View from the Ambo

Sunday, September 30, 2018

26th Sunday B '18 - Disordered Passion

Jesus instructs us to do what every it takes, even to maim ourselves, to avoid sin. What does that mean? Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2I7Jyt3 Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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Sunday, September 23, 2018

25th Sunday B '18 - Ordered Passion

When our passions and desires are out of order, we will have problems, both internally and in society. How do we order our passions? To Christ's Passion! Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2I7Jyt3 Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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Sunday, September 16, 2018

24th Sunday B '18 - Not Enough

It is not enough that our ears are opened and we speak our faith - we must take up our cross. Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2CXF89k Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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Thursday, September 13, 2018

St John Chrysostom '18 JIS - Mercy

During the Children's Mass for John Ireland School, we discussed mercy, and why we should be merciful.
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Sunday, September 9, 2018

23rd Sunday B '18 - Ephphatha

Jesus heals the deaf man with an impediment, and He is willing to heal us. Do we want to hear the voice of God? Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2NwmCZG Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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Sunday, August 26, 2018

21st Sunday B '18 - Choose

Jesus asks if we are willing to keep following Him? It's not enough to choose just once, but every day. Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2PDbqZy Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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Sunday, August 19, 2018

20th Sunday B '18 - Prepare and Apply

Posted: 19 Aug 2018 09:56 AM PDT

Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Eucharist. Have we properly discerned His presence and prepared our heart, ready to apply the grace we receive? Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081918.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Assumption '18 - Ark and Queen Mother

Posted: 15 Aug 2018 01:32 PM PDT

Mary is assumed into heaven, and is the fulfillment of the Ark of the new Covenant and the Queen Mother. Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081518-day-mass.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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A Runner's Prayer

Some may be aware that I have found great stress-relief in running. In addition to dealing with the stress of being a pastor with all its concerns and the unique situations that I find, it is helping me unite body and soul, as I pray (typically the rosary, even) and pay attention to the various emotions and feelings of each body part. Saturday, during my morning run, I found myself praying a powerful prayer to do just that. It went something like this:

Come, Holy Spirit, be the breath in my lungs,
May I keep my mouth silent and my ears listening.
Make my feet go in the direction pleasing to You,
and my hands carry nothing but the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
May my knees ache for the prayers that I am to offer this day.
Let my back an offering of labor to you.
Let me shoulder Christ's cross with strength.
May the blood pulsing through my veins help me long for Christ,
and may each heart beat be a song of praise. Amen.

Sunday, August 12, 2018

19th Sunday B '18 - SuperFood

Posted: 12 Aug 2018 10:39 AM PDT

Jesus gives us the true Bread from heaven, the bread of Angels. Do we use it to become better? Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081218.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Sunday, August 5, 2018

18th Sunday B '18 - Bread of Life

Posted: 05 Aug 2018 11:28 AM PDT

Jesus is the new manna, and invites us to Himself. Do we accept what the Lord is doing in giving us the Bread of Life? Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080518.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Sunday, July 29, 2018

17th Sunday B '18 - Gift

Posted: 29 Jul 2018 11:09 AM PDT

Jesus accepts the 5 loaves and 2 fish from a young boy, and blesses, breaks and gives it to the crowd, and it is more than enough. What gift are we offering? Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072918.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Thoughts on Humanae Vitae

Today, July 25, we mark the 50th anniversary of the release of the encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25, 1968). Too often, this document has been vilified and ignored, but I find it freeing and prophetic. Blessed Paul VI speaks of the great dignity of conjugal love and bearing of children. While he rejected a commission that proposed a change in the tradition of the Church regarding artificial means of birth control, he did not do so lightly. He lays out the doctrinal framework that based on the nature of God’s love, which is open and total. Because of this, the love of husband and wife is also to be open and total, and it is expressed in unitive and procreative ways. He recommends that couples practice natural family planning - if they have reasons tempered in justice, they may refrain from sexual activity in their mutually fertile times (this is not the rhythm method, but rather scientifically verified means). In chapter 17, he prophetically writes that artificial contraception opens the way to marital infidelity, lowering of moral standards, objectification of women, and forced contraception on the part of nations. While not explicitly mentioning abortion, one sees readily his concern there. He acknowledges that this is not and easily accepted position. He gives some antidotes - he reminds us of the value of self-discipline and chastity. This encyclical is one of the building blocks on which St. John Paul II based his Theology of the Body, which gives a wider understanding of who we are as human beings, made in God’s image and likeness. As we see the whole nature of sex, sexuality, gender, and all sorts of questions that could not have even been thought of 50 years ago, I encourage every adult to read it and take Blessed Paul VI’s words to heart. Recently, reports broke of a high ranking Catholic, now retired, who was abusing minors and was in a number of homosexual situations. These included abuse of seminarians of his own diocese. Sadly, he had a hand in the US Church’s response of the sexual misconduct of priests in 2003 (the Dallas Charter). For the record, I had met this man in passing as he was the celebrant for a Mass I attended about 16 years ago. The stories of the men are sickening - how the person in question forced himself on the others, and how he justified it at the time. Of course, now he denies any wrong doing. I am deeply convinced that not only these stories of abuse and even the #MeToo movement is the aftermath of failing to take the encyclical’s prophetic call to heart. Danger lurks in the shadows of separation, and we have falsely separated marriage, sexual expression, procreation, union, and morality. While the drafters of the 2003 Charter for the Protection of Youth may have failed to live up to the expectations they annunciated, these guidelines are needed. With renewed commitment, let us make sure that we will never allow abuse of any minor or vulnerable adult. Let’s commit to repair the damage that has been done that has led to abuse, rape, and exploitation.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

16th Sunday B '18 - Need

Posted: 22 Jul 2018 10:45 AM PDT

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who meets our every need. Do we rest in Him? Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072218.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Sunday, July 15, 2018

15th Sunday B '18 - Ordinary

Posted: 15 Jul 2018 10:32 AM PDT

Jesus sends the 12 to proclaim the Gospel, like Amos and even the stuff used in the Sacraments, all ordinary until blessed by God. Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071518.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Sunday, July 8, 2018

14th Sunday B '18 - Sufficient Grace

Posted: 08 Jul 2018 10:39 AM PDT

St. Paul writes of his 'thorn in the flesh'. What might that tell us of our healing or lack of healing? Are we invited to a deeper faith? Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070818.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Thoughts on Independence Day

The smell of burnt gunpowder probably hangs in the air following our Fourth of July celebration. Really, though, that is a misnomer. The Fourth of July is like any other day. Why the parades, the flags, the fireworks, the hopefully unfettered show of patriotism? It is Independence Day we celebrate, the day we remember the brave founders of the American experiment, men and women with a noble vision of a country of, by, and for the people. They envisioned a country not ruled by a king, dictator, or emperor, but a person elected to serve for a particular time to execute the laws legislated by a congress and judged in keeping with the founding documents by a judiciary. This American experiment was one unlike any other, and after 242 year, we stand, though perhaps not as strong.

If we ask now what kind of freedom we fight for, too many might answer the right to self-determination, but defined as to do what I want, right or wrong, properly licentiousness. My needs and desires always supersede the other. If I cannot have those needs met thorough my own agency, then the government must intervene. But that is not the vision of our founders. See, the freedom they envisioned was a liberty - the freedom to choose the right and reject the wrong. It was a freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But its basis is truth. They understood that neither these rights nor truth itself were a function of popular vote or granted them by a benevolent ruler, but by God. While they may have a theistic understanding of God as a distant creator, they still acted and believed that these rights were deeply engrained in the human person and that truth is knowable. That is why these rights are inalienable - they are not able to be taken away. This notion of truth and liberty is profoundly Christian, based on the Judeo-Christian history, but all peoples can have access to it. That is why countless people have flocked to our shores and continue to do so. They want a share in freedom, to live the truth.

As a country and people this Independence Day, I hope that we can acknowledge the American dream is alive, and yet unrealized among so many. Let us defend the defenseless and downtrodden who come to our ports of entry eager to follow the dream. But at the same time, find humane ways of securing our borders to limit child and sexual trafficking and those looking to expand criminal empires. Let us pray for those who govern, no matter party affiliation, that they may be filled with wisdom to work for the good of all Americans and allow this country to be a bold beacon of truth and liberty to the whole world. Let us be a people seeking truth, working for justice, and defending life, liberty, and the pursuit of eternal happiness.

Sunday, July 1, 2018

13th Sunday B '18 - Healing

Posted: 01 Jul 2018 06:30 AM PDT

Because of our Annual mission Appeal, I recorded a little reflection on the readings of the Sunday. Jesus desires to heals, physically at times, spiritually always. Whether we are completely spent or even dead, Jesus comes! Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070118.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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Sunday, June 24, 2018

Nativity of John the Baptist '18 - Purpose

Posted: 24 Jun 2018 10:32 AM PDT

We celebrate the Birth of John the baptist, whose very purpose, to proclaim the grace of the Messiah, was in his very name. What's our purpose? Readings are found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062418-vigil.cfm and http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062418-day-mass.cfm Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2

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View From the Ambo June 24

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist (one of three that we celebrate in the Church - Jesus's on December 25th, of course, and Mary's on September 8). We have a vigil Mass in which we hear of the announcement of John's conception, while his father Zachariah, of the priestly division of Abijah, was serving in the temple. The time frame of his service is mid- to late- September. This puts John's birth in late June. In the Annunciation (which we celebrate March 25th), the Blessed Mother is told by the angel Gabriel that Elizabeth is pregnant 6 months (September to March is 6 months) and Mary goes to be with her the last 3 months before John's birth in June! But at the Annunciation, Mary conceived and gave birth to the Lord 9 months later - December! Interesting, right? Sometimes we forget that Tradition of the Church is trustworthy because it wasn't recorded in a way easy to understand. After all, the Evangelists simply could have written that John was born around the Summer Solstice, a day that is fairly immovable and understood across cultures and calendar systems. In the end, it does not matter 'when' these events occurred, but that they 'did' occur. John's birth is the beginning of the announcement of Christ's incarnation! Because of this, this feast is always celebrated, even when it falls on a Sunday as it does this year.

Like John, too, we are called to be heralds of Christ, though we are heralds of Christ's return. We tell others that He is going to return, and that we are called to continuing repentance and preparation. Let's ask John the Baptist's intercession this weekend to be bold heralds of Christ.

In Christ,

Fr. Todd