Posts by Fr. Rich (Page 3)

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…

As fireworks light up the sky and the smell of barbecue fills the air, this Thursday we will come together as a nation to celebrate the Fourth of July. It is a day marked by patriotism, freedom, and the remembrance of our nation’s founding history. But for Christians and Catholics, Independence Day holds a deeper significance, intertwining faith with the principles of liberty and justice. The Fourth of July is an opportunity to express gratitude for the freedoms we have…

Life is full of storms. At times, they can become so strong and strange that our human strength can no longer help or support us. At such moments fear and complaining take over the central stage of our life. Even in some cases, we might lose our faith in God, thinking that He has abandoned us, or that He does not exist. These storms come in different forms. They could be problems in our marriage, our children who are not…

As we gather on this Fathers Day Weekend, we honor our Dads. We remember those who have passed as we think of the many ways they have inspired us. We pray for those still with us, so that they guide their children. Here’s a prayer in their honor. Heavenly Father, As we celebrate this special day, we think of the gift that You have given us in the form of earthly fathers. What a blessing that fathers share such an…

Today’s Gospel challenges us to face rejection with prophetic courage and optimism. Very often our friends, families, or childhood companions fail to listen to us and refuse to accept the words of grace, love, and encouragement that we offer to them because they know so much about us and are so used to us that they disregard what we have to say, if they even hear it! But we have to face such rejection with a kind of prophetic courage…

In our life, we have many things to be thankful for. These could be gifts, favors done, help offered or even a few minutes spent with a friend. We might say the Eucharist is all of that and much more. Because it is Jesus Himself seen through the appearance of bread and wine. Today we have the opportunity to spend some time with the Lord, beyond the Sunday Mass. It could be a quiet few moments or a time to…