Take a bow Patty Connors

First Week of Lent

When I was 16, I thought my mother was stupid. I would never seek her advice, and I would never listen to any advice or guidance she offered. I only sought advice from my peers; obviously, they had spent more time on this Earth and had years of life experience behind them; what did my mother know? All this to my detriment!

At 19, I  realized that my mother was quite intelligent. It was the turbulence of life that taught me this. Living on my own, working, going to college, trying to pay bills, managing a relationship, and all the other sundry items life throws at us showed me just how challenging it is to survive on one's own. Now, throw in raising a large family as a single parent and being a strong woman of faith throughout it all, I could see all that my mother had to go through for the first time in my life. All she ever wanted to do was raise a family of faith and see her children be happy and prosperous and know they were loved.

I was available to help her in any way that she needed. It might have been taking care of the home, taking her to the doctor, taking her to a fancy restaurant on Valentine's Day or Mother's day. Every time I began to feel like she was intruding upon my time, I remembered what she had sacrificed for me in so many different ways. So, I spent the rest of her life on Earth making amends for all the ingratitude, selfishness, arrogance, ignorance, and my own stupidity.

Remembering is what Moses asked the Israelites to do in the first reading. They were to recall all that God had done for them, how he had brought them through so many events from the time of Abraham to the present. By remembering, they were able to show Gratitude by offering their first fruits, not their last, not leftovers, but the Firstfruits.

What are we going through today? How do we need to remember what God has done for us in our lives? And rather than simply say THANKS! Let us show him by giving our fruits, whether that is our time, talents, or treasure.

Thanks be to God!

Ashes to Ashes, Funk to Funky

 Ash Wednesday-2022

You are dust, and unto dust, you shall return!

 Those are the words spoken as the ashes are spread upon our foreheads. They are supposed to remind us of our mortality, that we are going to die one day. It seems morbid, but it's true. As a priest for almost 22 years, I have learned some hard facts, and one of those facts is that we are NOT guaranteed tomorrow.

We think, especially the young, that we have all the time in the world. We don't give much thought to the end of our lives and what will happen after. Lent is supposed to remind us that life is short, and we should from time to time stop and reflect upon it, and make adjustments, repent in fact, change our choices, our behavior, our words, our sins.

Three ways that Jesus suggests that we do this are by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The very idea of these suggestions can be overwhelming, but I believe that the key to having a successful Lent, one in that we have changed for the better, become better Christians, is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Fasting doesn't have to be a major ordeal living on bread and water. We can find many little ways, manageable ways we can fast. Don't put cream in your coffee, don't put salt on your food, eat dry toast, instead of buttering it, watch one less TV show for Lent...These are small sacrifices, but you get the idea, if we take on something big we have a greater chance of giving up on it before the end of the season. Keeping it simple, we can be more successful.

Prayer can be simply reading some more scripture, using a reflection booklet, that many churches give out for the season, or just sitting quietly for 15 minutes having a conversation with Jesus in the privacy of our room or at church.

Almsgiving doesn't have to be writing a big check to a charity, it can be collecting the pocket change everyday and making sure we put it in the poor box at church on Sundays. Adding some extra items to our own shopping list, like peanut butter and jelly and dropping them off at a food cupboard, or volunteering some time at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter or our local church. Our time can be more valuable than our money at times.

Lent can be a beautiful season of the church reflecting on the sacrifices that Jesus did for us, dying on the cross. It should motivate us to change, to want to do better. If we KEEP IT SIMPLE  we will. God Bless!

Throwing some lumber around!

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time-Year C 

It is easier to criticize others and look at their faults and sins than mine. Instead, I would rather point the finger at you than take a cold hard look at myself and see where I need to change. If I can tear you down, I can feel better about myself... thank God I am not like You!

It is a lot of work to examine ourselves, and when we do, it is excruciating; we don't like what we see IF we actually see it. We can become quite blind when examining ourselves. 

I am essentially lazy. I don't want to put in the time to go through some spiritual exercises to improve myself. This Wednesday begins the Holy Season of Lent, and it is that time of year we love to "Give something up," but usually, it is trivial and meaningless for most people. Are we really better Christians at the end of Lent? For most, we are no better after than we were before. What did we really accomplish if we picked up where we left off before Lent began?

So, as I approach this season, maybe I can think about what I want to really change about myself; which sin is the most pressing? We all have our own bag of tricks, but what is mine? Is it Lust, or Anger, or Greed, or Laziness, or Gluttony, or Pride, or Envy?

These are just categories. I need to be watchful of all their minions, like sarcasm, flirting, wanting more of anything even though I am satisfied, being able to admit I am wrong. I could go on and on. I quickly realize that I don't just have a plank in my eye, but a whole darn forest.

So, as Lent approaches, maybe I will put down the spiritual tweezers to take out the splinter in your eye and fire up the chainsaw and work on my own lumber yard. God Help Me!

Better get a bigger boat!

 So many people tell me, “I am not worthy!” …to be a lector, an extraordinary minister of the eucharist…to be on pastoral council …or finance council or to get involved at all. The fact is, NO ONE is worthy. I am certainly not worthy of being a priest…in fact, my mother said on the day of my ordination, “my son had a better chance of winning the new york state lottery than becoming a priest."She knew my sinfulness, she knew my mistakes and wrong choices in my life. So did God and Jesus.

When we feel less than, when we have low self-esteem, when we feel that we aren’t enough, we somehow think that others feel the same way about us as if we had a sign saying stay away…unclean! But they don’t, especially God, and Jesus.

So we can identify with the characters of the readings who acknowledge that their sinfulness should disqualify them from working for and with the plan of salvation. Isaiah identifies his unclean lips, Paul identifies his persecution of the church, and Peter identifies his general sinfulness as why God and Jesus should stay away.

God and Jesus do the exact opposite; they move closer. Despite their sins, they are called to do specific jobs for the Kingdom: prophecy, build, and lead.

We are all sinners; we all have our bag of tricks that seem to disqualify us from working for the Kingdom, but that is simply untrue; it could even be seen as a cop-out to not do anything. We can try to push God and Jesus away, but that just seems to make them move closer because they know our heart, they know what our gifts and talents are even if we don’t, they call us to something more, something beyond what we think our limitations are, beyond our fears.

So, when we think God and Jesus are calling us beyond ourselves to something more remarkable for the Kingdom, it may be for our parish, it may be for the poor, it may be for anyone in need. Let us recognize that God and Jesus know us better than we do, and when they say "whom shall we send? " Let’s not say "get away, for I am a sinner"…let us say "here I am, send me!

- God bless!

Introducing The Fourth Magi Blog

Who is the Fourth Magi?

According to legend, he was part of the original group of three wise men but gets delayed because he stops to help a dying man and never catches up with the caravan. He actually never makes it to Bethlehem in time to see the baby Jesus and spends the next 33 years searching and finally arrives in Jerusalem as Jesus is being crucified. Because he had spent those 33 years helping others, he actually had met Jesus many times...for as Jesus says, "...what you have done unto the least brothers and sisters of mine, you have done unto me."

That is the purpose of this blog, to help the parishioners of Epiphany of Our Lord parish in South Philly encounter Jesus in the scriptures on their day-to-day journey, as I too search for Jesus in my life.

 I will undoubtedly challenge, motivate, persuade, or just give a word to ponder in the depths of our hearts.

This will be a learning experience for me. I am new to the blogging world, but not to the world of scripture, and I hope you will grow in your relationship with Jesus as you journey with me. Peace!

-Fr. Casey