As we prepare for the Thanksgiving Day celebrations and the blessing surrounding us, we also place ourselves in the understanding of the foundation of all “Thanksgiving” in our Eucharistic life of blessing and thanking God for his goodness. Bishop Fulton Sheen shares these words of wisdom, “Every moment brings us more treasures than we can gather. The great value of the Now, spiritually viewed, is that it carries a message God has directed personally to us…Nothing is more individually tailored to our spiritual needs than the Now moment; for that reason it is an occasion of knowledge that can come to no one else. This moment is my school, my textbook, my lesson.” (p 210-11, “Lift Up Your Heart” by Fulton J. Sheen)
Each day, as part of my morning prayer, I offer a prayer of thanksgiving remembering the “Now” moment and recalling the blessing given that I am called to share.

Thank you for my very existence: What more basic prayer can we offer. When I awake I thank God for my life, the moment I can breathe another breath to serve God again this day. It is the most fundamental thanks we can give because without this nothing else is possible, nothing else is fruitful, nothing else is or can be.

2. Thank you for my health: we each carry our own burdens of health. Even the person who looks healthy suffers from the slow gravity of age as our body wears down. It is the inevitable movement from the earthly to the heavenly. Even with the aches and pains of life we are thankful for our ability to serve in prayer and works of mercy.

3. Thank you for my parents and family: (I add in my Bishop, brother priests and deacons) Yes, family can be hard at times. Yes, family can be a burden at times. But the gift of family, parents, brothers, sisters and the greater circle invite us into an eternal relationship stretching back and forth from past to future, seeing and sharing in new birth and life and the ultimate moments of death. It is where the sacrifices of love play out in the intimate joys and sorrows shared in the thankful for gift of love.

4. Thank you for my will: My choice to love and serve in joy is an act of the will. It is the gift of free-will God has blessed each man and woman with since creation. The “Now” moment Bishop Sheen shares calls us to choose good over evil, service over the selfish, and graciousness over greed.We are called through the will of the Father, to be a son, a daughter of hope and love offering all that I have in thanksgiving.

5 Thank you for my body: As a Catholic priest, this prayer of thanks centers around the words of institution I pray each Mass, “This is my Body, Which will be given up for you.” I turn my bodily desires back to the glory of God in the sacrificial offering of love. The fragile vessel of our body becomes the foundation for holiness in our call to serve in mercy and love.

6. Thank you for my soul: It is my thanks for the gift of hope, what we do here and “Now” is the call to be God-like in our love that can never be destroyed in death. What we do matters, not just in moment but in the eternal plan God has for each of us.

7. Thank you for my talent: As meager as they may be, each talent serves God’s holy purpose in my life. When we deny any talent, any gift, any blessing from God because it may seem difficult, we begin to deny the basic talent of taking up “my” cross and following him.

8. Thank you for everything: Recalling moments of grace each day and bringing them to God remembering they are his already.

9. Thank you for Mary: I recall, Mary is a woman of thanks. In her great fiat, the “yes” to the eternal, she echoed the eternal thanks of life entrusting all to God. It is an example that as I pray Rosary each day I hear in the Angel greeting Mary “Hail full of grace, The Lord is with you.” Trusting in thanksgiving this is the greeting God wishes us all to hear and receive.

10. Thank you for Jesus: “My Lord and my God” is the prayer spoken by St. Thomas that reverberates in my heart. It is the ultimate thanks because without Him, nothing else has meaning and hope and all we do dissolves into dust. Our prayer of thanksgiving is seeking to share Jesus’ life with others each and every moment. And we can only do this when we give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and may God bless you and keep you always in Love.

Fr. Mark

“The priest does not see our deepest selves when he hears our confession; he sees our deepest selves when he gives us absolution.” Fr. Peter Gruber on confession.

I have been praying with the above quote for almost a week for many reasons. First, it is my hope this happens when my brother priests prays the prayer of absolution over me at the end of my sacramental reconciliation. And second, it is what I see and experience continually in this same prayer in “the box” each week when I celebrate the Sacrament with those who come. The quote came at a wonderful time. The parish had spent a Saturday with parents of the children preparing for their first Reconciliation and I had the blessing of sharing with the parents God’s hope, the Church’s hope and, we pray, their hope as their children come to be forgiven. It was also a time where we got to be real and talk a little, just a little, about why they may not be celebrating the Sacrament with the consistency and joy in which we are called to celebrate.
Why is that? Sometimes it’s because we don’t want to look into the dark and dusty corners, the neglected relationships or the broken heart of our life. We’ve put them in nice boxes, placed them on a shelves and only look at them when we find it absolutely necessary, which we hope is never for the most part. At least this has been my personal experience on both sides of the fence.
Why should we look into the boxes, bring them to God and then allow forgiveness to be part of our lives? Simply because we will be more peaceful, joyful and loving…nothing terrible in that I hope. I will share with you this brief story….I and a friend had a terrible falling out. Trust was broken, awful things were spoken, and a large debt was left unresolved. We stopped speaking and throughout the next 15 years or so, whenever his name was spoken, anger would rise up and I would feel the pain and remember the debt unresolved. On retreat one year the director asked us to think of a long held “sin” something that when we thought about it brought up this feeling…well this was first on my list. In the Sacrament that evening we were asked to confess the long held sin….after doing so, he asked me these three simple questions… Did I need the money now? No. Did I think I would ever get the money? No. Then why are you holding on to this sin? I don’t know? He then said Let it go.
What that moment of blessing gave to me was the willingness to look into the many other boxes that I had stacked upon the shelves and begin to open them, discard them, and not hold on to them in fear. In truth there are one or two boxes I have yet to open and sadly there are times when I add a box to the shelf. This is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is so important…because I am more apt to take the box down sooner rather than later which helps me to lead a more peaceful, joyful and loving life.
It is where, as Fr. Gruber notes above, I become the authentic self God created me to be. I am blessed that both in hearing the prayer of absolution and speaking this prayer to the penitent I am become the instrument of participation in the grace-filled moment of love. Pope Francis puts it very beautifully, “To celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation means to be wrapped in a warm embrace.” Come and be embraced by our Lord and do not be afraid.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

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