An Invitation

 

Don’t know your plans for this weekend, but I am inviting you to a special celebration. This Saturday morning at 11am, Robert Grizzell will be ordained a deacon at Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral located at 6298 Broadway Road In Lancaster, New York.

Robert is from San Antonia, Texas and he currently serves with Fr. Marcus the pastor at St. Jude’s National Catholic Church in San Antonia.

Robert is passionate about his full-time ministry as a hospice and hospital chaplain in Texas. He is wonderful model of a young person whose vocation is to serve the people of God and bring Our Lord’s healing.

Of course, his parishioners are not able to attend because of distance and expense. However, it would be a wonderful gesture of gratitude if the people of Buffalo came to attend this ceremony and congratulate this special man. 

In the Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. Most likely, when we pray it’s about our need for healing or a prayer for someone we know who needs God’s healing.

In a Harvard study, 90% of doctors think faith has a healing effect. 90%. Yet only 70% of the population thinks that. In other words, more doctors than patients believe in the power of faith. And, Lord, do we need your healing? For a body riddled with cancer, Lord, we need your healing. For heart loaded with grief, Lord, we need your healing. For a mind addicted to prescription medication, Lord, we need your healing. For a soul attached to gambling and drinking, Lord, we need your healing. For a heart restless in life, seeking purpose, never finding it, Lord, we need your healing. For a relationship broken and torn apart, Lord, we need your healing. Lord, we need your healing. Say it with me, “Lord, we need your healing.”

How does God heal? Sometimes, God works through miracles. Sometimes God heals through the faith of family and friends like the deaf man brought by his friends who ask Jesus to heal him. He's healed because of them. Their faith. Sometimes God heals through the faith of the people around us. God heals through doctors and medicine. And of course, sometimes God heals through time.

Cleric Robert ministers daily with people in need of healing from their physical and emotional pain. No one fully understands how God heals or God's timing or even all of his ways. We don't always know how. We can't fully explain why. If something doesn't work right, if it's broken, you take it to the one who can fix it, right? Jesus is the Great Physician. The one who made you. The one who will make you whole. His name is Healer.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, help each person to identify an area of their life that needs healing, the healing touch of Jesus.

Yes, you have summer plans but if you like to experience a healing moment, I welcome you to join me to attend the ordination of Deacon Robert. There will be a reception in the parish hall following his ordination. See you Saturday, fr. matt

 

Hospitality

 

In the Gospel, Jesus is paying a little house call on the sisters Martha and Mary. Both ladies welcome him and his disciples, but Martha heads to the kitchen to prepare something for Jesus and his buddies to eat, while Mary keeps Jesus and the other guys company. Both are good hostesses, even if Martha gets a bit bent out of shape because she’s doing the work while Mary sits around. Jesus gently scolds Martha for picking on her sister. After all, haven’t we all been to a dinner party where the hostess was so busy preparing for her guests that she’s had no time to enjoy their company?

Hospitality is one of the key ingredients that keeps people coming back to church each week. I remember the annual parish picnics in North Java especially after the people built a new playground for the kids in town. Today’s Sonshine photo shows the proud parishioners, parents and their children smiling in front of the swings and slides.

Sadly, it appears hospitality in this country is slipping or better fallen off a cliff because of the current anti-immigrant “round ‘em up and ship ‘em out” attitude towards immigrants in the United States.

I read this week the statement by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski concerning the detention facility Homeland Security has constructed in the Florida Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz. This is a facility designed with the purpose of detaining up to 5,000 individuals whose only crime may be that they entered this country illegally. The structures are overcrowded tents which provide little protection from the intense heat and mosquitoes and no protection at all from flooding rains or hurricanes. The facility opened on the third of this month and there have already been complaints about insufficient food, limited access to water, and restrictions against visiting clergy.

Archbishop Wenski noted on the archdiocese’s website:

"We have a detention center in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by snakes, alligators, mosquitoes, and more. It is an inhumane situation…It is insulting that those who should know better are mocking the misery of their brothers and sisters. We are all brothers and sisters, and no one should ridicule the suffering of other people. Even the name 'Alligator Alcatraz' is a cruel mockery of the pain those people endure.”

I can’t say I have the answer to America’s immigration problem, but I know indiscriminately arresting and incarcerating any or all undocumented individuals—especially in dangerous or unhealthy detention centers—is not the answer.

Jesus said. “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” Martha shared what she had when thirteen hungry guests who showed up at her door. Mary gave them her loving attention. To dehumanize others cannot possibly be to our benefit and it certainly is not being the best Catholic we can be.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends, keep safe and protect from harm all our Latino our brothers and sisters and their children. As Christians, we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves when, like Our Lord, we show them mercy.

 

Gratitude Letter

 

 

Dear Steve:

On July 16^th, I have been invited to give a presentation to the American Red Cross on the topic: “The Power of Gratitude.” One exercise includes writing a gratitude letter to focus attention on people in your life who have impacted your life in a positive way. This is my letter of thanks for a long-time Sonshine friend Steve.

 

Once again, I had another breakdown of equipment in our home. This time it was the water conditional system that purifies our water from sulfur and other harmful chemicals in the soil. And sure enough, a phone call to Steve from Total Water Care in Newark was the answer. It was on February 3, 2012 that I first contacted Steve to install a water system that continues to give us sparkling clean, tasty water from our well.

 

I enjoy listening to Steve about his family and work with his clients to keep their water safe from harmful chemicals. He is a man of integrity and deep faith in God. He has outstanding knowledge of water serving our country onboard submarines. I am grateful for his service to our country.  When he returned from service, he became an expert in water systems. But our real bond is our love for hockey. We still have hope that one day the Buffalo Sabres climb out of the cellar in their division and make the playoffs for a crack at the Stanley Cup.  

 

Your compassionate heart and prayerful spirit in working with all your clients is an inspiration to me and all your family and community. I am humbled by your generosity and admire your expertise to repair water systems and improve the quality of water to make it safe to drink in our homes.

 

You have taught this priest to be persistent, to be a compassionate mentor to all my family, community and Sonshine Friends. You are still teaching which includes myself to persevere in prayer and wisdom, and I am humbly grateful. Keep me always updated on how I can be of further support to you and all your family. 

 

May the Good Lord and Our Lady of Gaudeloupe protect you and your family and keep you healthy and safe,

Father Matt

 

Lord I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they know how grateful I am for their devotion to prayer and their loyality for the past 25 years in reviewing these reflections to be the best Christians they can be with the help of God. Why not write a Gratitude Letter to someone you know who has made a difference in your life.

 

 

 

 

 

Independence Reflection

 

I always love the Fourth of July. For me, fireworks never get old. They’re kind of like chocolate chip cookies. No matter how often I experience them, they always make me smile. And, like everybody else, I like a good celebration. As a kid, the Fourth was a time to eat hotdogs and gather in our backyard after dark and watch the fireworks that were set off from our local ballpark ten minutes from our home. Today I look at the Fourth a bit differently.

I rejoice for my country even as I mourn for her. I feel deeply for America on her birthday. I guess I rejoice we’ve made this experiment in democratic government work for 249 years. I rejoice that we’ve always had the ability to course correct. Those brave 18^th century gentlemen who fought our war of Revolution won independence but, when all the dust settled, found a new nation deeply in debt with farms and towns ruined and a diverse population which knew what form of government it didn’t want but wasn’t quite sure about the form it did want. Nevertheless, they rolled up their ragged sleeves and created a nation. Our ancestors formed an egalitarian government, established civil rights, abolished slavery (at a pretty high and bloody cost), built cities and infrastructure, created social safety nets, defeated fascism in Europe, and generously exported the produce of our God-given prosperity to people around the world.

And, of course, we’ve made a boatload of mistakes along the way. Some of them rather recently in my view.

I mourn when I consider wars we’ve engaged in which could and should have been avoided. I mourn for our veterans and pray they receive the care they deserve. I grieve to think of the vast and growing income inequality in our nation. I shake my uncomprehending head at the persistence of gun violence. I fret over our broken immigration system and our current epidemic of xenophobia. I sigh helplessly for those affected by climate disasters and I worry how we can continue to rebuild when floods, hurricanes, tornados and wildfires seem so relentless and so many in government seem so unconcerned about the causes of these tragedies.

But I really want to find reasons to celebrate.

When Jesus sent out his seventy-member advance team he sent them out on faith. They didn’t have a bankroll or a credit card. He knew—and they knew too—that the world was a dangerous place. They were sent out like lambs in the midst of wolves. Nevertheless, they went forward believing that God was with them. They went ahead trusting in both God’s providence and their mission as servants. They were commissioned by Jesus to bring tidings of peace to the poor and healing to the sick. They did what was asked of them, and they returned with joy.

As we observe this 249^th anniversary of America’s independence, how shall we go forward? I’d like to suggest a slight reimagining of the American Dream. So far, that dream has been to own a home and be financially better off than the previous generation. Maybe we need to think a little more like servants. Maybe we should dream that everyone in America has a roof over their heads, and those roofs will be secure from the ravages of a ungovernable nature. Everyone will have enough to eat. Everyone will be safe on the streets where they live. All the sick and elderly will have the care they need and deserve, and our nation will continue to work for peace and prosperity for all the families of the earth.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we may feel like sheep among wolves, but God is still on the throne, our nation and our democracy still exist, and our command from Christ to serve is still in force. There is still reason to celebrate.