The King's Corner

If you have read some of my past blogs, you know that I help lead a Bible Study at the Falmouth Hospital. I thought I would share the one I am going to lead on Thursday. Last week we started the letter of James which is a very interesting letter because it is not addressed to a particular city or people. You can get a good eight minute description of James on You Tube at " The Bible Project ." It is a general letter to be read to all of the Churches. It deals with the importance of works and faith. Because of its emphasis on "works", Martin Luther wanted to eliminate this book of the Bible because it conflicted with his idea that we are save only by faith. The Catholic Church has maintained that we are saved by both faith and works and has maintained that belief since the time of Christ. It was only 1500 years later that Martin Luther wanted and did change that belief for Protestants that works were not a saving requirement to enter heaven. Chapter 2 includes the

Is 22.19-23; Ps 138. 1-3,6,8; Rom 11.33-36; Mt 16.13-20 Who do you say that I am? A little over fifteen years ago I was ordained a deacon, so most people here at church call me deacon now. It’s an easy first name to remember. It is sort of like Msgr for Msgr Tosti or Father for Fr. Healey. In fact a lot of people call me Father too. I usually can tell who are the visitors as they leave Mass during the summer and say to me “Have a nice week father”. Even at the hospital people call me father when I say I am a Catholic chaplain. I love being able to respond “Yes, I am a father, but I also am a grandfather”. So what is in a name? It is interesting that people call you different names depending on when you met them. It says a lot about who you are at various stages in your life. Most of my friends call me Greg. My sister calls me Gregory John John. I wanted to choose Gregory for my Confirmation name but they wouldn’t let me chose my given name at that time so being a little rebellio

In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus say: "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah...I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” We all know that Simon was renamed as Peter the rock providing the foundation on which the Church eventually was built.  He’s known as our first Pope followed by a long line of popes with Francis being the one currently sitting in the chair. We’ve had some very nasty and unholy popes, and we have had some great ones – true rocks on which the Church stood and continues to stand. Peter must have been shaking in his sandals when he heard this responsibility placed upon his shoulders, especially because he didn’t believe he was up to the task.  For those of us who frequently lose our car keys, we would have trembled at the thought of being given the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  We’d rush out to the local hardware stor

10:30 Mass Homily:   For those of us with dogs, today’s Gospel leads to a question:  Have we hugged our dogs today?  Dogs can be loyal companions.  I have a Welsh Corgi.  Deacon Lemay has two Dachshunds – Tootsie and Oscar.  Father Wyndham had a dog named Griffin. Consider the famous Fido born in Italy during World War II.  Yes, there really was a Fido.  He was found on the verge of death by a worker who took him home and nursed him back to health.  And for this, he’d have Fido’s unwavering loyalty for the rest of his life. Every day, Fido waited for his master at the same bus stop, refusing to move until he stepped off the bus even though Italy was being bombed almost daily.  But one day, Fido’s master didn’t return from work.  He’d been killed in an air raid.

Highlights from the Mass for Chris Hughes. God speed, Chris!

Chris Hughes has made a life-changing decision that inspires those who may wonder about the future of our Catholic Church.  Today at the 4:00 pm Mass we say farewell to him and provide a blessing as he begins his studies for the priesthood for the Diocese of Fall River.   He will attend the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ. Chris has been on the altar learning and assisting for quite a while at Christ the King under the tutelage of Monsignor Hoye, Christ the King’s former pastor, and now our new pastor, Father Healey.   As one of the deacons at Christ the King, I’ve been on the altar with him many times, and I’ve witnessed dedication, enthusiasm, and a passion for our faith.   He has written thoughtful blogs at our “King’s Corner.” I for one will miss him because of who he is and the role model he provides for the young, as well as the older.   His attention to detail when serving on the altar and his knowledge of what

Yesterday’s Boston Globe had an article on page 5 of Section A entitled, “Pastor backs Trump’s fire and fury.”  It quoted one of President Trump’s evangelical advisors, pastor Robert Jeffress of Texas, as saying that Romans 13, “gives the government the authority to do whatever, whether it’s assassination, capital punishment, or evil punishment to quell the actions of evildoers like Kim Jong-un.”  The quote continued, “A Christian writer asked me, ‘Don’t you want the president to embody the Sermon on the Mount?’ he said referring to Jesus’ famous sermon. I said, ‘Absolutely not.” Such a poor and inappropriate interpretation of Paul!   This is the “Christian advice” our president is taking?!   We surely hope not. No one will know exactly what Paul meant, but great theologians have ventured their own interpretations based on the fact that Paul was speaking to Christians living in Rome under imperial control.  

Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.  Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.  The Father will honor whoever serves me."   [today’s Gospel reading] I have a bag of grass seed in my shed.  It has been there quite a while.   There has been no change – an understandable outcome considering it’s in a sealed bag.   It has not fallen to the ground where it would be watered and doused with sunshine.   Many of us are in sealed bags, closed off from family and friends due to anger, disappointment, envy, and many other reasons some just plain foolish.  Our bags need to be opened so we will die to old behavior and grudges and sprout a new attitude and sunny dispositions.   

I have blind spots.  Yes, age spots too, but I’m more worried about the blind ones.  We all should be of the same mind. I’m reminded of those spots by Matthew Kelly, author of “Resisting Happiness” (2016) and “Rediscover Jesus: An Invitation” (2015).  In the latter book he tells us a truth: “We don’t see things as they really are – especially ourselves.  We think we have 20-20 vision in life, but we don’t…”   He asks, “Do you play golf?  Have you ever had your golf swing recorded?  When you got the recording back, did your swing look like you thought it would?  Probably not.  How many  surprises were there…In your mind you may have thought you had a nice, easy swing like Fred Couples’, but the recording doesn’t lie and it quickly dispel that myth…” 

The Daughters of Saint Paul were at Christ the King about 10 days ago to offer books, CDs, DVDs and other media material to parishioners.  I have a special appreciation for these Daughters because for decades I’ve visited their stores in Dedham and Alexandria.  I’ve made many purchases. According to their website, “The Daughters of St. Paul journey with humanity, seeking to respond to each person’s longings with the loving invitation of Christ. We are media apostles who dedicate our lives to share the beauty and light of the Gospel with as many people as possible. Through just a moment of connection—a smile, a word, an email, a prayer, a book, a song, an app—we endeavor to create a sacred space where every person can encounter Jesus Christ. Today more than ever, we witness a world in anguish, fragmented and desperate for God. When people discover God, that their lives are held in his hand, it changes everything. Join us in filling the world with Christ’s hope, Christ’s love, and

Robert Louis Stevenson is that famous author who wrote many classics such as Treasure Island.  He has many well-known quotes such as: “Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well" and “You think those dogs will not be heaven!  I tell you they will be there before any of us."    And, “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” Then there is “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”   Just recently I read the story.   I have a CD with the music from the Broadway production – great score!  Here are some of the lyrics from the song “Facade.” There's a face that we wear In the cold light of day - It's society's mask, It's society's way, And the truth is That it's all a façade! There's a face that we hide Till the nighttime appears, And what's hiding inside, Behind all of our fears, Is our true self, Locked inside the façade!...

August 6, 2017 Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord Readings for today's Homily To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

My Bible Study at Falmouth Hospital always inspires me to learn more about my Catholic Faith. The reason being is that more than half the study group are Protestant and they often challenge me on why the Catholic Church believes in a way that is not in concurrence with the Protestants. This week the subject of the Ten Commandments came up. Luckily I was prepared for that one. I was also interested in the reason for the difference so I had researched it and found some interesting facts that explained the differences. To begin with, the 10 Commandments are not numbered in the Bible. God has not explicitly set out for us how they are to be numbered. If we were to number every "command" in those sections of the Bible we would have about 17 commandments or more. So different efforts have been made to number and group them over the centuries. Two of the major players in the early Church were Augustine and Origen. Augustine is considered a Saint and a doctor of the Church. Orig

For the longest period of time I heard the phrase “Salvation History” but I never really knew what it meant. Priest often mentioned it in their homily, there were references to it in Faith Formation classes, and occasionally I would come across the term in some of my readings. Recently I was preparing a bible study on Chapter 11 of Hebrews which is often called the “Faith Chapter”. The first sentence starts with “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” (New American Bible (NAB)) There is a lot of depth in that phrase. It tells us what faith is but also what hope is. Sometimes I like to read different translations to get a better understanding for what the author means. I found one that expresses it a little more clearly in  The Message (MSG) which translated it this way, “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what w