Martial Arts.Monarchy.Meaning.Mercy (2022-02-20, Sunday-07)

Martial Arts.Monarchy.Meaning.Mercy / Turn the Other Cheek.  (Title)

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Homily –  Feb. 20, 2022 /  7^th Sunday  ● 1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13, 22-23  ● Psalm 103  ● 1 Corinthians 15:45-49  ●   ●  + Luke 6:27-38 ●

[__01_]    Section-by-Section Introduction:

1st "Martial Arts"

2nd.  "Monarchy of King David"

3rd.  "Meaning of Turn-the-other-cheek"

4th .  Mercy

Many years ago, I lived in Japan - when I was 1^st out of college, and I worked to teach English as a second language.

I learned a few things about Japanese language and culture, while living in Osaka, about 3 hours from Tokyo.

Also, myself being very much a child of the 70’s and ‘80’s I was aware of the popularity of karate which reached a fever pitch with the release of movie The Karate Kid in 1984. Following its success, kids flocked to dojos across the United States hoping to learn the storied martial art.

Perhaps, I should have flocked to a dojo near me in Japan!

Thanks to this early adoption of Karate in Hollywood, Karate is still top-of-mind for many people today.

And I'm interested in the karate, at least as an observer about what a martial arts practitioner can do with only his or her arms and hands and balance and agility. In fact, the word karate, translated from the Japanese = “empty hand”. I'm no expert in karate, but it would have been a great opportunity to learn karate, in the country of its origin. Because karate shows someone in kind of a lowly humble position, seeking not only a way of defense but also of self-discipline.

 [__02_]   Who is the lowly, humble person in a humble position, also a traveler, and having a crisis, in the reading from 1^st Samuel?

          It is David, who has already been anointed to be the next king of Israel.

 

Why is he so concerned about his position and safety? Maybe David needs a karate class or at least better bodyguards. He's going to be the next king of Israel in Jerusalem.

David is lowly and afflicted because he has been in danger for his life from the current King of Israel.

In his very first battle, David had taken up the challenge and had defeated Goliath. [David as the underdog competitor entered into a hand to hand combat with Goliath.

This  wasn’t  a karate match, but it was a 1-on-1 combat.]

If you had bet money on David against Goliath on DraftKings or FanDuel you would have won big money!

Since then, David has gone form “lowly against-all-odds” underdog to the beloved “favorite”.  More and more people are betting on and counting on David and the current King – Saul – is out to get David.

[__03_]   So here we are in chapter 26. David has managed to find Saul to discover him asleep, totally vulnerable. This is David's opportunity, not just for self defense and self discipline, but for revenge, The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger would have been proud.

David takes no revenge, instead giving us an example of loving his enemy.

[__04_]    How many times have you and I read and been challenged by Jesus’s words in the Gospel today – “Love your enemy, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

          And Jesus summarizes all of this with oft-quoted phrase “Turn the other cheek.”

Why is this commandment turn the other cheek even a thing?

You might say the turn the other cheek should apply only to those who are LOWLY – who need love --  or those who are completely MISERABLE who need MERCY.

Are you lowly? Are you miserable?

[LOWLY / LOVE]  You experience – we all do – at times being low on the “totem pole” or being “last” or being forgotten.

In the letter to the Romans, St. Paul wrote:   “Bless your persecutors, and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same attitude toward all. Put away ambitious thoughts and associate with those who are lowly.” (Romans 12:14-16a)

In some cases, even when we try to assist the lowly, we may be rejected. On a very cold day I once cooked some hot oatmeal cereal for a homeless person I encountered and was told that the oatmeal  was too soggy. I was not pleased to be told this.  It’s not easy to turn the other cheek.

[MISERY / MERCY EXAMPLE]

Isn’t it true that sometime we are “miserable” and therefore conclude we should not receive– or someone else should not receive – mercy?

St. Francis de Sales wrote – “the greater our misery, the more is the mercy of God glorified.” Consider a moment when you were forgiven. What a relief ..and in this, you are not glorified. God is glorified.

St. Francis DeSales writes that confession and penance the Sacrament of Confession and penance, renders a person infinitely more honorable than sin renders him culpable.

Jesus says: “there's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents the 99 righteous people in no need of repentance.”

Mercy is what we can do with our own empty hands with nothing material.

[__05_]     “Turn the other cheek”   [DOES NOT MEAN]

·        1^st Jesus is speaking to his grown-up adult disciples – he is not speaking to children; he is not speaking to vulnerable persons who might have been enslaved or subordinated.

·        Jesus is asking those who might be lesser in physical strength or endurance to submit automatically to those stronger. Given that his listeners – at the moment – are all men – he is not commanding this “turn of the other cheek” in the relationships of women to men, or children to adults.

·        He is neither permitting nor promoting any form of bullying.

·        He is not telling us to invite harm from others ourselves. Or to expose our entire person or body to harm. So, there is a limitation.

[DOES MEAN]   It means that the disciples and that's you and that's me should not be too surprised when our generosity or our forgiveness or our integrity is not applauded or respected. It is relevant whenever we experience rejection or dislike or desire for popularity. When people don't like us, we all fall into that trap of wanting everybody to like us.

It's also a good idea to turn the other cheek, because it's a form of respect for God for our neighbors for others. Now, what does what reason does David give for turning the other cheek in this situation?

 

[__06_]     What reason does David give for not taking the action-hero solution to taking the life of King Saul?

          Is it because David wants to be “liked” ?   In fact, we could say it is the opposite. David is more popular than Saul and some people around David also want to see David replace Saul.

          David says this to his fellow soldier who wants to assault and attack Saul,  “Do not harm him [do not DESTROY Saul] for who can lay hands on the Lord’s anointed and remain unpunished?”  (1 Samuel 26:9)

          So, David is saying … despite the fact that Saul is my adversary, and does not like who I am and is trying to harm me… I am not going to take revenge on him. In other words, David is leaving the “payback” part in God’s hands rather than taking the payback into his own.

          Who is the Lord’ anointed … well, Saul is the king and was the Lord’s anointed.   The Lord’s anointed refers not only to Saul, it also refers to  David, remember that Jesus is born a king in the line of David.

          So, David is not going to harm the Lord’s anointed because he does not want to begin his own rule and monarchy this way.

          This is a good step because David himself will have his life threatened later by those in his inner circle. In a similar way, Jesus is betrayed and forsaken by this own disciples.

          We do not actually have to go to another country to learn how to protect ourselves in this way.

          What will protect us and gain us true shelter is God’s mercy and our willingness to forgive those who trespass against us. 

          On the other hand, turn the other cheek also means that we may experience rejection or disdain when we try to do the right thing and are not appreciated for either what we do, when we do it or how we do it.   Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from the Birmingham Jail – “I have never yet engaged in movement that was "well timed" according to the timetable of those who have not suffered”.  (Letter from a Birmingham Jail).

          David has also suffered and there is certainly an argument that he could end his suffering by seizing the moment and taking Saul’s life.

          David chooses a non-violent means for the sake of his kingdom and country and his kin, his family.

David’s actions predict Jesus’ kingdom and church where the lowly are loved and miserable receive mercy.

          You are also the Lord’s anointed able to be his agent of mercy and the Church is our country - our environment and family - where we learn that mercy and forgiveness – are our calling, to assist others, who are also the Lord’s beloved and anointed.

[END]  

Hunger. Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day (2022-02-13, Sunday-06)

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Homily –  Feb. 13, 2022 /  6^th Sunday - Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day

● Jeremiah 17:5-8  ● Psalm 1  ● 1 Corinthians 15:12,16-20  ●  + Luke 6:17, 20-26 ●

Title:   Hunger. Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day

[__01_]      This reading may sound both “familiar” and “unfamiliar” to you, because it is Luke’s version of the Beatitudes which many of us know better from Matthew’s Gospel.

Hunger is a blessing, a benediction and benefit to you, to me.

Do we see hunger as a blessing, as a benefit?

          This Solemn Mass is also in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes, our Blessed Mother who first appeared – as the figure on the LEFT in this mosaic over the altar to Bernadette Soubirous – on the right.

 

[__02_]      Bernadette is truly hungry – in a desperate situation with her family who is very poor without necessary food and money.

At 1 point Bernadette's father had stolen some firewood – 1 plank of wood -- and this caused further trouble for Bernadette's family. They were living in a basement, dungeon-like setup of a home of a house in France. Things were bad.

On February 11, 1858 Bernadette herself was sent out to collect firewood – LEGALLY, this time.  They needed heat. And while on her way Bernadette sees an image of someone she describes as the beautiful lady or the “petito damizelo” in her dialect.

Bernadette’s demonstrates devotion to God and her family amid her hunger. In her own way, Bernadette testifies that God satisfies our hunger through the Good News of knowing Him and also in receiving Holy Communion, even amid “rejection”

 

[__03_]      Bernadette of Lourdes is hungry for righteousness. And though she is rejected at first, regarding her reports of the beautiful lady, no one can convince the very humble not formally educated Bernadette that these apparitions didn't happen.

Finally, Bernadette is told to ask the beautiful lady who she is and Bernadette is told the words inscribed above the Blessed Virgin Mary again at the top left of the mosaic: “. I am the Immaculate Conception”

It's notable that once Bernadette reports these words  -- “I am the Immaculate Conception” --- that  Bernadette becomes more credible, more believable, more trusted, because as a young, not formally educated, peasant, poor peasant, she would not have been familiar with the term, “Immaculate Conception”

And after an extended interview with Bernadette and investigations by the church, the operations were accepted and given to us for our devotion, we are called to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Bernadette is hungry for righteousness. to report what really happened despite the rejection, Bernadette's hunger moves her in the right direction.

In what direction does your hunger take you? Does my hunger move me towards God's righteousness or God's will or am I only hungry to satisfy my own desires?

[__04_]   

What will truly satisfy us when we are hungry? Now I'd like to talk about hunger and righteousness. What do you really hunger for? Is it food? Is it calories on a plate? Yes, I hunger for those.

We also hunger and thirst for righteousness as Jesus also says in Matthew’s Gospel “blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:__)

We hunger and thirst for righteousness, for honesty, for truthfulness.

Here is one example where my hunger led me in the wrong direction.

I was driving my car, and I drove around somebody else on the right side in order to get ahead of the other driver because I thought incorrectly that the driver was stuck in a traffic jam.

I was completely in the wrong. Fortunately, there was absolutely no accident, but the other driver was upset with me. I wish I hadn't done it. But I was hungry. I was hungry to get ahead. I was hungry for speed. I was hungry to get to my destination. That is what we sometimes hunger for we hunger for material things.

So we're evaluating our hunger, whether it's a diet or whatever it is. Sometimes we have to go back to the beginning and ask what did I really want out of the situation. Where was I going? Where am I going?

Jesus wants us to be hungry for righteousness to be hungry for love and for him and to go in the righteousness -  direction.

[__05_] Tomorrow is also Valentine’s Day … a day we also might think of our desires, and remember that love is also something we are craving – whether this is the love of your spouse, your child, your parent, your friend, neighbor.

          Pope Saint John Paul II – in his writing about love, theology, responsibility and “theology of the body”     reminds us that God gives us our bodies and our physical desires so that we can grow in communion with him and with others.

[__06_]      Christopher West wrote - " If, as John Paul teaches, the body and it alone is capable of communicating the mystery of God’s love to us; and if there is an enemy of God who wants to keep us from God’s love – where, then, would ….

[the evil spirit – Satan try to operate… he would try to mess with … or tempt us in our desires for love and how many….people think that …. think that the body and the gift of sexuality are the last places to look for the presence of God?" ]

          Christopher West:

“The theology of the body – [and understading of our hunger] is a is not to make us more “spiritual,” but to become more incarnational and to allow the Word of the Gospel to penetrate our flesh and bones. When this incarnation of the Gospel takes place in us, we see the Church’s teaching on sexual morality.

          Both men and women – each in their own way are called not to suppress but to cultivate their desires – their hunger – to nurture and protect life and the lives of others,

To respond to true hunger and righteousness.

[Christopher West source:

https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/courses/264/west2.htm#:~:text=The%20theology%20of%20the%20body%20is%20a%20scriptural%20reflection%20on,divided%20into%20two%20main%20parts.&text=The%20Pope's%20thesis%2C%20if%20we,the%20human%20body%20and%20sexuality.]

[__07_]    

We are reminded to have hope  in God when we are hungry, God's plan is greater than our rejection. That is one of true righteousness. It is one that helps us to recover and to

and to know that we are loved.

Notre Dame de Lourdes, priez pour nous. Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us.

[__fin_]

Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day (2022-02-11)

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Homily – Feb. 11, 2022 /   Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day

● Prophet Isaiah   ● Psalm ●  + John 2:1-11 ●

[__00-a_]    It’s nice that the 1964 construction of our church was delivered with the mosaic over our altar and helpful visual aid for Our Lady of Lourdes Day of February 11

          We on the left-hand side  – in white / blue the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and on right-hand side,  praying and kneeling young girl, Bernadette holding her rosary. I hope this image helps us to help you to pray today and always and to remember the love of Mary the mother of God, not only for the people of our Lourdes (southwestern France) in the Pyrenees Mountains but also for you the people of Lourdes of West Orange and South Mountain.

From the beginning, the water of Lourdes was believed to have healing properties and any miracles associated with Lourdes must go through a rigorous examination.

Yet, Lourdes and the apparitions from the beginning were really an invitation not to physical healing but spiritual healing by accepting God’s grace and doing penance for our sinfulness. Nevertheless, the healings are a sign of God’s goodness.

[__00-b_]      In 1902, there was a particular healing that took place of a woman who had also woman on her way to Lourdes who was also encountered a very skeptical scientist and doctor on the train.    The woman's name is Marie Bailly.  

Marie suffered from was suffering greatly from her illness, and she was placed in the waters of Lourdes. And what is well documented by the witnesses and by this physician is that she was immediately cured and satisfactorily cured over the long term and there was no other explanation.

This is the definition of a miracle that there's no other explanation known.

The physician himself who observed this was in a difficult position, because he wasn't a believer. He had been raised Catholic, but he wasn't really a believing Catholic at that time. So this created a difficult position for him in his career and his status. And he was asked by other scientists in France and England to reject the miracle, cure to disavow this, but he could not and would not. And as a result, he suffered a major professional setback, he was thrown out of the university faculty where he taught, he was he experienced what Jesus says in the Gospel, Blessed are you when they insult you and exclude you. Your reward will be great in heaven, so the doctor had to endure this exclusion.

Fortunately for him, his career was NOT over.  He was hired at a university in New York City called Rockefeller University, he did was given a 2^nd chance did continue working, and he actually went on to win a Nobel Prize for his work, work in science and medicine.

So there's at least one scientific Nobel Prize winner who testifies to the miracles of Lourdes.

 [__00-c_]   It's a reminder to us that to turn to God in faith and trust.

In what manner and what way do I turn to God for help?

Sometimes, I am inclined to turn to God and turn the prayer into a negotiation. Children do this with their parents too.  The child may believe that he can earn his mother’s or father’s love. But though your father or mother gave you rules to follow, I believe they gave you the rules because the rules would be good for you to follow, of your own free will, not to prove your love to your mother or father.

It’s also been true that my mother / father loved me even when I did not follow the rules.

Nevertheless, the rules – or commandmments – Gods’ Word are there for my salvation.

 But, we often negotiate with God just as we negotiated with our parents or with someone else…

I do something for you. You do something for me, okay. I wake up early, you make the day good for me. I behave, you do something good for me.

I fast for 40 days and 40 Nights, you do something good for me. This is how we look at it. This is how I look at things this way.

Maybe if you don't look at things this way. Good.  Because it's not the right way to look at it.

But for example, looking ahead to Lent, which is just a couple of weeks away when we begin our Lenten fasts, our Lenten fast.

One way we enter into that fast as we'd like, I'm going to do something this Lent and it's good to give something up.

It’s good to abstain from something we'd like abstain from some media we like abstain from some food, we'd like abstain from sweets, abstain from some drink, we like or cut back on something.

But the paradox is that we fast from or give up these things not to PROVE our love to God, but to prove to ourselves that material things cannot save us or be our true comfort.

All those are good things. But that's not because we're negotiating with God to give us something in return.

We're giving it up because we don't have any other answers. We give up – for example – in Lent fro the same reason that the servers in the wedding feast at Cana are asked to turn to our Lord and Savior.

They do not have any other answer but Christ.

We're giving it we're giving something up because we know we're not giving it up to persuade God we're giving it up to realize that we have no other choice but to turn to God.  

We are reminded to have hope and God when we are hungry, and to have hope and God when we need healing. And this was also the message to Marie Bailly at Lourdes and to the physician – Alexis Carrel -- who witnessed the miracle and healing who fortunately did regain his career, but even more importantly, he regained his Catholic faith. He did go he was raised a Catholic the physician and he ultimately died a Catholic as a result of witnessing this healing as well.

So we pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes for our own spiritual healing and strength as well. Notre Dame de Lourdes priez pour Nous.  Our Lady of Lourdes. Pray for us.  [__fin_]  

Word. Worship. Works (+ Annual Appeal) 2022-02-06, 5th Sunday

Homily –  Feb. 6, 2022 /  5^th Sunday   ● Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8   ● Psalm ___ ● 1 Corinthians 15:1-11  ●  + Luke 5:1-11 ●

Title:    Stop (Worship),  Listen (Word),  Look Out (Works)

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__Click / Watch Video: "Mass Feb. 6, Recorded"___

[__00-b_]  In the Gospel this Sunday, which I'd like to reflect on, there are moments of -- stopping --- looking -- listening.

And I'd also like to reflect on this relative to the annual appeal of the Archdiocese, which I will also speak about in these in these words, God's way is not my way. And God's way is not your way. And unfortunately, we may feel distress that this happens sometimes. And this happens to Peter in this gospel, because Peter wants to stay in shallow waters, and God wants to call calls him out to deep waters, Peter wants to fish only in the dark.  Jesus invites him to fish in the light, in the brightness.

Jesus is calling Peter to go out to find what is below what is below the surface. Jesus is also calling Peter to find what is in the brightness to seek in the brightness of the light. God asks all of us to stop, look and listen to search in the brightness of His light, not in the brightness of our own light.  And not to stop at the surface or be discouraged or dissatisfied only or be only satisfied with material things, which can be satisfied, satisfying. But Jesus wants to lead us to a greater depth in our faith and in our love.  Regarding the annual appeal, I'm calling this listening to the Word stopping and learning to worship and looking out with good works.

[__00-b_]  [PPT_1]  I’m Father Jim Ferry from Our Lady of Lourdes and here to introduce the Annual Appeal for the Archdiocese for 2022 to you and explain a bit about what your gifts of money to our church pay for I’m calling this –

1.    Listening to the Word

2.    Stopping / Learning to Worship

3.     Looking out with good Works.

 

[__01_] [PPT_2]  I have a confession to make that for some time I have been telling you and others that before I was assigned as parish priest to Our Lady of Lourdes of West Orange (LL-W) that I did not know where LL-W was.

          That’s not entirely true. Guilty!

          I had driven in a car through our 3-way Main Street intersection several times but was so overwhelmed – as an outsider – by the complexity of the turns and signals and lights that it took me a while to realize that Lourdes is here.  It is no EZ Pass out there.

          You have to STOP – LOOK – LISTEN.

          It’s my hope here to connect our Catholic faith and calling to STOP – LOOK – LISTEN to our responsibility to support the church with our gifts of money and why we do so, and I’d like to thank you and explain how your gifts support our Gospel mission.

 

[__02_]  [PPT_3]  What is our mission, for God … Father, Son and Holy Spirit

·        LISTEN to the WORD 

·        STOP / LEARN to WORSHIP

·         LOOK-OUT w/ love + good WORKS

 

[__03_]     [PPT_4]  WORD.

Jesus is the Word made flesh who dwells among us (John 1:14)

We come to listen to his Word and receive his Word– the Body of Christ – in Holy Communion. And, then to imitate and be like him for others and to listen.

Who is calling you for the Word of God or asking you to listen?

          We read in Romans 10:17, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.”

While it is true that actions speak louder than words, love begins by listening to God’s Word and also listening to those we care about.

[__04_]     [PPT_5]   WORSHIP.

          By stopping, we learn to worship. In the Garden and elsewhere, Jesus himself often stops to worship or wakes up his disciples (me too) when they fall asleep. Jesus “gets”our human weakness. We are all beginners at prayer. (Thomas Merton)

[PPT_6]             We learn what to worship and what not to worship.

          Did you hear that a famous sports star with NFL Super Bowls and MVP’s, a quarterback retired 22 years.His name is Tom Brady. Is the

Is he “Greatest of all Time” ?

          Possibly, but it’s also possible that we have learned to say (worship?) with this term “greatest of all time” too casually, or learned to say “worst of all time” too casually also, regarding both GOOD + BAD material things.

          Coming to church, we learn both what to APPROACH and what to AVOID – and to AVOID turning material things – which are fine as they are – into idols or false gods.

          We stop, to learn to worship.

          Jesus teaches us to pray.

 

[__05_]     [PPT_7]          These 2 priorities of WORD and WORSHIP  are what your regular weekly contribution to Our Lady of Lourdes pays for.

           We cannot and will not “charge” anyone to receive a sacrament. While there is tuition we ask for Religious Education, for 1^st Communion, Confirmation,  this does not cover the full cost.  Also, while families do make gifts to the church, on the occasion of a weddings, a funerals, a baptism, we to welcome everyone regardless of paying.

          You support listening to the the Word and learning to WORSHIP by your regular weekly giving.

          I am deeply grateful. We need your continued support.

[__06_]    [PPT_8]   Your gift to the Annual Appeal also supports Listening to the WORD and Stopping / Learning to WORSHIP, and Looking out with good WORKS – or charity.

          And, our good works or charity are meant to be RESULT of listening to the Word, and learning to Worship.

          And, the annual appeal of Archdiocese is about this as well – examples:

[__07_]   WORSHIP: Persons with Disabilities  RCAN has a Mass in Essex County (and other counties) for the hearing impaired to stop & learn to worship – including 1 Sunday Mass plus social gathering at St. John’s Newark.

WORD   At the Seminary, Listening to God’s Word is a key. The Archdiocese relies on our support for men to educate them, help them to listen to God’s call.  Father Bob Suszko (Lourdes weekend assistant and former parochial vicar), works at our Seminary at Seton Hall University.

WORD   College Campus Ministry. 

Priests of Archdiocese do outreach – such as Father Jim Chern at Montclair State University – to build up Catholic community on 9 campuses, so that young people may listen to the Word.

WORKS Catholic Charities serves the most vulnerable with food, nutrition, shelter, job training and more.

[__08__]     [PPT_9]   The grants and money collected through the appeal have come back to help us at Lourdes including …

          “Dig underground”/ environmentally of old oil tank.

          Sealing up inside church/ caulking of church windows.

          “Tearing up” – cancelling money/bills owed to Archdiocese.

          This DIGGING / SEALING / TEARING = about $125,000 to Lourdes – from Archdiocesan funds - over the past few years.

WORKS/Lookout   Catholic Charities – on our property rents out our school building to teach children with special learning needs, many of whom are on the autistic spectrum. The rent paid by Catholic Charities to Lourdes comprises more than one half – more than 50% of our total income. We would be in a very different situation if we did not have this rental income.

          I ask your prayerful consideration.  Our goal this year is $28,210. We need your continued support so that we may all listen to the word and stop / learn to worship. The Annual Appeal exists to look out for good works that we could not do on our own.

You may also give online. (https://support.rcan.org/a/donate)

You may contact me at anytime via phone or email with questions, or see me at church. Thank you…