tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67520003179387752412024-03-13T09:53:31.571-07:00Do Justice, Love Kindness, Walk Humbly with GodA blog of thoughts, questions, and musings from someone who reflects on the journey and not just the destination.Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-36875201176762403012022-08-15T10:09:00.001-07:002022-08-15T10:09:54.172-07:00The Assumption - Lifting Up the Lowly<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span><span> Reflections on the Feast of the Assumption - August 15, 2022</span> </span><span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span><span> </span>Can
you imagine what the world was like in 1950? Very few of us were alive then,
and even fewer would be old enough to remember. This was five years after the
Second World War with its terrible destruction of human life, property and
virtue. Millions had died, and many more millions were displaced from their
homes, seeking refuge and a new beginning. It was 5 years after the unleashing of
not one but two atomic bombs that killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of
civilians. In 1950 the malevolent grip of soviet-style communism was tightening
over various countries, removing the rights of millions to lead dignified lives.
Against this background of violence, oppression and dehumanization, Pope Pius
XII, after asking the question of ALL the world’s bishops, infallibly asserted
our Christian hope: Mary our Mother is in heaven.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> On
November 1 of 1950 – the feast of All Saints – he issued his Apostolic
Constitution that declared the Assumption of Mary into heaven body and soul to
be Catholic dogma and was called </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Munificentissimus Deus</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> – “Our Most
Incredibly Generous God” - and right at the beginning he laid out the
underlying reason for the timing of this declaration:</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> <i> </i></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Now, just like the present age, our pontificate
is weighed down by ever so many cares, anxieties, and troubles, by reason of
very severe calamities that have taken place and by reason of the fact that
many have strayed away from truth and virtue. (2)</i></span><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Further
on in the document, Pope Pius says this about his own wish for how this
declaration would have an effect on Catholics:</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>And so we may hope that those who meditate upon
the glorious example Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value
of a human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father's will and
to bringing good to others. (42)</i></span><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Bringing
good to others”. After all of the destruction, pain, and deprivation of the previous
years, Pope Pius wanted to encourage Catholics – then and now – that because
Mary has been assumed into heaven – not just her soul, but her human body –
because of that, not only do we have hope of the same fate at the end of time,
but that we would see the value of all human life today, in the here and now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span><span> </span>And
isn’t that a message that we so desperately need to hear today? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span><span> </span>As
if the lasting effects of a worldwide pandemic weren’t bad enough, we’re also
experiencing a global increase in racism, nationalism and an almost worldwide
sense of selfishness or corruption which so many people hoped would decrease as
a result of Covid 19, but appears to have had the opposite effect. Humility and
tenderness seem sometimes to be in short supply – wealthier nations were sinfully slow in sharing their vaccine resources with poorer countries, and now the current economic struggles are reinforcing the "me first" and certainly the "America first" attitude.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> We know that this suffering is not a new phenomenon. War, violence, famine,
and sickness have constantly ravaged the bodies of God’s people. In 1950 these
effects were all too present and the memories were raw for so many people. In
the declaration of the Assumption, the Church affirmed - then, and now - the
importance of not just human souls, but human bodies. Caring for the sick,
feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless were a
big part of life then. These corporal acts of mercy toward the marginalized should
distinguish us now as Christian people just as it has in past ages.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span><span> </span>How
we regard people on the margins was brought home to me again just this past
Wednesday, on August 10, when we celebrated the feast of St Lawrence – one of the
early deacons of the Church in Rome. During a persecution of Christians, after
Pope Sixtus and the 6 other deacons had been taken away and martyred, the Roman
Prefect insisted that Lawrence bring him the treasures of the Church since
Lawrence was responsible for administering them. Lawrence quickly gave away any
and all of the material wealth of the Church, and then appeared before the
Prefect of Rome together with the diseased and malnourished poor, the orphans,
cripples, and widows, those socially excluded by the powerful hierarchies of
the time– everyone on the fringes of society and declared, “these are the
treasures of the Church”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This
feast of the Assumption is not just Mary’s story, but it’s our story as well. It’s
a story of hope – based in the hope that we, too, like Mary, will someday - after
our earthly journey - be reunited body and soul. But it is also, as Pope Pius
said, an occasion for us to meditate on the value of human life and seize the
opportunity to bring good to others. Mary had hope in a God that would <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"...c<i>ast
down the mighty from their thrones,<br />
and lift up the lowly.<br />
Who would fill the hungry with good things,<br />
and send the rich away empty..." (Luke 1:52-53)</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">The
Good News is that as we do the will of our Most Incredibly Generous God,
ministering to the least, the last and the lost, we can sing that Magnificat
along with Mary, and proclaim the greatness of the Lord.</span> </p>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-8274477678553012162022-05-31T06:59:00.002-07:002022-05-31T06:59:45.885-07:00Racism Is a Sin - Homily for 6th Sunday of Easter 2022<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Racism is a sin: a sin that divides the human
family, blots out the image of God among specific members of that family, and
violates the fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the
same Father. Racism is the sin that says that some human beings are inherently
superior and others essentially inferior because of race. It is a sin that
makes racial characteristics the determining factor for the exercise of human
rights.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Those
are the words of the U.S. bishops from a document titled “Brothers and Sisters
to Us” written in 1979 – 43 years ago. They wrote that document about 15 years
after the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act because they believed that
although the legislation was in place for a more racially just society, the
reality had not yet caught up. It's a document that every U.S. Catholic should
read.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Church has been very clear about its teaching on racism. “Brothers and Sisters
to Us” identified racism as not just one sin among many, but as “a radical evil
that divides the human family and denies the new creation of a redeemed world”.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Faithful
Citizenship, the Bishops’ document on political responsibility, reminds us that
racism is an intrinsic evil - like abortion and torture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">And
most recently the Bishops issued still another Pastoral Letter against racism
called “Open Wide Our Hearts” just 3 ½ years ago in 2018. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The
unfortunate truth is that racism is not a thing of the past – and actually, it’s
all too real, especially when we have a brutal reminder like we did last
Saturday. But it seems like incidents of racism come at us in disconnected stories
– like the murder of George Floyd two years ago this Wednesday, and the number
of other incidents of the killings of black men, and the “racially-motivated
killing spree” as Bishop Fisher called last Saturday’s shooting – and you can
read his statement in today’s bulletin. All of this can sometimes lead us to
believe that they are just isolated incidents, and not part of a larger
pattern. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But
racism is not just individual, it’s also institutional, and is embedded in many
of our country’s structures and laws. Part of the problem is that in the
post-civil rights era, we have been taught that racists are mean people who
intentionally dislike others because of their race. And if we define racism
that way, it’s easy for us to say, “I’m not mean, I don’t wish harm on anyone.
So, I don’t have any racism in me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But
I’m not sure we’re looking at racism honestly if that’s how we define it. Especially
since the Church calls us to conversion to help eradicate this plague of racism
from our country. The Bishops remind us that "Each of us as Catholics must
acknowledge a share in the mistakes and sins of the past. Many of us have been
prisoners of fear and prejudice. We have preached the Gospel while closing our
eyes to the racism it condemns. We have allowed conformity to social pressures
to replace compliance with social justice."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Some
might object to thinking that we have a “share in the mistakes and sins of the
past” since we didn’t own slaves, or personally keep Blacks from moving into
the neighborhood. But we weren’t in the Garden of Eden, but share in the human
character that story teaches – and just the same, being born in this society we
are affected by the “original sin” of racism in America.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">They
say we have been “prisoners of fear and prejudice”. Have we allowed ourselves
to be prisoners to fear and prejudice? Do we permit talk from our family or
co-workers that demeans black people, or how white people are being replaced by
minorities, or other negative stereotypes without objecting? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Bishops also say that “We have preached the Gospel while closing our eyes to
the racism it condemns.” They are saying that we don’t see the racism around us
because we’re not looking hard enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Maybe
a good analogy is to remember those “Magic Eye” pictures. Do you remember those?
They were a combination of colors and patterns but there was another picture
that was in there if you looked at it the right way. And then, once you saw it,
you could see it every time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Racism
is a lot like that - Those who have been the object of racism are able to see
it immediately and recognize it easily. Those of us who have not been the
victims of racism can still train ourselves to see it – but it requires us to
look honestly at events and situations in a different way and be willing to
have a conversion of heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Bishops point out that “We have allowed conformity to social pressures to
replace compliance with social justice." Pope Benedict has said that the
Church “cannot and must not sit on the sidelines in the struggle for justice”
and that we must hunger for justice as we hunger for the Eucharist. But do we? What
is keeping us from feeling that hunger for racial justice?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">In
just a short time we will approach the altar to receive “Communion”. But maybe
part of the conversion that the Church is calling us to is to realize that
until we are in full “communion” with all of our brothers and sisters –
regardless of their color, race, or country they come from – that our communion
will somehow be at least somewhat diminished. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Jesus
tells us today that whoever loves him will keep his word, keep his commandment,
the commandment that we heard him give us last week – love one another. That
command to love one another has to extend not just to those next to us in the
pew, or next to us on the street, but to everyone in the human family. Because
as the Bishops remind us, “the brother and sister of our Brother Jesus Christ
are brother and sister to us.”</span></p>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-73622578054409046762022-05-27T09:59:00.002-07:002022-05-27T10:01:00.121-07:00The Urgent Call for Catholics to Address Gun Violence<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">(A note upfront: This is an updated version of an article
that I wrote in July 2021 after a shooting across the street from St. Columba-Brigid
Parish. In the wake of the racist attack on the East Side earlier this month,
and now the mass murder of schoolchildren in Uvalde, Texas, we need to address
the issue of gun violence once again.)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This past Monday I attended “Let Not Your Hearts Be
Troubled”, the interfaith prayer service remembering and grieving for the ten
Black sisters and brothers who were slain by a young racist using an
assault-style weapon. Then just a few days ago nineteen children and two
teachers were gunned down by a young man using an assault-style weapon. The two
attacks are not outliers. Mass shootings happen in the U.S. with depressing
regularity.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The truth is that unless there are high-profile events like
those two, gun violence and mass shootings have become so much a part of our
culture that they almost don’t even make headlines anymore. In the US this year
there have been over 215 mass shootings, and this is only the 145<sup>th</sup>
day of the year. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the wake of this increase in gun violence, there are
groups that are working to help victims and their families with counseling and
support. Many organizations have gathered food to deliver to those who can no
longer shop at Tops on the East Side. There is an outpouring of “thoughts and
prayers” for the families who lost children in Uvalde, Texas. But there still
does not seem to be enough effort at the root of the problem: the preponderance
and easy availability of guns.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This level of gun violence does not appear in other
developed countries – and the one factor that sets the US apart is the number
of guns and the lack of any regulation or registration. Current estimates are
that there are over 400 million guns in the US – more than two times as many
per person as any other country. And only one quarter of one percent of those
guns are registered.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is perplexing to see that there is no organized effort on
the part of Catholics to oppose the continued deaths and assaults on human
dignity that guns have perpetrated on our country and our Diocese. There is no
Catholic parish that has an organized effort to advocate for gun control, and
it is rare to hear any priest or deacon preach about gun control or the scourge
of guns in our society. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our US Bishops have repeatedly – at least since 1975 –
called for reasonable regulations and controls for guns, especially handguns,
and for a ban on assault weapons. Just a few years ago, after another tragic
shooting, the Bishops sent testimony to the US Congress to push for better gun
controls with a specific goal to build a culture of life and confront the
culture of violence. Congress took no action for tighter controls. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After another mass shooting two years ago, the Bishops said
that these shootings “…are an epidemic against life that we must, in justice,
face.” We need action and advocacy from the parish level to push Congress for
much tighter gun regulations, banning of assault weapons, and serious reduction
in the number of guns in our society.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I was driving past our parish school yesterday, I was
reminded of Martin Luther King’s comment about the parable of the Good
Samaritan. The priest and the Levite, King said, wondered, “If I help that man
in the road, what will happen to <i>me</i>?”. The Good Samaritan, on the other
hand, thought, “If I don’t help that man in the road, what will happen to <i>him</i>?”
I watched those kids leaving school and I wondered, “If we don’t do something
to control guns, what will happen to <i>them</i>?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Deacon Don Weigel can be contacted at </i><a href="mailto:deacondon@gmail.com"><i>deacondon@gmail.com</i></a><i>. <o:p></o:p></i></p>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-76590679012389527462020-12-13T20:59:00.000-08:002020-12-13T20:59:34.575-08:00Death Through the Lens of Faith - Funeral Homily for Don Weigel, Sr.<p> <span style="font-size: large;">Funeral Homily for my Dad, Don Weigel, Sr.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Readings:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Wisdom
3:1-3, 9<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">1
Thessalonians 4:13-18<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">John
11:17-27<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span> </span>92
years. Can you believe it? 92 years. Just to put that in perspective, Dad was
born a year before the stock market crash of 1929 and grew up during the
depression. And throughout those 92 years, he had a range of accomplishments
and life experiences that are pretty amazing – even if they might seem
“ordinary” to so many folks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span> </span>He
was a corporal in the military police of the army during the Korean War, and
was lucky enough to be stationed in Germany. He married my Mom 67 and a half
years ago, and raised us three kids who ended up blessing him with 9 grandkids
and 8 great-grandkids. And along the way he had a bunch of interests and loved family
parties, and hunting when he was younger, and fishing – even had his own boat
for awhile – and his orchard of trees at his PA house, and made a ton of
friends and acquaintances – the folks gathered for a wing fest at Camp Strauss,
or the guys sitting around the bar at Top Hill and the men playing pinochle at Queen
of Martyrs Holy Name.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p> <span> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">But
it seems to me that the thing that really helped define him the most was his
love and talent for photography. It was photography that allowed him to find a
career even though he didn’t go much further than the 6</span><sup style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> grade. It
was photography that got him out of the factory and into the darkroom – turning
a hobby and an avocation into a profession. It was photography that enabled him
to build a life for his family, to put food on the table and a roof over our
heads, and eventually to build a second home in PA that was always his favorite
place to be.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p> <span> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">I
was lucky enough to work with him in his own photography business for a short
time while I was in college, and even though we had a few father/son squabbles,
I learned a lot. One of the things I learned that has stayed with me is the
importance of how things look through the lens of the camera. When he was
setting up a shot of some new pizza product, or even an American Optical
non-contact tonometer (I love saying that) he taught me that the only thing
that was important was how it looked through the lens. We would set up all
these lights and paper and backgrounds and reflectors and stuff hanging from
the ceiling, and if you were in the studio, you could look at this whole set-up
and see all the “tricks” we were using to make the picture look good – but all
that mattered was how it looked through the lens.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p> <span> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">I
think that each of us will remember Dad in his life through our own lenses –
whether we shared 67+ years with him like my Mom; or whether we share his name
like I and my son Donnie do; or whether we share his birthday like my brother
Keith does or Dad’s grandson Brian does; or whether we shared photography like
Lynn did when she worked with him, or like his granddaughter Ashley does now in
her own profession. When we think of his life, nothing will matter except how
we see him through our own lenses.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p> <span> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">But
what lens do we use now to see him in his death? The only lens that makes sense
for us, the reason we are gathered here in this church and around the table of
the Lord, is to see his passing through the lens of our faith. The reading from
Wisdom was clear – he now rests in the hand of God. The foolish only see his
death, but those who are wise, those of us who have faith, know that he is at
peace.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p> <span> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">It
is not always a simple or easy perspective. There may be times when we wonder
where God is – we might call out to Jesus like Martha did – “Where were you? if
you had been here, things would have been different!” But then our faith brings
us around again to answer Jesus’ question, “Do you believe?” And we say– “yes,
Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God” – and that makes all the
difference. Our faith gives us the lens to see that Dad’s death is not the end,
but the transition to another life, to a more complete and total life in the
Lord, a transition to a final rest, at home with Christ Jesus.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p> <span> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">St
Paul echoes much the same thought – “We do not want you to be unaware about
those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who
have no hope.” That is the lens of our faith, that is the only lens that
matters. And it is our faith that gives us hope in eternal life, hope in the
Resurrection, and hope in the share of immortality that Jesus has won for us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p> <span> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">So,
as we grieve our loss, and as we deal with the reality of losing him from our
lives here on earth, and as we remember all that he was for us, and all of our
times together – in both joy and difficulties – we recognize how much we will
miss him. But our faith gives us the lens of hope that helps us to see that our
separation is only temporary until we are joined again for all time around the
eternal table of the Lord.</span></p>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-7763062649996174172020-11-09T06:55:00.002-08:002020-11-09T06:55:51.679-08:00So What Do We Do Now? - A homily for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - November 8, 2020<h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Readings:<br /></span></h3><h3><span style="font-weight: normal;">Wisdom 6:12-16<br />Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8<br />1 Thessalonians 4:13-18<br />Matthew 25:1-13</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So what do we do now? The good news is that the commercials,
the robocalls, the slick mailers, the speeches and the debates are gone for
now. The bad news is that what remains isn’t necessarily all that pretty. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Because what remains is a country that seems horribly
divided. What remains is half a country feeling vindicated, or victorious, or
gloating, or relieved, and half a country that feels angry, or sorrowful, or
despairing, or anxious. And what remains is probably this church is divided
that way too. And there, I think, is our challenge. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Because we’re not supposed to be like everybody else. We’re
not supposed to follow what the general population does. We’re supposed to be
different. We’re supposed to be the ones who let the light shine through us as
Fr. Ron said last week. We’re supposed to be the ones to lead the way in
forgiveness, and in mercy and healing. And boy, there’s going to need to be a
lot of healing after this election cycle. And that’s where Wisdom comes in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We hear a lot today about Wisdom – about how just seeking
Wisdom is the beginning of gaining it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the wisdom that Scripture is talking about
is not the conventional wisdom of the world. Rather it’s the divine Wisdom –
and that Wisdom is embodied perfectly in what Jesus taught and lived.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That Wisdom is not just the foresight to have a full reserve
of oil – but it’s the oil itself that keeps our lamps burning so that we can
see the bridegroom even in the darkness of the night. Because tt’s all about
the oil. All through this year we’ve been challenged with dealing with the
covid-19 pandemic, tension caused by racial inequality, and a contentious
election year. But all through the year we have also heard from Matthew’s
gospel about what that oil is that keeps our light shining. All the way back in
the spring we heard Jesus tell us that we are the light of the world. What good
will that light be without oil? How will we shine without enough oil to keep
bringing light to the rest of the world in times when darkness comes?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s all about the oil. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And as we heard so much from Matthew’s gospel, we were
offered more oil when we heard Jesus tell about building our house on rock, not
on sand; about turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, loving one’s
enemies, investing one's talents fully – and taking up one’s cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then two weeks ago there was more oil when we heard that
loving our neighbor is on a par with loving God, and that the two are
essentially inseparable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And just last week we heard again the outline for living a
life of a missionary disciple when we heard the Beatitudes. More oil. We are to
be poor in spirit, meek, merciful, pure of heart – and peacemakers. Peacemakers.
These are the qualities we’re supposed to bring to the world, to be the light
Jesus says we are, really to let his light shine through us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And in just two weeks we will hear the other end of Matthew’s
gospel – the climax of Jesus’ teaching: the corporal works of mercy. When did
we see you hungry and feed you? When did we see you naked and clothe you? When
did we see you as a prisoner and visit you, or stranger and welcome you? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Beatitudes and the corporal works of mercy are the
bookends in Jesus’ teaching according to Matthew. And they are the oil for our
lamps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s all about the oil. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And so our prayer is in the words of that great gospel hymn:
Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning, give me oil in my lamp – I pray, give
me oil in my lamp keep me burning – keep me burning to the break of day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So what do we do now? Maybe what we do is to be who we are
called to be – maybe we should be the voices of mercy and healing and peace and
reconciliation. And maybe we should be the ones who bring hope and calm to
everyone around us – maybe we should be the peacemakers. And maybe if we do our
lamps will shine brightly enough for Jesus to recognize us and welcome us into
his party. And we can only do that if we remember that it’s all about the oil.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-59502985296763872742020-09-12T12:21:00.001-07:002020-09-12T12:21:46.171-07:00Forgiveness - A Homily<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A</u></b><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Sirach 27:30 - 28:7</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Romans 14:7-9</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Matthew 18:21-35</span></span></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Think
of someone – friend, neighbor, loved one, co-worker – whom you need to forgive
but have not yet really forgiven.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Last
week we heard about the value of reconciliation – about how to repair
relationships if they have gone off the tracks and Jesus even laid out a whole
process to bring people back together in the community.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
reconciliation takes two parties – forgiveness only takes one. Reconciliation
is not always possible. But forgiveness is. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
what is it that we mean when we talk about “forgiveness”? The Greek verb used
in Peter’s question, and in the parable, and in the Our Father for “forgive” <b><i>aphiemi</i></b>,
means simply to “let go, to set aside, to cancel, to leave behind”. Forgiveness
is, like love, not a feeling, but an action involving our will rather than our
emotions. But this kind of action never comes easy – even for so great an
Apostle as Peter. “Lord, how many times?” Peter seems to be saying there must
be a limit. Wouldn’t seven times be enough? Even the rabbis suggested that
THREE times is a lot. No, Jesus says, not seven – seventy seven!</span><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nothing
is more fundamental to Jesus’ teaching than his call to forgiveness and mercy:
giving up debts, letting go of grievances, pardoning those who have harmed us. It’s
an element of the one prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. And every time we
say the Lord’s Prayer, we remind God that we ask to be forgiven only insofar as
we ourselves have extended forgiveness to others: "Forgive us our debts as we
forgive those of our debtors". Because forgiving others teaches us to see how
much we too are in need of forgiveness. </span><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
think maybe God does not withhold forgiveness if we haven’t forgiven others – I
think it might be that if we don’t know how to forgive, we don’t know how to
accept forgiveness either! </span><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Think
of that person again – the one whom you need to forgive. And think about how
angry they made you, think about how whatever they did caused you pain. Think
about even how you might have wanted to see them hurt as well.</span><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We’re
not supposed to be vengeful; we’re called to forgive. The Psalm reminds us,
“The Lord is kind and merciful”, and so we are to be forgiving people. But
we’re not. Instead, as Sirach says, we take our wrath and our anger and we “hug
it tight”. We take comfort in our indignation and we refuse to release our
anger and reach out in forgiveness to those who have wronged us. </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Because
forgiveness is hard. Sure, it’s somewhat easy to forgive the little things –
like leaving dishes in the sink, or clothes on the floor, or when someone is
late for an appointment with us or forgets our birthday. It is harder to forgive
the <a name="_Hlk50764867">close friend who talks behind our back or the
co-worker who betrays us or the family member who doesn’t approve of us and our
lifestyle or our politics. </a>And if those are hard, how do we ever get the
point of forgiving the murderer on death row, or the terrorists who flew into
the World Trade Center 19 years ago?</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Think
of that person again – and think about why you have not yet forgiven them. Have
they not asked for forgiveness? Have they not said they were sorry or tried to
repair whatever it is that wrong you?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
uncomfortable truth is that real forgiveness doesn’t depend on the action of
the other. What we are frequently looking for is not forgiveness and mercy, but
what we think is justice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Forgiveness
is so central to Jesus’ message that he gives us the parable as a warning for
what happens when we don’t forgive. When we’re unforgiving, what we’re left
with is our concept of justice. Who can blame the unforgiving servant for
demanding his money? Isn’t it just? Who can blame us when we’ll have nothing to
do with those people who have hurt us? Isn’t it only fair? Who can blame us
when we refuse to admit Muslims into our country and to wage war against them
to avenge the terrorist attacks nineteen years ago? Isn’t it only what our
honor and security demands?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
problem is, as Jesus points out, that when we withhold forgiveness from all
except those who have “earned” it or “deserve” it, our attitude keeps us in
deep and abiding bondage to our fear, our conflicts, and our insecurities, and
prevents us from ever being open to the limitless forgiveness that God offers
us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Think
now of someone – friend, co-worker, relative, neighbor – that you need
forgiveness from but have not yet asked for it or received it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
know very few people for whom forgiveness – being merciful – isn’t a day by day
challenge. We’ve been wounded, and the wounds often last a lifetime and
sometimes even spill over across generations. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
we’re not only victims with a cause to be angry. Our own experiences should tie
us, should bind us to the suffering of others around the block and around the
world. We are linked not only to our sisters and brothers by injuries that we
all suffer, but also because the truth is that we cause some of those injuries
– by what we have done and what we have failed to do. Sometimes we are that close
friend who talks behind another’s back or the co-worker who betrays another or
the family member who doesn’t approve of another family member and their
lifestyle or their politics. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
yes, sometimes we can cause pain for others whom we don’t even know personally
– "by tolerating or turning a blind eye to racism or exclusion in any form", as
Pope Francis says, or voting for policies that harm the least among us, or
trying to solve diplomatic problems with military might. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
there is another way. The good news is that God’s grace is there for our own
forgiveness, and to strengthen us to forgive others. This eternal gift of the
forgiveness that we celebrate in the Eucharist can help us to find the courage<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the strength to embrace Jesus’ words, to
take up the cross, and to live differently. And when we do, starting now, starting today, and a little more each
day, the power of violence, and retribution and inequity is truly broken. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">We
are called to forgive. We need to seek forgiveness, offer forgiveness, and
accept forgiveness. We are followers of Jesus who taught us forgiveness – even
when his hands were nailed to the wood of the cross: “Father forgive them, they
know not what they do”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-82165168287255654302020-05-22T19:33:00.000-07:002020-05-22T19:33:03.032-07:00When haste will make things even worse...There is a lot of bantering back and forth about the President's comments today about opening churches this weekend. I'm going to avoid the political implications and motives here, and instead tell you a personal story.<br /><br />Almost six weeks ago, my Dad began a difficult medical journey that took him to the VA Hospital for about 5 days, then to subacute care at Elderwood for three weeks, and now he has been in a memory care unit at a facility in Cheektowaga for the past 2 weeks. When he entered the VA, I dropped him off at the Emergency Room, and I have not been able to see him in person since. Neither, of course, has my Mom, who has now been without the love of her life for six weeks - the man to whom she has been married for 66 years. She will be celebrating her birthday next week, and their anniversary is in June, and she will likely not be able to see my Dad for either of them.<br /><br />And my Dad, who suffers from dementia, has a hard time understanding where exactly he is and why we can't be there with him. Each day my Mom and one of my siblings or I has to tell him again that we can't be there "because of the virus" and how we have to keep him safe. <br /><br />These are the real consequences of having our community shut down to prevent infecting people with this deadly, vicious virus called COVID-19. What are the consequences of opening things too early? They are simply this - that when it is realized that we rushed to open up, and we moved sooner than we should have, new sanctions will have to be put in place, and we will lock down again, and instead of "opening up", we will prolong this horrid agony even longer than necessary.<br /><br />So when you want to scream about your "rights", and when you insist that we open churches for "religious freedom", and when you want to go to church because you're missing it, I'd like you to think about my Dad - and think about how much he is missing his family and how much we are torn apart not being with him. <br /><br />We, of course, are not alone - this is a story that is told about all sorts of folks across the country. We all are the Body of Christ. Can you not have enough respect for the dignity and pain of other parts of the Body to sacrifice for another few weeks, or a couple of months, or whatever it takes to ensure the safety for enough of the Body as practical? Can you not put yourself out for the sake of the common good? Can you not actually live Christ's law of love? For my Dad's sake, I hope that you can.Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-20895889911567950262020-05-19T10:53:00.000-07:002020-05-19T10:53:37.898-07:00"Houses of Worship the Last to Reopen"That's the headline that appeared in today's Buffalo News. I know that this might be discouraging news to many, but I would like to offer a few brief reflections on why we need to continue to be patient and be absolutely sure that it is safe before we reopen our churches to large gatherings. These reflections are not "practical" - they are theological, which is how we are called to address issues as Catholics. Once we have the theology correct we can talk about practical ways to implement it.<br />1. Just this past weekend we heard Jesus, in the Gospel of John, remind us that if we love him we will keep his commandments. And just earlier in that same "farewell discourse", Jesus told his disciples that he has given us a "new commandment - love one another as I have loved you". That kind of love that we are commanded to is self-sacrificing. And a self-sacrificing love means that we must remove the "I" from what we need to have happen. If any of us are insistent that we reopen churches because "I" need to go back, or "I" need to receive Communion, we are not participating in the self-sacrificing love that Jesus calls us to.<br />2. Another aspect of the love commandment is that of the core teaching of the Church of the "common good". Following Vatican II and Pope John XXIII's Mater et Magister, the Catechism notes three essential<br />elements of the common good: respect for the individual, the social well-being and development of the group, and peace. If we reopen too soon and have to turn people away, or find ourselves closing again as a result of a spike in COVID-19 cases, or - worse yet! - if our opening causes the sickness or death of any one person, how are we living the call to the common good. The elderly, who are some of the most vulnerable, includes so many of our faithful parishioners. How can we expose them to this risk, or tell them to stay away while others who are "safer" can return to church?<br />3. Finally, it seems to me that gathering too soon is an exact counter-sign to what the Eucharist is to be about. When he established the Eucharist, Jesus said, "Do this in memory of me" and he was not just talking about breaking bread. The "this" he asks us to remember is also to be a community of disciples who puts each other and the welfare of the entire community first, just as he did. In that same reading from this past Sunday, Jesus promised to send us the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth. Jesus is with us - always and everywhere. We gather not to make Jesus *appear*, but to celebrate his presence among us and within us. He is already here. He is already present. If we cannot celebrate that reality sacramentally for a little while, perhaps we should be recognizing and celebrating all the other and varied ways that he is, in fact, with us. We are the Body of Christ even when we are unable to receive it sacramentally - let's be the Body of Christ for each other in the meantime.<br />I can certainly understand the desire to return to our celebration of the Eucharist. (And, by the way, this experience of the longing for the Eucharist should give us compassion and empathy for those who live this separation from the sacrament on a regular basis - many in Latin America, and the Amazonian region, for example.) But each time we have to wait until another time to celebrate sacramentally, let's rejoice for all the ways that Jesus is with us. Let's celebrate the goodness and mercy of our God. Let's recognize our hunger for wholeness and for community - and then when we return, let's be a people of compassion and oneness, and love - and greet each other with a renewed dedication to being the self-sacrificing, other-centered disciples we are called to be.Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-70256859185114853742020-05-13T20:31:00.001-07:002020-05-13T20:31:34.749-07:00Solidarity in a Time of Pandemic<div>
(Originally published in <i>Western New York Catholic</i>, May 2020)</div>
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Every crisis not only tests the faith and resolve of those who experience it, but it also creates opportunities for both compassion and reflection. This pandemic is no different. In the midst of so many concerns about business, the economy, eating out, and “normal” life, we are called to acknowledge that, as in so many other situations, Covid-19 will disproportionately affect the poor.</div>
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One especially hard-hit group will be low-paid and low-benefit workers who cannot work from home, and typically had the lowest levels of protection like paid sick leave, and they are frequently uninsured or under-insured for medical care. </div>
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And while we have (rightly) closed schools and instituted quarantines, not every kid has the ability to take advantage of “virtual learning”, and so many poor children rely on school breakfasts and lunches as a necessary part of their nutrition.</div>
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The elderly, too, are among the most vulnerable not only because of their tenuous health situations, but also because they are among our nation’s poorest. And in many cases they rely on home health aides or others for so much of their food and hygiene needs.</div>
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In a joint statement between Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Health USA, these organizations offered a pledge for their continuing ministry: “to promote and defend human dignity for all in our care while advancing the common good; to attend to the whole person, recognizing that this pandemic affects not only our bodies, but also our minds, emotions, and spirits; to advocate and serve those who are vulnerable or living on the margins of society; and to work to ensure that in this moment of darkness nobody is forgotten.”</div>
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And the situation around the world is even worse in many cases. There are nearly 50 countries who fall under the UN’s Least-Developed Country (LDC) status, home to nearly 900 million people worldwide. Many of these countries lack the economic resources and medical infrastructure to be able to respond to the medical needs of their people during this pandemic.</div>
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Catholic Relief Services has been on the front lines in these countries teams across the world continue to expand their programming to prevent the spread and reduce the risk of COVID-19 in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.</div>
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CRS is adapting much of its programming to incorporate activities that help to prevent the spread of the virus. This includes targeted information campaigns and the provision of hygiene materials for communities, as well as investment in strengthening the capacity of local partners to respond. </div>
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During this time of crisis, we are called to embrace and act on the principle of Solidarity in Catholic Social Teaching: We are one human family: we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be -whether around the block or around the world. It will be important for us to support the efforts of Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services as they help our brothers and sisters to cope with this pandemic.</div>
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And let us embrace the insights of this excerpt from an anonymous “Prayer in Times of Pandemic”:</div>
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May we who are merely inconvenienced</div>
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remember those whose lives are at stake.</div>
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May we who have no risk factors</div>
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remember those most vulnerable.</div>
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May we who settle in for a quarantine at home</div>
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remember those who have no home.</div>
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As fear grips our country,</div>
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let us choose love.</div>
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During this time when we cannot</div>
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physically wrap our arms around each other,</div>
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let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace</div>
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of God to our neighbors.</div>
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Amen.</div>
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Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-58990378283451528312020-05-11T08:28:00.000-07:002020-05-11T08:29:09.586-07:00Christ Has No Body Now But Yours - A homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2020<br />
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Readings: <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051020.cfm">http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051020.cfm</a></div>
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Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7</div>
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Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19</div>
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1 Peter 2:4-9</div>
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John 14:1-12</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Happy Mother’s
Day to all of the mothers out there – especially to my Mom Sandy, my wife
Kathy, and my daughters Christie and Kathie – and all of you mothers who have
shared your love and care for all of us throughout our lives. Allow me to share
this special prayer with you:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Good and
Gentle God, we pray in gratitude for our mothers who have joined with you in
the wonder of bringing forth new life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You who
became human through a woman, grant to all mothers the courage they need to
face the uncertain future that life with children always brings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Give them the
strength to live and to be loved in return, not perfectly, but humanly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Give them the
faithful support of family and friends as they care for the physical and
spiritual growth of their children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Give them joy
and delight in their children to sustain them through the trials of motherhood,
as they watch them grow from infants to adults.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Most of all,
give them the wisdom to turn to you for help when they need it most. Amen”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">----<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Boy, it
didn’t take long for tensions to arise in the early Christian community, did
it? In the last couple of weeks, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles how the
community was “of one mind and heart” and “shared everything in common”. At
least, that was true until the community expanded to include others who were
different. The Hellenists in the first reading were Jews who spoke Greek
instead of Aramaic, had their Scriptures read in Greek in the Synagogue instead
of Hebrew, and who probably came from somewhere other than Palestine, Judea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And
apparently their widows - these women who had no means of support because they
were without a husband, or a grown son to provide for them – these widows were
being neglected in the daily distribution that was supporting all the needy of
the community. What was recognized by the community was the injustice that was
underlying the problem – there was a disproportionate treatment being given to
one group over another.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There was, in fact, an unequal
distribution of the necessities of life in the community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And so the
Apostles asked the community to recommend seven men to oversee the distribution
– to address the injustice that had become a part of the early church. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s really not
surprising why this reading from the Acts of the Apostles has traditionally been
considered to be a story about the first deacons. In the first verse, the
second verse, and the fourth verse, this reading uses the Greek word <b><i>diakonia</i></b>,
where we get our English word Deacon from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That's why this
reading is used at all ordinations of deacons. More recently, scholars have
debated whether this episode really represents the first deacons – but if we get
wrapped up in that debate today we would be missing the point of this Scripture
– especially in the context of the other readings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because the
point is that injustice must be rooted out – whether it exists within our
Christian community or outside of it. Notice the words of today’s psalm – “Upright
is the word of the LORD, and all God’s works are trustworthy. God loves justice
and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our God is a
God of justice, and right; of mercy and lovingkindness. And when those characteristics
are missing, or damaged, when right relationships have been broken or wounded,
then, just as in the first reading, someone must be sent to repair them and to
lead the way back to justice and mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is the specific
call of the Deacon – to have a ministry to Word, to Sacrament and to Justice
and Charity. And for us deacons, the ministry of justice is what informs,
invigorates, and gives real meaning to our other ministries of Word and
Liturgy. Because we are ministering to all those in need and on the margins,
our “job description” is contained in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy
– to feed the hungry, to welcome the stranger, to comfort the afflicted, to
visit the sick and imprisoned…to engage in life-giving activities rather than
death-dealing ones…to put meaning into life rather than suck it out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our
experiences in ministering to those who are oppressed and poor, who are lonely
or sick, who are unborn or forgotten…those experiences are what we bring back
to our communities to put the Scriptures in the context of the life of
suffering humanity, and to bring the needs of the table of the world to the
table of the Eucharist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But it’s not
just the role of the deacon…because, just as the Church teaches that there
cannot be an ordained priesthood without a priesthood of the faithful, I don’t
think there can be an ordained diaconate without a diaconate of the faithful.
All of us, and each of us, because of our baptism, are to have the works of
mercy as our guide and our blueprint. It’s like the song John Wilde sang this
past Thursday, “We are called to act with justice, we are called to love
tenderly, we are called to serve one another, and to walk humbly with God.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is what
the letter of Peter means when it says that we are to “let ourselves be built
into living stones” – to be shaped into the image of Christ, the ultimate
living stone, the one who has given us a model and footprints to follow, the
one who has assured Thomas and all of us that we do “know the way” because he
has not only shown us the way, but <b>IS</b> our Way, our Truth, and our Life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The community
in the early church found itself in the midst of injustice and a lack of mercy
– and took steps to correct it. Today, we too, find ourselves frequently facing
injustice, a lack of compassion, we encounter bias and prejudice, and we see so
many turning their backs on the least, the last, and the lost. But it is our
call to be Christ to all those on the margins, to show mercy and work for
justice for all our brothers and sisters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you
listened to John Wilde Thursday – he sang a beautiful song based on the
inspiring and challenging words of St. Theresa of Avila’s reflection:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Christ has
no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes
through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which
he walks around doing good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all
the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are
his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-36518844129531895202020-04-12T11:25:00.000-07:002020-04-12T11:25:04.937-07:00Normal Circumstances - An Easter Homily in a Pandemic<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Under normal circumstances, right after this Mass my wife
Kathy and I would be getting the house ready for our family to come over and
celebrate a traditional Polish Easter dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Under normal circumstances, most of you would have been
preparing to host friends and family, or to go out for Easter brunch, or to
visit with friends and relatives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Under normal circumstances, I would be speaking to a
church filled with people, with standing room only, with old and young, couples
and singles, Moms and Dads, and kids and family from out of town, most of whom
would be dressed up for this great holiday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">But these are anything but normal circumstances. Our
experiences over the last month are anything but “normal”, anything but what we
expected, anything but what we are used to and anything but comfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In a recent interview, Pope Francis said that this is a “time
of great uncertainty” – and that may seem like an understatement, but think
about how disruptive and disconcerting uncertainty is. We don’t know when this
will end, or how it will end, or where we will come out on the other side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">But here is the good news that we celebrate today – that our
God is NOT a God of “normal circumstances”! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Because under normal circumstances, our lives of
selfishness and self-centeredness that began in the Garden would have continued
without ever having a Savior to rescue us from sin and death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Under normal circumstances the Israelites would have
continued to be oppressed by the Egyptians and would never have passed dry shod
through the Red Sea to freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Under normal circumstances, a radical preacher who “went
about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil” would have been
crucified and nobody witnessing his humiliating death on a lonely hillside,
with his followers absent, would have predicted that this would be the most
remembered death in history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">No, our God is not a God of normal circumstances but rather
a God of <b>extraordinary awe and wonder</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">St. Paul reminds us we have no need to
fear because we have already died with Christ and been raised up with him in
our baptism – that what we celebrate today and every Sunday is precisely our awe
and wonder as we participate in the Paschal Mystery of Christ – raised up from
the dead, focused on “what is above”, people of a new existence in our Lord
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Ours is an Easter faith. We don’t deny or turn away from
the evils that surround us: the wars that have killed some 100 million people;
the poverty that grips more than half of the human race; the hunger that kills
millions every year and ruins the lives of millions more; the discrimination
that divides the human family into warring tribes, the virus that is killing so
many. We don’t deny these miseries, but we do refuse to surrender to their
power because of our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">What we are saying when we celebrate the Resurrection is that
God is ultimately still in charge of this universe, despite any indications to
the contrary; that at the end of the day violence, injustice, and sin will be
silenced and overcome; that graciousness and gentleness, as manifested in
Jesus, are ultimately what lies at the root of all reality; and that death,
like Jesus’, is redemptive precisely because in the face of helplessness before
the worst brutality the world could perpetrate, we can still hear the words of
our God of extraordinary awe and wonder: ” Be not afraid”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Suffering will be vindicated; death will be overcome; a
new life will arise: that is the Easter message of the paschal mystery. And so
there is no room for despair: our Easter faith tells us that God will “raise us
up and renew our lives.” As our Gospel Acclamation proclaimed, “Let
us feast with joy in the Lord.” Just as Christ passed through death to
resurrection, so too will the world pass through its suffering to the glory of
a new life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The resurrection of Jesus enables us to let our God of
extraordinary awe and wonder reign in our ordinary lives in ways that
demonstrate we are part of a new creation—not complete, but we are evidence that the kingdom
is built up wherever communities allow the spirit of the risen Lord to have its
way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Easter is our celebration of the belief that our God is
not a God of normal circumstances, but a God of extraordinary awe and wonder. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, as St. Augustine reminds us, we are an
Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-33118300472076691142018-07-05T22:25:00.001-07:002018-07-05T22:28:13.012-07:00"Do Not Be Afraid - Just Have Faith"<br />
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<i>Homily for Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – B</i></div>
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One way to engage with Scripture is to put yourself into
the story– to be one of the characters, to see what they are seeing, to feel
what they are feeling. Today’s Gospel gives us a wide variety of characters to
help us do just that, but I want to focus on the two main characters – Jairus and
the woman with a hemorrhage.</div>
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On one level, these two characters couldn’t be more dissimilar:
Jairus is a man, he is prominent in the community, he is ritually pure since he
is a synagogue official, and for the same reason, he is also well off. The
woman, on the other hand, is, first, a woman – who were second-class people at
best – she was also ritually impure because of her affliction, she was broke
from paying all the doctors that didn’t help, and she was an outcast because of
her disease.</div>
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But even though they are so dissimilar, when I put myself
in their place, and I try to picture what they are feeling, the same one word
comes to mind – desperation! Both Jairus and the woman are desperate, and to a
great extent they share a desperation for something similar – their children.
For the woman, it is the desperation for the children that the hemorrhage is
preventing her from having, and so keeping her as an outcast. For Jairus, it is
a desperation for his daughter’s very life.</div>
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Think of what lengths you would go to protect your
children. Would you even perhaps break the rules if you had to? That’s what the
woman did – she broke social norms and religious prohibitions – she broke the
rules in order to get to Jesus, in order to be healed. Jairus, too, this
prominent synagogue official, falls down at Jesus’ feet, embarrasses himself
and begs Jesus to help – for the sake of his daughter. Their desperation for
their children emboldens them to break the rules, to break with norms in order
to save their children.</div>
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I’ve witnessed that kind of desperation first-hand. I’ve
spoken to Syrian refugee fathers who have scooped up their children and taken
them to a foreign land –with no plan, no guarantees, no direction – all they
know is that they are doing what they have to do to save their children.</div>
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I’ve spoken to mothers in El Salvador who have sent their
children north, sent them with people they hoped they could trust, just to get
them away from the gangs and the violence and the threats to their lives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It is sad”, one mother said, “that our
children might become our most valuable export”. Other mothers expressed
hesitation of ever being able to send their kids on their own, but were
convinced that if the threats continued, they would not hesitate to take their
children and to head north to save their lives.</div>
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These desperate folks land on our borders sometimes. And
how do we respond? Do we approve when children are separated from their parents
at the border? Do we cheer when children are sent to immigration court alone?
Do we applaud when people are turned around and sent away or locked up because
they were asking us to protect them from violence and gangs and abuse? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then we have the audacity to sing our
opening song, “All Are Welcome”?</div>
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How should we respond? I would ask you to consider three
articles that appear in this month’s issue of the WNY Catholic. The first is by
Bishop Malone that talks about why we must build bridges instead of walls. The
second article is one about our US Bishops’ reaction to the Administration’s “zero
tolerance” policy at the border. The third is my column that talks about what
the Church teaches about migration. </div>
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I think that it’s important that you listen to what the
Church has to say about these issues because there are other voices out there –
voices that want you to be afraid. They want you to be afraid that these
desperate people are going to take your jobs or use up your resources. They
want you to be afraid that these people will come and bring murder and rape and
drugs and violence. They want you to be afraid that somehow what we give to
them will mean less for you – as if we don’t have enough to go around. They
want you to be afraid.</div>
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Maybe the words that Jesus spoke to Jairus he is speaking
to us: “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith”.</div>
<br />Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-10716890260011618822018-02-18T13:27:00.003-08:002018-02-18T13:28:34.742-08:00WHEN? A Homily for the First Sunday of Lent - February 18, 2018<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moment of silence
for the 17 lives lost in the tragic and senseless violence in Parkland Florida
last Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The irony is not lost on us, I am sure, that Valentine’s
Day, the day when we celebrate love, will now only be remembered as a day of hate
and violence to those who lost someone they loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the coincidence of this massacre occurring
on Ash Wednesday compels us to reflect on how we spend <u>this</u> Lent, <u>this</u>
year.</div>
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Just about the time that many of us were gathering right
here on Wednesday afternoon for our Word Service, the shooter was entering
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. And shortly after that, a teacher, two
coaches and 14 students had been taken from this life. And while panicked students texted
their parents, or fled in terror from the school, I was signing foreheads with
ashes and saying, “Repent and believe in the Good News”.</div>
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Could our need for repentance be any clearer to us? As
long as we see all of the evil in the world as something that happens “over
there” or is perpetrated by “others” we will not see our role in it, we will avoid
having to ask for forgiveness, we will refuse to see our need to repent.</div>
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Jesus’ call to repent means that we have to have a “change
of mind”, we have to re-think what we have assumed that we know, we have to earnestly
plead to God like the psalmist says, “Teach me <u>your</u> ways, O Lord!”</div>
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We need to repent and re-turn to God’s ways and God’s
direction. We need to repent of our habit of not paying attention and only
seeing what concerns us directly. We need to confront the evil we see and not
be afraid – to rely on God’s strength to deal with what we see before us. </div>
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Pope Francis once said that, “No evil is infinite, no
night is without end, no hatred is stronger than love.” Jesus faced the
wilderness and the wild beasts, and came out declaring the time of fulfillment.
He heard about JBap’s arrest and knew the consequences for himself, and still declared
the reign of God. He faced being tested by Satan, and called for belief in the Good
News! </div>
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Rabbi Abraham Heschel wrote a book on the prophets, and
he pointed out that when the prophets spoke of the need for repentance, they
spoke to everyone, from the king on down to the lowliest peasant. As Rabbi
Heschel pointed out, when the covenant is broken, “few are guilty, but all are
responsible”.</div>
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We are responsible when we see a tragedy like Parkland
and say that it is too complicated to really do anything about it. We are
responsible when we shrug our shoulders and chalk it up to how things are in
the world. We are responsible when we don’t raise our voices in pain, and in
frustration, and even in anger.</div>
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The “Good News” is that Christ has won the battle; as the
letter from Peter says, he has suffered for sins once…the righteous for the
sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God.. </div>
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Lent is the beginning of a change in the rest of our
lives – to make a difference in ourselves that will last way beyond Easter
Sunday. Our opportunity to repent this Lent is to open ourselves up to God’s
work within us, to stand in Jesus’ name against the power of evil, and to
challenge ourselves by asking: WHEN?</div>
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When will we not be so indifferent to suffering?</div>
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When will we be uncompromisingly impatient with cruelty
and falsehood?</div>
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When will be adamantly concerned for the dignity of every
person?</div>
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When will we choose love over fear?</div>
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When will we choose the common good over our own
self-interest?</div>
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When will we choose life over death?</div>
<br />Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-81097920920326075182017-12-13T06:23:00.002-08:002017-12-13T06:23:47.401-08:00The Insidiousness of BigotryThis is the day after Doug Jones narrowly defeated Roy Moore for the remaining term of the Senate seat of Curtis Strange. I make it a habit to switch around from CNN to FOX to MSNBC to see what these outlets are saying in reaction to the headlines. I find it to be interesting and enlightening to hear views from across the political spectrum.<br />
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But today was a day that made me shout out loud at the TV (am I turning into THAT GUY?) when I was watching FOX and Friends. They had this great little story about two runners in a marathon in Dallas over the weekend - the woman who was going to take the women's title was collapsing just yards from the finish line, and a high-school relay runner stopped and helped her get across. A great story of compassion over competition and human kindness.<br />
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Now, it wasn't that FOX and Friends were the only ones who covered the story. As you can imagine, news outlets everywhere had this as part of their shows, with interviews of the two women, and praise from whatever news commentators were covering the story. But Steve Doocy, never one to waste an opportunity to say something inappropriate, commented that it was a good thing that it happened in the South, because if it had happened "in New York City or a lot of other places" no one would have stopped to help.<br />
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And there it is. An offhand comment that implies that "big cities" (even though this happened in Dallas), and people on the two coasts (even though the runner who had been helped was a psychiatric doctor in NYC!) are not compassionate or kind. This is the kind of insidious nature of bigotry that creeps into our brains if we are not constantly vigilant to reject it. It is like the comments that folks make about "those people" or when we see posts on Facebook and other places that show blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, and others in unflattering light.<br />
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Sometimes there are outright statements and opinions that show a person's bigotry - right after this story about the marathon, FOX and Friends had a short interview with Michele Malkin (another FOX commentator) who was screaming - and I am not really exaggerating - about how we can only prevent terror actions like the one the other day in NYC if we don't let in anyone who can't prove that they will help make America great. At least with those "in your face" arguments others can respond, but the offhand comment, the wink and nod of racist jokes and "humor", the bigotry by implication and innuendo is insidious and eats at our psyche and gets stuck in our subconscious.<br />
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If we want to begin to drive out racism, to help people see "the other" with compassion and human decency, to guard ourselves against this insidious bigotry, then maybe we have to raise our own awareness of when it is happening, and reject it from our thinking - and maybe it starts with shouting at the TV.<br />
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<br />Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-89075028904949012052017-09-07T10:30:00.005-07:002017-09-07T10:31:15.726-07:00Stand in Support of Dreamers<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stand in Support of DREAMERS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i>Justice Perspective</i>
– September 2017</div>
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Deacon Don Weigel</div>
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Parents will do just about anything for their children. Sacrifice is a quality that seems built in to
being a parent, and protecting your children from danger, suffering, or threats
to their life and well-being is both natural and expected.</div>
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Is it any wonder, then, why parents who were escaping
dangerous conditions in their own land would bring their children with them? Or
is it beyond belief that things could be so bad in some places that parents
would send their children away – even alone – to find safety or a better life
in another land?</div>
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Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to
travel to places like El Salvador and Guatemala, and I have witnessed the
poverty, crime, and gang culture that pervades those places and many of their
neighboring countries as well. As beautiful as those countries are, and as
genuine as their people are, the conditions under which they live can sometimes
be so extremely dangerous or unlivable that they choose to flee their country
in hopes for a better life in ours.</div>
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Put aside for the moment the actions of the parents who entered
the U. S. without going through the proper procedures, and think about the
children that they brought with them. For their children, brought into our
country sometimes at a very young age, the U. S. is the only country they have
really known; they have attended school, played with their classmates and
neighbors, and as they have grown up they have worked and paid taxes, served in
the military, or become leaders in their parishes or communities.</div>
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These children have been called DREAMERS, and in 2012, the
Obama administration began a program called DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals), which gave protection to these undocumented immigrants who came here
as children, have lived here since 2007, and met other requirements. There are
nearly 800,000 young people who have registered for this program and it has
allowed them to work and study in the U.S. </div>
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For various political reasons, that program is now in
jeopardy, and the DREAMERS now may face deportation – even if they have
committed no crime, and have been contributing members of our society. </div>
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In order to protect them, a bipartisan bill has been
introduced in both houses of Congress. It is called The Dream Act of 2017
(S.1615 in the Senate and H.R.3440 in the House of Representatives). The bill
would provide young undocumented immigrants - who were brought to the United
States as children and have lived in the U.S. at least four years - protection
from deportation and an opportunity to obtain legal status if they meet certain
requirements.</div>
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The US Bishops support this bill, and have always supported
the DREAMERS because as Catholics we
believe in protecting the dignity of every human being, especially that of our
children.</div>
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You can lend your support to the effort to pass this bill by
going to <a href="http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/">www.justiceforimmigrants.org</a>,
the Bishops’ site for immigration issues, and tell your Senator and
Representative to sponsor and support this bill that will ensure the dignity
and security of DREAMERS. </div>
Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-65490249870222431182017-05-02T11:00:00.001-07:002017-05-02T11:00:40.903-07:00Our God Allows U-Turns!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Homily for 3rd Sunday of Easter - Year A 2017</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As you drive
around, I’m sure you have seen how a lot of churches use their signs out front
to come up with catchy slogans or funny anecdotes. Maybe you’ve seen some like
this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“There are some questions that can’t
be answered by Google”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Honk if you love Jesus. Text while
driving if you want to meet him”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Sometimes they have an unintended
meaning like this one: “Don’t let stress kill you – let the Church help!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One church on
French Road near my parents' house once had this one: “Our God allows
U-turns. “ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was
reminded of that sign when I was reflecting on the experience of the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus. They had just witnessed the execution of the
“one that they had hoped would redeem Israel”, and they were leaving Jerusalem
– maybe even fleeing Jerusalem – certainly confused, perhaps in fear. But then
they encountered Jesus – and their encounter of the Lord caused them to make a
U-turn, to go back to Jerusalem, to face whatever it was that was waiting for
them there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I see this
U-turn in my ministry at Collins Correctional Facility. Just last Friday night I
was once again visiting with some of the men inside who have decided to turn
their lives over to Jesus. Some of them have done some pretty awful things –
but because of their encounter with the risen Lord, they too have made this
U-turn, to turn their lives around and face the difficult choice of walking as
a disciple instead of their previous way of life. The conversions I have seen
in that facility have amazed me, encouraged me, and touched my heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some inmates
in our country, however, are deprived of this opportunity for conversion
because their lives are taken by capital punishment. Thankfully, we have
suspended capital punishment in NY, but if you have been following the news you
know that there have been 4 inmates executed in the past week in Arkansas – the
first executions in 12 years. Ledell Lee, Marcel Williams, Jack H. Jones Jr., and
Kenneth Williams, were all executed by lethal injection in Arkansas – and the
hurried pace was the result of the fact that one of the drugs that they use in
the procedure was due to expire at the end of this month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our US
bishops have called for an end to the death penalty since at least 1980 – most
prominently in a document from 2005 called “The Culture of Life and the Penalty
of Death”. They remind us that, in their
words, we need to “abandon the illusion that we can protect life by taking
life”. They go on to say that we must promote “a culture of life in which our
nation will no longer try to teach that killing is wrong by killing those who
kill. This cycle of violence diminishes all of us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pope Francis
said this a couple of years ago: “Today the death penalty is inadmissible, no
matter how serious the crime committed. It is an offense against the
inviolability of life and the dignity of the human person…It does not render
justice to the victims, but rather fosters vengeance”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But in spite
of the teaching of our Bishops, in spite of the strong opposition to the death
penalty of the last three Popes, and in spite of the fact that Jesus was the
victim of capital punishment, half of the Catholics in the US still support the
death penalty. Half!! We need to make a
U-turn of our own, away from the path of fear or revenge, or a misunderstanding
of justice, or whatever causes us to support capital punishment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Our bishops have called us
to conversion and have suggested that we do four things: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Pray for victims
of crime, those facing execution, and those working in the criminal justice
system;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Reach out to the
families of those affected by violent crime by bringing Christ’s love and
compassion;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> Learn about the Church’s teaching on capital
punishment and educate others;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Advocate for
better public policies to protect society and end the use of the death penalty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our God
does, indeed, allow U-turns; and we who have encountered the Risen Jesus are
called to turn away from capital punishment and to turn instead to embrace mercy,
to embrace forgiveness, to embrace life.</span></div>
Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-87838905182225271472016-10-17T08:12:00.000-07:002016-10-17T08:12:32.568-07:00First, Be Reconciled<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Homily for 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can we talk about the election? Not the candidates, or the
issues, but the attitudes and conflicts that it has engendered not only in our
public discourse, but in our conversations within our Church. This election in
particular seems to be so much more vitriolic and nasty than those in the past.
Or maybe I’m just getting old. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A friend of mine posted a great meme on facebook the other
day. It said, “I just saved a ton of money on Christmas presents by discussing
politics on Facebook”. And there is too much truth to that to be really funny. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bishop Malone released another “Consider This” on Friday
about Faithful Citizenship and voting. Bishop Malone: “Ordinarily I’d be
looking forward to the day after the election – at least the war of words would
be behind us. This time, however, I expect that I will feel no better about the
national situation then than I do right now. In fact, I may feel worse…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where will be as a nation after the election is over? Where
will be as a Church? Are we creating so many divisions based on our political
views that we forget the common good of the nation? Will we be able to start a
process of reconciliation and healing in our country, in our church, in our
families?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think about today’s parable of the widow and “unjust judge”.
St. Luke tells us that it is about praying, but maybe there’s something else
going on as well. When you look at it carefully, it is clear that neither character
is morally exemplary, and neither is even likable. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the parable, vengeance rules. It is the desire for
vengeance that drives the widow – this desire may be, especially in relation to
law courts, more pressing than the desire for justice. The parable challenges
us – do I want to be in the widow’s company?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The widow’s behavior is consistent: a person who seeks to be
avenged against her opponent is not a person who “loves her enemies”. And
certainly the judge perceives the possibility of getting a “black eye” if he
doesn’t rule in her favor. Whether it would really happen or not is not the
point – the judge believes that there is a real possibility of it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where was the attempt in the parable of the widow to
reconcile? Where was the attempt of the judge toward “restorative justice”
rather than retributive justice? The only closure that the parable creates is
that in which the widow and the judge – and so us, too! – become complicit in a
plan to take vengeance and certainly not to find reconciliation. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In another part of the Gospel, Jesus tells us that when we are
offering our gift at the altar, if we remember that our brother or sister has
something against us, we are to leave our gift there and first be reconciled to
our brother or sister, and then come and offer our gift.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What do each of us need to do to heal the wounds and
divisions that are being created among us now? Can we leave our gifts at the
altar and seek out those with whom we disagree so that we may be reconciled?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you follow international affairs, you may have heard
about the peace agreement in Colombia. Colombia has suffered under a civil war
for 52 years. 52 years! And they finally negotiated a peace agreement that
would cease all the fighting, and would provide amnesty for some of the
fighters in the conflict. The agreement had to be put to a referendum for all
citizens. In supporting the referendum,
one woman said, “I don’t win anything if I continue to hate. I have to vote yes
because peace depends on each of us. There are more of us who are good, and we
simply have to keep fighting for a quiet country for our children and
grandchildren.” In the end, however, by a slight margin, the referendum
rejected the peace agreement. According to one family that a student of mine
has contact with, “we wanted more punishment for those who did bad things
during the war.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no reconciliation in this parable, there is only
revenge. There is no compassion, neither by the judge for the widow nor by the
widow for the judge. The “justice” the unjust judge offers is not the justice
of God or a program of fairness – it is granting a legal decision based not on
merit, but on threat. Jesus was invested in fairness, reconciliation, and compassion.
As his disciples, as people of faith, we too must be willing to find the opportunities
for reconciliation and compassion – especially after a very contentious
election. So, his question at the end should give us pause: when the Son of Man
comes, will he find vengeance, and violence, and discord? Or will he find faith
on the earth?</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-34929573175316767292016-09-26T16:43:00.002-07:002016-09-26T16:45:18.928-07:00Before It's Too Late - Homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
23 Million. 23 million is the number of refugees that are
currently in the world. Over 5 million of them are from Syria and over half of
them are children under the age of 18.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Many of you know that I was privileged to go with Catholic
Relief Services to Greece and Serbia earlier this year to work with the Syrian
refugees – to see their plight, to hear their stories, to provide what aid we
could. So I was very interested to hear about the UN Summit for Refugees and
Migrants that was held earlier this week.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
At that Summit, President Obama read a letter from Alex
who saw the picture of 5 year old Omran Dagneesh, a casualty of the bombing in
Aleppo, as he sat filthy, bloodied, and dazed in the ambulance. Here is what
the letter said:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Dear President Obama,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Remember the boy who was picked
up by the ambulance in Syria? Can you please go get him and bring him to [my
home]? Park in the driveway or on the street and we will be waiting for you
guys with flags, flowers, and balloons. We will give him a family and he will
be our brother. Catherine, my little sister, will be collecting butterflies and
fireflies for him. In my school, I have a friend from Syria, Omar, and I will
introduce him to Omar. We can all play together. We can invite him to birthday
parties and he will teach us another language. We can teach him English too,
just like my friend Aoto from Japan.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
And I will share my bike and I
will teach him how to ride it. I will teach him additions and subtractions in
math.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Thank you very much! I can't
wait for you to come!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Alex<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
6 years old</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“We will give him a family and he will be our brother”.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I was thinking about Alex and about the rich man in the parable.
Alex was willing to share his toys, his time, his home – and make him his
brother. The rich man behaved as if he wasn’t even aware of Lazarus lying at
his gate, and if he was aware, he was too complacent to care. What had happened
to the rich man? Where did he lose the compassion and the kindness that even 6
year old Alex could display? Had he grown into a life of cynicism? Was he
ruined by a habit of self-indulgence? Did he just react to people like Lazarus
out of fear?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The rich man is not named in the parable – maybe he could
be any of us. It’s not his wealth that’s the problem – it’s his indifference. He
isn’t able to reach across the gap that separates him from Lazarus, and as a
consequence, that gap becomes an enormous abyss in the afterlife. After death,
he recognizes Lazarus, he even knows his name, but it’s too late. The abyss is
already too large to get across. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There is a gap, too, between us and young Omran and all
the Syrian refugees. In a sense, these refugees lie at our gate, perhaps not
covered in sores, but wanting only to take some of the crumbs that fall from
our very, very, rich table. They are:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Ahmed whom I met in Serbia - an electrical
engineer and who had to move his family three times to escape the bombing and
the violence that threatened him, his wife, and his four boys</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Hiatt – whose husband was killed in this brutal
war, and who was making this trip with her 5 children. Her children hadn’t been
to school in three years because of the war, she explained, and she was trying
to find a new home where, in her words, her children could learn, and not just
learn war</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Or Samir – a young boy of about 8 who lost his
shoe when his foot got stuck in the muck as he got out of the overcrowded
rubber raft that had brought him and his family from Turkey to Greece. Since we
didn’t have any shoes to give him, we tried to make a new shoe out of 5 or 6
pairs of socks</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Or Saad, Nabil, and Hussein – three young men in
their 20s whose families had sent them all on ahead to be “ice-breakers” as
they are called – to find places to live for their families to establish a base
so that they could pave the way for their Mom and Dad, brothers and sisters,
Grandma and Grandpa.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In commenting on this parable earlier in the year, Pope
Francis said that as long as Lazarus was lying in front of his house, there was
a chance for salvation for the rich man – but once they are both dead, the
situation was irreparable. It was too late.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The rich man had squandered his chance to do the right
thing. He had missed the sign of God’s kingdom in the everyday affairs of his
life. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We must reach out to Lazarus, and Ahmed, and Hiatt, and
Samir, and Saad, and Nabil, and Hussein and bridge the gap – “give them a family
and make them our brothers and sisters “– and we have to do it now - before
it’s too late.</div>
Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-76451334078670033032015-12-02T12:47:00.001-08:002015-12-02T12:47:46.688-08:00The Waiting Place<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Homily for school children for the Wednesday of the First Week of Advent</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I really don't like waiting, do you? I don't like
it, but it seems like I do so much of it. What are some examples of where you have to wait?........</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dr. Seuss talks about waiting. Who likes Dr. Seuss?....One
of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is called “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” and it’s
about all the places that you can go to – but there are some dangers, too! In
the story he talks about what happens when you might get confused and then end
up in a place called “The Waiting Place”. He describes it as a useless place
where people are just waiting.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
[From “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”]:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“<i>The Waiting Place…for
people just waiting.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> Waiting for a train to do<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or a bus to come, or a plane to go<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or the mail to come, or the rain to
go <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or the phone to ring, or the snow to
snow<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or waiting around for a Yes or No<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or waiting for their hair to grow.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> Everyone is just waiting.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> Waiting for the fish to bite <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or waiting for wind to fly a kite<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or waiting around for Friday night<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle
Jake<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or a pot to boil, or a Better Break<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or a string of pearls, or a pair of
pants<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> or a wig with curls, or Another
Chance.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i> Everyone is just waiting.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We all have to spend some time in this "waiting
place" that Dr. Seuss talks about, but I don't think it has to be a
useless place. While we are waiting we can make good use of our time. What can
we do? Well, we could read a good book or call a friend on the phone. We could
make a list of things we need to do today or, we could even study for a Math
test. Well, maybe that's going a bit too far, but there are many things we can
do besides just waiting.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And that’s the lesson of Advent. Advent means "to
come." Do you know what's coming? Of course, Christmas is coming. This is
an exciting time, but it may also be a difficult time of waiting -- waiting for
the day when you can open the gifts that you see under the tree. What can we do
to make this time of waiting for Christmas more than just a useless time in the
waiting place? Well, we can think about the true meaning of Christmas. We can
think about Jesus and his love. We can think about giving instead of receiving.
We can enjoy all of the beautiful music and the decorations of the season like
the Advent wreath or setting up the Nativity in our homes. When we do those
things, we will find joy in the waiting place.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We can also do what Jesus did in the Gospel. You heard
that Jesus helped people by curing their illnesses and feeding them when they
were hungry. We can also make use of our time while we are waiting by helping
the people around us like Jesus did. We can be kind to them, we can do good
things for people who have less than we do, and we can always pray for everyone
who is hurting or sad.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We are waiting for
Christmas, but what should we do while we are waiting? We should worship and
praise God, love and serve God, and share God’s love with others. When we are
doing those things, we will be ready for Christmas, and more importantly, we’ll
be ready for Jesus to come into our hearts. Then we will really find joy in the
waiting place.</span>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-57958268973723192992015-08-16T20:47:00.000-07:002015-08-16T20:54:00.513-07:00Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B<b>Readings:</b><br />
<br />
<b>1st Reading: </b> Proverbs 9:1-6<br />
<b>Psalm:</b> Psalm 34:2-7<br />
<b>2nd Reading</b>: Ephesians 5:15-20<br />
<b>Gospel:</b> John 6:51-58<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t you think we just about have an obsession with food in
this country? For one thing, we are really concerned about what goes into our
food, including additives, and dyes and preservatives. Plus we have at least two
cable TV channels devoted to food and cooking. Not to mention the commercials for all kinds of food and restaurants. And people are always posting on
Facebook where they are eating and what they are having. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the last four weeks we have been listening to the sixth
chapter of the Gospel of John – and each week we have heard another aspect of
Jesus as the Bread of Life, beginning with him feeding the five thousand plus, and
continuing to today when he says that we must eat his body and drink his blood
in order to have life. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This feeding and eating theme obviously has overtones about
the Eucharist and Mass– and I wonder what effect our cultural images of eating
have on our approach to the Eucharist. What is it that you expect to find when
you come to this table? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe some of us come to the Eucharist only wanting a snack –
you know, you don’t want to fill up too much so you can save room for other
important things. You don’t really want to
think too heavily about anything – it will just be too much to digest.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe some come to Mass like it’s a fast-food restaurant. We
come in as late as we can, we leave as soon as we can, and we don’t see any
real substance or enjoyment of the food while we’re here – we just want to kind
of “get it over with”. Oh, and if they could find a way to have a drive-through
feature, that would be GREAT!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or maybe some look at Sunday Mass like it’s a Chinese
buffet. We really appreciate all the interesting things in front of us, but we
really don’t like all of them. We like to have a lot choice, but we really want
to pick and choose what we eat. We might like a lot of spiritual stories, but
if someone starts talking about abortion, we’d rather just leave that off of
our plate. Or we might really like the prayers and the songs, but if we are
called to feed the poor, it’s really kind of distasteful. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It might be that some people think of the Mass like they are
having a private, intimate dinner with their friend, Jesus. No one else really
counts as long as they have their time with him and can have a nice one-on-one
visit with him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps some see the Eucharist like a family meal where we’re
all gathered around the table sharing our common experiences, our hopes and our
fears, our challenges and our aspirations. And each of us has brought something to
share and pass around, and as we are together we strengthen the bonds of the
family and our own understanding of who we are and why we are here.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some might see the Eucharist like a banquet – the kind that
Woman Wisdom is throwing in the first reading. It is a grand event where all
are invited and we are sure to have rich foods and fine wine, and we are not
expected to bring anything other than ourselves. It is a feast that becomes a
significant event in our relationship with God and with one another. We come as
guests but we leave as friends – with Jesus as a part of us and we as a part of
him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So which is it for you? Like Woman Wisdom, Jesus invites us
to his feast, to this table, to share in his wisdom and his very life – so that
he can remain in us and we can remain in him. And by being a part of him we
become him for others – ready to serve, to give of ourselves to our brothers
and sisters for the life of the world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Jesus invites us all to
this table. What kind of meal do you expect when you come here?</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-58425821034425413892015-07-25T20:16:00.002-07:002015-07-25T20:16:15.571-07:00Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - B<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u> Readings:</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-transform: capitalize;">Reading 1: </span><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/2kings/4:42" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-width: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: 1.2px; margin: 1px 0px 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">2 KinGS 4:42-44</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-transform: capitalize;">Responsorial Psalm: </span><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/145:10" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-width: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: 1.2px; margin: 1px 0px 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">PSalm 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-transform: capitalize;">Reading 2: </span><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/4:1" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-width: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: 1.2px; margin: 1px 0px 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">EPHesians 4:1-6</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-transform: capitalize;">Gospel: </span><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/6:1" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-width: 0px; color: #008061; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: 1.2px; margin: 1px 0px 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">JohN 6:1-15</a></div>
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What do you think happened to that boy? You know, the boy
with the basket that had the loaves and the fishes? He disappears out of the
picture once his loaves and fish are multiplied and used to feed over five
thousand people. What do you think happened to him after this?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Putting yourself as one of the characters in the Gospel
story, or imagining other aspects of the story that are not told is one way to
pray with Scripture – it sometimes provides deeper insights into familiar
people and scenes. So what do you think happened to him? What do you think the
rest of his life might have been like?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Chances are he told everyone he saw for quite a while about
what he had witnessed on that grass-covered hill – that Jesus had fed thousands
with just a few loaves that he had had in his basket. And I can imagine that he
spoke with some surprise, at least, that he had had a role in that miraculous
event. I wonder how he was received – apathy? Skepticism? Ridicule?</div>
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<br /></div>
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I can imagine that this experience had a deep and profound
impact on him – and I like to think that maybe after what he witnessed he
became a very generous person, a person who became very giving and selfless –
that he did for others what he had seen Jesus do for the crowd. </div>
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<br /></div>
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And I wonder why he had that basket of loaves and fishes –
maybe he was on his way from the market or a family member’s house. Five loaves
and two fishes were probably enough to feed his entire family for a week. But
he gave it up willingly – all that he had - when asked by Jesus. When they gathered up the fragments, I wonder
if he got his basket refilled. We don’t know what happened to the twelve
baskets that were gathered up. Maybe he got even more than the five loaves and
two fish that he had originally.</div>
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<br /></div>
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His experience of Jesus was probably a life-changing event.
He was a different person after seeing what compassion, generosity, and the
power of Jesus do when put together.</div>
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<br /></div>
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What about you? </div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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You are here at this table to celebrate and remember a
miracle – not just of the transformation of bread and wine into the very Body
and Blood of Jesus- but Jesus offering his own life to save us. Because you
have witnessed it, do you go out to tell others? Or is it something you keep to
yourself?</div>
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<br /></div>
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You are here at this table to celebrate and remember the
gracious generosity of God and how extravagantly God has provided for us with
everything we need to grow and to thrive. Has it made you a more generous
person? Have you become more selfless and giving? Do you look for ways to do
for others what Jesus had done for the crowd?</div>
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<br /></div>
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You are here at this table to celebrate and remember how
Jesus took what appeared to be so little and miraculously used it to create a
community, a feast, an icon of the Kingdom of God. Do you willingly give what you
have and who you are to Jesus, knowing that he can take your gifts and use them
to help bring about the Kingdom?</div>
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<br /></div>
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I do wonder what happened to that little boy because of his
encounter with Jesus. </div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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What happens to you?</div>
Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-69507208710977132442015-04-25T12:11:00.001-07:002015-04-25T12:11:26.748-07:00Whose Shepherd Are You?<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Homily for Fourth Sunday of Easter - B</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">"Good Shepherd Sunday" 2015 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> What a
comforting image our Gospel gives us today. It is probably a familiar one to
you – Jesus the Good Shepherd. There are so many images in art and music of
Jesus holding a lamb, or carrying a sheep on his shoulders. Jesus – the shepherd
who lays down his life for his sheep, the Lord who is our shepherd, who invites
us to the table he spreads before us. And these young people will make their way
to the banquet table of the Good Shepherd this afternoon/morning as they make
their first communion. It truly is a comforting and engaging image for us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> But sometimes we have heard this
Gospel and thought about this image without allowing ourselves to be challenged
by it. Because Jesus is the Good Shepherd for his sacrificial and self-giving
love. He is the shepherd who is “good” not because he does his job well, but because
he is the shepherd who is noble, who is righteous, who is willing to lay down
his life for his sheep – not like the hired hand who abandons the sheep when he
has to look out for number one. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he is the
model for us. And so that causes us to ask ourselves a question: Whose shepherd
are you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Being a disciple means following the
model of Jesus – and so we are called to love others as Christ has loved us and
loved the whole world. We are called to
live and to love sacrificially. Whose shepherd are you? For whom do you lay
down your life? For whom do you sacrifice, and whom do you protect and watch
out for?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> In our first reading, Peter and John
healed the crippled man at the Temple gate rather than walk by. They recognized
that he must be treated with dignity – regardless of the lack of benefits the
world would give. We must also lay down our lives – and our pursuit of success
by the world’s standards – on behalf of those most in need of love and most in
need of our care. Whose shepherd are you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Some of us have our task presented
clearly in front of us. Some of us care for a parent or a spouse who needs
constant care, or is dealing with a debilitating illness like Alzheimer’s, or
ALS or MS. Some of us care for sick children, or elderly relatives. But many of
us have opportunities to reach out in love and care for those around us – but don’t.
Whose shepherd are you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> We are called to as a series of
concentric circles of concern. The small circle is the immediate family and
those who are right around us. The next circle is our extended family, then our
neighborhood, our city or town, our nation, and the rest of the world. We
should be challenged to constantly push ourselves to the next circle of
concern, expanding our care and love in ever wider circles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> In a beautiful document by our
Bishops titled “Communities of Salt and Light”, they note that every disciple
and every Catholic community are called to be “salt of the earth and light of
the world”, and that the pursuit of justice and peace is an essential part of
what makes a parish Catholic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> In our parish, we have a new
organization named for that document, called Salt & Light Ministry, which
arose out of the inspiration of the parishioners who went through the Good News
People program. The Salt & Light ministry is intended to coordinate the
social outreach activities of the parish and to offer our parishioners opportunities
to step into the next circle of concern. At the end of Mass you will hear from
one of our parishioners about a ministry that they participate in, and they
will extend an invitation to you to join them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Jesus the Good Shepherd has given us
the model of self-giving, self-sacrificing love, and that model challenges us
to step out in love into circles of concern around us to help our brothers and
sisters. How far are you willing to go? Whose shepherd are you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-48496958962972777982014-12-24T23:09:00.001-08:002014-12-24T23:12:46.654-08:00Christmas Homily 2014 Dorothy Day
once wrote that “It is no use saying that we are born two thousand years too
late to give room to Christ…Christ is always with us, asking for room in our
hearts”.<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Maybe if we don’t think about Christ
asking for room in our hearts it’s because we don’t recognize Christ when he
comes to us. And yet, Christ comes to us in every person we meet, and everyone
who is a part of our lives. Christ is there knocking on our hearts, asking us
to make room for him. If we have a hard time seeing Christ in everyone we know,
and in everyone we come in contact with, maybe it’s because we think of the
Christmas story we just heard as an event from long ago in far away Bethlehem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> But if we realize that the story is
our story too, we might be able to see Christ when he asks for room in our
hearts. We have all been gifted in some way to be welcoming to the Christ in
others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Maybe you are like Joseph -
protecting the weak and the powerless who need us to care for them and defend
them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Maybe you are like the donkey that
carried Mary – lightening the burden of someone who is ill, or in a strange and
unknown place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Maybe you are like the unnamed “inn-keeper”
who was able to provide shelter and warmth to folks who otherwise would have
been at the mercy of the outside world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Maybe you are like the shepherds –
willing to leave your routine and your everyday life and be spontaneous in
order to experience the great and marvelous things that God is doing for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Maybe you are like the angel –
announcing the “good news” of our salvation and giving glory to God – and
proclaiming peace to everyone around you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">Maybe you are like Mary, who said
“yes” to what God asked of her, and to bring Christ into the world – to give
life to Jesus and his kingdom and to share him with the rest of the world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> The Christmas story is OUR story.
The Christmas message is the message of hope and peace and joy for all of us –
if we are willing to make it real and alive in our hearts. Christ is always
with us, asking us to make room in our hearts.</span>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-82945801952790545002014-06-04T12:58:00.001-07:002014-06-04T12:59:14.356-07:00Inequality is the root of social evil<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">Justice Perspective – June 2014</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> Just about a month ago, Pope Francis
created quite a stir when he sent out a tweet that said “Inequality is the root
of social evil”. Two things happened: first, this was re-tweeted over 17,000
times; and second, there was a great hue and cry from some corners about the
over-simplification of economics by the Pope, or at least that he was confusing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> To put this tweet in perspective, we
have to look at the context of where this succinct line came from. This was not
a sentence just made up for the Pope’s Twitter account (@Pontifex). Actually,
it was the last line from one of the paragraphs of his Apostolic Exhortation, <i>The Joy of the Gospel</i>, which he issued
last fall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> The relevant paragraph reads like
this: “As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by
rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by
attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for
the world’s problems or, for that matter, to any problems. Inequality is the
root of social ills.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> All kinds of recent studies have shown
how income inequality is a problem around the world. Just recently, a study
from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development showed that the
income gap is widening in many developed nations. The United States, far from
being shielded from this problem, is actually one of three countries that have
the largest inequality (along with Turkey and Israel). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> There are a number of economic reasons
for this growing disparity and inequality, but all these developments cannot be
explained by economics alone. Consider how insightful Pope Francis is to
identify the “absolute autonomy of markets” as one of the “structural causes”
of inequality – the problem is the prevalent attitude that markets should be
the driving force of human behavior, not morality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> Some commentators have tried to show
how the Pope’s comments are just simply untrue, since there is, in their minds,
so much regulation of business these days. But they miss the point – the
absolute autonomy of markets has less to do with rules and regulations and a
lot more to do with how we relate to one another. In a “market driven” economy,
right and wrong are determined not by ethics and morals or the common good, but
by what best serves the “economy” and the well-being of the rich and powerful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> This is what the Pope means when he
says in another section of <i>The Joy of the
Gospel</i> that there is a “dictatorship of an impersonal economy” that lacks
any truly human purpose. The financial systems, he says, rule behavior rather
than serve the common good. This is why the earnings of a wealthy minority grow
exponentially and widen the gap that separates the poorer majority from
prosperity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> And how complicit are we in this whole
process? How easily do we excuse the unethical actions of the “market” as just
the cost of doing business? When businesses lay off workers do we see it as
just a necessary part of increasing profits? Or do we recognize the calamity
and disruption that it will cause for the families involved? Do we wink and
smile at the shrewdness of unscrupulous lenders, Wall Street investors, and
those who prey on those who are more desperate?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Inequality
is the root of social ills –and will only begin to be solved when each of us
begins to support the person and the common good and not the “market”.</span>Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752000317938775241.post-13664738749339465252014-05-29T09:28:00.001-07:002014-05-29T09:28:07.538-07:00A Reason for our Hope<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">6<sup>th</sup> Sunday of Easter
– Cycle A<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">Homily<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">(Acts </span><span style="font-family: Bookman Old Style, serif;">8:5-8, 14-17; Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Bookman Old Style, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> If you were asked to, do you think you
could “give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope”?
Could you do it with “gentleness and reverence”?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> Our ordinary, daily, life gives us all
kinds of opportunities for giving an account of our hope. We live today in a
world that many are calling a “post-Christian” era. Experts who study that sort
of thing actually have fifteen measures of non-religiosity that include not
praying to God, or reading the Bible, or attending church, or considering faith
an important part of their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> The most recent study concluded that thirty-seven
percent of Americans can be classified as “post-Christian” based on those
fifteen criteria. Thirty-seven percent! We live in a world in desperate need of
hope. This is why the “new evangelization” is so important – because you have
hope because we know that Jesus has conquered sin and death and has sent his
Spirit to be our “Advocate” – to change the world. You and I have hope because
we have a vision of an end-time of fulfillment when there will be a new heaven
and a new earth and the kingdom will be fully engaged in all of creation. And
you and I have an obligation to share that hope with all those who struggle
with hopelessness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> In my prison ministry I go to Collins
Correctional on as many Friday nights as I can, and those of us from the
outside have faith-sharing conversations with the men inside. If you want a
prime example of a place where hope is rare, visit a prison. But just this Friday one of the men started
talking about how easy it is to focus on the length of his bid – until he
remembers that he has the promise of eternal life. “You know”, he said, “when I
think of being with Jesus for all eternity, the next three years seem like
nothing at all”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> You and I also must live in a hope
based on the promises of Christ – and we can hope not because we are so good at
trusting, but because God is trustworthy. And the message of the
trustworthiness of God is truly “Good News” – Gospel – <i>euangelion</i> in Greek – evangelization. We should feel compelled to
share that Good News with everyone in our lives – and to do so, as the second
reading reminds us – with gentleness and reverence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> You might think that you are poorly
equipped for the task of evangelization. But consider this – Philip in the
first reading had no written gospel, had no catechism, had no Religious Ed or
Catholic School education – he might not have even ever met Jesus in person.
Yet his faith was so strong that it allowed him to go to Samaria – Samaria! –
where there was such great animosity – and he witnessed so effectively that the
crowds paid attention and were filled with great joy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> What it takes is being a “Good News”
person. We recently completed a program in the parish called “Good News People”
– could all of those here who were part of the program please stand up. For
those of you who missed out on it the past year, we’re going to run it again
starting in the fall. One of the messages of the program is that we must live
the gospel – we must live the good news, that if we love Jesus it has to make a
difference: we need to be somehow transformed, challenged, changed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> As St. John Chrysostom so aptly put it
1650 years ago: “There would be no need for sermons, if our lives were shining;
there would be no need for words, if we bore witness with our deeds. There
would be no pagans, if we were true Christians.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"> Jesus tells us that those who see him
see the Father, and because he has given us the Spirit, those who see us can
see Jesus – if we keep his commandments of love and witness to hope. How are
you going to be Good News to others this week? You might be the only Gospel
that some people will ever read.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Deacon Don Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11462979848342422397noreply@blogger.com0