January 12, 2023

Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: ‘If you want to’ he said ‘you can cure me.’ Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. ‘Of course I want to!’ he said. ‘Be cured!’

How does that scene play out in your mind? Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him with his pointing finger, maybe pinky… I see Our Lord looking at a man who has been ostracized from family and friends. A man who has been unable to go home for years and watches his loved ones from a distance. This man does not need a stretched hand. I see our Lord walking towards him and embracing him. Not the awkward head church hug but heart to heart. Letting the man breakdown in the embrace. I want only one thing, I want you to go home, to be complete, to accept yourself.

If you want Lord, you can make us whole. He answers “I died for that very reason and rose from the dead to make you whole.” This is your meditation today. Jesus is dying to be the missing piece, element, being in your life.

BTW consider giving to Rabbouni. We have to make an ask every Thursday. I am not a fun of the ask but we kinda need the help. Love you!!

January 11, 2023

Mark 1:29-39

Remember that resolution thing we did 11 days ago at the beginning of the year? Well I told Grayson that my new year resolution was to make a resolution every day. Well I have broken it 11 times. What a terrible start it is indeed. But today is the day I start for real. I will come back to this.

In today’s gospel Jesus goes to visit the house of Simon Pater and something extraordinary happens. They tell him about Simon’s mother in law. Yes that’s the stunning thing, they tell him. The scriptures say “Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway.” They don’t wait until after dinner, they don’t keep it their little secret, they don’t say they will do it their way. No!!! Lord here is the real situation in this house.

Give that a try. As soon as you receive communion or go in prayer say it. As a church let’s say the issue straightaway. Lord we is struggling out here to make ends meet. Lord I am tired or Lord I really want to spend my life with someone. Say it. No door should be kept closed to our God, he can take the smell, the fever.

So back to that resolution thing. I resolute to be better at letting Christ in all areas of my life and keeping it real. That might mean my friend that you find yourself a trusted friend, a diary or an exercise where you can scream it. One of my friends exhausted from one terrible thing to the other said “Universe can I please just get a freaking break.” I cried with her. Hey you.. Jesus has the answer, Jesus is the answer.

January 10 ,2023

Mark 1:21-23

There was something different with his teaching. Unlike the Pharisees, Our Lord taught with authority. Not yelling and screaming, not coming on a private plane but he spoke with power and they felt it. Have you ever spoken with power and authority? It is said that we have all had an experience of power and we recognize it. The power of the government to govern you for example. We give them that power. But there is another power, the power of your experience. You can be an authority on the things you have experienced. You have power to speak to people who struggle with weight because it is your daily struggle or the power to comfort those who grieve because you know by experience how much it sucks. You are not a powerless being no no in fact you can drive out the demons that attack people in their week moments because you fight those demons every day.

Talking about power it is understood in two different ways from the world of scripture. The Latin speak of Potestas the power to rule. Think pontential. it is structural power. The Greeks speak of Exorcia that is the power to drive from within. Think exorcism…

Jesus had exorcia kind of power, he drove people through inspiration. I pray that you too embrace the Exorcia Holy Spirit force to be reckoned with.

January 9, 2022

Mark 1:14-20

Good morning and a very happy Monday to you. I pray you receive every blessing today and you see how blessed you are and more importantly what a blessing you are.

You know as I read the gospel passage for this morning and see Jesus walking by the sea shore with the four disciples, I kinda want to rephrase the passage. Just change a word or two but keep the structure. We read that as Jesus was walking by the sea he saw Simon Peter and his brother, he called them and “at once” they left the boats and followed him. He walked a little further and saw the sons of Zebedee, he called them and “at once” they left their father in the boat and followed him. If I had the authority to add words to scripture I wanna say “at once they trusted him.”

This was a leap of faith. Think 401k, think retirement, think feeding your family. They dropped everything and followed him. Do you trust the plans that God has for you? Do you trust that he will take care of the loved ones in your life when you are not there? I see Christ coming to you, holding you by the hand and asking, will you trust me? Will you trust God with your security?

Well if this does not scare the bejesus, out of you then maybe you are still to be asked to take a leap of faith. I know that you have been scared, I know you have questioned. Hake it comes with being an adult but you also trusted in God. Your trust lifts me up when I am faced with a mountain of uncertainty.

Epiphany

The celebration of the feast of the Epiphany has begun. You know in antiquity this feast celebrated three miracles; The visit of the magi, the baptism of the Lord and the wedding at Cana. The theme in all these events is the great realization that God has actively intervened in human history. There is a shock factor in these events. A factor we do not pay much attention to but one that we have to keep in mind. YAHWEH was a tribal God. Owned, possessed and controlled by the people of Israel. This God had no problem destroying (through the hands of his subjects) other peoples and their Gods. In fact the idea of monotheism (one God) was not known in the early pages of the Bible.

The big shock is when the people of Israel came to realize that God has other children as well. Ones whose practices are not so Jewish. In the Hebrew Scriptures he says “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Why has this been such a hard lesson for us? The foreigners (magi) searched for God as pagans, they found Christ as pagans, payed homage as pagans and left as pagans. It’s all good.

So this feast that celebrates the revelation of God to the nations invites us to stop trying to own God. This God respects other cultures and reveals himself to them. God does find a way. So whoever you are, wherever you are the divine presence will let you find her.

January 5, 2023

John 1:43-51

Do you know someone by the name of Nathaniel? Nate? Let me guess, he is brutally honest. It comes with the name. When I think of the Nates I know, Lawd help their honesty. They will tell you in no uncertain terms exactly what is on their mind. Today we meet a Nathaniel in our scriptures. When the other disciples tell him that they have found the messiah, the one Moses wrote about and he is from Nazareth. Nate responds “can anything good come from that place?”

Tell you what, the story of Jesus is one fascinating story. At every corner we find that Jesus really comes from a rough place. Born in a cow cave, lived in Nazareth ( think filth and stench), dies on a cross and he is God. From the most unlikely places God shines. What is your excuse for not letting God shine? I mean you have it so good, it must be 10 times easier for you and I to say we are blessed beyond measure.

Another thought from today’s readings is this. Let us not use our painful past as an excuse to close in on ourselves. Are you from a broken family? Good!! Are you from a alcoholic family? Good!! Did someone call you unattractive? Good!! All these experiences can help open our eyes. Remember and try not to be a victim.

Back to Nathaniel or Nate. What do you think he was doing under the fig tree? Maybe he was praying for a sign, a sign of the kingdom. Maybe Rabbouni is another of those signs that God sees you lovingly. Love you!!

January 4, 2023

John 1:35-42

So Mary Ann has banned me from ever trying to be March maker. When I see two single people my natural instinct is wanting to introduce them to each other but I get the look and a honey bless your heart, that would never work. The last time I tried she said, it won’t work the dude is gay. Well he hid not say he was…

Anyway the story of Jesus and John continues on and now St John is trying to find good matches for Jesus. He says to his disciples “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. The two awkwardly follow Jesus and when in his presence they are dumbfounded and ask “where do you live bro” Our Lord responds “come and see.”

I have had a number of “come and sees” in my formation as a priest. Some places I went I lasted for three days only because the food was good but other places it felt God. The prayer life was right, the apostolate was right, the group was right. It felt like being home, being with people who would raise me right. Do you want to find a church where you feel connected to God in a unique way? Visit as many churches as you can, you will find one that is real for you. And it might work for a little while or a long while. Make sure you stop by Rabbouni as well. Come and see and bring a cousin, they might like us.

January 3, 2023

1 John 2: 29 - 3:9

Good morning. I pray that this day be filled with blessings as we send our children back to school. I don’t know about yours but our Grayson wanted a little bit more time off. Dude, it has been two weeks stop complaining and head back to life. Actually the other day he asked me about my new year’s resolution. I totally forgot about resolutions … see what happens to you when you become the police. Anyway my answer to him after he pressed me was “my resolution is to make a resolution every day.” He was not impressed.

What if I woke up every day with a resolution. Today I want to be the bringer of silliness. Be a little silly in this very serious world and see what happens eh. Anyway let us look at our scripture. The verse for my reflection today is “Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,

by letting us be called God’s children;

and that is what we are.” You and I have been lavished this great gift, we now belong to God. This past Sunday I talked about the talent show called The X Factor. They try to find something about the contestants that separates them from the others. Some people have an X Factor. Well, you have the X Factor too. Being a child of God. My prayer today is that you truly come to know this beautiful, powerful element in you. Filled with the spirit of the Father you can rise above anything. Bishop TJ Jakes “thank your haters, they have been placed in your life to make you great.” I don’t know how that works but I believe him.

Come on child of God, see yourself.

January 2, 2023

John 1:19-28

As you read these opening versus in the gospel of John a question arises. Why is St John going into overdrive stating over and over again that he was not the Christ but merely one coming before him. Looking at how many ways he says it and tries over and over again to point out who is the Christ gives us a window to look into the confusion in the early church especially among the Johanine community and the followers of Jesus. St John was the charismatic one, in some places his fame may have been greater than our Lord’s. But he emphasizes “I must decrease, he must increase.”

One of the principals to remember as priest or Christian is the 11th commandment. The unspoken commandment of the Jewish people. Remember O Lawman/Israel, there is but one God and you are not it. We have to know our place in the Kingdom. I think I will keep this reflection short and ask you throughout this day to say the unspoken commandment and insert your name. You are not God.

December 30, 2022

Matthew 2:13-15,19-23

Welcome to the last Friday of a big year 2022. Lawd what a year it has been. So many blessings and so many tears, so many getting it right and so many just not getting it, so many births and deaths. But my friend we are here on this last Friday, given yet another chance to deep discovery. By the way if you are able, please remember Rabbouni in your end of year giving. We will love you for it.

For our reflection we are given the feast of the Holy Family. It is my favorite homily to preach actually. The church puts before us the family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus so that we can have a model on which to build our families. I just wish the church did not do that. Here is why. We have Joseph, the man gets orders in his dreams. God tells him at every corner what to do. My dad did not have angelic dreams to tell him what to do! He had his buddies at the tavern/pub. Between drinking the local brew they solved the world’s problems. You should have heard my dad talking with his buddies. Mama would just shake her head and walk away muttering “oh men!” The mother in this holy family is the blessed Virgin Mary. Well I won’t get into it but mama is as far away from the Holy Blessed Mother of the Lord. She once threw a pot at me. She sent us to church so she can have a minute of silence. And the child in the story is the Son of God, Jesus. The most perfect person to have ever lived. Well I don’t have to tell you about myself, and I am the good one in the family . We are nothing like Jesus.

This is why I think it is unrealistic to ask us to model our families on this perfect family. UNLESS all this holycization (I made up that word) is bologna. Maybe Joseph had no angelic dreams but he was, with the help of God and friends, very connected to what was happening around him. Maybe all he wanted was safety for his family. Think of a young family in Ukrain that is fleeing violence. Are they getting angelic dreams? No!! Think of a man breaking himself in half to provide for his family. We just read the world around us. Come to think of it, dad’s drinking buddies were angels. Pretty happy angels at that. Mom and the blessed mother have so much in common. They both did not have all the answers to all the world’s problems. They both had to figure things out. I can go on and on.

Here is the deal, this family is HOLY because it understands itself as belonging to God. Holiness has to do with how you understand yourself. I am Holy to the extent that I see myself as separate for the Lord. Did you hear me? The nation of Israel is holy because it belongs to YAHWEH. So with all our dramas... we are HOLY too.

December 29, 2022

Luke 2:22-35

There is no magic, you will have to put in the work. One thing that strikes me as I read today’s gospel is the work that the parents of Jesus put in. How much they invested in him, making sure that he grows up to be a good practicing Jewish man. Today they make the long journey to Jerusalem to present their first born son in the temple. They will do everything for him to set him up for life.

As we celebrate this Christmas octave, turn to your parents and say thank you. Life is not perfect, your parents may have made some mistakes here and there. But they gave you the best days of their lives. Non of us are born with a ”how to perfectly raise me” guide. Our parents figure things out as they figure themselves out.

As parents I know I don’t have to tell us this but pray for your children. Bring them everyday before the Lord as Joseph and Mary brought Jesus. Love you.

December 28, 2022

Matthew 2:13-18

I am sure by now you have noticed that we only have two accounts of the birthday of our Lord. The Greek version from St Luke and the Jewish version from St. Mathew. They are very different stories but our minds make them into one cohesive story. In the Mathew version the main character is Joseph. St Mathew goes to great length to map out the genealogy of Jesus which we heard on Christmas Eve. Mary is but a bystander there. It is Joseph who is connected to Jesus, it is Joseph who received the dream about the child, Joseph is told to name the child, Joseph has a dream to move to Egypt for the safety of the child. No mention of angels here, the dreamer leads.

St Luke however writes a complete different story. Mary receives the news, an Angel Gabriel visits her and gives her the child’s name. It is the blessed mother who named the child. No wise men here. The gospel of Mark and John don’t even touch the birth narratives. We can talk about it later.

Anyway today we read about a very sad event that happened in the life of Jesus. The massacre of the innocents. See we don’t read and understand these narratives as subversive documents but they are. By his very birth Jesus makes Herold and all the powerful tremble. There is a new power that will take over. You carry Devine power and presence in you and naturally make some people uncomfortable. Find a way to Tap into your power base. It could be some embarrassing part of your story. Don’t let that devil use it to crush your dreams. Maybe when Jesus was later told about this event, it fired him up to go to Jerusalem.

You know, many a building, many a life have fallen besides you but he has found a way to hold you up. There is something about you that is unfinished. One more person to hug, one more diaper to change.

December 27, 2022

John 20:2-8

The Christmas decorations are still up and I really still want to talk about God’s greatest intervention in the history of the world, in the trajectory of my life. Things have changed now. I remember saying after Grayson was born that “having a kid changes everything”

Well the church wants us to pivot quickly from these birth narratives not that they are less important but there is an urgency of time. So yesterday we here about the death of St Stephen and today it’s the feast of St John the Apostle. The one Jesus loved. There are lots of people who were devastated when things did not turn out as they had thought with Jesus. Mary Magdalene was in disbelief, Peter doubted, Thomas doubted but St John, he saw and believed.

I want you to have deep seeing eyes. See what others see but go beyond. Not in a supernatural, churchy way but maybe through life experience be the one who says “it feels like the end, looks like a disappointing end but God is not done here. You will rise.” Someone has to hold the faith. can that be you? We were thousand of Dollars down at Rabbouni a few weeks ago. Someone said “God will provide, have faith father..”

Believe!!!!!

December 26, 2022

Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59

A very Merry Christmas to you. I am sorry that for some of us we could not make Mass because of the nasty icy roads. I do believe however that something special happened in your household. For those who made it, what a magical Christmas Mass we had. My prayers is that our musicians come back next Christmas and we have that 4 pm Mass. Our reflection at Mass was centered around the psalm “Today is born a savior, Christ the Lord.” The question is who is pregnant, who births the Messiah today. Could it be you? Could you be the one to birth, deliver hope, deliver peace, bring forth understanding. We are all pregnant with the word and we birth Gods intervention in our worlds.

The first day after Christmas is a bloody one. I wish the church would have put the massacre of St Stephen later on in the liturgical calendar. But no, right after Christmas we meet the first disciple to die, look closely though, this death gave birth to St Paul. This young zealot saw how Stephen died and his conversion began. Through your life’s journey you are constantly birthing. Go plant goodness today.

December 23, 2022

Malachi 3:1-4,23-24

There is something about snow that calms me and simply feels good. I am grateful for a warm house and hot cup of coffee. My work on the police force gives me an opportunity and a blessing to work with people who may be less fortunate, people who don’t have a warm, peaceful house. I pray for the repose of any who may have not survived this storm.

What is in a moment? What do you bring to this moment of your life? What if this moment wherever you are were the crescendo. Everything was leading up to this, preparing you to embrace the moment. How many people then did the creator God send into your life to prepare you for the now? How many experiences have you had to bring you to the stage you are?

Frankly there have been some happy memories and sad memories. There have been a million plus people who have been placed in my life so that I can be the priest I am today. The scripture says “I am sending a messenger ahead of you to prepare your way”. My friend, you are light!! The world has been prepared that you might shine. I want to thank my parents, family, friends, you for bringing me to this crescendo of my life. Think of it, today, this season, this experience has been decades in the making. I love you more than you will ever know.

December 22, 2022

Do you remember the story of Hannah. She is the woman who was thought of as mad because she would not leave the temple or the priest until she was granted her prayer. She wanted a child and she prayed for this gift like a mad woman. Well God answered her prayer and she named the child SAMUEL. In today’s reading, she goes back to the temple with good news. Yahweh answered my prayer. I want to keep our reflection very short today. Tell me, what did you pray for that has been answered a hundred times over? We call this in the charismatic renewal, giving testimony. GIving testimony builds the faith of others. It is not gloating but saying to someone who is praying so hard for something that God answers prayers. So today we put aside what we are praying for and we mention what has been granted. I prayed for a church family that spoke to my soul and God out of nothing gave me Rabbouni. I prayed for a family and God grew my territory and not only gave me a family but a beautiful family. I prayed for a job, and God granted. What did you cry for night and day to God?

Not to spoil this reflection but every Thursday I ask for your financial support for Rabbouni. Thank you for loving us into existence.

December 21, 2022

Luke 1:39-45

Today we celebrate the visitation. As a child I would pray the rosary every day. I remember the joyful mysteries and mediating on the journey of Mary to her Cousin Elizabeth. We have drawings of the two women meeting with joy on their faces. Look at how these two women believed in the promises made to them by God. All this may be true. Let me read it from the Zambian experience.

It is not uncommon in the Zambian culture that when we have a teenage pregnancy, that child is sent to the village. Sent away so to say in shame to a place nobody knows her. After the child is born, the young lady returns with a baby but the baby is never claimed as her own. No no, she went to the village to bring to the city a poor child from another relative. So the child grows up calling his or her mother by her name. Everyone knows what is going on but no one says it. That teenager who is sent away … let us think of her. She is sent away from her ‘boyfriend’ the one person who might console her. At a moment when the young lady needs her mama, she finds herself alone. Sometimes these young ladies leave their children in the village and come back to finish up school. There is no joy but fear!

I like to make the life of our blessed mother as practical as I can so that I can relate. She knows a truth that she cannot explain, she finds herself totally alone in a strange land. Lord have mercy. And yet through it all she seeks signs of Gods abiding presence. Sometimes we may need to work extra hard to find God’s presence. The child in Elizabeth’s womb lept for joy. Well babies kick all the time, but if you have a difficult pregnancy, every kick is a gentle reminder of the blessing you have received. My prayer today is when you find yourself all alone in a land and place you never expected to be, work a little harder to see God.

December 20, 2022

Luke 1:26-38

Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. Mary then said”piece of cake, if it is going to be that easy, sign me up baby.” Well she did not actually say that but one would think this will be the easiest of journeys. But life does not usually work out like that. I love these birth narratives and I get what they are trying to portray but trust me, our blessed mother did not have a text book on how to raise this child. She and her family had to figure it out. I want to think that sometimes they got it right and sometimes they got it wrong. Remember when people went to her and told her that she should come and get Jesus because he was mad? She gathered her family and support system, went up to get him. That is when he said “my mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it…” something like that. Tell you what, if you all go to Zambia and ask mama to come take me home then things have gone really bad.

Anyway back to the reading of the day. The power of the most high will cover you. Do you know why and how you have been able to endure so much? You is covered!!! Do you know why and how you always find a way? You is covered. Do you know why and how you will live through whatever crisis you are going through? You is covered. Yes sometimes it is hard to see and feel the hand of God laid upon us. But may you feel that sacred hand in the hand of your family, friends and your favorite priest . You are not alone!!!

December 19, 2022

Judges 13:2-7,24-25

Luke 1:5-25

On this Monday the church puts before readings that tell us of miraculous births. The first reading we have the story surrounding the birth of Samson the Nazirite and the gospel has stories around the birth of John the Baptist. You know, I have never really asked my mother about stories surrounding my birth. But I am sure there is a story there. These stories are not meant only for the major players. There is a story around you and I, the pawns and the kings. I can tell you stories around the birth of our son. I can tell you how a touch and go pregnancy it was and how I prayed to God that he stays in the womb for 20 weeks. The doctors said his chances of survival were greater if he got to week twenty. It was pure miracle that he went full term. The thing is, God has spoken all of us into existence. So listen, you are not just another being, you have been breathed into existence at this time in history for a reason. Find it!!

As we begin this final week towards Christmas, I want to offer you a gift. Yes I wish I could wrap it up and put a nice bowl on it but this is all I have. I want to pray for you if you could use a prayer. I want to move you through prayer into a space that would enable you to see you.

December 16, 2022

Isaiah 56:1-3,6-8

A very happy Friday to you. There are things that we take for granted in church. Things like the diversity that we find in our churches. I have been watching the World Cup with great interest and it has amazed me how the players bring their cultures to this great event. Did you know that Brazil once got in trouble for celebrating too much after scoring. Yes some Europeans thought celebrating like that dishonored the games. Well we don’t expect a Brazilian to celebrate like an English man right!!! We bring our cultures. Let’s get back to the scriptures. The Lord says “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.”

It sounds simple but this little statement almost broke the early church. God was a Jewish God and the non Jews well they were just not welcome. Then came St. Paul and the Greeks. St. Paul argued that people do not have to be Jewish to be followers of Christ. In fact the first council of Jerusalem which was presided by the brother of our Lord, St. James the just, settled the question of eating pork. The Greeks loved Pork chops and for the Jews it was unclean. And the circumcision question was tackled at this council too. Anyway bring yourself and all that you are. For in the house of the Lord it is about prayer not politics. All are welcome.