Category Archives: Sunday Morning

What kind of leader do we want?

Posted on by
3

Certainly a good question with the papal conclave scheduled to start in four days. I have lived during the pontificates of seven popes and in my lifetime we have certainly had a wide variety of types and styles of leaders. In our history, we have had 266 popes. We have had some spectacularly amazing leaders, saints in the making, and we have had some spectacularly horrific leaders, who would have been quite at home in Game of Thrones (so I hear, I actually haven’t seen it…).  All took up the Keys of Peter, with the same job description given Peter: feed my sheep; tend my lambs. The Pope is the most visible of leaders in the Church, but not the only ones with that same job description. The simple mandate, “feed my sheep; tend my lambs” applies to priests, pastors, parents, principals, police, and anyone who would lead – anyone who would answer the call to minister in the Holy Name of Jesus.

Continue reading →

Doors

Posted on by
Reply

There are all kinds of doors in life.  

Doors that lead to new life.  We pass through them and life is changed.  Passing through the doors of high school graduation to the new world called college.  Entering a common life through the doors of marriage – or vows as a Franciscan friar.  What was the most significant/memorable door you have passed through into a new life? I bet almost everyone’s passing was accompanied by trepidation, uncertainty – maybe a tinge of fear – and yet we commit and we pass through to new life.

Not so with all doors.  There are doors that lock us out.  

Continue reading →

A Story in Three Acts

Posted on by
1

It seems to me that if we have been attentive and following all the events of Holy Week, it is possible to discern a play written in three acts. The curtain rises with a prelude: an intimate act of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet. An act rich in meaning and done in love. Then begins Act 1. It is a scene worthy of a large screen. Palm Sunday as the disciples and believers welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, the royal city, the long-awaited Messiah King.

Act 1 continues with a quiet scene, away from the bustling crowds of Passover, with a last meal with his closest friends and disciples. It is then, at the most sacred table fellowship of the Jewish faith, that Jesus shows the disciples the meaning of the proto-Eucharist just celebrated. On bended knee Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. It was an embodied parable of what it means to be a Eucharistic people: love and service. As the curtain falls on Act 1 and when we consider the meaning of Act 1, it is clear, it is love portrayed.

Continue reading →

Betwixt and Between

Posted on by
Reply

I have to admit that Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion leaves me feeling betwixt-and-between. In the flow of the Lenten readings it seems like there is the building wave of love and goodness and so filled with the presence of God. On the 2nd Sunday of Lent we shared the story of the Transfiguration

On the 3rd Sunday there was the owner of the orchard that wanted to cut down the fig tree that had not borne fruit in three seasons. But the gardener interceded, asking for time, promising to give special care and attention in hope that the fig tree would bear fruit. Lent is like that special time given to us, letting us know the divine gardener watches over us: the presence of God.

On the 4th Sunday was the story of the Prodigal Son. I love the image of the father always on the lookout for us, praying we would return home from our misadventures. Even before we can explain or apologize, we are embraced, welcomed home, and know we are deeply loved: the presence of God.

Continue reading →

The Rearview

Posted on by
Reply

Part of life is often seen in the rearview mirror. Repentance and conversion need the rearview mirror – to see what has been and to begin to think what is possible. Lots of things can be seen in that mirror – memories good and bad, wisdom, information about the choices we’ve made, … and regret. 

Two Sundays ago, we heard the parable of the barren fruit tree. We can all look into the rearview mirror of our lives and recognize barren periods. We may regret the loss of opportunity, the wasted efforts….and more. While the vineyard owner wanted to lay the axe to the tree and make room for a tree that will bear fruit, the gardener wants one more year.  A year for change, a year for repentance.  When we look into that rearview mirror of life, we can see our barren periods and regret, but in that same moment do we also see the continuing patience of God with us who had not yet given evidence of the fruit of repentance, of conversion? Can we see past regret to the hand of mercy upon us?

Continue reading →

Hope for Us All

Posted on by
Reply

“A man had two sons …” (Luke 15:11) – such is the beginning of the beloved and well-known Parable of the Prodigal Son. But you know Scripture doesn’t come with titles for such things. That’s just what the parable has always been called. But we could call it something else. The Parable of the Waiting Father? Or perhaps the Parable of the Petulant Older Brother? I guess it all depends on what draws your interest and attention. What about you? Where are your thoughts drawn: to the younger son’s selfish greed, the older son’s arrogant fury, or perhaps the patient father’s extravagant love?

The younger son is a distant figure for me. I hope I have little in common with him – in the beginning he is impulsive, cavalier, inappropriately demanding, disrespectful and more. At first blush, I have nothing in common. At least I hope not. I have never run away, squandered gifts given to me, or led a life “a life of dissipation” as it says in scripture. Looking for some synonyms for “dissipation?” You can try, “debauchery, overindulgence, degeneracy, intemperance” at worst, but at best, we are still left with “reckless” and “unthinking.” But neither have I felt the ardent, tear-soaked embrace of a loving father welcoming me home – but then I never left. And so, I have never encountered the wild, unfettered love of reconciliation.

Continue reading →

Asking “why”

Posted on by
Reply

Maybe we should call this “Second Chance Sunday.” The first reading is the well-known story of Moses and the burning bush. But one needs to remember the reason Moses is out tending sheep in the desert of Midian is that he murdered a man back in Egypt and is on-the-run from the authorities. Yet God will give him a second chance and a major role in rescuing the Israelites from slavery. That’s a heck of a second chance. He takes advantage of it. Moses is leading a flock of sheep now, but will soon be leading the people of God in their Exodus to the promised land. Continue reading →

Ain’t going away

Posted on by
Reply

When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time (Lk 4:13). Technically, the translation should be that Satan departed from Jesus for a more favorable time. In other words, it was not a one-and-that’s-it temptation for Jesus. Satan was coming back for another try.  And if Satan was coming back to tempt Jesus, there is no reason to think that our life will be free of temptation.

The historian Shelby Foote tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. “Captain, give me a gun!” he shouted. “This fight ain’t got any rear!” Same with temptation – it comes at you from all directions.

Continue reading →

The Storehouse of Goodness

Posted on by
Reply

The first reading from Sirach makes some great points. Is the potter a skilled artist? You’ll find out when the pottery comes out of the furnace. Does the fruit tree bear good fruit? You’ll find out when the harvest is ready. Is this person a good, wise and holy individual? You’ll find out when they speak. It will reveal something about their judgments, character and their visual acuity for goodness.

My friend Fr. Zack has a foundational rule for homilies: if you homily has three points, save two for another time.  It’s good advice, but today, I will take an exception to the otherwise excellent rule. I want to talk about three things: judgment, character, and blindness – all preludes to our actions and words in the world.

Continue reading →

The one question that matters

Posted on by
Reply

Note: the pastor is preaching this weekend for the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal, so I have a holiday from holiday preparation.  Here is homily from three years ago

Did you catch the language of the second reading when St. Paul talks about “the first Adam” and “the last Adam?” It is his reference to our human nature and, with God’s grace, our possibilities. St. Paul talks about the first Adam being an earthly creature – and that is a good thing. When God created this world, he pronounced his work to be good – and when we created the first Adam and Eve, he pronounced his work to be very good. We are the work of the divine potter who knew us before we were created in our mother’s womb. We are part of that divine, creative outpouring of love that is how and why the world was created and what sustains the world in being…. and yet it was through Adam and Eve that sin entered the world. And in the millennia since, we have all participated in sins from the most grave of mortal sins to that “little white lie” and “harmless gossip.” Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet had it right: “What a piece of work man is…” The deck was stacked in our favor by a loving God and yet we do what we do…Yikes! Continue reading →