The King's Corner

What follows is ABC News coverage of President Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis.  CTK's parishioners’ views about this meeting and whether Biden should receive the Eucharist are unknown.  I suspect many believe he should be denied.  Many believe that position is "disastrous."  Pope Francis considers "the politicization and weaponization  of the Eucharist disastrous for the Church and its ability to remain above the secular fray."  I agree with the Pope.  Friday's Boston Globe had an article: "Pope, Biden meeting will highlight church rift: Both targets of conservative bishops in US."  The Vatican's recently begun Synod might run afoul with this unsightly situation.  According to the Globe article, "Biden, a Catholic who barely misses Sunday Mass, arrives at a moment when the political polarization in America has seeped deeply into its Catholic church."  Indeed! (begin) Biden says Pope Francis told him he's a 'good Catholic&#

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.  Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:1, 7-11) Where do we sit?  Do we prefer to sit in the place of honor at Jesus’ table? Do we deserve t

  Just got our power back (Thursday 7 PM).  Lights on!  Now, that's progress.  Thanks and God bless to all the hard-working men and women who have and still are battling the "Bomb Cyclone" Nor'easter's consequences. Back to our social media.  Oops, Professor rat is correct.  Use of social media can result in progress, but it sure can catapult us back to the so-called Dark Ages and our using this media to promote ill-will, conflict, and spread of lies and hatred.  Can we bend that curve upwards?  Better, before we run out of paper and run ourselves away from Christ who beckons back to the Kingdom of God, tolerance, and charity towards our neighbors. Deacon David Pierce

Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22) We are the stones or bricks that make up a dwelling place for God.  That’s quite a responsibility. Jesus is our capstone.  The capstone is the actual stone placed at the top of a wall or building, marking the successful completion of the structure. It is a significant and celebrated piece of architecture, considered to be the most important of an entire construction project. We support that capstone, known as Jesus, and we celebrate his existence in and through our lives. Too many of us stones have fallen away.  Many of us have left the Church for

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company, and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’  And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”  Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.” (Luke 3:18-21) Let’s compare the Kingdom of God to a cornfield.  When corn is fully grown, crows descend on the stalks rather than dwelling among the branches that don’t exist.  Crows might represent those men and women who prey on the innocent.  Jesus might be the scarecrow warding off the predators who see his presence curiously and ominously hanging on a cross of sticks like Jesus at his crucifixion.  Even in death Jesus is vigilant and there for us.

What follows is a Father Richard Rohr contribution.  He quotes another wise man, Brian McLaren.  I highly recommend his book [see footnote]. The God imaged by Jesus exerts no dominating supremacy. In Christ, we see an image of a God who is not armed with lightning bolts but with basin and towel, who spewed not threats but good news for all, who rode not a warhorse but a donkey, weeping in compassion for people who do not know the way of peace.  In Christ, God is supreme, but not in the old discredited paradigm of supremacy: God is the supreme healer, the supreme friend, the supreme lover, the supreme life-giver who self-empties in gracious love for all. The king of kings and lord of lords is the servant of all and the friend of sinners. The so-called weakness and foolishness of God are greater than the so-called power and wisdom of human regimes.

5:30 Homily A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.  He held up a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.”   There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by.  He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat.  He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words.  He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.  That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked: “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”  And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener,

Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise, your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.” (Luke 12:54-59) We humans are supposed to use our common sense when troubles arise.  Therein lies a problem.  Jesus asks the crowd and us: “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?”   What is right [and just]?  Don’t we Catholics know b

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.  From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53) Not everyone was fond of Jesus.  He challenged the status quo of accommodation to Roman oppressors and their Jewish collaborators, especially religious leaders.  He forced families to decide between what was right and just requiring sacrifice and hardship and forces opposed to the Kingdom of God on earth as well as in heaven.  Families were divided

Brothers and sisters: Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  Of course not! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:12-18) “Present the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness,” is a poi

Brothers and sisters: Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned. If by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous. Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:12

I guess Skippy is first in line, and why not?  Dogs are special and many of us put them ahead of the curs called humans.  Humans (all of us) are causing rising seas and climate change.  Some would say we are ecological assassins bent on ruining God's creation.  Some predictions have us experiencing very hard times in the not-to-distant future as seas rise and land is inundated.  Major cities will flood with buildings serving as buoys for navigation to inland higher ground. Take heart.  At least Skippy will be safe. Deacon David Pierce

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you  to do for us whatever we ask of you." He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"  They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over t

As we begin our discussion of the Synod and next steps, we must always remember to resist temptation and to maintain our integrity.  I suspect we all will find ourselves tempted to pursue our own agendas that might further divide us.  If so, that will be contrary to the Synod's objectives. Peace be with us!  Let's reach across our fences. Deacon David Pierce

We all have inner demons.  The battles are always on.  There is never a shortage of demons whose work is always ongoing.   The seven deadly sins are perpetrated by seven demons who are: envy, gluttony, greed or avarice, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath.   Quite the opposite from the friendly seven we know so well from childhood: Grumpy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Sleepy, all working to save Snow White.  

What follows is the article by Gerard O’Connell (October 9, 2021): “There is no need to create another church, but to create a different church,” Francis says before synod.  I suspect most of us have our own understanding of what it will mean to be “different.”  Many of us support a “sameness.”  Therein lies the challenge for all of us during our Fall River Diocese and Christ the King discussions about this Synod that opened on October 9.   (begin)  “There is no need to create another church, but to create a different church,” Pope Francis said—quoting the words of Yves Congar O.P., one of the great theologians of the Second Vatican Council—in his talk to a gathering of more than 200 cardinals, bishops, clergy, religious and laity from all over the world. They had come together on Oct. 9, wearing masks, in the Vatican synod hall for “a day of reflection” organized by the synod secretariat, headed by Cardinal Mario Grech of Malta, prior to the formal opening of the two-year-long synod o

The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others.  Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces.  Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”  Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.” (Luke 11:42-46)

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” (Luke 11:37-41) External appearances count for nothing, although many people focus more on how they look rather than on what comes out of their mouths.  The cups and dishes are clean, but inside the cups there are stains.   We who are stained are “filled with plunder and evil.”   We are fools.  We fail to realize – or we simple don’t care – that those around us see us for who we really are, such as cruel and envious, perhaps devoid of empathy and even narcissistic.   God knows we can be cleaned. 

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon,  and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” (Luke 11:29-32) According to The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler (2020), “Like the fables of Aesop and many of the parables of Jesus, the story of Jonah gives us a lesson that we do not want to hear, but need to he

I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.  Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. Yet all good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands. (Wisdom 7:7-11) In this reading Wisdom is female, and a man desires her.  No, he loves her and pays tribute to her with a description we all should copy (gender issues aside).  Wisdom is that which should penetrate between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, enabling us to discern reflections and thoughts of our hearts, so infers this next reading from Hebrews (4:12-13)

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:27-28) Who among us is blessed?  Many of us hear the word of God, but we don’t observe it.  We know what path to take, but we are afraid.  According to Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in the 1992 movie Scent of a Woman, we need courage. (Google his speech in defense of Charlie – classic!  Better yet, see the movie.  Some of the speech follows.) (begin) I'm not finished! As I came in here, I heard those words, "cradle of leadership." Well, when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And it has fallen here; it has fallen. Makers of men; creators of leaders; be careful what kind of leaders you're producin' here. 

When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.  And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.  “When an unclean spirit goes out

Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.” (Luke 11:1-4) We pray to forgive everyone in debt to us.  Forgiving debts is quite a challenge, yet this version of the “Our Father” has us do just that.  “What do you owe me?” , we might ask those from whom we expect some payment.  Once answered, our response must be:  “There is nothing to pay back. I forgive your debt.”   This is all quite a bit different from “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Both versions are important.  When we hold someone in our debt, they are beholden to us, and they are in our power to some extent, perhaps to a large extent.   When s

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.”  The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:38-42) I must admit that I sympathize with Martha.  Burdened with much serving, how is Martha to drop everything and sit at the Lord’s feet.  Her sister, Mary, seems a little starry-eyed and leaves her sister to do all the serving.  

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and win

The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him." So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man. So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called 'woman,’ for out of 'her man’ this one has been taken." That is  why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh. (G

Today is the “Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels,” and our Gospel from Matthew (18:1-5,10) reads: The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” “I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”  With that understood, we should consider the role of angels.  According to Professor Bernard Cooke in his 1996 book Why Angels? Are They Real…Really Needed?! (begin): “In the history of early Christian belief, angels don’t seem to be all that prominent,

Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” (Luke 10:13-16) Chorazin was a village about three miles north-northwest of Capernaum.  Bethsaida was almost due east from Chorazin.  All three were just north of the Sea of Galilee.  These were places where Jesus preached with a focus on repentance.