Posts by Fr. Rich (Page 2)

As you listen to today’s Gospel, we see that Jesus knew that the only way to experience joy is with a childlike attitude, which is why He used children as examples. Children normally are not stuck with many of the attitudes and perceptions that handicap us as adults. We need to stop looking outside of ourselves for fulfillment and examine our attitudes. Consider how many childlike qualities you have maintained from your youth. Are any remaining? Picture yourself as the…

On behalf of Father Sabas, our missionary, and me, I wish to say Thank You for your support and generosity in the collection for Mission activity. You donations came to $4,881.00. I’m sure this will go a long way in Father’s missionary work of taking care of the orphanages and the people in his diocese in Tanzania. God Bless You for your help and support.

Who do you say Jesus is? Today’s Gospel says He is to suffer greatly, be rejected by the elders, be put to death and then rise after three day. Then He says that those who wish to follow Him must do the same: deny oneself and take up his cross. Are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of Jesus? Do we recognize who Jesus is and made Him the focus and center of our lives? Or have we put…

Some years ago I was on kitchen duty at a men’s retreat weekend. The setting was rustic and the kitchen primitive. We made meals using a few available utensils and a couple of propane rings to cook on. Other team members were enjoying interacting with the men, and I was struggling just to make a pot of oatmeal, a vat of spaghetti, or something that resembled coffee. I found myself getting angrier and angrier as the weekend went on. A…

When you read today’s Gospel, you hear Jesus reminding us that those desires in our hearts are a reflection of our everyday action, words and decisions. But what motivates those desires of our hearts? For some it is greed, jealousy, arrogance, deceit and folly. These desires cause us to take advantage of others rather than be generous; they cause us to lie so as not to have to help another; they cause us to lose friendship rather than be welcoming…

In today’s Gospel, we hear how many of the disciples of Jesus could not fully understand or accept Jesus’ teachings about the Eucharist “to eat His Body and drink His Blood if we want eternal life.” Jesus confronted them on their beliefs. And we saw what many did, they left Jesus and followed their own ways. We might say, we are confronted and questioned by Jesus every Sunday when we have to decide to go to Mass or sleep in…

Some great men and women leave their memoirs to posterity. Others leave libraries and still others leave monuments to their achievements or teachings. Jesus was the only great spiritual figure to leave His “flesh to eat” and “His blood to drink.” These words in today’s Gospel may astonish us as it did his first disciples. But let us understand Jesus’ motivation. He didn’t want to just leave a message but to leave something to concretely demonstrate His love for us.…

A few years ago,we started and ran a very prayerful and successful Elijah Cup program to pray for vocations in the Church. Covid stopped that. We are re-instituting the Elijah Cup program this September. We are all aware of the need for vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate and to the religious life. But sometimes we forget just how powerful praying for an increase in vocations can be. If we pray with the faith of the widow of Zarephath (1…

In today’s Gospel we hear the story of the miracle of feeding the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. That’s all that young boy had and he offered it up to feed the multitude. They left it in the Lord’s hands to feed everyone. I think of this miracle a lot when I am preparing my homily for the weekend. What do I have to offer to feed all the people with different feelings that day who…

Today’s Gospel is all about Jesus being the shepherd to His people. It reminds us of Jesus being the great teacher, not only teaching us but showing his care and concern for us all. Jesus told his disciples to take time for themselves at a deserted place for them to rest. Yet, the people who recognized them went ahead of them and gathered before them to learn. When they arrived, they saw the crowd. Jesus instead welcomes them and becomes…

One of the most profitable endeavors today is rental garages. As soon as one opens, each unit is immediately rented out. When we first opened this Church, I rented one of those garages since I had no rectory to store my belongings. After two years we built a rectory and I emptied this garage. Despite not using anything from this garage in two years, I moved all its contents into the rectory. I guess, I like everyone else tend to…

Pope Francis has emphasized that all baptized Christians are “missionary disciples.” This means we are to speak the truth of God in love to the world and witness to that truth by our lives. In today’s first reading, Ezekiel was told this would not be an easy task. These words might be said to us today as well. In fact, our society is becoming increasingly hostile toward Christianity and its teachings. Just like in Ezekiel’s day, many today resist the…