Leap Day

Today is February 29. Do something today that you have been putting off for a long time. You only get this chance once every 4 years.
Procrastinate comes from the Latin
Pro - in favor of
crastis - tomorrow

Troops

Don't ferget to pray for our troops fighting oversees! We have almost 300,000 men and women in harm's way today. It is easy for us to forget since nothing changes in our daily lives.

You can't win

One person comes to me and says, "Keep it simple. Nobody out here has a degree in theology. We don't need 6th, 7th, or 8th grade. After 5th grade you have about as much religion as your going to get. If you don't have it by then you probably never will."

The next person comes to me and says, "I don't go to church anymore because you (all priests)always say the same thing over and over. You never go into the deeper meaning of the scripture. We are not children. We need more in depth teaching. I had to go to another church in order to receive real teaching."

I am not kidding. I had these two conversations a couple of days apart.

St. Paul says, "When I was a child I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child. Now that I am a man I have put away childish things." I am more sympathetic with the second person's opinion. our souls are made for God and we should not be afraid to use our reason to draw close to the mystery of God.

Woman at the well

Jesus asks the woman to give him something to drink. On the cross before he dies he will say, “I thirst.” In the desert the Israelites became aware of their thirst. It is often when we are in the desert that we become aware of our thirst. Jesus was always aware of his thirst. He thirsted to do the will of his heavenly father. He thirsted for the souls of each person that he encountered. He thirsts for your soul. The woman at the well is changed by her encounter with Jesus. She goes back to town and tells the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done.” She had five husbands. She was looking for love and happiness as we all are. We will not be happy until we allow ourselves to be fully known by Jesus, and until we come to know him. The false loves of this world will lead us to the desert of pain and isolation. Hopefully these desert experiences will lead us to thirst for him who is truly able to quench out thirst. St. Paul tells the Romans, “The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” Open your heart and allow his love to be poured into you.

Dogs

The reason dogs have so many friends is that they wag their tails and not their mouths.

Good Shepherd

This mosaic is found in Ravenna, Italy. It is 1600 years old. It is interesting that Jesus is portrayed without a beard.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper,
plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship,
design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations,
analyze a new problem, pitch manure,
program a computer, cook a tasty meal,
fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.”

On the move

Throughout the Gospels Jesus is on the move.
Baptism in the Jordon > he goes into the desert
Wedding Feast at Cana > he cleanses the temple of moneychangers
Feeds the 5000 > he crosses the sea with his disciples
The Last Supper > he goes to the agony in the garden

There are many other examples. God gives us a consolation in order that we may again do the good he has in store fore us. Yesterday's 2nd reading summed it up well.
http://www.usccb.org/nab/021708.shtml#reading2

Home

I am home from retreat. It was a good week. Our retreat master was Fr. Adam Ryan OSB. He is a monk from Conception Abbey in Missouri. If you ever get the chance you should go and visit the monastery. They have guest rooms for men and women. You can attend prayer in the Basilica. There is also a convent a few miles away in Clyde, MO. The chapel in the convent one of the most beautiful in the United States. It is well worth the trip.
Here is a link to the monastery website.
http://www.conceptionabbey.org/GuestCenter/welcome.htm

Obedience

Obedeience comes from the Latin - Obedere: to listen
In Greek it is akuo, from which we get accoustic.
Jesus was obedient to the will of the Father. He listened to his will.
We must also be obedient. We must listen to the will of the Father.

Prayer

Everything can be done better with prayer, except for sin.
Baking a cake
Planting a field
Eating a meal
Jesus went to people's homes, to their marketplaces, to their workplaces.
He wants to be everywhere that we are.
He will only be where we allow him.

Dreams

I am on retreat right now, so this is cheating. We are supposed to be tech free for a few days.
Last Saturday night I had a dream. I was having a conversation with a parishioner while at the same time working on a Sudoko puzzle. I was engaged in the conversation, listening and responding, being thoughtful. Just as the conversation ended I also completed the puzzle. Happy with myself I told the woman that it was a 5 star one, the most difficult. The look in her eyes let me know that she was not impressed.

It is so hard to do one thing. To be fully present. Reality exists here and now.

OUR LADY OF LOURDES
February 11 is the 150th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes appearance to St. Bernadette. Our Lady appeared to Bernadette 17 times between February and October of 1858. Our Lady chose Bernadette because of her simplicity and purity. If we want to enjoy the communion of the saints then we would do well to imitate their purity and humility. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
In honor of the anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes Pope Benedict XVI has granted a plenary indulgence to all those who devoutly pray the rosary on this February 11th. In order to obtain this indulgence, one must also receive the sacraments of confession and Holy Communion within 7 days. One must also pray for the intentions of the Pope.

Happy Lent!

I should have posted for Mardi Gras, but I was too busy eating.
Lent has begun. Whenever we try to take candy from a baby the baby will cry.
In the same way, whenever we attempt to discipline the flesh and abandon our selfishness our pride and concupiscence will cry out in pain. One saint that I was reading said, "A fallen angel will come to the aid of your fallen nature to wage war against the work of grace in your soul."

The purified soul does not find its joy in frosted flakes or in getting its own way. The purified soul finds its joy in God alone. Now is the time to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel.

Fr. Reinkemeyer

Funerals have me thinking about the classic Fr. John quote.
He goes to see Sr. Celestine in the hospital.
From her hospital bed she says, "Father, I don't think I'm going to make it. "
Without hesitation he replies, "Of course your not going to make it. The only reason you have lived so long is that you have been receiving anointing of the sick too much."

I came across this in B16.

"Human beings are such that they cannot stand the person who is wholly good, truly upright, truly loving, the person who does evil to no one. It seems that in this world only momentarily is trust met with trust, justice with justice, love with love. The person who exemplifies all these virtues quickly becomes insupportable to others. People will crucify anyone who is really and fully human."