"Spontaneous" - The Prodigal Son (2019-03-31, Lent 04)

Mar. 31, 2019   [ 04 LENT]    •  Joshua 5:9a, 10-12 • Psalm 34 • 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 • + Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 •

Title:       Suspicious to Spontaneous, Prodigal Son.

[_01_]     The parable of the Prodigal Son is like a familiar house. We have been in this house– the ‘house of the father in the Prodigal Son’ before – and perhaps we can move around in it without a description of all the details. Many of us know the parable quite well.

          [*** pause ***] I was taught this many years ago that when you are in a new house, a new place, look for the exits. My father’s brother and my uncle is a firefighter and he – in a new place – always looks for the exits. Naturally. This is his training. He does so spontaneously.

[_02_]     And…. spontaneously – the Prodigal Son had a change of heart, a change from within, and he is looking for a way out of his difficulty. But it is a change from within.

          I’d like to emphasize the internal – unseen – changes for the Prodigal Son – and for you and me, rather than what we can see.

          Of course, there are VISIBLE + MATERIAL reasons for the Prodigal Son to return home:

·        FAMINE & lack of food

·        BANKRUPTCY & lack of $$

On the other hand, there are offsetting MATERIAL & VISIBLE reasons for him NOT to return home:

·        DISTANT – it’s far

·        TIME – it’s been a while

·        BAD REPUTATION – what would people say?

[_03_]     There was something unseen, inside the Prodigal Son – something SPONTANEOUS.

          When I say spontaneous, I mean the way the cherry blossoms come into bloom from the inside, or a child develops a sense of balance or even language internally …naturally … spontaneously.

          In the case of the Prodigal Son, he moved from being a SUSPICIOUS person to a SPONTANEOUS person.

          At first, he was quite suspect or suspicious, taking and wasting his inheritance money. Even his return home – superficially – is suspicious, at least to his elder brother.

[_04_]     Why and how does the prodigal son become the spontaneous son?

          I’d like to give an example.

          In 2004, my parents announced that they were moving and selling the home in which we grew up.

          Each of us – my siblings and me – had internal and natural connections to this house, though we were not living there. It was “spontaneous.” And,  my sister had the strongest SPONTANEOUS reaction to the sale, despite her distance. She was in California So, despite the distance – visibly – a strong internal or spontaneous connection.

          And, the younger son of the parable – despite his distance – geographically – feels he belongs at home, spontaneously, naturally.

          Again, there are numerous outward reasons for him NOT to come home. He is responding to something within.

[_05_]        And, you – parents & grandparents – are you not always pouring love and affection into your children’s hearts.

          You do so from an early age so that they will know they are loved. It then becomes spontaneous for them to know this and experience this. They know your love even if you are not present. They know your love – in fact – even if they – tragically – reject your love.

          The Prodigal Son knows – spontaneously – he his loved.

          OTOH - On the other hand – the elder brother, does not yet have a spontaneous spirit.

[_06_]    Now, about this Prodigal Son parable, I admit that I receive it – often – as a wake-up call … precisely because of the elder brother/elder son character.

           I recognize the parable is about God’s mercy and invitationi to us especially if we feel we are far from God or far from good.

          The elder son symbolizes any of us and Pharisee/Scribes in their stubborn resistance to Jesus.

          Nevertheless, it does not make the elder son/elder child look good…it’s a wake up call to the elder son in all of us.

          And, because I am the eldest, I hear it as a wake up call not to change externally but internally, from within spontaneously.

[_07_]     EXAMPLE - Several years ago, I recall feeling angry and hurt by a particular person and trying over the period of some weeks and months to pray for the person.

          My feelings were not instantly changed, but gradually….. Then, due to circumstances, I did not see the person for about a month or so.

          When I finally saw the person again, my first thought –

spontaneously – “I was supposed to be angry at you.” But, I was not. I was free.

          That was not me. That was the Holy Spirit.

[_08_]     Forgiveness is meant to be spontaneous. It is not something we can force ourselves to do, but it comes from within, with God’s grace and mercy poured into our hearts. (cf. Romans 5:5)

We are called to pray about this, to remember that we belong to the same house, and that in the father’s house there are many mansions.

          Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. Mercifully. Spontaneously.

[_fin_]    

The Call of Moses (2019-03-24, Lent-03)

 Mar. 24, 2019   [ 03 LENT]   

•  Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15 • Psalm 103 • 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 • + Luke 13:1-9 •

Title:      The Call of Moses

[_00_]     We read this Sunday about the call of Moses. Moses, the prophet was selected in chapter 3 of Exodus.  Moses was called – we might say ‘drafted’ or ‘recruited’ – to be a prophet.

          But unlike a person recruited for an executive business position or to run for governor or to be the next New York Giants quarterback (someday there will be someone new … I know it’s hard to imagine anyone but Eli Manning as Giants’ QB), Moses does not believe he has any special qualifications or merits.

          Why is Moses recruited?

          It is his distinct existence in a particular place that makes him an exceptional candidate.

          Moses has not been practicing or in training to be a prophet.

          In fact, Moses has been on the run for decades now. As you may recall, Moses was on the Egypt and Pharaoh top-ten most wanted list, because of a life taken, of an Egyptian slavemaster.

          Moses is a Hebrew, an Israealite and to get away from the authorities, he has been living in the mountains near Egypt. But Moses himself is not a slave.

          It is not Moses’ resume or C.V. that attracts God’s attention. Rather, Moses is in the right place at the right time, though Moses might believe he is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 [_03_]       Moses objects, saying of himself, I am …

►” unfit”, task is way too big for me, simply too big of a task.

►” uninformed”, I don’t even know your name or what I will tell people about you.

          And, Moses – and you and I are – invited to believe first that God is, in God’s name:

          “I am who am.”

          To believe in existence.

[_05_]     In St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he writes about the endurance and existence of love. What is most important is that love is, that God is and this way “love never fails.”  (1^st Corinthians 13)

We are invited to believe in believe in God - as love - simply for who he is, not because of what he does.

          And, do we not testify to this – that the essence of a person

And the essence of love and relationships is not based on what someone “performs” …but that the person’s existence “informs” us.

          B16 (Pope Benedict XVI) expressed this about the Word of God, that God’s Word is both informative and performative (Spes Salvi, n.__)

          But, our relationships are based first on the fact that a person’s existence “informs”us … consider that a person may fall in love or be attracted to another just because of the person’s existence..not based on what he or she does.

          For example, by the time a child is about 3 or 4 he or she understands that birthdays exist..but we don’t start celebrating birthdays just because the person knows what it its.

          We celebrate the first birthday of a child, not because the child has any idea how big he or she is…or what a gift is… or even what a birthday is. We celebrate simply because the child is and exists.

          It is our faith and practice to acknowledge that God is, that our loved ones are..and that they need us…simply because they exist, not for what they do..

[_07_]     This is also the Catholic ethic and principle of the sanctity of life at all stages, from the child we see only in outline form on an ultrasound as child whose birth is anticipated …or the elderly or infirm person who may also seem to be only an “outline” or shadow of a former self.

          We respect these lives, simply because they exist, for their own sake. God is.

          God exists for his own sake. God creates us for own sake, for our existence, not because of what we do.

          We know that there are things that we can see, but there also things we cannot see.

          I cannot see another person’s soul, whether a child of any age or anybody.  I cannot see another person’s pain. I cannot even fully recognize the effect of my actions in the world or what my own true gifts are.

          These things we cannot see.

          It does not mean that they do not exist.

          But, we can ask for evidence.

          Asking for evidence = prayer = going to the mountain.

And, when we are praying I suggest that we not simply asking God to keep our eyes shut so that we can do stuff that we do not want to do.

And, when we are praying I suggest that we not simply putting our faith in invisible force in the universe that guided Jedi fighters against the Stormtroopers.

That’s Star Wars, not the Gospel.

 We put faith in a personal God who actually freed the lowly Hebrews and later became and man, and died for our sins.

          God is. God is love.

          And God loves you because you exist, because you are. [_fin_]    

God wants to build a house (2019-03-19, St. Joseph)

  2019 March 19.  St. Joseph

•  2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16 • Psalm 89 • Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 • + Matthew 1:16,18-21, 24a  •

Title:       [►God Wants to Build A House]

[_01_]    Last evening – in his reflection on the Good News, Father Zack spoke about marriage – the marriage, first, between Adam and Eve and later the marriage of Jesus (the bridegroom) and the Church/his disciples.

          Marriage – is a sign of God’s love - not only for those who are married, but for all of us who trust in God’s love as our refuge/support in times of distress.

          Marriage, as we know, is a paradox in that marriage calls the spouses to unity and to oneness while also honoring and upholding their individual identity and souls.

          “God wants to marry us”– this was Father Zack’s summary statement, but he also wants to know us as individuals.

[_02_]    If God wants to marry us, then He is going to have to find us a place to live.

          God wants to find a house.

          What I’d like to reflect on is

the importance in a marriage or family of having the “right house” I don’t mean that the house has to be luxurious or large, but just that the house is right for the family at that time.

          While we might recognize that our “home” is more than just a house – or piece of real estate rented or owned - I would say that the right house also makes for a home. Moreover, does not the house itself become a blessing to the family?

          And, if we have move – our change – our house, this is a momentous event in our interior life as well. It’s just not a matter of telling everyone our new address. We also must adjust – inside (“in here / head /  ♥ +  ”).

[_03_]     I bring this up also because our ‘house’ is the Church, and the Church blesses us… it is not we who make the Church holy, but our relationship to the Church blesses us and makes us holy.

          And, this is true for Joseph of Nazareth as well. As the foster father of our Savior, surely, he had been searching – in the online media of his day for the right house -- for a residence. 

          When we welcome Christ into our house/heart, he makes us holy. While we may prepare our hearts to receive him, it is Christ who does the renovating and rebuilding – not to mention the forgiveness and love in our lives.

          God is Love. Jesus is Love.

 [_04]     Despite the poverty we may experience – spiritually or financially – God still wants to build a house, even if God must start out in a zero-room-stable rather than a one-room-studio.

From the earliest days with Mary and Jesus, Joseph was seen searching for a house, a place to stay. There was no room at the inn.

          Yet, at this stable, amid the hay and animals and other stuff, there is a blessing, the presence of our Savior.

          God wants to build a house.

          Joseph is part of this plan. You and I are part of this plan today.  

[_05_]      As Catholics and  as Christians, we believe in the house of the Church, the house as as a place of worship, the house as a structure with doors to open and shelter us.

Some of us remember the shovels and trucks and cement poured in the early 1960’s for the construction of Our Lady of Lourdes, the feeling of victory and blessing when this church was opened.

In this regard, the church – the house – is a place of blessing.

We also believe that the holiness of the church does not depend on the personal holiness of her members.

The Church makes us holy; we don’t make the Church holy.

[_06_]        In a message about this, B16 wrote about the essential connection of HOLINESS to CHARITY and LOVE which we experience here …

 What is the essential [of holiness]?  3 “S’s”

Sunrise/sunset: never beginning and never ending a day without at least a brief contact with God.   J.F: This does not mean we have to be in a church pew daily but just as our love for others has both a start and finish at home, our contact with God is traced to this house.

Sunday: never leaving a Sunday without an encounter with the Risen Christ in the Eucharist. This is not an additional burden but is light for the whole week.

Signposts: following the “signposts” that God has communicated to us in the Ten Commandments, interpreted with Christ, which are merely the explanation of what love is in specific situations. (Benedict XVI,  General Audience, St. Peter's Square, Wednesday, 13 April 2011)

[_07_]      God wants to build a house with you and me inside.  Are we to build a house?

          In 128^th  psalm we read/pray: “If God does not build the house, in vain do the builders labor, if God does not watch over the city, in vain do the watchmen keep vigil.”

          Joseph is a carpenter, a builder. He is also male. Males like to build things, fix things.

          This sentiment is expressed by David in the Book of Samuel. David wanted to build a house, a house of worship, because he wanted to enclose and put a proper roof over the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark had been under a tent of cloth or canopy all the way from Sinai.

          David confesses that “here I am living in a house of cedar, while the Ark of God dwells in a tent.”

          Nice try, David, but God’s plan is for Solomon – son of David – to build the Temple.

          It is a similar to message to Joseph that Jesus will build the house, not as a carpenter but as our Savior. And, by the time Joseph comes on the scene, construction is already underway. Joseph just has to come inside.

          The message to Joseph: do not be afraid to take Mary and Jesus into your home.

[_08_]      In this regard, Joseph seems to be a background figure. But, guess what – how many parents come to the realization that some of their best and most important work for their children is unnoticed and performed in the shadows.

          Parents accept this willingly.

God wants to build a house

[_09_]      Holiness –for you and me – means also that we accept that we both united to each other and to God …while also honored and respected as individuals.

          Was Joseph just a bit … overshadowed by his son… Jesus?

          Yet, he had an exceptional individual role to play, whether written up explicitly or not. The same is true for you and for me.

          This aspect of an “individual  calling” being tied into a communal identity was also taught to me at the seminary …and something I experienced here at Lourdes.

          Here is the lesson, then the life experience of 9 years ago, one day before 8:30 am Morning Mass.

          The lesson was from a priest/professor at the seminary who told me, was talking to me … …”you know, when you become a priest, you should be glad …James Ferry / Father James Ferry, you should feel blessed – and glad if the people forget your name or confuse you with other Catholic priests. If that happens, you are doing something right. ”

          That’s the lesson. I was stunned.

          Here is the life experience.

          About 8-9 years ago, I became acquainted and later befriended by a gentleman who would come come to Lourdes church every day to light a candle and say a prayer. He actually did not come to church/Mass here, but he would come to light a candle almost every day and we would talk.

          I believe that mine was the only face and name he knew here. He did not socialize at Lourdes, he would leave before Mass started and he did not seem to know any other priest or person beside me.

          He was very friendly and affirming to me. I looked forward to seeing him.

          Then … one day, he could not wait to tell me something… he told me how he had been hearing from a young person he knew… … how I absolutely popular and well-liked and effective I was the Catholic priest/chaplain at the Newman Center at Montclair State University.

          That’s the other Father Jim. Or, I’m the other Father Jim.

[_10_]      It is a reminder to me that the Church is supporting me, not me the Church. That we are together in this, that the Church is a blessing to me, as to you.

          And, that we are blessed by our relationship together.

          And, when people are together in a long-term relationship, they start to look alike.

          That’s natural.

          Sometimes we are also in a background role, as God wants to build the Church with us inside.

[_fin_]      

Transfiguration-Time-Out (2019-03-17, Lent-03)

Mar. 17, 2019   [ 02 LENT]   

•  Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 • Psalm 27 • Philippians 3:17-4:1 • + Luke 9:28b-36  •

Title:       [Time-Out/Transfiguration ]

[_01_]     This second Sunday of Lent, we read the Gospel of the Transfiguration. Jesus on the mountain with his disciples. And, I’d like to use an analogy, considering the sport of basketball and how it is played and sometimes how basketball is coached. This example does not just apply to basketball but all sports and more generally to our lives.

[_02_]     Phil Jackson was a professional basketball player and later a coach who successfully won championships with the Chicago Bulls (because he had Michael Jordan) and also with the Los Angeles Lakers.

          Phil Jackson was also well known – notorious – for how he made use of a time-out in a game. You know, a time-out is when a player or coach asks the referee to blow the whistle and stop the play so that the teams can have a break and …perhaps, figure out how to recover from some adversity…or if they are winning how to put the pedal to so-called metal and build up a lead. A time-out in basketball is usually 45 seconds.

          What we often see in this 45 second “timeout” is a conversation between the coach and players. And the coach is drawing with his or her black magic marker furiously and telling the players where to run and pass and shoot. That’s a standard time out.

          That was not, however, a Phil Jackson time out.

          Phil Jackson did not use a magic marker much or draw up up new plays or even to talk to – or lecture – the whole team.

          Rather, he used the time out as a way to speak closely to one player, find out what was going on with him … and get him back in the game.

          I imagine he did not spend a lot of time talking to Michael Jordan, because Jordan did not need much correcting. Probably he was talking to Dennis Rodman or Scottie Pippen. Or, Shaquille O’Neal.

          He took the opportunity of the time out to have a more intimate conversation with his players.

[_03_]     The Transfiguration is similar to a time-out, a break in the action as the clock is ticking toward the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

          Of course, this is not just a game, but real-life. I use the time-out as an analogy and also a reminder that Jesus as the leader and teacher has a more profound sense of time and timing and what is coming next than his disciples do. They understand partially what is coming next. Jesus knows the timing and plan.

          The Transfiguration is connected to another important moment in the Gospel when Jesus asks – the disciples - on their 2-question midterm “who do people say that I am?” and “who do you say that I am?

          The disciples were told, then, about  the Passion, Death and Resurrection. Peter himself proclaimed and scored 100% on the “Who-do-you-say-that-I-am” midterm.  Peter knew the answer, “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God.”

          Though Peter knew this, he did not yet recognize the implications of suffering.

          The Transfiguration is a time-out moment, intimately with just a few disciples for Jesus to share the plan of salvation with them and so that they will get the answers to the future test – the future test of the Passion and crucifixion – ahead of time. It’s good news to get the answers to a test ahead of time.

          The paradox is that Jesus is glorified through his suffering the paradox of knowing– as St. Paul writes – “when I am weak, it is then that I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10)

 [_04_]    The Transfiguration is a moment for the disciples to be prepared for what is coming next.

In this regard, I am comparing our prayer moments to “timeouts”

Every time out we take in life is an opportunity not just for us to figure out what is going on out there – in life – but to reflect on what is touching or moving within me.

In the time-outs of prayer, then, it is not necessary – or even advisable – that we bring an agenda or list. Even if we do not have a list, we can go to prayer. Just bring yourself. And, take time in the moment.

          You - the people of Lourdes, of the parish – also inspire me to pray, to seek silence, to pray for you and with you.

          This past Christmas Eve, after our very beautiful Christmas Eve Masses with our choir, I turned on the television to watch, believe it or not, Christmas Eve – in New York/Manhattan  at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. One of my friends told me that this was entirely alien… yet, I felt at that moment in the Christmas spirit and I knew I would not be able to catch this Mass on ESPN SportsCenter highlights later. It was then or never. I also wanted to hear and judge whether their choir-singing was any good. They were OK….

          So, the disciples are also urged to pray now, and taught something about the urgency and value of their prayers, right now.

Our prayers also have value right now, not because we are asked to draw up a new play or plan but because we are endeavoring to sense and know God’s voice. God’s voice which asks us to turn our attention to Christ. As the God the Father tells us, “this is my beloved/chosen  Son, listen to Him.” (Luke 9:35) 

 [_fin_]  

Lent & The Best is yet to Come (Parade Day) (2019-03-10, Lent-01)

 Mar. 10, 2019   [ 01 LENT]   

•  Deuteronomy 26:4-10 • Psalm 91 • Romans 10:8-13 • + Luke 4:1-13  •

Title:      Lent & The Best is yet to Come (Parade Day)

► WELCOME / REMARKS

1. ►We pray for all of our beloved deceased at this Mass and for Father Francis Crowley, founder and director of the Colonial Pipers Bagpipe Band of Boston.

2. ►Our parish is eternally grateful for intercession of the Patron Saint of Ireland and of this Parade and for Irish American Society of the Oranges always instrumental to the Parade and Irish American Society of the Oranges by whom the St. Patrick’s statue to your RIGHT was a gift in 1964 when this church was built.

·        Carol Sharkey Corcoran, Grand Marshal

·        Joseph Fagan, Deputy Grand Marshal

·        Carolyn Diver Torchia, Deputy Grand Marshal

·        Terry McHugh, Deputy Grand Marshal

3. ► ....  to Deputy Grand Marshal Joe Fagan’s brother, Deacon Paul Fagan, Washington D.C., Msgr. Michael Kelly, President, Seton Hall Prep, Chaplain of Parade.

[_01_]     This 1^st Sunday of Lent, the setting is the desert; and subject is the a series-of-temptations in the desert.  The temptations of our Lord.

            How do we know if something is tempting / enticing?  One way is to measure how many people are talking about it. Does the thing have word-of-mouth appeal?

            One everyday example: caffeine. Caffeine is advertised to us many different ways: coffee, tea, iced coffee & tea, many beverages have caffeine.

            It does not mean that the caffeine is evil. Anything in extreme quantity or consumption can be harmful. But, we talk about caffeine a lot, our favorite flavors, where we like to buy it, when we like to drink it, how we like to drink it. We talk about it frequently.

            The truth about an attractive object is that the more we walk about it, the more TEMPTING – enticing – it could be.

[_02_]     The paradox of fasting ..and fasting is, spiritually, our anti-temptation-renovation-extreme-makeover plan

          Fasting is our anti-temptation plan. It’s paradoxical. And, we say, well, if I am fasting, I should be less tempted. But is that actually true?

          In fact, sometimes, the “fast” or some act of forbearance or sacrifice makes the object more TEMPTING could be, at least in the short term.

          Fasting invites the temptation or introduces the temptation.

          And, Jesus – by going into the desert – and by fasting – by saying I am not going to live by bread alone..in fact, I am not even going to live by bread…well that increases the temptation, the temptation to satisfy the hunger.

          So, fasting teaches us something about temptation.

[_03_]        Now, we do not fast only from material things.

          There are other fasts that we could make. We could fast from “praise”, we could fast from being praised.

          I like being praised. I like pleasing other people. And, if someone is displeased, I would like to address that.

          But, do I live by the bread of praise? Do I consume praise like calories?

          I like to consume it. It feels good. Could I live without it? Yes, I could live without it.

          So, saying I am going to live without praise, I could fast from it.

          Let’s say, I am going to go for a day and be patient and not worry about what other people say or how people may respond to me, even if I do not like their response. I am going to fast from “praise”.

          There are many things we could fast from.

          Nevertheless, while fasting from “being praised”, it still might increase my desire for it. It just means that I am trying to put God first in our lives.

[_04_]     Fasting is also like studying for a test, or for a test / teacher whom we know really do not know is going to ask – NEXT. We fast for Jesus, as our Teacher, so that we can be ready for his Word in our lives.

We can be ready to listen to Him each day.

It does not mean that we things that we fast from are bad, but that we are trying to put God first in our lives.

[_05_]     Now, the setting is the wilderness. Jesus goes out into the wilderness to be tempted.

          Now, it is the St. Patrick’s festival of the West Orange Parade, a moment for us to remember that many people have come here from around the world, stepping into the wilderness to arrive from Ireland and elsewhere.

          Fasting reminds that we are not in complete control of the outcome, of what is to come next.

          And, certainly this is true of many an immigrant who arrives in a new country. They do not know what will come next. And, they are living, in a way, in a state of fasting and sacrifice to get to the next stage.

          In the early 20^th century, my grandmother came to the United States from Ireland, having born on the other side as the Irish say.

          Such travels and travelers, while they may have great plans and dreams, also indicate our lack of control. My grandmother and her sister left Ireland came here fresh off the boat, at around age 14, entered an adult world on a new continent. An uncle family took her in, but in a way, she was fasting and admitting she did not have control over what would come next.

          When we would ask my grandmother about her life, she had only the rarest of commentary or reflection.  She was always looking ahead. 

[_06_]     One effort at “control” was a decision – by my grandmother and grandfather - to move back to Ireland – out of New York and the U.S. in the mid-1940’s. They had packed all their boxes but were so delayed by an ongoing labor action, a strike by dockworkers, and there were no transatlantic boats NY to Ireland…  that they remained in the U.S. and New York permanently.

          On one occasion, I asked my my grandmother about her childhood, and the house she grew up in. I had seen the house once on a visit to Ireland, a very small home in the northwest, in Donegal.

          After my, so to say, ”60 Minutes” interview which must have been tiresome… she said, look “look, if I had not come here you would not be here.”

          In a sense, telling me, do not look backward, look ahead.

          And that is what we are called to do when we are fasting. Not simply to think about how long we have been fasting, but to look ahead. To look ahead – into the future .  We know that troubles or temptations may come, but what we really want to live by is God’s presence and word.

          We do not live by bread alone.

          Fasting reminds us that the best is yet to come.

          And, this is the spirit – that the best is yet to come – is the spirit of the Israelite people – in the book of Deuteronomy today -  that their lives in the Promised Land will be some much better than anything in the past.

Father Ronald Knox that this forward-look is typical of the Jewish/Israel spirit. They do not look back and say … times were really good back in Egypt.

          They are always looking ahead. That is the Jewish spirit. (Ronald Knox, “And In Jesus Christ” [sermon], The Creed In Slow Motion)

          Our spirit may be contrary – the opposite… like my desire not to carry a cell phone around or to live without technology.

          I believe Moses in the desert would have gladly taken wi-fi and unlimited calling plan.

This is, also, I believe a part of the Irish spirit, that the best is yet to come. We have seen hard times, we have seen some good times, but we have seen the greatest yet.

          We are not in complete control of the outcome. We pray for the intercession of Saint Patrick and Our Lady of Lourdes for Ireland, for the United States, for the West Orange Community near and far. Saint Patrick Pray for Us. The best is yet to come.

 [_fin_]