Gospel: The theme in the Gospel this Sunday is “Be Prepared!” Be vigilant and watchful because we know not the time or day when the Lord will come. (Please see Homily below).
Tabernacle: The old tabernacle we had at Holy Rosary, which was replaced by the tabernacle I flew over from Clarks Point (Saint Peter the Fisherman), is now safely in the Chapel at the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
Here is a picture of some of our Holy Rosary Parishioners after Mass a couple weeks ago when our Seminarian, Arthur Roraff visisted us.
Thank you: Thanx to Bernie Venua for repairing a major leak in the basement of the rectory last week. He and Pat plan to spend a little more time down there upgrading some of the old plumbing.
Storm Doors: Two storm doors have been installed in the rectory. The idea is to help save heating fuel in the winter and keep a cool breeze blowing through the office in the summer (that is if we get a summer this year)!
Communion: The reason it is a sin for Catholics to miss Mass is because Jesus invites us to partake in His precious Body every Sunday. Not going to Mass sends the signal that “I do not want the Body of Christ.” Whether there is a communion service, where the lay minister offers the pre-consecrated (Body of Christ) bread in the tabernacle or whether the Catholic Priest consecrates the bread during Mass, the idea is the same. Every Sunday we are invited to partake in the Body of Christ. What an honor that is!
Have a fantastic week…Fr. Scott
Homily for the 19th Ord C DLG 2010 Watch & Ready, Wisdom 18:6-9;Hebrews 11:1-2&8-19;Lk 12: 32-48
Ever been caught off guard? I can remember in basic training being a door guard a few times at three in the morning. One tends to get a little bored, sleepy, and well…just plain tired. Nothing ever happened. One morning while on duty I was leaning up against the door, full uniform, canteen, hat, starched pants, the whole nine yards, and something happened. Someone beat on the door and aroused me into a state of immediate attention.
I looked through the little six by six window at an officer, a first lieutenant. All of a sudden he started yelling at me demanding me to open the door. He had an emergency and needed to get in NOW! So there I was, a 17 year old, standing at attention behind a locked door. I was scared because a guy was yelling like a mad man at me. But I had had some instruction about guarding doors. The drill instructor taught us to be alert at all times, to watch, and check for ID.
The officer finally quieted down long enough for me to ask, “Sir, may I please see your ID.” After yelling awhile longer and after I insisted again that he show me some ID, the irate lieutenant finally pulled it out. I was about to let him in and pay the consequences for holding him up, when I noticed something. On his official military ID card was, in place of his picture, a picture of Mickey Mouse.
My dorm guard experience could have been worse. Luckily I paid attention in class and was somewhat alert and ready. But the servants in the gospel were wide-awake. They were ready for their master’s return. Their lamps were lit and shining brightly.
Spiritually it is not easy to be ready all the time. We get tempted and sidetracked. We get bored and distracted. The gospel this weekend tells us that we can only be ready if we are prepared properly. We need instruction. We need experience. We need practice.
What being ready means is this: Faithful obedience to all God’s commands and values.
That means to be consistent in prayer. It means loving our neighbor and enemies. Being ready means doggedly searching for opportunities to help people in need. It means making sacrifices on a regular basis…such as volunteering our time to the church or a good cause. It means being ready for God’s coming by praying every day, going to confession, and getting involved in the church’s ministries. Most importantly, it means prioritizing church by putting it before money, material positions, and well, everything else. Putting Mass First…realizing that one hour a week is a small sacrifice to make for thanking God for our lives and all the blessings he has given us.
Being ready takes practice, determination, and a desire to love God with all of your heart, soul, and strength…everyday. Our Catholic Church is here to help us to be ready.
This week, I challenge all of you to take that next step in your spiritual preparation. Be a little more watchful. Be a little more ready. For, should he come in the second or third watch and find them ready, blessed are those servants (536 Words).
Wisdom 18:6-9
That night was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage. Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes. For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned. For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution, That your holy ones should share alike the same good things and dangers, having previously sung the praises of the fathers.
Hebrews 11:1-2&8-19
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age--and Sarah herself was sterile--for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore. All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, "Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name." He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
Luke 12: 32-48
Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. "Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Then Peter said, "Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?" And the Lord replied, "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute (the) food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master's will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master's will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.
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