The King's Corner

 

“Hate can be helpful to certain causes. It unites a group quickly, it gives a person identity—even if it is a negative one—and, most of all, it takes away doubt and all free-floating anxiety. It gives us a place to stand that feels superior and in control. Hate settles the dust and ambiguity that none of us like. Hate is much more common, and more immediately effective, than love. Hate, as we will sadly see below, makes the world go ’round (my emphasis) ... We’re living in a time when the far right and the far left in almost every institution are using the eccentricities and evils of the other end to justify their own extremes… Remember, anthropologically, religion begins with the making of a distinction between the pure and the impure. Jesus consistently ignores such a distinction. In fact, it is at the heart of almost half of his gospel actions!” (from Richard Rohr, The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder 2020)

Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”  Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, for John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people, for they regarded him as a prophet.  But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests and delighted Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”  The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests who were present, he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. His disciples came

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  July 31, 2022, the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Time to Swim the Tiber? : The Tiber is a river in Rome over which one must cross to get to the Vatican, thus “swimming the Tiber” is an old expression for affiliating with the Church founded on the faith of the Apostle Peter who was martyred and is buried at the Vatican Basilica named in his honor. Each year those who are not fully affiliated or initiated into the Catholic Church are invited to contemplate doing so by joining a process called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Those adults never baptized as Christians, or those who were baptized and affiliated with other Christian denominations undergo a weekly formation program beginning in the Fall which leads to their full initiation into the Church at Easter. Those who have been attending Mass with or supporting their Catholic spouses in the practice of the faith and who wish to formally share that faith and practice as a married couple is among those wh

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” (John 11:19-27)

Jesus said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.  Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.”  And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there. (Matthew 13:47-53)

Jesus said to his disciples: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." (Matthew 13:44-46) Can heaven be bought?  Matthew seems to suggest so.  Buy the field with the treasure.  Buy the pearl of great price.  Then our search for heaven is over.  It is found; we can buy our way in.   Many of us wish it was so.  It’s all about money, a theme so relevant today.   Do we need a big bank account to enter the kingdom?  No.  Our entry is only contingent on one thing and at no financial cost.  If we live the way Jesus lived and if we think the way Jesus thought, we will have found the key without having to dig in fields or search for pearls.   The key is within us we use to open our hearts where the kingd

I'm always amused by Pastis' wise-ass-on-the hill.  Today he writes of the key to happiness, and that key is forgiveness.  Too many of us understandably wait for the offender to ask for forgiveness.  That can be a very long and fruitless wait.  So, what does Jesus tells us to do? Forgive 77 times. Deacon David Pierce

A man was walking out in the desert when a voice said to him, “Pick up some stones; put them in your pocket, and tomorrow you will be both sorry and glad.” The man obeyed.  He stooped down and picked up a handful of stones and put them in his pocket.  The next morning, he reached into his pocket and found diamonds, rubies, and emeralds.  He was both glad and sorry.  Glad that he had picked up some stones, and sorry he hadn’t picked up more. And so too it is with the Word of God. It’s time to fill our pockets, as well as our hearts. Deacon David Pierce

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." And he said to them, "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 the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. "

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. "The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?'  He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" (Matthew 13:24-30) I grew up on my grandparents’ farm.  I was their laborer on the weekends when I was given the chore of weeding the vegetable garden

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”  Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables? "He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted and I heal them. “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but

We all have Good News Capacitors.  If we keep our focus on Jesus Christ and what we are to do on his behalf consistent with loving God and our neighbors as ourselves, our needles will stay on "Peaceful and Full of Hope."  Wise choice. Deacon David Pierce

What follows is an excellent perspective.  It's entitled "The eucharistic revival should remind Catholics: Communion means working for social justice" by Patrick Cullinan July 15, 2022.  (begin) “Do you believe in miracles?” My high school world history teacher posed this question to students at the beginning of our unit on medieval Europe. Even at my devout Protestant high school, most of the students answered “no.” “It’s just not logical,” we told Mr. Johnson, each of us confident that at 15 years old we knew how the world worked. Mr. Johnson smiled at our certainty and told us that our position on this matter was “particularly American.” I remember that specifically: Not to believe in miracles is “particularly American.”

  I suppose the Holy Spirit that resides in us all is an irritant to those controlled by demons.  Denzel has it right. We all have demons. We simply hope our Spirit through its irritation will drive them out, at least for a time. Deacon David Pierce

M&M candies: who doesn’t like them? They melt in our mouths, not in our hands, so the tagline goes.  M&M’s remind us of Martha and Mary who are the M&M sisters in today’s Gospel.  Luke shows us through these two sisters what I call the red M&M way and the green M&M way.   The Red way of Martha involves passion, fire, and leadership.  Martha serves.  She represents those who are passionate about charity and with fire in their hearts serve and lead others to do the same.  She is about feeding, welcoming, clothing, healing, and caring for people. On the other hand, the Green way of Mary is about listening carefully to what Jesus says. It’s about being devoted to him through prayer and worship and following him by loving God with all our hearts, being, strength, and minds.

Today’s psalm follows: R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord! Why, O LORD, do you stand aloof? Why hide in times of distress? Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted, who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived.  R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord! For the wicked man glories in his greed, and the covetous blasphemes, sets the LORD at nought. The wicked man boasts, “He will not avenge it”; “There is no God,” sums up his thoughts. 

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.”  He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8) Sacrifices were needed to have sins forgiven.  That was standard in Jesus’ time.  Jesus freed people from dependency on the Temple for sin-forgiving and sacrifice

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) I’ve never understood this claim by Jesus.  His yoke is not easy, and his burden is not light.   He asks much of us such as loving our neighbors as ourselves. Being yoked to Jesus is challenging, especially because we must always look ahead and not back.  We must seek and do what is right and just and without fail.  It is a heavy yoke, as was Jesus’ cross. Perhaps the “yoke” is our obligation to forgive those who trespass against us and to ask for forgiveness when we should.  We are yoked to him when we forgive.  We learn from him that through forgiveness we “save” others and ourselves.   We lighten our own burdens when we forgive.   Deacon David Pierce

Thus says the LORD: Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger, my staff in wrath. Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my wrath I order him to seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets.  But this is not what he intends, nor does he have this in mind. Rather, it is in his heart to destroy, to make an end of nations not a few. For he says: “By my own power I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd. I have moved the boundaries of peoples, their treasures I have pillaged, and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned. My hand has seized like a nest the riches of nations. As one takes eggs left alone, so I took in all the earth. No one fluttered a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped!”  Will the axe boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it? As if a rod could sway him who lifts it, or a staff him who is not wood! Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send among his fat one’s l

Once there was a king who invited his subjects to a banquet.  He told each guest to bring a flask of wine and informed each that his wine would be poured into a large wine vat.  Each one thought, “What will my small flask of wine mean?  I will bring my small flask of water, and no one will know the difference.   When the guests were assembled at the banquet, the king summoned his servants to serve the guests with the contents of the vat.  Each was served water, for they all had thought, “What will my small flask of wine mean? I will bring a flask of water instead and no one will know the difference. How many of us leave Mass with small flasks of water, not wine?  We expect everyone else to glorify God by their lives, that is, to love their neighbor.  If we don’t, no one will notice.  Really? Deacon David Pierce

 

  What follows was written by Jesuit Father Thomas Reese.  His column for Religion News Service, "Signs of the Times," appears regularly at National Catholic Reporter. (begin) You will know that we are Christians by our love, but you will know that we are Catholics by our fights. Sadly, one of the things Catholics fight over is the Eucharist. In his June 29 apostolic letter to the Catholic people, Pope Francis decries this division while describing the Eucharist as the sacrament of unity. The letter, Desiderio Desideravi ("I have earnestly desired"), gives full-throated support to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which called for full, conscious and active participation of the laity in the Eucharist. Francis is clearly saddened by those who reject the reforms that the council found absolutely necessary.

Moses said to the people: "If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul. "For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you. It is not up in the sky, that you should say, 'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?' Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?' No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out." (Deuteronomy 30:10-14) Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all thi

Jesus said to his Apostles: “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! “Therefore, do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 10:16-23)

  Diane and I just returned from 10 days in the Azores on Sao Miquel (St. Michael).  We postponed this trip for two-years due to COVID travel restrictions. Staying in Sao Roque near Ponta Delgada, we were situated next to this Church of Sao Roque.  The interior was spectacular, and the priest offered me the opportunity to assist him at Sunday Mass.  I thanked him, but I decided to attend with Diane.  Some of the hardest pews we've ever encountered.   A Mass in Portuguese was fairly easy to follow since all Masses worldwide have the same ritual and liturgy.  The church's setting on a low cliff with great views of the ocean added to the occasion. A day trip brought us to the town of Furnas with another historic and beautiful church: Church of Our Lady of Joy. An outstanding, although fanciful, depiction of Jesus carrying his cross dominates the interior, as does the tiled alcove where baptisms are performed. For those who might want to visit the Azores to see these churches and f

I provide Father Richard Rohr’s views on community and connectedness he considers as central to the Christian life and intrinsic to Reality itself.  Father Rohr recently met with Pope Francis and offered the Pope his book “The Universal Christ: How A Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, And Believe” (2019).  Francis already had read it. (begin) In the beginning God says, “Let us make humanity in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves” (Genesis 1:26). The use of the plural pronoun here seems to be an amazing, deep-time intuition of what Christians would later call the Trinity, which is the revelation of the nature of God as community, as relationship itself, a Mystery of perfect giving and perfect receiving. The Body of Christ is another metaphor for this bonding. “Reality as communion” is the template and pattern for our entire universe, from atoms to galaxies, and certainly in human community.  We come to know who God is through exchanges of mutual knowing an

What follows is a reflection on the movie Father Stu ( spoiler alert ).  It was provided by writer Joseph Serwach.  I provide his perspective because on a 5 ½ hour flight back from the Azores I watched this movie, and it moved me to tears.  It made me think even more about the priesthood and what compels many men to make such a momentous decision and sacrifice.   (begin) Father Stu: Mark Wahlberg Shows Us How to Find Our True Destiny.  From fighter to a priest? Stuart Long became a Catholic to get a woman — then he found God, redemptive suffering, great joy Father Stu, the most inspiring film about the priesthood in half a century, tells the true story of a failed boxer going to Hollywood to be an actor. “We’re not human beings having a spiritual experience. We’re spiritual beings having a human one,” Father Stu explains. Like the best “God’s Plan” stories, one crazy thing leads to another, so it only makes sense looking back years later:

On this 4th of July, I offer this opinion piece by Lawrence Brown who is a columnist for the Cape Cod Times: “When faith trumps politics, danger to the nation emerges.”   (begin) I am writing this as a religious man. I have my faith, and I’ve studied the beliefs of others all my life. My mother’s ancient notes from my first experience of Sunday school reads, 'Likes God.'  So I’m not writing from any hostility to religion, but I also love living in a democracy. Elections have consequences. Trump promised to appoint judges who’d overturn Roe v. Wade. America elected him — and now it’s done. How, then, is democracy imperiled? Saint Paul defines faith as 'belief in things unseen.' I believe in soul, for example, but cannot empirically prove that soul exists. Proof would require evidence that even a skeptic would be forced to accept. That is exactly what our court system requires: proof beyond the shadow of a doubt.

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.  Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.' Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, 'The dust o

Thus says the LORD: On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David. I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old. That they may conquer what is left of Edom and all the nations that shall bear my name, say I, the LORD, who will do this.Yes, days are coming, says the LORD, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed.  The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it. I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits. I will plant them upon their own ground; never again shall they be plucked from the land I have given them, say I, the LORD, your God. (Amos 9:11-15) Amos speaks of the fallen hut of David to be raise up with breaches walled up and ruins being rebuilt.  He speaks of Israel to be restored with its people never again to be plu