Paul Martin

On summer nights, family, friends, and neighbors would all be outside siing around on porches while the kids played and ran around. The evenings moved toward darkness too quickly and my Mother would call me over telling me, as the youngest in the family, it was time for bed. That meant going into the big, empty, old dark house, climbing the stairs and finding my way along to our rooms. It was very dark and I was scared. “Are you afraid to go in by yourself?” I was asked. I couldn’t say yes for that meant an older brother or sister would be called to take me up to bed … unthinkable!

Everyone, at some point in life, is scared of the dark, literally or metaphorically. The dark means the unknown; what is ahead is unclear; one has no plan, no control. Fear grips easily and we can become paralyzed by it. To a greater or lesser degree, we all know what this experience is like. The fear, which is in the family of anxiety, could be for oneself or for others; it could be remote or proximate; it could be reasonable or not. Yet, in all cases, it is very real.

As I write these thoughts, our world is growing increasingly anxious about the corona virus (COVID-19). Every day the news amazes as we learn of the implications of the growth in the number of those infected. The situation in Italy seems dire and the city of Rome cancelled all Masses for the weeks ahead. Concerts, sports events, and assemblies of all kinds are being analyzed for safety concerns. No one knows where this is going and how it will all play out.

“Are you afraid?” I heard someone ask a friend down at the CVS yesterday. “Terrified” came the instant response. I glanced at the person and, indeed, I saw a person who looked terrified. Fear can be crippling. It can close us in on ourselves and cause us to look suspiciously at everything around us. Of course, on the one hand, fear is a very natural and healthy response, a defense against threats, needed to prepare us to respond in a way that protects and often saves us.

But there is another response to fear: to approach our realities in faith. Our faith brings us to another place, outside of ourselves. Faith embraces our relationship with God, listens to our story with God, recalls times past of God’s faithful support and mercy. Our faith can draw us to see, sense, and become aware of the larger reality. It can free us into relationships easily overlooked and bypassed through fear. Our faith can lead us to trust.

Though I’ve never counted myself, it is said that the phrase “fear not, or similarly, “do not be afraid”, is written in the Bible 365 times – one for each day. Jesus, himself, responding to the frightened father of a dying child said, “Fear is useless, what is needed is trust” (Mt. 5:36).

The crises of our time, of this moment in time, are undeniable. All reasonable precautions and care are called for, of course. At the same time, if we so choose, this is also a moment that invites us to embrace our faith in the goodness and omnipotence of God. A faith that opens us to the intimacy and care of Jesus. A faith that comforts and guides us as we lean into the genuine trust our faith offers.

My Mom whispered to me, “Don’t be afraid Jim, you will be fine — go to bed”. I went into the dark house, up the stairs, and to bed. I trusted my Mom, and she was right. Trust God.

Fr. Ronan

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ― Plato

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Rooseveltʹs First Inaugural Address

March 15 ~ Third Sunday of Lent

We meet the Samaritan woman in today’s Gospel. Her conversation with Jesus put her on the ‘fast track’ to self-searching and repentance.
Her conversation with Jesus transformed her into a great evangelizer: “Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me everything I have done.’ʺ This week consider how your prayer, fasting or almsgiving is transforming your life. Share what God has done for you with someone.

In the course of any parish priest’s day, there are many varied activities. Really, from concern over some item of the buildings to time spent with a family grieving the death of a loved one. The spectrum is broad and deep – and I love it! Often the activity that is the most important and precious is listening. We priests are good listeners – at least we try to be! Now that might not sound like “heavy lifting” – yet there are many times when it is! It depends on the ma%er being discussed. If it is about the future of a cherished quarterback for the New England Patriots, that is one thing; if the subject is a family coping with a loved one diagnosed with a terminal cancer, that is something else.

Listening, in any event, calls one to offer complete attention to the other – and often we do not listen that way! As we hear another speaking, we are inclined to anticipate what the individual will say and then formulate our response before the person has finished speaking! At other times, one’s mind is elsewhere while another is speaking. Many of us have done this and have been in conversations where this is common, and when we reflect on it we come to realize that this is not true listening.

Some years ago, Carl Rogers, a noted psychologist and prolific author, introduced a new way of looking at effective therapy. Among other things, he suggested that what he called; “Unconditional Positive Regard” was crucial to effective psychotherapy. Rogers was talking about how we listen. He taught that healing can take place when, in an encounter, a listener gives his/her entire attention to the other, in a positive and nonjudgmental way, allowing the person to speak and accepting without judgment whatever is said. A person’s hurts, brokenness, shame, anxiety, fear, inferiority, confused identity, and so much more can improve. On the one hand, it sounds so elementary and yet, in truth, it is so profound.

This very experience happens all the time, among friends, spouses, colleagues, and teachers … It is that phenomenon of one human being caring for another. Caring in such a way as to make it possible for another to experience and grow in love and at times, to help another to open up and unburden all kinds of trouble and pain that is within. We all need such opportunities, and everyone is healthier because of them. At the same time, we all know there are some parts of life, some experiences, choices, and actions that are very difficult and cannot easily be spoken about. Sometimes a priest can help.

Actually, it is better to say, all the time, God can help. And God has chosen, for God’s own reasons, to be present to us in countless ways. A very specific and deeply helpful way in which God is present is through the Sacraments of the Church. The Sacrament of Reconciliation often referred to as “Confession”, is one of these Sacraments. The fact that few use the Sacrament in these days does not diminish its value and its availability to be a source of Grace and healing for those who approach this precious gift.

Since my Ordination as a Priest in June 1982 to this present day, I am in awe of how God uses this sacrament to bring His love to people in these moments. Further, while I am well aware of the effectiveness of counseling and therapy – the listening that happens in this Sacrament occasions a time of Grace: God is present and the Priest serves only as an instrument of this Grace in ways that are far beyond understanding.

A priest is available every Saturday afternoon from 3:15 – 3:45 in the Confession corner in the upper Church. Further, during Lent there are special times set aside for Confession. In addition, any person can contact the Parish Office to set up an appointment to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Rogers is right – lovingly listening to another can be a wonderful and healing experience. Imagine how much more such a moment can be when one seeks God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the fruits of that are forgiveness, healing, and consolation.

Fr. Ronan

February 9 ~ Fifth Sunday – Ordinary Time

Winter’s darkness still enfolds us and so the theme of light and darkness in today’s readings is very apropos for us to ponder.
In the first reading, Isaiah gives us an antidote, reminding us that performing works of mercy can bring light into the darkness.
In the Gospel, “Jesus said to his disciples… You are the light of the world…. your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.ʺ
Are your words and actions pointing people to Jesus?
If they are not, what will you do to be a light in the darkness this week?

Kind of an interesting question, don’t you think? I wonder if each of us would answer in different ways. Would the answer of a child be different than that of a teenager or an adult? How about the response of an 80 year old person – would it be very different than that of a 30 something? I wonder how my answer to this question has changed over the years. I mean there was a time when my graduate education and career was uppermost in my mind. Another chapter when my social life had high priority.

Is the “happiness” thing a sliding scale, changing from day to day or week to week? I ask the question because these past weeks the readings at Mass have provoked me to wonder why I am happy and what causes my happiness. For example, the reflections around the feast of St. Paul (January 25) suggest that after Paul’s conversion, his whole life became one of service to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That his own will was so impacted by love of Christ that it became configured to Christ’s will. This harmony of wills, fueled by love, explained Paul’s amazing and ever present Joy, even in the midst of suffering of all kinds. Paul would go on to write that his life included times of wealth and of poverty, times of hunger and of abundance, times of success and of failure, and he had come to regard everything as having little value other than his relationship with Christ.

Perhaps it is, therefore, that the only common denominator in life that brings happiness to any person at any stage, is the presence of love. Not a love that is totally self serving, rather a mature love that is more other-centered. Again, Paul wrote elegantly of this as well; “if I achieve everything that this world has to offer without love, I gain nothing.” He concludes his marvelous treatise on love as follows: “When I was a child I used to talk like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways aside … There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13).

Each day of our lives there is something in front of us that promises happiness; more often than not it includes everything from a laxative to a Cadillac. Sure, there is stuff that can be pleasing and meet needs and desires. But true happiness, well, that is something more. Yet, the whole world is searching for happiness – frenetically it seems. And St. Paul found the answer in Christ who offers Himself to us every day.

Fr. Ronan

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

On this feast of the Presentation, the Gospel of Luke gives us a lovely scene on which to reflect. Mary and Joseph bring the child Jesus to the Temple to present him to the Lord. In the Temple, both Simeon and Anna, elders in the Temple, recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and gave witness to his presence.
We come to Mass each week and receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. As we go forth from Mass today, we too give witness to Christ.
Let us pray that in all we say and do, Christ will be visibly present in our lives

We walked along the sidewalk and there were flower gardens, lawn, shrubs and trees all along the way. He was holding my hand – it was a stretch for both of us for he was only 2 years old. The weather was warm and lovely, typical for springtime in Virginia, and there were ants and various bugs crawling everywhere celebrating the rites of spring. My nephew caught sight of these critters and nothing would do but he had to let go of my hand and crawl along following a busy colony of something. He was lost in amazement, completely outside of himself in wonder as he crawled through puddles and over rock in pursuit of the mystery of this life.

I have always held that memory as a classic understanding of what it means to wonder. Wonder is very different than thinking about, analyzing, processing, discussing and debating, working through and a dozen other ways in which most adults stand in front of daily reality. With a “hands-on-hip get the job done” attitude none of us seem to have much time for … wondering. In fact wondering is likely considered a waste of time in many circles and that’s a shame.

Abraham Heschel, the late and brilliant Jewish theologian and philosopher, wrote a lot about wonder. I like these words: “The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living.” To me the issue relates to how one stands in the world in front of the mystery and beauty of creation and all life. Not to wonder seems to leave two options: dismiss the great mysteries of life or believe everything can be understood and figured out. The latter opens one to unsustainable arrogance and failure and the former seems nothing short of foolish.

It is only our capacity for wonder that opens us to the transcendent and the mystery that is life and the universe. In one of his writings Heschel says that the person who never wonders cannot find God. Is it possible that our present time of efficiency, productivity and astonishing advances in so many levels have come at a price? The cost has been an increase of secularism and a diminishment of wonder – be it in art, music, theatre and religious practices.

Professor Heschel’s formula for a life well lived is as follows: “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”

Once again, our children can teach us. Jesus was clear in His teaching – we are to become like children and perhaps that is so we can re-capture our sense of wonder in our everyday life for as Heschel says, “Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.”

Fr. Ronan

January 26 ~ Third Sunday Ordinary Time

Today’s readings are filled with inspiration and instruction.
Isaiah reminds us that we no longer walk in darkness.
For us, the ‘great light’ he speaks of is Jesus Christ.
In the second reading, Saint Paul urges the community to
“be united in the same mind and in the same purpose” and
“let there be no division among you.”
In the gospel, Jesus invites the first Apostles:
ʺCome after me, and I will make you fishers of men.ʺ
Do you see yourself as a fisher of men/women?
Each of the readings offers us good advice for our time!
Which one is God inviting you to give attention to in your life?

Some years ago, I recall reading about a response Mother Theresa gave to a question about offensive language. She explained that, to her, one of the most offensive words in the language is exclusive. I never forgot that simple point of view – the more so as our world and communities seem to become increasingly divided over countless issues. This results in an inclusion of some but mostly an exclusion of others – be that in clubs, classes, economic status, citizenship and/or membership and belonging to whatever.

It seems to me it would be a contradiction for a Christian community to present itself as exclusive. I mean, the idea that a community of persons united in their faith in Jesus Christ would consider it right to exclude some population of persons from that community would render itself, in essence, an Un-Christian community.

Does that seem too simplistic? Maybe it is. But when a community announces itself as a “welcoming community”, that seems like an unconditional welcome. Yet, perhaps the problem lies in the delta between what we say and announce and what, in fact, we practice.

I believe for a Christian community to authentically “be welcoming,” the welcome must be unconditional and entirely inclusive. Therefore, any person, young or old, man or woman, gay or straight, rich or poor, employed or unemployed, of any color, race, background or tradition, married, divorced, single, handicapped, or healthy should be welcomed.

Being a welcoming community does not necessarily mean that the welcoming members agree with, practice, or live in total accord with one another’s beliefs. Nor does it mean that the members are always in agreement with those who are being welcomed. It’s not about agreement, it’s about acceptance.

I write about this topic because I believe there are many who do not feel welcomed in church. Even if a church announces “Welcome,” it does not automatically mean one entering a church experiences a feeling of welcome – an environment or climate of welcome. To make that happen requires a deliberate intention on the part of everyone to be welcoming and an openness to be welcomed.

Everyone carries his/her own baggage. For many, the load is very heavy and it often includes scars, deep hurt, and sometimes fear. There may be uncertainty about how God views them or if a faith community will be accepting of them. The truth is everyone is unconditionally loved and accepted in the eyes of God and followers of Christ are called to do the same.

Jesus Christ comes to bring light into our darkness, hope into our desolation, and freedom to our enslavement. He enjoined us to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. He told us that whatever we do to those we consider to be “the least of our brothers and sisters” we do to him. If we want to call ourselves Christians, then we must work hard at following Christ’s teachings and at creating communities of welcome. So let’s roll up our sleeves and do our part in creating the world God envisioned for us right where we are.

Fr. Ronan

January 19 ~ Second Sunday Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel, John the Baptist testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. Our faith and Sacred Scripture confirm this for us – Jesus is the Son of God.
Pray today’s Psalm with an open heart and open mind: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”
What is God’s will for us – for you ?
It is to speak the name of Jesus and tell of His work in your life.
It is Jesus’ will that you make disciples.
Not everyone will do this the same way.
Ask for the grace to find the best way you can to testify – talk about – Jesus

This morning as I hurried to the church to prepare for morning Mass, I was thinking about the readings while at the same time aware that the Church turns a page on Monday. For many weeks now, we have been in two very special seasons, Advent and Christmas. The beauty and richness of these times, the eloquence and depth of the readings from Sacred Scripture combined with the loveliness of the decorations and joyful spirit of Christmas conclude with today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This week we return to ORDINARY TIME in the liturgical calendar of the Church.

Interesting word, “ordinary”; what does it really mean? It may be one of those words that is defined more by what it is NOT than by what it is. In that sense “ordinary” is all of the time that is not identified as extra-ordinary. Yet so much of life is all about the “ordinary”.

At a funeral I was celebrating recently, a young man gave a eulogy for a deceased member of his family. He began by offering this observation: the most important item found on a tombstone is none other than the tiny dash – found between the dates of one’s birth and death. For that dash is that person’s life. You might say the DASH is the ordinary. Come to think about it, it could be said that the life of Jesus is marked by two “extraordinary” events: His birth in Bethlehem and His death on the Cross in Jerusalem. Yet the dash, “the ordinary” times of His life, really tell the story of why God’s Son came to earth; the teaching, healing, compassion, water-walking, bread-multiplying, dead-raising and so much more.

I meet with many young couples preparing for their marriage. Sometime early on in our conversations I lift up the well-known saying: “A wedding is a day, a marriage is a lifetime”. Point being, some couples get so entrenched in the planning of the wedding they forget to live fully each day – again the ordinary.

God is found everywhere, of this I am certain. Yet it is hard to find God if one is not living in the present time, moment, and reality of one’s life. I am very fond of these lines from Thomas Merton: “God cannot be found by weighing the present against the future or the past, but only by sinking into the heart of the present as it is” (Entering the Silence, 460).

So it is, God is found most intimately in the ordinary moments of each day – making “Ordinary Time” a very special time!

Fr. Ronan

January 12 ~ The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

This feast of the Baptism of the Lord presents us with the opportunity to reflect on the importance of our own baptism.
It is the sacrament we receive only once but the graces of the sacrament continue to unfold throughout our lives.
Spend some time in prayer with the reading from Isaiah in today’s Mass.
As you read the passage, hear God speaking these words directly to you.
Draw on the grace of your baptism to make these words live in your heart.