" Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and to those are mistreated as if

       you yourselves were suffering " Hebrews 13:3

 " Russian clergy who said "NO" to Putin's war in Ukraine are paying a price."( National Catholic Reporter)  From those who have died, from their deaths will spring The Springtime of a new, vibrant, prophetic, and an Eucharistic Church,in the fullest meaning of the word. 

   Come Holy Spirit come, and strengthen the heart of this faithless one. ( jih)

 Left the " home for expectant fathers', never knowing what was to come. We were prepared for change, but "seismic" did not enter the conversation. We are still feeling the tremors of the those seismic convulsions in our evolving Church, here 60 years plus. The changes wrought by Vatican Two have been fought tooth and nail. The Holy Spirit will work Its mysterious power, leaving those who thought they had power, powerless. Many have suffered unnecessarily. The Truth will always win in the long run. 

   There have been Martys in every, era, eon of the church, and our time is no different. The list of South American Martys, those contemporary Mary and Marthas, if it were published, what triggered their deaths, and who were the executioners, we would be shocked to our core. There is a great shadow side that must be penetrated and exposed. One Pope has published, "Where there is great light, there is also, great shadow." Our church and country is no different. We are ready to  eagerly embrace the light.  To Honestly embrace the shadow takes one may say, reckless courage. Let us take a look at our own families and see how the shadow, the family secrets are preserved, and defended. To what lengths do we go to defend the secret, the shadow. Can we say, "to the death ?" Honesty............

Please say HI ! to the Marthas and Marys within your depths. They live together, peacefully, each achieving what each  has been designed to achieve. Martha and Mary are archetypical realities within each one of us. ( This may send to scurrying to Google in search of the meaning of, archetype. Do not hesitate. Do it and see what dramatic changes comes to your understanding of  the scriptures and then of  yourself. I guarantee it is worth all the effort.) For so long Mary was praised for her stance, while poor Martha was given less than kind treatment. Not so today. In this day when we no longer judge in a the binary either/or but we now are called to enjoy the freedom of, the both/and. 

       A healthy  relationship with Martha, and Mary is, ESSENTIAl  for our healthy understanding leading to healthy growth.  D.V. We have to have Martha space, ever deepening our ability to listen to the voice of The Holy Spirit and then be lead to more committed actions as Mary. Without the balance Mary and Martha can trigger, and do trigger unwelcome, and very unwholesome consequences. Hubris can be the unwelcome visitor, when we do not attentively pay attention what The Master wishes to teach us as we find ourselves, "sitting at His Feet". Listening to what He is saying to us, as  the now, The Risen Christ. That is the Christ St.Paul says " lies within us". This is The Christ Who is "the source" of hope and strength.

    We have to make time for, information to be imparted. This leads to the formation of something new in our understand of todays mission of ,The Christ. It begins in our depths, in The Tabernacle of our depths, and slowly brings about through the action of mysterious grace, transformation. Once transformed we are not to rest, to glory, to luxuriate in the exciting newness. The next step is action. Contemplative action is a new word that has entered my vocabulary. Not understood at first. It is truly amazing what happens when one "sits at the feet of Him whose ministry we are continuing in our traumatized and suffering world. Martha alone, cannot get it done. Mary alone is impotent. Martha and Mary, together ends up as a dynamic, transformative power leading to Gospel living, and action.

                                " Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the heart of this faith-less one"

"Christ exists in all things, that, are."( Gregory of Nazianzus.)

" Those who remain silent, are RESPONSIBLE too." Saint Edith Stein, died Auschwitz, Aug.9th 1942, along with her sister Rosa. Both converts to Catholicism.

" Every creature participates  in some way in the likeness of The Divine Essence."(Thomas Aquinas)

How are you awakening the new revelation of The Divine Creative Spirit, The Divine Essence, present present within you and this present moment, and  at this moment ? Now again at this moment ?  For me, as I view with the naked eye, I see no difference whatsoever. For those who know they tell me there is an imperceptible change, as The Power of The Creative spirit is CONTINUING the endless work of your evolutionary process. Each evolutionary process is guided into reality by The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Truth, The Giver of Life, The Source of Love. We are not evolving accidents. We are  an essential part The Masterplan  we are being guided in, and into reality. This happens one nano second at a time. Too fast for us to observe with the naked eye, so we need soul work. Soul work is our journey into the depths of our often harsh reality, there we encounter, Ultimate Reality, which is another way of describing, The Divine God Essence. 

     Way back, Moses, speaking to the wanderers in the desert, reminded them that the master plan for The Creator's Creation have been placed in them, written in their hearts and mouths.  It has been the ongoing challenge, for all who follow in their footsteps to have the courage to carry out what is written. within and on The Spirit's ,Manuscripts. May The Holy Spirit guide you into the AWE-Full, mysterious reality of who each one is, of their essence. 

 No body, but our Gracious Creator can bestow on us on us the Awe-full-ness of who we always are. Nobody can take what has been bestowed in Love. We all have the experience of where we not just question our Awe-full-ness but we actually actively deny  having "pearl of great price.Today we are blessed to have a more holistic understanding of creation. There  is no longer a division between the sacred and profane, there is only one reality, the sacraments of our present being, and the sacred place on which we stand, this sacramental moment. 

We do not have to look for The Divine. The Divine Presence is within, waiting patiently for us to discover, and visit the tabernacle which a the home for The All. Where  Safety Peace and True Freedom reigns, it is the place where those of us who are heavily burdened can come and rest awhile. There is always that invitation to "come rest in Me". The Sacred, The Divinity is always reach out to us in unconditional love. It really bothers, to no end the false self that we cannot earn, deserve, or qualify for endless unconditioned acceptance. It is pure gift. Let us not bastardize such a necessary transformative gift.  

( Only if you wish !!! This was something that bubbled up, and I am reluctant to delete it.) Last evening, for some reason, I found little Joe, remembering how he felt with his  first encounter, with, the ocean. I can vividly remember being contented to sit in the wading pool, on the beach at Garretstown. This is regarded as one of the best beaches to be found in the county of Cork, Ireland. (Who does know that famous, colorful county ? )  I was safe, enjoying the warmth of the sun. As least for a while.  Then I turned my head, saw the ocean, and it beckoned to me. I only remember standing, where the little lapping waves found their home. Because they shared their home, I found a place of hospitality, safety, and security.. That began a long history of  Joe answering the call of the waves. I travelled  over, oh so many waves to arrive in this challenging, blistering desert. Deep within I will always have a  growing memory, of that safe place.  Forward to now, I have to meet the ongoing challenge of, P.T.S.D. so a safe, secure place is ever so very, very precious.  

Some of our Bishops are taking their pastoral, and prophetic callings so very seriously. Let us support them in every way we can. Take the warning of Edith Stein, we do NOT have to option of remaining silent. We are about to face the stark reality of being prophetic presences and voices. I some cases, maybe in all the battles for justice and common decency, we pay the price. hen you are being confined to the prisons of unjust anger and shame, Psalm 69 assures us that "those who are in bonds', their cries are  always heard. Lastly," Hope does not disappoint." May the Creative Spirit guide your efforts. May you find courage, hope, and the spirit of perseverance, in The Gracious Power of Love. This is where all began, and are on the hard slog back to. Love,  prayers, and blessings. Great Gramps.

           

       

       

           

       I really feel bad that there is no conventional "Happy Something" to wish you. Hold your horses now, of course there is. Wait for it, A Happy Birthday to you all. This is taking seriously that every day is a new birthing day for you. The person that was yesterday is now part of the foundations of the now you. Brand new, and even more deeply mysterious, than you were yesterday. The Creative-Creating is working on a masterpiece, which is you. You are a masterpiece to be viewed in a museum, but you are being created, one nano second at time, to be viewed by all those who need for Mystery is being met by, and in your presence. We are told Our Creator God is ever new. We being His/Her living presence are always new. ETERNALLY SO. Is there ever a moment that is not appropriate to join with all the cosmos in singing , shouting loudly as possible, "Happy BIRTHING to you, in this sacramental moment." in eternity.

             Now that you are being birthed, anew, let us journey through some other reasons to sing, shout gloriously another  "Happy". Happy Christmas, seems appropriate. To day, The Mystery of The Incarnation is receiving a new revelation in, and through every nano second you will be privileged to  live. "The Glory of God, is,  the human person fully alive" St. Irenaeus. We are not being created to  just exist, we are called to "live life, and live it to the fullest". We are then challenged to be the best person we can be, in this moment. We must remember this is, you are looking at it. the best version of yourself, that has ever existed. "Never better". (Msgr. O,Grady R.I..P.)  

   Who we are in the continuous process of becoming, of evolution into a newness.We are becoming an new reality. This new reality, which we will be privileged  inhabit, is being built on on belief that each nano second ,a new revelation of The Mystery of Being, is best revealed in this new  version of our authentic human-being-ness. We must ever remind ourselves, there is a God, and we are not that, Infinite Being. Every moment is a Christmas moment. Every moment is, a moment The Incarnation is newly revealed. Where is that going to take you ? Reflect on your "now" uniqueness ???

          Well, every "now" moment, is,  mysteriously unique.  No two ,are the same. Life's moments,  cannot, of their essence be boring. Why?  Within the depths of every new , ever fleeting  moment, is mysteriously  presents ALL,Yes ,ALL that  the Liturgical Year, and  the unique Liturgical Celebrations, takes a complete year to recognize and celebrate.  We can look back ,and upon reflection, come to discover, all that  which , were present within every Liturgy  is now, present. Yes. Yes, right here , and right now, period. So in the now, in this, not so  "simple moment", within its depths, is everything that it  the Liturgical year takes to celebrate. This then is how mysterious each moment is.  Here and now what is hidden within, is exposed for celebration You have had the experience of looking at something through a magnifying  glass or microscope. What seems to be kinda ordinary, and sometimes dead, under the microscope is filled with life, and vitality. Liturgy, and the Liturgical year is the magnifying glass which extends our so called ordinary moments, into weeks and months of  rediscovery and celebration. ( If you can get through these last sentences in one read, you are mystically magnificent. I have lost time on how long it has taken to get those few sentences on paper. I am missing golf on t.v. No pain, no gain????? )

         Within the present moments, all the mysterious  moments of Holy Week and The Paschal Mystery is  our hidden reality.  We are today, now, challenged  to see and embrace Christ, Who  is again beaten, bruised, betrayed, brutalized, and crucified, in the most powerless of His sisters and brothers. We are faced with all the ramification of poverty, and powerlessness. Our neighborhoods, communities are reliving in their moment to moment realities what first happened almost 2,000 years ago.( Remember, in the spiritual there is no time and space.) We are again exposed to the cross being carried by the contemporary Christs. Where is Simon and Veronica to be encountered ministering to The Suffering One, in all suffering of all humankind. 

     We are in tomb time again. All of humankind and the rest of creation is sitting, waiting and watching for the darkness of the unknown to be pierced again, with the transforming, transfiguring power of The Resurrected One. Liminal time is really, really tough to endure, by ourselves. We need community and community celebrations to rekindle the fire, that is now to be  searched for, and rediscovered among the ashes. There is life in the ashes, of the seemingly ashes of life. "Death is not an end, death is a beginning." So easy to repeat, is it not? To put it into practice, "walk the talk" not talk the walk. We need each other as never before. These are uncertain times, so we must be exposed for revivification to the Gracious Creative Spirit Whose job description is to stir up faith and hope among us who are faithless, and hopeless. " I believe, Lord, help my disbelief/unbelief". From within the  fear-filled darkness, in our "absolute dependence on a Higher Power", EVER and Always we shall emerge, newly birthed , newly vitalized. Yes, from  the place of powerlessness,  The Paschal Mystery within or lived experience, shall emerge "new heavens, and a new earth."  

       

 

 Well, "Happy Easter" is not appropriate, but, "Happy Birthday" is, as today we celebrate the birthday of the Mother  Church.. For Joe it is "Happy sixty-second Anniversary", that is of, ordination. On June 8th 1963, in Carlow, Cathedral  30 very nervous young, and one  mature adult answered the call. They were each called by name, in latin, and the answer was "ad sum". That was when I was called to the priesthood. Until then we were just candidates for ordination. It was a six year process of vetting as to whether we had what it took to be ordained, or, not. I was all of, 23 years .  

            In August of that year, three other Corkonians, boarder a plane at Shannon Airport and winged their way from the green grasses of Ireland, to the brown deserts of Arizona. I was immediately immersed in the convulsions of the Catholic Church as she adapted to the  resolutions, and revelations of The Second Vatican Council.  I like all others are riding out the waves of change,  right up to this present moment.  It is help-full to know, "the only thing certain, is change" ?????  Great consolation to us who are struggling. Adding to the challenge of change here we are adapting to the election, under the guidance of The Holy Spirit, of Pope  Leo 14th. Blessing on Him and His Bride as they journey further along the trail , and trials, of an evolutionary journey. " Faith", it helps to know, or not, " is a journey into uncertainty, NOT certainty" Is it not also called, "the dark night of faith." Far cry from all the certainties I came with in 1963. At 85 I find I have to work harder than I ever did in the seminary. Back then one of the funnies was,  a seminary was "a home for expectant fathers". There was more truth, than poetry to that, as the Irishman said.

         To sing "Happy Birthday, to us" is a very appropriate rhythm for today. As I have mentioned before, one of the books that radically changed me was, "The People are The Church" by Eugene Kennedy. As you know well, one of my favorite sayings is, " Every blessing is a curse, and every curse is a blessing". There were, and are times I wished I was  not exposed to the challenge that book proposed and consequently  exposed me to, over there 62 years, There was a companion to that publication, " Comfort my People". The challenging truths of the 60's are alive and well in our world today, and as consequence in our church. Every individual, that is you and I, are being challenged as never before, to adopt and adept ourselves to the challenges of our ever evolving realities.

             We cannot, we were not chosen and created to live a life of security and safety. The Holy Spirit has directed the evolution of the cosmos, for at least 13.4 billion years, It has guided the relationship with emerging humanity for eons. This guidance into "all truth" is happening within the reality of this present moment. It cannot happen in any other way. The Creative Spirit always looks for the cooperation of human instrumentality  to achieve It's evolutionary goals. In this moment your response to the call, will depend the wellbeing of the present creation, and the chance of a healthy evolutionary future. That is why every moment is sacred. Charged with the Glorious Presence, Who reaches out in desperate need of our human cooperation. We do not have to be perfect in all of this. We, as, "perfectly imperfect human beings" are called on to make our best effort at all times. We do our best, and The Creative Spirit, does the rest. That is The Holy Spirit's job description, to bring order to chaos. As it was, so it is, and ever shall be.

Let us all pray for this confident belief, we are not just accidents of nature. We have been part of the eternal plan, that is being lived in you and through all the created universe. Hope your birthday celebrations will reflect the dignity a people, chosen to be, The Gracious Creator's, very own !!!! 

Pray for me as I enter the unknown 63 third year of a very mysterious, challenging slog. Gramps.

              

              

 Still Easter, 2025, but not for long more. The calendar time will run out, but our reflection on The Paschal Mystery and its mysterious, very heady, meanings are to be our constant companion. The every day journey into  reality, and so into Reality, will bring us to a constant new awarenesses. This is what can make our every day, so-called humdrum  life explode with mystery, and a new level of meaning. This breathes excitement into our moment to moment living out of the gift of, living freely. This freedom, like all freedoms comes at a price. The greater the freedom the greater the price. So we have Memorial Day, and Lent, Easter Mysteries. We also have lives that have lived that can be checked as regards the price was paid in vain.  As a result we grow into an ever deepening understanding of  mysterious life that is ours that is to be lived in freedom that came at the price of someone else, life-blood. 

             One has to be extremely blind not to accept the fact that the quality of life is not what was envisioned by Jesus, The Christ and our Founding Fathers. The Historical Jesus, who became The Christ Of God, through His sacrificial death, through His, Vicar on Earth, is challenging us not to  betray the vision, " Have come that you may have life, and have it to the fullest". St.Irenaeus has written, "The Glory of God, is the human person fully alive." As we look at the lives of billions, they are blatantly not living lives that reflect, full human  aliveness. The billions who are barely subsisting, far, far, from living a life that befits a child of The Loving  Creator God.  To meet the challenge, and a consequence challenges you and I we find that there are always Good Samaritans to be found, ministering to The Presence of The Suffering Who is to be found in refugees, migrants, disenfranchised, and all who do not measure up to something thatbreflects anything but Gospel values. Can we say, as we honestly look at our country, and world as say this is the living which encourages, and makes possible, authentic human living ? Let us become the people who embrace unvarnished truth, not people of the lie, compounding the ongoing Crucifixion, of "the least of the brethren ".

            We must, possible in a new way of living, free our  inner Veronica and Simon, so we can bravely step forward to do what is necessary to make the lives of all, especially the lives of the  vulnerable, lives that can "Thank You" for the sacrifices of those who fought,  so,"that all men/women can be free." The vision of The Historical Jesus, Who became the Christ, and those who formed a vision for our country, must regain its place. A tough question , " Has enough blood been spilt, lives eviscerated, humans dehumanized,  and enough of the vulnerable, exploited ?. 

      We must start with the vulnerable person we meet, as we  look in the mirror every morning. What are the plans to be the contemporary Good Samaritan, to the wounded one we encounter lying in pain, in the depths of our broken, wounded humanity ? We must ask for the strength, the courage, not to live lives of lies, of denial, but that bravely embrace our deepest embarrassing  secret reality. This is where conversion begins. We are turning around, confront the lies, and live a live of real freedom, not the  apparent freedom that leads us back into denial, inaction and a death that is certain to say, " I do not respect the sacrifices of those who have  made the unlimited sacrifice. I will squander my freedom because I lack the conviction that " I am my sister's/brother's keeper".  " Whatever you do to the least ones, you do it to Me".  

              We must  then, make Matthew 25, the corner stone of our current formation, of our conscious and will. " I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was in prison and you visited me......" Nowhere can be found a condition that must be met before ministry takes place. We must all confront fearlessly, or as best we can, the lies that have made their way into our hearts and minds that has allowed us to live a life of neglect, as far as The Contemporary Wounded Christ is concerned. We are the " home of the brave". Suit up as those who we remembered on Memorial Weekend suited up to meet the challenge to  their common freedom. " No one is free, until all humankind is free".