Thoughts From Fr. Mark

As we enter into our Advent Season we are reminded of the joy and generosity of God as we celebrate the many days and blessings the season brings. It is hard not to begin celebrating Christmas early and with the Feast of St. Nicholas happening on the 6th of December we truly begin the joy and celebration of gift giving.
We know with the commercial intrusion on these holy days, the Black Friday which is the tradition touching off of the gorging of holiday spending, the new and improved Cyber Monday offering us another chance to spend, spend and spend. Even small things like the Hallmark Channel with the inundation of movies themed around Christmas beginning sometime in October. Then finally, during this year of pandemic, we have some people calling for the cancelling of Christmas. I even read where one public official pondered if it would be wise to move Christmas into February.

What each of these have in common is the use of the word Christmas without the actual understanding and sharing of the meaning of Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the giving and sharing of gifts, but I also understand: this is not Christmas. Christmas is the moment when God breaks into the world in the person of the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Son of God, Jesus born of the Virgin Mary that night in Bethlehem.
“Open wide your door to the one who comes. Open your soul, throw open the depths of your heart to see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the sweetness of grace. Open your heart and run to meet the Sun of eternal light that illuminates all men.” (St. Ambrose of Milan) Once more, it is a time of celebration and of generosity towards others, but more importantly it is a time of deep and profound thanksgiving, prayer and the embracing of the other in the person of the child Jesus.
This returns us to St. Nicholas. He is the inspiration for the image of Santa Claus is some small way. He was also a bishop of the early Church in Myra, modern day Turkey, in the 4th century. St. Nicholas was a stout defender of the orthodoxy of the Catholic faith and was imprisoned and exiled for his belief in Jesus. The hagiography of his life tells of him helping three young women with their dowry allowing them to marry…thus the legend of St. Nick/Santa Claus.
The St. Nicholas day tradition of putting your shoes outside the door and during the night the holy Saint will come by and put a small gift, candy, fruit or even a little money, in them is a small precursor to the gifts under the Christmas tree delivered on the night of our Lord and Savior’s birth.

It is a powerful reminder of how Jesus comes to us. We may not be able to travel and visit as we would wish, but the child Jesus comes to us. We may have economic and physical challenges that limit us, but the child Jesus comes to us. God comes to us and invites us into a relationship of love. Let us prepare the our hearts, our homes and our families for the child Jesus and welcome him with open arms knowing that God is with us, our Emmanuel.
“Christ is born, glorify Him! Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him! Christ on earth, be exalted! Sing to the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope.” (St. Gregory Nazianzen)

God Bless
Fr. Mark

This is the week where we give thanks and look forward as Catholics. We celebrate the national holiday of Thanksgiving that always pushes towards the New Year of our Advent season of preparation. We are called to remember and lift up in prayer the blessings of our lives in thanksgiving to God’s gracious blessings knowing that very near is the greatest of all blessings the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This past year has been a jumble of experiences and emotions many of which were very difficult to discover blessings and hope. But within each moment were blessings to be discovered both in the personal and in the ministry. Here are three blessings from this odd and strange year.

A little blue envelope: As many of you know we began renovations of our church on the 2nd of January, then COVID struck then all the delays began to happen. As pastor one of the worries that was foremost in my mind was how to keep the church going without Mass and without a Sunday collection. Within a few weeks little blue envelopes began to arrive. For our capital campaign the donation envelopes were the color blue. This gift of generosity, and as many other envelopes began to appear, was one of the truly great blessings. It reminded me of our love for Jesus and our Church is not something that is solely based on the physical but also our desire to bring the kingdom of God to others. I give thanks for a little blue envelope.

The second is “the caring of:” once more this is a gift of generosity by so many people. Early on our Bishop asked us to team with Catholic Chariities and Second Harvest Food bank to have food distribution to those in need. My immediate response was yes, then began the immediate response of so many parish volunteers who have offered their time and talent in serving over 550 households every week with food and prayer. Our St. Vincent de Paul society sought new ways of reaching out and receiving those in need to serve them with the immediate concerns of so many of our brothers and sisters. Our Social Justice Committee chose to pivot and focus on the mental health care needs as people began to suffer from the isolation and worry of what would be next. The gift of generosity is a blessing of how Jesus invites us to extend our arms to embrace the other in hope and joy. It is the thanksgiving of caring of one another.

The third is, “We are not alone:” In my life and certainly in my seminarian training what I, as a priest, have been asked to do over the past nine months was never talked about or covered. The generosity of those who have shared their talents in technology, building so many other things, pivoting on worships space and stewardship of the gifts we share. With each new change and challenge the gift of time and talent from so many people, even with the limitations surround our ministry showed for the hope of God’s blessings within the community. We are not alone is the gift of generosity uniting us as the Body of Christ.

For this I give thanks……Thank you! You each are in my prayers daily.

God bless
Fr. Mark

Normally at this time of year the color purple would be something I would be looking forward too and happy to talk about, but in this year of pandemic the color purple this week meant that our parishes throughout the Diocese and state were asked once more to close there doors to indoor worship and to move out into the relative (in a California sense) cold and wind of our late fall and early winter season.
As the news began to filter and leak out that the state would jump from the orange tier into the purple tier there was truly a sense of dread that filled my heart. Although we had been restricted to celebrating indoors with only 100 people allowed, an almost sense of normalcy had begun to fill the practice of Mass. Even with the masks, the people scattered at safe social distances from each other and the lack of joyous songs being sung was a reality, being in the building, celebrating on a consecrated altar and not hearing the noise of the street allowed, for me, the prayerful celebration of the Mass in a way that was different from our outdoor space.

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It is true and I believe, where two or three are gathered, Jesus is there and I have been blessed greatly by the celebrations in the courtyard in seeing families come to hear God’s Word and receive Him, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist and yet, it felt like a gut punch. I spent most of my fitful sleep on Monday night thinking, planning, doubting and fearing what would happen next. Maybe we would be experiencing the movie “Groundhog Day” where tomorrow doesn’t come until we figure out God’s wonderful gifts that surround us and learn to celebrate them in the midst of everything. So when I woke up Tuesday morning and it wasn’t Monday morning, I was a little grumpy…even though I really look forward too Tuesdays because they are my day off…I went to celebrate Mass and get our outdoor worship space ready once more.
What makes the Eucharist so wonderful? Why is it so beautiful to be at the Eucharist? “To be spotted at a Eucharistic meal should make people talk about us because it indicates that we are in a relationship that is scandalous in many ways. Through the act of celebration the Eucharist, we are first and foremost proclaiming an intimacy with the creator of the universe.” (p. 56, from “Living the Sacraments” by Joe Paprocki) This is ultimately what gets me out of my mopey-ness and allows me to see, even in the midst of this time, the gift of God present in the Eucharist. Jesus is with me and celebrates with me and desires to draw me into this “scandalous” relationship of knowing Him as my brother and Savior.

He is Christ the King! It is what we will celebrate this Sunday as we move into the purple of love that opens wide the doors of Advent in preparing our hearts and the world to receive the King of the Universe as the baby Jesus. This isn’t sentimental schlock but rather it is a gift of love. And this is how we are called to live our lives…encountering Jesus in the daily bread of life, just as we receive him in the Daily Bread of the Eucharist. The “Amen” of I believe is a grace of seeing the world not in the “what we don’t have” attitude of wanting but in the “blessings of presence” we do have in the gift of loving stewardship. “In each encounter we have, we can ask ourselves, “Am I offering a real presence to this person?” (p 63) This is what Jesus offers me and you. It is why nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Rm 8:35) It is why, indoors or outdoors, we come to celebrate and say AMEN.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

Three things: Something good, something sad and something tragic. It has been a hard week and a wonderful week. There is much joy and anticipation around our parish campus as we continue to work of evangelization, serving the poor and vulnerable and celebrating the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Old friends: We will start with the good. This weekend our parish welcomes Unbound Ministry. The guest priest this weekend is Msgr. Aldolfo Valdivia. I have known Msgr. Valdivia for over 15 years. He was my supervisor at St. Maria Goretti Parish during my deacon year. When I was able to be at the parish during my final year at St. Patrick Seminary, I followed Msgr. Valdivia around seeing what a priest did and learning the routines so when I was ordained a deacon I at least had some vague idea of how to celebrate the great number of baptisms the parish had each weekend. This weekend as he visits us will give me one more chance to thank him for his kindness and example of priesthood. To remember his graciousness in sharing his wisdom and answering the questions posed by a newly ordained deacon.

Home: This past week my mother left the house she helped build almost 50 years ago. The house where she raised the gaggle of nine children. The house of my childhood and the place where our family has celebrated the joys and sorrows of life. At 84 years old she decided to move to an assisted living facility. In various ways I am happy and sad. Happy in the security and safety she will have living in community and not isolated not the farm. Sad, in the reality that the place of refuge we called home is no longer there. The physical building, the memories and soil remains but it is no longer our home. I know that my brothers and sisters who worked so hard with her this past month to pack up and clean out our family home and to sort out what she wished to take with her, what they wished to take to their homes has been a struggle of emotions…in all that the sadness of leaving something behind is a reality we are all asked to embrace. The quiet mornings of vacation with my breviary and a cup of coffee looking out onto the pasture and fields of the farm are no more. The going home is now gone. But, a new day has begun, with sadness and a tear…a new day has begun.

The Cross and McCarrick: Lastly the tragic…I was in seminary in 2002 when the full force of the sexual abuse crisis hit the Catholic Church. There was shock, anger, dismay, frustration and every other emotion felt as many of us watched and read about priests we loved and respected being listed as men who had abused the children and young people of our Church. It was a reality we were all faced with in our formation to the priesthood and many people question if we would leave. Over the last 18 years we have had the slow dripping of more information as we continue to seek the best ways to protect the vulnerable of the Church and share the joy of the Gospel.

This week as the report of the crimes and abuse of then “Cardinal McCarrick” became public the questions were asked how could he rise to such prominence in the Church when the open secret of his abuse of children, seminarians and young priests was known by so many? I don’t have an answer for this, although I wish I did, but God gave me three things this week that has helped me to digest and live with the reality of the sin of abuse. First was the celebration of two of the great bishops of the Church: St. Martin of Tours and St. Josaphat. I was reminded of the role the bishop has in our faith. On the day of my ordination, as it is with all priests, we place our hands in the hands of the bishop and vow obedience. It is a vow not to some middle manager in a large organization but a vow to a spiritual father in the example of the two great saints who battled for healing, unity and peace within the faith. I believe most bishops seek to live this holy example and with each of the two great saints, they seek to embrace the cross given to them and work diligently and faithfully for the holiness within the people of God.
It is the Cross of Jesus Christ we are called to embrace. St. Paul in his Letter to Philemon in the reading from Thursday (the memorial of St. Josaphat) wrote these words, “And if he has done you any injustice or owes you anything, charge it to me.” (Philemon 1:18) St. Paul asks us to be more like Jesus, to embrace the cross as the only way to bring about healing and peace.

It may not be a cross we desire but we embrace it because Jesus is with us and is already embracing the cross as a healing gift of love. We must join together in praying and working for the healing of God’s holy catholic Church.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

It has been a busy and extraordinary week. As we wait for the final outcome of our presidential election we are reminded of the great gift of freedom of will endowed in us by our creator from the moment of our conception. We are given the gift to choose good and avoid evil, the gift to speak truth and blessing and avoid slander and defamation and the gift to seek peace and justice and turn away from cruelty and violence. The reality of freedom is we do not need to be of one mind as long as we have the common goal. We know, as Christians, we have one destination, one common goal, life with Jesus Christ and eternal life in the great company of saints. And like so many of the great saints in our Church’s tradition and history, there are a variety of ways to reach this goal…but each way is founded in the recognition of using the gifts and blessings God gives to us and use them to bring peace and justice into our world.

The Sacramental life of our faith reminds us of how we grow in grace and unity as a community. Each Sacrament calls us to a greater unity and into a greater community. As Catholics we are called to share these gifts with the world. At the center of our sacramental life is the Eucharist and Reconciliation, moments of grace and blessings.
We are invited into thanksgiving and the sharing of blessings daily in our life. The hope we see around us isn’t limited by a day in November of a vote total but rather in the knowledge and love of God we share with one another. We know in this time of lock-downs and social distancing building community is often difficult and even frowned upon but the sharing of the human need of community will not be destroyed. In our Eucharistic life we are challenged to look for the better and the very best in each other as we look for this within our own hearts. We are challenged to examine our words and actions and ask the hard questions of: Have we sought the best in others? Have we gave the best of ourselves to the other? As St. John reminds us in his first letter, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 Jn 4:20) This is where the common goal and the common destination comes into greater focus.
Jesus reminds us again and again how we must learn to forgive from the very first actions and words in his ministry to the words of forgiveness from the cross of our salvation: the cross of reconciliation and forgiveness.

We are called as members of the Body of Christ, to a continued conversion of life in moving toward greater unity with God and His holy Church. In this we know we are surrounded by saints and sinners knowing we are both saint and sinner in our own life. It is the movement of a heart seeking contrition which allows us to grow in love and desire. We pray this daily, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It is the command Jesus offers us, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Mt 5:23-24)

After this election where feelings have run high and words have often been spoken not in charity, let us once again turn towards Jesus and seek the unity and hope of a people whose destination isn’t the values and trappings of the world but the heavenly Kingdom of God’s house.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

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It has been a very good week. The best thing about this week was our being able to celebrate the Holy Mass inside our wonderful and beautiful church building for the first time since January 2nd and the second thing of course is that the universe has assumed its proper order as the Los Angeles Dodgers have once more, after 32 long years, been crowned World Series Champions. (Thank you Giant fans for booing at this proper moment) I talked about the sleepless nights as we prepared to come back into the church and I still wake up at times early in the morning with continued worries…just not as bad. But the Tuesday night tension got so bad that during the second inning I poured myself a beer, sat down and was so nervous I didn’t take a drink until almost the 7th inning. In addition, I think I scared my brother priest with the loud whoooooohooooo that came out of my mouth as the 3rd out was recorded and the celebrations began….I had a nice glass of scotch to commemorate the occasion.

So I will talk about faith, reading the signs of the time and learning to trust. When we talk about faith we look to something greater that we are, something often undefinable and difficult to get are minds around and yet faith is something that brings comfort, peace and joy into our lives. When we are able to give ourselves freely, in faith, then there is a movement of love where we are able to let go of our limitations and see the good and greater in our life and the life that surrounds us. “Living the Christian life provides for a growth of faith. There have been many saints who have gone before to guide us, but I like the ones who are simple, like St. Therese of Lisieux. I have chosen her as my namesake because she did ordinary things with extraordinary love.” (St. Mother Teresa from “Do Something Beautiful” September 29) This weekend especially, as we celebrate, All Saints Day, we remind ourselves that faith is a practice of choosing to look forward into the seemingly darkest hour and see the flicker of love shine out to call us forward.

And not to trivialize faith, but with the Tampa Bay starting pitcher mowing down one Dodger batter after another that flicker of light became the hopefulness of change as the manager rushed to the mound with one out in the sixth inning. Reading the signs of the times is important in faith as it is in baseball. We can often get caught up in what we think should be happening and miss the greater movements around us. Recently (in baseball time) the fad of “sabermetrics” has rushed in as the statistical analysis of each player, at bat and fielding position has been graphed out to where at times it looks like the game has become a paint-by-numbers activity rather than the beautiful work of passion baseball truly should be. I am not denying that some of the sabermetrics can be useful but in the sixth inning of the 2020 World Series not reading the sign of the time, the Tampa Bay pitcher was destroying the Dodger lineup and did not need to be changed was the feeling for the game needed. This is our faith life too. Jesus reminds us, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?”(Lk 12:56) When we begin to track our relationship with God by how many times acts, how many prayers, how many…..you name it, we begin to make our faith robotic where we mission the passion, the forces of grace and love that surround us and pull out of the works of mercy and blessing to punch in the next thing we think we should be doing…we miss God’s whisper to focus rather on the noise of sin and destruction.

Learning to trust is learning to know the other: God, neighbor, friend or enemy. Trust is knowing who we are and how we are called to respond in graciousness. Back to baseball managers; a managers job is to know his players, to read them and understand the ups and downs, when they are on a hot-streak or suffering through a slump. God knows us in this way and He wants us to know him and others in the same way…to read the signs of the time, to have faith and to trust in the talents, the goodness and the blessings of others. “Imagine a soul so closely united to God that it has no need of outward acts to remain attentive to the inward prayer.” (Jean-Nicholas Grou) This is our act of trust.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

The joy and alleluia of last week has turned into the joy and worry of this week. The World Series is going full tilt and we are about to have indoor Sunday services in our Church for the first time since January 1st. I know the lock down began in the middle of March but with the renovation of the church building, which began at the New Year, we haven’t been in the building to celebrate for over 10 months…and we are back. (There is a big smile on my face)

But there have also been the early morning wake ups at 3:00 a.m. with the lists and things that need to be done rolling through my head and my sub-conscience like a bunch a bottles being tossed about in the trunk of the car. I usually go to my Holy Hour in the church at 5:00 a.m. each morning but it has been earlier and earlier as I place my worries, doubts and fears before Jesus and ask for his peace and mercy.
One of the things that age has taught me is: I am not in control of much in my life. I try to be in control…I work really hard at it…and my failures are long and legendary. It started when I was 17 and wanted to join the Marine Corps…I quickly found out that although I wanted to join them…they weren’t so keen on them joining me…when I was 26 and for the first time I really fell in love with a woman…I really wanted her to love me and I did some remarkably stupid stuff to prove my love and to “make her” fall in love with me…but soon realized that the falling in love stuff needed to be mutual. And when I was 38 and began to look at my life and began to be comfortable and at peace with being single, teaching 6th grade and thought, “I’ve got this” and then I made the mistake and went on a retreat where God reminded me I didn’t and showed me a more uncomfortable but more joyous way. And I don’t need to talk about baseball and the ups and downs, the joys and sadnesses that come from being a fan, all the lucky rituals you are sure will work because you only remember when they do and find new lucky socks when they don’t.

These ten months outside our worships space, these 7 plus months of pandemic, shelter-in-place and limited life stuff have been moments of out of our control. The sad part is how often I tried to control this time through creating rituals and schedules that had to be adhered to with zealot devotion where they became the “gods” I could depend on rather than the God I was called to serve. And this is where baseball saved my soul just a little bit.

When the 60 game season began, i was bummed. The National League had caved to the evil of the Designated Hitter (DH) and they talked about doubleheaders with just 7 inning games and all sorts of other crazy rules that sounded more like a beer league softball weekend than the sport I deeply and passionately love. It took a while but as I watched the games I began to feel the rhythm, I still detest the DH and many of the crazier rules never came to pass, and the feel and tension of the game once more entered my heart and I let go of the “way I wanted it to be” to the reality of “this is how it is” in my life. I will complain bitterly about the DH the rest of my life and truly hope the National League returns to real baseball next year…but I don’t get to control that aspect of my life.
This Sunday, my field of play, our beautiful worship space at St. Lucy Parish, will once more be alive…it won’t look exactly like I wish, I will still complain bitterly about certain things but the rhythm, the tension and the beauty of the Sacrifice of the Lamb, the adoration of the people and the living presence of Jesus Christ will fill us just the same…and to that we say Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
God Bless
Fr. Mark

Memories are a funny thing and how we remember things is often even stranger. This past week I had a moment of remembering. October 6th is the Memorial of Blessed Marie Rose Durocher SNJM, the founder of the Sisters of the Holy Names. It is from Holy Names College that I graduated from 31 years ago. I thanked the Sisters, on social media, for the great education, the growth in faith and the life long friendships that were fostered in my years as an undergraduate and then studying for my teaching credential. What I remember and don’t remember are often the same things just in different order.

Something else happened on the same day that reinforced this reality of memories. I was reviewing some notes and rereading Matthew Kelly’s book “Rediscover Jesus” and the chapter was #18 “Jesus on Lifestyle” he wrote, “People are a priority for God. People were made to be loved, and things were made to be used. But often we get this confused and many of the world’s problems are caused because we love things and use people…You have heard it said that the best things in life are not things. So what are the best things in life?” (p 84-85) The three things I thanked the Sisters for were not things but rather the gift of something that went beyond the material of the world and into the very heart of what it means to be a human being, a person in community, a person seen and made in a dignity that goes beyond the marketplace.
Jesus reminds us clearly in the Gospel about this priority when he told his disciples then as he tells us now, “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)
I am positive many people when they find out that my degree was in Philosophy would argue, “Of course you will say that…that is what philosophy students always say.” But I would also say one of the greatest gifts and joys (and terrors at times) was the intimate and small class size we enjoyed and endured. Sitting in a philosophy seminar with only a handful of classmates made for fun and joyous learning as well as the hope and fear that your classmates had read what was required for the day. But more importantly it brings back those three things.

Education—each class I took drew something greater out of me and helped to make me into a better person, not just by the knowledge gained but more importantly in the forming of a conscience of relationship of the line of human history that is touched by divine inspiration. Whether it was a class on metaphysics or children’s theater, each sparked a greater awareness of our common call to the good and holy.

Faith—It was there that I fell in love with the Mass. I had attended Mass before out of duty but on the campus and in chapel with the Sisters where my love for the Mass became ingrained in my soul. It was also in my greater love of scripture where I was challenged to imagine Jesus laughing with you in your trials and struggles. It was there were began to developed an adult faith in seeking God’s will in my life.

Friendship—like most people who attend university, life long friendships and often the deepest friendships are formed. More than that it was the Sisters taking a chance on a kid from Idaho with a spotty academic record, a Marine Corps Vet, and a wandering soul, and welcoming him into a school of love.
Thank you to the Holy Name Sisters.

Blessed Marie Rose Durocher…pray for us.

God bless
Fr. Mark

“From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. ”Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.”Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.” (CCC #336)

On this day, October 2, the Catholic Church celebrates our Guardian Angels. The above quote from the Catechism reminds us that from the moment our life begins we are surrounded and guarded by the angels and in particular our Guardian Angel. The place of angels in the life of the Church is very specific, beginning with their presence in both the Old Testament and of course in Jesus’ own words of teaching in the Gospels, in the New Testament and the tradition of the Church, about angels in the service of God’s creative goodness.
Let’s talk about our Guardian Angels. First and foremost…Angels exist. We are not talking about the pretty delicate figures that are often drawn in artist renderings…nor are we talking about the sweet little cherubs nakedly floating about shooting the lovelorn with arrows of desire…and we are not talking about the angels that are depicted in the movies and television programs of popular culture…we are talking about the angels created by God who surround us in grace and peace.

“St. Augustine says: “‘Angel’ is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel’: from what they are, ‘spirit’, from what they do, ‘angel.’ With their whole beings the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they “always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” they are the “mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word”” (CCC #329)

We often hear people say, “She/he is my guardian angel” of friends and family members who care for a person in a holy and grace filled manner. But once again we are not talking about that. Angels exist and I have heard many stories of mysterious encounters with strangers who show up out of no where and help in a time of need and then just as mysteriously slip away.
Sr. Maria del Rosario MESST, shared with me the story of when she and another sister were driving through the Andes Mountains and their jeep slipping off the road and was perched precariously on a steep hillside above a deep ravine when a stranger, a strong young man, shows up with a rope and pulls the jeep to safety. They thank him and as they drive off, they look back and he is gone.
Others have told stories of being injured or lost and a stranger shows up in kindness to care for them for a short while and then seems to be gone before being thanked.
I was once told a story by a young man who was in hospital with a serious injury and for days was comforted by the words, actions and presence of a nurse only to be told when he asked about her that no one knew who she was or any of the nurses fit this particular description.

An old sailor once told me that during World War II his ship was struck by a torpedo and with fire raging about him he thought he would surely die, only to have a had reach out and grab him and pull him to safety. He thanked the sailor who helped him only later realizing that he had never seen the person before in the ships company and never saw him again.
Oh, and I am positive and sure that my guardian angel has helped me get home, kept me safe and turned me from certain paths during the foolishness of my youth and certainly has guided me in my continued search for holiness and blessing today.
Angels are real….and don’t forget to thank you Guardian angels and ask for their help.
God bless
Fr. Mark

Who am I? is one of the fundamental and first questions asked by each person beginning as a little child until the moment of our earthly death. It is question that perplexes and at times causes great disturbance in our lives and at other times brings peace and quiet to the soul. Earlier this week we got an update from the genealogy service my Mom used several years ago to do her ancestry. Even then it was not surprising, my heritage is predominately Northern European, Germanic, Scandinavian, English Isles…over the years as the update this some of the percentages have changed and locations have moved, this last time they added that we are part from the upper Midwest of the United States, but the general genealogy has remained the same.
And though I consider myself German in heritage, all my ancestors to the best of our knowledge, emigrated from what is today Germany in the 19th and early 20th century, because of the history of Europe it didn’t shock me to see this mix come through the DNA service. The “Who am I?” is this way of thinking can easily be answered. But more deeply the “Who am I?” of our soul, of our deep longing to be loved and known by another is much more complicated and difficult to discover but ultimately is more satisfying to our peace and choosing to live fully and completely.

A few weeks ago I helped to lead a Mens Retreat based on the book “Fathered by God” by John Eldredge. During the retreat, hearing the reflections and sharing done by the other leaders the question of “Who am I?” loomed large. The simple but complex answer is very easy to state: I am a son of God. In truth as Christians we say this often: I am a child of God, a son a daughter of the one true God. We even continue with the truth: we are made in the image and likeness of our Father in Heaven. Because of the wounds of sin and the hurts of life we often begin to doubt the truth of who we are and how we are called to live our lives as beloved daughters and sons of God our Father.
Pope St. John Paul II in his Encyclical letter “Veritatis Splendor” shared with us the valuable insights into the truth of what it means to be a child of God. In using the story of the Rich Young Man (Mk 10:16-22) St.John Paul focuses on the growth of maturity in knowing more deeply God’s gift of life, the vocation he calls us to follow and how maturity allows us to follow freely the call to holiness. He writes, “Perfection demands that maturity in self-giving to which human freedom is called. Jesus points out to the young man that the commandments are the first and indispensable condition for having eternal life; on the other hand, for the young man to give up all he possesses and to follow the Lord is presented as an invitation: “If you wish…”. These words of Jesus reveal the particular dynamic of freedom’s growth towards maturity, and at the same time they bear witness to the fundamental relationship between freedom and divine law. Human freedom and God’s law are not in opposition; on the contrary, they appeal one to the other. The follower of Christ knows that his vocation is to freedom. “You were called to freedom, brethren” (Gal 5:13), proclaims the Apostle Paul with joy and pride. But he immediately adds: “only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another””(#17) To love someone, to become a servant to the beloved in true freedom because we leave behind the selfishness of desire and seek the fulfillment of another. The “Who am I?” is answered by the other in calling us their beloved in response to our outpouring of generous love.

This is a response of freedom in which we simply do not put on the robes of holiness in service but become united to the font of holiness in Jesus Christ. In answering, “Who am I?” St. John Paul calls us to remember, “Following Christ is not an outward imitation, since it touches man at the very depths of his being. Being a follower of Christ means becoming conformed to him who became a servant even too giving himself on the Cross (cf. Phil 2:5-8). Christ dwells by faith in the heart of the believer (cf. Eph 3:17), and thus the disciple is conformed to the Lord. This is the effect of grace, of the active presence of the Holy Spirit in us”.” (#21)
Who am I? A beloved child of God who lives in the grace, the peace and the joy of the life I am given and am called to share.
God Bless
Fr. Mark