Is My Phylactery Showing?: 2015

The Forge of Vocation—Feast of the Holy Family (Cycle C)

Yesterday was the feast of St. Stephen, a special day for deacons because St. Stephen was one of the first deacons, and the first Christian mentioned in scripture to be stoned—and by that, I mean martyred. So whatever connections you make between deacons and St. Stephen's being stoned I will leave on your conscience.

Today is the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, and it's a day on which the Church reflects on foremost on the Holy Family, but also on the gift of family in our lives and the role that family plays in the formation of our character.

In the first reading, Hannah names her son Shmuel (שמואל), which we pronounce Samuel in English. The name has no precise meaning but has been translated variously as—heard of God, asked of God, His name is God, or namesake of God.

Dec

Rejoice! Third Sunday of Advent (Cycle C)

Third Sunday of Advent (Cycle C)

Zephaniah 3:14–18a; Philippians 4:4–7; Luke 3:10–18

Today we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent, which is called Gaudete Sunday, from the Latin translation of Philippians 4. "Rejoice in the Lord always." Always rejoice. We depart from the somber tone of this penitential season for a bit to celebrate the light that is dawning on us.

The readings today give us our marching orders for Advent and beyond.

Nov

The Truth is our King: Solemnity of Christ the King (Cycle B)

Note: I wrote this homily as the final homiletic assignment during my diaconal formation. For some reason, even though it was not a weekend designated for the deacons to preach, I thought that I should have this ready just in case. I have no idea why since it's not common for our priests to ask us to preach that the spur of the moment. But sure enough, after the first mass I served with our parochial vicar, he told (not asked) me to preach for the next mass.

Oct

Prepare to Be Underwhelmed!

Why? Because I finally gave Holy Apostles College and Seminary permission to list my thesis in their special collections.

It's titled A Law to the Gentiles and is an analysis of St. Luke's "Sermon on the Plain." I had considered submitting parts of it to journals (reworked to stand on their own, of course).

Oct

Communication of Idioms and the Blessed Mother

On my birthday in 2010, I posted a paper of mine on communicatio idiomatum or the communication of idioms. This is a Christological concept that posits that because the person of Jesus possesses both human and Divine natures, properties of the Divine can be attributed to the man Jesus, and properties of the human can be attributed to the eternal Word.

Oct

What We Saw in Philadelphia—the Aftermath

One thing I know about myself is that I can rarely relate the impact of my experiences immediately. I often have to reflect on and mull over them for a period before I can get to the core of my experience. I don't think this is unusual for men, as we tend to put our heads down and drive through experiences, waiting until later to process. As far as evolution goes, that makes perfect sense.

Oct

What We Saw in Philadelphia—Part IV

On Day 4, we got up a little later and prepared ourselves for the crush of humanity attending the papal mass. This day would be a bit different for us, as I would be traveling on my own to a shuttle area and check point. From there, I would be taken to the Museum of Art, where I would meet with the other clergy who would would be serving.

I dropped Gina off at St. Cornelius so that she could travel in with everyone else in our group.

Oct

What We Saw in Philadelphia—Part III

Day 3 was a completely different experience, and it had its ups and downs. It was the first day that traffic in and our of Philadelphia completely locked down. Our bus was directed to the parking lot for Citizens Bank Park, and we too the Broad Street line in.

We were given orange hats with the Diocese of Boise logo on them so that we could see each other and stay together. That plan only works if people stick together, and it got blown out of the water almost immediately.

Oct

What We Saw in Philadelphia—Part II

Hey, if you're starting midstream, you might want to read this first (part I).

I saw my role as clergy on a diocesan pilgrimage as one of service to our diocese and my own parishioners. So I gave out my cell number to some of the families and tried to give people points of contact. Nonetheless, it was a chaotic couple of days, and it grew more so during the Holy Father's visit.

We had a bit of a side adventure on Friday. Originally, we were supposed to have mass with our bishop.

Oct

What We Saw in Philadelphia—Part I

Gina and I were privileged to go on pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia with a group from our diocese. Our bishop was slated to go with us, but as it turned out, he was required to be in Washington D.C. with the USCCB when Pope Francis arrived. We (meaning some people from our group, but not us personally) didn't see him until the last day of the conference.

We were blessed to be hosted by St. Cornelius Parish in Chadds Ford, PA.

Is My Phylactery Showing?

Faithful Catholic or modern-day pharisee? Sometimes I might be a bit of both.