Officially Started at the Parish

[DAF]

When were you ordained?

You should totally post pictures of your ordination or evangelizing or doing...other apostolic things!

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='DAF' post='1016974' date='Jul 4 2006, 12:44 AM']
When were you ordained?

You should totally post pictures of your ordination or evangelizing or doing...other apostolic things!
[/quote]

May 27, 2006

Pictures are all over the web

[Theologian in Training]

So, I got the new Dells, just finished setting them up (between yesterday and today) and I have created a wireless network...for the techies....wireless N Really Really Really fast!!!!

[Theologian in Training]

Some more homilies....

The American poet and author, Robert Frost has a very famous poem that I am sure we are all familiar with entitled “The Road Not Taken.” In it he weighs his options, trying to decide which is the better path to take in his life. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both, and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down as far as I could.” In essence, deciding which path would bring more life, more depth, a better understanding.

Today Amos, in our first reading, in a Christian context is also essentially telling us to do the same: “seek good and not evil…hate evil and love good.” It sounds so simple, and yet it is exactly this of what our life consists of, a constant struggle between doing what is right or wrong, choosing a life or a path that is of God or of sin. Yet, the path is sometimes not as clear, Frost understood that the path that was overgrown and not frequently used, was probably the right path. This is also the same path we too are encouraged to choose. In fact, Christ Himself tells us that the path is narrow and not many enter it. And, deep down, somehow we always know which is the right the path.

In the end, the true path is the one we should be taking each and every day, when each moment we weigh our options, what is best for us in this life, what will ultimately lead us to Heaven, so that we can see God face to face. So that, like Frost, we too take that road less traveled by, praying that it has indeed made all the difference.
______________________________

The reason we have saints is to remind us of what is important, of who is important, because the saints, were and are just like you or I, the difference is that their life reflected a life lived completely in Christ. Martyrs especially reflect this type of life, because they choose to die for Christ’s sake. In fact, that is what the word, “martyr” means: witness.

Today we celebrate the feast of one of the Church’s martys, St. Maria Goretti, who was violently stabbed to death, preferring to die rather than being raped. Yet, what makes it so amazing and inspiring even is that this saint was only 12 years old. She had not even begun her teenage years but was full of such zeal and fervor for such love of God that she submitted to her own death rather than to let her purity be taken.

It sounds very sad to hear of such a brutal death for someone so young, and yet, as strange as it may sound, there is a certain beauty as well because she serves as a great example, a beautiful example for teenagers, of which she is their patroness, and for a culture that seeks pleasure as its own end. For, so often, God gets lost in the middle of that, and the drive for God gets replaced with any other drive.

St. Maria Goretti shows us what is possible, what can happen, when our zeal for God overpowers anything else, and when we would prefer death itself than to lose our innocence, to whatever degree we have it. For, at heart, we all strive for that innocence, that purity, so that one day we too can find ourselves before God alone, face to face with the one we love.
_________________________

Today Jesus introduces us to one of the greatest attributes of God, one of the most amazing things He could do for us: extend His mercy upon us all. What’s more is that we have all been given this great gift freely, and all He asks in return is His love and for us to extend that same mercy to others. In fact, after telling the Pharisees that it is the sick who are in need of healing, he then tells them to ponder this simple phrase: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” In other words, the same mercy I extend to you, you must now extend to others. For, the mercy I give, though given freely, can just as easily be taken away.

Perhaps, one of the greatest gifts our Church has been given has been the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I don’t know many are familiar with this prayer, but they are prayers that are prayed upon the rosary, prayers, however, that really put things in perspective. They are prayers of sacrifice, whereby we offer, “the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ,” only to repeat a simple prayer of mercy upon the Hail Mary beads: “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” Prayers that invoke the saving action of Jesus by His Passion and His death. Yet, what is most interesting about this prayer is that mercy is poured out by offering again, “in spirit” Jesus’ Body and Blood, to remind us how we were saved and the cost of that salvation, because we all need a reminder time and again, myself included.

Given this then, we should be mindful of the importance of forgiveness. For, if God can be merciful to us, sinners though we are, how much more should we be merciful to those that have wronged us. Perhaps it is difficult at this time, but we should always be mindful of one thing: forgiveness of another’s faults brings forgiveness to us as well because the anger we hold towards another not only prohibits us from forgiving the other person, but also from being capable of being forgiven ourselves.

Today, we are asked to extend mercy because mercy has been extended to us, let us then ponder that beautiful phrase that Christ has given us: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

[journeyman]

It seems you're thriving in your new posting . . . What other duties do you have? Are you getting the faces to go with the names? Learning who likes what . . . and what they don't like, too? Hope your new extended family is happy to have you.

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='journeyman' post='1019457' date='Jul 7 2006, 06:07 PM']
It seems you're thriving in your new posting . . . What other duties do you have? Are you getting the faces to go with the names? Learning who likes what . . . and what they don't like, too? Hope your new extended family is happy to have you.
[/quote]

Slowly I am getting the faces to go with the names, they are quite clear about what they like and do not like, and what their "vision" for me is. It does start to wear on you a bit though, but these things take time.

I think, however, the highlight of my priesthood so far, has been my experience last night, when I got to hear the confessions of college kids on a retreat. Before that I had only heard one confession, so a priest friend thought hearing their confessions would be a great way to "break me in." He was right, it was probably one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

Otherwise, all is well.

God Bless

[Theologian in Training]

I am starting to get a little worried...my homilies are getting even shorter than they were before. It is almost at the point where there is no difference between my weekday homilies and my Sunday homily. Granted, I don't think many people will complain about a short homily, but I just wonder if I am saying enough. For example, below is this Sunday's homily, which I will be preaching in a little less than 12 minutes. Maybe something more will come to me after I think about it some more for the 5:30 tonight.

God Bless

I always found it strange that Jesus would use this imagery of shepherd and sheep to explain His relationship with us, until I came to find out what it was a shepherd does. For, he not only watches over the sheep, and makes sure that they are all there, but if and when one of the sheep stray, that sheep, for whatever reason, gets lost and can no longer find its way. In fact, it gets so scared that it will start to cry out, stay where it is and just tremble and shake in fear, and, in some cases, eventually die, unless the shepherd comes to retrieve it.

Although this image makes us seem almost defenseless and feeble, if we are honest, it is a good depiction of our relationship with God. For, so often we stray and find ourselves reassuring God that we have it all taken care of, until we realize that we really did need His help. And, in some cases, it can get so overwhelming that we feel paralyzed by our fears and look around wondering how we are actually going to get back. We too cry out looking for our Shepherd hoping He will return.

Jesus saw this in the crowds and His heart was moved to pity for them, because He does not want one single person to stray from Him. This is why it is so important to always be mindful of that beautiful hymn we heard today, “The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want.”

For, if He truly is our shepherd we will want one thing and one thing alone, to be with Him always in this life and in the next.

[Fides_et_Ratio]

Wow... now that's the length of a homily the Latin Mass priest needs while we're waiting for the AC to be installed!!

Length isn't always best. They will remember more if it's short. Short and to the point is good.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1025368' date='Jul 16 2006, 10:08 AM']
Slowly I am getting the faces to go with the names, they are quite clear about what they like and do not like, and what their "vision" for me is. It does start to wear on you a bit though, but these things take time. [/quote]

Isn't it more proper for them to let you share your vision for them rather than the other way around?

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1029410' date='Jul 23 2006, 08:36 AM']
Isn't it more proper for them to let you share your vision for them rather than the other way around?
[/quote]

You'd think that, but that does not seem to be the case.

[Theologian in Training]

I modified it a bit, though it is still the same length. I fixed it grammatically and made it flow a bit more. People seemed to enjoy it...

I always found it strange that Jesus would use this imagery of shepherd and sheep to explain His relationship with us, until I came to find out what it was that a shepherd does. For, he not only watches over the sheep, and makes sure that they are all there, but if and when one of the sheep stray, that sheep, for whatever reason, will get lost and can no longer find its way. In fact, it gets so scared that it will start to cry out, stay where it is and just tremble and shake in fear, and, in some cases, eventually die, unless the shepherd comes to retrieve it.

Although this image makes us seem almost defenseless and feeble, if we are honest, it is a good depiction of our relationship with God. For, so often we stray and find ourselves reassuring God that we have it all taken care of, that we don’t need His help, until we realize that we really did need His help. And, in some cases, it can get so overwhelming for us that, like that sheep, we feel paralyzed by our fears and look around wondering how we are actually going to get back, crying out, looking for our Shepherd hoping He will seek to find us again.

Jesus saw this in the crowds and His heart was moved to pity for them, because He does not want one single person to stray from Him. This is why it is so important to always be mindful of that beautiful hymn we heard today, “The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want.”

For, if He truly is our shepherd we will want one thing and one thing alone, to be with Him always in this life and in the next.

[Theologian in Training]

Another thing that I have begun is a little question and answer column that I do every other week for the Bulletin. The first one seemed to go over fairly well, and I just finished writing my second one. Keep in mind they have to be short, to the point, and easy enough for the average english and spanish speaker to understand. In other words, they are not that academic.

The first one:

Although I have been a Catholic all my life, it was only until I was confronted about my beliefs and why I believed what I believed, that I sought to truly understand what it means to be a Catholic. In fact, if you are anything like me you probably have many questions and yet don’t always know where you should turn for the answers. In light of this, I would like to help answer some of the more pressing questions we face every day. Now, understand, I am by no means an expert, but if I had a question, I would often seek an answer, this is the result of those inquiries.

[b]The first question[/b] I always had was quite simple: Why is Sunday the Lord’s Day, why not Monday or Wednesday or even Saturday, which was the actual Jewish “Sabbath.” Usually, people think the answer is solely because God rested on the seventh day, which is true, but there is also the fact that Jesus’ Resurrection occurred on a Sunday. A little simplistic, but that is really the basic reason why Sunday is the “Lord’s Day.”

[b]The second question[/b] I always struggled with was one that required a little more understanding and can tend to get very abstract, was the concept of sin. We all know sin is an offense against God, in fact, the Church defines it as “An offense against God as well as a fault against reason, truth, and right conscience. Sin is a deliberate thought, word, deed, or omission contrary to the eternal law of God.” Yet, we should think of it in simpler terms, not to detract from the definition, but to understand it in our day to day life.

Think for a moment of the person you love most in this world, be it a spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, family member or friend. Now, think of that one thing that you could do for which they could never forgive you, or if they forgive you, knowing your life with that person could never be the same. Now, put that same understanding in the context of our relationship with God and you see what sin is.

Incidentally, this is why we have the sacrament of Reconciliation; to be “reconciled” back to God and His Church, for an offense against the love of God also separates us from the love of our neighbor. In fact, before we had the model of confession we have today, it used to be that if someone committed a sin, they would have to make a long journey to the Temple of Jerusalem, publicly confess their sin to those around, and then offer a sheep, a goat or a bull depending on the gravity of their sin. This “gravity of sin” is why even today we distinguish between what is known as mortal and venial sin. For a sin to be a mortal there are three “requirements,” as it were: the sin must be grave matter, there must be full knowledge of the gravity of that sin, and there be what is known as full consent of the will. All this means is we must know that the sin is really bad and, knowing this, must fully agree with committing that sin anyway. These are those sins that break one of the commandments or are one of those “seven capital sins” we are probably all familiar with in one way or another: pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth. However, I will deal with each of those at another time.

The second one:

[b]Questions & Answers With Fr. Brian[/b]
Well, it turns out that some of you actually read my little question and answer corner a couple of weeks ago, and have suggested that I continue, so here is my second attempt at answering some of your burning questions.

A couple of weeks ago we were introduced to what appeared to be some slight changes to the translation of the liturgy. There was one in particular that seemed perhaps minor and really unnecessary to change: “Lord be with you” “and with your spirit.”

[b]The first question[/b] then is why would such a change be so important that the bishops felt the need to change it?

The greeting itself is an ancient greeting that can be traced in its many forms back to the Scriptures. In the Book of Ruth (2:4), Boaz greets the reapers: “The Lord be with you” to which they reply: “The Lord bless you,” or as we have it translated “and also with you.” We also see it used in the Gospel of Luke (1:28) when the angel greets Mary: “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" However, there is also the longer greeting, which was frequently used by St. Paul: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

This greeting, in any of the forms used, is a greeting that, even in the earliest times was only restricted to bishops, priests, and deacons. In essence, it is a priestly “hello,” or “good-bye.” Yet, because of its significance is not just a simple “hello” but it is calling upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for each and every person greeted by that priest. In other words, the priest is calling for the Lord to dwell within you, to let the presence of God flow through you, to let the Holy Spirit not only descend but encompass every single part of your being. And when you respond: “and also with you,” or as it will be translated “and with your spirit” you are asking the same of that priest, that the Lord not only be with him, but that he be able to be the instrument of the mysteries of God that he is partaking in, that his spirit be even more filled, so that he can worthily and humbly bring Jesus to you.

This is why when the priest says “good morning” or “have a good day” after the greeting or commendation, he is actually being redundant, because he is repeating what has already been said. Granted, I know that many priests do this, and have their own style, but whether they do it or not seems to depend upon the priest’s own personal preference.

[b]The second question[/b] also in terms of the liturgy: why does the priest place a part of the host in the chalice before communion?

This is actually a very simple but significant action on the part of the priest, he has just held the chalice and the paten (plate on in which the Eucharist rests) separately to indicate death (because a separation of blood from body is death) and now the priest places a part the Body of Christ into the Blood of Christ indicating new life; the Resurrection. This is why we believe that the Mass brings us first to Calvary with Christ on the cross and then back to Jerusalem where He has been raised from the dead.

Fr. Brian

[Fides_et_Ratio]

That's a cool idea. Do parishoners actually write in some questions for you, or do you just make them up?

Either way, more parish bulletins should include something like that.

[Lil Red]

i like it! what a great idea!

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='Fides_et_Ratio' post='1030624' date='Jul 25 2006, 05:14 PM']
That's a cool idea. Do parishoners actually write in some questions for you, or do you just make them up?

Either way, more parish bulletins should include something like that.
[/quote]

No, I just make them up. However, the one about the greeting was sparked by countless people coming up to me telling me I need to say "good morning" "hello" etc. after the more "formal" greeting. I found it to be the most constructive way of dealing with their recommendations for me, rather, than just ignoring them.

Also, I cannot take full credit for the idea. My uncle one day was asking me a bunch of questions, one which was about the marriage of someone by a "rogue" priest, in which I had to explain a little bit about what the priest's function was and how he was not "witnessing" on behalf of the Church, because he was not really witnessing at all. My uncle then asked why parishes don't do that, have some kind of question and answer thing for people to read, in order for them to understand what they are doing. I think his other question was why we do that little thing before the reading of the Gospel...you know the one where we look like we are scratching our head our lips and our chest...Anyway, he helped me come up with the idea, I merely tried it out.

God Bless

Edited July 25, 2006 by Theologian in Training

[Lil Red]

let us know how the response is.

[Fides_et_Ratio]

Very smart! (and an EXCELLENT way to deal with suggestions by parishoners, in my opinion)

I bet it will prove a useful feature of the parish bulletin.

[Theologian in Training]

I fear this. I have to say Mass for a group of cloistered nuns, and yet found myself writing out the following homily. Perhaps God knows something I don't know...I pray that He does.

__________________

“I remember the devotion of your youth, how you loved me as a bride, Following me in the desert, in a land unsown.”

It almost sounds as though God is speaking directly to each and every one of us, but even more specifically to the nuns, fondly remembering the love with which we were drawn to Him, betrothed to Him as a bride, steadfast in love so much so, in fact, that we would follow Him into the desert, in your case, the cloister.

A reminder that all of us, have at one time loved God so much that we were ready to leave behind so much in order to truly follow Him, that we were ready to love with an undivided love and follow Him; an important reminder that we all need to hear every now and then.

Yet, sadly, this reminder is also a lament, for God is also saying I have given you so much and you still want idols rather than me. He is angry and rightly so, but if you listen real close, you can hear something more, disbelief, shock, sadness: “Be amazed at this, O heavens, and shudder with sheer horror…Two evils have my people done: they have forsaken me, the source of living waters…They have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.”

In other words, He is lamenting the fact that sometimes we try to create the capacity for God, for that living water, on our own, but we are trying to create only something God can give us, and so those cisterns break, we break, and there is only one person who can fix them, only one person to whom we place all our love. To whom we can run back in all humility pleading for mercy, in the beautiful sacrament of reconciliation.

It is not an easy message, but really puts things in perspective, we were drawn out of love, a love that began in youth, resulted in a mystical marriage and has brought us all to this place, this desert of our soul.

Today then, let us take consolation in this mercy and in this love, mindful that where we began we can be once again, so that what is broken can be restored.

[Theologian in Training]

My homily seemed to go over pretty well tonight...I merely reminded people of the presence of Jesus.

________________

Today, Jesus performs a great miracle, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. And, we all know, or have at least heard, that this is one of the greatest miracles, and the one we always associate with the Eucharist.

Why?

Well, for one, the words Jesus speaks are the same you hear the priest speak during the prayer of consecration when he gives thanks and praise, but also from a few loaves of bread and a few fish many are filled. Similarly, in the paten (that gold plate) and in the ciborium (that gold chalice looking thing that is in the tabernacle) we have little hosts, which usually contains enough to feed everyone here.

Yet, sometimes it can happen that while giving communion, and we seem to get low, you will notice that we will start to break pieces of the host, so you have half or a ¼ of what you usually have. Or, if we run out of hosts and ask you to receive from the chalice, this is because we believe that either way you are still receiving Jesus fully, body, blood, soul and divinity.

St. Thomas Aquinas, a great saint of the Church explained it this way: when you break a mirror and there are many tiny fragments of that mirror, if you were to look into even one of those fragments, you could see your entire image. Granted, the Eucharist is not just an image of Christ, but truly Christ, and that is why the largest host to the smallest crumb, to the littlest drop is still Jesus. We believe this, not because we are being meticulous, but because, at heart, this is what the Eucharist is, Jesus Christ.

In fact, after everyone had their fill of the loaves and the fishes, Jesus told them to “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” This too is why we reserve a place for the Eucharist, for Jesus in the tabernacle, because those fragments, those pieces, are still Him.

It is not always an easy thing to understand, but it is why we do what we do, and why we genuflect to a circle on the wall, bow before we receive communion, and approach the altar with such reverence, because we believe that that is Jesus, it is why we have exposition every Friday and invite anyone to come and pray, because that is Jesus, and when you come up in a little while to receive communion, extending your hands, in the form of a throne, or opening your mouths, to roll out the red carpet, as it were, for your king, whether a tiny speck or a full host, know that that too is Jesus.

[Theologian in Training]

I need some ideas for questions...I really cannot think of anything right now. I know it is partly due to finding out someone who used to be close to our family died not too long ago, but still, anyone have any burning questions they want answered?

God Bless