Now is the Acceptable Time …2 Cor. 2: 6

Remember the earthquake?  The one that happened before the start of the third game of the 1989 world series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s…that earthquake. On October 17, just minutes before the start of Game 3, a 6.9 earthquake struck the Bay Area. The game was postponed for 10 days…and the series wrapped up on October 28.  But that was not the most interesting part of the earthquake.  Not only did it shut up Al Michaels for a while, the footage of the players warming up on the field revealed something very interesting.

Camera footage shows players, standing, looking into the stands.  All of a sudden you realize they are not just reacting – they are searching.  They are looking. Later, one of the players said that all he could think of was where was his wife and my kids, family, friends who came to the game?  The one who came to be watched were now looking…looking for what really mattered, their loved ones.

The joyful season of Lent offers us a time to look…to re-flect…to see again, what really matters in our life.  Our relationships matter.  God matters.  Make him a place.  Our loved ones matter.  Make them time.  You matter.  Hopefully it won’t take an earthquake to make us see.

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”   Luke 12:27-40

I know I have posted this before, but in light of yesterday’s message, I felt it was worth repeating. I listened to a TEDtalk in which one of the speakers said, “I learned that, I can do anything for a day. But for the long haul, I know I need others.” Profound reality.

Serenity, sobriety, mindfulness, wholeness, holiness is not a solo-enterprise. It takes a community to lift you, pull you, carry you, challenge you, hold you and help you. The first stanza of Reinhold Neibuhr’s famous prayer is a beginning. But the next stanzas lead to the fullness and the finish. The goal. Let’s pray it and live it in FULL.

God, grant me the Serenity To accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with Him forever in the next. +Amen.

NOTE: For all of the Sunday’s of Lent I would like to suggest that we spend some time in prayer and reflection…like a mini-retreat. My hope is that it will help us dive deep into this season of grace and set a course for the week ahead…

I knew that this was going to be a hard week for him. Last week was a let down. Out of work, he really thought that the job was his. He could taste it. He came in second. I know how that feels. I’m sure you do too. Money is tight. Unemployment was not really helping. This week was going to be tough because he was doing something he thought he would never be doing. Delivering Pizzas. “Remember, there is no shame in paying your bills” I texted him. It was going to be a hard week for him, I knew.

Friday, I decided to check in. “Hey, how is it going?” His reply gave me incredible assurance. “Not bad, I just passed three years sober today.” My immediate reply: “That is awesome.” Despite his current circumstances (which are temporary!!) he set his eyes and focus on the most important thing. Despite everything, this was a moment to claim and to celebrate. He had claimed freedom three years ago…one day at a time. We are all held bound or at least ensnared by some type of addiction or attraction. It is our human condition.

When it comes to addiction and/or recovery, It seems we are all dealing with it. Either it has trapped us, or trapped someone we know or love. Addiction is overwhelming our society. I guess it is nothing new…but it is something so real and palpable that you can taste it in your mouth as you navigate this life. Addiction, sobriety, serenity, wholeness, wellness…this is our temporal search for the eternal answer of holiness and divine communion. This is our call. And we answer so many other things instead.

The Gospel for this Sunday of Lent is the Story of the Prodigal Son…or really the Merciful Father…as it is about the father and his two lost sons. This Gospel is so familiar to us that it can sometime be glossed over in our hearing it. Please take some time right now and read slowly the Gospel for this Sunday. LK 15:1-3, 11-32

This year I read this Gospel in light of addiction, recovery and family. It thought struck me about the younger son’s homecoming. Ok, So he finally comes home. Great. Let’s party! But, in his quest for independence (his addiction) how many times, after he knew that wasn’t the right path, did he try to make the way home? When he is finally embraced by His Father, on what attempt did he succeed in going all the way home? Third, fifth, Seventh???? It really doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he came to embrace his particular worth…his personal sobriety…and made his way home. And Oh how the father embraced him!

And what about the older brother? If the younger brother was repentant for what he had asked his father, it seems the older brother is angry and resentful (his addiction) for what he never asked. “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.” So that is his beef – what about me?! Hell, with him, he made his choice. But in reality, the older brother never really made a choice for the father beyond silent obedience. Where is the love? And Oh, how the father embraces him with his words and encouraging invitation: ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” Although St. Luke leaves us with a cliffhanger, I believe that the older son went in and embraced his brother.

Are you dealing with your own addiction? Favorite sin? Grudge? Angry, stubborn, self-righteousness, rationalizing, justifying? ,Envy, prejudice, bias, pride, lust, selfishness, laziness, substances over someones, hobbies over homelife, work over family, wealth over treasure, status over dignity…it’s a long list … lots to think about…

The younger son said, “Father give me…” and he left only to come back. The older son never asked and stayed, never to really feel at home…SOOOOO….

Let us ask the Father today…
Father, give us insight into our addiction, our sin, our isolation.
Father, give us grace to come home to You and realize who we truly are.
Father, give us the love you have to embrace those You love.
Father, give us sobriety from everything that takes us from You. +AMEN

My sister Mary and I are very close (unless she is playing a cruel trick!?). In our family of five kids, One thing we have in common is we never got hand-me-downs. Mary is the only girl in the fam and I have never missed a meal! Yep, if it don’t fit you must go to JCPenneys.

Hand-me-downs are important! Our latest Netflix binge has been JANE The VIRGIN. DeAnna and I watched with reverent silence while little Matteo was baptized. Great hand-me-down. The producers/directors gave such an emotional and visual description of the what this great hand-me-down was all about, when a letter written by the grandmother for her baby’s baptism, was read by that mother now grandmother, is read by the mother of Matteo—good job if you followed that sequence!!

Tradition literally means “to hand down or over.” St. Paul speaks of the deepest tradition of faith for us to hold onto and give away—hand on the Eucharistic presence of Christ. Let’s come to the table…together.

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” 1 Cor 11:23-26

I rarely speak about this.  This may be the first time I have done so publicly. It has been almost 15 years since I left active ministry.  That was without a doubt the most agonizing decision of my life.  I loved being a priest and those that know me, know that if I could still be one (and be married) I would be one today.  But I will use a phrase that my wife loathes…IT IS WHAT IT IS.

Shortly after I officially made my decision, I bumped into a former parishioner.  We had a very friendly relationship.  He looked at me and somewhat sheepishly and asked “So, you still goin’ to church?”  I laughed out loud. Like his question, my reply has stuck with me ever since. “It was not a hobby or just a job. Of course. I go to St. Joe’s.”  And we both laughed.

It was agonizing to make that decision to withdraw from ministry because it was not a job or hobby.  But it was not a withdrawal from Christ’s Church.  That would be like leaving my family.  My family is not a job or a hobby.  Family is core. Faith is the ground upon with my feet stand.  It is the oxygen that fills my lungs and the blood that flows in and out of my heart.

In our Baptism, we are called to live that faith…faith in Word and Sacrament.  The Great Commission is ours. “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mt. 28:19-20. The confident reality of this sending is that we are with each other and our God is among us. “I am with you always”.

Those of us who are Catholic, we are in a family of faith in the midst of a crisis.  I know some have made the agonizing (some not so agonizing) choice to walk away.  I have known both victims of abuse and their perpetrators.  I have had and continue to have relationships with each.  I have had challenging and strained relationships with those in leadership who did not address things the way I would have. The range of emotions I have in each particular situation and encounter are like the rising and setting of the sun…but I cannot withdraw.  I cannot leave. I cannot and will not abandon that which grounds me in my life with Christ..in my relationship with Father Son and Holy Spirt.  I am the Church by word and sacrament.

So…if you feel God is silent in your life…Open HIS WORD.  Hear HIS voice.  Seek His way. And, if you are questioning who you are in this Church…let the SACRAMENTAL reality of who you are sink in.  Revisit the meaning of your baptism and what it means…How the Eucharist is food for this journey.  How Reconciliation restores us to each other and God when we fall…how the promised Advocate has been given to us in Confirmation (if you have been)…how the vows of marriage define you…Holy Orders conform you…and Anointing of the Sick accompanies you.

We are a Church proclaiming WORD and SACRAMENT made Holy by God and complicated by sinners corrected by saints … a family with a message of Hope for a longing world.  Nope…not a hobby.

“And I tell you, you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.” Mt 16:18

There are a few things for which I have a penchant…nice pens that really write well and calendars …to name a few.  I seem to be perpetually looking for both.  There must be a perfect pen and a perfect planner/calendar.  Not sure if the monks who created some of the most incredible illuminations of the Gospels found that pen – but the Church’s Gregorian calendar sure has come close to being a great planner.  Why?  It’s Nine Months until Christmas everybody!!  But, Don’t tell Wal-Mart, Target or Amazon!

March 25 – nine months until Christmas.  Today is the Feast of the Annunciation.(Luke 1:26-38).  How about that!  This year, right in the middle of our Lent, is a prequel, the beginning of the Christmas story. How can this celebration of the Annunciation encourage our Lent Journey?

First, the choice was real.  Mary made a real choice.  She was not forced into a Divine corner or bullied by an angel.  As some vulgar non-believers have suggested, Mary was not raped by God. (Have mercy!) Mary said yes to God.  She said yes to the fullness of God.  Taking in His very incarnate self.  Bringing Him forth and following Him – even to His cross.  That is where we are journeying…so, we are in great company.

Second, on that cross it was real.  Just as Jesus became the Word made Flesh and God among us through the Incarnation, so at the cross, that real human and real divine Messiah was crucified and died.  He really died.  It was not fake news…what looked lost at the cross was Good News.  The dead savior had done everything for which He was sent.  At the foot of the cross was a women named Mary, who had done all she had promised.  But she would continue to do more. 

Mary would be with the infant Church…born at the cross.  Mary would hear that her Son was risen.  Mary would be in the upper room when the Holy Spirit, the promised advocate came.  And Mary is now on the calendar with us… to remind us what comes with true discipleship.

Nine Months ‘til Christmas.  Say Yes.

NOTE:  For all of the Sunday’s of Lent I would like to suggest that we spend some time in prayer and reflection…like a mini-retreat.  My hope is that it will help us dive deep into this season of grace and set a course for the week ahead…

For the longest time I’ve had a debit card without the infamous ‘chip”. So I have been swiping my card blissfully. No problems.  Easy-peasy. Well, my bank thought it was time that I got an upgrade.  When I picked up my dry-cleaning this week, I inserted my card, and the cashier said to me, “follow the prompts.”  That was easy!  However, not all prompts are easy.  Moses, tending sheep, spied a marvelous and curious sight –a burning bush.  But the words he heard coming from the bush, burning yet unconsumed, wwere even more marvelous and curious. COME NO NEARER. Moses was encountering God.  COME NO NEARER.  Remove your sandals. And what does Moses do?  He falls to the ground and covers his face.   So much for following the prompts! 

For the past thirty years or so, I’ve been teaching young adults as they prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Over those years, I have developed (or stolen from someplace?) what I like to call the five most important questions.  As followers of Christ, I believe that these five questions can be prompts to guide us on our journey of faith.

Who am I?   Who Is God   Who am I to God?  Who is God to me?  AND What difference does it make?

This third week of Lent stops Moses in his tracks.  It also stops the people dialoguing with Jesus in Luke’s Gospel…and so it should stop us…for radical reflection.  If we are truly in a relationship with God…and we come to know Him…and to Love Him…or even to the point of desiring to please Him, does that not require something of us?  What makes us think that God is the only one who makes moves in the relationship?  Pretty selfish on our part, eh? (I guess we are going with our strength!!)

What must we do?  Like Moses, we need to know who we are in our relationship with — God.  Coming to know Him, we realize how different (other) we are from Him…but at the same time, need Him. Not only does He desire us, we need and desire Him. So what do we need to do?  Take off our sandals; put our faces to the ground.  We need to humble ourselves to Him. Like the people in Luke’s Gospel need to heed the words of Jesus as He says “But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish…” 

Repentence. 

In the Biblical Hebrew, repentance is represented by two verbs: shuv , “to return “ and nacham meaning “to feel sorrow.” The Greek New Testament for repentance is metanoia, meaning “after/behind one’s mind”, (to perceive, to think, the result of perceiving or observing). There is a meaning of time and change…one thinks differently after something is experienced. Not such a bad thing…touch a hot stove…I’m not going to do that again. (Sad to say, I’ve burned myself multiple times.). More than that, metanoia is a change of heart and action.

Moses’ whole posture and disposition changed once he realized he was in the presence of God. Not only that, his encounter CHANGES the direction of his entire life. Goodbye to Jethro’s sheep— hello to the sheep of God under the mighty hand of pharaoh. Sheep suffering, who God has heard and wants to draw near.

The people talking to Jesus about current events in the gospel have a similar encounter. Jesus tells them not to be so sure of themselves…”by no means” are they better off. There is something they must do. Repent.  Repentance, “return” “sorrow”, “change of mind and heart”, is the response to the encounter.

Relationships begin with encounters (deep relationships from frequent encounters). Life changing and transforming relationships come from an intentional choice—to recognize the other, honor and reverence the other and to make a choice for the other and for the relationship. (And away from other things, persons perhaps, and anything not aligned with this elevated choice).

We may not be called to go into Egypt to rescue a people – but there are those enslaved, entrapped and suffering in our world, are there not?  Is this relationship with the Loving God exclusive to a fortunate few?  Or are we comfortable with the flock of sheep we are tending?  Our selfishness, greed, pride, point of view, perspective, personal habits, experiences can be pretty comfortable…and pretty enslaving.  Change of heart?  Me? Change my mind?  Me? Sacrifice my ego?

In Luke’s Gospel for this third Sunday of Lent, we hear the words of Jesus to the people, “Repent…Perish”… but we do not hear answer. He wants us to be near Him. What is their choice? Today, what is ours?

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Exodus 3: 1- 8A, 13 – 15 ,

Psalm 103 

1 Cor 10:1-6.10-12            

Luke 13:1-9

Today is Bella‘s second birthday! It’s so amazing! Tomorrow will be a big birthday party with family and friends. The big play house I built was already delivered. The cake has been ordered…so let the party begin! So much love from this little bundle of joy. I said this before and I’ll say it again: Who can look at a baby or into the eyes of a small child and not know that there is a God above us? So pure, so simple, yet so complex and incredible! Just like our world and universe. So simple, pure, yet so incredible and complex. Ask any mother…this child did not just spring forth by accident and form into a child in the birth canal. She felt it! And we celebrate the birth and subsequent years, achievements, milestones, boo-boos and broken hearts, because it is all part of the journey of this life.

The great thing is we need not imagine how God views us. We are his children and He is our loving father. St. John writes us reminding us of this love story. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” 1 Jn 3:1 That is us…that is who we are. We are children of the Father. We are children of the Heavenly Father.

Last night, I went out to meet a freind. When I came home, to my delight, I fought Bella and DeAnna playing on the floor. Bella looked up and said “Pop-pop!” and I said “BELLA!”

I was thrilled to see her. My heart leapt. SEE WHAT LOVE! If you are ever unsure of where you stand with God, close your eyes and say “POP-POP” and I promise you, if you really listen…you will hear Him reply with YOUR NAME (in all caps, with an exclamation point.)

Today is the second day of spring. Who celebrates the second day of spring? Everyone celebrates the firsts! Soon the gates will be open and the faithful will enter the procession to take their place for opening day. Baseball. The ritual of spring. We celebrate opening day…then suffer through to the middle. … and hope as the midpoint come, some of our favorites make the All-Stars. Then there is the homestretch toward to the World Series. Not only do we hope our team makes it to the October dance, we hope they win!

On the second day of spring in this second week of Lent, here’s the question to ponder for all of us who believe: Do you want to be on the All-Star team? Do you want to make it to the World Series?

Believe. It’s not just about believing in yourself and your ability and your talent and your resources and your goodness. (as your mom, your perfect!) First and foremost in order to be an all star (a Saint) we must be a reflection of the one who is sanctity itself. It’s His team after all. In order to get to the World Series (In order to get to heaven) we have to accept the grace and forgiveness of Him who sees us when we strike out, walk, make it to first, or get tagged out stealing; hit a homerun or perhaps A grand slam – when we drop the ball, or catch the fly at the wall, or a double play. He is part of it all. He is not in the cheap seats–and has a reserve ticket for us.

Believe…’cause in this life most of our time is spent with others…in the dugout, the field or the locker room.

If we desire Heaven, the journey from this life to the next starts today. Believe, repent, accept, reflect…REPEAT…PLAY BALL!

Arriving at the office very early, I went to grab a cup of coffee.  As I turned the corner, I saw one of the accounting interns was already there.  He was filling the copier with paper – its tax time – they use lots of paper.  So I asked him, “You do this every day?”  He replied matter-of-factly, “Yep, I check every morning. At lunch and in the late afternoon.”  “Wow, that’s great.”  He didn’t seem to see its greatness.

Grabbing my coffee, I stopped by his cubicle and told him this: “One of the first jobs I had, you know who made sure the coffee was made, the lights were on, and the walks shoveled and parking lots plowed?”  He stared waited for the answer.  “It was the CFO.  I just want you to know you are well on your way to greatness. Keep up to good work.”

Remember, It is when we humble ourselves that we shall be exalted. It was the widow’s mite that gave the most.  It was a few fish and loaves that feed the crowd. It was from a kneeling savior that feet were washed for service. 

Go out and pour a cup of coffee for the world!  Fill someone’s copier…get on the way to GREATNESS.

Luke 14:11, Luke 21: 1-4, Mark 8: 1-8, John 13:1–17