Observation - October 10th, 2025, Friday

in the dark morning

looking east toward the sun

     rising over the rooftops

 

the maples and the elms

shaking off their leaves

     like a garment of red and gold

 

smoking in the garden

with a dog at my feet

Observation - September 10th, 2025, Wednesday

squash soup on the stove

butternut orange

the scent of smoked paprika

fried leeks and rice cakes

 

it is cool and humid in the house

 

the hum of the fan has returned

with the slow-rumble of traffic

coming through the open window

A Homily – The Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C

First Reading – Wisdom 9:13-18 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 89(90):3-6, 12-14, 17 ©

Second Reading – Philemon 9-10, 12-17 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 15:15

Alternative Acclamation – Palms 118:135

The Gospel According to Luke 14:25 - 33 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 The sage is asking rhetorical questions: Who can know the intentions of God or fathom the heavenly will?

 The answer is not “no-one.”

 God has endowed us with the gift of wisdom, God’s own spirit dwells within us, and where God is present God is present fully.

 Nevertheless, we must admit the fact that our ability to discern God’s intentions for creation is occluded by our material condition.

 What we are able to say is this:

 God has made us and the entire creation free from divine coercion.

2.     God does not intervene in our lives, and has no specific intentions for us regarding a particular outcome for any particular event.

3.     God only desires we demonstrate our love for the divine through the caring we share with each other, that we walk humbly and exhibit mercy in the furtherance of justice all the days of our lives.

4.     God will bless everyone.

 God is with us, yes, God has established in us all a desire and a longing for the divine. This longing pulls at us, drawing us in God’s spirit to the fullness of God’s self, but God does not interfere with our choices, God does not intervene in the consequences of those choices, God does not take sides either for us or against us, God does interject the divine self self into our mundane ambitions.

 Be mindful.

 When God is our refuge it is because we have made God so.

 God is indeed the eternal-creator of all that is, we are little more than a speck of dust in the face of the infinite, but God knows us, and God loves us, even in our relative insignificance; the infinite is connected to us in an intimate way, in a way that supersedes the limitations of our mortal coil.

 Know this!

 We are, each of us individually, and together as a whole; infinitely less than the infinite God. That is how we come into being, in the darkness of time and space, and yet within us is a piece of that infinite being, like a seed, which carries the whole within the part, and that divine seed like the eternal fire is a constitutional element of our being,

 God is never angry with us; we do not suffer because God desires to see us suffer, we do not sorrow because it please God to see us sorrowful. God’s justice is not distributed in that way.

 We are created with the capacity for sorrow and suffering so that we may understand the blessing of joy and peace.

 When we are sorrowful and we suffer, we cause suffering and sorrow in those who witness it, especially those who love us. Just as when we rejoice, those who love us and the stranger among us feel what we feel, and God is there too knowing what we know, understanding our experience as we understand it ourselves.

 Consider the teaching of the apostle; Paul demonstrates his personal commitment to the mission he accepted: to share the good news and the teachings of Jesus, concerning the way he lived and the life he commended to us, a commitment that led the apostle into first into captivity, and ultimately to his death.

 Paul desires that all people come to understand the transitory nature of the material world and come to trust in the divine promise that leads us on the path to eternal life. He wants us to understand that any person can change their station, can elevate themselves from the circumstances of their birth, can go from being a salve to a leader in the church; if they persevere in the way there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome, no threshold that cannot be crossed, no heaven that cannot be reached in the service of God.

 Paul would say…follow God’s commandment, and the command is to love…love Paul would say, is the whole of the law. To love one another, to give of one’s self to another…there is no greater gift.

 The love that we are called to is not the love we call desire, though to desire and be desired is an experience of great joy. We are called to move past the love we call desire and past the love we have for family and friends, because to love in that way is only a short extension of the love we have for ourselves. As you know, we see ourselves in the faces of our mothers and fathers, we see our ambitions as tied to the ambitions of our friends. We are called to love in a greater capacity than to simply love them.

 We are called to love to the point of selflessness, to love even those who are against us, to love our enemies, to forgive those who have hurt us and done us harm, to feed the stranger and protect them…to do so out of love.

 Do this.

 Allow yourself to be moved by the living judgment of the living God. As the psalmist says: God’s rulings are filled with wonder and awe.

 God, the creator of the universe, the God of light and warmth, our God is the God who loves, who teaches love and who desires that we love in return; demonstrate your love for God through the care you show to your sisters and brothers, your neighbor and the stranger in your company.

 This is the great commandment, it is the commission you have taken up when you were baptized in God’s name.

 Understand this!

 There are places in the scriptures where the words attributed to Jesus are out of keeping with the character the reader has come to know about him. Today’s reading from Luke is one of those places.

 It is jarring to hear the voice of Jesus speaking to us about the necessity of hate, of hating your father, your mother, your wife, your children, your sibling and even yourself. It is jarring because Jesus is the man who; more than any other prophet, speaks to us of love.

 Love God, the creator of the universe; Love God with all your strength, and all your heart and all your mind, love your neighbor as yourself, this is the whole of the law.

 Jesus calls us to love not hate; we are created in love, and called by the loving God to be good and do good in the world; we are called to be merciful, to be advocates for the marginalized and disenfranchised, to be compassionate with everyone we meet.

 As Paul said:

 If we speak in the tongues of angels and are not loving, then our voices are butclanging cymbals, dissonant and incoherent,

 In consideration of these virtues: trust, hope and love, the greatest is love, because it is the root of the other two.

 It is out of keeping with the teaching of Jesus to dissuade us from a course of action simply because we will be publicly ridiculed if we fail. It is out of step with the wisdom of Jesus to compare the work of his disciples to the machinations of kings and generals. It is inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus to pretend that the work of the church is a march of conquest rather than process of conversion.

 The scripture for today represents the thoughts and fears of the church in the second or third generation after Jesus. It represents the mind of church in a time of persecution, but also a time of building. It shows the feelings of a community trying to establish itself, while looking to remove the weak and the poorly prepared from their congregations. It articulates the limitations of human wisdom, not the wisdom of the divine…just as the sage had noted.

 These are the hopes and fears of men whose understanding of their heavenly purpose is occluded by their material condition.

 Be mindful.

 When we strip the gospel for today down to its essence the advice presented here is not bad.

 It is a call for total commitment.

 It says to the church, be ready to complete what you have started, and be ready to give everything you have, including your life for the work you believe in, but it is missing the final thought lasting shape to the necessary context that is only provided by the eternal good that is the divine will: if you fail (and you will fail) you will still be loved by God.

  

First Reading – Wisdom 9:13-18 ©

Who can divine the will of God?

 What man indeed can know the intentions of God?

Who can divine the will of the Lord?

The reasonings of mortals are unsure and our intentions unstable; for a perishable body presses down the soul, and this tent of clay weighs down the teeming mind.

It is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth, laborious to know what lies within our reach; who, then, can discover what is in the heavens?

As for your intention, who could have learnt it, had you not granted Wisdom and sent your holy spirit from above?

Thus have the paths of those on earth been straightened and men been taught what pleases you, and saved, by Wisdom.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 89(90):3-6, 12-14, 17 ©

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

You turn men back to dust

  and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’

To your eyes a thousand years

  are like yesterday, come and gone,

  no more than a watch in the night.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

You sweep men away like a dream,

  like the grass which springs up in the morning.

In the morning it springs up and flowers:

  by evening it withers and fades.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

Make us know the shortness of our life

  that we may gain wisdom of heart.

Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?

  Show pity to your servants.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

In the morning, fill us with your love;

  we shall exult and rejoice all our days.

Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:

  give success to the work of our hands.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

 

Second Reading – Philemon 9-10, 12-17 ©

He is a Slave No Longer, but a Dear Brother in the Lord

This is Paul writing, an old man now and, what is more, still a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I became while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus. I am sending him back to you, and with him – I could say – a part of my own self. I should have liked to keep him with me; he could have been a substitute for you, to help me while I am in the chains that the Good News has brought me. However, I did not want to do anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness, which should be spontaneous. I know you have been deprived of Onesimus for a time, but it was only so that you could have him back for ever, not as a slave any more, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord. So if all that we have in common means anything to you, welcome him as you would me.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 15:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

I call you friends, says the Lord, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – Palms 118:135

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let your face shine on your servant; and teach me your decrees.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke 14:25 - 33 ©

Anyone Who Does Not Carry His Cross and Follow Me Cannot Be My Disciple

Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’

 

A Homily – The Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

A Homily – The Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading – Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21, 30-31 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 67(68):4-7, 10-11 ©

Second Reading – Hebrews 12:18-19,22-24 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alternative Acclamation – Matthew 11:29

The Gospel According to Luke 14:1 & 7 - 14 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 Do as the prophet commends; love justice, be merciful, walk humbly…this is the way.

 The greater your power in the world, the larger your fortune, the more mindful you must be to follow the way; not for fear or favor, not as a reward for your humility, a boon for your mercy or as a benefit for the administration of justice…follow the way as nature intended, like the bee who is drawn to the opening flower.

 Pay attention to the prophet and ignore the psalmist who articulates the path of vanity.

 Know this!

 God does not dwell on Earth, the divine is present everywhere. God does not lead armies or hand out victories, because God is the God of everyone and loves us all the same.

 God regards the just and the unjust alike, looking on them with infinite compassion, holding us up in dignity, and demanding from each of us the same thing, that we love one another.

 Consider the words of the Apostle:

 The garden of the living God is not of this world. Nevertheless, we are called to live our lives as if we were already there.

 The Apostle points to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and its peak beyond the summit, hidden in the cloud of unknowing…to where the garden is.

 We enter the garden with a spirit of humility and in that green space we come to understand what justice is, we learn that it is in inseverable from mercy, we see the fullness of it when we see God face to face.

 In God’s garden we approach the divine as both the chosen and the choosing, each of us in the fullness of our-own-person, as first-born daughters and sons of God. In that moment we will have been made perfect, entering eternity after our long sojourn through time and space, and we will be joined with the divine in unceasing prayer for the restoration of the whole creation.

 Remember!

 Grace is not transactional; love fosters love…but there is always love, and God is always with you.

 Know this!

 The teachings of Jesus cannot be treated like a shell game, though they are, and have been since the beginning, as Matthew’s Gospel illustrates.

 The way of Jesus is not a long-con, neither is it a bait and switch. The way comes from a simple teaching that cannot be controlled or owned by any one group of people. God has hidden nothing…the secret lies in the open for all to see..

 The wise and the powerful, the learned and the clever, the weak and the meek, everyone has access to the truth and the knowledge of God, to the experience of justice, of hope and the fulfillment of love.

 Who are the wise and powerful, who are the learned and the clever, who are the faithful and childlike. In every generation, you will see a new group labeling their elders as out of touch, blind, privileged, in the dark…corrupt.

 The cycle continues and the truth remains the same; we are called on to love justice, to be merciful, to walk humbly, to do good and serve God through the loving service we provide to one another: to our families, our friends, our neighbors, the stranger, even our enemy when they are in need.

 Just because a person is wise and powerful, learned and clever, or a child of the church, does not mean they recognize the truth when they see it, or act upon it when they do.

 It is not your station in society, it is not how other people regard you, it is not the titles you have earned, or the ways that you have been marginalized that give us the tell as to how you will fulfill the calling to follow Jesus in the way. What matters is what is the hope your heart, the breadth of its scope and your willingness to trust in it though you cannot see it.

 Be mindful.

 You are a sinner; no matter how great you think you are, how virtuous and humble, no matter how pious you may be; you are still a sinner and will remain one for the rest of your life…this is the human condition, therefore be patient with yourself and with others, who like you were born helpless in a hot dark world.

 Be watchful for the opportunities to serve that come your way, be on the lookout for the stranger, the alien, the poor, the diseased, the criminal and especially the threat; behold them, and see the divinity that lies within them; look at them and acknowledge the seed of God’s word that animates them…as it does you. Yield to their divinity with a contrite heart, asking forgiveness for all of the pain and the hurt you have caused.

 Accept their mercy even as you bestow it on them; this is the way of God.

First Reading – Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21, 30-31 ©

Behave Humbly, and You Will Find Favour with the Lord

My son, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver.

The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favour with the Lord; for great though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble.

There is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him.

The heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the sage’s dream.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 67(68):4-7, 10-11 ©

In your goodness, O God, you prepared a home for the poor.

The just shall rejoice at the presence of God,

  they shall exult and dance for joy.

O sing to the Lord, make music to his name;

  rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.

In your goodness, O God, you prepared a home for the poor.

Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,

  such is God in his holy place.

God gives the lonely a home to live in;

  he leads the prisoners forth into freedom:

In your goodness, O God, you prepared a home for the poor.

You poured down, O God, a generous rain:

  when your people were starved you gave them new life.

It was there that your people found a home,

  prepared in your goodness, O God, for the poor.

In your goodness, O God, you prepared a home for the poor.

 

Second Reading – Hebrews 12:18-19,22-24 ©

You Have Come to Mount Zion and to the City of the Living God

What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them. But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – Matthew 11:29

Alleluia, alleluia!

Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, says the Lord, for I am gentle and humble in heart.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke 14:1 & 7 - 14 ©

Everyone Who Exalts Himself Shall Be Humbled

On a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. He then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of honour. He said this, ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, “Give up your place to this man.” And then, to your embarrassment, you would have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say, “My friend, move up higher.” In that way, everyone with you at the table will see you honoured. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’

Then he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.’

 

A Homily – The Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

A Homily – The Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

 First Reading – Isaiah 66:18-21 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 116(117) ©

Second Reading – Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alternative Acclamation – John 14:6

The Gospel According to Luke 13:22 - 30 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

The scriptures often point out for us what the promise of a good life should be, telling us that if we are to have good things; they will not come from God as if by magic…do not expect it.

We experience the good if we live a just life…together; if we live together as one people, caring for one another we will experience that as good.

The good life will come for everyone if and only if our society, our civil structures, our courts, and every other apparatus of government are structured in as vehicles of compassion, justice and mercy; then we will have fellowship and that will be good.

It will be good in our hunger and our thirst, in our sorrow and our joy, it will be good.

Be mindful!

The God of creation is the God of all people, of all nations. The God of creation cares for God’s children, God cares for everyone and touches all us with mercy.

Trust in God; have faith, it will lighten the burden of the way.

Know this:

You are loved; you will not be tested beyond what you can endure.

Though God made us into creatures capable of suffering, and we know this much to be true, we also know that God will not heap it upon us. God does not interfere in our lives in any way. God does not lift us up or lay us low, because God has made us and the entire creation free. We are free to do good and free to do evil, subject to sorrow and capable of joy. There is no system of rewards and punishments laced through the things we experience in this life, those things simply are.

Be Mindful.

The grace of God is not transactional.

Love fosters love, but there is always love and God is always with you.

Remember!

Jesus instructs us in the way to aid us in leading a truthful life, a life dedicated to the good of all God’s children; follow it!

When Jesus encourages us to seek the narrow path, he is encouraging us to live the best life we can, the best life we are able to live, we conceive of this as going through the narrow door, not because the path is delimiting, but because it is difficult and few will even attempt it…the door is merely narrow, it is not locked. The narrow door is the way of justice and mercy, of love and forgiveness, it is the way of salvation and well-being.

God knows how difficult it is, and only asks that we aspire to it, God will lead us through the challenges that rise before us.

Know this.

Jesus understands the human condition, he knows that nearly everyone desires to follow the way, but few can live it completely. He also knows that we make the world a better place in direct proportion to the efforts we make to live out our lives according to our divine purpose.

Our individual and collective well-being depends on our willingness to forgive those who injure us, to accept forgiveness from those whom we have hurt, to be compassionate, merciful and just.

Jesus is not the master who locks the door, God is not the judge who tells God’s servants that they are unknown to the divine. God knows each of us, even as we know ourselves. God knows where we come from, and God where we are going…God leads us along the way.

God knows what is in the heart of every person, God knows, God loves and God forgives.

If the gatekeeper seeks to lock out any of God’s children, they do so not because they are on the narrow path, but because they are on the other path, the same path that most of the rest of us are walking…they are on the broad path which is nevertheless a path, it is the way that most of us sinners follow, it is the way we share with the patriarchs; with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with the prophets, all of whom were sinners like ourselves, and who were nonetheless the objects of God’s loving ministry.

Every person is the object of God’s love, whether we are on the narrow path or the broad path, whether we are trying to hold the gate closed or keep it open, we are all welcome to God’s table. God is patiently waiting for us to join the divine convivium.

Remember.

The last will be first and the first will last…Jesus said so; think nothing of your place in society, of your office or of your power unless you are thinking of how to use those things for the benefit of others…then and only then will you e like the angels of God.

First Reading – Isaiah 66:18-21 ©

They Will Bring All Your Brothers from All the Nations

The Lord says this: I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations. As an offering to the Lord they will bring all your brothers, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says the Lord, like Israelites bringing oblations in clean vessels to the Temple of the Lord. And of some of them I will make priests and Levites, says the Lord.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 116(117) ©

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

O praise the Lord, all you nations,

  acclaim him all you peoples!

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

Strong is his love for us;

  he is faithful for ever.

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 ©

The Lord Trains the One He Loves

Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did not train him? Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness. So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 14:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus said: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

No one can come to the Father except through me.’

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke 13:22 - 30 ©

The Last Shall be First and the First Last

Through towns and villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.

 ‘Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”

 ‘Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

 ‘Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.’

 

A Homily – The Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)