We’re taking a little family vacation for the Independence Day holiday. Posting will be a little scarce.
I wish everyone the best for a safe, reflective, and family oriented holiday.
Przez zasługi, prace i modlitwy, przez prośby i kości patronów i apostołów Stowiańszczyzny, uproś nam u Boga N.P. Marjo, Matko litościwa, odpuszczenie win naszych, abyśmy służąc Ci, Bogu się podobali w życiu i przy zgonie. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, —Who has touched my clothes?—
How many times have we heard magical stories, stories where a person is imbued with tremendous, mysterious, magical powers?
In those stories the magician or the genie reaches a point where their power is simply no more. They’ve expended what they had. The genies’ three wishes are gone —“ he can give no more. Harry Potter stands emptied of his power and couldn’t even conjure a candy bar after expending his energy. I’m sure you can fill in other stories from your memory.
In today’s Gospel we hear something that may cause us to leap to that conclusion, ‘[the] power had gone out from Him.’ Had Jesus been mysteriously reduced? Was his mojo gone? This is tragic, he’s on his way to cure a very sick little girl and this woman steals His power!
Look at the whole story. What do the story of Jarius’ daughter and the woman cured of a hemorrhage have in common?
They have acts of faith in common.
The woman with a hemorrhage stole nothing from Jesus. What she did was to give a gift. She gave her faith to Jesus and she showed her people what the gift of faith in Jesus can accomplish.
Jesus is God. He cannot be reduced in power or stature because He is, in Himself, everything.
Jesus confirms the gift of healing bestowed on the woman by stopping and allowing her to publicly profess her faith. She took Jesus up on his offer and stood forth among all the people of that community, who certainly thought she was cursed, and she professed her faith.
Now if you were Jarius what would you be thinking? Get this woman out of our way? Jesus, she’s cured, let’s hurry up. Jesus, my daughter!!!
As Jarius is standing there, maybe a little relieved that Jesus is almost done with this woman’s problem, his householders appear. They were pretty matter-of-fact:
—Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?—
Jarius is devastated, Jesus, undiminished and not fazed in the least says, ignore them, let’s go, have faith.
Again we see a profession of faith. We see the gift of faith Jarius is giving to Jesus. Jarius is saying that death does not diminish my faith in what You can do Lord.
Jarius had a lot to loose in showing faith in Jesus. He was a synagogue official, most likely part of the Pharisee party. As you know, they didn’t get along with Jesus. Jarius also had stature before the public and in his household. Yet he was able to give all of that up in an instant. Maybe he remembered the passage from Wisdom:
God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.
If I go to God in faith all will be well. If I trust in Jesus, even death can be overcome.
Fr. Phil Bloom, in a homily on the same subject, drew an interesting observation about Snow White and her prince. We understand and love this story. Good and evil, life and death, and overcoming death through love, it is all there. The dwarves who are symbols of faith, who endured the death of their princess, await her savior.
If the story of Snow White can be so endearing, if this story can engender so much hope and joy in us, how much more will we experience when we embrace the reality of Jesus.
If I go to God in faith all will be well. If I trust in Jesus, even death can be overcome.
[dels]blogs4god/sermons[/dels]
Oddal od nas Jezu Chryste brzydką hardość, upór w nałogach grzechowych, brudną zawziętość i mściwość, a uczyń nas wiernymi naśladowcami twej pokory, i łagodności przez przyczynę św. Rumolda. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.
Ralph ‘Bucky’ Phillips escaped from jail in Western New York approximately four days before he was to be released. He was incarcerated on a parole violation. After his escape he allegedly shot a NY State Trooper, wounding him during a traffic stop. Phillips has a lengthy record, mostly for burglary.
Today’s Buffalo News ran a story about a priest, the Rev. Patrick Elis of Immaculate Conception R.C. Church who has stepped in to offer Mr. Phillips sanctuary.
I admire Fr. Elis’ effort. It is at once fearless and in keeping with the best in Christian practice. Wikipedia has a great article on the concept of sanctuary and Right of asylum as practiced up through the 17th century (at least in England). As government becomes more and more intrusive maybe we should bring the concept back.
Here is an except from the Buffalo News article Priest offers Phillips sanctuary: Says fugitive can avoid bloodshed with surrender
CASSADAGA – As a police helicopter kept buzzing circles over a heavily wooded area off Route 60, the local priest offered a peaceful solution Thursday to the around-the-clock hunt for fugitive Ralph “Bucky” Phillips.
“I would like to make our rectory a safe haven for him to give himself up,” the Rev. Patrick Elis said. “With the army of police officers [hunting for him], he may be terribly frightened and intimidated. If he showed up at our back door, I could arrange for him to have a safe place to give himself up.”
The back of Elis’ church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on North Main Street, looks out at the large wooded area being combed by dozens of state troopers Thursday, following a day when police confirmed three sightings of the fugitive Phillips.
“My concern, as the priest in this community, is that there be no bloodshed, that the gentleman not be injured, the police not be injured and the people not be injured, that this ends peacefully,” Elis added.
Boże, który słowami świętego Pawła apostola pogańskie narody oświeciłeś, racz nam dać uczuć w dniu narodzenia jego do życia wiecznego skutków jego opieki nad nami. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.
Książe Apostołów, św. Piotrze! Opoko niewzruszona, na której Chrystus zbudował swój kościół, uproś mi u Boga, żywą wiarę, mocną nadzieję, miłość doskonałą, wzgardę świata, cierpliwość w przeciwnościach. Amen.
Wszechmogący wieczny Boże, za przyczyną błogosławionych męczenników Benedykta i towarzyszy udziel nam tej łaski, abyśmy wiarę Chrystusa serdecznie ukochali, według jej przepisów pobożnie żyli i zasłużyli sobie na wieczne z nimi towarzystwo w niebie. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.
Fr. Rob Johansen from Thrown Back posted a homily for the R.C. Feast of St. John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr and St. Thomas More, Martyr. It’s a great read and very pertinent as it ties in the recent persecution of a Catholic in Maryland (ironic isn’t it). Here’s an excerpt:
The King’s Good Servant, But God’s First…
Last week, an official of the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Washington, D.C. was fired by the governor of Maryland. The Metro Transit Authority runs the subway and bus mass-transit system in Washington, D.C. and its suburbs. This official wasn’t fired because he was incompetent. He wasn’t fired because he was doing a bad job. He wasn’t fired because of corruption, or any other misconduct. He wasn’t even fired because of budget cuts or other financial problems. No, he was fired because, on a local cable tv talk show, he expressed an opinion. He described homosexual activity as “sexual deviancy”, and stated that he held this opinion as part of his Roman Catholic faith.
The story of Mr. Robert Smith’s firing by the governor of Maryland has been making its way around the blogsphere since this occurred. Here’s an excerpt from the original Baltimore Sun article: Ehrlich appointee fired over remark. Transit official equates gay lifestyle with deviancy
WASHINGTON // Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. fired one of his appointees to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority yesterday after the board member asserted on a local cable talk show that homosexuals lived a life of “sexual deviancy.”
The termination came a few hours after Metro board member Robert J. Smith, an architect and unsuccessful Republican candidate for the General Assembly from Montgomery County, was publicly confronted by a transit board colleague. Board member Jim Graham, a District of Columbia councilman who is openly gay, called on Smith to disavow his remarks or resign during yesterday’s regular meeting of the panel, which oversees Metro business.
Graham said he was gratified that Ehrlich decided to replace Smith. Earlier in the day, Smith said that he stood by his beliefs, which he said stemmed from his Roman Catholic faith, and insisted that he would not resign unless ordered by the governor.
“Governor Ehrlich got it; Mr. Smith was clueless until the end,” Graham said. “This is serious. To defend this point of view is beyond the pale. And so I think Governor Ehrlich got that very clearly, very quickly. So I appreciate his action.”
Ah, Mr. Graham, deviancy has caused your brain to go soft. Mr. Smith is not clueless, just faithful. He is faithful to God. You on the other hand are faithful only to your lifestyle.
We could easily call you on the public carpet for only representing one point of view now couldn’t we? Anyone can say that defending your point of view is beyond the pale. Be careful of the house of cards you build by persecuting people for their beliefs, that house could fall down around you.
For all interested please contact Governor Ehrlich. I’m sure he’d listen to other points of view (uh, yeah…).
Also, see the First Things article on this issue by editor Joseph Bottum who writes in part:
Even among those who preach toleration most loudly, genuine toleration is often scarce once the power to be intolerant has been gained. One of the many wonders of the American experiment is that the American people, throughout most of our history and with some shameful exceptions, have been astonishingly tolerant even of those who disagreed most flagrantly with the majority’s values. There is no guarantee, however, that such generous toleration will continue.
An excerpt from the Buffalo News’ reporting on Warren Buffet’s ‘generosity’: The Buffett beneficence
Until Monday, Buffett’s donations largely were directed through the Buffett Foundation, which he formed more than 40 years ago. The name was changed in 2005 to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation in honor of his wife, who contributed $2.1 billion upon her death.
Many of the foundation’s grants have gone to organizations promoting population control, reproductive health, family planning – including Planned Parenthood – and the elimination of nuclear weapons.
You can see the way the rich think when charity they perform…
Keep the poor away from me (abortion, population control) so that there are more resources for —“ me. Also, make sure that the poor who remain stay healthy and don’t get nuked because: a.) I don’t want them getting me sick and b.) I want them healthy and at work.
I have to give Warren Buffet a hearty thank you on behalf of all the babies being flushed. They will never have a chance to enjoy and praise his beneficence.
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”