November 15 – Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

The liturgical year “A” featuring Matthew’s gospel is quickly coming to an end.  Next Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King which is the last Sunday in Ordinary Time.  November 29^th, the First Sunday of Advent, will begin a new liturgical year featuring the Gospel of Mark.  Today I will share with you a quick and basic overview of Mark’s Gospel in preparation for it being the primary gospel we will hear in 2021.

In the late 60’s of the first century, nearly forty years since the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, he had not returned.  The earliest Christians thought that the return of Jesus was imminent.  But now, forty years has passed and Jerusalem was under siege by the Romans, and the persecution of Christians in Rome itself was intensifying.  Peter and Paul had died, and few eye witnesses to Jesus’ ministry were left.  Christians had told and retold the stories of Jesus’ ministry, Death, and Resurrection over the years, but Christians began to feel the need for written instruction.  In these years, Mark, leaning on the teachings of Peter and others, wrote his Gospel, the earliest and shortest Gospel we have.  It is likely that he wrote for his suffering community in the environs of Rome.  His main concern was to record the basic facts and stay faithful to the tradition, and Mark wrote with a flair for the dramatic and a rich theological sense.

Suffering had thrown Mark’s community into a spiritual crisis.  The crisis came not because of weak faith, but through a strong faith too focused on the privileges and glory of being the community of the Resurrection.  Being disciples meant enjoying the benefits of Jesus’ victory.  To counter this, Mark refocused on Jesus’ Death as the foundation of discipleship.  Mark’s primary themes of the Kingdom of God, the identity of Jesus, and the call to discipleship each undergo dramatic development in the Gospel of Mark in light of the Cross.  For Mark, everything, even Jesus’ glorious return, stands in the shadow of his Crucifixion.  Discipleship is a key theme in Mark’s Gospel.  So get ready to be reminded that discipleship comes with a personal cost!

On Friday, November 20 and Sunday, November 22 we will welcome Bishop Joseph Perry, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago to Our Lady of Mercy Parish.  Bishop Perry will administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to 90 of our high school teens.

We thank all those who were involved in the preparation of our confirmation candidates. Congratulations to the newly confirmed and fully initiated members of the Catholic Church!  We look forward to your continued growth in the Spirit and the sharing of your gifts and talents with our parish community!

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

November 8 – Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the world of the Protestant Church, today is known as Stewardship Sunday.  Usually every year in September we conduct a Stewardship renewal campaign at Our Lady of Mercy.  This year we did not because we know that many of our members and families are struggling due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  And yet, so many of you have continued your generous support of Our Lady of Mercy parish – mailing in your weekly contributions or making them online. I cannot thank you enough!  Every week when our Business Manager Bob gives the Sunday collection report he says that we are truly blessed by our parishioners.  Again, I thank those who have been able to continue financially supporting OLM.  And if you are not able to contribute at this time, please know we are here to help.  Please let us know how we can help.

I also thank those who are able to continue the stewardship of their time and talents in ministry and volunteering.  We appreciate what you do.  Our limited activities due to COVID and for those who do not feel safe or have underlying conditions, your absence that this time is well understood.  We look forward and long for the day when everyone is able to return.

Thank all of you for being good stewards!  But I guess it wouldn’t hurt giving a little thought to our stewardship.  Many of us have put off doing something because we think we are too busy.  We’ve all said, “I’ll do it later when I have time.”  Unfortunately, at times we apply this attitude to our faith.  Jesus’ call is urgent, in the here and now, in our current circumstances.  How is God calling you to use your gifts today? Even in a pandemic!  Remember, none of us is guaranteed a tomorrow.  As Matthew reminds us in his gospel chapter 25, verse 13…..”Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

November 1 – All Saints

I know that many of you are fond devotees of watching the Academy Awards usually in March, when Hollywood celebrates the best of the best.  I have to admit I do not share your enthusiasm.  Once I reluctantly attend a party at the home of parishioners at a former parish to watch the Oscars.  After a half hour I went back to the snack table, grabbed another piece of pizza, and snuck out.  The next morning on my desk was a little plastic Oscar statue with the note: “best escape artist!”  I will have to admit that the Oscars are indeed a celebration. The red carpet is rolled out. The stars arrive in limousines. They anxiously and eagerly await, along with millions of television viewers, the announcements of who will take home the coveted Oscar awards.  All the recipients, whether they are directors or producers, actors or actresses, are greeted by thunderous applause when the winner is announced.  So goes Hollywood’s way of honoring its best.

As Catholics, we gather today to celebrate the lives of winners of another sort – all the saints in heaven. These holy people are the recipients of heaven’s reward, not Hollywood’s award.  Two things about today’s celebration.  First, the Book of Revelation states that there will be only 144,000 admitted to heaven. While a fundamentalist may believe this, do not despair that there may not be room for you.  Scripture scholars agree that the number 144,000 represents an unlimited number, a number higher than is fathomable.  God longs to give the reward of himself to any and all who will accept the gift.  The second misconception we have about the saints is that we could never be one.  The “any and all” who stand before God include people whose lives were not that different from our lives.  Many of the saints were at one time impatient or crabby, arrogant or lazy.  They knew both sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit.  It is said that “saints are sinners who kept on trying.”  They kept on trying by turning to Jesus for direction.  Jesus gave the saints, and gives all of us, a red carpet path to follow – the Beatitudes.  Over and over the Beatitudes tell us who is blessed and who is best:  the poor, the sorrowing, the meek, the persecuted, the insulted.  Was Jesus kidding?  It sounds more like the “worst who are cursed” then the “best who are blessed.”  But remember, it is not a Hollywood award ceremony Jesus is guiding us toward, but heaven’s everlasting reward ceremony.  Jesus reminds us of this at the end of today’s gospel when he says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

Today, we join the saints in their beautifully simple acceptance speech: Thanks and praise be to God!

Remember to vote this Tuesday, November 3^rd, and have a blessed week!

Father Don

October 25 – Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Every year at this time, I get asked if it is OK for Catholic children to celebrate Halloween.  I quote the following article “An Exorcists Perspective” from the website Catholic News Agency. Father Vincent Lampert is a Vatican-trained exorcist and a parish priest of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis who travels the country, speaking about his work as an exorcist and what people can do to protect themselves against the demonic. He said when deciding what to do about Halloween, it’s important for parents to remember the Christian origins of the holiday and to celebrate accordingly, rather than in a way that glorifies evil. “Ultimately I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the kids putting on a costume, dressing up as a cowboy or Cinderella, and going through the neighborhood and asking for candy; that’s all good clean fun,” Fr. Lampert said. Even a sheet with some holes cut in it as a ghost is fine, Fr. Lampert said. The danger lies in costumes that deliberately glorify evil and instill fear in people, or when people pretend to have special powers or dabble in magic and witchcraft, even if they think it’s just for entertainment.  “In the book of Deuteronomy, in chapter 18, it talks about not trying to consult the spirits of the dead, not consulting those who dabble in magic and witchcraft and the like,” he said, “because it’s a violation of a Church commandment that people are putting other things ahead of their relationship with God.” “And that would be the danger of Halloween that somehow God is lost in all of this, the religious connotation is lost and then people end up glorifying evil.” It’s also important to remember that the devil and evil spirits do not actually have any additional authority on Halloween, Fr. Lampert said, and that it only seems that way. “It’s because of what people are doing, not because of what the devil is doing. Perhaps by the way they’re celebrating that day, they’re actually inviting more evil into our lives,” he said. One of the best things parents can do is to use Halloween as a teachable moment, Fr. Lampert said. “A lot of children are out celebrating Halloween, perhaps evil is being glorified, but we’re not really sitting around and talking about why certain practices are not conducive with our Catholic faith and our Catholic identity. I think using it as a teachable moment would be a great thing to do.”

So, I invite our parish children to “trunk or treat with the saints” at Our Lady of Mercy parking lot on Friday, October 30^th from 6pm to 8pm.  Registration is required on our website. Come, learn about the hero’s of the Church – none of them are scary or evil!!

I will be away on vacation October 27 through November 5 to Sonoma County, CA to celebrate the 75^th birthday of my friend who lives in Santa Rosa.

Have a blessed week!

Father Don

October 18 – Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Could you choose a more challenging Gospel than the one we just heard?  It is foolish to think that Jesus’ statement about render to Caesar and to God is the Bible’s version of separation of Church and State.  This Gospel is not that simplistic.  It calls us to carefully examine what is really going on.  The question posed to Jesus about taxes is obviously a trick.  If Jesus agrees with taxes than he alienates himself from his poor Jewish countrymen who are suffering under the Roman Tax.  If Jesus disagrees with the tax then He will be seen as someone who fosters sedition.  No easy way out of this!  So first Jesus asks for a coin.  He is about to reveal the hypocrisy of those questioning Him.  The coin that is used for paying the taxes is a special coin that contains the image of Caesar.  So hated was this coin, that Jews refused to carry it.  When the Pharisees reached into their pocket and pulled out the coin, everyone surrounding them was shocked.  Here are people who publicly preach against the tax and yet who carry the hated coin in their pocket.  Who are they kidding?  They have fallen into the trap of their own two-faced approach to Jesus.

Jesus stares at them, looks at the coin and then comes out with his famous “render to Caesar” statement.  But the statement is more than the words.  The statement is profound.  It is saying: render to Caesar those things which are marked with Caesar’s image….and then render to God those things marked with god’s image.  The coins bearing Caesar’s image belong to Caesar – human beings, bearing God’s image belong to God.

It is the prophet Isaiah who reminds us that we are marked with God’s image.  Isaiah reminds us what God taught us in Genesis:  “See, I have inscribed you on the palm of my hand.”  And because we are inscribed on the palm of God’s hand, because we are marked by God, we are all brothers and sisters.   We are all loved by God.  We do not have the right to stand above anyone.  God calls us to respect and honor each other.  This is what we owe God.

Taxes have always be a hated thing.  We live our lives surrounded by taxes.  But Jesus’ words have nothing to do with taxes.  Instead they have everything to do with how we live our lives.  We can give Caesar his due.  We can understand the role of government in our lives.  But when government calls us to overlook what is due to God, then we have cause to pause and consider how we should act.  When government forgets that we are all children of God and asks us to push aside the sacredness of all human life then our allegiance to Caesar is in conflict to our allegiance to God.  Today’s Gospel reminds each of us that while government has a rightful and just place in our lives it can never cause us to fail to respect the profound truth that each and every one of us is marked by God and therefore belong to God and not to government.

Have a Blessed Week!

Father Don