BIG C CATHOLICS

There is no homily this week from Fr. Irvin. We present this homily from Fr. Manfredonia Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) Today's Feast of the Presentation reminds me of something that Padre Pio said. He said, "For those souls who are faithful, this life in this world is like a purgatory." The souls in purgatory experience great joy knowing that they are saved and that they will see God face to face. At the same time, they experience great pains because they aren't yet given the beatific vision that they long for with incredible desire. Today's feast interestingly, is the fourth joyful mystery of the rosary because it is a great joy for our Lady to present her Son, the Redeemer of the world, in the Temple. But at the same time, it is the first sorrow of our Lady of the Seven Sorrows. So our Lady is experiencing great joy and also great sorrow. Saint Simeon who had received the promise from ...

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) All of us are quite familiar with inaugural addresses, especially when presidents of our country take office and begin their elected terms. Some of these addresses are, of course, more memorable than others. Unfortunately, much of the content of these inaugural addresses bear little relationship to the actions of these presidents subsequent to their addresses. John F. Kennedy’s memorable inaugural address might be an exception. I have a framed copy of it because it’s such a classic. Jesus Christ gave an inaugural address shortly after He returned from spending forty days and forty nights in the desert preparing for His public ministry. He returned to His own hometown of Nazareth to begin His public ministry. His inaugural address is what you just heard reported in today’s Gospel account: "He came to Nazareth where he had grown up and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. H...

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) Today’s Gospel account comes to us from the Gospel of St. John, a Gospel dominated by the theme of God’s love. Of the four Gospels, John’s is the Gospel of Love, particularly God’s commitment to you and to me to care for us, to cherish us, and to belong to us if we give Him our love in return. In St. John’s Gospel the first miracle of Jesus Christ takes place at wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. At that banquet Jesus, performing His first miracle, changes water into wine. St. John closes his Gospel with another wedding feast, the Last Supper. The bible speaks of it as the “Wedding Feast of the Lamb.” There Jesus, performing His last and greatest miracle before suffering and dying on His Cross, changes bread and wine into His Body and Blood. In the first wedding feast He changes water into wine, in the last wedding feast He changes wine into His Blood, Blood to be poured out for us in redemptive, self-sacrifi...

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) When did Jesus know who He really was? We can reasonably assume that as a little boy He grew into knowledge of who He was. Somewhere (and I am speaking here of Jesus in his human nature) He moved from being a little boy to being a young man and along the way He became aware of the fact that He had a unique relationship with our Father in heaven. In His maturation he came to know who He really was and that would determine His destiny in life. We cannot possibly pinpoint when that realization came to full flower. But certainly at His baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptizer He had in full measure that realization. Certainly at that moment, the one we just heard about in today’s Gospel account, He was committing Himself to the destiny that lay in front of Him. A booming voice from heaven proclaimed: “You are my beloved Son. On you my favor rests.” Jesus knew that our heavenly Father had special plans fo...

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) From Advent until now the readings and themes of our liturgies have all centered-on God’s coming to us. The underlying movement has been God seeking us out and offering Himself to us in His Son, in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah first promised to the descendants of Adam and Eve after their Fall. In today’s Liturgy the basic movement shifts. Now it’s all about our seeking, specifically our seeking out God in His Christ, and by the word “our” I mean all of humanity. The Magi we need to note were not Jews. They were the representatives of the gentile nations and peoples. They were kings who were sages, wise men, visionaries, men who searched beyond what is obvious; searching into the mysterious non-scientific world in which we exist as distinguished from what is merely technical and material. The word "question" has the word "quest" tucked inside it, an idea that’s pre...

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) What it means to be a family is undergoing a redefinition in our culture. No longer is the term “family” applied strictly to a household with mom, dad and the children all living together in the same home at the same time. As a matter of fact, what is known as the nuclear family is now in the minority. We have now various arrangements found in single parent families, in families in which the parents are of the same gender, and in families in which one parent is simply living with a boyfriend or a girlfriend. One major consequence is that children now must relate to multiple sets of parents, multiple sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles, or other adults who are not related to them by birth or blood. The Fourth Commandment, “Honor thy father and honor thy mother” is now strained, to say the least. How is that divine commandment, handed down on Mt. Sinai to Moses and the Israelites, to be applied in such dive...

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Saturday’s readings ) All of the shopping, all of the rushing about, all of the busy-ness of Christmas is now over. Today the streets are deserted. A quiet and peaceful stillness lays over all. Now the religious meaning of Christmas is allowed to emerge from beneath all of the mall music, the shopping, and the frantic preparations for this day. But to what do we turn our attention? To peace on earth toward men of good will? Yes, and something more.  To the sharing of love with family? Yes, and something more. To joining together with the ones we love? Yes, but more. Christmas is more than having a lovely time, more than family sharing, more than the so-called “happy holidays.” We celebrate today what so many are looking for. We focus our attention today on that which will give peace to many who are lonely, uneasy with themselves, and who are searching for meaning in their lives. The centerpiece of the Mass, the essence ...