Daily Mass Readings 12/02/2014 or P.D.O. Productions Presents, The Twelve Apostles; A One Man Show!

"Turning to the disciples in private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” -Luke 10:21-24

12/02/2014 Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

Jesus was telling his disciples that they were witnessing world changing history. They had front row seats to the prophecies that had been anticipated for thousands of years among their people. But in a lot of ways, his words fell on deaf ears with them. You see, even though the disciples believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, even their group was subject to some of the same human frailties that we see today.

We hear stories about ambitious disciples jockeying for position around Jesus when he would take his throne as king. I have no doubt that there was gossiping and private conversations behind Jesus' back questioning his leadership in moments of doubt. We hear of an over-zealous Peter cutting off the ear of one of the guards sent to arrest Jesus. And of course, there is Judas' ultimate betrayal in the garden for thirty pieces of silver.

As we prepare our hearts for the baby of Bethlehem's arrival at Christmas, let's use this Advent to clear out the same junk that plagued these disciples. I know I have been every one of them at one time or another. I have tried to exult myself like the brothers jockeying for their place by the throne. I have had conversations that I would not have had if they were face to face with the person I was talking about. I have been so zealous in my defense of the faith that I have injured others. And every time I willingly choose sin I betray Christ. I have a good friend who told me one day that we are the scourging pillar; our sins are the stripes on his back. My friend is very well read so I apologize if he read it somewhere and I missed a footnote, but as far as I'm concerned, I heard it from him. But in those moments of sin we betray Jesus many more times than Judas.

So I will try to be child like and innocent in my belief without the grown-up jealousy, envy, greed and pride. I will enjoy the season for its own sake and savor every moment I can. You try as well, and let me know how it goes.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 11/26/2014 or Have I Got a Deal for You!

"They will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
and they will have you led before kings and governors
because of my name.
It will lead to your giving testimony.
Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute." -Luke 21:12-15

11/26/2014 Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time

Wow! Does that Jesus know how to sell himself or what?

"Follow me and I can almost guarantee that after being poor and wandering around trying to explain your relationship with me to other people, many of whom don't have time for me or even despise me, I can just about guarantee you that you will die a torturous awful death!" Sign me up!

 Yes, following Jesus was not going to be a bowl of cherries. I suppose he figured he should tell them right off so that they wouldn't be surprised later on. The persecution that Jesus spoke of was not the 'Oh my Gaawwd! Did you hear that the school board put "Holiday" break on the calendar instead of Christmas break?". It was a persecution leading to a slow and a painful death

I sometime think that our culture and the media therein, are set on fomenting so much conflict that it all gets out of hand. And soon people are dying or there are businesses burned down or looted because their faaaaaavorite news station happened to come on the air and that guy.... you know, that guy...... the guy with the awesome hair! He just told us that we should be outraged! Soon, someone gets hurt or someone dies and the next cycle of the outrage factory begins again. In the end, nothing is solved. When our outrage has such a low threshold or is so wildly out of perspective, we only damage ourselves and real persecution when it comes along. Actual issues that need fixing are marginalized as 'those people' just wanting to complain again and in the end, as I said, nothing gets solved.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 11/25/2014 or Hmm, That's Funny, This Polaroid Looked so Nice a Few Minutes Ago...

“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!" -Luke 21:8

11/25/2014 Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

We live in a time that is rife with false prophets. Some engage in misleading twisting of God's word (or the Pope's) to force it to fit their agenda. Some merely slap the label of 'Catholic' on themselves and then rally against all that the Church teaches. Almost all of us, to some extent, proclaim our Christianity on the outside and in public, but then behind closed doors or while driving on the highway are the furthest thing from the image of our Lord.

It is important that we do not become that false prophet misleading people. We become false prophets not only in what we say, but also in the times when we keep silent. There are a lot of places in our culture where it is easy for Christians to be quiet and go along to get along. But remember, whatever we intentionally do or intentionally ignore is a type of witness. And if we call ourselves Christian, then it is a witness to what Christians believe. Trust me, there is a lot of misinformation about what we believe (especially as Catholics), the last thing we need to do is to sit by silently letting the distorted perceptions of false prophets carry on.

We are the hands and feet, eyes and ears, hearts and yes, voices of the body of Christ. Let's do our best to image Him with compassion, mercy, strength and love. Only then will our witness to the truth resemble in even a small way, the beauty of our King.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 11/24/2014 or A Poor Widow Puts in Her Two Cents and Buys Herself a Kingdom

"He said, “I tell you truly,
this poor widow put in more than all the rest;
for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.” Luke 21:3-4

11/24/2014 Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs

Jesus is impressed by the donation of the poor widow, obviously, not for the monetary value, but because of the fact that she sacrificed something so that she could help others. For all she knows the people who were receiving alms were not as bad off as she was, but she gave from her heart to help someone who needed it.

The wealthy were putting in, most likely, more money. But for them it was just extra. They were going to eat just fine that night, they made sure of that. And in other gospel stories Jesus talks about how they would have a horn blown before them, attracting attention as they approached to make their donation.

No doubt, we all know people of both types today. The difference between them comes down to sacrifice. Knowing and trying to emulate Jesus involves sacrifice. As we move through Thanksgiving and head toward Christmas, many of us will be approached to help out charities with different missions and messages. If the only thought you give to the poor is when you're scrambling for write-offs at tax time or when you want to get some good PR for your company to get out of a jam, then you're missing the point of giving to the poor in the first place. Jesus asks us to be like him, to suffer so that others can be saved. Only he was able to do that on a spiritual level, giving up his life so that we could live eternally. To resemble Jesus, the closest that we can come is if we give up some of our "needs" so that others can have their actual, non-sarcastic-quotated, needs met.

I need to re-evaluate some of what I consider needs. Because when I'm going to buy a sub for lunch and it's going to cost me $10, maybe I could give more to the New Hampshire Food Bank and bring a peanut butter sandwich from home. It's a start, right?

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 11/21/2014 or Too Bad Paganini Signed a Contract With the Devil, He Could Have Held out for a Covenant With God.

"I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
How sweet to my taste is your promise!" Ps. 119: 131, 103

11/21/2014: Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Responsorial Psalm for today juxtaposes praise for God's commands with the repeating line that His promise is sweet to taste. It is an interesting interplay between the two because so often we see God's word and commands as an arbitrary list of rules. Do good or else you get punished! But the truth is that God's commands are a covenant. Christopher West often points out in his talks about marriage and the Theology of the Body that people often talk about marriage as 'dating (or living together), with a contract'. He then goes on to say that marriage is not a contract, but a covenant and the difference between a contract and a covenant is that a contract is all about what you GET OUT of it and a covenant is all about what you PUT INTO it.

God's word has always been given in the sense of a covenant where He is our God and we are His people. His commands have been put forth as an example of what we put into our relationship with Him to become closer to Him. What God promises to put into the relationship is peace, comfort, strength (when needed) and, in His covenant sealed with Jesus' blood, mercy and everlasting life.

So of course I am yearning for His commands. I want to know what I need to put into my relationship with God to grow ever closer to Him. The opportunity to put my all into that covenant is what makes His word more precious than any treasure.

"Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

 -John 6:68

God Bless,

P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings: 11/20/2014 or Sometimes Jesus is a Self-centered Arrogant Jerk! And We Need to Love Him Then Too.

"They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." -Luke 19:44

Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

So I don't want to make a big deal about writing again and say I swear that this time I will try to be more consistent, blah, blah, blah. But at the same time I don't want to ignore the fact that it's been a while since I posted. So, there it is. I know it's been a while since I posted and in an attempt to improve my prayer life (again), I am going to try to be more consistent.

Today's Gospel reading from Luke paints a picture of Jesus approaching Jerusalem, just outside of the city, when he stops and is struck with grief for the city itself. He warns that because they do not realize the gift that is coming to their city, the people will not find the peace that they are seeking.  Remember, Jesus came into their city and taught. He spoke to the crowds, exercised authority in the temple and he was a hero to them. At least he was at the beginning of the week.

But the people of Jerusalem didn't realize that they were being visited by the Messiah. They didn't recognize Jesus and peace eluded them.

How often does Jesus come to us and we don't recognize him? For Jerusalem, Jesus walked their streets in person and the consequences of not recognizing him were dire. But Jesus tells us that what we do to the least among us, we do unto him. He is present to us in everyone we meet. Do we treat everyone that way? Of course we don't. We don't see Jesus in everyone. They may be ragged, homeless or struggling and we marginalize them because they make us uncomfortable. This is the example we are familiar with when it comes to seeing Jesus in everyone. Let's not forget that everyone means.... well, everyone. So that guy in a business suit coming off as self-centered and arrogant, we need to show him love too. That person who just got in your face and went up one side of you and down the other showing no love or compassion to you....yup, we need to show her love too. For me, I don't have so much trouble seeing Jesus in people who need help, they are usually humble and asking for compassion. My biggest challenge is the people who trigger my anger or try to make me feel small. Those are the people I have a hard time seeing Jesus in, and sometimes, I am one of them.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 10/23/2014 or This is War Christian Soldiers! Now Get out There and Establish a University System!

"Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division." -Lk. 12:49-51

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week of Ordinary Time

Oftentimes, people think of Jesus as a pacifist who would never want to ruffle anyone's feathers. But this passage to his disciples lets them know he did not come here to be a pushover. Jesus had a message of repenting, turning away from sin and toward the Lord. People were either going to accept it or reject it. Much like today, the acceptance or rejection of Jesus' message would cause divisions. Proclaiming yourself a Christian shortly after the resurrection was very likely to lead to your demise. Martyrs died for the faith with joy and courage, sometimes using their own blood to write 'Credo' in the sand as their last act for Christ. The division he promised was not a glorious battle, but more often a glorious martyrdom.

It must be said, however, that these were people with their hearts ablaze with the Holy Spirit. In our time there is also religious extremism. Putting aside those Christians who claim persecution because of not so friendly comment sections on social media, we cannot forget that people are still actually being killed for their faith. As a matter of fact, several sources concur that more Christians died because of their faith in the twentieth century than in all the previous nineteen centuries combined. I am in no way going to try to white wash the fact that my own church has some dark periods, but for centuries now the extremists from my church have also been passionate about spreading their message. Their tactics are best summed up like this:

 "Every single day the Catholic Church feeds, houses, and clothes more people, takes care of more sick people, visits more prisoners, and educates more people than any other institution on the face of the earth could ever hope to." - Matthew Kelly

Jesus expresses disappointment that his followers are not already blazing with the passion of the Holy Spirit. Surely he must have known what was truly possible when people put his mission, his call, his desire for them before all else.

God Bless,

P.D.O.

Daily Readings 10/22/2014 or I Was Coming Down the Mountain; Filled With the Holy Spirit! (all apologies to Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction)

"Of this I became a minister by the gift of God’s grace
that was granted me in accord with the exercise of his power.
To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given,
to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ,
and to bring to light for all what is the plan of the mystery
hidden from ages past in God who created all things," -Eph. 3:7-9

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

This past weekend I went on a Catholic men's retreat in beautiful northern New Hampshire. We asked that the Holy Spirit guide our conversations and inspire our ideas, and, just like the incredible scenery and food, we were not disappointed.

The theme of the weekend was becoming fishers of men and we had some great talks around evangelizing. I know what you're thinking, "Did he just say they talked about EVANGELIZING on a CATHOLIC men's retreat?"

Yup, that's right buddy! We're putting on our shirts and ties and knocking on doors. We're taking confessions and handing out the Eucharist! We're going to tell you about the saints and transubstantiation!
Just kidding. But it's interesting that this is the reading when I return to the blog after our retreat. Here is St. Paul telling how even though he is imperfect, indeed as he says, 'the very least of all the holy ones', he was given the grace to preach and evangelize.

I've written many times about how God doesn't always choose the perfect to deliver the good news, but it's not often that I mention how they do it. Paul nails it here when he talks about the grace he was given to be able to do so. It's the same for those of us who were on retreat. The Holy Spirit and God's grace will give us the strength, the courage (and hopefully the words) to stand up and witness for our faith when the time comes. It will help us to initiate that conversation with someone who is in need of Christ's compassion and mercy. It will give us the right questions to ask when we need to dig deeper to get to the root of someone's issues with God or his church.

In all, there were ten of us in the mountains and not one of us is under any illusion of his perfection. Yet we all trust that when God decides to use us to spread his message, he will also send the Holy Spirit to give us the grace to be the best PR men he could have.

Thanks to all the guys who went and to the people at the Shiloh retreat center in Jefferson. It was another faith filled weekend of rejuvenation. With a nod to our stop at The Basin on the ride up, we truly were able to;

"draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation" -Is. 12:3

God Bless,

P.D.O.

Sunday Mass Readings 10/12/2014 or Sit Back, Relax and Enjoy....

"On that day it will be said:
"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!"
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain." -Is. 25:9-10

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This is one of the passages I chose for the readings at my grandmother's funeral earlier this year. I chose it because it is a prophecy of rejoicing. It foretells of the savior's coming and the joy of those who are saved.

We must take time to rejoice in our repenting. We are trying to image God for a reason and we can be sure if our efforts are sincere, then He has truly conquered death for us. We will live with Him eternally. Everyday life can sometimes be such a struggle that we lose sight of this. Sometimes we can be blinded by the 'bling' of worldly pursuits, but we must not forget that treasures we cannot even imagine await us at the wedding feast of the lamb.

The psalm reading today is from Psalm 23 and most of us, even if we don't read scripture regularly would recognize it if we heard it. I wrote about it and bemoaned Michael Landon's making me think it was only for the dead here. What strikes me about it now, in this reading, is the image of peace that it portrays. The true beauty of the psalm is that even though that would be a wonderful image of Heaven, we can strive for that peace in the here and now by walking with the Lord and letting Him guide us.

Let's take time today to step back and enjoy the salvation that Jesus earned for us and offers to us. Maybe it's a good day to get out and enjoy the beauty of God's creation (after you attend Mass, of course). Living in the northeast United States, I can guarantee you there is just about no better time of year to do that up here. So relax, thank the Lord, and have a good Sunday!

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 10/11/2014 or No Amount of Money Can Buy the Clothes That Look Best on You!

"But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.
For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free person,
there is not male and female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus." -Gal. 3:25-28

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time

As Christians, we are clothed in Christ, St. Paul tells us. He then lays out a long list of distinguishing characteristics and national divisions pointing out that before all else, we are all Christians. Being clothed in Christ first is a great honor, it is a great joy, it is a powerful feeling of mercy and it is a great responsibility. It is a great responsibility because we are His hands and feet, eyes and ears. When people see us, they should see Jesus, and we should try to make him look good!

I recently saw Fr. Larry Richards speak and he shared a story of an American POW during World War II who was imprisoned with a Japanese soldier who was caught trying to offer comfort to the Americans. The Japanese soldier was treated even worse than the Americans and whenever he was brought back bruised, battered and bloody, the American would help him to bind his wounds and share his rations with him. One night the Japanese soldier was brought back and beaten so badly that the American was certain he would not last the night. The American told him that he didn't have to be afraid because if he would give his life to Jesus, he would live forever. The Japanese man replied, "If this Jesus is anything like you, then I can't wait to meet him."

What do we look like when we are 'clothed in Christ'? Do we only wear it when it is fashionable or when we feel comfortable in it? Do we alter Christ to 'fit' us better? How does He look when people see us? If someone looked at you and saw you as the image of Jesus, would they say, "I can't wait to meet him!"?

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 10/10/2014 or Daniel-san, if You Want to Learn to Protect a Palace, You Must First Learn to Sweep the Floor!

"But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils." -Lk. 11:20-22

Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time

How do you arm your palace? What do you do to guard your soul against temptation? How do you save your spirit from the effects of sin?

The good news is that we have God to help us guard our spirit, and if God is with us, we cannot be defeated. But we need to trust in him to do it. If we put our faith only in our will power (and we all do), then we will fail, we will give in to the temptation to sin. It might be because some sins appeal to our basest pleasures, it might be that we just want to rebel against God or our upbringing or it might be out of fear and weakness, but we will give in to sin at some point. In those times we need the humility to go to God, confess that we have failed, ask for His forgiveness, and for the strength to fight temptations in the future.

As Jesus goes on to say in today's gospel, when we clear out one evil spirit and clean up our 'dwelling place' that spirit will return with seven more of its nastier friends. As those forces mount against us, trying to pull us away from our loving Heavenly Father, we need to lean on Him even more to give us the grace and strength to guard our souls and keep our dwelling place tidy.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 10/08/2014 or How to Turn an Anvil Into a Light Yoke

“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.” -Lk. 11:1-4

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus teaches us to pray to God the FATHER. Not God the vicious overlord, not God the unmitigated oppressor, but God the Father. That is awe inspiring to me. That the creator of the universe, the author of life, the one who placed the stars and knows them by name, wants me to approach him like a father, because he loves me (and you) that much.

What people tend to forget is that as our Heavenly Father, God wants what is best for us. He ordered the universe, he inspired prophets and called forth teachers to proclaim the truth and show us the natural order of His masterpiece. When we read their words, we should not read them (or speak them) as the orders of an uncaring drill sergeant. We need to read them and proclaim them for what they are; loving guidance from a caring father who loves us more than we could possibly fathom!

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass 10/07/2014 or What to do When Some Jerk Cuts You Off on the Road to Damascus

"And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
So they glorified God because of me." -Gal 1:22-24

10/07/2014 Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

How many of us know someone or many someones that we wish would come to the Lord? It may be someone who's fallen away from the faith (insert gratuitous 'Coming Home to Catholicism' plug here, starting Thursday 10/09 at St. Kathryn's in Hudson, NH at 7:00pm) or someone you see struggling and know the peace that Christ could bring them.

They may be a hard case, but how much further from Jesus could they be than St. Paul was? Here was a soldier who persecuted Christians turned into the church's most prolific evangelist. How did it happen? It happened through a revelation from Christ. What does that tell us? It tells us that Jesus is the only one who can make that final push into his peace. We can tell people about Jesus and the joy and peace that he brings to us; the love that we feel surrounded by, but unless they experience it themselves, it's just words.

Yet, like St. Paul, we are called to evangelize. How are we supposed to do that? Well, we may not be able to make people feel that relationship with Jesus, but we can bring them to him and let him finish the job. How do we bring people to Christ? It's simple, we beat them over the heads with our bible, tie up their hands with rosary beads and drag them to adoration.

What?

Don't you think that would work?

Well, I guess we could try just telling them about him.  Tell them what brought you to his cross. If you're a revert, tell your story about why you left and why you came back. But mostly, just love them. With our words and our actions, we can make our lives a witness to Christ's love.

It's not easy. Just ask anyone who has found themselves swearing in traffic fifteen minutes after they have been to Holy Communion (you know I'm guilty of it.....and you know you are too, huh?)

Other than that, the only thing we can do for those hard cases is to bring them to Christ in another way, through prayer. Be persistent in praying for them and you might be amazed at what happens.....to them, and to you.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Sunday Mass Readings or Home of the Free and the Land of the- Wait, is that a note on the door?

"Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,
did it bring forth wild grapes?" -Is. 5:3-4

10/05/2014 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Old Testament reading and Gospel reading are almost the same. Perhaps Jesus was trying to draw the parallel between the prophecy of Isaiah and what was actually happening in the nation of Israel at in Jesus' time. Essentially God is telling the Jews of the time,, "Hey, I put everything in place for you and I hoped it would make you into a people who wanted to come back to me!"

In the end, it didn't work. If you read on from the passage I quoted above, God essentially says that this is the final straw and then talks about his plans to remove the protection he has put in place, and in the gospel reading, he makes clear that he will make salvation available to everyone (the 'new tenants').

In some ways, I feel that mirrors our own nation. We were founded on some pretty hefty principles, and good principles, and I believe in the beginning, this great experiment was blessed because we had founders who took God's word into account in guiding the country toward our goals of liberty, justice and equality. Today, however, we are a nation moving away from God. God and people of faith are being pushed out to the periphery and told to be quiet and not to bring our faith into the public square or the voting booth. But if you're a person of faith, it's impossible to do that. Your faith is going to affect and inform every decision you make. And one of the first rights enumerated to us, is our right to express that faith.

I just wonder if we need to worry what will happen if we continue to move away from Him, or if it's already too late.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 10/03/2014 or The Difference Between J-O-B and G-O-D.

"Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works." Ps. 139:13-14

10/03/2014 Friday of the Twenty-Sixth Week of Ordinary Time

I have been told that the Psalms were the prayer book of the Jewish people in Jesus' time. In fact, when Jesus cries out on the cross, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" He is calling out Psalm 22, which if you read it, lays out what is happening to Jesus. Of course it was written centuries before but it calls out those mocking him and asking why God doesn't deliver him, it talks about them casting lots for his clothes and his thirst. But I digress.

I want to reference two things from today's readings. One is this passage from Psalms where the author clearly expresses the truth that God formed all of us 'in my mother's womb'. A little over a week ago, the 40 Days for Life campaign began and all over the country and even internationally, people are praying daily for an end to abortion. Some are praying in their homes and others in quiet vigil outside of abortion facilities. All of them are driven by the belief that life begins at conception; from the moment He begins 'knitting us in our mother's womb' and there are many people who disagree with them. I think it's telling that we, as a society, cannot agree on possibly the most important aspect of our existence, when our life begins.

Alongside this I would point out the passage from Job in today's readings.

"Have you entered into the sources of the sea,

or walked about in the depths of the abyss?

Have the gates of death been shown to you,

or have you seen the gates of darkness?

Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?

Tell me, if you know all:

Which is the way to the dwelling place of light,

and where is the abode of darkness,

That you may take them to their boundaries

and set them on their homeward paths?

You know, because you were born before them,

and the number of your years is great!" -Job 38:16-21

Other than what I believe may be some divine sarcasm, God is pointing out to Job, that he (Job) is not God. And here we are several millennia later still unable to learn the same lesson. Relativism has turned us each into our own little God deciding what is true, what is right and what is wrong. 

Hmmm, that story sounds familiar too.

A wise man once asked: What is the difference between you and God? The answer is, God never thinks He's you.

We have clouded our vision on so many things. But we should be careful because when everyone has his own truth, then there really isn't any truth.

God Bless,

P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 10/01/2014 or What Did You Score on the SAT (Spiritual Achievement Test)

"But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face?" -Ps. 88:14-15

10/01/2014 Memorial of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Who hasn't felt this way? We wonder if God is there in our struggles. We wonder if we've been abandoned by our Heavenly Father. And if he has abandoned us, then why?

I wish that I could give a 100% perfect answer to this, but I can't, because I am just a man. This does, however, bring us to the first cliche that people use when bad things happen, "Only God knows what his plans are." I say it's a cliche only because it's been said very often. Being a cliche does not mean that it isn't true. I have had some fairly difficult times, not unlike everyone else mind you, but my family has been through some difficult times. During those times I have definitely struggled with my faith. But in the end, when I resolved myself to trust in God and submitted to whatever his plans were for us, things worked out better than I could have imagined. At this point, we have ended up achieving what I thought might be impossible and we get to have my wife stay home and homeschool our two girls. God doesn't always lead us down an easy road, but if we trust his guidance, we often find that he was listening to us all along and we had no reason to doubt him.

This brings us to another cliche, "God is testing your faith." The question at the root of that cliche is, why does God allow bad things to happen? And the answer to that leads us to free will. God, being all powerful, certainly could have created us to love and adore him endlessly, never disobeying him and feeling perfectly happy and content all the time. But he loves US too much for that. If we weren't truly free, then our love for God and each other would mean nothing. We would be like animals only acting on instinct, but we were given an intellect to discern, making our love an act of will so that when we say yes to loving God or each other, then it means something. How quickly do you think your dog would turn on you if you stopped feeding him? That would be the extent of our relationship with God if we were not given the gift of free will. So does God allow evil to happen to test us? No, evil exists because of our fall in the garden. But if you lose faith in God just because bad things are happening to you, how strong was your faith to begin with? That is where your faith is being tested. That's the whole point of the story of Job, which is today's Old Testament reading. Just because God is not the one testing our faith, that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't being tested.

Bad things happen. Sometimes they happen because evil exists and sometimes they just, well, they just happen. Either way, those times test our faith by asking which way we will turn. Because if we take the easy way and turn away from God, it will inevitably lead to more evil. If we turn to God, it may be a harder path, but it will lead to healing and peace.

Two roads diverge before us in these times, and I suggest we try to take the one less traveled by...

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Sunday Mass Readings 09/28/2014 or I Showed Up Late for Work, But at Least I Showed Up!

"A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not, '
but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, ‘but did not go.
Which of the two did his father's will?" -Mt. 21:28-31

09/28/2014 Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This gospel reading  and the other readings for today have a streak of repentance running through them, which is not so unusual, of course. But one of the things that strikes me about this reading is that Jesus is talking to some of the priests and elders and he goes on to tell them that tax collectors and prostitutes would be entering the Kingdom of Heaven before them.

He doesn't say this because it is okay to do what tax collectors (notorious thieves of the time) and prostitutes were doing, but because they listened to the message of John the Baptist and repented. They turned away from their sins and oriented their lives towards God. Obviously, they are represented by the son who said no to the father, but ended up working in the vineyard after all.

What's left is the comparison of the priests and elders to the other son. They are the ones who said they would tend to God's vineyard, but never showed up. On the outside, they had the trappings of those who were trying to lead people to God, but in reality, their lives were all about this world. They used their positions to 'pull rank' and feel superior to others. And in the end, they even thought themselves superior to God, literally. They were not tending to the vineyard, they were not leading people to God.

This is still going on today. There are those who puff themselves up with righteousness only to feel superior to others, and they twist God's word to do it. I think of the Westboro Baptist Church types who go around professing that God hates this one or that one, or all of 'X' group are going to Hell. The question of who is going to Hell is above our pay grade as human beings and God does not hate anybody.

There are those on the other extreme as well, who will twist God's word to fit their agenda. They will tell you that the bible doesn't mention what marriage is. I've even found groups that say Jesus would be in favor of abortion. They use pieces of God's word without any context or any historical perspective to fit it to what they want it to say. I almost truly expect the day to come when a theological scholar such as Bill Maher or Ricky Gervais tell us that Jesus was an Atheist.

The bottom line is this. If you say you are going to follow God's word, do it honestly. Get to know it, read it. (here's a tip. If you read the readings for Catholic Daily Mass every day, then in three years you will have read virtually the entirety of the bible, in bit size pieces, a little bit to meditate upon every day.) If you're familiar with His word, then you will know what His plan is for all of us and no one will be able to mislead you about what that plan is. Once you grab hold of it, orient your life toward it and don't let go. I will tell you, however, this is pursuit of perfection, and like any pursuit of perfection, it's really just a journey to better yourself every day and get as close as you can by the end.

Speaking for myself, I have a long way to go...

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/26/2014 or My First, My Last, My Everything!

"Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
my mercy and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust." -Ps. 144:1-2

09/26/2014 Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time

"Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” -Lk. 9:20-21

Who do you say Jesus is? Is he some historic figure that walked the Earth 2000 years ago? Was he a great prophet? It's always nice when people say that like they're conceding something. "Well, Jesus was a great teacher. He was a great prophet." Oh, thanks for throwing us a bone. But the thing is, Jesus is God made flesh. He said so. So if you say that he was a great teacher and prophet as some sort of conciliatory statement to Christians, then you are saying either he was a liar or he was a crazy man. That's really not that kind, is it?

The Psalm above says what God should be in our lives. He is to be, in essence, our everything. Our love, our protection, our savior and a heavenly father in whose providence we can trust. It is amazing that He even considers our existence, let alone has gone to such great lengths to love us, but he does. As our protection, he can shield us from evil. As our fortress, he can be our safe retreat when we need to find trust in a weary world. And when we have failed, he is our mercy, welcoming us back into his protection with the loving arms of a father.

He loves us. He waits for us, and he is patient. For he knows that all things have their appointed time.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/25/2014 or When it's Fourth and Long are You Going for the End Zone or are You Just Gonna Punt?

"Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
What profit has man from all the labor
which he toils at under the sun?
One generation passes and another comes,
but the world forever stays." -Eccl. 1:2-4

09/25/2014 Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time

Guess what. Someday, you are going to die. Not exactly an uplifting message is it? But it's true. You are going to die and I am going to die, someday.  As Catholics, we are reminded of it every year on Ash Wednesday. As the priest, deacon or extraordinary minister traces the cross on our heads they remind us, "Remember you are dust and to dust you will return."

This message should not surprise us. However, we don't often think of it. As we are driving into work or sitting through that boring meeting or watching the clock until it's time to leave, or sitting in front of the television, we are preoccupied with the minutia of our lives. But all of those things won't amount to anything on the day after we're gone. You can't take money with you. Someone else will replace you at work. The world will go on, almost without missing a beat.

But for as much as we are replaceable at work, there are people who would always have a hole where you were in their heart. For them, we are irreplaceable. But how often do we take them for granted? How many times do we talk to them without the courtesy we would even give a stranger on the street? We have so few days to just love and cherish them, we need to be mindful and do that.

 And for all the money you can't take with you, you will take your eternal soul. But how often do we think of what will become of that? As sure as you will die, you will also be judged. "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." What would become of your soul if that was today? Isn't your landing place for eternity more important than what's for dinner? Isn't it a bit more crucial than why the Patriots aren't scoring more points this year? But how much more time do we devote to those questions than what our relationship with Christ is like or what will happen when we stand before the throne of judgement?

Someday, every one of us is going to die, and to paraphrase Fr. Larry Richards, you can be a saint or you can go to Hell.

Now get out there and have a great day!

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/23/2014 or Learn to Go With the Flow, But Watch Out Whose River You're On

"Like a stream is the king’s heart in the hand of the LORD;
wherever it pleases him, he directs it.

All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes,
but it is the LORD who proves hearts." Prv. 21:1-2

09/23/2014 Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina

So often we pray and we ask the Lord for what we want. We ask for the outcome that we think is best for us. But in our own eyes we can justify sin as virtue if it pleases us. We could be praying for the absolute worst thing for us. I may be praying for wealth and power, hoping that the security will lead to happiness for my family and all the while I could be neglecting my children and they could fall into destructive behaviors. Where would my money and power get me then if I had abdicated my primary responsibility as a parent; getting my kids to Heaven?

If we let go of our expectations and what we think we need and instead ask for the Lord to help us work as His instruments and be the people He knows we can be, we are likely to be very surprised with the amazing things He has in store for us and the incredible joy and peace that He can bring. Only He can search our hearts and only He knows where the path may lead for us. I am in the midst right now of wondering if he pulled me into something that's a bit over my head, but I keep asking and He keeps leading, so onward I go. I figure if God's leading me there, what do I need to fear?

I strive to have a heart like the King's in the hand of the Lord, flowing like a river towards the person only God knows I am capable of being.

God Bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/18/2014 or Heckling Muppets and Waiting in the Line for Eternal Relief

"For I am the least of the Apostles,
not fit to be called an Apostle,
because I persecuted the Church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me." -1Cor. 15:9-10

“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?”
Simon said in reply,
“The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”
He said to him, “You have judged rightly.” -Lk.7:41-43

09/18/2014 Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time

We are all sinners. No one of us sins better or worse than any other of us. We all do things in our lives that go against what God wishes for us. God's mercy is there and waiting for us any time we decide to accept it. Jesus is dying to forgive our sins, literally! All we have to do is reach out, take his hand, accept his mercy and move on. Aye, there's the rub. We love our sins. We don't want to give them up. We're okay with them. 'Well, it's not that bad' we tell ourselves, 'it's not like I'm an ax-murderer or anything'. Well, sure it's easy to soar over a bar that's so low, isn't it?

But what Jesus is saying is not that he loves one or another more or even that his forgiveness is better for some than it is for others. He is saying, whatever it is that weighs on your soul, whatever you've done to harm God or his creation, he can and will forgive if you ask with a contrite heart and a sincere desire to put sin behind you.

Remember the "Muppet Christmas Carol', when Statler and Waldorff show up as the Marley brothers wearing those chains? Think of sin as those chains and the more we sin, the more links we put on the chain. Now imagine you were in a line and at the front, they were taking the chains off of everybody. They weren't making you melt it down yourself or cut each link and padlock with bolt cutters. You get to the head of the line and there's Jesus waiting with open arms. You look at him sincerely, tell him your sorry and that you love him and he wraps his arms around you. In his embrace you feel the utmost love and peace and when he lets you go, you feel strangely lighter. Whether the chain of sin that imprisoned you was five pounds or five thousand pounds, it's gone and you are calm and grateful. But the guy with the five thousand pound chain feels a heck of a lot lighter, doesn't he?

We need to see where we have added links to the chain and get rid of it. The great part is, we don't need to wait until it weighs five thousand pounds to go to God and have it removed. We can do it anytime. I wrote about the sacrament of reconciliation once here and the sacrament is still as beautiful and life-changing as ever. Which reminds me, I need to go soon.

God bless,
P.D.O.

p.s.- Since we're talking about returning to God no matter how heavy your chain is, it's a good time for a plug! I am part of a ministry at my parish called Coming Home to Catholicism and we have a session coming up soon. Starting on October 9th 2014, for seven weeks, our team will be getting together from 7:00 to 8:30 at St. Kathryn's Parish in Hudson, NH. If you've been away from the church for a while and have thought of returning, come and hang out with a group of people who all left the church at one time and then returned and explore whether it is time for you to do the same.

Daily Mass Readings 09/17/2014 or That's a Bit Too Much, no no, That's Not Quite Enough...

"For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”  -Lk. 7:33-35

09/17/2014 Wednesday of the twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time

You can't please everybody. Sometimes you can't please anybody.

Jesus is asking the crowds, "Look, what do you want?" John the Baptist came, eating locusts and honey and you thought he was crazy. Here I am, I hang out, eat and drink, and you say I'm a drunkard.

And so it goes now. We sometimes get caught up thinking about how others need to prove their holiness to us. I didn't see HIM at the Rosary group this week. Did you see her at the church picnic, making a fool of herself and playing the kids' games all afternoon?

Oh, we judge holiness, don't we. When we do that, the danger is that we will treat people differently based on our petty judgments and what we think they should be doing. But let's think about yesterday's letter from St. Paul where he talked about all of us having different gifts and different roles to play in bringing others to Jesus. Some people witness best by fasting and offering up suffering. Others are more pastoral and serve God best by mingling in with more people and being a witness that way. As St. Paul's letter today tells us, if it is done with love, for others and our Lord, then that is what matters.

Jesus ends by saying "Wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

If wisdom and love guide the way you use your spiritual gifts, then you are truly doing God's work.

God bless,
P.D.O.

09/16/2014 or Head, Shoulders, Knees or Toes? Which Part of the Body of Christ Are You?

"Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts." -1 Cor 12:29-31

Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs

If someone is a great basketball player, does that automatically mean that he is also a great baseball player? If a pastor can preach like they've been lit on fire by the Holy Spirit, does that automatically make them a good administrator? The answer to both questions, of course, is no. Just ask Michael Jordan.

But it's okay if no one of us is great at everything. We are all given different gifts and abilities. We are all different parts of the Body of Christ. Hmmm, strange, it's almost as if it was intended to be that way so that we were encouraged to depend on one another and work towards a unity based on the common desire to make Christ's presence known in the world.

If you can write (or at least think you can) maybe you should start a blog. If you can sing and write songs, then once the Holy Spirit lights you on fire you will sing like you've never sung before. If you have the gift of gab, then maybe you're being called to catechize or evangelize through your personal witness. If you're more of a behind the scenes manager type, maybe you could organize a charitable ministry.

These are just a few examples of what type of gifts can be used to bring Jesus to others who may not have the chance otherwise. One of the best parts of the movie 'God's Not Dead' is when the college student, Josh, is struggling with whether he should go on debating his professor or just go along and get his grade. He is in a church and the pastor starts talking to him and he reminds him that this might be the only exposure to God that the rest of the students in the class might have; the only voice contradicting the teacher's message that God is dead.

You may be that only voice for someone. You might be the only chance they have to hear about a God who loves us so much he was willing to take part in our suffering and die for us. Perhaps it's not the first time that they've heard it, but the way you witness, through your particular gifts, will be the first time it's resonated with them. Either way, I can guarantee, when you set your gifts to the work of the Holy Spirit, you will be amazed at how great you really can be. In the words of St. Catherine of Sienna, "..you will set the world ablaze."

So what is your gift? What talent has the Holy Spirit entrusted to you? More importantly, how will you use those gifts to bring people to Jesus?

God bless,
P.D.O.

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows 09/15/2014 or Sometimes Suffering is Just a Bump Against the Guardrail on the Road to God's Plan For You

"In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!" -Ps. 40:8-9

09/15/2014 Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

"Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her." -Lk. 1:38

I've often wondered if Mary knew everything that she was agreeing to when she gave her 'yes' to the Angel Gabriel. If she didn't know at first, she definitely knew when they brought Jesus for his presentation at the temple, when Simeon told her that the rise and fall of many depended upon Jesus and that she too, would be pierced.

I think of it when I read the line of the Psalmist. "To do your will, O my God, is my delight". The truth is, doing God's will is not always a delightful experience. In fact, it can sometimes be very difficult to follow and do God's will. Today is the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, a time when we reflect on the suffering that Mary went through during Jesus' crucifixion. As she was suffering, watching her only child tortured and killed, I'm sure that Mary was not enjoying God's plan for her, but it was oriented toward a greater good, to offer salvation to all the world.

Two of the most difficult questions we are asked as believers are, first, how  do you know that God exists, and second, if He exists, why do people suffer? For me, the two answers are linked. I would first say, that most suffering does not come from God, it comes from the fact that we live in a fallen world. When I think of suffering in that context it is usually with regard to real suffering like severe illness or poverty, starvation, and any of the other horrible things that people have to endure. I have heard of and seen people going through this type of suffering offering it up in prayer for other people that they know are struggling. To offer up suffering, uniting it with Christ's suffering, makes it a very powerful prayer.

When I talk about my suffering, however, it is a completely different thing. I have had some difficult times; times when I wasn't sure if I could pull myself or my family out of the hole, but none of those measure up (in retrospect) to real suffering. Still, in all of those times, I have taken my struggles to God. On at least one occasion this involved a very loud conversation, out loud and with some very harsh language. I cried out asking him to please help me because I had lost sight of what his plan was and was wondering what I had to do in order to do His will, and He heard me. Now, as I look back on the suffering and the stresses and anxiety that I had at the time, they all turn out to be signposts toward where I am now. I had always hoped that my wife would be able (if she wanted) to stay at home with our kids and eventually, I hoped that we could home-school our kids. Today, we are in that position. We live very modestly and things get pretty tight sometimes, but God led us to a situation where those things are possible.

So just like Our Lady's sorrow led to something miraculous for all of the world, our minor sufferings may just be signposts along God's path for us, leading us on to where He wants us to be. And that may just be where we were looking to go if we are in line with what He calls us to; His law that is written on our hearts.

God bless,
P.D.O.

Sunday Mass Readings 09/14/2014 or How to Find Jesus in the Bleacher Seats

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life." -Jn. 3:16

09/14/2014 Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

There it is, the famous John 3:16. In the context of the rest of the readings for today, it makes sense. As you would expect, the readings today are about Jesus, his coming for us and the redemption that we have through his sacrifice on the cross. The Old Testament reading tells the story of the Israelites' dissatisfaction and the foretelling of Jesus' sacrifice, when Moses was told to make a serpent on a staff and raise it so that the people, when they look upon it, can be healed.

The reading from St. Paul tells of a God so loving that he would come to us and humble himself to die for our salvation. And of course, there is the familiar message of John 3:16. Most people, even if they haven't read it, would recognize the citation. This is because for many years people would bring signs to sporting events and hold them up to be on television. They may very well still do it and the TV networks don't show it, I don't go to enough sporting events in person anymore to tell. But the signs were everywhere, to the point that I would see them in Mad magazine satires on sports. People thought that the message was important to get out there and they took it upon themselves to do it however they were able. Who knows how many people were driven to curiosity enough to dig out their bible, brush the dust off and find it? And once they saw the message, maybe they decided to turn their lives over to Jesus all because some crazy Christian decided that when he was shown on television cheering on his beloved team, he would take the opportunity to lead people to a message of hope.

We can all learn from this type of evangelism, not only through the method, but also through which verse, out of all of scripture, they thought was most important to spread across the world. It was not a message of condemnation, but a message of hope. This is made even clearer in the verse that follows, the last line of this week's gospel reading:

 "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world might be saved through him." Jn. 3:17

Jesus did not come to condemn the world and neither should we. That's not to say that we aren't all subject to a final judgement. We are judged by the one who can search the depths of our heart, which, last I checked is way above my pay grade.

We are here as Jesus' hands and feet; as his disciples. We need to share a message of hope that no matter what has happened in your life up to now, you can turn away from sin, orient your life to living out the plan that God has for you, and be born into eternal life. Are you ashamed to tell others about your relationship with Christ? If you do tell others, do you convey Jesus' message of hope, or of condemnation? We are not responsible for converting people, nor are we capable of it. We just have to lead people to Jesus, then let him do the rest.

God bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/08/2014 or Which Highway are you Driving You Wife Down, AC/DC's or Michael Landon's?

"Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.” - MT 1: 20-23

09/08/2014 Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Joseph was a righteous man, and according to the law of Moses, when she was found with child, he had the right to not only divorce Mary, but 'expose her to shame'. Anyone familiar with the story of the woman caught in adultery knows what that would mean. Mary could have been stoned to death. But Joseph didn't want that for her and was going to divorce her quietly to spare her not only embarrassment, but quite likely her life as well. I guess you could say he was merciful like Jesus before it was cool to be merciful like Jesus.

Then Joseph has this dream and the angel tells him that everything is part of God's plan and he has an extremely important role to play. Most of us, if not convinced that the dream was the result of some goat's milk that was past the expiration, would probably have been pretty intimidated in that day and age to take Mary into our home as our wife. Without a doubt, Joseph knew they would be the talk of the ladies around the well in Nazareth. And who knows what kind of stigma would have followed their son? Yet he woke and did as the angel said, taking Mary into his home as his wife.

Since Mary was chosen by God, before her birth, as the vessel that would bring him to his people, it was also important that God chose a righteous man with compassion to protect and take care of her. Joseph was that guy. Not only was his faith strong enough to follow the direction of the Holy Spirit without hesitation, he protected and provided for Mary and Jesus everywhere they went and he supported her holiness and her calling.

This is a great model for all husbands not only with regard to our mission when it comes to our wives, but also with regard to how we see our wives. Some men see their wives as an obstacle to something or a burden, some see their wives as a means to and end, a tool to implement when they need satisfaction. But in following Joseph's example, we should our wives as women of God, as princesses; not like Disney princesses, but daughters of the King of Kings.

As men, can we honestly say we've treated them this way? If we want to know the answer, we just need to look at what our society tells women they need to be, it's a direct response to what they think men value. When I look at advertisements, movies, tv sitcoms, etc. I see a society telling women they need to be strong and smart, but not too strong and smart. They need to have a body like a stripper, a libido like a porn star and they need to fill themselves with chemicals to be sexually available to us at any time. Oh, and we have convinced them that if the chemicals don't work right, it's okay to 'choose' to destroy the life growing inside them.

We, as a society, are not seeing women as daughters of God or as spiritual sisters, we are looking at them as tools to our own satisfaction. We are falling miserably short of St. Joseph's model and damaging the value and self-esteem of our wives and our daughters.

Mary was chosen from the moment of her conception to be the one who delivered the Word made flesh to walk among us. Our wives and daughters have spiritual destinies as well. Are the things we do helping to direct them to those missions or are we a distraction, guiding them away from God's plan?

God bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/05/2014 or Wait, There's a Splinter in your Eye, Let me Get my Ice Pick

"It does not concern me in the least
that I be judged by you or any human tribunal;
I do not even pass judgment on myself;
I am not conscious of anything against me,
but I do not thereby stand acquitted;
the one who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time,
until the Lord comes," - 1 Cor. 4:1-5

09/05/2014 Friday of the Twenty-second Week of Ordinary Time

AHA! See, there it is again, we are being told not to judge others! See, you self-righteous Christians don't even follow your own book! HA!

That's right, you got us. Paul tells us not to judge, Jesus tells us not to judge, but wait, maybe there's a different meaning. You see, earlier in this passage, St. Paul writes that we should be "servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" and just after Jesus tells his disciples to "Judge not, lest ye be judged", he calls them hypocrites and tells them that they must remove the beam from their own eyes before trying to remove the splinter from their brother's.

So how are we to be stewards of God's mysteries and followers of Christ if we can't judge which actions fall under those definitions? And how can we remove the beam from our eye and help our brother remove the splinter from his if we aren't able to determine what is a 'beam' or a 'splinter'? It would seem that we are expected to determine what is right and what is wrong somehow, but isn't that 'judging'?

The answer is yes. We are expected to be able to reason out what is right and what is wrong. Now there are a lot of people who will shout us down, because, let's face it, they don't want to think that there is a right or wrong. But we are expected to discern that using scripture and the teaching authority and hierarchy of the Church as our guide (remember, I'm Catholic we are blessed to have a teaching authority guided by the Holy Spirit on matters of faith and doctrine). Determining what acts are sinful and which aren't is well within our capabilities and we have a responsibility to let our brothers and sisters know when they are in the wrong. It is a spiritual act of mercy to admonish the sinner.

But what about the 'do not judge' thing? Well, as St. Paul says, he is not afraid of being judged by any human tribunal, he does not even judge himself. We cannot see and read somebody's heart the way that God can, therefore it is not up to us to place final judgement on them. The final judgement is, as they say, above our pay grade. However, if we see someone trapped in sin (a brother with a splinter in his eye) we are responsible for trying to help him to escape from it. That's where the 'stewards of God's mysteries' part comes in.

When we do find it is merciful to admonish the sinner, we are obligated to do so with love and compassion. That's where the 'servants of Christ' part comes in. After all, Jesus, even though he was trying to correct sinners, always treated others with caring and mercy. I would think he expects us to do the same.

I, for one, need to work on this.

God bless,
P.D.O.

Mass Readings 09/04/2014 or Wow! For a Carpenter, You Sure Turned Out to be a Pretty Good Fisherman!

"When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him." -Lk. 5:8-11

09/04/2014 Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

The call of Simon is great on so many levels. First off, there is the idea that Simon was done for the day. He had pulled his boat into shore and was cleaning out his nets. Not only that, but he was cleaning them out after a night of unsuccessful fishing. I know how I feel when I don't catch fish and I don't rely on it for a living! Yet even though he's tired, Simon agrees to take this stranger out far enough so that he can teach the crowd. In that act, Simon shows that he is willing to go the extra mile for his fellow man. Jesus then tells him to head out to deep water and drop his nets. Simon registers a slight resistance, but then is willing to trust this new teacher because by now, he has heard the power of Jesus' words. He is paid back with BOUNTY! BEYOND! BELIEF! (Read my original post on BOUNTY! BEYOND! BELIEF! here) Showing that when we trust God, even though it might not make sense to us at the time, he will not be outdone in generosity.

Simon then tells Jesus to leave him because he is a sinful man. Does this ring a bell with anyone? I know that there are many times that I do not feel worthy of God's love, mercy (and bounty). But Jesus does not leave, showing that His love is not contingent in the least on our perfection, but on our will to trust in Him. He then tells Simon not to be afraid and that he will now be catching men. This is the ultimate example that God has a plan for us and He will meet us where we are to start the journey.

What do you think about the way that Simon and the other fishermen respond? When they get to the shore, they leave everything and follow him. Would you have the courage to do that? We are still asked to do that. Oh, we are not asked to leave our boats, equipment and livelihood behind, which may tempt us to think the request is different. However, what Simon and the others left behind, were the things that held them back from following Jesus physically and getting to know him and learn from him. The only difference for us is that we, most likely, don't have to leave behind our livelihood to follow Jesus, because for us it is a spiritual concept. We do need to leave behind anything that keeps us from following Jesus spiritually, or keeps us from getting to know him or learn from him. But, like Jesus himself says, be not afraid, because as we can see from Simon's story, Jesus isn't trying to trick or deceive us, he is just trying to lead us to God's plan for our lives and the bounty that awaits.

God bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/03/2014 or A Brief Catholic Gardening Lesson

"Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God’s co-workers;
you are God’s field, God’s building." -1 Cor. 3:7-9

09/03/2014 Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

Paul is telling the members of the church at Corinth not to dedicate themselves to him or any other teacher for that matter. He knows that he is just a messenger, an instrument that God uses to proclaim the good news, and that he will pass away and hand that duty down to someone else. It's interesting that this reading falls on the Memorial of a Pope and Doctor of the Church. For even the Pope is just a temporal leader of Christ's church. He too will pass on and hand the reins over (and on extremely rare occasion hand over the reins while he is still with us).

Not only does this message apply for the Pope, but for the people of the church. There are many times we will see a parish change pastors and people will choose up sides. There are also times when a group of people will grow attached to a building and stage vigils in churches that are meant to be shut down. But no matter how attached you may be to your church building, your pastor or even the Pope, they are nothing without the glory of God and the miracle of Christ resurrected.

This message could be taken as an admonition, but it also can be a beacon of hope to those in ministry. Surely there are days when a Pastor feels like he is not reaching the congregation. Even the Popes words fall on deaf ears. And if the Pope can't reach them, then what about people who act as catechists and facilitators at their parishes? This spring, my wife and I will return to teaching Theology of the Body for Teens to the confirmation classes at our church. There is no crowd that could be any more enthusiastic, excited and engaged than a group of teenagers forced to sit in a room in a church basement and learn about Catholic teaching on God's plan for human sexuality. But we have said many times that it's not the reaction and response we get in the room during class time that makes us want to do this. It's knowing that maybe one of these kids, someday maybe not even until they're in college, will find themselves in a situation where they are questioning what to do and they will remember what they learned and realize that it's okay to strive toward chastity. It may not be until they are married and one of them makes a better husband or wife because they maintain a pure vision of their spouse. Essentially, we are planting the seeds.

We can plant and we can water, but it's up to God to make it all grow. It relieves the anxiousness a bit when we realize that our job is just to do the best we can. We can witness to our story in our Coming Home to Catholicism group and we can share the beauty of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body with the kids, but that's all we can do. Then God does the rest.


God bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/02/2014 or If I Speak With Authority, Will You Still Respect Me Tomorrow?

"Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.
He taught them on the sabbath,
and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,
and he cried out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” -Lk. 4:31-34

09/02/2014 Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week of Ordinary Time

The people of Capernaum were impressed by the way that Jesus spoke with authority. If Jesus were to come and speak with authority now, what do you think the reaction would be? If he were to be speaking publicly now, on television, in the media and speaking with authority and certainty of the truth I'm pretty sure that, like anyone doing so now, he would be shouted down and attacked as bigoted, judgmental and (most horrifically) closed-minded.

Jesus preached about sin and freedom from sin through God's mercy, redemption and turning your back on sin. Today we're not allowed to suggest that anything is sinful. As long as it matches up with my personal measure of what is good and evil, it's all good. It seems today that the worst sin you can commit is grasping onto the truth and 'closing' your mind on it. And, God forbid you have the nerve to speak about it at all, let alone do so with authority and certainty.

Yes, I fear that were Jesus to be teaching the fullness of His truth nowadays he would not be very popular. There would not be the opportunity to take small passages of His words out of context for cute little memes because He would be able to expand on his points and reveal their full context. On second thought, they would still get away with it. They would just quote Jesus selectively and ignore the context, kind of like they do with Pope Francis.

Let's not forget, however, that later in this passage, and in other gospel readings, Jesus speaks with authority to drive out demons. He speaks with authority about things that are socially acceptable now, like how we should forgive our brother not seven times, but seven times seventy (biblical speak for an infinite number of times), or that we should take care of the least among us, and about how we are not to judge. He also teaches with authority about things that don't give people the warm fuzzies, like what sin is, God's plan for marriage and about God's judgement and how we all will be subject to it.

As followers of Jesus should we only take with authority the things that are acceptable to today's worldly standards, when it is easy to do so? Or should we trust Jesus' authority in all things, even when it may make things uncomfortable for us?

God bless,

P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 09/01/2014 or I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

"I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,
and my message and my proclamation
were not with persuasive words of wisdom,
but with a demonstration of spirit and power,
so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom
but on the power of God." -1 Cor. 2:3-5

09/01/2014 Monday of the Twenty-second Week of Ordinary Time

This passage from St. Paul in today's readings says two things to me. The first thing is that he is telling the Corinthians that he did not come with over the top rhetoric and brilliant oratory. He came to them and taught them through demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit in his life. He's telling them that you can sometimes talk until you are blue in the face and the onslaught of words will not lead anyone to a desire to know more and build a relationship with Jesus Christ. But if you live in such a way that demonstrates His love to others and shows your joy in living out His plan, you will naturally draw people to Him because you are letting His power speak through your actions. There is a catch to this method though. Your compassion, love and joy have to be genuine. If you're just putting up a false front and portraying your Christian life as a bowl of cherries, then people will see through that and it could damage any chance they might have had at connecting with Jesus.

And that brings me to the second thought that this passage provoked in me. St. Paul mentions 'weakness and fear and much trembling'. Does that sound like a club you feel like joining? I would doubt it, but it does put forth a clear view of Christianity, at least sometimes. Following Jesus will not fill your bank accounts as some preachers say it will, nor will it sweep all of your problems under the rug as some of the Facebook memes would imply. Having a relationship with Jesus does not mean that you have your very own magician bending the laws of the universe to your whim. It means that when you go through those difficult times and don't feel strong enough, you always have someone there beside you. Portraying life as a Christian any other way could cause someone to just drop the whole thing when the going gets tough. It is like the seed that takes root, but does not survive because the roots are weak and shallow.

May we always show through our lives the comfort, compassion and confidence that says we are walking with God, and may people see that in us not only when life is a bowl of cherries, but also during the times when we get stuck with the pits.

God bless,
P.D.O.

Sunday Mass Readings 08/31/2014 or The Feast of the Three Saints Takes on a Sharper Focus

"Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life? " -Mt. 16:24-26

08/31/2014 Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

On the island of Sicily, in September, 252, three brothers were marched into the capitol of Lentini. Under orders of the governor of Sicily, the three brothers, Alfio, Filadelfo and Cirino, were tortured for months and told to denounce their faith in Jesus Christ and worship the pagan gods of Rome; and for months, they refused. Finally, on May 10, 253 the governor of Sicily, Tertullo, ordered the three brothers put to death. One was tied to a post and had his tongue ripped out, another was burned on a gridiron and the third was put into a cauldron of boiling oil.

Every Labor Day weekend since as long as I've been alive, my family has gone to the Feast of the Three Saints in Lawrence, Massachusetts which honors the martyred brothers. The feast this year will be the ninety-first celebration held in Lawrence and will be bittersweet for our family as this is the first year that we will be there without my grandmother who passed away in June. For that matter, this will be the first Feast of the Three Saints that has been held in Lawrence without my grandmother there. She forbid us all from mentioning her age, but if I cheat a little I can tell you that she went to the first Feast when she was just three years old.

As a child, the feast was fun every year. It was a chance to spend time with family, gather the streamers and drive my parents crazy begging for money to play the games or buy a toy. On the back of the float on which the statues of the saints ride, there was a case of different gifts from over the years in thanksgiving for miracles that had come at the intercession of the three martyred brothers. One of those was a sculpture of a heart on a cross that was given for me and I would always look to see if I made the cut every year.

The truth is, however, that I never truly understood what the feast was about, until a few years ago. As Catholics, we are regularly accused of saint worship, in some people's opinion, bordering on idolatry, but I realized while thinking about this one year, that the feast isn't a form of idolatry, just like asking saints to intercede and pray for us is not worshiping them. The feast is like a victory parade for the soldiers in God's army. These are three young men who easily could have saved themselves by denying the truth that Jesus Christ had come to us as a savior, had been crucified and had risen from the dead, but they didn't. Through months of torture they refused to deny the truth until finally they laid down their lives for Jesus Christ. And here we are, celebrating their memory, their courage and their witness to Jesus almost 2000 years later. Surely in giving their lives for Him, they found their lives with Him in eternity and have inspired many through the centuries to come to Jesus, pick up their own cross and follow Him.

As I celebrate these three brave young men tomorrow I will be missing my grandmother. I will also be thankful that when I think of losing my life for Jesus' sake it involves spiritual death to sin and not torture and physical death; and I will say a prayer for those in parts of the world where this type of bravery is still being acted out today; for those who do not have the luxury of thinking figuratively about laying down their lives for Christ, but deal with it as a concrete physical reality where it truly is life or death.

Saints Alfio, Filadelfo and Cirino, pray for all of us but most especially for those Christians who face today the brutality and agony that you faced. Pray for their strength and courage and pray for peace.

God bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Readings 08/30/2014 or Exercising Fiduciary Responsibility in the Marketplace of Souls

"Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said,
‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.’" -Mt. 25:24-25

08/30/2014 Saturday of the Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time

Today's readings start out with St. Paul telling the Corinthians, in essence, that God did not choose the rich and powerful to spread His message. He chose the weak, the 'fools', the lowly and despised of the world and He gave them the strength, wisdom and courage to spread the good news. It worked because they trusted God to help them 'harvest' if you will, and build up His kingdom. He even exemplified this Himself when He came to us as an infant, born to a virgin and a carpenter from a backwater town and then defeated not only the powerful men of the time, but death itself, by laying down His own life on the cross.

In the gospel reading of the talents, we have servants who are given fiduciary responsibility over some of their master's wealth. The parable then goes on to show what happens when they do not use what the master gives to them. The servants who take their talents and multiply them are rewarded and the servant who hid his talent is punished. God gives each of us different blessings and talents. His desire is that we use those gifts and talents to increase His numbers by sharing the good news of salvation. We take our gifts and by trusting them back to Him and using them to fulfill His plans for us and for others, we multiply the members of the Body of Christ. If, however, we receive gifts from God and hide them underground (or even under a bushel basket) then we are not living up to our full potential.

 I used to think of this parable only in terms of wasting the talents that God gave you. Tonight, however, when I read it, I was struck more by the fear of the servant who hides his talent. Perhaps it's not that the master is upset because the servant didn't make a return. Maybe He's angry because the servant acted out of fear and not out of a desire to build up the master's wealth. May we always be willing to use the gifts God gave us to build up the spiritual wealth of His people and proclaim His kingdom and salvation.

God bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 08/29/2014 or When Somebody asks You to Prove God Exists, Let Your Inner Child Explain it to Them

"Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel,
and not with the wisdom of human eloquence,
so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning." -1 Cor. 1:17

08/29/2014 Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist

Have you ever tried to explain what Jesus means to you on a purely intellectual level? As St. Paul points out here in his letter to the Corinthians, it can very quickly drain the message of all it's meaning. Some people will use this as an excuse to say that they don't believe or that it is silly to believe in God and Jesus. They act like we are the simpletons or the unwise. Quite frankly, they sometimes act as if we're lunatics.

Well, let me start off by pointing out that we are in good company. Today we celebrate the Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist. Surely, there were many people who thought John was nuts. He was living out in the wilderness, eating locusts and honey and proclaiming that he was making straight the paths for the messiah. (Keep in mind, by the way, how often we may have walked uncomfortably by people like this in the streets and quickened our step a little bit.) Think too of all the martyrs who were killed simply because they would not deny the unbelievable notion that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead after he was crucified.

So how then do we explain our relationship to Christ with others without ending up in a padded room wearing a tailored coat with the sleeves in the back? The only way left is not to try to explain who Christ is, but who he is to you. And no, I don't mean to say that Jesus Christ can be different things to every individual. First off, he is not a thing, he is a real being and we are not to make him in our image, we were made in his and must strive to conform to that as closely as we can. But in explaining what our relationship with God is like and by witnessing to how we have seen the Holy Spirit move in our lives, we explain God with a passion and a sincerity that people can truly feel.

God transcends intellectual understanding and as much as we try to contemplate Him using only our minds, we will always fall short. True faith cannot be cultivated on a solely intellectual level. Which is not to say that there aren't intellectual reasons for God's existence. But it's like trying to explain how I know my wife was meant to be my wife. Sure, I could make a list on a piece of paper, maybe even one side of pros and another side of cons, but that's just a laundry list. A list like that isn't going to verify for me that my wife is meant to be my wife. It is the relationship that my wife and I share every day that shows we were meant to join our lives together and raise our family. Come to think of it, in a world where 6 in 10 marriages end in divorce, who knows, maybe a lot of people think that's crazy too.

In the end, like most people who heard St. John the Baptist, they might ignore us as they look for 'signs' or some other intellectual verification and some might come to believe with  their heads. Remember though, Jesus tells us that we need to believe like little children so let's try to get back to that. Let us express our belief in a loving, living God and a loving, living savior with the wide-eyed amazement and unbridled joy that children have. Knowing how merciful God is while still so powerful certainly does merit a large measure of joy and amazement and that kind of enthusiasm is hard to deny or to resist.

God bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 08/28/2014 or The Journey of a Thousand Miles Ends With a Rejoicing Samurai?

"He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." - 1 COR 1:8-9

08/28/2014 Memorial of St. Augustine

I spent this past weekend camping with my family in the beauty of northern New Hampshire. Well away from any city, as most of us usually do, I noticed the sheer number of stars in the sky. I wrote a bit about it and perhaps I'll share that once I manage to unpack my things from our camping trip. In the mean time, the synopsis of my thoughts as I tilted my head back to stare at the canopy of stars above me, was how amazing it is that a God who can create the vast universe and all these stars, sought fellowship with us. In fact, He continues to seek us each on an individual level even today.

We (I) have a tendency to focus on what we are doing wrong and this can often appear to others who are non-Christian or even non-theist altogether as a type of self-loathing as if we are constantly dwelling on how we are filled with evil and begging for forgiveness.(remember yesterday's post about the 'dead men's bones and all types of filth')

Now, there is a grain of truth to this in that, as Christians, we are called to try to grow ever closer to Christ's example for our lives and since we don't have the luxury of being fully human AND fully God, we will never achieve this perfectly as He did. But it is the process of constant improvement that benefits us and all of those around us. In karate-do we call the concept 'kaizen' and that too is a pursuit by which even though we will never arrive at perfection, we benefit from the journey toward that elusive goal itself.

This is not done because we think we are worthless slugs. It's actually quite the opposite. We try to achieve Jesus' example of perfection because we recognize that we are creations of God. We see that the creator of this unfathomable universe also created every one of us, loves every one of us and died for every one of us. That doesn't make me feel worthless, that proves to me that every one of us has a value that could never be measured and a dignity that cannot be dismissed. From the moment of our conception, to the time we return to Him, God is faithful to us and He does call us to fellowship with His son Jesus Christ so that we too may call ourselves children of the Most High. We need to be sure to step back occasionally and just simply let that blessing wash over us and feel the incredible JOY that it brings!

God bless,
P.D.O.

Daily Mass Readings 08/27/2014 or Look at those evil guys over there! HAHAHA, oh wait a minute, that's a mirror!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth." -MT 23:27

08/27/2014 Memorial of St. Monica

So after telling his followers to do as the scribes and Pharisees say and not as they do, Jesus admonishes the scribes and Pharisees for keeping the appearance of righteousness, but being filled with "dead men's bones and every kind of filth".

It sounds harsh, but in a way, I feel like all of us live up to this description sometimes. On the outside we may be smiling and being nice when we talk to that one person who really gets to us, but inside we are pushing down seething anger and aggravation.

I know for me it happened when we got the mortgage for the place where we live now. We were in the middle of all the legwork to get the documents in order for the underwriters (most, okay, ALL of which was being done by my wife, with my two young daughters in tow) and things kept getting pushed back. Not very far, mind you, but in the midst of a high pressure situation and having started a new job and seeing the runaround my wife was doing to pull everything together, I was very angry with our mortgage broker and the anonymous, faceless 'underwriters'. After everything was settled I would find myself refraining from the Eucharist until I went to Reconciliation and confessed a deadly sin that I had never truly felt until that time. I had felt wrath. I wanted there to be severe and painful retribution for the people causing this stress and anxiety to my family when we were just trying to get a place to live.

It was not just, it was not charitable and it was not healthy that I felt that way. There was evil and dead men's bones rattling inside me. And that's not the only example I could site of when I have felt like a scribe or a Pharisee. So we may look at them with disdain in the gospel story, but let's not discount the idea that they are there as an example of what evil, hypocrisy and filth we can be capable of. They are a warning for all of us.

God bless,
P.D.O.