Church of St. Mary at Clinton Heights

Where do we go in times of struggle, anger and disappointment? Everyoneresponds differently. Some of our coping is healthy; others destructive. As Catholic Christians, the banquet that God provides is the place to go. Here, we are welcomed. Here, we can raise our voices in songs of praise, cries of lamentation, desperate cries for help. Here, we let each other know we are here for each other. Here the food and drink is the Body and Blood of the Lord…which is all we need. it is at this Sacred Meal we find peace in our struggles, hope in times of despair, solace in times of pain, forgiveness in times of sin and God when He seems far away. With everything that has happened this week in our Church, the only place we can go is to the Lord.  Right now, he alone is where our trust is.  He alone can heal the wounds that are open in the Body of Christ.  He alone can refashion his Church. Christ alone will show us the way to finally move beyond this pain.

There are no easy answers or solutions.  We need to begin by being honest with what we are feeling.  You and I need to dialogue about how this is affecting us personally.  Then, and only then, can we begin to solve this.  Do not think you are powerless in the face of the hierarchy.  You are God’s people; you are the Church; and you have the right to call our leadership to task.  Many people are saying to allow priests to marry, allow women to be priests or do away with celibacy….these ideas first solutions. Before anything like that is considered, we need to look why this abuse occurs in all strata of life and how it can be addressed for the safety of children and the vulnerable.  We need to address the abuse of power and the crossing of boundaries that occur in all realms of ministry; the same thing needs to happen in the corporate world and in all relationships.  I am advocating solutions, not quick fixes.  I am advocating challenging those who are Bishops to honestly confront their abuse of power and exercise their legitimate authority with charity, compassion, and justice.  This challenge is also for all of us in leadership, and for all who have power over others…..inside the Church and out.

Please talk with me if you need to and are comfortable with it or find someone who is a good listener.  Do not allow your justified anger at people who abused power to rob you of the grace of the Sacraments and the Church.   No one should have that power over any of us.

It is my plan next month to have an hour of prayer for the healing of the Church and for those who harmed by the abuse of this power.   You need to tell me what else you need.  I do not want this to swept under the rug and our community die because of it.  With our focus on the Lord, we will heal and a new Church will be born from the roots of the Cross.  May Mary, the Mother of the Church and patroness of this community, pray for the healing of her children.

At the Mass I went to last Sunday, the homilist said something that I cannot stop thinking about. I heard him say that we need to remember who the focus of our worship is.  We talk a lot about the community that gathers at the Lord’s table and how we live out the message, we focus on us.  What we forget is that Jesus is the reason we gather. It is Jesus who is the true Bread come down from heaven.  The priest was clear that we need to be careful when we gather for the Eucharist that we worship God and not ourselves and what we do.

This really challenged me.  I am a firm believer that we need to work on being a community who are active and living disciples.  What I forget is the one who makes us a community is the one who fed the masses, the one who went to Calvary and the one who rose again.  It could be human nature to see ourselves as the center of the universe and see ourselves as the cause of our success.  This is the reason we begin our worship and remember who we are …… “Mindful of our sinfulness, we prepare ourselves for the sacred mysteries”.   What we do here is for the honor and glory of God.

What we do here, we changes us into community of disciples who gather and minister to the world. God knows us better than we know ourselves, so he provides all we need.  He fed Elijah the prophet who was fed up with the people of Israel because they wouldn’t listen.  He fed the people wandering the desert after they left Egypt and traveled to the promise land.  He feeds us as we walk the journey to him in heaven.

The homilist last weekend reminded me who invited me to the altar to serve him and you.  It was not my choice to be a priest, it was God’s.  It is not your choice to be a disciples, it was Jesus who called you and me.  Our choice is to be who God calls us to be.  In this current moment in the life of the church, as see how power corrupts and some of our leaders made power their god, it is good for us to remember that Jesus is the one we owe our lives to and it is Jesus we worship and adore.  We have a right to be angry and disappointed that those who serve and have served as successors of the Apostles have betrayed our trust, but, remember, Jesus is the Bread of Heaven.  He is the one who feeds and sustains us.  The Lord can work in spite of those who worship power and use control to harm others, but that is no excuse.  Our faith is not in an institution but in a real, living, breathing person who is in our midst always, who teaches us in the Word proclaimed, who comes to us in the Sacrament of the Altar and remains as the Living Bread in the tabernacle, and changes us into to Body in the world.  This is an eternal truth that no abuse of power or cover up will destroy.  The man who calls us to follow Him was a simple carpenter and the Incarnate God.  It to him we owe our worship and praise.

Let us always greet each other here with joy and peace. May God change our lives here.  But, we all need to remember who we gather for……the Living Bread of Heaven, Jesus our Lord.  He is the only One we give our lives too and him alone.

The 23^rd Psalm is one of the most familiar and well-loved psalms of all 150 psalms.  It is often prayed at funerals and in times of trouble.   In today’s liturgy, it serves as a connection between Jeremiah’s challenge to the leaders of his day and Jesus who is the Good Shepherd filled with pity for the sheep.

In Biblical times, shepherds were not the most respected members of society.  Often, because they were out in the fields with the flocks, they were not as observant of the Sabbath laws.  It was hard work with little pay, they were working with animals that were not the smartest knives in the drawer.  The sheep needed the shepherd to keep them out of trouble and wandering away.  He made sure the sheep had a good place to graze and water to drink

Yet, it is this image that is used to describe the King of Israel. Jesus uses to describe himself.  Our Shepherd doesn’t worry about public opinion about who is worth being saved.  Our Shepherd is willing to work hard for us because he loves us…. he doesn’t count the cost.  Just look at the Cross.  Our Shepherd comes looking for us when we stray or get lost.  He provides for all our needs, even when we don’t know what we need. God even forces us to rest:  Keep holy the Sabbath.  We need to remember this today.

In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul.

 Our society rewards us when we over work; yet, the number of people, especially our young people, dealing with stress related issues is increasing.  Our Shepherd challenges us to stop and see the beauty around us; the beauty of the world is his gift to us.

Even in the darkest and scariest of times, he is there. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage.

We never need to be afraid; God is always with us.

You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows

 Our Shepherd invites us by name to his table; even if others don’t feel we are welcome.  He spreads a table of love, acceptance, and joy; he honors us with this invitation.  Think of it:  it is an honor to be here.  To be here at the heavenly table that God spreads before us is not earned or because we are a certain race or class, etc.: God invites all to this table.  Each of us here is special in the sight of God.  What a great place to linger; who would want to leave early?  The host honors us with the invitation; why would we not want to stay with the other guests?

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

God calls us to live our lives as fully as we can here on earth and to live fully with him in the pasture of heaven.  To live fully here is to live a life dedicated to God and His Gospel.  To live fully is to put God before all else.  To live fully is to open up our hearts and lives to our Shepherd who is intimately involved in our lives.  To live fully here is to keep focused on the pastures of heaven promised to all.

May our Shepherd touch your heart this week. May He lead you to a place of rest and peace. May God touch your hearts to realize the honor of being invited here to His table And may He give you the grace to live fully here and in the meadows of heaven.

 

 

 

We celebrate this weekend the feast of St Kateri Tekawitha; the lily of the Mohawks. How well her story captures the spirit of this weekend’s readings. God touched Kateri’s life at an early age in spite of the ridicule she received. God chose her not because she was powerful; Amos was only a tree surgeon. God choose her in her poverty, her blindness, her disfigurement from small pox to be the radiant and beautiful light of His presence. God chooses you and me the same way. We are called to be his disciples in our fear and powerlessness, in our poverty and weakness to bear the light of the peace and justice of the Kingdom, today The Apostles were sent out by Jesus with nothing but a message and faith in him. The reality of this is that when God calls us to do something in His name, all we need is Him…..and we never walk alone because of Him and the community of faith. We cannot live Christianity alone. Yet many say, they can pray at home on a Sunday morning. Jesus shows us in today’s Gospel: without a community around us, we will not be able to do the work of the Kingdom. We see this is Kateri’s life too. Even though she lived with her tribe and family, she was ridiculed for her faith. It was the faith of the other Christians that sustained her. She did not go alone to Canada when her uncle insisted she get married in spite of her wanting to completely give her life to Christ. She left withheld faith in Jesus and journeyed with others to travel from Auriesville (the Fonda area) to just south of Montreal. Remember this was on foot; a distance of about 216 miles. Jesus walked with her and her companions the entire way; His Spirit filled her as the Spirit filled the hearts of the apostles. Just like the apostles returned to Jesus with joy, so Kateri returned to the Jesus she loved at 24 years of age. The radiance of her love of Jesus and His love for her shone on her face at the time of her death and all the scars from the small pox disappeared. Jesus revealed in her the true beauty of a Christian is the faithfulness of a heart; not how a person looks, not what they own, not where they live. Our true beauty is from our willingness to be sent and proclaim the Kingdom. This is the mandate of the Gospel. As the Council Father’s of Vatican II wrote in Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity:

The laity share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own role to play in the mission of the whole People of God in the Church and in the world. They exercise a genuine apostolate by their activity on behalf of bringing the gospel and holiness to men, and on behalf of penetrating and perfecting the temporal sphere of things through the spirit of the Gospel.

God chooses each of us to move beyond our comfortability, like Amos and Kateri Jesus sends us out together to proclaim the Kingdom of God. May we like Amos, the Apostles and Kateri respond with a resounding : I will go.

O God of all the nations, Like Amos, you called Kateri to be a prophetic voice to her people and to us today. She reminds us to look beyond a person’s looks, origins, poverty and see the radiance of your face. You sent Kateri like the Apostles to tell her people about you. May her example and prayers enable us to tell our world today about you without counting the cost. O God who choose her and us, not because of our looks, money or influence but because of love, help us to in all the radiance of your face.

Small actions have great impacts.  In today’s gospel, Jesus uses the parable of the mustard seed to describe the kingdom of God.  A mustard seed is so small that it is hard to believe anything will grow from it.  One small act of kindness can change the entire world and vice versa. One negative act can also alter the world too, but not in a positive way.  We are challenged to practice small acts of kindness to live out our discipleship.  To smile at someone, say hello, let someone in in traffic, hold open a door, offer to help someone struggling with a bag at the grocery store…all these small acts change the world and the Kingdom of God shines forth a little more.   Every negative act will create a world that is drifts away from the Kingdom.  Our angry words, name calling, the attitudes we may have toward others grows a world that reflects less and less the Kingdom of God.

We, as a Church, are called to do small courageous acts to build the Kingdom.  Our call as disciples of Jesus is to plant the seeds of love, justice and peace as St Paul describes the Kingdom of God.  We are to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.  In the Hebrew Scripture, the nation had forgotten the mandates of the covenant and the prophet uses the imagery of God chopping off a part of the tree  and replanting so that it reflects the covenant.  One of the main charges of the people was to take care of the poor, the widow, the orphan and the alien.   This is also the charge of the new People of God….. you and me.  No matter where a person stands on the immigration issues in the country today, children being separated from the parents goes against the spirit of the Gospel.  My concern is totally about these children and the effect the separation will have.   A debate about the law or what the parents have done is for another time and place.  Cardinal Daniel Dinardo of Galveston-Houston and Bishop Joseph Vasquez of Austin, Texas, at the June meeting of the Bishop’s Conference wrote: Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together. While protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety. Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”

Vatican II calls us to be the salt and leaven to society.  Small grains of salt can be an irritant.  A small amount of leaven changes the flour and water into bread.  It is a scary prospect to speak out but remember today’s second reading…”We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

My brothers and sisters, I take the risk today to ask you to do a small action to protect these children and I challenge myself to do the same.  I take a risk that you may not like what I have said or leave the parish. But, in my opinion, no action is not an option.  As God’s people, our mandate in rooted in Jesus himself:   What so ever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.