Potluck for Father Tom: There will be a potluck this Sunday after Mass. We will welcome Father Tom Lilly, pastor of Saint Elizabeth Anne Seaton in Anchorage. Fr. Tom and I went to the Seminary together and were ordained on the same day. Please bring your favorite dish
Gospel: The Prodigal Son is a favorite gospel of many people. Please see the Homily and readings below.
Priest Retreat: Tuesday through Thursday I will be on a priest retreat at the Holy Spirit Retreat House in Anchorage for our yearly priest retreat. Father Tom and I will return Thursday evening.
Repair Underway: A leak in the basement of the rectory has motivated myself and Pat Durbin to dig a hole to investigate. We are still digging and have not found the leak.
Catholic Anchor: Please read the article in the Catholic Anchor this month. After Joel Davidson spent a few days here and after he interviewed a few of our parishioners, he wrote a very good article. Also in that addition is a story about First Communion that hints that children should be entitled to the Eucharist, not necessarily at age seven, but when they are ready. A picture of the inside of Holy Rosary is also in the Article by Father Mike Shields. Thank you Joel for the great coverage!
Youth Group Lawn: The youth group from Saint Benedict and SEAS in Anchorage re-planted the lawn at our Dillingham Library. It is coming along nicely!
Have a fantastic week and see you Sunday! Fr. Scott
HOMILY
24 Ord C DLG 2010 Es 32:7-11&13-14;1 Tim 1:12-17;Luke 15:1-32
Although my biological father and I were not close, after he and my mother divorced he visited me a couple times throughout my childhood. One of the things he shared with me was his favorite gospel passage, The Prodigal Son.
The reason the prodigal son gospel is so popular is because most of us can relate to one of the characters…whether you are a male or female.
If you see the famous picture of the Prodigal son painted by Rembrandt, the two brothers, which could be two sisters, are not alike at all. There is a silent woman in the background. There is the father. There is a man standing off to the side. He could be a favorite relative. The picture shows a father forgiving his wayward son…But it shows much more than that.
The son who stayed home acted like he was better than everyone else. He did everything right, even though he was not happy. He was uptight and on edge. Bottom line, he was rich because the father was eventually going to give everything to him. But get this, he was rich, but not happy.
I think everyone here can relate to the prodigal son. You also probably know someone in your family who is lost and is a black sheep. You know, that person we keep praying for.
We reel him or her in closer to the light, but they run off again. We tighten up the drag and reel again. This time they don’t run so for. We have patience like the Father in the story. We hope, we pray like the woman in the background. We pray that the person will straighten up and return home.
I can relate to both the good son and the prodigal son. I never got in trouble much. I minded my parents, most of the time. But I did distance myself from God. I drank, partied, and was hoping to make millions of dollars. I was a lost sheep. Jesus found me and forgave me. He continues to forgive me when I am sorry and ask to be forgiven. If I stray far, I know Jesus will welcome me back.
Forgiveness goes far in God’s eyes. The father in the story of the Prodigal son is like our heavenly Father. He patiently waits for us to come home.
The father looks out the window and sees his son coming home. He was looking out there every chance he had. He leapt for joy when his sinful black sheep of a son returned home. He had a grand celebration. The same thing is true when one of ours returns home, Jesus celebrates.
The lady in the story reminds us of the importance of patience, prayer, and persistence. She is ponders everything in her heart. She is pray that her family is reconciled. She never gives up.
The story of the prodigal son is about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Being forgiven by Jesus. Dying and rising to new life. Straying from the flock and returning, being welcomed back with open arms.
I ask you to think about this gospel. Which character can you relate to? What might you do to be embraced more fully by God’s love. What can you do to help others come home? Would you react like the father in the story (548 Words)?
Exodus 32:7-11&13-14 - With that, the LORD said to Moses, "Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, 'This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!' I see how stiff-necked this people is," continued the LORD to Moses. "Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation." But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying, "Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.'" So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
1 Timothy 1:12-17 - I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life. To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luke 15:1-32 - The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them he addressed this parable. "What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. "Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.' In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Then he said, "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."' So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.' He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"
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