Author: mcenter

A few weeks ago, I flew to Ireland and the flight from Newark landed in Dublin at 4.30am. Two of my nieces, Lyn and Emma, were flying back from Britain the same day so I arranged to meet them at Dublin airport. What I didn’t realize when I made this arrangement was that my flight would get in so early and their flight didn’t land until 9am. That’s right, a four and a half hour wait, for the most impatient person on the planet. My nieces were returning from a baby shower for my cousin’s daughter who was expecting her second child. The expectation and then the birth of a child is so important that family from all over help prepare for the new arrival. It is both an expectant celebration and a time for preparation.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the experience of expecting a newborn. It is not a time of passive waiting but a time that involves a lot of excited preparation and even change. As soon as a child is conceived change begins to happen in the body of the child’s mother. While it seems on the outside that this change is slow and almost, except for a bump, unperceivable, interiorly the whole of the mother’s body changes to receive and help create a new human being. Families also prepare, they buy things they think will be essential like toys, stuffed animals, Reds and Bengals gear, balloons and then stuff that is actually needed like diapers, clothing, formula, a savings account for Catholic education. They paint rooms for the baby, make the house “child-proof,” they sell the Ferrari and buy a van. They actively prepare.

The image of an expectant mother is also an image that is related to the Holy Season of Advent – in three ways. First, the Blessed Virgin Mary is heavy with child – she is carrying God’s own Son, Jesus. This is a historical fact that we celebrate every year. God sent His Son, “born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Mary and Joseph, and their families, prepared in the same way for the arrival of Jesus as we all do for our children today. Thank God Mary said yes to God or there would be no Jesus. What a difference a child can make. We celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas; the season of Advent is a time of preparation for His arrival.

Second, we prepare each year for a celebration that remembers that Jesus came, and we give thanks to God for the gift He has given us. The gift of salvation, the gift of receiving God’s grace and God’s love. All this is made possible by the birth of God’s Son at Christmas. And so, we celebrate by giving gifts to each other because this reminds us that God has given us a gift. We don’t only give gift to our family and friends at Christmas because Jesus Himself told us that when we celebrate, we should be careful to provide for the poor and the less fortunate. So, we share our joy with others, especially those in need, at Christmas.

Advent also remind us to prepare in a third way, in looking forward to the Second coming of the Lord. Jesus Himself tells us that He will come again. The next time He won’t come as a child but as a judge. Jesus also tells us how to prepare for this Second coming: He will ask us “did you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, give a drink to the thirsty, care for the widow, the orphaned, search for the lost? And if we did, He will say to us come and stand on my right, you belong to me and with me. Advent reminds us to prepare, not in a passive way but in an active way, for the Second coming of the Lord. Our life is a time of active waiting and preparing.

When I was a child growing up in Dublin, I can recall that almost every year we had a visit from Jehovah Witness missionaries. These were usually young men who were carrying out their missionary commitment which is part of their obligation as a Jehovah Witness. I guess they take the “witness” part of their belonging very seriously. It was also not unusual, when I was a child, to have the Jehovah Witnesses predict the imminent end of the world. The predictions were usually published in their newsletter “The Watchtower” and the years that the Biblical Armageddon was to happen included: 1878, 1881, 1918, 1925, 1975 and a number of years around the AD 2000 Millennium. I guess predicting the end is not a precise science.

Of course, we don’t have to look to the Jehovah Witnesses for a preoccupation with the end times. There was a great deal of concern about the imminent end of the world, or civilization as we know it, around the year 2000 AD and the millennium. Much of the concern was around the inability of computers to compute the date 2000 resulting in the crash of the economic and banking infrastructure which had become dependent on computers. Also included in the imminent crash was such as flight, the power grid, land ownership information, security information, government files and so forth. At the parish where I lived at the time a group of Catholic people moved into the neighboring rural areas, bought a farm, and dug a “shelter.” This shelter was filled with durable food stocks, beds, living areas, generators, fresh air supply equipment and the necessities of life. This was to be a safe shelter that would provide temporary life support in case civilization collapsed. I’m pretty sure that a number of people entered this shelter on the eve of the millennium and came out a few days later only to find that the world was as it was before.

Further back around 1000 AD there were also concern for the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ. Many Christians expected the end of the world, and some Catholic preachers predicted the end was coming. The same was true of many protestant reformers from the sixteenth century and beyond. The truth is that almost every age and every religion have a similar fixation with the “end times.”

The Gospel today hints at the same concern about the end times while in other places people ask directly when the end will come and what will be the signs that indicate its arrival. Jesus speaks about being ready no matter when the time comes because we never know when that will be. Jesus Himself predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the persecution of His followers. They will be thrown out of the synagogues, brought up on charges, will have to face false witness, be stoned, and killed. Nevertheless, Jesus tells His disciples that even though all these things will happen, they are not to lose focus. Instead of wondering if this is the end, or the beginning of the end, His followers are to remain steadfast in living the life He has called them to live. The disciples of Jesus are not to waste their time in speculation but in carrying out His mission to bring salvation, not destruction, to the world. Their time should not be wasted on what might happen, but it is to be spent in making good, holy, things happen. And what is it they are to make happen? The building of the Kingdom of God. Anything else, falls short of our calling, our mission, and is a waste of valuable time and resources. This is the good oil that fills the lamp so that when the Lord comes, we are ready to meet Him.

Let’s face it, we all are living in the last times. I’m sixty years old and have been a priest for thirty years. That means I have about ten good years of life left, possibly longer, but more likely, shorter. I’m living in the last times as far as my life is concerned. Soon, I will face God. Soon, I will have to give an account of my mission. I have no time to spare. For me, as Saint, Pope John Paul II said: “The future starts today not tomorrow.” I wonder if I have enough oil gathered.

Building the Kingdom is about love, loving God, and loving our neighbor. That love will be the only thing, the oil, we carry into God’s presence and that love will exist for all eternity. Love is the only treasure that will matter to God, and love will be the only treasure we will take with us to God. Focus on building the Kingdom the rest is just something that is left behind to turn into dust.

There is a charming little village in Ireland called Fore which, in Irish Folklore, has seven wonders associated with it: The Tree that will not burn, the Mill without a mill race, the Water which flows uphill, the Water which will not boil, the Monastery built on a bog, A stone lintel raised by St. Fechin’s prayers, and the Anchorite in a Stone. You can go online and look up the meaning of each of these “wonders” by typing in “The seven wonders of Fore.” However, local legend has added an eight wonder, the wall that moved.

From my unprofessional interpretation of what I have witnessed in my life it seems to me that the selfish are never satisfied. This is a general rule. It really doesn’t matter what we are seeking – the selfish person never finds fulfillment, never has enough. In marriages the selfish person turns the other person into an object or a servant to satisfy his/her needs; in seeking financial gain there is no point when a selfish person says – “it is enough”; in politics or power a selfish person always seeks their own good while promising the good of others – but rarely providing what they promise. In life the selfish person sees all others, all opportunities, all situations, all circumstances in life, as opportunities for themselves to being fulfilled, complete, the top, the best. But they never find completion or fulfillment. Much of the time they are left feeling alone, empty, abandoned and pointless – in spite of all they have. Jesus once said: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world.”

It seems to me that Jesus is always trying to get us to change our perspective and preoccupation with ourselves. Serve rather than be served, give rather than receive, forgive seventy times seven times, search and you will find, there is a general sense that we are called to live generously and that living generously will bring its own reward. Any married person can tell you that the fastest way to failure in marriage is selfishness on the part of one of the spouses. I can’t tell you how many times people have spoken to me about how they hate the place where they work as it is full of resentment, gossip, mean-spiritedness, and hostility. Generally, they are describing a place where there is no generosity or compassion, no sense of living to help the other, or a genuine sense of seeking what is best for the other. Generosity blesses a marriage, a home, a community, a place of work, a parish, a person’s life.

Jesus says that true blessing comes from caring for others first, seeking their good first, giving rather than receiving is the better path and leads to a richer life and richer rewards. What’s the point in inheriting the things of this world but being miserable because the things of this world can’t fulfill us? Seek to serve not to be served – this is the key to a truly fruitful life.

In today’s readings the prophet Isaiah tells us to seek the Lord God while He might be found. And where is God to be found, in mercy, in generosity, in forgiveness. In fact, God will grant mercy to the wicked if they turn to Him. How do we turn to the Lord, when we ourselves show mercy, forgiveness, and generosity. To reinforce the message Jesus tells the very strange parable of the workers in the vineyard. The story is not about who got paid what and if this was justice, or fairness. It is an insight into the generosity of God toward all of us. After all, who can repay God for any offense committed against Him? What would we pay, how much, for how long? It would be impossible for us and so we could never be saved. But God Himself paid the price for our redemption – He gave His Son to save His sons and daughters, His children. It’s hard to comprehend this sort of mercy, generosity, and love as the prophet Isaiah said of God: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” It seems God moves a wall, not to exclude us, but to include us. He asks us to do the same for each other. For mercy is a gift freely given, not a prize won or earned.

In her old age my grandmother had beautiful long pure white hair stretching all the way down to the back of her knees. I often stayed with her at weekends and over the holidays and every night she would sit and comb out her hair. In my childhood memory I can still picture her now combing and gathering up the long strands and pinning her hair into a bun.

My grandparents were devoted to each other and in his last years my grandmother nursed my dying granddad and was the last person with him. At that stage he was sleeping on a bed in the living room. As she climbed the stairs to go to bed, she heard him call out to her “Annie, Annie.” Her name was his last word. After his death, my grandmother went into a slow, steady decline, withdrawing into her own world. Probably Alzheimer’s or dementia. Her last few months were spent in a nursing home. The first thing they did there was cut her beautiful long hair. She died seven years after my grandfather. Interestingly, her death certificate said she died of grief – she never got over my grandfather’s death. She was completely dedicated to him.

People have a tendency to hold onto things like memories, gifts, keepsakes, tokens of love and affection or important events in our lives or the lives of our children and family. For many of us our most important relationships, and longest lasting, are the friends we made in childhood. Some of these friendships last a lifetime. Many of our homes are filled with the “stuff” of memories.

However, we can also hold onto the negative, the dark, the bad and the hurtful, painful things that have occurred in our lives. Sins and hurts that have been done to us can be life changing and life impacting. They can be so deep that they can be buried because they are too painful to remember and deal with. Things that have been done to us are not our fault, but they can still impact who we are and how we live for the whole of our lives. Sins, ours and others, can hurt and damage for a long time. 

Some sins we can remember, and we can choose to hold onto, brood over, call to mind, and refuse to allow to be healed. Today Jesus challenges us to forgive. Not always an easy thing to do considering the debt that might be owed. Jesus places this command within the context of a parable. The parable related to God the Father and the willingness of God, Our Father, to forgive the offenses committed toward Him by His children. A great debt that God is willing to forgive. While His forgiveness is not dependent on our willingness to do the same, nevertheless, the parable obviously suggests that we should be willing to forgive others because we have been forgiven ourselves. As I said, not an easy teaching.

The truth is that sin impacts lives and relationships. It impacts our relationship with God, with spouses, with children and family and friends. Sin can reach into the soul and the heart and turn them to stone, it can twist the character, it can hurt so much that our whole life is spent broken and torn apart. Not forgiving the hurt done to us is understandable but holding onto it can also impact our own happiness, growth and inner peace, which in turn impact our own lives and relationships. Sin has a long reach – and its never positive. The advice of the Son of God is: don’t hold onto it and don’t let it hold onto you.

How many times must I forgive?

In her old age my grandmother had beautiful long pure white hair stretching all the way down to the back of her knees. I often stayed with her at weekends and over the holidays and every night she would sit and comb out her hair. In my childhood memory I can still picture her now combing and gathering up the long strands and pinning her hair into a bun.

My grandparents were devoted to each other and in his last years my grandmother nursed my dying granddad and was the last person with him. At that stage he was sleeping on a bed in the living room. As she climbed the stairs to go to bed, she heard him call out to her “Annie, Annie.” Her name was his last word. After his death, my grandmother went into a slow, steady decline, withdrawing into her own world. Probably Alzheimer’s or dementia. Her last few months were spent in a nursing home. The first thing they did there was cut her beautiful long hair. She died seven years after my grandfather. Interestingly, her death certificate said she died of grief – she never got over my grandfather’s death. She was completely dedicated to him.

People have a tendency to hold onto things like memories, gifts, keepsakes, tokens of love and affection or important events in our lives or the lives of our children and family. For many of us our most important relationships, and longest lasting, are the friends we made in childhood. Some of these friendships last a lifetime. Many of our homes are filled with the “stuff” of memories.

However, we can also hold onto the negative, the dark, the bad and the hurtful, painful things that have occurred in our lives. Sins and hurts that have been done to us can be life changing and life impacting. They can be so deep that they can be buried because they are too painful to remember and deal with. Things that have been done to us are not our fault, but they can still impact who we are and how we live for the whole of our lives. Sins, ours and others, can hurt and damage for a long time. 

Some sins we can remember, and we can choose to hold onto, brood over, call to mind, and refuse to allow to be healed. Today Jesus challenges us to forgive. Not always an easy thing to do considering the debt that might be owed. Jesus places this command within the context of a parable. The parable related to God the Father and the willingness of God, Our Father, to forgive the offenses committed toward Him by His children. A great debt that God is willing to forgive. While His forgiveness is not dependent on our willingness to do the same, nevertheless, the parable obviously suggests that we should be willing to forgive others because we have been forgiven ourselves. As I said, not an easy teaching.

The truth is that sin impacts lives and relationships. It impacts our relationship with God, with spouses, with children and family and friends. Sin can reach into the soul and the heart and turn them to stone, it can twist the character, it can hurt so much that our whole life is spent broken and torn apart. Not forgiving the hurt done to us is understandable but holding onto it can also impact our own happiness, growth and inner peace, which in turn impact our own lives and relationships. Sin has a long reach – and its never positive. The advice of the Son of God is: don’t hold onto it and don’t let it hold onto you.

Effective July 1st St. Simon confessions on Mondays will be moved to 

Our Lady of Victory from 7:30-8:30.

I first arrived in the United States in the summer of 1992. I flew into Kennedy airport, NY and from there to Dayton, Ohio. I have to tell you that looking down from the sky, as we passed over vast territories, I was shocked. You see, I had in my mind an impression of what Ohio looked like. To be honest, I thought Ohio would look like the Pacific Northwest – great forests, wide and fast rivers, vast lakes, mountains, and valleys. I expected a wilderness, with occasional settlements, some cities, few roads, and fewer people. Of course, my image of the land came from James Cooper’s 1826 novel, “Last of the Mohicans.” I figured Ohio was next to Kentucky so that made sense to me.

Several things struck me when I got here: how friendly and kind the people were and how polite; how welcoming and accepting people were; how appreciative the people were; and how generous and big-hearted people were.

I realized how vast the country was when I made a trip with my parents from Dayton to the Outer Banks by car, stopping in Washington, DC overnight. I can’t believe that my dad and I could be in a car together that long and both of us survived. To give you some scale, the country of Ireland would fit into the State of Ohio, and there would still be room. In the time it takes us to travel by car from Cincinnati to Cleveland we could drive from the top of Ireland to the bottom of Ireland – if you had decent roads that is.

Another thing that struck me was that the continent of North America, and the country of the United States, is so spacious and vast. It is so vast that one single time zone is not enough to account for the passing of time in this great land. It is surrounded by oceans and has lakes as big as some seas, it has some of the highest mountains on the planet, and valleys that are as deep as mountains are high. It is a country that is comprised of people from many nations, and gives a home to peoples of every nation, language, culture, and color. It is so vast at the one moment it experiences snow and desert, tremendous heat and sub-zero cold, forests and prairies, swamps, and crystal-clear springs. It is at once new and vibrant, and at the same time, makes the past and tradition a living presence and reality. 

All of this is present, here, and now, in this one nation and in this one people.

As amazing as all this is it is not the most impressive things I have experienced in the United States.

I guess what has struck me most about the United States is the character of the people who give the nation of the United’s States, its character, its vision, and its attraction to the rest of the world.

Certainly, people are people, and there are good and bad, everywhere. It is true that many of the characteristics of the people here in the States are shared by people everywhere. Characteristics like generosity, kindness, hospitality, concern for others and for the world, a sense of pride in our culture.

Nevertheless, what I see as unique is the character of a people who absolutely and confidently believe in themselves, a people who see human value as something that is inherent and not handed down and definitely not bestowed from another as a privilege which is handed down and can be taken back. You are a people who don’t live by another’s gift, or good will, but a people who believe in your own right to freedom, self-determination, and independence. You are a people who believe that no man, or the state, or the government, no king, emperor, despot, or president, no congress or senate, has given you these rights. You are not “subjects,” rather, you are “citizens.” 

You, as a people, believe that Almighty God has bestowed on your individual freedom, and that God, not man, nor king, nor government, is the source of that freedom and freedoms. You also believe that you as individual citizens, and as the people of this nation, are the source of human authority bestowed on another, on the government, on the elected not the chosen, for the good of all. This authority is not given away, not traded for the things of this world, the patronage of the political class, the generosity of the wealthy, the promises of the elite, or the will of the powerful. Your idea of government is one that represents not rules. You believe that all people are equal, and as the Rev. Martin Luther King said, the only aristocracy in the United States should be an aristocracy of character. Character is about who we are, what we do, and how we live. 

Self-reliant, but working together, independent but willing to share everything with everyone, powerful but humble, determined, and compassionate, honest, and straightforward, lovers of peace but willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the weak and the vulnerable. This is what I have found in the character of the people I have encountered in my almost thirty years living among you in the United States.

Yet, because people are people, and not angels, we can always fall back into the old ways, and we can either hand our freedoms over, or have them taken from us, by new aristocracies. It seems to me that in 1776 a word was spoken on behalf of all freedom loving people, and all people who desired a new world and the freedom to live life as they wanted, and that word was liberty. Independence meant liberty. Liberty from the old world, the old ways, and liberty to build a new life and a new way. We have inherited that liberty and our future liberty depends on how we safeguard our liberty now, today, in this generation. I think that is what we celebrate on the 4^th of July. It means independence from all those who would steal from us our liberty. Our liberty is not preserved by the government, it is defended, protected, and guarded, and preserved in and by “we the people.”

In the Gospel Jesus asks for complete commitment from His followers. Very often it is those closest to Him who fail to recognize who He is and who sent Him. Very often familiarity breeds contempt and we can overlook the benefits we have, the blessings we have received, and the fruits that are a gift. We can also overlook the source of those gifts. We, the people, can fall into the same failing. Having been blessed for so long with so much we can forget the source of our blessings and the purpose for which God has given them. Let’s not be like the crowd and fail to recognize who has given our nation such great blessings. Let’s not fail to have every one of our citizens, all our people, share in these blessings, and let’s not fail to know that God desires us to share with others the blessings he has bestowed on us. The freedoms we cherish as a people do not come from man but for them to survive, they depend on men and women if they are  to be preserved.

“Your sea, O God, is so great, and my boat is so small.” President John F. Kennedy kept an inscribed wood carving with this old Breton prayer on his desk in the Oval Office. It was given to him by Admiral Hyman Rickover who typically gave it to new submarine captains as they began their assignment. The president quoted it when he dedicated the East Coast Memorial to the Missing at Sea on May 23, 1963. 

We have all lived through storms both actual storms that make you feel the world is coming to an end and the figurative storms of life when we feel overcome by darkness and terror and we seem to be sinking and drowning. There have been times when we have all felt that the waves of life were just going to overpower and sink us.

Just like our personal lives the same feelings can arise for communities, parishes, the archdiocese and even the Church. It can seem, at times, like the storms that beat against us, the winds that prevent us from moving forward, the waves that threaten to sink us are just too powerful and we are going to falter and sink into oblivion. And yet, after all the storms of history the Church is still here. In a storm the crew look to the captain and our captain is Jesus.

In Jesus we find our direction, our hope, our strength, our captain. In Jesus we find the one who calms storms, who settles the waves, and silences the wind. Weather in the Church, archdiocese, our parish, our homes, and especially in our own hearts, it is His voice that we should listen for because His voice calms the storms and silences the wind. Even more, His voice gives us direction, shows us the way, and provide the vision for our future. 

In our archdiocese, in our family of parishes, and in our communities, we are in the midst of a process carefully trying to discern the voice of the Lord Jesus as we look to our future. I realize that there are many mixed emotions as we move forward, anxiety, fear, impatience, excitement, I’m sure we could name the whole range of responses to what is happening in our parishes.  At the same time there is tremendous energy and goodwill exhibited in the process and that is surely a sign of the movement of the Holy Spirit.  

In the midst of the huge and expansive sea the sailors keep their eyes fixed on the heavens and the stars show them the way. Even in the darkness there is light. Jesus is our light, and we need to keep our eyes, our gaze, our vision fixed on Him if we are to find our course. After all, He is “the Way.” So, I’m asking you now to pray to the Lord, to send His Holy Spirit among us, to renew us and to establish among us the community He desires us to be. Please pray every day for the vision to build a lasting, vibrant, faithful, and exciting community of faith. Ask God to give us the courage not to do our will but to do God’s will. Whatever that might be, wherever that might lead, whatever sacrifice that might require.

Thank you again for all your do to build God’s Kingdom here in our communities. It is good to remember that while the sea can suddenly produce a storm, winds, and gales, the sea is also full of all kinds and variety of life, and Jesus loved to be on and near the sea. The sea held no fear for Him, and it shouldn’t hold any fear for us as Jesus is master of the sea and all it contains.

What is Christ Renews His Parish/Welcome?
Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP, pronounced “Chirp”)/Welcome is a Spiritual Renewal Weekend designed to help individuals grow in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to bring members of a parish together in Christ. CRHP/Welcome is an excellent opportunity for Catholics to renew their understanding of the basic beliefs and traditions of their faith.
 
The Weekend Retreat for Mary, Queen of All Saints Parish Family

During the weekend you will listen to parishioners who have volunteered to give a personal witness to the power of Jesus Christ in their lives. Group discussions and responses follow each presentation. You’ll be free to share as much or as little as you feel comfortable. There will be readings of scripture, time for prayer, and time set aside for personal reflection. You and your needs will always be respected.
Sacraments are an integral part of the weekend. There will be an opportunity to go to confession and the weekend will include a private Mass. All experiences shared on the weekend are confidential, unless otherwise expressed by the participants.
 
When/Where/Who?
One weekend for men (3rd weekend in February) and one weekend for women (3rd weekend in September) will take place each year.

CRHP/Welcome is open to all adult parishioners of Mary, Queen of All Saints Parish Family.

The weekend begins Saturday morning and ends Sunday afternoon. The weekend sessions are conducted at St. Simon’s Campus, in Plagge Hall and Main Church.

The CRHP/Welcome weekend is conducted by a team made up of parishioners who have
attended previous weekends and gone through a year of formation following the retreat.
 
Cost/Meals/Sleep
The renewal weekend is a gift from the presenting team and the parish. There is no cost to you. All meals are generously provided by parish volunteers. There will be regular breaks with coffee, soft drinks, and snacks. We will do our best to accommodate dietary needs.
Sleeping accommodations are in the Plagge Hall meeting rooms and classrooms. Cots are provided. You are asked to bring your own sleeping bag or sheets and pillow, along with your own towel, soap, and other toiletries that you might need. We will extend every effort to ensure your comfort.
Though we recommend spending the night for the full retreat experience, you may commute to and from each day of the retreat if you prefer to sleep at home.   What happens after the CRHP/Welcome Weekend? The uniqueness of CRHP/Welcome is in its continuation. Participants are usually so inspired, so renewed, so uplifted, that they are anxious to share their faith experience with others from their parish. Participants have the opportunity to begin planning the next renewal weekend soon after they complete their own, if they desire. They become the “new team.” During this “Formation” time, even greater spiritual growth occurs. The transition between attending a weekend and leading a weekend takes place over a 12-month formation period. Typically 1-2 meetings per month.
 
For More Information
Call Susan Meyer at 513-706-9950 or Deacon Mark Machuga at 513-922-4460 Ext. 8895 to find out more or to sign up for a renewal weekend.

There is just a year and a month between my brother David and myself. I was born on 14^th January 1964, and he was born on 16 February 1965. As we grew up as children we were as close as brothers can be but at the same time we would fight, argue, tease, and annoy each other. It seems, one afternoon, while playing on the street in front of our house we got into a brawl. We were probably eight or nine at the time. This wasn’t unusual but on this occasion my mother heard a neighbor lady exclaim, while leaning out from her upstairs window: “isn’t that terrible, brothers fighting!” Now, her own sons were no saints, but hearing this really annoyed my mother. At that moment another neighbor, Mr. Flynn, happened to be passing, and my mother called out to him: “Pat, grab those two will you!” At which point Mr. Flynn grabbed both of us by the shirt collar, pulled us apart, and delivered us to our mother.

The truth is that on our street, a street of about 70 houses, 70 families, we were never like “sheep without a shepherd.” In fact, every parent, 140 people all considered themselves responsible, in some way, for every child. On that street every child knew the name of every other child and every adult. More importantly, every adult knew the name of every other adult and every child. Everyone was a shepherd, not only for their own flock, but for the entire flock.

Jesus looked at the crowd and He was “moved with pity, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” He turns to his apostles and appoints them to be shepherds for the crowd. Not just shepherds but shepherds after His own heart, shepherds like Him. The apostles are then named, listed, identified, so all can know who the shepherds are. They are identifiable, Jesus points them out, they are assigned a task and the sheep know their names. Pope Francis would say that they know the smell of the shepherds, they are that close to them.

In my youth I would have known, and identified easily, who these shepherds were: they were the pope, the bishops, the parish priest. They were the successors of the apostles, and they led the flock of the Lord. To paraphrase St. Paul, now that I am an old man, I see things differently, I see things more from experience, more from the heart of a life lived. I still believe that the pope, bishops, and even priests (God help us), are shepherds, important shepherds, and while they have a God given mission to lead and care for the sheep, they are probably not the most important shepherds. Maybe it would be better to say they are not the most intimate shepherds.

Everyday of my life I have experiences the love, affection, care, sacrifice and even the discipline of shepherds. Certainly, my parents, who gave me life, who nurtured me, cared for me, loved me, healed me, supported me, and so much more. I also experienced this sort of shepherd in my brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, family, friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, the community I was raised in and the people I knew. I see this sort of shepherd in my brothers and sisters now that they are parents, in my nieces and nephews. I also see it everyday here in our parishes, our families, our schools, on the playing fields, in the gym, in the care and compassion that expresses itself every day in so many ways, so many places, so many kindnesses, so much charity, love, generosity, and sacrifice. Everywhere, every day, I see shepherds caring for their own sheep, and for other people’s sheep, and lambs. I’m fortunate, because seeing this helps me realize that we are all called to be shepherds, and I see their wonderful work every day. I am fortunate because I can appreciate what God is doing – in you and through you.

Thank you for all you do to care for the Lord’s sheep, and lambs.

According to Saint Paul God sent His Son Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). A sin is a serious offence against God. Yet it was while we were sinners that God sent His Son. Sometimes it’s hard enough to love a friend, a family member, even a son or daughter, husband or wife even when they have done nothing to offend us, but it is especially hard to love when they have hurt us, failed us, abandoned or betrayed us. We could say that they “sinned” against us. It can be hard, and it can take a long time, to over come some of the deep hurts that we inflict on each other.

Yet, while we were still sinners God sent His only, His beloved Son, to show us how much, how deeply, how completely, our Father loves us. He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. In all He said and did Jesus shows us the depth of the Father’s love. In His preaching and teaching, in feeding the hungry, healing the sick, raising the dead, showing compassion to the sinner and searching for the lost, in suffering and in dying – for us sinners – Jesus shows the extent of the Father’s love for His children. God’s love forgives. 

Love can be romantic, and passionate, joyous and tender, but it is also strong, committed, it is a willingness to suffer for the sake of another. Love is willing to make sacrifices because it seeks what is good, and compassionate, and holy, and to spend our energy and our life doing what is necessary for the one we love. But it seems to me that as well as doing good for others the hardest and strongest part of love is that – love forgives. To love one another as Jesus loves us: I wonder what does that love look like in our lives? 

The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross enabled us to receive God’s grace because God was willing to forgive. What healing grace can be released in our lives, and in the lives of our family and friends, if we dare to love each other as Jesus and the Father love us.

A Word of Thanks

I want to thank all those who have helped us to celebrate Easter and the Easter Season with such grace and beauty. Because it all seems to happen around us it can look so effortless, but the truth is, many people work very hard to make our worship of God wonderful faith filled liturgies and parish celebrations. Thanks to all those who served, read, decorated the churches, distributed Holy Communion, prepared bulletins and programs, thanks to the deacons and priests for leading our liturgies, thanks to our instructors and teachers for prepared RCIA candidates and catechumens, our children for confirmation and First Holy Communion, thanks to the grounds keepers and those who set up the paschal fires, thanks to our musicians and cantors. Thanks to all who contributed to our bottom line. Thanks to all of you for your commitment to God, His Church, and our parishes. Things don’t just happen, people make them happen, and you make great things happen in our lives, homes, schools, and communities. God Bless you for all you do. God won’t overlook and God won’t forget.

Fr. Ben