From this morning’s gospel: “Jesus enjoined them, ‘Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’” (Mark 8:15). Poor Pharisees; they really get a bad name and reputation. If you asked them, they would describe themselves as one of the good guys. They were born out of a movement of desire among the non-priestly class and the experience of the Babylonian Exile and centuries of foreign rule: “How did this happen to us?” It was a movement that understood the path to holiness as a people, as a nation, was through the individual living holiness in every aspect of their lives. To be fair, St. Francis of Assisi was part of a larger lay-led spirituality movement of the 12th century that emerged in many countries across western Europe as the western world emerged from the dark age. There are many modern biblical scholars that would see many similarities with Jesus and the Pharisaic movement. Continue reading
Being one of the good guys
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I am currently reading a biography of Thomas A. Edison by 
All families and households in the parish by now should have received a mailing from Bishop Parkes about the 2020 Annual Pastoral Appeal (APA). If you did not receive it, that means you are not registered here at Sacred Heart – or – you have changed addresses and not updated your information with the parish – or – perhaps you are not registered anywhere? Perhaps you are thinking, “That’s OK, I am registered with my parents.” True, that’s OK, unless you are a young professional already living on your own, with your own career. There are registration forms in the back of the church (Or 
Today’s 
Franciscan sister and scientist Ilia Delio (my master’s thesis professor), has written a wonderful autobiography. In it she recounts how her parents decided to name her Denise. (She would have been named Denis had she been a boy.) Later in life, she was delighted to find a meaningful connection with the man who first approached theology in an explicitly mystical way in his text Mystical Theology. Delio writes: 
Yesterday’s 
Normally I muse about one thing or another here in the “pastor’s column” but only from time-to-time use the space to report on this or that. But this week I wanted to take a look ahead at what’s going on in this amazing parish and our future. One of the first things that comes to mind is our “Vision: True North” (
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