Censings

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch St Matthews Ecumenical Catholic Church, Orange CA Genesis 15:1-6;21:1-3    Psalm 105:1-2;3-4;5-6;8-9 Colossians 3:12-17  Luke 2:22-40 + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Those of you who are choral evensong fans will recognize that as part of the Magnificat, the canticle sung after the first lesson. You’ll recall it as part of the Song of Mary which Our Lady sang at her visit to cousin Elizabeth, as Mary reflected on Her role in our salvation history. As Bishop Peter told you many times, Jesus was not a Christian. He was a Jew . On today’s Feast of the Holy Family, we reflect on the customs of the Jewish family into which Jesus was born.     In Jewish families, male babies are customarily circumcised eight days after birth, and at that time, they are given their names. That is why for ma...

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch December 21, 2014 St. Thomas Independent Catholic Church, San Diego, CA 2 Samuel 7:1-5;8-12;14,16   Luke 1:46-55 Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. My wife, Beeper, and I were married at Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church in Anaheim, California in April, 1996. The rector at the time, who married us, was Father Adam McCoy. At that time, St. Michael’s hosted a flourishing Hispanic ministry, and as you may know, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a prominent spiritual figure in their community.  But when an icon of Her appeared in the church at St. Michael’s, some of the low church, protestant-minded members of the white congregation objected.  Unlike the many gutless Episcopal clergy who cave to political pressure when someone says something about appearing “too catholic”, Father Adam did not remove her. No...

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch December 14, 2014 St. Thomas Independent Catholic Church, San Diego, CA Isaiah 61:1-2;10-11    Luke 1:46-48;49-50;53-54 I Thessalonians 5:16-24     John 1:6-8;19-28 + In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. (Sing) “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king.” Now, I know that’s a bit premature. We all know that Christmas is a joy-filled holiday, or at least, it’s supposed to be that. Today, however, we’re still in Advent and celebrating “Gaudete Sunday”, and that’s why I’m wearing rose colored vestments, which are traditional for this third Sunday of Advent. The word “Gaudete” is the imperative form of the Latin verb gaudeo, gaudere , meaning to be joyful. The imperative of a verb is used to give commands; here, the church is commanding us on this Sunday, “be joyful.” But it’s a different kind of joy from the joy we’re going t...

St. Matthews Ecumenical Catholic Church August 31, 2014 – 22 nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Romans 12:1-2 David Justin Lynch, Esquire     “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” We hear that in church a lot… in particular when anyone talks about changing the liturgy. But I’ve yet to find any saying of Jesus that sounds like, “That’s the way we’ve always done it”.  Jesus was not a creature of the religious establishment of His day. Here was a guy who broke the rules: healing on the Sabbath, not washing his hands before eating, and horror of horrors, he threw the established money changers and merchants out of the temple with a whip of cords. But the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” attitude is also where people work.  However, do we have to accept as a final answer? In the beginning of the last century employees were one step above a slave: Long hours, disgusting and unsafe working conditions, no health care, and very low pay. The Labor Movement in...

         As a little boy, I was lucky to worship with my mother in lieu of consignment to Sunday School. I loved Mass: the music, the vestments, the incense, the ceremonies. But more than anything else, I wanted to receive Holy Communion.  Not only did I want to join my mother at the communion rail, I wanted to receive Jesus. I was told – and believed – that the Mass changed the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. But there was one problem: I was not confirmed! In those days, the Episcopal Church did not admit anyone to communion until confirmation. So I asked the priest what I had to do to get confirmed and was told, “learn the Catechism.”  Hence, I made it my business to learn the Catechism and was duly confirmed at age 9 on May 13, 1962, and thereafter, began receiving communion every Sunday no matter where I lived, vacationed, or worked. Throughout my life, I have almost never missed Mass. I have often gone to great lengths to...