things around us but life must be taken one day at a time and therein lies the rub.
My perspective on the heat has been learned from the many other experiences I have lived, do these experiences make this week any less hot, no, but then I place this alongside my other experiences of heat and move forward knowing this moment will be added to all the other moments.
Okay, now lets get back to seeking how God wants us to put all things into perspective…Old Testament here we come…perspective is everywhere as the people of Israel learn about God’s love for them and ultimately how He will send them a Messiah which does place everything into perspective. Jesus throughout the Gospel talks about the perspective of the Father’s love, mercy, and justice that envelops even the most powerful metaphors and images and makes them seem small in proportion to God’s love: The Cross…perspective.
Perspective today in our faith journey…how we learn about God and live with God and share God with others is found in a life lived, blessed and given over and over again. Because when we share our faith with others, the perspective of God’s presence in our lives and how God acts within our lives is always a challenge for so many of us. When I read, hear or experience something profound I often share it with friends and will at times be puzzled by their reaction from wonder and awe to a shrug of the shoulders or meh. Or just as frequently my response is less than what it should be…for example…over the past several weeks in the parish I have celebrated and attended more than the normal number of funerals: Nine (9) in total.
I can and do become a bit too comfortable with talking to the families and I am sure I miss some of the important signals about their grief and suffering in the moment and this is where stepping back in to the perspective of memory, and to use the memory of the sorrow of my own father or brother’s death and be present in this moment with the other as we open and share our hearts and gift of God’s love with one another.
Just as we experience God’s love day by day and like a couple married for fifty years who share the experience of love much different than newlyweds, our lived experience of God, especially when we choose to seek Him and be with Him and talk with Him and laugh and cry with Him gives us this living perspective.
God bless (and stay cool)
Fr. Mark

In conversation with a friend several years ago, who had become a new father, I asked him a hard but simple question, “What is the gift that fatherhood gives you?” I wasn’t trying to be funny because Father’s Day was coming up and I was hoping to get some homily material to share with God’s people.
His response was equally hard and simple. He shared that the gift he felt most deeply at this time in his young family’s life was hope. We had a wonderful and long conversation about hope and what he meant by it and it did give me some great homily material.
Which leads me to this quote from Pope Benedict XVI from his Encyclical “Saved in Hope.” As a father, a protector of child and family, men are called into a distinct hopefulness that sends them forth into the world in love of God and family.
“Love of God leads to participation in the justice and generosity of God towards others. God requires an interior freedom from all possessions and all material goods: the love of God is revealed in responsibility for others.” (#28 Spe Salvi)
We know that the trap of the working father (and mother) is often to begin to focus more and more on the “work” and the monetary gains of “work” at the detriment of family. God wants us to work hard. God desires that we be as successful as we can be in our life. But God also wants us to be family. God also desires us to grow in the unity of family and discovering this balance is always a challenge no matter what vocation of life we live.
On this Father’s Day weekend we look in a special way at the gifts that fathers share with us and how they are called to the “interior freedom” that allows them to live full the “responsibility for others” both for there wife and children.
My friend, whom I mentioned above, in our conversation mentioned how the birth of their child gave an added purpose to the work that he did, calling him to greater diligence and focus daily to provide for the growing family, he also noted though, how his desire to be at home with his wife and child also invited him into a more balanced view of living, especially in the not taking too much of his work home with him as he sought to share the responsibility of raising the newborn child.
Fast forward several years, to the family now with 4 children, the eldest getting ready for Jr. High and the youngest leaving behind diapers (at least that is the hope) in the near future. Over a beer and some hectic times in the house we began the same discussion as once more I was seeking some fresh perspective and insight for Father’s Day. I had reminded him of the “hope” he saw at the beginning of his journey as a father and he, with bride at his side, said the same thing but that the hope became tempered with the struggles, the sufferings and sacrifices of life. Unemployment, sickness, family deaths and children and marriage struggles. Pope Benedict once more shares with us, “Certainly in our many different sufferings and trials we always need the lesser and greater hopes too—a kind visit, the healing of internal and external wounds, a favorable resolution of a crisis, and so on. In the lesser trials these kinds of hope may even be sufficient. but in truly great trials, where I must make a definitive decision to place the truth before my own welfare, career and possessions, I need the certitude of that true, great hope…we need witnesses—martyrs—who have given themselves totally, so as to show us the way—day after day.” (#39 Spe Salvi)
I shared this below quote with him and he immediately focussed on the “witnesses—martyrs—who have given themselves totally.” He shared the story of his father, his immigrant grandfathers and the witness they and other men shared with him to strengthen his journey as a father in love with his wife and children.
Our fathers on earth may never be perfect but we are thankful for the witness they share in love and offer our prayers of support for these men that they may grow ever stronger in the virtues of fatherhood.
Happy Father’s Day.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

“There is one great question: how can man really be in the image of God? He must enter into silence.
When he drapes himself in silence, as God himself dwells in a great silence, man is close to heaven, or rare, he allows God to manifest himself in him.
We encounter God only in the internal silence in which he abides.” (p 21)
This quote comes from “The Power of Silence” by Robert Cardinal Sarah and is challenging to modern society in general but is especially challenging to us as individuals who are often surround by noise.
I received this book earlier this week and have begun the slow and long process of bringing the questions, the insights and the challenges into my spiritual life. This is how God often works in our life, He gives us a small hint about what we need to get closer to him (silence) and then follows it with another to make sure we know this is what we need to do. The second hint upon ordering the book was an article entitled “Social Media Could be Killing Your Spiritual Life” from www.relevantmagazine.com which simply reinforced what I already knew but kept avoiding…too much noise is surrounding my life.
Now admittedly I am not very far into Carinal Sarah’s book but we may I think interchange the word silence with quiet or peacefulness. Because silence isn’t just about audio noise, it is the constant distraction of the eyes and all the senses that bombard our souls with a “busyness” that does not allow us to stop, ponder and stand in awe of the great and small miracles God shares with us each day.
Just a small personal story. I normally start my morning with prayer, (I know a great surprise) followed by morning exercise. It is a wonderful way to be quiet, to sit in the silence of God and to allow the peace of God’s presence to enter into my life before the hectic pace of the day begins. Over the last month my silence has been disturbed…by my lack of self-control…and my spiritual life has suffered. I have been falling into the bad habit of picking up my phone and checking social media before I begin my prayer…this takes time away from prayer, from the spiritual and physical exercise I need to be the good man and priest God calls me to be. I can make the excuse of it only is a few minutes (or 30) but the truth is, when I can honestly reflect on the habit, it places the world before God. I am not following the great commandment, “The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mk 12:30) Simply put, I allow myself to live in the pain of sin that St. Paul described so well, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Rm 7:15)
What are we to do? Well for me I must have the courage to begin once more the practice that I know feeds my soul and brings me into more fruitful and loving relationships with God and the people around me. We remember as Cardinal Sarah points out, “Silence is not an absence. On the contrary it is the manifestation of a presence, the most intense of all presences…the real questions in life are posed in silence. Our blood flows through our veins without making any noise, and we can hear our heartbeats only in silence.” (p 27)
Each of us is called into the great silence to hear the heartbeat of God’s love for us. It is entering into intense and fruitful conversations which only begins in the silence of the truth discovered in the eternal love of God.
How did I begin this morning? Once more in silence…resisting the urge to check the distraction of the phone (or whatever)…checking in with God: pondering, questioning and listening in the awe of silence. And then praying for the courage to do it again and again.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

This weekend we celebrate the great birthday of the Church, Pentecost Sunday, when the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples in the upper room and sends them forth into the world. It is a very powerful image of mission…going out…changing the world.
Pentecost falls on June 4th this year which is a very special day for me too. In 2005, on this day, I was ordained a priest for the Diocese of San Jose. And the Holy Spirit has a lot to do with how I remember the day, being prayed for and blessed by so many priest and lay faithful. Have my family and friends come and celebrate with me and the Church of San Jose on this day. Two moments remain vivid in my mind. The first is receiving the chalice and patten from the Bishop. The grace give was this was the same chalice and patten my Dad’s cousin (so I guess mine also) Fr. Ken Arnzen had used them over five decades earlier when he was ordained for the Diocese of Boise. The second was the priests laying hands and praying over me and my brothers, Fr. John, Fr. Joseph, Fr. Vincent and Fr. Andres ordained that same day.
I know that twelve years does not seem long…and it isn’t…but I would like to reflect on the blessing God has shared with me during this time by looking at three quotes below.
Pope Benedict XVI shares these words of wisdom, “The priest cannot be distant from the daily concerns of the People of God; on the contrary he must be very close but always with a view to salvation and of the Kingdom of God. He is the witness and steward of a life different from earthly life. He is the herald of the hope of Christ, by virtue of which we can face the present even though it may often be arduous.” (p 99 from “The Priest a Bridge to God”) I never imagined how growing up surrounded by God’s blessings grows grace in you. In my home town in Idaho is a Benedictine Monastery, St. Gertrude, and this spirituality of being among the people permeated my life in such away that the reality of being with the people, taking time with the people and journeying with the people as a symbol of God’s prophetic grace is undeniable in the priestly identity God desires for me.
Pope St. John Paul II reminds us how the Eucharist is at the center of the life of the priest, the people and the world, “‘Even if the Eucharist should be celebrated without participation of the faithful, it nevertheless remains the center of the life of the entire Church and the heart of priestly existence.’…The Eucharist makes the Church, just as the Church makes the Eucharist. The presbyter, having been given the charge of building up the Church, performs this task essentially through the Eucharist…he cooperates in gathering people around Christ in the Church by offering the Eucharist.” (p 65-66 from “Priesthood in the Third Millennium) I can count on one hand the number of days over the last 12 years that I have not celebrated Eucharist…sometimes because of sickness and others because of traveling, It is a central and vital touchstone of my daily life. It is the moment of grace with God and his holy people. It is also a school of charity and humility. I have spent these twelve years celebrating, almost weekly, with the MESST sisters, learning Spanish, sharing stories and participating in the grace of Eucharistic life and learning a ton of humility and charity. It is my heart sending me forth into the world.
Finally, this quote that has been on my mind these past four years, Pope Francis said, “This I ask you: be shepherds, with the “odour of the sheep”, make it real, as shepherds among your flock, fishers of men. True enough, the so-called crisis of priestly identity threatens us all and adds to the broader cultural crisis; but if we can resist its onslaught, we will be able to put out in the name of the Lord and cast our nets. It is not a bad thing that reality itself forces us to “put out into the deep”, where what we are by grace is clearly seen as pure grace, out into the deep of the contemporary world, where the only thing that counts is “unction” – not function – and the nets which overflow with fish are those cast solely in the name of the One in whom we have put our trust: Jesus. (Chrism Mass Homily 2013) Our Holy Father has presented many great challenges to us as a Church but especially to priests. The challenge to be true men of faith, joy and love is constant as is the challenge to see our priesthood in the generosity of mercy and forgiveness.
I do pray each day that I live up to this call to share my life with God’s holy people. Please pray for your parish priest, pray for me and pray for vocations.
God bless
Fr. Mark

“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.”

The Sacrament of Confirmation is one of the great mysteries we celebrate in the Church. At the prayer offered above begins to help us see the power of faith in God and how we, when we open our hearts to receive this faith, are changed and change the world. As many of our teens receive this Sacrament this weekend we can reflect on the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

What happens when the Holy Spirit comes? Well, everything changes. And that means everything, not just somethings, not just the things we want to change…everything changes.

It is always good to think about a few Holy Spirit moments in our lives and see how things have changed. Some of may think, “I don’t think I’ve had a Holy Spirit Moment?” I do hope you are wrong so I’m going to share a few Holy Spirit moments….

It was the winter of 1991. I was teaching at Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Academy at St. Bonaventure Indian Mission in Throreau NM. (that’s a mouth full) It was Christmas break and I took off for a few days of camping in the mountains of New Mexico to be alone with my thoughts and prayers as I pondered what I was to do. I had been at the mission for 18 months and I needed a decision to either continue or return to California and continue with my life. I hiked in and arrived at my camp site, pitched the tent, built the fire and began collecting enough wood to last through the cold night. And then, I began to pray. I remember the silence, the occasional rustle of the wind, the tweet of a bird the trickle of the stream a few yards away. I remember the stillness engulfing me as I prayed. I knew deep down that I couldn’t stay at the mission but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I knew that my spiritual life was not strong enough to live out this missionary call and the daily hurts were beginning to slowly erode the joy of working with my fellow missionaries and serving the people but I didn’t want to admit this either. Finally, I simply whispered to God…”I guess I need to go back to California.”…and a wave of peace flowed over me so strong that I knew the way God desired me to go…this was the fire of the Holy Spirit sending me forth to a new mission. And I changed.

In June of 1985 everything seemed fine. I was working in Seattle and beginning to attend community college after my discharge from the Marine Corps. I was settling down and looking forward to the blessings of life…then I received the phone call that my father had died. I still remember clearly the tearing of my heart and the tears and cries engulfing me. For months after that morning I was frozen, functioning but not really living at all. After attending a Mariners game one afternoon I did something I had never done before and at the time I couldn’t have told you why but I left the King Dome and then got off the bus in downtown and walked into St. James Cathedral and just sat down. It was there, in my mind, where I began to scream at God full volume. I did, what I have learned from praying the Psalms, the very act of pouring out my grief and pain with all my heart. Finally when my prayer ended , exhausted and empty, I felt the warmth of peace fill me. It was the physical sensation the slowed my heart beat and surrounded me in a way that cannot be described. The peace of the Holy Spirit began to heal the wounds of sorrow. And I changed.

Our hope is as our young people receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this weekend at St. Lucy each of them will be filled with the light, the fire, the breath of the Holy Spirit and do the work our Heavenly Father desires as their mission to renew the face of the earth.

In prayer we discover God’s Holy Spirit accompanying and moving us in the direction of holiness. So we pray.

“O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.”

God Bless Fr. Mark

“The laity are called to participate actively in the whole life of the Church; not only are they to animate the world with the spirit of Christianity but they are to be witnesses to Christ in all circumstances and at the very heart of the community of mankind.” (Gaudium et Spes #43)

The above quote from the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World from the Second Vatican Council reminds us of the important and vital role each of us has in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are brought back to the very beginning of the Church and the call to holiness in the very first disciples as they went out into the world to proclaim the reality of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God.
I am reminded of this because we, at St. Lucy Parish this weekend, will be thanking the lay men and women who serve the church in the multitude of ministries that we share. Some of these ministries are very visible while others are almost hidden in the quiet but life giving work they do among God’s holy people. It is the gift of sharing their time, talent and treasure helping to build the kingdom of God, one living stone at a time.
The invitation to service is always at the foundation of our Christian life because it is the words and example Jesus has shared with us when he tells us, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:45)
We know two very important things about service: first, we are happier when we choose to serve and second, when we choose to serve we desire to serve more. This is how God has made our hearts, to serve others in love.
It is “in love” that the service finds its depth and meaning. Love is the freely given choice to serve. “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (Jn 15:15)
Jesus invites us into a friendship of love as we are called to care for each other and yes, because we are the Body of Christ, to care for and serve within the our local church. It is in the foundation of the family where this duty is fostered and grows. I can remember as a child the different chores and duties I and my sisters and brothers were asked to do around the house and on the farm. I know that I did not wake up each morning in my teenage years and think of milking the cows and feeding the different animals as an act of service and love…many mornings I thought of it as punishment…but looking back it is now clear the service of my family grew deeply within my heart impelling me to the service of others. Once more the Church reminds us:
“The Family is the place where different generations come together and help one another to grow wiser and harmonize the rights of individuals with the demands of social life; as such it constitutes the basis of society. Everyone therefore, who exercises an influence into community and in social groups should devote himself effectively to the welfare of marriage and the family.” (Gaudium et Spes #52) In other words, it is in the family where we learn to the service in love of the other.
When we choose to serve our local parish and the greater Catholic Church we choose a greater love where we enter into a relationship with, yes, Jesus, but just as importantly with the family that makes up the Body of Christ. When we choose to serve in love we take greater care of those around us and seek to bless and be blessed by the gifts we share and other share with us in our relationship of love with each other. We recognize, as I did from my service of chores in family, that our service of ministry deepens our connection and knowledge of the mission Jesus calls us to live.
Thank you for all who now serve within the many ministry of parish life…and a prayer for all who will serve tomorrow.
God bless
Fr. Mark

Happy Mothers Day Weekend. And special prayers and blessings to those mothers celebrating the joy of the day.
Mothers Day is a very special day for each of us as we remember the gift of our moms and how each of them has been an important part of our life from the very moment of our conception in the womb to our birth into this world and then each and every action that has helped to form us into the people we are today.
St. John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation “MULIERIS DIGNITATEM: On the Dignity and Vocation of Women” shares with us two beautiful passages about motherhood and the joy and sorrow that this gift of life will occur in the life of the woman.

“Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life, as it develops in the woman’s womb. The mother is filled with wonder at this mystery of life, and “understands” with unique intuition what is happening inside her. In the light of the “beginning”, the mother accepts and loves as a person the child she is carrying in her womb. This unique contact with the new human being developing within her gives rise to an attitude towards human beings – not only towards her own child, but every human being – which profoundly marks the woman’s personality.” (#18)

We know that each child is different. Each child is a unique and special gift from God with her and his own personality. As one of nine children I can personally attest to this reality and seeing how my own mother acts and reacts to each of my brothers and sisters in a different and singular way to the times of joy and sorrow in life reminding me of the inner knowledge that she carries of our own growth within her womb.
I know in many conversations with expectant mothers the express a knowledge of their child’s personality even before birth by how they move and rest in their womb. It is this great mystery that in the mind of our Church shows forth the splendor of God’s creative goodness.
But, St. John Paul II also understands, as we all do the heartache that accompanies the gift of motherhood. I truly wish that I had never caused a moment of pain in my own mother’s life, but I know that this is not true. What we can all say: we are thankful of the care and blessing our mothers gave to us in the difficult and joyful moments of life. I know that the below quote is a little long, but there is much wisdom shared in these words.

“As we contemplate this Mother, whose heart “a sword has pierced” (cf. Lk 2: 35), our thoughts go to all the suffering women in the world, suffering either physically or morally. In this suffering a woman’s sensitivity plays a role, even though she often succeeds in resisting suffering better than a man. It is difficult to enumerate these sufferings; it is difficult to call them all by name. We may recall her maternal care for her children, especially when they fall sick or fall into bad ways; the death of those most dear to her; the loneliness of mothers forgotten by their grown up children; the loneliness of widows; the sufferings of women who struggle alone to make a living; and women who have been wronged or exploited. Then there are the sufferings of consciences as a result of sin, which has wounded the woman’s human or maternal dignity: the wounds of consciences which do not heal easily. With these sufferings too we must place ourselves at the foot of the Cross.
But the words of the Gospel about the woman who suffers when the time comes for her to give birth to her child, immediately afterwards express joy: it is “the joy that a child is born into the world”. This joy too is referred to the Paschal Mystery, to the joy which is communicated to the Apostles on the day of Christ’s Resurrection: “So you have sorrow now” (these words were said the day before the Passion); “but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (Jn 16: 22-23).” (#19)

Let us give thanks for our mothers recognizing the gift of motherhood that is given and shared in all of the perfections and imperfections of life. My hope is we, as sons and daughters take time today to say a prayer of blessing over our mothers, both living and dead, giving thanks to God for the gift of life they have shared with us.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

“Two people can see a miracle. The one with faith will praise God; the one without will find some way to forget it or explain it away…Miracles and signs don’t produce people of deep faith, because invariably what such people want is another sign next Friday night to carry them through another week. That’s the depth of their religion. For them God is more like their private magician than someone they love and serve. Miracles, however, are signs for those who already have faith—faith that God is in all things. (from “What the Mystics Know” by Fr. Richard Rohr OFM, p 71)

I have been praying with this above quote for the past week as we prepare to enter into the season of First Communions and Confirmations in the parish. It is a time when we see little miracles occur in abundance as the children come forward and for the first time receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. It is a time that give me, as a parish priest, joy and hope.
This is truly a trans-formative moment for these children and their families but as Fr. Rohr notes above: What do they see? It is too easy to simply see the pretty dresses, the new suits, the big smiles and the joyful expressions of the children and those around them. We can explain it all away with emotion, excitement and the momentary shot in the arm that comes from “religion” but does not enter into the life of faith and the relationship with God.
What should we be seeing? This is what my prayer has been this week…what does God want me to see?
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mk 10:14)
First, I see a saint in the making. The miracle of God calling this young boy or girl into a life of holiness of loving and serving all people. I see the miracle of these children wishing and striving to bring joy into the world as sons and daughters and as sisters and brothers. I see the miracle of a deep yearning to be connected to love, a love that is so grand and joyous that each child is bursting with the holy peace of Christ.
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jer 29:11)
Second, I see hope. On these days the troubling thoughts of will they continue or when will the second holy communion happen disappear from my thoughts. Hope in God’s greater and more loving mercy overwhelms the doubts of fears of worry. I see the miracle of hope of a child engaged in conversation with Jesus and coming to say “amen” to a truth and mystery they cannot fully understand but trusting in the community of the Church reach out to become what they receive. I see the miracle of a family united with the greater family of the Church where everything that separates us slips into the background and only the image of Jesus gathering the children to him remains for this moment.
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thes 5:18)
Lastly, I see grace flowing forth into the world. This grace is the gift of gratitude coming from the heart of the Church, Jesus’ Sacred Heart, transforming us and the world as we go forth filled with the grace received through our sacramental life. I see the grace of gratitude in the conversion of hearts which can only occur through the deep and profound encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist.
Yes, admittedly in the days and weeks to come, my worries, fears and doubts will cloud the miracles I will see during the coming days as too many of these children will be absent from our pews, but with faith, hope and love I invite each of us to continue to pray in the peace and blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ that his grace rest upon these children and their families all the days of their life.
God Bless
Fr. Mark