Thoughts From Fr. Mark

We are now into the sixth month of the shelter-in-place/quarantine/lock-down/selective restrictions….or whatever we are calling it today. We, as a Catholic Church, have gone from live-streaming Mass, to small outdoor gatherings, to larger outdoor gatherings (but no singing) to holding the status quo (and now singing) for the last few months. It is frustrating, confusing and aggravating depending on what hour of the day it may be right now. What is a Christian to do?

Pray, persevere and hope with actions faith, mercy and trust seem at times to be the only answer. Yet, I know that God has prepared us for these difficult and confusing times. Why do I say that? Simple, just over a year ago…and how long that seems at this point…the Spanish speaking community of the Catholic Church celebrated and worked through the “V Encuentro: Creating a Culture of Encounter” as a national movement in following Pope Francis’ call to go to the peripheries to seek out the lost, the forgotten, the broken and abandoned of our Church and society. Where we are invited to bring Jesus and encounter Jesus in these moments of joining together in service and prayer with our brothers and sisters.
There are four simple objectives laid out by the V Encuentro (the fifth Encounter) document in which many of our St. Lucy parishioners and Catholics throughout our diocese, state and country participated. This is the preparation God shared with us and here are those four objective

1. Promote a vision of the Church in mission that invites, engages and forms….
2. Provide a process of faith sharing and missionary activity…
3. Call all Catholics…to become authentic and joyful missionary disciples…
4. Invite all Catholic leaders to engage and accompany the most vulnerable… We might then ask in this time and place: Who are those on the periphery? Each one of us could be the answer to the questions. Many people are feeling abandoned by God asking he question of why He would let this happen. Some may feel abandoned by the Church leadership, their bishops and priests, sharing both anger and guilt in not being able to receive the Sacraments or help with the difficult life problems the pandemic has forced upon each of us. Some may feel left alone and forgotten by family and friends with the pain of isolation and anxiety growing daily. Other may, in loosing their employment or even working reduced hours, have pressed upon them the fear of loosing housing, paying for food and other necessities that were never worries before. The list could go on and on but many of us have felt this reality of being pushed out and left alone wondering what to do next and how to move forward. Or in other words as people of faith…Where is God in all of this? How do I know God is with me?

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God is with me…He truly is I promise. God calls all of us into a relationship of love. We are all on the periphery in one way or another and we must seek God here…not in the dream of somewhere else. In honesty, I don’t know how to do church right now, I am out of my comfort zone with all the new things that are throw at us daily. But, I do know how to do Church because it begins with an encounter. Perhaps it isn’t in a full church building like we are comfortable with but the encounter becomes the little church of the family, friends and strangers who invite us in to seek a deeper relationships, an encounter with God who is with us.
God desires me…On Thursday St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians at daily Mass tells us, “But by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace to me has not been ineffective.” (1 Cor 15:10) The Father sees me as lovable and wants me and each of his children to share this love with others. The gifts and talents we each have are strengthened by abundant grace God pours out upon us throughout our lives. When I share these gifts in abundance, in the stewardship of life, then the isolation ceases because we are surrounded by true blessings in recognizing Jesus in each one of us.
God searches for me…We can run away from the encounter thinking it is too hard and painful to move forward. We can scream, pout, cry and curse but our Heavenly Father continues to search for each of us by name. God never tires of loving each of us and we discover that love when we search out the blessings of life in each other.
Life is good…it is possible, so let us pray, persevere and hope with actions faith, mercy and trust seem at times to be the only answer.
As I write this I hear the encounter going forward as our pre-school “Little Lightening” children at our parish school are out playing, singing, squealing with joy to the glory of God. This is the encounter with God we are all called to share…to go out and share the joy of blessing and the hope of love with one person and then do it again.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in the morning sailors take warning. As a marine, I never listened closely to this little rhyme but this week, in the oddness that was our weather in the Bay Area I thought about it and wondered what they would say if it was a “Red sky all day…what do we say?” We have had an awful fire season in California and I know much of the West Coast is now, as we pass into the middle of September, suffering from the same burning the loss of property, homes with so many wonderful memories, the death of loved ones, the stress on families that has been piled upon the pandemic restrictions it feels like we seem to be left with very little to put our hope. (Don’t forget God)

Many people have been joking, as have I, about the end of the world…a zombie apocalypse…or just a general apocalypse…a dinosaur extinction moment…or the second coming but we believe, ”Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” (Mt 24:42) (Don’t forget God)
In LL seriousness though, the idea of the end of the world, the second coming is an important part of our Christian faith. The Last Four Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell are very real and are something we should be aware of and preparing for in our daily lives so that when the hour and day comes we are prepared to stand in front of the cross of salvation. In truth, most people don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about death, let alone judgement. We may like to contemplate the wonder of Heaven but certainly are not ready to talk about the possibility of Hell in our own lives and this being a destination we wish to head. (Don’t forget God)

I was once challenged and at times challenge others with the question: Are you ready to die? Most of the time there is a horrified look in the persons eye with the immediate response of NO! But here is the qualifier…”Are you ready to die?” and “Do you want to die today?” are two completely different questions. I know I have written about this before but to contemplate ones own death is to remember our true destination is to be with God and that as mortal beings we will all one day die. We cannot escape this. It is how we were created. (Don’t forget God)
In taking time with the four last things we are compelled to look at our lives and how we are living them. Are we avoiding certain things because they are too hard even though we know they are the right thing to do? Are we knowingly acting in ways that are sinful, hurtful and damaging to our relationship with God and those around us? Because in asking the question…are we ready?… we should, if we believe in a just and merciful God, turn to what we should be doing and turn away from what we shouldn’t be doing and be ready. (Don’t forget God)

At a parish mission many years ago, the priest giving the mission reminded us all that God is not the big marshmallow god many people hope that he is…know matter what we do he giggles and lets us continue…rather He is a just and merciful God who judges us at the hour of our death. As a young man, at the time and until today, this has made a great impression on me and how I think of death. I don’t sit around all day in deep contemplation but surely when I do my examination of conscience each night it come back to me again and again. As a priest when I pray Night Prayer the closing prayer is a very simple line…”May the all powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death. Amen” (Don’t forget God)
God Bless
Fr. Mark

On this anniversary of 9/11 we once more pray for peace in our world and perhaps contemplating our death will lead us to understand and grow in love towards the victims, perpetrators and those whose lives have been so affected over the intervening years. Pray for peace.

On Tuesday, September 1 our Holy Father, Pope Francis began a month long prayer and action vigil for the Care of Creation. We are asked to take time in prayer of thanksgiving and hope for our world and our use of the resources of the world in care for creation. It is a reminder of our gift of stewardship for God’s creation that was given to Adam and Eve and has been passed on to us and we are called to pass on to those who follow us.
I will freely admit that growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in rural Idaho the care of creation wasn’t always on my mind. The world seemed so abundant and vast that the interconnectedness of the worlds ecosystems was beyond my imagination. Like many of us, I have been invited to grow in this understanding of how we can both utilize and care for creation that allows the health of all God’s creation, that includes you and me, to grow and flourish.

From his message, Pope Francis writes, “We are invited to remember above all that creation’s ultimate destiny is to enter into God’s eternal Sabbath. This journey, however, takes place in time, spanning the seven-day rhythm of the week, the cycle of seven years, and the great Jubilee Year that goes at the end of the seven Sabbath years.” (Pope Francis) We are called to remember that we live in a connected reality of creation that spans millions of years and how the rhythm of life touches all of God’s wonders in love and hopefulness. We participate with God in His creation and join with God in giving thanks and caring for all that has been given. Just like at the beginning of each Mass we are called to reflect on our need for conversion, the reconciling our faults in preparation of encountering God, Pope Francis reminds us of the need, to also grow in conversion as we recognize the harm we may have done to the world and seek ways to change in caring for creation.
Later Pope Francis writes, “A Jubilee is a time to return to God our loving Creator. We cannot live in harmony with creation if we are no at peace with he Creator who is the source and origin of all things. As Pope Benedict observed, “The brutal consumption of creation begins where God is missing, where matter has become simply material for us, where we ourselves are the ultimate measure, where everything is simply our property.” (Pope Francis) Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI recognize, as do all the faithful, if you forget the gift of creation that comes from God, then it becomes something that is

disposable and only good for utilitarian purposes. It removes creation from a culture of life and finally places us into the situation where human life becomes a burden rather than a blessings and the destruction of life is seen as a solution where a culture of death reigns.
There is hope in seeking a fuller understanding, “In some ways, the current pandemic has led us to rediscover simpler and sustainable lifestyles. The crisis, in a sense, has given us a chance to develop new ways of living. Already we can see how the earth can recover if we allow it to rest: the air becomes cleaner, the waters clearer, and animals have returned to many places from where they had previously disappeared.” (Pope Francis) With fewer cars on the road, the simplification of many things we do has helped, but like a diet or a change of habit it is often very easy to return to the old ways once the opportunity happens. In addition we also recognize the hurt and destruction this pandemic has inflicted on many of our sisters and brothers. And there is hope. Even in this time of turmoil in our country, the willingness to confront the need for conversion grows in the hearts of many. And this is the most difficult part because it must be done with goodwill and the idea of the common good where the demonization of another is left behind and the recognition of the dignity of all people is brought forward in the unity of hope.

Returning to the reality of a Jubilee, we are not alone nor are we isolated in time from God and His creation, rather we are together as one family in the act of creative goodness that can only come from God. Let us pray for a greater respect of life in God’s creation as we care for our common home.
“Let us all rejoice that our loving Creator sustains our humble efforts to care for the earth which is also God’s home where his Word “became flesh and lived among us: (Jn 1:14) and which is constantly being renewed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.” (Pope Francis)

God Bless
Fr. Mark

The quotes come from the Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation September 1, 2020.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Gal 5:22-23)

I was stuck between writing today about the Book of Job or the Letter the Galatians. My sunnier side won the day so I will write another time about the “woe is me” and talk more about living within the providence of God’s love. Time is such a funny thing for many of us. We live by time, we relax, rush, work and sleep by time. We look at the clock impatiently for it to move more quickly and we fret when the hours seem to slip by too rapidly to finish a project or when fun is happening. We know and want patience in our lives and yet we never wish to practice it when the time comes when it is most needed.
And then the world chooses to conspire against you in the time we have. This past week has been rough. We continue to be limited by what we can do as a Church by the ongoing pandemic and then the fires came to the Bay Area and this limited us even further in our ability to serve, gather and do the normal activities that are keeping us just a little bit sane. (Yes, there is a little “woe is me”) We had to cancel some outdoor Masses over the weekend as the air quality reached a level that was unhealthy.
As I have written before, my priest retreat took place the week before the lockdown began and during the retreat I focused in prayer on the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. I have continue to sit with the Holy Spirit over these past months seeking to be filled with God’s gifts of the Spirit and water and cultivate the fruits promised. Sitting with the Holy Spirit isn’t always a fun thing to do…He pushes you to move, to unstick yourself from whatever it is you are struggling with in your spiritual life (or in life in general) On Sunday morning I sat there uncomfortable. I was asking why all this pushing, prodding when I was seeking the patience to endure another setback, another wrinkle, another frustration in our journey back to being Church in a normal manner. And then I was given this word, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” (Jn 16:13) The small reflection I was reading reminded me of two very important things…First: Patience isn’t just about what is around you but also with who you are. Second; Patience is not about just waiting but it is about trusting.
It is about trusting in the Spirit to guide you on the path of faith, hope and love and if you are seeking the Spirit’s guidance by opening you mind and heart, hearing the voice of the Church, placing yourself within the community than you must move, you must get unstuck, you must be blown by the breath of Divine Love into the place God desires you to be.

That’s the easy part because with practice it becomes more natural…what’s the hard part? Well it is waiting and working through all the missteps and failures…all the sin…to come to the place of peace and joy.
We are still in the middle of all of this and the decisions we make as individuals, families and Church can often look like a disaster is surrounding us and the hazy smoke filled air chokes are breath, but sitting with the Holy Spirit, trusting in the goodness of God helps us to move forward even when the way is not clear and the path not straight. It is as individuals, families and Church we are able to see more clearly because we are surrounded by saints…or at least saints in progress.
Please pray for your Bishops, your priests, religious sisters and the lay leaders of our Church to have the confidence to sit with the Holy Spirit and tastes the fruits promised.
God bless
Fr. Mark

The reflection booklet is “Daily Meditations with the Holy Spirit” by Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv.

Some Marriage talk…

A Parent Who Prays by Katie Warner Self-Awareness—What makes us, us? Knowing our self takes time of contemplation and trust in God unique gifts given and shared, not to separate but to unite in a connectedness. Some of these thoughts come form “Discipleship Parenting” by Kim Cameron-Smith

A Parent Who Prays by Katie Warner Goodness, a sign of seeking the better and knowing the better in each other. Goodness grows in relationship and trust in who we are and what we say a do.

Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”

A couple of weeks ago, I reflected on the role of the family in the passing on of the faith to our children and how the Church is called to support this role. Pope St. John Paul II very early on, as one of his first Apostolic Exhortations “Familiaris Consortio” (On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World) wrote about how important the family was to God’s plan for salvation but also for the growth in goodness and holiness in the world.

I love my family deeply and am always filled with joy and gratitude in remembering how my parents helped to pass on our Catholic faith…imperfectly at times…and yes not always with joy…but in a manner where the love of God seemed to underly our actions. And while we did attend our catechism classes and go to Sunday Mass without fail we also were surrounded in the home and extended family with a culture and trust in God. I can remember how as a little boy I would watch Dad take a handful of soil and look at it, feel it and trust the seeds to be planted would be nourished by the rain and sun needed. It takes faith to be a farmer. It is something I am always amazed at and still find myself in awe of when speaking to friends and family who still farm.
St. John Paul II understood this aspect of faith and the great trust needed for the Church to take the soil of faith hand it on to the family to nurture, plant and grow thirty, sixty or a hundredfold. (Mt 13:8)
If the mission of the Church is to bear great fruit, to become the abundant harvest then, as St. John Paul II writes, “The Christian family is called upon to take part actively and responsibly in the mission of the Church in a way that is original and specific, by placing itself, in what it is and what it does as an “intimate community of life and love,” at the service of the Church and of society. (#50) The family must be a place where acts of charity, works of mercy and bonds of love are forged and strengthen through the daily blessing of a living faith founded on prayer infused in all moments of our family life.
Conforming our lives to Jesus’ witness to love we share in the mission of salvation of souls, “As a sharer in the life and mission of the Church, which listens to the word of God with reverence and proclaims it confidently, the Christian family fulfills its prophetic role by welcoming and announcing the word of God: it thus becomes more and more each day a believing and evangelizing community” (#51) Following this teaching, Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that evangelization must first begin in the home before it will succeed elsewhere. It is a challenge of listening to the doubts and fears of each other, especially our children and most especially those who have fallen away from the practice of the faith. It is being open to life in the trust and blessing of God’s goodness where choosing to speak about God’s love and mercy becomes part of our everyday language, not as preaching but as living word.

“To the extent in which the Christian family accepts the Gospel and matures in faith, it becomes an evangelizing community. Let us listen again to Paul VI: “The family, like the Church, ought to be a place where the Gospel is transmitted and from which the Gospel radiates. … The parents not only communicate the Gospel to their children, but from their children they can themselves receive the same Gospel as deeply lived by them. And such a family becomes the evangelizer of many other families, and of the neighborhood of which it forms part (#52) Our homes as true domestic churches become havens of life and joy. During this time when many of us are more isolated and alone than is natural, radiating this love is more difficult and yet the rhythm of our lives surrounded by the liturgical gifts of our faith help us to understand God’s will of being workers in the vineyard.
St. John Paul II reminds us the virtue of Christian parenting isn’t something beyond our ability, it is simply and intentionally remembering to recognize Jesus in one another. “The ministry of evangelization carried out by Christian parents is original and irreplaceable. It assumes the characteristics typical of family life itself, which should be interwoven with love, simplicity, practicality and daily witness.” (#53) We are all called to witness daily and it begins with a simple “AMEN.”
God bless
Fr. Mark

This week our Church celebrated the Feast of St. Clare, the co-patroness of our Diocese (San Jose). A disciple of St. Francis of Assisi she was the founder of the Poor Clare Sisters. (A little internet research shows there are four different branches) In the Diocese of San Jose we have one of their houses Poor Clare Colettines of Immaculate Heart Monastery located in the Los Altos Hills. One of the most famous St. Clare stories her repelling the soldiers assaulting the city by raising the ciborium containing the Blessed Sacrament and immediately the soldiers fled and retreated from the city. Her trust in the power of the Blessed Sacrament, the real presence of Jesus was not just shown that evening but was a constant in her life of prayer and devotion.

In remembering St. Clare I am reminded of the prayer for Venerable Pablo Maria Guzman’s where we pray, “with absolute confidence in the power of the Eucharist in all circumstances of his life” Why am I talking about these two holy and wonderful followers of Jesus Christ? First and foremost it is the belief, trust and love of Jesus Christ and their hope in a world that is more and more reflective of Jesus’ call to holiness. But with that is the reminder of the times and difficulties both St. Clare and Venerable Pablo Maria lived in during their lives. They were surrounded by wars, violence, turbulent riots, protests, persecutions and the silencing of voices. Does this sound familiar? Caught in the struggle for power each of these holy disciples focussed on Jesus and brought others closer to Him by their examples of a holy life. In many ways we too are caught in this same struggle: St. Clare with warfare and the laxity of faith and Venerable Pablo Maria living through the persecutions of the Catholic Church in Mexico through much of his life. We too must be like them and turn our focus towards our Lord who will lead and guide us through these times.
What can we do? The simple answer, as you know if you have read me before, is prayer. In fact it is the only answer because it is the example of Jesus in his own life on earth. Especially during this time when we are restricted from full worship, where are gatherings are limited and even the joyful noise of song has been taken from our mouths, the coming to the Eucharist, both in presence and in spiritual communion is the foundation of how we are called to be with God and the Church to become the agents of change in the hope of a world founded on God’s love.

Practically speaking it is remembering and refocusing our daily lives. As we hear during this time of quarantine, shelter-in-place and restrictions has born much fruit in many families and individuals but we also know the pain and suffering and the hurt that is a reality to many of our sisters and brothers. Like St. Clare and Venerable Pablo Maria, our prayers, our refocussing on the Eucharistic love God pours out upon does, will not end the craziness and suffering of our time, just as it did not take away the violence of war and persecution in their time. But it does begin to draw us and others closer to a place where the lion will lie with the lamb, rather than the acts of violence and voices of hatred screamed toward the other. It does mean our passions will be directed towards the virtues of Christian witness and the call to conversion in Jesus Christ and to be turned from destruction and the cancelling of life. It will mean the peace Jesus offers will reign in our hearts where we are then able to love our neighbor, even when it is hard, because we see the world as a place grace and abundance in God’s divine providence.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

I would encourage everyone to read and learn more about St. Clare and her remarkable life on formed.org

https://watch.formed.org/carousel/videos/formed-now-st-clare-of-assisi

https://watch.formed.org/clare-and-francis

If you are a young woman who feels drawn to a life of prayer and service I would encourage you to talk to the Poor Clare’s or other religious congregations. If you don’t know where to look, give me a call and I will help you.

https://cloisteredlife.com/directory/los-altos-hills

A Parent Who Prays by Katie Warner Independence…How do help our children grow into independent adults capable of making moral decisions? How do we learn to listen and ask questions that help to form a conscience called to holiness?