Sitting in the airport at Brussels feeling somewhat lost, until I read the gospel thus morning telling the story of the Good Samaritan. A too familiar tale that has become domesticated: we know it too well and it’s impact is blunted. An enemy, a Samaritan, caring for his enemy , a Jew, in s most extravagant manner. He went way beyond all expectations as the wounded Jew’s own countrymen avoided him like a leper. How can I be a neighbor, not just to to an enemy but a stranger?

In this strange airport I encountered a young man in one of the shops sold  me an adapter for my I Phone. I actually forgot to put one in my carry on, while having a half dozen in my checked backpack. This  young salesman went out of his way to help me, even offering to charge the phone himself. I walked out of there with a spry in my step. Kindness goes a long way, transforming a stranger into a neighbor. And I haven’t even started walking yet. What stranger in your life can you transform into a neighbor, if even for just a moment in time?

Buen camino

Fr. Frank

St. Therese of Lisieux discovered her vocation, her path through life: the way of love. God callled her to be Love in the heart of the Church. This young woman,  who died at the age of 24, gave the world her “little way” which is to experience God in the most ordinary moments of life. And in each of these moments we can choose the path of Love, to experience God in “washing the pots and pans,” to borrow an image from Teresa of Avila. 

Therese of Lisieux is patron of missionaries, those followers of Christ spreading the Good News around the world. In truth, EVERY disciple…YOU are a missionary wherever you live. We are all on a mission, leaving our homes and entering the workplace, the school, the store, the neighborhood with a mission of being the presence of Christ and speaking His gospel in ways people can receive. 

Pray for those who are about to be missionaries on the Camino to Santiago. May these pilgrims walk the “little way” of Therese, the way of Love. 

Buen camino. Fr. Frank ​

Spent a lot of time yesterday at REI with a fantastic store helper who opened my eyes in how to best load the backpack. I’ve done this twice before and learned about compressing those items that can be compressed, getting out the air pockets. So much easier to pack and the weight is distributed more evenly making for a much easier walk. 

But it was his recommendations about not taking some of the items presently being packed. I eliminated almost one pound of excess baggage, which is unbelievably significant. Lightening the load, so to speak, letting go of unnecessary baggage makes for a wonderful journey. 

Pilgrimages are metaphors for life itself. Letting go of the interior baggage lightens the load…and the spirit. We all carry too much internal baggage, in the form of: painful memories, anger, fear of change, not meeting others’ expectations, not forgiving oneself or another. Let go!!! Make the journey through life lighter. Walking with a heavy heart or walking with a joyful heart… dragging one’s feet or walking with a bounce in your step…what do you need to let go of…

Buen camino. 

Fr. Frank

On this feast of St. Peter Claver (1581-1654 A.D.) we remember a beautiful man who was a precursor, of sorts, to St. Teresa of Calcutta, recently canonized by Pope Francis. Peter Claver was burn in Spain, became a Jesuit and was sent to Columbia to minister to the poor, particularly the African slaves. He and his fellow Jesuits went to the docks as the ships carrying the slaves anchored. They welcomed these human beings, treated like chattel, as if they were Christ…and they were Christ. 

Peter and his companions bathed them, tried to heal them of their many wounds and diseases, clothed them with the garments of compassion and lifted them in spirit as children of God. Peter, himself, became a “slave to the slaves,” a poetic phrase that “rents” the heart of us who contemplate his life. Hearts that are “rent” are hearts that allow the mercy of Christ to  flow and fill in the crevices of loneliness that run deep in the human heart. May we become servants, “slaves” of today’s impoverished, poor, refugee, immigrant. May our hearts be “rent” as these  beautiful human beings become the instruments our salvation. 

Peace. Fr. Frankjohn 

Jesus delivers a strange twist in the Parable of the Wedding Feast. The initial invitation of the king is ignored by all for various reasons. So he invites those from the byways and outer reaches of the kingdom, and many come to the feast. However, one man entered the banquet hall and he is harshly questioned by the king about his attire…he isn’t dressed properly and he gets thrown out only to be tortured!!! Does this sound like Jesus? Much like last Sunday’s gospel :”I have come not to bring peace but division.” Jesus can say the most perplexing things, reminding us if the dangers of literal interpretations that fail to see the context and placement of the story or verses. 

Jesus clearly does not  care how we are PHYSICALLY dressed, within reason, of course, but he does care how we are clothed SPIRITUALLY. Right after we are baptized we are “clothed” with a white christening garment, symbolic of our “clothing” ourselves…our souls… with Christ. We “put him on” just like we put on a coat or a shirt.  The man who was thrown out was not clothed properly in his heart and spirit. 

We must “cloth” ourselves with the garments of humility, compassion and mercy. We can’t “dine” in the Kingdom without hearts transformed. Bring “dressed to the nines,” so to speak, means nothing if our hearts aren’t clothed properly. 

Peace. Fr. Frank

Today’s gospel tells the story about a man who wants certain security in this life by growing more and more crops and building larger barns to store them. The voice of God…the Voice of reason and truth speaks to the man, “Why are you doing this? Why are you putting so much stock in your possessions and in your futile desire to control your destiny? Your very life will be required of you this very day and to whom will all your possessions go?”

Well, you might say his children will benefit, but don’t “bank” on that transaction: families are torn apart over who gets what and how much. Legal wills are frequently contested. The man in the story was really concerned about his own future…his own 4012K and other IRA’s of investment. There’s that word: investment. His investments focused on what HE could see and control and these investments are fleeting and evaporate in the blink of an eye. Invest your life in sacrifice. 

Where your treasure is…that’s where your heart is. The man in the story grew rich in what is material  and his heart became rooted in these temporal realities. Foolish…plain and simple. He was rich in things and not love. 

The happiest people in the world  root their hearts in giving, forgiving, creating beautiful memories for others, making a difference, being kind and surrendering to the love of God. Their hearts are filled with treasures that they CAN take with them when they breath their last. We don’t need larger barns or more storage lockers to collect things we truly don’t need. We are called to give life away, not store it for our future security. 

The photos are storage “barns”‘in Galicia, Spain on the Camino. 

When we hear the word “nativity” we usually think of Christmas, a particular feast and season in late December. But the “nativity” has a much deeper and far-reaching mystery that penetrates every moment of every day. The nativity celebrates and remembers the moment the Word was made Flesh in the womb of Mary…”incarnate of the Virgin Mary” as we pray in the Creed. Nativity is not simply the birth of Jesus but the Incarnation, the Word assuming body, blood, and soul united to Divinity. When the Son entered into our history through the humanity of Jesus, ALL of creation, including every human being who lived, is living and will live, is blessed and made holy. 

Many churches, including St Teresa of Avila in Chicago, have a permanent shrine of the Nativity, always visible and venerated, because the Christmas mystery, the Incarnation, is celebrated every day. The nativity celebrates  the very beginning of our Redemption and Transformation….Easter celebrates the fulfillment of this New Life. 

Each one of us conceives Jesus in the womb of our souls when we Love… And when that Love is EXPRESSED in an act of charity or justice, we give birth to  Christ: IN THE FLESH!!!! Yes, Nativity is a living, daily event when the connections are made between our prayer and the expression of prayer. 

A theory of science teaches that creation began with a “Big Bang,” an explosion energy. Out of the womb of Mary…in a tiny village of Bethlehem …with little fanfare… in a smelly stable surrounded by animals… was born Jesus. And in this moment, an explosion of divine love and energy ignited a new humanity, that is slowly and painfully becoming a new creation restored in the very Image of God. In the heat and humidity of July… A Blessed Nativity. After all, five months from today is Christmas!!

Suggestion: have in a visible place in your home, a crèche that is never “boxed” away. 

Mary wasted no time. After the earth shattering news that she was to be the mother of the messiah, she gets up and leaves to “visit” her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth was considered barren( what an awful word) and too old to conceive. With God, things seem to happen beyond hope and expectation. 

Mary didn’t consume her time worrying or fretting about her future and all its overwhelming potentials. Mary refused to close in on herself and be filled with fear and anxiety. She went “out of herself ” and did something to help someone in need: she “visited” Elizabeth to help her in her pregnancy. When we close in on ourselves, we become trapped listening to those horrible worn our tapes, telling us that we may be in trouble or we won’t make it or stay put where it’s safe. 

The solution: visit someone!!! Leave your home or pick up the phone and contact someone who could use a spiritual lift. Small acts of charity and service can completely change our inner disposition. 

Peace. Fr. Frank

The annunciation is the moment Mary was visited by Gabriel, the archangel, “announcing” the joyful news of Christ’s birth. This scene has been depicted in so many ways over the centuries, making it one of the most  artistically expressed biblical scenes. One stands out in my estimation by, I believe, an African American artist. Mary is not depicted in the usual way, bowing in submission to Gabriel, surrendering to the message. In this portrait, Mary is sitting on her ruffled up bed, slumped over, looking perplexed. A light is shining through a window-like opening in the wall , symbolizing Gabriel, illuminating a pondering Mary. 

God enters our lives unexpectedly, frequently in the guise of human angels, announcing that we are to give birth to the Kingdom at that very moment. It might be a smile, an act of charity, a prayer for a stranger, speaking the truth in a compassionate manner, seeing Christ in a discarded human being or one who seems “foreign.” 

Mary gave birth to Christ; each one of us is called to do the same. Each and everyday is “pregnant ” with possibilities of birthing Christ. The annunciation is an everyday mystery waiting for you to just notice. Better yet: perhaps God is calling YOU to be a human angel “announcing” Good News to someone who so desperately needs a message from God…through you. 

Peace. Fr. Frank

Today’s first reading relates the calling of the fiery prophet Jeremiah. This powerful preacher initially told God to go elsewhere because he felt he was too young and not able to communicate the message. Basically, God told Jeremiah to stop making excuses and accept the challenge. God would give him everything he needed to preach the Truth. All be needed to do was TRUST that God would be his constant companion. 

Jeremiah surrendered and became one if the most powerful prophetic preacher in all of Scripture. He preached a message that was roundly condemned by those in authority, making Jeremiah despised and his life threatened. He is the one who ended up being thrown in a cistern (well), alone, at the bottom of a  dark, danky and muddy well. He had to have wondered where God was as he faced rejection after rejection. But he endured and became stronger and more humble. 

Following God’s calling frequently is not very comfortable because the values coming from the Gospel are not readily supported by our culture. We can always find reasons to delay responding , or simply refuse to say “yes” to God: we’re too young, too old, we have too many obligations, it’s too late, we’re not strong enough, yada…yada…yada…

How is God calling YOU? What needs to change in your life? NOW is the time. One comforting truth: if you take up the challenge, you will NOT end up at the bottom of a water well. 

Peace. Fr. Frank