Censings

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  YEAR B October 25, 2015 Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch Jeremiah 31:7-9 Psalm 126:1-6 Hebrews 5:1-6 Mark 10:46-52 + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        When my wife, Beeper, and I sit in front of the television watching a baseball game or the news, which is most of what we watch together, one of us may want to change the channel and asks, “Where is the remote?” We look around for it on the sofa, the table in front of the sofa, and on the floor, and usually find it right away. But for those few minutes we are looking for it, we are blind to its existence, even though it might be in plain sight. That’s a kind of blindness.        I will admit to being blindly in love with Beeper when I met her. I was definitely not objective. The first day I saw Beeper, her beauty truly overwhelmed me. I purposef...

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B October 18, 2015 Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch Isaiah 53:10-11 Psalm 33:4-5;19-22 Hebrews 4:14-16 Mark 10:35-45        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Those of us who become clergy do so for a variety of reasons. We are human. We are sinners. Because of that, not unexpectedly, some of us seek a career in the church for the very human motivations of wealth, fame and power. We follow human instinct when we avoid taking up the cross of Jesus and drinking His cup of suffering.  It is those kinds of clergy to which today’s Gospel reading is addressed.        We can easily see that some are in Church work for the money. They want to get rich. They want to live in nice houses and drive nice cars. But Jesus had other ideas about ministerial compensation. You...

TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B October 04, 2015 Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch Genesis 2:18-24  Hebrews 2:9-11 Psalm 128 Mark 10:2-12        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        This week’s lectionary is very tempting for a preacher to condemn divorce and justify the traditional position of the Roman Church that those who divorce and remarry should not receive Holy Communion. It is also very tempting for a preacher to rely on it to justify the continuing subjugation of women and to condemn same-sex marriage as done in the Roman Church and elsewhere. I am not going to “go there” this morning. Using scripture to hit people over the head is not part of my tradition. That’s more like what the Pharisees were doing when they tested Jesus in today’s Gospel, just as they did in the question about whether it is lawful t...

FEAST OF SAINT MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS September 27, 2015 (transferred from September 29) Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch Revelation 12:7-12 Psalm 138:1-5 Colossians 1:9-20 John 1:47-51 + In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.        Angels are everywhere. In the Bible, angels are ubiquitous from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation. You may recall that when Adam and Eve left Eden, God placed an angel to guard its entrance.  An angel appeared to Hagar in the wilderness to save her and her son Ishmael from starvation. Angels appeared to Abraham on several occasions. Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder between earth and heaven. Angels were also instrumental in the ministry of Moses, appearing to him at the burning bush, and when Moses led the Exodus through the Red Sea. Angels are copiously present throughout the prophecy of Zechariah and the Psal...

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B September 20, 2015 Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch Wisdom 2:12;17-20 Psalm 54 James 3:16-4:3 Mark 9:30-37        +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN. Today’s gospel reading is the second of three “passion predictions” in Mark - we heard the first one last week. Jesus again said he was going to suffer and die, and like His previous prediction, the disciples didn’t know quite what to make of what Jesus was saying. They were more concerned about playing a game of one-upsmanship with each other, much as human persons often do.  Nowhere is that more true than among Christians. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, over thirty nine thousand denominations of Christians existed as of the year two thousand seven. Some were born out of long-simmering and serious theological disagreements. Others were formed because someone ...

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME September 13, 2015 Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch Isaiah 50:4-9 Psalm 116:1-9 Philippians 2:5-8 Mark 8:27-35        + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.        Usually when we talk about the cross, it is during Lent, in the context of the approaching death of Jesus on Good Friday, to be followed by His resurrection on Easter Sunday. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Holy Cross, when we focus on the cross itself and what it means for the Christian faith experience.   Not all Christians view the cross the same way. Generally, Catholic Christian churches have a crucifix, that is, a cross with the Body of Jesus on it to remind us of the human suffering of Jesus as one of us, while protestant Christian churches have an empty cross to communicate the idea of the resurrected Jesus as a present reality. ...

LABOR DAY September 06, 2015 Saint Cecilia Catholic Community Rev. Dcn. David Justin Lynch Proverbs 22:1-9 Psalm 125 James 5:1-11 Matthew 20:1-16        +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.        Labor Day is not a liturgical holiday. It’s not on the calendar of any church. So why are we celebrating a Mass to honor it? Catholicism is based on the dignity of the human person, which includes a calling to do some kind of work to support oneself and confer benefits on the community in which one lives.   Work is a good thing . Through work, humanity transforms nature, adapting it to human needs. Work is more than something one does to survive. Work is ongoing human participation in God’s creation. We exist because of God’s work in creating us. God created us in God’s image; and part of being God-like is working. God placed humanity in the Garden of Eden intending humanity ...