Censings

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C September 08 2019 – 10:30 AM Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. David Justin Lynch Wisdom 9:13:18B | Psalm 90:3-6;12-14;17 Philemon 9-10;12-17 | Luke 14:25-33              +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN. This week, I was asked to make time at today’s Sunday Mass for the commissioning of a Protestant layperson to officiate at weddings and funerals for personal financial gain.   Aside from the fact that we are a Catholic Community whose theological understandings of weddings, funerals, and ministry itself differ from Protestants in many respects, this proposal raises an important question: should ministry be a profit-seeking endeavor? Today’s readings answer precisely why I issued a resounding NO to that request. In the course of my work as a priest, families come to me for baptisms, weddings, quinceañeras, and funerals. The first question...

    LABOR DAY CELEBRATION Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Palm Springs, California September 01, 2019 – 10:30 AM Rev. David Justin Lynch Genesis 23:1-6 | Song of Wisdom 1 Corinthians 3:10-13 | Matthew 25:31-46 + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        When we think of Labor Day, we commonly think of unionized workers celebrating victories over oppressive employers. Those workers are certainly to be commended for their courage, their vision, and their sacrifices that brought us the forty-hour work week, minimum wage, and other labor protections.   We must never lose sight of our mission as Christians to be ministers of justice, to fight against oppression and degradation of all kinds involving all workers, no matter what they do or where they are.        In the ensuing years since the beginning of the labor movement, the relationship between employers and e...