BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) When Jesus told his disciples to observe the Law in even the smallest detail, the scribes and Pharisees must have been pleased. That’s exactly what they had been saying for generations, and they lived by that principle themselves. But then Jesus adds: “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, the Law is good, but it is a minimum. He gives four examples, and in the coming weeks we will see more, contrasting the Law’s requirements with Jesus’ expectations. Good enough isn’t good enough! Much later, in Chapter 23 of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus makes the same point: "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do

The Sermon on the Mount , James Tissot, c. 1886-1896. Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) Jesus conjures up two images in today’s famous Gospel passage that, on the surface, do not make sense. One is obvious: you wouldn’t light a lamp and then hide it. What would be the point? The other is the idea that salt could lose its flavor. That doesn’t make sense, either. Sodium chloride is a chemical compound. It’s either sodium chloride or it isn’t. Various explanations have been offered to explain why Jesus would say such a thing. Here is mine. Both images imply the word “suppose.” For example, suppose that in a storm you lost power and someone lit a hurricane lantern and then put it in a closet and closed the door. That would be foolish. Suppose salt could lose its flavor. For example, if someone puts salt and sugar in the same container, the salt, for all practical purposes,

Detail, The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew , Caravaggio, 1603–1606. Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings )  One of the most beautiful texts in the whole Bible reads: “Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and there be buried.”  People are sometimes surprised to learn that these words are not spoken between two lovers. They are the words of Ruth, to her mother-in-law, and simply mean: I will never leave you.  That hardly matters. The classical musical setting by Gounod is often heard at weddings. The Weston Priory version is sung by the monks to each other as a pledge of mutual fidelity in their monastic life. The text suits any commitment of persons to each other.  The response of Simon, Andrew, James, and John to the call of Jesus seems to have been wordless. They j

Adoration of the Magi , Gentile da Fabriano, 1423, Uffizi Gallery, Italy. Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) The Feast of the Epiphany was celebrated in Eastern Churches before being observed in Rome. It seems originally to have been a feast of the nativity of our Lord. January 6th. For those Churches it was the equivalent of December 25th in the Roman Church. The Epiphany, as you know, celebrates the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world… the shining forth of the Light of the World… the manifestation of the Incarnation to the entire world beyond the Jewish world. The three kings symbolize the coming of God to the Gentiles… the entrance of God into all of the world in all of its history. Today’s Liturgy is surrounded with other epiphanies… the manifestation of God’s marriage to us, symbolized in the wedding feast at Cana, the manifestation of Christ’s Sonship in His baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan… and final

Joseph and Mary arrive at the inn in Bethlehem, 14th century illumination Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) Nazareth was one of the most insignificant villages in Judah. When Jesus was first assembling His apostles we find the following exchange between two of them as reported in St. John’s gospel: "Philip found Nathaniel and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathaniel said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” [John 1:45-45]" Christianity goes beyond doctrines, moral norms, and teachings. It goes beyond how we behave. While all of those things are important, we need to recognize that Christianity essentially involves vision… seeing things as God sees them… seeing things in God’s Light… recognizing reality and truth. Pontius Pilate during the trial of Jesus asked the central question. T

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) “Are you the one who is to come, or do we look for another?” As you live out life as a Christian, trying to make the life of Jesus a reality in your own life, many are going to be observing you. In key moments, some people are going to be looking to you for help, hope maybe you’ll be their salvation, their way out. Very indirectly, perhaps very quietly, or perhaps quite directly, they might ask you: ARE YOU THE ONE WHO CAN HELP ME… WHO CAN BRING ME SALVATION IN THIS MESS… OR DO I LOOK FOR ANOTHER? You are a Christian. You openly and publicly bear the name of Christ… and you do it for all to see. You identify yourself as a Catholic. You attend Mass… receive the Sacraments. As a result people are going to look at you… to examine your actions… to look into your life. And they will ask you questions about why you are a Catholic. You have been baptized. You have been confirmed. As we heard John the Baptist de

Detail , St. John the Baptist Preaching , Mattia Preti (Il Cavaliere Calabrese), c. 1665. Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) Here we are with Christmas just two and a half weeks away. The shops and malls are loaded with goodies. Christmas songs fill the air. Parties are being arranged and delicacies prepared. Thoughts of home, of family, and of a lovely time fill our hopes and imaginations. With all of these lovely sentiments in our hearts and minds we come to church today and hear about a weird guy living in the desert, wearing scratchy and horribly smelling clothes made of camel’s hair, eating locusts, calling people a bunch of snakes while telling them that fire and brimstone will come down on them, all the while threatening them with axes that will cut them down. The gospel picture ends with John the Baptist threatening the Sadducees and Pharisees with hell. Aren’t you glad you came to church today just before Christmas to hear all

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) In today’s first reading we hear the prophet Isaiah calling us to climb to the top of the mountain and look for the Lord’s advent, the Lord’s coming into our lives. At the end of today’s first reading when we hear Isaiah cry out, “ O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! ” We need to understand that Isaiah isn’t simply talking about nature’s daylight nighttime’s darkness, he is talking about what we see with our minds and hearts. He’s calling us to rise above our daily worries, concerns and anxieties in order to take a look over the whole of our lives with all of their peaks and valleys. As Christians we do that in the vision of Christ, the Light of the World, God’s gift to us. The problem you and I face comes not from the fact that we are unconcerned or apathetic or lazy. The problem you and I have is that we’re far too concerned about so many other things. Often these are legitimate

Father Lance Harlow There is one word to describe the impact that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead has had on those who believe. That one word is joy. In the Gospel of Matthew, which is read at the Easter Vigil Mass (Mt 28:1-10), Mary Magdalene and the other women who go to the tomb on Easter Sunday are “overjoyed” at the news from the angels that Jesus has been raised from the dead. The angels tell the women to go quickly to inform the apostles and to go to Galilee where they will see Jesus with their very own eyes. This sequence of events might remind you of what happened 33 years earlier to some shepherds who were tending their flocks at night, when angels appeared to them and told them to go to Bethlehem to see the newborn King of the Jews. Joy, then, is the proper human response to contact with the realm of angels and the glory of God. It is the disposition of a heavenly life — a Christian life. Joy breaks forth into our human experience like the sunshine breaking

April 14, 2019 Therefore, with all faith and devotion, let us commemorate the Lord’s entry into the city of our salvation, following in His footsteps, so that, being made by His grace partakers of the Cross, we may share in His Resurrection and in His life. Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them here to me. And if anyone should say anything to you, reply, 'The master has need of them.' Then he will send them at once."  This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: Say to daughter Zion, "Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."  The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them. Th

March 6, 2019  " Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return ."  On Ash Wednesday, Catholics receive ashes in the shape of a cross traced on the forehead. The rite evokes Saint Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15: 21 - 22) Adam’s sin condemned man to sin and death. But the instrument of our salvation, the cross, reminds us that in Christ, man is redeemed and the gates of heaven are opened. The original injunction conferring ashes: "Remember, O man, that dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return," contrasts with the words of the Nicene Creed concerning the Incarnation: "For us men and for our salvation, he [Jesus] came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man." In becoming man, Christ assumed our iniquities: off

Optional Memorial - March 3rd Our Lord said that it is "...easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:24).  Though such a thing is difficult, it is, however, not impossible, especially if the rich person, in this case, rich woman, sees their wealth as a gift from God, given to help bring about His kingdom on earth. For them, affluence is an opportunity. Such was the story of Saint Katharine Drexel. Born in Philadelphia into a family of wealth and privilege in 1858, Katharine had advantages that many people then, and even now, could only dream of. Her family’s fortune was made in banking. Her uncle Anthony founded Drexel University in Philadelphia. On her stepmother’s side, Katharine was a distant cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She received an excellent education, traveled widely in the United States and Europe, and, like other young women in her social class, made a grand debut i

February 14, 2018  " Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return ."  On Ash Wednesday, Catholics receive ashes in the shape of a cross traced on the forehead. The rite evokes Saint Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15: 21 - 22) Adam’s sin condemned man to sin and death. But the instrument of our salvation, the cross, reminds us that in Christ, man is redeemed and the gates of heaven are opened. The original injunction conferring ashes: "Remember, O man, that dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return," contrasts with the words of the Nicene Creed concerning the Incarnation: "For us men and for our salvation, he [Jesus] came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man." In becoming man, Christ assumed our iniquities:

Fr. Charles Irvin  Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings )  Two words in the Gospel account you just heard captured my attention… “astonished” and “amazed.” St. Mark reports that the people in Capernaum’s synagogue were astonished at Jesus’ teaching and all were amazed. So the question arises: Why? Why were they so astonished and amazed? After all they thought Jesus was a rabbi, someone who speaks God’s word, and they were, after all, in a synagogue, a place where one would expect to be hearing about what God had to say. So why were they so astonished and amazed? First of all we need to notice that this event occurred at the very beginning of Our Blessed Lord’s public ministry. St. Mark reports this event in the first chapter, twenty-first verse of his Gospel account. Jesus has just finished gathering His twelve apostles and was now “going public,” so to speak. Jesus had not as yet performed His dazzling miracles. He had not as yet cured the blind, healed the l

Memorial - January 17th  It is interesting that someone who once hoped to be a martyr would instead live to be 105 years old — thus it was with Saint Anthony (or Antony) of Egypt. Born in the year 251, he would not only live through the last of the persecutions of Christians by the Roman Empire, but he would then go on to fight the heresy of Arianism and eventually become known as “the father of monasticism.” Anthony was born in Coma, Egypt, to affluent parents who died when he was only 20 years old.  Left with a substantial material inheritance, it would be the spiritual foundation that his family had impressed upon him which would have the greatest influence on his life. Not long after their death, Anthony heard a Gospel reading at church that he felt was spoken directly to him: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.”  (Mt 19:21) Much like St. Francis of Assisi, Anthony took this Scripture passage qui

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) In today’s scripture passages the language is epic, the imagery apocalyptic, the action dramatic. There is ominous danger from a tyrannical and insanely jealous king, a king who mercilessly slaughters innocent babies. There are worldly rulers of great power, wisdom, and wealth, on a quest. There is a great escape, a long journey into the land of the pyramids, that land wherein the waters of the great river Nile push back the boundaries of the death-dealing desert in order that humans might live. The hero-child, the God-Man baby, is saved in order to grow in wisdom, strength, and knowledge so that He may push back the boundaries of arid human living, and even death itself, that we might live in eternal life. Light struggles against darkness. Discovery follows wandering and searching. Truth vanquishes deception. Good prevails over evil. A heavenly guiding star shines in night’s darknes

Although Christmas is a joyous season celebrating the birth of the Infant Savior, it is nevertheless a holiday tinged with sadness. After all, it is the beginning of a journey, the sacred life of Christ, which must pass through Good Friday in order to reach the glory of Easter Sunday. For Christians, the Passion of Our Lord is foreshadowed by the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a somber commemoration that is solemnly observed a mere three days after the Incarnation, on December 28th. While the number of these holy innocents is unknown, some Biblical scholars speculate that there may have been as few as six, the reason for their death is what causes the Church to venerate them as martyrs. Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Herod, the king of Judea, was "greatly troubled" by the news, delivered to him by the Wise Men, that a different "king of the Jews" had been born. Insecure as he was on his throne, any threat to his power was cause for alarm. When the Magi did not re

O King of the Gentiles and Savior of the World "Come and save man, whom Thou hast made out of dust." What is man? He is but a particle of dust, an insignificant creature who has further separated himself from God through sin. He has been cut off from the fountain of truth and banished from God to darkness and misery. Still in the ruins there dwells a spirit that possesses a capacity for truth. In these ashes there is yet a spark that may be fanned to life to burn with the brilliance of divine life. But only God can revive this flame. For this reason, the Church cries out, "Come and save man, whom Thou hast made out of dust." Save him who is so weak, so miserable and helpless. Remember his nothingness. Consider the many enemies who lay snares to rob him of divine life and to entice him into sin. Think of his [finite] knowledge and his proneness to evil, of his tendency to error, and his weakness in the face of temptation. Guard him from the enticements of the

By Father Lance Harlow Caution: This article concerns working with the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill and addicts. If your experience of this kind of ministry is limited to the occasional conference talk on social justice in an air-conditioned building, bolstered by small group discussions followed by a tasty lunch, you won’t appreciate it. If you have hands-on experience with the above-mentioned population, who rejected your good intentions at “helping them,” then you will understand the Gospels in their complexity and entirety. For most Christians, the seminal Gospel passage often quoted regarding social justice and ministry to the poor is Matthew 25:35-40: “‘I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When