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Father Raymond Finch

"Don't worry. Be happy!"
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"...be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another [in] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything..."​

~ Ephesians 5:18, 19, 20
Dear Deacon Nguyen,

Do you believe that there is always something to be thankful for?
Some people don't or can't, for some reason. They live their lives stuck in Good Friday, never getting to Easter Sunday. You know the type; it's hard to be around them. They want to burden you with their heaviness. They can't say anything positive about the life that God has given them.

Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) references these "Debbie Downers" by saying, "One of the more serious temptations which stifles boldness and zeal is a defeatism which turns us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists, 'sourpusses.'" In the Pope's original Spanish version of the text, the words sourpuss translates to "vinegar face". Isn't that an apt description? These people look like they just swallowed a cupful of vinegar!

So, instead of drinking wine to get us into a euphoric state, St. Paul suggests we get "under the influence" of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit will lift us up, and cause us to encourage others. The revelry that the apostle speaks of is not religiosity...it's the joy of the Lord. And as believers in the Resurrected One, we have much to celebrate!

"How can I do this when the weight of the world is on my shoulders", you might ask? Keep a "Thank you, Lord" list. It's amazing. Once you start writing about all that the Lord has done in your life, all His many gifts and blessings, I promise you'll get writer's cramp!

Prayer for 20th Sunday in Ordinary time​

I need You Lord, to be my light
as I deal with so many people
who dwell in darkness and
the shadow of death.

Keep Your grace burning brightly
within my heart and soul
as I encounter those for whom
life seems an unbearable burden.

Let me be ever mindful of Your
Last Supper on earth
when facing a most cruel and
horrible death on a cross
You took bread, broke it, and
gave thanks.

Help me be thankful, Lord,
even when things don't go well
or my way but rather
let me be Your victory
even in the darkest hour.

Amen.

~ Father Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.
Dinh, we cannot proclaim the Gospel with vinegar faces. But we can by speaking of the goodness of God, of His mercy, and of how He works EVERYTHING for good for those who love Him and are called to His purposes. Breaking into song in worship of Him helps an awful lot too. Try it. You might like it.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Raymond J. Finch, M.M.

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GƯƠNG CHA GIÀ THỜI XƯA

2018-07-28

Đây là gương sáng cực kỳ của vị Cha Già thời xa xưa, và là tấm gương cho LM Việt Nam chúng ta thời nay học hỏi. Cách đây gần một Tuần được Phụ Lễ với GM Đinh Đức Đạo.

Ngài chia sẻ lời thật trước khi kết lễ khi nhận quà của Giáo Xứ VN nơi tôi sống. Ngài đã dành hết những số tiền biếu tặng Ngài mà không dùng cho cá nhân...ngay cả vé máy bay cũng là do Chị và Con Cháu Ngài đài thọ. Còn tài vất của Tín Hữu thì Ngài đem về phân phát cho Cụ Ômg cụ Bà già nua ốm đau bệnh hoạn. Thế mà một hôm Ngài gặp một Cụ Ông kia rất đáng thương. Tưởng rằng cần Ngài giúp đỡ. Ai dè Cụ Ông cụ Bà biếu Ngài phong bì mở ra 20 triệu đồng tương đương 1 Ngàn Đô. Ngài khó có thể chấp nhận lấy tiền của người già dành dụm. Ngài bảo cụ cất đi phòng thân. Nhưng Cụ Ông nài Ngài thay cho mình cứu giúp những người kém may mắn...

Đó, ấy mới thật là Cha và là GM hiền thánh đức. Nào chúng ta hãy cầu nguyện cho các vị LM chủ chăn hay trong thiên chức không thâm lạm của dâng cúng mà đi khắp nơi chu du thưởng ngoạn hay dùng công quỹ cho bản thân mình. Đó là việc chúng ta phải luôn cầu cho qúi Ngài trong lời nguyện mỗi khi nghĩ về các Ngài.

Phó Tế Vĩnh Viễn Đaminh Vũ quang Minh cghuyển gởi qúi bạn xa gần và cùng tỉnh thức khi làm công tác bác ái mục vụ. Amen

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"...People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat."​

~ Mark 6:31
Dear Deacon Nguyen,

When was the last time you had dinner together as a family?
There has never been a dearth of families having dinner together on television. The Walton's, Little House on the Prairie, The Brady Bunch....

I think the reason is that we're all hungry for stories about the idyllic family—even if they're not real.

We long for that white-picket-fence-Currier-and-Ives home, where everyone gathers harmoniously around the table. But do we take the time for the imperfect family that God gave us, whether biological or adopted?

According to legend, Anna and Joachim were Jesus' grandparents. Anna was barren and prayed to the Lord to give her a child as He had given Sarah in her old age. Joachim was also grieved about their childlessness, and fasted 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. Then angels of the Lord appeared to them saying that God would bless them with their hearts' desire. The child born to this faithful couple became the Blessed Mother.

Her parents loved Mary deeply and performed all their religious and parental duties, becoming the patron saints of grandparents by exemplifying the older generation.

I promise there is a thread with today's Scripture...

We're all so busy in 2018; I see it everywhere. Parents shuffling kids off to activities while balancing their home and work lives. Kids stressed out by their overscheduled and technologically-absorbed days. Grandparents trying to keep up with the warp speed of today's pace. So we sometimes get overwhelmed by everything we have to do and lose precious moments, such as those spent with family.

Prayer for 16th Sunday in Ordinary time​

A Time to Share

On the night of Your Last Supper,
Lord Jesus, you made a meal
Your everlasting memorial
of Your love and sacrifice.

Consecrate our times together
when we gather with friends
and family to break bread and
share fellowship with one another.

Let each meal be sacred
as we recall comm with You
and make us ever mindful of those
who dine alone or who have
no one to care for them.
In Your Holy Name we pray.

Amen.

~ Father Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.
Dinh, even the disciples were so busy after our Lord had sent them out to preach and heal that they didn't have an opportunity to eat! They needed time for rest and refreshment. And so do we. The moments are fleeting; we mustn't let them pass us by. Have dinner with your family today.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Raymond J. Finch, M.M.

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Jul 9 at 7:44 AM
"I thought I knew you."

"Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?..."​

~ Mark 6:3
Dear Deacon Nguyen,

Can we be open to seeing God's presence in those nearest to us?
In my pastoral care role, I often counseled people who were disappointed in loved ones.

Disappointed in their life choices or in a behavior they found offensive.

It's funny, this phenomenon called "expectation". We all struggle with it. We don't expect—and oftentimes don't accept—growth or change in the people we know.

I can just see Jesus wowing the crowds in the Nazareth synagogue with His knowledge of Scripture, and the congregants and teachers being so astonished by His wisdom. But instead of marveling in the apparent change in the carpenter they had known, they were offended by His teaching. He was a prophet without honor.

Did you catch that they called him the "son of Mary"? That was telling. You see, in Jesus' day it was very unusual to refer to anyone as the son of his mother. And they also mentioned His brothers...but they never mentioned Joseph. His fellow Nazarenes were judging Jesus.

Wasn't he one of them? They thought they knew Him. After all, He probably played with their sons. He probably made a piece of furniture that was in their homes. He was the carpenter. He was the son of Mary. He couldn't possibly change into this wise-beyond-comprehension human being that they couldn't recognize!

Prayer for 14th Sunday in Ordinary time​

O God You who left us so many challenges to our comfortable ways of thinking and behaving in the preaching and healing ministry of Jesus. He amazed so many because they had narrow eyesight and taut heart strings, with no way to take in the wonders of this neighborhood boy and young man, now gone to preaching strange things. May this week's message shudder us a bit so as to see ourselves also in the very constricted image that we often presume in Jesus' recalcitrant hearers. May His Spirit help us to be free from our petty ways of looking at others around us.

Amen.

~ Father John P. Martin, M.M.
Dinh, I want to challenge us both today. Can we let those we know be more than we thought them to be? Can we allow them to change? And perhaps most importantly, can we take the time to see the gift of God in them?

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Raymond J. Finch, M.M.

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