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The Seeds of Abraham

In 15 Audio on 2015/07/10 at 12:00 AM

http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/file_index.asp?SeriesId=7092&pgnu=1

1. Abraham Part I
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham01.mp3
Abram – God’s call/his weakness and fidelity
2. Abraham Part II
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham02.mp3
Abram – Living the Promise of God
3. Abraham Part III
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham03.mp3
Abraham – New Covenant with Abraham
4. Abraham Part IV
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham04.mp3
Abraham – Isaac
5. Abraham Part V
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham05.mp3
Isaac – Jacob and Essau
6. Isaac
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham06.mp3
Isaac – Jacob and Essau II
7. Jacob Part I
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham07.mp3
Jacob waits for Rachel (Jacob the trickster is tricked.)
8. Jacob Part II
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham08.mp3
Conflicts in the family
9. Jacob Part III
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham09.mp3
Problems Jacob and his family encounter on their return
10. Joseph
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham10.mp3
Joseph is sold into slavery
11. Joseph Part II
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham11.mp3
Joseph in slavery – The Lord is with him
12. Joseph Part III
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham12.mp3
Joseph meets his brothers
13. Joseph Part IV
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham13.mp3
Joseph reconciles with his brothers
14. Joseph Part V
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham14.mp3
The death of Jacob
15. Moses Part I
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham15.mp3
The killing of Hebrew boys and the birth of Moses in the book of Exodus
16. Moses Part II
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham16.mp3
Moses’ call
17. Moses Part III
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham17.mp3
Moses meets Aaron and the people and begins to lead his people
18. Moses Part IV
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham18.mp3
Pharoah’s heart hardens
19. Moses Part V
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham19.mp3
Pharaoh lets Yawheh’s people go
20. Moses Part VI
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham20.mp3
The First Born of Yahweh begin their journey
21. Moses Part VII
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham21.mp3
Yahweh delivers the Israelites and leads them through the desert
22. Moses Part VIII
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham22.mp3
Travels and reunion with Jethro
23. Moses Part IX
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham23.mp3
The law
24. Moses and idolatry
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham25.mp3
The golden calf and the founding of the priestly class of the Levites
25. Moses and Our Lord
Host – Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.		 seedofabraham26.mp3
The presence of the Lord passes by Moses

 
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What the Mass Is About

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2015/07/10 at 12:00 AM

 

As I’ve mentioned a few times in the past several months, it is my hope that we will be able to raise enough money with our capital campaign not only to pay off our debt, but also pay for a mural on the apse wall of the sanctuary.
Specifically, I’m working with an artist right now to create a scene of Heaven. The mural will show Jesus as the Paschal Lamb standing atop an altar, surrounded by angels who are holding the instruments of His Passion and death.
Looking down from above will be God the Father and the Holy Spirit, while to the sides – coming before our Lord in adoration – will be various biblical figures and saints.
The reason why I want our mural to be a scene of Heaven is because I want Heaven and the gift of salvation to be ever before your minds whenever you are here in this church.
Heaven is precisely what we should be meditating on whenever we come to Mass! Indeed, the Mass, by its very nature, is ordered toward getting us to Heaven.
The Mass is not simply some ritual that we follow as Catholics. At Mass our Lord’s salvific actions on Calvary are re-presented to us in an unbloody fashion. That gift of salvation that won for us on Good Friday and revealed on Easter Sunday is given to us once again.
Because of this, every thing in the Mass should point us to, remind us of, and prepare us for Heaven. The music, the reverence by which the Mass is offered, and even the church building itself should in some way point us to Heaven.
To be sure: the Mass is about salvation! And St. Paul reminds us today of the primacy of salvation in his 1st Letter to St. Timothy today. He tells us that God “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.”
Think about that for a second: God Almighty – He Who is the Creator of all things – desires that each and every one of us be saved and go to Heaven. That is His explicit will.
Hopefully this isn’t news to any of you, but nonetheless, it is always good to be reminded of this very profound and hopeful truth. Our God is a God who saves – Who desires that all of His children enjoy eternal life.
This is a truth that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has been championing repeatedly during his short time as Christ’s Vicar. Certainly, the message of salvation is the context within which his recent interview that came out this week must be understood.
Some of you may have seen the headlines in the past few days about the lengthy interview that the Holy Father gave last month to a fellow Jesuit.
Unfortunately, the New York Times and other news outlets have predictably distorted and misinterpreted his comments about abortion and gay marriage to serve their liberal agenda.
Their news stories make it seem that these were the only topics he discussed in this interview, and that he was critical of the Church’s stance on these issues.
But if you read what the Holy Father actually said, you’ll find that while he does mention both abortion and gay marriage, he doesn’t question the Church’s teachings at all.
He merely states that helping people to salvation requires that we look at more than just these issues, and that we, as a Church, keep in mind the woundedness of each person and seek to heal those wounds as we try to introduce them to the truths of our Faith.
Indeed, what the Holy Father said in the interview was really quite beautiful. In particular he picked up on what we hear from St. Paul today as the primary duty of the Church: the proclamation that Jesus Christ has redeemed us!
The Holy Father states in this interview that before we can talk to people about their mortal sins or engage the world on controversial issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and contraception, we must first preach Christ as merciful savior.
If people do not first believe in God or in their absolute need for His grace, then there’s very little chance that they will listen to the Church’s moral teachings.
Thus, the primary work of the Church today is the New Evangelization: the re-presenting of the Good News of the Gospel to a world that has largely forgotten it. The Church first and foremost must be the agent of God’s mercy and love.
But this is not simply the work of bishops and priests; it is the work of all of us.
Every single one of us who is a baptized believer must take on the task of proclaiming JesusChrist as the savior to a world that is drowning in disorder and chaos, and is therefore so inneed of His mercy.
Just this week alone we saw two more cases of mass killings in our country: in Washington,DC, and in Chicago. I submit to you that these incidents are not isolated, randomoccurrences, but are rather the fruit of the moral chaos that is reigning in our country.
And in the face of these terrible events, it is all the more important that we, as Christians,constantly proclaim Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation to the world around us.
Our first reading today speaks of our dealings with the poor, while the Gospel reminds us ofthe importance of being a good steward.
I think the poorest people in this world are those who do not know Christ and are enmeshedin terrible sin, and therefore we must not to neglect them. I also think that while it’s very important for us to be good stewards of our time, talent, and treasure, it’s even more important that we be good stewards of our faith!
If we have been baptized, we have received the gift of faith. And it’s so very necessary that we practice our faith so that it will grow and mature. But it’s also so very necessary that we share our faith with others so that they, too, might come to a saving knowledge of Christ!
If we consider those who do not know Christ as Savior, or those who have rejected Him, to be the poorest people in the world, then it makes so much sense that we should be willing to share the riches of our faith with them.
Pope Francis did not say that we should back away from the truths of important issues like abortion, gay marriage, or contraception. His point was that we must first help people enter into a relationship with Jesus so that they will be better able to receive His teachings.
Truly, helping a person to know Christ so that they might experience His saving mercy and compassionate forgiveness that He so willingly extends to all of us is the greatest gift that we can give anyone. It is the most charitable thing that any of us can do.
But we can only give this gift of faith if we are strong in faith ourselves, which means being in a relationship with Jesus ourselves through prayer. It also means being knowledgeable of and obedient to our Church’s teachings.
And it means having the courage to share our faith with others when given the opportunity.
My brothers and sisters, our world may seem very dark right now. But Jesus Christ is ourlight and our salvation! May we who received the light of Christ at our baptism keep this flame of faith alive in our hearts.
May we keep our eyes always on Heaven, and may we use this flame of faith to set the worldon fire with love for God!

22 September 2013

© Reverend Timothy Reid

Fr. Reid is the pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC

Homilies from June 17, 2012 onward have audio.
To enable the audio, lease go directly to Fr. Reid’s homily homilies and select the matching date.

Link to Homilies:
http://stanncharlotte.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=8&Itemid=61

 

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Fr. Conrad L. Kimbrough – Part II Episcopalian

In 12 Converts on 2015/07/03 at 12:00 AM

Just shortly before I became a Catholic, a man came to Steven’s Point, to speak at a dinner meeting.  I don’t remember how I happened to get in on it because it was certainly a Catholic gathering.   After dinner I went up and talked with the man who was there, and I was astounded about how much he knew about the Episcopal Church.   And then I went to a Mass celebrated by that man.  I got way up in the bleachers — it was in a high school gymnasium, because there was no church big enough to hold the crowds.  I was not able to receive communion, of course, so I just got out of everyone’s way and sat in the top bleacher.  Then as the procession went by, I heard a voice say “Father Kimbrough,  come down”.  So I lept over the bleachers, coming all the way down to the floor.  And, there I was introduced to the man who was to be, within a year, Pope John Paul II.  I thought all the way down, what do I do.  What do I say to this man and without ever coming to a decision, when I reached the bottom of the floor, I genuflected and kissed his ring.  I knew that was not being done any more, but it was such an overwhelming thing, that I just did it.  Finally, coming to a conclusion about what to do.  It was from that time on I knew my decision was made.  I had to become a Catholic.  I also at the same time met the bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, Bishop Fredrick Frecking.  He did say to me: “I can’t promise that you will become a Priest.”  I said:  “I don’t expect you to promise me anything.  I just have to be a Catholic.”  So he invited me over to his residence, and he received me into the church and then had a reception and dinner, with several priests.  He was most kind. And he asked me if I could report to the seminary in three weeks.  Now generally speaking it takes several years of being a Catholic before one can go to a seminary    But because my mother was ill, the Bishop wanted me to go home to  see her and then come back and report to the seminary.  So, three weeks after becoming a Catholic, I was a seminarian in the Catholic Church.  I went to the seminary of the Sacred Heart, near Milwaukee.

I was there three months and then I was told that I was through.    So I returned to N.C.  There were several options, I could have stayed in Wisconsin.  But that plan was cut short by my Episcopal Bishop, who called the Catholic Bishop of Green Bay and told him to call the Catholic Bishop of La Crosse  and tell him “to get rid of me.”  So in order not to stir up trouble,  he just offered me money to go to N.C. to talk with both bishops in North Carolina.  I really had no interest in being in the diocese of Raleigh, so I went to Charlotte. I remember the afternoon, I reported there.  My Bishop had said he would get in touch with the Bishop in Charlotte. But when I showed up at the Bishops door he said, “Who are you?”  I told him and explained things, and he said:  “Come back on Friday”. And that was on a Wednesday, so I came back on Friday. He said I am making you an ‘assistant’ at St Ann’s.  I don’t think I ever did know what I was assistant of, I was just an assistant.

I continued to be called Father Kimbrough.  It was very strange when the announcement came out that Father Kimbough will be ordained Deacon next Saturday.

I was ordained by Bishop Begley, at St. Anne’s church. He wanted to keep it quiet as instructions were from Rome. He said I will ordain you in the Convent chapel, the Sisters’ Chapel there  at St. Ann’s church.  I thought that was fine with me, but during the prostration in the Litany, my feet would be out in the hall because the chapel was so small.  Well, it turned out that Father Anthony and the Bishop both realized that it would not work to have the ordination there,  so it was in the main church.  I was astounded by the number of people that came to the Ordination.  The first ordination was to the Deaconate and more astounding was the Ordination to the Priesthood.   I found out later that when I prostrated in front of the Altar, during the singing of the litany, many of my Baptist relatives thought that I had fainted and they wondered why nothing was being done about it. We got on through the ordination.

One of the Priests said to me:  “You certainly were calm during the ordination, and I said: “Certainly,  I have been through this four times — so I guess I should be calm”.

The day I was ordained,  I was given an appointment to Lenoir N.C.  I fell in with a group of clergy who met next door at the United Church of Christ, and thoroughly enjoyed their company.   We met every Wednesday and had a paper given or talked about problems and then went to lunch together.   I really loved Lenoir and hated to leave, when the time came, for my appointment to Lincolnton, N.C.

I was the only one of the clergy in Lenoir that was really happy in the town. They all wanted to leave, but, I would have been content to stay there the rest of my life, at the beautiful  St Francis of Asissi Church.  But in due time,  I was sent to Lincolnton.   I loved Lincolnton because of the great family spirit in the parish. I was there for not quite two years,  actually, when I was sent to Hendersonville, N.C.   I enjoyed Hendersonville.  Every time I left a parish, it was in real pain.  I kept being transferred.  Then to St. Benedict’s Greensboro for eight years where nine young men became priests and two young women became nuns.  I was at St. Dorothy’s in Denver, N.C. for about four years.

Finally, I came to my retirement.   I became a Catholic when I was almost 50 years old, so I had served  about 25 years as a Catholic Priest.

In retirement I returned to Salisbury to my family home.

Continued

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