We live in a culture supposedly driven by science and results. So when it comes to hearing our second reading, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen,” it is easy to understand why some may be skeptical or quick to dismiss things of faith.  However, most people’s understanding of faith is misconstrued, not realizing that the God’s work in our lives is actually concrete and tangible.

Faith is experienced and encountered through relationships with another person.  I am able to have faith in my friends, my family, and God because I have experienced their faithfulness in my life in real and tangible ways.  Faith involves an act of trust, which is unseen, but not untested.  So, how do we come to grow in our faith and trust in the Lord?

I’d like to list just two ways. First, we look to the Incarnation; God becoming flesh.  Our Lord Jesus reveals our Fathers love for us in a physical and tangible way, as seen in his ministry ending in the cross. Coming to know Jesus allows us to have a deeper faith in God and allows us to trust in his promises of his presence in our lives and the promise of everlasting life!

Another gift as Catholics, are the Sacraments.  They allow us to experience the Lord’s love in very tangible ways.  For example, the Eucharist, his Body and Blood, allows the Lord to enter more deeply into hearts and souls as we are united into the mystery of God.  In reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we actually hear the words of absolution and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.

So even though the act of faith is invisible, the Lord’s action in our daily lives are very tangible!  Let us not be too quick to dismiss. “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen!”

Father Michael

 

Bonus points if you can name the title of the movie from this short quote; “Squirrel!”  It’s a humorous line in reference to a short attention span of a dog.  But I also use the phrase and smile when it applies to my own life and short attention span.

Hopefully, we are all well aware that the human heart and mind can get distracted easily.  When trying to do menial tasks at home or at work, but even when we are praying, our mind wanders.  One thing that is necessary to fight the fickleness of our hearts and minds is to stay focused, or constantly draw our minds back to our ultimate goal.  This is the beautiful witnesses of the Saints and their story, on how they remained focused on Heaven and the Lord.  Even in the midst of possible distractions, they remained faithful to keeping their eyes set on the Lord.

That is what our readings are trying to do this weekend.  From Ecclesiastes to our Gospel, the readings seem grim; with vanity of vanities to the parable stating, “you fool, this night your life will be demanded of you.”  The intention of the readings is not supposed to be one of fear, but to remind us of our ultimate end. Things of this world are fleeting and what we need to do is set our sights on the Lord in Heaven, which is our final end and desire.  Hence, in the Our Father prayer we say – Our Father, who art in heaven!  It is meant to point us to heaven.

So let us be encouraged by Saint Paul in our second reading, “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”  As we come to the Eucharist, a foretaste of heaven and union with God, let us continually draw our minds and hearts to the ultimate end that we seek. Communion with God in Heaven!

Father Michael

 

The movie might be a bit dated, but the quote continues to pierce my heart. The movie is Gravity with the protagonist played by Sandra Bullock trying to get back to earth after being stranded in space.  Towards the end of the movie, as Sandra enters into Russian spaceship with an icon picture of St. Christopher and the Child Jesus on his shoulder, Sandra’s character comes to a vulnerable moment; “Will you say a prayer for me? Or is it too late…ah, I mean I’d say one for myself but I’ve never prayed in my life.  Nobody ever taught me how…nobody ever taught me how.”

My heart aches because of multiple reasons. First, I know this is not only true for the character in the movie, but represents many people today.  As a spiritual father and priest, my heart aches for those who desire to come to the Lord, but don’t know how.  This is why the mission of the Church is so important, people are aching to know the Lord, they just need someone to offer a guiding hand!

The second reason why this quote hits my heart is because it’s something I have felt personally.  I know where I am with my relationship with God. I also know where I want to be with God, and the two do not align.  What brings some peace to those moments is today’s Gospel.  The early disciples of Christ had that same longing when they asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.”  Christ’s response should not be easily brushed over. It is at this point Jesus teaches them (and us) the beautiful prayer, the Our Father.

There is a tremendous depth to such a simple prayer and I know I can’t do it justice in a short P.I.T article.  So I would like to encourage/suggest you to look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  If you don’t have this book, you can access it free online.  The last section of the Catechism is dedicated to prayer and within that section it ends breaking down the Our Father line by line specifically CCC 2759-2865.

So, if you happen to know someone wanting to learn how to pray, or you have a longing in your own heart for a greater relationship with God, I suggest praying the Our Father.

Father Michael

 

 

When I was a FOCUS missionary serving at CU Boulder in Colorado, I was training college students to live and share their faith with others.  One day, at a daily Mass, I recognized a new person sitting by one of our student leaders that I had trained.  After Mass, I asked our student leader if they knew the person that literally sat three feet from them.  Their response shocked me.  They had failed to notice the person who worshipped with them even though they gave each other a sign of peace.

One of the most important things in our faith life is the need to be attentive; not only to God, but as I shared in the story above, to others.  Our readings from this weekend are quite clear about this lesson.  In Genesis we begin with a story of Abraham. Despite the heat of the day, Abraham is looking outside his tent and sees three men passing by. Abraham responds by welcoming the men with hospitality and generously attending to their needs. This leads the men, who represent God (the Trinity), to bless Abraham and his wife Sarah.

In our Gospel, even though a common theme of hospitality is present, the true point of the story is Mary’s attentiveness to the Lord.  Mary sits at Jesus’ feet listening to his words while Martha is failing to notice the one true God who is in her very house! As Jesus said, “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”  Mary was receiving her blessing by being at the foot of the Lord.

If we are attentive to the Lord in our life, we can experience the joys of his presence.  Let us ask the Lord for the grace to be attentive so we can not only encounter God, but our brothers and sisters with great joy!

Father Michael

 

 

Every relationship I have encountered in my life has been broken and messy, even my own relationship with God.  I know this is due to my own faults. The most profound and absolute truth of our Catholic faith is that we are made for a relationship with God and with one another. We are made for communion.  However, the devil is cunning!  The spiritual battle is real and some have been convinced to give up relationships in order to avoid the brokenness and messiness of life.

In the Gospel today, Jesus tells the beautiful story of the Good Samaritan.  This story reveals real love, real mercy, and what our faith actually requires.  Even though the victim is ignored by others, specifically by the leadership of the faith, the true neighbor is one who sees what is happening and is moved with compassion to encounter the wounded and actually enter into their brokenness to bring healing.

This isn’t a nice narrative story that Jesus Christ gives to the man wanting to live his faith, but one Jesus Christ actually lives out by his very life.  What does Jesus do throughout the Scriptures?  Jesus enters the world, has compassion, takes on humanity’s brokenness and mess, and ultimately through his death and resurrection, brings peace and healing through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus continues to do the same thing for you and me today. He sees us in his love, has compassion, encounters and enters into our brokenness, and brings healing to us through our encounter with him. Every time we look at the cross we should be reminded of the beautiful relationship being freely offered to us and how we are called to live. So, do not be afraid of the brokenness and messiness of relationships, but without fear enter into a deep relationship with God, and as Christ did, into the lives of others!

Father Michael

 

When Pope St. John Paul II was asked why he became a priest he responded, “I must begin by saying that it is impossible to explain entirely.  For it remains a mystery, even to myself. How does one explain the ways of God!”  These words, of course, ring true to my own priestly vocation.  I am sometimes confounded when I realize the beautiful vocation I have been called too.  This reflection continues to come back to me as I begin at Our Lady of Mercy as your next pastor.  Even though every person’s vocation is a mystery, I always find a glimpse of understanding within my own vocation through our Sunday readings.

In our Gospel, we see Jesus appointing 72 others to go out saying, “At the time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent…” Luke 10:1.  Jesus calls and he sends!  In my own vocation, the Lord never stopped calling me to Him.  However, as easy as it is to ignore a call on a cell phone, so was my initial response to the Lord.  In spite of myself, the Lord continued to draw me to himself and I simply responded to his call in college.  This led me to missionary work after college.  Initially, there was a fear in being sent and the unknown, but with that leap of faith, I discovered a great peace and joy walking with the Lord.  Which leads me to one last point referenced in our second reading from St. Paul, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).

The Lord brought clarity to my vocation in the way of the Cross.  When I was in college I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, which I continue to live with through the help of doctors and medicine.  When I was in my mid 20s I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer, and did 12 rounds of chemo therapy treatment.   I am grateful to be in remission for 16 years now.   These moments, crosses and trials, allowed me to walk and trust the Lord all the more!  And as hard as it is to believe, I found great peace in these trials.  If it weren’t for these crosses, I don’t believe I would have discovered the great joy of being a priest for the Lord and for you!

It still amazes me in the way the Lord has worked in my life and in my priesthood.  And in the words of Pope St. JPII, “it remains a (beautiful) mystery.”  My hope for the parish and for myself is that we find joy and peace in the Lord’s calling and sending, even in the midst of the cross.

Father Michael

 

June 26 – Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I feel like one of those radio or television news anchors that are signing off for the last time before they retire!  People have asked what will I will miss most after retirement?  I can think of many things, one that particularly comes to mind is writing a weekly column or bulletin article.  Of the over 40 years that I have been a priest, 29 of those years I served as a pastor. In those parishes, I faithfully wrote a weekly bulletin article.  Sometimes it was to share information about something going on in the parish.  Sometimes it was to acknowledge and thank parish volunteers and staff.  Other times it was to reflect on the scripture readings of the day.  And sometimes it was meant to challenge you!

The articles were always known as “From the Pastor’s Desk” but the fun was to give it a sub-title based on the names of my dogs.  My first pastorate was at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bensenville.  I had a mixed-breed Lab at the time named “Sparkie-Therese-Enid”.  Two nuns at my previous parish where I got the dog, Sr. Therese and Sr. Enid didn’t like my dog.  So I said she needed a baptismal name which would be Therese, and a confirmation name which would be Enid.  So the subtitle of the article when I became pastor was “Sparkie Speaks!”  My years as pastor at St. Michael in Wheaton, St. Thomas the Apostle in Naperville, and when I first came here, I had a beagle-mix named “Heidi”.  My bulletin article became known at “Heidi Howls!”  So how did Chardonnay get her named?  After Heidi.  Heidi had extreme separation anxiety when I would leave and she couldn’t come with.  She would carry-on whining and howling.  I would tell her to stop it or I would re-named her Chardonnay because she whined so much.  So in memory of Heidi, Chardonnay got her name and the play on the word whine and wine defines us both!

So a final word of profound thanks to all the parishioners, staff, religious women, volunteers, deacons and priests I have had the honor to minister to and serve with over the past 40 years and 8 months, I thank God for the gift you have been to me!  Your unconditional love and support, and sometimes challenging me, has been a blessing.

Please pray the following prayer for priests:

“O Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests; for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for Your priest laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Your tempted priest; for Your lonely and desolate priests: for Your young priests; for Your dying priests; for the souls of Your priests in purgatory.  But above all I recommend to You the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me; the priest who absolved me from my sins; the priest at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priest who taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.  Jesus keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

 Please keep me in prayer, as I will you –

Father Don

 

June 19 – Corpus Christi

On Corpus Christi we celebrate the sacrament of sacraments, the Eucharist! No other sacrament gets its own feast day in the liturgical calendar, probably because the Eucharist is the “fount and apex of the whole Christian life” (Lumen Gentium 11).

Now, let’s be honest. From the outside perspective, the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist—his body, blood, soul, and divinity—is a very odd belief. The early Church refused to let the non-baptized attend the Eucharistic sacrifice because it is truly a sacrament for the initiated—so much so that attending the Eucharistic celebration each Sunday is a serious moral obligation for all Catholics under the penalty of mortal sin! (Save the serious exceptions like “illness or the care of infants” etc.; see Catechism of the Catholic Church 2181)

Why? Well, if we do not know or trust Jesus with our lives, we will probably be left like the crowds in John 6:60 who say, “This saying is σκληρός (skleros)”—the Greek word not just for ‘hard’ or ‘difficult’, but also harsh, physically dense, and even cruel and terrible! But if we trust that Jesus is who He says He is—both God and love incarnate—then when He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you,” we will probably begin by responding like Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68).

But let’s look even deeper. The crowds said, “This λόγος (logos) is σκληρός (skleros)”. Now, if you’ve ever tried your hand at biblical Greek, you’d know that the beginning of John’s Gospel begins with calling Jesus the λόγος (logos), the Word who “was with God”, “was God”, and “became flesh and dwelt among us”. Thus, John the evangelist may be offering us a pun here in Greek: the crowd not only finds Jesus’ spoken words challenging to accept, they find Jesus the Word Himself challenging to accept! Hence why their reaction to His teachings on the Eucharist is as follows: “After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him” (Jn 6:66).

So too for us. If we misunderstand who Jesus truly is, who He is meant to be in our lives, then we will struggle with understanding the proper place of the Eucharist in our own lives as well. Yet, if we see Jesus as the one through whom all things were made (Jn 1:3), including ourselves, then we will see the Eucharist as not just any ritual, but as it is and ought to be: the fount and apex of our very lives.

Peace,

Father James – Parochial Vicar

 

 

June 12 – The Holy Trinity

There are many mysteries in life.  When I am confounded by some mystery, I always remind myself that life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived!  One of those mysteries is what we celebrate liturgically today – The Most Holy Trinity; One God, Three persons.  How in the world can you explain it?  St. Patrick tried by using the three-leaf clover – one clover with three leaves.  Others have used the three states of water: liquid, vapor and ice.  All are water acting in three distinct ways.  Instead of solving the mystery of the Trinity, I prefer to think about what the Trinity means.  When we read the Bible, we discover that it is all about relationships.  From the first page to the last, the Bible is all about relationships – our relationship with God and our relationship with one another.  The relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit are all equal.  Each person is fully divine and equal to the others.  There is no hierarchy implied in the work ascribed to each person of the Trinity.  This is the model for our human relationships.  We should abandon our pursuit for domination over one another.  Each member of the human family is distinct, each given distinct qualities and mission.  Therefore there should be no separation of the human family into higher and lower levels.  In the doctrine of the Trinity we find the ultimate basis for the pursuit of justice.  The doctrine of the Trinity is the basis of a new world order.  Imagine that!! A mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved!

In my bulletin article of last week, I told you 36 pilgrims from Our Lady of Mercy and St. Michael joined me in a trip to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany.  We are now in the city of Prague in the Chez Republic, our last stop.  We fly back to Chicago this Wednesday, June 15, Prague to Vienna, then Vienna to Chicago.  May I once again ask for your prayers for a safe journey home.

Well, my days are truly numbered! As you read this article, I have 18 days until retirement!  I will be preaching all the Masses on the weekend of June 25/26.  I will be presiding at the 4:00pm Saturday, and 10:00am & 5:30pm on Sunday.  Please join me after Mass for some cake and refreshments.

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

 

 

 

June 5 – Pentecost

Today we are celebrating the priestly ordination and welcoming back to OLM Fr. Tom Logue.  Ordained a priest on May 21, 2022 by Bishop Ronald Hicks, Fr. Tom served a two-year internship at OLM as a seminarian and transitional deacon.  We at OLM are honored to have played a role in his formation as a priest, and we congratulate him and assure him of our prayerful support.  Fr. Tom will begin his first priestly assignment on July 1, 2022 at St. Raphael parish in Naperville.

Today we also celebrate Pentecost.  Pentecost is a big deal!  But what does it mean to us?  It is of course all about the Spirit, and today’s readings tell us that the Spirit is ready to lead us through transformations every bit as clear and bewildering as the events of Luke’s account of the Pentecost event.  There are five suggested readings for today’s liturgy and the all lead us to reflect on our place in the community of believers.  Not one of the readings speaks of a private experience of the Spirit of God, quite the opposite.  The communal dimension is most obvious in the selection for 1 Corinthians, in which Paul uses the image of a body to explain how intimately the members of the community have become identified with one another.  When Paul speaks of the differing gifts within the body of Christ, he highlights the paradoxical reality that the more unified the people become, the more their personal identity is strengthened.  The more they get involved as integral parts of the community, the more their individual gifts are brought out in service to others.  We were all given gifts of the spirit at our baptism.  May today’s celebration of Pentecost strengthen your awareness of your gifts of the Spirit!

This evening, thirty-six people from Our Lady of Mercy and St. Michael in Wheaton will be leaving with me on a flight to Zurich, Switzerland where we will begin a ten-day tour of Central Europe.  The highlight of our trip will be attending the world famous Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany.  Scheduled to go in 2020, the trip was postponed until now due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  We will see Lucerne, Oberammergau, Munich, Salzburg, and end in Prague.  We fly back on June 15.  Please pray for our safety.

Have a Blessed Week!

Father Don

 

My Retirement Address & E-mail:

Rev. Don McLaughlin

570 Crescent Blvd. Unit 303

Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

don.mclaughlin1081@gmail.com