Censings

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12, 2018 12:15PM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community, Palm Springs CA By David Justin Lynch, Esquire Revelation 11:19A;12:1-62 | Judith 13:18BCDE;19 Luke 1:26-38 + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN. As Catholic Christians we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary because She gave us Jesus.  But we also honor Her because She can inspire our parish to do great things…if we let Her. Our Lady of Guadalupe, according to a priest in Mexico City, Father Miguel Sanchez, writing in 1648, appeared at Tepayac Hill, an area near Mexico City, on December 09, 1531, to Juan Diego, an indigenous Mexican, as an “apparition,” that is a supernatural vision, similar to Her appearances at Lourdes (France), Fatíma (Portugal), and Walsingham (England). Juan Diego saw an image of an adolescent female surrounded by light. Speaking to him in his Nahuatl language, She asked him to build a Church there in Her honor. Recognizi...

First Sunday in Advent December 02, 2018 – 10:30 AM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. David Justin Lynch Jeremiah 33:14-16 | Psalm 25:4-5;8-10;14 I Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 | Luke 21:25-28;34-36        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Among the components of the local news is the weather report. Most of the time here in Palm Springs, we have pretty nice weather. The temperature very seldom dips below forty degrees Fahrenheit; we have no snow and very little rain. This good weather is the major reason Sharon and I live here. Triple-digit temperatures are not as heavy as a snow shovel!        The weather elsewhere, however, is a different story. Freezing temperatures and snow are the norm much of the year in the mountain states, the Midwest, and the East Coast. The Southern states are often flooded and suffer hurricanes. In Calif...

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time November 04, 2018 10:30 AM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. David Justin Lynch Deuteronomy 6:2-6 Psalm 18:2-4;47-51 Hebrews 7:23-28 Mark 12:28B-34        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        As most of you know, I was a lawyer before I was ordained to ministry. I served in law-related professions for forty-one years, nineteen years as an insurance adjuster, two as a law clerk, and twenty as an attorney. But I was never truly happy doing any of that. I was called to be a priest when I was about eight years of age. Somehow, I wondered far afield for fifty-five years, but God brought me back to my original path. God always has a way of getting done what God wants done. So, when I departed from my law office at eleven-eleven East Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite one-thirteen, on August thirty-one two-thousand fifteen, I was totally a...

SAINT FRANCIS DAY CELEBRATION October 07, 2018 10:30 AM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. David Justin Lynch Genesis 1:20-22;24-31a |Psalm 148:1-3;7;10;13a;13c Acts 10:1-16 | Luke 13:22-31        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Much of my life has included one or more dogs. My first dog was Star, a black male miniature poodle. He came to me when I was eleven years of age, and I soon bonded with him. Star was the person at the center of my life for the next four years. I loved him more than the people in my birth family, who were not very nice to me most of the time. But Star always was. I was absolutely heartbroken when he was killed by a speeding car, more so than by the death of anyone else. God, who confers gifts on all living things, has often used the service of animals, or made them reminders of salvation. Nowhere is that more true than with dogs. On th...

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time September 09 2018 | 10:30 AM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Isaiah 35:4-7a | Psalm 146:6-10 James 2:1-5 | Mark 7:31-37        In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy  Spirit, AMEN.        One of the most frequent complaints that my wife, Deacon Sharon, has about me, is that I don’t listen to her.  Yes, it’s very true that sometimes when she is speaking, my mind is elsewhere, sometimes on current events, other times on liturgy, and often I’m composing music in my head.  But she’s not unreasonable in wanting me to take seriously the message emanating from her, nor is any other spouse in the same situation.   Sharon probably wishes Jesus would open my ears the way He did in today’s Gospel for the man who could neither hear nor speak.  I am sure all of us who are married will agree that listening to your spouse goes a long way tow...

LABOR DAY CELEBRATION September 02, 2018 10:30 AM Rev. David Justin Lynch Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Sirach 38:24-25;34b;39:1-11| Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10, 13  I Corinthians 3:10-14 | Luke 12:13-20        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        The traditional theme for Labor Day is to celebrate the victory of unions over oppressive employers.  But I take a broader view of Labor Day. I see it as a celebration of the dignity of all human work, whether you are employed, have your own business, or like me, you work, but not for pay.           Whatever one does as work, whether for oneself or others, paid or not, defines an important part of who we are as people. Our work gives us an identity. Certain personalities and certain cognitive styles are drawn to particular work.  Corporate America and vocational counse...