This weekend we hear the most famous “sermon” of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount. This is often quoted as the most inspirational talk that Jesus gave. The Gospel writer Matthew in a sense uses this talk as the first sermon which Jesus offered. In his Gospel Matthew uses an image of Jesus as the Great Moses and thus he has Jesus give a great talk on a mountainside. Moses delivered the Ten Commandments from a mountainside and in Matthew, Jesus delivers His Beatitudes from a mountainside. The following four weeks of readings from the Gospel of Matthew are actually a continuation of the Great Sermon on the Mount. These coming four weeks are in a various sense an explanation of the Great Sermon. Sometimes a speech which is eloquent and brief needs to be explained by many other small speeches.

Dear Parishioners,
I have made great improvement in recovery. I decided that it was better to offer you a Reflection from a few years past because I am not yet functioning at full capacity. Recovery takes time.

Thanks and God bless, Father Brian.

Pastoral Reflections:

We launch out this Sunday on our Church’s yearlong proclamation and reflection upon on the Gospel according to Matthew is proclaimed to us each Sunday for the thirty-three Sundays in Ordinary Time. This Gospel directly links Jesus to the Old Testament. The narrative of the nativity of Jesus always adds frequently the refrain: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet …” (Matthew 1:22). Thus in today’s Gospel reading, Matthew tells us that Jesus carries out his mission to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy.

Dear Parishioners,
Some of us practice medicine without a license or any formal medical education. I am an excellent diagnostician for others, but very poor one for myself. Some of you may be aware that I had a health emergency at the past Sunday’s NOON Mass. I had a near fainting spell. I was taken to the hospital where I was diagnosed with COVID. I thought I was recovering from the Flu. So my apologies to the people who were alarmed, my gratitude to those who expressed concern and said a little pray for me. I am now recovering, but will allow a doctor to diagnose me from now on.
God bless. Fr. Brian

PS: Below is a Reflection from a few years ago on the Baptism of the Lord Sunday.

We are now between the liturgical seasons of Christmas and Lent, celebrating the season of Ordinary Time. (The Christmas season ended on January 9 with the Baptism of the Lord, and Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22.) The season of Ordinary Time gets its name from the fact that the Sundays are numbered (ordinal); the name does not imply that the season is “run-of-the-mill” or just plain and “blah”. These few weeks, and the weeks of Ordinary Time that return after the Easter Season is complete, give us the opportunity to learn about discipleship and experience Jesus’ life and teachings.

Although the story of the Three Kings on this Feast of the Epiphany is that they presented gifts to Jesus, in a special sense the story is really about starting with the Three Kings and then all of us are also receiving a gift this feast day: the appearance of the Infant Jesus among us throughout the world. Recall that Jesus had appeared to a few shepherds in Bethlehem, symbolically the Chosen people and He now appears to the Three Kings, consequently symbolically He appears to all of us throughout all time. There is also a subtle and second lesson for us in the story of the Magi, the Three Kings that we must go after and seek this New-Born King Jesus in our lives.

Since I was a young boy January 1st has had in our Church Tradition many and various Feast Names and Titles, however it appears that the only one which has stayed consistent though time is the secular one: New Year’s Day. I recall when January 1st was the Feast Holy Name of Jesus, the Feast of the Circumcision or the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. Pope Paul suggested that the proper Mass to celebrate on this day was the Mass for Peace. All in all it has been considered a Day of Obligation for Catholics despite the various names. I would suspect that sometime we are in search of a title or name for an event and the obvious is just too obvious for us. Why would we make something clear when it can be obscured? I would suggest that it is a wonderful and great truth to gather on the first day of the new calendar year and ask for God’s protection and grace for our loved ones and ourselves. Expressing dependence and connection with our God on the first day of a new year is a wonderful step in our journey of life. It may help to give focus and definition to our coming year that we invoked God’s blessing for us as we stepped into our new year.