The King's Corner

Psalm 27, we prayed just a few moments ago, ought to be one of those pages in the Bible that you turn the corner or put a marker into it.  Because when we are challenged by life, things are just not going our way, when we see no way out of it, we can pray Psalm 27 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?” When those challenging times come, we can hear the confidence of the Psalmist in 27, where it says, “Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted and wait for the Lord.” Monsignor Daniel Hoye

Have you heard the phrase "Cape Catholics"?  It does not mean those who are lucky enough to live here on Cape Cod.  It means those Catholics who limit their church attendance to Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Easter.  Some regular church goers even get upset when a Cape Catholic takes "their" seat in Church.   Maybe we can all practice the response of Pope Francis and be welcoming to our brothers and sisters, even if they are not "regulars".  Perhaps a smile or a welcome would make our Cape brothers and sisters experience a Christian community at its best. Although Christ the King holds nearly 1,000 persons, on Christmas and Easter we have to add an extra mass in the parish hall at 10:35.  This year the "problem" may be "worse."  We sent a card to every household and business in Mashpee, Cotuit and Marstons Mills inviting them to the Holy Week Services, Easter masses and to take the opportunity for extra times for Recon

Being an American from birth, I have always been under the impression that I need to pay a price in order to get to Heaven.  Is it cash, is it something I need to provide in kind. What is the cost to gain heaven? Next week is Holy Week and whatever sacrifices we performed during Lent will culminate, not in the cross, but in the resurrection.  The "Joy of the Gospel" continues to provide the path that Jesus wants us to follow.  The path of mercy and forgiveness, the path to love in all circumstances, the path to imitate Christ in the present moment  and by responding to the needs of our sisters and brothers. How? by letting go of our need to control the moment, the need to not worry about what people think about us, the need to know that Jesus the Christ is present within us and in all those we meet.  It doesn't matter what ethnic group we or they belong to.  It doesn't matter how much money we have. It doesn't matter what our status in  life is.  What does mat

Nine months till Christmas!  I have a friend who would have all his Christmas shopping done my now. It’s just a happenstance that we interrupt our Lenten observance to focus on the Feast of the Annunciation, because it is nine months till the celebration of Christmas.  During Lent, we sometimes focus so much on what I am doing, or what I am not doing.  The Feast of the Annunciation invites us to reflect on not what I am doing, but what God is doing to me, with me.  Mary says, “Let it be done to me according to your word.”  That could be our prayer as well, or the Responsorial Psalm – “Hear I am Lord, I come to do your will.” Monsignor Daniel Hoye

One of the words that Pope Francis uses quite often is mercy.  We’re talking about the mercy that God has for us and the mercy that we should show to others.  The Gospel today is an example of the mercy that Jesus has.  We have this woman who is caught in adultery, and everybody wanted to kill her, and Jesus said, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.”  Eventually they all go away; Jesus says, “He’s going to have mercy not condemnation for the Lord.” Perhaps as we come to the end of our Lenten journey, we can be conscious of the mercy that God has for us – the forgiveness of our sins that God has offered us and in turn, we might be merciful and forgiving of the other. Monsignor Daniel Hoye

Homily March 22, 2015 Fifth Sunday of Lent Readings for today's Homily To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

Confirmation Class of 2015 with Bishop Edgar da Cunha S.D.V. Click for Video's of ~ The Mass ~ Confirmation Homily ~ Receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation or Photo's of Before & During the Mass ~ Receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation 

Monsignor had a thoughtful blog a few days ago about  "The Sound of Music" and its 50th anniversary.   His referencing this famous movie with Julie Andrews and all the rest reminded me of the song "Edelweiss" sung by Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) that goes:  "Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every morning you greet me. Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me. Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow........SNOW!!  It keeps on coming!   No blooms anytime soon. Oh well.  Spring is here, and Easter can't be too far away. Deacon David Pierce

I read in interesting article last week that made me reflect on why I am Catholic. The piece was by Ana Marie Cox entitled “ Why I’m Coming Out as a Christian .” In it she starts her commentary with “I’m not scared that non-believers will make me feel like an outcast. I’m scared that Christians will.” Am I afraid of what people will say if I wear my faith on my sleeve? I think of people who do and I often shy away from them because I feel like they are pushing their faith on me. They can state their opinion, but please don’t force it on me. I can make up my own mind. What I would rather see is how a person lives their faith. My favorite example is Pope Francis. He never seems to force his opinion on people although he is also not afraid of making bold statements calling people to task. It is his example from the very moment that he was elected and throughout the last two years that has believers and non-believers alike shouting out his praises. I see him as following the Gospel th

It is hard to believe but 50 years have passed since Julie Andrews was dancing and singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music”. It is not a new image. Isaiah used it in our first reading: “Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.” It might seem strange to have such a positive message in the middle of Lent. I think the Church wants to remind us that great things are happening and that in a couple of weeks we are celebrating the victory of life over death. So if you are in a Lenten funk, hear the words of Isaiah and know that the hills are alive with the sound of music! Monsignor Daniel Hoye

On March 7 th , 1965, Pope Paul VI publicly celebrated Mass in Italian for the first time in accordance with the norms established by the Second Vatican Council. It was a momentous event in the modern history of the Church. It was the first time a Pope said Mass in the vernacular since the Council of Trent in 1545-1563. In fact the Mass was said in Latin since the early fourth century. On March 7 th , Pope Francis commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of that first Mass in the vernacular saying “It was really a courageous move by the Church to get closer to the people of God so that they could understand well what it does, and this is important for us: to follow Mass like this.” I remember that period of time fifty years ago. We did not have the internet to catch up on the latest goings on in the world. In fact, living on a farm in Minnesota, we had just upgraded from our crank telephone and gotten a radio powered by electricity. Any information we got was mostly from the pape

Perhaps you’ve heard the old story of the two frogs who fell into a bucket of cream. They kept swimming around, swimming around, swimming around, and one frog said, “this is hopeless” – and he gave up and he drowned.  The other one kept thrashing around, thrashing around, thrashing around, and eventually found himself on top of a bucket of butter and jumped out of the bowl. It’s a story that’s used to talk about perseverance – not giving up but fighting over and over again.  It’s something similar to the poor man that was by the pool in Bethesda, who waited for 38 years to get cured, and eventually Christ comes and cures him.  As we continue our Lenten journey, perhaps we should be reminded that we should not give up hope.  Give up hope that we can overcome issues in our own life that keep us from Christ – that we thrash around, thrash around, thrash around, and find ourselves on top of a bucket of butter. Monsignor Daniel Hoye

Click Photo Album to view photo's from our parish St. Patrick's Day party.

Joy can come in many shapes and sizes, and in various “depths” if you will.  On a shallow experience of joy, on Saturday I experienced joy in being able to see some grass!  But it was fleeting, because last night it was covered up again. On a much deeper level, we have the joy that Isaiah expresses in toward the end of this book, “I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there.”  So there’s a sense of deep joy that God can give us. In the Gospel, we hear the story of the healing of the son of the royal official.  Here, the joy is not something that I experience, but I am acknowledging the joy that another experiences.  It’s the son that is healed, and the whole household become believers. Maybe on this day of our Lenten journey, we can be attentive to the joy of another – to the joy that another experiences, or the blessing or the grace that another experiences, and we can be very grateful. Monsignor Daniel

Homily March 15, 2015 Fourth Sunday of Lent Readings for today's Homily   To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

Halleluiah!   Spring is here!  Time to dance and soak up the sun! Oops.   My mistake.  Spring is still 7 days away, At least the snow is melting, and melting, and melting. Today is Friday the 13th, and I'm not worried (or superstitious).   Spring will come, although at a glacial pace.

There’s a line in the Bible that has had far-reaching effects throughout history.    It’s attributed to Jesus, and one would think whatever he had to say are words to live by today and always – that we count on him to set us on the right path all in the interest of bringing the Kingdom of God to Earth.  Well…….perhaps not.   The line to which I refer is in today’s Gospel according to Luke (11:14-23):  “…Whoever is not with me is against me…”  Mark (9:40) says it a little differently: “…For whoever is not against us is for us…”  Whatever.  Too many people – and perhaps nations, including the USA, have taken this stance attributed to Jesus as a rallying call and ultimatum.   It’s black or white, right or wrong with no in-between.  And, that’s unfortunate because there are so many legitimate and sensible in-betweens in life.

I expect that many if not most of us have experienced what is referred to as a “senior moment.” You’re looking for a word, and you can’t get it; or you’re trying to remember a name, and it won’t come to you.  Senior moments are part of the natural human condition, but the reading from Deuteronomy today tells us that we should not have senior moments when it comes to our spiritual life—that we need to remember what we have received and be grateful for the graces that are ours. In Deuteronomy we heard, “Be on guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live.”  Maybe our Lenten observance today can be a time to recall, reflect, and remember the blessings, the graces that are ours. Monsignor Daniel Hoye

The 10 Commandments are found outside our Church on tablets near the Hall entrance.   Every time I pass by them I think they’re gravestones – not well placed, of course.  Even so, they are constant reminders of what we all should heed.   They are not-so-gentle reminders of God’s “commands.” Looking like tombstones, they call to mind today’s first reading from Deuteronomy (4:1, 5-9).   After asking, “…what great nation has statutes and decrees that are just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?,” we are told: “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live…”  I say they appear to be grave markers because those important commands have become just words for so many people throughout our nation.  They seem buried under the earth and pushing up daisies.   Many (most?) of our political leaders pay them no mind.

In today’s reading from Daniel (3:25, 34-43) we hear about a promise from God to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel about their offspring being multiplied “like the stars of heaven or the sand on the shore of the sea.”    Makes one wonder.  What’s the greatest number?   Stars or sands?    When walking any beach and letting grains slip through our fingers, we’d all likely say, “It must be the sands?”  Certainly when thinking about the size and expanse of deserts such as the Sahara at 99.1 million square km, the number of stars cannot possibly be greater, so we would think.   Researchers from the University of Hawaii guessed at the numbers of grains of sand by calculating the number of grains in a teaspoon multiplied by all the beaches and deserts in the world.   Their answer was 7,500,000,000,000,000,000 grains or seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains.  Very few of us can wrap our minds around a number that large.

Finding God in everything is one of the challenges that St. Ignatius would give to those who follow his Spiritual Exercises - find God in all things.  It's a lesson that Naaman learned in our first reading, when he comes to be cured from leprosy and finds that the instructions that the prophets gave him don't meet his standards - simply to go to a river and be washed.  He's encouraged to do so, and finally gets cured. Do we sometimes look for God in the thunder of the world or the bright lights of the world, and miss His presence in the every day events of our lives?  In our awareness of nature, our relationships with others, even in the difficulties in life, how do we find God in everything? Monsignor Daniel Hoye

What makes us think we’re so special and that God favors us over others?  What makes us so self-assured that God considers Catholics to rank highest among all the rest?  This is an unfortunate attitude some of us have, and it’s an attitude that people of other faiths may share as well: "Our religion is better than yours." This way of thinking is a recipe for disaster because it creates an “us-versus-them” mind-set causing misunderstandings, division, and conflict – something Jesus taught against.   For example, trying to evangelize Muslims, to have them turn away from their faith is unwise and not praiseworthy.   Apparently, the text “Beginning Apologetics: How to Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith” used in a Diocesan “Beginning Apologetics” course, does this (profiled in February 27 issue of The Anchor].

Homily March 1, 2015 Second Sunday of Lent Readings for today's Homily To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

The 40 days of Lent are something like a retreat preparing to celebrate the mysteries of Holy Week.  Perhaps we can borrow from St. Ignatius and his Spiritual Exercises in being invited to answer three questions that he poses to the retreatant during the first week of the Exercises. First, what have I done for Christ?  Second, what am I doing for Christ?  Third, what ought I be doing for Christ? The first two have to do with our history and our current spiritual practices, and the third is a challenge as to what ought I be doing in this issue or that issue. Three good questions for you and me to pose to ourselves during this, our Lenten Retreat. Monsignor Daniel Hoye

My friend and brother Deacon Brendan is moving on, a transfer to the Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Pocasset.  He will assist Father David Federici and minister to the people of that Parish.  I'm certain that this decision was not an easy one to make and that both he and Gail talked through this at great length and in greater detail.  I believe that Brendan is answering yet another of God's calls. Over the years we have come to know him and witness his faith journey.  We have benefited from his friendship and his wisdom, and most certainly his humor and quick wit.  It's now time for the parishioners of Saint John's to benefit from the grace and talents with which God has blessed our Parish of Christ the King. Since this is a blog, which by definition is conversational in style, I encourage you to post a comment and let Brendan know the many good wishes we send him off with. -Deacon Paul Harney

Isaiah says it quite directly in the First Reading today - "Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord". Lent is a time to set things right; to be aware of how we have wondered off-center, maybe we need to improve our prayer life or our relationships or our control of self. Isaiah uses the image of our sins being as "white as snow".  I'm not sure which storm it was of the last several, but there was a morning that it was just gorgeous. The sky was blue and everything was coated with white. As we know, a couple of days after the storm it doesn't look so good anymore! Maybe our spiritual lives were white as snow and have become a little tarnished. Lent is the season to set things right! Monsignor Daniel Hoye