As I got out of the shower a few days ago, I stood in front of the mirror and began to comb my hair, and I thought, “I need a hair cut!” My next thought was, “I can’t because of the shelter in place order.” Then I thought, “My barber cannot earn a living now!” I have been thinking a lot of these thoughts lately as I see businesses closed, restaurants closed, and the limited number of people who are able to go to work or even be able to work at home.

And we, as the Catholic Church, are not immune to this. You know better than I, the sadness and emotional hurt that has occurred in not being able to physically attend the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass. How all parish activities have come to a sudden and abrupt end and the future looks bleak and there is no date set for us to be able to gather once more. So, what are we supposed to do?
We all know that it is a very difficult time in all our lives. Everything seems to have been disrupted. And yet we are called to continue. We are called to live within the Word of God spoken that says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (is 41:10)
Now we must live this hope that God shares with us.
What is this hope? First and foremost, it is to discover gratitude and blessing in the little things of life. Even in times of great despair and fear God is present and showering us with His amazing grace. It may in profound moments or it may be in silly moments…or at any moment, when we have our heart open God will be present and alive. For instance: This week I have been helping a family plan a funeral. It is a sad and difficult time where we are unable to plan a funeral Mass until after this emergency is over. And yet in speaking with the family over the telephone there was a peace in the prayers offered over the telephone and an acceptance of this is part of life new plan. Hearing God speaking through the family members brought peace to my troubled heart that was prevented from offering everything I wish for families who are grieving.
It is in the silly too. Fr. Steve, Fr. Joseph and I are eating a lot more meals together. This has been a great blessing as we laugh and joke about our days and forget the worries for a moment around the table…even talking so long on Sunday afternoon that I forgot to go and pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and was 30 minutes late. The blessing was, people waited on line and joined in at 3:30 p.m. God smiled and I smiled.
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Ps 56:3) The worries are real…but God wants you to place your trust in Him. The fear is real…but God desires to be with you.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” (LK 12-32)
God Bless
Fr. Mark

“Do not reflect too much on the affairs of life. Do not worry about anything. Cast your burdens upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you.” (Saint Kyrillos VI)
The sacramental life of the Catholic Church is the lifeblood of our relationship to God in the Most Holy Trinity and His holy people. It is where we are able to let go of our fears, doubts and hurts to be healed and where we are able to lift our voices in praise, hope and thanksgiving in sharing the gratitude of generosity God showers into our lives. We know and believe God is with us and we hear this clearly in the beautiful poetic word from “Footprints in the Sand”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”

In this Lenten season we are reminded through the words of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton of the gift we are given, “Truly it is a great mystery how souls for whom he has done such incomprehensible things should shut themselves out by incredulity from his best of all gifts, this divine sacrifice and holy Eucharist, refusing to believe in the spiritual and heavenly order of things, that word which spoke and created the whole natural order. With what grateful and unspeakable joy and reverence I adore the daily renewed virtue of that word by which we possess here in our blessed Mass and Communion.” (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton)
One of he greatest gifts we share as Catholics is the Eucharist and we know the heartbreak that occurs when people we know and love absent themselves intentionally from this grace of salvation. We understand, through our love of them, the many and varied “reasons” they give for this absence and yet we also know the sorrow it causes the Body of Christ. It is a conversation that I have too often with parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters and the adult children of people who have “left the faith.” What are we to do? Taking the St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton’s advice we are called to be “renewed in virtue” daily. That is, to become the Eucharistic person, the person of faith, hope and joy proclaiming the Communion we share in the life of grace. It is the trusting of the mystery and not falling for the temptation of despair and fear.
Forgiveness and mercy are movements of inspiration and life. St. Teresa of Avila shares with us, “Here, in approaching the sacraments, it has the living faith to see the power that God has placed in them; it praises you because you have left such a medicine and ointment for our wounds and because this medicine not only covers these wounds but takes them away completely. It is amazed by all this. And who, Lord of my soul, wouldn’t be amazed by so much mercy and a favor so large…? I don’t know why my heart doesn’t break as I write this!”(St. Teresa of Avila)
Or faith must be alive, vibrant and open to conversion. God desires we live in communion of heart and mind. Practicing forgiveness and mercy within our families grows into the living faith of our relationship with each and every person. One of the reasons our parish is using the “A Parent Who Prays” is to see how living the virtues and praying for the help of these virtues and gifts of grace through God changes lives and grows holiness. Seeking and receiving the grace of forgiveness are active movements towards another…it is never a solitary endeavor. The “breaking of heart” St. Teresa speaks of is the shattering the hardness of heart that separates us from one another. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the grace received.
Each moment of life is a moment of conversion and moment of transformation, to become Christlike in our relationships. “This transformation of a person into Christ includes not only the loving adoration of the Father with Christ and in Christ, but also the participation in the sacrifice of Christ and in the uttering of the “Word” the only true praise and glorification, address by Christ to his heavenly Father.”(Dietrich von Hildebrand) How does this occur? “The participation in the sacrifice” is the only possible path. We are invited by Love to enter into a sacrifice that is filled with generosity and abundance where the sufferings of the world are transformed into the redemptive mercy where rather than being divided we become united in God’s presence, healing and love.
Invite someone to Mass, Reconciliation and in prayers.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

We will be held accountable to the Lord for all the things we have done. Man is often not aware, but the Creator is an honest witness, remaining faithful in heaven and observing all that happens. The stains of sin remain in the body. Just as a bodily wound leaves a scar even after it is healed, so do sins wound the soul and body, and the scarred signs remain in everyone.(St. Cyril of Jerusalem)

Last week on retreat I imagined writing something totally different. Listening to God’s word, taking time in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament daily and writing and reflecting on what the Holy Spirit was whispering in my heart. This time was fruitful and a blessing beyond measure. And then Friday came.
It began with a word from our Spiritual Director that Masses throughout the Diocese of San Jose were to be held in private, without congregations, and this would begin Saturday morning. It was followed by a text from Fr. Steve telling me a little bit more but the message was all the same. As I said at last Sunday’s private Mass, my heart broke. I went to Jesus and began to question all that was going on and how much sorrow and suffering there would be within the Body of Christ. And so we are here, one week later and a lot has changed.
Yes, we are still holding the sacrifice of the Holy Mass in private. Yes, our office is empty of people, our parish is empty of people and our school is empty of the joyous voices of it’s students and the children who come for catechism each day. Each time I walk around the campus; my heart breaks.
The gift of my retreat was time listening for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As good Catholics you know there are seven gifts. We receive the fullness of these gifts in the Sacrament of Confirmation, but the need for specific gifts comes and goes as our life moves along the road of salvation. We also know that from these gifts certain fruits flowed. This past year I have been having long conversations with the Holy Spirit, praying a year long “novena” asking for the blessings of the fruits. The gift given was “Fear of the Lord” which is being in awe of the presence of God in my life. It is not a scary fear, but one that places you in wonder of the greatness of Love. Then I prayed for the fruits of the gift and it became clear immediately “joy” was the first fruit followed by the second “gentleness.” As I ended my retreat on this heartbreaking news about Mass it took every grain of strength in my soul not to laugh at the absurdity of this gift and the fruits flowing from it.
But this is where God is better at giving gifts I need and not the ones I think I should have. Why? Well, I had to step back and realize once more how God is in charge. I mean, this certainly wasn’t in my planning to have a shut down of the Bay Area, California and many other parts of the United States (as well as much of the world) for this period of time. It clearly wasn’t how I envisioned serving God’s people. And yet, here we are one week into what is turning out to be a long road and what I truly need is “joy” and “gentleness” in moving to discover how God is calling me to be a priest during this time of trouble and suffer.
Joy has given me the purpose to not be anxious, afraid or discouraged. It is hard, the stories of people loosing work, health and families being pulled apart is heartbreaking. In this the joy of the Gospel must be my rock. It doesn’t deny suffering, it allows me to be present during suffering with a heart open to listening.
Gentleness (or mildness) also is a gift necessary during this time. It is where I must learn to listen and share with a firmer conviction of how Jesus wants me to be his image to others. To leave behind the cutting words of anger, fear and frustration and see a future of greater blessings.
Take some time and ask the Holy Spirit what gift you most need to seek and practice during this time and which of the 12 fruits spring from this gift. Take time in quiet and silence listening for the gifts and suits to be given.
Anyways…that is that.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

“Happiness is a state of being, not having, and still today, as it always did, it depends on strong and stable personal relationships and a sense of meaning and purpose in life.” (p 202 The Great Partnership by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)

Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions about Lent is the search for happiness. We often get the idea of Lent being a season of sadness, mourning and suffering, all of this which are outwards signs of Lent, but ultimately the goal of our Lenten discipline is greater unity with God that is the happiness of joyous love.
Our Lenten sacrifices help to open our hearts to the longing for something greater where we are invited to replace the transitory of this world with the Divine love of God. We know from experience how “things” bring us happiness for a short term and we know the search for stability of relationship offers us a passion that will endure the heartaches of life. And when these relationships have as their foundation the joyous love of God at their center then the truth of each love grows ever greater.
I remember before I entered seminary I took a small bike ride with a good friend. We rode down the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles in late August. There was much suffering along the way as we made our way down the road. What was remarkable about the trip wasn’t the number of miles we went but the experiences we shared along the way: the fixing of different mechanical problems, the meals made, the people encountered, the vistas and beauty of nature that was absorbed, these were made greater by the companionship, the relationship of gratitude and joy.
Rabbi Sacks reminds us, “Happiness in the Bible is not something we find in self-gratification…Hence the significance of the word “simchah” I translated it earlier as ‘joy’, but really it has no precise translation into English, since all our emotions words refer to states of mind we can experience alone. “Simchah” is something we cannot experience alone. “Simchah” is joy shared.” (p 203-204 “The Great Partnership” by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)
Joy shared is the responsibility of reaching out to the other and not holding back. If we only seek to make our selves “happy” then we will ultimately fail. This why the works of Lent are so vitally important; the Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are acts of reaching out to another, to share in life and love. Like the bike ride our daily prayer should be an encounter with others, a shared experience of the Holy Mass and the petitions of care we are called to offer for others. It is sometimes arduous and painful but the joy shared brings us into a relationship of joyous love. Our fasting should help us to be open to the simple meals prepared on the road; the filling or our souls as we empty them and shed the attachments to come together for the Eucharistic feast the gift of God’s presence which is truly the food that satisfies the longing hunger to be love. It is the almsgiving of the encounter with the other on the road; the sharing of stories and memories and the words of encouragement spurring the other along and replenishing the flagging spirit with true gifts of charity founded in the mutual joy of God’s presence within the community, whether it is the bicyclist or the parishioner next to you in worship.
Pope Benedict XVI described this love beautifully, “Love of God and love of neighbor are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who has loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows through love. Love is “divine” because it comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a “we” which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28)” (#18 Deus Caritas Est, Benedict XVI)
Have a blessed and holy Lent
Fr. Mark