So Far Transition Has Been Smooth

[philothea]

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='philothea' date='Aug 13 2005, 06:57 PM'] 
[right][snapback]684312[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

Thank you, still working on the one for tomorrow....thank God I did not have the Mass tonight or I would be in trouble.

Need prayers though.

God Bless

[Theologian in Training]

Another one the people loved and I was not particularly fond of. Personally, I don't think I even got the message that was trying to be conveyed, but somehow tied it together.

Anyway, enjoy.

Oh, btw, I edited out my bishop's name

God Bless

A Canaanite woman approaches Jesus from afar and pleads with Him to have pity on her, and Jesus ignores her. Yet, she persists in her pleading, so much so, in fact, that the disciples grow tired of her. Jesus then, clearly annoyed, tells her He was sent for the lost sheep of Israel hoping she will now leave. Yet, instead of going away despondent or angry, she persists and then does something very beautiful, she kneels before Him and simply says, “Lord, help me.”

If that’s not enough, Jesus then, in so many words calls her a dog.

What does she do?

She agrees with Him and then makes her request again, with his analogy.

What an amazing example, and a great lesson that we can learn.

For, how many times do we find ourselves in prayer, either bargaining with God or making requests of Him that we anticipate to happen almost immediately and then grow upset, angry, or disappointed because God has seemingly ignored our request?

Yet, we look at this Canaanite woman and see her persistence, her faith and her humility and cannot help but be inspired by her example.

For, like her we kneel down and cry out to God for help, and He seems to completely ignore us. We persist in our same prayers and nothing happens. And we make her same prayer: “Lord, help me.” Still, we are seemingly ignored. Finally, we come before Him empty, broken, as a dog waiting for the scraps to fall, and then He answers, then our prayer is fulfilled.

I remember before I entered the seminary I had to undergo many medical tests, so many, in fact, that I missed the deadline for application to the seminary. Yet, I knew that God was calling me. So, I made a few calls and ultimately scheduled a meeting with Bishop when he was the auxiliary bishop.

Before the meeting began, he looked at me and said I want you to know that I am going to do everything I can to get you into the seminary but ultimately if God wants you there, you will get in.

I had my meeting and he told me I will hear from him within a couple of days.

I remember during those couple of days spending a lot of time in prayer but never getting any indication what it was that God wanted for me.

After a few days passed and I did not hear anything I went before the Blessed Sacrament, fell on my knees, and, in great desolation said: “I give up, I have no idea what you want. I don’t know what to do, I need your help, I give it all to you, take it because I don’t want it anymore.”

The next day the vocations office called me to tell me I was accepted into the seminary.

We always want God to answer our prayer immediately, not in His time, but in ours. We say we will be patient, but, deep down, we want it now. Such was my case, and such was the Canaanite woman. Yet, in each case, the prayer was only answered after a humble submission to the will of God, a recognition that, indeed, we cannot do it ourselves, that we are always in need of His help.

May we too patiently persevere in prayer, even when it seems as though our prayer is being ignored, because God hears all our prayers, and answers them in His time and according to His will, when we humbly kneel before Him, and simply say: “Lord help me, I give it all to you.”

[Lil Red]

[quote name='philothea' date='Jul 31 2005, 04:50 PM']I really appreciate that you post your homilies here.  I didn't get a chance to comment, but it was very nice.  Sometimes the one I hear on Sunday is... not inspiring.  Or even relevant. [right][snapback]666505[/snapback][/right][/quote]

i agree...thank you for sharing your wonderful thoughts with us about the readings.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Theologian in Training' date='Aug 13 2005, 10:22 AM']For, at heart we seek that childlike innocence of life and to be transformed by the love of Christ. Yet we do so only by laying down everything we are, and everything we have, and everything we can be, placing it at the foot of the cross, and then giving it all away.[right][snapback]684081[/snapback][/right][/quote]

thank you thank you!!

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='Aug 14 2005, 01:21 PM']thank you thank you!! 
[right][snapback]684799[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

Thank You. I just noticed that the whole giving it all away theme was resurrected in today's homily as well.

Preparing a homily is much harder than I thought.

God Bless

[Theologian in Training]

I had to give a little reflection today. It was horrible, almost ashamed to post it..almost.

Enjoy or not, whatever.

A king sends invitations out to a myriad of people, and all of them ignore his invitation and even some get violent with such an invitation.

So, he has them killed and then goes to the streets to find anyone and everyone to invite them to this feast.

It almost seems strange to go through so much for a wedding feast, until we remember what it was that this parable was preceded by, namely, what the kingdom of heaven can be likened to.

So then the question is what is Jesus trying to tell us in this parable, and why is it so important that many are invited even if they choose not to come?

Because, in the bible, a wedding feast is always understood to be symbolic of the great wedding feast, that of the Mass.

For, it recalls for us the Last Supper and the great sacrifice He made upon the cross for us, out of love for us, the mark of spousal love between Christ and His Church.

Therefore, Jesus is using this parable to remind us that everyone is invited despite their inclination to try to ignore that invitation.

We can almost hear Jesus say, with sadness in His heart “Behold, I have prepared my banquet…the feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come”

Therefore, let us heed that invitation and approach Him humbly and ready to receive all that He wishes to give us in this Mass and in our reception of the Holy Eucharist, so that we, like the man with no wedding garment, will not hear the startling words, “many are invited, but few are chosen.”

[philothea]

[quote name='Theologian in Training' date='Aug 14 2005, 09:10 AM']After a few days passed and I did not hear anything I went before the Blessed Sacrament, fell on my knees, and, in great desolation said: “I give up, I have no idea what you want. I don’t know what to do, I need your help, I give it all to you, take it because I don’t want it anymore.”

The next day the vocations office called me to tell me I was accepted into the seminary.
[right][snapback]684741[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]
Wow. How agonizng and yet... cool...

Thanks again for sharing! I somehow missed this thread in my catching up.

[Theologian in Training]

No sermon today, we had a nun take the place of the sermon to talk about retired religious.

And, since the readings are quite similar to the readings I used for my first sermon, I may use that one again. It went over very well in my home parish, and the people here are used to my style, so it may be accepted just as well, or crash and burn. Time will tell.

God Bless

[Paladin D]

[b]Theo[/b], keep up the good work. I [b]hate[/b] writing, but what helps me is to think of a writing as a long post on a internet forum, since I actually concentrate and think better when doing that.

It's a psychological thing for me, maybe it's a similar case for you? Who knows? If I become a priest, I will be on the same bandwagon as you buddy.

[Theologian in Training]

A revised version of the first homily I preached at my home parish. I tweaked it a bit, though not that much, to work with the readings. Also, I fixed some of the grammar and transitions.

God Bless

Today Jesus makes a request of us, no simple request, to be sure: deny everything for me, and after doing so, come, take up your cross and follow me. For, whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

I wonder if we really know what this means, if we truly understand what He is asking of us? Calling us, in love, to walk with Him on the road to Calvary, carrying with us our burdens, our pains, our hurts, and our desolations, and, treading this path of suffering to go there and die, not physically, of course, but die to our very selves. And, in many respects that’s even worse, that’s even scarier because even though death itself is scary how much more when we are asked to renounce our very being, the power we think we have; to be utterly vulnerable and at our most weakest, naked before the cross so that Christ can fully dwell within us?

Yet, this is the way Christ has shown for us, to die each and every day, by taking up our cross each and every day.

A while ago there was an email circulating about a man and his cross. I would like to share now:

A young man was at the end of his rope, and seeing no way out, dropped to his knees in prayer. He said:
"Lord, I can't go on, I have too heavy a cross to bear."

The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place your cross inside this room.
Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief and joy and said, "Thank you Lord," and did as he was told.

Upon entering the other room, he saw many crosses; some so large the tops were not even visible. Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall.

"I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered. The Lord replied, "My son, that is the cross you just brought in."

Our cross makes us unique, because our suffering is unlike anyone else’s and the only person who truly knows the depth of our suffering is Christ Himself. For our cross is His, and His is what makes ours that much lighter, and yet, He still has us carry our own, out of love for us.

I know that sounds strange, giving us a cross so that we can learn love, but it is only at the foot of the cross where we learn the meaning of true love.

In fact, I remember, a couple of summers ago I was in a program for priestly formation, and a deacon there said something I will never forget. He said sometimes the cross can get so hard to handle that we scream out saying “God Your killing me,” to which God responds, “I know.”

While it is true that God does not give us more than we can handle He also does not want to give us too little, otherwise we would could never understand the mystery and depth of Christ’s love if we cannot unite our own sufferings to His.

How incredibly hard this is to bear, because we don’t want to die, we don’t want to accept the fact that we "are dust and to dust we shall return." That we are no more than a speck in this vast existence, smaller than Christ, an ant in comparison to the Cross.

Yet this death occurs daily by our frequent prayer and the reception of the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ in the Eucharist. In fact, it is in the Mass that this is bought to fruition. The Mass reminds us of this death, and the death we must live ourselves. In fact, every time we receive the Eucharist we die more and more to ourselves because we become more and more like Christ in that reception and it is His life that dwells within us. St. Pio in one of his letters to his spiritual director said that there is no reason to imitate Christ if in imitating Him we don't appear "arisen" or "changed." In other words, when we deny ourselves, through our daily cross, Christ shines through us and we become "renewed" or "resurrected" in Him.

This is true death, the death of self, which is brought to fulfillment by living in direct communion with the Will of God, regardless of the consequences or actions it entails. True death of self then is true love of Christ, and true love of Christ is in imitating Him, and after all, isn't imitation the best form of flattery?

Therefore, how better to imitate Our Creator than to seek to imitate Him to the point of fully losing our very selves so that we can say, as St. Paul says, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me.”

[Theologian in Training]

I know I am stretching the Gospel a bit, but I really did not feel as though I could ignore the events that have and are unfolding with regard to Hurricane Katrina. The Gospel is addressed, just not in great depth. Anyway, here it is.

God Bless

The English poet John Donne, in one of his famous meditations, “no man is an island” states: “no man is an island entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” In other words, on some level, we are all connected and in communion with each other. On some level the person sitting right next to you is your sister or brother. On some level, we are part of a great human family.

Is it any wonder then, that all of us are deeply affected by the devastation and destruction from Hurricane Katrina? We don’t even need to be there, and yet our heart breaks for those struggling to survive and those who mourn their loved ones, and can do nothing for them, but cover them in a blanket because there is nowhere to bury them.

We feel their hurt, we experience their pain, we want to do something for them, but we don’t know what.

Jesus tells us what we can do: “If two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

As Christians, that is what we must do, gather together and offer our heartfelt prayers for them. I know it almost seems like a simple solution to what has become a global problem, but sometimes prayer is all we have and all we can offer to those in most need. In fact, the strongest requests from the bishop of Louisiana and the governor have been for prayer.

Archbishop Hughes, the bishop of the Archdiocese of Louisiana simply said: "We are so overwhelmed, we do not know how to respond.'' His only suggestion: “Turn to prayer.”

Even the Governor, in so many words, asked for the same. She said: "We need a higher power right now," "There are a lot of people to pray for."

She even requested that residents spend the day in prayer, saying: "That would be the best thing to calm our spirits and thank Our Lord that we are survivors."

We should then heed their advice and pray, for, when we do so, we not only intercede on their behalf but have the promise of Jesus Himself that when we unite our own prayer with everyone else He will be there with us, interceding for us, and bringing those prayers before His Heavenly Father.

Now I know this sounds simple and even that sometimes, in these events, the hardest thing to do is to pray. For, we want to ask where is the hand of God in such a great tragedy? Why would He allow such great devastation? Yet, I find it pretty interesting that, despite the great destruction and the incredibly powerful winds, a statue of Jesus, outside St. Louis Cathedral, in the heart of New Orleans only suffered a broken thumb from His outstretched arms. As though He were reminding us of what He did for His disciples when He reached out with open arms, and calmed the raging winds. Or, in Biloxi where a resident reported that "A church he used to attend, St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, is still standing after 'Katrina,' while the casinos that surrounded the church were destroyed…A statue of St. Michael is located on top of the church and faces the water."

Granted, these are merely statues, but they are a testament to what remains, a symbol of what has endured the storm, of what is left to remind us of the power God has even over nature, of the presence of God even in the midst of a great tragedy.

Therefore, let us then pray for all of those affected by Hurricane Katrina, knowing that our prayers will help them, especially, when we multiply those prayers by gathering together, and uniting them to the prayers of all of those praying for the victims.

God our Father, we come before you and implore your help and mercy for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We ask you to console the sorrowing, comfort the dying, and grant mercy to those who have died. We know that our name is written in the palm of your hand, and that you know each of us by name. Call those now in greatest need, protect them, and give them the strength and courage to persevere even though it seems as if all hope is lost. We know that with you all things are possible and you are God of both the living and the dead. Gather all of them closer to you, and embrace them as your children.

We, your Church implore these prayers and intercede on their behalf, knowing that your Blessed Mother will take them to your Son who will bring them to you, our loving God and Creator. For, we know that when two or three are gathered in your name, your Son is there in the midst of them, may He bring these prayers before your throne, and may they be acceptable to you. Amen.

[Theologian in Training]

BTW, I found out I have to preach to the seminary on Oct. 30th. As if I did not have enough stress in my life trying to write a homily, now for the seminary, the most difficult congregation of them all....God help me, please!

[Theologian in Training]

Two women came up and told me my homily sounded like a prayer. One actually requested a copy of it for an Antioch retreat.

I am learning more and more that I am merely an instrument and say what God wants to be said. For me to come up with half of these homilies have been a miracle in and of themselves.

Thank you all.

God Bless

[philothea]

(Catching up...) Nice homilies, as always! :applause:

I had no idea until just today that seminarians were so troublesome. At the church I went to the priest called some seminarians... er... what was it? "Whiny brats" I think.

He was joking... kind of. A couple of them had written an anonymous letter to the Bishop complaining that he didn't genuflect, and he was using the gospel as an example of what they should have done -- ask him about it and they'd have learned his knees can't bend that much.