All Things Are Possible With God

 Five loaves and two fish. The skeptical disciple Phillips says, "How in the world are we going to feed these people? Are you kidding me? Five thousand people." But that's what the little boy had and he offered it to Jesus. Five loaves and two fish. Kind of hard to believe what happened next. Jesus blesses those five loaves and two fish. He asks the 5000 people to sit down and he told his disciples, "Distribute the food to the people and feed the people." They did. So much so that after the people had eaten, Jesus had the disciples collect the leftovers and filled 12 baskets with the bread left over. The lesson is very simple with Jesus, a little becomes a lot.

 

On Thursday, Fr. Adam was dining at the table of Bishop Mack in his home. The bishop had drove this young priest to Scranton where the Prime Bishop received him as a priest in the PNCC. He was now being served the bishop’s signature dish, pork chops with mashed potatoes. Fr. Adam Kotas’ vocation to be a priest started in Chicago where he studied his theology at the Polish seminary, SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan founded in 1885. He shared that once he graduated he had to find a diocese who was willing to accept him to serve in parish ministry.

 

His first assignment found him serving in the Diocese of San Jose in California. In his seminary studies, he learned about Fr. Houdur and the struggle of the Polish people in their generation. As he continued to work in California, his suffered from a severe asthma condition due to the smug and unhealthy air in that state. He requested a transfer for his health and the diocese sent him to the Diocese in Las Vegas where his health improved due to the drier climate. It was here he met a parishioner from our cathedral in Lancaster who shared her love for the Polish National Church and once again Fr. Adam found him being drawn to inquire about the PNCC.

 

He contacted Bishop Mack who welcomed this young priest with open arms and invited him to serve in our diocese. But surprising, Fr. Adam had no church but he had this inspiration to start a Polish Catholic parish in Las Vegas. He had met many Polish National Catholics who were sheep without a shepherd.  Only 36 years old, this enthusiastic young disciple was willing to start a new church from scratch. Like the disciples who wondered how would they be able to feed such a large crowd with so little food. Fr. Adam trusted Our Lord and with the help of his dad and some Polish people found an abandoned building that once served as a church. But it was empty building, no stain glass windows, no statues of saints, no holy water fonts, no altar or candles. Then the miracle occurred, Bishop Bernie in New Jersey had a church that had closed. Fr, Adam inquired if the church had anything he could take with him to fill his new church. Bishop Bernie agreed and a plan was set in motion.

 

The five loaves and two fish became a baptismal font, stations of the cross, statures of St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother, an Easter candle holder, a pulpit, holy water fonts, even a tabernacle that somehow, he would have to figure out how to pry out of the marble altar. So, our young priest changed his flight plans and instead of visiting his parents in Chicago, he rerouted his plane ticket to fly to New Jersey. A parishioner from Las Vegas would join him in New Jersey and the two men planned to rent a U-Haul truck and bring their new-found church supplies to the empty building and create a scared space where Fr. Adam would call his new church “Divine Mercy.”

 

Fr. Adam plans to start celebrating Mass in September when the building officially becomes church property. He will still need to search for an altar, a sound system, computer, copier, chairs for the congregations and what he would like is a painting in the image of Jesus as Divine Mercy.

 

Only God knows what the five loaves and tow fish two fish will become. From an abandoned church, this parish could become a campus for medicine and healing, a hospice or hospital, or a school for physically challenged children or a recovery center for people with various addictions. I shared with Fr. Adam that there are many hurting people in the world and his sacred space would be a sign of hope that God is in our midst to bring comfort and strength to his community in Las Vegas. He shared that he liked that vison. I encourage all of you to pray that the Lord will bless this young priest and his new community that from so little, many will come to join this faith community. Like the multitude who followed Jesus and grew hungry, people would be fed with the Bread of Life and find a home that will bring them closer to the heart of Christ.

 

You get my point. Jesus Christ lives in you. With you, he can do extraordinary things because all things are possible. Think like this. You and that U-Haul are travelling from New Jersey to Las Vegas with all those holy sacred vessels that just might change the world. 

 

Lord I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are starting out on new adventures. Help us to realize that creativity is everywhere you look for it. And it is in you. Learn how to feed yourself a steady diet of inspiration and you will live and love more creatively.

 

 

What Kind of Shepherd Are You?

 

It’s raining outside and I am shepherd of an enchanted forest.

 

I have trimmed thousands of grapevines to keep the trees from being strangled, Last Sunday afternoon while it was raining I decided to walk alongside a deer trail to pick up the litter and garbage from the past hundred years. You see if you are a shepherd of people or land, someone has to pick up the garbage. Along the path, I find rubber tubing, glass bottles, electric outlets and assorted pieces of plastic. The path is slanted, I need to be hugging the ground with a trash bag in one hand and my other hands grabbing onto a limb or tree truck to prevent from falling. As I follow the deer trail, it reminds me of Our Lord who as our Good Shepherd leads the way.

 

However, God thunders against the human shepherds who are failures at shepherding. 

 

Every person has many of God’s children in their care.

 

Who are these miserable shepherds, these failures, with whom God is so indignant? Well, you can tell who they are by what God is angry at in them. They are the human beings who have not cared for the sheep, and those sheep are God’s people.

 

Well, what did the shepherds fail to do when they failed to care for the sheep? They didn’t help the sheep get nurture; they drove the sheep away. They led the sheep in wrong directions. They scattered the sheep, so that instead of being one flock, the sheep were divided against each other into diverse small groups.

 

So, think about it this way. 

 

Do you spend your time on foolish, frivolous things that help nobody? Do you babble about things in your family or church on Facebook that are not your business?  Do you think you are caring for God’s people when you do this? Do you gossip and undermine the reputation of others? Do you sow discord in your neighborhood, in your church, in your family? Are you a divisive presence in your community? Do you think you are caring for God’s children when you are doing this stuff?  This is like the trash that I was picking up in my enchanted forest. It had been put here by people who were not mindful that their actions would harm the land.

 

Surely no one of us is so stupid or ignorant as to suppose that God’s thundering against miserable shepherds is meant only for priests who aren’t good enough. We priests read about our feet of clay every day. However, that thundering is a warning for each one of us.

 

Every person has many of God’s children in his care. The people who collect your trash and recyclables on your street, the child in the row behind you who kicks your seat on the plane, the annoying non-stop talker at your dinner table, your grouchy parishioners who blame politicians for the Covid pandemic, your old and highly dependent mother-in-law, your very imperfect spouse—each of these is one of God’s children, and each of them is in your care—a little or maybe even a lot.

 

I had collected 40 pounds of trash when I came across a piece of wire on the ground, I pulled and another three feet came out of the ground. Next to this wire I spotted barbed wire wrapped around a tree trunk. I thought I had gotten rid of all the barbed wire. Yes, there always seems to be more trash that comes to the surface that needs to be removed. For this job, I would have to come back with some wire cutters to complete this cleanup.

 

I imagine that barbed wire is like all the people you are ask to shepherd especially, the ones that don’t bend and are hard to work with. But all things are possible with our Shepherd, whose grace we need to do it well.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we be more careful not to be miserable shepherds. You are welcomed to borrow my barbed wire cutters anytime if you need to remove some nasty habits and trash from your life. May Our Lord bless you with the humility to admit your weaknesses and may we be grateful for His mercy that inspires us to be the best of shepherds to those in our care and to one another in this cathedral.

 

 

When Failure Turns to Hope

 

On the Fourth of July, my wife and I were invited to a picnic at my sister and brother’s in-law’s home in Buffalo. Mary, my wife’s sister, brings out desserts and she is a fantastic cookie baker. On the tray are a variety of cookies, so I reach for one and it was delicious. I ask what’s in the middle of the cookie and Mary responds “cinnamon.” Well, since I am in my “senior status” learning new hobbies, I asked for the recipe. Didn’t need rhubarb, but where does one find “cinnamon chips.” So off I search at TOPS in the baking section and wouldn’t you know it, they have chocolate chips, butterscotch and mint, but no cinnamon. Yes, there I go to Google and it says Wal Mart carries cinnamon chips, but once again I come up empty handed for they have a dozen variety of chips but no cinnamon. Lucky for me I know there’s a bakery supply store called Lori’s In the Rochester regional market. I ask the clerk and he immediately shows me to a section with hundreds of jars that contain all kinds if spices including to my delight cinnamon.  

 

Today’s gospel is a challenge for some of Jesus closest friends, he tells his apostles, time to get going and spread the good news. Notice, he didn’t say advertise on TV, go on the internet, buy billboard space, organize a community fun festival to pack the synagogue. He simply sent his disciples to the villages and we learn that they are able to perform miracles.

 

Nice story you say, but what does that have to do with us. Don’t you know? Something that Jesus does in all his amazing miracle stories. He collaborates with humanity. He needs Mary to be born in her womb. He needs his disciples to pass around two fish and five loaves to feed five thousand hungry people. He sends his disciples out two by two to spread the good news of God’s love that comes through by their compassion for the sick and possessed. 

 

You are being asked by God this morning to spread the good news and perform miracles. What is the miracle...to pack the pews with young faces who are lost, to bring families and their children to this place to find rest from their chaos of their lives. Believe me, just ask any young parent and they will tell you their life is a rat race. 

 

But you have tried how many times in the past, and when you look around how do you feel? More like a failure. Sounds like Jesus from last week, he had performed amazing feats, brought a child back from the dead, healed the blind, forgave sinners and what’s the response of his neighbors in his own village. Rejection. Did he think he was a failure?

 

I had this idea that I would bake cinnamon cookies for all of you in church and hand them out after Mass. Following Mary’s recipe, I mixed the ingredients using the cinnamon chips, rolled them out into logs and placed them on the cookie tray into the oven. As I am making the second batch, Susan, my spouse, notices the chips and says are they the right kind for the recipe? In my mind, I’m thinking the clerk said these were cinnamon chips. So, the first batch of cookies are done and I pulled out of the oven. I tasted one cookie and sure enough, she is right. The clerk did not sell me cinnamon chips like chocolate chips, but these were hard like bark, the kind you brew to make herbal tea. I never knew the difference and of course being a novice baker never checked. I had to throw out the whole batch of cookies and the ingredients and felt like a total failure. Maybe I need to give up baking anything. What’s the lesson Jesus is trying to teach me this time.

 

What was Jesus response when he was not accepted by his neighbors, he simply left his village, told his disciples I need your help in spreading the good news, that’s collaboration. 

 

The challenge for me in making cinnamon chip logs was finding the right kind of cinnamon chips. The lesson from Jesus was to preserve and not give up hope.  So, this Sunday, I handed out cookies to everyone as they were leaving church and there were lots of smiles and compliments. 

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are feeling like a failure in life. Remind them that we have been blessed with spiritual blessings that include love, perseverance compassion and hope. These are the ingredients that will make our lives sweet and joyful again.

 

 

Blood Pressure Off the Roof

 

My dear friends from Nashua came for a visit and left me some rhubarb from their garden. Well our retired or more preferred label “senior priest” looks up grandma’s recipe for rhubarb crumble. It said cheat and buy a pie crust but I decided to challenge myself and found a flaky pie crust recipe.

 

Following grandma’s recipe, we started chopping the rhubarb that called for three cups rhubarb but I had only 2 ¼. No problem I’ll just run down the street to TOPS in Attica and get a few more stalks. To my surprise, no rhubarb in the store. This means we have to drive into Batavia and check the TOPS produce. Again, I see none in the veggie case so I ask a young clerk if they have any rhubarb. His response, I just started working, so I nudge him and said, “Could you go ask someone if there is any in the back.” Somewhat bewildered he walks off, several minutes later he appears and says there’s none in the store. You got to be kidding I say to myself. Isn’t this rhubarb season. Back in my car, I google Batavia, NY farm markets and see several outside of town, so I call the first one and voicemail says, "Hi, this is Stan and Judy we’re not here right now.” Now the blood pressure is really hitting the roof. I’m short three quarters of a cup and no stalk to be found in Batavia. Then I realize what about Walmart grocery. Google again, rhubarb and Walmart and there’s a photo of the plant. So off I drive, walk into the veggie section, scan the aisle and again none to be found. I see two Walmart produce ladies and “kindly” ask: “where’s the rhubarb," and they reply, "we don’t carry rhubarb in the store."

 

At that moment, I wanted to show them my cell phone screen with a picture of the rhubarb in the Walmart store. I held my ground, but inside we were hitting the roof. Whose else might carry this plant. There’s BJ’s but to save time, I call and a young says, “what’s rhubarb?” No, I say rhubarb, it’s a vegetable.” Dead silence, "can you ask if BJ’s carries rhubarb." Several minutes later, the voice comes back and says, "sorry we don’t have rhubarb...have a nice day." That’s it! I’m ready to explode when I turn to our maker and pray: Lord, what are You trying to teach me here. I just need another cup to finish the darn recipe. The farm markets are closed on Wednesday, the groceries stores ran out and I am short. Not only in the recipe but I have a short fuse. I make a left hand turn to start out of town when out of the corner of my eye I spot a food stand along the road with the word printed on the sign:” RHUBARB.” Really, I say to myself, you guys have been hiding all the time.

 

I pull over, get out of the car and shout to this guy. Any rhubarb, he says, I just picked 5 baskets today. Lucky for me he had five stalks left. Now I wonder was there a moment Jesus blood pressure hit the roof.

 

You bet, like the time he started teaching in his own town and the response comes: Who is this kid? Who does he think he is teaching us anything about God. Isn't he Mary’s child down the street, didn’t his dad use to make table and chairs before he passed. Worse, it says, that outside of a few healings, Jesus could work no miracles in his own village.

 

How sad, when you put people in a box. We assume we know all about them and that they have nothing valuable to offer us so we close our eyes and hope they go away. Or worse, we hear and see them and our blood pressure goes off the roof because we fail to take a breath and see things will work out in the end. Like I knew all the time, this guy would be selling rhubarb at four in the afternoon after checking out a half dozen other stores.

 

Lord when we hit the wall, our blood pressure boils over from stuff we can’t control or put people in a box, give us patience and the wisdom to slow down, and let go and allow Your grace to relieve our stress and know good things will come if we just stop being so miserable and stubborn and allow your grace to take root in our hearts.

 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, know at this very moment I’m getting the rhubarb crumble ready to put in the oven. After it cooled out of the oven, we tasted the rhubarb crumble and to my surprise, it was sweet and yummy. My soulmate said, now aren’t you glad I pushed you to make the rhubarb.. Sometimes all our faith needs is a little courage and perserverance. Sounds like the ingredients Jesus used when his the religious leaders and his own people rejected him. Instead of getting upset and boiling over, in faith he persevered and continued to heal and spread the good news. Courage and perserverance. Sounds like a good recipe to take home today. Don’t you think!