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Becoming the Good News!
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  • December 20, 2018 3:32 PM | Deleted user

    On Sunday, October 28th, I preached on the healing of Bartimaeus from his blindness (Mark 10:46-52). The week before, as I prepared my homily, it became obvious to me that the date I was going to preach was not a coincidence. In 2005, October 28 was on a Friday. Not just any Friday, but the Friday of a Cursillo Men’s Weekend (271). This was my Cursillo weekend.

     In 2005, I, like Bartimaeus, was blind. Blind to God’s presence in my life. Blind to the sin in my life. Blind to God’s great love and mercy. Unlike Bartimaeus, I did not know that Jesus was coming my way that very day. Thursday evening when Bill had dropped me off at St. Therese in Deep Haven, I thought this was probably going to be a good weekend. Denise, my wife, wanted to do this retreat. So, I was also doing this for her. God, though, is a God of surprises. Only He knew the surprise that was needed to break through my spiritual blindness.

     That Friday afternoon, Jesus showed up in a classroom at St Therese in the form a bag of letters. As I began to read each letter, He broke through my blindness. People that I did not know had been praying for me. Many had been doing acts of self-sacrifice for me. These were not random acts of kindness. These were intentional acts of sacrifice. These were true acts of love, an act seeking the good of another. They were doing this for me. Why? This was the surprise that was necessary to open my heart that had grown hard, cold, and stoney. As I continued to read letter after letter, it became hard to read through the tears. I don’t remember how many tissues I went through that afternoon. It could easily been the whole box. That afternoon, Jesus broke through my blindness and I experienced for the first time the great love that Father had for me. A love that I had not earned and that I definitely, did not deserve. A love freely and lavishly given by a God that I did not know.

     Jesus had broken through my blindness to his love, but I was also deaf to his mercy. He needed to heal that as well. Later that evening, I decided, after over 15 years, to go the sacrament of reconciliation. Everyone else was going, I guessed I could go as well. I went into the confessional facing Father Marty. I told Father that I had not been to confession in a long time. I knew that I sinned but that I could confess my sins to God. Father then said those words that broke through my deafness to God’s mercy, “Have you forgiven yourself? Have you really accepted God’s mercy and forgiveness?” These words cut to my heart. The answer was that I had not accepted God’s mercy. Father and I had a long talk
    that evening in the confessional. I remember hearing those words that I had not heard in a very long time and that, maybe for the first time, I believed, “I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

     Conversion and transformation of my heart began that day, October 28th, 2005 and continues to this day. God is very good. He wants to break through our blindness to the Father’s great love and shatter our deafness to his mercy. So, go to confession on a regular and frequent basis. You and I always need more and deeper healing and Jesus wants to do this for us. Also, continue to make intentional acts of sacrifice for others a habit in your life. Your intentional act of sacrifice for someone in your life may be just the tool Jesus will use to break through that persons blindness to God’s infinite love and mercy. There are many Bartimaeus’ in the world today.

    “Belatedly I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly have I loved you. You were with me, but I was not with you. These things kept me far from you, even though they were not at all, unless they were in you. You called and cried aloud, and forced open my deafness. You gleamed and shined, and chased away my blindness. You breathed fragrant odors and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for you. I tasted, and now I hungerand thirst. You touched me, and I burned with love for your peace.”  -St Augustine

    Dn Patrick Hirl 

  • November 29, 2018 9:59 PM | Deleted user

    Smack dab in the middle of Advent, nearing the darkest time of the year, in the weekend gospel it will be proclaimed, “Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops” (Luke 12:3). Amidst the darkness, and behind closed doors, will the light shine enough to draw us out?

    I have gone fishing in Canada for 47 years to the same location; starting with my dad when I was 14 years old. Thiry-five years ago, my dad and a buddy had tipped a canoe while fishing below some rapids, four portages away from main camp. They each lost their large tackle box and a couple of fishing rods & reels.

    Later that summer, four of us were up fishing again, including my dad, a co-worker, my wife, and me. Since Rita and I had come back from our honeymoon to Hawaii that past winter where I had done a bit of scuba diving, I suggested that we haul scuba equipment up, and I would dive and look for the fishing gear.

    A mile from camp and four portages away where a thunderstorm was brewing at the main camp (my wife and co-worker were in camp holding onto the tents); I was tethered to a rope and in the water wearing scuba equipment. I went down fast the first time with a basic scuba light. To my surprise, it was over 20 ft. of water, and also pitch black due to the high mineral content in the water. Down a second, third, and fourth time I went. Even with the light, I could not see more than 2 feet in front of me. The angle of the bottom, when I got closer to shore, was the only clue I had of what direction I was going. Eventually, I did find my dad’s large tackle box and one rod & reel. The last time I went down, the rope that I was tethered to came loose. Not tethered any longer to life back on the surface, my dad told me upon surfacing, “as long as I could see your bubbles, I knew you were still alive.”

    This time of year reminds me that the holidays are not joyous for everyone. Due to personal or family losses, it can be a dark time of year in the private rooms of our mind; being untethered from any normalcy as others seem to be so joyous and merry. I have my own private darkness, when direction can be a challenge, with over 30+ years of struggle with a chronic back disability, SADD, and Bipolar II mental illness. I pray now, every year at this time, that the darkness and whispering that accompanies grief & loss, pain, anxiety, and depression become understood more, empathized with more, and funded more, so the multitude of individuals who struggle and suffer from them are more warmly embraced by love, care, and acceptance. Seemingly untethered from any normalcy, to those who find it difficult to go towards the light, the call of light, the call of Jesus, is to be light to those in darkness.

    Dn Mick Humbert 

  • October 25, 2018 6:15 PM | Deleted user

    If one looks at the 7 Sacraments of the Catholic Church you will see startling similarities to the realities found in everyday life. Baptism with the birth of a child. Eucharist with the family meal around a table. Reconciliation the healing that occurs when someone acknowledges they have said or done something hurtful towards another person. Anointing of the sick when we care for a sick person. Marriage when we see the love exchanged between wife and husband. Confirmation when an individual decides to act in a more mature manner and when they make faith their own decision. And Holy Orders when we see an individual live a life of commitment helping others in a dedicated fashion. We also include the whole person as sacraments try to have multiple senses engaged with each celebration. So the use of touch, taste, hearing and seeing in each Sacrament. Even smell is engaged when we use many of the things found in church celebrations of these sacraments.

    The theme that runs through the Sacraments is the total engage-ment of the person in their encounter with God. That is what every retreat attempts to do, engage the whole person. This can all be done on the surface. In which case the effects of the sacrament are minimal. But the more we engage ourselves in the celebration of these moments, in the home and at church, the more we are transformed by our reception of these holy moments.

    It is my experience that the more often we participate in the Sacraments the deeper we plunge into the spiritual dimensions. The more we prepare for the reception of them the more we are changed. Recall your own experience with the family meal, for example. The smells of things cooking spread throughout the entire house. The time preparing for these meals the more the family member’s value what is cooked and the deeper our relationship with all of the members of our family who sit down. Science has discovered that the more a family sits down to a meal as a family the less likely the children will engage in risky activities. They feel loved, needed and heard so they are more comfortable sharing themselves with their family. That is what happens to all of us as we receive the Sacraments. The family that eats together, prays together, works and plays together the stronger the bond becomes.

    I encourage you to take your family experiences and reflect upon them. As you examine them more carefully I believe you will see a lot more being passed along than you originally thought. Children learn to share with family when sharing is encouraged around the table. Conversation, not texting in shorthand, will help them succeed in adulthood. What to share with the appropriate people? How to word my statements so others comprehend what I am expressing but doing so in a manner that tells my story without saying too much? How to listen attentively? The family learns to value each member as individu-als with a unique perspective.

    It is a wonderful experience for me to see toddlers come to grips with a younger sibling. They can become great “helpers” and learn how to share toys with the younger child. They move from “mine” to “ours”, which is the reality in the world.

    Finally, celebrate these holy moments in your family. Make a big deal about these things and they will become important in the lives of your children. Make a big deal about getting to come to church as opposed to having to come, and children will take on a different perspective. If you think about it, if I realized that every week I get to sit down to a private family meal with Jesus, how would that change my perspective on the level of intimacy with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit? Jesus is hosting a party this week and you are the special invited guest. In this, and every Sacrament, you are invited into the immensely personal meeting with Christ. Take advantage of it, and let your family take advantage of this special invitation also. You will discover a lot more God moments in your life.

    Fr Mike Sullivan 

  • September 25, 2018 10:04 PM | Deleted user

    At the time of this writing, our country is between the memory and honoring of those who passed on 9/11 and the potential devastation being caused byHurricane Florence. Both have and/or will remind us not only of loss, but of the best in us when we put economic, racial, political, social, and religious differences aside for the common assistance and good of humanity. We should indeed remember those who were lost, and be grateful for the agape-type love that such moments reveal to us.

    As you read this, most have now returned to their routines, potentially including ways of not seeing life in such a precious way or needing the agape-type of love all deserve as children of God. How true the comment of Jesus in Matthew 26: 11 “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” Perhaps Jesus was echoing his knowledge of Hebrew Scripture; Deuteronomy 15:11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

    Here I wish to challenge all of us not to be myopic thinking of just economic poverty. I can think of equally or more harmful poverties beyond economics. For instance, there are the poverties of hatred, jealousy, entitlement, abuse of power, racism (and a whole host of other –isms), pride, cynicism, and sarcasm. Indeed “poverty” of all types will be with us always, but we have the opportunity, the choice, to have Jesus’ agape-type love with us always through the Spirit of God.

    The Spirit of God can guide us in one of the premiere challenges and mysteries within life; will we rise above our most base human instincts and reach deep within to the great “I am,” and thus allow the divine spark within us to shine. At any time, I wish and pray that a crisis or tragedy is not the only thing that seems to motivate us to realize and actualize the best that we have to offer each other.

    In Jesus’ name…

    For Christ, With Christ,
    In Christ and Like Christ.

    Dn Mick Humbert 

  • August 30, 2018 10:12 PM | Deleted user

    One of the treasures of our Catholic faith are the numerous writings from shepherds of our past that are relatively easy to locate. Several online resources are available to re-discover these treasures. www. Catholic.org, FranciscanMedia.org, Usccb.org, catholicnewsagency.com, newadvent.org, catholicculture. org, catholicsaints.info, as well as many others. Most of the words that follow are taken from a homily by Saint Peter Chrysologus that is printed in the Breviary. He was a bishop in Ravenna, Italy. He was born around 380 and died around 450.

    Prayer Knocks

    “If you pray, fast; if you fast; show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

    Fasting

    Fasting is the soul of prayer and mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. When you fast see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. When you fast, if your mercy is thin, your harvest will be thin. When you fast what you pour out in mercy overflows in your barns.

    Mercy

    If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. Fasting bears no fruit, unless it is watered by mercy. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is mockery. Therefore do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others. “

    Let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf…

    This threefold approach to the spiritual life is Trinitarian as well as foundational in our understanding of the three- legged stool, of Piety, Study and Action in Cursillo. I must admit, when it comes to my own self-reflection, I am stronger with prayer, not so much with fasting, my orientation to fasting has been primarily around the season of Lent. My action with mercy has mostly been around the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. So, the invitation from St. Peter Chrysologus is to strengthen our prayer life by always including fasting and mercy. Prayer, coupled with fasting and mercy, may be our strongest intercessory. As we continue to face challenges within Cursillo, The Church and Our Country we might better heed the words of this great shepherd.

    Tim Helmeke, Retired Deacon 

  • July 29, 2018 9:06 PM | Deleted user

    How appropriate were the words consecrated, venera-ble, noble, and honorable in the time of Jesus. To be thought of as blessed and chosen by God, or the gods of the time, was a pinnacle of achievement and worthy of accolades. At the time of Jesus’ death, none of those words would have been applied to Him by those respon-sible for His death. But in light of the resurrection and in time, they all became descriptives of an early move-ment called “The Way,” that believed Jesus to be the chosen one, the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus became known as the savior, redeemer, and reconciler of a world that had lost its way.

    The world of that time, and you may say the same for now, has seemingly lost its way. In that time, those de-scriptive words were the root meaning of the word “August,” one of the two months including July named after two Roman emperors, Augustus and Julius Caesar respectively. My suggestion, in small and large ways, is that we refocus our efforts on that which is most divine, most holy, most loving; namely the guidance of the holy spirit afforded us through the model of sacrificial love that Jesus offered to us all.

    It seems at times like these that we are bombarded from all sides by public viewpoints, whether social, cultural or political, claiming that their argument is specially chosen and blessed to be the truth and nothing but the truth. The truth, we believe as Christians, starts first with Jesus, the consecrated one to be venerated with honor and nobility.

    I wish to echo into today, a part of Jesus’ exchange with Pilate from the 18th chapter of gospel of John:

    Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

    “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

    Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

    In closing, I wish we all take more time to listen (piety), to find “the way” (study), and bring alive more fully (action), the truth in Jesus that sets us free.

    Dn Mick Humbert 

  • June 27, 2018 9:59 PM | Deleted user

    Every July 4th we pause to give thanks for our freedom, a freedom that was given to us through sacrifices of others who loved liberty more than life. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: “For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” They gave you and me a free and independent America, at a great cost to themselves! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, and we shouldn’t.

    And as we celebrate our freedom and independence on July 4th as Americans, as Catholics we also have reason to celebrate and reflect on the freedom that we share as children of God. We celebrate the freedom given to us by God and restored to us by Christ.

    For all that afflicts our culture today – ceaseless demands, unreal expectations, rare appreciation, you and I are uncommonly blessed. Not only have we been freed from sin, we have been freed for a role in the divine dream for the freedom of God’s people. Day after day we are privileged to proclaim boldly and to shape slowly God’s vision of justice; a community where everyone sees Christ in one another.

    Senator Lieberman was once quoted while commenting on Independence Day, “…there is no better way to celebrate the anniversary of America’s Independence than to remember what moved a determined band of patriots to lay down all for liberty, and then promise never to forget.

    And we must promise never to forget what moved Jesus to lay down his life so that we could be free: Free from the power of evil, free to worship without fear, free to love as Jesus loves. As Christians, we must teach the next generation about our faith so that they are not in danger of losing theirs. One generation is all it takes to either lose or pass on the faith. Think about that? One generation! We must pass on to our children and our grandchildren the power of the living Gospel, what Paul called, “…the power of God for salvation.”

    That power comes to us through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ as we remember the past – his passion, his death and his resurrection – that is operative in the present, in the Eucharist, and gives us hope for the future where we will sit at the banquet feast in the New Kingdom of God.

    It is through the imitation of the Eucharist, Christ’s love for us, that we will make this world a better place for all to live, to experience our dream as a Country and as a people, “…that all are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” understood as: The integrity of all life, from the womb to the tomb, with an understanding that Liberty is not just freedom from oppression, but also freedom to make this a better world for all, especially for our children and grandchildren. That is our pursuit of happiness and “true happiness” can be found only in the pursuit of God. May God bless us! May God bless America!

    Fr Al Backman 

  • May 24, 2018 9:41 PM | Deleted user

    On the heels of Pentecost where Jesus twice proclaimed “Peace be with You” as depicted by the author of John’s gospel, the heartbeat of our worship continues again with Ordinary Time. It is time to put the indwelling of the Holy Spirit theory to the test. My offering here is that while human and social tendencies have and will always gravitate toward the wants and wishes of the individual and tribe, Jesus offers “the Way,” an anti-dote for this social reality.

    I won’t spend much time on individualism, except to say we in the U.S. live in an extremely individualistic society at the all too frequent avoidance of or detriment to the common good. Tribalism however has either taken root, or in my opinion revived itself and deepened its roots across all facets of society. A tribal way of thinking is summed up in the phrase “our way or the highway;” little or no debate, circle the wagons, and defend at all cost.

    Examples (not an exhaustive list):

    Social: Pro-life/Pro-Choice , Pro-gun/Anti-gun, Prowar/anti-war, divisions along racial lines

    Economic: Capitalism/Socialism, Have/Have-nots, 1, 2 or 5% versus the remainder of society

    Political: Republican/Democrat, Conservative/Liberal, Have a voice/have no voice

    Religious: Traditionalist/Evangelical, Ritual/Scripture, One God/Secular Spirituality/No God

    If you follow the resurrection appearance of Jesus as laid out in John 20:19-23, I offer the following outline that echoes Jesus and the charism of Cursillo, and therefore serves as an anti-dote to our individualistic and tribalistic nature.

    Show up: “….(Jesus) stood in their midst” > be willing to stand in the midst of fear, pain, confusion, hatred, and longing.

    Offer up: “Peace be with you.” > acknowledge that things are not as they should or could be, and offer a close encounter with love and understanding.

    Take up: “…(Jesus) showed them his hands and his side.” > you have your own crosses and wounds to bear, and be vulnerable enough to give witness to them.

    Keep up: “Peace be with you.” > be present again, be real, and aim toward Jesus; make a friend, be a friend, and bring a friend to Christ.

    It is hard to be clueless, cynical, hateful, or dismissive when giving each other a sign of Christ’s peace.

    Dn Mick Humbert 

  • April 25, 2018 8:19 PM | Deleted user

    The Easter season is a time for the resurrection and the conversation of hearts. It’s a time to reflect on our story, and to consider in what ways we may be called by Christ to a deeper conversion of our heart…to a new story for our lives.

    We heard about one of those hearts in the Easter Sunday Gospel, where we met Mary Magdalene. This is the same Mary that three years earlier was a harlot, and she was possessed by seven demons. Until she met Christ; then her story changed forever. Healed of her afflictions, we met a woman who was one of the few courageous enough to stay with Christ during his crucifixion. On Easter Sunday we find her getting up early, in the cold darkness, intending to anoint Christ’s body, but instead she will be remembered forever as the first person to experience the empty tomb… the resurrection of the one who changed her life forever.

    And who did Mary Magdalene run to and tell, but another person whose story was changed forever. Peter, who just three years earlier was a mediocre fisherman from Galilee; until he met Christ, then his story changed forever.

    Peter’s conversion was a slow journey of healing his own demons…impatient, impulsive, cowardly…just three days earlier, after promising never to deny Christ, he denied him three times in just a few hours. Yet, through the power of the resurrection, the once impatient, impulsive and cowardly Peter became the “rock” of Christ’s bride, the Church; founded by Christ, led by Peter and his successors, and promised to last until the end of time.

    These stories of conversion and change should provide great hope for us today. In spite of all our demons and fears and flaws and weaknesses, we, like Mary Magdalene and Peter, and all the other flawed disciples and followers, are also invited to enter the empty tomb, and to experience the resurrection…to begin a new side to our story.

    And although Christ’s resurrection is a historical event, it’s not just history…it is also a spiritual mystery.

    It’s a mystery in the sense that in the timelessness of eternity, what happened 2,000 years ago in our physical world, is just as assuredly happening now…at this present moment. In the timelessness of the spiritual world, if there is no time, the resurrection is now.

    It means that today we celebrate not what happened, but what is happening at this moment, and at every moment. He is not out there somewhere as a historical Jesus, He is in our hearts, in our very being, deep within us. This is the resurrection story. He is alive…He is alive in our hearts.

    And what is happening is God’s relentless desire to draw us to himself, through his son Jesus, in a deep and intimate way. To work within our hearts to conversion…to begin another side to our story.

    This Easter we celebrate with great joy that we are a people, called to conversion, gathered in faith, gifted in a spirit of holiness, and loved unconditionally, forever, to the end of time….warts and flaws and demons and all; and all of humanity included… he desires us all…and he desires all of us…all the time. Our proper response is simply to accept his invitation and to follow him…just like his early followers did.

    This is the other side of our story. This is the Easter story that changes everything, forever, for those who believe it and embrace it, and live it.

    May we all believe and embrace and accept Jesus’s calling to draw us to himself. This is our Easter joy... Easter joy to you all!

    Dn. John Cleveland 

  • March 27, 2018 7:23 PM | Deleted user

    If you have the same feeling as me, you are glad that winter has now “passed over,” that some of the earliest flowers will open, dawn occurs earlier each day, and we thank God for spring.” Pasch, April, and Easter all have their roots in this theme of spring when we celebrate the resurrection and life of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. I can even make a case that Easter is appropriately on April Fool’s Day.

    Pasch is the word most traditionally used for Easter in memory of our Jewish roots through the Aramaic word pasha meaning “pass over,” thus celebrating Jesus as the new paschal lamb through which all of us can be reconciled and made whole as we come ever closer to being in full communion with God. The word Easter creeps in with its Old English and Germanic pagan roots (eastre) for a Goddess of the spring and (austron) for dawn respectively. Anglo-Saxon Christians adopted the name, and many of the practices for the Mass of Christ’s resurrection, thus fully transforming that which was pagan to the high point of the Christian liturgical year.

    Hopefully during this 50 day Easter season we can be more open (root meaning of the word April) to the reality of the resurrected Jesus as we once again sing Alleluia in “praise of Jehovah” for the grace given to us through the Son. In fleshing out the root meaning of the words we commonly use this time of year, it is far more important that each one of us not only wrap our heads around a resurrected Son of God, but also become the flesh and bone of Jesus’ presence in the world as the Body of Christ.

    So, if I have a vote for anything to be fools about this Easter, I vote that we be fools for Jesus.

    Dn Mick Humbert 

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