14th Sunday B July 7, 2024

14 th Sunday B

July 7, 2024

 

Here is an insult you can add to your repertoire, “You are a thorn in my flesh.”

This is what St. Paul complains about in today’s excerpt from the second letter to the community at Corinth.  One thorn Paul must deal with is those who he calls “Super apostles”.  Those who think they have the corner on holiness in the community.  Being super means that they are pumped up with their own abilities.  They are far from humble.  Paul is quick to remind them that he is not super.  He has a thorn that keeps him humble.  We are not clear what this thorn takes, but we are sure it serves to remind Paul that he is weak.  He is humble because he is weak.  Paul ends this excerpt by reminding us that weakness leads to strength from above.  In his words, “When I am weak, I am strong.”

Paul has been given a thorn to keep him humble. We may ask ourselves what thorn keeps us humble?

  • Is my thorn illness?
  • Is my thorn a job?
  • Is my thorn a person?
  • Is my thorn a situation in life?

How does my thorn keep me humble?

In the gospel being in one’s hometown keeps him humble.  Many in his hometown can’t see beyond the child they knew in years past.  Here is the child whose dirty diapers were changed by those in the synagogue that day.  This is the child they spanked when he misbehaved.  Are we now to see him as a prophet?

     Being a prophet is not easy. So many of the prophets rejected the call from God.   “I am too young”, “I don’t have the words.”  “I will run away.”  The prophets before Jesus and Paul took time to recognize that God chooses the weak. “When I am weak, I am strong.”  One’s weakness allows one to rely upon God.

 

Recognizing one’s weakness means one allows the power of God to work through one.  I am glad to be weak, for it means I am not the one in control.  I don’t have to worry about the sun coming up without my willing it so.  

So many of the saints were weak men and women who God called.  When they let go and let God be in charge, they were able to do the will of God.

 

I am a great fan of the Serenity prayer by the teacher Reinhold Niebler.   (This is the original longer version)

God grant me the Serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the Wisdom to know the difference.

Living  one day at a time ,
Enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as he did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would like it.

Trusting that he will make all things right,
If I surrender to his will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this world
And supremely happy in the next.

One thorn I have been given is the thorn of fear.  When I give in to my fear, I become frozen.  When I let the fear recede and let the spirit take over, I go forward to do what God wants me to do.

One of the things I know is that I am not in charge. It is when I try to take control that I get in trouble.  The work of my redemption is done.  I just need to be weak enough to allow the spirit to work through me.

“Because Christ wore a crown of thorns, I bear the thorn of weakness.”

Palm Sunday, Year C

By Deacon Paul Cerosaletti • April 13, 2025
I have long thought that the Church gives us the two Gospel passages we hear today — the account of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the account of his Passion and death — for very practical reasons: this is the last Sunday before Easter when we will celebrate Christ’s Resurrection and not everyone is able to attend and celebrate the Triduum liturgies during Holy Week. Therefore, the Church places these two critical Gospel passages together so that we hear and experience them in a regular Sunday Mass setting — literally, to ‘fit them in’ before Easter. But there is another equally, if not more, important reason we are to experience these Gospel passages together. And I honestly don’t know if the Church intends this reason or not, but I believe the Holy Spirit intends it. These two Gospel passages remind us as much as any passage that Jesus Christ, while fully Divine, is also fully human. He is like us in all manner except one, in committing sin. He therefore shares with us the experience of the full range of our humanity. In these two Gospel passages we experience Christ moving from triumph to tragedy, from soaring to suffering: the triumphant, soaring entry into Jerusalem and the suffering and tragedy of His Passion and crucifixion. Christ’s human experience is also our human experience, for do not we all experience triumph and tragedy, soaring and suffering? Therefore, we do not have a God and Savior who cannot sympathize with our human experience, but rather one who shares it with us! And we have a God and Savior who not only soared and suffered for us, but soars and suffers with us. Not just two thousand years ago, but right here, right now, in every minute of our lives. For what did Jesus promise? “I am with you always , until the end of time.” (Mt 28:20) When we soar and triumph, Jesus is with us, by our side. And when we suffer and experience tragedy, especially, Jesus is with us, by our side. We are encouraged to give thanks to God in our triumphs and soaring. And we are invited to unite our suffering with Christ’s suffering and offer it up for whatever or whomever is in need. Christ’s suffering was not pointless, and united to His, neither is ours. We offer it up, trust, and hope. Sisters and brothers, that hope comes from our knowledge of the rest of the Gospel story that we will experience with Christ: that His triumph and tragedy, His soaring and suffering does not end in death, but in the glory of Easter Resurrection.

5th Sunday of Lent C - April 6, 2025

By Fr. Chris Welch • April 5, 2025
5 th Sunday of Lent C April 6, 2025 Often someone will approach me and ask if I can do x y or z on such and such a date. I am not always good and knowing my schedule in the future, so I will say, “send me the dates and I will get back to you.” Sometimes they will send me the dates, sometime not. If I say yes, I may find I have a conflict. This is a stalling tactic giving me time to discern how to respond. This is what Jesus does as he writes on the ground. He knows the Scribes and Pharisees are using the woman to trap him, so he bends down to scribble in the dust to have time to answer them. When he does answer them, his statement is not about the woman’s actions, but about the motives of the accusers. He knows they hope to trap him. If he suggests the woman be released, he has broken the Mosaic law, if he suggests she be stoned he will be in trouble with the Romans. So, he focuses on the motive and state of the accusers. In our first reading we are reminded that God is doing something new. Jesus does something new. He doesn’t focus on what the law says, but he focuses on what is in the heart of the accusers. Mosaic law says that those caught in Adultery, both the man and the woman should be killed. Here we only have the woman. We are told she was caught in the act, but where is the man? For the season of Lent, we have been piling stones in our desert. These stones are the Character defects we wish to reform in this season. They are not for killing others but given to God to use to build us into a new creation. Jesus allows the woman to become a new creation. He refuses to condemn her, He encourages her to sin no more and to go free from the accusations of the temple officials. Have you been like the woman accused by others? How did you experience the forgiveness of your God? When have you been like a Scribe or Pharisee pointing the accusatory finger at another? Cast aside the stones you have wanted to hurl at the other and look inside your heart and see how God’s forgiveness has made you a new creation.

Third Sunday of Lent C - March 23, 2025

By Fr. Christopher Welch • March 24, 2025
After Moses has his conversation with God in the Burning Bush, Moses asks God for what name he should use in referring to God. God gives the vague answer, “I am who I am.” Asking for someone’s name is a common occurrence. When we refer to someone with their name, we honor them. We all like to be referred to by name. This is one way we honor a person. Not all of us are good at remembering names, but when we do remember and use the name of the other person, we honor them. One of the names for God is taken from our psalm, “The Lord is kind and merciful”. God is also patient. The parable from the gospel about the fig tree is a parable about God’s patience. God, being the gardener, is willing to wait a year for fruit. God works the same for all of us. God is patient with us. Not everyone comes to faith in the same way or the same time frame. Some take less time, others more. When we see a new face in church we don’t ask “What took you so long?” or “Where have you been?” We simply say, “Welcome! It is good to have you here.” We ask and learn the name of the new person and we speak to him or her each week using their name and making them feel welcome. Maybe you have been a fig tree or known someone who is or was a fig tree. This is a good reason to give thanks to the patient nature of God. Remember the kingdom is in the future and now.