Father Greg

A homily for Pentecost Sunday

Between the church and the parish office and the rectory. Here we have a nice patio. And the nannies and daycare people like to use it. They let the kids loose because it’s fenced and they sit in the entryway. The kids can play, and the nannies and the caregivers talk to each other. But what’s interesting is these nannies are from China and they don’t speak English.

Some are Latinas. They don’t speak English. Some are Anglos, and they just visit with each other even though they don’t speak the same language. How did they do this? They seem to enjoy each other’s company and even laugh together. I think it’s because language, they say, is communicated with a lot more than words. I think it’s like they say maybe 10% is words, 35% is tone of tone of voice, and 55% is body language, body posture.

So communication is a lot more than words. And so I wonder what’s happening at Pentecost. You know, the Holy Spirit has come upon the apostles, the mighty wind, the tongues of fire. They go out and everybody hears them speaking in their own language. But are they speaking the 35, 55 with exuberance, with joy, with energy, with fire, with love?

Is that what the people are hearing? It doesn’t matter the words. The words are the 10%. Is it the 35% and the 55% that is shot out of them in all directions? And that’s why people say they hear them in their own language. Saint Teresa of Avila says, “he teaches without the noise of words”. How does that happen? What is God doing when he teaches without the noise of words? Yes I think language, communication is a lot more than words. It’s gesturing love. It’s smiling. It’s its tone of voice. It’s all of this. And so that’s what I think is the reminder on this Pentecost is to communicate in our faith and our lives with energy and joy and laughter.

And, let that being the message of this Pentecost Sunday.

A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

Before I joined the Carmelites, this was quite a few years ago. My parents house needed some work, you know, new windows and maybe repair and some plaster and things like that. So I started to do that. Well, it turned out it’s an old farmhouse. Well, then it was 125 years old, and it really needed a lot of work, all new windows.

And so I’m thinking, well, let’s just repartition the rooms. New electrical, new plumbing. I learned a lot. My my uncle’s an electrician, so he taught me a lot as I just gave this house a complete redo. It was really kind of fun. And I learned a lot. How to bend conduit, how to sweat copper, all these kinds of tasks.

I was really happy when it was all done, but when I was working on it behind the kitchen cabinets, which my grandfather had built 75 years earlier, as I was taking them down. There was an envelope, so I grabbed the envelope and opened it. And it’s a note from my grandmother in Slovak and English, broken English. Talking about how they bought this house is during the depression. They’re worried about their family, but how much she loves the family. Beautiful testimonial. So when it was when I was finishing, I added to that note and put my note also in the envelope. And it’s now behind the cabinets, behind the wall and somebody may run into it 75, 100 years from now. But of everything I did I think that’s the most memorable was finding that note and that great testimonial of love.

It was almost like it was a time capsule of love. In today’s gospel, Jesus says, I go ahead to prepare a place for you. In my father’s house there are many mansions, and I extend that image, that metaphor, a little bit, because, yes, Jesus will build the house for us. Prepare a place for us. But who’s preparing the building supplies?

What supplies does Jesus use? Or where’s the conduit coming from? The copper pipe. The wire, the wood, the wallboard. It comes from us. I think the house is built with love. And the less we have, the more paltry the house, the more we have, the greater the house. Saint Teresa of Avila says, “God does not look on the greatness of our deeds, but only on the love with which they are done.”

I think when I found, that envelope, I said, wow, this is a testimonial of love. This house is built and founded on love. And that’s our goal is to build not a legacy to my greatness or my talent or or, you know, my abilities or my wealth or anything to build a legacy with only love. When Jesus goes ahead to prepare a place, the only building supplies he’s carrying with him is your love.

God does not look on the greatness of our deeds, but only on the love with which they are done.

A homily for the fourth Sunday in Easter

I’ve preached on this image before. This image of cats in the bathroom, over the sink, perched on the light fixture. What’s going on in this picture is that they’re trying to get away from me. What happened was, last year sometime, I noticed this very thin cat in the patio. So I put out food and then two cats in the patio.

I put out food, and Francisco said, I think they’re kittens. And I said, no, they’re not kittens. They were kittens. It ended up being a lot of cats, probably abandoned cats, people moving sad, but left and they are foraging now. So we trapped them all and took them to the SPCA who neutered them and gave them back. So you have to keep them till they’re healed.

And now. So I brought them in and they freaked out every time they came in the room because they’re, undomesticated. They’re unsocialized, they don’t know what people are. And so I would interact with them and as they got domesticated, socialized, I find new homes for them. We went from 11 down to to finally one. One was just not.

He just wasn’t getting it. Slow learner was, he would be mad at me. He would visit me. He would jump at me. He was not, adoptable, but I would feed him and I would hold, pet him with the stick, and he would hit his at the stick and beat at the stick. But it’s a stick.

And if you want to eat, you have to suffer through this thing. And he did. Eventually. He just ignored the stick. So one day I said, I’m going to feed him and pet him with my hand. I may lose my hand. After reattached at the hospital, I’m going to pet him with my hand instead of the stick. And he took and he accepted the my hand.

And from there he became my friend. He grew to like me. And here’s a shot of him playing with a ribbon. It became a domestic housecat. Adoptable? No, because with everybody else he will take your face off. But with me at least, he likes me and tolerates me. This, I think, is a good image for Jesus, the good Shepherd.

Today’s gospel. He says, my sheep recognize my voice. They hear me and they follow me. And I think, how do we recognize the shepherd’s voice? How do we recognize Jesus as shepherd? But spending quality time that cat got domesticated because I made that cat spend quality time with me. And I think that’s how we get to have recognized Jesus is great Shepherd, and they communicate with Jesus’s good Shepherd and eventually be in his arms as Jesus is good Shepherd

Teresa of Avila writes, “prayer means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” I think if we don’t take time in relationship with Jesus, in prayer, with Jesus, serving Jesus, being and reading his Word, or sharing his sacraments, we won’t recognize him when we need him. We won’t will be like the cat hiding on top of the the light fixtures in the bathroom instead of in his arms.

So that, I think, is the call of today’s gospel. Jesus is good Shepherd, but are we good listeners? Are we good sheep? Are we his sheep?

A homily for Easter Sunday

As Easter was approaching, I get a call from one of our guys who was very sick and couldn’t handle the parish. I was a teacher then, so I knew I was free and so yes, I’ll handle the parish for Holy Week. Even though I didn’t know the people. So it was Holy Thursday, which can be long. Good Friday, Holy Saturday, which is always very long.

And it was Easter Sunday morning. Three masses at the end of the first one, a family of adult kids comes in and talks to me. Mass had just let out, our father is dying. Can you come and anoint him? Give him last rites. And I looked at them and said, no, I can’t. We have two more masses. I’ve got two more masses.

I cannot come to anoint your father. Maybe this afternoon. Late, but not now. And so they left without, you know, I couldn’t go. I did the next two masses, and when it was over, I just wanted a cup of coffee in the worst way. I wanted a nap in the worst way. It’s a lot of work. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday, Sunday. And so. And I just know I’m not going to go there. I need a nap now. I worked hard. I deserve a break. No. I worked hard, I deserve a cup of coffee. But I thought the best of it. So I get in the car and put their address. They give me the address in my GPS and it takes me far out of town.

And I pull up and the whole family’s there waiting on the street like on the curb. I thought, oh no, he must have died. And they’re waiting for the coroner. But no, the I pull up and they say, oh, we’re waiting for you, father. I’m here. I’m glad I came. And they said, our dad has rallied, is not so near dead.

He’s actually feeling good. He asked to be carried outside. So we carried him and he’s in the backyard in the sun. So we walk around there and we’re just jabbering him, the kids, his adult kids and me. And all of a sudden he says, can I speak to you privately, father? So I said, sure. So I sent all these sons and daughters inside because I think it’s going to be confession.

And he says to me, I’m finally getting what life is all about. It’s about love. It’s not about career or big house or car or or duty or obligation. Only thing that matters is love. And I’ve never told my kids I love them and look at they’re taking good care of me. Yeah, I took care of them, they can presume I love them, but I never said.

And and I think that’s what life is about. Saying it, showing it, doing it, love and nothing else. And I smiled and said, this is living the resurrection now, is what I said to myself. This is what you know what Easter is all about? Easter joy. It’s not about resurrection at the end of life, only it’s not about Jesus’s resurrection, only.

It’s about living that resurrected life and day, living in his grace, his love, his direction, what he asks of us. That’s what I think. Teresa of Avila is getting at when she says to her, to herself, “what is it? oh, soul that you see, saved through love and love again and all on flame with love within. Love on. And turn to love again”. Easter joy. Happy Easter.

A homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

During the season of lent, I give up coffee, which means I’m going to be making tea. So heat up water and I usually use the microwave, heat it up to boiling and make my tea. Brother David says, why are you using that? That’s slow? Use the kettle. And I said, what kettle? There’s a kettle in that kitchen. I’ve never used it.

And he says it’s induction heating. I go, what’s induction heating? And he explains it uses magnets and it heats up the water very fast. So I tried it. Okay. We’ll use the kettle. I put two cups of water in the kettle

and two cups of water in the microwave. Let’s see which is more efficient. Microwave. I can understand how it works.

The kettle I don’t quite understand. So I timed it.

Sure enough, the kettle was much faster. A much better way of heating up water, and I could use the microwave from then on if I wanted to. But why? I have a better way of doing it. Either way is good. One is better. And I think that sums up this sermon on the mountain, these, teachings of Jesus.

He’s not saying the old teachings are wrong, but there are better. That’s why he says the law is not canceled. And, it’s he’s not come to abolish the law because the law works. But he has a better way. You know, treat people with respect instead of just as objects. You know, your spouse. People. Not just to be, abused for your pleasure or offer times go. You were told that. But what I teach you is when, for example, eye for an eye. Eye for an eye is a great law. Because before that, it was you. Touch me. I burned your house down. Eye for an eye is a much better law. But he says even has a better law. Do not return evil for evil or injury for evil.

Let it go that way. You’re not going to be resentful. That way you’re not going to be, escalating back and forth. Just let it go and your heart will be better. So that’s what these teachings of the, sermon of the Mount are. There’s a better way. You can do the old way, and it works, and it’s fine.

But there is even a better way. Saint Teresa of Avila writes, and she talks. And this is about the four waters, about four different ways of praying. And she writes, it seems the garden can be watered in four ways. You may draw water from a well or by means of a water wheel, or it may flow from a river or a stream, or the water may be provided by a great deal of rain.

Each of those ways of watering the garden is fine. It’s good, but each is better. I think that’s what Jesus is getting in. There are better ways. The old ways are good, but this way is even better.

A homily for the fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I’m gonna ask my phone a series of questions. Hey, Siri, tell me a joke. If you get heartburn every time you eat a birthday cake. Try taking the candles off. Hey, Siri, tell me a joke. I love playing tricks on vampires. They’re such suckers. In today’s gospel, we have Jesus saying you are the salt of the earth.

You are the light of the world. What is this? And you know it. Interesting. If the salt, loses its flavor, it’s good for nothing to be thrown up. What is this? Salt? That adds to life that we’re supposed to be. I think it’s humor. Humor makes life so much better. Humor makes life enjoyable. Humor makes the day short and wonderful.

I think the the. We’re supposed to be people of humor. And evidence of this is. Oh, this is a few years ago. The Carmelites called a meeting of their vocation directors. The recruiters and former vocation directors and people they thought would be vocation directors, recruiters in the future. That’s how I got involved. And there was one question. The moderator began with pencils on a piece of paper to everybody and said, write the ten qualities you want in a prospect you know vocation candidate, the ten top qualities you put on some music, mural thinking and writing down our ten qualities.

At the end of that, he had each person read what they wrote. You know, qualities of prayerful nuance or faithfulness or generosity or kindness. And he’d rate their qualities what they said on the board whiteboard. And if there was a repeat, he put a checkmark after that one. And then when it was all done, everybody had read their pieces of paper, he said, now let’s look at.

He turned to the whiteboard. He says, let’s look to see which is the top quality. The Carmelites are looking for the prospect. And he said, wow, you guys. The top quality was really interesting was sense of humor. That’s the quality most of the guys wrote, and I think he said, that’s a very good quality. You’d never had that before in this kind of workshop.

And he thought it was a really good sign. And so it’s what I think sense of humor is important. They say Saint Teresa of Avila had a great sense of humor one time. She’s a and a carriage going from place to place, and it’s raining and the carriage is crossing a stream. It gets stuck in the mud, so she has to get out.

And when she gets out, she slips and falls into the mud. And she looks up to heaven and says, Lord, if this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few that just one of the example of many of her jokes. I won’t go into them, but I think that the zest, the salt, the light of the world we’re called to be. Not to take ourselves too seriously, not to take the world too seriously, not to take the neighbor too seriously, but to have a joyful heart, a rejoicing heart, a mirth filled heart, a humor filled heart.

A homily for the fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Hello, faithful. My sister is an R.N., and every now and then, she’ll suggest some things to me. Like she says, she will introduce me to probiotics. Boy were those good. And she said the probably the best over-the-counter thing you can take is magnesium. It’ll help you sleep. Boy, is that good. Her third suggestion was a ten second body exercise.

Just 10s, she said. Hold one foot up off the floor for 10s, then hold the other foot off the floor for 10s. So it’s the 20 second exercise, and she says it’ll do wonders. It helps your balance, helps your stride, and it even helps your memory. Like I oftentimes say, I have a 35 second memory. People say, who’s like this was at table last night. Who’s the director of our seminary in El Salvador? And I said, I don’t know, but I’ll know in 35 seconds because the memory takes that long sometimes to pop in. And she says this exercise will shorten that. So all it is, is you pick up one foot and hold it in the air for 10s. It helps the brain, helps the balance, helps the stride, helps the posture.

10s. And so I can do that. So 12345678.

I’m trying I’m trying. Well, this I think is going on in today’s gospel. It’s an exercise we’re beginning the great sermon on the Mount. Jesus is great sermon. And I think it’s all about just transformation into a new creation. And it starts with the Beatitudes and the Beatitudes, I think are almost like when you read, you know, in a textbook, the introduction.

By the end of this chapter, the students should be able to. And that’s the Beatitudes. By the end of this chapter, by the end of the students, sermon on the Mount, the students should be able to live poverty. Spirit should be a peacemaker, should be merciful, should be compassionate, should be tolerant of persecution. This is the end result.

It’s not the beginning. The Beatitudes introduces what this sermon will do. And it’s like, if you can do these ten seconds, you will be greatly improved. If you can do this exercise, this spiritual exercise of trying to be merciful or trying to be compassionate or trying to be a peacemaker, just a little thing to, turn the other cheek or, walk the other way, or reach out in compassion or be generous or just a little bit. It will grow. You’ll be able to hold one foot off the ground for five minutes. I suspect if you did it every day, it’s the same with these, these and these ideas in the sermon on the Mount. We do them every day, just a little bit. We will grow to be great spiritual beings. Like this. Exercise is for one’s physical self.

The Beatitudes is for one’s spiritual self. Saint Teresa writes, we ought to thank the Lord who makes us desirous of pleasing him, even though our works be weak. Of course the works be weak, but if we do them every day, they get stronger and stronger and stronger. If I can hold one foot up off the ground for 10s a day, my brain will get stronger and stronger and stronger.

I think there’s a great parallel here. So we ought to thank the Lord who makes us desirous of pleasing him, even though our works be weak.

A homily for the third Sunday in Ordinary Time

For the feast of Saint Gregory the Great, which is in September. The passage from Office of Readings, part of the Breviary, part of the liturgy of the hours, is really good. It’s something written by Saint Gregory, and he’s riffing on his name, Gregory, which means watchful. And he says he’s far from watchful. He’s busy in the monastery, he’s a Benedictine, and he finds himself gossiping all of a sudden and gossiping mean.

Or when he’s pope, he’s expecting, you know, the best food, the best. And he says, it’s just he finds he’s not watchful at all, and he’s got to be more watchful. That’s why he takes the name servant of the servants instead of Lord of Lords or anything. I think that same kind of riffing on the name is what’s happening in today’s gospel.

We have Jesus along the shores of the sea of Galilee, and he sees Simon and Andrew and says, come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. We think it’s just follow him and you’ll be evangelizing. But I think he’s riffing on the name Andrew. Andrew, like the word androgynous or, And it means just the man.

And so when he says, I will make you fishers of men, he’s actually saying, I will make you fishers of the man. He’s saying, I’m going to make you fishers of yourself. If you follow me, you’re going to catch yourself. You’re going to learn yourself. You’re going to be fully yourself. And I think Saint Teresa of Avila says this very well.

Jesus comes to her and she says, what’s the point of prayer? And he says, you will find yourself in me and you will find me in yourself. It’s just like journey. The more we know ourselves, we journey into ourselves. The more we learn Jesus, but the more we learn Jesus and His law and his ways and his commands and his gospel, the more we learn of ourselves.

It’s like a spiral of more. Find yourself in me. Find me in yourself. Find yourself in me. Find me in yourself. Higher and higher. We can think of it as closer and closer. Find yourself in me. Find me in yourself. Find yourself in me. Find yourself me in yourself. Till you’re one. You’re so close. That’s the mystical marriage.

So I think that’s what Jesus is offering. Simon and Andrew and James and John before they can become fishers of humanity. They’ve got to be fishers of themselves.

A homily for the Baptism of Jesus

At Halloween time, I carved a pumpkin into a jack o lantern and I texted that out to my friends, including Ryan, newly ordained guy, and he texted back him in his Halloween costume. And it was a jacket, like a hoodie. That’s at six seven and he has a stole on and he’s carrying, oils in his hands, and he says he is doing the anointing of the sick seven.

So I texted back, I don’t know what that means. I texted back, I’m a bit lost in the imagery. Just give each a scapular and that will get them into heaven. Playing off the anointing thing. He texted back. Six seven is a meme. Popular among the teens. So it’s a play on words and theological sacramental allusion of anointing of the sick seven, because the sacrament is called anointing of the sick. So six seven and the meme is like, you just do this and six and you say, six, seven. What does it mean? I don’t think anybody knows what it means. I bring this up as we’re celebrating the baptism of Jesus. What does it mean? Because oftentimes we think baptism is the washing away of sin.

Jesus is sinless. Why would he do that? But baptism is more. It all comes from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans. Saint Paul, after the soul saw incident, is baptized, but he isn’t told what it means, so he thinks about it. Well, last time he was all wet. He was getting clean. So maybe it’s the washing away. Not of dirt of sin.

The first time he was all wet and people looked at him. He was being born. So he says, well, it could be like being born again. And then he’s, you know, he’s a seafarer or that’s why he’s traveling around the Mediterranean in a boat. Could it be like burial? Burial at sea. Just drop the body in a baptism because they bury the baptized by immersion.

And so it was like being buried. And then you come out again. Resurrection could be like that. And he says, every time I enter a building, I wash my feet and hands. It was the custom made. So maybe it’s just entering a building. The building of the church. So he has a lot of ideas. What baptism means. What is it?

Which is it? I think it’s all of them. So six. Seven. We don’t know what it means. It means anything to anybody. But it’s a powerful meme for youngsters. Especially because it means they belong. They’re the in-group. They are there. I think that ultimately is what baptism means. We belong. We’re here. We’re. We are the in-group. Maybe that’s why Jesus chose to be baptized.

To be part of us. With us. Journeying with us. I don’t know what Jesus would do with six seven, but I think he loves baptism. Saint Teresa of Avila says, in this house, all are friends, all are loved, all are helped, all are held dear. And that’s what baptism does, It brings us into that house. And that’s what we celebrate today.