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21 Jun 2015 - Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Late that day he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?” Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, “Quiet! Settle down!” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?” They were in absolute awe, staggered. “Who is this, anyway?” they asked. “Wind and sea at his beck and call!” (from Mark 4). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014 ); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

Sea Storm

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Exploring the word

25 Dec 2011 - Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Cycle B

For everything there is a season, an ancient Hebrew sage once told us. The season of Christmas, which lasts for eight days, is surely a time for love. God shows his delight in the human race—yes, us: weak, faltering, faulty, disobedient, and disappointing as we often are. The gift of God born into the world for our sake, Wonderful-Counselor, God-Hero, and Prince-of-Peace, comes undeserved and undeservable! All we can do in response is to say thank-you with full and grateful hearts. This is also a season for peace. As heaven and earth are reconciled in the birth of this child, don’t you suppose we on earth could do a little more to cultivate peace among ourselves? Christmas is a time for forgiveness. Jesus comes to save us from our sins. Isn’t it time we let go of a few old grievances, let a few old enemies off the hook? Emmanuel comes to be God-with-us, the generous self-offering of the Creator to creation. Will the presents we give one another under the tree suffice to answer that gift? Love covers a multitude of sins, we’re told (1 Peter 4:8). Because most of us have a few sins that could use covering, why not resolve in this Christmas season to do this one simple thing: love more fully and completely? To answer the great gift of divine love with our love in return? In his helpful little instruction The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence wrote that we should resolve to do each task out of love, however humble it is. We should pick up a leaf from the kitchen floor with love, he says. Because when we’re motivated by love, things change. Our hands grow gentler, our eyes softer, our words become tender and kind. Without love we’re likely to be careless, thoughtless, abrupt, insensitive. We may give offense without meaning to—and that’s to say nothing of when we actually mean to. But when we act from love and respond in love, our relationships thrive, our hearts expand, and the light in us shines before all and draws others forward into its brilliance. If we want to change the world, really make a difference in the entire scope of human history, we don’t have to invent something new. We can simply offer something so ancient it’s primordial: love. A single person motivated solely by love transforms everyone around him or her, like Francis of Assisi, Paul of Tarsus, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, or Mary of Nazareth. Try it for one day—this one Christmas day. Wash the dishes in love. Answer the doorbell with love. Smile at total strangers for love’s sake. Bear hardship with love. And the Word will become flesh in this world all the more, through you. Related scripture links Music in scripture: Exod. 15:1-21; Judg. 5:1-31; 1 Sam. 16:14-23; 2 Kings 3:14-15; Ps. 149; Eph. 5:18-20; Col. 3:16 Creation story: Gen. 1:1-31 Shofar usage: Exod. 19:16, 19; Josh. 6:1-20 John and Jesus strike a chord: Mark 1:2-4, 7-8, 14; Matt. 3:1-2, 7-12, 4:12, 17 Catechism links Music: CCC 1156-1158 Prologue: CCC 240-241; 291; 423; 456-463; 525-526; 720; 2466

Authors Alice Camille

seasons Love Peace Christmas

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Homily stories

13 Jul 2014 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

FOR MANY, last winter was one of the worst in recent memory. We had experienced colder temperatures and deeper snows, but the sheer tenacity of this past winter—it just didn’t want to let up—wore a lot of us down. Seniors were shut in for weeks. Cars stalled. Arms broke in slippery falls. That and more repeated week after week from Thanksgiving to Easter. Scarves covered faces, eyes were cast down. We shared little or no contact with each other as we hurried through the elements. But somehow we knew that springtime would come and summer follow. Deep bulbs and seeds were first to show through the soil, some planted years before, our perennial favorites, survivors of the bitter cold. Some seeds we planted after the last frost, flowers and vegetables to grace our table and fill our souls, tender shoots in small gardens and windowsill pots, growing signs of the ebb and flow of life. It is summer we are enjoying now, maybe even complaining about the heat. As in nature, the seeds of faith in us lay dormant and then spring to life over and again in the same way. That’s God’s way.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

Hope patience seasons

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Do not be afraid

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Funeral: Death of a young person by violence; early loss Sometimes a ragged hole opens suddenly in the world and those we love vanish and we are left bereft and sobbing. No one knows why this happens, but it happens every hour of every day. It happens so suddenly and shockingly that we grope and grasp for God, we beg God to explain, we rage at God for allowing such horrendous loss, we are hammered and haunted, we lose faith and energy, we cannot imagine ever laughing and hoping again—but then we come to this moment, today, when we are gathered in memory and prayer, the moment when we must decide how we will celebrate N.'s life. This moment, today, is the fork in the road for us all: Will we be born to joy, that our loved one is embraced and enfolded and in peace in the incredible limitless light and love of God? Or will we continue to dwell in despair at his unthinkable vanishing?" This moment, today, is the fork in the road for us all: Will we be born to joy, that our loved one is embraced and enfolded and in peace in the incredible limitless light and love of God? Or will we continue to dwell in despair at his unthinkable vanishing? For he is not lost. He is not gone. Who he is cannot be quenched or killed. He is himself, holy and unique, the one N. ever made in 10 billion years and never to be made again in the billions of years to come. He is a gift that can never be taken away. His body is gone, those lanky limbs, that quick grin, that quirky humor, that bark of a laugh, that unfailing energy, that unconscious generosity, that astounding gentleness, those battered sneakers—but what he was is not who he is. He is alive in the country of the Lord who made him, who gives life eternal, life that does not end. You will remember that Pope John Paul II had a favorite line from Jesus, a line His Holiness used again and again and again over the years, in every conceivable venue and context: Do not be afraid. And that is what I say to you all this morning. Do not be afraid of what has happened to the boy we love. Love him more than ever. Love him more deeply. Tell his tales. Carry his message. Share his stories. Speak of him at the table. Speak of him to children. Bring his laughter back into the house. Keep his life in your hearts and your mouths, for only by silence and bitterness and forgetfulness will you cease to pray for his soul. Every story you tell of him is a prayer. Every laugh is a prayer. Every tear is a prayer. You will say it is too soon to rise to joy for N. You cannot bear to touch his clothes, to see his room, to see the gaping holes in the hearts of those who loved him. But I say to you that the road ahead of you will diverge, and on the one road there is only the despair of loss and the darkness of sadness, and on the other road there is a growing and mysterious sureness that he is at peace, his soul has found refuge and rest, and he is more alive now than before, more than we can possibly imagine or dream or conceive. That is the message of the Christ, and he is right. Life defeats death, hope defeats despair, light defeats darkness. In my Father's house there are many mansions (John 14:2), said Jesus, and death is only a door to those miraculous mansions, and N. dwells there in the heart of the Coherent Mercy that sparked us into being and holds us in his hands until everything is gathered again to him in the end. Our joy for N. must be, on this day when roads diverge, that he has run on ahead of us into the Light. Our final act of love for him, our final way of loving who he was when he was among us, is to let him go now, let go of our despair at his death, our anger at God, our horror at his disappearance, and be filled with joy that he has come to the country where there is only love. Do not be afraid. We will see him again, we will see him as he truly is, the unquenchable N., and you will know him and he you, and that will be holy beyond our ken. Tell his tales. Share his stories. Carry his message. Pray with joy. Do not be afraid.

Authors Brian Doyle

funeral Death of a young person by violence John 14:2 loss of a child early loss loss of a loved one to disease

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Questions of dignity

21 Dec 2008 - Preaching the News for Sunday

On a Sunday where pregnancies are front and center in the gospel, Catholics have received new guidance on ethical questions related to human life and procreation. The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) released "Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of the Person)" on December 12. Ethical questions related to a key "life issue" are at center stage in Britain as well, provoked by a TV documentary that broadcast footage of an assisted suicide, including the moment of death. Craig Ewert, 59, a former university lecturer from the United States almost completely incapacitated by motor neurone disease, chose to end his life rather than endure the "nightmare" symptoms, his wife Mary said. "If I go through with it, I have death," Ewert told an interviewer. "If I don't go through with it, my choice is essentially to suffer and to inflict suffering on my family, and then die." The Ewerts allowed his 2006 death at a Swiss clinic to be filmed. Footage was shown in Britain last week on the Sky channel. A spokesperson for the channel argued that the coverage was intended to promote public debate, but others attacked it as a ghoulish form of entertainment. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, "I believe that it's necessary to ensure that there is a never a case in the country where a sick or elderly person feels under pressure to agree to an assisted death or somehow feels it's the expected thing to do. That's why I've always opposed legislation for assisted deaths." Opinion polls in Britain, however, suggest that a majority of the public, and of the churchgoing population, believe that individuals should be allowed an assisted death in very limited circumstances. They say it is cruel to force someone to go on living against their will in the face of great pain and suffering. Source: Articles by ekkelsia.co.uk and theprovince.com (Canada). The text of Dignitas Personae can be found at www.usccb.org/comm/Dignitaspersonae/.

great britain gordon brown motor neurone disease dignitas personae congregation for the doctrine of the faith craig ewert assisted suicide dignity

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A number of teens have a beef with meat

18 Jan 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians reminds readers that the body is a "temple of the Holy Spirit" in this Sunday's second reading. Apparently a growing number of teens--at least one in 20 in a recent survey--have decided that meat does not belong in the temple of their own bodies and have become vegetarian. Some attribute the rising popularity of the practice to graphic online videos on YouTube of animals being slaughtered for meat. According to a survey from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 367,000 teens, or one in 20, follow a diet that is either vegetarian or vegan. Vegetarian diets exclude meat, but the name is sometimes loosely applied. Some self-described vegetarians eat fish or poultry on occasion. Vegans cut out animal products of any kind, including eggs and dairy products. Other surveys suggest the rate could be four to six times as high among older teens who have more control over what they eat than younger teens do. Anecdotally, adolescent vegetarianism seems to be rising in part due to YouTube animal slaughter videos that shock the developing sensibilities of many U.S. children. But there isn't enough long-term data to prove that, according to government researchers. Information on children's diet habits in the CDC survey was gleaned from about 9,000 parents and other adults speaking on behalf of those under 18. "I don't think we've done a good job of counting the number of vegetarian youth, but I think this is reasonable," Amy Lanou, a nutrition scientist at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, said of the government estimate. She works with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a vegan advocacy group. Vegetarians say it's animal welfare, not health, that most often causes kids to stop eating meat. "Compassion for animals is the major, major reason," said Richard Schwartz, president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, an organization with a newsletter mailing list of about 800. "When kids find out the things they are eating are living animals-and if they have a pet . . . ." Source: An article by Mike Stobbe for the Associated Press

Children jewish vegetarians of north america physicians committee for responsible medicine amy lanou vegan cdc centers for disease control youtube meat vegetarians teenagers richard schwartz

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A memorable breakthrough

01 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul's counsel to members of the early church in Corinth this Sunday is designed to help them adhere to the Lord "without distraction." Scientists studying how cells store memories in the brain may be on the verge of being able to help us complete many tasks without distraction. The difference between the brain's long-term and short-term memory has been likened to the RAM and hard drive of a computer. To perform normal functions we need the ability to store, quickly and reliably, large amounts of data, but only a small amount of that information needs to be retained for the longer term. Scientists have spent decades working out which parts of the brain are responsible for these functions and how cells manage this feat. They found that a particular component of the cells in question, a chemical receptor, which, when switched on, tells the cell to start an internal signal system that holds the "memory" in place. The next step, they say, is to find out more about this internal system so that it could be targeted by drugs with the aim of improving memory. Dr. Don Cooper, a lead researcher, said: "If we can identify and manipulate the molecular components of memory, we can develop drugs that boost the ability to maintain this memory trace to hopefully allow a person to complete tasks without being distracted." He said that that could potentially help people addicted to drugs by improving the ability of their brain to ignore impulses. Possible applications in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease are also seen. Source: An article by the BBC

cells memory brain distraction alzheimers disease

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Slip-sliding away

01 Mar 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

God promises Noah that "the waters shall never again become a flood." But scientists studying global warming in the Antarctic warn that worldwide sea levels may rise much more quickly than previously projected, causing widespread flooding. Antarctic glaciers are melting faster across a much wider area than previously thought, they said Wednesday. Previously most of the warming was thought to occur on the narrow stretch pointing toward South America, said Colin Summerhayes, executive director of the Britain-based Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. But satellite data and automated weather stations indicate otherwise. "The warming we see in the peninsula also extends all the way down to what is called west Antarctica," Summerhayes said. "That's unusual and unexpected." The biggest west Antarctic glacier, the Pine Island Glacier, is moving 40 percent faster than it was in the 1970s, discharging water and ice more rapidly into the ocean, said Summerhayes. The Smith Glacier, also in west Antarctica, is moving 83 percent faster than it did in 1992, he said. All the glaciers in the area together are losing a total of around 114 billion tons per year. "That's equivalent to the current mass loss from the whole of the Greenland ice sheet," said Summerhayes. Source: An article by Eliane Engeler for the Associated Press

global warming flooding antarctica glaciers colin summerhayes scientific committee on antarctic research pine island glacier smith glacier

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Eight is more than enough

08 Mar 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

God promises Abraham abundant descendants in this Sunday's reading from the Book of Genesis. The recent and widely reported birth of octuplets in California, however, is sparking concerns that fertility clinics nationwide may be ignoring federal guidelines with regard to embryo implants. The tabloid-friendly tale of Nadya Suleman, the so-called California "Octomom," continues to stir debate. Although the doctor who supervised in-vitro fertilization for Suleman, 33, is regarded by many in the field as having violated professional norms, U.S. health records indicate a large majority of fertility clinics disregarded implant guidelines in 2006, the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune reported. Citing data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the newspaper said 80 percent of U.S. fertility clinics in 2006--the most recent year for which records are available--did not follow embryo implant guidelines set in 1999 by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. "Assisted reproduction is a multibillion-dollar business," Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland said. "Like other commercial enterprises, it needs rules." Along those lines, a Georgia state senator introduced legislation this week to limit the number of embryos that can be implanted in a woman's uterus during in-vitro fertilization procedures in that state. Sen. Ralph Hudgens said his legislation was inspired by Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets after reportedly being fertilized with six embryos. Suleman had six children at the time the procedure was performed. State lawmakers in Missouri are considering a similar bill. Source: Articles by United Press International and CNN

georgia missouri center for genetics and society marcy darnovsky us centers for disease control and prevention in-vitro fertilization nadya suleman embryo implants fertility clinics octuplets ralph hudgens

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Don’t repeat yourself

15 Mar 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's reading from the Book of Exodus admonishes the people of Israel not to make images for themselves of "anything in the sky above or on the earth below." Monday, before signing an order to lift restrictions on federal funding for research on existing lines of embryonic stem cells, President Obama promised that he would ensure the government never "opens the door" to human cloning. Obama said he was ending what he believed was "a false choice between sound science and moral values," adding that the research shows great potential and that "with proper guidelines and strict oversight, the perils can be avoided." The U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference criticized the move and the Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano newspaper ran an article on Tuesday reiterating the Catholic Church's position, which holds that embryos must be considered human beings. The article did not directly mention Obama's decision but said that protecting embryos should be "the basis of a real democracy, capable of recognizing the equality of all men and of avoiding any unjust discrimination based on their development or health." The president's support of embryonic stem cell research comes at a time when advances have been made with other sorts of stem cells that may soon overshadow embryonic stem cell research. The Japanese biologist Shinya Yamanaka found in 2007 that adult cells could be reprogrammed to an embryonic state with surprising ease. This technology "may eventually eclipse the embryonic stem cell lines for therapeutic as well as diagnostic applications," a commentator said. For researchers, reprogramming an adult cell can be much more convenient, and there have never been any restrictions on working with adult stem cells. Source: Articles by Nicholas Wade for the New York Times and the Associated Press

barack obama federal funding embryonic stem cells research us catholic bishops' conference l'osservatore romano shinya yamanaka

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