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November is an important month for the U.S. because it is the month of Thanksgiving, Native American Month, and, most importantly, the month of the pastor’s birthday.  Okay, 2 of those 3 make it an important month.  Regrettably, my birthday doesn’t make the cut.  In light of my connection to Native America, I wanted to see that our parish once again join in contemplating certain themes within this people’s spirituality and ritual practice.  But first—a…

This week’s reading from I Kings tells of how a widow and her son are miraculously fed for a year after giving food to a man of God, Elijah.  This reading prepares us for hearing this same theme (being fed by God) in the New Testament.  Figuratively speaking, Jesus fed others in his ministry—culminating in his gift of his presence in the Eucharist.  “Breaking bread” at the “table of the Lord” hammers home the idea…

Our parish tradition has been to celebrate the Feast of All Saints with the Feast of All Souls on the weekend nearest their dates (November 1st/2nd).  So we honor the memory of our loved ones in the parish who God called back during the year.  Our faith community shares their loss with families who have provided photos while we have lit a candle for each person—symbolizing the flame of their life is still alive within…

This weekend’s scripture reminds us why the cross is such a great symbol of Christianity.  It has a vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension—making obvious what our religious mindset should be: Vertically, “you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.  Horizontally, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  We cannot separate our relationship to God from our relationship to one another. Keep…

Picture this: you walk into the place of worship and see a sanctuary where there is a Tabernacle.  You also see a sanctuary lamp/light near the Tabernacle.  What is this place?  Answer: Catholics might say they’re in a Catholic church.  A Jewish person might say they’re in a synagogue.  They both could be right.  Both respondents might also be describing the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.  It was the central, sacred place…

Until I was age 9, my family was not hurting financially.  Back then, one of our regular experiences was to go out to dinner at a nice restaurant.  Years later, I asked my mom why she and dad allowed my brother and me to order a shrimp cocktail as an appetizer.  They were just as costly then as they are today.  As an adult, I wondered why they permitted us to order such an expensive…

Sometimes, the weekend readings do not stir thoughts that are easy to apply to our experience.  By contrast, this weekend’s offering is rich with material—enhanced by two feast days that fell during the week.  This is the time of year when we are called to reflect on the life of Theresa of Liseux (the “little flower”) and Francis of Assisi (founder of the Franciscan Order). By contrast, today’s rich reading is from Genesis—and reports one…

This week’s Gospel reading reminds us of how some people take scripture literally (sometimes it SHOULD be and sometimes NOT).  Today’s passage illustrated the latter.  For example, today Jesus says that if your hand or eye or foot are a source of sin for you—CUT THEM OFF.  Boy, if understood this way, he was a stern taskmaster.  He’d fit in with those countries today that do, in fact, punish lawbreakers in this fashion (countries like…