Homily: Trinity Sunday, 2011

I still think that the best advice I ever read about how to “explain” the Holy Trinity when preaching was given by the great 20th-century Jesuit theologian, Karl Rahner.  Rahner has rarely been accused of being simple; but in treating this question of how to “explain” the Trinity in a homily, he kept his advice simple indeed – “Don’t!”  It’s a brilliant theologian, and perhaps even a holy one, who knows his own limits.  The fact is that the Holy Trinity is a deep mystery, and will always remain so for us mere mortals, at least, in this life. So let’s...

Homily: Pentecost 2011

Who or what is the Holy Spirit?  Today’s readings offer a variety of suggestive images: driving wind, tongues of fire, the breath of Jesus.  But what do these images tell us of the Spirit?      With the memory of the destructive tornado in Joplin, Missouri, still fresh in our minds and hearts, we need hardly be reminded that “driving wind” can have tremendous power.  Yet that power need not always be destructive.  There is talk, as we look to the future, of replacing offshore oil rigs with offshore windmill farms as a possible clean, green source of...

From the Pastor: 6.19.11

The annual Catholic Charities Appeal will be receiving donations through the end of the current fiscal year.  Catholic Charities has a great reputation nationally and internationally for getting maximum dollars directly to the needy whom the funds are meant to serve.  Here in Philadelphia, Catholic Charities funds many charitable works that would otherwise go undone.  I have invited our parishioner, Lorraine Knight – a member of our Finance Council and our Historic Preservation Corporation – to share with you regarding the impact of the C.C. Appeal on her office,...

From the Pastor: 6.12.11

First off, take a moment to congratulate yourselves; the recent election for Parish Pastoral Council speaks volumes about the present health and vitality of our Old St. Joseph’s faith community.  I’m not entirely sure what accounts for the difference, but for the 2010 election, we had four open Council seats and only four candidates.  (Luckily, all four were stellar people and have rendered great service as Council members this past year.) By contrast, this year we had 13 candidates for three open seats on the Council; and from the time when the ballots first...

From the Pastor: 6.5.11

The “second reading” at Sunday Mass is usually the neglected stepchild.  There are no doubt many reasons for this.  First, during Ordinary Time, it has no deliberate connection to the first reading and the Gospel (which WERE deliberately linked to one another by the authors of the current lectionary).  Additionally, the second reading is typically taken from one of the apostolic letters (a.k.a. “epistles”) and as such, it is more likely to be an exhortation or a theological reflection.  In other words, it is more likely to be heady and somewhat abstract, and...

Homily: 7th Sunday in Easter

Sr. Louise Alff recalls an experience she had several years ago while staying at a retreat house.  Rising very early in the morning, she slipped into the chapel balcony; and as she looked down at the tabernacle, an elderly priest came in.  Assuming no one was around, he went up to the tabernacle, touched it gently and prayed out loud.  Louise remembers being deeply moved by the priest’s humble and honest conversation with God.  It was a privileged moment for her to overhear, by chance, the secret thoughts of the priest’s heart.  Similarly, in today’s gospel...

OSJ’s Young Adult Community (YAC)

The Old Saint Joseph’s YAC (Young Adult Community) aims to foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for young adult Catholics interested in the enrichment of spirituality, social justice, and community in their lives.  The group meets every other Tuesday in the Irani House on the southwest corner of Willings Alley and Third (enter from the Alley). Please join us at our next gathering on June 14 at 7:30 PM. Please come and join us in reflection, community, food, and fellowship! Feel free to bring food & beverage of your choosing. For more info, contact...

From the Pastor: 5.29.11

As we gear up for a fall focus on Christian prayer in general – and on the Eucharist and Ignatian prayer in particular – I have been pondering what simple key messages might be helpful to focus on.  In my own prayer recently, I have been repeatedly struck by the truth which my Jesuit tertian director frequently reiterated – “It’s all about relationship.”  The Gospel, that is…  And a friend recently complemented that statement with a related one of her own: “In the Gospel, every person counts!” For Jesus, it is always people before programs or...

From the Pastor: 5.22.11

I was a U.S. bicentennial vocation.  I remember that the first time I visited the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in 1976, the town of Wernersville (10 miles west of Reading) was sporting fire hydrants painted red, white, and blue.  Vatican II had ended just a little over a decade before, and we were still getting used to the current translation of the Mass prayers.  When I entered that fall, we were forty-four Jesuit novices for the Maryland Province alone.  Plenty of us had longish hair; the novice master and his staff had to debate whether or not a single discreet...

Homily: Ascension Thursday

In the play A Man for All Seasons, which concerns St. Thomas More, there is an ambitious young man named Richard Rich who seeks the patronage of the older More.  Like all ambitious young men, Rich feels that his star is not rising quickly enough; and near the beginning of the play, he complains bitterly to More – whom he believes has the influence to make his ambitions come true – about how hard it is to wait with patience and with trust.  He grumbles: “Waiting’s work when you wait as I wait, hard!”  More offers to assist with an appointment to a teaching...