Thanksgiving is full of so many blessings. We should be able to sit and list the dozens and dozens of things that we are thankful for each year, each day and each minute of our lives. It is these moments of reflective gratitude in the recognition of the abundance of God’s love and blessings that help us to seek and discover the love of God in the grace of our lives.

One of the blessings of visiting my sister and her family for Thanksgiving day is they always have a jigsaw puzzle ready to be put together. I like helping my nieces and nephews, their spouses and my sister with the puzzle. The fascinating part of the puzzling process is how each person attacks the search for the piece. Some will pick up a piece of the puzzle and seek to find where in the greater puzzle that particular piece falls. Looking closely at the pattern, color while studying the completed cover photo until they find the location of the piece. Others will look at the puzzle and then begin searching the hundreds of pieces on the table for the correct size, shape and color needed. Some of us can spend hours in concentration while others a few minutes here and there as the puzzle slowly but surely takes shape and images become clearer and easier to see.

What is always true is that when we un-focus and relax in our obsession with finding the once piece that you know is there and you have tried to fit a dozen pieces in the one spot…it will always appear.

It is the challenge that we all can struggle with in our faith life and the mission that God desires us to live and follow as His sons and daughters. We can all become obsessed with the little things in life and how we fit in and how we are called to do this and that…. In my prayer life this is often the case when I ask God in petitionary prayer then quickly supply the answer of how God should answer my prayer. Or how we can look so hard for a blessing that we know should be in our lives and continually pass over the obvious truth of God’s presence in the moment. Or…the examples are many.

I fall into this trap again and again. And don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that God is trying to frustrate me or is hiding the answer so that I have to play a game of hide and seek with him, rather it is the mystery of contemplating God’s love that we often struggle with.

Which returns me to Thanksgiving. God has blessed us with everything. The glaringly obvious and those things we will never see or understand. God’s gentle whispers of hope and nudges of holiness are heard and felt when we are able to relax and not obsess over our worthiness of his love. We must search for but never fear that Jesus is with us, that he loves us and blesses us always.

God Bless

Fr. Mark

It has been a hard week to be a Christian. The terrorist attacks in Beirut, Paris and Nigeria and the many places that have not hit the news have continued to challenge us in how we live our faith in Jesus Christ in the world. As a former Marine we often spoke the words, “peace through superior fire power,” I know that ultimately that is not the answer and yet we can struggle with what our response should be and how we are called to protect our family, community and ultimately our world from the destructive force of terror and those who act in the name of God committing the atrocities that take innocent and vulnerable lives.

We know the answer: his name is Jesus. We also know we often fail to live up to our call to follow him. Because of this, as in the past so in the future, we will be called hypocrites for not living up to what we believe and fools for seeking to do so in confronting evil with love. We will argue and pray in the same voice as we seek to follow Jesus and reach out with love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness while offering justice and hope to the victims of these acts of violence as well as those who perpetrate these same acts.

What can we do? That is the million-dollar question moving forward. Once more we know the answer: his name is Jesus. We know in faith that he has conquered sin and death and our response to evil is always His peace given, poured out and shared. Our response is to be the Eucharistic people that we proclaim and live the Eucharistic life of recognizing our sinfulness and extending the mercy that God gives to us to our brothers and sisters. We must not be a people who hide behind the walls of our faith but a people who reach out in justice and mercy as workers in the field hospital of the world so in need of a hand of love.

We must trust in the Word of God, Jesus Christ from the beginning to the end. We must trust that he has conquered sin and death even when it seems evil has replaced peace and joy. We must trust that the devil who tempts men and women to act in ways that destroys the fabric of family and community is defeated by the Blood of the Lamb. We must see the love of God in the very violence and hatred because in that brokenness is the path to peace.

I trust that these acts of hatred have blown open the doors for the movement of the Holy Spirit to engage all people of good will to live the great Year of Mercy our Catholic Church is proclaiming in the coming year. In that we must be vigilant and not foolish trusting in Gospel of life. Our faith challenges us to seek peace as we live the virtues of faith, hope and love echoing the words of John the Baptist, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29) as we proclaim, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”(1 Cor 1:18)
Pray for peace…Our Lady of Peace…pray for us.

God Bless

Fr. Mark

There is an apocryphal story that floats around Catholic parishes that goes something like this: A family attended Mass for the first time at a new parish. They were from across the country and after finding the closest Catholic parish the parents took the family to Sunday Mass. The church was not very full when they arrived and like all good Catholics they sought a pew that was empty and furthest away from the altar without being in the very last pews, which were already occupied. As the beginning of Mass came closer the Dad felt a presence at his shoulder and turning in his seat he was confronted by a kindly looking elderly lady who in a stern and unforgiving voice said, “You are in my pew, please move.” We all laugh a little and maybe feel a bit uncomfortable at the story because in some ways it is true and not so apocryphal in our lives.

I thought of this story on reading and article on the patheos.com website by Lisa Duffy titled, You’ll Never Guess What’s Keeping Some Catholics Out Of The Church. In the article she noted that one thing that keeps us away from the Church is we have no one to invite us after we have drifted away. And I find this true. I often encourage people to invite their friends and neighbors, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers to come to Mass and celebrate with them. I am just as often met with frozen looks of dread at the thought of this invitation. But we are a Church and faith of invitation.

Think about it in this way. Our very first act as Christians is to be brought to Church by another. It’s called baptism. Mothers and fathers entrust their children to the divine love of God in the sacramental grace of baptism. When we celebrate Eucharist (the Mass) we cannot do it alone. Even if I, as a priest, celebrate Mass without a congregation I never do it alone. We are invited to come and hear and eat at the table of blessing. It is a dialogue that communicates the interaction of two as we extend ourselves to God and He reveals his constant presence in our lives. Each Sacrament we celebrate is a dialogue an offering and accepting of an invitation of love towards another.

Our invitation and welcome of our brothers and sisters, our accepting and welcoming the voice of the inviter shows an openness of heart to the other in our lives. God extends this invitation again and again as he accepts our invitation to dwell within our joys and sufferings as a permanent sojourner with us. And this is the wonder of our God: He sends us out to be his point person in inviting others. Although little bit scary it is also life giving and challenging in a good way.

Each one of us, as children of the Divine Father, is called to be the voice of invitation to others. Let each of us reach out in invitation as we ask someone, “come and sit in my pew.”

God Bless

Fr. Mark

 

www.patheos.com/blogs/lisaduffy/2015/11/youll-never-guess-whats-keeping-some-catholics-out-of-the-church/

“I am bound by the vows if have made, God, I will pay you a debt of thanks for you have saved my life from death.” (Ps 56:12)

One of the traditions of ordination is that you give holy cards to all who come to celebrate and participate in the Mass. I took this part of the preparation for ordination very seriously and thought long and hard on the image for the face of the card. I chose St. Joseph holding the child Jesus. I did this for the reason that my birthday falls on the Memorial of Joseph the Worker and his patronage and prayers for me during my life helped me to understand how I was to be a faith filled Christian man.

The second part of the tradition was the choosing of a piece of Sacred Scripture to place on the back of the card. This is a great challenge. But one line stuck in my head. It is the verse of the Psalm that is at the top of this reflection. It occurs in the Liturgy of the Hours in the daytime prayer on Thursday of week two and yet this line would cause me to pause and reflect on the blessing and generosity of God and how my call to serve Him and his holy people had saved my life from death.

We as a Church believe that prayer forms us. Prayer takes our soul and through the whispering of God’s love molds us into the people God has made in his own image. Prayer allows us to speak candidly with God and to humbly hear and act on his call to serve, to share and to bless.

In my vocation as priest I continue to discover the truth of prayer that forms the soul. Each day, for the past ten years, I have taken that short verse of the Psalm and offered it in thanksgiving to God. I offer prayer in the Eucharist, in each Sacrament I celebrate with the community, as a gift of thanksgiving to our God. It is in the repetition daily of this prayer that I struggle to do my Father’s will is living my vows and promises made at ordination. Yet, it is within this struggle that I truly discover the divine life of Jesus resting in my soul.

People will often ask, “What is the best part of being a priest?” I think each priest will struggle with this answer because God offers us so many blessings but I always come back to this one central moment: I am permitted to share the gift of prayer with others as a minister of God’s mercy. It is in prayer that the conversation of God’s love shines through the darkness and illuminates life with the peace that can only be discovered in the truth of Jesus the true Son of God. That is the true blessing, the best part of serving God and his people.

God Bless

Fr. Mark

 

 

God you did everything you promised and I’m thanking you with all my heart. You pulled me out of the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. (Ps 56:12) from “The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language”

 

As we celebrate All Souls Day at the beginning of Vocation Awareness Week we remember those who have died. Let us pray that many young men follow in the footsteps of these two great servants of God… Fr. Alex Affonso (+2013) and Fr. Mark Catalana(+2013). Pray for vocations.

 

VOCATIONS Awareness Week

We owe ourselves and all we have to the Church; may we work each day only in her name and by her authority and may we properly carry out the duties committed to us, and may we be joined together in fraternal unity and thus strive to serve her in that perfect way in which she ought to be served. (Pope St. John XXIII)

Continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life that young people ask the question and seek to hear the voice of our Lord calling them to serve him.

St. John XXIII pray for us.

Ps. the name of the future Catholic High School in Morgan HIll. St John XXIII College Prep

 

Misioneras Eucarísticas de la Santísima Trinidad(MESST) These wonderful and holy women have been serving in the Diocese of San Jose for the last 50 years. Caring for our brothers and sisters in proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. For the 10 years of my priesthood I have been honored to celebrate Mass weekly with them at the MESST convent sharing the Eucharist, the breakfast table and experiencing the Sisters great humor and patience in helping me to learn and improve my Spanish. I am always humbled by their generosity and dedication to our Catholic Church. Thank you, Sr. Sylvia, Sr. Virginia and Sr. Graciela
Pray for Vocations….

 

“In calling you God says to you: ‘You are important to me, I love you, I am counting on you’. Jesus says this to each one of us! Joy is born from that! The joy of the moment in which Jesus looked at me. Understanding and hearing this is the secret of our joy. Feeling loved by God, feeling that for him we are not numbers but people; and we know that it is he who is calling us.” (Pope Francis from his letter to men and women in consecrated life)

Let us pray for vocations to the consecrated religious life

 

This is precisely what we mean when we call the ordination of priests a sacrament: ordination is not about the development of one’s own powers and gifts. It is not the appointment of a man as a functionary because he is especially good at it, or because it suits him or simply because it strikes him as a good way to earn his bread; it is not a question of a job in which someone secures his own livelihood by his own abilities…Sacrament means: I give what I myself cannot give; I do something that is not my work; I am on a mission and have become the bearer of that which another has committed to my charge…One can receive what is God’s only from the sacrament, by entering into the mission that makes me the messenger and instrument of another. (from Called to Communion by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger [Benedict XVI])
Pray for Vocations