Psalm 120

To the Lord in the hour of my distress *
I call and he answers me.
“O Lord, save my soul from lying lips, *
from the tongue of the deceitful.”

The prayer of the Church, “The Liturgy of the Hours,” is always reflective of the human condition and how we are called to respond. We have seen in recent weeks politicians using different Bible verses to argue the morality of positions of public policy to justify what should or should not be done. It is a reality we know that has been part of human history from the very beginning. Whether it is Sacred Scripture or the words of our parents, we have the habit and tendency to turn the “words” in the direction we wish to go. Psalm 120 is prayed the fourth week at Daytime Prayer on Monday. As I was praying it this week sitting in an airport returning from Chicago the words testified to the truth of learning to listen to God, not with my own ears but with the ears of Jesus Christ.

What shall he pay you in return, *
O treacherous tongue?
The warrior’s arrows sharpened *
and coals, red-hot, blazing.

Our desire for our enemies is that receive quick and forceful punishment. We disagree so we speak up, our actions go forth striking at the perceived and real injustices around us. It is important for us to remember while these words and actions may seem to resolve the problem or make us feel better they never bring true justice and peace to any situation. As daughters and sons of the living and true God we are reminded of our call to healing. This is never done with the arrows of belittling another or the blazing coals violence and slanderous words. We are always invited into a journey of turning the sword into an instrument of fruitful harvest growing the sustenance of unity…the bread of life.

Alas, that I abide a stranger in Meshech, *
dwell among the tents of Kedar!

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are warned that we will be strangers within our own land, community and family when we choose to follow Jesus. We will be strangers because in choosing to forgive, to walk with, to listen with care and love our tents become the meeting place of joy and love and the stranger becomes a companion of journey and grace. It is not easy. It is not without the pain, persecution and hatred of a sinful world. In  this land we belong to the eternal, sharing the hope of a life directed toward the greater and more hopeful in the grace of an all loving God.

Long enough have I been dwelling *
with those who hate peace.
I am for peace, but when I speak, *
they are for fighting.

One of the greatest struggles is to have trust in the goodness of another even in disagreement. To be able to break bread with choose a pathway of peace amidst the violence of life. The trust in goodness allows us to disagree in love. We may and should disagree with what is against the Divine and natural law as the Church teaches us but we also much reach out and teach the truth with compassion and mercy. Inevitably words and works of peace are met with hatred and violence, by bullying and arrogance that is pride of knowing the other is always wrong…and you are always right. It is the deception of dehumanizing and minimizing the other where Satan lies and temptation begin to create isolation and distance from the discussion of finding God’s truth and God’s love.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

When we are able to see the glory of God, proclaim the glory of God and recognize the glory of God in he humility of trusting in the Divine Providence of a God who calls us to new life with each breath. As we pray Psalm 120 let us seek to find the common good in each other.
Our Bishop Patrick and many bishops throughout the United States and the world have spoken forcefully and eloquently about the current worries and concerns about the separation of families at our borders and the need to find a just solution to this sad and tragic situation. And as we debate this situation and look towards the new member of the Supreme Court let us remember to conduct ourselves and true disciples who build rather than destroy, who seek unity rather than expulsion with those with whom we may disagree. Below are a couple of links about the Church’s teaching on this issue.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

Unpacking the Catechism on Immigration (And an Aspect That Rarely Makes the News)

Bishop McGrath’s Message on Separated Families

This weekend I am in Chicago for a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Convention…and not just any convention but the 50th Anniversary convention. I have been part of WWME for less than 10 of these years but they have been fruitful and the mission of WWME is an important and life-giving part of my ministry.
One of the things I remind myself of over and over again is that if it is important then I must make time for this prayer, conversation or work in my busy life. It is a decision to love where I am called to spend my time, talent and treasure on where Jesus calls me to serve in His Catholic Church.
One of the greatest treasures I receive in working in this ministry is the continual discovery of the deepness of the Catholic teaching on the Sacramental love of husband and wife. It is especially clear in the intimacy shared between husband and wife that God is present and life-giving in these fruitful and joyous gifts of blessings.
In the document “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive” the United States Bishops write,“Material creation has spiritual meaning, which has implications for the way we live as male and female. Our sexuality has purpose. Our bodies are not simply shells for the soul or sensory machines for the brain. Nor are they raw material we can freely abuse or reprogram. For Christians, body and spirit are profoundly integrated. Each human being is a unity body and soul. (LIOM #39) This fundamental Christian understanding of how we are created begins to unfold the blessings shared in life. There is purpose and meaning to our physical, mental and spiritual differences and seeking to live and celebrate these differences open our eyes to the wonder of sacramental love in our lives.
The founder of the Marriage Encounter movement, Fr. Chuck Gallagher, S.J. in his book “The Marriage Encounter” blesses us with this wisdom, “Marriage calls for a full faithfulness—a striving for total awareness. It is not simply balancing life-styles and working out a give-and-take arrangement that leaves both parties content. The aim is full integration, true oneness, complete involvement.” (ME p143) This call to sacramental love and unity of fidelity, not simply of body, but of the soul. The unity displayed between the Father and the Son where Jesus declares we are called that in marital love the husband and wife “may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
(Jn 17:21)
The spousal gift of husband and wife, as Pope Francis reminds us in “Amoris Laetitia” unites the married couple in a mission where, “He or she is a companion on life’s journey, one with whom to face life’s difficulties and enjoy its pleasures. This satisfaction is part of the affection proper to conjugal love. There is no guarantee that we will feel the same way all through life. Yet if a couple can come up with a shared and lasting life project, they can love one another and live as one until death do them part, enjoying an enriching intimacy. (AL #163) This “shared and lasting life project” is founded in the generosity and abundance of God’s love for us. But it takes work as we grow from single, to couple, to a family founded on the gracious gift of life where we are made in the image and likeness of God. It is a shared work, where husband and wife model and mold each other as instruments of God’s grace in escorting each other toward the heavenly goal.
Once more our Bishops write, “Marriage exists because procreation and communion, biology and God’s covenant, nature and super-nature, together undergird what it means to be “human.” Marriage exists because we discover and accept, rather than invent or renegotiate the vocation to self giving which is intrinsic to being created male and female under the covenant.” (LIOM #41) What are we called to discover and accept…simply we are happier and holier when we choose to give in sacrificial love. Marriage, in sacramental union, is not the demanding debasement of slavery to another but rather the self donation of the maleness and femaleness to the other in love. When the world seeks to remake marriage in its image it becomes a contract of debts and demands whereas the covenant of God’s love is one of gift and service without counting the costs.
Pope Francis shares with us a realistic and hope filled desire for marriage when he writes, “A person can certainly channel his passions in a beautiful and healthy way, increasingly pointing them towards altruism and an integrated self-fulfilment that can only enrich interpersonal relationships in the heart of the family. This does not mean renouncing moments of intense enjoyment, but rather integrating them with other moments of generous commitment, patient hope, inevitable weariness and struggle to achieve an ideal. Family life is all this, and it deserves to be lived to the fullest. (AL #148) Marriage calls us to live towards another as we unite our love to God. Husband and wife share the passionate embrace of marriage in the giving of one to the other in equal dignity and blessing. The “heart of the family” is the Sacrament of Marriage, the unity of one to the other in fruitful and faithful love where the call the forgiveness and reconciliation are celebrated and enjoyed through the sorrows of love.
Fr. Gallagher gives us this final word of blessing, “Marriage calls a man and a woman to be fully open to each other to give and receive their personhood. It calls for a total and irrevocable commitment to find themselves in each other. This is fidelity.” (ME p 142)

God Bless
Fr. Mark

On June 14th much of the world will stop and begin the great celebration of the 2018 World Cup. It will be a time of celebration and anguish. A time of joyously coming together in the playing of the beautiful game.
Normally at the World Cup I have several rooting interests to follow but this year my option is down to one. The United States National Team was awful in qualifying and did not make the tournament. One down two to go. Ghana, my second team, was equally bad in qualifying and did not qualify. Two down and one to go. Luckily, I also root for Germany, as the current holders of the Cup they are going to be playing football (soccer) for the next month with the great possibility Der Mannschaft winning the World Cup back to back.
During the first fourteen days I will be awaking between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. to watch a game as the group stages play there way out. It is a time to see star players wear their national jersey as they play with passion and hope. But what about the Catholic aspect you may be wondering? During this time when the game is at the forefront of the lives of so many we may want to focus on four saints: Saint Sebastian, the patron of athletes, Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati the patron saint of sports, St. Luigi Scrisoppi one of the patrons of soccer and funny enough, St. John Paul II, the patron saint of goalkeepers. (the internet can be wonderful at times)
You may want to point out these four saints to those obsessed by the game as a way of reconnecting us to God’s plan for sport.
Pope St. John Paul II talked a lot about sports, “Sports contribute to the love of life, teaches sacrifice, respect and responsibility, leading to the full development of every human person.” The gift of sports can help young men and women grow in many virtues when these virtues are tied to a belief in God and the athletic talents are seen as gifts to be used, shared and celebrated not simply as dominance over another but the expression of God’s beauty and grace is competition which brings out the best of the other.
“Playing sport has become very important today, since it can encourage young people to develop important values such as loyalty, perseverance, friendship, sharing and solidarity.” (JPII) Sadly, sport can also divide and take such a high priority in the life of the family that time together and growth in love can be sacrificed. It can build great values when it is balanced against the greater goods of life. Loyalty to a team or teammates when it takes precedence to family time and faith can be corrosive and feed the ego rather than build true solidarity with family and friends.
“Sports, in fact, can make an effective contribution to peaceful understanding between peoples and to establishing the new civilization of love.” (JPII) I know in my teens and twenties I sometimes allowed my competitive nature to become unbalance and peace and unity was not where I wanted to go. But I also remember the 1994 WC when the Brazilian national team took over Los Gatos and even when they eliminated the United States, the celebration of friendship was truly joyous…friends were made and beers were exchanged even during the heat of the battle. St. John Paul II shares with us these words of wisdom, “The correct practice of sport must be accompanied by practicing the virtues of temperance and sacrifice; frequently it also requires a good team spirit, respectful attitudes, the appreciation of the qualities of others, honesty in the game and humility to recognize one’s own limitations.  In short, sports, especially in less competitive forms, foster festive celebration and friendly coexistence with the Christian outlook, becomes a “generative principle” of profound human relations and encourages the building of a more serene and supportive world.” (JPII)

 

Ultimately the game is just a game. With lessening heartache I can even watch the Giants win every now and then and not get too riled up. Sharing the joy of the game is so much more important when we see the gift coming from a source of joy and peace which is our Heavenly Father as we laugh and cry with friend and foe in celebration of sport and the game we love. Therefore “Give thanks to God for the gift of sport, in which the human person exercises his body, intellect and will, recognizing these abilities as so many gifts of his Creator.” (JPII)
God Bless
Fr. Mark

“Prayer is love melted into worship.” (Charles H. Brent)

There are moments during my Holy Hour when my mind stops for a few brief seconds and I hear the voice of God. It is a moment of worship when love breaks into life. We are reminded that to worship God is to be in the presence of God, to place ourselves into a union with God in an act of service in love. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,” says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy.” (CCC #2096)

“Prayer is love melted into worship.”

Often times when I am hearing confessions in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or in deep conversation with someone words and wisdom are spoken that are gifts of the Holy Spirit. They do not come from my brain rather these words flow from my soul and into the wounds of the penitent or the person being counseled. It is a moment of grace which can slip by easily. Jesus reminds us, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Mt 18:20) Our pray of worship is allowing God to break through in the daily moments of grace and gathering knowing we are in His presence in choosing to listen in love and speak in healing.

“Prayer is love melted into worship.”

Playing golf with friends is one of the blessings in my life. In the long walk around the 18 holes much is learned about life and how we are called to share this life, given by God, with one another. I think of the walk as something akin to Jesus’ walk with his disciples. The oddest topics enter into some of the mundane conversations of life. Yes, we speak of the game. Yes, we talk about family and work. Yet, there are often deeper, meaningful moments where we see past the day to day and into the heart of a companion. We see where God is seeking to lead each of us and how we, as brothers and sisters in the Lord, are invited to be disciples. It is the moment when Jesus ask us to take the Cup of Salvation and walk more gently, to cast our nets more deeply into the waters of life and to bear the cross with compassion. It is where, in love, we enter into the prayer of conversation knowing God is there and grace is flowing forth.

“Prayer is love melted into worship.”

As a priest and pastor of a parish community I am asked to do many different and complex things. Many of which confound my experience and place struggle and doubt into my life. These are heavy burdens often made more difficult in my choices to carry them alone. I have found two great prayers of blessing the first is remember whose Church it is from the phrase attributed to Pope St. John XXIII, “It’s your Church, Lord. I’m going to bed.” Knowing, even in my cries of despair, that God will not abandon us and where he surrounds us with hands, feet and wisdom to carry us forward as a community. The second is the prayer to my Guardian Angel. We often become forgetful as adults of our Guardian Angel. Mine works very hard and especially when I lay my head on the pillow at night; it is a prayer of protection and rest the he gets to hear from my heart. A prayer my angel guards through the night.

““The acts of faith, hope, and charity enjoined by the first commandment are accomplished in prayer. Lifting up the mind toward God is an expression of our adoration of God: prayer of praise and thanksgiving, intercession and petition. Prayer is an indispensable condition for being able to obey God’s commandments. “[We] ought always to pray and not lose heart.”” (CCC #2098) …because “Prayer is love melted into worship.”
God Bless
Fr. Mark

What’s in a name? This is a good question that I have been thinking about this week. My week started off wonderfully. Celebrating Mass on Sunday, looking forward to a quiet Monday Holiday…it was all so good. Then Tuesday came. it should have been a great day. It was my normal day off…so a four day weekend…what a blessing. but then the emails and facebook messages began to show up….What favor do you need Father? Are you asking for iTunes cards Father? Is this your email Father? I had been phished and the perpetrators were using my good name!
The scam was, if you answered the email, I wanted you to send me a $100 iTune card. I don’t know quite how this would work and I pray people knew it was a scam before the fell for it, but sadly I know some people may have sent the card. Playing on the trust many parishioners have in their priest, yes…sadly many other priests in the Diocese have been hit by a similar phishing scam…it is sad that this would occur.
On a positive note, it shows in some way the trust many people have in their parish priests. I was gratified people cared enough to reach out, to respond and let me know that there was this evil floating around. It is a blessing to know, even in the midst of scandals and doubts, the name still means something.
When things like this occur we begin to loose and break trust in the good name and the goodness of others. The sin is in this mistrust of others we begin to separate, isolate and abandon the gift and blessing of community. Distrust moves us away from family, friends and the blessing of those who seek to be with us. Ultimately this trust is also a faith growing from knowledge and love of another and the distrust of community can destroy this faith.
So, what do we do? I think we go back to example…There is a story of the great Bishop, Venerable Fulton J. Sheen willingness to give away the coat he was wearing to poor people he encountered along his journeys. When asked about this practice and the real question of; didn’t he worry about being tricked or “scammed”, he simply replied “He didn’t want to take the chance that the poor person was Jesus in disguise”
My hope in this story is we continue to be generous and trusting and willing to offer life to others even when we have found ourselves taken advantage of and even tricked into trusting a thief. We must be careful…yes…but we must never be begrudging in our trust, faith and generosity.
Generosity is a blessing that shows forth in many ways…so while my week started badly with this “phishing” scam…it ended with a blessing. Yesterday a package arrived at the office. I had been expecting a package but this package was much heavier and larger than I expected. I opened it and inside was a gift…Beer of the Month Club…the first twelve arrived. I know I didn’t order it…so who did? I have been looking through my emails and cards and social media and still haven’t found who sent true blessing from God. Seeing God in this gift was my ability to remember goodness in the world as we continue to deal with the craziness of the first part of the week that the blessing of family, friends and community continue to shine forth.
To end…please pray for the perpetrators of the phishing crime that they may discover a better and legal way of earning a living. Second, be assured that I would never ask for money or iTunes cards in such a manner. Third, know and share God’s generosity with care and love.
God Bless
Fr. Mark