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Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 14, 2019Focus
"A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho…. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by…. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by…. But a Samaritan who came upon him was moved with compassion…. Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
One-Minute-Homily
> Not too long ago people knew their neighbors, whether they lived next door or down the road. And they knew them well enough, mostly, to either like them or not. Often today we know nothing about our neighbors and have no idea of what kind of people they are.
> The parable about the Good Samaritan is about being neighbors, and the point Jesus is trying to make is fairly obvious: anyone in need is our neighbor, whether we know them or not, whether we like them or not, whether they are friends or foes.
> For the robbers’ victim there is another point to this parable: for him the true neighbor is also a stranger – not a religious leader from his own community. The point here is that God may not always come to us through the official or familiar religious figures we’d expect. These days our children and grandchildren know this all too well.
> Of course the Lord is present in the Eucharist, but we should not be too quick to dismiss his presence among those we consider unlikely, undeserving, or alien.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Have you ever helped someone you didn’t know very well? Has someone you didn’t know very well ever helped you?
> Question for Youth: The challenge of being young adults is all about finding new friends and making new relationships; what does the Good Samaritan tell us about that?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Do we recognize our neighbor among those we don’t know or like well, among the stranger or alien? Do they recognize us as good neighbors?
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Find a schedule of Masses in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls parishes here• • •
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJuly 7, 2019Focus
He said to them, "…Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals…. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.'
…Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,… say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand….'"
One-Minute-Homily
> From early on, we are taught that the world is a dangerous place, so be wary, be cautious, be prepared. Many of us learned a version of “stranger danger” long before the concept became popular. Prepare for the worst and you will be safe.
> In today’s Gospel Jesus sends his disciples out virtually defenseless, unable to sustain themselves, dependent on others, armed only with goodwill -- “as lambs among wolves.” Their very lives embody the message: the Kingdom is at hand – no need to confront, no need to impose.
> The Gospel is an antidote to the polarization of the culture wars. We are sent into the world as disciples, not crusaders. Our lives give witness to the Good News by embodying the peace and trust which constitute the Kingdom. No need to confront, only to witness, as people of goodwill even among strangers.
> At Eucharist we experience the Kingdom at hand. It nourishes us for witness, not for battle.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: As a child in a world of adults, are you afraid or safe?
> Question for Youth: Young adults, on the edge of adulthood, often feel like lambs among wolves. Do you enter this world with fear or with confidence?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we people of peace and goodwill, or do we act like crusaders righting wrong at every turn?
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• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective:• • •Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJune 30, 2019Focus
He said to them, "…Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals…. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' …Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,… say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand….'"
One-Minute-Homily
> From early on, we are taught that the world is a dangerous place, so be wary, be cautious, be prepared. Many of us learned a version of “stranger danger” long before the concept became popular. Prepare for the worst and you will be safe.
> In today’s Gospel Jesus sends his disciples out virtually defenseless, unable to sustain themselves, dependent on others, armed only with goodwill -- “as lambs among wolves.” Their very lives embody the message: the Kingdom is at hand – no need to confront, no need to impose.
> The Gospel is an antidote to the polarization of the culture wars. We are sent into the world as disciples, not crusaders. Our lives give witness to the Good News by embodying the peace and trust which constitute the Kingdom. No need to confront, only to witness, as people of goodwill even among strangers.
> At Eucharist we experience the Kingdom at hand. It nourishes us for witness, not for battle.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: As a child in a world of adults, are you afraid or safe?
> Question for Youth: Young adults, on the edge of adulthood, often feel like lambs among wolves. Do you enter this world with fear or with confidence?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we people of peace and goodwill, or do we act like crusaders righting wrong at every turn?
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Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJune 30, 2019Focus
…[T]o another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." To him Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."
One-Minute-Homily
> It’s hard enough to set priorities; even harder to follow them. Things happen; we are distracted by events which seem more urgent if not more important. Sometimes it’s hard to decide if we are making legitimate exceptions or just making excuses.
> In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls two would-be disciples, but both have what would seem like legitimate reasons to delay. Jesus takes advantage of the situation to remind us that sometimes even legitimate reasons are just excuses to prevent us from following him.
> The challenge for us as disciples is to first set priorities which reflect our desire to follow the Lord and second to discern what choices are consistent with those priorities and which are just excuses. Burying the dead and being considerate of our families would generally seem consistent with being a disciple, but we might imagine situations in which following Jesus would be even more important than that.
> At the dismissal we are often reminded to “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” It’s a reminder to get our priorities straight.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: What are two things you should always do if you want to be like Jesus?
> Question for Youth: For young adults, there seem like a million decisions which shape our future lives as adults; is following Jesus a priority when you make these decisions?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Have we identified what is a priority for us as followers of Jesus? Do we regularly discern whether we are following that priority or making excuses?
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• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective• • •Solemnity of the Body an d Blood of ChristJune 23, 2019Focus
…[T]aking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied.
And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
One-Minute-Homily
> Adults of a certain age remember hearing stories about the Great Depression in the United States, when food was scarce and families learned to stretch meager provisions and to share with those who had even less. Immigrants and the homeless among us know firsthand what it is like not to know where your next meal is coming from.
> Today’s Gospel shows us a God who desires to relieve his people’s hunger, who multiplies what is available and supplies what is missing with his very self – a God whose generosity and compassion is multiplied in his followers.
> Our challenge as disciples -- as individuals and as a community -- is not just to receive the body of Christ, but to be the body of Christ for others – to relieve the hunger of others not just for physical sustenance, but for hope, for acceptance, for forgiveness, for what the theologians call redemption.
> Our challenge, as St. Augustine said, is to become what we are – the body of Christ. That’s what we mean when we answer “Amen.”
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Can you remember a special time when you shared food with others or they shared food with you?
> Question for Youth: Have you discovered that part of growing older is developing the ability and the desire to share what you are and what you have with others?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we people whose generosity multiplies what is available and supplies what is missing in the people and communities around us?
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• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective• • •
Solemnity of the Holy TrinityJune 16, 2019FocusJesus said to his disciples: "…When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you….”
One-Minute-Homily
> Life begets life, love begets love -- both are qualities which cannot be not shared. Life and love must manifest themselves in one way or another. The life and love between parents manifests itself in various ways, but none more profoundly than in their children.
> Today the church celebrates the Most Holy Trinity. What we attest in this conviction is simply that the life and love shared within the Divine Being, between “Father” and “Son”, is manifest to us in their Spirit who “takes what is mine and declares it to you,” as the Gospel says.
> Through the Spirit we are intimately inter-connected to one another, to the whole of creation, to the Creator’s Self. The challenge then is to manifest this bond of life and love; we cannot live only for ourselves, only for our particular group, only for the people who seem familiar and comfortable to us.
> This is what we confess: that we believe “in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified.”
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Can you describe what it feels like to be filled with spirit?
> Question for Youth: The task of becoming adults is to expand the bonds of life and love which we experienced as children into new and adult relationships. Can you appreciate the Spirit which empowers you to do this?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we intentionally conscious of the Divine Spirit which unites us to all of Creation and to the Divine Being that created, redeemed and sustains us in bonds of life and love?
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• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective• • •
Solemnity of PentecostJune 9, 2019Highlight
Jesus said to his disciples: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always…. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you."
One-Minute-Homily
> We know what it means to be passionate – passionate about our first love, our true love, our career or life’s goal, a favorite team or hobby or sport. Caring deeply, unconditionally, sometimes recklessly, often to the exclusion of other concerns and interests – we know well what passion is.
> The feast of Pentecost is about a God who loves us passionately. This is the picture Luke paints in the Acts of the Apostles: disciples touched by the Spirit as if burnt by fire (or drunk, Luke says), passionately, recklessly proclaiming the Word even among strangers.
> This is the challenge of discipleship: to be touched by that same Spirit, to become determined to live and love as God does: passionately, deeply, unconditionally, even recklessly – to love friend and foe alike, in ways which transcend differences in language and culture and experience and conviction.
> The Eucharist often seems so solemn and reverent; it’s easy to forget that what we are celebrating is the presence of a God who loves us, and the whole of creation, with a passion.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Can you describe a time when you were so excited you wanted to jump and shout and wave your arms in the air?
> Question for Youth: The challenge of becoming adult is not to suppress passion, but to direct it in constructive and creative ways. Can you imagine our God as a God who loves passionately?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Is it obvious to others that we are passionate about our faith, that we live to love deeply, unconditionally and recklessly as God loves us?
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• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective• • •Solemnity of the AscensionJune 2, 2019HighlightJesus said to his disciples: "…[B]ehold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.
One-Minute-Homily
> We know from experience what it is like to lose someone we cherish: good friends move away, a colleague changes jobs, a loved one dies. But they continue to be present to us in one way or another despite their physical absence. That presence continues to shape who we are and how we act.
> The Lord’s ascension, recounted today in both the Acts of the Apostles and Luke’s Gospel, does not signal the end of his presence, only a change in how he is present. He lives on among us in the Holy Spirit, “the promise of the Father.” He continues to shape who we are and how we act.
> The challenge to us as disciples is to allow the Lord’s Spirit to permeate our lives, so that his presence is embodied and revealed in real time and in real flesh and blood – in other words, in us. This presence – his love, his forgiveness, his healing power – is made real in relationship, “where two or three are gathered.”
> The Eucharist is a constant reminder that the Lord is present in flesh and blood; this is a presence which cannot be reduced to bread and wine.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Who reminds you of Jesus? What do they do that reminds you of him?
> Question for Youth: Do you long for the physical presence of someone who is at a distance? In what way does this remind you of how Jesus is present to us today?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Does how we live, day after day, embody and reveal the real presence of Jesus Christ in time and space?
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• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective• • •
Sixth Sunday of EasterMay 26, 2019Highlight
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
One-Minute-Homily
> From time to time in life, we have to leave loved ones in the care of others. When that happens, we try to choose someone who knows us, who will care for them and protect them the way we would, who will as much as possible remind them of us and how much we love them.
> In today’s Gospel Jesus is preparing the disciples for his own departure. He promises to send them the Holy Spirit, the Divine Spirit of he and the Father, who will continue to enlighten and guide them. The Spirit will insure that there is no need to be troubled or afraid.
> Our goal as disciples is always to be aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit among us; to allow the Spirit to guide and console us in troubled times; and to embody the Spirit for others. Our presence in this world should be marked by a kind of quiet confidence that in due time and with God’s grace all will be well.
> “Peace be with you,” we say to those around us at Mass. It’s not just a friendly greeting, it’s a promise to all we know and love -- and those we don’t.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Who makes you feel peaceful when you are worried or afraid?
> Question for Youth: Becoming an adult is an exciting but sometimes difficult experience; how and where do you experience the peace which Jesus promised?> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we peace-filled people whose lives give hope and assurance to people who are worried and afraid?Learn More
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Fifth Sunday of EasterMay 19, 2019Highlight
Jesus said, "…I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
One-Minute-Homily
> When do children discover that their parents love them unconditionally? Sometimes it takes a lifetime. Convincing our children that we love them unconditionally is difficult—first of all because it is hard to do, and in any case, hard to believe.
> In today’s Gospel, Jesus instructs the disciples to love as God loves – which is to say, to love unconditionally. That is the amazing thing about God’s love for us, and the thing that should characterize our love for others. It is both hard to do and hard to believe.
> What is unconditional love? It is caring deeply about another simply because they exist, because they are another human being and a child of God -- not because they look like us, think and believe and act like us, or have some value to us. And caring deeply in an active, not merely a passive, sense.
> The Eucharist is the most complete expression of God’s love for us; it unites us as a family striving to love others as God loves us.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Do you think your parents would ever stop loving you?
> Question for Youth: Parents are not always the best example of unconditional love; where and how do you experience the kind of love Jesus is talking about?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: How conditional is our love for others – those we know well and those who are strangers to us? What are our conditions?
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Fourth Sunday of EasterMay 12, 2019HighlightJesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
One-Minute-Homily
> Throughout most of history, human relations were marked by certain hierarchies: powerful over the weak, rich over the poor, men over women, divine over human. Only lately, in the modern era, did we realize that genuine relationships require mutuality, not dominance and control.
> The Incarnation of Jesus Christ planted the seeds of this kind of mutuality, which the early disciples realized but later abandoned. We hear it expressed in John’s Gospel as the relationship between a shepherd and the sheep: “I know mine and mine know me." And "The Father and I are one.”
> As disciples we are challenged to promote genuine human relationships based on mutuality that respects the dignity and value of every person. That means transforming the hierarchies that frustrate mutuality between white and non-white, economically advantaged and disadvantaged, clergy and lay, able-bodied and disabled, Christian and non-Christian. Pope Francis calls this “going to the margins.”
> At Eucharist we celebrate the new covenant, and the real presence of a God who came to the margins, becoming human, and living among us.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Do you ever treat other people like they aren’t important or don’t fit in?
> Question for Youth: How are you experiencing the challenge of leaving behind a relationship formed by hierarchy between parents and children and forming adult relationships based on mutuality?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Do we promote mutuality … or do we protect hierarchies that divide our communities between people who are important and those who aren’t, people who are welcome and those who are not?
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• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective• • •
Third Sunday of Easter
May 5, 2019Highlight
Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him, "No." So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something." So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.
One-Minute-Homily
> Society (and our ego) tell us we should be able to take care of ourselves; we should be self-sufficient and independent. We learn to fear being dependent. We hate having to ask for help; we hate being sick and getting old.
> In today’s Gospel, the disciples encounter the risen Jesus and discover that they are dependent on him: he guides them, and they are successful. Like Peter, he empowers them to love, not for the sake of themselves but for the sake of serving the flock and feeding the sheep.
> Even though it is not comfortable, disciples must embrace our interdependence on the Lord and the people around us. We are responsible for others, and we are dependent on the Risen Lord’s love and guidance. We stretch out our hands and he leads us, often enough to places we do not want to go.
> “Our Father,” we pray at Mass; it reminds us that we are all sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Who are the people you depend on? Does anyone depend on you?
> Question for Youth: In one sense, growing up means becoming more independent and self-sufficient. Do you see how, in another way, it means becoming more aware of our interdependence on others and on God?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Who are we dependent upon? Who are we responsible for? Can we identify and accept our interdependence?
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Second Sunday of Easter
April 28, 2019Highlight
On the evening of that first day of the week,…Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you…. As the Father has sent me, so I send you…. Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
One-Minute-Homily
> Think about the word merciless. Think about when and how you have heard it used. It’s a hard, cruel word, synonymous with cold, heartless, vindictive, inhuman.
> The Church has proclaimed the Second Sunday of Easter “Divine Mercy Sunday.” It reminds us of God’s mercy, revealed so dramatically in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ generally and in today’s Gospel particularly.
> With the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, God has chosen to live among us, and to act in us through the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus can say to his disciples -- and to us -- what we do here is just as real as in heaven. In other words, we are challenged to be just as loving, forgiving and merciful as God-With-Us, even to those who, like Thomas, who struggle to understand and believe.
> Would we believe that the Divine lives among us, body and soul, if we did not see the host and drink the wine? Maybe not.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: How does it make you feel when someone forgives you or is merciful toward you?
> Question for Youth: In the process of growing up, we discover that a lot of things we do will affect ourselves and others for a long time to come. Does the Gospel help you appreciate the power or responsibility that you are gaining?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Would people look at us and say that we are merciful? Do we fully accept people like Thomas, who had a hard time believing?
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Easter Sunday
April 21, 2019Highlight
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning…and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved…. So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb…. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
One-Minute-Homily
> Most people love a story with a good ending – a story where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. In real life, even when things look bleak we still hope against hope that things will turn out well, even when it seems almost impossible.
> The story of Easter is the ultimate good-ending story. The disciples discover the empty tomb, and then realize what has happened: the Lord has been raised from the dead – an impossible ending if there ever was one! This is the good-ending story that makes all other good-ending stories possible.
> Whatever the first disciples experienced, it was something that no one had ever experienced before, and it convinced them that the Lord was alive. Our faith -- and our lives -- are rooted in their conviction – God has conquered evil, sin and death once and for all. Although we do not fully enjoy the consequences of this fact yet, there’s no question about how this story turns out.
> Every Eucharist is both the expression and the experience of the Easter miracle – Christ alive and living among us; let our lives reflect that fact.
For Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Can you think of something good that has happened which you thought would never happen?
> Question for Youth: There is a lot of trial-and-error in growing up, and things don’t always turn out the way we hoped they would. Does your faith help you hope that they eventually will?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Do we live our lives in ways that give other people hope, even when it seems almost impossible to go on hoping?
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• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective[Last Update: 07.13.19]
