The Good Shepherd

This is a topic that we can talk about at any time because we are called to listen to the voice and follow in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd. We heard that beautiful passage over the weekend, John 10:11-18. Jesus says to us, "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." In my homily over the weekend, I focused on the Good Shepherd and also tied in my role as the shepherd of God's people. The Priest magazine had a beautiful commentary for this weekends readings. The opening line of that commentary spoke volumes, especially to me as a priest: "If Jesus is the model shepherd, then the priest must be a model sheep" (The Priest, 30). Later on, the commentator writes this: "We know that priests, by virtue of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, act in the person of Christ when leading us in worship and sacrament. A priest always remembers - or should remember - that to act in the person of Christ does not make him Christ. Sheep are led, but they will follow only a voice they trust. What do we want from our priests? What we want is for our priests to shepherd us, to lead us to Christ, just as a shepherd leads his flock to green pastures. (The word 'pastor' means 'shepherd)" (The Priest, 30). In turn, I asked the people for two things. First, I asked for their forgiveness. I know that I am a sinner. I have failings, shortcomings, weaknesses. Maybe I have offended someone by something that I said, was not nice on the phone, or hurt people by decisions that were made. We never know unless people tell us but I want to be open with them and seek their forgiveness. Secondly, I asked the people for their prayers. I pray for them daily and I hope that they do the same for me. I need the grace and strength of God to be a pastor, a shepherd to those entrusted to my care. We have a beautiful example in Jesus Christ who is the Good Shepherd. As a priest, if I am going to be a shepherd to the people, I need to show them the example of what it means to follow the One who calls us by name. Like that commentator wrote, we as priests need to be model sheep in following the Good Shepherd so others can learn to follow him as well. As we begin this new week, the Diocese of Salina rejoices in the ordination/installation on May 1st of our new shepherd, Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger. Please keep him in your prayers as he begins his new ministry in our diocese. Let us continue to pray for our priests that they may be good shepherds and model sheep. Let us pray for one another as we journey through life and faith together! God Bless You!!!

Call to Conversion!

"Conversion is a life-long process." That is a phrase that I remember from the Foundational Theology course that I took in the seminary. In fact, I received a good grade on the oral exam because that was one of the phrases that I used since the instructor was wanting to know what we learned from the course. I use that phrase often because we are always growing, always learning in the ways of faith. We all have our conversion stories. God touches our lives in a special way and it helps us to grow in our journey, to truly be better individuals and disciples. I have had two experiences over the years, the recent one being last year, where I truly believe God was sending me a message. I was out one evening in June riding my bike and I was about two miles or so out of town when I blacked out and went down hard on the pavement. Thankfully I was out so I don't remember the impact. Up to that point I had been praying for a renewal of mind and heart. God has always answered that prayer before but this time He got my attention in how it was answered. I know something happened on that road out there because I was out maybe 10 or 15 minutes before I came to. I was transformed, I was renewed and that is something I need to hold on to everyday. The passage from the Acts of the Apostles 9:1-20, which is read on this Friday in the Third Week of Easter, is one of my all time favorites, the conversion of Saul. As he was riding to Damascus, Saul encountered the risen Christ and he was knocked off the horse that he was riding. God had a special plan for Saul, who along with his conversion, changed his name to Paul. Saint Paul is one of the great evangelizers of the early Church. His example continues our theme of evangelization. God had a plan for Paul and He has a plan for all of us. We need to be open to God working in our lives and listen to the call to conversion because it will truly change our lives. Who knows, our example just might touch the lives of someone else. God Bless You in your journey!!!

Keep Evangelizing!

On April 25, the Church celebrated the Feast of Saint Mark! He was a disciple and an evangelist and we pray that his intercession will help us in our work to evangelize. Today we have another example of evangelization and it can be considered an early form of Bible study. In our reading from the Acts of the Apostles, 8:26-40, the Angel of the Lord leads to Philip to come in contact with the Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch was reading a passage from Isaiah which stated, "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth." The eunuch was interested in who this person might be so Philip opened his mind to understand the passage and he talked to the eunuch about Jesus. Philip explained the passage from Isaiah and at the same time evangelized about Jesus Christ. As the passage from Acts goes on, when they came to water the eunuch asked to be baptized and once he was baptized, the Angel of the Lord took Philip away. The eunuch had a life changing experience on the desert route, between Jerusalem and Gaza. No matter what road we are on, we can have a life changing experience and encounter the Risen Christ in a special way. Philip was not afraid to share the Good News with the eunuch and we should not be afraid as well. The Good News of Jesus Christ needs to be proclaimed and we can do it by our words and our lives. All we need to do is, Keep Evangelizing! Have a blessed day!!!

Saint Mark

In the midst of our Easter Time, the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Mark. This is Saint Mark's biography, as offered in the Magnificat, "Saint Mark, a cousin of Barnabas, accompanies Saint Paul on his first missionary journey and later went with him to Rome. He was a disciple of Saint Peter whose teaching was the basis for Mark's Gospel. Mark is said to be the founder of the church of Alexandria" (259). This morning, I asked those gathered at Mass, "What does it mean to evangelize?" There were no responses! I said this is something that we should all know because we are all evangelizers of the Good News. We proclaim the Good News, not just with words, but with our very lives. As a faithful people, we need to put our faith into action. It can be the words that we use or the service that we provide to others. There are many ways that we can evangelize! Of course, I mentioned that evangelization is not just for priests and religious but all the people of God. Priests and Religious cannot be everywhere so we entrust others to help us in the mission. That is why Jesus chose disciples so they could continue the mission entrusted to them. I even used a statement that I heard several months ago at our clergy renewal days. "People feel that the only way to get involved is by being asked, but they don't need to be asked, because Jesus has already done the asking, we just need to respond." The opportunities abound when it comes to ministry in the Church and working to evangelize in the world and in our communities, we just need to take hold of the opportunities and go with them. The assurance that we have is that Jesus is with us at all times. He told the disciples that before he ascended to the Father, "I will be with you until the end of the age." God gives us the grace and strength that we need. We also have that divine assistance from examples like Saint Mark. Let us do our part to be evangelizers of the Good News and share the love of Christ with all our brothers and sisters! Saint Mark, pray for us!!!

The Bread of Life

Jesus says, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst" (Jn 6:35). On April 23, I focused on the First Communion celebrations being held and how our young people were filled with joy as they received the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time. Their joy is what we need at all times, especially when we receive communion, because we are truly a blessed and redeemed people. Now, we have the passage from the Bread of Life discourses, John, Chapter 6, where Jesus tells us that he is the living bread come down from heaven. To have life, he tells us that we need to eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. We follow that call each week when we gather as the Body of Christ to celebrate and participate in the Holy Mass. We are nourished and fed by the word of God and by the Eucharist, which is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity of Jesus Christ. Let us approach the table of the Lord, with mind and heart renewed, to receive the living bread for our lives are nourished and our faith sustained. God Bless You!!!

First Holy Communions!

These past few weekends have seen adults and children receiving Holy Communion for the first time. My thoughts begin with the Easter Vigil and the four adults who received their first Holy Communion. The adults were already filled with joy because two of them had been baptized and the four of them were confirmed. Receiving the Eucharist for the first time was the culmination of their sacramental journey. By receiving the sacraments that night, they became full members of the Roman Catholic Church. Then, on April 15 and April 22, the second grade students from Saint Augustine in Washington, Kansas and Saint John the Baptist in Hanover, Kansas received their first Holy Communions. The smiles on these young peoples faces told the story. They had been preparing for this time since the school year began. Those young people had already made their first Sacrament of Reconciliation so they were ready to make their first Holy Communion. As I told the people gathered for these celebrations, look at the joy you see in the faces of these young people. That is the same joy and enthusiasm that we all need because it is an honor and a privilege to receive the Eucharist- Jesus Christ- Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. As we say before receiving communion, I am not worthy to have the Lord enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. We are all sinners in need of God's mercy and forgiveness and we have received that forgiveness by our Lord's death on the cross. It is the mercy and forgiveness of God that allows us to approach the sacrament because we are not worthy. This is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is important because if we have committed a mortal sin, we need to approach the sacrament before receiving communion, but anytime the Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered, we need to make the most of those opportunities so that we can receive our Lord with a pure mind and heart. Our young people are a good example for us because they have approached both sacraments in their journey of faith and they received the Body and Blood of our Lord with joy and enthusiasm. No matter how long it has been since our own first communions, we need to have that same joy and enthusiasm, even though we know that as the years have gone by, we have hopefully grown in our Catholic Faith. We congratulate our First Communicants and ask God's blessing upon them. May God Bless us as we approach the sacraments because they are life-giving and faith-sustaining. Have a blessed day!!!

The Face of the Lord

This is a beautiful title to think about. Just as the psalmist says for us this weekend, "Lord, let your face shine on us" (Ps 4). We know that the Lord looks upon us with great love and mercy. The psalmist recognizes that when he asks the Lord to hear and answer his prayer. Even the entrance antiphon encourages us in our call to the Lord: "Cry out with joy to God, all the earth; O sing to the glory of his name. O render him glorious praise, alleluia" (Ps 66:1-2). Do not be afraid to call on the name of the Lord and to trust in his presence at all times. The gospel gives us hope for this weekend, Luke 24:35-48. Jesus once again appears to his disciples and they are afraid. Our Lord reassures them with his greeting, "Peace be with you." Then he goes on to ask, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself." By his greeting of peace, Jesus is reassuring the disciples that he has truly risen and they do not need to be afraid. They need to get away from the locked doors and go forth and announce the good news to everyone. We are a resurrection people! We are disciples of Jesus and witnesses to his resurrection. Even though we have not seen him, we do believe! May the gospel that we proclaim, with words and deeds, guide our brothers and sisters in their journey, so that they will not be afraid, but have hope to call on the name of the Lord and seek his face. Have a blessed weekend!!!

Remember the Cross

On this Friday, in the midst of Easter Time, we cannot forget the cross. To get to the resurrection, Our Lord had to go through the cross. To some, the cross may be seen as instrument of punishment, suffering, and pain, but to those who believe, the cross is the "Tree of Life." That is what Saint Basil tells us by this quote: "In the resurrection the counsel of nations, of Pilate and his soldiers, and of whoever was active in the matter of the cross was brought to nought" (Magnificat, 207). They thought the death of our Lord would end all that he lived and preached and even the disciples would disband, but that is not the case. Jesus, as he promised, has broken the bonds of sin and death. His death on the cross has won for us our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins! Each Friday we remember the cross but we need to each day of our lives because as disciples we are called to carry the cross and follow in the footsteps of our Lord. With the cross comes resurrection and new life. Let us not be afraid to pick up and carry our cross because the Lord is with us at all times. We always know, as the song says, that one day we will exchange our cross for a crown! Have a blessed day!!!

Open Wide the Doors!

Back at the turn of the Millennium, 1999 to 2000, the Church had declared a "Holy Year," with the theme, "Open Wide the Doors to Christ." Parishes were encouraged to have a holy door that could be opened for the occasion. I was the associate pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Hays and I had a doorframe designed that could be used for the holy door. What a great joy it was to open the door for the new year and open the door to the proclamation of the gospel. I think about that time when I listen to the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, 5:17-26. The Apostles were thrown in the public jail because of the message that they were preaching. During the night, the Angel of the Lord appeared and open the door of the jail and had the Apostles go back to the temple area. Can you imagine the look on the authorities faces when they discovered the Apostles were gone and were back preaching the Good News? This shows that the word of God cannot be contained or confined. The gospel is meant to be proclaimed, not just with words, but with our very lives. Open Wide the Doors to Christ and the proclamation of the Good News. Do not be afraid because the Risen Lord is with us at all times and he will give us the grace and strength that we need to be his witnesses and messengers in the world. Have a blessed day!!!

Divine Mercy!!!

I did not get a chance to write a blog this weekend because the wedding season started in the parishes and we had our first of two First Communion celebrations, so it was a busy time for sure. On the Second Sunday of Easter, we celebrated the Feast of Divine Mercy. This is a topic that we can talk about any day of the year and most importantly, MERCY is a gift that we need to live everyday. As I told the people gathered over the weekend, "Just think how different the world would be if we lived the gift of mercy everyday and shared it with one another." I am sure there would be a different landscape across society if we did this. Of course, living the gift of mercy has to begin with us. We may not be able to change the world but we can change the communities in which we live and the family that God has given to us. As Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote, "Mercy consists in bringing a thing out of non-being into being" (Magnificat, 106). Jesus Christ is our supreme example of how to live mercy. He treated the people that he encountered with love, compassion, and mercy. We pray for that grace to be merciful to one another. I would invite you to focus on the image of Divine Mercy. Jesus standing there with the red and blue rays coming from his heart. This is the image that Saint Faustina Kowalska, the polish nun who was canonized in the early part of this century, had of our Lord. It is a beautiful image and it gives us hope, knowing that our Lord loves us so much. We have that divine assistance with the prayers of Saint Faustina. May the Divine Mercy touch our lives and our hearts so that we can grow in the gift of mercy and share it with others. Saint Faustina, pray for us!!!

Fishers of Men

Jesus continues to appear and give his disciples the reassurance that they need as they proceed with the mission entrusted to them. In our gospel for today,
John 21:1-14, we see a different scenario developing. Instead of going out and preaching the Good News about the Lord's Resurrection, the disciples- Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James, John, and two others, decide to go fishing. We know that for some of the disciples fishing was their trade before the Lord called them. Now it seems that they are going to what they know. Once again, the Lord intercedes by appearing to them on the shore and even performs a miracle for them. Jesus asked the disciples if they caught anything and they told him no. He tells them to cast their nets to other side and what a catch they make. The gospel says that they hauled ashore 153 large fish. We are told that none of the disciples questioned Jesus on who he was because they knew it was the Lord. We are reminded that when the disciples were called Jesus told them that they would be fishers of men. That call is still ours even today. Our Lord wants his disciples to continue the mission entrusted to them and proclaim the Good News that he has risen from the dead. We continue to cast our nets for a catch and we are catching people. We are helping them in their journey of life and faith. Do not be afraid!!! Stick to the mission the Lord has given us and we will surely make a great catch! God Bless You!!!

Reassuring Presence!

During this Octave of Easter, we see Jesus appearing to his disciples to let them know that he is alive and to give them that reassuring presence. Yesterday, the disciples on the road to Emmaus encountered the risen Lord and they came to know him in the breaking of the bread. Today, Luke 24:35-48, Jesus appears to the disciples to reassure them. However, at the beginning, they were terrified because they thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus reassures them by saying that it is I and he shows them his hands and feet. He even ate a piece of baked fish in front of them. Then, Jesus gives them these reassuring words, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things" (Lk 24). The disciples have witnessed the resurrection of Jesus, now they are to proclaim the Good News. That is the mission entrusted to us in our present day. We are a resurrection people, we are a redeemed people, and this is the way of life that we need to live and share each day. As Jesus reassures the early disciples, he reassures us in our faith, and we need to reassure one another, because Jesus, as promised, is always with us until the end of time. God Bless You!!!

The Road To Emmaus!

In these days of the Octave of Easter, we continue to meet the risen Christ. The risen Lord is appearing to his disciples to give them hope and assurance that he is alive. Luke 24:13-35 is our gospel for today and it is very powerful. Two of Jesus' disciples were traveling on the road to Emmaus when they encountered the risen Lord, even though they did not know it was him. They said that their hearts were burning as Jesus opened the scriptures for them, but they truly recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread. We receive those opportunities each time we participate in the Mass. We encounter the risen Christ in the Eucharist because it is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. Belief in the Real Presence is a key component of our Catholic Faith. That faith extends to believing that the tomb is empty, Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead. This is the great news that we can live and share every day of our lives. I remember hearing a homily, I believe on television, from Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York talking about one of his pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The tour guide asked the cardinal if there was anything else he would like to see and the cardinal responded that he wanted to see the Road to Emmaus. The tour guide said that he could not do that because they really don't know where that road is. However, according to Cardinal Dolan, we do know where that road is. The road to Emmaus is any road that we travel down because we encounter Christ in a special way and we are able to make Christ known to others. As the journey on the road to Emmaus changed those early disciples, so may we be changed as we walk down our road to Emmaus, because the risen Christ is with us each step of the way! Have a blessed day!!!

The Risen Lord is with us!!!

This is the good news of great joy that we live with everyday, the Risen Lord is with us. No matter what is going on in our lives, what crosses we have to carry, the Lord is with us. In our gospel for today, John 20:11-18, Mary Magdalene is at the tomb weeping. She bends over to look into the tomb and she sees two angels sitting there. They ask her why she is weeping. Then another voice asks Mary why she is weeping and it turns out to be the risen Lord. Mary recognizes him only when he calls her by name. The Lord calls all of us by name to be his disciples. Here is a wonderful thought for us, "With Mary, we may seek the Lord, weeping when he is not to be found in prayer, in worship, in our daily round of activities, only to come upon him in the most unexpected of places and discover that he has been there all along. It was we who did not recognize him. As he promised, our risen Lord is with us always" (Magnificat, 46). Let us rejoice and be glad, for the Lord is truly with us! Have a blessed day!!!

Happy Easter!!!

A Happy and Blessed Easter to you!!! Easter Triduum in the parishes were wonderful celebrations. Our parish communities welcomed four new members at the Easter Vigil. The Easter Sunday Masses were also beautiful celebrations with a good number in attendance. As I told those gathered, "The glory of the resurrection is what we celebrate every Sunday!" This is a beautiful time of the year for us and we thank God for the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, who is truly risen from the dead. Amen! Alleluia!!! At the Easter Masses, I shared this quote from our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, and it seems to sum up our Easter celebration very well: "Faith in the Resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered. Through Jesus we do know 'the room where exiled love lays down its victory.' He himself is this place, and he calls us to keep this place open within the world so that he, the exiled love, may reappear over and over in the world... God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed" (Magnificat, 249). The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the beauty of our faith that we live and share everyday! Blessings to us during this Easter Time.

Easter Triduum

After these days of preparation during the first part of Holy Week, now we are ready to enter the Easter Triduum. These days will lead to the culmination of the liturgical year with the great Solemnity of Easter. I hope you have the opportunity to attend the Mass of the Lord's Supper, the Commemoration of the Lord's Passion, and the Easter Vigil in your respective parishes. This is a beautiful time of the year because these events recall the salvation that has been won for us by the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord. Make the most of this time and let it guide you and your faith in the days ahead. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to be our Savior and this is the way that we have been saved. God's Blessing to you and yours as we journey through the Easter Triduum and prepare for the glory of the resurrection that is to come!

Holy Week

The Church has arrived at the holiest week of the year. We are preparing ourselves to celebrate the glorious Solemnity of Easter and the Resurrection of the Lord. Our observance began on Palm Sunday the Passion of the Lord, which is the title found in the Third Edition, Roman Missal. The commentary in the Ordo even focused on the passion of Jesus. It said that the passion of the Lord dominates these days of Holy Week. In fact, what we mark on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of Holy Week takes precedence over all other celebrations. These are important days for us as we prepare to participate in the events of the Easter Triduum. I hope many of the faithful will have the opportunity to attend these beautiful Masses and services in your respective parishes. In a special way, we pray for those Elect and Candidates who will be joining the Church at the Easter Vigil. For all of us, these are days of prayer, reflection, fasting, and penance. If you still need to attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation please do so because we need to enter these days and the celebration of Easter with mind and heart renewed. This is a busy week for our priests and all involved in the ministry of the Church. Let us pray for them and let us pray for one another that this time of Holy Week will be a meaningful one for us because we live in hope and God's great love each day! Have a blessed Holy Week!!!