“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.”

The Sacrament of Confirmation is one of the great mysteries we celebrate in the Church. At the prayer offered above begins to help us see the power of faith in God and how we, when we open our hearts to receive this faith, are changed and change the world. As many of our teens receive this Sacrament this weekend we can reflect on the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

What happens when the Holy Spirit comes? Well, everything changes. And that means everything, not just somethings, not just the things we want to change…everything changes.

It is always good to think about a few Holy Spirit moments in our lives and see how things have changed. Some of may think, “I don’t think I’ve had a Holy Spirit Moment?” I do hope you are wrong so I’m going to share a few Holy Spirit moments….

It was the winter of 1991. I was teaching at Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Academy at St. Bonaventure Indian Mission in Throreau NM. (that’s a mouth full) It was Christmas break and I took off for a few days of camping in the mountains of New Mexico to be alone with my thoughts and prayers as I pondered what I was to do. I had been at the mission for 18 months and I needed a decision to either continue or return to California and continue with my life. I hiked in and arrived at my camp site, pitched the tent, built the fire and began collecting enough wood to last through the cold night. And then, I began to pray. I remember the silence, the occasional rustle of the wind, the tweet of a bird the trickle of the stream a few yards away. I remember the stillness engulfing me as I prayed. I knew deep down that I couldn’t stay at the mission but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I knew that my spiritual life was not strong enough to live out this missionary call and the daily hurts were beginning to slowly erode the joy of working with my fellow missionaries and serving the people but I didn’t want to admit this either. Finally, I simply whispered to God…”I guess I need to go back to California.”…and a wave of peace flowed over me so strong that I knew the way God desired me to go…this was the fire of the Holy Spirit sending me forth to a new mission. And I changed.

In June of 1985 everything seemed fine. I was working in Seattle and beginning to attend community college after my discharge from the Marine Corps. I was settling down and looking forward to the blessings of life…then I received the phone call that my father had died. I still remember clearly the tearing of my heart and the tears and cries engulfing me. For months after that morning I was frozen, functioning but not really living at all. After attending a Mariners game one afternoon I did something I had never done before and at the time I couldn’t have told you why but I left the King Dome and then got off the bus in downtown and walked into St. James Cathedral and just sat down. It was there, in my mind, where I began to scream at God full volume. I did, what I have learned from praying the Psalms, the very act of pouring out my grief and pain with all my heart. Finally when my prayer ended , exhausted and empty, I felt the warmth of peace fill me. It was the physical sensation the slowed my heart beat and surrounded me in a way that cannot be described. The peace of the Holy Spirit began to heal the wounds of sorrow. And I changed.

Our hope is as our young people receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this weekend at St. Lucy each of them will be filled with the light, the fire, the breath of the Holy Spirit and do the work our Heavenly Father desires as their mission to renew the face of the earth.

In prayer we discover God’s Holy Spirit accompanying and moving us in the direction of holiness. So we pray.

“O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.”

God Bless Fr. Mark

“The laity are called to participate actively in the whole life of the Church; not only are they to animate the world with the spirit of Christianity but they are to be witnesses to Christ in all circumstances and at the very heart of the community of mankind.” (Gaudium et Spes #43)

The above quote from the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World from the Second Vatican Council reminds us of the important and vital role each of us has in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are brought back to the very beginning of the Church and the call to holiness in the very first disciples as they went out into the world to proclaim the reality of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God.
I am reminded of this because we, at St. Lucy Parish this weekend, will be thanking the lay men and women who serve the church in the multitude of ministries that we share. Some of these ministries are very visible while others are almost hidden in the quiet but life giving work they do among God’s holy people. It is the gift of sharing their time, talent and treasure helping to build the kingdom of God, one living stone at a time.
The invitation to service is always at the foundation of our Christian life because it is the words and example Jesus has shared with us when he tells us, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:45)
We know two very important things about service: first, we are happier when we choose to serve and second, when we choose to serve we desire to serve more. This is how God has made our hearts, to serve others in love.
It is “in love” that the service finds its depth and meaning. Love is the freely given choice to serve. “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (Jn 15:15)
Jesus invites us into a friendship of love as we are called to care for each other and yes, because we are the Body of Christ, to care for and serve within the our local church. It is in the foundation of the family where this duty is fostered and grows. I can remember as a child the different chores and duties I and my sisters and brothers were asked to do around the house and on the farm. I know that I did not wake up each morning in my teenage years and think of milking the cows and feeding the different animals as an act of service and love…many mornings I thought of it as punishment…but looking back it is now clear the service of my family grew deeply within my heart impelling me to the service of others. Once more the Church reminds us:
“The Family is the place where different generations come together and help one another to grow wiser and harmonize the rights of individuals with the demands of social life; as such it constitutes the basis of society. Everyone therefore, who exercises an influence into community and in social groups should devote himself effectively to the welfare of marriage and the family.” (Gaudium et Spes #52) In other words, it is in the family where we learn to the service in love of the other.
When we choose to serve our local parish and the greater Catholic Church we choose a greater love where we enter into a relationship with, yes, Jesus, but just as importantly with the family that makes up the Body of Christ. When we choose to serve in love we take greater care of those around us and seek to bless and be blessed by the gifts we share and other share with us in our relationship of love with each other. We recognize, as I did from my service of chores in family, that our service of ministry deepens our connection and knowledge of the mission Jesus calls us to live.
Thank you for all who now serve within the many ministry of parish life…and a prayer for all who will serve tomorrow.
God bless
Fr. Mark

Happy Mothers Day Weekend. And special prayers and blessings to those mothers celebrating the joy of the day.
Mothers Day is a very special day for each of us as we remember the gift of our moms and how each of them has been an important part of our life from the very moment of our conception in the womb to our birth into this world and then each and every action that has helped to form us into the people we are today.
St. John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation “MULIERIS DIGNITATEM: On the Dignity and Vocation of Women” shares with us two beautiful passages about motherhood and the joy and sorrow that this gift of life will occur in the life of the woman.

“Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life, as it develops in the woman’s womb. The mother is filled with wonder at this mystery of life, and “understands” with unique intuition what is happening inside her. In the light of the “beginning”, the mother accepts and loves as a person the child she is carrying in her womb. This unique contact with the new human being developing within her gives rise to an attitude towards human beings – not only towards her own child, but every human being – which profoundly marks the woman’s personality.” (#18)

We know that each child is different. Each child is a unique and special gift from God with her and his own personality. As one of nine children I can personally attest to this reality and seeing how my own mother acts and reacts to each of my brothers and sisters in a different and singular way to the times of joy and sorrow in life reminding me of the inner knowledge that she carries of our own growth within her womb.
I know in many conversations with expectant mothers the express a knowledge of their child’s personality even before birth by how they move and rest in their womb. It is this great mystery that in the mind of our Church shows forth the splendor of God’s creative goodness.
But, St. John Paul II also understands, as we all do the heartache that accompanies the gift of motherhood. I truly wish that I had never caused a moment of pain in my own mother’s life, but I know that this is not true. What we can all say: we are thankful of the care and blessing our mothers gave to us in the difficult and joyful moments of life. I know that the below quote is a little long, but there is much wisdom shared in these words.

“As we contemplate this Mother, whose heart “a sword has pierced” (cf. Lk 2: 35), our thoughts go to all the suffering women in the world, suffering either physically or morally. In this suffering a woman’s sensitivity plays a role, even though she often succeeds in resisting suffering better than a man. It is difficult to enumerate these sufferings; it is difficult to call them all by name. We may recall her maternal care for her children, especially when they fall sick or fall into bad ways; the death of those most dear to her; the loneliness of mothers forgotten by their grown up children; the loneliness of widows; the sufferings of women who struggle alone to make a living; and women who have been wronged or exploited. Then there are the sufferings of consciences as a result of sin, which has wounded the woman’s human or maternal dignity: the wounds of consciences which do not heal easily. With these sufferings too we must place ourselves at the foot of the Cross.
But the words of the Gospel about the woman who suffers when the time comes for her to give birth to her child, immediately afterwards express joy: it is “the joy that a child is born into the world”. This joy too is referred to the Paschal Mystery, to the joy which is communicated to the Apostles on the day of Christ’s Resurrection: “So you have sorrow now” (these words were said the day before the Passion); “but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (Jn 16: 22-23).” (#19)

Let us give thanks for our mothers recognizing the gift of motherhood that is given and shared in all of the perfections and imperfections of life. My hope is we, as sons and daughters take time today to say a prayer of blessing over our mothers, both living and dead, giving thanks to God for the gift of life they have shared with us.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

“Two people can see a miracle. The one with faith will praise God; the one without will find some way to forget it or explain it away…Miracles and signs don’t produce people of deep faith, because invariably what such people want is another sign next Friday night to carry them through another week. That’s the depth of their religion. For them God is more like their private magician than someone they love and serve. Miracles, however, are signs for those who already have faith—faith that God is in all things. (from “What the Mystics Know” by Fr. Richard Rohr OFM, p 71)

I have been praying with this above quote for the past week as we prepare to enter into the season of First Communions and Confirmations in the parish. It is a time when we see little miracles occur in abundance as the children come forward and for the first time receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. It is a time that give me, as a parish priest, joy and hope.
This is truly a trans-formative moment for these children and their families but as Fr. Rohr notes above: What do they see? It is too easy to simply see the pretty dresses, the new suits, the big smiles and the joyful expressions of the children and those around them. We can explain it all away with emotion, excitement and the momentary shot in the arm that comes from “religion” but does not enter into the life of faith and the relationship with God.
What should we be seeing? This is what my prayer has been this week…what does God want me to see?
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mk 10:14)
First, I see a saint in the making. The miracle of God calling this young boy or girl into a life of holiness of loving and serving all people. I see the miracle of these children wishing and striving to bring joy into the world as sons and daughters and as sisters and brothers. I see the miracle of a deep yearning to be connected to love, a love that is so grand and joyous that each child is bursting with the holy peace of Christ.
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jer 29:11)
Second, I see hope. On these days the troubling thoughts of will they continue or when will the second holy communion happen disappear from my thoughts. Hope in God’s greater and more loving mercy overwhelms the doubts of fears of worry. I see the miracle of hope of a child engaged in conversation with Jesus and coming to say “amen” to a truth and mystery they cannot fully understand but trusting in the community of the Church reach out to become what they receive. I see the miracle of a family united with the greater family of the Church where everything that separates us slips into the background and only the image of Jesus gathering the children to him remains for this moment.
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thes 5:18)
Lastly, I see grace flowing forth into the world. This grace is the gift of gratitude coming from the heart of the Church, Jesus’ Sacred Heart, transforming us and the world as we go forth filled with the grace received through our sacramental life. I see the grace of gratitude in the conversion of hearts which can only occur through the deep and profound encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist.
Yes, admittedly in the days and weeks to come, my worries, fears and doubts will cloud the miracles I will see during the coming days as too many of these children will be absent from our pews, but with faith, hope and love I invite each of us to continue to pray in the peace and blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ that his grace rest upon these children and their families all the days of their life.
God Bless
Fr. Mark