View from the Ambo

Sunday, October 28, 2018

30th Sunday B '18 - To See

Blind Bartimaeus is giving the choice to ask the Lord for what he wants - and he answers. What to we seek? Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2yC9hqh Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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Sunday, October 21, 2018

29th Sunday B '18 - Ordered Attachments

The apostles James and John ask for something they cannot have, but their attachment to Christ is greater. What are our attachments? Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2qaU1fv Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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Sunday, October 14, 2018

28th Sunday B '18 - Disordered Attachments

The young rich man knows that there must be something more to inheriting eternal life, and he asks. He is too attached to his wealth to listen to the answer. What is the Lord helping us to discern this day? Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2NzhakE Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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Thursday, October 11, 2018

Repeating or Rhyming?

Mark Twain is mistakenly credited to have quipped, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” This notion has been in my mind these last months as we have witnessed, yet again, the failure of so many in leadership in the Catholic Church regarding sexual misconduct. Some used those days wake-up call to recommit ourselves to the faith, morality, and most importantly live as Christ has called us to live. Dioceses of our state have released the names of those credible accused, sought out the victims to beg forgiveness and seeking healing, and at least begun the settlement of lawsuits. Unfortunately, some bishops and dioceses did not. These last months, we have witnessed high-ranking prelates debasing themselves in the most despicable of ways. We see others covering, aiding and abetting sin and moral failure. Others have created alternative structures, almost an anti-Church movement, heading by duplicitous clergy (priests and bishops) in the Church. While these issues had been named as pedophilia, a more chilling realization has set in – according the 2003 John Jay report, 79% of the crimes were homosexual (male on post-pubescent male). These revelations have shaken most of us to the core. What we are witnessing now in other parts of the country is the rhyme and repeat based on the failure to respond. Too many simply went through the motions, and like a child, swept the dust under the rug, assuming out of sight, out of mind. But that is not clean! Now, the Holy Spirit is challenging us again to look at the corruption. As a Catholic, I deeply believe that this is the time that the Blessed Mother Mary promised, in which she is going to sweep the Church clean. It hurts, and it is hard work. But it is spring cleaning for the whole Church. Lift up the rugs, crush the cockroaches, scrub the dust. Get the filth out! When this is done, there will not be one place for evil to hid in the Church, and then the Church will be able to continue her mission of cleansing the world. Only then will the Church be what she is called to be, a refuge for sinners seeking Christ, and a place of safety for all. The Church will always be the prefect and spotless bride of Christ. Christ has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But the Church’s members are sinners. The Church is in constant need of purification. Christ suffered and died for this! And we must accept this purification. While we may not be at fault, we all have a role. What we see in the Church is only symptomatic of the culture, especially as we consider the #MeToo movement or the rampant rise of STDs, the use of pornography, the sex trades, or abortion. We need to commit ourselves to saying “NO MORE.” We need to examine every aspect of our culture and remove abuse in all its forms. Only then will history cease to rhyme.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

27th Sunday B '18 - Ordered Marriage

Jesus teaches that divorces a result of hardness of heart - disorder. What would be a properly ordered heart? Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2zVVg7O Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
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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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