ALL Called to Be Saints with Christ Jesus – All Saints’ Day – 11/1/2023 – Fr. Chris Heller

On this holy feast, I always remember that jazz tune and lyric: “O when the saints, come marching in, O when the saints come marching in, I want to be there in that number, When the saints come marching in.”

It seems to me that this All Saints Gospel of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) is a perfect match:  If you can think of a saint, she or he is linked to living one or more of the Beatitudes on a regular basis. It shouldn’t surprise us, since the Beatitudes is Jesus’ plan for Christian living, and therefore God’s Plan for Christian Living. Growing up, I was brought up knowing the 10 Commandments in my family of origin’s house, and I had to face the consequences when I didn’t obey them according to my parents!            

But as Roman Catholic Christian adults, we know that the 10 commandments are just the beginning: we also have the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, in addition to the Beatitudes, to guide our daily living. Think of how inconsistent it would be if all these fine words in the 10 Commandments, Beatitudes and Works of Mercy were never acted on in life.It’s as unthinkable as people saying I Love You, but not actually loving each other in action.

So for today, I’m selecting two saints and will link them to specific Beatitudes in our Gospel. For openers, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” We now know that another way to say it is:“Blessed are those who freely admit that they need God: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In my mind, one of the greatest examples of those living this beatitude is St. Francis of Assisi: some people know Francis as a channel of God’s peace, and a lover of animals and creation.          

And all those things are true. But Francis had a very specific mission and calling from Jesus: Jesus appeared to Francis and said, “Rebuild my church.” Francis first thought Jesus was talking about rebuilding church buildings; later Francis understood Jesus: Jesus wanted him to reform the Church’s heart, to become more spiritual and more rooted in the works of mercy daily. So, when did Francis have to admit he needed God? All the time, especially in two major areas:  first, when his Franciscan religious brothers didn’t WANT to reform the church as Jesus was asking; and second, when Francis suffered with doubts about whether he was doing the right thing or not, and his battles with depression.  It’s true: it was NOT easy for Francis: he was clinging to Jesus because his life depended on it!

The second saint beatitude is: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the sake of righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” For this Beatitude I think of St Gianna Molla, a pediatrician saint, wife and mom.  I showed the parish some murals of St. Gianna from a church I visited over the summer in West Hartford, CT.  Gianna was active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which works to help needy people. She also opened a clinic to serve poor people who could not afford to receive medical care. Gianna and her husband Peter had 4 children: Peter Louis, Marion, Laura and Emanuela. Gianna had her own share of sorrows: two additional pregnancies ended in miscarriages. But she couldn’t have known what was to come next.

After their third child was born, and early in her final pregnancy, doctors discovered that Gianna had both a child and a tumor growing in her uterus. She allowed the surgeons to remove the tumor, but not to perform the complete hysterectomy that they recommended, which would have killed the child, and would have been tantamount to an abortion. Seven months later, in April 1962, Emanuela was born, but post-operative complications resulted in an infection for her mother Gianna. The following week, Gianna died at home. That last child Emmanuela went on to become a physician herself. Gianna Molla was beatified in 1994, and canonized 10 years later. She is a pro-life saint, whose name marks our Diocesan Pro-Life offices in Rockville Centre. St. Gianna is a good example of someone who made sacrifices for others: she did what was holy and good, as her way of growing closer to God.  May we also find our unique way to become saintly people, marked at the very core of our soul with the cross of Jesus, who gave His life for us all.   ­ Fr. Chris Heller

29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time - STEWARDSHIP of TREASURE HOMILY – Fr. Chris Heller – Mt 22: 15-21

“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”       

When I left my retreat in New Jersey this year, the staff of priests & lay people said “take care.”  They knew I had apprehensions about driving on the New Jersey Turnpike & Garden State Parkway!     When I left my continuing education seminar in Ohio this year, my NYS colleagues said, “take care.” When I left my Cousin Anthony’s house after having dinner with him & his family, they said, “take care.” He knew I’d be riding on the Southern State Parkway, with all its curvy lanes!

The more I’ve reflected on these good wishes for my health & well-being, they’re not idle words: just as they said, “take care,” the truth is that as your pastor, I AM your caretaker, in Jesus’ holy name.  I’m responsible for your well-being as parishioners, including your growth/development of a personal relationship with Jesus in the spiritual life, as well as being pastor pothole & parking lot paving.

I am SO blessed to be your pastor: I’m grateful to our generous God, who continues to bless us all!  I’m grateful for the sacraments, especially for the Eucharist & Holy Communion we receive. I’m grateful for my connection to Msgr. McGuire & my good friend & colleague Fr. Charlie Papa,  who promised you, before I got here, that I’d be baking cheesecakes to feed you all week long! I can only tell you that, like many things ordered on the internet, your personal cheesecake is back-ordered! I’m grateful for the opportunities to serve God with you, to make a real difference in peoples’ lives, like the residents at the Bristol Assisted Living Center up on Route 25A, that we as priests & lay people have begun to serve.

YOU have made it possible for us to keep our services going, even during the horrible Covid time; I’m SO grateful &proud that we NEVER closed our Outreach Office: we did things differently, but because of your generous love ALL YEAR LONG, we kept a supply of food ready & available, and if you and I are going to be fed at the Lord’s Table of the Eucharist, we are called to feed others at their homes. But you and I also know that talk can be cheap: it’s ACTION that Jesus wants & needs to see from us.

So I CAN’T just say “thank you, God,” for all these gifts, although that’s exactly where I begin. I ALSO take a portion of my stipend money, the money you provide for me to live on & put gas in my car, & I turn a portion of that money back to the PARISH. It’s MY way of answering what for me has been an important ongoing question: WHAT RETURN CAN I MAKE TO THE LORD, FOR ALL THE GOOD THAT GOD HAS DONE FOR ME? (Psalm 116) In English, HOW generous can I be to FUND & SUPPORT & PROVIDE good things for other people through our church community? Each of us is called to answer that question personally, and on behalf of our families.

By our baptisms, God has given ALL of us the power to DO GOOD, to make a difference in others’ lives: to bring hope to someone’s house - that their kids will have religious education books from which to learn; or that although a wage-earner has lost his or her job, YOU help keep the lights & the phone ON in their distress.   Yes, YOUR contributions become WORKS of MERCY that ease peoples’ sufferings & distress.

So, as your pastor, I ask you: can you do more financially?  Can you be a bit more generous, perhaps $5 or $10 more per week? Can you stretch your giving to our parish, knowing that God will bless your dedicated gifts to the parish and multiply them? Remember the blessing story of the loaves and the fishes, & how Jesus multiplied both of them? Everyone was fed and satisfied, and there was even some left over to feed others later on. And as St. Luke tells us, a generous person will prosper in the sight of our God. Let’s prosper: let’s thrive: let’s admit we live in abundance. TOGETHER, let’s keep growing and building for these second fifty years in our beloved parish. Please join me and the other parish members who are taking a step up and forward.  Thank you.   Fr. Chris

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 15, 2023 – Matthew 22: 1-14  Fr. Chris Heller

When Jesus tells a parable story, there’s always a lesson he wants us to see & learn But sometimes, the story’s ORIGIN is NOT as obvious as we might think. Remember the Gospel a few weeks ago where workers were hired to go out to the vineyard at all times of the day, and they all get paid the same FULL DAY’S WAGE, even if only working an hour? We learned THAT parable story is NOT about labor unions or even just wages, but about how GENEROUS God is about calling people home to heaven. And Jesus says it’s not about how long you’ve been believing- it could be you turned to Jesus on your deathbed - but about how FULLY you believe.                          

Today’s Gospel about the wedding feast ALSO has a back story as its origin. People were beginning to REJECT Jesus and his teaching and preaching. So the Jesus who was sent  by God to reform the Jewish religion switches his EMPHASIS in the parable story, and EVERYBODY gets invited to come to the wedding feast, which stands for heaven. & that EVERYBODY includes you and me, our neighbors & enemies: everybody! It even includes a group of people I’d never heard of in my earliest years, and that the FRENEMIES: you know, sometimes friends, sometimes enemies! So, Part One of the Good News this weekend is that God welcomes all of us, in all our situations:

*if you’ve been persecuted or hurt, COME TO JESUS: let Him heal your soul. *if you’ve been suffering with mental or emotional illness, let Jesus be your Physician. "If you’re stuck – you know how sometimes we get stuck, & can’t get out of a rut, let Jesus be your new life, YOUR new beginning. He can spring you free from that rut.  And Jesus knows ways out of ruts that you haven’t even begun to imagine! *and if you’ve been stubborn and knocking heads with some other people whom YOU would call stubborn, ALLOW Jesus to loosen up & soften your heart to change you!

That stubbornness is at the core of the person not properly dressed for the wedding. If this parable story was just about a wedding, then clean clothes would be enough. But since, once again, this story is about heaven and living a heavenly life right now, the CLOTHING we’re talking about here are INTERIOR CLOTHES & ATTITUDES.   Remember good old St. Paul: well around Easter time each year, St. Paul quotes a scene of what adult baptisms are all about, ALL THE WAY back to the time just after Jesus. Paul says that Baptism means taking off all the OLD clothing- meaning old attitudes, & putting on the NEW clothing, with Christ’s attitudes, & living Christ’s new love.

So, THAT’S WHY the man with the ungodly attitudes was NOT fit for the wedding feast: his attitudes were NOT heavenly joy, peace, patience, communion, & more important: there’s NO evidence this man was working toward a complete commitment to Christ. & that’s our task as well: Jesus is RIGHT: if I’m not on the same page with God’s  values,  it doesn’t matter how many other people agree with my stubborn way of thinking/doing. And in the midst of a world of conflict, it’s VERY good news that God is giving us the grace of TIME to get on board with Jesus. Let’s do our best to bring our thoughts, words & deeds into union with the loving God who’s busy making room…. FOR EVERYBODY!                                        

                                 NOTE: we may not have completely understood this Gospel in past times. CH

There’s a lot of information in the news that people may be connecting to this Gospel: when we hear the Gospel that says people that worked 1 hr got the same wages that the people who worked all day long may strike SOME people as outrageous. The Car unions are on strike for better wages/conditions; so are writers & TV people.   & yes, there IS a time & place for speaking about just wages/cond; workers’ situation. 

However, that’s NOT what today’s Gospel is about. If we remember the adage that “little things mean a lot,” we have to go back to to the gospel’s opening line, in order to properly understand what Jesus is teaching us for our benefit this week: the words are: “the kingdom of heaven is.” English translation: God’s way is like this…  We already know from the 1^st reading today that God’s thoughts R not always ours, & God’s ways are not OUR ways, which means God’s solutions are going to B diff, too.

This gospel is NOT about $, wages, work hours, but service of God’s agenda, will, ways.   Some people are called to serve God early, just like there are life-long Catholics. How many life-long Catholics here today?  SOME of U are like the people who are called to serve the Lord from the early AM.  Some people called to serve from MIDDAY.   I think of people who come thru dRCIA process: they either didn’t finish their RC sacs, OR they grew up in other Xian families, OR they didn’t grow up in ANY faith family, but they get to mid-life n hear d call: &U know God calls people to serve folks in diff ways.  

e.g. I think of some people who never thought they had ANY talents, gifts, or skills: they woke up in their older years, and realize HOW Jesus is calling them to serve others. HOW OFTEN has it happened that people who never thought they would be taking care of their elderly parents, or other relatives, while they themselves R of advanced age? 

So, after a life of service on earth, and Jesus starts calls people home to heaven, there are people in paradise who served Jesus faithfully, loyally, & unconditionally for the longest time, longer time, long time, short time, shorter time, & very brief time. & then of course there are people who serve Jesus on their death beds: sharing powerfully in the pain & suffering of the cross, as they prepare for God’s glory.   

According to Jesus, he can award them ALL the mercy of God & the reward of heaven.  Do we think ONLY life-long believers or servants of God can go to heaven?  NO!  Do we agree that, esp when it comes to awarding grace, & heaven & eternal life 4ever,         Jesus is free to be as generous as HE wants to B; whenever; wherever; & to whoever? Of course we do. & aren’t we glad that Jesus is rich in mercy, the mercy of God’s love.  &Y? because MERCY is what Jesus has received from the Father, in d joy of the HS.  Do we understand better what Jesus is trying to teach us today?      

And is it ALSO clear that Jesus can award this mercy of paradise to people whose service doesn’t look/sound AT ALL like ours? That Jesus can call to heaven EVEN the people who don’t talk like us, eat what we eat, speak the language we speak, and so on. Jesus is FREE to do what HE wants with the love of God because God trusts Jesus  EVEN MORE than God trusts ANYBODY ELSE.  Let this be a lesson we can hear, AND let is be a lesson we can apply to our lives. If we want to ask ourselves a question, we might ask ourselves: HOW well, HOW fully, HOW selflessly are we serving others the way GOD wants?   - Fr. Chris Heller 

This homily is a reflection on the art and science of forgiveness.

So, how does Peter come to the idea that Jesus was asking him to forgive as many as seven times? In Peter’s mind & in the Hebrew Scriptures, three times would be the maximum number of times I’d have to ask forgiveness. Peter knows Jesus is merciful/generous, so Peter doubles the three times & adds one: the cherry on the top! Jesus’ answer about forgiving 77 times must have confounded Peter, which is NOT surprising, because Christ’s law is new to Peter. And although you and I have heard it from Jesus, there’s still a lot of grudge-holding going on, or a lack of forgiveness, or a refusal to forgive others, even while WE ourselves need forgiveness.

Years ago, a family was putting together the guest list for their daughter’s wedding. Because of financial limits, they decided they could only invite 100 people to the reception. One family member, the one with the good handwriting, wrote up the guest list. And as it happened, 90 names fit on the front of the paper, and 10 names on the back. Well, when it came time to send out the invitations & the RSVPs, only the front page names received an invitation in the mail, while the 10 on the back didn’t receive anything.

In the big picture, it didn’t help that all ten on the back were of the same family branch, that is, one whole part of the family wasn’t invited to this family wedding. And you know? Even back then, people talked! Eventually, some who received an invitation had called some of those whom they THOUGHT would have received an invitation: imagine the hurt, anger, and sadness caused! When someone finally figured out what’d happened, and the mistake that’s been made, the other ten invitations went out, with a note of apology, and an honest explanation of the error.

But the damage had been done. It launched a TWO-generation boycott of family events: people skipped 1st Communions, Birthdays, Confirmations, other weddings and anniversaries. They also didn’t attend funerals of family members to whom they’d been linked for decades. That is, until an INSPIRED family member rallied some of the relatives for a discussion. Their question was: wasn’t it time to drop the anger/hurt & reconcile the family branches? Well, the PROCESS began at the wake of the grand matriarch, where people cried tears. Tears for what? Tears of regret, loss, relief, and even tears of joy that the war was ending.

Do you know how much energy it takes to refuse to forgive, or to hang onto grudges? Try this: make as tight a fist as you can. Feel how much ENERGY that takes. Now, open your hands: energy is released, and you can make room for new possibilities. Hugging wrath, rage & anger, holding onto hurt/pain are like holding our fists tight: it takes lots of energy, and it often only hurts us. Releasing those feelings can ALSO open us to experience peace & forgiveness God offers to US, & can open the door to future possible reconciliations. This can be very helpful for us.

For myself, the takeaway advice from the Gospel is a two-part blessing:

1.when you forgive someone else, you give yourself a gift of inner freedom, too. 2. When you forgive someone else, you show Jesus you are ready to receive his forgiveness, because you are imitating Jesus NOT just in His words, but his actions as well. Let all those who can hear the Good News, live it with their daily lives.

23^rd Sunday, Ord Time – Matt 18:15-20 – 9/10/23 - handling conflicts – Fr. Chris Heller

In a parish in Nassau County, a parishioner became furious in observing one of the priests. The parishioner felt that the priest was becoming less reverent than he should have been at the very point in the Mass when he should have been MORE reverent.                 The issue was that the priest was not genuflecting after the words of consecration, those sacred words when Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist for the Church. And Sunday after Sunday, this parishioner got more and more angry in seeing the priest fail to genuflect.

So this parishioner’s solution to this LOCAL problem was a decision to write a letter to the Pope: that’s right, to Rome: to the Holy See, the Eternal City, to see if she could get the Holy Father to correct this errant priest. The parishioner went to the post office, got the required international stamp, and sent it off. This letter got to the office of the Holy Father, and one of his secretaries, seeing the USA address, knew exactly what to do. The letter was channeled to the Pope’s rep in the US called the Apostolic Delegate, who has an office in Washington, DC. The secretary in that office showed the letter to the AD, who said, “we have a procedure for this type of situation, don’t we?” And they did: the letter from the AD was sent to our local bishop, saying: Your Excellency, there is a pastoral issue of concern in your diocese; the Holy Father wishes you to address it in a timely way.”  As it turned out, our own Bishop also had a system for dealing with letters of pastoral concern when it came to the Liturgy: the Bishop’s secretary sent it from the 5^th floor of the Chancery down to the first, to the Liturgy Director’s office. The attached note said, “research and report back to the bishop, with preparation for the Bishop’s response.”

Now remember, the issue was a Long Island priest not genuflecting after the words of consecration or, as we now call them, the words of Eucharistic institution. When the liturgy director called the priest to find out what was going on, the non-genuflecting priest started laughing out loud. The liturgy director said, “okay: now you have to tell me what the funny part is, because the bishop needs to prepare a response to your parishioner.” The priest said, “I’ve been saying it at Mass for 6 weeks, and putting it in the bulletin each week for 6 weeks: I’ve just had knee surgery: it’s my genuflecting knee, and my doctor has cautioned me to go slow after surgery. In fact, my doctor said that even if my knee could get all the way to the floor, I’m not sure I’d be able to stand up straight after that. Imagine being trapped behind the altar, and having genuflected, not being able to get up, and disappearing out of sight! So for the time being, I’m just bowing after the words of consecration: I’m trying to be as respectful as I can: I love the Eucharist, and would never do anything to disrespect Jesus in the Eucharist. I wish that parishioner had just come to me and asked me why I wasn’t genuflecting at this time: we could have saved a whole lot of paper in the process.” Indeed! So, when the Liturgy Director asked the priest if he’d be willing to meet with or speak with the parishioner about it, he said, “of course.”  So the Liturgy Director drafted a letter for the Bishop, which was sent to the parishioner, and the priest and parishioner met at the local rectory  to clear up the issue.

Jesus’ Gospel teaching, which is not just a suggestion, has many applications. HIS mandate is to encourage unity, to discourage scandal, to handle problems as close to the source as possible (which the Second Vatican Council rightly called the principle of subsidiarity), and to limit gossip, including the exchange of information that is not designed for public consumption. So, if you have a problem with someone, do NOT text it or e-mail it to the world, do NOT post it on Facebook, Instagram, or other Internet platforms: just share your anger, disappointment, frustration, or disappointment with the ONE OTHER PERSON. After all, isn’t this the way YOU would want a dispute handled if someone had a problem with YOU? Wouldn’t YOU want it kept as quiet as possible, and resolved quickly?

Finally, how could the unifying presence of Jesus thrive and grow in the midst of a paper shuffle like the one you just heard? It is Jesus who speaks clearly and simply about how to handle conflicts: let us learn from His words and example. Praised be Jesus Christ.

20^th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28- Fr. Chris Heller Homily     So, the question pops up again: is Jesus a racist? Well, did you hear what the Gospel says? 1^st Jesus ignores the Syrophoenician woman, a woman from a group of people that Jews were NOT at all friends with. THEN, Jesus calls the woman a dog, & then He seems to change his mind. Is Jesus racist? NO, of course not!!

From our hearing of the Scriptures all these years, we KNOW Jesus is NOT a racist. You may remember a few events proving Jesus was NOT racist:  1) Jesus healed MANY Gentile (non-Jewish) people; 2) The Infant Jesus welcomed the Magi (aka “The Wise Men”) who are gentiles at His birth;  & 3) even the Gospel on Ascension Thursday says: “ go and make disciples of all nations.” Clearly, Jesus is NOT racist.

And HERE’S one Scripture we might have forgotten: the 1^st time Jesus multiplied the loaves & the fishes, it was for the Jewish people; THE SECOND time it was for the Gentiles, and on Gentile land. So while it’s true that the children of Israel eat FIRST – as God’s first Chosen People, the Gentiles are fed too. Those who are NOT God’s 1^st chosen people, referred to as “dogs” in this Scripture, receive bread to eat as well.

Why did Jesus use the word “dogs” in reference to a nationality of people? For two reasons: first, Jesus is creating a way to explain out loud the priorities of His ministry, AND to teach lessons to both the woman, AND to his apostles who are listening to Jesus’ teaching being taught. It’s true that in Jesus’ day, Jews sometimes referred to Gentiles as “dogs.” That’s just a fact. Jesus’ lesson: His duty was first to reform the People of Israel, not to the Gentiles, and NOT to create new religions. & here’s the DOG metaphor at work: if Jesus took his attention from feeding the people of Israel, in violation of his sacred and specific mission from God, it would be like a father taking food from his children, and throwing it to their pets.

Simply put, Jesus HAD to start SOMEWHERE in his ministry to the whole world;                               he started with Jewish people: 12 Jewish apostles & 72 disciples: the  first level.                         Jesus healed & fed both Jews & non-Jews to SHOW he was sent to save ALL peoples.      Eventually, after Saul’s conversion to become St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, the church’s mission widened fully to its next stage, where the Gospel became spoken in all nations.

For Roman Catholic Christians, we know Jesus forbids racism. In faith, we know that Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist is the ENEMY of racism, since Jesus came to unite us in all our colorful glory. Let us pray & work to live in communion with our Shepherd and Provider, Jesus Christ.    [end of homily in church]  

Father Chris Heller – Some Post-Homily Thoughts:  

If we want to point fingers somewhere about racism, despite what some historians are trying to do today to rewrite history, it’s clear that most churches and most leaders did not condemn slavery until the 17th century. And unlike some leaders who today say slavery was beneficial for teaching enslaved people skills for later life, we DO admit slavery was an institutional evil. In fact, there were some Christian groups who refused to allow black people to be buried in Christian cemeteries. If we needed another American example, we could also observe that our country at one time restricted bathrooms and water fountains by race, and refused to serve black people who wanted to sit and have lunch at a counter in a Woolworth’s department store. We know how that was resolved.

Further, it took a LOT of courage for people to NAME the race elephant in the room, & to urge people to STOP dividing us and START uniting us. Those of you who are old enough: I invite you to recall with me the 1960s through which we lived. Most pop music by that time was divided by race: white singers and bands on white radio stations, and black singers/bands on black radio stations. Then a man named Alan Freed, whose father was a Russian-Jewish immigrant and whose mother was a Welsh-American woman, who broadcast on a New York AM radio station called WINS 1010 broke the barrier. Alan said, “Some people call music sung by black singers race music, but I call it rock and roll.” If your memory is that long, you’ll also remember on TV seeing black & white teenagers dancing to ALL styles of music on a stage in a TV studio, when it was broadcast as “Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.”

Question: do you see examples of racism (the valuing/lifting up of one race as superior in one or more ways to another race) in our world? our church? Our country?  What solutions would you propose to defeat it publically and permanently?  Is there anything that you personally would do differently, as a way of contributing to the positive movement of healing peoples of the curse of racism? 

Fr. Chris Heller

Fr. Chris' Homily - 4^th Sunday of Easter:   Lectionary Cycle “C”       Gospel:  John 10: 27-30                                                    

From time to time, Catholic Christians are asked a question by Christians of other denominations. And the question is:   “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” Some Catholics don’t know that question is an invitation to a faith chat, and so some will say:    “Of course I have: I’ve been baptized and confirmed, and I’ve received communion hundreds of times. But that’s NOT the question being asked, which is on a practical or everyday level:  i.e.,   “Do YOU allow Jesus to guide you in ALL your decisions, day and night, and all week and year long?”                                

This weekend, Christian churches all over the world are celebrating Good Shepherd Sunday, and that includes us: the Gospel calls us to renew our primary pledge of allegiance to Christ Jesus Risen: NOT a pledge to any party, person or platform, not to any philosophy or purpose other than Christ. For we SAY in our professions of faith that Jesus is our Guide and Goal, and that’s EXACTLY who Jesus WANTS to be, in every case! Stay with me, please: Jesus knows us as the unique individuals you and I are, and ever will be! 2Jesus, we’re NOT just one of the crowd, just like I’m not just Rose and Jack Heller’s 1^st child Chris; I’m not just Meg and Mike’s oldest sibling, nor am I the last 4 digits of my Social Security number. You and I are God’s one and only. Yes: that’s the closeness that Jesus means when he says: “no one can take them out of my hand.“

So, those who want and need Jesus all the time, and are an open book to Jesus in all their decisions are becoming the people that God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit intended us to become! Our ancient ancestors prayed in Psalm 139: “Lord, you probe me and you know me; you know when I sit and when I stand.” In this church, we have sung: “Yahweh I know you are near, standing always by my side; you guard me from the foe, and you lead me, in ways everlasting.” Yes: it’s all about faith: only the Lord Jesus knows us inside and out, and knows where we should be going-together!

And it’s true: there’s only 1 Good Shepherd: his name is Jesus; and he also has disciples who shepherd in his name. In order to be a shepherd in Jesus’ image, the person would need to love you unselfishly all the time: for a shepherd is always whole-hearted about the mission they receive from Jesus our Savior.  I’m thinking of two people this afternoon.                                                 1. One is a man named Bob, a true fisherman, who wants to keep introducing young people to the art of fishing. He welcomes them onto the boat: tells them the truth: put on vest protector, in case things get rough. He teaches young people how to bait the fishing line, and to return to the water the fish that are not big enough yet. Like Jesus, he never gets tired of reviewing the same basic directions multiple times. Don’t we remember how many times Jesus had to stop the apostles, when they were SO concerned about who was most important to Jesus? Jesus kept saying: If you want to be with me, then being a servant to all is the answer! Like the Good Shepherd, Bob has his young fisherwomen and fishermen’s best interests at heart all the time.

2.And I’m also remembering Phyllis, with whom I worked in one of my other parishes. Phyllis joined her Parish’s Food Pantry Team, making sure people had basic groceries. She was kind and compassionate, never sitting in judgment of people who came to the pantry: Phyllis knew that LOTS of people were just 1 paycheck away from needing to ask the Food Pantry for help, rather than bringing food each week to stock the Food Pantry. One day, the Parish Outreach Director asked Phyllis to consider taking a step up in service: the Director asked Phyllis if she’d be willing to learn about all the other benefits and help available for the needy. Phyllis took the training, and became even more involved and engaged in this corporal work of mercy; and yes: there IS help available for mortgage payment and eviction avoidances, utility bills, emergency fuel assistance, etc. Phyllis also learned that through Suffolk County’s Social Services, there were housing options. Phyllis’ patience and loving leadership worked because Phyllis knew she was not Jesus: our Savior Jesus is the only Jesus!

Today, the wisest thing we can do is to confidently allow Jesus our Shepherd to lead us all the time, through all the hills and valleys of life, and to trust Jesus’ word, remembering that “NO one  can take us out of his hands.” Alleluia! Amen!                      

 What wonderful teachings Jesus presents to us today on this Solemn Feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  Jesus assures us: telling the truth & testifying to the truth is a major reason Jesus came into the world, He underscores his message: Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."   WOW! We know in faith that Jesus IS the truth-teller of God our Creator’s Love.

But our world, and yes, some members of our beloved United States of America, over the last six decades, have been telling us untruths in the public forum FOR ALL to hear. For example: there are still people each night, talking about photos & videotapes of the events that occurred on January 6 of this year in Washington, DC: some are calling it an attack, an insurrection, while others are calling it a protest of citizens. Jesus Christ knows the truth! Some citizens are still contesting the validity of last Presidential election, while the courts and some others say the counting’s done. Jesus Christ knows the truth!

Years back, we had a president who swore on national TV he had no marital relations with a certain woman, even as the woman was reciting her story that she & the president did so! But Jesus knows the truth! And even earlier, back in the 20^th century, we had a president who was behind a conspiracy, featuring a break-in at Washington’s Watergate Hotel, while before and after he told us on television repeatedly: “I am not a crook!” There was SO much pressure flowing from the truth that he resigned the presidency but Jesus knows the truth! AND this year, in the truth crossfires between our former governor and the women who worked for him, the allegations & the pressure became so great that our governor recently resigned. And Jesus knows the truth of those situations!

All of this is to say that unless we are hearing the truth of Christ Jesus, we are less likely to know and tell the truth! For the only one telling the WHOLE truth all the time to everyone is our Savior & King, Jesus Christ. But that means that those who are NOT alive in the HS canNOT share Christ’s message, no matter how they insist in calling a certain truth “your truth” or “ “my truth, “an alternate truth” or an teeny-meanie Tuesday in July truth, there’s a HIGH chance that the message coming from a corrupted messenger can’t tell the kind of truth that has wholeness in it, the truth that honors the works of mercy in our Scriptures and our seven sacraments, the truth of who WE are and who Jesus Christ is, and our proper relationship together.

I saw a beautiful art installation in NYC last week: this production included portraits of the pictures on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. One of the good things for us viewers is that we didn’t have to suffer from neck strain, looking up at the ceiling: all these artworks were on the ground or slightly above it. One picture stays with me even now: in beautiful color, God was separating light from darkness and creating the world. In an instant, it registered SO clearly in my brain: I am NOT the Creator, Redeemer or Sanctifier of the Blessed Trinity. I, and all of us, am BLESSED creations, God’s works of art, missioned for service throughout the universe.       

When we enter a chapel or church, we are crossing a threshold from one world to another. Inside, we say, “Jesus X is King of Kings, & Lord of Lords,” in the presence of many faith believers. Jesus is our all-the-time Savior. And it is from here that we must carry the truth of Christ’s message: into the world of competing voices, which at times endangers us with half-truths and outright lies. For the final truth, the reconciling truth, the cleansing and redeeming truth is available from Jesus Christ. Today, we finish our church year: next week, we begin the season of Holy Advent. With God’s grace, we will be given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity 2grow more deeply into the heart of God through Jesus, in this pre-Christmas season. Let us ask Jesus to help us to CHOOSE the reliable truth of ALL truths: for the other truths are of no lasting value. Christ promises us what no one else promises us: a Kingdom seat, with Him in glory: praised be Jesus Christ.                                             

32^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – November 7, 2021 – Mark 12: 38-44 – Fr. Chris Heller

Happy Anniversary to One and All! To help us reflect a bit on God’s Holy Word today, let’s begin with some good church humor: 

A priest and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter waited at the Pearly Gates for them. 'Come with me,' said St. Peter to the taxi driver. The taxi driver followed St Peter to a beautiful mansion. It had everything in it you could imagine, including a bowling alley, a movie theatre, and an Olympic-size swimming pool. “Thank you, thank you,” said the taxi driver. Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rough old shack, with a bunk bed and a little old black-and-white television set. 'Wait: is it possible that this is a mistake?” asked the priest. 'Shouldn't I be the one who gets the mansion? After all I was a priest: I went to church every day, and I preached God's Word.' 'Yes, Father, that's true.' St Peter agreed, and added, “But during your sermons, Father, people went to sleep. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.' 

What a great privilege God gives us in gathering to begin this celebration of our Parish’s 50^th Anniversary. I am sure that there have been people through the years who hoped to be here gathered with us; I pray with faith that they join us in gratitude from their places in eternal life.           

And let today’s Holy Word from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospel help us reflect on our celebration. For God had a purpose for introducing us to these widows, just as God has a purpose and plan for each of us, in the great plan of salvation. And while we don’t know the widows’ names, they teach us great lessons that our faith ancestors practiced: both widows and our faith ancestors were: generous; they loved sacrificially; they shared hospitality for strangers; and they practiced self-denial. One more lesson they teach me is about faith: trusting that God IS leading our faith community. Now, to be sure, God was with us even before we started to gather as a mission community. God was with us at the Rocky Point movies. God was with us in the little white church. God was with us on the front lawn, through cold, wet, and unforgiving weather. God was with us when we moved into this beautiful building, which was YEARS ahead of its time because of the vision of Msgr. John McGuire. Our ancestors certainly practiced one of St. James’ better-known axioms: “faith without works is useless.”  It’s was not faith alone that built this building, for example: it was faith with the strength to bring that relationship with God and one another to birth: and we are here, because specific people in human history supported it, with their blood, sweat, tears, and financial backing!   

I’m grateful that some of you who have been thru ALL those growth stages are still here!  Let me ask if there are people here today who’ve been here 50 years OR MORE: would you please stand? Let’s recognize our faith mothers and fathers! I hope to have you interviewed, so we can get the history of St Louis de Montfort in your own words, and publish it on our website, in the bulletin, and perhaps in book form at the end of our year-long celebration. And you already know that there are LOTS of ways we can celebrate this great 50^th anniversary: some are socials, like wine & cheese, appetizers and desserts parties; some are spiritual, like a Corpus Christi procession around the neighborhood; or a bus trip to the Shrine in Eastport, or to the seminary in Huntington for a Day of Recollection.            

If you haven’t yet handed in the suggestion sheet we’ve been distributing: I’m calling this THE FUN SHEET, the one that will tell us which events you will be coming to during this year, please hand it in or get another one, and we Thank You. I would ALSO like to find out from all of those who are serving in a ministry, or who served in a ministry in the past: what got you started in that ministry, and why you continued to do it.

And in all these good gifts, I would echo our faith ancestors in singing Psalm 33: “Blessed are the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.” That’s US! And now, it’s up to move forward as the Parish God intends us to be and become in the NEXT 50 years. Now, the need to keep looking ahead became VERY clear to me as I read a church bulletin from a faith community just outside of Topeka, Kansas, when they celebrated their 10^th anniversary:  

“You know, one of our most-cherished members has gone home to God. That member’s name is Someone Else! For many years as an active member of this church, Someone Else did far more than our average parishioner did. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, everybody said “Let Someone Else do it.”  Whenever leadership was needed in a specific segment of our faith community, this person inspired others to results, as people said: “Someone Else can work with that group.”  Most people knew that Someone Else was among the most generous givers; and whenever we found ourselves in a financial deficit, everyone said: “Someone Else will make up the difference.” And now, Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left us a wonderful example to imitate, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did, now that Someone Else has gone to eternal life?

My answer to THAT question here at St. Louis de Montfort Parish in Sound Beach is: our faith ancestors answered THAT question EVERY year since our inception, as well as at each decade-marker: at 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, and 40 years, our faith ancestors stepped up and said, “I will go, Lord: send me. I will serve: I will sacrifice for the parish that I love.” And I have every confidence that WE, the people at the 50 year mark of our Parish, will step forward, and keep moving, always listening to the direction of the Holy Spirit and our faithful members. WE who are CLOSE to God’s heart WILL move forward, with our legacy of love, compassion, gratitude and joy.  Happy Anniversary to One and All! Fr. Chris Heller

Sometimes, we get things right in our interactions with God and others; other times, not 100%. Once upon a time, there was a young 3^rd grade student coming for a 2^nd confession.   And the child was rightly confessing things, like teasing their siblings, and pulling cats’ tales,  and disobeying mom/dad; then, the 3^rd grader got very quiet and said, “And Father, I committed the sin of adultery!”  As you might imagine, the priest hearing this confession gulped, and said, “What do you mean?  And the young person, completely misunderstanding, said, “you know what I mean, Father: adultery. I was yelling, screaming, cursing and swearing and jumping up and down in the living room, just like an adult.” 

Now, that young person knew he or she did something inappropriate, they just named it wrong.  As adults, some of the ways we understand things ARE IN ACCORD with God’s only complete TRUTH, just as an engagement ring is a promise, and THE marriage vows is the fulfillment of that promise. But many of us were taught as kids that the Old Testament (also called the Hebrew Scriptures) was all negative and legalistic, and that life was about obeying those rules forced down our throats, especially when we studied The 10 Commandments.

Yet, look at the great gift Jesus gives us today: to put the right emphasis and right attitude in the right place. That’s why in the history of God saving the universe, Jesus is often seen as a mid-course correction.   Jesus says that the Great Commandment, which comes in 2 parts, starts with our loving God. And Jesus reminds us it’s NOT about all the rules and regulations: it’s REALLY about loving God and putting God FIRST! In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus teaches that when we take care of that priority, keeping God at the center of our lives and our day, SO many other things fall into place, because we’re in accord!

So, let’s ask ourselves: who/what is the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning?” Our Jewish ancestors say this prayer three times daily: “Listen, O Israel: the Lord our God is alone is the Lord.” So, loving God first 1^st and as #1 is something you and I can begin to do now, if we are not already doing it. And for us, we could pray in the morning:            “Thank you, God for the breath of life; Thank you for all of today’s new possibilities; Thank you for protecting me through the night.”

The same is true about loving our neighbor as ourselves. You know, some people call us the Religion of NO, as in “can I do X? No. can I do Y? No. can I do Z? No.  And sometimes, a person might feel like he or she cannot do anything right, and yet, the original intention was to PRACTICE acts of true love until we get it right ALL the time. Ah. But ARE we examining ALL the calls to love God and neighbor COMPLETELY? MAYBE Yes, maybe no. For example,                  if someone examining their conscience says: So, the Fifth Commandment: I know that one: it says “thou shall not kill;” and then the person says: ‘Well, I haven’t killed anyone, so I’m off the hook, and I’m not responsible for violations against that commandment.”  Well, preparing for today, I found a hymn we sang back in college seminary days about the Fifth Commandment. The lyrics of one of the verses say this: “a man can kill with a knife of steel, with a gun, a sword, or a lance. But there’s a new law, there’s a new law: a man can KILL with a glance.” In giving us free will, God gave us the ability to choose to do good or evil: I can build a person up with affirmation, and ALSO put them down and wipe them out as well. 

And WHY is loving our neighbor so important? Well, because it’s the External Way we demonstrate our love for God. If God the Creator were to say to any of us: SO, show me HOW much you love me: go love person A, B, or C.” Now, persons A, B, and C might be difficult to love, especially in that complete way that Jesus is describing. And THEN, we look at Jesus on the crucifix on Good Friday, as he’s saying: “father forgive them….. They know not what they do.” OMG: that IS love!              

So, we know everyone is our neighbor, and all are made in God’s image. All are called to love God AS God loves all of us. And if WE love God and our neighbor, everything else will fall into place. If everyone loved God and all others, there would be no need for any further commandments. Because you DON’T steal from people you love. You don’t cheat on people you love. You don’t kill people you love: You love them. If we love God, and if we love all God’s people, made in the image of God, we don’t need anything else: we can instead focus on gratitude. Let us let go of all that is NOT love, so we can soon approach the altar with proper love for God and our neighbor.

30^th Sunday in Ord (B)

In today’s gospel, we find our Lord, as he continues his journey towards Jerusalem. It has been 895 days since this journey began. In two weeks, it will take him to the end of his mission… the Cross. But today, we find him today entering Jericho, walking slightly ahead of the disciples. At the same moment, A blind man named Bartimaeus takes up his usual place along the roadway begging for alms from the passerby’s. The sounds of the approaching caravan are unusually loud, and he inquires as to the reason for all the commotion. When the learns that it is Jesus, he cries out in a loud voice,” Son of David, have pity on me”.

Mark tells us: “The some of his followers were amazed yet, others were afraid and tried to silence the man.” The disciples were still trying to absorb the magnitude of the things that Jesus had shared with them while they were passing through Galilee, when he told them what will happen when they get to Jerusalem.

We can only imagine the disciples’ state of mind, as they struggled to comprehend what lies before them, and how this will affect them as well.  They are stunned at the possibility of Jesus being arrested and condemned to death. It is beyond their comprehension.

And although they understand that Jesus may be in danger, it appears as if they do not want to believe what Jesus is telling them. For in the midst of this serious dialogue, this beggar comes up to Jesus and demands that he be healed! 

And to further add to their confusion, James and John do not seem concerned at all about the danger to Jesus? 

For as we heard in last week’s Gospel, their only thought is to ensure that they will have a place at Jesus’ side when he comes into his glory. Their focus is solely on their own future!

But Jesus steps in at this point, to referee the situation and put an end to this bickering over status and position and explains to them that none of them will have authority over the others. And tells James and John: “You do not understand what you are asking!” Rather, that whoever wishes to be the greatest among you, must become the servant to all. For I myself, did not come to be served, but to give my life as a ransom for you and all of mankind.” Jesus then tells the disciples to call the blind beggar over and he gives him back his sight.

This exchange between them gives us insight into our own humanity, and how often we, like the disciples, tend to focus only on ourselves.  How often do we find ourselves blinded by our own needs and circumstances, to the point that we become blind to the needs of those around us? At the end of their conversation, Bartimaeus then asks Jesus if he could come along with them…Jesus simply smiles, gives him a nod, and he gladly joins them along the way.

In the writings of Thomas Merton, we hear that. “Christian humility teaches us to take ourselves as we are, instead of pretending (as pride would have us imagine) that we are something better than we are. For if we truly know ourselves, then we also quietly take our proper place, just as Bartimaeus did, in the order designed by God… because pride makes us artificial, while humility makes us real”.

Scripture tells us that the servant is the one who empowers others. The servant is the one who works behind the scenes rather than clamoring for the limelight. A servant’s greatest resource is not their ability to produce…but their desire to love and serve others.

Perhaps God has been calling you to a task that you think you are not capable of doing, or that you feel is beneath you… and when you feel his call, you try to bargain with Him and offer up another alternative? But what if the alternative you are offering is not what God wants from you? It is easy for us to say that God’s ways are not our ways,

We may even feel the need to protest -- Lord, not me, I can’t do that. Much the same as when the parishioners here at St Louis, began to ask me if I would consider becoming a Deacon. My first response was “no thank you, that’s not what I planned for the rest of my life”. But in time I came to realize that it was, what God wanted!

But what if God is only calling us because he has much that He wishes to say to us.  Perhaps he simply desires to be in our presence and spend time with us? Today when we pray, will we do all the talking or will we stop and be attentive to Jesus’ presence within us?  Will we be still and listen?

Genuine humility allows us to serve others without the need for personal gain or recognition…Christian service is relational, because we are grounded in God as we serve others in need…there is no room for inflated egos.

Jesus, the suffering servant, becomes the role model to help us through the difficult times, when parenting is no longer a joy…when co-workers are uncooperative or when our best efforts are not enough to bring the desired results, we had hoped for.

Mother Teresa often noted that, “God calls us to fidelity, not to success”.

What will we choose to do today?  Will we serve the people we encounter, or will we simply go on our merry way?  What a loss that would be! Who can know how many times we are likely to be in the presence of God in the people we meet, as we go through our day?

Last Saturday, we held the blessing of the animals by the statue of Saint Francis. Deacon Gary and I spent the afternoon blessing dozens of dogs and cats and praying with their owners. After putting everything away, I spent some time at the rectory. Heading towards the exit, I looked over and saw two women and a dog sitting by Saint Francis, and I have to admit, my first thought probably wasn’t what Jesus would have wanted, but I turned the car around and parked and introduced myself. I asked if they were looking to have their dog blest, but the one woman answered,” No, we always walk our dog here… but could you pray over my daughter, she is recovering from a serious illness”.

So, we talked and prayed and shared about our faith. And yes, I did get to bless the dog as well.

But what an opportunity that would have been missed, to spend time with the Lord and his people, doing what he had called me to be… the hands and feet of Christ.

Discipleship is not about recognition; it’s about service. How we respond to the needs of others that we meet on our faith journey, will determine where our true heart lies.

For God has promised us grace, sufficient for the journey…and only with grace can we respond to the challenges in our lives, with hope, with trust…and with love.

There are times when even I have to remind myself that I’m only human, and that there are times when I question and doubt, and perhaps even fail my God.  But I am thankful that God is big enough to handle my questions, and so gentle and loving that he doesn’t immediately strike me dead for daring to question Him. 

Yet, if He wasn’t like that, what kind of God would he be?  He never turns away from sincerity or humility. He is always faithful, and I know He loves and accepts me fully … just as I am. 

I cannot hide from God’s love because… it infinitely surrounds me. As he reminds me daily that we are called “to live at peace with everyone.

Here too we are challenged, to draw upon our faith to live in peace, which often times means setting aside our personal comforts. And at times, to leave the past where it belongs, in order to avoid hurting others, while at the same time standing firm in our core of faith. 

Yet there are times when I am saddened to think how often Christians are more known for what they are “against”, rather than what they stand for.

Living out our faith, as James tells us, is to work out our own salvation without fear and trembling…” Which means, being in relationships of accountability. Sharing our life and love with others, without criticism and in total honesty. To spend time in worship with the Lord and to study the sacred Scriptures, that we may learn what God expects of us.

God nurtures us to “ever grow”.   Kind of like the “Evergreen” in nature. If it receives water and nourishment, there should be growth. Meaning, that we should not be the same people today that we were a year ago… or even a day ago.  But be ever growing, and blooming and becoming more like Christ, each and every day.

30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 23-to 24, 2021-  Mark 10: 46-52                                                                                                                                

Do you remember the words to the first verse of the hymn, Amazing Grace?                            

Almost everyone recalls the first line: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.”                        

Now, the second line I was TAUGHT to sing said this: “that saved a wretch like me.” Of course: if it were not for Jesus, and HIS saving power of love, I and a whole lot of other people would BE in that wretched state. But this past week, I heard a new version of the SECOND line that caught my attention: THAT 2^nd line said:  “that SAVED and SET me FREE!” Well, it’s hard to disagree with THAT line, because  the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ GIVES us that liberation HOPE: united with God here on earth, and united forever with God and the saints in heaven.

As an adult hearing today’s Gospel about blind Bartimaeus, it’s clear to me that every one of us is Bartimaeus. Every one of us has suffered  from one or more varieties of blindness: physical, emotional, spiritual, social etc. Those of us driving automobiles are taught early on to be careful of our “blind spots,” on our left side and our right. More, ONLY Jesus can help us identify, name, and surrender the blindnesses in ourselves. But by the end of today’s Gospel, I’m STILL asking two questions:                                                                                                                  

1Q) in what areas of my life am I STILL blind or short-sighted? Perhaps it involves  taking one of God’s graces or gifts for granted, without giving the proper gratitude?   Or is that I sometimes forget to include in my prayers those I don’t see every day, and is this a case of “out of sight, out of mind?” This last case flies in the face of our faith, which tells us that as members of the Body of Christ, we are called to be in communion with each other, and pray always.     

2Q) There’s another level of reflection here, too.  Bart approaches Jesus, filled with faith; he knows what he wants, and going to Jesus Bart tosses his cloak aside. There’s a BIG clue! Bart is ALSO tossing aside the daily humiliation, and teasing a blind man would have endured. And Bart surrenders the isolation, loneliness, and disconnection with which he suffered. For Bart, this is a moment of freedom and liberation, one that restores Bart to his family or clan, opening new possibilities for him, like getting married, and raising and supporting a family.

What about us? When Christ frees us from a blindness, what else do we let go of, simply because we just don’t need it anymore? And what do we take on in return? What space becomes open in me, and what does God have in mind for me next? Examples:

1 person was blind to the fact that they were bigots, making ethnic and racial jokes at everyone else’s expense; now that person is STILL telling jokes, but without the put- downs. Another person was blind to the fact that they gossiped; now that person is still a good storyteller, but they don’t gossip now; their need to feel included in a group by passing along gossip is gone. We might spend a few moments this week thinking on “what would be different if Jesus healed me of X blindness” where you and I fill it in. And then, think of the NEW freedom Jesus promises to all who walks in his ways. Are we ready? I hope we all are! Blessed be God forever.

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 10, to0to1 – Mark 10: 17-30 – Fr. Chris Heller  

Sometimes I wish I could have been “the fly on the wall” for some big historic events. What I’m saying is I wish I could have been present for certain decisions and actions.eg,   I’d loved to have heard when good Pope John XXIII decided to have a Vatican Council;                and I would have loved to hear the presentations on how all Christians are united through our baptism into Christ Jesus; and that the entire Jewish people were NOT responsible for the death of Jesus on the cross: all those contributed to broadening the church’s vision that, in some ways, had been frozen for the previous 500 years.

Being a “fly on the wall” is what you and I have the privilege of being in most Sunday gospels: WE ARE THERE! As in today’s Gospel, as Jesus speaks to the rich young man and his disciples. you and I are ALSO being catechized. We ARE, IF we have ears to hear, and if we don’t keep saying, “I can’t believe what Jesus is saying.” Like at the end of Part I of today’s Gospel, when St. Mark says, the young one went away sad, because he had many possessions,” we’d HAVE to hear Part II to get to Jesus’ deeper meaning. For it’s NOT that we simply OWN our possessions; it’s our possessions CAN and in some cases DO own US!

And there are some classic examples: like the man who owned a shiny new sports car.                 On face value, it’s NOT a sin to own such a really nice car. It’s what owning the car                  can do to us, like skipping Mass on weekends to wash and wax it; OR consistently coming late to family events because the car needed attention; OR going on a big tirade when he discovers the first scratch on the car, comparing the scratch to a human life being taken. In short, it’s the OBSESSIVE feelings that can accompany such ownership that’s trouble!

And just to keep things balanced, there MUST have been a time when a woman was possessed by her possessions. One might think of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady to the dictator of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, and her collection of 3,000 pairs of shoes! Those shoes were marks of prestige, power and wealth for Imelda, at home and while travelling. But as the Marcos family moved out of power, tears were shed loudly about the HUNDREDS of boxes of clothing and possessions, including LOTS OF SHOES, that had been damaged or destroyed by termites, storms and neglect.

Well, while it’s easy to point the finger at other people, I can tell you that I struggle with this gospel because I’ve discovered I am a hoarder. I’ve moved 9 times for my ministry assignments, and every time I move I have more and more “stuff” to move!           I can imagine, for instance, that when I go to sleep at night, hundreds of books on my shelves have long discussions about what they’re going to do about Chris Heller’s obsession with BOOKS. And I’m SURE I overheard the books in my sitting room describing a revolt that’s going to occur: a revolt because I keep buying books and SQUSIHING them, read or unread, onto shelves with no room!                                                   

Now, I know in my HEAD that having all these books doesn’t get or guarantee me salvation; I know from my training that I can’t purchase or obtain salvation all by my addicted self. Salvation is Jesus’ offer to take us homeward to God, but ALSO that we can START to LIVE that kingdom of God freedom here and now, and not wait for after this life to do so.           

At one time, I imagined that this Gospel did not apply to me: today, I know better,                  and that anything that interferes or robs my ability to serve God with a free heart is suspect! And it’s never a bad time to look at our lives with a clear head and heart, to reaffirm once again, with my head and heart in union, that Jesus Christ IS Lord. 

September 5, 2021 – Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – “B”-Cycle – Mark 7: 31-37

As many of you know, on some Sundays during the season of Lent, I like to preach what the church calls “guided meditations.” These were popularized by St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. On those “guided meditation Sundays,” instead of telling stories and providing examples of putting the Gospel into practice, I would proclaim the Gospel, and then invite us to place ourselves into the midst of the Gospel scene with Jesus. It seems to me that today’s Gospel provides us with an excellent opportunity grow closer to Jesus, by seeing and experiencing his earthly ministry on a very personal level.             

So, as we begin, I’ll invite you to clear your laps of anything you’re holding; if you can place your hands flat on your knees, and sit up straight with your feet on ground if you can. It would also be a help if you can close your eyes; that will cut down on the number of distractions for you. Together, we can take a deep breath IN, and slowly let our breath out, smoothly and easily.    We’ll do that a few more times: breathe fully IN, breathe slowly out.

So, we place ourselves in the Gospel. We’re not alone: our friends brought us to see Jesus; our friends KNOW that we’re struggling with something or someone in our lives: every one of us is! As we get up close to where Jesus is standing, He invites you to tell him in your own words what’s wrong: what you are suffering with, and what or who is challenging your peace. In your heart, tell Jesus now [p]. 

After you are done speaking, Jesus surprises you. He thanks your friends for bringing you to Him for the healing and help you need: imagine how GOOD we would all feel to be  thanked personally by Jesus for offering care and support to someone else. Take a moment now: tell Jesus in your heart the names of friends and/or family members for whom you are grateful. [p]            

Then, Jesus invites you to take a walk alone with him, away from the crowds, and away from the friends that brought you to him. For a minute, you can’t believe you are getting 1-on-1 time alone with Jesus, and experiencing his great love for us!  Take a moment: tell Jesus how grateful you are to have this “alone time” with Jesus: to listen to and learn from him[p]

Jesus prays quietly with you for a moment: He looks to God in heaven and says one single word: ”Ephaphata!”, which means “be opened!” It’s a word from the language Jesus himself spoke on earth, called Aramaic. After Jesus says this word loudly, a healing takes place inside you. It’s truly a miracle!  You have NOT felt THIS good for many months or years: you are glad! Tell Jesus how you feel, now that He is personally healing you. [p]

When Jesus takes you back to where the friends who brought you to Him are standing, they all see the differences in you! They can see that because of Jesus’ healing, the stress, anxiety, and tensions have faded from your eyes. What a blessing it is for your friends to see that you are well, and healthier, because of Jesus! And when you start to tell them about the experience of Jesus healing and helping you, they are SO happy for you. THEY thank Jesus for healing you, even as Jesus tells them that they are ALL blessings, for bringing you to him.  Tell Jesus WHO ELSE you want to tell about this wonderful miracle He has provided for you. [p] 

As we come to the end of our meditation, Jesus is getting ready to move on to the next town, where there will be other people who are hurting and who need help. As Jesus moves on, we feel the floor beneath our feet here in church. If we’d closed our eyes, we open them slowly. We regain our awareness of being connected to, and surrounded by, all the baptized people who are here in church with us today. You are grateful to be a member of the parish, surrounded with faith-filled people: you believe you will remember this day for a good long time: the day when Jesus came to plant his healing love in your heart personally.

The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 8, 2021 – John 6: 41-51                                                                                                             

When I was growing up in the 1950s, I was chosen to be the list-maker to prepare to go shopping at the local supermarket. I can’t tell you EXACTLY when I became aware of the connection between my dad going to work, and our ability to put things into the shopping cart, pay for them, and take them all home. But at a certain point, perhaps when I saw mom or dad hand the cashier payment for our groceries, I began to understand. And later, when we sat down for dinner, and we said grace before our meal, I began to understand that we kids were being loved and fed by our mom, who was a homemaker, and our dad, who was our primary family bread winner.

As I grew older, my appreciation for my parents continued to expand. It became obvious to my sister Meg, my brother Michael and to me, that in addition to feeding us wholesome food, they ALSO fed us in so many different ways. For instance, they ran a constant taxi service to our events, sometimes at three different schools; when changing grades and school buildings, they helped us transition from one school to the next. They also gave us TLC when we were sick: I’ll never forget the amazing Vicks Vapo Rub Pneumonia Removal Tent they engineered in my room for 10 days, when I suffered during a winter with bronchial pneumonia. My parents read to us; they encouraged us to try new things, and not to be afraid. They also functioned as our family’s own Ministry of Consolation for us when our school sports team got defeated.  Eventually, we saw that my parents were feeding us not only at meal time, but around the clock!

I suggest to you that the origin of that 24/7 loving care is found in today’s Gospel about Jesus Christ, who identifies himself as the Bread of Life. And for those of us who listen to these words 20 centuries after Jesus repeated this phrase about himself. It’s good to see how filled with meaning they are. First and most especially, when Jesus applies the words I AM to Himself in “I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus is CLEARLY linking Himself to the One True God, who made his divine presence known to Moses. Moses, you will recall, wanted to tell the people of Israel God’s Name, so Moses asked God what His name was. God said, “Tell the people, I AM WHO AM sent you!” Jesus is not ONLY talking about the sacrament of the Eucharist or Holy Communion here: it’s much more inclusive.  

Rather, Jesus says that He, his whole way of life, his teachings, his attitudes, and all his relationships with God our Creator and with God’s Holy People are ALL Christ’s attempts NOT ONLY TO INFORM US, but to FEED us. In fact, the Gospel tells us a lot about Jesus Christ as real food and nourishment for our daily living. And when we deepen our love for Christ Jesus, he heals our lives in many ways.  1example: earlier in St. John’s Gospel, an inquiring disciple named Nicodemus starting spending time listening to Jesus. But at the start of this relationship, Nicodemus doesn’t yet know that BEYOND the ordinary and natural order in life, Jesus came to invite us into a supernatural order, one that connects earth with heaven. When Jesus says that we must all be born again by water and the Holy Spirit to be saved, Nicodemus asks Jesus whether a person needs to go back into his mother’s womb and be born again. Jesus, patient as always, tells Nicodemus that he’s talking about a DIFFERENT kind of birth, not another human birth. There’s a lot to learn in every single Gospel passage for us!

And that Gospel selection is an excellent reminder that Jesus is NOT just saving our souls by calling us his own: Jesus came to love and redeem every single dimension of our lives, just as my own parents worried about our physical, emotional, spiritual, social, educational, and every other level.  Now, of course, as members of the Body of Christ who are linked to Jesus forever, we are called to believe in Jesus Christ’s true presence in the consecrated communion we receive at Mass: to receive the Holy Eucharist takes us right to God’s Heights, and also to Christ’s eternal and holy depths.

Finally, according to the Second Vatican Council, we also recognize Jesus’ presence here at Mass in several ways: in God’s Holy Word; in you, the assembled and Holy People of God; in the priest who presides over the Eucharist, and in the other six sacraments.  Let us look forward to tasting and seeing the Lord’s goodness with EVERY sense God has given us. Let us be filled to the brim with Christ’s true presence all week long, and back here at Mass next weekend.    Love, Father Chris Heller

Matthew 6: 1-6 – the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 4, 2021                                           
A Happy Independence Day to One and All!

In the history of our lives, we know that today is NOT the first time we are hearing about Jesus being PREVENTED from performing miracles among some people. We grew up with the Tridentine Latin Mass that had a final Gospel from the left side of the altar (from the perspective of the congregation), while the priest’s back was to us: he was reading the Prologue of John’s Gospel, John 1: 1-14. It was there that John told us: Jesus was in the world, and the Word of God came into being through Him, but the world did not know him. Jesus came to his own town, and his own people would not accept Him. Why?

People from Jesus’ hometown knew a LOT about what Jesus did as a carpenter: creating and fixing table and chairs for home living. Some of those hometown people probably ate and drank with Jesus’ extended family. But one consequence of being SO comfortable in describing WHAT Jesus did for a living was that they narrowed Jesus, essentially putting Jesus in a box. And when what Jesus said or did did not fit into their pre-conceived picture of Him, they rejected Jesus, because those people KNEW a LOT of things ABOUT Jesus, but they had NO faith relation with him. We should know that in the twenty-first century, there are college professors and instructors who teach classes of young people about world religions,  while at the same time declaring that they themselves are atheists, agnostics or of no particular religious connection. These are people who are getting paid good money to know ABOUT those religions, without any interest in knowing the God who is at the center of any and all of those religions!

Let’s use another example: It’s a familiar description that’s also found in St. John’s Gospel;                                                      it’s the story of the Vine & the Branches. We REMEMBER that Jesus said that in order for us              to continue to be fruitful according to the plan of God, we have to REMAIN connected to the VINE!  But being connected to the Vine necessarily involves us being in a relationship with God: the Father Son and Holy Spirit. One reason Jesus’ own townspeople rejected Him was because He described his personal relationship with God VERY clearly, and they found Jesus’ explanation OUTRAGEOUS. You can almost hear them gossiping on the street corner: “Who does that Jesus think he is, anyway: as if the carpenter could know God that well. He called God his abba, his papa, his father, his dad. No way.” And those same people were gossiping about Him at the SAME TIME that Jesus was LIVING his intimate relationship with God every single day! 

So, the lack of the townspeople’s faith in effect SHUTS DOWN Jesus’ capacity to heal them. Yes: we may not have thought about it before, but peoples’ lack of faith TIES God’s hands. Let’s be honest: there are people across these United States who have turned away from Jesus over these last few years, and instead they have placed all their faith in one or another political system, party, or person. Did they forget how the words of Psalm 146 CLEARLY warn us: “trust not in rulers of earth,” for they will inevitably fail us. If we want a relationship that’s going to LAST, Jesus tells us to start with HIM! Did he not say that he is both the Good Shepherd who will lead us to the Father, as well as the gateway to eternity? Yes, he did!  

Finally, there’s a revealing portrait by a nineteenth and twentieth century English painter named William Holman Hunt. This portrait is entitled Christ at Hearts’ Door. In it, the Lord Jesus is pictured knocking at a door that has no handle or latch.  This symbolizes that only the person inside the house can open the door, to receive Christ’s grace, mercy and love. Jesus will never let Himself in, or force his entry. We were graced by God with free will, and Jesus honors that free will gift from the Father. So, it will be only those who believe in Christ’s power to conquer sin and death that open their hearts to Him. Let us pray that WE will be wise enough to open the door to Lord when He knocks! Fr. Chris Heller

13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 27, 2021 – Mark 5: 21-43, especially focused on verses 25-34, the centerpiece of the Gospel, which recounts the healing of the woman whose severe bleeding is healed. 

During this Covid-19 pandemic, the priests in the rectory from time to time enjoyed a few types of pizza. I was intrigued with the message on one of the pizza boxes: it said “You’ve tried the rest, NOW try the best!” We three priests then said, “We’ll be the judge of that!” And to tell the truth, most of them were very, very good!                               At the same time, that same motto, “You’ve tried the rest, now tried the best!” ALSO belongs to the woman, whose healing is directly in the center of the Gospel. For she had tried THE REST: many doctors, who could not provide her with the relief she needed. The result was that this woman was treated like a leper in her community: an untouchable; someone who could not go to temple. She was considered unclean, and therefore could not share the company of family, friends, and neighbors. 

But LOOK at what that woman’s faith meant in the BIG picture of Jesus Christ saving the world. She didn’t need OR ask for Jesus to pray over her, or touch her, or do anything spectacular, like Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from death. Because of this woman’s faith, Jesus did a few things, as divine power went OUT from Him, like an electrical current into this woman. Jesus stopped her hemorrhaging, and relieved her physical, emotional, spiritual & social suffering. Jesus awakened her to new reality: she could resume relationships without fear or shame. Even more: Jesus offered this woman a FOREVER relationship, one that contained a bond of freedom, one that was free of fear. 

In case you haven’t guessed already, this woman represents EVERY man, woman, and child: for we are ALL wounded people, be it physical, emotional, visible, invisible or in every other way. And to this woman AND to US Jesus says: you are precious to me; you are mine; you are my sibling. With Jesus’ assurance, let us be as strong as possible in our faith. People in our midst, perhaps even ourselves, have already tried the rest; now we are called to turn to only the best. And if we are not accustomed to doing going to Jesus, let us all allow Jesus to direct our hearts by spending time with Jesus each day and each week in personal prayer, as we put our faith in Jesus Christ: only in Jesus; forever in Jesus, the One who our Savior for all seasons. 

12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. – June 20, 2021 –  Mark 4: 35-41 – Msgr. Chris Heller - Homily

Intro: at the start of today’s Gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples in these words: Let us cross to the other side. The other side of what? The other side of the Sea of Galilee, which itself possessed a WIND TUNNEL , and was 4.0-7.5 MILES WIDE. They were ALSO crossing over into what was then PAGAN TERRITORY, reminding us Jesus came to save every single person.         It was THERE Jesus performs a miracle, one which helps the disciples, & also encourages you and me to KEEP placing faith in Jesus. If we have ever in any way lost faith or confidence in God’s power to save us, be it related to the pandemic or now, let us ask for God’s mercy.     

Before we reflect together on the Gospel, I want to state something of a personal nature:  I LOVE this Gospel every time it is scheduled for our cycle of readings. The reason is simple:  I very much enjoy 15-20 minute a day power naps. And to hear that Jesus was taking a nap,  in the stern of a boat, in the middle of the afternoon, provides me some great support.  And so, without apologies, I can imitate my master Jesus in this and in so many other ways, all the while knowing that those power naps I take DO restore me and others to greater vitality. 

Now: the heart of the Gospel today is both a true miracle, AND a living/breathing metaphor. This is a Gospel for each and every person on earth: I hope you will benefit from our reflection.   Today, Jesus uses this metaphor of a boat on the open sea: the sea stands for our lives, which is sometimes calm and easy to navigate; at other times it is not. The rough waters stand for chaos, and whatever scares us, upsets, worries, distracts or paralyzes us. It could be financial insecurity, relationship problems, your health, an unexpected pregnancy, etc.  Let’s all take a moment to identify a personal “rough water event” that resulted in fear of upset for you. [pause]  

The Truth: Jesus setting sail for the other side of the Sea of Galilee opened Pandora’s Box:  in leaving friendly land for a pagan land, Jesus and his disciples expected a rocky and unsympathetic reception. For example, not everyone agreed with Jesus, who asked that people should love Him first, and not their mom, dad, or kin.  So, recall with me a few Gospel gems: when the Disciples say: “Teacher, do you not care we are perishing?” 

1.Jesus NEVER verbally answers them, because he ALSO teaches by actions and not just words. 

2.Jesus sounds disappointed that the Disciples doubted His love for them: He did and does and always will love us! In fact, it’s clear Jesus loves each of us, and does not want ANY of us to suffer. And more: calming the storms is part of Jesus’ job description; you could say that Jesus is THE storm calmer for ALL of us. Jesus also said in St. Matthew’s Gospel that He expects us to ask for whatever we need, whenever we need it. He said it: “ask and you shall receive.”  

But I think in the 21^st century, there are two challenges that are ALWAYS looming in the background: 

1. First, because our society and culture are based NOT on cooperation or interdependence with God and all others, but rather competition and individualism, I think that some people have not invested themselves fully in a faith relationship that trusts Jesus completely. Yes: some of us ARE like the apostles! And the individualist who says “I don’t need anyone else but me,” is missing the holy assistance that only Jesus can provide!  

2. The second challenge concerns the way SOME people think of, and act on, their relationship with Jesus. Some people think THEY are the captain of the ship, and that Jesus is their first mate, as if God sent Jesus to earth to do MY bidding, rather than OUR being servants of Jesus. For example, if you or someone you know has ever tried to bargain with Jesus to get something you really want, such as: “just let me win the lottery and I’ll go to Mass each week, OR “just let me get this new job, and I promise I’ll be kinder to my family and neighbors,” “such bargaining COMPLETELY misunderstands the relationship Jesus wants to have with all of us. 

Perhaps one of the best remedies to heal a flawed or broken relationship with Jesus is to INVITE JESUS IN: i.e. into the middle of your NEXT storm, whatever it is, and whatever is causing it. Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help, and for the courage to surrender this ongoing wrestling match or tug-of-war with Jesus: humbly INVITE into your storm the Son of the God, who IS within you and who works wonders. Ask Jesus to pull you close, to embrace you, and to support you in the challenges of life; and ask in such a way that you know that with Jesus you have all you need. Let Jesus SHOW you how he can save you in this life, and preserve your life for all eternity. Today, may we gather around the Lord’s Eucharistic Table, wiser and more prepared to love Jesus more than ever.