Another parish visited on my pilgrimage!

Number 79 out of 124!  That's how many churches I've visited since the Spring of 2009 on my personal pilgrimage to visit every church in the dioceses of Fresno and Stockton.  I decided that to qualify as a "visit" I would have to attend a Mass or Communion Service, or go to confession or adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Since a few of the churches seemed like the doors were never open when I had the chance to visit, I modified my visit "standards" after a while.  Now I merely have to stop by and see if the church doors are open and if not, I will say a prayer in honor of the patron saint or the church's name.  If there is a courtyard or "prayer garden" I will say a rosary. 

I checked another church off my list today when I attended Mass at Saint Augustine's parish in Lamont, CA.  It is only 15 minutes away from my apartment in Bakersfield.  It's typical of most farm community parishes in the central valley, offering more masses in Spanish than in English.  But they do have a Mass in English at 11:00am and since I overslept this morning it was a perfect time for me.

The church grounds are very well maintained and there are lots and lots of statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and quite a few Marian statues as well.  In the nave, there is a shrine to St. Juan Bautista (St John the Baptist) and behind the altar there is a statue of St. Augustine, the patron saint of the parish.

But you can tell it's a poor parish.  The pews are a little old and run down, they still use a hand-held or standing microphone that the priest moves around to wherever he is praying from, and either they don't have an organ or there is no one who can play it.  All of the songs sung at Mass this morning we led a capella by a couple of older ladies from a typewritten song sheet they handed out before Mass!  They had fine voices, but they were evidently not trained music ministers.  Fortunately, 5 of the the 7 songs they chose today I was familiar with, so I was able to join in.

The priest gave a homily I would rank an 8 out of ten.  He started off strong but ended a little weak, in my opinion.  Since today was "Good Shepherd Sunday", that was his topic.  He told of local shepherds who move their flocks sometimes in the dead of night so as to give them better protection when crossing the roads and highways as they search for better grazing fields.  It was really quite interesting at first, but the longer he went on, the less interesting it became. 

With the lack of musical accompaniment and the 25 minute homily, Mass lasted an hour and 15 minutes!

Overall though, it was a great Mass, giving thanks to God for sending us our Good Shepherd to lead us on our journey to His greener pastures.   

The Good Shepherd knows His sheep

About a month ago, Marilyn's mom was cleaning out some closets and came across a couple of WWII vintage army blankets that belonged to my father-in-law.  One was in excellent shape and the other had a slight tear on one edge.  We decided to keep the good one and Marilyn put the other in a bag and asked me to dispose of it somehow.  It was my intention to drop it off at a homeless shelter, because they can always use blankets.  I just never got around to it and it was sitting in my trunk until today.

I was sitting in the office this morning looking out the window as the wind blew and the rain was getting heavy from a cloudburst and I saw him.  You know the guy....he's pushing a shopping cart or carrying a black trash bag and rummaging through trash bins and landscaping looking for recyclables that he can turn into cash.  He is in every city in the country.  Today he crossed threshold into my office.  "Do you have any cans or bottles I can take off of your hands today?", he asked rather pleasantly.  I replied "Sorry, not today!" hoping (I'm sorry to admit) he would beat a hasty retreat back outside where he could "bother" someone else.

He started out the door then turned back toward me and said, "Do you mind if I wait out the storm in here?  It's kind of cold and wet out there and I don't have a coat."  Cue the light bulb over my head.  "Come with me", I said.  I took him out to my car and opened the trunk.  I handed him the army blanket and said, "I've been waiting for you".  He said "Wow!  This is great!  I don't have a blanket.  It's awfully cold some nights."  I also found in my trunk a coat that I don't wear very often because of some tears in the fabric.  I handed that to him as well and said "God bless you, I think this will fit you."

With that, he left....I think with his head held a little higher than when I first met him ten minutes earlier.

I didn't write this to exhort myself.  I wrote it to show what a loving God we have that guides His sheep to those who can supply just what they need when they need it.  All the glory and honor is His.

My Merciful Lord and My God!

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!

The Easter season has the most exciting Scripture readings of the year. They take us from the empty tomb all the way to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, declared a Feast Day in 2000 by Pope (now Saint) John Paul II based on the appearances of the Lord to a Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska.  Christ's message to her was (and is for us today) that, if we trust in His Divine Mercy, He will transform us sinners through His merciful love.

I can’t help but think of Mom today.  She had such a devotion to Divine Mercy!  Every day at 3pm—or as close as she could get to it—she would stop whatever else she was doing and recite the Divine Mercy chaplet.   It's because of her devotion that I put the video and excerpt from St. Faustina's diary on the sidebar of my blog.  And along with the rosary, it's now one of my favorite devotions, as well--although I can't always remember the 3 O'clock hour every day.  I do try to recite it whenever I hear of an imminent death or when I feel the need to ask for God's Mercy on the whole world, which is pretty often.

Divine Mercy Sunday also brings my brother Tom to mind because the Gospel for this Feast day is one of the few that are not on a three-year cycle of Scripture readings; rather, the Church uses the same Gospel on this Sunday every year.  It used to be called “Doubting Thomas Sunday” because it’s the gospel that tells us of his temporary struggle with doubting Jesus’ Resurrection.

    

Thomas wasn't the only one who had doubts about Jesus.  On Easter Sunday, we left the Apostles huddled in fear in the empty room pondering the shocking experience of the week before.  They weren't so sure that the women's report was believable.  They weren't singing for joy!  Now, a whole week has gone by. They still felt "rocky" about their future.  Jesus had broken through those doors to assure them that He was alive.  And His message must have troubled them: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

Just when they were planning to go back to their former occupations, Jesus wanted them to continue the message--to take up His Mission.  While on His earthly ministry, Jesus had preached with mixed success.  Would they have any better results?  The Resurrection made all the difference, of course.  Was it really true?  When Jesus showed Thomas the wounds in His hands, His feet, and His side, not only Thomas but the rest of the Apostles were strengthened in their faith and trust in the Lord.  And the Gospel hints at many more miraculous events and appearances.

In today's first reading from Acts, we see what life was like in the early Christian community. Their faith was firm, and they were unified in it. They catechized all who would listen. Their fears and doubts were replaced with joy.

The second reading describes for us an early sermon of Peter, written down a few years after he had already been martyred for his staunch faith. He is addressing a group of churches in Asia Minor to whom the Good News has already been preached. His prayer speaks of the promise of Eternal Life and salvation at the end of time. He speaks of the suffering they will have to endure, and the rewards of praise, glory and honor that await them.

As Pope Francis directs us, we must courageously reach out to so many doubters among us, and assure them of the great mercy of Jesus, His great love for them.  Our world is hurting as never before in our lifetime.  We must all seriously take on ourselves the obligation Jesus gave to the Apostles in that Upper Room: "As the Father has sent me, I also send you."

With Thomas may we respond, "My Lord and my God!"