Marriage and the Church

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 7, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Gn 2:18-24 / Ps 128 / Heb 2:9-11 / Mk 10:2-16
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Today’s talk will be less a homily and more a catechetical teaching. I will be pulling most of the information from “The Catechism of the Catholic Church.” If you don’t have one of these, you need to get one. This is a brilliant piece of work. Any question you have about the Faith is covered in this book. It’s very well written and easy to understand.

As I was trying to think how to condense the Sacrament of Marriage down into the length of a homily, I decided to narrow it down to three different points. These are the three things that you need to understand in order to understand the Church’s teaching on marriage. This is not exhaustive; this is just the tip of the iceberg. (more…)

Moral Scope Creep

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 30, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Nm 11:25-29 / Ps 19 / Jas 5:1-6 / Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Many of you know that I actually earn my living as a mechanical engineer; that’s my nine-to-five job. You may not know that the way I exercise my engineering degree is as a machine designer. I build custom machines. Customers come to the company I work for with a problem; we put together a solution; they give us a purchase order; and then we build a machine to solve their problem.

But invariably, during that design process, we’ll stumble across something that really wasn’t included in the quote. Maybe it’s some little problem that we didn’t foresee when we were preparing the quote, or maybe it was something that the customer didn’t convey fully to us. Quite often, these are just small things, maybe a fifty-dollar sensor and a five-dollar bracket takes care of the problem, and we just do it. (more…)

Showing Our True Colors

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 23, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Wis 2:12, 17-20 / Ps 54 / Jas 3:16-4:3 / Mk 9:30-37
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

At 9:54 last night, we officially began the season of Fall. In just a few days we will begin seeing the beauty of God’s creation here and in the glorious mountain area. The different colors of leaves will remind us that our God is indeed almighty.

We know that leaves don’t change colors during autumn. Because of the change in temperature, the lack of sunshine, and other environmental factors, the leaves are no longer able to produce chlorophyll, which gives them their green color. Because of this seeming deficiency, the leaves will be showing their true colors, as the Lord God created them to be, and they are beautiful. (more…)

You Will Know Him

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 16, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Is 50:5-9A / Ps 116 / Jas 2:14-18 / Mk 8:27-35
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

The song, “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” which was first released in the early seventies, has sold millions of records and CDs worldwide and been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times on iTunes and Google Play. Even Carrie Underwood sang this song when she joined America’s Got Talent.

But scripture scholars would attest that the Lord Jesus would never have said or implied the words of the refrain: “If you don’t know me by now, then you will never, never know me.” (more…)

Be the Face of Christ

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 9, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Is 35:4-7A / Ps 146 / Jas 2:1-5 / Mk 7:31-37
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

For those of you who follow us on Facebook, you already know where I was on Friday evening: in Richmond. It was the Mass at which two of the men from our parish were invited into candidacy to the permanent diaconate. This was the first step of what is almost a five-year journey from the start of discernment through four years of education, with ordination as the goal. The two men are Mark DeLaHunt and Tony Rivera.

These gatherings are like a homecoming for me. Because we have a large diocese, I don’t get to see the men I studied with, and this is an opportunity to catch up with them. We get to talk about what we are doing — both good and bad — and it is a reminder of the broader meaning of being a deacon. (more…)

Believe and See

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 2, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Dt 4:1-2, 6-8 / Ps 15 / Jas 1:17-18, 21B-22, 27 / Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

We can consider ourselves blessed if, whenever we have any type of difficulty, there is somebody to help us whose power is greater than any human strength and whose intelligence is greater than any human wisdom. As God’s children, we have reason to rejoice because, as Psalm 33 says, “The Lord is our help and our shield.” He’s closer to us than we are to ourselves. (more…)

Should I Stay Or Leave?

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 26, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Jos 24:1-2A, 15-17, 18B / Ps 34 / Eph 5:21-32 / Jn 6:60-69
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Every day of our lives we make decisions. It could be as simple as deciding whether to eat a bagel or a muffin for breakfast, to drink tea or coffee. But some decision-making is more complicated than others. Those decisions may even cause you a sleepless night, like for instance, deciding whether to accept a job offer which would require you to move to another state or perhaps even another country, but with a promise of higher pay and a greater chance of promotion. Or you may just continue doing the same job you currently have where you experience the comfort and joy of being surrounded always by longtime friends. Perhaps you are trying to decide where you will be spending the rest of your retirement years. (more…)

It Is Wise To Eat

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 19, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Prv 9:1-6 / Ps 34 / Eph 5:15-20 / Jn 6:51-58
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Yesterday, fifteen couples renewed their marriage vows at the five o’clock Mass in our sister parish, Resurrection, and one couple was Bud and Alice Siess, who are celebrating their sixty-eighth wedding anniversary this year. Six eight. About half of the couples who stood in front of the altar, renewing their pledge to love and to hold until death, have been married for more than sixty years.

Before yesterday’s Mass, I googled the question, “How to live happily ever after.” And I discovered that there is actually an article with that title. It is supposed to be the result of a scientific study on what works and what doesn’t in marriage. (more…)

Bread for the Journey

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 12, 2018 – Year B
Readings: 1 Kgs 19:4-8 / Ps 34 / Eph 4:30-5:2 / Jn 6:41-51
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Almost five years ago when I was ordained a Permanent Deacon, Father Sal gave me some advice for preaching. I was stressing out; speaking in front of people is not something that I ever wanted to do. He said “Just relax. You’ve been teaching for years. So just preach as if you were teaching a class.” That’s been good advice. It’s helped me direct my focus and concentrate on the points that I want to make, to just analyze it and think of it as a class. (more…)

Christ: Our Hope

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 5, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Ex 16:2-4, 12-15 / Ps 78 / Eph 4:17, 20-24 / Jn 6:24-35
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

When I went home to the Philippines for my yearly visit, I was pleased to learn that there are now two priests in our town’s parish church. This meant that my help would not be needed as it usually was during my vacation, and I could just attend Mass and spend more time with my Mom. But then, Fr. Romy, the Parochial Vicar, told me that the Pastor was away, so they still need me. And so I did help out. (more…)