Thoughts From Fr. Mark

Advent Reflections 2023

Advent Reflections for 2023 Week 3 calls for us to rejoice in the Lord.

Advent Reflection with the Little Blue Book guiding us.

Thank you for viewing these videos and enjoying some scribbling about our Advent and Christmas time.

“Pope Benedict explores this question in his books, Jesus of Nazareth in the chapter “The Lord’s, Prayer”, where he comments on the second-to-last petition: “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Benedict asserts straight away that forgiveness is not a cheap gift. After all, “guilt is a reality, and objective force”, and hence it has real affects, real consequences: it “causes damage that must be repaired”. A vow is broken, a reputation ruined, a body ravaged, a life taken. “For this reason,” says Benedict, “forgiveness must be more than a matter of ignoring of merely trying to forget.” The baneful effects of sin and guilt “must be worked through, healed, and thus overcome”. (201–202, from Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology
by Margaret M. Turek S.T.D.)

When I began my journey in Worldwide Marriage Encounter, I would often in my time of dialogue with couples have trouble focusing on the one feeling I was trying to get at. The married couple I was speaking with would often note that I began with a very specific feeling but as I began sharing I would often end with a completely different and sometimes opposite feeling being described.
Knowing where we are going and finding our way to our destinations, both on our earthly journey and our heavenly one is so important. But we also know we will stumble and fail at times. Missing a turn or exit often happens. If we respond by some rash action or unsafe driving movement we not only put ourselves in danger but also the many other drivers and passengers around us. Rather, it must be “worked through”. Maybe our map system will tell us the quickest way to correct our error or we will find a different route, but ultimately the damage of the error is corrected with he consequences of a little more time on the road and perhaps being late for an appointment.

This is often how sin enters our lives…not in a malicious fashion…but in neglect and not paying attention by keeping our eyes on the roadmap of life. Sometimes the error is quickly dealt with or it may take much time and effort to turn life around. And, like in my Marriage Encounter dialogue, it can bring us to places of healing and understand in surprising ways. For if we ignore the sin, then we will continue driving further and further away from our true destination and the effects of the sin will be left in the rearview mirror where lives are damaged and hurts are lift unhealed. But being attentive and seeking to return to the way of our true destination brings us to the place we belong..a life of unity and love.
God Bless and drive safely,
Fr. Mark

Parish joys and blessings….St. Peter Claver, St. Arnold of Soission and That Man is you We must speak to them with our hands by giving, before we try to speak to them with our lips. St. Peter Claver “From man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world.” Saint Arnold patron saint of Brewers    • TMIY – Worthy of the Call   (That Man is You video)

From the sermon of St. Augustine, ” I tell you again and again, my brethren, that in the Lord’s garden are to be found not only the roses of the martyrs. In it there are also the lilies of the virgins, the ivy of wedded couples, and the violets of widows. On no account may any class of people despair, thinking that God has not called them. Christ sufferred for all. What the Scriptures say of him is true: He desires all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.

“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. ” Luke 6:12

Exhausted and Exhilarated was how I describe myself on Monday morning after a weekend where we, as a parish community, shared our call to become Eucharistic People and it is the way I felt after the following Sunday’s Masses the following week as we celebrated the Sacrament of Anointing and Baptism at the 10:00 a.m., the 12:30 p.m. Mass and then a final Baptism in the early afternoon after the Mass. What a true and wonderful blessing to be exhausted and exhilarated.

God shows us so many wonderful blessings in our lives and yet we often miss them until they hit us in the forehead like a 2×4.
Gratitude and thanksgiving are so very important in our lives. God made each of us to be thankful and express this thankfulness in praise and worship, in other words in making our lives centered on prayer. It is where we pause to take time to honor what is good and holy in our lives, it is a time were we also see God’s face in the difficulty and hurts surrounding us in moments of struggle. In both cases the taking of time allows our hearts to be open to others who will both celebrate with us and will also embrace us with comfort and love.

The gratitude and thanksgiving of being exhausted after a long day of interaction, and for an introvert the is doubly true, can darken the moment. I can remember my very first Christmas as a priest when on Christmas afternoon, as I dropped onto the bed in true exhaustion, how at rest my whole body began to shake. I was exhausted beyond belief. Or the first time, after a weekend as the presenting priest for Worldwide Marriage Encounter, how I got home and didn’t want to interact with any one and just wanted to be alone. And I could name a thousand other times….but…what was also most clear to me at that moment was in prayer, sitting down to the the Liturgy of the Hours, or in praying the Rosary, how I began to recall and give thanks for what had just happened and how in prayer I began to look forward again, not in exhaustion but the the exhilarating hopefulness of the next time, the future of blessing and the grace shared and given by the presence of God in the holy and broken people our Church is called to serve.

It is the exhausted I feel after spending time praying with a family in the hospital or in preparing and living through the time after the death of a loved one. It is the exhausted of listening to and sharing stories of pain and suffering with couples and individuals in marriages that are struggling or those in the single state having difficult times. But the exhilaration is also present when entering into prayer where we understand we are not alone and where a small but real ray of hope breaks into the darkness of suffering and pain.
I can only imagine this is what many parents feel on a daily basis as they live the exhausted and exhilarated life of blessings. It is the feelings we all have in our human experience of living a full life. Living a life of prayer is the opening of our life to grace and the future of gratitude and hope.

Three little suggestions
Make a gratitude journal where each night (or morning) you write one or two things you are grateful for or blessing you received that day.
Take time to thank God for these blessings and thank other people, like a spouse, parent, sibling, friend, co-worker or stranger…it will do the spirit good and is a wonderful form of prayer.
Lastly, read a good Catholic book on joy and gratitude….you might start with “A Moment’s Pause for Gratitude: Enrich Your Life with a Focus on Gratitude” by Kevin Carroll
God bless
Fr. Mark

“Behold the Lamb of God, Behold God Himself! Adore Him!.” “If you have this Eucharistic spirit, if your thoughts are tuned continually toward the Eucharist, the presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament will never leave you.” St. Peter Julian Eymard

Eucharistic Revival