One of my favorite books on prayer is Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening by Cynthia Bourgeault. Cynthia is an Episcopal priest who grew up in a Quaker school and later studied under Fr. Thomas Keating, a Cistercian monk and a leader in the centering prayer movement. One day I was reading along and was struck by these words: “The goal of contemplative prayer has been the radical transformation of the human person in service of the Kingdom. It requires only honesty, commitment, and a good sense of humor. From these three raw ingredients, great saints can be fashioned.” (p. 159) These lines struck me because suddenly I saw how I was trying too hard! I was forever comparing myself to Fr. Jim who was a great preacher, or Fr. Tom who spoke Spanish so well, or Msgr. John who always knew what to say as a pastor. Instead, in order to live out my vocation, I only need to be committed (faithful), to be honest, and to have a sense of humor about it all. I admit that “being honest” is for me the hardest part. It means being honest with what I can and cannot do with my particular talents and temperament. It means letting God be God and giving up control over things for which I have little control. Most days I don’t think I can be a superhero priest. But most days I think I can be faithful, I can be honest about my limitations, and I can always have a sense of humor! How are you living your own vocation as wife, husband, mother, father, student, single traveler? Are you committed to these same three raw ingredients? Don’t try to change the whole world. Be honest, be faithful, and be able to laugh at yourself. In other words, be a saint. - - - Fr. Jim
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One of the primary ways that God takes care of us is by sending angels to deliver his message or to do his work. Most often, these angels do NOT look like angels from medieval paintings, with flowing wings and haloes. Most often they look exactly like ordinary human beings, at least at first. Abraham was visited by three men in his tent (Gen. 18) and Jacob wrestled with a man until the break of day (Gen. 32). None of the angels were recognized, in the beginning, as angels. When I was on my last flight home from Ethiopia to Chicago, I became ill with fever and nausea and diarrhea. The couple sitting next to me, from La Crosse, Wisconsin, gave me their blankets and kept good company with me. (I was still chilled covered with 3 blankets!) When we landed, Bridget and Reggie stayed with me the whole time, helping me with my baggage and getting me through customs. They walked with me to an airport clinic where two more of God’s angels took wonderful care of me. We all had a great laugh when we realized that a Catholic priest was being cared for by a Jewish doctor, a Muslim nurse, and a couple from Wisconsin who were evangelical Christians! It was quite the ecumenical affair. But it was through these people that God showed me great care and love. I am extremely grateful for the blessings of angels in my midst. There are surely angels in your life as well. - - -  Fr. Jim

Our young people, those from middle-school to high-school age, are not only the future of the Church, they are the “now” of the Church! They can be potential evangelizers of us “old folks”.  Their energy and enthusiasm, when directed by the Holy Spirit, can enrich the lives of our parish in ways that we have not yet even imagined. So let’s try to imagine it now. Imagine that every Sunday evening our young people gather together to break open the Word of God. Then they play volleyball and laugh and talk in the courtyard (Purcell) or under the pecan trees (Pauls Valley).  Imagine that on Saturday mornings, once a quarter, they would do a service project and then have a picnic lunch to talk about the things they did and how Catholic social teaching helps them to understand it from the light of faith. Imagine a youth Mass in which ALL of the ministries were performed by the youth, including a reflection after the Gospel reading. Imagine skits and liturgical plays that help the Gospel story come alive with real people talking and role-playing. Imagine our young people coming back from retreats, twice a year, all aglow with the Holy Spirit, so on fire with faith that they struggle to “come down from the mountain top”. Imagine having a young person on our parish staff with whom they can talk and share their fears and intimate concerns. This is what it might mean for us to develop a youth ministry in our parish. Are we ready to unleash the power of the Holy Spirit? - - - Fr. Jim 

Once a week, and sometimes more often, a very diverse group of families and individuals are thrown together in one place. They may cook a meal, serve on a committee, plan a garage sale or a bake sale, select a contractor, teach and lead the children of other families, decide how to spend a common pool of money, and, oh yes, pray to the one God that they all believe in. There is no screening or selection process. Anyone can come and be part of it. There is no training in conflict resolution. Some speak Spanish and some speak English, all of them with different tones of inflection and accents. Welcome to our parish! It is no wonder that sometimes we (including the pastor) say things that are unintentionally taken the wrong way, or that hurt someone’s feelings. It is no wonder that sometimes there are misunderstandings. We are like two college roommates who are thrown together randomly in a dorm room and expected to live together in perfect harmony. It is no wonder that St. Paul had to write these words to a Catholic parish, much like ours, many years ago: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.” (Col. 3:12-13)  Our parish is a workshop of God’s love. When we hurt each other, we make feeble but sincere attempts to “forgive and forget”. We practice how to say “I’m sorry.” We practice reconciliation, because reconciliation is where God is found. And it does take a lot of practice! This workshop of people . . . frail and sensitive and well-meaning and diverse . . . is nothing less than the Body of Christ.  - - - Fr. Jim

Globally, most people are living longer and healthier lives. The average life expectancy (worldwide) has grown from 47 years in 1955 to 69 years in 2010. However, these gains in the present have often come at the cost of jeopardizing the health of future generations. The ocean is becoming acidic, forests are being cut down, air temperature is increasing, fisheries are being depleted, and fresh water is becoming scarce. Our actions are driving species to extinction at a rate that is 100 times faster than ever observed in the geologic record.  Soon the world will have only one remaining species - humans - if we survive. The earth has a magnificent capacity to renew itself naturally, but only within limits. Our ever-increasing population of peoples is stressing our earthly home to beyond its capacity to renew itself.  This is the occasion and reason for the Pope's recent encyclical on the environment. We are responsible not only to each other, but also to our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. This Fall semester, starting in September, I will be leading a lunch-time discussion group at St. Thomas More parish (Norman) on the Pope's encyclical - "what does it say?" and "how can we best respond?" Please join us if you can. Send me an email and I will put you on our list. Our common home is like a "sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us" (Laudato Si', #1). May we understand how to better care for our common home, the Earth. - - - Fr. Jim

For the next 25 days, I will be living and working in Ethiopia, a land of poverty, rich soil, and distant blue mountains. For most of the trip my only companion will be Teshome Yami, an Ethiopian graduate student who is studying at OU. When we walk the streets of the village, a town about the size of Purcell, I will be very aware that I am the only one who does not speak the language (Amharic) and whose skin is not black. People will stare at me, and some will try to speak broken English to me. But we cannot have real conversations, and can only share a smile and a cup of rich black coffee. What a gift for me to live in such a place! For I will know, first hand, what it feels like to be a stranger in a foreign land. I will be alone and isolated in a sea of humanity, weak and vulnerable and powerless both to protect myself and to make my wishes known. I will depend completely on the unmerited kindnesses of others, who can either welcome me or take advantage of me. This is how every immigrant feels who comes to a new place - to live, to work, or to study. I will depend on the goodness of strangers, and the grace of God, “sufficient for me, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12).  Praise God for the universal language of kindness! - - - Fr. Jim

After Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the most famous saint-mother is probably St. Monica. She remained devoted to her faith while being married to a non-Christian man and raising a brilliant but stubborn son named Augustine. Finally, after praying for him for 33 years, Augustine converted and became a Christian. While awaiting a ship to carry them back to Africa, Monica and her son had a beautiful conversation about the mysteries of faith and the joys of heaven. Monica died a few days later. Her work on earth was done. Elizabeth of Portugal had more family problems. She had a husband who was unfaithful and a son who was in open rebellion against him. She served as peacemaker between these two, and later between Portugal and Castile (in Spain), preventing a war between the two kingdoms. As Queen of Portugal, she still found time to establish hospitals, orphanages, and halfway houses for “fallen women”. Elizabeth Ann Seton was raised in the New York high society of the late 18th century. At the age of 19 she married a wealthy businessman William Seton. About ten years into her marriage, William’s business failed, and soon after he died of tuberculosis, leaving Elizabeth an impoverished widow with five small children. For years Elizabeth had felt drawn to Catholicism, believing in the Real Presence in the Eucharist and in the lineage of the Church going back to Christ and the Apostles. She converted to Catholicism, alienating many of her strict Episcopalian family in the process. At the invitation of the archbishop, she established a Catholic girl‘s school in Baltimore, Maryland which began the Catholic parochial school system in America. These mothers did marvelous things in spite of very difficult circumstances. But strong Catholic women are still doing heroic works of grace – giving their children comfort and stability after a time of loss, remaining cheery and faithful in spite of brokenness in the family. On Mother’s Day this Sunday, you are very likely sitting next to a saint. - - - Fr. Jim 

This past week we lost two parishioners who were loved by many. Rodolfo Escobedo was killed in an auto accident, and Joe Nabonne died peacefully in his home after months of heart failure. In both cases, my first response was the same. I wanted to spend more time with each of these lovely men. They were both so joyful in their own unique style, and fun to be around. Rodolfo was loud and expressive and adored his wife and three children. My fondest memory is playing volleyball with him at our parish picnic last Fall. Joe was a Creole, through and through, who liked to dance and play golf and work on his computer. I had hoped that we could collaborate more on the parish website, and let him manage it from his own workdesk. But God loved these men more, and called them home to Paradise. In one of the most beautiful scenes from John’s Gospel, Jesus has just come back to see his good friend, Lazarus, who has just died. Martha says to him “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11) But there were some deaths that even Jesus could not prevent. And Jesus wept. (John 11:35). His desire was always that the Father’s will be done. And, though the Father’s will includes death for all of us (including Jesus), it also includes resurrection for those of us who believe in the One who is “the Resurrection and the Life”. (John 11:25). The story does not end in death. Death is but a prelude for greater things to come. - - - Fr. Jim

One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is “piety”. Piety is the gift of being present to the Lord in prayer, and it can take many forms. When I was a seminarian I would often visit my older brother, Fr. Tom Chamberlain, who was already serving as a priest in central Texas. This area of Texas had once experienced a great immigration of Czech and Polish families. We would visit elderly people in their homes or nursing homes, and often we would come upon them praying out of a tiny black prayer book that was written in their native tongue. (I once even studied a little of the Czech language, thinking that I might one day say Mass in Czech!) It was a picture of devotion, when words from a small well-used book were whispered softly in the silence and rhythm of a rocking chair. Recently a parishioner let me borrow her mother’s little black prayer book, called “The New Key of Heaven: a complete prayer book for Catholics”. Prayers for every occasion were included here, including a very thorough examination of conscience before Confession, devotions to Our Blessed Lady, and litanies to Jesus and the saints. In the book’s preface, the Catholic believer is cautioned: “To prattle from the printed page will avail us nothing…on the other hand, the printed page can be of great assistance to us in prayer.” These little prayer books serve us well by turning our hearts towards God, placing us in His divine presence, and then allowing us to set the book aside and rest in His love. When we can do that, we have been given the gift of piety. - - - Fr. Jim