Continue reading “What scares the sh*t out of you? What can you do about it?”
Last night as I watched Pope Francis speak with thousands at the Festival of Families in Philadelphia I was amazed at his energy. This 78-year-old man has been at break-neck speed all week, traveling first to Cuba, then to Washington, DC, onto New York and now Philadelphia. His schedule has been non-stop. He has given several long speeches in English which he has admitted, is a difficult language for him. Continue reading “Broken dolls, injured kittens . . . Beth March, Cassidy the miracle kitten, and the message of Pope Francis”
When is it too much trouble to care for someone in need? For those in the habit of generous living, it is never too much. And their example lights a way that we can all follow.
Recently a woman named Shelly took in two nine-week old feral kittens. One of them was deformed. Cassidy had no back paws and one leg was shorter than the other. Yet somehow he managed to survive along with his brother Topper in the forest without any assistance. Their luck was about to change. Continue reading “Fighting to live, daring to love: The odyssey of Cassidy, the kitten with two legs”
I am pleased to present this guest post from Father Steven LaBaire, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Worcester, MA.
In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear about Jesus opening the ears of a man who is unable to hear. Jesus also removes a speech impediment which had prevented the man from speaking clearly (Mark 7:31-37). Not surprisingly this man’s life is completely changed.
Christians are supposed to continue what Jesus did: Opening ears and loosening tongues. Continue reading “Paying attention: Reflections on the Sunday Gospel (Mark 7:31-37) by Father Steven LaBaire –”
I am pleased to present this guest post from Father Steven LaBaire, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Worcester, MA.
While driving along route 140 North in Grafton this morning, I spotted a cluster of maple trees whose leaves were turning orange and red.
A few minutes later, a radio commercial boldly proclaimed “back-to school-savings.”
While the warmth of summer still embraces our days and nights, the signs of an impending change of season and routine are around us as the days grow shorter. Continue reading “The food of wisdom: Reflections on the Sunday Gospel (John 6:51-58) by Father Steven LaBaire”
I am pleased to present this guest post from Father Steven LaBaire, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Worcester, MA.
This morning the U.S. Surgeon General was interviewed on the radio. Not surprisingly, he was talking about medicine and health.
He said, “People tend to think that healthy people are happier people… That might be true.”
“But,” he added, “ so much science and research is pointing to the fact that happy people are healthier people.
People who choose to be happy, end up being healthier overall. So it works the other way around. Choose happiness first and health follows. “
That’s an interesting way of looking at it: Happiness is a choice we make. It isn’t something that just suddenly “happens.” A person’s chosen outlook can often change the course and outcome of things.
That goes to the heart of this week’s gospel: Jesus feeding an immense crowd of people with very few resources, some bread and a few fish.
Some argue that Jesus simply got everyone in the crowd to share what they brought with them. Who would bother to leave home and travel in the wilderness without food in the first century? If people saw Jesus and his disciples sharing a few loaves and fishes with others and by that were inspired to share what they had brought themselves, isn’t that miracle enough? Good point.
On the other hand, if humans can fly to the moon and defy the laws of gravity, why couldn’t God defy the laws of nature and “miraculously” multiply loaves to feed a huge crowd in order to teach a lesson about how we ought to live? Can’t God do more than our minds can imagine? That’s a good point too.
Either way, there is a lesson here about life: God begins to work in us when we focus on what we have rather than what we lack.
Start your day, start your next big project focusing on what you have been given, blessed with.
Focusing on what you lack, on what you don’t have will leave you disappointed and afraid.
Jesus got people to be grateful and use what they had. He dared them to trust that what had would go much further than they imagined.
And somehow, they ended up dealing with the challenge at hand: everybody got fed.
Outlook can change a lot. Jesus knew that.
Our way of looking at the day can leave us feeling happy or starving.
You choose.
I choose.
We all choose.
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Most people experience a different rhythm of life during the summer months.
School is out. People head out on vacation or go away. One need only look at the volume of traffic in Worcester as ask, “Where did everyone go?”
During the summer, many of us experience a “slowing down” of the pace of life. Continue reading “Obligated to Rest: Reflections on the Sunday Gospel Mark 6:30-34 by Father Steven LaBaire”
My latest Catholic Free Press column.
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The recent ruling by the Supreme Court on the legal state of marriage has reverberated across the country. People cannot stop talking about it and the conversations are often heated. A seismic shift has taken place in our culture. It caught me unprepared for the personal storm of confusion and fear that I would experience as a result.
Christians are facing a “brave new world.” Confrontation is now inevitable; I cannot avoid it no matter how uncomfortable it makes me feel. I have to be clear as to what I think and how I feel and learn how to express it both firmly and in love, as Jesus would do. Continue reading “Confession of a timid soul”
I am pleased to present this guest post from Father Steven LaBaire, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Worcester, MA.
“Jesus summoned the twelve and began to send them out ..He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money for their belts…so they went off and preached everywhere.” (Mark 6:7-13)
Sending people out on a journey virtually empty-handed may sound like bad advice.
Historians now tell us that it was the BEST advice. Continue reading “Traveling light–what baggage are we carrying? Reflections on the Sunday Gospel Mark 6:7-13 by Father Steven LaBaire”
The Sunday Readings: Deuteronomy 4: 32-34, 39-40, Psalm 33, Romans 8:14-17, Matthew 28: 16-20
Is it because the Church is perceived as an authority figure bent on depriving us of personal freedoms, especially that of choice?
Is it because it is seen as an institution that deprives rather than as a life choice that fulfills?
Be as One 