From the Pastor: 11.30.08

FROM THE PASTOR – Nov. 30, 2008 And so we come to the end of the Mass (and of this series!) – the concluding rites.  Unfortunately, for centuries, many people have come to Mass primarily to receive communion and to spend a moment in quiet prayer savoring the presence of the risen Body and Blood of Christ within them – after which they are ready to duck out.  In fact, in the legalistic days before Vatican II, the theory was that for Mass to “fulfill your Sunday obligation,” you had to arrive in time to hear the Gospel proclaimed, and you had to stay until you...

Homily: 11.30.08

Old St. Joseph’s Church, Philadelphia – 9:30 a.m. November 30, 2008 – 1st Sunday in Advent (B) Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor We spend lots of our lives waiting.  At this time of year, kids are certainly waiting, counting down the days till Christmas.  They are also counting down the school days – along with their parents, from a different perspective! – until Christmas break.  Recently, hundreds of tween-age girls waited with their mothers for hours at King of Prussia mall to catch a glimpse of Robert Pattinson, the British actor who plays a chivalrous...

Homily: 11.30.08

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor Old St. Joseph’s Church – 11/30/08 – 4 p.m. Solemn Vespers – 1st Sunday of Advent “Rejoice!” says Paul.  But what on earth does that mean?  Hasn’t the word become a bit like “Merry,” as in “Merry Christmas” – an old-fashioned word that we only trot out seasonally?  We’ll hear a lot of “joy” on the radio and at the grocery store or the CVS in the weeks ahead.  “Tidings of comfort and joy.”  “Joy to the world.”  “Echoing their joyous strain.”  But what the heck is it? A memorable homilist once...

From the Pastor: 11.23.08

FROM THE PASTOR – Nov. 23, 2008 I ended last week’s reflection with a reminder from the Catechism that the Eucharistic Prayer is “the heart and summit of the celebration” (CCC, 1352).  I wonder how many Catholics experience it that way?  Sometimes it just seems like the long, boring, repetitious part where the priest drones on and on.  But if we pay attention, we’ll notice that all the prayers are in the “we” form.  “Lift up your hearts; we lift them up to the Lord.” In other words, in the Eucharistic Prayer, the presider is praying and acting on...

Homily: 11.23.08

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor Old St. Joseph’s Church – 9:30 a.m. Mass Christ the King – 11/23/08 The CEO of World Wide Widgets, Inc., was something of a legend to the employees.  Everyone knew the story of how J. C. Saverman had founded the company and established its core values and service standards of trust, teamwork, compassion, justice, and self-improvement.  Over the years, of course – particularly as the company had expanded and grown – J.C.’s visibility on the front lines had decreased.  At every level, there were company employees who dismissed his...

Homily: 11.16.08

Fr. Dan Ruff, S.J. – Pastor, Old St. Joseph’s 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – 11-16-08 11:30 a.m. Mass Parables, like Perrier, are served up with a twist.  If the meaning seems obvious, we’re almost certainly missing it.  So those affluent Christians who responded to the U.S. Bishops’ pastoral letter, “Economic Justice for All” (1986) by seeing today’s Gospel parable as Jesus’ endorsement of entrepreneurial capitalism and speculative investing, were definitely on the wrong track. A couple of helps in getting closer to authentic understanding. ...

From the Pastor: 11.16.08

FROM THE PASTOR: NOV. 16, 2008 St. Ignatius Loyola reminds us in the Spiritual Exercises that God, who is “crazy” in love with us, his children, he never stops “laboring” for us.  And so, God is “foolish” enough to trust us, to want to believe the best about us, and he is willing to risk his own flesh and blood for us in the person of his beloved Son.  It is this miracle of love that we re-enact with awe every time we approach the table in faith to celebrate liturgy of the Eucharist.  Here, we believe in faith, God continues to labor and give himself to...

From the Pastor: 11.09.08

FROM THE PASTOR: NOV. 9, 2008 As I hinted last week, early Jewish Christians continued to gather at synagogue on Sabbath morning to find God’s presence in their tribal stories as told in God’s ever living Word.  They would hear an elder, maybe even one of the apostles, explain how they were to understand the Hebrew Scriptures as being completed in Jesus Christ – the “new Adam,” the “new Moses,” the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies.  They would read any newly received letters of instruction or exhortation from recognized Church authorities like Paul...

Homily: 11.09.08

Fr. Dan Ruff. S..J. – Pastor Old St. Joseph’s Church, Philadelphia – 9:30 a.m. Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran (11/9/08) As Roman Catholics, we are blessed with what priest-sociologist Andrew Greeley calls a “sacramental imagination.”  We find and experience God in symbol and in story.  God started it when he revealed himself through his creation – especially through us, whom He fashioned in his image and likeness.  He continued it in his dealings with the people of Israel – inviting them to recognize his faithful presence in burning bushes,...

From the Pastor: 11.02.08

FROM THE PASTOR: NOV. 2, 2008 My dad was an only child, and both of his parents were from very small families, but my mom came from a fairly large Irish-American clan.  As a result, growing up, it was mostly her relations that we would see on special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Now believe it or not, some folks of Irish descent do like to talk, particularly when their tongues have been lubricated by a wee touch of the “craitchur”!  So what I remember from childhood are family gatherings filled with laughter, and song, and lots and lots of...