A New Day, a New Life

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 26, 2022 – Year C
Readings: 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21 / Ps 16 / Gal 5:1, 13-18 / Lk 9:51-62
by Rev. Jay Biber, Guest Celebrant

This was a week like no other, with the big elephant in the little living room: major cultural shifts.  And to many of us, what came down from the courts is not necessarily friendly.

There were three decisions that came down from the high court.  The first one was about the second amendment. The second sort of gets blocked out, about faith in education.  It was a case brought from the state of Maine, in which the county agreed to pay for public or private schools, as long as there was no religion involved.   Parents challenged the decision that no religion could be involved.  The court’s ruling stated that as long as a full education was offered, public funding could be used regardless.  So, we’ve all learned that it’s very important for Catholic parents to keep a close eye on education.

The third one on Friday has to do with the whole culture of life.  I think of all of your prayers that have been going up for these forty-nine years since January of 1973, for an end to abortion and to respect the dignity of every human being from moment of conception to moment of natural death.  That’s the first right, after which all other rights follow.

The Supreme Court decision does not mean an end to abortion.  It was more of a judicial thing that says we took a case forty-nine years ago that was not settled law.  In fact, it overturned state law for most of the states in the country and almost guaranteed an ongoing controversy.  And so it returns to the states, for those of us who consciously wish to establish that culture of life in which every life is welcomed.

When I visit the nursing home and see the person whom I once knew in the prime of life, ranting and incontinent – no, you’re not a vegetable!  You’re never a vegetable; you’re a human all the way to the end of your natural life.  We don’t interfere with that.  And you are human from the moment of your conception.

So, it’s up to us going forward, because in Virginia nothing has changed between Thursday and Saturday.  To work for that right to life is still what lies before us.  It has just been brought back to the state level now.  The feeling was that the judiciary had been too activist – they had taken too active a role in what should have been up to the people at the polls to decide, not the unelected judge, so it wasn’t a constitutional issue.

I have the sense that you are probably getting hammered by those who know you are Catholic, because not everybody out there is friendly to what we stand for.  Like in the early Church, in some ways we stand alone.  I hope to give you a couple of things that you can say, because I don’t want to see you unequipped or defenseless.  I want to see you with some words that you can believe in.

Long ago, as early Christians, we separated ourselves, often at the cost of life and limb, from the Roman Empire, and it was remarked upon by commentators and historians, that all these Christians don’t want to abort their children and they don’t expose their children.

What was common under the Roman Empire was that children who weren’t wanted were put out where the animals were, or in the forest, or on the roof overnight.  Of course, many of them didn’t survive.  That was called exposing, and if they survived, the family would often take them back.  Christians didn’t do that.

And I suspect that it was because we were taken from all walks of society, and we recognized that since Christ came for all, and since all were made in the image and likeness of God, and that since Christ had taken on flesh, that means that I have to treat their lives with enormous respect.

I always love first confessions.  You know when the kids come in, and some of them have very keen consciences, and some not so much.  But I always remind them that God loves you and that you are not here by accident.  You’re not some cosmic waste; you’re here for a reason (although they may not know it yet), but you’re not here by accident.  And so, it opens us up early on, hopefully.  From the beginning we stood apart, regardless of how the empire went, and regardless of how the empire goes now.

This is in the future and I don’t have a crystal ball for you.  Whatever happens, we’ll stay the same.  Now we think it’s a great way to live.  It is profoundly liberal, because it says there’s room for you.  We don’t know how we’re going to put that extra plate at the table, but there’s room for you.  That’s the best of the word “liberal” – an openness to the unexpected, an openness to what God’s doing that I may not be completely in touch with.

So, not only do I go back to the beginnings of things, I go back to when my own life began, which wasn’t the day that I appeared to the world in August of 1947.  I’m guessing it was around Thanksgiving time the year before when my life first began inside my mom.  She didn’t know I was there.  Dad didn’t know; I guess God was the only one who knew.  But what I know now that I didn’t know then is that even at that point, I was a person.  I had a right to life.  I was a human being.  And now we know scientifically that I even had my own DNA.  My mother was the one who carried me, but I wasn’t her, I wasn’t a part of her in that sense.  I was dependent on her, but I was not her; I was somebody different.  And that’s what we keep saying – the baby is somebody different, and the baby deserves that protection.  We speak of the baby because maybe our first experience of faith was to think of a baby, because babies are voiceless.

A number of different numbers come to mind as I reflect back.  The number 49.  The number 43.  The number 95.  Forty-nine years ago, when I had just quit the seminary, I had been in for ten years – high school, college in Rhode Island, where I am from, and then over to Belgium for my graduate work for three years.  Times were sort of wild in 1972; it was a crazy, crazy time.  I said to myself that I had too many reservations, so I left the seminary, stayed in Europe after being in Belgium for three years where it was always cloudy and gray.  I needed to clear out the cobwebs, so I hitchhiked down to the south of Spain and worked there for six months, got some sun, and then hitchhiked up to Switzerland where I waited on tables in the Alps and was a ski bum for six months before coming back to the states.

It was during that time that the Roe ruling came down.  Of course, it was not on my radar, so I knew nothing about it.  I only heard about it later on, and life has a way of coming full circle. After a business career I was drawn back to the priesthood, and I moved from Boston down to Virginia and was ordained here.  There I became involved in the Pro-Life movement, because once I began to think about it, I said, “This can’t be.”

And on a day like today, I think of those in parishes throughout the world who are praying.  I think of all those Marches for Life rarely covered by the news media and the longest peaceful protest in history.  All those people who said, “This ain’t right.”  In a culture that doesn’t have an attention span of 49 seconds, this is 49 years and that March for Life becomes like a great family reunion every year.  It’s sort of like Woodstock without the dope – it’s the same average age as Woodstock was.  There’s a sense of ‘we need to be here.’  And of course, now that is reversed and sent back.  I think of all the people who have gone before us during those forty-nine years and those whose prayers, in this respect, have been answered.

Think of the number 43.  There was no long history, no constitutional right to abortion.  It was a very activist decision because the laws of 43 states were changed by this, overnight.  And that was hard to swallow.  So, this time around, the court says it is not constitutional – it must be taken back to the people.

I think of the number 95, for it was 95 years ago, not far from here in Amherst and Charlottesville – that the Supreme Court case was Buck v. Bell, dealing with involuntary sterilization of imbeciles, feebleminded, and people who were ‘less.’  It was the eugenics movement.  It eventually got exported to the Third Reich.  The eugenics movement – some lives are worth more than others – who would breed and who wouldn’t.  And that Supreme Court, perhaps the most illustrious of all time, came down to permit it.

All the way up to the 60s, thousands were victims of involuntary sterilization, and that Supreme Court consisted of luminaries.  Former President Taft was on it, and perhaps the most well-known of all Supreme Court justices, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis.  This is a list of the greats, and they came out 8 to 1 in favor of eugenics.  Now it had to get overturned and was overturned in the 1940s, when we saw what it wrought.  But the one dissenter, which sort of struck me, was the one Catholic justice.  He was raised not in the lap of luxury, not with a silver spoon, but in a log cabin in Minnesota with ten other kids in the family.  Somehow, he knew.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I feel very inadequate.  The first time around we didn’t have the words; we didn’t know what to say.  Perhaps when you get confronted, maybe we can begin to get the words now.  What I always ask is if a baby is a baby is a baby, and I was who I was before my mom knew I was there.  Science tells me that.  I wasn’t part of Mom in that sense.  I was who I was.  The other thing I say is when you look at much of this back and forth is that nobody talks about Baby.  And I simply say, “Who speaks for Baby?”  You’d expect Mom to be the one to speak for Baby, but if not, we will.  Keep Baby at the center of the conversation.

Listening to today’s gospel, I would say put this on my tombstone.  Where he says to Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go.  And Jesus says, “Foxes have dens and the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head.”  That to me, is the great romance of the priesthood, or trying to follow Christ, I think for all of us.  To eventually let go of all the little props and little securities that I need, and to turn myself over completely to Him.  Where the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head, there is no security but Him.

This is a chance for us to move forth, to say no, we think a culture of life is a great thing, and yes, we may have to revise the whole sexual revolution.  We may have to revisit that and say that it was not such a great idea.  Look at a lot of the results.  Now we may have to go back and do a lot of work, but the battle is always Christ’s, and so may we be graced with all the fruits of the spirit in going forth.

Good Shepherds

Fourth Sunday of Easter
May 8, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Acts 13:14, 43-52 / Ps 100 / Rev 7:9, 14b-17 / Jn 10:27-30
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Four clergymen, taking a short break from their heavy schedules, were on a park bench chatting and enjoying an early Spring day.

“You know, since all of us are such good friends,” said one, “this might be a good time to discuss personal problems.”  They all agreed.

“Well, I would like to share with you the fact that I drink to excess,” said one.  There was a gasp from the other three.

Then another spoke up.  “Since you were so honest, I’d like to say that my big problem is gambling.  It’s terrible, I know, but I can’t quit.  I’ve even been tempted to take money from the collection plate.”  Another gasp was heard.

The third clergyman spoke.  “I’m really troubled, brothers, because I’m growing fond of a woman in my church, a married woman.”  More gasps.

But the fourth remained silent.  After a few minutes, the others coaxed him to open up.  “The fact is that I just don’t know how to tell you about my problem.”

“It’s all right, brother, your secret is safe with us,” said the others.

“Well, it’s this way,” he said, “You see, I’m an incurable gossip.”

Brothers and Sisters, jokes like this have shaped our view of priests, as if there is no difference between the life and work of a priest and that of other Christians.  That is true only up to a point.  We see another dimension to the life and work of priests when we consider it from the aspect of vocations, or the Call of God.  This is the aspect that the Church wants us to dwell on today, as we observe the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  Today the Church invites us to reflect on the meaning of God’s call, and to pray for an increase in vocations.

To help us reflect on the meaning of the priestly vocation, let us not only pray for religious vocations, but also encourage and support young men and women who have the inclination to walk the less-travelled road.  If you feel you are called, or have the desire, to serve God and His people in a more meaningful way, and without having a family, a wife or children, then you are called to become a priest and to grab that opportunity given by God.  You should inquire further and discern God’s will.  You can consult me or some other priest regarding your desire, or call our Vocation Director.

One way of showing our love for God, especially for parents, is by supporting and encouraging our children to enter the priesthood.  The family is the seedbed of vocations; a fertile ground for more vocations.  Parents can demonstrate their faith in the way they encourage their children.

In last Sunday’s gospel, we heard Jesus three times give Peter the charge to “feed my sheep.”  In that way, He made Peter a shepherd, a pastor, a priest.  In today’s gospel, the Church presents to us the figure of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  Our Lord continues His work of shepherding His people through Peter and his co-workers, the apostles and the disciples, and through their successors, the Pope, the bishops, priests, deacons, catechists, laypeople, and others.

Today is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us what a good shepherd is.  A good shepherd is present, knows, directs, tends, and protects the sheep.

We who are in involved in shepherding others in one way or another, would do well to ask ourselves today if we are good or bad shepherds or shepherdesses, in the light of today’s gospel.

First of all, a shepherd must be present to the sheep.  How can the sheep hear someone who is absent, or is not accessible, or is hard to reach?  We can say anything we want, or put up numerous excuses and reasons, but being present and being with the sheep are very basic and important.

Second, a good shepherd knows the sheep, or at least takes time and gives effort to get to know the sheep.  We want shepherds who are genuinely interested and who genuinely care.  A text message says it beautifully:  People don’t care about what you know, as long as they know you care.

Third, a good shepherd leads and directs the sheep.  He or she must have an idea, a direction, of where to lead the sheep.  The good shepherd or shepherdess must have a clear vision and a strong sense of mission for the sheep.

Fourth, a good shepherd gives.  He or she must have a sense of sacrifice.  We need shepherds and shepherdesses who can also give us our sense of dignity, freedom, respect, and personhood.

Finally, a good shepherd protects the sheep.  He or she must be aware and must protect us from all that would harm us.  When push comes to shove, he or she must be ready to sacrifice life and limb for the good of the sheep.

So, Brothers and Sisters, on Good Shepherd Sunday, let us pray for more good shepherds of the church.  Let us also pray for a better understanding and appreciation of the life and work of ordained ministers, so that more and more people avail themselves of the grace which God makes available through them.  Let us also pray that more young people will be drawn to follow in their footsteps and generously answer the call of God.

Your Holy Family

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
December 26, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 / Ps 128 / Col 3:12-21 / Lk 2:41-52
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

On the first Sunday after Christmas, the Church always celebrates the Feast of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. They are the number one model of a family that follows God’s will.  That’s why this Sunday’s reading features three essential elements of a Christian or sacred family. (more…)

Love Changes Everything

The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
December 25, 2021 — Year C
Readings: Is 52:7-10 / Ps 98 / Heb 1:1-6 / Jn 1:1-18
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

I’ve always had a special feeling for Christmas, because Christmas is one of the best memories I have of my childhood.  I remember that in the Philippines, every Christmas after we attended Midnight Mass, my parents and siblings gathered together to watch the fireworks.  After that, we prayed together and had our meal.

This is what Christmas is:  It is fathers, mothers, children.  It is learning how to love.  It is learning how to care.  It is learning how to be the people that we really want to be and know we can be, if we have enough faith in ourselves and in the people around us. (more…)

Not to Be Served, But to Serve

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 17, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Is 53:10-11 / Ps 33 / Heb 4:14-16 / Mk 10:35-45
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

There is a story about three sons, who left home, went out on their own, and prospered.  Later, when they were reunited, they discussed the gifts they had been able to give to their elderly mother.

The first one said, “I built a big house for our mother.”

The second one said, “I sent her a Mercedes with a driver.”

The third smiled and said, “I’ve got you both bested.  Remember how Mom enjoyed reading the Bible?  You know she can’t see very well, so I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible.  It took elders in the church twelve years to teach him.  He is one of a kind.  Mom just has to name chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it.” (more…)

What God Has Joined Together

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 3, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Gn 2:18-24 / Ps 128 / Heb 2:9-11 / Mk 10:2-16
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Someone once said that, when a person gets into deep trouble, he or she is surrounded by close friends and family.  And he continued by saying, “If you don’t believe this, just take a look at your wedding pictures.”

Brothers and sisters, from time to time, we tell jokes about married couples, but that is not at all to belittle the sanctity and permanence of marriage.  In today’s gospel, Jesus is very clear and emphatic: “Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”  Marriage is forever and for always. (more…)

Spiritual Deafness

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 5, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Is 35:4-7a / Ps 146 / Jas 2:1-5 / Mk 7:31-37
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Once there was a little old man.  His eyes blinked, and his hands trembled.  When he ate, he clattered the silverware distressingly; missed his mouth with the spoon as often as not; and dribbled a bit of his food on the tablecloth.

He lived with his married son, having nowhere else to live, and his son’s wife didn’t like the arrangement.  “I can’t have this,” she said. “It interferes with my right to happiness.” (more…)

Love One Another

Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 9, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 / Ps 98 / 1 Jn 4:7-10 / Jn 15:9-17
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Most of you who know me know also that my wife is a middle school music teacher. She normally teaches Chorus and Music Appreciation, but this year it has been exclusively Music Appreciation. She teaches 6th graders, so you can imagine that some of them don’t have the best attitude going into it. (more…)

St. Joseph, Model of Catholic Fatherhood

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
December 27, 2020 — Year B
Readings: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 / Ps 128 / Col 3:12-21 / Lk 2:22-40
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Today is a feast that is particularly close to my heart. It is the Feast of the Holy Family. I have been particularly drawn to this feast because I am married and have children of my own. Of the members of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and Joseph – I am particularly fond of St. Joseph, possibly because I have always wanted to be like Joseph – a husband and father. It is particularly appropriate that we reflect on the life of St. Joseph today. (more…)

Our Eternal Mother

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
December 8, 2020 — Year B
Readings: Gn 3:9-15, 20 / Ps 98 / Eph 1:3-6, 11-12 / Lk 1:26-38
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

The Blessed Mother has always been taking good care of her children. Even before she was the mother of the Lord, she had already devoted her life to God’s service.

Many of you know that I grew up in the Philippine Islands in the very small town of Barcelona. Many years ago there was a town jail there, very near to the church. No one was usually in the jail. (more…)