A Quote

St. John Eudes:

"The most evident mark of God's anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clergy who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than charity and affection of devoted shepherds . . . When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof that He is thoroughly angry with His people, and is visiting His most dreadful anger upon them.  That is why He cries unceasingly to Christians, 'Return, o ye revolting children ... and I will give you pastors according to My own heart' (Jer. 3:14-15).  Thus, irregularities in the lives of priests constitute a scourge upon the people in consequence of sin."

Faith Formation Feb. 16, 2015 Outline

Feb.  16, 2015 St. Francis Faith Formation Group

I.                    “We’re in the same story”

 

A.      Aquinas:  The foundation for the fours senses of Scripture is God’s unique way of communicating.

1.       Us:  words and symbols

2.       God: words and symbols and through the very things He created (uses people, places, things to tell about other people, places, things)

 

B.       Not us here and now going back and artificially making connections

1.        The four senses are written into the very fabric of history

2.       We discern what God was “thinking” in history – His actions in history and they are meant to tell us today (Aquinas)

3.       Read passages in light of the entire Bible; realize we are in the same story still.

II.                  Genesis

 

A.       CCC 390 How to read the account of the fall

1.       Symbols for something deeper

2.       Describing a real event

B.       Read  in light of author’s intention (original meaning of text)

1.       Historical context

a)      Polytheism vs. monotheism (monotheism with an edge/subversive)

b)      One God, God over ALL of you, your “gods” created by our God

c)       Strategic strike against polytheistic world view

2.       Modes of narration

a)      Circular, around themes, parallels (Creation parallels)

b)      To show order of creation

c)       God inserted Himself

C.       CCC 337 - 345

1.       Origin/end in God

2.       Order and goodness

3.       Man’s vocation

4.       Drama of sin and hope of salvation

III.                Adam’s Mission

A.      Gen 1:26 Close Reading

1.       Image and likeness  (next seen in Gen. 5:3)

a)      What does this mean?

b)      Son of God – intimacy

c)       Historical context, roles of son

2.       Dominion

a)      Guard/rule

b)      Gen 2:15 alludes to priestly role (shamar – Levites guarding Tabernacle)

3.       God is a Father – what kind of Father?

 

                  B.      Gen. 2:4  and following(Bold print headings/chapter divisions are put in by publisher)

1.       Zooming in on Adam

2.       Closely read Gen. 2: 16-17 1^st Law (why given?)

a)      Freely

b)      Every

C.      Temptation Scene

1.       Gen. 3:1

a)      Devil’s emphasis

b)      God’s emphasis

2.       “Elohim” vs. “Yahweh Elohim” (difference)

3.       Gen. 3:2 Eve’s response

a)      Already being weakened

b)      Buying into God as rule-maker/restrictive

4.       Gen. 3:3 What is wrong here?

5.       Gen. 3:4 Devil’s response

a)      What is he saying about God?

6.       Gen. 3:5 What is the picture the Devil is trying to paint?

a)      Relate to today (impressions of Church in media?)

b)      How do we counter this? What should be our first proclamation?

7.       The Temptation Narrative

a)      Intense, subtle, relatable

b)      Not just about breaking a rule, breaking a relationship

c)       Change how they look at God

d)      CCC 397 **

8.       God as Loving Father

a)      We are his children

b)      What is purpose of God’s law?

c)       Our motive for following it?

9.       Devil: God a tyrant/all-powerful master

a)      Are we his children?

b)      What is purpose of God’s law?

c)       Our motive for following it?

10.   THIS is the drama of today

D.      The Garden

1.       Tree of knowledge of good and evil (figurative language)

a)      Kingly authority

b)      Makes laws and determines what is good/evil

c)       Who determines what is right/wrong?

d)      Who is true king?

2.       Pride/Moral autonomy

3.       CCC 398 “like God but without God”

From Ignatian Spritual Exercises

First Principle and Foundation


Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.


The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created.


Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him.


Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. The same holds for all other things.


Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.

Another homily worth reading

http://hancaquam.blogspot.com/2014/10/we-have-work-to-do.html

If the Church is a Field Hospital

From my good friend, Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP:

21 October 2014

If the Church is a Field Hospital. . .

1. A severely wounded solider is brought to the Field Hospital. The doctor pokes his injuries with a stick and declares, "These wounds are self-inflicted. You can't be admitted to this hospital until you are completely healed."

2. Another severely wounded solider is brought to the Field Hospital. The doctor begins life-saving treatment. The solider blurts out, "STOP! I don't want to be healed! I want to be affirmed in my woundedness. Just accept my injuries and welcome me as I am!"

3. Yet another solider is rushed to the Field Hospital. The doctor and the soldier agree that he is OK in his woundedness and let him stay in the hospital just as he is. . .wounds and all.

4. One last wounded soldier is carried into the Field Hospital.  The doctor immediately begins treating his wounds. The solider says, "Thanks, doc. I can't heal up w/o your help."

Faith Formation, Commandments 2 & 3

October 20, 2014  St Francis Parish Faith Formation Group 

V:  O God, come to my assistance

R:  Lord, make haste to help me.

V:  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

R:  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia. 

AH 461  Holy God We Praise Thy Name

Psalm 123 (124) Our help is in the name of the Lord

V:  Our help is in the name of the Lord. 

If the Lord had not been with us

(so let Israel sing),

If the Lord had not been with us

when men rose up against us,

they might have skinned us alive,

such was their anger.

The waters could have drowned us,

the torrent poured over us,

the foaming waters poured over us.

Blessed be the Lord, who saved us

from being torn to pieces by their teeth.

We have escaped, like a bird

from the snare of the fowler.

The snare was broken,

and we escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth. 

(Together) Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.  Amen. 

V:  Our help is in the name of the Lord. 

The Second Commandment 

Exodus 20:7  - forbids irreverent use of the Divine Name, especially in legal contexts (oaths); also, to inject the divine name into foul, hateful, or blasphemous speech is to abuse it and to offend the lord who bears it.

1.       Why is a name so important that God devoted one of the 10 Commandments to it?

2.       What is the meaning of vain?

3.       How is God’s name taken in vain?

a.       Blasphemy

b.      Oaths (false and foolish)

c.       Perjury

d.      Cursing

4.        How do we take God’s name justly?

a.        Oaths

b.      To sanctify

c.       To expel our adversary

d.      To confess God’s name

e.      To defend ourselves

To make our works complete 

The Third Commandment 

Exodus 20:8-11 – requires a Sabbath (also applies to Holy Days of Obligation) rest for households and herds; as a memorial of  the world’s creation and of Israel’s redemption.  So important, that it is repeated 6 times throughout Exodus. 

1.        Why the shift from Sabbath to Sunday?

2.       What are the reasons for this commandment? 

3.       What is meant by the “Sunday Obligation?”

4.       How do we keep the Sabbath holy?  (what does “holy” mean?)

a.        What should we avoid?

1)      Servile work

2)      Sin

3)      Idleness

b.      What should we do?

1)      Offer sacrifice

2)      Hear God’s word

3)      Contemplate divine things

4)      Eternal rest

5)      Sunday is traditionally dedicated by Christian piety to good works (CCC 2186)

 

 

Excellent Homily

A homily by Lawrence Lew, OP:

HOMILY for 27th Fri per annum (II)
Gal 3:7-14 ; Ps 110 ; Luke 11:15-26

Does all this talk of demons and Satan and unclean spirits trouble you? Whenever I have given talks about angels, people seem more fascinated by demons, and the last time I gave a talk about the Devil, I think the group of young working professionals in Oxford became quite worried – it was all they could talk about at the pub afterwards! And yet, we have nothing to fear or worry about if we just recall Christ’s words to us in yesterday’s Gospel. It ended with this promise: “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:13) It is this promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, he who is called in today’s Gospel “the finger of God” (Lk 11:20) and “One Stronger than he” (Lk 11:22), that leads us into today’s Gospel passage. And so, we can read it without worry or fear if we recall Jesus’ promise.
But do we ask our loving Father to give us the Spirit? Or maybe, more than our fear for the unclean spirits, we fear the disruption to our lives that the Holy Spirit might bring? It’s stiking, isn’t it, that the palace guarded by the strong man, that is, the devil, has its “goods [ ] in peace”. And again, the unclean spirit returns to a house “swept and put in order” (Lk 11:25). But the peace and order that Jesus refers to here is not a good kind – it is complacency. Here, Jesus depicts a soul that is comfortable but also, it would seem, uninhabited. It is possible that through life we acquire certain habits and ways of thinking; we become comfortable with our behaviour and our attitudes so that we barely question them; we are at peace with our venial sins and content with a sinful world. We may not be bad people, but we’ve just become quite comfortable with being mediocre, lukewarm. “We’re only human”, we say and we’re quite satisfied with that excuse. And yet, in the book of the Apocalypse, the Spirit says to those who are “lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth”! (3:16) The Holy Spirit will not dwell in lukewarm souls; unclean spirits do. So, let us ask our heavenly Father to give us the Holy Spirit!
However, a warning: If we ask God to send the Holy Spirit into our lives and we mean this, then we are asking for our lives to become a lot less comfortable. There will be some disturbance, a struggle against our sinful habits, a fight against our former ways of behaving, a rebellion against the popular assumptions of our contemporary secular society. For the Holy Spirit brings the flaming ardour of God’s love to heat us up and change our lives, and the Holy Spirit comes as a rushing wind to stir things up and to disturb our sleeping consciences. But the Holy Spirit also comes to dwell in us as our Counsellor so that we begin to see things as God does and love what he loves. But his voice is ever so quiet and can only be heart in stillness and silent prayer. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us as our Advocate so that he defends us against the attacks of the Devil and keeps the unclean spirits evicted. But we have to co-operate with him and be vigilant, examining our consciences daily and going to Confession regularly. And the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us as our Helper. So we need not fear, but let us ask for his help, ask for God’s grace by praying to our heavenly Father and saying: “Lord, send your Holy Spirit into our hearts”. Amen.

- See more at: http://lawrenceop.tumblr.com/#sthash.eQZIUldk.dpuf

A Homily, Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP

I had just asked my faith formation group last week, regarding the Gospel Story of the Rich Young Man:  "What do you need to sell?  What do you need to get rid of that is in the way of your relationship with God?  Anger? Impatience? etc...." 

24 September 2014

Graft your life onto the Cross

25^th Week OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Notre Dame Seminary, NOLA

Kings fear prophets b/c prophets have nothing to lose when the kings decides that the prophet's truth-telling threatens kingly power. With nothing and no one to hold hostage, nothing short of death can silence a noisy prophet. And thus are we tested in faith: are you prepared to die for telling the Truth and doing the Good? More specifically, are you prepared to die for preaching Christ and for living out his unbreakable Word? If not, Christ says, “Take nothing for the journey. . .” Take nothing along with you but Christ. Take nothing but his Word – his promises, his mighty deeds. Anything not of Christ and everyone but Christ can be taken from you. Mother, father, brothers and sisters, friends, car, house, job, reputation – all of these can be/will be destroyed when the powers of this world tire of your truth-telling and do-gooding. If nothing and no one comes before Christ, if nothing and no one counts more than Christ in your work, then the king cannot silence you. He cannot kill Christ. Not again. Christ has defeated the kings of this world. So, whatever treasure they may have to tempt you into silence – it all belongs to Christ. . .and to us as his adopted brothers and sisters. Our prayer as prophets on the Way: “Give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only [what] I need.”

In the summer of 2013, Pope Francis preached to a group of seminarians and religious novices in Rome. He exhorted them, “Herein lies the secret of the fruitfulness of a disciple of the Lord! Jesus sends his followers out with no 'purse, no bag, no sandals'. The spread of the Gospel is not guaranteed either by the number of persons, or by the prestige of the institution, or by the quantity of available resources. What counts is to be permeated by the love of Christ, to let oneself be led by the Holy Spirit and to graft one’s own life onto the tree of life, which is the Lord’s Cross.” Graft your life onto the Cross. Is it possible to graft your life onto the Cross if you come to the Cross weighted down with Necessary Things, with Important Relationships, and Serious Responsibilities? If we love these more than Christ? No. No, we cannot be grafted onto the Cross weighed down by these burdens. However, if we love Christ first, that is, if we love all other things, people, and relationships through our love for Christ – placing Christ first in the order of understanding – then we are already grafted onto to the trunk of the Cross. And our lives are lives of praise and thanksgiving for the chance to die with him on the altar of his cross.

In 21^st century America, it is more than just a little difficult to imagine the depth of surrender that Jesus is urging on us. Yes, he means material poverty when he says “take nothing on the journey.” Yes, by “[take] neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, [nor] a second tunic” he means to say that the things we own too often come to own us. And yes, he means that virtuous detachment from stuff is essential to the preaching of the Good News. But the depth of our surrender can only begin with material poverty and virtuous detachment. If we become poor and wholly detached and yet remain uncommitted to Christ's ministry of freely given mercy and sacrificial love, then we are nothing more than just detached and poor. Can poverty and detachment alone tell the Truth and do the Good? No. Kings do not fear the poor and the detached. The powers of this world fear the prophet's trust in God alone. They fear humility, mercy, and the sort of love that dies for another. The depth of our surrender then is measured not by our material poverty or detachment, but how freely and eagerly our poverty and detachment bring Christ to those caught in the traps of sin and death. 

 

So. . .who or what owns you, holding you back from diving to the deepest depths of surrender in Christ?

We pray....

Daily, several times a day, I pray these words:

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

But only recently have I really listened to these words, thought about them.

What are "the promises of Christ?"  If you could list some, what would you list?

Scraps

"She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” 

This past Sunday, as I prayed with the Gospel prior to Mass, this line struck me.  And I thought of it in relation to evangelization, for only dogs that are hungry will eat the scraps.  What if they have fed themselves elsewhere?  What if their bellies are already full with food from others, food that is not even as good as scraps but still fills them up?  Then they will not eat the scraps, not even the meal on the table will interest them because they are no longer hungry for the True Food from the Master's Table.  How do we reach those people, since so often the food that is not good is all they crave?  

Love Over a Bunsen Burner (Or...how I met my husband)

Love over a Bunsen burner      

Maybe it was just the chemicals

Sodium flashing orange

Copper flashing green

The unforgettable smell of sulfur

Your low slung sports car

Creating colors of its own

As you sped off each evening

To your roommates

In the little house

Next door to

Titchuba and the buried refrigerator

Neighbors

Still just chemicals

Everything can be boiled down

To its elemental nature

Except perhaps love

For who truly understands

Why we fell for each other

Concocting chemical cocktails

Under Father Lambert’s

Watchful eye

Little did he know

We were creating a new

Compound

Generating our own heat

Without even touching

Only our eyes

And our hearts

Joining in an unbreakable

Bond

For isn’t that what

Chemistry is all about

Anyway?

Foster Child (poem in progress)

Foster Child

You called her “Mother”,

Your foster mother

Who adopted your elder brother

And took you and your sisters

Into her home

I only knew it as a scary place

Which smelled of cats

And rotting food

A big woman

And you loved her

The only one of your siblings

Who wouldn’t forgive the birth mother

Who couldn’t raise her family

I have so many questions

Which you won’t answer

Pushing all those memories away

As you drown yourself in the company

Of Jack Daniels

The sweet smell that I remember well

Every day you came home from work

And we knew to retreat to our bedrooms

Until supper

And hope your day wasn’t bad

Filling that empty spot in your heart

With what some call

Liquid courage

But which I called weakness

Maybe I was too harsh

Maybe I was wrong

I know now you tried your best

But you still left us

Wishing someone else had raised us

Too.