The King's Corner

  This comic strip is prophetic.  Read the Boston Globe April 18 opinion piece by Joan Vennochi: "State hits the jackpot on sports gambling revenue, but what's the social cost?" The cost of treating problem gambling is staggering in part because so many people gamble away their future and burden their families with large debt. Watch a sports event on television and see the many commercials about how easy it is to bet and win.  There's a sucker born every minute.  Gambling companies know how to seduce viewers especially the young with their smart phones with which they place many bets, many being nonsensical.   Gambling is addictive and our states' governments like that.  For example, according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, "the state has collected approximately $127.77 million in total taxes and assessments from in-person and online sports betting operations since it legalized this highly addictive activity a little over a year ago."   Seriousl

5:30 Mass Homily Our Gospel is about sheep and shepherds. It reminds me of a Mother Goose nursery rhyme. “Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn! The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn. Where is the boy that looks after the sheep?  He’s under the haystack, fast asleep.” There’s one little boy blue who is not fast asleep; who has been blowing his horn; and who is looking after the sheep in the meadow and the cows in the corn. It’s Pope Francis who recently said, “Christians either love God and their neighbor or they are hypocrites; there is no middle ground.” He blew that horn even harder when he said, “When people’s hearts are hardened, they can no longer hear what God has to say.” Now that’s a powerful Easter season message we all need to hear! Here’s another rhyme about sheep and shepherds. Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep and can't tell where to find them; Leave them alone, and they'll come home, bringing their tails behind them. When we feel like lost sheep, we nee

As one who is curiously fond of ravens and crows, I offer this recent reflection provided by Michael O’Brien (from America Media) who is a Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., Fellow at America (begin) “ Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” Popular culture is obsessed with ghosts. There are malicious ghosts. There are friendly ghosts. There are wise ghosts. There are even funny ghosts. Whatever it is about them, it’s hard for our collective imagination to not wonder about the possibility of the existence of those who linger after death, roaming the world with purpose or without, not quite ready for the afterlife. Official church teaching on ghosts is ambiguous, but this passage from the Gospel of Luke is not.

  I'm still amazed at how many Catholics and other Christians reject evolution as real. What follows is instructive. (begin) From National Catholic Reporter, October 2014: Pope Francis on Monday waded into the controversial debate over the origins of human life, saying the big bang theory did not contradict the role of a divine creator, but even required it. The pope was addressing the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which gathered at the Vatican to discuss "Evolving Concepts of Nature." "When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so," Francis said. "He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment."

  Being on faith autopilot is risky.  Being asleep at the faith switch is perilous.  We all must put our faith into action - into good deeds.  Otherwise, it can wilt on the vine we call the Body of Christ.   Eschewing our Catholic responsibilities can put us on the slippery road to hell on which we sleepwalk in zombie-like fashion. Rather, let's switch off the autopilot and take the wheel. Deacon David Pierce

  I miss my Welsh corgis!  Brit, Owyn, and Mary Lou were my family's three beloved friends.  Those four-legged friends gave us over 30 collective years of companionship and love.  The are in heaven.  As one priest recently told me: "If there are no dogs in heaven, I don't want to go."  Me too. Deacon David Pierce