Ordinary Time 7

Today is the final Sunday of Winter Ordinary Time. Wednesday we begin the season of Lent. Lent already? Yes, another season of opportunity to grow in faith. Today, as we make our final preparations for Lent, the prophet Isaiah promises that God will wash away our offenses and remember our sins no more. Paul asserts that God has sealed us with the gift of the life-giving Spirit. Jesus, in forgiving the sins of the paralyzed man, bids us all “rise and walk” in newness of life. Looking forward to the “Lenten Spring” that will flower in the joy of Easter, may we humbly receive today both the challenge of God’s Word and the comfort of God’s generous pardon.

Preparation is crucial for a meaningful celebration. Advent prepares us for Christmas, Lent prepares us for Easter, and Mardi Gras prepares us for Lent. These alternating seasons of quiet and celebration help us notice and appreciate the fact that God is found not only in austerity and prayer but also in music and celebration. As a result, we experience the sustaining presence of God in every aspect of our lives. A good Mardi Gras will help us have a good Lent. A good Lent, in turn, ensures a spiritually rich Easter, which is the ultimate goal. So go ahead and celebrate Mardi Gras these days. Gather with your friends, enjoy some good food, for Wednesday we enter the desert.

Lent is an opportunity to grow in our faith. Spend some time in prayer with the insert in today’s bulletin to see where God may be calling you to participate through acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Make Lent 2012 one of your best!

Dear Lord, as I make my Lenten journey with You, send me your Spirit, help me to give of myself, help me to turn away from sin, and help me to fast and pray, so that I may know You and serve You better. Let me be renewed through my journey to share your grace with the world. Amen.

Our Responsorial Psalm this week, "Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you," reminds us that the Lord is generous to those who are humble.

Ordinary Time 6

February 12 is not only the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, but it is also the birthday of President Lincoln. The Word of God we hear proclaimed this Sunday and the events of Lincoln’s life remind us that God’s ways are mysterious indeed. President Abraham Lincoln knew a thing of two about grief and the struggle to find God with the mystery of seemingly senseless loss. The year 1862 saw the death of his son Willie at the age of 11 of typhoid fever while the Civil War raged, bringing death and destruction to a divided nation. Lincoln struggled to find a divine purpose behind it all. Of the war he wrote: God “could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.” There may be no final, satisfactory answer to the mystery of suffering, but there is a response: compassion. Practice some toward everyone you meet.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Parish Appreciation Tailgate Party Committee for a job well done this past Sunday! A good time was had by all who attended!

Today is World Marriage Day. Let us pray that all husbands may have the wisdom and courage to help their wives grow and develop their talents to become all God wants them to be and that all wives may have the knowledge and the will to encourage their husbands to grow and fulfill all the rich potential that lies within them.

Tuesday is Saint Valentine’s Day, my mother’s 88th birthday. Happy birthday, Mom! On this day when we celebrate love, let us pray from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians: Love is patient, love is kind, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, Love never fails.

Our Responsorial Psalm this week, "Lord, you fill me with the joy of salvation," reminds us to rejoice in thanksgiving for God’s gift of salvation.

Ordinary Time 5

Today is World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. Today we pray for and give thanks to the men and women who publicly profess to live the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Monks, hermits, contemplatives and religious priests, sisters and brothers represent the diversity of consecrated life recognized by the church. Those who choose this life are committed to imitating Christ, engaging in his ministries of spreading the Good News, and showing that “the world can be transfigured with the spirit of the Beatitudes” (CCC #932). Their witness reminds all of us that our lives have purpose and meaning beyond this age, so we’d better choose how we live our present days wisely.

Today we also give thanks to all of you for your dedication to Holy Cross Church, as we celebrate our 2nd Annual Parish Appreciation Tailgate Party. In particular, I thank so many of you who nominated the following for the Father Straub Service Award: Margie Altschaffl, Phil Ball, Jack Ciampaini, Georgie Gamberoni, Bill Gasper, Eleanor Hamrock, Rose McCaskie, Mike Repasky, Jeanie Savisky, John Zombar. The Pastoral and Finance Council choose Eleanor Hamrock as the awardee. Eleanor will receive the Fr. Straub Service Award at the Parish Appreciation Tailgate Party Sunday afternoon. One of the nomination forms said “Eleanor Hamrock: in my opinion, no one more exemplifies the unselfish spirit of service to our parish as sacristan and president of the Women's Guild.” We are extremely grateful for her service to Holy Cross!

Our readings today present us with a contrast between Jesus’ peaceful balance and Job’s bleak experience of life as an endless cycle of frenetic activity and troubled rest. With Lent drawing nearer, what does the balance look like in my life? How may I have to change if Lent, and discipleship, is to bear fruit in me and in my service to others?

Our Responsorial Psalm this week, "Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted," proclaims goodness of the God who reaches out to heal us in our pain and sorrows.

Ordinary Time 4

The first experience of Jesus as one whose word affects what he says occurs in the synagogue. Here Jesus encounters an unclean spirit. The spirit makes the first move, naming Jesus as the Holy One of God. In biblical thought, naming a person gave you some degree of power over that person. Not here. With a few quick words, Jesus asserts his authority: “Quiet! Come out of him!” How fitting that Jesus’ first public act in the first Gospel to be written down is to free a human being from an evil spirit that has brought him chaos and destruction. This event reveals Jesus as one who came to free us from all that oppresses and beats us down. This liberation continues to be the work of all who follow Jesus.

Please join me at the Parish Appreciation Tailgate Party next Sunday from Noon to 2:00 PM. Here we will recognize the recipient of the Father Straub Service Award, and celebrate ALL that you do for Holy Cross Church! Keeping with the tailgate theme, please feel free to wear your favorite team colors!

Thursday, February 2 is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, a day when the Church blesses candles. Because there is no Mass on Thursday, the candles will be blessed on Wednesday and will be available in the back of the church for use in your home.

Friday, February 3 is the Memorial of St. Blaise, the traditional day for the blessing of throats. There will be individual Blessing of Throats during the 8:00 AM Mass and we will extend a general blessing at all weekend Masses.

This week is Catholic Schools Week. The theme is “Faith, Academics, Service,” the three pillars of Catholic Education. As we celebrate this week we all can focus on how we promote these values in everyday living.

Our Responsorial Psalm this week, "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts," reminds us to quiet our souls in order to listen to God’s voice in our hearts.

Ordinary Time 3

The scriptures for these first weeks in Ordinary Time speak to our hearts in a powerful way. We hear the Lord Jesus calling others to follow him. The Lord calls us daily and sets us on our journey of faith. As we journey through this New Year may we all find time to reflect more deeply on the word, and pray that we will remain strong in our commitment to follow Jesus Christ. Perhaps we can all begin Discipleship 101, and ask ourselves how did our journey begin as a follower of Jesus? Perhaps your parents saw to your Baptism, although some make that decision later in life. Others have the advantage of a Catholic Education or religious instruction that was parish-based. Many had special mentors in the faith: priests and religious sisters, grandparents or siblings, friends or teachers whose love and example made Christianity both credible and attractive. Consider how to give the gift of faith to children. You, too, can be a spiritual mentor!

The theme of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18 25), “We shall all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ,” asks us to consider the entrenched role of sinners and losers in our society and then to move beyond such oppositional thinking. Our prayer this week is to reach toward the level of awareness where opposites like winners and losers are transcended and reconciled through the forces of love and compassion. That is the “victory” of this year’s theme. That is the mindset of Jesus. That kind of change, however, is going to take more than a week. Still, we must begin where we are. What will you do to put this prayer into action?

In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion. Here is the prayer for Mass on Monday:

God our Creator, we give thanks to you, who alone have the power to impart the breath of life as you form each of us in our mother’s womb; grant, we pray, that we, whom you have made stewards of creation, may remain faithful to this sacred trust and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life.

Pray that all who will be attending the March For Life in Washington, D.C. on Monday, including myself, may have a safe trip.

Our Responsorial Psalm this week, "Teach me your ways, O Lord," reminds us to look to our Lord for guidance as we try to follow more closely the example of Jesus.

Ordinary Time 2

Today we return back into Ordinary Time on the liturgical calendar. We will remain in Ordinary Time until February 22, Ash Wednesday. On this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Gospel continues to center on the manifestation of the Lord, which we celebrated last Sunday on Epiphany. From the Old Testament we hear the call of Samuel, and with him say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then Paul reminds us that our call to discipleship makes us members of Christ’s Body and temples of the Holy Spirit. Finally, from the disciples who leave John the Baptist to follow Jesus, we learn that being a disciple not only staying with Jesus ourselves, but leading others to meet him as well.

This Monday, our country observes Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We pray that all racism, bigotry and prejudice will be banished from the earth. This Wednesday marks the beginning of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Let us pray that the unity of believers which graced the early Church will transform the faith and charity of all Christians today.

Next weekend we will be blessed with an Icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe, hosted by the Knights of Columbus. The Knights have embarked on a pilgrimage with Our Lady of Guadalupe, bearing her image from parish to parish to spread her message and her love. For nearly 500 years millions of people have shown great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, struck by her words to Juan Diego, “Am I not your Mother?” From her first appearance at Tepeyac in 1531, she has bestowed on humanity a tender motherly concern, and this remains an important part of her message today. If we approach Our Lady of Guadalupe as our mother, then she is not only a mother to us, she is a mother to everyone. That means that we are all one family, despite our different countries and cultures. As we welcome this Image to Holy Cross I pray that Our Lady of Guadalupe will bring us closer together as Church, as a community, and as a world in need of her words of peace and unity.

Our Responsorial Psalm this week, "Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will," urges us to listen for God’s voice in our lives and respond joyfully to God’s call.

Epiphany of the Lord

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Matthew is the only evangelist who tells the story of wise men from the East, who follow a star in their search for the newborn King of the Jews. These “wise men” might be practitioners of Eastern mystical traditions, Babylonian astrologers, Arabian magicians, or rich adventure seekers. They come from another world and are seeking something extraordinary. We might even see in these travelers the restless searchers of our own age – people who keep looking for the ultimate experience, the perfect path, the next big thing. We continue to tell and reflect upon their story as part of our own journey more than 2,000 years later. The wise men are more than “new agers” from an ancient time. They follow signs and they show us the star. That star, pointing to the Christ-child, is still part of our world today. Sometimes our work may be to polish the star and make it shine when it has been obscured by clouds of doubt, scandal or suspicion. Sometimes we have the privilege of pointing it out to restless searchers; and sometimes we are the ones out in the dark, cold night, needing to get back up on the camel and follow the star again ... until it leads us once more to the Christ-child, who brings life and joy for the whole world.

Monday is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which brings the Christmas Season to a close. Many thanks to all of you for making the Christmas Celebrations so glorious! The Sacrament of Baptism calls the followers of Christ to something big: repentance and service. Monday begins National Vocation Awareness Week, a time to think about how you will live out your call to greatness – in your chosen vocation or in the vocation you are still contemplating. By your Baptism you were anointed with the Holy Spirit, which gives you the power to act with justice and compassion.

God bless all of you for your generous Christmas gift to your parish. The Christmas Collection total for 2011 was $11,197. May the Lord reward you for sharing your time, talent and treasure with Holy Cross Church throughout 2011!

Our Responsorial Psalm this week, "Lord, every nation on earth will adore you" reminds us to do what we can to share God’s love and peace among all peoples.

Six rings are great but 7 would be heaven ... GO STEELERS!