Saturday – 13th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Matthew 9:14-17

Celebrate!

A Joyful Day!

The Pharisees in today’s Gospel are complaining to Jesus that His disciples do not fast like any fine upstanding Jews.  Jesus’ reply is a reminder to us all that, even in the midst of fear and sadness, we should not avoid celebrating those times of joy, those moments in life that call for laughter and child-like wonder.

Quite the celebration 2 days ago for my 75th birthday!  And for those asking, no, I don’t feel even close to 75.  What made my birthday extra special was that I got to share the moment with my sister Mary.  I can’t remember the last time I was able to celebrate with my mom, brother or sisters.  So, this was extra special, a real family event.  And it wasn’t about presents or gift cards!  It was about smiles and stories!  It was about sharing memories and a meal!  And in the midst of all the strife in the world and the challenges in our daily lives, it was a reminder of all the things that we so often take for granted – family, friends, and the simple gift of being together.

Are you happy?  Do you really feel like celebrating? Does your whole family still gather to celebrate like you’ve done in the past?  We are living in a time of divisive language and rhetoric, a time of unrest, and fear and dis-connectedness.  What the heck is there to celebrate?  But Jesus reminds us today that there are times when we NEED to celebrate, to remind ourselves of who we are and all that we have – friends, family, the gift of life and love, the beauty of nature granted by the Creator, the freedom to speak our mind and practice our faith, the simple gifts of food on the table and a place to lay our heads. 

Whether it’s a family birthday or simply gathering with our families and celebrating their presence in our lives, don’t let the worries of the world stop you from celebrating!  If for no other reason, we all need a moment to smile, to appreciate our family and friends, to celebrate being a husband, father, grandfather, son and brother, deacon and mentor, friend and teacher, and to be grateful for the many gifts of the Creator.

Gitchi Manitou (Great Spirit), keep us free today, free of fear and stress and sadness.  Bring joy to our hearts and gratitude to our souls. Aho!

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 5, 2025 at 10:15 PM

    Happy Birthday 2 days ago, Deacon Bill! Sounds like it was fun!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Tuesday - Third Week of Easter Gospel – John 6:30-35 Knead to Know Cooking Class Over the past month or so, I gathered together a couple groups of my altar servers for a cooking class!   They learned not only my recipe for zucchini chocolate chip muffins but how to make them from scratch!   And, YES, they took home their finished products, or at least the muffins they didn’t wolf down as soon as they came out of the oven!   It was a fun, wonderful (and messy) experience!   Who knew that cracking eggs and measuring out flour could be so ‘untidy’.   But it brought home the lesson that, in order to get those yummy muffins, it takes time, effort and a heaping cup of patience. And it reminded me not only of their loyal service but those long months of Covid when they missed their Mass ministry.   So from time to time during the pandemic, I stayed in touch with them by dropping off goodie bags filled with chocolate chip cookies, zucchini chocolate ...
Read more
Image
  Feast of the Presentation Gospel – Luke 2:22-40 We Are Family Church of St. Joseph, Nazareth 5 extremely short stories to start the day! Once all the people in a village decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith. When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That is trust. Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but we still set the alarm to wake up. That is hope. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That is confidence. We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That is love. Faith, hope, love, confidence and trust!   Sounds like a perfect list of values/virtues for a happy family! Today’s Gospel tells us of another family – the Holy Family going up to Jerusalem with the baby Jesus to present Him to the Lord in ...
Read more
Image
  Second Sunday of Easter   Gospel – John 20:19-31 Faith and Family Us Decades ago, when Jaime was maybe 7 or 8 years old, I was having some stomach issues, bad enough to spend some time in the hospital to figure out what was going on.   Finally, one morning, with Jaime and Ginger in the room, the doctor comes rushing in to tell me in these overly blunt words – you have cancer, we will perform surgery today and start you on chemo treatments tomorrow!   After I got over the initial shock, I basically had 2 reactions!   First, how dare you blurt out such a diagnosis with our little daughter in the room without even consulting us beforehand.   How disrespectful! How insensitive!   And secondly, my personal health, or lack thereof, was the last thing on my mind.   All that mattered to me was Ginger and Jaime and how all this would affect them! Some things never change!   Truth be told, after all that stress and worry, his diagnosi...
Read more