The Dedication of Saint John Lateran Basilica, Cycle C - November 9, 2025

The Dedication of Saint John Lateran Basilica  

Feast – C 

November 9, 2025

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

A Jewish Legend 

 

In Jewish folklore, there is an inspiring story about the place where the great temple in Jerusalem was built.

 

The legend goes that two brothers had adjoining farms. The older brother was married and had a family; the younger brother lived alone.

 

When the harvest came, the younger brother said to himself: “My brother has a wife and children and many responsibilities. I’ll help him by giving part of my harvest to his family.”

 

So, in the middle of the night, he went over to his brother’s property and poured some grain from his own harvest into his brother’s bins. He did this night after night.

 

Meanwhile, the married brother had a similar thought: “My brother has no wife or children and lives by himself. He has no one to care for him in the winter of his days. I’ll take some of my grain and add it to his harvest so he will never be in need.”

 

And so, during the night, the older brother went over to his brother’s property and poured some grain from his own harvest into his brother’s bins. He did this night after night.

 

For years the brothers wondered why their grain supply never dwindled. Then, one night, they both set out for the other’s house at the same time. 

 

In the dark, they met – each carrying sacks of grain to fill the other’s bin. They realized immediately what each other had been doing all those years. 

 

They dropped their sacks and embraced. And, on the spot where the brothers embraced, God directed that his temple be built. 

 

“Here at last is the place where I will build my temple,” God said. “For where brothers meet in love, there my presence will be.”  

 

A Church Building 

 

That story leads me to one reflection for today – the celebration of a church building in Rome. 

 

Our church here – Our Lady of Grace – is a sign of God’s presence. In fact, we believe that it is more than that – that God, Jesus is present to us in the reading of the Word and in the celebration and reservation of the Eucharist.

 

God, Jesus calls us to have that same kind of love for one another as God wanted in the Jewish legend. This very building assumes that the sense of oneness or community is present within and among us.

 

Saint Paul in today’s second reading calls us, he calls you and me the building and the temple of God. He wants us to know that we are God’s temple, that God is present within us.

 

And it follows that he wants us to see others, everyone else also as God’s temple. He wants us to treat each other accordingly. 

 

Love and Community 

 

So, the expectations made by the Jewish legend and by this church building and by Saint Paul are clear.

 

We are to treat each other with respect, whether or not we like or agree with each other. We are to try to take in and understand the other person’s perspective or background or needs.

 

We are to look out for the good of one another and for the common good of all, much as the brothers in the legend did. We are to be there for one another in times of need.

 

We are even to be there in prayer and maybe in some other ways for persons whom we will never meet or know. This might be people in our cities or our rural areas, or people in other countries like Guatemala or Ukraine or Sudan. 

 

Authenticity  

 

So, our respect, our care, our sense of community makes our presence here authentic.

 

To put it another way, our respect, our care, our sense of community means that we have allowed this church building to form who we are and how we live. That’s the message or calling that I am seeing on this day in honor of the Pope’s cathedral church in Rome. 

 

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, Cycle C - November 2, 2025

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed 

All Souls’ Day – C  

November 2, 2025  8:30am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

Imagine – Around 1875

 

Try to imagine for just a minute that it is the year 1875, exactly 150 years ago.

 

It is rural America, out in the farm country of the Midwest. There are, of course, no cars.

 

People get around on horseback and horse-drawn wagons. In that setting, there lives a little boy named Tom.

 

And, by the way, this is a true story! Both of Tom’s parents die and he is left an orphan.

 

Fortunately, his Aunt Katherine takes him in and raises him. Then, years later, Tom receives a letter from his Aunt Katherine.

 

She has a terminal illness, and, from the tone of the letter, Tom knows that she is afraid of death. So, he writes a letter in response and here it is.

 

Letter from Tom 

 

“Dear Aunt Katherine, thirty-five years ago, when I was six-years-old, I was left alone in the world. You sent me word that you would give me a home and be a mother to me.

 

“I’ve never forgotten the day when I made the long journey of ten miles to your house. I can still recall my disappointment when, instead of coming to me yourself, you sent your hired-hand Joseph to fetch me.

 

“I remember my tears and anxiety as, perched high on the horse and clinging tight to Joseph, I rode off to my new home. Night fell before we finished the journey and, as it grew dark, I became even more afraid. 

 

“‘Do you think she’ll go to bed before I get there?’ I asked Joseph. ‘Oh, no,’ Joseph answered, ‘she’s sure to stay up. When we get out of these woods, you’ll see her light shining in the window.’

 

“We did ride out into the clearing and there was your light. I remember that you were waiting at the door; that you put your arms tight around me; that you lifted me – a tired, frightened, little boy – down from the horse.

 

“You had a fire burning on the hearth, a hot supper waiting on the stove. After supper you took me to my new room.

 

“You heard me say my prayers. Then you sat with me until I fell asleep.

 

“You very probably realize why I am now trying to recall this to your memory. Very soon, God is going to send for you and take you to a new home.

 

“I’m trying to tell you that you needn’t be afraid of the summons or of the strange journey. God can be trusted.

 

“God can be trusted to do as much for you as you did for me so many years ago. At the end of the road, you’ll find love and a welcome waiting for you.

 

“And you’ll be safe in God’s care. I’m going to watch and pray for you until you’re out of sight.  

 

“And I shall wait for the day when I make the same journey myself and find you waiting at the end of the road to greet me.”  

 

Our Faith 

 

Tom’s letter to his Aunt Katherine is very warm and touching.

 

It shows a clear, strong, and trusting faith. It reflects so beautifully Jesus’ words in today’s gospel.

 

Jesus says: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me.”

 

Aunt Katherine gave her six-year-old nephew a new home and new life. We believe that God does the same thing for us.

 

Adult Tom reassured his aunt of this. God will be there waiting for us at the end of the road, welcoming us and giving us a new home and new life.

 

Action

 

With that in mind, on this All Souls’ Day, I ask us to do one thing. 

 

Let’s remember each person who has been in our lives and has been called home to God. Let’s try to remember them by name today or sometime this week. 

 

And let’s pray for them, as one of the Eucharistic Prayer says, that those who have passed on now see the light of God’s face. Let’s pray with trust in Jesus’ words today: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me.”  

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - October 19, 2025

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C 

October 19, 2025    5pm

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

“Will he find faith…?” 

 

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?”  

 

This is the very last sentence in today’s gospel about a widowed woman who is very poor, who has been left with nothing since her husband’s death. She keeps asking an official for some relief or help. 

 

This poor widow is persevering in seeking a just decision. And that is the point here – her perseverance. 

 

That is what Jesus is thinking about when he says: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” Jesus sees perseverance as central to faith.  

 

3 Ingredients of Faith 

 

This passage led me to recall a presentation that I heard several years ago.

 

The presenter was a man named Don Bisson. He is a Marist Brother, a religious in our Church for fifty years.

 

In the presentation, Brother Don Bisson says that there are three ingredients needed for becoming a person of real faith. These ingredients can be remembered by the letters I-P-A. 

 

For those of us who enjoy beer, here I-P-A does not mean India Pale Ale. Instead, those letters stand for: 1) Insight, 2) Perseverance, and 3) Action.

 

1.   Insight

 

First, we need Insight.

 

We are to see God as our Creator and ourselves as God’s sons and daughters. We are to see the commandments as the basic map for living, like worshiping God and not coveting our neighbor’s spouse or property. 

 

We are to see the Beatitudes of Jesus as a fulfillment of the commandments, by being merciful and peacemaking. And we are to see the goal of heaven – that someday we will return to God and come to the fullness of life. 

 

So, we need this Insight. And this Insight helps us to feel a certain security and direction. 

 

But, Brother Don Bisson insists, this Insight is not enough. It also needs to be maintained and lived out. 

 

2.   Perseverance

 

So, besides Insight, we need Perseverance.

 

We live in a culture that likes quick fixes. For example, we want our chipped tooth fixed and a crown put on it right away. 

 

So, Perseverance can be difficult for us. But we need this, for example, when we are sick, especially with a serious or prolonged illness. 

 

When this happens, we are invited to identify with Jesus in his emotional, spiritual, and physical suffering. We need to draw upon the grace of God and we will feel strength and hope through this. 

 

So, this Perseverance is an essential ingredient of faith. The woman in today’s gospel is a great example of this.

 

3.   Action

 

And that leads to the final ingredient: Action.

 

The idea is that faith is not just an inner or private thing. We are to live it by what we do. 

 

So, we are to do what we can to assist a family member who is feeling down and out after losing their job. We are to do what we can to help those who are in need and whom we don’t even know, like our parish winter clothing outreach does.

 

And we are at least to pray for those who are on the margins of life – like those who lack access to health care. Actions like these do as much for us as they do for others. 

 

They bring our faith alive. They bring us feelings of satisfaction and authenticity.

 

Conclusion

 

So, I-P-A – not India Pale Ale, but 1) Insight, 2) Perseverance, and 3) Action – these are needed for us to become persons of full faith.

 

I recommend that today or this week, we identify the number one ingredient of faith that needs some focus from us. So, do I need to recall more the Insight that faith brings and allow this to enrich me? 

 

Or do I need to turn to God for more Perseverance in dealing with some suffering? Or do I need to be more intentional about Action that would benefit someone? 

 

What area would lead us to a fuller faith right now? Let’s resolve to look at that as we now offer our Profession of Faith. 

 

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - October 12, 2025

28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C  

October 12, 2025    5pm    

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

Rabbi Harold Kushner

 

I imagine that some or even many of us have heard of the Jewish Rabbi Harold Kushner.

 

Rabbi Kushner was an American, he lived in Massachusetts, and he died two years ago. He wrote fourteen books and his wisdom crossed religious boundaries and touched people of all backgrounds.   

 

One of his books is The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm. The twenty-third is one of our most well-known psalms.

 

We often sing it at funerals. Well, in his book The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm, Rabbi Kushner reflects on gratitude.     

 

The Lord is My Shepherd 

 

He writes this.

 

“I read of a person who had formed the habit of writing Thank you on the lower left corner of every check he wrote. When he paid his electric bill or his phone bill, he would write Thank you to express his gratitude to the companies that made those services available. 

 

“Even when he paid his taxes, he would write Thank you on the check as a way of reminding himself that his taxes were the price he willingly paid for living in the United States with all of its benefits (even though he didn’t think the Internal Revenue Service would notice it).” 

 

Rabbi Kushner then goes on to write about himself.

. 

“Each night as I prepare for bed, I put drops in my eyes to fend off the threat of glaucoma that would rob me of my sight and take from me the pleasure of reading. Each morning at breakfast, I take a pill to control my blood pressure, and each evening at dinner I take another pill to lower my cholesterol. 

 

“But instead of lamenting the ailments that come with growing older, instead of wishing I were as young and fit as I once was, I take my medicine with a prayer of thanks that modern science has found ways to help me cope with these ailments. 

 

“I think of all my ancestors who didn’t live long enough to develop the complications of old age or did not have pills to take when they did live that long.”

 

Gratitude

 

So, gratitude – that’s the virtue that Rabbi Kushner highlights.

 

Gratitude is not just a polite response for an act of kindness – like saying Thank you to the usher after Mass for handing you a bulletin. Gratitude is that, but it is more than that.

 

It is also a mindset, an attitude, a spirit within us. It is the perspective that we have much to be thankful for, beginning with this day of life.

 

Gratitude is feeling blessed by the good persons who have been or still are in our lives. It is being thankful for things we can easily take for granted – like having heat or air conditioning or a hot shower.

 

Gratitude means that we take time to express our thankfulness – like the one leper in today’s gospel. Notice how transformed this man was by Jesus – at least physically and maybe spiritually also.

 

Our gratitude, our thanking God or another person or both will also transform us. It will make us closer to God and more connected with others. 

 

That’s the transformation that can happen by being grateful. We can grow closer to God and more connected with others.  

 

Action

 

So, I’m asking each of you to do something in the week ahead.

 

Every day this week, each day, name one person or one thing for which you are grateful. Name something different each day and thank God for it.

 

And, if appropriate, thank the other person also. So, think of one person or one thing each day this week and be thankful.

 

Your gratitude will open you to God’s transforming power. You will feel closer to God and more connected with others. 

 

That’s the power of gratitude. That’s the lesson of Rabbi Kushner and of the one leper in today’s gospel.  

 

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - October 5, 2025

 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C  

October 5, 2025      11am  

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

A Vision 

I recently read a story about a young woman named Lena. 

Lena grew up in a rather poor town in Greece where dreams often went unfulfilled. But at age fourteen, she wrote in her journal, “I will be a doctor and build a clinic in my village.” 

People chuckled—no one from there had ever done such a thing. Years passed. 

Lena faced setbacks: her father lost his job, she worked nights, and her grades slipped. But her vision pulled her forward like a magnet. 

When she wanted to quit, she reread her journal. Finally, at age 28, Lena returned home—not just as a doctor, but as the founder of a small health center that served hundreds of people. 

An old neighbor asked, “How did you do it?” She smiled and said, “I saw it before it existed.”

Having a vision didn’t remove obstacles, but it gave Lena the strength to face them. With the vision, she became and built something that made a difference.

The Vision

 

Lena’s vison was crucial and that is the message in today’s first reading.

 

The prophet Habakuk is experiencing violence and desolation and division and cries out to God. God says: “Write down the vision. The vision will have its time and will not disappoint you.”

 

God wants to make sure that his people will remember the vision. God wants us to 1) see the vision, 2) trust the vision, and 3) live the vision.

 

1.    See the Vision

 

First, see the vision.

 

For us, this means that we need to see Jesus himself.  We are to see him as the way to God and the way to know God because he is God present with us.

 

And we need to see the vision that Jesus gives us. We are to see his vision of God as a loving Parent – and that’s it, a loving Parent.

 

We are to see his vision of ourselves – as human and sometimes sinful, but also as worthy and beloved by God. And we are to see his vision of all humanity – of all persons as God’s sons and daughters.

  

This vision gradually shapes who we become as persons. It shapes how we see God and ourselves and others. 

 

2.   Trust the Vision 

 

Then, with this seeing, we are to trust the vision.

 

In the midst of all the upset and trouble, the prophet Habakuk cries out, “How long will this last, O Lord? I cry out, O Lord, but you do not seem to listen!” 

 

I mean, might we ourselves say similar words in today’s world or in our own personal life? Maybe we are in the middle of difficult chemotherapy treatments.  

 

Or maybe we are feeling anxious about our financial future. How does God respond to our prayer, our crying out? 

 

God is reassuring: “Write down the vision. The vision will have its time and will not disappoint you.”

 

So, we are to trust the vision. And part of that vision is that we are not alone. 

 

We are to trust Jesus’ promise that he is always with us. He is our strength and our refuge, no matter what. 

 

3.    Live the Vision 

 

And then, with this seeing and with this trust, we are to live the vision.

 

Jesus says in today’s gospel: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.” So, we are to set out in everyday life to live the vision that faith gives us.

 

We live the vision by getting up every morning and offering our day to God. We resolve to do our best and give the best we can to making each day productive.

 

And we live the vision by being mindful of the needs of others. We focus both on ourselves and on the well-being of others – a balance that Jesus calls us to live. 

 

Conclusion

 

So, the prophet Habakuk leads us to a great lesson of faith today.

 

See the vision. Trust the vision. And live the vision.

 

When we do this, the challenges of life get repositioned a bit. We are living through them with God at our side and God within us. 

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - September 21, 2025

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C 

September 21, 2025          5pm    

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton       

 

The Weight of a Snowflake 

 

There’s a story that once upon a time, a field mouse asked a wise old owl: “What is the weight of a snowflake?”

 

The owl answered: “Nothing!  Nothing at all!” After hearing that, the field mouse went on to tell the owl about the time he was resting on the branch of a fir tree.

 

It was snowing and he was counting each snowflake, until the number was exactly 3,471,952 snowflakes. Then, with the landing of the very next flake – c-r-a-c-k!

 

The branch of the fir tree snapped, and the mouse tumbled to the ground. The mouse looked at the wise old owl and said: “So! What is the weight of a snowflake?”

 

Little Things Have Effects 

 

That anecdote highlights an important lesson in today’s gospel.

 

Jesus says that if we are responsible about little things, then we will also become responsible about bigger things. His point is that everything we do has significance. 

 

Sometimes we think that some of our actions are not all that important – that they count for nothing, like a snowflake that seems to weigh nothing. But the truth is that everything we do has an effect. 

 

Today I want to look at one application of this. The words we speak! 

 

Our Words Are Important 

 

Our words are important.

 

They can seem unimportant – like just one more snowflake. But they have weight and they matter.

 

They can build up others and our relationships with others. They can also tear down and crack – like a snowflake cracking the branch of a tree, our words can crack a relationship, a community, a country.

 

Often enough today we hear words that demonize and portray others as all bad. They end up producing hatred and division. 

 

Often enough we hear words that stereotype whole groups of people. They end up producing hatred and discrimination – my gosh, can’t we recall what this did to the Jewish people for centuries and especially in the 1930s?  

 

Often enough we hear violent words, violent words that set the stage for violent actions. Archbishop Lori begins his recent statement on this: “The slaying of two Minnesota legislators. Killing innocent children gathered for a school Mass in Minneapolis. The slaying of Charlie Kirk. The list goes on and is endless and depressing. We ask: Will it ever end?” 

 

So, we’ve got to get hold of this. I want to propose four positive rules for our use of words. 

 

I don’t pretend that they are the entire answer, but they are something that you and I can do. They are something we are called to do by our faith in Jesus Christ.         

 

Four Rules for Words 

 

Rule 1. Be respectful. Use words that are respecting and not belittling. Respect others as persons, as human beings. Never, never belittle or demonize others and make them appear as all bad. Be respectful.

 

Rule 2. Be unitive. Use words that are unitive and not divisive. Emphasize the things that you share in common with others and that unite us. Don’t divide yourself from others as if there can never be any common ground between you. Be unitive.

 

Rule 3. Be reconciling. Use words that are reconciling and not distancing. Speak in a way that at least leaves the door open for reconciling. Don’t distance yourself from others by holding yourself as absolutely right and them as absolutely wrong. Be reconciling.

 

Rule 4. Be persuasive. Use words that are persuasive and not coercive. Treat others as reasonable persons and try to respectfully persuade them about whatever the issue is. Talk about the issue and don’t attack the person. Be persuasive. 

 

Conclusion

 

So, little things, like one snowflake, are important.

 

Our words may seem little, but they are not. They are big and they matter.

 

A well-known American Jewish rabbi, Rabbit Abraham Joshua Heschel made a brief, insightful comment about this. He wrote:

 

“Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed.”

 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner