A regular reflection from one of our Franciscan Friars on the day’s readings, the happenings around the parish, or discussing parochial outreach initiatives.
Years ago, when I was starting my theological studies, one of my professors said that we can see “the other, the stranger,” as either a gift or a threat. It seems to me that the authors of all three readings this weekend are writing about the struggle in making that distinction, with them all coming to the same conclusion.
Isaiah (56:1, 6-7) writes that the Lord told him to “observe what is right, do what is just” not for his fellow Jews but to the foreigners that live within the borders of Israel. Not just the Temple building located in Jerusalem, but the Temple that all of Israel was supposed to be, “shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” What a vision God had? Too bad the people of Isaiah’s day didn’t cooperate to fulfill it.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans (11:13-15, 29-32) is writing to a church composed of Jews and Gentiles. Paul is warning the Gentiles not to be smug that God has called them, while many of the Jews have rejected the Messiahship of Jesus. He writes, “God delivered all to disobedience that he might have mercy upon all.”
Jesus to seems to struggle when confronted with a Canaanite woman with a demon-tormented daughter (Matthew 15:21-28). For a while, He seems trapped by cultural prejudices, not to mention the strict norms of gender and religion. Unfortunately, His initial reaction is supported by the disciples. However, the persistent faith, courage, and love for her daughter win Jesus over, and her daughter is healed “from that hour.” I can’t help but think that this encounter led Him to a deeper understanding of His mission.
There seems to be a lot of fear in our society and Church to people that are not like us. Whether they have a different skin color, ascribe to a different religion, are a different sexual orientation or gender identity, it seems to me that the only way, the Gospel way, to interact with them is to remember that God has mercy upon all. Pope Francis calls us to live the “sacrament of encounter” particularly with people who are different from us. Judgement and condemnation are not what Christ calls us to. We are called to respond to those who are least like us with the same compassion Christ has towards us.
In 1964, Simon & Garfunkel released their album “Wednesday Morning, 3 a.m.,” which included the song “The Sound of Silence.” According to Art Garfunkel, the song symbolizes the “inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly intentionally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other.”
I think we can all find some agreement with that sentiment being valid today. We are bombarded with 24-hour news cycles and social media ad nauseum, and as such there is still a deafening silence all around us as we observe the world through constant sound bites and distortion. Everyone wants our attention to improve their own algorithms in order to validate themselves or what they have to say, and perpetrate more unsolicited ads, because more “hits” usually just means more money from advertisers. We may see each other in passing, but do we really communicate? SO MUCH NOISE!
Well, all I can say is, “thank God for the Prophet Elijah!” The first book of Kings relates the story of Elijah’s finding God in the “sounds of silence.” The Prophet Elijah discovered that God wasn’t to be found in the turbulence and destruction of strong winds, crushing rocks, earthquakes, or fire. God was found in a tiny whispering sound. The paradox of a sound in silence alludes to the transcendent, even the inexplicable presence and activity of God. It seems that Elijah’s God is not one of power and might, but one of a quiet and awesome presence. Once Elijah realizes God’s presence, like Moses before him, he covers his face.
Just being in silence is a discipline. It doesn’t come easy. While sitting in silence, our minds are constantly engaged with our many thoughts which we cannot simply turn off. They constantly distract us. Our challenge is, like Elijah, to not allow the distractions of our thoughts or surroundings to take away from our focus in searching for God. Elijah was focused on identifying the presence of God. God is always and everywhere present to us.
In our Gospel this weekend, we hear about a commotion on the sea where Jesus’ disciples are in a boat being tossed about, afraid for their lives. Peter, who was commanded by Jesus to come towards him walking on the water, quickly begins to sink after only a few steps. Peter lost his focus. He allowed the elements and sounds around him to distract his coming to Jesus, much like the distractions of social media can distract us as Catholics if we allow them to. Jesus saves Peter and calms the sea, in turn saving not only the boat carrying his disciples, but every other boat on the sea that night.
Our challenge and our prayer is to focus on the presence of God and our relationships with one another. For all of the good that social media and instant information may bring to us, there is also a liability in allowing it to consume us. Listen intently to the sound of silence in your own lives, and like Elijah, you, too, will hear the whisper and feel the presence of God and find the ability to love one another.
The Kingdom of Heaven is here and now and will be fulfilled when we arrive in Heaven. Jesus shares with us today the parable of a great treasure and a pearl of great price. When I reflect on these two parables, I can’t help but think about my spiritual journey.
Raised as a cradle Catholic and educated in parochial schools, it wasn’t until my late 20’s, after I became a wife and mother, that my faith came alive. This gift of faith, which was bestowed on me at Baptism, wasn’t discovered until I recognized it as a “treasure,” or “a pearl of great price.” Soon after that initial conversion, I had zealous fervor! I had decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.
I certainly didn’t realize what that would mean for my life. It has been a wonderful, terrible, exciting, dull, event-filled, sometimes doubt-filled, story of faith. It is a very human story filled with joy, sorrow, disappointment, and success. At the beginning of this new commitment to Christ, my primary focus was making God a priority in my family’s life. It is now over 30 years later and the Gospel has not changed and I’m still in love with Jesus!
Today’s parable still invites that same fervor and asks us to do whatever we need to do in order to live the Gospel. Perhaps there is another reason that Jesus shared this parable with us. It is a reminder, reinforcing the parables we have heard in recent readings. Think about it for a minute. Who would not be thrilled at finding a huge treasure? The early days of the find would no doubt be exciting. Yet, the newness and the excitement of the treasure naturally would wane after years of managing the investment, giving some of it to charities, and making sure it grew. There would be a constant sense of well-being if the treasure was doing well, but would there always be that early passion and fervor? It takes work and constant diligence to maintain such enthusiasm.
Poem Recommendation Regarding from Barbara Ferreris | “The Find”
Looking to delve deeper for that “buried treasure?” Barbara recommends the following poem by Catholic author and poet Anthony De Mello, entitled The Find, from his 1984 book on spiritual exercises, Wellsprings.
Jesus says, “Here is a picture of the kingdom. It is like a treasure buried in a field. The man who found it went and, through joy, sold everything he had- and bought that field.”
I have a treasure: the thing I value most in life. I relive the events that led me to discover it.
I think of the history of my life from the time I found this treasure… what it has done for me and meant to me.
I stand before this treasure (God or Jesus Christ or a conviction, value, or ideal or a person, task or mission) and I say, “Of all the things I have you are the dearest.” And I see what happens to me when I pronounce that sentence.
I think how much I would gladly do or give (even life itself, maybe) in order to preserve this treasure. If it is not that important, I acknowledge this with sadness— and I hope for a day when I shall find a treasure for which through sheer joy I shall be ready to give up everything.
I am a treasure. Someday, somewhere, someone discovered me. I should have no awareness of my worth if someone had not found it. I recall and relive the details of the finding.
I am a multifaceted treasure. There were many things concealed in me that different people drew out and revealed to me. I joyfully review each one of these and gratefully remember the persons who uncovered them.
Finally, I stand before the Lord and find, to my surprise, that he considers me a treasure. I see reflected in his eyes in the many lovely facets that only he could have observed in me and I rest in the love He gives me.
Today’s Gospel reminds me that I cannot become complacent with the great gift I have been given. Outward appearances may suggest that all is going well, but often it seems the ordinary concerns of life take precedence over everything else, and the reign of God is taken for granted. Jesus reminds us that we can never lapse into complacency. We do not know the hour or the day of the Lord’s return. One way I’d test my fervor in light of today’s Gospel would be to ask myself: “Do I still reach out in love to others with the same commitment as always? Is there still an urgency to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world?”
After surrendering to Jesus at a retreat many years ago, He took my heart and my life and placed me in a position to share this urgency to preach and teach the gospel. I am entering into my 29th year of ministry in the realm of faith formation and it has been quite a journey. I could not have found a more perfect treasure to share than my love and passion for Christ and His church through this ministry. I am humbled that God sees fit to use me, in spite of myself, to help bring about His Kingdom here and now.
We are in the second of three weeks of readings where Jesus is using parables, or short morality stories, to teach us about the Kingdom of God. Why does Jesus use parables? By speaking in parables, Jesus grants understanding to those who are seeking after Him – revealing truth to those who are willing to listen and thoughtfully consider what He has to say. Conversely, those whose hearts are hardened against Him have the truth hidden from them.
Last week, we learned through the Parable of the Seed and the Sower what type of soil the seed fell on. We can liken this to the Word of God being planted in our hearts. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus shares with us the Parables of the Weeds among the Wheat and the Mustard Seed, both referring to some of the choices we have to make in our lives. We are all aware of our free will. Jesus never forces Himself on anyone. We always have choices to make, and whether they’re good or not so good, we still have the freedom to choose.
We have an idea about how Jesus wants us to live. He wants us to love one another and help each other build His kingdom here on earth as we wait for the day to be with Him in Heaven, even though we know that isn’t the easiest task to accomplish. God has given us the freedom to make our own choices and, unfortunately, sometimes we decide to do things our own way and not follow Jesus. These are the times when we become the weeds in the crop.
It’s like trying to keep up your lawn. You fertilize it. You water it. You try not to trample on it, if you can avoid it. Then, out of the blue, weeds start to pop up. We tend to just pull them as we see fit. Many times, when we pull those weeds, we can see that we’re also uprooting the good grass. So, what do we do? We treat it. We nurture the grass. We continue to work on eliminating the weeds over time. If we’re consistent in this, it will be difficult for that weed to return.
This is akin to our spiritual life. We need to nurture our relationship with God through prayer, scripture, the sacraments, etc. Oftentimes, weeds (sins) get in the way and try to uproot the good that we are also trying to do. That’s when we need to fertilize and use the gifts and resources God has given us. The Mass, the Rosary, and Reconciliation are just a few of the “lawn tools” to keep our field (our heart) in order.
How are you tending to the weeds in your life? How will you continue to allow the Lord to fertilize your heart? My prayer is that the Master Gardener will sift through and sort out all the weeds in our hearts so that we may produce a bountiful harvest for Him!
All three readings this weekend have, as a motif, creation and its penchant of bringing forth life. In the reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah (55:10-11) the Lord likens His word to a seed that “will not return (to Him) void, but shall do (His) will, achieving the end for which (God) sent it.” However, as the second reading, Romans 8:18-23, explains “creation was made subject to futility yet awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God.” Today’s Gospel from Matthew (13:1-23) is the well known, and well worn, Parable of the Sower, which I think brings to light the other two readings.
Christ sows the Good News of the Kingdom of God in the world despite the fact that much of the soil is unsuitable for it to grow. However, “some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” During the time of Jesus, a fivefold yield on a crop was considered good. How extraordinarily good is the yield of the Word sown by God!
When I reflect on these readings, I have to admit that I have rocky parts of my heart that resist the alluring Word of Christ. My mind is sometimes filled with the chatter of flying birds that distract me from hearing the Word of Christ. Despite all of this, I know that there is still a part of my heart open to receive The Good News of God’s unconditional love and have His love travel to my hands and feet to act on that Good News.
At Baptism and Confirmation, the Holy Spirit was sown in our hearts. We must make the conditions right for the presence of the Spirit to grow within us. The seed of faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit grows through prayer, participation in the sacraments, and being part of a faith community. All these things will help us bear the fruit of charity which shows us, and the world, that our faith is alive for all to see.
We don’t need to do big things for God. All we need to do is do the ordinary, everyday things out of love for God and others. I’m paraphrasing St. Mother Theresa here. We are currently in Ordinary Time during the Church’s liturgical year. It’s hot and muggy here in Tampa and all we have to look forward to even hotter and muggier weather in August. Keep doing the good you are already doing no matter how small, and don’t worry about the yield of your goodness.
Goodness is its own reward, for the good that we do has its origin in God. Through the goodness we do, we will be revealed as “the children of God.”
Busy, Busy, Busy! Life at times seems to be an endless roller coaster transporting us from one event to another, sometimes even making us unaware how we got there in the first place! We can come home from a trip, be it work related or for pleasure, and still find ourselves being exhausted and feel the need that we need a vacation from our vacation! Well, today we hear of Jesus’ most gentle words in the Bible:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
These are some of the best words in the Gospels, and they have great relevance for us. During His lifetime, Jesus lived among the ordinary people. He knew at firsthand how busy and burdensome life was for them as well. Consequently, He had sympathy for ordinary people and wanted to lighten their burdens, hence, His invitation. Many people accepted that invitation and came to Him with their burdens of sickness and anxiety. All had their burdens lightened as a result of meeting Him. His mere presence could bring peace to an anguished soul. We too, need to accept His invitation and come to him with our burdens. Jesus doesn’t promise that we will have no burdens. Some burdens we just have to bear. But He does give us the strength to carry them. Not all burdens are physical, and although physical sleep may help our tired mind, its fatigue is not solely caused by the limited energies of the body. There is a weariness that also afflicts the mind. This weariness, a labor and a burden, can at times become too much for us.
We strive to be responsible people, taking care of our affairs and loved ones. Jesus suggests that the mind rests by disengaging from its wise and learned status and by embracing its childlike status. Its child status is to recognize its relationship to higher realities of which it is a part and on which it can rely. The mind can rest in the soul and the soul can rest in God. Jesus knows how this happens, and He invites all who feel labored and burdened with excess sense of responsibility and control to put on his easier yoke and pick up his lighter burden.
Perhaps it wise to step off of the roller coaster at times and hop onto the Merry-Go-Round; there will still be ups and downs, but the scenery passes by at a more leisurely pace!
Greetings to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ. As you may know, the week of July 9 will be my last at Sacred Heart Church. The experience of serving the parishioners of Sacred Heart and my brothers as their guardian has been wonderful and truly rewarding over these last three years. I have witnessed firsthand the energy and effort put forth by the men and women of this city and parish. Parishioners who freely give of themselves to care for and respond to the needs of their brothers and sisters on the peripheries.
You, the people of God at Sacred Heart, have done a tremendous job when it comes to living the Gospel. You have truly brought life to the Beatitudes by caring for those who are poor in spirit, for those who mourn, and for those who are hungry. You have been examples of peace makers to those who you have served, bringing to life Matthew 25: “when you did it for the least my brothers and sisters you do it to me.” I have had the wonderful and blessed opportunity to work alongside two of our parish’s outreach groups, Hands of Hope and Giving From the Heart, both exemplifying a way of Gospel living which is very Franciscan and has renewed in me a spirit of giving and acceptance.
Friar Henry prays during a recent vocations retreat in St. Petersburg. Henry’s next assignment will see him as guardian of Holy Name College in Silver Spring, MD.
My life as a Franciscan is itinerant, traveling from place to place when asked to serve. Many of you may have served or have had family members who have served in a branch of the military. You know that when the call comes, you answer. Friars are aware that at any given moment we might receive a call about going to another assignment to serve the people of God. My new assignment as guardian of Holy Name College (Silver Spring, Maryland) calls me to work with and join our formation team to minister to and with the men entering the initial formation to Franciscan life. I have been assigned to St. Camillus Parish and Holy Name College in the past, first as a student, and again as a parochial vicar in the parish. It is interesting to be sent back to a formation house after many years in parish settings. One of my favorite shows is Star Trek. We all know the famous saying, “to boldly go where no man has gone before…” This will truly be a bold journey, but to go back to where I have been before; a journey filled with hope for what is to come.
I want to thank each of you for the kindness you’ve shown me during my assignment at Sacred Heart Church. To all of you who supported or cheered for me…thank you. I am human, so if I have offended anyone for whatever reason in my time here, I ask your forgiveness and your prayers. Please pray for me as I will continue to pray for all of you and the many works of Sacred Heart Parish. This is not a true goodbye. It is “see you later.”
Words from the second reading (Romans 5:6-11) jumped out at me as if I had never read them before: “…God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” God proves his love as if the beauty of creation isn’t enough. God proves his love as if being isn’t enough. God proves his love as if having intellect, memory, and will isn’t enough. God proves his love as if being created in the image and likeness of God isn’t enough. I could go on, but you get the point. If God seems to think that he needs to prove his love for us, it is not due to any deficiency on God’s part. The deficiency is ours.
Perhaps the Church has these readings following the great solemnities of Pentecost, the Most Holy Trinity, the Body and Blood of Christ, and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus to remind us, or try to convince us, that God is continually loving us, and inviting us into an ever increasingly intimate relationship with him, his people, and indeed all of creation. Perhaps the Church has these readings to allay any doubt, fears, or feelings of unworthiness on our part. Indeed, we are all unworthy and isn’t that the whole point of grace? It is an unearned blessing.
I try to imagine a thirteenth disciple in today’s Gospel according to Matthew (9:36-10:8). The twelve who are named as apostles are those who trusted that Jesus knew what He was doing. They trusted that He knew who He was sending. and trusted that Jesus knew their gifts and limitations. So they went, although I imagine with some trepidation. The thirteenth disciple is the one who didn’t trust enough, maybe saw only their limitations, did not feel\ up to the task, or felt unworthy. I see in today’s Gospel Jesus proving his love for them by TRUSTING THEM, and having FAITH IN THEM, and their abilities to spread his mission.
Do we ever think about the fact that Christ TRUSTS US with carrying on the faith in our own times and in our own little corner of the world?
…but then, if you are reading this, I’m preaching to the choir.
God proves his love for us, and we in turn prove (or show or respond to) our love for God by “carrying out his holy and true commands” (St. Francis); that is by loving our neighbor and God’s creation.
Being the source and summit of our faith, volumes have been written about the Eucharist and its meaning to us as Catholic Christians. Today’s Feast is about the bountiful generosity of God, the deepest description of who we are as a Church; we are the Body of Christ. Today’s feast is not about what we receive every time we celebrate the Eucharist; it is fundamentally about who are.
In the Eucharist, Jesus makes us one with each other, embracing the whole community. It is not just my personal communion with Christ; it is our shared communion with each other in Christ. This is a social sacrament, a circle that includes Christ, yourself and all of our brothers and sisters in faith. When we approach the altar, it is a sign of our love for each other, a pledge of kindness and compassion towards each other. We are a Eucharistic people!
Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are remembering in a sacred and profound way the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus; the Paschal Mystery. This is not some drama at which we are silent and passive observers. The Church calls us to be full, conscious, and active participants in the celebration of the Eucharist at all times.
During the celebration of the Eucharist, we present the most ordinary of things to God; bread and wine; fruit of the earth, and work of our hands. God accepts, blesses them, and then through power of the Holy Spirit, they become the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Eucharist is an expression God’s ultimate bountiful generosity. As we come to receive, our response can only be gratitude, which is why when we receive (and never “take”) the Body and Blood of Jesus, we prayerfully respond, Amen! We should never take this greatest of gifts for granted. We didn’t earn, it’s not our right, and we can’t demand it. It is God’s gift, given freely out love to each of us. As Pope Francis reminds us; “The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” (The Joy of the Gospel: 47).
This wonderful feast calls us to remember who we are: we are the Church, the Body of Christ. St. Augustine said, ‘Believe what you see, see what you believe and become what you are: the Body of Christ. When you say ‘Amen’ you are saying, Yes, I believe! At the Last Supper, during which Jesus first offered himself to us through the breaking of bread and pouring of wine, he asked that whenever we do this we are to do it in memory of him. At this same meal, he washed our feet and asked us to do the same for each other; we are to serve each other. Because we have shared in the Eucharist with each other, we are called and challenged by Jesus to care for and serve each other.
At the end of Mass, we hear the words, “Go now to love and serve the Lord.” This is the invitation and challenge presented to each of us precisely because we have celebrated the Eucharist with each other. We are to take what we have experienced around the altar out into the world and live it in our ordinary lives with each other: The love of God made visible through the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We have received the bread of heaven, let us become what we have received; the People of God respond, “Amen!”
As we enter the summer months, and reenter Ordinary Time, you would think the friars and staff would be collectively exhaling, following back-to-back liturgical seasons, the parish gala, and many recent outreach initiatives. While that may be true, and I do hope many of us, yourselves included, find some peace following a busy period in our year, we are also presented the opportunity to address planning, staffing, and long-range projects during this time, and I wish to update you on a few of these fronts.
I’ll start by mentioning that Angela Erb, our parish event coordinator, announced last month that she would be stepping down from her position in order to pursue other career opportunities. Angela has been a parishioner of Sacred Heart since childhood, and assures us that she “isn’t going anywhere,” offering to assist not only with the transition of the role, but also as a volunteer for events and more in the coming years. While there is no immediate timetable for this transition, we have begun a search for the position, with the new Event, Hospitality & Outreach Manager responsible for implementing, organizing, or assisting with the various experiences, meetings, outreach, and events conducted at Sacred Heart. This role will become a full-time position. We thank Angela for all of her hard work and dedication to the parish. The Fall Festival and Gala are just two of the very successful events that Angela organized.
A few weeks ago, the parish advisory board met to continue providing valuable input into the vision and mission of our parish, while also reviewing the results from the recent parish survey. The advisory board works alongside the finance, maintenance, and outreach committees to provide leadership for our parish. The board is comprised of eleven parishioners, including the chairs of the aforementioned committees, and the friars. Each of the current board members are parishioners who all who serve in one or more ministries. The board will meet again in June to establish a clear set of short and long-range plans for the parish following the recent years of transition. One of those goals will be with the North Campus, and how we can best reorganize previously arranged plans for development.
While the doors at the southern front entrance have been restored, work is still to be completed.
Our maintenance committee has also been busy with various projects. While I wish I had better news, we are still waiting for the restoration company to finish with the punch list for the first set of doors at the southern front entrance. It has also been difficult to find a company that will assist us in resetting the stained glass above that entrance. The maintenance committee is garnering additional quotes regarding the restoration of the remaining sets of doors. You can see especially the Twiggs St. (handicap) and central sets of doors are in desperate need of repairs. The first set of doors have ended up costing twice as much as originally anticipated. Additional upcoming maintenance will include a cleaning of the church exterior, and addressing several minor leaks. We will also be adding additional closet space in the sacristy.
The maintenance committee has been looking at other long-term projects at the North Campus as well. We are moving forward with a replacement of the roof on the main school building. A contractor has already been procured, with agreements now being finalized. After receiving several estimates regarding the renovation to the kitchen, the committee has established a sub-committee to work specifically on this endeavor.
New volunteer opportunities are also being developed this summer, through our Loving Heart’s Ministry and their Adopt-A-School program. The ministry is looking to provide mentors and tutors to students at St. Joseph School in West Tampa and St. Peter Claver School here in Downtown. It would require a background check, safe environment training, and a few hours of your time each week, but that pales to the impact your time can have on these student’s lives. If you would like to learn more about this opportunity please contact Loving Hearts via the information in their advertisement in this week’s bulletin.
Fr. Mike accompanied the new Bikes from the Heart ministry in delivering bikes to Tampa Hope on May 24.
Also on the ministry front, there is a new ministry in development, committed to repairing and restoring used bicycles so that they may be given to those in need. The new Bikes from the Heart ministry debuted at our Homeless Outreach event last month, assisting several clients with on-site repairs, and developing a list of those applying to be given the refurbished bicycles. Last week, I was able to accompany the ministry as they made their first delivery of eight bicycles to the Tampa Hope homeless shelter. We know transportation might mean the difference between landing a job or not being able to work. If you have an old or disused bike, or additional parts that are sitting around, please get in touch with our new ministry, as Bikes from the Heart will certainly put them to good use. You can learn more about Bikes from the Heart here.
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