WwtW: God perfects our faith through the division and strife we encounter when we live as peace-makers

Wednesdays with the Word (OT C, 20).  A new series for this blog!  I've started a Bible Study at my parish, looking at the coming Sunday readings.  We meet Wednesday mornings after Daily Mass.  I'll be posting the notes I make for them here afterwards.  I regard producing these notes as the first 1/3 of homily writing: contextualizing and understanding the scriptures.  The next third is what we ask together as a Bible Study: how do these readings renew us in our awareness of God's action in our lives?  Given the reality of God's grace, how are we to respond?  The next third, which I'll get back to next month after what seems like a long summer off, is packaging that Good News into an engaging homily

Gospel (Lk 12:49-53)

Context.           This is part of Jesus’ long journey to Jerusalem (9:51-19:48; Wks 13-31).  For the last few weeks, we’ve been reading a section (12:1-13:9; Wks 18-20) on vigilance in the face of eschatological crisis.  To ready themselves for the end of the world, disciples have been invited to some pretty extraordinary acts: being liberated from possessiveness (even with regard to one’s basic bodily needs), and serving as a table-slave in the Household of God.  We now come to a reading that looks at the consequences of this.

Our Commitment is an Invitation for our Fellow Christians to Fulfill their Vocation

This week's bulletin column provided an introduction to the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Staff changes in a parish occasion a long process of getting to know each other.  You’re getting to know your new priests and me, your soon-to-be-deacon, and we’re getting to know you.  You have an advantage, though: you know our family.  These parishes have been served by generations of religious of the Congregation of Holy Cross.  If our bonds of religious profession are serving as they should, meeting us should be like meeting the extended family of old friends.

The Light that Faith is

This week's bulletin column was my presentation of Pope Francis' first encylical, Lumen Fidei, to the parish.

You have been called by name.  That’s the conviction of Pope Francis, who recently released his first letter to the Church as Pope, called Lumen Fidei – “The light of faith.”  You have been called by name: the God who made heaven and earth beckons you, counts every hair on your head, offers a hand to pull you up when you’re wounded, offers His only Son so that He might be more perfectly in relationship with you.  “Faith,” the Pope tells us, “is our response to this.”

First Bulletin Column at the new parish

Here's a bulletin column I wrote for Holy Cross -- St. Stan's parish, introducing myself and thanking them for their welcome.

Dear parishioners,

Firstly, thank you for the wonderful welcome I’ve received!  For those I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, I’m part of the new clergy team serving these two parishes.  I just finished my seminary studies back in May and over the coming year you will see me go from seminarian to deacon (in September) and then priest (in April).  I’m very excited to be beginning my ordained life in these parishes, becoming part of life here and gradually helping more and more to animate that life.  Some churches have signs up during construction saying “Please pardon our mess while we refurbish” – I think such a sign should probably be hung around my neck for at least a year!  As grateful as I am for my seminary formation, it is with, for and from you – the People of God in this place – that I will learn to be a priest.

Christ will show his love through John and Maria – Song 8:6-7a; 1 John 4:7-12; John 15:12-16

With wedding season firmly upon, and quite a few friends having upcoming nuptials this summer, I thought I'd share a wedding homily I wrote for liturgical celebration class.  It was written for a 'generic' older couple (fake names).  Song 8:6-7a; 1 John 4:7-12; John 15:12-16.

When Prince Charles got engaged to a young Diana Spencer, a member of the press asked him if they were in love.  He looked eerily hesitant as he gave his reply: “Yes… I suppose… whatever ‘love’ means!”  His remark was politely derided (as only the British press can politely deride), but I think he was actually being rather honest: I don’t think most people really do know what love means.

God brings us home into the love of the Trinity, through the Son in the Spirit. – Rom 5:1-5; John 16:12-15; Trinity Sunday

A homily I wrote for preaching class based on this year's readings for Trinity Sunday.

Do you ever feel weighed down, pressed upon, under pressure, stressed?  When St. Paul talks about our afflictions in the 2^nd reading, that’s what he’s talking about; in fact, the literal meaning of the Greek word he uses is ‘being squashed and squeezed,’ like a piece of concrete undergoing a stress test.  Squeezing is a technique that civil engineers use to test a piece of concrete before they use it to build something substantial.  If there are any tiny cracks in the concrete that are invisible under normal circumstances but could cause the building to come crashing down, under pressure they become plainly visible to the naked eye.  It’s not safe to build with concrete unless it’s first been afflicted.

When God has finished with me

Guest post for the Holy Cross Vocations blog.