MAY I COME IN?
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
5d ago
Last year's post for Palm Sunday still holds a lot of messages for me personally, so I'm posting it for my own benefit. I hope that it may be a blessing for you as well. Let's be sure to pray for one another during this holiest of weeks.  Lift up your heads, eternal gates, let him enter the king of glory! (Ps. 24) Tomorrow’s Palm Sunday celebration, when the church remembers and reenacts Jesus’s entrance into the holy city of Jerusalem, centers our attention on Jerusalem, where all of the action of Holy Week and Easter comes to a head. Early this morning I started thinking about Jesus' en ..read more
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Not Yet!
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
1w ago
My hour has not yet come In the last sentence of this past Friday’s gospel passage, St. John tells us that the crowd in Jerusalem could not attack Jesus “because His hour had not yet come.” He uses that phrase a couple of times in his gospel. First, we remember the scene at Cana when his mother asks him to solve the problem of the wine running out, and he explains “my hour has not yet come.” Then, in verses skipped in the editing of Friday’s passage,in from John Chapter 7, when “his brothers” encourage him to go up to Jerusalem, he replies “my time is not yet here;” and in the followi ..read more
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CHRIST LIFTED ON HIGH
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
2w ago
 In this morning’s gospel we heard Jesus tell his disciples,  “And just as Moses lifted up [hupsoō] the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up [hupsoō] so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” I’[d like to offer some thoughts about the Greek verb hupsoō,  “to lift up.”  Most of the time in the New Testament the word is used figuratively for “lifting” someone to a position of honor or power: “Whoever exalts [hupsoō] himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted [hupsoō]” (Matt. 23:12). But John uses it in its lit ..read more
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YOU THINK GOD IS LIKE YOU?
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
3w ago
There is a verse in Psalm 50 in which God asks “do you think that I am like you?” This question deserves some careful reflection. The parable of the Prodigal Son (read at mass this morning) is a great challenge us, because it shows us a God who is infinitely merciful and forgiving. I have to ask myself, “Am I like that, or do I set limits on my forgiveness?” I can certainly find plenty of quotations in the Old Testament, and some in the New, that portray God as vengeful, petty and angry, “punishing the children to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.“ I can show you ..read more
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FINDING THE TRANSFIGURED CHRIST
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
1M ago
  Our computer network had some issues over the weekend, so I could not share my post. I now have the time to share a previous post that reflects on this past Sunday's reading. Some years ago I posted a different perspective on the Transfiguration, in which I suggested that it is oriented toward the future. Today I'll present another way of looking at the event: It's Jesus' letting his disciples catch a glimpse of the present truth that in the person of Jesus heaven is touching earth. It's not just about the future, but about Jesus' identity as the divine Son of God right now. The sc ..read more
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FORGIVEN and FORGIVING
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
1M ago
  IBM Selectric On Ash Wednesday I gave the homily at the mass for about 800 students (grades 7 through 12), faculty and staff. I thought I might share it here with you. The story is borrowed from my book “Downtown Monks.” ============================= When I arrived as a freshman at St Benedict’s, one of my first teachers was Father Eugene Schwarz.  He was our music teacher, and was in charge of the choir, which was where I got to know him. I thought he was just the greatest, or as we said back then, the “coolest.”.  By the end of my sophomore year I was convinced that ..read more
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 In today’s gospel passage (Saturday, Feb. 3)...
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
1M ago
 In today’s gospel passage (Saturday, Feb. 3) we see these words: “When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them.” (Mk 6:34). “Moved with pity” is a form of the Greek verb splanchnizomai, which is one of my favorite  New Testament words. It also happens to be extremely important for our relationship with God. I think the word is worth a few minutes of study, if you’re up for it. What follows is a study of the word that I did some years ago. If you're ready, let's go.  The Greek word for the parts of the body that react to emotion is the pl ..read more
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CURING TIMIDITY
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
2M ago
During the past week, the lectionary gave us one of my favorite New Testament passages: "for this reason I remind you to stir into flame, the gift of God, that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love and self control." Hear Paul is contrasting the spirit of cowardice with three qualities of the spirit that have helped me to respond more courageously to the problems and challenges of life. Each of them -- power, love, and self-control – can be a help in dealing with my anxiety. The first attitude that can help ..read more
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The gospel for mass today (Saturday) is made up o...
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
2M ago
The gospel for mass today (Saturday) is made up of only two verses: Jesus came with his disciples into the house again. The crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to seize him, for they said, “ he is out of his mind.”  (Mk 3:20-21) At first, this passage seems a little bizarre, but a trip to the Greek lexicon, can be very revealing and helpful: “He is out of his mind” translates a single word in the original Greek, existamai, which means, “to think, or reason in a completely irrational manner.” So now we can try tran ..read more
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BALANCING ACT
Downtown Monks
by Fr Albert
2M ago
Recently, people have been asking me to pray for certain intentions, for sick friends, or for help in difficult situations, such as the flood damage people in nearby towns have been having in the past week or so. Yesterday I spent half an hour with my prayer list.  It’s interesting that in many languages the word “pray” is a synonym for “ask.” Jesus encourages us to ask our heavenly Father for what we need or want, and so-called “prayer of petition” is an important part of our relationship with God. We believe that God answers our prayers. But tomorrow’s first reading at mass, from the f ..read more
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