We are grateful for our clergy and visiting clergy! It was quite a festive Thanksgiving Mass when Father Ivanildo turned up with two Roman Catholic priests. We all went home with blessed wine and bread for our Thanksgiving table, calling to mind the one out of ten healed lepers who came back to thank Jesus.

Father Michael recounted all the many heath benefits of gratitude, & told the parish how grateful he was for them — especially for Father Vladimir Divas, who also delivered a stirring homily.

James and John were anything but humble in the account recorded in the Gospel Of Mark, 10:35-45. The Sons of Thunder wanted to have places of importance with Jesus in his glory.

Father Michael asked us how we would respond if Jesus asked us, as he did those two apostles, “What do wish me to do for you?” He also asked who is the most humble person you know, & what did they teach you?

When have you found it most difficult to heed Jesus’ words “It shall not be so with you?” Following Christ isn’t always the easiest road, and we frequently do things for others without credit or reward. In this world, this is seen as weakness, but with Christ, “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.”

Father Ivanildo Cavalcante delivered the homily today on the Gospel reading from Mark 10:17-30, combined with the reading from Wisdom 7. This is an oft quoted Gospel teaching because it is so memorable: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”

People usually forget the next section, where Jesus says that with God, all things are possible. Father Ivanildo discussed this and the love of wisdom leading to a better understanding of God’s love for us.

Father Cooper and Father Vladimir Divas also marked the canonization of Oscar Romero today by passing out prayer cards in Spanish and English. Father Vladimir was honored to know Saint Oscar Romero personally, and our parish enjoys visits from another associate, Bishop Barahona, at least once a year. Saint Oscar Romero, pray for us.

The Pharisees test Christ in Mark 10:2-16, asking him about divorce. In conjunction with the reading from Genesis today, Father Michael seized the opportunity to teach on the sacrament of marriage.

Christ’s reply to the Pharisees was revolutionary for its time. When Christ said, “They are no longer two, but one flesh,” he was declaring man and woman equal in marriage — not property as wives were seen at that time. The covenant mirrors that of God’s with Israel or Christ’s with the Church, for whom he died.

Marriage requires faithfulness in every sense of the word. The sacrament is a living sign of God’s presence and grace in our midst — the manifestation of God’s unconditional love.

Father had 3 questions for you to ponder this week:
1. How does a covenant relationship differ from a contract arrangement?
2. How is your marriage a source of life & a gift from God?
3. How do you live the sacrament of marriage?

The Gospel of Mark 9:38-48 is a difficult one. Jesus is telling us that the Kingdom or God is worth any price...including your own hand, foot, or eye — if they cause you to sin. Jesus even goes so far as to say it is better to drown than to cause “little ones who believe in me to sin.”

Father Cooper had three main questions to help us all apply this teaching to our lives:

1. How do non-teachers lead others to God?
2. When have you experienced the Spirit of God at an unexpected time, from an unexpected source?
3. What leads you to sin? How do you cut it off or remove it? How do you remove the “millstone” from your neck? It could even be a relationship that needs to be severed.

We must also remember “big tent Christianity”. We may not understand what another denomination does, but “whoever is not against us is for us.”

Father Cooper asked us today, “Has a child ever taught you anything about Gospel values?”

Jesus told the disciples, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me” (Mark 9:37). To love a child is a full reflection of Christian love and service. Parents don’t count the cost of late nights, nor extra food or expenses because they move beyond self love to care for another.

The disciples are talking about which of them is greatest, but Jesus makes clear the great paradox of discipleship. If you wish to be first, you must be last. To be great, you must be small. To be master, you must be the servant of those you wish to rule. Receive a child, and become self-giving.

Children are not cynical or jaded, and they never cease to be amazed. The faith of a child is anything but childish. The uncomplicated and genuine faith of a child leads them to love God and others without condition.

How can you be more childlike?

On September 16, we learned a lot about what it means to live your faith through the work you do (James 2:14-18) and thinking as God does, not as humans do (Mark 8:27-35). Peter does what he usually does...gets something right (recognizing that Jesus is the Messiah) and then immediately getting something wrong.

When Jesus says he has to be killed to rise again after three days, Peter is dismayed. Mark says he even “rebuked him”! Jesus gives it right back to Peter, calling him Satan and exhorting him to think not as humans do, but as God does.

Can we try to look at things and people as God does? Can we carry the cross he has given us? How much more love would we show to others if we looked at them through God’s eyes? What good works would we do then?

On September 9, Father Cooper dove into the Gospel of Mark 7:31-37. Jesus heals a man by physically touching him, so that he can both hear and speak. How does Jesus touch us? What is Jesus trying to tell you today?

Bishop Martin Baharona visited our parish on September 2nd and confirmed many of our young adult parishioners. In preaching the Gospel of Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23, he emphatically shared the message that it is not enough to wash our hands. Christ washes our hearts, minds, and spirits clean.

Father Cooper asked during the homily on August 26 "How much do you trust God?"

This question was inspired by that week's Gospel reading, John 6:60-69. Read the text in your Bible and imagine being a disciple, trying to comprehend his teaching. Would you respond like Peter and stay, or return to your former way of life like so many?