Censings

Christmas Eve 2017 – Sung Mass 7:00 PM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community, Palm Springs CA Rev. David Justin Lynch Isaiah 9:1-6 Titus 2:11-24 Luke 2:1-14        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Over the past few weeks, the world around us has been going through its annual drill getting ready for Christmas. We’ve been decorating, baking, partying, and of course, shopping. We here at church have been spiritually preparing for the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus by celebrating Advent, simultaneously getting our souls ready for His coming as a child and his eventual return in glory when the Kingdom of God has fully come. While the merchants of the world look to Christmas every year for financial salvation, we Christians look to Jesus as God’s gift to all of humanity. As the saying goes, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Jesus comes to us at Christmas to make everything new for us, as we respond with “abundant joy and great r

First Sunday in Advent – Year B December 03, 2017 10:30 AM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community, Palm Springs CA Rev. David Justin Lynch Isaiah 63:16B-17;64:2-7  Psalm 80:2-3;15-16;18-19 I Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:33-37        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN. In the secular world, Advent invites us to decorate our homes and buy gifts. There is nothing wrong with that, but for Christians, Advent is different. We will be preparing ourselves to be ready for God to permeate our entire lives. We need to be sure we have enough oil in our lamps to be ready to enlighten the lives of others, and to care for the least among us. For the church, Advent is not part of the Christmas season as it is in the secular world.  Advent, for the church, is not Christmas shopping and holiday parties. That is why we do not decorate the church for Christmas until Advent ends, and it is why we absolutely do not sing Christmas carols during Advent. Adven

Authorship - Unknown Like the other three canonical gospels, the author of Mark is anonymous. However, tradition, as transmitted by bishop and apostolic father Papias who lived around 60-130 AD, holds that he was “John Mark”, a companion of the apostle Peter. “John Mark” is mentioned in Acts 12:12-14, which indicates John Mark’s mother’s house was a regular enough stop for Peter that the servants recognized him by voice alone. There are other mentions of John Mark in Acts 12:24 and 13:5 and at Colossians 4:10. If one believes Peter was actually the author of I Peter, one can hypothesize further that there was a close relationship between Peter and Mark, as at I Peter 5:13, where the author refers to Mark as his son. Someone named Mark is also mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:11, where the author, (either St. Paul himself or one of his students; scholars aren’t sure), states, “Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.” There is

Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Thanksgiving Day November 23, 2017 10:30 AM Rev. David Justin Lynch Sirach 50:22-24 Psalm 45:2-11 I Corinthians 1:3-9 Luke 17:11-19        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Secular authority in our country designated today to give thanks, to show our gratitude for all the blessings of life. For most people, that includes family, friends, and perhaps economic success. Those prone to American Exceptionalism give thanks for living in the United States rather than elsewhere. Christians, however, give thanks to God, first and foremost, for the simple gift of life itself, rather than gloat over whatever good fortunes life has brought us.        Common folklore tells us that the first thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims, who were anti-Catholic refugees from the Church of England, in Massachusetts in about the year 1621. However, it actually started earlier, and it was originated by Cath

Saint Cecilia Catholic Community, Palm Springs California All Saints & All Souls Sunday November 05, 2017 10:30 AM Rev. David Justin Lynch Sirach 45:1-10;14-15   Revelation 7:2-4;9-14 Matthew 5:1-12A        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        I look forward to All Saints Day every year because I get to sing “I Sing A Song of the Saints of God.” The words are by Lesbia Scott, and the tune was composed by John Henry Hopkins. I heard it for the first time when I was about eight or nine years of age. Lesbia Scott was the wife of an English priest and the mother of three children. She wrote the lyrics we sang this morning in 1920. It was one of many poems she wrote to teach her children about God.  John Henry Hopkins was eighty-one years of age and a retired priest when he composed the tune, named “Grand Isle”, after his home town in Vermont. The truth of the words, and the liveliness of the tune, will dwell in my heart an

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time / Feast of Saint Francis October 01 2017 10:30 AM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. David Justin Lynch Ezekiel 18:25-28 Psalm 25:4-9 Philippians 2:1-11 Matthew 21:28-31        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Humility. That’s a very, very, difficult, extremely difficult, concept for humanity generally, particularly in the United States of America. Our culture communicates a message that sounds like this. “Be a winner.” “Be better than the next person.” “Be First.” That’s called the “achievement ethic”. It supports our meritocracy, that vertically rates everyone an everything. But all of that is the exact opposite of humility, not what the life and message of Jesus teaches us.        Today’s Gospel relates an encounter between Jesus and the high priests and elders of the Jerusalem temple. They were not unlike today’s church hierarchy. We still have our share of chief priest

LABOR DAY CELEBRATION September 03, 2017 Saint Cecilia Catholic Community, Palm Springs CA Rev. David Justin Lynch Sirach 38:27-32A  Wisdom 10:15-19, 20b-21 1 Corinthians 3:10-14 Matthew 6:19-24        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN. When I meet someone new, one of the first questions I ask is, “what sort of work do you do?” I ask that because more than anything else, our work, or lack of it, at least partially, describes who we are.  The response to that question gives me an insight into someone’s soul.   What work one does is part of one’s identity. The work we do is bound up with our dignity as human persons. Human dignity is the cornerstone of Catholicism. Psalm eight sings our praises. We were created “a little lower than the angels and crowned with glory and honor,” and given dominion over all creation.  Catholicism gets its focus on human dignity from Jesus Himself. Recall the story of the crippled woman healed on

August 27, 2017 Emmaus Community, Olympia, WA Rev. David Justin Lynch Isaiah 22:19-23 Psalm 138:1-3;6-8 Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20             +In the name of God, our Father and Mother, Jesus our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, AMEN. At least a few of you may have come to church expecting an excoriation of the Roman Catholic Church about the mischief of Petrine Primacy.  I’m not going to go there. Instead, I will look at today’s readings on a much deeper level. I see today’s Gospel as about faith, the rewards of being faithful, and by implication, the universality of Jesus’ call to all Christians. I see Peter as representing all of us, and Jesus’ response to Peter as addressing the entire church, not just clergy. When someone asks, “What faith are you,” most of you would respond, “I’m Catholic.” That is how I’m tempted to respond as well, but that’s not how I do respond. One of the most misused words in the English language is “faith.” It’s commonly used t