tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29329890443852755512024-03-17T20:33:22.167-05:00Father Talks Too FastFr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-18563398586975156472024-03-10T15:45:00.004-05:002024-03-10T15:47:14.143-05:00Say Less<div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I didn't preach the parish Mass today, but I did cover the Spanish Mass in Tecumseh, so I'm just going to post the English text here. Yeah, sorry, no stumbling Spanish audio because 1) my desire for Lenten humiliation isn't that powerful, and 2) I never even considered recording it. But there are some benefits content-wise of having to switch languages. You know you'll be a lot slower. You know you can't <i>ad lib</i>. You know you can't use contemporary terms or references as much. Add that together and basically you're just allowed a little exposition and then make one point. Huh. Weird. How not-like-me.</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br />Anyway, big shout out to my brother-in-law for fixing what Google Translate gets wrong and for crafting a much more "audience friendly" work than Spanish speakers would've ever had from me. There's no replacement for true expertise. <br /><br /><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Today we hear Jesus say: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." This is from the gospel of John, chapter three.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There is one other time in the gospels that Jesus speaks of himself being lifted up. It is also from the gospel of John, in chapter twelve. And we will hear it next Sunday. Jesus says: "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." And Saint John adds the statement: "He said this indicating the kind of death he would die."</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, from these two quotes in this same gospel of John we know two things. Firstly, that when Jesus says “the Son is lifted up” he is referring to himself being crucified and lifted up high on the cross.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And secondly, that him being lifted on the cross is to be thought of as being like when Moses lifted up the serpent up high on a pole.</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But what is this story? Neither the readings today nor next Sunday give us that story. So here it the short version: "With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses. The Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. Then the people said to Moses: 'Pray the Lord to take the serpents from us.' So Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a serpent like these and lift it on a pole.' Moses made a bronze serpent and lifted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived." </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, Jesus is saying that when he is lifted up upon the cross, dying, he will be in some way like the bronze serpent. And that, like that metal serpent, he and his cross will give eternal life.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This seems very strange. This seems like a strange comparison. Jesus did not hurt us. He did not poison us. He is not the cause of our suffering and death.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This is true. But as with Moses, God is taking the power out of the deadly thing and making it somehow into the cure for the problem. It's like a vaccine. We take the weakened form of germs, of bacteria and viruses, and put them back into our bodies as a protection against the sickness. The serpent is deadly, but God makes the bronze serpent like a vaccine against the deadly danger.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Now, Jesus is not the danger. He is not the problem. But death is the problem. Suffering is the problem. Sin is the problem. They are the serpents that have bit us all. Jesus breaks the power of sin and suffering and death by going to the cross. </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">To the people of Jesus' time, the cross means certain death. It means maximum suffering and maximum shame. It is the death for slaves and rebels and criminals. When Jesus endures the shame and pain of the cross, he breaks the power of death, the power of sin. The cross is now the vaccine against death. It looks like death, in the same way that a weakened bacteria looks like sickness, but it is actually the cure.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">His death breaks our death. His death cures our death.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCV7CMvcapv43grWI9AgqKckQs289beHQCQ0GHZqEgR-9EeWpqPWGhd7xs-dQuRIaWO7HIo590VOV84FR80J96TIrLPtU6J1dBGNKzpp96Gj-D3jNYZss823OJlBStLRepBlBkyVunmI9zIthnkbCWknFDZKQ1Y0VfyQx1l2EUqzBKVBPYwKJiTMw52TY/s385/brazen-serpent.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCV7CMvcapv43grWI9AgqKckQs289beHQCQ0GHZqEgR-9EeWpqPWGhd7xs-dQuRIaWO7HIo590VOV84FR80J96TIrLPtU6J1dBGNKzpp96Gj-D3jNYZss823OJlBStLRepBlBkyVunmI9zIthnkbCWknFDZKQ1Y0VfyQx1l2EUqzBKVBPYwKJiTMw52TY/w311-h400/brazen-serpent.jpeg" width="311" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> </span><p></p><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-34040810387365540972024-02-25T10:51:00.002-06:002024-02-25T10:51:27.759-06:00Keeping Promises, Even Beyond The Grave<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We, very reasonably, have some questions about Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac. Unsurprisingly, we also have some questions about the Father letting the Son die (and for realsies, not just "almost" like Isaac). The early Church saw the parallels and the author of the Letter to the Hebrew wrote on it in chapter 11. If we are going to wrestle with sacrifices of Isaac or Jesus or both, we would do well to let Hebrews 11 be our lens. We will see through it a path that not only shows that God (and Abraham) are not monsters, but that the Isaac story sheds light on both the extremity of The Father's plan and the logic of The Son's response. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/2nd-lent-b-abraham-10am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcF3oV8IdAySRnizdHhloeXXzhQeaHaj0aBRUAF2X8_PtWX9-27PMV1RMxYuoV56zyXsf-pblearGSq3-6qdPZtpx-IC22w6qlgerkao9gl2Es78frggdVwzmNglbiv_BKBskEP6Agf5gktH9GvYIicKJJhoDvBBFibRQPR7zfXRvTLYUp_nzk8e6hK9o/s1228/Titian_-_Sacrifice_of_Isaac_-_WGA22780.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1228" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcF3oV8IdAySRnizdHhloeXXzhQeaHaj0aBRUAF2X8_PtWX9-27PMV1RMxYuoV56zyXsf-pblearGSq3-6qdPZtpx-IC22w6qlgerkao9gl2Es78frggdVwzmNglbiv_BKBskEP6Agf5gktH9GvYIicKJJhoDvBBFibRQPR7zfXRvTLYUp_nzk8e6hK9o/s320/Titian_-_Sacrifice_of_Isaac_-_WGA22780.jpeg" width="281" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-58005747999137187992024-02-13T23:52:00.000-06:002024-02-13T23:52:34.564-06:00Lenten Suggestion, Revival Proposition <p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We've only got a few months left in the U.S. Bishops' Eucharistic Revival and one thing I haven't seen a lot of is concrete suggestions on how to participate in the Eucharistic Feast. There's been good encouragement for Sunday-some-timers to become all-the-timers and for people to try spending more time in quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, but I haven't seen a lot of "Hey, pastors and parishioners, try X or Y to see if it helps you to focus or to pray better or to "get more out of Mass". So after consulting with the pastor and principal here at our school, I made a pitch the last two days in the school Mass homilies about one thing they might want to try, and that Lent might be the time to try it. And I thought I'd share the outline of those here as well. (In case you're wondering, our school kids, K-5, attend Mass at the start of each school day.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Monday</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I want to talk about a cool thing that scientists tell us goes back and forth in our brains, connecting our thoughts and our actions. This is a big deal for us Catholics because we put a lot of emphasis on the idea of our physical actions and our internal thoughts going hand in hand. That's the whole idea of our sacraments, right? Our insides matching our outsides; the actions expressing the spiritual meanings. And sacramentals too. So we show reverence when making the sign of the cross. We're careful when bringing up the gifts. We want people to understand the amazing things happening during a baptism. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Scientists like psychologists talk about body language. You've probably had parents and teachers talk about how what you do with your face or your body or your eyes communicates a lot of extra info, whether you intend to or not. Like if you cross your arms and look away when someone is talking, you're telling people you don't care or you're bored. Or like if I try to talk to K. there, but I stand here and I look at R. while I say, "K., let's go do something fun." That feels like K. doesn't matter and I'm really talking to R instead.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But folks have also learned that this connection works in the other direction too. How I do repeated actions starts to teach my brain <i>about</i> those actions. You can develop new ways of thinking about stuff by the kinds of actions you repeat around them. Think about how you line up. Your teachers have you do certain routines to help remind your brain what to think about and also how you're going to walk and act going down the hallways.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So with that in mind, I have a suggestion of something you might try for Lent. Lent is a good time to practice a new habit. Now, this is not required at all. It's not even a request. I'm just throwing out an idea that might give you cool new insights and experiences. My suggestion is to see if receiving Holy Communion on the tongue instead of on the hand begins to affect your thoughts about the Eucharist. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Human hands are amazing. Seriously, even just having thumbs let us do so much more than any other animal can. And not just texting either. Thumbs are the difference between us and monkeys! Our hands are so practical, efficient, useful, skilled, effortlessly-in-control... They can write and draw and reach in between the cushions and tear up paper into tiny bits... </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But maybe we want our brains thinking something more spiritual at Communion time. If I take my hands out of the equation, perhaps it feels even more like I'm waiting to be fed by God. Maybe receiving on the tongue would put me in mind of trusting in God fully, a confident, childlike trust. Maybe even a feeling of surrender. "Jesus, I wait to be fed by You." Like a baby bird. Do you know how a baby birds eat? [C. says, "Mama bird takes it and chews it up and then gives it to the little babies,"] Exactly, and you picture those baby birds, heads back, stretching up, waiting, confident in being fed. Maybe that's a good image for us at Communion time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So maybe that's something you want to try out. You could try it today, or wait for Lent, or never try at all. Again, it's not requirement or even a request. It's just a suggestion of something that might be cool to try out for Lent.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Tuesday</b> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I want to come back to what we discussed yesterday. So today: a little review, a few more thoughts, and some practicals. I had too much to squeeze in yesterday. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So what was my suggestion?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And is this idea something anybody is going to <i>expect</i> you to do? A rule, or a request even?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Right. It's just a suggestion of something you might want to try out, and Lent is a good time to try on new ways of thinking. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And that's the whole pitch: we know our actions and our thoughts are connected, so the idea is to adjust our routines and see if that teaches our minds any cool new things. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And the cool new idea or image we are trying to build up in our minds is how special and different and truly sacred this meal is. Because that's what "holy" literally means. When we sing "Holy... holy... holy Lord," or "Sanctus... sanctus... sanctus Dominus Deus Sabbaoth," the words "holy" and "sanctus" are translating the Hebrew word for "different". God is <i>different; </i>He is set apart; He is not like other things. And that is what "holy" means: it's different, it's things that are set apart for God's special purposes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This church is a holy place. Should we run between the pews and play tag? No, because it's set apart for holy things. My chalice up there, should I fill it with Kool-aid and sit on the couch and drink it while I watch cartoons? No, it set apart for only one, very special thing. Or the saints. The word "saint" comes from that word "sanctus". A saint is a truly holy person, someone who <i>lives different</i>. Even in the church, that space up there is the sanctuary —same word "sanctus", again— because it's the most special part of the holy building. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So again, think of your hands. They're incredible. They can do anything. You can make one hand into this perfect little bowl. And then your other hand with that cool thumb we've got makes like this perfect miniature claw. And you can grab anything in one hand and carry around any shape of items and just pick them up, one by one, all day. Cheetos, Fritos, tortilla chips. Or for tiny, weird things, peanuts or Skittles. It's so easy and comfortable. So practical and in-control. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But is that the set of ideas we desire in our minds at Communion time? I step up, one hand out to catch things with, one hand to pick the Host up, then into my mouth, eat and keep moving... a smooth motion, very efficient, practical. Now, everybody has different thoughts and mental images, but I do feel like this sequence of ideas connects more with normal eating, normal food, a normal meal. So the question is: Would receiving Communion differently help my mind think, "This is a different kind of moment. This is food that God has set apart for holy purposes."?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Maybe that's why for over a thousand years, really until just recently, like less than fifty years ago, the only way people received Communion in our part of the church, the Roman Catholic Church, was to receive on the tongue. There was what they called an communion rail or and altar rail —and it was usually made of the same kind of stone or wood as the main altar, and it was even referred to as "the people's altar" because it seen as an extension of that altar— and you would come up to that, and spread out along it and kneel down at the rail and you'd wait there and you'd receive on the tongue. A hundred little details all whispering to your brain that it's not a normal meal. It's the Lamb's banquet. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Ok, so you get the idea, now let's practice. Kindergarten and 1st, you'll be doing this before long, and 2nd grade, it's almost here! The rest of you, it's always good to know how to do both. Even if you receive on the hand normally, there's going to be a moment when you're carrying a baby, or walking up with a little kid who might try to run, or you realize your palms are dirty or you just sneezed in them. The summer after 2nd grade I broke my arm and I was going to daily Mass with my Mom that summer and no one ever taught me to receive on the tongue and so for months I received just barely on the tips of my tiny fingers that poked out of my cast. I wish I would've know there was another way. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So everyone gets weirded out because you think you're going to be sticking your tongue out at the priest or will look dumb, so here's a trick to not feel so weird: tip your head <i>slightly</i> back (like that baby bird, right?) and then just place your tongue on your bottom lip. Really, you're not putting it out there hardly at all. Bottom lip and head tipped slightly should give the perfect place and angle. Ok, and so that no one feels awkward we're all going to practice a couple times. Ok, tongue on bottom lip on three... 1, 2, 3.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Ok, now you know it and you're confident. Again, it's your choice. It's just a suggestion, but you might find it adds something to your Lenten experience. Might affect how you see going to Communion permanently. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9SUxUruTLrfyXoIJCcAdvHqvygDBpxHKsx7XJfY14IstjDlxPTQVNgwEYfEEXLDKJrHCTyyW8bUTna_FgwoSc02ntg_aOjnrgOG90SiEmSroevTo4Uk5waFizPv90Byru6o3yHPjpPMeDlQ2J3-eAexlArv_48gwfj2LJMLW0oNOvArqCXQHuYwUXDI/s1000/Mother%20Receiving%20Communion%20on%20Tongue.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="775" data-original-width="1000" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9SUxUruTLrfyXoIJCcAdvHqvygDBpxHKsx7XJfY14IstjDlxPTQVNgwEYfEEXLDKJrHCTyyW8bUTna_FgwoSc02ntg_aOjnrgOG90SiEmSroevTo4Uk5waFizPv90Byru6o3yHPjpPMeDlQ2J3-eAexlArv_48gwfj2LJMLW0oNOvArqCXQHuYwUXDI/w400-h310/Mother%20Receiving%20Communion%20on%20Tongue.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-16490400046989653532024-01-21T12:26:00.000-06:002024-01-21T12:26:02.664-06:00Front Row to Peter's Preaching<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In the seminary we heard a lot of hype on Mark's gospel. Some teachers hyped it because it might be the oldest gospel, and they thought that meant "the only really authentic one". Others, because they felt it had been forgotten over the centuries. Others, because they claimed it was more personal and immediate. That sounded like the best reason to be a Mark fan, but I never truly understand what that claim meant till I read Michael Pakaluk's 2019 translation-and-notes which goes by the name <i>The Memoirs of St. Peter</i>. Pakaluk knew how to translate Mark's unique Greek (sometimes pigeonholed by folks as "primitive") in a way that highlighted that "immediate" sense of Peter's storytelling without making it sound lowbrow. Sometimes the very people who spoke of Mark's power also made him sound simplistic and repetitive. So as we celebrate this Word of God Sunday (trademark by Pope Francis, 2020, all rights reserved) and begin in earnest this Year B of the Lectionary focusing on Mark's gospel, I hope you find new ways to appreciate the power of Peter's preaching and the genius of St. Mark's writing. </span><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/3rd-b-mark-as-memoirs-of-peter-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe>
<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhej7jdYvGwkx3rcFr8l3nykrXwMIc6yzuKEKpOH75uTVD-0vTVAEHgr0ImOABdKBwP29ioaIjaoDMBl2_cJ8jzI3t_nxiMbadUsi21Pgz9Ku1P1sbzta34J0b5WNw3h6s9h4ncxHGR9jpaIqLw4Rq26wcCFM5ZRljmXVQt6uWr5PRWrMc9d2VWyy2DyNI/s445/Memoirs%20of%20St%20Peter%20cover,%20Pakaluk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="295" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhej7jdYvGwkx3rcFr8l3nykrXwMIc6yzuKEKpOH75uTVD-0vTVAEHgr0ImOABdKBwP29ioaIjaoDMBl2_cJ8jzI3t_nxiMbadUsi21Pgz9Ku1P1sbzta34J0b5WNw3h6s9h4ncxHGR9jpaIqLw4Rq26wcCFM5ZRljmXVQt6uWr5PRWrMc9d2VWyy2DyNI/w265-h400/Memoirs%20of%20St%20Peter%20cover,%20Pakaluk.jpg" width="265" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-8639734107962056222024-01-07T12:33:00.001-06:002024-01-07T12:33:53.703-06:00Calendars, Cold Dips, and Chalk: An Epiphany Patchwork<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Epiphany has a ton of traditions and trivia connected to it, so today's homily was a grab bag of Epiphany minutiae. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/epiphany-2024-traditions-and-trivia-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmznDa_1_jR7zCgZA-O1IdkB8JczCph7y0-r2VHp6wSqJ8ku2INioEeP_u3WX7QQGnGfqqJ83_zBAqmgqPtoEOxJoQNRLr5X1wsHGwLig2d_fZ-nDU7shZHkrrnMTMOOUjXK72ljnz7twPqxU8CKbRCxNWeJXnAGXSJo8UPo9fBja_zw-c0Ds-YdbjUA/s408/IMG_4652.WEBP" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="408" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmznDa_1_jR7zCgZA-O1IdkB8JczCph7y0-r2VHp6wSqJ8ku2INioEeP_u3WX7QQGnGfqqJ83_zBAqmgqPtoEOxJoQNRLr5X1wsHGwLig2d_fZ-nDU7shZHkrrnMTMOOUjXK72ljnz7twPqxU8CKbRCxNWeJXnAGXSJo8UPo9fBja_zw-c0Ds-YdbjUA/w400-h225/IMG_4652.WEBP" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54aae_yrlRyXWwt5h4cryJDAx6mwBmnuv-tc5tgwLUDsI4vkxKU1x4QRX8xfzNwH7Pap7TuSkONbdTDGHQZd24XSD8J74om6RcV-jgngc6GvJKxWV807_gCk8sTnw3ktQ54VtDiEVsD76EvBmpErrdeZGJYngI7nrPHPF2bIAX9tDR1MqL4u2OP5SpTc/s1447/IMG_4654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1447" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54aae_yrlRyXWwt5h4cryJDAx6mwBmnuv-tc5tgwLUDsI4vkxKU1x4QRX8xfzNwH7Pap7TuSkONbdTDGHQZd24XSD8J74om6RcV-jgngc6GvJKxWV807_gCk8sTnw3ktQ54VtDiEVsD76EvBmpErrdeZGJYngI7nrPHPF2bIAX9tDR1MqL4u2OP5SpTc/w331-h400/IMG_4654.JPG" width="331" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-48192214533236961102023-12-26T01:33:00.003-06:002023-12-26T01:44:18.859-06:00"Caught Up in Love": the Catholic "Rapture" of Christmas<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">FYI, I fumbled the ball as I crossed the goal line; the last part was supposed to be "...the God who is Love itself, being made lovable to us." And today I stumbled across this marvelous two-line poem by Michael Longley (see attached picture) <a href="https://x.com/EmilyKath319/status/1739297790399004723?s=20" target="_blank">posted on Twitter by @EmilyKath319</a> which seemed like the perfect summary of the concept "so that as we recognize in Him God made visible, we may be caught up through Him in love of things invisible." Merry Christmas, one and all. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/christmas-2023-vigil-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2giSb7VNdsrm-UMQQZdPEYzyIG8IFO_7Uv9VIaWw5ZKVUrDwKvzq3O79KNdmlVpuRO0f_WybtBpja0Duc3_c0-B6A-0Y4kytAXbn9wS3Cx6gry3aWCdVF5EW3bOtSC1RYQDIZUjc67SsDcTSkCwG0UnI6HaQ9dKoJAwkUVD0ygDOAYYjfE8yMpWdUMsg/s2048/IMG_4608.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1507" data-original-width="2048" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2giSb7VNdsrm-UMQQZdPEYzyIG8IFO_7Uv9VIaWw5ZKVUrDwKvzq3O79KNdmlVpuRO0f_WybtBpja0Duc3_c0-B6A-0Y4kytAXbn9wS3Cx6gry3aWCdVF5EW3bOtSC1RYQDIZUjc67SsDcTSkCwG0UnI6HaQ9dKoJAwkUVD0ygDOAYYjfE8yMpWdUMsg/w400-h294/IMG_4608.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-6087134458396520562023-12-17T10:44:00.007-06:002023-12-17T14:03:44.058-06:00Two Advent Homilies<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> Here ya go; Happy Advent!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">2nd Sunday of Advent</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/comfort-comfort-2023-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">3rd Sunday of Advent</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/leave-the-sins-take-the-cookies-fulwiler-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3kxBTOjHrvYX9lD9XBuzFBtjDs-H0RSijmdYIAezw5xDa7Omitfct0ozc2X66qQCPkiv7yE8l1NXgLHDDlzjxw3X3CIIjkg8c5Fj3vo5Ksq6YFlZbY-GsSFuGg-YJbVsB8DD29FO5OTxU102yR8UEl8wlJxPBYnMt3ZN_7-WSOw-z8m_zIGAeygQLjs/s1024/05.03.00.A.-JOHN-THE-BAPTIST-PREACHING-IN-THE-WILDERNESS-Illustration-by-Godfrey-Durand-1896-22-639x1024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="639" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3kxBTOjHrvYX9lD9XBuzFBtjDs-H0RSijmdYIAezw5xDa7Omitfct0ozc2X66qQCPkiv7yE8l1NXgLHDDlzjxw3X3CIIjkg8c5Fj3vo5Ksq6YFlZbY-GsSFuGg-YJbVsB8DD29FO5OTxU102yR8UEl8wlJxPBYnMt3ZN_7-WSOw-z8m_zIGAeygQLjs/w250-h400/05.03.00.A.-JOHN-THE-BAPTIST-PREACHING-IN-THE-WILDERNESS-Illustration-by-Godfrey-Durand-1896-22-639x1024.jpg" width="250" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-76705859176199410412023-11-19T10:44:00.002-06:002023-11-19T10:44:23.712-06:00Like a Thief, Like a Fire, Like C.S. Lewis' Dwarfs<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">St. Paul to the Thessalonians has some scary imagery, but Paul is full of hope. Why? It all comes down to our disposition to God's flaming heart of love and mercy. We can burn or we can be burned. </span></p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/like-a-thief-like-fire-like-c.-s.-lewis-dwarves-10am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnShLwqZ-zTKS-2c1tQth1qbCXzLlp7Z_m9uT7Egsq_saUW9h8_Eoymxl_iz25gKmNQ32ajLQ3FuRE8Q2GbqtYvHWrnjPZo6w87r83j57C3ezBRdVGM4QVJSCI6hHsVZPuxm4gkpBa3-bLqFeGyPPersmonUWAgN6smn8JPv4r5erqHbNsbAp0dRTMUQ/s501/the-last-battle-dwarfs-treachery.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="501" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnShLwqZ-zTKS-2c1tQth1qbCXzLlp7Z_m9uT7Egsq_saUW9h8_Eoymxl_iz25gKmNQ32ajLQ3FuRE8Q2GbqtYvHWrnjPZo6w87r83j57C3ezBRdVGM4QVJSCI6hHsVZPuxm4gkpBa3-bLqFeGyPPersmonUWAgN6smn8JPv4r5erqHbNsbAp0dRTMUQ/w400-h217/the-last-battle-dwarfs-treachery.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-44679537883021788002023-11-13T07:52:00.003-06:002023-11-13T07:52:21.814-06:00Ten Virgins, Purgatory, Prayers for the Dead<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Yesterday's sermon on dying: What we do for the living, how should we understand Purgatory, the origin of indulgences, and prayers and Masses for the Dead.</span></p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/10-virgins-purgatory-prayers-for-the-dead-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5d1HpBKOjkTgYhQh4SOZctPioBBrI96-5IWS4bMN5b2osrqeBcjLug5PI704NUvq525ZDgrx9B6WXuP0M6VwL8nX-fEMnS7VOCWiIashx2UkNW6ge00zOV8Yt46WNhdxret5ZkDyyUG3QeBVuvDK6pv5h6XyeD9VFnq07Xln9w4VcfwIX3tPFvHL8Lc0/s750/IMG_4237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="469" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5d1HpBKOjkTgYhQh4SOZctPioBBrI96-5IWS4bMN5b2osrqeBcjLug5PI704NUvq525ZDgrx9B6WXuP0M6VwL8nX-fEMnS7VOCWiIashx2UkNW6ge00zOV8Yt46WNhdxret5ZkDyyUG3QeBVuvDK6pv5h6XyeD9VFnq07Xln9w4VcfwIX3tPFvHL8Lc0/w250-h400/IMG_4237.JPG" width="250" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-71101632473402369652023-11-05T12:44:00.005-06:002023-11-05T13:02:07.172-06:00Beauty And Reverence<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Sermon about how loving and using beauty and reverence isn't remotely against the gospel call to humility, simplicity, and care for the poor. Star-witness St. Francis of Assisi takes the lead, as he did back in 1200 A.D. when he led the <i>original</i> Eucharistic Revival (see <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/26860/st-francis-poverty-often-misunderstood-priest-explains" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2019/08/lessons-of-st-francis-of-assisi-about.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2018/09/st-francis-of-assisi-eucharistic-mystic.html" target="_blank">here</a>). I'm including pictures of St. Joseph's in 1970 and today, not to wag any fingers (I think the parish in the last 20 years has done great work to recenter Jesus and make a beautiful church) but because I specifically mentioned the original detail work being turned to a beige ocean. Also, the 5:30 Mass missed the story that's on here now at 19:45, so I want to draw attention to that.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/beauty-and-reverence-8am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8c5nc2Uu2pKjFb81z_FGPJ0PAulx7bPOzIpYAYtVMPwFOjdA5zjVCEUFgt1ha035ByMDUMHCgr4tx50uujTRd1KLXw6sxM0AsytlV8aQCYgFvyEOl6eYWqPE84pQNE0zTWlMTh2E3PeUaeBY4wSYNtcQvMD-GOgonKZoLnP6nAEO0_YZdE4YcPSY0Sg/s3555/IMG_4203.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3555" data-original-width="2853" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8c5nc2Uu2pKjFb81z_FGPJ0PAulx7bPOzIpYAYtVMPwFOjdA5zjVCEUFgt1ha035ByMDUMHCgr4tx50uujTRd1KLXw6sxM0AsytlV8aQCYgFvyEOl6eYWqPE84pQNE0zTWlMTh2E3PeUaeBY4wSYNtcQvMD-GOgonKZoLnP6nAEO0_YZdE4YcPSY0Sg/s320/IMG_4203.heic" width="257" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu06rWahSmxy8FpTQRl-fjsU7ezeYQQtYdmZPqsCQsoJrS-0Idx4dSHbAN_b6J3lc8HcLsElNLlGoXF1TRySzwS3aaIpAX2ohnsdT8mBYjBmjb3dtbYooZZlnDCvQSKvfVb59oKn5nR_sD_0x9gqzm5INxx5dRqh-Yoxve30ZeJOWX5cz-Y5B_GnLihHM/s3819/IMG_4209.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3819" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu06rWahSmxy8FpTQRl-fjsU7ezeYQQtYdmZPqsCQsoJrS-0Idx4dSHbAN_b6J3lc8HcLsElNLlGoXF1TRySzwS3aaIpAX2ohnsdT8mBYjBmjb3dtbYooZZlnDCvQSKvfVb59oKn5nR_sD_0x9gqzm5INxx5dRqh-Yoxve30ZeJOWX5cz-Y5B_GnLihHM/s320/IMG_4209.heic" width="253" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-81264177942743451042023-10-08T13:21:00.000-05:002023-10-08T13:21:26.936-05:00Vineyard Restored, Vindication Of The Son<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The parable of wicked tenants and the vineyard is told as a prophecy and a promise, not as a perennial life lesson for all people. For us today it is a lesson about how Israel is God's family, but how God also reconstituted Israel around Jesus, who is both the murdered Son and the rejected Cornerstone of the story. After the vindication of the Stone in the Resurrection, the vineyard (God's family) is under new management, the Son, and not under the tenants anymore. The people of Israel are still invited back into the vineyard, but with the new badge or passcode*, for there is "salvation for everyone who believes, the Jew first and then also the Greek." (Rom 1:16)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The horrific news out of the Holy Land this weekend, and the horrors that have afflicted that region for years, remind us of real, physical struggles that have marred the Promised Land for millennia. These were contests about land, ethnicity, power, independence, historic rights...the very concerns on the minds of many visitors to Jerusalem during that first Holy Week. We always must "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." (Psalm 122) But love and solicitude for the people living "between the Sea and the River" must not make us uncomfortable to tell the story of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, for the Prince of Peace and His family are the greatest hope to end discord in our world, even two thousand years later. </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">* “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2:36-39)</span></p></blockquote><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/vineyard-and-vindication-10am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkb-9LPA_wnnd82A_6moWcJxhyphenhyphenWrnkV7ZQJIZmnXoYgIQuWFK0ZMCwIEbLFBfbaXU-ijFutzyJWKydRjXoP4oZeAdlklW-DgVPAP_B9IvVQaDPlmrDB_brLTyIfZTbI96ubIcbUhjtQeN8uNA9lDilc5FLCbe9042LQamJiD0dxwDxofwgnH_dIaNUszs/s500/Wicked%20Vineyard%20Tenants.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="500" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkb-9LPA_wnnd82A_6moWcJxhyphenhyphenWrnkV7ZQJIZmnXoYgIQuWFK0ZMCwIEbLFBfbaXU-ijFutzyJWKydRjXoP4oZeAdlklW-DgVPAP_B9IvVQaDPlmrDB_brLTyIfZTbI96ubIcbUhjtQeN8uNA9lDilc5FLCbe9042LQamJiD0dxwDxofwgnH_dIaNUszs/w400-h288/Wicked%20Vineyard%20Tenants.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span class="text Acts-2-39" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><p></p>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-19628653526627207502023-10-01T12:33:00.002-05:002023-10-01T12:43:13.962-05:00The Kenosis Creed<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Good Friday before Easter Sunday. Crucifixion before Resurrection. Fast before Feast. Darkness before Light. Weeping before Rejoicing. Death before Life. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">These pairs, and their this-before-that emphasis, sum up the Christian mindset on many things. They also contain (implicitly or explicitly) the sum of the good news, which we call the <i>kerygma</i>, the distilled and powerful proclamation of the apostles: "For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Philippians Ch. 2 adds more terms to the pairs: Humility before glory, debasement before exaltation, human scandal before divine vindication. It also takes the kerygma and widens the timeline of cross-before-crown. An eternal God surrendering his majesty and emptying himself, becoming a weak baby and a crucified rebel, but his Father loving the Son's humility and sacrificial love, exalting him not just in time and on earth, but for ages unending throughout the whole universe. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And while St. Paul is telling the story of the paschal mystery, he ends up giving us a creed as well, the Creed of Kenosis, a tableau of a self-denying diety as proof of God's power, of a Father glorifying a Son for his abject defeat. This, he says, is the inner life of God. Paul pens a creed, proclaims a scandal, and tells his dearest companions to imitate that scandal because they cling to that creed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">(The last part is me wrapping this back around to our annual appeal to support our seminarians, in case that part is confusing.)</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/kenosis-and-bav-5-30-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG9RQirZXBzYdyghyCmXSdSxLV-mzHBq4EHPK1kJiBh7XdI0MOq6LpGiNHiB4M-DXxgOgFfEbEtC9GSnP7Wtag9rREsftNbmeaMZUIETWEwAl8gUTkZ1HIcSgIUl6oX8-qPA4YwKFbPVAzc-9OsRG3iFaurWZsxZYrQ5mRLMWLrF1nGu1YMkg2Zc481oU/s1038/poured%20out,%20kenosis.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1038" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG9RQirZXBzYdyghyCmXSdSxLV-mzHBq4EHPK1kJiBh7XdI0MOq6LpGiNHiB4M-DXxgOgFfEbEtC9GSnP7Wtag9rREsftNbmeaMZUIETWEwAl8gUTkZ1HIcSgIUl6oX8-qPA4YwKFbPVAzc-9OsRG3iFaurWZsxZYrQ5mRLMWLrF1nGu1YMkg2Zc481oU/w400-h223/poured%20out,%20kenosis.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-70212335278502883832023-09-17T14:27:00.003-05:002023-09-17T14:27:58.878-05:00The Bigness of Your Forgiveness<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The first lines of the my recording are a little weird because I was making an announcement that because it's the 3rd Sunday of the month we would have Exposition, Adoration, and Confessions at the end of Mass, and I realized that was a really good segue way into the homily and hit record. So the recording catches the segue, but not the first lines of the announcement itself. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Oh, and here's a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoyoFEmk3Vk" target="_blank">link the Fr. Mike Schmitz video on forgiveness</a> that I ended with.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/unforgiving-servant-8am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVQIMT1bDq2VHwpPCUoAYTjIn583tv5dPbb-H0jPHtERUq9KX8tpxfnV1mN7pTngZXDgM18aeI6itJCpmp1DKk3K7iANZbH-0TDc2c5Z2MGbPjCmyqr8CNG75F62AwBq85COk9Hktbuk7ZCsGw0HmV9bm1bCp6aTteO5_MhQ_llcoLSyLnb846-b8xvQ/s1000/UNFORGIVING-SERVANT.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="1000" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVQIMT1bDq2VHwpPCUoAYTjIn583tv5dPbb-H0jPHtERUq9KX8tpxfnV1mN7pTngZXDgM18aeI6itJCpmp1DKk3K7iANZbH-0TDc2c5Z2MGbPjCmyqr8CNG75F62AwBq85COk9Hktbuk7ZCsGw0HmV9bm1bCp6aTteO5_MhQ_llcoLSyLnb846-b8xvQ/w400-h230/UNFORGIVING-SERVANT.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-8427272886895576552023-08-20T13:02:00.000-05:002023-08-20T13:02:51.397-05:00The Jews and Jesus<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A family tragedy. A rending of God's own people. One story, one plan, one covenant, one arc, and yet by the end of the first century two families stand apart, both seeing themselves as the heirs of Abraham, and with chips on their shoulders. Centuries of distrust would follow.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">How did we get here? Where do we go now? God clearly didn't want this. But (aside from a bare allowance of free will), did God allow this fracture so that other things might come of it, which He could use? We ponder it now, but Paul was already asking these questions in the 50s A.D. The question of Israel and Jesus wasn't his only topic in Romans, but a huge part of that letter is: God's Plan, Abraham's family, the triumph of Israel's messiah, and what does that mean for both Gentiles and Jews. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The Canaanite woman reminds us that the Gentiles had to have some eventual place in God's plan and Romans 11 reminds us that Israel still has its role in the plan too. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/the-jews-for-jesus-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3nXrmsCA0SNeKR-XydyE-XCF7q1Zzy_9pfGEk0-ZjcLM8uGS9t6QRrz0vF-IeZix92haT5DMn646d24aMKwRDjRvzYTDmBYjZoDQKlpGd5qEM-o-Ivcz39n-Vk2EaCEhisaDy5AMbksqb7D-BnYXNaF90ws5Hd4DngFXh6ckGDcmwtYh4H0J18mogOI/s768/Tissot%20Jesus%20Speaks.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="768" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3nXrmsCA0SNeKR-XydyE-XCF7q1Zzy_9pfGEk0-ZjcLM8uGS9t6QRrz0vF-IeZix92haT5DMn646d24aMKwRDjRvzYTDmBYjZoDQKlpGd5qEM-o-Ivcz39n-Vk2EaCEhisaDy5AMbksqb7D-BnYXNaF90ws5Hd4DngFXh6ckGDcmwtYh4H0J18mogOI/w400-h285/Tissot%20Jesus%20Speaks.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-4743945749000122312023-08-06T13:35:00.001-05:002023-08-06T13:35:05.817-05:00Peter's Transfiguration: He Says Less, But Also More<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">On Saturday night I covered in Palmyra, Nebraska for my classmate, Fr. Sean Kilcawley. Because Sunday was August 6th, the Mass that evening was for the Feast of the Transfiguration. One cool benefit of having the feast on a Sunday is that, opposed to merely the gospel of Transfiguration as found on the 2nd Sunday of Lent, you get Peter's first-person account of it from his epistle too, and also the "Son of Man" prophecy from Daniel, which was the central text of all messianism in the final centuries leading up to Jesus.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/transfiguration-on-sunday-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhs92ljDuixJyokmTXOucN-zFWZA61PeJJAitQJzSLLPMbdAaHGhrLJdUBHjjkwv6LyjDGe-jf9t0M9-2G4ZEW92Kr9vGQ15Vogpx2TCBuyErKevXxED-H1frNUAYo7C2TrSoVy1DQMzql_f5h_y9PONHFWRIZSCL7Ys0nzkz6TNHH9m4fvl-S56wXagA/s1024/transfigured.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhs92ljDuixJyokmTXOucN-zFWZA61PeJJAitQJzSLLPMbdAaHGhrLJdUBHjjkwv6LyjDGe-jf9t0M9-2G4ZEW92Kr9vGQ15Vogpx2TCBuyErKevXxED-H1frNUAYo7C2TrSoVy1DQMzql_f5h_y9PONHFWRIZSCL7Ys0nzkz6TNHH9m4fvl-S56wXagA/w400-h200/transfigured.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-36373579025804104942023-07-30T12:29:00.000-05:002023-07-30T12:29:27.710-05:00Paul, We Have Some Questions...<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Paul claims that "God makes all things work for the good of those who love Him." But life seems contradict that. Hard. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Why did I miss my flight? Why did I lose that job? Why did God allow this person hurt me? Why did that child die? Why doesn't God take away my temptations, addictions, and weakness?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, Paul... we have some questions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/paul-i-have-questions.-5-30-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">¹ St. Thomas More, the last sentence of his 1534 "A Godly Meditation", see <a href="https://aleteia.org/daily_catholic/a-prayer-from-st-thomas-more-to-overcome-division-and-enmity/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">² St. Maximilian Kolbe on why God doesn't immediately take away habitual temptation: see <a href="https://catholicgentleman.com/2013/08/st-maximilian-kolbe-on-serious-sin/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22yoUgMVJN-oCK1rqBcfWzSg_-Un-5BDj5UXghI9WwqK6vBzHsnqoGBBqR93vRKSHoyIE6Ty7KHgctpVxV8b1GIXW_mmAaDEor9Qhsw_2JUYp5ROI7X_CCCPOtNLiS-iRrdI0_HjdEoodnHc9gHUDkr9SI2tsDv3e_Jgezn-k0U-rdDQPeNe1shDUA3k/s2500/hands_pray_crop.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1243" data-original-width="2500" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22yoUgMVJN-oCK1rqBcfWzSg_-Un-5BDj5UXghI9WwqK6vBzHsnqoGBBqR93vRKSHoyIE6Ty7KHgctpVxV8b1GIXW_mmAaDEor9Qhsw_2JUYp5ROI7X_CCCPOtNLiS-iRrdI0_HjdEoodnHc9gHUDkr9SI2tsDv3e_Jgezn-k0U-rdDQPeNe1shDUA3k/w400-h199/hands_pray_crop.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-7212739477186251422023-07-09T17:16:00.003-05:002023-07-09T17:16:43.290-05:00July: The Month of the Precious Blood<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">You are correct; this sermon was completely unrelated to the readings. One can do such things.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/july-month-of-the-precious-blood-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8-WS3mJhNpkNSmhYPI9MahKLmQnx1xjUqRpvjceFe_F7Y7CxMdD3TSeswt3WQ9UDMKkhpcuQBRhMQ-uLg5jhDWO30EDFU_E4_hqv0CX9U0oahKjoCosXvy2cyjwL6N5fiEsArhIlMwSgQ6U8yOSEf_7TVRRgA6UvPANVX7t_N5_0NYrU52qelvATmwc/s293/image1%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="270" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8-WS3mJhNpkNSmhYPI9MahKLmQnx1xjUqRpvjceFe_F7Y7CxMdD3TSeswt3WQ9UDMKkhpcuQBRhMQ-uLg5jhDWO30EDFU_E4_hqv0CX9U0oahKjoCosXvy2cyjwL6N5fiEsArhIlMwSgQ6U8yOSEf_7TVRRgA6UvPANVX7t_N5_0NYrU52qelvATmwc/w369-h400/image1%203.jpg" width="369" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-88977133328370522572023-07-02T13:53:00.000-05:002023-07-02T13:53:21.412-05:00The Death of the King<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Homily for the 13th Sunday, Year A. On the Letter to the Romans, Chapter 6:</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/the-death-of-the-king-8am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And that homily refers at some length to this one given last fall, on the experience of mentally changing "Christ" to "Messiah" when reading the New Testament:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/replace-christ-with-messiah-10-am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgU3M9Q-ySPOv6iqXC004kJJsT2-42nA33dC9BVsEGf8UJBWcjjSSedTKKIyJpG_ghGcxX-lvhJ-g7sA01st30HG2D36ttKh1LUf07L61u1vCImLMbtFWENDKTyQDP07ENBSiqYsb2eykdAZzvAs2vvRYWMJDS9-QkmVencAnRe8fW-RH2W1QakPGraQ/s600/Dead%20Theodred%20burial%20scene%20sword.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgU3M9Q-ySPOv6iqXC004kJJsT2-42nA33dC9BVsEGf8UJBWcjjSSedTKKIyJpG_ghGcxX-lvhJ-g7sA01st30HG2D36ttKh1LUf07L61u1vCImLMbtFWENDKTyQDP07ENBSiqYsb2eykdAZzvAs2vvRYWMJDS9-QkmVencAnRe8fW-RH2W1QakPGraQ/w400-h160/Dead%20Theodred%20burial%20scene%20sword.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-48162079653114166452023-06-18T18:10:00.001-05:002023-06-18T18:10:20.068-05:00While We Were Yet Enemies<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I covered Masses this weekend in Exeter and Milligan, Nebraska (pop. 514 and 241 respectively) and it was fun. But all the same, I made them take out their missals and follow along on page 202 for the 2nd Reading because, well, I'm a one-trick pony. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Jesus commands us, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Well, St. Paul thinks it's pretty lucky for us that God practices what he preaches. In Romans 5 today, Paul reflects that when we were still enemies of God, it was at <i>that time</i> that Christ died for us. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Enemies. Ungodly. Sinners deserving of wrath. Thus does Paul describe us all. And to drive the point home he does grudgingly admit that maybe, just maybe, one might rake together enough courage to die for a really good man. Here I think Paul is referencing a well-known heroic story from the Greco-Roman world when he grants them this possibility. But all of that was just so Paul would be able to say, "And we weren't anything even close to that level of good people, or to being that kind of good friend." If I'm right about Paul thinking of that heroic story at this moment, then it's all the more fitting that Jesus followed up his call to love our enemies by noting that if you only love your friends, what's impressive about that? even the pagan Gentiles love their people that much.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Paul can be deep, or clever, or poetic, or culturally savvy. But in this handful of verses, he is all four. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/while-yet-enemies-10am" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjngSXtVVtFnwKjYs9PQ-rDDfw21HDXY07HmBXl5gZuI6YWuBiOeVW0RFDZFX4fMZswxYmSxHdAJC5bUpm6SjleN6jftp9t3NkuFARdnaFp6lPDvW80MSGkyR4QsbVP9Ra_3SFFQjHriRDWq4LvSGrIZk-6UilkgMk59LOfhg4hhzdecFBhblU4u_aN/s422/Damon%20and%20Pythias.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="422" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjngSXtVVtFnwKjYs9PQ-rDDfw21HDXY07HmBXl5gZuI6YWuBiOeVW0RFDZFX4fMZswxYmSxHdAJC5bUpm6SjleN6jftp9t3NkuFARdnaFp6lPDvW80MSGkyR4QsbVP9Ra_3SFFQjHriRDWq4LvSGrIZk-6UilkgMk59LOfhg4hhzdecFBhblU4u_aN/w400-h209/Damon%20and%20Pythias.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-19984774585421308712023-06-11T14:52:00.001-05:002023-06-11T14:52:26.492-05:00The Corpus Christi 5-Minute Homily Deal<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">You may have heard about this multi-year Eucharistic Revival that the U.S. Bishops have called for. You may be aware that parishes have been asked to raise the bar on their Sunday worship and to offer more special, Eucharistic moments—the unique, the devotional, the communal, the less frequent now but formerly universal kind. An event that ticks all those boxes and is specially connected to today's feast is the parish Corpus Christi procession, an almost-ubiquitous annual ceremony of bygone summers with less-busy weekends. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Here in Beatrice, we desired to have a procession at each of the weekend Masses, even if all but one of them would be just by the ministers through the aisles of the church. But that idea can daunt your Mass-goers if they sense that Mass is about to lengthen by 25%. So, Father Kosch and I discussed things and last Sunday he presented the parish with a "grand bargain": We would get the processions built into all Masses this weekend and in exchange the pew-sitters (and their tail bones) would get a guaranteed five minute sermon. And as the name of this blog suggests, I can put about eight minutes of words in five minutes of verbal vortex. If you're looking for in-depth reflections, <a href="https://fathertalkstoofast.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-eucharist-parish-mission-in-two.html" target="_blank">click here for a four day series</a> on the Eucharist I did in Indiana during Lent. If you're looking to listen to something while you wait in the drive through lane, click the play button below. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">(Full transparency: the actual record times were 5:20, 5:05, and 5:13. 🤭 Oops.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/5-minute-deal-for-corpus-christi-10am" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNqnJurLH8xUeCFhGoXHFzM0PZc3XcOR_oryeRuJ1uIgEZ6Q6GbdrlyTgbleIrXZm7eUP9GZxZ7jC04b4IcrWP8JHO9vWf3SQaIC9nS1-zQxhC4nVdUbGo6iNRCYdtgPYx50LxmmZapJjdHOK8gZ_1VNKlO8VfDmeLmY486fCAh9q-gtTW3Xp_RwKw/s654/Trade%20Offer%20Meme,%20Homily.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNqnJurLH8xUeCFhGoXHFzM0PZc3XcOR_oryeRuJ1uIgEZ6Q6GbdrlyTgbleIrXZm7eUP9GZxZ7jC04b4IcrWP8JHO9vWf3SQaIC9nS1-zQxhC4nVdUbGo6iNRCYdtgPYx50LxmmZapJjdHOK8gZ_1VNKlO8VfDmeLmY486fCAh9q-gtTW3Xp_RwKw/w306-h400/Trade%20Offer%20Meme,%20Homily.jpeg" width="306" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-59360358485991018412023-05-21T13:32:00.002-05:002023-05-21T13:32:35.228-05:00St. Peter, as a Pastor<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There are two distinct versions of this homily, both linked below. The first one is a "remix" of sorts, in that it was preached at the Sunday 8am Mass which was also our Mass for our high school graduates, and therefore was addressed to them first and foremost. The other is the "vanilla" version that was at 5:30 and 10:00 Masses. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Interestingly (maybe?), that was the order of their inspiration too. Usually you would pick a topic and come up with a broad homily for the whole of the parish and then add little touches to make it fit the special occasion better. But that seemed dangerous: you've got eighteen-year-olds in the front row, their immediate families, and perhaps extended family and friends, some of whom might not be Catholics, and all are probably looking for some direct relevance to the situation. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So I approached it as: Let's find a topic "that'll preach" for graduates, and then reverse-engineer it so it fits the other congregations too. And while <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+17%3A1-11&version=NABRE" target="_blank">today's gospel</a> is gorgeous, it's also a little confusing. The practical side of things seemed a better fit. And no letter is more practical than 1st Peter (except maybe James). And reading throughout this Easter season Peter's consistent message of undaunted grace in times of severe trial was perfect, a no-brainer for kids leaving home and for everybody else's life besides. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Graduate Mass:</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/peter-the-pastor-for-graduates" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Normie Mass:</span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/peter-the-pastor-5-30" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvQlpPiOfq34WLykECY4aQadGevAMmIzMFLMfRLqI5hnBUoI8ZUY_eEEEwECIiRKAocvVunUR7Zjzhr9DbradyRvCcfB39v74QR6GCenYiNX9Atlg7fOd740OsErPr9PgPxaxHhrXSpfwlt2NPT7wPubNaUN16M8FNt8eR4_BCZjvIGlKBzH3afDn/s1920/Jan%20Styka-Saint%20Peter%20Preaching.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="1920" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvQlpPiOfq34WLykECY4aQadGevAMmIzMFLMfRLqI5hnBUoI8ZUY_eEEEwECIiRKAocvVunUR7Zjzhr9DbradyRvCcfB39v74QR6GCenYiNX9Atlg7fOd740OsErPr9PgPxaxHhrXSpfwlt2NPT7wPubNaUN16M8FNt8eR4_BCZjvIGlKBzH3afDn/w400-h261/Jan%20Styka-Saint%20Peter%20Preaching.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-20944521364600932752023-05-14T15:35:00.001-05:002023-05-14T15:35:52.472-05:00Holy Spirit: Agent, Advocate, Ally<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Both this Sunday's readings and my homily pick up right where they left off last week. All are continuous: Acts of Apostles last had Stephen and the deacons being commissioned, and now Deacon Philip is in Samaria as they move out after Stephen was killed. 1st Peter is one chapter later. And Jesus picks up again just two lines later in John 14 at the Last Supper.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Last week Jesus focused on opening up the relation of the Father and the Son. And so the focus <a href="https://fathertalkstoofast.blogspot.com/2023/05/jesus-road-ferry-telescope.html" target="_blank">of the homily</a> was on them and how to picture their orientation toward each other and their distinct roles toward us. This week Jesus talks a lot about how he will ask the Father, and the Father will send the Advocate to them in Jesus' name. So this homily explains, first, what the Spirit does for us and, second, how the Christian life is about us being inserted into the inner workings of the Trinity: Being incorporated into, and united with, Jesus. Loving and serving the Father because we are ourselves in the Son. The Spirit freeing us and then fusing us to Jesus, and us going out in the power of the Spirit to preach, serve, and strive, with confidence in the Spirit's aid.</span></p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="50" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/agent-advocate-ally-10am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbxuN4EX9ij6znk-8BavpgopgeSxojCcft9m7HoM9IJsg6GC7_ofw6ehM5drX8xxEESkhDtTqOfDednXnh7SdPtyQ1Wtla5EYU9x_YsBeReLIVjM9lkpp8tiX2AB6kLkuS8DM7SrM4Ddnn3sHR076yJKllEjACga9vWp8ZjGFxG2wTDVNSveEeeHk/s1127/20190805_Wenceslaus_Panel_8_Progress%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1127" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbxuN4EX9ij6znk-8BavpgopgeSxojCcft9m7HoM9IJsg6GC7_ofw6ehM5drX8xxEESkhDtTqOfDednXnh7SdPtyQ1Wtla5EYU9x_YsBeReLIVjM9lkpp8tiX2AB6kLkuS8DM7SrM4Ddnn3sHR076yJKllEjACga9vWp8ZjGFxG2wTDVNSveEeeHk/w400-h314/20190805_Wenceslaus_Panel_8_Progress%202.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-54277479582374513152023-05-07T12:15:00.003-05:002023-05-07T12:15:50.512-05:00Jesus: Road, Ferry, Telescope<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The disciples Philip and Thomas get feature roles in John chapter 14, as Jesus uses their comments as springboards to take us deep into the heart of God, into the inner workings of the Trinity. This gospel reading for the 5th Sunday of Easter is probably the single most important text for the Christian doctrines of Incarnation and the Trinity. And while the teaching can still contain mysteries for our minds, Jesus gives us great images by which to start to understand the three Persons.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/road-ferry-telescope-5-30-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWreU-hA7SD6YwFK-Y2VuNqWbNNjY5fBtPbbsgZZvYXp1yy8WYhs-cs5-q7u-ZDmUeFieq1Bt7RmF9t5aCi0L8rsPClbpOAw17uFyCfDGJoHaA1UGPycoQM5w4AMD-XpzKgLJyMZaEbNZRuj4YuDB9OIZrWxUH7JMUanSKC2EN2S4Nq0JLv0-FEg42/s1200/Winding%20Road,%20Mediterranean.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWreU-hA7SD6YwFK-Y2VuNqWbNNjY5fBtPbbsgZZvYXp1yy8WYhs-cs5-q7u-ZDmUeFieq1Bt7RmF9t5aCi0L8rsPClbpOAw17uFyCfDGJoHaA1UGPycoQM5w4AMD-XpzKgLJyMZaEbNZRuj4YuDB9OIZrWxUH7JMUanSKC2EN2S4Nq0JLv0-FEg42/w400-h225/Winding%20Road,%20Mediterranean.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-80990768591497755112023-04-24T15:43:00.001-05:002023-04-24T15:43:37.656-05:00Ransoming, Redeeming, Retelling <p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Jesus is himself the first person to retell the story of Israel with his death and resurrection at its center. Peter, both in Acts and in his First Letter, retells that story too. And although the Bible never explains how exactly Jesus' death saves us, it regularly uses the word "ransom" to describe Jesus' death on the cross. And more often than not the words that we read in English as "redeem, redemption" are really the same Greek word as "ransom". Even though we often tend to lump our "redeeming" with words like "forgiving" or "satisfying" or "rescuing", it first and foremost is <i>buying</i> word, a marketplace word, a word for trading away your costly valuables to release an enemy's victims from their slavery. And that is a favorite image of the first Christian centuries: giving up a Son to free us slaves.</span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">O wonder of your humble care for us! </span></i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>O love, O charity beyond all telling, </i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="font-family: georgia;"> to ransom a slave you gave away your Son! </i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>O truly necessary sin of Adam, </i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="font-family: georgia;"> destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="60" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/3rd-a-easter-ransom-redeem-10-am-half-size" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqohhlP-YL3l5kKIrgbunCpt9PDDu54J8SGixDLJ7BSwv_ccf96IlEGVdiyXDig5roGOFin0Ryz94sp-7kqd7a1HAQPcHrQAvadI6BqOO_VndAYU7qWns9MJeHpjXdc3SDga89tv-Cdn0sRSFOIQw6ZqCmZUtzagTJ0Q4qfCueqa-r00ocSTvHJ-0X/s676/satan-jesus.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="676" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqohhlP-YL3l5kKIrgbunCpt9PDDu54J8SGixDLJ7BSwv_ccf96IlEGVdiyXDig5roGOFin0Ryz94sp-7kqd7a1HAQPcHrQAvadI6BqOO_VndAYU7qWns9MJeHpjXdc3SDga89tv-Cdn0sRSFOIQw6ZqCmZUtzagTJ0Q4qfCueqa-r00ocSTvHJ-0X/w400-h308/satan-jesus.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2932989044385275551.post-50129923637894561402023-04-06T23:19:00.002-05:002023-04-06T23:20:42.210-05:00"The Blood of Jesus Purples Our Lips"<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For our Holy Thursday Mass tonight we had Communion by intinction. Meditating on that word. "intinction", I remembered the above quote from St. Peter Julian Eymard from the wonderful book The Real Presence. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So I invite you too to meditate on the imagery of the Body of the Lord, tinged with His Blood, given to the faithful. In the words of The Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 10: “We have confidence to enter the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">(Also, how great is it that when I searched Google for an intinction picture, the first image was of our own Bishop James Conley distributing Communion.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="30" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/holy-thursday-2023" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe></span><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyEZ8fstUQHzdNl8jl7edBhNBoHB86aTCmSfbSgrMajtjQvpzolaRR1d2icxOwuaZIzQAxD_FlXSqOwY4dXkthQvhDn6Uvtnq2ynTThIzWunNll7rAozoaF6MTz-LKPFfUT0ZuPOm9JQi7hrdHm0Enz55dS6Rg9l8FzIqtNwOfDGyE6o6LhkPcJz6/s614/Conley%20Intinction.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyEZ8fstUQHzdNl8jl7edBhNBoHB86aTCmSfbSgrMajtjQvpzolaRR1d2icxOwuaZIzQAxD_FlXSqOwY4dXkthQvhDn6Uvtnq2ynTThIzWunNll7rAozoaF6MTz-LKPFfUT0ZuPOm9JQi7hrdHm0Enz55dS6Rg9l8FzIqtNwOfDGyE6o6LhkPcJz6/w294-h400/Conley%20Intinction.jpeg" width="294" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><br /></div></div>Fr. Faulknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16406376933563447526noreply@blogger.com0