Walker's Wanderings

When is Easter this year?????

2011-04-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

[In an article in The Christian Century, history professor Steve Ware asks the question, “When Is Easter this year?”

For those of you who didn’t learn this in confirmation class, the date of Easter corresponds to the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Seriously!?

In his article, Ware explains how this came to be. Here’s the short version of the story: In 325 A.D., Constantine, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, convened the Council of Nicea. Among the business before the council was to establish a uniform date for Easter. Out of the discussion and debate came the “Easter Rule,” setting Easter, as I said, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. As is often the case with church councils, the decision was not unanimous. The Eastern bishops wanted to schedule Easter in conjunction with the Jewish Festival of Passover since, after all, Jesus went to Jerusalem, in the first place, to celebrate Passover. The Western bishops preferred a date corresponding with the beginning of spring, because that was the time already established for a lot of pagan celebrations, and they figured to capitalize on the momentum. This is why, to this day, we have such things as the Easter Bunny and colored eggs associated with Easter. Well, on this, and other issues, the church eventually split. To this day, we, who are descendents of the Western line of Christendom, use a different calendar than the Eastern Orthodox churches. Sometimes our celebration of Easter falls on the same day, and sometimes it varies by as much as five weeks!]

So when is Easter this year? Easter always comes as a surprise to us. Just as Mary and the other women were surprised at the empty tomb, God surprises us with Easter when we least expect it. Some of us may be dealing with the news of a loss of a job, or having to move, or bad news from the doctor, or the words “I don’t love you any more!”, or deployment, or a host of other crucifixions that we may be dealing with. Easter happens when God surprises us with hope and joy even in the most difficult of all circumstances. Easter happens when we see that we are loved more by God even when we feel dirty and unloved. Easter happens when we know God’s forgiveness and peace. The light at the end of the tunnel is when Easter happens. Easter happens when we realize that Christ really does feed us with His life at Eucharist. Easter happens each time that we are encouraged to pray “Oh Lord! I am not worthy!”

Let us each be open to Easter every time it comes to us this year!

Paz,
Fr. Chuck

2011-03-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

It’s Final Four time! Most of the “talking heads”, including our President, had mostly the number one seeds advancing to Houston. However, as we all know, none of the “best” seeded teams are in. Not even a number two seeded team made it for a chance to play for college basketball’s ultimate title.

I think it is hilarious that Virginia Commonwealth is one of the four teams. On the evening of Selection Sunday, the expert commentators were offended that they were even in the tournament at all. They railed against the selection committee for even considering them as worthy to play at all. Their resumes were not nearly as good as many of the other teams that were not chosen. They had no wins against quality opponents. Their league was weak. No one could even see them winning the play in game that they had to play in order to receive an eleven seed. Yet here they are still playing, while nearly everyone else is on the outside looking in. They believed that they were capable and deserving of being with college basketball’s elite. And now we see that they are.

Usually we think that seeing is believing. St. John’s Gospel and people with deep faith show us that believing is seeing. In the New Testament the word “believe” is used 238 times. In the Gospel of John “believe” appears 98 times. To Jesus, in St. John’s Gospel, belief was the most important quality a person could receive as a gift from God. He tells the Apostles after His Resurrection, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Believing that Jesus can help him see enables the blind man in the Gospel to see. Disbelief is the reason why the Pharisees and scribes can not see who Jesus really is. Belief helped Mother Theresa to see the face of Christ in the dying and the miserably poor of the world. Believing that we are capable of receiving God’s grace, compassion, and forgiveness opens the doors for God’s grace into our lives. Believing that all human life is from God, helps us see the unborn, the elderly, our enemies, the poor, criminals, and everyone as sacred and precious.

Believing helps us see God, others, the world, and ourselves as God sees. Today, let all of our prayers include the prayer from Scripture, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”

paz,
Fr. Chuck

I Double Dog Dare you!!!

2011-03-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks!

The interaction between Jesus and the Devil in the Temptation story from St. Matthew's 6th chapter remind me of the dare games we used to play in grade school. The grade school version of this game has become icon-ized in the movie A Christmas Story. It's the scene where all of the kids are out on the playground during a recess. One boy "double dog dares" another to stick his tongue to the icy flag pole with predictable but very funny results. Eventually the fire department has to be called in to "un-stick" the screaming young man's tongue from the icy pole. The final scene is of the young man back in the classroom with a bandage tied around his tongue (all because of a dare).

Our temptations are like dares! They sound good and exciting at that moment, but the repercussions can be awfully painful or hell to live with if we succumb to temptation. Temptations are also usually pretty attractive to us. Otherwise they would have no power to persuade to try them. The Devil knows how to hit us where we are most vulnerable.

In the temptation story from the Gospels, Jesus responds to Satan's attractive temptations with Truth and directness. He can do this because of His very firm and sure relationship with His own Father. All of Jesus' answers reflect a trust that only a Son can have in a rock steady and reliable Father. In many ways Jesus' three responses to Satan can be summed up in one statement; "My Father is bigger than your temptations!"

The Good News for you and me is that we have the same Father that Jesus has. Therefore we have the same possible response to temptations as Jesus had. As attractive and even lucrative that every temptation that tries to seduce us into its web; God has a bigger, better, and more eternal possibility for us. It may be a harder choice to live with, but it is the only choice that can give us real peace and real joy. We all have had experiences of wanting some material or carnal thing so badly that we've lost ourselves to it. Then when we've gotten the thing that we've so desired we've found out that it did not bring us all of the happiness and satisfaction that we thought it had promised us. Only God can do that. But it takes a lot of falling for temptations to figure that out.

It is Lent, and time to renew our efforts at trying to counter our temptations with God's ways. It begins the same way as it did with Jesus Himself. It all starts with a trusting and intimate relationship with His Father and our Father. That's what Lent is about. Yes we do sacrifices. Yes we try to do some extra "holy" and charitable stuff. But ultimately Lent is preparing us for a deeper love and understanding of what God does to show His love for us; Nourishment Forever: Forgiveness; Sacrifice; Eternal Life.

Take some time to develop that relationship this Lent!

paz,
ME

Well Shiver Me Tenders.....

2011-02-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,

I was awoken this morning by the sound of storms coming through Cecilia. I turned on the TV and saw that I was not in much danger, but that there were tornadoes in Southern Indiana, in Eminence, Kentucky, and perhaps in Adair County. Later in the morning the news channels were already showing pictures of flattened houses. When I got to the office and read this weekend’s readings, about the houses that were built on rock and sand, it made me think again of my early morning wake up call.

The folks that help promote Habitat for Humanity say that the houses that they build are better built than other houses. There proof is that, when Hurricane Hugo blew ashore just south of Miami, the only houses that survived the devastation were the Habitat homes. There thinking is that both the volunteers that built the houses were so inexperienced at building homes, that when a joint called for two or three nails to be hammered there, they would hammer in 4 or 5 nails. They also believed that their houses were built on the faith in God of those same volunteers. I’m sure that the Habitat homes in Homestead, Florida were built on sandy ground, just like every other building in Florida is built on sandy ground. But, the reason why the Habitat homes survived in areas where no other homes survived has to be their true foundation.

Again the Gospel of Matthew calls us to build our lives on a trusting relationship with God. “Anyone who hears my Words, and puts them into practice, is like the wise man who built his house on the rock.” We can say we are faithful all that we’d like, but until we are willing to take the risk of living our faith we are just making noise. We say that the Church or somebody needs to do more to help others; or it needs to be more involved in respecting all human life; or we need to invite back those who have left the Church because of the abuse scandal or for some other reason; or we need to be more spiritual, or more forgiving, or more responsible, or more aware or the needs of all of its members and the needs of the community. Guess what? If you think that it needs to be done, DO IT! Make it important by committing to it. If it is meant to be then the Holy Spirit and the helping hands of others will make sure it gets done.

Our faith has been built upon the faith of many saints and relatives going before us. We are called today to be the faithful rock for the next generations.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

"Love your Enemas!"

2011-02-14T07:01:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,

I am not a very patient driver. Although I would not classify myself as a road rage warrior, I do fuss and cuss a lot behind the wheel. I get angry when someone cuts me off. And if the windows are down you might hear my temper being expressed toward the offender. I seem to always be in a hurry to get to my destination. So that makes me even more frustrated when another driver impedes me. (It would probably help if I left for destination five minutes earlier!)

A few years ago I attempted something in Lent that sadly didn’t get carried forward after that Easter. Instead of cussing and fussing at my road “enemies”, I resolved to ask God to bless them. I said a prayer for them. Sometimes I even made the sign of the cross towards them as an act of forgiveness and blessing. I’m sure some of them saw this, but I have no idea if it had any effect on the way they drove. BUT it changed me (for 40 days :o( ) and made me a happier driver. (I think I’ve just talked myself into a renewed Lenten penance.)

The Gospel this weekend is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is still talking to His crowd about how to really live the Commandments. He continues to say, “You have heard it said…., but I say…..” Today, in particular, He addresses revenge and how we must live love. No more “eye for an eye” or only “love your neighbor” Jesus tells us. Instead, we are to turn our cheeks to violence done toward us and love those who wish us and do us harm. YIKES!

Jesus is setting standards for us that will make us stand out as “different” from the rest of the world. Rather than going along with our society’s understanding that justice is the same as revenge, we are called to help people be better in loving ways. Instead of returning violence done to us personally or as a nation with more violence (through torture, the death penalty, or war), we disciples are called to seek compassion, help, and understanding with our “enemy”.

These are hard teachings, but they are the Word of God that most need to be lived in our day and in our time. And they may have to start being lived in the real and practical world of our own day to day lives; on Ring Road or Dixie Highway while we are driving; or in our families with the misfit or rebel child; or in Church with the fellow member that seems to know what button to push that makes us clinch our jaw.

“LOVE YOUR ENEMIES!” The Commandment never changes! But with the help of God we can change.

peace,
Fr. Chuck

Are You Holier Than a 5th Grader?

2011-02-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends!

I got to speak to one of our fifth grade classes about sin this past Monday. It was fun seeing again how 10 and 11 year old minds work. I described sin as the New Testament defines it as “missing the mark”. Whenever we attempt or fail to attempt anything that does not reach its ideal target it is a sin, as St. Paul writes about sin. We can miss the mark by a little bit, as in telling a white lie, or in very serious ways, like taking someone’s life or intentionally trying to hurt someone with our words or actions.

What was entertaining to me about talking to the 5th graders about the topic were the questions afterwards. They had all sorts of “what ifs?” Like: “What if a “certain fifth grader” had a “certain little sister” who tried to push the “certain fifth grader” down the stairs. Would the “certain little 3 year old sister” be committing a sin?” Another example was: “If you were working in a haunted house and scared someone so much that they had a heart attack and died, would that be a sin?” Some of the kids were very serious and I could tell that there were behaviors that they or “someone that they knew” needed to be changed.

Jesus talks to us disciples about a needed change in attitude and behavior today also. In the Gospel from St. Matthew Jesus addresses the crowd on the mountain with His teaching about following the “law”. He says, “I have not come to abolish (the law), but fulfill (it).” Then he improves the commandments and Jewish teachings to say that even having the desire to steal, commit adultery, divorce, tell lies or slander, or wish harm upon another person is as sinful as actually following through with the sinful act. His standards for us disciples to follow are necessarily on a higher plane than others. Later He will say, “To whom much has been given, much will be required.” That statement is directed at us, since we have been given the very life, soul, Body, and Blood of Christ. We also have been given the promise of Eternal Life. With such wonderful gifts come huge responsibilities.

The good news is that we are also loved by the most perfect Forgiver that we can imagine. As imperfectly as we attempt to be good disciples and do as Christ teaches, we have a Loving Father Whom always welcomes and heals a contrite heart. This is not permission to sin though. It is an encouragement to try our best and then trust in the Lord.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

The State of Communion Address

2011-01-31T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,

A couple of Tuesdays ago our president gave his “State of the Union” address to the entire U.S. Congress and to all of us in this great country of ours. On Sunday, January 23rd we started hearing from the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew. We will continue to hear from the Sermon on the Mount until the beginning of Lent. In many ways the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ “State of Communion” address. From the Beatitudes at the beginning of chapter 5 in Matthew’s Gospel until Jesus tells us to imitate the wise man who built his house on the rock at the end of chapter 7 we have words from the Master on how to put our faith into practice. He tells us how to forgive, love, believe, trust, and live as God would want us to. From the collected words of Christ we hear from His mouth how to live in UNION with each other. The crux of His words tell us to make union with God our 1st priority, and how we treat others and ourselves will fall into place.

This is also the goal of our “Why Catholic?” renewal process that we are about to begin. (Sign up Sunday is next weekend!) During Lent we will study God’s word and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a parish and in small groups to study and discern how God is calling us to live our Communion in deeper ways. It is a very important and exciting time for us.

We are growing as a parish. We now have more families here at St. James Church than we have ever had. More folks are joining us weekly. We’re on schedule to start building to accommodate our growth. There are folks who have children in school here that only know each other through that ministry. There are people who are sitting on one side of the Church for Mass who have no idea who are sitting at the other side of Church. There are some of us who are involved in the St. Vincent de Paul Society who are unaware of others who are volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. A lot of us grew up in a time when the catechetics and formation in the Church was at a time of flux. Now it is time to grow as a parish where it really matters.

“Why Catholic?” comes at an important time for us. We need this time of renewal to help us to understand our faith more and to grow as a parish. This time of renewal will do at least three things for us. 1. We will have a chance to learn about Sacred Scripture and the teachings of our Church. 2. We’ll get to know one another better. 3. Spiritually we will be a better parish because we will each become holier people.

God seeks Communion with us! Prayerfully, let us enter this time openly so that we can be in union with God and one another.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Be the 1st one on your block to be a T. Tude!!!!!!

2011-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

“Is that your final Answer?”

That is the question that Regis Filburn used to ask contestants on the popular game show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

I thought of that question when I was reading the Beatitudes from St. Matthew’s Gospel. He says to the early community of disciples and to us that only God has the final answer for those who trust in Him.

In normal circumstances people live with grief, poverty, meekness, persecution, insults, hunger, and lack of right relationships with others and with God for a long time (and some time for their entire life time). Those conditions are devastating and life changing. Most of the time people who are grieving, poor, and the other conditions, at the very least, carry those burdens with them forever. Yet Jesus says in the Beatitudes that those folk are BLESSED! It is hard to imagine that someone who is mourning the loss of someone very dear to them would ever consider themselves blessed. And I could probably try to put myself into the shoes of any of the “blessed” people in Jesus’ list and feel either burdened or cursed. But Jesus says, “Blessed are…” all of them. Why?

Because God has the final answer! God promises richness, laughter, comfort, mercy, THE KINGDOM, God’s inheritance, satisfaction, ETERNAL reward, and being with God face to face for disciples willing to trust in God through the turmoil of life. These promises of God are especially for those who are heavily burdened in life. But they are also for us disciples who choose to make the burdens of others our own. When we choose to be empathetic to the grieving, to care for and share with the poor and hungry, to make ourselves humble, to be concerned for those living in violent circumstances, to want peace, collaboration, and good relationships with all of our neighbors in this world and with God, to choose forgiveness over revenge; then we too have the same promise from God. We have the chance to receive rewards that nothing or no one on other can offer. That is God’s final answer!

It may seem foolish in the eyes of the world to believe and trust in something like this but if we look at the life and ministry of Jesus in all four of the Gospels, living the Beatitudes is what He did. He CHOSE to welcome the outcast, to make all people His concern, to want all people to live in harmony with one another, and to suffer insult and persecution for God’s and our sakes. He did so to the point of giving up His entire life for us and so that God’s will could be done. He gave us the model so that we would be able to live the Beatitudes also, and know the beauty of the Resurrection and life with God forever.

The Beatitudes are ideals for us to try to attain. They are glimpses into the mind of God regarding our lives. Knowing God’s “final answer” can help us live the lives we need to live here and now.

Pizza,
Fr. Chuck

"I could be wrong, but I may be right......"

2011-01-18T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,

Have you seen the front license plates with a Cardinal on one half and a Wildcat on the other? Superimposed over the two school mascots are the words “A House Divided”. That is part of a Gospel quote that completed says, “A house divided against itself will soon fail!” I hope that college sports are never so important in a family that marriages break up on that account.

In the second reading today St. Paul wrote to the new Christians in Corinth who were divided. The rich ones thought that they didn’t have to share with the poor ones in the community. They also believed that they were “more special” than the other new Christians and wanted the best seats at the celebrations for the Lord’s Supper and first pickings of meals that followed. Those who were sailors and prostitutes thought that they could continue their promiscuous lifestyles, which divided them against those who were trying to remain chaste in their commitments. There must have been divisions over where people were getting their religious education, and which of those teachers were the correct ones to follow. Religious snobbery began early on in our Church’s history evidently. So St. Paul wrote to try to stem them divisions and focus his plebes in Corinth on the redeeming sacrifice and the person of Christ.

We are not much different than the folks in Corinth. We too seem to like to think that our brand of Catholicism is the better one to follow. We want to judge as wrong others who either have different ideas about how to live their Catholicism or those who are of a different Christian religion. We want to be right. We want to consider ourselves best. We want to know that we are number one in God’s eyes.

St. Paul’s admonitions to the Corinthians apply to us very well today. We were not baptized into Dorothy Day or Thomas Merton. Nor was Mother Angelica or Padre Pio crucified for us. We are Christ’s! He suffered for each and all of us. We were all baptized into Him. We receive Him at the altar. Let Him be the center of our life. Let’s devote ourselves to serving, following, and loving Him.

If we can make Christ our focus then we will hopefully be more tolerant of other’s differences from us, and we may even begin some humane dialogue with one another.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Hey, Watch This?

2011-01-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Folks,

As you all might know by now, I am a nature and outdoors lover. I got this avocation hereditarily. Mom passed it on to our whole family, especially her love for birds. Even Dad caught Mom’s bird fever.

When I was pastor of Emmanuel Catholic Church in Albany Mom and Dad would often come to see me at this time of the year. The Army Corp of Engineers would host eagle watching weekends on Dale Hollow Lake while those majestic birds would be wintering there. The Corp would have barges meet bird watchers at the Dale Hollow State Park and then take them out to cruise the lake looking for bald eagles. The first time Mom and Dad came down to do this we called to late to get seats on the barge. So another couple from the parish offered to follow the barges in their runabout so we could participate in the eagle watch. Mom was very excited, I was looking forward to a weekend with them, but Dad was a little apprehensive. I believe Dad thought we were going on a wild goose (eagle) chase. He couldn’t believe that there were bald eagles in Kentucky, even though our hosts, Hal and Betty, and I all attested to seeing eagles while we had been fishing there. So, imagine Dad’s shock when we saw an eagle 50 yards away from us while Hal, he, and I were putting Hal’s boat in the lake. Dad didn’t show surprise often and he was normally not a very talkative man. But when we saw the big bird with a glowing white head and tail chasing a flock of water birds looking for breakfast, Dad’s jaw dropped. Then, when we got to Hal and Betty’s dock to pick up Mom and Betty, Dad kept on saying, “Kitty, I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it! There are eagles here! We saw one as soon as we got to the boat ramp!” He would retell the story to the rest of our family, his sisters, and other friends with the same excitement as the first day he saw an eagle in Kentucky. And somewhere in the story he would always say, “I wouldn’t (or couldn’t, or didn’t believe it until I saw it…”.

St. John the Baptist seems that excited in the Gospel today. He has just baptized the Son of God that he came to foretell. And his excitement keeps on expressing itself: “Look who I’ve seen!” “He’s the One I’ve been talking about!” “He’s the reason I’ve been doing and saying all that I’ve been doing and saying!” “I saw the Holy Spirit come down on Him!” “It’s Him!” “He’s the One!” You can almost see him trying to get the attention of everyone he is trying to tell that the Messiah is here. He points Jesus out and wants everyone else to see what he sees.

This weekend we celebrate Vocation Weekend. All of us share the vocation of pointing out Christ among us in the people and the world around us. One way that we can promote religious and priestly vocations is letting people know that you see something religious or priestly about them. Maybe if you see it in them, then they too will notice it in themselves and pursue it. At first they may not want to believe that you see what you see in them. But once you point out the Godly in someone, I believe the Holy Spirit will help them see it too. Tell someone you know that you see something priestly or religious about them this week.

Paz,
Fr. Chuck

Who are you calling "beloved"?

2011-01-04T11:24:00.000-08:00

“This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

That is what God the Father said about His Son, Jesus, as He was coming up from the waters of Baptism in the Jordan River. This is what God also says about us as Baptized disciples of Jesus Christ. We who have been immersed in Christ by being baptized are likewise ordained to listen to what God also says about us. If we are in Christ, then we belong to the “belovedness” with which God embraced the human Jesus. We are not divine, but divinely blest into a new identity which has a hook.

It is great to know that we are God’s beloved. Most of the time we find this too hard to believe. We know our sin, our faults, our mistakes, and our meanness. We mistakenly think that there is no way that we can be beloved by God with these flaws and marks on our souls. (Actually I think those thoughts of our inadequacies are temptations that Satan plants in us to make us doubt God.) Yet we are God’s beloved children nonetheless. We are not loved by God because He sees our potential or because He overlooks our sins. God loves us, period! He loved us into being, loves us enough to forgive us, and keeps on loving us. We can’t understand it or earn it. There are no conditions on God’s love.

But there is a hook! If we begin to listen to who God says we are then we are ordained for life to keep listening to God’s voice. That’s the hook. God calls us His “beloved” at birth, then especially at Baptism, and then over and over throughout our lives. God never stops calling us to hear His voice calling us to live as His beloved from conception until being born again into eternal life. Then we’ll understand completely the depths and reality of God’s love. The problem is that God sometimes speaks His love to us through prayer, sometimes through people who are trying to love us, sometimes through strangers on TV, or at times through the Sacraments or sacramental moments where God is trying to get our attention.

Being attentive and aware that God speaks in all sorts of voices and languages is the spiritual work of our lives. Prayer, coming to Mass to be in Communion with God and the People of God, reading scriptures, and studying our faith, are just a few of the ways to keep our souls open to the voice of God. Most of the time God speaks to us through unexpected people and ways, and He speaks at unexpected times. But the time and effort we spend at prayer and study help us hear God better.

As we celebrate this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus at the beginning of a new year let’s spend a little time with God. It could be a nice resolution in fact. Ten minutes reading scriptures, in front of the Eucharist, or even without the radio on in the car may plow the ground that God needs to plant His Word brand new in you. Take the risk of being beloved by God!

paz,
Fr. Chuck

He Loves Who?

2010-12-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

Epiphany 2010

Happy New Year and Happy Epiphany!

On January 2nd (or 6th for you tradionalists) we celebrate the feast that recognizes that God is God of all the Earth and of all people and nations! If we take time to imagine, even partially, what that means we will find ourselves caught up in the immensity of God’s compassion and mercy for all people.

Here at St. James we honor this feast by celebrating how diverse and multi-national our parish is. At the 12:15pm Mass we’ll have readings and music in some of the various languages that represent our roots. Some will dress in clothing from their native countries. Afterward we’ll have a feast that will tickle the taste buds of every palate. We do Epiphany real well here.

My encouragement for you today (and for me as well) is to make this Godly Spirit of inclusivity and welcome last for more than just this one feast day. We can all imitate our Lord’s compassion to the alien and foreigner in better ways. It is easy for us to fall prey to the Devil’s temptation to believe that generosity of welcome, compassion, forgiveness, and kindness are limited resources. The Evil One would like for us to believe that we should use those spiritual commodities with stinginess, like they will run out if we over indulge in them.

However our God encourages us to do just the opposite. God will never be outdone in our generosity of any kind. He promises that “good measure, pressed down and flowing over will be poured” into the emptiness of our lives whenever we attempt to be as generous and forgiving as God.

On this Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord let us ask God for the courage and fortitude we need to imitate the all inclusive and welcoming heart of God. Let us hope to see all others, no matter their nationality, language, belief, or orientation, as children of God as we are.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

God Is With Us!

2010-12-14T11:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I can not hear or read the name Emmanuel without thinking of Albany, Ky. From 1986-1994 my first assignment as pastor was at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Albany and Holy Cross Catholic Church in Burkesville. Those were eight wonderful years in my priesthood. I was still a rookie priest and the people of those two counties helped me understand priesthood in a way that hasn't been topped since.

The parishes were small. Each place only had 20 or 30 families as parishioners. Also, Catholicism was relatively a "new" religion in those counties. I was only the third resident priest there. There were a lot of myths, misconceptions, rumors, prejudice, and ignorance regarding Emmanuel and Holy Cross. So the mission of these mission parishes was to let folks know that Catholics were Christian Churches also. We debunked the myths in a couple of ways. First, we were involved in all of the ecumenical ministries and worship services. The people in our parishes were always present and active in the ministerial association's events and organizations. We were the first ones to sign up to volunteer at the clothes closet and food drives. We were the driving force behind the Christmas Cantatas, the Lenten Bible studies, and the Easter Sunrise Service. We participated in the radio station's 5 minute scripture sharing. We figured that if other Christian folks saw us having the same passion for the scripture and worship as they did then we wouldn't have to prove to them that we didn't have horns and tails hidden under our hats and pants like some thought.

Our main way of debunking these myths was through service though. At Christmas time in Clinton and Cumberland Counties we had a "Caring and Sharing Tree" similar to here in Hardin County. And the Catholic parishes there were the biggest contributors and the ones who helped the most with coordinating, collecting, buying, and distributing the toys, clothes and food items to the very needy folks in the two counties. We were also the "go to" church whenever the police stations or Departments of Human Resources encountered people that had needs that their funds and regulations could not assist. We also had about a half dozen groups of youth volunteers come to our two counties to assist the needy folks there by doing minor home repairs, cleaning, yard work, wood splitting, house painting, or whatever else the elderly person or poor family needed. Our parishioners, though small in number, sacrificed their time to teach the visiting youth how do do the service they were being asked to do; and make sure that the young people got to visit with the people they were serving as they worked.

The result was, that for the most part, the rumors of what Catholics were all about changed. Because of the dedication to the mission of evangelization by the parishioners at Emmanuel and Holy Cross we Catholics were no longer "those weirdos" or "that new church". One of the greatest compliments I ever received was when I answered the phone one day and an elderly man asked me, "Is this the Church that helps people?" I knew then that the mission of our mission parishes was really being lived. We were living up to our names also. Holy Cross was showing that Jesus was still being sacrificed and lifted up in our sacrifices in Cumberland County. And that "God is With Us" Emmanuel was being born anew in Clinton County.

On this week before Christmas let us each look in our lives and ask what kind of gift that we have to offer to our church, to our community, and to God that will let others see that "God is With Us" still.

Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Chuck

I'm so dizzy, my head is spinning.....

2010-09-23T13:13:00.001-07:00

Hi Folks,

Well it has been ten days here & ubtil today I was doing well. The professors are very patient & have led us slowly though the very basics of the Spanish grammar and vocabulary. Today was "information overload" day. The concept being taught was singular and plural possessive pronouns. That plus a lot of new vocabulary words (verbs,nouns, & adjectives) became too much for this gray matter. I've got a lot of studying to do overnight and this weekend to get back on track.

I do get a very joyful break in the action this weekend though. My very good friend Veronica O'Connor is marrying a very good man, Eric Kemper on Saturday. I get to fly home and witness their wedding. What a treat.!! It will be a fun weekend in all kinds of ways.

One of the components of this sabbatical that I'm finding especially exciting and stimulating is learning about the expressions of faith in the Central, Carribean, and South American people. For many of them faith is life, family, and Church. It pervades all relationships and extends beyonds all boundaries. Faith can not be something they we keep in a box just for prayer time, or when we need something from God, or when we are trying to impress God or someone else. Faith is life and to be lived everywhere.

I hope this part of my formation rubs off on me more, so that I can live my faith bettter in ten weeks from now. I also pray that I can keep this in perspective in my heart & head as I slowly progress in the Spanish language.

Paz,
Fr. Chuck

No where to go but forward!!!

2010-09-13T14:39:00.001-07:00

Hi Folks,

I just finished my first day of classes at the Mexican American Cultural College (MACC) in San Antonio. I have a lot to learn. I am starting from barely above ground level in my Espanol, so I have a lot to learn to get me able to pray the Mass and the other Sacraments in Spanish. I feel very dumb and overwhelmed at this moment. I know those feelings will fade as the twelve weeks go by but today, and for a while, I'm floundering.

The Gospel for next weekend is the parable from Luke about the steward who was about to get sacked by his master. He decided to cover his butt by making deals with all the folks who owed his master grain, oil, money, etc. His ulterior motive was probably to get hired by one of the folks he offered a discount to after he'd been fired from his present boss. Instead the master gives him a raise and a promotion for thinking out of the box. Jesus' point seems to be that the Kingdom of God needs folks who are able to think, dream, embrace, and forgive in "out of the box" sorts of ways.

In lots of ways we like to categorize and pigeon hole others people or others' ideas. We resist change. We're uncomfortable with concepts that are foreign to our own. We find fault and figure out ways that some one's solution can't work without first giving it a decent hearing. In terms of the Church, sometimes we chase people off by not giving them a decent welcome because they have different ideas, they are of a different sex (or sexual orientation), or they look, speak, or act foreign to us. In the Gospel of Luke especially, but in all of the Gospels, Jesus was the Son of God who opened God's embrace to many, especially those who were normally left out.

Let us ask God to open us up to His big Sacred Heart. As we have been loved, let us love and welcome.

paz,

Fr. Chuck

The Lost Shall Be First

2010-09-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,

I believe it was Gandhi who wrote, “Christianity has not failed. It has never been tried.” (If it wasn’t him who said it, he said something very similar.)

This weekend we hear St. Luke’s signature parables; the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 1-32.). They give us an image of God that runs throughout the whole Gospel of Luke. God is the forgiver and he seeks us out to save us no matter whom we are and where we find ourselves. St. Luke also shows Jesus as the Son of God who lives out God’s forgiveness and acceptance. Therefore Jesus’ teaching and message in this third Gospel are about this compassionate God and urging His disciples to imitate God’s acceptance and forgiveness.

The problem with these parables is that normally we would behave nothing like the shepherd with the lost sheep, or the woman with the lost coin, or the Father with the run away son. We normally follow the “bird in the hand, is worth more than two in the bush” practice of caring. If we have ninety-nine sheep still with us, we’re not going to go chasing after the idiot lost one. If we have nine shiny coins in our purses, how hard are we going to look for the one that rolled under the heavy dresser? How welcoming are we going to be to the bright lights and big city kid who has already cost you an arm, a leg, and a broken heart? (Okay, maybe we would take them in, but there would be terms and stipulations.) Besides, in every one of these circumstances that Jesus sits in front of us, it looks like the party that is thrown in celebration of the find cost more than what the sheep, the coin, and the prodigal is worth. In the original audience, there had to be a lot of people shaking there heads saying, “If this is a parable about this preacher’s God, then he is very messed up.”

The Good News is that our God is exactly like the God in those parables. He never gives up on us. He wants us, loves us, and forgives us no matter what. AND, God rejoices when we “get it”!!! The BAD news is that we are supposed to imitate our God in His generosity of compassion and forgiveness. (Uh-Oh!)

When people tick us off, we write them off. When nations don’t do what we’d prefer, we call for war or sanctions against them. When immigrants seek the bounty of our nation, we want to close the borders. Lives in the womb and on death row are not worth fighting for. We don’t even try to care for people that we can’t even see.

Thank God that God has a bigger heart than ours.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

p.s. I'm leaving for San Antonio to study Spanish on Sept. 11th and will be gone until Dec. 13th. I may post an occasional blog here, but I'm not sure how much time, freedom, or gumption I'll have to do so. We'll see. My phone has the capabilities to posts blogs via email. If I can figure all that out you might be viewing a lot of pictures of the River Walk here shortly. (I'll try not to drop my phone in the San Antonio River!)

Technology

2010-08-31T11:39:00.001-07:00

Do not be alarmed. I know that I never blog two days on a row. I'm just testing my ability to blog via my phone..
Paz
The textperimenter

....it's a family tradition!

2010-08-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hello Darlin's!

"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Every time I read this quote from today’s Gospel I get upset. I have to admit that I love my family and my life. And the words of Jesus tell me to hate them!?!?!? I can’t do that. My family, especially my Mom and Dad, were the ones who taught me my faith by their words, actions, and discipline. I get inspiration today from my sister and brother who stay faithful and strong despite the difficult circumstances that they face in their day to day lives. There’s nothing to hate about them. Not only do I love their faithfulness but they are both good people that I’m proud to know and call my brother and sister.

So what could Jesus mean by this statement? Surely Jesus wasn’t anti-family or marriage. He also repeated the Old Testament passage from Genesis affirming the permanence of marriage and how when two people marry they become an unbreakable one. He even came from THE Holy Family! I believe this was another parable from Jesus. He used parables to shock us into attention. Jesus said very bold things to turn our minds and hearts upside down, and so we could get a glimpse of the total commitment of love and forgiveness God has made to us and is asking from us.

My best example of this being lived out is actually from my Mom. Her relationship to God was always first in her life. On the day of my ordination she told me to only go to the Cathedral that morning IF I was going to be a good priest. (I’m still working on that.) But her point was that her pride to have a priest in the family was not as important to her as having a good priest to be dedicated to God and for the Church. I know my sister and brother have also been told and shown that Mom always loved them but also worried about some bad behaviors that could be leading them away from faithfulness to God. In other words, I think Jesus’ message was the same as Mom’s (who died five years ago on Labor Day, by the way). God, and living for God, comes before every possession and every other relationship that we have.

It would be hard to imagine a recovering alcoholic or addict maintaining sobriety while keeping a stash of booze or dope around their house. It is equally hard to think of someone who is truly trying to straighten up a very wayward life and maintaining the relationships he or she had with their very wayward friends. Commitment to Christ takes the same separation when necessary. God comes first always. Even when it means letting go of the ways, possessions, and folks that keep us from living God’s way.

The message is still tough to comprehend. But sometimes we need a good jolt.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

I, me, my, mine

2010-08-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Anytime that I write or talk about humility, I feel like I’m living out that old Mac Davis song that brags, “Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way.” But the gospel today is about Gospel humility so I have to admit again that I am not a humble man, although I do strive to be.

There was a fellow I knew, from a previous parish, who used to come to Mass every time the doors were open; Sundays, Holy Days, holidays, and weekdays. He’d also come to the funeral home, or visit the hospital and nursing home every time a parishioner was in one of those places. He was retired and met with a bunch of other “old goats” at the local Dairy Queen for coffee and gossip (oops, I forgot that men don’t gossip). He would also want to bend my ear about all of the activities “for God” that he was doing. In fact, all he did with anyone at church, the funeral home, the hospital, the nursing home, and at Dairy Queen was talk about himself and all of the things he was doing. I got comments from parishioners fresh out of the hospital, or in the nursing home, or he had met him in the funeral home or in Dairy Queen. They usually complained or joked about his visits. Sometimes he would get so busy talking about himself at the funeral home, hospital, or nursing home that he wouldn’t even ask the parishioner how their loved one died, or why they were sick or in rehab. He would come in telling a big tale about himself or passing on this funny story that he had just heard, and in the mean time he would “forget” to pay any attention to the others he was with. He kept me informed about parishioners and their families that I probably needed to visit. He was sometimes entertaining to be around. He could make anyone laugh, no matter their situation. But he seemed to promote himself to everyone.

Jesus tells us today that, “the one who exalts himself will be humbled; and the one who humbles himself for the sake of the kingdom will be exalted.” Let us practice what we hear from the mouth of Christ today. Let us each and all attempt to do one unselfish act per day this week for the good of someone else. Whether it is saying a prayer for a family member, a neighbor, or someone clear across the world give it a try. Even more unselfishly try to give your time and total attention to someone who might need your time and attention this week. Imitating Christ’s unselfish humility begins by our attempting small acts. Hopefully they will lead to larger sacrifices that will bring us the grace of humility.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

It's a bird! It's a plane! Nope! It's Mary!!!!!

2010-08-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks!

This past weekend I got be with my family at the lake. We had Mass on Sunday morning together and I asked them to reflect on how they had seen God in the surprises that they experienced this past year. My five nieces, my sister and brother, my sister in law and brother in law, and I had no problem at all relating to one another where we had been surprised in the last twelve months, and how God was part of the surprise. My niece Stephanie, who will be a freshman in high school soon, talked about how had found out this year that she was a better and stronger person, since she had gotten away from some “good time only” friends. For a thirteen or fourteen year old to come to that realization, and not succumb to the group mentality is huge. Only God could have called her to strike out on her own like that. She also recognized God in her self and in the relationships that matter.

On this Feast of the Assumption we hear Mary tell her cousin Elizabeth, “God has done great things in me…” In her Magnificat Mary witnesses to us that God is always with us in our changes and surprises. We can barely imagine what an ordeal Mary had to go through just to give birth to Jesus. The surprise of Gabriel’s visit was just the first of Mary’s shocks. Family, friends, neighbors, synagogue friends and foes, and even Joseph had to treat her like an outcast (at the very least). Being single, young, and pregnant in her day and culture was reason for either expulsion from the community and a life of prostitution usually, IF you weren’t stoned to death by your family when the news first broke. Yet Mary says, “God has done great things in me…”

Her life of Godly surprises culminated in being rewarded by being assumed into Heaven by God after Mary’s death. That is what we celebrate here this weekend. God surprised her again after her life on Earth with bodily assumption into Heaven.

This weekend and for the rest of this week, let’s pray about the surprise that God has given to us in our life. Can we see God in those surprises? Are we open to the changes God has yet in mind for us?

paz,
Fr. Chuck

We are richly blessed

2010-08-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,

"Much will be required of the one entrusted with much..."

This is part of the last line of the Gospel we hear this weekend. I think it is aimed right at us disciples in our time and place. We are very greatly gifted. We have resources in our personal lives, our families, our Church, and our country that most people in the rest of the world can't even imagine. That point was driven home to me last weekend. It was my honor to be able to have the P.I.M.E. Missionary Fr. Vijay Marneni stay with me at St. Ambrose. In our conversations in the luxury of my car and in my rectory, Fr. Vijay told Peter Bucalo and I of his life and ministry. Besides the issues of no transportation except his own two feet, no clean water, no electricity, and other comforts that we enjoy, he has to fear for his life and for the lives of his parishioners daily. In the missionary parts of the Philippines where he ministered for three years priests were kidnapped and killed over money for guns for rebels. In the mountainous and remote areas of Mexico where he is pastoring now, the tribal feuds and drug cartels are so violent that the police where hoods over their faces so that they will not be recognized, and their families be slaughtered as the repercussion. He has murders happen as parishioners leave Sunday Mass.

We need to be thankful for our lives, what we have, and where we live. But we have a larger responsibility to be good stewards of what we've given for the the sakes of those close to us and for sisters and brothers around the world that we
never meet.

"Much will be required.." means many different things to each of us since each of us have been entrusted different gifts. It takes prayer and the discerning help of the Holy Spirit to determine where and how each of us must let go of what we have been entrusted with. But a great place to begin is working on our trust.

Trust is a gift that comes from prayer and practise. Trust is also a rare commodity in our society. We are trained to question authority, to fear the stranger, to be independent. The Gospel calls us to follow the example of Jesus Christ and trust God in all things, letting go of everything else. By prayer and practise we learn that trust is what got Jesus through his trials, persecutions, and death on the cross. He prayed for it and practised trust. He is every disciple's role model for learning and practising trust.

This week let us pray and ask the Holy Spirit for the courage to begin trusting as Jesus requires.

Paz,
Fr. Chuck

some stuff about too much stuff

2010-07-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

Not too long ago a friend of mine and I were comparing notes about moving from one assignment to another. He stated that when he was first ordained and moved to his first parish, everything he owned fit in the back seat and hatchback of his new Dodge Horizon. I concurred that I fit all that I owned in the back of my Ford Escort. Our latest moves took a huge box truck, a couple of pick-ups, and our own cars. We both longed to get back to the more simple baggage that we once carried.

Just looking at my own stuff, I don’t even know if I could fit just the clothes that I own in my car. Now I own a boat, a car, a truck, several pieces of furniture, tons of toys (fishing, boating, hunting, golfing stuff), garbage bags full of hats, computer equipment, TVs, stereos, and other entertainment things, boxes of books, two file cabinets, and a lot of stuff that I’ve forgotten that I own.

Today’s readings hit me hard. The Gospel ends with the sentence from Jesus’ mouth, “thus it will be for those who store up treasure for themselves, but are not rich in the matters of God.” There is an old saying, “You can’t take it with you, except the things you gave away.” Today’s Gospel needs very little explanation. We all might be looking for the loopholes, but there aren’t any. What did you not understand? Perhaps the last line of the reading would be cause for wondering just what does “matter to God.” Luke’s Gospel stresses the centrality of holding on to Jesus as we saw two weeks ago with Mary’s sitting at the feet of Jesus while Martha was doing many other good things. In the Gospels discipleship is about only staying attached to God and His will, and not being attached to anything else.

We all have things of great value, emotionally, materially, historically. These and many other things are my wealth. I know I cling to them as if they were of great monetary value. We all have possessions. The thing is not what we possess, but what possesses us. We know that it is so easy to receive the gifts and not the hand Who offers them. Reception is sacramental; to cling to them for our value and identity is sacrilegious.

The question for us today (especially us who value ourselves, and us who put value on others, by what we/they possess) is, how do our possessions keep us from seeking and finding the only One worth possessing?

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Common Sents!!!

2010-06-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

This weekend we have Fr. Meinrad Brune, O.S.B. speaking at all of the Masses about the valuable work that St. Meinrad is doing to prepare priests, deacons, and parish ministers for vocations in the Church. It is very appropriate that the Gospel today is about Jesus sending out 72 disciples to preach the Kingdom and do God’s work.

Last week during our vacation bible school the older kids did service projects all week. I thought that it was a great idea. They went to the nursing home to visit residence there. They went to Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland to help sort groceries. They cleaned our Church. They made blankets for kids and parents staying in Kosair Hospital and The Ronald McDonald House. Our kids had a very full week!!!!

The call to service is for EVERYONE. No one is exempt from God’s call to evangelize. You may be called to marriage or the single life. You may be called to pray for the needs of others. You may be called to be on a committee or council to share your perspective and guide the parish there. You may be called to sweat at Habitat for Humanity or in helping maintain the parish grounds. You may be called to one of the worship ministries. You may be called to serve the poor, sick, or needy locally or globally. Or you may be getting the call to serve the Church as a sister, brother, deacon, or priest.

Usually when we get that first call from God we react negatively. We ignore it, or think we’re not worthy or capable of it. But all calls are worthy of some prayer. If we pray on it we will probably find that God is much wiser than us, and He’s calling us for a reason. Once we accept the call from God, and trust that it is truly His calling God will never disappoint us. The resources, time, and energy that we need to work for God day by day always shows up. Discipleship is a great gig! Pray about how God is calling you.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

PS. I get to leave tomorrow to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany and also visit Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. So, I'm going to leave the blogging here while I'm gone for two weeks. Please pray for a safe trip for my companions and me.

Imperfect one seeking perfection

2010-06-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Sometimes I can’t stand myself. I have been on a diet and exercise plan for about four months now. I’ve lost nearly twenty pounds and I feel better. BUT, lately I find myself being less committed to “the plan”. I’ll go for a sweat producing walk in the morning and then “have to have” some Derby pie in the evening. Or, I’ll have a salad for lunch and then eat the biggest and greasiest pizza that you’ll ever find in E-town for supper. Or, rather than take the time to exercise, I’ll play solitaire on the computer. The result is that I’ve lost and gained the same three or four pounds weekly over the last month. I do similar sorts of waffling with my commitments to prayer and work. I know I’m not alone in my inconsistencies and unfaithfulness. I know well that you and I are all imperfect at trying to be perfect.

At the beginning of the Gospel of Luke today (Luke 9:51) it says, “(Jesus) resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.” The literal translation of this says that He “set His face toward Jerusalem.” This is one of my favorite passages in the Gospels. When I read this passage, I get a visual image of Jesus putting His game face on. At this moment (right after the Father showed Him His future on the Mount of the Transfiguration) Jesus committed Himself totally to what He knew was going to happen to Him (and for us) in Jerusalem. He is our model for consistency and faithfulness.

“Jesus stayed faithful to His being raised on the cross. He remains faithful to our irresolute turnings toward our own personal establishing of our little kingdoms. Our fidelity is not totally to our commitments, but to His faithful commitment to being our Savior. He saves us from ourselves, our attempts at perfection. How can we live with ourselves who so constantly are not constant? To whom are we faithful? With Paul we moan that all the good we want to do, we do not and those things we would rather not do, well, we easily do them. Our baptismal promises center on Jesus’ being our personal and universal Savior. We live with ourselves, because He does.” (From Fr. Larry Gillick, S.J.)

Thank God that God is bigger than us. He calls us to commit ourselves to Him and His way of life. He also forgives us when we don’t. Discipleship is like riding a bike in some ways. Once we learn to follow Christ, we never forget. When we fall and fail, then we get back up, dust ourselves off, and start the journey again.

PAZ,
Fr. Chuck

"Man up!!!!"

2010-06-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks!

A lot of my female friends think that men are wimps. It usually comes up in the conversations that we have over child birth and what a painful ordeal it is. The conversation normally ends and the argument starts when the woman or women say(s) something like, “I have never met a man tough enough to be able to give birth to a child!” They contend that we men whine too much over pain to be able to give birth. They may be right. I definitely don’t want that job and I am very appreciative of the faithful women that I’ve known who have embraced every aspect of motherhood, even child birth.

In this weekend’s readings we have examples of people who have “toughed it out” and done the hard labor of compunction in order to do God’s will and know God’s forgiveness. In the first reading King David get’s dressed down by his friend and priest, Nathan. He tells David that the king has been given blessing after blessing in his life and now he’s at risk of loosing it all because he found another man’s wife more attractive than his own. David even went so far as to have Uriah killed so he could take his wife, Bathsheba, as his own. When Nathan points out David’s sinfulness, David does the “manly” thing and fesses up and says, “I’m sorry!” to God.

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, tells us that he too has had to die to his former ways in order to let Christ live in his life and not himself. I could think of no better thing to be said about myself than, “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.” That is the bar that all of us Christians are called to walk under. More Christ living in me and less me and my selfish way of living is and can be an achievable goal for us all.

In the Gospel Jesus is served by a repentant woman in a Pharisee’s house. The Pharisee is concerned that this good Jewish Rabbi is letting himself be touched (and therefore being made sinfully dirty) by this unclean and sinful woman. Yet Jesus recognizes remorse and conversion when he sees her and forgives of her of her many sins. She, and not the Pharisee, is the one who is given the grace of forgiveness and acceptance from God because of her heart and display of penitence.

From these reading we are given a chance to look at how we “man up”. How easy is it for us to say a much needed “I’m sorry!” to someone in our life that needs to hear it? Who do we need to apologize to this week? When is the last time we came to the Sacrament of Reconciliation to say, “Bless me Father, for I have sinned…”? The owning up to our sinfulness is the tough part of forgiveness. But the grace we receive from God in Reconciliation is worth way more than our small amount of pain. Be tough this week. Tell God and someone else that you’re sorry for a hurt.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Is there anybody up there??????

2010-05-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

What a huge weekend this is. The Feast of the Ascension of Christ & the weekend of commitment for our Building a Future of Hope campaign. I promise you these two dates do not coincide on purpose, but I'm glad they have. The Feast of the ascension is all about HOPE. And we are in the process of sacrificing some of our treasure to empower future generations find hope in their faith by what we build and by the ministries of our parish and archdiocese.

It took me a while to get a bit of a grasp upon the meaning of this feast that we celebrate today. (I know I'm sort of dense, but I can understand deep theological concepts if you talk slow enough.) But I see the Feast of the Ascension as a celebration of hope. One of the prayers we pray at Mass today says "that where (Jesus) has gane, we hope to follow". So we have hope today that we too will enjoy eternal life with Jesus and God the Father and the Communion of the Saints, becasuse Jesus has blazed the path for us. I also find a lot of hope in the belief that Jesus was a full blown human being just like you and me AND now he is also GOD in HEAVEN forever. This gives me a lot of hope and comfort to realize that God has a human face & skin. It makes me pray easier knowing that the God I'm talking to was tempted like me, loved and was loved like me, suffered worse than I can ever imagine suffering, and defined what it means to sacrifice for God and others. Having a God in Heaven who was human makes a difference in the way I live and believe. God gives me HOPE.

I have been very inspired by your participation in the Building a Future of Hope campaign. YOU GIVE ME HOPE. Your generous sacrifices for the sake of our archdiocese and for our parish are simply awe inspiring. I couldn't begin to imagine the total of hours that more than 325 of you have sacrificed to make this campaign work. All of the effort that you have given to planning, meetings, setting things up, taking things down, stuffing, writing, editing, refining, mailing, phone calling, counting, scheduling and on and on. THANKS!!!!!!!! You are also very very generous with sacrificing your treasure. No other parish in the Archdiocese is responding to this campaign like you are. I am humbled and honored to be your pastor. Thanks for filling me with hope of this Feast of Hope!

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Thanks Mom(s)!!!!!!!!

2010-05-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Thank God for the wonderful celebration of Mothers Day. It is the most popular day for the restaurant industry, the flower stores and in the memory departments of most of us. Graduates refer to their schools as their “Alma Mater” which literally means “Nourishing mother”. Religious orders refer to their foundation buildings as “Mother Houses”. Miners hitting a large strike of ore would call that hitting the “Mother Load”. We refer to this planet as “Mother Earth”. We even call our Catholic faith Holy Mother Church. There is something precious, like gold, nourishing, sustaining and stable about the vocation of being a mother. I thank God for the gift of my Mom and later today I’ll go to St. Francis of Assisi cemetery and pray the rosary with her again.

In the reading from the Gospel of John today Jesus says that He wills to give us peace, but not as the world gives peace. I believe that was a gift my Mom had. She was the disciplinarian of the family. She and Dad discussed proper punishments for my misbehaviors, but she was normally the one who meted out the proper punishment. Of course, as a child I thought all punishment was harsh and unfair. But now I see how Mom and Dad made me a man of faith and strong values. They practiced, “let the punishment fit the crime.” I’m now glad they did. I remember in high school when several of my classmates all agreed that if they had the chance to switch mothers, they would all choose mine. I thought they were crazy then. But they saw the love and strength that lay very shallow beneath her disciplinarian disguise. I do too.

Thanks Moms for your vocation as our Mothers. I’ll pray part of my rosary today for you too.

paz,
Fr. Chuck Walker

BAAA!!!!!

2010-04-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The great Christian writer, C. S. Lewis wrote that the most emphatic noise is the one we are trying not to listen to. My grandmother and grandfather lived less than 100 yards from the railroad tracks in St. Mary’s, KY. Trains would go by at all hours of the night. Yet I slept like a lamb when I stayed the night there. That is I slept well until my grandmother started snoring. She had one of those irregular snores. The sound was rafter rattling, and it came in different tones and at different rhythms. While I could easily get used to the roar and rumble of a passing train, Ma Ma Lee’s snoring pierced doors, ceilings, pillows, blankets, and fingers. If we had known then what we know now about sleep apnea, I would have gladly spent my allowance (selfishly) on a breathing machine for her.

In John’s Gospel today, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Sometimes that voice of Jesus is like the lulling train noise. Amid the other voices that are going on from the media and that may seem more appealing, the truth of Jesus and the Gospel can be ignored. Our preferring to hear other voices above His call dulls the gentle and challenging voice of Christ. But there are times when God’s call comes at us like a like a piercing siren. As much as we would like to silence it the truth of the Gospel screams at us.

A lot of the times that happens when we are not living the truth and justice of the Gospel. For instance we know that we are all made in the image and likeness of God and that we are all considered children of God. Yet we allow the unborn, the poor, folks with different skin tones, different beliefs, immigrants, and many others be treated as “not valuable”.

The truth and compassion of the voice of Christ screams at us also to tell us how much we are loved and forgiven. Yet the voices of our culture tell us that we are only valuable when we look a certain way, or when we wear certain clothes, or when we comply with certain cultural standards, or when we own an adequate amount of stuff. We let the false voice of Sin be more persuasive than the truth of God.

This week let’s spend some time listening to the Good Shepherd. Just fifteen minutes a day would do us all good.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Happy Easter!!!!!

2010-03-30T11:38:00.001-07:00

I read a story of a school teacher who was assigned to visit children in a large city hospital who received a routine call requesting that she visit a particular child.

The teacher took the boy's name and room number, and was told by the teacher on the other end of the line, "We're studying nouns and adverbs in this class now. I'd be grateful if you could help him with his homework, so he doesn't fall behind the others."

It wasn't until the visiting teacher got outside the boy's room that she realized that it was located in the hospital's burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a young boy horribly burned and in great pain.

The teacher felt that she couldn't just turn around and walk out. And so she stammered awkwardly, "I'm the hospital teacher, and your teacher sent me to help you with nouns and adverbs." This boy was in so much pain that he barely responded. The young teacher stumbled through his English lesson, ashamed at putting him through such a senseless exercise.

The next morning a nurse on the burn unit asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" Before the teacher could finish her outburst of apologies, the nurse interrupted her: "You don't understand. We've been very worried about him. But ever since you were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting back; he's responding to treatment. It's as if he has decided to live."

The boy later explained that he had completely given up hope until he saw the teacher. It all changed when he came to a simple realization. With joyful tears, the boy said: "They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a boy, who was dying, would they?"

This story invites us to celebrate the gift of life even when all we seem to see around us is pain and disappointment and brokenness. It shows us that on the other side of pain, there is resurrection. It reminds us of what is possible whenever there is hope. Let us be people who live as fully as God has intended us to live. Let us believe and live the Resurrection.

Happy Easter,
Fr. Chuck

2010-03-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,

After Hurricane Katrina several TV preachers got in their pulpits and said that the reason that the storm devastated New Orleans was because of the decadence that goes on there. A famous evangelist also said the same thing about the horrific destruction that we’ve recently witnessed in Port au Prince. People blame God for cancer, wars, accidents, divorces and all sorts of silly things. In this weekend’s gospel we hear Jesus’ response to some deadly occurrences of His day.

Apparently, folks in Jesus’ time liked to blame God for tragedies as well as we do. They approached Him with questions about two recent deadly incidents that they were concerned about. Pontius Pilate and the Romans had killed some Galileans and a tower had fallen in Siloam near Jerusalem and eighteen more Jews had died. The response from the faithful disciples was, “Why would God do such things to us?”

Jesus’ answer was both assuring and challenging to His listeners. First He tells them that both sinners and saints die. We all have accidents. We all can be the victims of disease, violence, accidents, and tragedies. More importantly, God doesn’t pick on sinners any more than He picks on saints. Then Jesus challenges His audience to be prepared for their own death by repenting NOW for their sins.

Since we don’t know the when the axe will fall for us, Jesus calls His listeners then and us now to take the necessary steps in our own lives to be in the right relationship with God and our neighbor. We cannot guarantee that when we wake up in the morning, we will see the sunset. Jesus calls us to continue to be prepared.

Finally, I have two requests. I will be at my favorite place in the world this week on retreat. From Sunday afternoon until Friday evening I will be making my yearly retreat at Gethsemani. Please keep me in your prayers during this time. Lastly, you may have noticed that my hair is getting very wooly these days. I will be shaving it all off on St. Patrick’s Day to benefit research into cancers that effect children. Several other parishioners will be doing the same thing at other occasions in the next couple of weeks. Whether you contribute for them or me does not really matter, but please contribute so that we can all do a little part in keeping kids from suffering. If you’d like to contribute online, my link is www.stbaldricks.org/participant/frchuck. You may also give cash or checks to any of us participants in person. Write the checks to St. Baldrick’s Foundation for “haircut”. Thanks for any help you can give.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

How big is your God?

2010-02-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

I may have told you all before about one of my favorite things to do while I was assigned as pastor of Emmanuel Church in Albany and Holy Cross Church in Burkesville. I would have a group of students from Holy Cross College in Worchester, Massachusetts come and spend their spring break doing service and outreach work with the poor in Clinton and Cumberland Counties. Most of these young adults were from the cities of the Northeast. So even being in rural Kentucky was quite a big change in what they were used to. I’d make it a point to take them out on one of the nights they were there to a place out in the middle of nowhere to look at the night sky. For some it was the first time they had seen the Big Dipper. For most it was the first time they had seen the Milky Way. For all it was a religious experience as they got a glimpse of the vastness of God’s creation and their humbling privilege to be a part of it.

Again I’m reminded of those students when I read the first line from this weekend’s first reading from Genesis. God makes a promise to Abram (soon to be Abraham). He asks our first patriarch to look up at the numbers of stars in the sky and try to count them. Then He promises him that his descendants will be that numerous. Abram then makes a covenant with God showing that our God will be his only God.

In the Gospel (from Luke 9) God shows Jesus’ favorite Apostles the completion of the covenant that He started with Abraham. Jesus is transfigured before James, John, and Peter. They get a sneak preview of God’s plan for Jesus and us. God shows the disciples Jesus in a glorified state talking with Moses and Elijah about His trial, death, and resurrection in Jerusalem. Then God identifies Jesus to the three followers as His Beloved Son with the instruction to “listen to Him.”

We are part of that same legacy and promise given to Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and the Apostles. St. Paul says that “our citizenship is in Heaven.” When we truly grasp the love that God has for us; when we catch a glimpse that the design of our lives is meant for so much more than what we can fathom; when we begin to see that we too are part of the compassionate and forgiving Body of Christ; then we too begin to live our lives only for God.

Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Chuck Walker

Don't Tempt Me

2010-02-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,

This First Sunday of Lent shows us Jesus fighting off the temptations of the Devil by turning to the help of God. His temptations were real and strong just like ours. But He was able to overcome their lure by His trust in His Father.
Before He was tempted Jesus had just spent forty days in prayer and fasting. As we begin our Lenten journey of prayer and fasting let’s get serious about fighting the sin and temptation that we face. The best way to do that is by practicing some penance. Practicing penance not only helps us stop sinful and unhealthy behaviors, it also helps us involve God in fighting off the temptation to sin, and it helps us establish virtuous and healthy habits to replace what was sinful. The following is an article concerning penance from Creighton University’s Online Ministries Lenten Website. I hope you find it helpful.

Practicing Penance

When I sprain my ankle, part of the healing process will involve physical therapy. It's tender, and perhaps it is swollen. It may be important to put ice on it first, to reduce the inflammation. I may want to wrap it an elevate it and stay off of it. Then I will need to start moving it and then walking on it, and eventually, as the injury is healed, I'll want to start exercising it, so that it will be stronger than it was before, so that I won't as easily injure it again.

Penance is a remedy, a medicine, a spiritual therapy for the healing I desire. The Lord always forgives us. We are forgiven without condition. But complete healing takes time. With serious sin or with bad habits we've invested years in forming, we need to develop a therapeutic care plan to let the healing happen. To say "I'm sorry" or to simply make a "resolution" to change a long established pattern, will have the same bad result as wishing a sprained ankle would heal, while still walking on it.

Lent is a wonderful time to name what sinful, unhealthy, self-centered patterns need changing and to act against them by coming up with a strategy. For example, if the Lord is shining a light into the darkness of a bad pattern in my life, I can choose to "stop doing it." But, I have to work on a "change of heart" and to look concretely at what circumstances, attitudes, and other behaviors contribute to the pattern. If I'm self-indulgent with food, sex, attention-seeking behaviors and don't ask "what's missing for me, that I need to fill it with this?" then simply choosing to stop the pattern won't last long. Lasting healing needs the practice of penance.

Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Chuck

Whoa! I said WOE!!!!!

2010-02-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Sisters & Brothers,

I'm impressed with how generous the parishioners of St. Ambrose, St. Ignatius, & St. James are. We're especially generous in times of need & to people in need.

Through your generosity our St. Vincent de Paul Society gives well over $100,000 (and closer to $125,000) to help our neighbors who can't afford their monthly staples. We're always there to pitch in when Helping Hand Ministries needs volunteers to make phone calls, deliver toys & Christmas baskets, serve meals, run & contribute unselfishly to a fund drive, or donate needed coats, food, clothing, & anything else that's needed. We completely outdid ourselves recently in our response to our sisters & brothers in Haiti. So far you have contributed probably more than $30,000 for their relief from the desperate conditions they find themselves as a result of the earthquake that hit them a month ago. We are very generous indeed.

Today I'd like to ask you to answer the question, "Why is that so important?" Do we give and volunteer just to make us feel better about us? Do we give to hear others say good things about us or to think well of us? Do we give begrudgingly or out of guilt? Why is it that we are so generous?

I'm hoping that we are so unselfish for the same reason that Jesus spoke the words of the beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke this weekend. His beatitudes are different from St. Matthews version. He has four "Blessed are you(s)", followed by four "Woe to you(s)". He says blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, & the insulted and hated. Then He says woe to the rich, the well fed, the laughing, & the well thought of. The point of His sermon was to tell His disciples to put pleasing God & serving others (especially those the world thinks are insignificant or not blessed) in front of their own needs. Only by putting God & others first in our lives will we disciples ever be really happy (or blessed).

This was completely upside down thinking when Jesus spoke it in some little Galilean field 2000 years ago. It is still upside down thinking to our ears today. But it is the honest truth.

We try to make ourselves happy by filling our lives up with stuff, luxuries, entertainment, power trips, inflated egos, & sensuality. We think that we can make our ownselves blessed, holy, & happy. Jesus' "woes" are a wake up call to us disciples. Only by completely emptying ourselves for God's sake and for the sake of others (as He was going to do for us) will we ever know what happiness & holiness is.

Is this why we are so generous? Let's keep on sacrificing of ourselves until that is the reason why we give.

Peace & Blessings,
Fr. Chuck

I'll Be Calling YOU- OOO- OOO

2010-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

When I was a fifth grader at St. Francis School in Loretto the 5th-8th graders went on a field trip to the Kentucky Fairgrounds. There in the East Wing were Catholic missionaries from all over the world and representing religious orders from all over. Their goal was to interest us in religious, and particularly in missionary, vocations. There was a priest dressed in an all white robe who was playing a game that really fascinated me. He smelled like cigars. But he had mazes on sheets of paper and we had to work them with a pencil by looking at what we were doing through a mirror. When I got my chance to do it I zipped right through it, while other kids were having a real tough time trying to do all of the lefts and rights while looking at things reversed. His point in doing this kind of puzzle was just as this exercise forced to think in a different way, so we were being asked by God to think about our lives and our future in a different way. I spent a long time at his booth eventually helping him get more kids to do the puzzle. Before I left with my school mates to return to Loretto he told me that he thought God had a special purpose for me and that he thought I could be a good priest. God had planted a new seed in me!

All three of today’s readings are about God’s callings. We hear Isaiah’s call in the first reading. St. Paul gives his account of his own call from God in his First Letter to the Corinthians. In the Gospel we see Jesus (a carpenter and travelling preacher) trying to give fishing instructions to professional fisherman. It would be similar to me going into the operating room and telling the surgeon, “Cut right there!” But Jesus was trying to get Peter, James, and John to start doing some reversed thinking themselves. Instead of fishing for smelly fish Jesus was asking them to help Him fish for needy people. Their tendency was to blow Him off and humor Him. But Jesus changed their whole lives and they received a new purpose and a new vocation in life.

We are all called to serve God. More importantly, God never quits calling us to service. Whether we are 11 or 111 God wants us and needs us to take a look at our lives and ask God, “Where do you need me now?” But we need to have ears, eyes, minds, hearts, and souls receptive to God’s call. Sometimes it takes a priest who smells like cigars to wake us up. Sometimes we have to be challenged in our normal daily routine. Sometimes we think that we’re too old, or too young, or too dumb, or too smart, or too (you fill in the blank) to be something special for God. But God is always trying to step into our “sometimes” and help us be something new for Him. Please pray that you will hear God and respond with generosity the next time He calls.

peace,
Fr. Chuck

I'm Only the Messenger!

2010-01-25T10:13:00.000-08:00

HI FRIENDS!

Rene Bauer sent me some statistics that I think that we all need to see.

Even before the earthquake...

QUICK FACTS

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere

95% of aid to Haiti has been reduced since the early 1990s

70% of Haitian people live in poverty-annual income of $400 per year

15% of all children in Haiti are orphaned or abandoned

200,000 orphaned Haitian children live in institutions (the rest are fostered, live with relatives, or are street children)

40% of the population is under the age of 15

A history of an extremely high maternal mortality rate contributes to the number of orphans

Child-headed households are becoming more common as potential guardians succumb to AIDS or other causes of death
(source UNICEF)

Your generosity to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti is astounding. From the donations that have come in through last weekend our three parishes sent in nearly $29,000 to help relieve the suffering that is going on in Port au Prince. But they are going to need our help for a long time. We have received emails from Fr. Alcide and Sr. Mary of St. Marc’s Parish there. They say that even though their city was not damaged, floods of people are coming from Port au Prince to St. Marc’s for food, shelter, water and other essentials. Fr. Alcide also says he is busy burying parishioners and relatives who were killed in the earthquake, including two of his nieces who were only 4 ½ and 5 years old. My hope is that we continue to be generous and support the folks in Haiti and St. Marc’s for decades to come. They will continue to need us.

In the Gospel today Jesus gets ran out of His hometown because he preached that the gates to God’s Kingdom were wide enough for the poor, the blind, and the rejected of the world to fit through. This angered the folks in the synagogue in Nazareth because that was not their idea of who should be included and invited to receive blessings from God.

The Gospel of Christ constantly calls us to open our eyes, our arms, our minds, our hearts, and our lives to include those we don’t want to include into the family of the Children of God. We may think it is unsafe, risky, and even illegal to live with the same limitless boundaries of God. And it is definitely not easy to do so in this militantly individualistic culture we live in. But that is the call of the Gospel and the measuring stick of our discipleship these days. Let’s continue the openness and generosity that we’ve demonstrated for more than 150 years here. Let’s also pray that God continue to open us up to be better able to serve Him and all others.

Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Chuck Walker

Parts is Parts

2010-01-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

Hello Folks,

Watching the news about the suffering in Haiti has been heart wrenching. I saw one report that showed that doctors were having to do amputations with rusty hack saws that they had found in the street because the hospitals and all of their surgical equipment was destroyed. In some cases they were using vodka and rum to sterilize the saws and other “medical” equipment. These amputations were taking place in less than sanitary conditions and locations too. Some of the amputations had to happen at the site of the accident in order to remove the person from the rubble. This is all very sad to think about and to know that it is really happening.

I’m sure you and the rest of our parish will be very generous to the collection we’re having for our neighbors in Haiti. We’ll do so because of our association with our friends in our sister parish of St. Marc’s, and we’ll do so because we recognize that these friends who are suffering are part of the Body of Christ.

St. Paul writes to his companions in Corinth today that, “all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.” And, “You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.” This image of US as the Body of Christ sometimes goes over our heads and sometimes in one ear and out of the other. But it is a deep part of what we believe about the Eucharist and how interconnected we all are to Christ and to one another.

It also has a lot to say about how vital we are to one another as Church. Over the next couple of weeks we will have some parishioners planning to begin a program named “Re-Membering Church”. (You’ll hear more about this in the bulletin in the near future.) This team will figure out how to contact and then conduct listening sessions for folks who may be ready to come back to the Catholic Church after having been away for a while. The whole thrust of this is to let folks know that the Church as the Body of Christ hurts when another part of the Body hurts and dies if part of the Body is dismembered.

You are an integral member of this Body of Christ called St. James Parish. We need you now to come back if you’ve felt disconnected for a while. We need you all to connect with friends, family members, and others who you miss being here at St. James. Ask them to be re-membered with us.

The Body of Christ has many members. Just like the human body we all hurt when one part hurts. Help us heal here, in Haiti, and everywhere the Body of Christ is hurting.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Love is a Radiator

2010-01-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

Howdy!

Last weekend was Vocation Sunday but this weekend's readings seem to say more to me about being called by God for His special purpose.

The 2nd reading is St. Paul's I Corinthians 12:4-11. In it he talks to his fledgling Christians about how God gives us all gifts, and that they are all different, but that they are still God's gifts. Isaiah in the first reading (Is.62:1-5) tells the chosen people that in God's mind they are intimate lovers. God considers His people to be just as a new bride or groom is to their new spouse. He uses intimate language to talk to his ancient (and now modern) audience about how dearly God loves us and calls us. In the Gospel from the second chapter of John we see Jesus beginning His ministry at a wedding in Cana. The unsuspecting guests are going to receive a real treat. Where logically folks can be served the Old Crow after they've had plenty of Maker's Mark and they won't know the difference; Jesus turns water into Blanton's. (okay, it was really wine, but I know there are more folks around here who know about the quality of bourbon, and less who know about the quality of wine.)

Here's why I think that these readings talk to us about vocations. A vocation is a calling to use our gifts for the service of God and others. I did not choose the gifts that God gave to me and neither did you. But they all came from God. We are called in turn to return our gifts for God's good. This morning I used the image with our 1st-3rd graders that we use our gifts like radiators. We are not the source of our heat, or our power, or our gifts. God is! We are given our gifts to be radiated or spread, like a space heater or radiator is. That is what Jesus did in Cana. He used God's gift of generosity and joy to make the wedding day for the unsuspecting newly weds a party with the finest of wines. He used His gifts not to make Himself better, but to enhance the lives of His hosts and the other wedding guests. This first miracle of His was to be followed by many other miracles, works, and words. And every step of the way, in everything that he did, he used His life to radiate the gifts that His Father had given Him for the benefit of others and ultimately for the glory and honor of His Father.

We all are called by God to use the life we have for the benefit of others and to praise God. Hows' your radiator working?

peace,
Fr. Chuck

Cannon Ball!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-01-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get upset with photographers. Whether they are professionals or folks who just love to snap pix I think they get in the way sometimes. I am very sympathetic to the stars and sports celebrities who get upset with the paparazzi always sticking a camera where it need not be.

One of the places that it seems that photographers take over is at weddings. I think they think that the wedding is about the pictures. Most churches including our own have "rules" for photographers at weddings mainly to keep them and everyone else at the wedding focused on the "wedding" that is going on.

Marriage, Communion, Reconciliation, Baptism, Confirmation, Healing, priesthood, religious life are all important Sacraments and/or commitments. Sometimes though the ritual of the commitment or Sacrament becomes more important than the Sacrament or commitment.

My point here is that commitments and Sacraments are meant to be lived. I know a lot of people who come to Mass to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. But when they get in the parking lot or the grocery store the Body or Blood of Christ is not evident by their actions. I could go down the line with all of the Sacraments and our other religious commitments. We like to feel the warm waters of Baptism, and be inspired or consoled in the pew. But are we willing to live what we have just received and be who God calls us to be.

On Sunday January 10th we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord Jesus. After His Baptism Jesus began the work and preaching of His ministry. It eventually led to His total commitment to God and us on Calvary. Where He has gone we are called to follow.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Everybody's Gotta Hungry Hark!!!!

2009-12-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

A few years ago I got to spend nearly two weeks during Lent in Arizona on retreat. I arrived in Phoenix in the late morning on a Wednesday. I rented a Dodge Neon and drove to Scottsdale and bought a ticket for Sunday's Cubs' Spring Training game against the A's. I then drove north to the Grand Canyon. As a 15 year old I'd been there before. The first visit was so impressive that I can still close my eyes and see the muddy Colorado River "ess"ing through the bottom 2 miles below, the far rim several miles north, the canyon mesas, pinnacles, and walls, and the vibrant hues of orange, red, yellow, tan, brown, and a few tufts of green. I got there in time to catch the last glimpses of sunlight fade across the massive gorge. Then I got a good idea. I would go to the lodge, get a room, dinner, and drink. Then I'd set my alarm for well before sunrise and go to the the first lookout to the east, watch the sunrise on the canyon, hike the rim for fifteen miles or so, and end my day at a lookout point to the west of the lodge, and then take a shuttle bus back to my car and then drive to Sedona the next night.

All those things occurred except the getting a room part. The lodge was booked. In other words, "there was no room in the inn." I didn't have to spend the night with the canyon mules though. I spent a few short hours sleeping in a cold rented Dodge Neon's reclining front seat. My research told me that it was going to be hot in Arizona in early April. And it was (during the daytime and at lower elevations). But night time in the higher elevations at the Grand Canyon was freezing or below. I did not have the clothes that it took to stay warm that evening. I ran the car heater for 45 minute periods, woke up to turn the car off so I wouldn't get asphyxiated, slept for 45 minutes w/out heat, and repeated the cycle until it was time to go watch the daylight come to the Canyon.

Also part of the reason I couldn't sleep was the anticipation of watching sunrise come over the Canyon. Have you ever stayed up all night just to experience the dawn – the gradual dimming of the stars as light gently pushes back the darkness revealing the now? Somehow all is refreshed, brilliant – light has come. My experience was just that. When I walked to the rim, it was completely dark. No moon, just cold, black, and stars. I could tell that I was at the Grand Canyon, but I could not tell how grand it was. Then the eastern sky s began to lighten, and silhouettes of the canyons forms started to make themselves known. The colors started to appear. Light made everything new and vivid. Light sanctified the Grand Canyon, making it new.

Christmas is just this – Light blessing the now. Christmas is not the end of the Advent waiting and journeying. It is the dawn of Advent. It is Light blessing and sanctifying the journey, the waiting itself.

Who waits for whom? Who blesses whom? Parents, siblings, buddies and lovers pensively wait for those who are engaged in ministry, mission and service to come home. Parents eager with anticipation wait for the infant soon to be born. Parents, friends and strangers compassionately journey with the lost and forsaken. Longingly families and friends wait for the estranged. The outcast in yearning wait for welcome. The hungry in trust wait for the cook. The homeless in hope wait for the host. The jobless in faith wait for the employers. The imprisoned desiring freedom wait for the visitor. And children everywhere joyfully wait for the anticipated delight.

May God give you the gift of hunger for the Light of the World.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Short People Got No Reason....

2009-12-14T07:24:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys and Gals,

I have spent the last three of Monday afternoons at the Towne Mall working at the Helping Hand “Heart to Hand” Christmas tree. On one of those Mondays I counted the Christmas Carols being played over the intercom for the 2 ½ hours I was there. In that time there were 48 carols played. Of those only six were songs about Jesus. One was the “Our Father” by Elvis. Two were musical medleys (no words) of religious Christmas Carols. So actually, in the 2 ½ hours I was in the mall I only heard songs mentioning the birth of Christ four times. But I heard plenty about winter, snow, reindeer, Santa, and even chestnuts. I promise you that I’m not putting down the Towne Mall or their choice of Christmas music that they broadcast through their intercom. They are very generous for letting Helping Hand use an entrance to their Mall to let us help needy children in our part of Hardin County.

My point is that the voice of the faithful meaning of Christmas is still a very small voice in 2009. A person has to listen for God’s voice (or be bored enough to count Christmas songs at the Mall) in order to hear God at all, even during the season of the year when it should be most likely to hear something about Him. But there is nothing new in that.

In the readings today the prophet Micah and the evangelist Luke write to us about little towns and little women becoming the instruments of God. Micah writes about the little town of Bethlehem being the birthplace of the Messiah. St. Luke tells us the story of the too young Virgin meeting with her too old cousin Elizabeth to rejoice about their Good News. The message to me seems clear. The insignificant and the small are the ones that God chooses to bring in His Son, His Kingdom, and His plan.

That also means that that tiny little voice in the Mall proclaiming the birth of Jesus may just have a chance of becoming pregnant in me, or you, or some unsuspecting shopper who might just happen to have their ears open at the right time. Today’s readings are about pregnancy in the style of God’s design. Although Bethlehem, Mary, and Elizabeth are the featured small things in today’s readings who find themselves being the earthen vessels for God’s work, the message today is about NOW (and YOU, and ME, and HERE) and not only about long ago and faraway. Just like our microscopic beginnings in the wombs of our own moms, God has a wonderful and awesome plan that He wants each of us to play an important part. May we have hearts, minds, lives, and ears that can hear that tiny voice and be the fertile ground that God has made.

Paz,
Fr. Chuck

All I Want for Christmas!!!!!!!

2009-12-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

More John the Baptist?!?!?! When do we get to the good stuff?

My problem is that I’m tired of John the Baptist and those prophesies of change of heart, change of attitude, and especially changes of my behavior. But this weekend we get one more installment of St. John the Baptist telling the folks that are coming to him what to do about their lives.(Luke 3:10-18)

I remember in grade school going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation every other Saturday with my parents. Fr. Spalding would always prescribe just about the same penance every time. No matter what the sin(s) Fr. John T. would give me one to five Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s, and Glory Be’s. St. John the Baptist was different. When folks came to him asking, “What ought we to do about our sins?” his penances were more “sin” specific. He told the folks who confessed selfishness to share better. He told the tax collectors to quit stealing. He told the soldiers to quit lording their power over folks and be fair.

Saying a couple of prayers is easy. Actually changing is tough. But in order to really make Christmas what Christmas is, the “easy” way is not enough. If I want Christ to be reborn in me; if I want Christ to mean something more to me this year than he ever has before, then I have to be willing to change. I have to reprioritize my values, my attitude, my habits, and my behaviors.

The popular bumper sticker says, “Put Christ Back into Christmas!” That is easy to say we want to do. Are we each willing to make the changes in our lives that make this a reality? Or do we just want everyone else to change, and we remain the same dormant selves?

St. John the Baptist you are just what we need to make this the best Christmas ever!!!!

Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Chuck

People get Ready!!!!

2009-11-30T06:37:00.000-08:00

Howdy!

When I look at the readings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent (Baruch 5:1-9, Philippians 1:4-6,8-11, & Luke 3:1-6) two images come into my mind. Both are images of emptiness, yet hopefulness.

I remember as a kid getting ready for Halloween. First I'd get my costume on. My favorite was dressing up like a tramp. I'd put charcoal on my face to look like a beard and get a bunch of Dad's old work clothes to wear. It didn't take much work to dress like a tramp. The most important part of the preparation, no matter what the costume, was finding a bag for the treats that I was going to get. I'd get two old pillow cases and put one inside the other. I'd use double bags to prevent leaks and therefore no lost bounty. Then I'd call my friends to see where the meeting point was going to be so we could scavenge the neighborhood together, and then I'd leave the house with an empty sack (but not empty for long).

The second image I have for these Advent readings is decorating for Christmas. I usually don't decorate my house until sort of late. Two weeks before Christmas is my goal. Some folks have had their decorations up for well over a month before I start dragging mine out of the attic. I have a collection of nativity sets from all over the place. Folks have given me some of them. Others I have bought when I travelled to Israel, Mexico, Guatemala, etc. I got a lot from a store called Just Creations in Louisville. The store sells items from third world countries as sort of a co-op with the poor in those countries. I put these nativity scenes all over the house to remind me that the reason for Christmas is Christ, and that he came for everyone in the world, not just me, us, or a select group of folks. I also put up a Christmas tree. And when I put it up it is usually barren underneath. By the time Christmas Day rolls around underneath the tree fills up. I look forward, just like all kids do, when the I get to rip through the gift wrap, the bags, and the envelopes to see what is inside.

Why do these two images remind me of the Advent readings? Just like my empty trick or treat bag and my barren Christmas tree bottom, the readings have us anticipating what is going to be filled. Baruch tells us to throw off our sad rags and put on our party clothes. God is about to bring us justice, mercy, and glory. St. Paul prays to God that our capacity to love may grow more and more. He anticipates that the good work that God began in us will grow to fulfillment. In the Gospel John the Baptist comes on the scene. We'll here more from him next week, but he enters our Advent this week. His preaching and forgiving prepares for the the coming of the real Savior who has come into the World.

Advent is about emptiness; but an emptiness with a hoped for fulfillment. John the Baptist is not the Messiah, but we know that Jesus is not far down the street. St. Paul and the Prophet Baruch see the potential that we are capable of with God's involvement with us.

Advent is about prayer. May we pray these next few weeks with a purpose. As we enter our prayer time it will do us a lot of good to recognize the places in our hearts, minds and lives are empty. We may also find it helpful to pray about emptying our minds, our hearts, and our lives from some of the clutter that busies us. Next invite God into that empty place. I promise God can do a lot with a little bit of space.

peace,
Fr. Chuck

People Get Ready....!

2009-11-23T11:40:00.000-08:00

Howdy!

I'm still having an NCYC hangover. I'm exhausted but still fired up about the National Catholic Youth Convention last weekend. There were 22,000 youth and leaders from all over the U.S. and the Spirit was definitely moving. The 12 teens from St. James didn't take long to get into the revelry and spiritual excitement. The music was heart throbbing, participatory, and inspiring. Most of the presenters were able to also get the youth involved by their speaking styles and timely topics. The prayer was moving and motivating.

The question is, "Now What?"

We've all had spiritual experiences that got us fired up. Whether it was a Mass, a retreat, an outreach event, or some other holy time, we all know what is like to be motivated in our faith. Mountain top experiences are important. But when the experience is over and we're back on our home ground,the balloon eventually deflates. How do we stay motivated yet real?

First we have to remember that the experience that we had was also a real experience. It was in an ideal situation perhaps, but it was still real. It is easy when we're living back in our ordinary existence to make light of our spiritual experience. To do so is spiritual suicide.

These spiritual events help us to see what is important in our lives, to set goals, and to dream dreams. In many ways they are God talking to us giving us our mission and our vocation. So when we throw cold water on our spiritual experiences we reduce our chance for intimacy with God.

Also, it is important to make the experiences we have part of our daily prayer. Reminding ourselves of why we were motivated and what we were motivated to do will help us to live out the experience that we had. By reminding ourselves of the experience in prayer it also makes God a continued a part of the experience. And God has a way of making dreams come true when He is part of them.

I bring all of this up because on Sunday, November 29th we begin Advent. And I plan on using this Advent season to pray on my mountain top experiences. When I think of the ways that Christ has been born in me in my life, most of the powerful ways have been in the mountain top experiences. So this Advent I plan on praying over the past and the most recent ways that Christ has come to me. I'm not doing this so I can try to go back and relive my past encounters with God. But I want to recollect God's interventions into my life so that I can follow His will for me now.

Advent is time of prayer and new spiritual awakenings. My hope is that you and I may be re-awakened to live more for God through this holy season.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

The Greatest!!!

2009-11-16T04:54:00.000-08:00

It was a different school night for me on February 25, 1964. I had to go to bed at 9:30 or so. But this 11 year old did not want to go to sleep. That part was normal. I was always making excuses for staying up later. Sometimes it was my sister snoring (Kathy doesn't snore)who slept on the other end of our upstairs bedroom. Often I blamed it on my little brother Stephen since he slept in the twin bed next to mine. He was either making the springs squeak, or talking in his sleep, or some other bogus excuse for me being able to spend more time downstairs with Dad and Mom or watching TV. This night was different. Olympic Champion Cassius Clay from Louisville, KY was fighting the evil and violent Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. And Dad was listening to it on the radio. Although rules were rules and bedtime was bedtime, I stayed awake in my bed trying to listen to to the radio through the floor and the stairwell to keep up with the fight. I couldn't make out many of the announcer's words but I could tell from his excitement that it was going longer than expected. I could also tell by the shrill pitch of his voice that Clay was doing well. As the fight went on I slunk out of bed, crawled on my belly to the top of the stairs, and tried to listen with all the strength my ears could muster to the progression of the fight. When, finally, Cassius Clay, from my home state, knocked out the much stronger and brutal Sonny Liston, I could tell by the delirious blabbering of the announcer that something big had happened. That's when I blew my cover and kind of whisper yelled downstairs to Dad, "Did he really win it?" Dad came to the door of the stairwell with a big grin on his face and said, "He's the new Champ!" Then I could hear soon to be Muhammad Ali's voice coming out of the tinny speaker yelling something. I asked Dad, "What's he saying?" Dad though he was saying, "I'm the King of the world!!!" He was actually saying, "I shook up the World!" But I like Dad's version better.

Later Ali became controversial for all sorts of reasons. He liked to brag on himself and belittle his opponents. He switched to the Islamic religion and changed his name. He was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War and had to hang up his boxing gloves for his prime years of boxing as a punishment. He returned to the ring and won back his title. He fought way past retirement time and became kind of a sad figure. Since his retirement he has become a man who was once an icon because of his speed and ability to out think and out box every opponent and now he's an icon because of his ability to be a world peacemaker. Despite his controversial side, Ali has been a hero of mine since I was almost eight and he won the Olympic Gold Medal.

But he is not the "King of the World". Neither is Barak Obama, Osama bin Laden, Rush Limbaugh, Pope Benedict XVI, or any other human being.

I think it is okay to have role models and heroes. I have several. Some are priests. Others are faithful and courageous plain old folks. One of the reasons to have heroes is to try to be like them. Although I know that God has made me uniquely as His own and for a special purpose according to His design, I still like to look at the qualities that I admire in others, and then make them my own. I know now that I don't need to parrot everything about a person to imitate them.

November 22nd is the Feast of Christ the King. He is the only real King of the World. How do you make Him the ruler of your life? How do you try to imitate Him? Do you attempt to imitate the qualities of Him that you see in others?

peace,
Fr. Chuck

PS. I'll be tweeting from the National Catholic Youth Conference in Kansas City from Nov. 19-22. You can follow "frchuck" on Twitter if you wish. It ought to be fun and exciting to see 22,000 teen aged Catholics living and exploring their faith together!! Check it out.

It's The End!!

2009-11-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

Howdy!

I've gotten a couple of mailings recently advertising the end of the world. I say advertising because both were trying to either get me to put notices in our bulletin to get parishioners to believe in their "prophesies". It is also hard not to flip through the TV channels without catching a program about Nostradamus' predictions, or the Mayan calendar, or a giant meteor heading right at the White House (or maybe my house, YIKES!), or some other "prophecy".

I would like to jump on the band wagon. THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!!!!!!!! I have no idea when it is going to happen, buy this world will end.

Jesus warns us in the Gospel of Mark today that the things that we depend on are (in)security blankets. While the people of His world depended upon the sun, moon, and stars for telling time, navigating on land and sea, celebrating feasts, and even foretelling the future, Jesus warns that they are not going to last. His point is that only God is dependable; only God's time is for sure; only God is secure; only God is worth living for!

We spend a lot of our time, energy, and even our money trying to secure our lives. It is natural for us to want things to be dependable and safe. Our will to live is our strongest natural inclination. So, if we can help make ourselves safe and secure by any of our own efforts, then why not? However, God is bigger than our plans.

God also promises that it will be worth our sacrifice to let go of our (in)security blankets to cling to the only ONE who promises us eternal life, a banquet, and a Kingdom that will never end. Are you willing to let go of unreliable things and never be disappointed again?

Paz,
Fr. Chuck

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Go in there and give it your all!

2009-11-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

This weekend's Gospel reading (Mark 12:38-44) is about Jesus sitting in the Temple and observing a poor widow giving her last two coins as a tithe. Jesus pointed her out as an example of selfless giving. Although her gift amounted to about ten cents, Jesus said she gave more than the wealthy folks who were coming in and dumping bags of coins into the Treasury. Jesus said that they were just skimming their contributions off of the top of what they owned, while her two nickels were all she owned.

This reading is more than about tithing money. It is about total commitment.

Jesus is in Jerusalem; and we all know what is about to happen to Him in Jerusalem. His time there will eventually lead to Him giving His all for us. Calvary and crucifixion are only days away. The widow at the Treasury is an example for the disciples just as He will be the ultimate example of God's love, trust, and discipleship in a few days.

This reading makes me want to reflect upon my commitment as a disciple. How many times do I drag my feet when I get a call to respond to someone in need? How often do I turn and head in a comfortable direction when I see the possibility of someone or some project needing a lot of my time and attention? What makes me say, "I'd rather not." to invitations to spend some time with someone new?

I'm good at skimming off of the top, of saving some for later, of holding kindness, tenderness, compassion, and especially forgiveness back.

God help us follow the example of the widow and especially of Jesus. Help us be true disciples who give our all and know that you'll never disappoint a faithful giver.

peace,
Fr. Chuck

"You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'!"

2009-10-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

Who is a saint? What are saintly qualities? Does a person have to be a spitting image of Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul II, or St. Francis Assisi to be a saint? If so, you wouldn't have a chance (me neither)!!!

The good news is that the world has already had a Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul II, and Francis Assisi. Now God has them, and they are His saints. The better news is that you are the only "you" that God has made, and God wants you to be His saint too.

I promise you that I do not look in the mirror each morning saying, "Good morning, St. Chuck!" I know my holes, sins, weaknesses, and lusts way to well to ever think that I am as saintly as I need to be. But I also know that God wants me to live with Him, trust Him, follow Him, love Him, and obey Him in the unique way that He made me to. I am doing all of those things to varying degrees although they may not be quite up to as high as I would like them to be (or as high as the standards someone else may have in measuring my holiness). But the good news is that measuring holiness is God's job, not mine.

Nov. 1st is All Saints Day. We thank God for the saints who have gone before us. I like to spend time thinking about the people who have done saintly things for me. I want to spend some time on this day honoring men, women, girls, and boys who have shown me some Godly example, or loved me with some Godly love. They too were never destined to be Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul II, or Francis Assisi, but in their own ways they were just who God needed them to be for the time and people destined them.

How is God calling you to be a saint? What can you do this week to honor a "saint" who has helped you?

peace,
Fr. Chuck

Changes in Latitude

2009-10-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

Howdy!

A bad habit that I've developed in my 28 years of being a priest is not trusting folks who come to me begging for something. Folks come to my door or call me on the rectory phone needing financial assistance. Sometime they need a meal, or a place to stay, or gas money, or transportation. My inclination is not to believe the story they tell me, especially if they are asking for money from me. I presume that the person is going to use the money that they are requesting not for the purpose they say want it for. I presume that I am being lied to.

I guess this comes from actually being lied to by a few of the folks that have come to me in need. That has caused me to form the attitude that all beggars are using me. I have formed a gross generalization to cover all of the needy. They have to prove to me that they are truly in need before I believe them. They are presumed guilty until proven innocent. Thank God that Jesus' attitude was different.

Beggars were a lot more prevalent in Jesus' time than in our day. The sick, the handicapped, divorced women, many widows, prostitutes, "public" sinners, and lots of others depended upon the charity of others for their "daily bread". They were outcasts. There was no Social Security or social obligation to help them. They were an unwanted drain upon society. Yet Jesus seemed to seek out these people. He actually ate and drank with outcasts. He touched the leprous and befriended beggars.

At the end of the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark a blind beggar named Bartimaeus approaches Jesus wanting sight. The others in the crowd were like me. They just wanted to ignore Bartimaeus, and asked him to shut up and quit bugging Jesus. Jesus had a better idea. Having the compassion of His Father He actually called the beggar to Him. After Jesus heard his request, He gave Bartimaeus sight. As a result Bartimaeus began following Jesus. Rather than ignore this beggar, Jesus listened to him and granted his plea.

Just before this story Jesus told His disciples that if they wanted to be great in the Kingdom, then they needed to be the least of the world and act as a servant or slave to the needs of God and others. This Gospel follows as a "how to" lesson for us disciples. He lifts up the blind beggar by listening to him, treating him with credibility and respect, and helping him. He shows us would be disciples that no one is beneath us and that everyone deserves a merciful and compassionate hearing.

Jesus' bigger lesson comes on Calvary. That is where all of us get lifted up and given a reward that none of us deserve.

I need to change my attitude toward all others, especially those who have little. If Jesus can forgive me and love me even with my glaring faults, then I can change the way I look at others. How about you?

peace,
Fr. Chuck

Let's Get Small!!!!!

2009-10-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

Steve Martin used to do a routine on Saturday Night Live about "getting small". This was back when Steve Martin was edgy, quirky, and belly hurting funny. He would get this real druggie voice going and talk about how mind altering it was to "be small". It was like getting high only backward.

In Mark's Gospel this weekend (Mark 10:35-45) Jesus tells his disciples if they want to get high (in the Kingdom) they have to serve the needs of all ("get small"). Jesus has been described as the upside down Messiah who brings about an upside down Kingdom. If you think about that sentence it is very true, especially in Mark's Gospel. Jesus is the Suffering Servant Messiah in the Gospel of Mark. He didn't mount a throne. He was raised up on a Cross. He doesn't seek power and control. He empowers the powerless by eating and drinking with outcasts and sinners and He touches lepers and heals the sick. Rather than seeking wealth and kingly trappings, He asks His disciples to abandon all things to be a part of the upside down Kingdom of God.

We (or at least I) struggle to fit in. I want to be liked. I want (the right) people to think well of me. I dress to impress. I want the popular trappings (car, boat, TV, phone, etc.). I want to hang out with folks that are like me or that I want to like me. Today Jesus says worry about the little people first. Be the friend of the small of the world. Don't be a ladder climber. Get in the gutter. Be a cellar dweller.

I've got a long way to go. How about you?

paz,
Fr. Chuck

I Think I'm Possessed!!!!!

2009-10-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

The Gospel reading for Oct. 11th is a tough one for me to read (Mark 10:17-30). It is about the young man who comes to Jesus asking how to get to Heaven. Jesus and he agree that he is a good guy. He follows the commandments and knows what they are. But then Jesus asks him to give away his possessions to those in need, and come and be a disciple with Him. The young man walked away from the most generous invitation that anyone could ever receive. The Gospel says that he walked away sad because of his many possessions.

I do not consider myself a wealthy person. In the eyes of our culture I am comfortable but not rich by any stretch. Compared to some of the Third World countries that I've seen, or even parts of our own state or the inner cities of our country, I am extremely wealthy. However, I consider some other "possessions" as detrimental to my being able to be the disciple Jesus would have me be. I know that I possess some pride in my insistence on being "correct". I also possess some false judgement in the ways that I classify people. I possess laziness and apathy in my failure to want to change some "bad" habits. I possess fear when I am confronted with an opportunity to change and be a better person. The list could take up several pages of blogs if I wanted to list all of my possessions. So I'll just leave it here with the ones that I'm comfortable to declare. But just like the young man in the Gospel, I have chosen to cling to these possessions rather than give them away in order to help others and be a better disciple.

Jesus gives a rather funny image to talk about us rich people. He says it would be easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God's Kingdom. I think He meant this to be a funny image for His disciples to help them jettison some of their baggage in order to be a part of God's way of living. If you read the Gospel of Mark, Jesus keeps repeating Himself. He tells the disiples several times that they have to trust God like He does in order to be a disciple. They may not have gotten the message, but He kept on issuing the invitation to them. The same is the Good News for you and me. Daily God calls us to let go more, to trust more, to know God's forgiveness, mercy, and compassion more, to grow deeper into the life of His Kingdom and abandon the foolishness of selfish living. God keeps on offering opportunities. He never quits. Whether we totally ignore Him, or begin to trust just a little, God gives us more chances to squeeze in. Let's look for something to let go of today.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

I DO! (sort of)

2009-09-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

What if God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone, or the
woman either. I will make an abundance of sex partners for them to experiment with, as often as they get in the mood to do so. They will hook up briefly with little emotional depth, remaining completely separate persons, no commitment required.’??

Today's first reading from the second creation story of Genesis and the passage from the tenth chapter of Mark's Gospel address the issue of marriage permanence. Actually they are about more than whether divorce is allowed. In fact Jesus changes an exception to the law in the Jewish tradition. In the male dominated culture of Palestine in Jesus' day, a man could receive a divorce if his wife was unfaithful. Jesus tells them that God's intention from Creation was that a commitment is a commitment, always and forever. He even goes so far as to say that neither men nor women can ask for a divorce. (In Jesus' world women could never ask for a divorce, since they had no clout.) So Jesus stretches the minds of the law making Pharisees. He tells them that women and men are both equal in the eyes of God, but both are required to live up to their commitments.

Today divorce is a plague. I believe this stems from our insistence on individualism in our culture. We all know what the rules are and what the ideal is. But we also believe that we each have circumstances that cause us to be the exception to the rule. I figure that State Troopers are lenient, so I put my cruise control on "76" rather than "70". I make excuses for friends who fall "in love" and leave the priesthood. I've consoled my aunts and uncles when they tell me of family members choosing divorce over counselling and forgiveness. Don't get me wrong. There are definitely life threatening and unhealthy occasions where the best thing that can happen to a couple is that they divorce. But too many times divorce is chosen as a first option, or at least it is chosen way to quickly.

Jesus' statement on divorce happens in the chapter following where he twice told His disciples what His commitment to them was. He told them twice and again later that He would suffer, die, and rise for them. He asks them to do the same as His followers. Commitment is important in all of the Gospels, but especially in the Gospel of Mark. Today he tells the Pharisees and us that commitment is important in marriage as well. That is the way God intended it from the beginning. God hasn't changed.

peace and blessings,
Fr. Chuck

Is Sin Contagious?

2009-09-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, our family would take trips together. Sometimes it was just the seven miles from Loretto to my Grandmother's home in St. Mary's, KY. But at other times it was a vacation trip to Clearwater or St. Pete Beach, FL. My sister, brother, and I would sit in the backseat of our Ford Galaxie, or LTD. Dad would drive the whole way with Mom in the "shotgun" seat. (She also doubled as the trip disciplinarian!!!) Since I was the oldest and most mischievous I was the one who usually started the trouble that caused Mom to put on her disciplinarian hat and dole out punishments for our (MY) misbehavior. It didn't take much to get my brother in trouble. He was the youngest and thus had the smallest bladder. So I would just start suggesting watery things like swimming, rain, water hoses, and he would start to get the urge. Then I'd step it up a little bit and start talking about flushing toilets and bath rooms, and then he'd start whining about needing to use the toilet. This would cause Dad to get mad (because we had just stopped a few miles back, and besides going to the rest room, Stephen had used some of his vacation money to buy him another Dr. Pepper). When Dad got irritated, Mom was called upon to settle us down. By this time Stephen was crying and begging to stop at the first big bush. I was smirking because my mission was accomplished. My sister Kathy was tougher to get going. She had the patience of a mountain. I'd tease her and call her a "girl" and she'd remain un-flustered. I'd make fun of her dolls that she played with, and still was undaunted. Finally, I'd resort to holding my finger one inch from her ear and whisper the mantra, "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!" That would eventually get her to start slapping at me and yelling at me. That in turn got Dad upset, which got Mom in gear, which got her to pull me into the middle of the front seat (to separate us), which is where I wanted to sit all along.

The readings for this Sunday tell me that sin is a virus. The Letter of James (5:1-6) and the Gospel of Mark (9:38 & following) say that how we treat others has an effect on how they behave. James accuses the rich and the high and mighty in society of having the most effect on folks. But because God sees the way that they treat the poor and little ones of the earth, then they will have "HELL" to pay later. Jesus gives His disciples an ominous warning too. If we cause folks to sin then our sins will be punished.

The good news is that we can influence people positively too. We usually don't notice that our small acts of kindness and virtue also have a ripple effect on others. They do! Sin and virtue are always personal choices. I choose to do good or bad. But my choices and behaviors always effect others. I choose to make a snide remark about my boss, or the president, or a family member. That may cause a shadow of doubt and negativity to be formed in the mind or heart of another. I show kindness to someone who may have a bad reputation, or someone who is low on the social totem pole. That may cause someone else to have second thoughts about how "bad" that person might be. If someone sees me picking up a piece of litter on the sidewalk, it may make them hesitate the next time they're tempted to drop a candy wrapper on the ground.

We're in this world and in the Kingdom of God together. Everything we do has an influence on our planet and the rest of the Body of Christ. Let us pray for the strength and the grace to act virtuously, so that that God's will may be done and not thwarted.

peace,
Fr. Chuck Walker

Last But Not A Loser!!!

2009-09-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

I am in some football pools this fall, as I have been for the past several years. One of these involves $1 a week. The others are bragging rights pools. When I see the NCAA or NFL games that I need to choose from each week I go to the different polls, blogs, and Internet sites that rank teams from top to bottom in relationship to the team they are playing each week. I factor in which team is the home team and if I have some prejudice for or against a team. (i.e. I'll never pick UK or the Cowboys and I'll always pick UofL and the Packers.)(Don't hate me. I'm just being honest!!) I do put a lot of credence in the ways that the different gurus rank the teams though. They are professional sports writers, coaches, and analysts, so I respect what they have to say. Their rankings are important to my decisions.

Jesus tells us in the ninth chapter of Mark's Gospel that if we want to be first in God's rankings, then we have to place ourselves last and servant or slave to God and others. This may be the hardest lesson that Jesus teaches us. This is a tough thought for our American minds to get around. We are very big into building ourselves up, keeping up with the Jones', being the best, or at least being better than the next guy or gal. I do not think we are selfish people when we dig below the surface, but I think we are trained to make sure we take care of ourselves financially, educationally, physically, militarily, and about every other "ly" we can consider. Jesus and the Gospel fly in the face of any thing remotely selfish. Jesus' life and teaching make us constantly question our tendencies to take care of our self and to live for God and others first.

The good news is that our efforts at living and trusting in God can be and are acceptable if they are even incremental. One step at a time and one day at a time is fine with God. God is Love, Mercy, and Forgiveness. So He accepts our minute human efforts in living in His image as baby steps toward the goal of fully imitating Him in our next life.

May your prayer and your efforts at living for God's Will and God's Kingdom increase in being selfless. May your actions and thoughts today be steps toward be first later and last now.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Come On And Do It!

2009-09-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary use words."

This quote is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. While St. Francis wrote a lot of songs, prayers, and letters, he is most known for his acts of faith. He started an order of religious men and women based on living the Gospel as simply as possible. His rule (IE. set of standards) ,for the religious order to follow in order to be part of his order, was himself. He led them in living simply. He led them in making the scriptures an integrated part of his life. He led them in trying to imitate Jesus' love, forgiveness, and sacrifice. He did this because he got a message from God to "rebuild My Church." When he heard God calling him to rebuild, he changed his life. He went from a rich kid living off of his father's wealth, to a man determined to rebuild the Church spiritually by simple and holy living. In doing that he found that the only wealth that mattered was the love that God had for him and the reward he got for being poor and serving the poor.

Jesus in today's Gospel says, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me." Living a holy life has little to do with talking about a holy life. Living discipleship means preaching the Gospel without words.

What steps can you and I take to put our faith into action a little more each day? How can we prayerfully and practically show our love of God through the ways we treat others? How can we simplify our lives and embrace the only way to real happiness now? How are you being called to preach the Gospel at all times??

peace,
Fr. Chuck

Can You Hear Me Now???

2009-08-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

A story is told of a father and his young daughter who had had a very strained relationship for some time. Returning from a trip, the father did something that was very unusual for him. As he entered into the room he presented his daughter with a necklace that he had bought her. Completely overcome with joy by this unexpected act of giving, the young girl inadvertently dropped the necklace and went running from the room with tears in her eyes. She returned shortly only to find as she walked into the room that her new necklace was now around the neck of her infant baby sister. "Oh," said the father. "I went on and gave it to her. You didn't like it anyway." He wasn't listening. Apparently he didn't know how to listen to his daughter.

Jesus heals a deaf and mute man in this Sunday's Gospel (Mark 7:31-37). Friends brought the man to Jesus and He heals him on the spot. They are so flabbergasted at Jesus' healing that they all start spreading the Word about how great Jesus is despite Him asking them to keep it quiet. When the deaf man with the speech impediment was healed, both he and all of his companions start proclaiming the goodness of God. So, in the eyes of Jesus, more than one man was healed from deafness and the inability to speak that day. Another thing to note about this healing is that Jesus did it for a foreigner in a foreign country. So hopefully some of His Jewish disciples and other followers got the message that God's graces and benefits are bigger than just one group of people or just one localized corner of the world.

Listening is an art or skill that needs constant attention. We've all heard that God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we could listen at least twice as much as we speek. It is a truly disciplined person who can listen well. Most of the time when I listen I am already building up my argument or my reply to what the person is saying before they stop speaking. That is not listing. It's debating. Most folks just want to be listened to when they come to me. They just want to know that they have been heard. After they know they are heard then they want to hear a little advice. But until they are listened to, they'll not be open to my two cents.

I think God likes to (and needs to) be listened to. That to is a skill and an art. I spend an inordinate time talking to God in my prayer. I know that contemplation and meditation are the purest forms of prayer. And I try to spend time during each of my sessions of prayer listening for God. But when God doesn't talk on my schedule, I start filling the silent void with my requests and my idle thoughts. It is a real discipline to sit and truly listen to God. It may not even happen every time we pray, but it truly worth the wait. When the peace, assurance, encouragement, forgiveness, challenge, or compassion comes from God, there is no doubt that God has communicated with us. And then we are folk like the ones in today's Gospel story. Once God has open us we have to share it and live it.

I hope that these meanderings of mine are helpful. I enjoy writing them. It is a prayerful practice for me. If you wish please send me a reply or your reflection upon what you've read.

Paz,
Fr. Chuck

Jesus Rulz!!!

2009-08-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

When I was about 11 my Dad and I were building a new dog house for my new dog, "Rags". As I threw my hammer accross the yard, Dad said, "DeWayne, it's not the hammer's fault that you hit your thumb." He also made me go find the hammer and apologize to it for taking my frustration out on it. It was a point well made. In the seventh chapter of Mark's Gospel Jesus tells the Pharisees that it is not what goes into a person that causes evil; it is what is inside a person that makes evil things occur. Jesus' point is similar.

The Pharisees were very big on making sure people obeyed the very literal interpretation of the Jewish purity rituals. Some of those had to do with washing your hands and feet as you entered someone's house, or before you ate something. This what not just a matter of personal hygiene but a religious prescription. In other words not to wash made you ritually impure and therefore sinful, and not able to enter the temple, synagogue, or another Jew's home. These rules were very strict already and the Pharisees wanted them to be enforced even stricter. Jesus and His disciples were good Jews but not much concerned about human interpretation of God's law.

Jesus and the Pharisees seemed to bump heads a lot. Sometimes it looks like Jesus would heal people, or get His followers to disobey a Jewish law just to make the Pharisees, scribes, Levites, and other strict observers ticked off. His point is always to get the disciples and the nay sayers to understand that good rules are there to help us follow God more closely, not to seperate us from God more. His point on this occasion is to get the disciples and 'religious' folks to see where sinfulness begins. Our minds, hearts, and souls are what choose sin. Our minds, hearts, and souls are also what choose grace and virtue.

It is the same will that chooses to lie or decieve as it is that chooses to express thanks, forgiveness, and love. This a hard and very human lesson to learn. We have God's Word, God's law, God's Spirit, and God's Son to guide our choices. But we get to choose. Prayer, scripture reading, Mass attendance, and developing good and virtuous habits help us make good choices. But we cannot blame the devil, or God, or another person, or our car, or anything else for a choice we've made.

peace,
Fr. Chuck

Choose Life!

2009-08-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

When is the last time you swam against the current? While everyone else seemed to be going with the flow, doing the reasonable and expected thing, have you ever chosen to do the thing least expected?

In this weekend's readings, both Joshua and Jesus ask there folks to take and unpopular stand, and follow them. Remember the Israelites had been meandering in the desert for forty years. They had to be tired of wrong turns, wrong decisions, fighting enemy tribes and one another, sleeping in tents, and being homeless. When they are about ready to finally enter the Promised Land of Canaan, they question Joshua's leadership again. He says to them that he and his family are going to choose the prospect of a new life in the Promised Land; and he asks the rest to follow him and his prospects for new life. I'm sure that some turned away because they saw this as another pipe dream or scheme. But the faithful followed.

Jesus has been talking scary talk to the thousands that He fed with the loaves and fish. He tells them that unless they eat of His Flesh and drink His Blood, they have no life in them. He told them that only by eating and drinking Him could they have eternal life. The Gospel today says that many started turning away from Him because of His scary speech. He asks His twelve most devoted followers if they want to leave also. St. Peter responds, "Lord, to whom else would we go. We've come to believe that you have the wards of Eternal Life." For once St. Peter does not stick his foot in his mouth. He responds correctly to Jesus.

God asks us to follow today too. No matter what our vocation is, we are called to follow God's call. If we take that call seriously, following the Godly way will always take us the unpopular and hard way. Going the way of God leads to life with God forever, but it is a daily up hill path.

Are you willing to make the tough choice?

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Everybody's Got a Hungry Heart!

2009-08-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

I get to hear a lot of life stories from a lot of people. I enjoy my job. It is quite a privilege to have someone to share their life with me. Most of the time people tell me about their lives because they need a little help figuring things out, and they want to hear my perspective or advice (they think).

I have a couple of responses to this. First of all, usually the situation that folks come to talk to me about is only the tip of the iceberg of something else going on with them that needs to be looked at. I'm not just talking about psycho-social stuff here. When someone engages me in talking about their life, we find out together that there is usually a deeper hunger that needs to be fed than the one that they think they need to talk about. Invariably a relationship that has gone sour with a spouse, a parent, a child, or someone else who is significant, leads to us looking into our soul at a relationship with God which needs some attention.

Secondly, it usually turns out that my role is minimal in these conversations. I am a mediator at the very best, but usually I'm even more passive than that. Numerous people have come back to me after spiritual counselling times with me to thank me for my help. When they describe the help that I was to them, I normally know that I didn't say anything like what they give me credit for, or I know that what I said to them was the exact opposite than what they received while we were together.

My point is that God knows our real hungers and needs. God is also able to feed us where we need it, rather than where we think we want it.

These gospel reading over the past few weeks have all been about Jesus as the Bread of Life. Jesus is talking to the disciples, the Jewish leaders, and the crowd about the food they really need, not just about fish sandwiches (which they think they're looking for). Some want fish sandwiches still, and they can't accept the offer that Jesus is giving them. He is offering them Himself as their food for eternal life with God. They're not buying the offer. They are either short-sighted, close-minded, or too dense to comprehend what Jesus' offer is.

This Gospel makes me look at my heart and soul to see how open I am to Jesus' invitation and challenge to a deeper, more faithfilled, and eternal life. What's keeping me from accepting Jesus' invitation to Full Communion with Him and His Father?

peace,
Fr. Chuck

PS Please feel to respond add your own two cents onto anything that I've written that touches you. I enjoy reading your comments.

FEED ME!!!!

2009-07-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Why would the president of the U.S. want to talk with the Pope? Obama just did. Bush went to meet John Paul II before him. Many presidents have met with and received counsel from Popes throughout our history as a nation. Is that blurring the separation between church and state? Are they just being diplomatic or do you think they really understand who the Pope represents? And do they really care about what the Pope might have to say about the problems and issues that we face as a world and as a nation?

Hopefully our president(s) pay(s) attention to the counsel, the wisdom, and the truth that our Pope holds. Hopefully also leaders of state throughout the world recognize that our Pope speaks from a faithful position that is more than just another opinion or a political agenda. From the time of Christ, our Popes have been the compassion, truth, forgiveness, and voice of Jesus is this world. Our Pope doesn't just spout off another slant on an issue. He takes into consideration the words of the Scriptures, and the faithful teachings and interpretations of God's Word through the centuries since Jesus Christ.

Are Popes human? Of course they are. Have Popes made mistakes? Yes they have. But they have also asked forgiveness for the sins of our Church. Also, throughout history our Church has been the moral compass for the World thanks to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Over the next few Sundays the Church gives us readings about Jesus being the Bread of Life (John 6). This weekend we hear the story of Jesus feeding thousands of people with a few volunteered loaves and fish. The people were coming to Him because they were physically and spiritually hungry. He took care of their hunger pangs first and then fed them with what they really needed. This whole chapter from the Gospel of John is about the Eucharist and what we really need to satisfy us.

In a World where people are starving and malnourished physically, morally, and spiritually maybe each of us need to realizes that there is only One who really feeds us.

Please feel free to comment as you like on these thoughts of mine.

peace,
Fr. Chuck

P.S. I'll be gone next week and may not be home until past the deadline for the following week too. So this may be my last update until around August 10th. Thanks for all of the feedback that you have given me so far. Even if you are reading this and not "following" or commenting on it, I'm glad to provide a little spiritual encouragement.

Baaaaa!!!!

2009-07-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

Two Saturdays ago we celebrated "Independence Day". We Americans are founded on the principals and ideals of national and personal "Freedom". It may be our highest and most sacred value as a nation. Freedom of choice, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are all part of our national genetics. Denying another person their "right" to freedom is not only against the law, it is a reprehensible sin in our country. All of our legislators, and all of our court room judges and benches make decisions daily, based on the principals of personal, civil, and legal freedom.

Besides, we like being "independent". We think it is great to be able to go where we want, say what we want, and do what we want. We sincerely believe that any child in America can grow up to be anything they dream to be (even president), if they apply themselves to that dream.

On the other side of this is that we do not like to be dependent on anyone for anything at any time. We think that having to rely on others is a sign of weakness. If we can't do the job by ourselves, then we're doing an inadequate job (or worse we are inadequate). We may have to team up with others to be successful (in our sports, or work, or families, or communites, or even as a nation). But then we as a team, or family, or work force, or nation have accomplished the task together as a team (by ourselves).

Then we face the Scriptures. Mighty King (and successful military general) David had to admit that, "The Lord is my Shepherd...". He had to face the fact that even with his wealth, power and military might he had to rely on God. Jesus in the gospel today looked at a needy throng of people and likened them to "sheep without a shepherd" (Mark 6:30-34). Although we do not like to be compared to weak and needy sheep, we have to admit that for most of the important things in life we are dependent on God and others. We may be able to wake up, and survive living by ourselves in a day, but when we ask ourselves the hard question of why doo we have any of the stuff, any of the talent, any of the time, or any of the relationships that matter to us in this life; the answer is that only by the goodness of God do we have anything at all.

Questions for your reflection this week:
What area of your life do you need to let God shepherd?
How has God led you through life thus far? (Or, can you see how God is leading you through life?)

paz,
Fr. Chuck

Who Me???

2009-07-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm enjoying this more than I thought I would. By writing this blog and by writing on Monday the letter that is going to appear in our bulletin on Sunday, I'm able to keep the weekend readings alive in my head and my heart before I actually put my thoughts together and write a homily on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Also your comments are helping me get a larger perspective for putting my thoughts together.

This week the prophet Amos tells the priest Amaziah, that he didn't plan on being a prophet, but God had other plans (Amos 7:12-15). Amos was trying to tell the Jewish religious and political leaders that he had a vision of the walls of the Temple being tilted and about ready to fall. The religious and political leaders (represented by the priest, Amaziah) took this personally, and told Amos thanks for the advice but, "GO HOME!" Amos politely apologizes. He tells Amaziah that he is not really a prophet; that by trade he is a shepherd and a tree surgeon. But God gave Amos these visions and insights, and God's Spirit compelled him to let the king and the priests know what God's vision was.

In the Gospel (Mark 6:7-13) Jesus sends His disciples out two by two to do the work of the Kingdom of God. These folks were not schooled in seminaries or even synagoues. They were fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, and perhaps a few people whom Jesus healed or excorcised. I've heard them and us referred to as God's "rag tag army". If any of the first disciples thought that they were going to be called to be anything other than ordinary, I would be completely surprised. Yet they were sent to be missionaries for God. After Jesus' death and Ressurection these same folks would be sent again to all of the nations to heal, forgive, and Baptize. In other words God's "rag tag army" has been responsible for growing the Church since Jesus ascended back into Heaven.

Do you consider yourself part of God's "rag tag army"? How are you accepting God's mission for you? Do you have a God-given vision that you'd like to share? Is there something holding you back from living your discipleship?

Please feel free to comment.

Peace,
Fr. Chuck Walker

There's No Place Like Home

2009-06-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

One of the first movies I remember watching was "The Wizard of Oz". I was only four or five. Our neighbors had a new TV. Our two families watched it together. The thing I remember most is getting freaked out by the flying monkeys. I was so scared that I did not sleep the night in fear of those darned monkeys. I continued to have nightmares for months afterwards thinking that those winged primates were coming after me! I was so frightened that I didn't care (or I didn't know) that Dorothy and Toto got to go home to Auntie Em in the end.

Jesus goes home to Nazareth in today's Gospel story from Mark (Mark 6:1-6a). He goes to the synagogue to preach and gets criticism instead of compliments. His old hometown neighbors talk behind His back, bad mouth Him, and tell Him that He's not "all that". This is very odd for this part of the Gospel of Mark. In this first half of the Gospel, everything that Jesus does is wonderful, never seen before, healing, powerful, compassionate, forgiving, and most of all successful. Everywhere He goes He is able to heal, forgive, exorcise, or do whatever it takes to care for peoples' needs. Everyone is praising Him and are in awe of God because of Him. But not in Nazareth. It may have been a case of His former neighbors and relatives being too familiar with Him. Perhaps they remembered the little snotty nosed Jesus, and couldn't get passed the fact that He had grown up physically and spiritually. After His Baptism He was on a mission from God. His homeboys and girls could not get their minds around the change that had occurred in the boy they knew as Mary and Joseph's son.

I have two things for us to think about this week (and two things for you to comment on, if you wish). First, are there individuals or even groups of people that we have failed to let grow in our minds, hearts, and lives? Are there family members, friends, co-workers, classmates, or others that we treat like we did when we first met them? Secondly, is our relationship with God that way too? Do we pray to God in the same way we did when we were ten, or when we were on that retreat? Have we let our relationship with God grow up as we have?

Please feel free to comment or just mull over my comments. I'm hoping you are finding this useful for you. I'm enjoying tring this. If you'd like for me to improve what I'm doing somehow, please feel free to let me know. Also, if there's someone who you would like to share this with, please pass it on.

paz,
Fr. Chuck

He did what?!?!?!?!?

2009-06-21T17:29:00.001-07:00

What would your reaction be if someone with oozing sores & bloody skin came up to you & hugged you? My guess is that you'd want to jump in the shower or hose off as soon as you could.

In next weekends gospel Jesus is touched by a bleeding lady & then he goes to a synagogue official's house & touches his dead daughter. Both of these actions would have made Jesus ritually impure. In Jesus' culture & in His Jewish law being impure meant you were now an outcast from the synagogue & from polite society. Yet Jesus allowed himself to be made dirty & an outcast in order to show that God & His compassion is bigger than religious norms & social conventions. Jesus, showing the empathy of His Father, healed the hemmoriaging woman & raised the dead girl to life.

I want to read your comments on this reading this week from Mark 5:21-43. If you could focus your comments on one or both of these two sets of questions:
1. If Jesus is willing to risk His health, religious stature, & social standing to show God's compassion, then what boundary, phobia, politically correct behavior, or social wall would you be willing to ignore in order to imitate His compassion?
2. We all have some thing dead, sick, or dirty in us. Are you willing to bring the digusting part of yourself to God in order to given His new life, healing, & forgiveness?

Thanks for the comments, support, & suggestions from last week. Let me know if you can think of ways to make this blog more helpful.

peace,
Fr. Chuck Walker

Test 2

2009-06-16T10:41:00.001-07:00

trying to figure out how to post blogs from my phone.
Paz,
Fr. Chuck

Jesus stills the storm(s)

2009-06-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at this. What I'd like to do is post a blog each week, say on Sunday night or Monday morning. My plan is to usually give my first thoughts on the upcoming weekend's Catholic lectionary readings, or on whatever the upcoming weekend's Church feast is. I may also use this spot for letting you all know either what's going on in this warped mind of mine or what may be going on in our Church or parish. Why I'm doing this is because I want to know what you think about what I'm thinking and vice versa. Here's to trying any way.

The Gospel for next weekend is about Jesus being asleep in the boat with his disciples while a storm is whipping up the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41). Jesus wakes up and tells the storm and the waves to sit down and shut up, and they obey him. The disciples get upset with Jesus because He didn't move fast enough for them. Then Jesus questions their faith.

How do you deal with storms or crisis in your life? Sometimes I'm better at it than at other times. I like to think that I'm a pretty cool and calm operator. I like to think I don't get rattled very easily. But I fake it a bunch too. I don't like surprises, crisis, changes of plans, conflict, etc. any more than anyone else. Sometimes it takes me a while to realize and remember what I know and believe, i.e. God's in control ultimately and God is going to love me in whatever the storm is. God does not disappoint. Even if the answer is not the one I wanted or chose, God's answer is best. I may not fully understand God's solution to a crisis or a tragedy in this life, but I trust that God never stops loving (EVER).

Please comment on my post. I want to read what you have to say. Give me examples of storms in your own life, or how you saw God calming a storm that you experienced.