Where were you 15 years ago when you first realized that the Twin Towers in New York City had been hit by a terrorist attack and those iconic towers were being demolished? Today we pause to remember that moment of horror and pray for those scarred by those terrible events. We remember the brave men and women who responded to help those impacted by the terrorist attack. As we remember and pray for all those who lost their lives on that tragic day, we celebrate God’s ongoing faithfulness to our nation. We celebrate the love of God that has been revealed to us in Jesus. We will never will never fully understand these senseless acts of violence, but may we deeply trust in God’s merciful love that is revealed in the words and action of Jesus. We remember God's Spirit inhabits your Church. Help us bring your comfort and peace to all. Each of us gathers today because the Lord has sought us out and forgiven us. At Mass, we gather to join with Jesus in offering thanks to the Father for His love. We gather to grow in our awareness of how we are sought out and welcomed home by Jesus. The three parables in today’s Gospel are part of the basic memory of the disciples about the content of the Good News. Today’s Gospel proclaims how the Lord seeks us out; never gives up on us; and shares his merciful love with those in need. We are invited to see in these parables a metaphor for God’s searching love that draws the sinner and the lost back to the fold, back home, back to God’s loving heart. The parable of the prodigal son is the parable of the prodigal, forgiving father. The father was filled with joy when he spotted his son returning home – the son a bit desperate, recognizing he had made a mess of his life. The message of the parable is found in the father. Like the prodigal son, we are the recipients of God’s merciful love. I pray every day that we as a parish community will be a faithful witness of God’s extravagant, unconditional, healing love in the lives of people. God’s love for us is unending. In both the stories that Jesus told and the story that he lived, we are given chance after chance to return to the embrace of a loving God. And yet, sadly, the Church has not lived up to her high calling. Isn’t it amazing and tragic that though sinners felt so drawn to Jesus, some of them have so much difficulty feeling drawn to His Church. Could it be that a world of prodigal sons and daughters have experienced in the Church the judgmental scowl of the older brother’s in today’s Gospel parable? May we, the church of St. Joseph’s, be a faith community that re-commits ourselves to witness to God’s love and mercy in our world. May we commit ourselves to bring healing and forgiveness to a broken world. May we in all situations and circumstances witness to the love of Jesus Christ in our world. May this always be the ongoing grace we seek: to share freely and abundantly the gifts that have been given to us. Jesus came not only came to reveal the Father’s love, but sent us His Spirit so that we would become agents of reconciliation. As we have been given, so we are to share. We are to welcome, forgive, be peacemakers, and be a community that proactively reaches in the service of the marginalized and the poor. As we remember 9/11, may we celebrate God’s ongoing faithfulness, and may we be the witnesses of God’s peace and reconciliation among all people. Have a blessed day.
Labor Day weekend marks summer’s end. The academic year begins again. In the parish, faith formation resumes again and the parish ministries revive. As we pray over the Scriptures, we know that Jesus is the face of God made visible and the one who challenges each day on the quality of our discipleship. Much of the Lucan Gospel is set against the backdrop of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem where he was to suffer and die. On their way, Jesus continued the formation of his disciples, telling them both the blessings and the struggles entailed in following Him. As Jesus teaches, his message and words reach across the centuries and invites and challenges us in our discipleship of Jesus. "Anyone who does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” For anyone just looking for an easy tour of the Holy Land, that was not the Messiah you would want to follow. Jesus is not enlisting fair-weather fans. Jesus wants to be very clear with his would-be disciples. For a disciple of Jesus, discipleship demands single-minded loyalty. Every disciple of Jesus must be prepared to endure suffering. Today we celebrate the canonization of Mother Teresa, St Teresa of Calcutta. Indeed Mother Teresa had a single minded loyalty to Christ and her service to people most in need. Indeed Mother Teresa was prepared to endure suffering for the sake of serving the poor. May we embrace the spirituality of Mother Teresa who says “it’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” We as a Church are grateful for the ministry and the spirituality of Mother Teresa. May we be inspired by her single--minded love of Christ. Discipleship of Jesus takes many forms, and we are to interpret this Gospel in the light of the particular form of discipleship to which we have committed ourselves—marriage, parenting, friendship, career, religious life, lay ecclesial ministry, or priesthood. For us to respond to the jarring demands of discipleship expressed in today’s Gospel, our hearts need to be touched by the person of Jesus. We need conversion experiences. In the words of Mother Teresa, we need to hear Jesus in the silence of our own hearts. We need to experience ourselves as God’s beloved sons and daughters. We need to know the merciful love of Jesus in our lives. May we see with a spiritual sightedness that indeed like Christ we are on a journey to Jerusalem in which we need to continuously die to self and to make Christ more central to our lives. Have a blessed day.