HOMILY: FR JOSE RUBIO, SEPTRMBER 24, 2023

"It just doesn't seem fair, does it? We have on our hands a landowner who does not play by the rules. We have a landowner, a symbol for God, who is so generous that he seems reckless. The workers who show up for one hour get paid the same wages as those who work for twelve hours? It reminds us of a student who shows up only for the last day of class and receives an "A." It reminds us of a new employee who works for only one year and receives full retirement. It just doesn't seem fair. What kind of justice is this, we ask? This parable is not meant to be a practical guide on how to run a vineyard or a business or a classroom. Instead, it is a story about grace. It is a story about workers who grumble about generosity and about grace, of all things. When we translate this parable about workers in the vineyard of a generous landowner to an illustration about God and the kingdom of heaven, well . . ."  Read the entire text (



June 25, 2023 Sunday Homily:

Rev Jose´ Antonio Rubio
St Thomas Aquinas Church, Palo Alto
(TMC Celebrant, 9 am Mass)

"We do our best. We do our best, first by becoming aware of the sin and evil in our world and then by committing ourselves to do what we can." 

Read the Homily (HERE)
 
 

Homily: March 26, 2023 

Fr. Jose Antonio Rubio

"The last time we heard this gospel reading (John 11:1-45) was in March of 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. Since then, there have been many deaths: 6.5 million worldwide and 1,000,000 in the United States from COVID 19.  

There have been other deaths in our country as well. First, the casualties of gun violence, in 2022 there were 20,138 deaths from shootings (excluding suicides) and, in 2021, 20,726 deaths. In 2022, 332 people were shot in K-12 schools. Then there was the recent tragedy in Nashville, three children and three adults shot......."

Read the rest of the homily (HERE).


Fr. Xavier Lavagetto Sunday February, 19 Homily

"America wants to be great again, but it all looks like a power grab and Payback. We easily ignore Jesus' words!  .... Dr. Martin Luther King was right 'Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows'..."

The sermon notes are posted (HERE)
 

Video Link: Fr John Pedigo's Homily, January 15 Sunday Mass at St Thomas Aquinas Church, Palo Alto. (HERE)

Scrool Down to Jan 15.

Don't forget to turn your volume up if necessary!

Fr. Rubio Homily of October 23, 2022 

"We are called to judge situations not persons. We are to make the judgment about how we will vote (Proposition 1) but not to judge those who vote differently. And, as Christians, we are called to respect all people, regardless of their views. This is part of what being pro-life means.
To protect life means to respect all life, the lives of those with whom we disagree.     (And today: all life, including all sentient creatures as we pollute and endanger all life.) "

Read the whole text (Here)


F. Kiriti Homily of October 16, 2020

"Answers to prayer does not depend on us.  No.  Prayer is meant to help us remain in relationship with God. We have a God who loves us, who listens to us. What we go through is not a punishment, we are not subjected to it because he does not love us."

Read the whole text (Here)

Sunday Homily From Mass On May 22, 2022 (Here)

"Throughout the history of Christianity, the Holy Spirit has been guiding the Church to a new understanding of the meaning of scripture for our times and of what is truly of the essence of Christianity. Slavery is another example"

Fr Jose Antonio Rubio






Fr. Xavier Lavagetto's Oct 17 Homily

Don't think Jesus' surffering purchased forgiveness. The language of purchase, ransom and redemption is not about paying off our sins. And it is most certainly not about trying to persuade the Father to forgive us.....The Father sent him to forgive God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)"

Read the entire text (Here)

Fr Larry Percell's Homily of October 10, 2021

"There have been times during my life when this Gospel has made me very uncomfortable. I have wondered if my response to God has been generous enough. But I was reassured when I read that God’s invitation to each of us is always particular, that is, it takes into account our real circumstances."

Read the complete text (Here)

Sunday Homily June 20, 2021

Like the disciples, we have all, at one time or another,
had the feeling that we were sinking, especially, perhaps, during these times of the pandemic, and like the disciples, we may have thought that Jesus was asleep and did not care.. But he does care.....

Fr. Jose Rubio 6/20/2021

Read the entire homily (here)


Fr Rubio's  Homily for Sunday July 25, 2021 9 am  Mass

"I state the principle. I explain church teaching but I do not judge those who in conscience do not follow it, nor do I refuse them communion if they decide to receive communion after I have explained the principle. I do not know all the circumstances that went into their decision."
Fr. Jose Antonio Rubio

Read the Homily (here)
 

Sunday July 11, 2021 homily. 9 am Mass.
Fr Larry Percell

"Sometimes when we engage with those we strongly disagree with or even oppose
We run the risk of adopting their tactics and becoming like them
And when we do that, we shed more heat than light on our issues of concern
To avoid that, we have to remember we are Christians 1st . not republicans/democrats 1st
And we have to remember whose we are (beloved children of God)"

Read the whole text of the homily (here)

Fr Purcell's Sunday July 14, 2019 Homily 
(As spoken)

I can think of no timlier parable to engage with today than the Good Samaritan, given the images that we have seen on television and on social media. Scenes of small children terrified when being forcefully taken from their parents. Held in cages with unsanitary conditions and inadequate food. A picture of a drowned father  and daughter face down on the banks of the Rio Grande. We look at these pictures and hear the scribe's question "And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus chooses not to answer the question----instead he tells a story. The point of the story to the scribe is he is asking the wrong question. Jesus and the scribe both knew that in Lev 19:18 neighbor was restricted to one's fellow countryman, although it could also be extended to a resident alien without documents in our times. But Jesus puts this question to the scribes question. "W hich of these three, in your opinion was neighbor to the robbers' victim?  The question is not who is my neighbor, but rather who am I called to be neighbor to? My Neighbor is anyone who needs mercy and compassion!

When the Samaritan came upon the victim, he was moved with compassion at the sight.  The Greek verb used for being moved with compassion was not emotional empathy. Remember, the new testament was written in Greek. This Greek verb means to be moved physically from one's innermost bowels. It is like saying that seeing the victim's condition made the Samaritan sick to his stomach.

The same verb was used to describe Jesus' reaction to seeing the widow in Nain. As she walked behind the coffin of her only son who had died Jesus too was moved with compassion, moved physically. He knew her grief as well as the life that await her without a husband or a son..

Catholic social teaching acknowledges a nation's right to have secure borders. But that right must be tempered by the greater right of human dignity and compassion. When you have competing rights, the greater right must take precidence, and Jesus made the greater right abundantlyclear earlier in the very same Gospel. Luke 6:36 (NJB) says:   Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate.  Compassion is to suffer with another --- their suffering becomes ours. St Paul said " When any member of the Body of Christ suffers, the whole body suffers.

Looking At the signs of our times, I think one call to holiness in 2019 includes praying and acting with compassion, relying on the grace of God in all circumstances and , decisions and then taking action so, if we feel sick to our stomachs by what is happening at our southern border or by any other abuse of human dignity, then we know how God feels.

As Christians our foundation is Jesus Christ!
We are governed by the principles of humanity, gratitude, and solidarity!








 

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Fr, Purcell's January 13, 2019 Homily on Christ's Baptism 

Full Text as Spoken:
The Baptism of the lord is recounted in each of the four Gospels but is treated differently. Matthew and Mark describe the event, Jesus coming up from the water the holy spirit descending in the form of a dove and the voice from heaven. In John’s gospel the Baptist testifies to what he alone saw at Jesus’ baptism. Today Luke does not describe the baptism itself but what happened after the baptism. After Jesus was baptized and was praying. As he was praying the holy spirit descended in bodily form like a dove and a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased.” The suggestion is that only Jesus heard the voice. In Luke’s version, while at prayer, which Jesus does a lot of in Luke’s gospel and we’re going to be hearing a lot of Luke’s gospel for the rest of this year, this voice was a confirmation for Jesus of who he truly was. God’s beloved.
 
Now, he could begin his public life and ministry to bring God’s plan of salvation to fruition. Now he could begin to preach the good news. All his followers could form community and face his opposition. All this could happen because Jesus knew in his bones that he was God’s beloved. And that is precisely which gives him the freedom to follow the Holy Spirit. Well, we might think, isn’t that nice for Jesus, but whenever we celebrate the mystery of the life of Christ (today we celebrate his baptism) we are told to participate in that mystery and follow him in a unique way. Todays gospel lays out the pattern for all our lives. At our baptism God looks at each one of us and says. “You are my beloved daughter or son”. If we have grown up with love and care, it is easier to know in our bones that God loves us. If we have grown up with a lack of love or even with abuse or neglect of some kind, it is a lot more difficult, but not impossible, to accept that God loves us. God wills our belovedness to be the fundamental identity from which we live our lives. That is where our self-worth comes from and the freedom from disordered attachments. Freedom from wealth, from power, prestige, freedom from searching for love in all the wrong places. Hence the freedom to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead and not the world’s lead.
 
Last week the majority of the United States’ bishops gathered for a retreat in Mundelein, Illinois. The Pope’s preacher called them back to basics. That their call is to serve and not to be served. That they are shepherds not CEOs. Shepherds called to protect the vulnerable, not the institution. That they are God’s beloved too, who can be free from attachments, to titles, honors and riches. So that the decisions they make are based on the Spirits promptings and not the promptings of the world. That must be the basis for their correcting the sins and errors of the past and restoring trust in the church. Being God’s beloved is the basis of our self-worth so that we know in our bones our values come from what God values and not what the world values. This can give the freedom to follow Spirit’s need in our lives, to witness to Jesus in our words and deeds to show others that they too are Gods beloved. To care for others who came because of treatment they have received from a harsh world. A world that treats people as if they are commodities who are expendable. The big question for the church in 2019 is this:  How do we let the holy Spirit lead us forward? It is a question for the whole church. For bishops, for clergy and for laity. Our area of responsibility may be different, but we all need the freedom of the children of God so that we can be Christ for others.
 

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Fr. Larry Purcell's 11/11/18 homily on the preferential treatment of the poor.

Full Text

The Overarching story of the Bible is God's compassionate mercy and justice to the vulnerable and the needy.  In 1968 the Latin American bishops met in Medellin, Columbia and called that aspect of Gods mercy God's preferential option for the poor. That was the year before Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, was ordained a priest. Therefore, it is no surprise that he has an intense love for the poor and feels that the preferential options for the church should also be the poor.

Today we have two more examples of God noticing and reaching out to those who need God most. Widows were among the most vulnerable people in the society of biblical times.

Elijah is a Jewish prophet; the widowed mother is a gentile.
Unlike the belief of her people that their gods' power was limited to their national boundaries, Elijah's God has no such limits -- and so she trusts the prophet and his God'. And God greatly rewards her faith and trust, and her hospitality in such dire straights.

The plight of widows is mentioned twice in today's gospel.
First Jesus denounces some of the scribes who have cheated and misused the funds of widows that had been entrusted to their management following the death of the husband.  In a sense they were the religious trustees of husbands' estates.
The very ones who should have defended and protected widows' rights took advantage of them.  In the second  scene Jesus laments religious system that took from widow who deserved to be helped.

The readings speak to a particular cultural and religious systems at the time of Jesus.
But they don't let any of us off the hook in the 2lst century.
The readings call us to imitate God's compassionate mercy and justice to the vulnerable and the needy. They call us to examine how generous we have been in offering ourselves to God's service, especially to least/overlooked, like widow who wouldn't have been noticed except by Jesus.

In our time someone who notices the poor and the needy is Sister Carol Keehan.  She is a Daughter of Charity who has been the CEO of CHA [Catholic Health Association] since 2005 and she has announced her retirement next year.  When she became CEO, one of the first things she did was to become expert in Medicaid Law, because Medicaid was and is the primary way that the poor receive their healthcare -- AND -- It is highly doubtful the Affordable Care Act would have passed in 2010 without her support.  Her courage and insight put her at odds with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who opposed Obamacare.
President Obama was so appreciative to her, he gave her one of pens he used to sign the ACA into law.

I'm worn down by politics and politicians and I’m glad the midterms are over -- but now what? Despite our fatigue, it is important for Church and for us Catholics to have a voice in the Public Square.  Our generosity is important, but it is not sufficient to address the root causes of poverty in our country and society.  Societal solutions and intervention are also necessary. Not just the generosity of individual purse strings.
During his ministry Jesus frequently said: Let those who have eyes, see and those who have ears, hear.  In baptism we have been given the eyes and ears of Jesus.
We might ask ourselves: Do we see the poor around us with the eyes of Jesus? Substitute for the word poor: sick/refugee/prisoner on death row. Do we hear their cries do we see their plight?

What are the causes of poverty and suffering in our community? In the struggling nations?  What can I and my church community do to address these conditions and improve the welfare of the poor, so that the poor are not treated as invisible but rather are loved like God's chosen ones. So, our efforts go on our voices need to be heard and we need to take action.

Fr Rubio's Homily for September 23, 2018 

 

What are we to do with the sex abuse scandal by priests that is currently affecting the church? First of all, it seems to me, it is not helpful to blame the culture or blame society. It is not helpful to say that sex abuse occurs more frequently outside the church than inside the church or to say that it happens in other churches and religions as well. It is not helpful to say that sexual abuse is committed by soccer coaches, swim coaches, gymnastics coaches, sports doctors, gynecologists, teachers, and so on. This is because, as our bishop stated in his letter on the scandal, “we are held to a higher standard.” We, priests, are held to a higher standard.

It seems to me that what is needed is a frank discussion by the whole church of what I see as four key issues in this scandal. And, I’d think that unless these issues are openly discussed, nothing will change. These four issues are: clerical privilege, celibacy, a homosexual subculture among the clergy, and the role of women in the church.

First, clerical privilege. This is the idea that a priest is a special person who has a right to certain privileges, that priests have, by reason to their clerical status, access to privilege and power with the ecclesial community and that they are therefore exempt from accountability. This sense of entitlement prevailing among some ordained man could be conducive of exploitative behavior. As the Me-Too Movement has shown, when people have power and feel unaccountable, abuse happens and those without power are abused.

The second issue that needs to be discussed by the church as a whole is celibacy. Admittedly, the majority of sexual abusers are married man and are abusing family members. Nevertheless, it would seem that when there is no natural way to express affection and love, the desire turns abusive.

St. Paul counsels celibacy in his first epistle to the Corinthians:

I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he made please the Lord. 33 But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, 34 and he is divided. I am telling you this for your own benefit. . .for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction. (1 Corinthians 7:32-35)

But this is not my experience. I know many married men – some of them sitting in this church – who are totally dedicated to their wives and children and totally dedicated to the things of the Lord. And I know celibate priests who are not totally dedicated to the things of the Lord or about how they may please the Lord. Again, I am not saying that celibacy causes pedophilia, but I am saying that the idealized culture of clerical celibacy and clerical privilege has allowed it to hide there for a long time, and, when there is no natural way to express physical affection and love, the desire can turn abusive.

Third, we need a frank and honest discussion about a hidden subculture of homosexuality that exists within the celibate Catholic clergy. Again, I do not in any way want to imply that homosexuality causes pedophilia. It does not. The reality is that in our society the majority of the perpetrators of sexual abuse of minors are married, heterosexual men who are abusing young girls, many of them members of their own family. But, among Catholic priests the majority of the victims of sexual abuse are young boys. Again, when there is no acceptable way to express physical affection and love, the desire can turn abusive. If one is truly celibate it really doesn’t matter whether one is heterosexual or homosexual.

And celibate priests who are gay should not feel they need to hide something about themselves. In my opinion, the issue of sexual abuse of children by priests will not go away until there is a frank and open discussion about the issue of homosexuality in the Church, as painful and as difficult as it may be.

Finally, we need to discuss the role of women in the Church. This is a bigger discussion and one that needs to include members of other religions since there are no women clergy or their equivalent in Islam, orthodox Judaism and orthodox Christianity, Mormonism and many other faiths, as well as Catholicism. And even many Christian denominations that ordain women in the United States and Western Europe do not ordain them in third-world countries.

Women clergy are a new phenomenon in Protestant denominations. For example, the Episcopal church (ECUSA), which was one of the first denominations to begin ordaining women, did not begin ordaining women until 1974. But in those brief 40 years, there is a visible qualitative change in the attitude of male priests. The experience has been positive for those Protestant denominations that ordain women.

So, I think that no solution to the sex abuse scandal will be found until there is a frank discussion of clerical privilege, celibacy, homosexuality, and the role of women in the Church.

But what are we to do here?

We need to be truthful and insist on the truth. For Jesus, this was his purpose for coming on earth. He tells Pilate, “for this was I born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 16:37)

And we need to insist on that truth in our families. Nothing should be secret in a family. Truth will out, always, and when it does it is always worse. It’s my experience from the time I was a child. When I tried to hide something from my parents they always found out and it was always worse than if I had told the truth from the beginning. This is what happened with sex abuse; dioceses tried to hide it to avoid scandal. But when the truth finally came out, as it always does, it was much, much worse.

Finally, we need to be convinced that the Church is not the clergy. You are the body of Christ. You are the Church and you have done nothing wrong. Which is why to ask you to pray for forgiveness seems so wrong when you have done nothing wrong. Those who have committed abuse should pray for forgiveness, not you.

We cannot see the church as consisting only of priests and bishops. The church is much more than that. There are 1.2 billion Catholics and only 600,000 priests, less than 1⁄2%. We need to place our faith in the 1.2 billion; that’s the Church. Above all, the Church is all of you who, Sunday after Sunday, come to be nourished by Christ’s saving word and were trembling hands to be nourished by his body and blood, the food that sustains us so that, despite the failures of our leaders and, more importantly, despite our own failures, we can be faithful to our God and to his Christ and to his Church which is this vast community of sinners is hoping for forgiveness and resurrection.

 

Fr Lavgetto's Homily for Sunday August 19, 2018

 

I wanted to speak about the Eucharist … but I would be putting my head in the sand if I didn’t speak about the shame of priestly and episcopal behavior, that shame of the few that tars the many! … One is traumatized yet again!

It is no consolation that most of these events in Pennsylvania happened long. It just hit the press later than California cases.

It feels so lame to say how much has changed in educating, protecting, reporting, handling, and referring to civil authorities.

It is so maddening, when bishops are not held accountable. … It is not enough to have a diocesan mechanism if we don’t have a national mechanism for bishops. … So when was the last time you wrote the Apostolic Nuncio or the President of the Episcopal Conference.  

But sadly, even with all the press coverage, it is not reported enough, or do you really imagine that it is only Catholics. We will not come to grips with the problem if whole slices of society are under-reported. Our reaction is to shame, shun and punish. … but when are we going to be educated for maturity? …

One in ten children are sexually abused before 18; 30% are perpetrated by family member, (that’s 50% if the children is under six); 15% are abused by a teenager. There is this ray of hope, child sexual abuse has declined 47% since 1993, but it is still 1 every 8 minutes. I can’t imagine the wound that such betrayal inflicts. When will we strive to heal? … When will proactively educate. Psycho-sexual maturation is left to chance.

And that’s the problem! … We think that all God wants is for us not to mess up; he wants us to become! … The Church’s older tradition is not just prohibition, but character formation. Vice is only really conquered by the corresponding virtue!  It is not enough: not to lie or steal, when will embrace honesty? When do I become the virtue? … There is a major difference between scarring people to be good and truly becoming good! What habits of the heart, what virtue do you need to embrace?  

And that brings us to today’s Gospel. How is it that so many receive the Body of Christ, yet do not become the Body of Christ. … Sacraments are not magic; they are realities to be engaged and lived if they are to become real in us. 

We’ve being reading the Bread of Life discourse in John’s Gospel. Last week we were told that you partake by believing. This is not merely thinking that the Eucharist is the Body of Christ, it is enacting in our ways of seeing, feeling and acting.  

One rabbi said that if he believed Jesus was in the Eucharist, he’d never leave the church. …  What if you believed, not with your head, but with the core of your being that you hold you hold Jesus, humanity and divinity in your hands? That he becomes your flesh!

But do we really believe? If someone should say: “I love you”, and you say, “Yeah, yeah,” that expression of love won’t do you much good. You have to entrust yourself to it, dwell in it, enact it.

In confession, I receive God’s absolute and total mercy … but if I use confession to merely assuage guilt, I’ve only gone part way. … How many in the light of God’s generosity then commit to be radically forgiving! How many people even take the time of enjoying being forgiven?  

Today’s Gospels tell us, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” … Eat is a tame word; literally it means “gnaw.”  It is the action of the starving getting at the very marrow. For those who see, communion is a mini-incarnation in you; his flesh flows through your blood and becomes your flesh. Everything you feel; he feels.

Don’t walk out of this Church and forget that you are the Body of Christ. Walking tabernacles! …  If we had a greater sense of his presence in us, it would be much harder to injure, disrespect, abuse anyone. … 

It is not enough to simply receive communion. Life given must become life lived. Let me say that again: Life given must become life lived. Paul urged us today, “Watch carefully how you live, … making the most of the opportunity.” Yet we can miss the opportunity of to enact the grace we receive, the opportunity of each other. 

Don

 

Fr. Larry Purcell's Homily on Sunday June 10, 2018, 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Rejoice and be Glad

I recently attended ordinations in our Cathedral Basilica of St Joseph. Three married men were ordained deacons on 8/19 and a little over a week ago three single men were ordained priests. Bishop PJ (McGrath) told the three men about to be priests, people should feel better leaving your presence than they did coming into your presence. People should feel better leaving your presence than they did coming into your presence. I think he intended that message for all the priests present; all the lay ecclesial ministers present and the entire people of God, because we are all ministers of the gospel by virtue of our baptism and confirmation. 
 
When he became pope in 2013, Pope Francis said he hoped for an end to the cultural wars within the church and within our world and he hoped too, for the beginning or the expansion of a culture of compliment. He wants people’s first contact with Catholics not to be one of judgment but one of respect, interest, and shared humanity. Although we may have differences based on race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexual preference, political affiliation, profession, economic status, and on and on. We share a common humanity and we are all children of the loving God.
 
Gaudete Et Exsultate, Rejoice and be Glad, is the Popes exhortation on holiness and if you haven’t yet read it, I strongly encourage you to do so. It’s a very purposeful experience, to take some time with it. In that exhortation, Pope Francis offers five expressions of love for God and neighbor as an anecdote to the culture wars. Perseverance, patience and meekness, number one. Number two: Joy and a sense of humor. Three: Boldness and passion. Four: Recognition that human progress happens in community and fifth: Constant prayer. Those are the five expressions of love that he encourages us to.
 
Jesus met people where they were and called them to become their better selves. This was true of the woman caught in adultery, Zacchaeus the tax collector, and Simon the Pharisee who snubbed Jesus when Jesus was a dinner guest in his home. Healing and forgiving sin made Jesus extremely popular with the sick and with the sinner, and extremely unpopular with the experts of the law, the scribes, and, as we heard this morning, with his own family. The scribes were engaged in a kind of idolatry, divinizing their opinions and refusing to allow God. or anyone, to break through their minds and broaden their vision. This is what’s called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because we are not allowing God to be God. That God could possibly have a new revelation, a different way of communicating and relating to the human family.
 
The family intervention that we heard this morning, as they tried to storm the house and grab Jesus and drag him back to Nazareth was aimed at getting him to get back to normal. Give up your mission. But Jesus was not aligning himself with the religious culture of fundamentalism or with his family culture... that our people don’t make waves. Instead he was aligning himself with the poor, the outcasts, and the people on the margins, those who were prevented by the prevailing political and religious culture from experiencing their own inherent human dignity. The outcasts felt better leaving Jesus’ presence than they did when coming into it.
 
 
So what are we to do? We are to reject the culture of exclusion and judgment and precondition. We are to reject the culture of playing it safe, instead we are to accept the culture of Jesus, which listens, respects, accompanies and serves. If we do this., people will feel better leaving our presence than they did when coming into it, and we will be the mothers, brothers, and sisters of the Lord.

Corpus Christi

(The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ)

This feast day occurs on the first Thurday after the Holy Trinity but is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Holy Trinity. The day, in the Catholic tradition,  features a colorful procession in which the Eucharist is contained in a monstrance and paraded in public. The Feast celebrates the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  Learn more (Here)
 

Monsignor John Sandersfeld's Homily on the Feast of Corpus Christi, 6/3/18 TMC 8:45 am Mass

Monsignor Sandersfeld related the story of his earlier years at a parish in San Francisco where there had been an efficient and unfeeling method for giving out assistance. On one occasion a supplicant came to the door seeking a room for the night and was handed a chit for a hotel room. The man said, “Aren’t you going to invite me in? You don’t even know my name!” He handed the chit back. The man was invited in and there ensued a heartfelt conversation and a single relationship was begun.
 
He went on to say in part:
….The bounty that God has created in us, his invitation to share that with others can go wasted. And we might ask as disciples,  ‘when did we see you hungry and did not feed you? When did we find you thirsty and did not give you drink? When did we find you in prison and did not visit you? And the lord will turn to us and say.. Ah when you did it to the least among us, you did it to me.  I was present in those possibilities, those situations. I called out to you...... just to stand with me to know me by my name and you failed to do that. Or we did do that.
 
We come to celebrate the body and blood of the Lord Jesus because our God said to us: Here I am, body and blood and I give you everything….. That you might see that death is not the end, but the beginning of the fullness of life. That you might rejoice with me in knowing whatever you do, you do it as one gifted by me, and the spirit will act through you to give MY Spirit to them.

There is so much that separates us and builds barriers that divide. May we as faith-filled people come to seek the common good, the relationships that bind us together. May we act with respect to one another even to the least of us, even those least able to be respected …….I think that’s the challenge as we come to ask it as a people, especially when we come together to vote or when we come to celebrate some national feast or when we come to celebrate this feast. We come because God has made us one and we know that within the community God lives. It is here in relationships that we come to finalize Gods Spirit. In caring for one another and the respect that we show each other and together we show for our world. That’s where we come to know God.
 
The Eucharist that we celebrate today is a celebration of that which God has given. He gave himself. He didn’t hold back…... As we share this prayer of thanksgiving. May we give thanks to God. May we seek through God that which we might give as a gift in return, that others might know their own giftedness.

The above transcription is based on notes acquired during the Mass. Apologies  to the homilist for any factual mistakes, misinterpretations or typographical errors.
Editor

Following is an excerpt from Father Larry Percell's homily given on the second Sunday of Easter

 

" The Irish have a notion of thin places where heaven and earth come closer. There is a Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only three feet apart. But in thin places the distance is even closer. For me thin places are experiences of touching or being touched by the divine presence."

"Today's gospel offers us a particularly thin place experience with the Risen Lord. Jesus says to Thomas 'Bring your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believe'."

"It may be that we can have a full encounter with the Risen Jesus when we touch his wounds-
When we sit with a loved one after they have been told they have a terminal illness and try to offer them comfort that no matter what the outcome we will be with them-
When our child tells us he or she is gay and we do not reject them but love them even more-
When we see a homeless person and speak to them as well as offering them a sandwich-
When we reach out to a Muslim neighbor and ask them to educate us about Islam-
When we speak out for just and compassionate immigration reform-
When we do any of these things we are touching the wounds of the Risen Jesus-

For he said whenever you do these things for the least of mine, you do them for me"

Fr. Percell presides regularly at the TMC 8:45 am Sunday Mass

Excerpts from Msgr John Sanderfeld Homily of Sunday May 6, 2018

In today’s gospel Christ proclaims it is not you who chose me but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit.
 
…..a spiritual life is not about escaping the world and its daily requirements, its about infusing life with the vision of the holy, then we begin to weave real community like a bright whole tapestry where your task hinges on mine and your job begins where mine wears thin. This is not the milling of people where each person uses the nets for personal ambition but each brings a gift to take to the rest of the world., Where your job and my job is a grand business . It is to find God. Not just dwelling in the hot suns eye, but discovering the divine in the task at hand.
 
 
The mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection is that we are called, you and I, to the fullness of life and to be in Gods presence through the Spirit and to share that with others.
 
Yesterday I attended the burial mass and reception for Sister Kathleen Healy who died recently at the age of 92. She was working in the Tenderloin in San Francisco among all the flop houses in that part of the city.. She was very bold and with a great smile, and she found no one as an enemy. She was a power in terms of the political side of that city, because she was part of the community of St Theresa’s. I returned there for her memorial and had been away for more than 30 years. I found that the community was alive and many that I had known were still there…. One of the women giving testimony to Sister Kathleen said that what she liked most was the work of the Parish. She cited the example of when the Nicaraguan revolution occurred so many escaped and came toward America seeking refuge. St Theresa was the first parish to become a sanctuary and it was because of Sr. Kathleen and Father Pete Sammon, and others that led the community to live up to Gods expectation of us. What they did was sat down with people and asked “What is the Lord is asking of us in light of this refugee crisis? What might we do here in San Francisco?” And they began to reflect on the word of God over a period of about six weeks.  Then someone said, “We need to declare a sanctuary for those coming to San Francisco. They had four people who had come to seek sanctuary at St Theresa. So the pastor set up a goal that unless 75% of the people of the Parish would vote for sanctuary, they should not do it.  They sent out a vote and 87% declared they wanted St Theresa’s to be a sanctuary. It was the way that Sister Kathleen and the parish leadership brought the people along, to see the vision that’s in the gospel. That we are all one and we need to be as one with each other and to really care for the needs of one another.
 
So they celebrated Sister Kathleen’s life with great joy, joy in what they had experienced together in meeting the hard questions of life in prayer and reflection. That they did what the Lord asked them to do. 

The above transcription is based on notes acquired during the Mass. Apologies for any factual mistakes or typographical errors.
Editor

Fr, George Aranha's homily on the current national anxiety. 
God is with even the United States: [Fr. George Aranha, former pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, celebrated the 8:45 Mass on Sunday, January 22, 2017 

This is the homily he gave and was kind enough to share—unfortunately without the lighthearted ad libs added by Fr. George during the sermon.]

First and foremost, even though I will comment on politics this morning, I am not taking sides. I am simply looking to find a connection between the Word of God and current events. Well, ready or not, it finally happened! Donald J. Trump is the 45th president of the United States. In a newspaper cartoon, among the thousands gathered for the inauguration, someone holds up a sign which reads: “Not my president”. The person in the next seat says: “Hillary, let it go”. Whether we are interested in presidential politics or not, the next four years will be very interesting and very intriguing. What are your thoughts and feelings since the inaugural last Friday? When a couple of Trump supporters were interviewed by a journalist, they were asked to say one word to summarize how they felt: one said ‘excited’ and the other, ‘hopeful’. Hillary supporters on the other hand may have had a traumatic experience of grief when they first saw the results of the Electoral College giving Donald the presidency. Grief, they say, goes through stages. Are you in denial? Do you have regrets? Are you still in shock? Are you excited about the future? Do you feel included or excluded? Are you sad or hopeful? Do you accept what is and are prepared to move on? Please share with a neighbor next to you or behind you. In our Tuesday Bible study where we reflect on the Sunday scriptures, because of the call of the disciples in today’s gospel, I asked what I called a controversial question: is Donald Trump called like the first disciples were? The immediate responses were: Was Saddam Hussein called? Was Hitler called? I could feel the shock, the ridicule and the anger in that room. Yesterday, the day after the inauguration, thousands and thousands of women and some men gathered in Washington D.C.--and in more than 600 cities in the U.S. and all over the world--to march and to protest and to say the fight will go on. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said: “Some people come into our lives as blessings; some people come as lessons!” What lessons can we learn from our experience of the last 18 months? Some people have remarked that we are today more the Divided States of America than the United States. So in our present reality we can relate to St. Paul’s message to the Corinthians. He had established the Corinthian community about 51 A.D. But several years later he received reports of divisions and factionalism, and openly immoral behavior, in this international coastal city, and aberrations even in the celebration of the Lord’s supper. Every family and every community has issues and problems. The problem of divisions within the church is one of Paul’s major concerns. Some members of the Corinthian church aligned themselves exclusively with a particular teacher or preacher of the good news. St. Paul insists that Christians belong to no one but Christ. Teachers like Peter, Apollos or Paul proclaim the Gospel—but Christ himself is the good news. The good news about America is Americans like you and me. It is not the president or members of his cabinet. They can be held accountable if, as Pope Francis has said to President Trump, they do not commit themselves to human dignity and the common good. In Isaiah the land belonging to the northernmost tribes of Israel, called Zebulun and Naphtali, were first seized by the Assyrian army in 721 B.C. Despite these powerful Assyrian invaders, Isaiah exhorts God’s people to cease seeking alliances with foreign nations for protection from invasion. Rather, they must ally themselves with the Lord alone. They must trust in the power of the Lord. The deeper lesson in this reading from Isaiah is that God is with us even in our darkness. When we walk in darkness trusting in the Lord we will rise up from our gloom and despair and see with joy the light of salvation. Isaiah describes a future king, the true son of David who will completely and totally rely on the Lord. In later centuries, as we heard in today’s Gospel, the Christian community understood Isaiah’s vision of a coming descendant of David in light of Jesus, the promised messiah When Jesus begins to preach, his first message is: “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” The literal French word for repent is repenser: to think again. With the installation of a new president, Americans are called to repent: to think again about leadership, democracy, the economy, the environment and climate change, immigration, health care for all, nuclear weapons, radical Islamic terrorism, world trade and so on. In the end, the United States is not only about the president but about every American called to responsibility and action. Just as the first disciples put aside their nets, boats and even families to follow Jesus, let us also put aside our prejudices, narrow mindedness and divisions for the good of all. In the kingdom of God all are welcome.