From the Pastor

Solemnity of the Christian Family – October 12, 2014

From the Pastor, PNCC /

God’s word of wisdom to children is simple: Children, obey your parents in the Lord. It is a simple and straightforward word. How it is needed! This might be a shock, but children don’t always obey their parents. Seriously, God does promise that life will be easier if we obey our parents. Hassles at home will be fewer, and life will have a more peaceful and joyous quality to it. Generally, this will result in a longer and healthier life. Parents do not have the right to beat and mentally torture their children, but they have a God given responsibility for their upbringing in the Lord. Discipline your son while there is hope. And do not desire his death. There is proper timing for discipline. You will not be successful if you wait until your kids are problem teenagers. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet for those who have been trained by it, received the yield of the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Whatever we do, however, it is our responsibility to nurture, train, and instruct our children in what it means to follow Jesus. The greatest gift we could ever give our children would be a desire to know Jesus.

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Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – “A” – October 5, 2014

From the Pastor /

In today’s Gospel, the tenants in the vineyard, while they have not lost the ability to recognize the heir, have lost any interest in the importance of that fact. Jesus uses this parable to warn how the Savior, “the heir,” will be rejected by the very people who recognize Him. The Gospel combines two of the most important images for the people of God, vineyard and the temple, and shows how Christ is the fulfillment of them both.

How then do we avoid becoming like the wicked tenants of the vineyard? Surely it is by practicing virtues, both cardinal and theological. We can only do this if we maintain a humble attitude to the Lord and pray for His help. This is not always easy. Bad habits, temptations and weariness all interfere with out attempts to be faithful servants and good stewards of the gifts that God has given us. But Christ is always at hand in prayer and the sacraments to come to our help, to raise us up when we fall.

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Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “A” – September 28, 2014

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Tax collectors are civil servants now, prostitutes are often victims more than wrongdoers; so maybe we could imagine Christ saying that the drug dealers, greedy bankers, or whatever group we feel morally superior to in our world today, make their way into the kingdom before us. The tax collectors and prostitutes listened to John the Baptist because they were aware that their professions were despised. They knew what they were. For the chief priests and elders, their position in society made them blind to themselves. They saw other people, like tax collectors and prostitutes, not as real persons, but as representatives of types of people – sinners. What attracted the social outcasts to St. John the Baptist was not so much what he said as the fact that someone was speaking to them at all. So they had at least the possibility to repent. The people who will not repent are those who do not even consider the possibility of repentance. Perhaps the shock of the crucifixion may have woken some priests up to their real need for repentance.

Prayer is preparation and prayer is repentance. Sooner or later we will be challenged by life. We can never say that we have fought our final battle, so we pray before and after each trial. The first son is not described as praying but he is very like the prodigal son in St. Luke who is said to have “entered into himself,” the phrase translated as “he came to his senses.” In prayer we enter into ourselves and discover that we are not what we think we are. We are told to pray constantly not to be put to the test, but we are also to pray after we have failed the test. The prayer of the apostles was the prayer of those who have failed their test. Yet they still had many trials, even after the resurrection.

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Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “A” – September 21, 2014

From the Pastor /

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard is one of the most difficult ones for a modern audience to appreciate. How can it be just that those who have worked for only an hour are paid the same as those who have labored through the heat of the day? It is the same sort of complaint we hear from people who have led exemplary lives only to be hit with ill health, economic woes and personal tragedies. “Why is God doing this to me? They ask. “It isn’t fair.” However, what Jesus wants to reveal, through His use of parables, is not what is fair and what isn’t but rather what enhances the presence of the kingdom of God and what blocks it. In today’s parable He uses the miserliness and envy of the workers. The kingdom of God is a place of forgiveness and generosity, not a place of greed and envy. The parables face us with a tough challenge. Can we understand and can we live in the way God lives?

For the Christian, envy and greed are not just addictions or illness. They create an obstacle in our way of understanding God and in our freedom to follow God’s guidance. Each of us is tested in different ways. We are asked to free ourselves, and to think that what another has is something I should have. It is true that such world view often emerges from our own sense of emptiness. Not having any sense of our fulfillment, we look elsewhere to fill the gap, but the gap is never filled. Instead we can look to the Lord and His teachings, for His grace and His guidance reveal a way forward in this labyrinth. We can do that, we can break the vicious circle of envy and greed and become fully alive in the kingdom of God.

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Solemnity – Brotherly Love – “A” – September 14, 2014

From the Pastor, PNCC /

Today’s Gospel story is the parable of the Good Samaritan, a story we’ve heard over and over. It’s a very familiar story about showing compassion even for people we may not want to treat well: a nice little story with a nice little moral, especially for those of us who like to do good deeds for the needy. The story certainly doesn’t offend our sensibilities; in fact, we tend to hear it with a satisfied ear, as if we believe we would surely do what the “Good” Samaritan did when he was moved by compassion to help the victim of highway robbery. At least, we’d like to think we would. In other words, we put ourselves in the place of the Samaritan, and it’s comfortable there. But let’s remember that there are two other audiences for it, besides us here today: there’s the group of people, including the lawyer, gathered around Jesus that day, presumably all or mostly Jewish people. Then there are the early Christians of Luke’s community who are trying to live their lives as followers of this Jesus, and they’re just as interested in being faithful and in knowing what that means for how they live their lives.

It’s not one of our own kind who saves the day – it’s the hated Samaritan, a guy who’s definitely on the outside of our community of care. They don’t worship like us, they don’t hate the same people we hate or love the same people we love, they don’t live where we live, and there’s no way they should provide the hero of the piece. The stomachs are churning by this time, and the sensibilities are definitely offended. A lot of hatred, of course, is religiously based and rooted in historical things like wars and other arguments. The Samaritan had probably been taught, from his side, to hate the Jews, too. And remember that he’s in their territory, and the robbers could still be hanging around, waiting for their next victim. In our aspirations for holiness, we may miss the heart of both the Good News and the Law. After all, the quest for holiness cannot violate God’s commands to Love.

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Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – “A” – September 7, 2014

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Today’s readings center on how best to address the problems that arise within the local church, in particular on the issue of brotherly or sisterly correction. Ezekiel, whom we heard in our first reading, insists that just as a sentry is duty-bound to warn of approaching danger, so he, the prophet, must warn those who persist in wickedness of the consequence of their actions. If his language sometimes seems harsh, it’s because the issue is so serious.

Indeed, in some ways Ezekiel’s words foreshadow Jesus’ own teaching, as presented to us in today’s Gospel. There He reminds us that we have a familial duty to do what we can when a brother’s or sister’s behavior causes offense, especially when it is a threat to the well-being of the community. The first step is to deal with the matter privately and informally, in the hope that it will result in a peaceful settlement. It is far better to have the courage to speak with wrongdoers face to face than to gossip about them behind their back. If that fails, stage two is to get the assistance of a couple of others; it will be more difficult to reject the advice of two or three people than that of one. Finally, as a last resort, the matter may have to be brought to the community. This may have to be officially acknowledged. However, excommunication should be rare, and should be used not as a punishment but rather as encouragement to the wrongdoer to return to the fold. If, as the Gospel puts is, such a person is to be treated “like pagan or a tax-collector”, that does not mean that the community are to wash their hands of him or her. On the contrary, just as pagans and tax-collectors were a special focus of Jesus’ ministry, so Jesus teaches us to include them in the community’s mission also.

The second reading puts things into perspective: St. Paul teaches us that “Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbor.” Christian correction makes sense only when it is done in the spirit of love: there may be times when we are called to practice the love that cares enough to confront, to challenge and even to oppose. Whenever we have courage to oppose what is evil we are involved in the Church’s task of binding the evil forces that oppress people, loosing the bonds that prevent them from living the fullness of life in God’s kingdom. The Christian is called to love enough to speak uncomfortable truths at times – but always in humility and love. The final words of today’s Gospel apply not only to communal prayer but also to every honest attempt to restore peace and harmony within the community: “where two or three meet in My name,” Jesus promises, “I shall be there with them.”

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Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – “A” – August 31, 2014

From the Pastor /

Today’s Gospel passage is a damning one for poor Peter. Jesus calls him “Satan.” Jesus has got to the point in their relationship when he wants to share with the disciples what is going to happen. He says that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die. He also makes it clear that He will rise again on the third day. Peter says to Jesus, “Heaven preserve You, Lord…This must not happen to You.” Last Sunday we head Jesus speaking to Peter in different way: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.” The place where Jesus says this in Matthew’s Gospel is only 5 verses before today’s “Get behind Me, Satan!” We have Peter’s strength put before us in the “You are Peter” verse; and suddenly we have his weakness in the “Get behind Me, Satan!” statement so soon after. Peter has many wonderful qualities, and we rejoice in them. However, the scriptures make sure that we are aware of Peter’s failings, too: for example, when Peter is walking on the water, he panics and cries out for help; and ultimately Peter tells Jesus he will die for Him but then denies Jesus and runs away. Peter is a real person of flesh and blood, full of all the bravery and fears involved in discipleship, yet he is an example that we do well to follow.

Are we not basically the same as Peter in his humanness and unworthiness? Could Jesus say the same to us, “Get behind me, Satan?” Probably many if not all of us, can think of moments in our lives when Jesus could say that to us. One of the reasons that we come to church is to help us to be better followers of Jesus. Today let us focus on what Jesus is telling us in this Sunday’s Gospel. He is saying to each one of us, “If you want to be My follower you have to pick up your cross and follow Me every day.” We know what Jesus call us to do – do we have the determination to do it? And when we fail, do we have the faith to turn to Jesus again?

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Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time – “A” – August 24, 2014

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In biblical thought a name was so much a part of a person that any change of name meant that, in a sense, the person was changed. When Abram’s name was changed by God to Abraham, and Jacob’s name to Israel, their relationship with God was developed to a deeper level. Today’s Gospel records an unparalleled change of name. When Jesus questions His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” their answers reflect the common expectation that prophecy would be revived with the coming of the Messiah. But Jesus is seeking more than what others say about Him and asks for a personal expression of faith: “But you, who do you say I am?” Simon responds on behalf of them all: Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, “the Son of the loving God.” And now Jesus gives him a new name, Peter, meaning “rock”, and with this new name he is changed in that his relationship with the Lord moves to a deeper level.

Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God says, “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine.” We are known to God by name and God loves us with an everlasting love. In baptism our relationship with God is changed to a new and deeper level. Through the gift of his new name Peter’s faith was confirmed and he was entrusted with a new mission. Still he remained subject to temptation and weakness and in this we are no different. But Peter truly loved Christ and ultimately gave His life in imitation of the good shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. In our times of temptation and weakness may we always call upon Jesus whose name is above all other names. Are you a follower of Jesus or just a distant admirer?

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Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “A” – August 17, 2014

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The belief that God’s blessings are limited to people of certain nationalities or cultures has been around for a very long time. Such belief was very much alive in the society in which Jesus grew up. The first thing the Canaanite woman teaches us, in our Christian vocation to reconcile all humankind to God, is courage. Her audacity and her refusal to take no for an answer finally paid off and we may remember this in our work for the common good. We can have courage not to be afraid to challenge prejudice and elitism. God can use us to bring justice and healing to all of God’s disadvantaged daughters and sons all over the world. The second thing we can learn from this woman is the power of persuasion and dialogue. When Jesus spoke to her in language that demeaned her people, she did not retaliate in anger but kept her eyes on the goal of her mission, which was to show that even non-Jews are entitled to God’s blessing in Christ. Her gentle retort forced Jesus to rethink His response to her request. She is a model of non-violence. Jesus gave in to her, saying, “Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.” And it was.

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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “A” – August 10, 2014

From the Pastor /

Today’s readings all deal with the question of humanity’s search for and encounter with divinity. As today’s scripture show us, it is not that humanity is able to seek and find God by its own powers, but rather it is God who allows God’s self to be discovered by us. And usually we encounter God in the most unexpected of places and ways. Elijah encounters the living God in “the silence.”

In the Gospel the disciples are battling with the storm on the lake, in the circumstances that make any encounter with God highly improbable. Jesus invites Peter to recognize who He is, to have faith in Him, to take the step of faith. But it is only a step. Faced with the reality of the storm and danger of death, Peter’s faith wavers and he needs the Lord to save him.

In our lives, we can find ourselves like Elijah and Peter – at the end of our tether, living in fear, full of doubts. God comes to us unexpectedly – in the silence, in the midst of our busyness and our fear, in our tiredness and brokenness, in our doubts and desperation. The Lord invites us to come out of the darkness of the caves of our lives, to step out of the security of our little boats and to place our trust in Him.

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