Posts

Posted on

The Unreachable Star?

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

– “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha; written by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion

 

I am Don Quixote.   Continue reading “The Unreachable Star?”

Posted on

Communion

Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

One of the names we have given to the Sacrament of the Eucharist is Communion. Communion is the opposite of isolation. The word reminds us that, by our sharing in this sacrament, we also share in the Lord’s very Body and Blood. Moreover, we share this as a community of faith. We are also the Body of Christ. No matter what the vocation of each one of us may be, none of us ever walks this path alone. We walk with the Lord and we walk with our sisters and brothers in Christ.  Continue reading “Communion”

Posted on

Why Mass?

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

Note: In Year B, we follow Mark’s Gospel for the most part. However, just as we reach the point where Mark will give us the account of Jesus’ feeding the multitudes with a few loaves of bread and fish, the Church switches to John’s version of that feeding. For the next five Sundays, our Gospel is drawn from John 6. Since John isn’t part of the regular Ordinary Time cycle, the Church slips his Gospel in at other times, mainly Lent and Easter. Here, it’s to give us a chance to hear from John’s theology of the Eucharist and to ponder it over the next few weeks. To help you get an overall picture, try reading all of John, chapter 6, in one sitting. It will give you a good overview and will help you situate each Sunday’s Gospel reading in its context.  Continue reading “Why Mass?”

Posted on

The Shepherds of Israel

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

2002 was an extraordinarily painful year for anyone involved in pastoral ministry in the Catholic Church in the United States. Early that year, the Boston Globe ran a series of articles describing a number of priests in that archdiocese who were accused of sexual abuse of children and teenagers – and describing how archdiocesan officials responded, or failed to respond, to the accusations.  Even though stories of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors had been appearing here and there since the 1980’s, the Globe’s reports seemed like a bursting of a dam. Finally, it seemed, someone was listening to these stories of betrayal and violation and believing them. Soon, nearly every diocese was dealing with people who were accusing some of their priests of sexually abusing them when they were younger, and accusing bishops of knowing about this abuse but trying to conceal it or to simply move the accused priest to a different parish.  It was difficult to know what hurt more: the realization that such abuse had actually happened (along with the tremendous pain it caused to the abused and their families), or the ways in which bishops tried to deny or cover up these situations.   Continue reading “The Shepherds of Israel”

Posted on

Prophets

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

When will they ever learn?         When will they ever learn?                           – Pete Seeger

Have you ever been in a boat or canoe that you needed to move  through the water by your own power alone?

If so, you may know that you can power a boat in two ways. One is by paddling – the usual way if you’re in a canoe. You sit facing the direction in which you are going. You paddle, first on one side, then on the other, and move forward in that way. You steer yourself based on what is ahead of you. Continue reading “Prophets”