The King's Corner

Readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter

Today’s second reading from Romans (12:9-16) is entitled “Mutual Love.”  It’s chock-a-block full of advice pertaining to our duties as Christians.   Most of us find some of these duties as difficult to perform as a tightrope walker balancing high up in the Big Top.  Consider: “Bless those who persecute [you], bless and do not curse them.”  However, there are easier tasks such as “…hate what is evil, hold onto what is good.”  Then again, there is some curious advice following today’s passage: “…Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  In other words, according to Paul, we’re not to seek revenge; we are to leave the outcome to God.  Still, many of us may be unhappy about our loving God being trusted to give punishing vengeance to those who have harmed us or our loved ones.  Some of us (many of us?) think revenge is best handled personally by us and served hot, not later by God when we cannot

The wonders of our universe - God's creation - are shown through spectacular photographs from the Hubble telescope.  An immense archive is easily accessible. Nothing is more humbling than the mind-boggling size and beauty of our universe.  Google Hubble photos by typing "Hubble Photo of the Day." Then click on "Astronomy Picture of Day Archive."  Then click on "May 26."   After viewing that time-lapse photography, try a few more dates (try May 19).   Perhaps you'll spot heaven.  When you do, please let me know. Deacon David Pierce 

Readings for today's Homily

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”   This was the startling remark attributed to Jesus by John in our Gospel reading of the 5th Sunday of Easter (14:1-12) of a few weeks ago.  It has been a passage used by many claiming that salvation and eternal life only are possible through Jesus Christ , and every time we hear it read it’s hard not to reach this conclusion.   Yes, he is the way, the truth, and the life for those who embrace Jesus and Christianity, but for millions of others be they Jews, Muslims, or whatever, salvation and eternal life is offered through a simple formula shared by all faiths. Consider this passage from Matthew (25:31-46):  “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him.  And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will place the sheep on his righ

Readings for Today's Homily Like many of you, I’ve been to many meetings.  Usually, the next day I couldn’t tell you anything significant from the meeting that took place the day before!  Well whenever I hear this reading from the Acts of the Apostles about Paul preaching to the Areopagus about the Unknown God, I’m transported back to a meeting that took place about 30 years ago.  The topic was communication and evangelization. The man who was speaking was Archbishop Fulton Sheen – he was an old man at the time, but boy he was still the same Sheen that you hear on TV!  He said that Paul tried to get too fancy in his preaching – that he was talking about the Unknown God – trying to seduce the Athenians into becoming believers.  And while he had a few converts, it wasn’t very successful.  Then he said at the end, Paul leaves to go to Corinth, and we read in one of the letters to the Corinthians that Paul says, “I will preach nothing but Christ and Him crucified.”  Sheen made th

A recent article (February 17) in America magazine made me more aware of the meaning of “hooking up.”  It no longer means hooking a big fish after many casts from the shore at South Cape Beach and watching the water explode with the fury of a striped bass hooked through the lip and thrashing.   It now means, according to Anna Nussbaum Keating, a “disassociation of love and sex.”  She wrote: “Many undergraduates have chosen to avoid romantic relationships during college entirely in favor of “hooking up” no strings attached…Because the sex occurs outside of committed relationships and alcohol is involved, hookup culture can quickly lead to a culture of sexual assault.  Without love or friendship, we are left with the language of an economic exchange, the sexual partner as service provider..."   She continued, “One woman describes the man she regularly sleeps with in this way: ‘We don’t really like each other in person, sober.  We literally can’t sit down and have coffee.”  Kea

Readings for Today's Homily It may seem that we have been reading from the Farewell Discourse forever - hearing over and over again, I will have to leave you but will not leave you orphaned.  One more day, tomorrow,  we are in the 16th Chapter of John. I think that we can identify with the unease of the disciples at times.  You can see why Jesus is trying to calm them down over and over again; It will be okay - I won't be here myself, but the Advocate will come. ​From our perspective, 2000 years later, we are grateful for the promise and the reality of the Advocate; the presence of the​ Spirit of God in our midst, in our community.  We really do have to celebrate what we have received from the Lord; that we have been saved by the Christ and we are energized by the Spirit.

Yesterday was Memorial Day when we remembered the men and women who died while serving in our Armed Forces.  Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the Civil War to commemorate Union and Confederate soldiers who died during that horrific war.  About 840,000 soldiers fighting for the North and South died (405,500 in World War II).  By the 20th century, Memorial Day was extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service. Yesterday's first reading from Acts brings to mind all the dead and wounded we remember not just on Memorial Day, but every day.  I speak of Lydia:  “On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer. We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there. One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.”  Lydia was a dealer in p

Yesterday’s readings on the sixth Sunday of Easter were filled with the Holy Spirit, literally.  Our first reading from Acts said: “Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.” Our second reading from 1 Peter said: “For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit.” Our Gospel from John said: “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows hi

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter Readings for today's Homily

Musings on the Fifth Sunday of Easter Jesus says,  "In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?" It is taken for granted, most people have heard or read this gospel passage and know that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. It is also taken for granted, some of us believe, it takes no effort on our part to get to that destination of the father's house. Well, the fact of the matter is we do need to make an effort and we do need directions.  Let's call them building blocks or milestones. We have the sacraments, we have the ten commandments, the beatitudes, the corporal acts of mercy and the spiritual acts of mercy, who's bottom line is LOVE.

Readings for Today I’m not sure if it’s still the practice, but I recall when I was in grammar school, when we would have a pickup game of some sport that two captains would be chosen - self-declared.  Then from the group, they would choose members of the team – one after the other.  There was nothing you could do to say “I want to be on Team A” or “I want to be on Team B,” you just had to wait until you were chosen. Maybe that’s what we hear in the Gospel of John where it says, “It is not you who chose me, it was I who chose you,” Christ speaking to the disciples.  So we are thankful to have been chosen—“chosen,” or “selected,” or “called.”  This section of John says that we are friends of Christ.  If you think of that, the image of God that we have - the image of Christ that we have - should not be something so far discord. If you have ever been to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, you know that huge image of Christ that is on the far wall is a frightening

Readings for Today There is a cartoon that has Charlie Brown leaving Lucy's house and running into Snoopy.  He says to Snoopy "Avoid her at all costs today...she's having a crabby day!"  But Snoopy, instead of turning around and going the other way, continues on.  When Lucy opens the door, Snoopy gives her a big kiss and says "that's how you end a crabby day." There are some spiritual writers who get at the same thing, Charles Schultz had a lot of depth in his little cartoons.  Spiritual writers would say you can not wait for someone to become lovable to love them.  If you only want to love the lovable, that's not really answering the Gospel challenge to love one another. How is it that we can end the "crabby" today?

I’m sure many of you recognize this as “keep it simple…” and as I read this day’s Gospel from John I thought, 'how beautifully simple is this message from Jesus, but not so easy.' In just three sentences Jesus not only invites us to share with Him in the eternal love and joy of God the Father but He also tells us that we will attain this eternal reward if we follow His commandments.  He tells us this so that “[ ]our joy might be complete”.  We very often make the simplest things in our days so complex and here is a very simple message to set us on the right path and to perhaps give us comfort. “Let go and let God” Deacon Paul Harney

Readings for Today In this fifteenth chapter of John, we have the seventh and last of the “I am” sayings – “I am the bread of life,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the sheepgate.”   Today it is “I am the true vine, and you are the branches,” and eight times we hear the phrase, “Remain in me.” In these days, lots of springtime cleanups take place.  We know that the damage from the winter was severe this year; lots of branches were torn away from their source of life.  This image is what Jesus uses, urging us to remain with Him.  In nature, once the branch is removed from the tree, it cannot be reattached.  But you and I have the tremendous gift of forgiveness from God, that if we have strayed, we have broken away from the Lord - we can be given new life, new hope. He is the true vine, and we are the branches.

Readings for today's Homily Henri Nouwen is a well-known spiritual writer.  Some say he never had an unpublished thought because he would tell us about everything that was going on in his life!  One of his first books was called, “With Open Hands,” and He had this image that we should approach God with open hands, so that we would accept whatever He would put into our lives, or that He could take out whatever He wanted from our lives. Maybe that’s what Jesus is getting at in the Gospel of John when He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Don’t let your hearts be afraid.”  Maybe if we can approach God with ultimate trust, that whatever He gives us or whatever He takes from us will be ok. “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

Readings for today's Homily “My love is like a red, red rose that’s newly sprung in June.  My love is like a melody, sweetly sung in tune.”  Some awful high school teacher made me memorize that among other things; that’s Robert Burns, the poet. St. Augustine takes an entirely different view of love - it’s not a red, red rose.  Augustine says, “Love is like a set of eyes that sees the needs of the other.  Love is like an ear that hears the sighs or groans from the other.  Love is like feet that rushes to the knees of others.”  Love is very practical for Augustine, and in a sense, Jesus makes it practical in the Gospel of John we heard today.  “Whoever loves me will keep my word.” How do we love the Lord?

Christ the King & St. Elizabeth Seton Parishes, Cape Cod, MA Over the past year, a group of adults and students assembled to become the Mission Appalachia Team. We were diversified, assembled from families from Christ the King and St. Elizabeth Seton Parish. We were 8 adults from various backgrounds, and 17 students who attend 9 different highs schools. Our Mission Statement: Called by Christ and following the steps of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, our mission is to build community through service to others, especially those in most need. Planning efforts throughout the year included fundraising both to offset some of our personal travel expenses, and to help the people we were to visit in Appalachia. More importantly, our planning efforts were intended to build community within our team and within our parishes.

We all believe that Jesus Christ is, as he told the apostles at the last supper, the way, the truth, and the life. If we didn't believe that we wouldn't be here today. And yet, today the Church is asking us to look into our hearts and ask the question; how firmly do we believe? I’m sure many of you have seen a tight rope walker at a circus. A tight rope walker walks across a wire that is stretched high in the air. Often times he uses a pole or something similar to assist in balancing him. There was once a tight rope walker who decided that he would walk across Niagara Falls. As the installation of the wire proceeded, a large crowd gathered. Eventually the line was ready and he started to walk across. Instead of using a pole to balance, he rigged a wheel barrow which gave him more stability forward and backward as well as side to side. The crowd watched breathlessly as he made his way across the falls, pushing the wheel barrow in front of him. When he reached the other side th

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter  Readings for today's Homily

Readings for today. One method of praying the Scriptures is to hear the words of Jesus being addressed personally, to me, or to you.  As we hear John's Gospel today, is Jesus saying, to you and to me, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me." Whatever is troubling us, Jesus says "I am with you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled."

Reverend Brother Jerome Kelly was the head-master (principle) at Presentation Brothers College , Cork City back in the seventies - around the time I was there. I spent a lot of time in Brother Jerome's office: I must have been a gifted child. However, most of the teachers weren't able to identify with my plethora of gifts. Brother's office wasn't any more intimidating than any other principal's office. I remember how I was fascinated by a painting that hung behind Brother Jerome's desk. It was a painting of the crucifixion but from a perspective that I had never seen before. Instead of looking up at our lord, the image of the crucified Christ was being looked down upon from above. I later learned that this was a copy of a famous painting inspired from an original sketch by Saint John of the Cross. As I stood there getting the lecture, I couldn't help but look up at the painting and conjure up an image of the Father looking down on the suffering of his only

Visually challenged used to be blind. Hearing impaired used to be deaf. Metabolically challenged used to be fat. On a construction site I once heard a full time carpenter/part time comedian suggest that cripple studs (the much smaller studs at the ends of a tapered wall) should be referred to as "dimensionally challenged studs." But the the one that really gets to me is "she passed." Passed what? passed the butter, passed the ball, passed out, passed by? Passed, in years gone by, used to be dying. I don't plan on ever passing. I’m just going to do what Jesus did … He suffered death and was buried ….: I’m just going to die too. There are those who have difficulty in talking about death and dying. Rather than use the “D word” terms like “pass” have become more prominent and that certainly is understandable if one does not believe that by dying one is born into eternal life. Christianity teaches that death is something be embraced, when it comes, rather than shun

Readings for today's Homily Today, in church circles, we hear a lot about the New Evangelization.  But in these post-Easter days, in the Acts of the Apostles, we hear about the Original Evangelization - the spreading of the Good News. Today we hear about how they were originally just talking with the Jews and now they were branching out and talking to the Greeks.  We hear that there is an intensive effort in Antioch to evangelize.  We're told that this is the first time that the disciples were called Christians. There's a very old question, but still it is provocative.  The question was asked, if you were arrested for being a Christian, would they find enough evidence to convict you?

Readings for today's Homily Perhaps you have had the experience of being with someone who has some surgery or just has an illness where they can't really swallow water but their mouth is parched.  They either have to suck on a little stick with a moisturizer on the end or maybe all they can do is eat chipped ice, letting it melt in their mouth.  That image came to mind today as I prayed the Psalm "athirst is my soul for the living God". We can imagine how parched we are physically looking for water.  Can we identify when we are spiritually parched?  When God is willing to satisfy us if we simply ask Him to be with us, to be with our soul.  We pray today, athirst is my soul for the living God.

I remember my last day in school. How happy I was at the thought of never having to take another exam or test, ever again!. Ha! Yeah right, what little I knew then. For many of us our paths through life are paved with test taking whether it be for our career, our vocation or just our hobbies. Even now, in the Autumn of my working career, I still find myself in the throes of test taking. Just as our knowledge is tested throughout life, so too is our commitment to the Gospel that Jesus preached. We are tested in this subject every day. This is an easier test however since we have all the answers already given to us by Jesus. Also, it’s open book (we can refer to the bible) and most importantly, it's multiple choice. For example: Complete this sentence, Whatever you do for the least of these you do for  a) yourself,  b) nobody,  c) Jesus,  d) none of the above The problem with this form of testing is that we don't get our final grade until we die. Good-luck in y

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter Readings for today's Homily Blessing for the Children and Mother's

Art Fry is credited with inventing Post It Notes.  I am so grateful to him because it helps keep me organized for weddings and funerals!  Last weekend I celebrated seven masses from Friday to Sunday morning.  Two funerals, a confirmation, a wedding, first communion and three "regular" masses. For a wedding I need post its all over the ritual book.  The couples names need to be referenced on several pages, and I need the names of  the readers and the gift bearers.  Some weekends I have multiple weddings and without the post its I could really mix things up!  I don't think a bride would appreciate me calling the groom by the wrong name.  Several years ago I was giving a homily at a funeral.  No post it note needed, I  knew the man well.  He often attended daily mass. His name was Richard.  Someplace in the homily I said that James was going to give a reflection after communion and from that point on I called the deceased James. The funeral director was in the front row

Daily Homily Readings for Today It’s the practice of the TV networks after a professional game, whether it be the Patriots or the Red Sox, to have an after game show that reviews all the things that took place.  While it’s significant here in New England, it doesn’t compare at all to the Washington area, where I lived for many years.  The Redskins would play on Sunday, and then the lead story on the news for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday would be the game and what happened.  The only reason they stopped talking about it was because Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the story would be the next game. Well, the Church does something similar in that we spend forty days preparing for Easter, and then we take fifty days to celebrate it.  We tell the story over and over again.  It really is good news we hear over and over again.  Today in the Gospel, we just heard that “everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I will raise that person on the last day.” 

We have a great Speaker Series for the summer of 2014.  Along with St. Patrick's in Falmouth, Our Lady of Victory in Centerville and Our Lady of the Assumption in Osterville, Christ the King plays hosts to this seven year old tradition. On June 26, the Editor of America magazine, Fr. Matt Malone, S.J. will talk on "The First Year of Pope Francis".  On July 23, Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. will be returning to the series, offering his reflection, "Being the Body of Christ Today".  Finally, Mark Shriver will talk on August 7. on "Faith, Hope and Love in Action" All talks start at 7 pm. More details can be found by scrolling down on the home page of our parish website . Msgr. Daniel Hoye

Yesterday we celebrated First Communion for forty-eight of our fellow parishioners.  There’s just something instinctive in us when it says, “this is an important threshold,” that we mark the further initiation of these young children into our Christian community, and they receive the Bread of Life. In the Gospel today, Jesus is trying to instruct His disciples that the Bread of Life is the important thing, not the bread that He gave the five thousand to eat.  It’s not the material that is so important, but the spiritual.  As we gather for Eucharist this morning, perhaps we can step back in a sense of wonder and awe in the gift that we are given.

Now that May is here, lots of Christ the King parishioners are returning to Cape Cod.  The die hard folks who claim Florida residency need to be there for six months and a day.  Some have already returned, having escaped the winter months of January, February and March.  And what a winter to escape.  I can't believe how much the parish spent on snow removal this winter. I stopped counting when we went over $28,000.  And several of the storms were on the weekend which has a negative impact on our income. (See how a pastor's mind thinks!!)  In any event, it is good to see tanned and familiar faces back in Church.  "Welcome Home" is a familiar greeting these days.  Pretty soon it will be standing room only at a couple of the weekend masses.  We have survived the Winter of 2014. Msgr. Daniel F. Hoye

click Album 1 and  Album 2 to view photo's from the day There will be no video Homily available from the First Communion, apologies to all. 

Summer will be here soon, we hope, and the sun will be bright and blinding.  Sunglasses of many styles will be sported on every burnt nose.  But blinding summer light typical of a Cape Cod sunset faced while driving west on route 151 puts us at risk of missing something important – like a giant pothole gaping in front of us or a car making a cellphone-blinded turn onto the highway and into our path.  Our eyes are prevented from recognizing the danger. In today’s Gospel, two of Jesus’ disciples head to the village of Emmaus, and they talk about and debate all that occurred.  Jesus draws near and walks with them, but their eyes are prevented from recognizing him.  Is the sun in their eyes as they walk along that road to Emmaus? More likely, they found it hard to see what was right in front of them, like all of us.  Do we know that Jesus is always near and walks with us?  Are we preoccupied with everyday life and troubles (sun in our eyes) so we forget to call upon God for assistanc

The readings of the 2nd week of Easter have really given me a lot to muse about.  The Acts of the Apostles reminds us of how the first Christians received the new attitude presented to them by the followers of Jesus. They devoted themselves by meeting together to break bread and to pray together.  They ate with exaltation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people going so far as to share their belongings with those in need. I think we can say that we do the same thing here in our parish community.  We share by being present at mass receiving the Eucharist together.  We continue to share by giving alms for our poor, by donating clothing to the Saint Vincent de Paul thrift shop and by providing food to be distributed from our pantry.  But most important, and some of us are not even aware, we are all involved in some way or another in our daily activities by encouraging those who we come in contact with.