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John 1:14

October 9 Attention Theological anthropology students

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin at 3:15 pm on Friday, October 9, 2009

     All of my lecture notes up to and including Chapter six of the haffner text are now availablr online

August 15 The Heart of St. Paul

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin at 2:06 pm on Friday, August 15, 2008

     When St. Paul writes about the various gifts in the Church, he recognizes that it is through the diversity of the gifts that the unity of the Church is built up. He writes to the Corinthians: “Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same spirit; and there are a variety of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God that inspires them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1Cor 12:4-7)

     St. Paul makes it clear that these gifts are not for one’s personal benefit or profit, but for the glory of God and the building up of the Church. It is up to the Church to determine how these gifts are to be used and when they are to be used. God has given each person unique talents that he/she alone possesses. The Holy Spirit is the source of these gifts and helps us to use them to the best of our ability. As we discover them about ourselves or others discover them in us, we need to cultivate the generosity of heart to use them for others. If we do not choose  to make these gifts available to the service of the Church, we diminish the ability of the Church to make Christ known in the world.

     In order to serve Jesus Christ faithfully, we must eagerly seek to serve his Mystical Body, the Church. For St. Paul, Christians are obliged to do more than just “pray, pay and obey.” They must actively desire to share the faith that is within them, making use of the unique gifts given to them. Each person is essential to the Church. May we recognize our responsibility and faithfully live it out.

The Heart of St. Paul

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin at 4:27 pm on Thursday, July 31, 2008

     The number one enemy of St. Paul is disunity. The separation of believers from St. Paul, the Church and one another was a source of anguish for him. He knows that unity is a difficult challenge as he tells the Church at Ephesus:

     “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to live a life worthy of your calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forebearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:1-3)

     Paul knows that the most annoying thing Christians have to deal with are the foibles and attitudes of other Christians. All are sinners, all are redeemed, but there are differences among them. It is clear for St. Paul that the only way to live the Christian faith is in community, whether it is a family, a parish church or simply a group of believers. We are purified by one another in seeking to live honestly, purely, prayerfully and realistically with each other. Some are more advanced than others. Some have different gifts than others. But they all serve the same Lord and the same Church. They have the same faith and the same hope. We are like pebbles placed in a mixer. We smooth each other out by learning to serve each other, be patient with things about the others among us and generally come to love one another more, inspite of our weaknesses. That is when, as St. Paul says, we live a life worthy of our calling, which is to be Christ for one another.

July 16 The Heart of St. Paul

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin at 8:48 am on Wednesday, July 16, 2008

     St. Paul teaches that the highest and greatest action of a person is to love. Fame, wealth and power all fade away, but love remains in the end. We will ultimately be judged on how well we love and how much we loved God and our neighbor and nothing else, because this judgment contains everything. First Corinthians 13 is one of the most famous passages from St. Paul. It is his great hymn to love. He writes: “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love never fails.” (1Cor 13:4-8a)

     Paul uses these words to express what he calls the “still more excellent way.” We often hear this reading at weddings. Do we ever stop to realize how hard it is to love in this way? How many times are we impatient with our spouse or want our own way? How often do we resent the good things that happen to other people? How often do people want to bail out of committments at the first sign of difficulty? If we examine our lives, it is a lot more dificult to live love than it is to speak about it. If this is the “still more excellent way”  and it is shown to us by Christ, then we know it is going to entail suffering. Love means sacrifice. Love means the cross!

     Paul admits that our love for God and one another is imperfect and frail. Love requires on the job training. Love requires making a selfless gift to God every day. The love Paul writes about is attainable for all of us. It is seen in the Saints and in the people we often do not even bother to notice. May Christ teach us a little bit more about love every day so that the ideal given to us from the heart of St. Paul will become for us a reality.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us!

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

June 30: The Mother of God ALWAYS delivers!!

Filed under: Blog,Uncategorized — admin at 8:40 am on Monday, June 30, 2008

   Last Saturday night I had Mass at St. Veronica’s, and they were having their parish festival. A really bad thunderstorm hit and just as I was receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, there was a huge clap of thunder and the lights went out. (I thought to myself, God really wants to remind these people WHO it is they are receiving.) Anyway, after communion, , and there were more people in Church than usual after communion becuase they did not want to get wet by leaving early (Another divine sign?) So before the final blessing I asked the people to join me in saying a Hail Mary that she will ask her Son to clear up the weather and give them a good night. I wanted to ask them to say a Memorare with me, but I think that many would not know it.

     So we said the Hail Mary together.  By the time we were finished the lights began t come back on in the body of the Church, and wouldn’t you know that by the time the festival started at 6:00pm there was no more rain. I hope some of the people thought to thank the Blessed Virgin for interceding for them, but many probably did not.

     Still, I hope I planted a small seed in some of their heads that they start asking the Saints to intercede for them. We need to get the Communion of Saints out of the unemployment lines and get them back to work for us and with us. They will be a tremendous help in getting the Church renewed.

ALL HOLY MEN AND WOMEN. PRAY FOR US

April 13, 2008 Audio homilies on line

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin at 8:35 pm on Sunday, April 13, 2008

       I have finally figured out (sort of) how to upload my Sunday homilies online. They were digitally recorded on an H4 Zoom digital audio recorder. It is a great little gadget. If you click on “Words of Hope Lenten homilies” or “Words of Hope Easter homilies,” you will find them. Even though they were recorded on an Mp3 format, they are still large (15-18 MB)files. If you want to download them, feel free, but it may take some time. There will be another couple of surprises in store, if I can figure out what I am doing.

December 26 St. Stephen Proto-Martyr, Pray for us

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin at 12:03 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2007

      It seems strange to some that we celebrate the Feast of the First Martyr of the Church on the day after Christmas. However, when we look at the life of Christ, the manger is not far from the Cross. Caryll Houselander wrote a wonderful book called, Wood of the Cradle, Wood of the Cross, to remind us of this fact. Calvary reminds us of the fact that the Word needed a human body to sacrifice on the cross, hence the importance of the Incarnation. St. Fulgentius of Ruspe speaks of Stephen’s martyrdom in way similar to what Pope Benedict said in his audience:

     And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown first in the king, it later shown forth in the soldier. Love was Stephen’s weapon by which he gained every battle, and so won the crown signified by his name. His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those who were stoning him. Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment. Strengthened by the power of his love, he overcome the raging cruelty of Saul and won his persecutor on earth as his companion in heaven. in his body and tireless love he longed to gain by prayer those whom he could not convert by admonition.

     Lord today we celebrate the entrance of St.Stephen into eternal glory. He died praying for those who killed him. Help us to imitate his goodness and to love our enemies. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

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