tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85604836154608343852024-03-17T22:14:41.359-04:00On This RockFather John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.comBlogger2207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-78691964973919359632024-02-23T13:40:00.002-05:002024-03-06T16:44:28.192-05:00The Scandal of Rupnik<p>When I was still on Twitter, when the logo for the year of mercy was released in 2015, I commented that it was hideous. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMLtLn9l-dmmDXuUDpg40B9htA9z5BaBvAZ-zNrSDTLFQ8GYzul0FbvJNaRacoN76T4vhRiES91_DBYhmPzVUwFwR1pD2NX1Bq5XioIScWZB9py2qRxJjhtsYR9uJb16B00LL-5Yt-ogcJ6aoEt33qZKOqu4bC_YccYHH6ERX63HXiIE2KSs892N6PagS/s2400/rupnik%20logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1439" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMLtLn9l-dmmDXuUDpg40B9htA9z5BaBvAZ-zNrSDTLFQ8GYzul0FbvJNaRacoN76T4vhRiES91_DBYhmPzVUwFwR1pD2NX1Bq5XioIScWZB9py2qRxJjhtsYR9uJb16B00LL-5Yt-ogcJ6aoEt33qZKOqu4bC_YccYHH6ERX63HXiIE2KSs892N6PagS/s320/rupnik%20logo.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I stand by that assessment...the oversized eyes, the melding of one of their eyes...it is creepy and hideous.</p><p>And then all the allegations have come out against the artist Fr. Rupnik...that he allegedly convinced religious sisters to have sex with him so that he could create his art.</p><p>Some, defending the idea that Rupnik's "art" should remain in Catholic Churches all over the world say some form of "<i>Well, Carvaggio was a drunk and may have murdered someone; are you going to take down all of his work as well?"</i></p><p>But here is a big distinction: Carvaggio never murdered someone to help make his art.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rupnik allegedly sexually enticed religious sisters and then allegedly absolved them of that same sin in the confessional, which incurs a latae sentiae excommunication on Rupnik if he in fact did that. </p><p><br /></p><p>Caravaggio never did anything that incurred a latae sententiae excommunication to make his art.</p><p><br /></p><p>And Caravaggio's paintings are masterpieces, and Rupnik's art is hideous and creepy.</p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-39696499243221916602024-02-23T09:46:00.004-05:002024-02-23T09:46:31.232-05:001st Sunday of Lent, 2024, The Angelus<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> The Angelus</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">A recent survey found that 90% of Americans believe in angels, which is a greater percentage than believe in God, which does not make much sense to me, but hardly anything makes sense to me in the United States in 2024.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Almost every CHAPTER in the Bible mentions angels. Including our Gospel today, which says the angels ministered to Jesus in the desert.</p><p style="text-align: left;">At every Mass, we believe that in a special and unique way ALL the Angels and saints are present here, eventhough we cannot see them...and no other Christian denomination believes that about their worship service.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">At Mass, when the priest finishes the preface he says some version of "now with all the angels and saints, let us together acclaim...Holy Holy Holy..."</p><p style="text-align: left;">That is the exact phrase that both Ezekiel in the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation say that the angels and saints are singing unceasingly and without end...we are literally singing WITH the angels.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">As I always say, the Catholic Church has a buffet of options for prayers and devotions, and not every prayer will be helpful for every Catholic, but one prayer that Fr. Meyer and I both pray is the "Angelus". We start every morning in the rectory chapel with the Angelus at 6am. The Pope every Sunday prays the angelus at noon and then gives a short reflection to those gathered in St. Peter's Square.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">A parishioner donated cards with the prayers of the Angelus on it, and so I will ask the ushers to come forward at this time and pass out the cards to anyone who is interested, and/or looking for something to do during Lent.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-58673500310940236812024-02-21T15:33:00.001-05:002024-02-21T15:33:08.944-05:00Ash Wednesday 2024<p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">2 Things for Ash Wednesday</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1) Give up something that you never want to go back to. 10 years ago, I gave up TV for Lent and on Easter I started watching TV again. The next year, I gave up TV for Lent, and after Lent I was hardly watching it, but by the time Lent rolled around again, I was back watching an hour a day. I gave up TV for a third lent...and now, for the last 4 years or so, I don't even miss TV. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2) Pick at least one partner who will hold you accountable. I have always had a gym membership, and I have noticed that the gym crowd swells on January 2nd from all of the people who make New Year's resolutions, but a week later it is always back to the regulars. But I have also noticed another thing...the aerobics classes and exercise classes that meet every week...they keep coming after January 7th and come all year...why...because there is a community and there is accountability..."where's Jan...oh she is on vacation in Florida...she'll be back next week" Maybe you are a part of a Bible study or a small group...let them know what you are doing and meet weekly to pray and talk about how you are doing with your Lenten resolutions.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-75052505829866397882024-02-10T07:02:00.004-05:002024-02-10T07:21:52.600-05:00One of our parish seminarians Randy Schneider!<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/908261459#t=2h26m7s?h=3258164d3c&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/908261459">2024 Legacy Gala</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/cantaloupe">Cantaloupe</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-9117277683137479632024-01-30T08:37:00.002-05:002024-01-30T08:37:21.554-05:00The Best Catholic Novels<p>There are a lot of great Catholic novels out there. Here are my top recommendations:</p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">"Lord of the Rings" and the "Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Toward the Gleam” by T.M. Doran…a must for any Tolkien Fan!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://ignatius.com/toward-the-gleam-toglh/">https://ignatius.com/toward-the-gleam-toglh/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Atticus” by Ron Hansen…written by a Catholic Deacon, one of
the best novels I have ever read <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atticus-Novel-Ron-Hansen/dp/0060927860">https://www.amazon.com/Atticus-Novel-Ron-Hansen/dp/0060927860</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Trilogy by Brian Gail<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Fatherless" <a href="https://cedarhouse.co/fatherless/">https://cedarhouse.co/fatherless/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Motherless" <a href="https://cedarhouse.co/motherless/">https://cedarhouse.co/motherless/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Childless" <a href="https://cedarhouse.co/childless/">https://cedarhouse.co/childless/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The following are all written by Michael O’Brien:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Father Elijah" <a href="https://ignatius.com/father-elijah-fep/">https://ignatius.com/father-elijah-fep/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"A Father’s Tale" <a href="https://ignatius.com/the-fathers-tale-ftp/">https://ignatius.com/the-fathers-tale-ftp/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Trilogy by Michael O’Brien<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Strangers and Sojourners" <a href="https://ignatius.com/strangers-and-sojourners-sasp/">https://ignatius.com/strangers-and-sojourners-sasp/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Eclipse of the Sun" <a href="https://ignatius.com/eclipse-of-the-sun-esunp/">https://ignatius.com/eclipse-of-the-sun-esunp/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Plague Journal" <a href="https://ignatius.com/plague-journal-pjp/">https://ignatius.com/plague-journal-pjp/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens <a href="https://ignatius.com/a-tale-of-two-cities-7ttcp/">https://ignatius.com/a-tale-of-two-cities-7ttcp/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Kristen Lavransdatter" by Sigrid Undset <a href="https://ignatius.com/kristin-lavransdatter-klp/">https://ignatius.com/kristin-lavransdatter-klp/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"The Death of a Pope" by Piers Paul Read <a href="https://ignatius.com/the-death-of-a-pope-doph/">https://ignatius.com/the-death-of-a-pope-doph/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These final two were authored by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson:</p><p class="MsoNormal">"Come Rack, Come Rope" <a href="https://tanbooks.com/products/books/come-rack-come-rope-ebook/?h_campaign_id=436318446&bng_id=1363396189114446&h_ad_id=85212676805031">https://tanbooks.com/products/books/come-rack-come-rope-ebook/?h_campaign_id=436318446&bng_id=1363396189114446&h_ad_id=85212676805031</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Lord of the World" <a href="https://tanbooks.com/products/books/lord-of-the-world/">https://tanbooks.com/products/books/lord-of-the-world/</a><o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-47220811120020048442024-01-29T11:58:00.000-05:002024-01-29T11:58:09.988-05:00Deaconesses?<p>Currently in Canon Law, Canon 1370 says this:</p><p><i>"3. Both a person who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive the sacred order, incur a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See"</i></p><p><br /></p><p>What that means is that no priest can absolve any person who attempts to ordain a woman to the diaconate, nor can any priest absolve the woman who is "ordained". Instead, the priest who hears this in the confessional has to write to Rome in order to get permission to absolve the "ordainer" and/or the woman "ordained".</p><p><br /></p><p>There has been some talk over the last 50 years about ordaining women as deacons. My question is this: </p><p><br /></p><p>Can something that is currently a crime in the Catholic Church that a priest cannot grant absolution for suddenly be reversed and become Catholic teaching? </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-20670527225717511882024-01-28T13:11:00.003-05:002024-01-28T13:11:21.474-05:004th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2023 "If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts!"<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“If today you hear His voice, harden
not your hearts!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> On the value of a holy hour</o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The first
time I ever saw Eucharistic Adoration when I was a seminarian at St. Meinrad,
and I instantly fell in love with it…and I can look back over time and see how
the holy hours have made me an infinitely better person…I still have a long way
to go but they have me infinitely better.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As Father
Patrick Hyde talked about when he came to Dearborn County in November… just as nuclear
radiation in a negative way reorients every atom of our being without us
feeling the effects at first, being in the Presence of Jesus exposed in a
monstrance reorients every fiber of our body and soul and over time changes us
more and more for the better. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The average American
spends two thirds of their waking hours staring at glass screens whether it is
smart phones, tablets, laptops or television sets…and I just want to say that
the only glass screen that will bring us any lasting peace is staring at the
glass screen of a monstrance with Jesus’ Real Presence right behind it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Starting on
Ash Wednesday, there will be a new perpetual adoration chapel at St. Mary’s in
Aurora…and we also be making an appeal to every parishioner next weekend to
fill out a card to sign up for at least one hour each week at the adoration
chapel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I was
listening to Catholic Radio on the way to Mass this morning here at St. Mary’s
and a gentleman was recounting how he was baptized a Catholic at a young age,
and fell away from the Catholic Faith…made millions of dollars…but was also
addicted to alcohol…and when he hit rock bottom he went to the Catholic Church
which was locked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he walked
around the corner, and there was what he would later learn is a perpetual
adoration chapel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he slept in
the room, and when he woke up, he felt such a calm sense of peace, and that
time in the adoration chapel put him back on the right course.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Next weekend
after all the Masses, we will be asking you to sign up for an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the psalm from today for many reasons,
and it is “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts..” so Fr. Meyer
and I just ask that you spend this coming week asking Jesus to show you what He
wants from you in regard to an hour of adoration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-9752805746366929932024-01-20T09:50:00.000-05:002024-01-20T09:50:00.614-05:00Awesome video on Eucharistic Adoration<p> </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IJH__6PGPow?si=t_H2BTvE2u2CYCo8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-33867038593319695612024-01-06T13:14:00.004-05:002024-01-07T12:52:22.421-05:00Homily for Epiphany 2023<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Homily for the Epiphany, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“And having been warned in a dream
not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In this
action of the Magi, returning to their country by another way, many Church
Fathers and Saints have seen this as a metaphor for what happens when EACH of
us encounters Christ…we take a new path after encountering Christ. And we all encounter Jesus Christ every time we come to Mass!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We live in a
culture that is saturated with gossip and slander…there are gossip tv shows,
gossip magazines, gossip websites, gossip newspapers and even entire cable
channels devoted 24 hours a day to celebrity gossip and slander.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All the
social media platforms reward you for gossiping and slandering other people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I used to
gossip all the time…I would gossip and slander other people from sun up to sun
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I bought an audio version of
the New Testament about 5 years ago, and listening to it over and over again, I
was struck particularly by how so many sins committed with our speech, if left
unconfessed, the New Testament authors say those sins will keep us out of
Heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Saint Paul
says in First Corinthians chapter 6 That slanderers will not inherit the
Kingdom of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Saint Paul
tells the Galatians that “The acts of the flesh are obvious: discord, fits of
rage, dissensions…I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this
will not inherit the kingdom of God.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Book of
Proverbs talks over and over again about how those who spread gossip are
destined for calamity<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus says
what goes into the mouth does not defile a person, but what comes out of the
mouth is what defiles them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Even
spreading something we KNOW to be true about another person is a sin if it
paints that person in a bad light…that sin is the sin of detraction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course we need to tell the proper
authorities if we see something happen that is a crime, but detraction is along
the lines of “You won’t believe what I saw Lysander do this morning…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have two
things to be particularly in rooting out the sins of gossip and slander from my
life: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1 Monthly
confession<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2 Now, any
time I am tempted to gossip or slander someone, I stop and pray a Hail Mary for
that person in my head<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Catechism says “everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and
reputation and to respect.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Ephesians
4 St. Paul says that we should “say only the good things that people need to
hear, things that <b><u>will really help them</u>”</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I used to
come to my parents, and spend the first of couple of minutes “venting” to them
about all the “problems” but I also realized about 5 years ago that “venting”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1 Is not “saying
only the good things that people need to hear, things that will really help
them”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2 Does not
do any good for my family and friends, and wastes their time<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let us
resolve to totally change our course, like the Magi to take a new road home,
because our speech can often get us in trouble, and sins of gossip and slander
and detraction, if left unconfessed, will keep us out of Heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let us
instead commit to the new road home of saying only the good things that people
need to hear<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-26608307807982969692024-01-04T14:24:00.001-05:002024-01-04T14:24:26.721-05:00A Homily from then-Cardinal Ratzinger 40 years before his death<p> This is an excerpt from a homily Cardinal Ratzinger gave about 40 years before he died on December 31st, 2022:</p><p><br /></p><p>"This year is ending. This means, as always, that we spend a few minutes in reflection. We draw up balance-sheets and make an effort to anticipate what the future may bring. For a moment we become conscious of the strange thing called "time," which otherwise we simply use without thinking about it. We feel both the melancholy and the consolation of our own transiency. Much that caused us distress, much that weighed us down and seemed to make progress impossible, has now passed and become quite unimportant. As we look back, difficult days are transfigured in memory, and the now almost forgotten distress leaves us more peaceful and confident, more composed in the face of present treats, for these too will pass. The consolation of transiency: Nothing lasts, no matter how important it claims to be. But this compromise, also has its discouraging and saddening aspect. nothing lasts, and therefore along with the old year not only difficulties but mush that is beautiful has passed away, and the more we move beyond the midpoint of our lives, the more poignantly we feel this change of what was once future and then present into something past. We cannot say to any moment: "Stay a while! you are so lovely!" Anything that is within time comes and then passes away."</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-18094172940129837982024-01-03T12:10:00.003-05:002024-01-03T12:10:21.118-05:00The final battle will be over marriage and the family<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The final battle will be over Marriage
and the Family” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One of the 3
children who were graced with visions at Fatima in 1917 was Lucia dos Santos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our Blessed Mother asked the 3 children in
1917 to let everyone know that there would be a great miracle, and when that
day and time arrived, the Sun darted all over the sky for several minutes, and was
witnessed by over 70,000 people, some were atheist and non-Catholic newspaper reporters
and photographers who witnessed the Sun moving all over the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lucy has since died, and Pope Francis several
years ago made her a venerable, putting her on the path to Sainthood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lucy said,
before she died, “The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan
will be about Marriage and the Family. Don't be afraid because whoever works
for the sanctity of Marriage and the Family will always be fought against and
opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We have seen
marriage and the family in the United States under assault for at least the
last 100 years, and more recently marriage and the family have been under
attack even from WITHIN some corners of the Catholic Church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And so I
just want to say tonight that those who are in a marriage recognized by the
Catholic Church, and who are open to life…THANK YOU!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As a priest,
just know that I am SO inspired by all of you that are living out your marriage
as the calendars prepares to turn to 2024…I know it is not easy but marriages
and families that are pursuing holiness INSPIRE me and every other priest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We have some
great readings this weekend about marriage…about wives being submissive to
their husbands and about husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the Church…I
think it is important to recognize that Jesus says in another Gospel passage, “<i>The
rulers of the gentiles LORD it over them, but among you it shall not be so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever among you wishes to be great will
become the SERVANT of all…”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True authority
comes not from exerting power over another, but from serving everyone.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Again, thank
you to all the families in this parish trying to make it work…may the Holy
Family intercede for all of us today and every day!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-57477396129833653662023-12-27T14:21:00.002-05:002023-12-27T14:21:53.495-05:00Christmas 2023<p style="text-align: center;"> A Christmas Letter from Jesus</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My Friends,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you
for coming and celebrating my birthday tonight (today).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, like you, enjoy celebrating, and what we
celebrate tonight is cause for much celebration because 2000 years ago, when I
was born, people first began to realize that they were no longer in darkness,
but that the light was attainable again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>People began to realize that I had opened a way for them not just back into the
Garden of Paradise, but the infinitely greater gift of the opportunity to dwell in and with God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As my beloved friend
and disciple writes in his letter that you just heard:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The people
who walked in darkness have seen a great light!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Although
this is cause for much celebration, I want to write to you about
something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am human, like you, and so
I recognize that for a lot of you, Christmas is a time of pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of you have been blessed growing up with
wonderful Christmas memories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s
pause there and just smile thinking about those celebrations of the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Know that in those past celebrations I was
there with you, in the midst of your celebrations, and your joy brought great
joy to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But on this
side of Heaven, as we know, things can change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A lot of you are sitting here at this Mass with a sadness because, if it
were up to you, a certain person or a group of people would still be with you
tonight (Today).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the years, this congregation has lost
brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, sons and daughters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of you are sad tonight (today) because
you are separated from those who are still living, but are not able to make it
home for Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, whatever
the cause of the separation, there is no pain like the separation of people who
love each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to say to you
tonight (Today) that I walk with you in your sorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would not say to you, “move on” “forget”,
or “time heals all wounds” – I made you and I love you and like Job’s friends I
sit with you in the midst of your sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve heard
the expression “I’m just trying to make it through Christmas”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many of you, Christmas is a more intense
reminder of who is NOT here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Precisely
because past Christmasses with loved ones and family were so joyous, and were
so awesome, Christmas becomes not a time for celebration but a time for being
confronted by the grief and depression brought on by recalling the ghosts of
Christmases past.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As I said
earlier, I would not tell you to stop being sad, because I share your
sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made you from before time
began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not a distant God who rules
and commands from afar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made you
because I love you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I am a human
person too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may recall my reaction
when I received word that my good friend Lazarus had died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, as my friend and Apostle John wrote:
“He wept”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I would like
to issue an invitation to you – I want to invite you into the joy of THIS
Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was with you in the past,
but I am with you right now in this moment too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first Christmas turned on a water faucet that is impossible to shut
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The water flows now continuously,
and that water is my presence among you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am flowing forth within all those who love me, bubbling up like a
living stream overflowing, and so I am constantly “being born” and coming forth
in this moment, in new ways<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I loved you
then, I love you now, and I will love you for all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let Heaven and Nature sing, let Heaven and
nature sing because the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Love, <br />
Jesus</span><o:p></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-16139592541493221392023-12-22T07:31:00.007-05:002023-12-22T14:08:06.058-05:00O King of the Nations<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">“O King of the nations, come and save
the creature you fashioned from the dust.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Homily for Friday, December 22nd<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Our Alleluia
verse today is “O king of the nations, come and save the creature you fashioned
from the dust”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It is always
a temptation to think the Christ is not in charge, and is not in control<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">But the Catholic
Church has always taught that NOT ONLY is Jesus Christ the king of Heaven, but
Jesus Christ is also the King of the Earth, right now, King of our Country,
King of Indiana, King of the World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, we just celebrated several weeks ago the great solemnity of Jesus Christ,
the king of the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And one of
the main teachings of the Catholic Church is that a key way that we see how
Christ is King in the civil realm is through the institution of Marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And Jesus
Christ, as King of the Earth, does not just care about marriage within the Catholic
Church, but Jesus cares about every marriage period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus and the Catholic Church even recognize a
man and woman who are both unbaptized and get married at the courthouse as a
valid marriage. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">So, just to
reiterate, Jesus and the Catholic Church have ALWAYS understood marriage to be
of central importance to any society.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In fact,
there was a document “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition
to Unions Between Homosexual Persons” issued by the Vatican several years ago that states: “If, from the legal
standpoint, marriage between a man and a woman were to be considered just one
possible form of marriage, the concept of marriage would undergo a radical
transformation, with grave detriment to the common good. By putting homosexual
unions on a legal plane analogous to that of marriage and the family, the State
acts arbitrarily and in contradiction with its duties.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Of course we
can reject Jesus Christ the King’s authority over us, but there is a parable in
Luke’s Gospel about a king who goes on a journey away from his kingdom, but remains
King.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the King returns, he says
this: Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring
them here and slay them before me Luke (19:27)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">May we accept
Jesus Christ’s kingship over our land, our lives, our families and our Church,
so that when Christ returns completely and openly, we may hear him say well done,
my friend, enter the Kingdom I have prepared for you from the foundation of the
world!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-31668325038762450072023-12-21T10:23:00.002-05:002023-12-21T10:23:34.632-05:00December 21st "Hark, my lover, here he comes"<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Hark, my lover – here he comes, springing
across the mountains, leaping across the hills”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Homily for Thursday, December 21<sup>st</sup>
2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is so providential
that we have this reading today from the Song of Songs!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a saying in our wider culture that “Love
is Love”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we say in English “I love
Doritos” and also “I love my spouse”…and clearly those loves are not the same
thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Hebrew,
there are SEVEN different words for “Love” and in Greek there are FOUR
different words for “Love”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is so
much confusion today about love and marriage…even within the Catholic Church…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One of the
main things that distinguishes Human Persons from all the other animals is our
ability to experience ATTRACTION and yet NOT ACT ON THE ATTRACTIONS that we
experience!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Whether we
are married in a valid marriage recognized by the Catholic Church, a single
Catholic, a priest or a religious brother or sister, we all experience
attractions of a sexual nature, but we ALL have ALL the Graces that we need to not
ACT on those attractions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Also, the
Bible is FULL of teachings about how married chaste love between two spouses is
a direct image of how God loves the Church, and also how God loves each of us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Anything
that would distort an image of how God loves us is an abomination in the
technical sense, and sterile sexual activity is one of the sins that cries out
for vengeance to Heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have a TREMENDOUS
respect for people who experience same sex attraction, and yet are trying to
live chastely…I raised over 90,000 dollars 10 years ago to make a documentary
on some of those people who experience same sex attraction and none the less
love being Catholic and were willing to appear on camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The documentary is called “The Third Way” and
I am proud to say that it has been viewed millions of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is for free on YouTube and Vimeo. <a href="https://vimeo.com/blackstonefilms/thethirdway" target="_blank">Click HERE to view "The Third Way"</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All of us
are called to chastity... to direct our sexual attractions in the proper
direction, thus all imaging, in our various states in life, the perfect Love
that God has for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-8017650387925064992023-12-19T14:43:00.001-05:002023-12-19T16:16:01.297-05:00The Catholic Faith Can be Grasped by Children<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Confusion in the Church?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Homily for Tuesday, December 19<sup>th</sup>
2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Advent is a
special time for us to, among other things, focus on our Blessed Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">One of the
titles of Our Blessed Mother is “Mother of the Church”, and for the last year or
so I have been asking “Mary the Mother of the Church” to intercede for us at
the end of my daily rosary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There is a
lot of confusion in the Church in our own day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But confusion in the Catholic Church is nothing new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
325, The Council of Nicaea settled the Arian controversy definitively, but 70
years later, in 395, St. John Henry Newman, who wrote a wonderful book on the
history of the Arian Controversy, found that number of bishops who were
following the heresy of Arianism had GROWN to 95%<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There was a
bishop fighting the Arian Heresy long after the Council of Nicaea, and his name
is St. Athanasius…there is a saying about St. Athanasius “Athanasius against the
World” because he was one of only a few bishops who was teaching <u><b>true</b></u> Catholic
teaching in the late 300’s…and he was sent into exile <b><u>5 times</u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Confusion from
authorities in the Catholic Church has been a story since the 300’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is nothing new.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The Catholic
teaching, Jesus said, can be understood by children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be wary of anyone who muddies the waters with
an excess of words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus also said that
anyone who causes a child to stumble, it would be better for that person to be
drowned in the sea with a millstone tied around their neck.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">May Our
Blessed Virgin Mother Mary, under the title of “Mother of Church”, intercede for
us today and always!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-61176132432841115872023-12-19T14:23:00.007-05:002023-12-19T16:09:34.988-05:00Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent 2023<p style="text-align: left;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Rejoice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let nothing steal your joy!!!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Today we
celebrate “Rejoice” Sunday…"Rejoice" is the first word of our entrance antiphon, and
we hear about the need to rejoice in both the Prophet Isaiah in the first
reading, and the first 2 words from our 2<sup>nd</sup> reading are St. Paul’s telling
the Thessalonians to “Rejoice always”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">First of
all, joy is filtered through each of our different personalities, it does not look
the same in every human person, but joy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There are
lots of things “of the world” that are constantly trying to steal our joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would just like to talk about the main one
that I have seen robbing my joy in my life…smartphones/social media/tv<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I had over
100,000 followers on social media, but I recognized around the time I stepped away
for chemo that it was all too much, and all of it was turning me into a person
I did not like.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I am a huge J.R.R.
Tolkien fan, and his main works is “The Lord of the Rings”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Devil character has these “seeing stones”
scattered around the world, about 8 of them, and the Devil character is not
allowed to show anything that isn’t true, but he shows true things in such a
way to get people to despair…the Devil character intentionally withholds the
fuller picture…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And that is
just the perfect analogy for what our smart phones/social media and televisions
do…they show true things, but often in such a way as to get us to not rejoice
but rather to fall into despair.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I got rid of
my smartphone and got off all social media and I don’t watch any television anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a tv in the rectory, but it doesn’t
have any channels and we have it just to watch Lord of the Rings</span><span face=""Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😊</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I have become
infinitely more full of joy since getting rid of my smartphone, and social media
and tv.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This is the
season where young people ask for smartphones…I can’t recommend a lightphone
enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<a href="https://www.thelightphone.com/" target="_blank">click here to learn more</a>)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has texting, phone calls, and driving directions…it
would make the perfect gift for any child or teenager (or adult) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Let us,
during this Mass, ask the Lord to show us anything in our lives that is robbing
us of our joy, and let us quickly remove those things from our life!<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-57113124584131582332023-12-05T14:06:00.003-05:002023-12-05T14:06:33.267-05:00"Silence and Presence" Homily for the First Sunday of Advent 2023<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Homily on Silence December 2 and 3
2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus says
in our short Gospel, three different times, that we should Watch!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">What better
way to “watch” than to sit in silence for a few minutes in adoration of Jesus
truly among us in the Eucharist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">That is what
we are going to be doing at the end of today’s Mass – just a few minutes of
silence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">One of the
best books I have ever read is titled “The Power of Silence” by Cardinal Robert
Sarah, and the subtitle is “The Dictatorship of Noise” and I cannot recommend
it highly enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">And I would
just like to share a few amazing quotes from it<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">First of
all, Cardinal Sarah teaches “Silence is not an absence…on the contrary it is
the manifestation of a presence.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Last night,
when we ended Mass with a few minutes of silent adoration at St. Lawrence, you
could have heard a pin drop but it was also really clear that the Holy Spirit
was there in our midst…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Secondly, a question
I get a lot is “Father, is it a sin to get distracted in prayer and is it a sin
to get distracted at Mass?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so I am
happy to report that the Catechism says it is in <b><u>no way</u></b> a sin to
get distracted…it says all that is necessary when you find yourself distracted
at Mass and prayer is to just make a quick prayer “Jesus, I was distracted…I
know it is not a sin, help me to refocus on you!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Cardinal
Sarah also shares a beautiful way to move forward from distractions, and he
talks about how we get all these things thrown at us when we try to be silent,
but he says during prayer time it is absolutely necessary to not to listen or
engage with them, and that those temptations and distractions <b>come to</b>
us, but they are not <b>FROM</b> us… <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Finally,
Cardinal Sarah says this “We are bombarded by noise and noise is often a
deceptive and addictive tranquilizer…noise stubbornly hates silence, and our
culture detests the things that silence brings us to…encounter, wonder, and
kneeling before God”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">I look
forward to ending Mass this morning with a few minutes of silent adoration kneeling
before God!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-73264136212700414322023-12-02T21:05:00.001-05:002023-12-02T21:05:06.206-05:00Former Parishioner Daniel Tews Shares His Conversion Story!<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/59hbb-kZgHo?si=9aO2aZTbE405wIpk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-42353841327762720142023-11-20T12:27:00.003-05:002023-11-20T12:27:48.448-05:00"Advent Adoration" Homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Advent Adoration” Homily for the 33<sup>rd</sup>
Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I returned
this morning from the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, and
it was a great experience!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fr. Meyer and
I have always prioritized our young people having experiences where they are
connected to the larger Catholic Church, and this year there were over 12,000
people who attended NCYC!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The morning
and evening sessions took place in Lucas Oil Stadium, while the break out sessions
took place in the Convention Center across the street from Lucas Oil Stadium.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On Saturday
night, during dinner, we asked the teens and chaperones to share, at their
tables, their favorite experiences of NCYC, and overwhelmingly the favorite for
most of them was Eucharistic Adoration, which took place for approximately one
hour on Friday night in Lucas Oil Stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But that holy hour only had about 5 minutes of silence, and the rest of
the time there was music and talks going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There was
also SILENT adoration taking place throughout the 4 days of NCYC in the Convention
Center as well, and most of our young people and chaperones shared that they
actually preferred the SILENT adoration in the convention center.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Cardinal
Robert Sarah wrote about several years ago called “The Power of Silence” with
the subtitle “Combatting the Dictatorship of Noise” and we do live in a very
loud world…radios, tv’s, social media, earbuds, smart phones…we are assaulted
by noise all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So at our
parishes during Advent, we are going to be ending our Masses during Advent with
just a few minutes of silent adoration and then move right into Benediction…there
are handouts as you leave Mass for those who want more info…but this is part of
the Eucharistic Revival that has been talked about a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fr. Meyer
and I hope that this experience and exposure to a few minutes of silence in the
Eucharistic Presence of Jesus will draw us all closer to Christ, to the
Catholic Church that Jesus established…and closer to one another as well! <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-79751267072008072122023-11-16T10:09:00.001-05:002023-11-16T10:09:05.452-05:00Baby Indi<p>For those of you who are not familiar, Britain is on socialized medicine, and despite the Prime Minister of Italy granting baby Indi and her parents Italian Citizenship, and despite Pope Francis offering the Bambino Gesu to treat Baby Indi, Lord Justice Peter Jackson of the English Court of Appeal, citing a “best interests” of the child standard, blocked Indi’s parents from accepting Italy’s offer.</p><p>Baby Indi died on Monday morning, but something happened that the Devil did not attend. A person suggested to Baby Indi's parents that she get baptized...and not only did the parents allow her to get baptized before she died...the parents were baptized as well!</p><p><br /></p><p>The Father said that he had seen so much evil through this whole thing that it shook him out of his spiritual slumber.</p><p><br /></p><p>J.R.R. Tolkien described God and Heaven, metaphorically, as a symphony with God as the conductor. The Devil and other demons are playing notes off the script, trying to wreck the symphony, but God is able to weave their discordant notes into the symphony, and still make the symphony perfect and beautiful.</p><p><br /></p><p>That is clearly what happened in this instance. As St. Paul assures the Romans, "God is working all things for the good for those who love Him"!!!!!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-57713750386818251192023-11-13T11:14:00.002-05:002023-11-13T11:14:22.290-05:00"The 10 Virgins" Homily for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Homily for the 32<sup>nd</sup> Sunday
in Ordinary Time, 2023 “The 10 Virgins”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the
parable in our Gospel today, it may sound strange…we might ask why 10 virgins
were waiting, in the middle of the night, for the groom to come back, by
himself, for a wedding party, but every Jew listening to Jesus would understand
the customs involved, and a quick internet search will point those things out
to anyone interested.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But I want
to focus on vocations, this weekend, as this is National Vocations Awareness
Week in the United States, and some of the vocations involve vows related to
virginity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First of
all, I never felt any pressure from my family to be a priest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My parents just said once or twice over the
years as we were growing up “if any of you became a priest or a sister, we
would support you in that decision”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
would discourage any family from applying any sort of pressure to a young
person.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I personally
heard a very clear call my sophomore year of college when I made a commitment
to read one chapter of the Gospel each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I just heard Jesus putting on my heart, every time I opened the Bible
“be a priest”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So that is the number one
recommendation for discerning your vocation…read one chapter of the Gospel each
day on your own.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I would just
like to say a few things about the priesthood – I have never missed having
children of my own… As a priest, no matter how young you are, you are welcomed
into hospitals and nursing homes passed all the aunts and uncles and cousins
right to the bed side because you have the Sacraments of the Church…and we
invited to all of your wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, graduation
parties, first Communion parties…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We are also
connected to the family of the priests of the past…every family typically buys
their son a chalice when he is ordained a priest, and usually when that priest
dies no one knows what to do with that chalice, so they are kept in the
archives at the diocese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went down to
the Archdiocese and picked out one such chalice that was originally a gift to
Fr. Edgar O’Connor, who was ordained a priest on May 25, 1920.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Archdiocese gave me some information on
Fr. Edgar O’Connor and my parents had it refurbished, and so now both of our
names are on the bottom of this chalice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Every time I celebrate Mass with this chalice, I see both my name and Fr.
Edgar O’Connor’s name on the bottom of the chalice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I now pray for the repose of his soul every
night, and then I ask him to pray for me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is a
beautiful thing…and all the religious brothers and sisters I know feel the same
way about their vocations even though we all take vows to be live as virgins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a young woman who I first got to
know when I was the Chaplain at Cardinal Ritter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just a few years ago she made final vows for
the Sisters of Life based in New York City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Sisters of Life are highly engaged in the pro-life movement, they minister
to women and fathers who chose to have abortions, and they also celebrate with
women and fathers that have chosen life…they have birthday parties for babies
and take care of the families…she does not have any biological children but she
is a mother to hundreds of fathers, mothers, and children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I was
first ordained a priest, lots of people told them “you must be really proud of
John” and they responded with “we are really proud of all of our children…” I
think that was so wise of them to say because all of my siblings are still
practicing Catholics and most of them are married and having children…marriage
is also a beautiful vocation!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
conclusion, whether you are discerning your “capital v” Vocation (marriage,
priesthood, become a religious sister or brother, or the consecrated single
life) or you have already chosen one, and are just wondering what God is calling
you to do today, my advice is the same…read one chapter of the Gospels each day…and
in those 4 minutes God will let you know what you should do in order to grow in
holiness and happiness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-12950796888848687752023-11-04T18:48:00.001-04:002023-11-04T18:48:23.726-04:00Homily for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">31<sup>st</sup> Sunday in Ordinary
Time, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In our first
reading today the prophet Malachi warns the priests, saying “Listen, O priests,
you have turned aside from the way and have caused many to falter by your
instruction.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In our own
day as well, we still see lots of priests leading people
astray by their instruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those
priests and bishops and Church leaders, if they do not repent, risk the fires
of Hell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Saint Paul,
on the other hand, provides the Thessalonians a great summation of HIS
approach, and it needs to be the same approach for all of us in this Church
today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">St. Paul
says this: “We were determined not only to share the Gospel with you, but even
our very selves”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is beautiful!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First of all,
St. Paul says he shared the Gospel with the Thessalonians…and sharing the
Gospel can be pretty simple and straight forward…humanity sinned, God became a
human person in order to rescue us, and now, through baptism and life in the
Catholic Church, we had the gift of finding great joy in this life and in the
life to come by following Christ who said “I came that you might have life, and
have it more abundantly!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a
beautiful invitation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But that
second part that saint Paul says is also critical…Saint Paul also tells the
Thessalonians “Not only did we share the Gospel with you, we shared OUR VERY
SELVES…” and that is really profound…he says he gave himself completely and wanted
to be their friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All of us
here this morning know one person that we can first of all demonstrate how much
we love them by sharing our very self with that person…someone who is not here
right now…I want you to think of that person, and make a resolution…I will be the
best friend I can be to that person…radical friendship makes sharing the good
news of the Gospel and the Catholic Church more fruitful…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some of us
fall more deeply in love with the Catholic, or even convert, by reading the
Church Fathers and other saints, some of us are drawn to the Catholic because
of the beauty of the Mass, the music, the beauty of the Church buildings, the
incense…but all of us desire friendship as well and there are lots of people in
our world today who have no one to be a friend to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So please,
go out and be a friend to someone, share yourself with that person, and in that
process, you can that person and yourself becomes saints.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-39132273670225610182023-10-30T21:49:00.001-04:002023-10-30T21:49:12.029-04:00Homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Homily for
the 30<sup>th</sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Our 1<sup>st</sup>
reading talks about how we are to care for the poor. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And in our
Gospel Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Matthew
25, Jesus says that we will be judged by what we do or do not do for the poor
and vulnerable.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And so in
the Gospel today, when Jesus said we need to love God with our whole heart, our
whole mind and our whole soul, it means that sometimes God wants us to be with
our family to experience God’s great love for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other times He
asks us to come to Mass to encounter Him here.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other times
He asks us to seek Him in the confessional, where God destroys all that stands
in our way to His Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
sometimes He asks us to help those who are in need in our community, and around
the world because when we help other people, we also find a great sense of
peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And one of
the thousands of things I love about the Catholic Church is what it teaches
about virtues…the idea of virtues is that you have to do the virtuous action
over and over and over again, but eventually you get better at it and you also
start to realize “wait a second…I am actually happier and better at this act than
I was 2 years ago”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is why I love
athletics…you lift and work out and run and over time you realize that if you stick with it, you see yourself get
stronger and faster…no one is born an organist nor a concert violinist…but as
you start to practice an instrument over and over and over again you discover
that you become better and better at that instrument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So it is the
same thing with coming to Mass….after I have made it a habit by even removing
the possibility of missing Mass I start to realize “I am happier when I come to
Mass” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or with the
poor…Mother Teresa never heard a voice from Heaven say “pick up the leper with
worms on him and care for him” she just did it…over and over and over again,
and as she inched a long through the years she fell more deeply in love with the
poor and thus, because they are actually the same person, she fell more deeply
in love with Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And so, it
is good to be here with all you today as we welcome Jesus Christ, the Lord of
the Universe, on our altar today at this Mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He promises to show up here and he promises to be present in the poor...may we seek Him where He is most intensely present!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-28730678129842507292023-10-21T10:56:00.004-04:002023-10-21T14:00:36.120-04:00A Most Unlikely Hero<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At the darkest moment in Israel’s
history, a most unlikely hero set everything right<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Homily for the 29<sup>th</sup> Sunday
in Ordinary Time, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The most
traumatic event in the Old Testament for the Jewish people was the Babylonian
captivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It began about 600 years
before Jesus’ birth, and lasted about 60 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Babylonians took most of the Jews away from their land.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">About 60
years after the Jewish people are taken away into exile, King Cyrus of Persia conquers
the Babylonians, then sets the Jewish people free, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not only
does King Cyrus set them free, he then writes letters to all the surrounding
governors of Jerusalem to help the Jewish people REBUILD their Temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The prophet
Ezra tells this story of Cyrus where we read in the Bible <b>“the
LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation
throughout his entire kingdom, “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: ‘All the
kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he
has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let the Jewish people go up to Jerusalem to
build the house of the LORD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a name="15001004"></a>Let all the Jewish people be assisted by the people of that
place with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, together with voluntary
offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.”</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This same
King Cyrus is who we hear about in our first reading today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God tells Cyrus “Thus says the LORD to his
anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I grasp, subduing nations before him,</span><span style="background: white; color: #363936; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For the sake of my servant Israel, my chosen one,
I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is
difficult to imagine a more improbable turn of events in the Old Testament than
what King Cyrus did for the Jewish people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Setting them free, telling them to go home and rebuild their Temple and
then he also wrote letters to all the corners of his vast country that people
from all over the country are to donate gold, silver and livestock for the new Temple!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What is the
takeaway from this…God always wins…and usually the victory comes from the most
unlikely source imaginable…in the case of Cyrus, God works His victory through
a pagan king…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And here is
the point: We look around <b><u>our</u></b> world today, torn apart by wars all
around the world, and we see the turmoil even <b><u>within</u></b> the Catholic
Church today and we wonder if God has abandoned us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let us trust
that God is working all things to his purpose even when it appears that we have
been abandoned in an earthly way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us
cling to God, let us put all our hope in His plan, let us stay close to the
Sacraments of the Catholic Church even now when the world seems so dark and
lost, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As St. Paul assures the Romans: “We know that all things work for the
good for those who love God”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8560483615460834385.post-16017330942189248742023-09-25T09:32:00.001-04:002023-09-25T09:32:07.023-04:00"For to me life is Christ, and death is gain" Hmily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“For to me life is Christ, and death
is gain”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As I have
mentioned many times, I went into my first surgery with about 170 names of
victims of Catholic Clergy sexual assault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I was
staying at St. Martins rectory in the winter of 2021, I started writing a book
for the victims, and have emailed out that book several times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are a victim of Catholic Clergy abuse
who has not received the electronic copy of this book, email me and I can send
you a copy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is
another chapter, though, that I have not emailed out, and it is titled “If I
were to die”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I mention
this because if references today’s line from St. Paul to the Philippians: “For
to me life is Christ and death is gain”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I would like
to read a brief excerpt from that chapter: <i>“I totally trust in the
Providence of God, and if I should die, I would consider that a great honor…the
honor of being able to imitate Jesus through to the end…All that I ask is that
you do what St. Monica on her deathbed asked of her son St. Augustine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Remember me at the Altar as often as you are
able.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray for the repose of my soul,
that I may one day enter the glorious light of Heaven…for as St. Paul tells the
Philippians: For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">St. John Chrysostom
1700 years ago wrote this: <i>“What are we to fear? Death? But St. Paul
tells the Philippians “Life to me means Christ, and death is gain.” I have only
contempt for the world’s threats, I find its blessings laughable. I have no
fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death nor do I long
to live, except for your good.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the book
of Revelation, Jesus Christ praises those for whom <i>“love for life did not
deter them from death.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The world is
beautiful, life is beautiful…we love being alive…but we cannot let love for
life deter us from death.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“For to me
life is Christ and death is gain!” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May
we all say the same thing…may we trust that if God decides it is our time to
die, that our family will be taken care of…that everything that happens is in
accord with His holy will!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fon-this-rock.blogspot.com%2F&send=true&layout=standard&width=450&show_faces=true&action=like&colorscheme=light&font&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Father John Hollowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12850864104003705536noreply@blogger.com0