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Howdy, Church fans!

[This week we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pretty darn cool! But why is this such an important feast for us Catholics? For a video of the homily, click here. For the whole Mass, go to our Facebook page by clicking here.]

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It doesn’t happen very often, but this weekend the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the “Dormition” of Mary in the Christian East, is celebrated on a Sunday.

       This makes sense when one understands that everything the Church says about Mary is really a statement about Christ. As the mother of Jesus, Mary had a very special relationship with him. By virtue of her unique vocation as the Mother of God, from the first moment of her conception she was preserved from the stain of Original Sin. While this means that she did not sin, it does not mean that she was protected entirely from the wages of sin, namely death.  Even Christ died.

       [St. Mary Major story; who is the child?]

       But if we truly believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead and in the resurrection of our own bodies at the end of the age, then it is entirely fitting that because of her unique vocation and relationship with Christ, at the end of her life, the Blessed Virgin Mary would immediately enjoy the fruits of the resurrection. 

       The Sacred Tradition—namely that which has been handed on to us from the apostles and their successors—is unambiguous; that at the moment of her death Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven. Mary had carried the Divine Savior in her womb. Then she carried him in her arms. Mary held his limp body as it was taken from the Cross. Mary beheld him after his resurrection from the dead and she received the Holy Spirit with the Apostles at Pentecost. 

       There is no part of Mary’s life which is not intimately entwined with that of her divine Son. Why would she not also share fully with him in his resurrection? It does not make sense that her own immaculately conceived body would undergo the corruption of the grave. 

       The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is also a powerful affirmation of our own resurrection. If our own lives are united with Christ, in due time we can be assured of our own resurrection.            

       To be a human being is a marvelous thing. We have a body and a rational soul.  No other creature under heaven can make this claim. (I could make a case for dogs having an emotional soul, but I digress.)

       There is a popular myth out there that when we die we become angels.  It makes for great literature and fun TV, but it limps theologically.

       No, we Christians believe in the resurrection of the body and life of the world to come.”

       Yes, at our death, the soul goes to rest with Christ and all the saints. That’s why we say, “Rest in Peace.”

       But at the end of the age, when Christ comes in glory and all things are made new, our lowly bodies, such as they are, will rise and we will become what God has created us to be. 

       Our ultimate destiny is not to become something else. Rather, our ultimate destiny is the perfection of all that we are, body and soul. 

       That’s what the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come is all about.

       So I guess if you think about it, our celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is also a statement about ourselves. She who is the most beautiful of all of God’s creation-Mary, who is the fairest honor of the human race-she who because of her unique vocation and her intimate relationship with Christ enjoys even now the fruits of the resurrection, shows us what lies in store for those who persevere in faith.

       In celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord and we are strengthened in hope as we “look forward to the resurrection from the dead and the life of the world to come…Amen”.

Howdy, Church fans! Here’s this week’s offering. The video of the homily can be viewed on our YouTube Channel by clicking here. The whole Mass can be seen on our Facebook page. Just click here. A summary of text is below.

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     We sometimes make mistakes when we first start something new. It is part of the learning process. So it was that immediately after I was ordained, I was assigned temporarily to my home parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe. That summer, this same set of readings came up.  Musing on Elijah’s experience in the crossing the desert and how God provided a hearth cake and jug of water, I mused, “What is in this hearth cake? It has to have over 5000% of every vitamin and mineral known to man! After just two helpings, Elijah walks forty days and forty nights across some of the most inhospitable territory on the planet!” Then came my mistake.  I asked, “If anybody has the recipe for this hearth cake, please let me know!”

       The baked goods began arriving the next day. Soon they covered the kitchen table and then the countertops. The dining room table was next. There were enough carbohydrates to feed a small village for a month and then some. The crown jewel as Mrs. Rita Wichorek, a lovely woman from Bavaria, who presented me with a confection weighing at least ten pounds. As she placed it on the table she exclaimed, “Vell, fater! I don’t know vat a heart’ cake is, but vould you like a German apfelkuchen!”

       I learned that day to be careful what you ask for from the pulpit, because through his people, God will provide all that you need and more than you can imagine. 

       This is echoed very loudly in the gospel as we continue reflecting on the Bread of Life Discourse. In the wake of feeding the multitude, Jesus reminds his listeners that just as God provided for the Hebrews, so he had provided for them in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. It got their attention, but now he is upping the stakes. He is moving beyond bodily food to the “bread from heaven.” Those who eat this bread will never die.

       I cannot help but imagine Jesus pointing to himself as he says these words. He is indeed the Bread from Heaven.  He is all we need and more than we can imagine. Eventually, this will become concrete in the Upper Room when he transforms the Passover Supper into the very Eucharist we partake of in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As such, it is appropriately referred to as “The Lord’s Supper.” 

       At their last meeting, the Pastoral Council recommended that we celebrate our 50th year as a parish reflecting on and celebrating the gift of the Eucharist.  It truly is the source and summit of all that we are and do as a parish family.  It is through the Eucharist that we receive all that we need and more than we can imagine. 

[This is the bare bones of the homily. If you want the meat, watch it on our YouTube channel here. The whole Mass is on our FaceBook page here.]

     The day after my ordination twenty-seven years ago, I preached on this gospel passage at my first Mass. Of course, with a little more experience comes a little more perspective. The story of Jairus’ daughter and the woman who is healed when she touches the edge of Jesus’ cloak has not changed. Yet, it speaks very differently to me now. There are three different encounters: Jairus with Jesus and the pressing crowd; the healing of the woman in the crowd; the raising of Jairus’ daughter at his home. We can learn from each one of them.

       Jesus was having a busy day. He has just finished the Sermon on the Mount, cured the Gerasene demoniac, and put a pig farmer out of business in the process. The encounter with Jairus happens just as he gets back on his home turf. It must have been something to see a leader in the community falling at the feet of Jesus. But Jairus is not there for himself.  He’s there for his daughter. He doesn’t want Jesus the rabbi, he wants Jesus the prophet. He pleads for healing.

       I like Jairus. He shows us that we should never be afraid to approach Jesus with our needs or the needs of others. We should not hesitate to ask the Lord of Life for that which will give life. It’s a way of affirming our reliance on God’s love and mercy.

       The woman with the hemorrhage is something else.  She had to be discrete, primarily because the nature of her condition rendered her ritually unclean. She could not go to the temple or synagogue, let alone approach Jesus openly for fear of giving scandal. How ironic to be so isolated in the midst of a large crowd. The striking thing here is that Jesus is not unaffected by the encounter. So it is with any of us who do any kind of ministry in the parish, whether it’s as a eucharistic minister, visiting the homebound, catechist, group leader. One cannot emerge from the encounter unaffected. Sometimes we wonder just who was ministering to whom.

       Finally, at the home of Jairus, we can learn that when our resources have been exhausted, God is just getting started. It’s interesting that they ridicule Jesus just before he performs the miracle. Jesus says, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” As people of faith, we need to take heed. How easy it is to let our fear overcome our faith and forget that miracles really do happen even in the present day. We should never be afraid to ask for the miracle. 

       There is much to learn from each part of the story in today’s Gospel reading. May we have the faith to approach the Lord in our need, confident that he still wants to work the miracle of his grace in our lives.

Happy Father’s Day! Jesus calms the storm; but there is much more going on here than meets the eyes. Deacon Mick shares how we can weather the storms of life and emerge cleansed and renewed in faith. The text of his homily is coming soon. The video is on our YouTube channel here. The whole Mass is on our Facebook Page here

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(Yes, the text of his homily will be here soon.)

[Behold! The text of the homily. Check out the video on our YouTube channel here. If you want to see the whole Mass, you can check it out on our Facebook page here.]

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     To what shall I compare the parish family of St. Patrick’s?

     It is like a cottonwood seed. It is the tiniest of little seeds, about a tenth of the size of the head of a pin.  Released from its pod, it floats on the wind, lingers on the sidewalk and eventually finds root where in no time at all, it grows first the sapling, and then the branches, growing up to four feet a year.  In no time at all it becomes the largest of trees in Alaska. Soon it grows its own pods and sends its seeds upon the wind, where they cover lawns and sidewalks, affix themselves to screens and find their ways indoors. We know not how.  It’s just part of life up here.

       I am convinced that if there were cottonwood trees in first century Palestine, Jesus would have used them instead of the mustard seed to illustrate the Kingdom of God. The cottonwood, (Populus deltoides), are a first generation tree, usually the first to sprout up, hold the soil and provide cover for other flora and fauna after a receding glacier or wildfire. Mature cottonwoods can grow over 150 feet tall, have a canopy of 75 feet and a trunk over 6 feet in diameter. But it all starts with that little bitty seed.

       I look at the big cottonwood trees that rise up from the ground to the heavens. Then I look at that little bitty seed…and I wonder…

       How does it know? How does that itty bitty seed contain everything you need to grow one of those huge trees?

       Any geneticist or botanist can tell you the answer, of course, but it is still pretty incredible that something so huge could come from something so small. 

       It’s the same for us as a parish.

       We started out so very small, with 124 families,   carved out of territory St. Anthony Parish on the Feast of St. Francis, October 4, 1971.  We took root first in the Chester Valley School,

       “St. Chester’s of the Valley”  

       Then in the Tara Lounge

              Then in what is now the Deacons Hall

              Paid for by the Great Alaska Pipeline Classic where people bought chances the date, time and minute that the first barrel of oil would make it from through the pipeline to the terminal in Valdez.

       Twenty-five years ago on May 5, 1996, we dedicated the new church.

       Now, on the eve of fifty years, we have registered 930 families, serving in 48 identified ministries within the parish and the local community.

       So, if we are to run the parable of the cottonwood tree to its conclusion,

       I would say that while we are no longer a sapling, we have not quite matured as a parish.

       Nevertheless, I believe that we are poised for our next big growth spurt.

But how do we do so? 

       First, by the joyful and reverent celebration of the sacraments of the Church

       The liturgy evangelizes and teaches. 

       It is the source and summit of all we do. 

       It is the first priority of the parish. 

Soon after I arrived I formed the Liturgy Committee which is made up of the coordinators of all the liturgical ministries in the parish.

       As you can see, their efforts have born great fruit in the worship of our community, especially during the pandemic, and now into the future.

Second, by the intentional formation of disciples of Jesus Christ.

       So often we think of faith formation as something for our young people.

       First in pre-school and then in middle and high school and then confirmation

       And then what? 

              That is not an ending, it is a beginning.

       You never stop learning how to be a better disciple,     

              You can never exhaust the mystery of Christ or his Church.

       As St. Peter says, we should always be ready to give an account of the joy that is within us.

       To help us in this,

       Last July, we welcomed Mary Allison, our new Director of Catechetical Ministries. In consultation with the Catechetical Ministries Team, Mary has spent the last year evaluating past catechetical programs and developing a new program of faith formation to meet the needs of all parishioners from 9 months to 99 years and beyond. 

       Third, the parish evangelizes.

              Both ourselves withing the parish and then the local community in which we find ourselves.

       This is important.

              If we live this life joyfully and with faith,

                      It will be attractive.

       Remember if your entire life is spent bringing just one other person to Christ

       Is it not a life well spent? 

       For this pillar of our mission, this past fall, we formed the Evangelization Parish Life Team, comprised of all the ministries of evangelization, whether their focus was spiritual, social or service.  We looked at the needs and opportunities before us.  Then, earlier this year, we developed the position of Director of Evangelization, compiled a job description, recruited and held interviews. 

       I am happy to announce that on July 1^st of this year,  we will welcome Ms. Emily Brabham as our new Director of Evangelization and Parish Life. Emily’s first task will be to revitalize Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the parish while supporting the various other service, social and prayer ministries of Evangelization.

       But none of these pillars of our mission, the joyful and reverent celebration of the sacraments, the intentional formation of disciple of Jesus, or the evangelization of ourselves and our neighbors can stand alone.

       We need a body to consult with the pastor to help discern needs and opportunities and to help with coherent pastoral planning. 

       To that end, I am happy to announce that on June 23^rd the Pastoral Council will hold its first meeting. I thank you all for your prayerful discernment of its membership.  I will be introducing them to you next week!

       So, there is a lot going on here in our little part of the Kingdom.         I’m convinced that if there were cottonwoods in first century Palestine, Jesus would have used them instead of the mustard seed to illustrate the Kingdom of God. It only takes the tiniest seed of faith to make a great saint.  It only takes one parish family to change the world in 99504. 

[Deacon Mick had a great homily on the three aspects of the Eucharist on Corpus Christi this weekend. You can catch the homily here on our YouTube channel. The whole Mass is on our Facebook Page here.]

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The origin of the Feast of Corpus Christi

goes back to the high Middle Ages. 

It’s a moment to reflect

on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist,

The real presence –

the absolute reality of the bread and wine

becoming through Transubstantiation

not a symbol, not a representation but

the actual body and blood of our savior Jesus Christ.

The source and summit of and a beloved truth of

our Catholic Faith. 

About 45 years ago or so, the Feast of Corpus Christi

was combined with the Feast of the Precious Blood. 

So today at this Mass —— we celebrate the Feast of

the Body and Blood of Christ.

Our readings today

look at three different Eucharistic dimensions of the Mass:

power, —— presence —— and promise.

The Letter to the Hebrews today

takes us back to the great Temple sacrifices in Jerusalem

to show us the power of the Mass. 

Our Gospel reading takes us to the Last Supper

to show the real

and continuing presence of Christ among us in the Eucharist. 

Today’s reading from the Book of Exodus

takes us to the mountain of the covenant

to show that the Eucharist

is the place where the promise of God

and the promise of His people still come together.

Power, presence, and promise.

First, the power of the Mass

and a brief time trip to the Jerusalem temple. 

The letter to the Hebrews gives us a snapshot

of the Temple liturgy on the Day of Atonement,

Yom Kippur, and the ritual slaying of bulls and goats. 

In fact,

the temple back then had a whole array of sacrifices.

They all involved death

and the substantial sheding of blood. 

There was a whole array of sacrifices:

there were sacrifices to atone, to thank,

to adore,  to make peace,

and to make requests/petitions,

all of them striving, straining,

trying and yearning to achieve what Jesus did on Calvary, —— the perfect, complete sacrifice.

The Mass today is the true sacrifice

and all the bloody rituals in the Old Testament

were early symbols

foreshadowing what Christ would do. 

The Mass – this Mass makes present Christ’s powerful,

unique Calvary sacrifice. 

Today’s Mass however —  makes present the single,

all-powerful sacrifice of Christ with two differences.

First – the pain, the crowds,

the blood, the agony are gone. 

It’s an unbloody sacrifice. 

Secondly, we can add our prayers to Christ’s. 

It’s as though the Mass is

a powerful rocket

on which we can piggyback our prayers. 

We can fuse our petitions, big and small,

to the great powerful calvary sacrifice of Christ. 

That’s the power of the Mass.

In today’s Gospel reading,

we go from the Jerusalem Temple to the Last Supper. 

Jesus says, “This is my Body, this is my Blood.” 

Christ is present among us in many ways but

here in the Eucharist,

the Lord Jesus is present fully, substantially

and in an unobstructed way. 

Sometimes you hear people say,

we can see Christ in our neighbor. 

But that’s often difficult to do because

people’s personalities present a lot of interference

and Christ may be manifested in different ways. 

But in the Eucharist,

the Lord is present without obstructions

in a complete and total way. 

That’s the symbolism

of the red lamp

that we have displayed on the wall near the tabernacle,

it signifies the real presence of our Lord.

When we come to church,

we don’t have the hope that Christ will be here. 

He Is here! 

His presence does not depend on our mood,

our degree of faith

or whether we are in the state of grace. 

Christ is truly here. 

The Eucharist is the place of presence. 

And Christ will stay with us until the end of time. 

Who knows what changes will occur in the Church

over the next thousand years? 

But a thousand years from now,

in every Catholic Church

there will always be a tabernacle. 

Maybe in the middle, maybe the side,

but there will always be a tabernacle.

It’s the living presence of Christ

in all our joys and sorrows,

with us on our life’s journey

like the ark of the covenant that

traveled with the Israelites wherever they went. 

The Eucharist is the sacrament of Christ’s presence.

Finally, the reading from the Book of Exodus

takes us to the holy mountain

and the Lord’s promise to be with His people

and their promise to be faithful to his law.

“We will do everything the Lord has told us.” 

The Mass is the place of promise. 

When we receive  Holy Communion worthily,

we are promised that

we will be one with the Lord someday, face to face.

The Eucharist is also the place

of our promise to be faithful,

to be loyal to Christ and to his Church,

to be in communion with the Church. 

If we receive Communion on the tongue,

we are promising that

our tongue will not lie, deceive, slander,

gossip or speak in an un-Christian way. 

If we receive communion in our hand,

we are promising that

we will not turn our hands to violence or destruction

or hatred or anger but

will use them to build up the kingdom.

Whether we receive Holy Communion,

on the tongue or in the hand,

both eloquent and ancient gestures of commitment,

We need to understand and remember that

we are touching and consuming

the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ

not a piece of bread or a sip of wine.

It’s a time of reverence where

we are making a recommitment of our lives to Christ. 

And when we say “Amen,”

We should say it boldly

not amen but AMEN because we are not only making an affirmation of faith — of “I believe” but

are also making a promise to follow Christ faithfully. 

The Mass is the place of promise,

God’s promise to us of future glory,

our promise of fidelity.

Power, presence, and promise.

It’s important that we keep the Mass holy. 

It’s our Temple of a powerful sacrifice,

our table of unity around the real presence of Christ,

and our mountain of promise of fidelity

to Christ and his Church.

The Eucharist is

the greatest gift we have on this earth. 

It comes from the very hand of God. 

If we keep close to the Mass,

to the Eucharist,

wherever we are,

we will always be close to Christ.