The King's Corner

Father Healey in a recent Pastor’s Pen wrote: “A Unique Privilege for our Parish.”   He said the Shroud “is believed to be the moment of his [Jesus’] resurrection.”  Yes, many believe it is, but our Church has been very careful about stating an official position as noted in the following 2013 article from the National Catholic Reporter [below].  I suspect many parishioners will believe it is Jesus.  I’ve already witnessed parishioners genuflecting before the sculpture.  If they wish to believe so, then fine, but if I’m asked, I will provide my own skepticism while respecting their opinion.  I’m more inclined to believe it is the product of the genius of Leonardo DaVinci who used sunlight (ultraviolet light), a camera obscura, a cloth soaked in silver sulfate, and a cadaver he scourged to depict Jesus’ suffering.   There is a fascinating on-line video depicting how the image could have been “burned” onto the cloth by a chemical reaction between the silver and UV rays while using a came

  Considering what MAN has done to God's creation, I suspect God might have second thoughts.  Too late LORD, your creation is inclined to destroy the beauty of the gifts you have bestowed.   We were made in image and likeness of God, but that image has not been respected by the human race racing to despoil the Earth through global warming, climate change, destruction of the environment, species extinctions, wars, and man's inhumanity to man.   If we are not careful - and we are not - God may take that long nap and leave us to our own devices.  Perish the thought! Deacon David Pierce

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." 

What follows is Father Richard Rohr showing us how one of the Bible’s persistent themes is how God chooses the rejected, the outsider, and the unlikely for grace and divine purpose.  Do we choose the same way?   (begin) One of the few subversive texts in history is the Bible! The Bible is most extraordinary because it repeatedly and invariably legitimizes the people on the bottom, not the people on the top. Rejected sons, barren women, sinners, lepers, or outsiders are always the ones chosen by God. It’s rather obvious when pointed out to us. In every case, we are presented with some form of powerlessness—and from that situation God creates a new kind of power. This is the constant pattern found hidden in plain sight. [1]  We repeatedly see God showing barren women favor in the Hebrew Scriptures. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was barren and past child-bearing years when God blessed her with baby Isaac (Genesis 17:15–19). Rachel, Jacob’s wife, was barren until God “opened her womb” and she bor

  God might have needed that seventh day.  Clearly, a lot more needed to be done to get it right; that is, to revise what God created after further thought.  There were quite a few imperfections with man being the most notable one. I've always wondered why God needed that 7th day for rest.  God got tired?  It's more likely the writer(s) of Genesis needed a break from his/their creative writing. Deacon David Pierce

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear." (Matthew 13:1-9) One way to interpret this Gospel reading is to assume the seed is the Eucharist. We all receive it, but how fertile is our ground; that is, how receptive are we to its transformative powers?  Take the Body of Christ as if it is a stale, circular pierce bread, and what

The following reflection gets to the heart of the matter, and I hope our hearts: Reflection for Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time by Sebastian Gomes of America Magazine.   “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” (Mt 10:7-8) (begin) When I decided to study theology in college, it was mainly because I loved the engrossing conversations about human nature and ultimate reality that theology provoked. And in my mind, the best way to immerse myself in those conversations long-term was to become a teacher. Rather unexpectedly, my theology degree landed me in the world of media. But I often tell people that creating media content is just another way of teaching, only with a much bigger classroom. There is an inherent spiritual danger in teaching, though, and especially teaching theology, whether you’re in the classro

Many of us act as if we are without sin, and the sin reservoirs are our neighbors - the other guys and gals.  So, we throw stones as insults and nasty remarks on social media platforms.   Social media cannot be a substitute for face-to-face interactions, eye-to-eye contact, and/or hearing the other's voice through engaging conversation.  Too many people and especially young adults and adolescents, prefer texting to phone conversations and get-togethers.  Texting is easy, and dangerous due to misunderstandings, stone-throwing, and back-and-forth exchange of barbs. We must never throw the first or even the last stone.  They will break our glass houses. Deacon David Pierce

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying: "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."'" He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is th

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

  Yes, again, Pearls Before Swine.  If our phones are "portals to darkness," then many of us have gone to the Dark Side with Darth Vader being our patron saint.  We access the internet through our phones, and just about everyone has the key to enter, including many - perhaps most of our children who carry that portal with them even when it should be denied them, especially in school classrooms.   Obviously, our phones educate us and open all sorts of lines of communication.  But there are many people - and demons - with pitchforks on the "other side" of our screens trying to seduce us to do evil things.   We must not be the "tools" of internet trolls and manipulators.  Our phones are wonderful tools for us to use wisely.  Let's do so.  Instead of pitchforks, let's wield olive branches. Deacon David Pierce

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 admit I’ve always misunderstood this reading.  How can the demanding tasks or labors assigned to us by Jesus be light and easy?  Very unlikely because he demands a change in our attitude towards other people and even ourselves.  Father Healey in his June 9 homily opened my eyes. I’ve always envisioned an ox with its head in a yoke pulling a cart or wagon loaded with goods and provisions.  Now that’s tough going.  However, I missed the fact that Jesus was speaking of a double yoke with two oxen pulling side by side.  Moreover, Jesus is yoked to one side, and I (or you) on the other.  We pull together. Jesus accompanies us on our journeys and gives us strength.  That which we cannot overcome by ourselves we can over

  Goat has it right.  Too many of us are like rat.  By now, readers of this blog must know I'm a big fan of Pearls Before Swine and its cartoonist, Stephan Pastis.  He subtlety suggests we choose either to be a goat or a rat.  Too many of us select the latter.   Deacon David Pierce

  Can we be one? When our buttons are pushed, do we respond with understanding or with anger? Let's be understanderers.   Deacon David Pierce

Jesus said to his Apostles: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household. "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink b

8:30 Homily In our Gospel we hear that Jesus spoke to the crowds at length in parables.  We might wonder if he told jokes as well.  He might have told these jokes: How do we know Peter is a rich fisherman? Answer: By his net income. What animal did Noah find it difficult to trust? Answer: The cheetah What is the best way to get to Paradise? Answer: Turn right and go straight. What sport did I play? Answer: Lacrosse Why didn't Noah go fishing? Answer: He only had two worms. Knock, knock (Who’s there?) Jesus. (Jesus who?) Jesus Christ, open the door.

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. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But wh

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) Essentially, Jesus is warning his Apostles t

Father Richard Rohr’s recent reflection about the Real and Holy Presence referenced Episcopal priest and author Adam Bucko’s reminder to us of the Gospel call to solidarity with the poor, who reveal Christ.  Bucko wrote:  (begin) The Christian spiritual tradition is very clear about how we are to relate to those who are fragile, who have been rejected and forgotten, and who are standing on the bread lines waiting for food. We are to see them as Christ and approach them with the same kind of reverence and willingness to say yes. This identification of Christ with the poor is such that an old Anglo-Catholic saying, often cited in the context of the slum priest movement of the 1920s, tells us that unless we are willing and able to see Christ on the highways and byways of our cities in those who are rejected, homeless, and poor, we have no business talking about meeting him in the Eucharist  (my emphasis). Our faith cannot be complete unless we have connected the two. As one theologian sai

Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, "Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" (Matthew 10:1-7) What follow is an America Magazine article (2018) by Michael Simone, S.J. who taught Scripture at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.  He is now a contributing editor at America and associate pastor of Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago, Illinois.  His arti

What follows helps us get to the heart of the matter regarding the future of our Church made more uncertain by the large numbers of people who have left and are leaving.   (begin) Religious “nones” challenge Catholics to authenticity: Religiously unaffiliated people are often in search of a more authentic way of life. By Yunuen Trujillo (June 15, 2023) [U.S. Catholic Magazine] Few people know this, but I was not quite raised Catholic. Like most Mexicans at the time, I was born into a Roman Catholic family, but by the time I was 7 or 8 years old, one of my parents identified as religiously unaffiliated. We would now call that a “none”; at the time it was highly unusual. However, as Mexicans, it was practically impossible to separate our cultural Catholicism from our religious affiliation; we still celebrated some religious holidays, and we even went to Mass once in a while. It wasn’t until age 17 that I became a practicing Catholic of my own accord after I found loving community in a Ca

While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, "My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live." Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, "Courage, daughter!  Your faith has saved you." And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, he said, "Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping." And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout all that land. (Matthew 9:18-26) What follows was written by Kevin Considine and published in 2022 in U.S. Catholi

At that time Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." "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 11:25-30) Jesus has a point.  When we are meek and humble of heart, we will find rest for ourselves.  Otherwise, we focus on self-interest and all that goes along with being prideful.  That’s not a restful existence.  It’s the rat-race we run for power, privilege, and possessions.  No peace there.  The yo

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved." (Matthew 9:14-17) The Pharisees as a group were concerned with purity; that is, with the fulfilment of the law so as to be pure, living without sin. It is this obedience to the law upon which the Pharisees based their assumption of purity.  But Jesus knew living without sin was impossible, thus the need for mercy and not sacrifice.

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (Matthew 9:9-13) I desire mercy, not sacrifice.  Apparently, the Pharisees were more interested in sacrifices at the Temple for people to receive forgiveness for their sins.  Nice Temple economy at the expense of those with little in their pockets.  Not much mercy in that House when there was little or nothing to sacrifice by those needing to have their sins forgiven. Jesus turned it all around.  He

God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a burnt offering on a height that I will point out to you." Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, took with him his son Isaac, and two of his servants as well, and with the wood that he had cut for the burnt offering, set out for the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar. Then he said to his servants: "Both of you stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over yonder. We will worship and then come back to you." Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham: "Father!" he said. "Yes,

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Isaac grew, and on the day of the child's weaning Abraham held a great feast. Sarah noticed the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing with her son Isaac; so she demanded of Abraham: "Drive out that slave and her son! No son of that slave is going to share the inheritance with my son Isaac!" Abraham was greatly distressed, especially on account of his son Ishmael. But God said to Abraham: "Do not be distressed about the boy or about your slave woman. Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you; for it is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a great nation of him also, since he too is your offspring." Early the next morning Abraham got some bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. Then, placing the child on her back, he sent her away. As she roamed aimlessly in the wilderness of Beer-sheba

  Happy 4th of July! Our nation is unique and special.  Let's keep it that way through our defense of the truth and our Constitution. In God we trust.  Can God trust us? 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) That’s it in a nutshell.  Couldn’t have said it better.  “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”   God dwells in us.  Doesn’t make God seem so far away.  Closer than our doorstep.  Quite a different look than the perspective of God above us and in the heavens.   Do we believe it?  A bit scary don't you think knowing that someone we dislike is a similar dwelling place.  Then again, that understanding might make us more tolerant and understanding of where the Holy Spirit resides. Deacon David Pierce

Jesus said to his apostles: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple— amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." (Matthew 10:37-42) Jesus gives us a tall order: “Love me more than you love your father, mother, son, or daughter.”   That’s a tough one because God is love, so loving those who gave us life

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the Terebinth of Mamre, as Abraham sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground, he said: "Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant. Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet, and then rest yourselves under the tree. Now that you have come this close to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward you may go on your way." The men replied, "Very well, do as you have said." Abraham hastened into the tent and told Sarah, "Quick, three measures of fine flour! Knead it and make rolls." He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice steer, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. Then Abraham got some curds and milk, as well as the steer that had been prepared, and set th