The Deacon's

Bench

Deacon

John Hancock

Deacon John's Schedule

April 5 10:00 AM

Holy Week Attend all Services

Including Both
Sunday Masses

April 19 10:00 AM
(Confirmation)

April 25/26 Preach All Masses

May 3 10:00 AM

May 10 8:00 AM

May 16/17 Preach All Masses

May 23/24 Away

May 31 10:00 AM

June 6 4:00 PM

June 13/14 Preach All Masses

June 20/21 Away

June 28 8:00 AM

July 4/5 Away

EASTER SUNDAY (B) APRIL 12, 2009

Acts 10: 34a, 37-43 Psalm 118 Colossians 3: 1-4 John 20: 1-9

The night of my youngest brother’s funeral, my older brother and I along with our wives went to the room at Hospice where we had spent so many hours with him and where he had finally died. We had cried, laughed and prayed in that room…and when we entered it we could still sense his presence….even though we had recently buried him. It is difficult to explain what we experienced in that room, but we knew it was important for us to be there and to remember him…even in the place from which he had left us.

Why do people return to grave sites after the death of a loved one? My parents are buried in Florida; my wife’s parents are buried next to one another at a Canton cemetery. We pay periodic visits there, pull the weeds, check on the condition of the tombstones and, of course, pray. We also remember family gatherings of food, noise, laughter, squabbles, hugs and kisses -- memories of when we were much younger and they were alive.

I suspect that Mary Magdalene went to Jesus' tomb for pretty much the same reasons we visit the graves of our loved ones. John says it was "early in the morning while it was still dark." Of course it was dark; that's how it is at a grave when all we have are past memories of happier days. Without the light of faith and the vision hope gives, the tombs of the dead are always dark places which, while they stir up happy memories, are still places of sadness.

Mary went to the tomb to remember Jesus, the love he had for her and she for him. And she went in the darkness to weep. But when she arrived at the tomb she found the stone removed and Jesus' body gone. She drew the logical conclusion and tells Simon Peter and the other disciples, "they have taken the Lord from the tomb and we don't know where they have put him." Jesus was executed in a horrible way and now, to add insult to injury, "they" have stolen his body. Mary had drawn the logical conclusion; even in her grief, her thinking is clear. What else could she conclude? What would we have thought? There is no denying logic and clear thinking. But if all we are relying on is logic, then the story of Jesus is over and it is "still dark."

Why did Peter and "the other disciple" go to the tomb? Did they doubt the story and want to "get the facts" for themselves? Did they want to examine the scene of the theft and discover the culprits? Did they remember Jesus' words at the Last Supper, "I am going away and I will come back to you" (14:28) and have a slight glimmer of hope that he might be alive? Did they go to the tomb because they were frustrated at the collapse of Jesus' project and just wanted something to do? Did they go to put closure on an inspiring and hopeful part of their lives when they traveled with Jesus and heard his message and saw his works? Why do you think they went to the tomb?

There is one detail in the story that suggests Peter and his companion weren't just passing by the tomb and thought they would check it out before they continued their journey home -- they were running. In fact, it sounds like a footrace to the tomb since the other disciple "ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first." Maybe the two did remember Jesus' words, maybe they ran to the tomb hoping against hope.

Which is what it feels like when we visit those family graves, hoping for what seems impossible: that on the last day Jesus will fulfill his promise to us and raise us up. What an impossible thing to believe! How, we wonder at the graves, is he going to pull this one off; raise those long dead -- and us -- from our graves? Well, he wouldn't be able to if he had just died like the rest of us and some nefarious characters stole his body. But he can and will raise us up, if he himself rose from the dead and has a new life to share with us -- starting now. With that hope, couldn't we be that "other disciple" who outran Peter to the grave? Aren't we also those who, on this day, peer into an empty tomb and believe what our eyes of faith tell us -- Jesus Christ is raised from the dead! And so we are!
For a moment I would like to contrast this joy with a bittersweet reaction to news accounts we have seen over the past several weeks. First, there have been a horrific number of multiple homicides. The tragedy of three Pittsburg police officers gunned down while rushing to the scene of a domestic violence call…by a young man armed with an automatic weapon and wearing body armor….clearly prepared for committing this awful act.

More than a dozen people killed in one incident in Binghamton, NY by a frustrated and despondent man. Immigrant people who were working to learn the English language and become citizens of our country…their lives taken by a man not dissimilar to themselves. Unfortunately, there were other similar stories in the news recently from other parts of our country. Even unthinkable crimes of parents taking the lives of there own children. We ask ourselves how all this evil can be around us.

There is another story that has been in the news recently that on this day of Easter joy is also bittersweet and perhaps is a clue to the answer to the evil that seems so overwhelming…a small detail, a point of comparison buried in the fifth paragraph on the 17th page of a 24- page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey. This detail has become the theme in a recently published article.

The End of Christian America

The percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 points in the past two decades. How that statistic explains who we are now—and what, as a nation, we are about to become.

Jon Meacham

NEWSWEEK

From the magazine issue dated Apr 13, 2009

Here is the detail—the central news of the survey was troubling enough: the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent. Then came the [real surprise in the study]: while the unaffiliated have historically been concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, the report said, "this pattern has now changed, and the Northeast emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified.

So there is the ecstasy and the agony…of Easter Joy of the resurrection with new members being added to the body of Christ at the Vigil last night….and the agony of seeing those who have turned away from their faith. Surely not everyone who leaves the faith commits such terrible acts of evil as we have seen lately but we must wonder what exactly does happen to a society and a people that lose their faith in a loving God who has called each of us to live in community with Him and with one another. This news is all certainly troubling but is it cause for us to despair on this Easter morning?

The answer is surely no….we who believe are here to celebrate the greatest event in the history of creation….Jesus Christ is raised from the dead….the tomb is empty. He has gone before us, to prepare a place for us in His kingdom. As a verse of a popular hymn goes…: because He lives, I can face tomorrow”. Our faith gives us the blessed assurance of eternal life with the risen Christ. It is this joyful expectation that has drawn us here this Easter morning…to celebrate with the Church that Jesus gave us on the night before he died.

This leaves us wondering….how could anyone turn away from the faith once they have experienced the risen Christ? This is a complex question and one that we will not answer here in a short homily…but for now we are here and we are filled with Easter joy. The Lord is risen, he is not here.

The Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
Thirty-First Sunday in Ordibary Time

November 2, 2008

All Souls Yr A

Deacon John Hancock

During the last two weeks I have traveled to China, Korea (both South and amazingly to the North), to Canada and to Germany. As news of the financial crisis which has its roots here in America has spread around the globe I found many people who are greatly troubled. They are confused, angry, desperate and afraid of what the future might hold. I have read stories from all over the globe about those who were so devastated by the crisis that they have taken their own lives and in some cases even the lives of their family members. Even in China which has been experiencing explosive economic growth for a number of years, there are growing signs of economic turmoil. Literally thousands of factories that once turned out apparel for the GAP, Abercrombie and Fitch and even Wal-Mart have been shut down and tens of thousands of workers have been laid off.

Here at home many companies have cut back employment, stock values have seen dramatic drops, pension plans are at risk and 401Ks have turned into 201Ks. People are wondering what in the world happened? How could so many smart people have made so many dumb mistakes? What can we have confidence in going forward? Both Presidential candidates offer the promise of change, and we wonder…what kind of change? What results will these changes bring if any? The question of the day seems to be….what is there to hope in any longer?

With this troubling backdrop I want you to hear again the opening line from today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom…

“The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.”

Today we celebrate the feast of All Souls; we remember and pray for our loved ones who have died. We remember that they also faced difficult times in their lives; the great depression, terrible wars, natural disasters of all kinds, sickness of mind and body and in the end death. And yet we are here today to celebrate. We can celebrate because of hope.

SPE SALVI was Pope Benedict’s second encyclical…the English title is In hope we were saved. The letter was promulgated last year just before the season of Advent….his first encyclical was titled “God is Love”. Today’s first reading and the Gospel are connected by these two themes.

Jesus’ promise of resurrection and new life for believers and his emphatic assurance that he “will not reject anyone” whom the Father has given him make this observance of the festival of All Souls one of hope. And hope is, by its nature, directed to the future. In this case, hope will be fulfilled on the last day.

The first reading from Wisdom assures us that the dead—because of their virtue—have “hope full of immortality.” This reading along with the gospel reiterate the hope of our celebration, namely, that by God’s gracious mercy, our faithful departed will be raised to eternal life.

I want to share with you a reflection from the Taize community in France on the source of Christian Hope?

“At a time when people often have trouble finding reasons to hope, those who place their trust in the God of the Bible need more than ever to "give to anyone who asks an account of the hope that is in [them]" (1 Peter 3:15). They have to understand what is specific about the hope that comes from faith, in order to root their lives in it.

Even if by definition hope refers to the future, for the Bible it is rooted in the present, in God’s today. The source of (our) hope is in God, a God who simply loves us and can do nothing else, a God who never stops seeking us."

In the Hebrew Bible, that mysterious Source of life we call God makes himself known by calling human beings to enter into a relationship with him: he enters into a covenant with them. The Bible defines the characteristics of the covenant God using two Hebrew words: hesed and emeth (e.g. Exodus 34:6; Psalm 25:10; 40:10-11; 85:10). In general, these words are translated by "steadfast love" and "faithfulness." They tell us, first of all, that God is overflowing goodness and kindness who wants to take care of his people and, second, that God will never abandon those he has called to enter into fellowship with him.

That is the source of biblical hope. If God is good and never changes his attitude nor forsakes us, then whatever difficulties may arise—if the world we see is far from justice, peace, solidarity and compassion—(or economic security )for believers this is not the definitive situation. From their faith in God, believers draw the expectation of a world according to God’s will or, to put it another way, according to God’s love.

In the Bible, this hope is often expressed by the notion of promise. When God enters into contact with human beings, generally this is accompanied by the promise of greater life. We already see this in the story of Abraham: "I will bless you," says God to Abraham, "and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed" (Genesis 12:2-3).

A promise is a dynamic reality that opens new possibilities for human life. It looks toward the future, but it is rooted in a relationship with the God who speaks to me here and now, who calls me to make specific choices in my life. The seeds of the future are found in a present relationship with God.

This rootedness in the present is made even stronger with the coming of Christ Jesus. In him, says Saint Paul, all God’s promises are already a reality (2 Corinthians 1:20). This does not only refer, of course, to someone who lived in Palestine 2000 years ago. For Christians, Jesus is the Risen Christ who is with us today. "I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

Another text of Saint Paul’s (from today’s second reading) is even clearer. "Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). Far from being a simple wish for the future with no guarantee that it will come about, Christian hope is the presence of divine love in person, the Holy Spirit, a current of life that carries us to the ocean of the fullness of communion”.

The church gathers not to mourn our beloved dead but to give voice to our hope for them.

The gospel twice points to the hope we have for those who have died but have not yet received the fullness of eternal life: Jesus promises that “I will not reject anyone” and “I should not lose anything.”

So today as we gather around the table of the Lord we can have great hope that one day we will be united again with our beloved dead and gather with them around the table of the heavenly wedding banquet…with our risen Lord and Savior….the Lamb of God who has reconciled all of creation with God his father and our father. And we can have this hope no matter how difficult things might seem to be at the present time…God has made a promise and has sealed it with the blood of the Lamb. We can put all our trust in Him who loves us eternally.

So let us continue to pray for the souls of the faithfully departed that they may rest in the peace of Christ and that God’s light may perpetually shine on them.

Twenty-First Sunday

August 24, 2008

Jean Thompson stood in front of her fifth-grade class on the very first day of school in the fall and told the children a lie.

Like most teachers, she looked at her pupils and said that she loved them all the same, that she would treat them all alike.

And that was impossible because there in front of her, slumped in his seat on the third row, was a boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were

unkempt and that he constantly needed a bath.

And Teddy was unpleasant. It got to the point during the first few months that she would actually take delight in marking his papers

with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then marking the F at the top of the paper biggest of all. Because Teddy was a sullen

little boy, no one else seemed to enjoy him, either.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's records and put Teddy's off until last. When

she opened his file, she was in for a surprise. His first-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright, inquisitive child with a ready laugh.

He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around."

His second-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother

has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy continues to work hard but his mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best

but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends

and sometimes sleeps in class. He is tardy and could become a problem."

By now Mrs. Thompson realized the problem but Christmas was coming fast. It was all she could do, with the school play and all,

until the day before the holidays began and she was suddenly forced to focus on Teddy Stoddard.

Her children brought her presents, all in gay ribbon and bright paper, except for Teddy's, which was clumsily wrapped in the heavy,

brown paper of a scissored grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the
children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter

full of cologne. She stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of

the perfume behind the other wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed behind just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to." After the children

left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and speaking. Instead, she began to teach children.

Jean Thompson paid particular attention to one they all called "Teddy". As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more

she encouraged him, the faster he responded. On days there would be an important test, Mrs. Thompson would remember to put on that

cologne and wear the rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing. She helped Teddy to rediscover the boy he really was all the time.

In today’s Gospel Jesus asks his disciples about his own identity and at the same time he will reflect for them who they really are.  First he 
asks them “who do others say that I am”?  This is a safe question….there is no risk for the disciples, no commitment, they give nothing of 
themselves in the answer.  But then I can almost picture him looking deep into their hearts and souls when asks them…”but you, 
who do you say that I am”?

When Jesus asked Peter, "But who do you say that I am?" he wasn't asking Peter to recite a series of doctrines about his identity. He wasn't inviting him to recite the Nicene Creed we recite at Sunday Mass No, Jesus was inviting Peter to express his own faith. Does he believe in Jesus and what does he believe about Jesus? From his experience of Jesus and through the gift of God's grace, Peter has come to know that Jesus is the revelation of God to the world. He articulates what the church has come to believe about Christ. The articles of that faith will be developed and taught to inquirers: but first comes Peter, expressing his faith and the faith of the first generation Christians.

Other followers of Christ will have to answer the same question and pass on that faith to their children and those to whom they preach. They will announce to anyone who will listen -- who Jesus is and what difference he made in their lives. The creeds will emerge, but the teachings will have little meaning if people have not, in one way or another, answered the question Jesus asks us today, "But who do YOU say that I am?" Jesus isn't just asking us if we go to church on Sunday; if we send our children to religious education classes or say grace before meals. First of all he invites us to acknowledge our belief in him and to bear witness to his love and manner of living in the world.

Those who know us usually can detect our preferences. If we say we are big Red Sox fans but never watch a game, wear a team insignia or know who plays first base -- people will begin to wonder. If we say we love to read, but all we talk about at social gatherings are the evening TV shows and soaps -- people will begin to wonder. If we say we are very concerned about the environment, but never recycle, drive a gas guzzler and keep all the lights on in our homes -- people will begin to wonder.

If we say we are Christians, yet there is little that signifies Jesus has made any difference in our lives -- people will begin to wonder.  If we insist 
our children must go to church with us, but at home they hear us use racial slurs, utter stereotypical comments about the poor and immigrants 
and gossip about people in our church -- our children will begin to wonder: "Are my parents (grandparents, uncles or aunts) really Christians, or 
do they just go to church?"  "But who do you say I am?" Jesus asks us today.  What response to the question does our life reveal to those observers 
around us?

In response to Jesus' initial question, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" Peter responds, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still 
others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."  People may have had differing opinions, but they seem to have agreed that they saw Jesus in the line of 
the great prophets.  His words and life had revealed to them that he must be speaking with the authority of God.  High praise indeed!  But Jesus 
disregards those opinions and asks the question more directly to his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?"  Jesus says Peter's response, that 
Jesus is the Son of God, is not a conclusion mortals can attain on their own.  We can not come to the faith we profess at the Eucharist without being 
called and gifted by God.  That gift of sight is something to give thanks for at this celebration.
 
The faith Peter and the disciples come to profess in Christ should not be kept to themselves. They must not form a secretive and isolated sect that 
will strive to avoid contamination from the world.  Quite the opposite.  Peter speaks the faith of the post-resurrection church.  This is the faith Jesus 
will send them out to proclaim.  Peter will bear the keys, like Eliakim in our first reading, who carried "the key of the House of David."  Peter will have 
the mission of stewardship to lead the early church by his preaching, teaching, example and his ultimate martyrdom.
Peter's faith will be accepted by many and those who profess it will be strengthened as they face persecution; the long wait for Jesus' return; 
internal conflicts that would shake the church to its foundation and pastoral disputes.  Peter and the disciples will be instructed to do as Jesus did 
for them; to be a servant church and wash the feet of others.  Their task will be to lead others to accept Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living 
God," and to sustain and serve the community as its members attempt to live out the faith in the One they profess.

Jesus first  reflected to this disciples and to us…who he was and then was able to call them and us to an understanding of who we really are…if 
we believe Jesus is truly the Son of the Living God….then what he has revealed to us about our identity must  also be true.  We are sons and 
daughters of God, temples of the Holy Spirit and heirs to the Kingdom!!!!

God has created us to live in union with him…to be one with him and to share in his life.  He has done the same for every other human being.  
There are Teddy Stoddard’s all around us who have either forgotten or perhaps never known who they really are….that they are loved and called 
by God to live in union with him.  They are waiting for someone, perhaps you….to help them to see who they really are.

A story is told by a minister who once attended a seminar in Greece. On the last day of the conference, the discussion leader walked over to the bright light of an open window and looked out. Then he asked if there were any questions. The minister laughingly asked him what was the meaning of life. Everyone in attendance laughed and stirred to leave. However, the leader held up his hand to ask for silence and then responded "I will answer your question." He took his wallet out of his pocket and removed a small round mirror about the size of a quarter. Then he explained "When I was a small child during World War II, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place. I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun could never shine. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places that I could find. I kept the little mirror, and as I grew up, I would take it out at idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game, but a metaphor of what I could do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light - be it truth or understanding or knowledge - is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it. I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. "Holiness does not demand anything great, beyond the ability of the person. It depends on God's Love; every daily act can be transformed into an act of love. " ~ Saint Ursula Julia Ledochowska (1865-1939)