The King's Corner

All wisdom comes from the LORD and with him it remains forever, and is before all time.  The sand of the seashore, the drops of rain, the days of eternity: who can number these?  Heaven's height, earth's breadth, the depths of the abyss: who can explore these? Before all things else wisdom was created; and prudent understanding, from eternity. The word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom and her ways are everlasting. Humankind has accomplished much.   We have explored heaven’s height through cosmology, and we have learned about the unfathomable distance between stars, between galaxies, and to the edge of our seemingly expanding universe.  It all seems like the definition of forever and never-ending. We know the earth’s breadth and the depth of the abyss.  We even have estimated the number of sands of the seashore.  Such is exploration and the fruits of scientific endeavors.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”   This part of today’s Gospel reading from Luke is Jesus’ message to us, and it gets to the (his) heart of the matter.  We should not measure people by our own standards that very well might be personal and short-sighted.   Measuring people with a critical and judgmental eye usually leads us to serious mistakes, errors, and sin.   If we are not walking in someone else’s shoes, there is no way to understand their behavior and pain. We must measure other people with charity and compassion; otherwise, we won’t be measured likewise.  We get what we give – love or a bad measure “poured into our laps.” Deacon David Pierce

Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.  Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible . This is a part of today’s reading from Hebrews.  It reminds me of a recent Father Richard Rohr meditation (previously posted by me) in which he said: The first Incarnation of God did not happen in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. That is just the moment when it became human and personal, and many people began to take divine embodiment as a serious possibility. The initial Incarnation actually happened around 14 billion years ago with “The Big Bang.” That is what we now call the moment when God decided to materialize and self-expose, at least in this universe.  The first “idea” in the mind of God was to make Divine Formlessness into physical form, so that everything visible is a further revelation of wha

Yesterday’s Cape Cod Times had an idea/opinion offered by Leonard Pitts Jr.   Entitled “Ridicule is the last great death of a noble culture,” I found it thought-provoking and right on target.  He focused on the “Trail of Tears and other jokes” by criticizing President Trump’s remark about Senator Elizabeth Warren that was: “See you on campaign TRAIL Liz!” Trump tied Senator Warren’s Native American ancestry to the infamous “Trail of Tears” when the Cherokee nation (and others) was marched from their lands in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida to what we now call Oklahoma.  This was a forced and deadly “march” associated with the 1830 “The Indian Removal Act.”  Pitts also criticized Donald Jr.’s tweet: “Savage!!!  Love my President.” Pitts said, “…one hears too many white people laughing under the delusion that these things are jokes.  It is ridicule as barrier to knowing or feeling, as all-purpose defense against claims on conscience.  And never mind that when you laug

The first Incarnation of God did not happen in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. That is just the moment when it became human and personal, and many people began to take divine embodiment as a serious possibility.  The initial Incarnation actually happened around 14 billion years ago with “The Big Bang.” That is what we now call the moment when God decided to materialize and self-expose, at least in this universe.  The first “idea” in the mind of God was to make Divine Formlessness into physical form, so that everything visible is a further revelation of what has been going on secretly inside of God from all eternity. Love always outpours! God spoke the Eternal Blueprint/Idea called Christ, “and so it was!” (Genesis 1:9). Adapted from Richard Rohr, “Creation as the Body of God,” Radical Grace, vol. 23, no. 2 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2010), 3, 22. Readers of my blog contributions know I’m a huge fan of Father Richard Rohr (so is Deacon Bob Lemay).  The above is part of t

At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark, and he sent out a raven,  to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.  Then he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. But the dove could find no place to alight and perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water all over the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark.  He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.  In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf!  So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth. He waited still another seven days and then released the dove once more, and this time it did not come back. This reading from Genesis understates the importance of another bird – the raven.    The dove always gets credit for finding that dry land and, of course, symbolizes the

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.” When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I do not know.  Am I my brother’s keeper?” Are we?  Many of us say "no."  Our Pope and Jesus say "yes." In Migrants and Refugees: Witnesses to Hope , Pope Francis looks at the pressing witness needed in response to the growing occurrence of human migration.  Follow along with Fr. Michael Czerny, SJ, undersecretary for migrants and refugees at the Vatican, as he introduces Pope Francis’s words, which include the pope’s annual messages on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees and key homilies.  Then, take a dynamic look at the political, economic, humanitarian, and social needs that arise in connection with migration. Consider, alongside the pope, the response required to the experience of men, women, and children who have risked everything to move to an

Blessings. We bless our food.  Blessings are offered in this Church for marriages, engaged couples, for the dying, for children, for many reasons. When we sneeze, we might hear, “God bless you.” We bless dogs and just about every kind of animal. We are very ecumenical. Today we focus on blessings – the Beatitudes that begin with “blessed are you or blessed are they.” New England sports fans are blessed especially with the Patriots and Red Sox.  Most important, those living in America are truly blessed with freedom, liberty, and opportunity.  That’s all of us who will celebrate President’s Day tomorrow honoring and celebrating the life and achievements of George Washington, the first President of the United States and the Father of our country. We are a blessed great nation under God made quite clear to us through the pledge of allegiance: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, w

Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”   When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) “But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.” This reading from Mark speaks to all us: “Watch our tongues!”  They betray what’s inside that often is better left unsaid. We all should “eat” that which m

Anthony Teixeira, a talented Christ the King’s cantor, appeared in this weekend’s production of The Wizard of Oz by the Cape Cod Symphony and the Cotuit Center for the Arts.  He played the Tin Man with the style and sound we’ve all come to expect of Anthony.  And, he wielded a pretty mean ax.   I attended a packed-audience performance on Saturday.  We all know the Tin Man wanted a heart.   Inside he was hollow – empty.   Here’s what the Wizard told him: “Back where I come from, there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds.  They are called phila-, er, er, philanth-er, good-deed doers!  And their hearts are no bigger than yours.  But! – They have one thing you haven’t got.  A testimonial!  Therefore, in consideration of your kindness, I take pleasure at this time in presenting you with a small token of our esteem and affection.  And remember, my sentimental friend, that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." Today’s Go

February 10 2019 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings for today's Homily  To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

Deacon Lemay recently shared this Father Richard Rohr meditation.  I provide it here.  Thanks Bob! The Scapegoat Mechanism Friday, February 8, 2019 The scapegoating ritual described in Leviticus 16 offers a helpful perspective on Jesus’ death. On the “Day of Atonement” the high priest, Aaron, was instructed to symbolically lay all the sins of the people on one unfortunate goat, and the people would then beat the animal until it fled into the desert. It was a vivid symbolic act that helped to unite and free the children of Israel. Instead of owning their faults, this ritual allowed people to export them elsewhere—in this case onto an innocent animal. The image of the scapegoat powerfully mirrors the universal, but largely unconscious, human need to transfer our guilt onto something or someone else by singling that other out for unmerited negative treatment. French philosopher and historian René Girard (1923–2015) demonstrated that the scapegoat mechanism is foundational for the

From Hebrews today: ‘Brothers and sisters: What more shall I say?  I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms,  did what was righteous, obtained the promises; they closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword; out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle, and turned back foreign invaders…” As an alternative: “‘Brothers and sisters: What more shall I say?  I have not time to tell of Brady, Gronkowski, Belichick, Edelman, McCourty(s), Kraft, Michel, White, Hightower and Flowers who conquered the kingdom of LA, did what was asked of them, obtained the promises of fans; they closed the mouths of lions and rams, put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword; no weakness they were powerful, became stronger in battle, and turned back West Coast foreign invaders…” Another great Super Bowl win!  Thanks Pats!

February 3, 2019, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings for today's Homily  To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

Brothers and sisters: Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.  But I shall show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude,  it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The Super Bowl is tomorrow.   Once again, we who are blessed with a winning and talented team of Patriots athletes and coaches will watch and hope for more success.  Tomorrow’s first reading from Jeremiah (1:4-5, 17-19) might be our rallying cry. The word of the LORD came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a great team for New England I appointed you. Gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you. Do not be not crushed on their account, as if I would leave you crushed before them; for it is I this day who have made you a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land of Patriots haters: against LA’s kings and princes, against its priests, people, and Rams They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you to ring number 6, says the LORD. Ok, so it’s not quite the reading as written.  But if Jeremiah lived today and in New E