Today I celebrate my friend, Fr. Gregory Coiro, OFM Cap. He was a good priest; the best I have ever known. And while I cannot imagine him getting canonized, I am quite certain of his holiness. He gave so much in the hope that we, his brothers and sisters, might "ascend the mountain of the LORD". And I know that even now he is doing everything within his power to help us find our way into our Parent's "holy place". Yes, blessed are we. So with joy and love I say, Brother Greg, pray for us!
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
"You love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made." None of us is ever truly lost. We wander through swamps and deserts. We deserve the warnings and rebukings that come our way. But not a single one of us is ever so deplorable as to find themselves abandoned by our Parent. Each and every being on this planet is a beloved child of our one God. May this truth pierce your heart and soul in these final days of our presidential contest, that you too might loathe as your Creator loathes.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
"The Lord hears the cry of the poor." But do we? Do we truly listen to them, or are we too busy turning them into objects for the fulfillment of our own needs and desires? The poor are not here to provide us with wisdom or opportunities for self-improvement. Such endeavors might allow us to feel better about our privilege, but let us never confuse them with justice. Life is a cosmic lottery. Some of us win, and some of us lose. One way or another, our Parent will take care of the latter. The rest of us have some choices to make: Will we recognize our good fortune? Will we freely and generously share that bounty with our neighbors? Will we humble ourselves before our family, or must God do it for us?
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Have we not remained faithful? Have we not been persistent? So where is our speedy justice? Where is our divine assistance? Despondency is easy when life is viewed through the eyes of the world. But we are called to see things through the truth of love. And from that vantage point, grace surrounds us: in the form of enemies ripe for transformation into friends; in the form of siblings standing shoulder to shoulder with us in solidarity; in the form of nature reminding us that our family is much bigger than a tribe of talking monkeys; in countless forms of wonder and beauty we can barely comprehend but who leave their marks on our hearts and souls. This is the help our Parent provides. And while it might not satisfy worldly demands or desires, it does guard what matters most, now and forever.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
"Master! Have pity on us!" One way or another, we Americans are soon to get the president we dearly deserve. Pride. Greed. Envy. Anger. Lust. Gluttony. Sloth. We created a culture that revels in each of the seven deadly sins. And in just about a month, we shall reap what we have sown. We are unclean: our nation, our leaders, ourselves. Will we wallow in that muck; gleefully, mournfully, apathetically? Or will we be bold enough to reject false deities and to cry out to our Parent for healing? And if cleansing comes, can we remain faithful, or must we return to the delusion of the saving power of politics? Yes, let us "sing to the LORD a new song", for we are in desperate need of their "wondrous deeds".
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
"Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord." Yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. As long as we are human, we will give birth to ruin and misery. Sometimes, this is the product of greed and envy. But oftentimes, it is the result of a lack of patience in our Parent's vision; for in our rashness to help the kingdom along, we inevitably replace God's plan with one of our own. We are neither masters, nor builders, but merely servants, and unprofitable ones at that. And therein lies our greatest freedom: our Parent does not expect us to end evil and suffering; that is their work, not ours. No, our obligation is to love our siblings as best we can, no more, no less; and then to trust God to do wonderful things with that love. That is a faith that sings joyfully. That is a faith that moves mountains in hardened hearts. That is a faith that brings forth eternal life.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
"Woe to the complacent in Zion!" It is doubtful that anyone reading this actually identifies with the rich man. We are people of God, not Pharisees. We "pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness." We would never knowingly ignore Lazarus or his kin. But none of that lets us off the hook, for we are just as susceptible to complacency as are the gluttons and the hedonists. There will always be more oppression and hunger than we can ever possibly satisfy. We know better than most that our Parent is the only one who can meet our siblings' needs. So it is easy to convince ourselves that we are giving enough, helping enough, doing enough. But an ivory bed is an ivory bed, no matter how well-meaning its occupant. Let us challenge ourselves ruthlessly, so that when we meet Lazarus and his kin, we can honestly tell them that we did our best to be good brothers and sisters.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
"Never will I forget a thing they have done!" Let these words burn into your soul, that they might haunt you both in the voting booth and long after election day is over. Ask yourself honestly, "Whom will my candidate serve?" And if the answer is something other than our Parent and our family, then what? A retreat into the comforting arms of "lesser of two evils" logic, "chicken or fish" rationalizations, and/or "best of bad options" strategies? Or a step down the painful path of voting one's conscience? No, the politics of mammon will not be altered by a single vote, but your soul can certainly be transformed, for better or for worse. So examine your ballot and ask yourself honestly, "Whom will I serve?"
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
These are probably not the readings we would like to hear this day, but perhaps they are the ones that we need. They set a mirror in front of our souls and dare us to be honest about what we see. Have we been faithful to our Parent and our siblings these past fifteen years, truly faithful? Or have we become a collective version of the Prodigal One, full of arrogant certainty that we know better than the Divine? How has that worked out for us, or for our family? Is it everything we dreamed it would be as we cried ourselves to sleep at the end of that September day? Or have we woken up to find ourselves sitting in the muck like the swine? How can we rise up unless we admit that we have fallen down? Is today the day for truth, or do we need another decade? Yes, it is good news that God is very patient.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
God first. That is the path of discipleship. To those enamored of the empire of the here and now, such a request is cruel and unusual. But to we who seek our refuge in the kingdom, how could we exist any other way? How could we not hate the timid human notions of family? How could we not renounce the burdensome weight of mammon? Yes, we are hypocrites and failures, who remain ever ignorant of our Parent's intentions. But we hunger for our cross, and that has made all the difference.
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