Homily: 10.26.08

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor, Old St. Joseph’s 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – 10-26-08 6:30 p.m. Mass I watched an interesting movie on DVD this week; a sweet little independent movie called “Lars and the Real Girl.”  Lars is 27 years old, and resides in a small town somewhere in the northern Midwest –probably Minnesota or North Dakota.  To be precise, he lives in the converted garage behind what we eventually learn is his parents’ house, now inhabited by his older brother, Gus, and Gus’ wife, Karin. The movie establishes quickly that Lars is...

From the Pastor: 10.26.08

From the Pastor, October 26, 2008 When we left off in last week’s column, we had gotten the procession as far as the sanctuary. At this point, the ministers go to their places and the presider goes to his chair – the third most important piece of furniture, after the altar and the ambo – and he leads us in signing ourselves with the cross of Christ. We do this together (still gathering rites!) and we also recall our belief in the one triune God, who is Father, Son, and Spirit. Amen. So be it. How often do we say that simple Hebrew word together during...

Homily: 10.19.08

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor Old St. Joseph’s Church – 10.19.08 – 29th Sunday in OT (year A) Sunday 9:30a.m. Have you stopped beating your wife yet? Have you finally decided to be a patriot?  Are you ready to stop supporting the terrorists? Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Well, show me the coin… [Show it…] Whose head?  Whose inscription (lettering)? Funny you should happen to have that coin (with a graven image of a self-proclaimed God!) in your pocket!! Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar… And to God what belongs to God. Caesar’s...

From the Pastor: 10.19.08

FROM THE PASTOR, OCTOBER 19, 2008 As some of you may know, in my graduate studies I focused on liturgy, and on Eucharist in particular. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to do a series of these “From the Pastor” columns dealing with the Mass. We’ll see how many weeks it takes us to walk through the whole ritual. I do want to take it in manageable segments, and to comment sufficiently to do justice to the Mass’s richness and power. It all begins, of course, with gathering. In fact, the first portion of the Mass, up through the “opening...

Homily: 10.12.08

Old St. Joseph’s Church; Sat. 5:30 Vigil; Sunday 6:30 p.m. 28th Sunday in OT (A) – 10-12-08 Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor So what did you think of that feast hosted by God as described by the prophet Isaiah?  Not only does God plan to serve “juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines”; but he intends to “destroy death forever” and to “wipe away the tears from every face.”  Does anybody besides me think that sounds like a pretty good deal?  Well, Isaiah’s prophetic vision is a metaphorical description of the so-called “heavenly banquet,” or what is...

From the Pastor: 10.12.08

FROM THE PASTOR: OCT. 12, 2008 One of the many advantages of my return to the City of Brotherly Love (eighteen years after I left it, but who’s counting?!) has been the rekindling of an old friendship with a former colleague in ministry.  She is now happily married and raising a family a few blocks away; and you might send a prayer of gratitude her way, as she has conned your middle-aged pastor into walking four mornings a week.  Besides the obvious benefits to our respective cardiovascular healths, these walks also afford us the opportunity to engage in wide-ranging,...

Homily: 10.05.08

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sunday, October 5, 2008 Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor I suspect we have all had the “sour grapes” experience at some point or other.  Perhaps you invested yourself deeply in a relationship – spending time, money, and attention on the other person – only to find in the end that, for whatever reason, the other person didn’t return your interest, or maybe even betrayed your trust.  Maybe you invested time, effort, and sweat in training for a marathon only to twist an ankle at the eleventh hour and find yourself unable to compete. ...

From the Pastor: 10.05.08

FROM THE PASTOR, OCT. 5, 2008 The great British spiritual writer, C.S. Lewis, wrote a book called Surprised by Joy. I like the title because joy always seems that much sweeter to me when it sneaks up and surprises me. (The Irish side of me never expects to find any joy “in this vale of tears”!) Anyway, I’ve found in my own life that if I want to be surprised by joy on a regular basis, I have only to make my daily examen. Now this is “Ignatian Spirituality 101,” so for those who already know this, come back for next week’s column. The...