Deacon Mark Dillon's Blog

This past March, while Philadelphia enjoyed summer-like weather, several states were rocked by a series of devastating tornados. You may remember the stories about it in the national news. As one tornado thundered across Indiana, Stephanie Decker gathered her son Dominic and daughter Reese into the basement of their home. She huddled them under a comforter and then laid her body on top of them.  When the winds of the tornado hit their house they were blowing at 175 miles-per-hour.  The house was leveled in seconds and debris rained down on top of Stephanie.

After the tornado passed Stephanie realized that she couldn’t move.  But her children were unhurt.  She sent 8 year old Dominic to get help and, within minutes, a neighbor found Stephanie under a pile of rubble.  Her legs were crushed by the aftermath of the storm.

Stephanie remembers every terrifying moment of that ordeal – right up to the point of being rushed to the local hospital for emergency surgery.  When she woke up from the surgery, having suffered 7 broken ribs and the loss of her left foot and right leg, her husband Joe told her that she was a hero: their children were alive because of her self-sacrificing love for them.  Breaking down in tears Stephanie said it was just her instinctive reaction to protect the childred she loves so much.  There was nothing she wouldn’t do to keep them safe.  As long as they were safe, she said, she was OK with anything that happened to her.

Stephanie will be the first to tell you that she’s no hero.  She much prefers the simple title of “mom” – because she believes that title fits her best.

The love a mother has for her children mirrors the love God has for his Son and for all of us, His children. If a parent could love her children so much that she is willing to face death to protect them – think about how much more than that God loves his only Son.

Now here’s the part that is truly astounding:  We are so loved by God that he was willing to sacrifice his only Son, Jesus, for our salvation.  It’s hard to fathom the depth of love it takes to do that for us. That’s why St. John tells us: “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to free us from our sins.”

That’s the point Jesus wants us to understand today when he said: “I told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”    Christ’s self-emptying love makes it possible for us to understand and experience the joy that comes from sharing our love in the way Jesus shares his. By appreciating the depth of Our Lord’s love for us, we know how to share our love with others, even if it sometimes requires a very personal sacrifice.

Stephanie Decker knows that love is not something we possess – it possesses us. She got it!  When Jesus tells us that “…it was not you who chose me, but I who chose you,” he is telling us that we are the ones, now, and forever who are possessed in his love.   The love Christ has for us is found in the complete giving of himself on the cross.  Not just for those who believe – but for everyone.  In Jesus there is no partiality or favorites – his love possesses us!  All of us—you, me, and everyone!

“Love one another as I love you.”  To do that means we must love without conditions or limitations.  It means loving without judging or measuring or expecting a return for sharing our love with others. It means emptying our self in the way Jesus did in order to experience the love that possesses us to put aside our own wants and place the needs of those we love first, regardless of the sacrifice demanded of us.

To love, St. John tells us, is to know God; and it’s in sharing Christ’s love that we come to know the Father.

This weekend we commemorate Mother’s Day as we approach the end of the Easter season. What better time is there to share the joy of God’s love for us with someone you know?
-  Take a few minutes to think about the times in your life you’ve encountered the depths of God’s love.
-  Then think about who you would most want to share that love with right now;  And ask yourself:

-  What do I have to do to make that happen?

The answer to that last question is simple. The only thing you need to do to is to keep Our Lord’s command:

“Love one another as I love you.”

Students assigned a “good” teacher were 1.25% more likely to attend and graduate from a 4 year college.  They will earn, on average, $25,000 -$50,000 more in their lifetime and will be less likely to become pregnant or to father a child as a teenager. Interesting enough, the study also showed that students assigned a poorly rated 4^th grade teacher had an experience that was equivalent to missing 2 days of school every week of the school year.

Jesus the Good Shepherd teaches us a lesson in leadership that’s centered on serving others.  In St. John’s gospel Our Lord gives us a model of selfless service to follow. The good 4^th grade teacher is very much like Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  Good teachers place service (in the work of educating our children) ahead of the stature associated with more glamorous occupations.  They know each of their students on a personal level and go out of their way to help struggling students keep up with the rest of the class. Good teachers, like good shepherds, tirelessly help everyone in the class succeed and they never play favorites.  Although their efforts may be unseen to others, the shepherding results achieved by a good teacher are clearly visible.

Each of us at times needs the reassuring guidance of Jesus, our shepherd in our life. But sometimes he calls us to be shepherds to others who need our direction, our care or our protection. Our Lord asks us to recognize that the gifts and abilities we’ve received from God have been entrusted to us to fulfill our own vocation as a ‘good shepherd’ to our brothers and sisters.

As parents, we shepherd our children in developing the moral values they need to live a good life and avoid the wolf-like perils of sin in the world.  At times, we are the voice of the shepherd warding off those who target the rights of the unborn and the helpless in our society.  We embody the care and concern of Jesus, the good shepherd, when we freely give of our self in taking care of those who are isolated from us by sickness or despair.

It’s no coincidence that the Church has designated today as “World Day of Prayer for
Vocations.”  We need more shepherds! We often think that praying for vocations means praying for someone else to accept the call to the pastoral service of a religious or priestly life.  But it’s much more than that.  Today we also offer our prayers for each other, the “lay” shepherds of the world: the teachers, the doctors, policemen, parents, civil servants, volunteers and everyone who places some part of their life at the service of others.

The task of shepherding is selfless and demanding work. Jesus asks us to be the visible
face of the Good Shepherd in the world. He challenges us to move beyond our fears and self-interests by bringing his compassion and concern to those who need it – our family, our friends, and our neighbors.

As you think about how God has asked you to help him in shepherding his flock
-      Consider whether your actions are more like those of a good shepherd or of a hired hand,

-      Ask God to give his wisdom and perseverance to the men and women who have dedicated their lives to doing His work in the world, and

-      Pray that each of us will heed the call to our own “shepherding” vocation.

We have the model of Jesus the Good Shepherd to follow. And if we follow it, like the good 4^th grade teacher, each one of us can make a dramatic difference in the lives of those entrusted to our care.

I recently read an article about a high school science teacher in a small Midwest town who assigned her students a project.  It was relatively straight-forward: collect a sample of 20 leaves from area trees and write a report on what can be known by observing the leaves. The teacher gave her students only one instruction: All of their work had to be original and not lifted from published sources.

When the projects were turned in the teacher discovered that 28 of her 116 students “cut and pasted” into their reports material obtained from Wikipedia.  She gave each of those students an “F” which meant some of them would fail the course.

Well, this riled the parents of the offending students. A group of parents complained to the school board and threatened a lawsuit. Bowing to their pressure, the school board ordered the teacher to ignore the use of outside sources, re-grade the projects and change the grades given to those students.  To her credit, the teacher refused to do so and resigned.

Appearing before the school board at its next public meeting the teacher said: “This is not just about a science project.  We’re teaching more than that.  We’re teaching these students to be honest people, to have integrity, and to be good citizens. We should not expect or accept anything less.”  Sadly, her plea fell on deaf ears.  After the meeting the teacher was stopped by one of the students who cheated on the project.  That student just sneered at the teacher and said…“we won!”

Like it or not, we live in a society that places personal advancement and material gain ahead of being true to our beliefs and values.  It’s all too easy to rationalize moral wrongs (like cheating) by believing “everybody does it” so it must be alright to do.  How often does society praise the person who passionately tries to win at any cost, while ridiculing the one who lives with integrity by professing his beliefs in what he says and what he does? Both of those people have the same level of passion for what they do, but only one mirrors the integrity we try to teach our children.

Accepting attitudes and actions that we know are wrong gradually destroys personal, social and political integrity.  By silently condoning actions that lack the conviction of our beliefs we are slowly led to the edge of a moral abyss. That’s just what Jesus is reacting to in today’s Gospel.

Merchants who pursue self-interests and profits have turned his Father’s temple into nothing more than ‘common space’ that disregarded its sacredness.  That gets our Lord really passionate. He is outraged by the desecration of the temple and by merchants who cheat the poor.  He acts passionately and deliberately to restore the integrity of the Temple and return it to its true purpose.

Living a Christian life means it’s not enough for us to just “go through the motions.”  Getting ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday lacks integrity if we aren’t prepared to follow-through by living the words God speaks to us: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Real integrity demands that we become passionate, just like Jesus was passionate, in putting our beliefs into practice; by doing and supporting what we know to be right.

What Jesus did in the temple we should do in our lives:  Drive away the merchants who try to sell us on beliefs and values that are contrary to what we know is ‘right’.  Get rid of the  modern day money-changers who never miss a chance to short-change us by suggesting it’s ok to make our lives less than what God created them to be.

Like the high school science teacher, we need to withstand the challenges of those who demand that we accept behavior and actions that we know are wrong. If we truly believe in respecting the dignity of each person — do we show it in how we interact with our coworkers; in how we honor our marriage vows; or by how we select our leaders?  Our actions need to profess what we believe.

Lent is a time of personal scrutiny; a time to take a deeper look at how we live our life and to address the things we may have done that compromised our integrity.  It’s a time to consider how we can put into practice, here and now, the values demonstrated by Jesus in the Temple. It’s a time to repent and cleanse our personal temples.

As we near the half-way point of this holy season of Lent, spend a few minutes with your family talking about this Sunday’s scripture readings. Reflect on:

- The Ten Commandments God gave Moses for the salvation of his people;

- The psalm that directs us to where we will find the words of everlasting life and;

- The Gospel zeal for living in a way that is faithful to our beliefs.

Then we may more clearly see and understand how Jesus calls each one of us to live with personal integrity by practicing what we believe.

“They were astounded and glorified God saying: We have never seen anything like this.” 

I hope you paid close attention to Sunday’s readings because this is one of those weeks when each reading clearly reveals the depth of God’s love for us. In the gospel we just heard, Jesus uses a miracle at Capernaum to show us his unconditional love and the promise of new possibilities.  Jesus’ healing of the paralytic gave the man a fresh start and a chance to experience again the goodness of life.  

Of course I’m not speaking about the physical healing that came through the word of Jesus.  I’m talking about the miracle of the spiritual and emotional healing of the paralyzed man as Jesus forgave his sins and, in doing so, revealed the mercy and love that is God.  

The scribes in Sunday’s Gospel were right in saying that only God alone can forgive sins. Jesus didn’t perform this miracle just for the benefit of a paralyzed man lying on a mat in some far-away place over 2,000 years ago.  He did it for us… here in King of Prussia, and for all people throughout the centuries.    By physically healing the paralytic Jesus gave us a visible sign of the invisible reality that he truly is the Son of God with the authority to forgive sins. 

Our Lord gave his apostles and their successors the power to do the same for us. Our priests bring the miracle of God’s divine forgiveness to us every day in the sacrament of confession.  With faith and a contrite heart, we too receive the grace of God’s forgiveness and the gift of a fresh start in our relationship with Him and our brothers and sisters.                                                                                 

Each of today’s readings shows us how to experience that miracle for ourselves.  Acknowledge our sins – ask for forgiveness — and trust in God’s mercy and love. When we prayed the responsorial psalm we admitted that we are sinners saying : “Lord heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.”  

That’s often the hardest part in reconciling with someone: asking for their forgiveness.  Maybe we’ve become distant and separated by the pressures of work or have been preoccupied with worldly concerns.  Perhaps we got so caught up in chasing our own ambitions that we ignored our responsibilities to family and friends. In all honesty, each of us knows our own sins.  We know why we need to be forgiven. Admitting that we’ve done something wrong that damaged our relationship with God (or others) takes a lot of courage and humility. 

As a worshiping community we have the courage to ask for God’s forgiveness at everyday at Mass.  In the Eucharistic prayer, we pray to God the Father affirming our trust in His mercy and the certainty that he will welcome us back no matter what our offense. Listen to a part of that prayer: 

“To us also, your servants, who though we are sinners hope in your abundant mercies, admit us, we beseech you, into the company of your saints…not weighing our merits but granting us your pardon.” 

The weight of sin sometimes leads us to question our own self-worth – believing we are not “holy” enough to be forgiven. You know, Jesus never asked anyone if they were “holy enough” before he forgave them their sins. He didn’t heal the paralytic on the condition that he change his life and become more “holy.”  Our Lord always forgives unconditionally. It’s the realization of having been forgiven – having been spiritually healed- that prompts us to be holy and change our life for the better.    

In the first reading on Sunday, Isaiah told us that God was wearied by our sins. But, because he loves us so much, he is “doing something new” – providing a way for us to make it through the deserts of life and be refreshed in the river of his mercy.  That way is the grace that comes through the sacrament of reconciliation.  When we ask God for his mercy, he puts behind him all of our offenses; and as Isaiah said, “Our sins He remembers no more!”  In the sacrament of reconciliation we receive that miracle of healing.  

Wednesday of this week is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  It’s a time when we are asked to turn away from sin and seek the forgiveness of God and neighbor; a time to repair broken relationships as we prepare to celebrate Our Lord’s victory over sin and death.  What better time to trust in God’s mercy and ask for his pardon and peace? 

Make it a point during Lent to personally experience Our Lord’s timeless miracle as he, through the ministry of the church, absolves us from our sins. 

Then we too can join the people of Capernaum in glorifying God saying: 

“We have never seen anything like this.”

God bless you.

Deacon Mark

A couple of weeks ago I had to drive into the city in the early hours of the morning – just before sunrise.  While I was driving I noticed the stars, which were so bright in the darkness of the night, slowly fading away in the pre-dawn light. As I rounded the famous Conshohocken curve, I was met by the dazzling brightness of the sun as it broke above the horizon. Its brilliance was captivating as it revealed the beauty of creation in its light.  I couldn’t help but think: The light of the Sun — what a wonderful gift from God.

In our Christmas gospel St. John testifies to the eternal gift that God has given us this day; the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world. “What came to be through him was life,” St. John tells us, “and this life was the light of the human race, the light … [that] darkness has not overcome.”  This is the good news announced today by the angels of heaven. Jesus — the Word of God, who in the beginning was with God and was God — is in the world today and through him we have life.  So, rejoice and be glad!

Jesus, the Father’s only Son, was sent to us in the fullness of time for a purpose.  He was born into our world so that we might be reconciled to the Father and, by the light of his life, be shown the way to his kingdom.  The light of Christ reveals to us so many of the gifts God gives to us for our salvation: Gifts such as faith, hope and the greatest Gift of all — His love for us.

-   Our faith is the gift that brings us into a loving, personal relationship with God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It’s the gift of faith which allows us to hear, accept and live the word of God in our life.

-  Hope fills us with the confidence that God is always with us, accompanying us at every moment, leading us to life with him in heaven.

-   And it is by the Incarnation of Jesus, which we celebrate here today, that we are made aware of the depth of God’s love for us.  St. John also tells us in a later passage: “In this way the love of God is revealed to us: God sent his only son into the world so that we might have life through him.” When the son of God became man, Jesus gave us the model of holiness to guide us by the light of his life onto the path of our salvation.

This magnificent light of Christ came into the world for all people — rich and poor; sinners and holy men and women; believers and doubters. In celebrating his birth, we  acknowledge the saving power of Jesus, the Word of God, and reflect the light of his love for us by the way we live our life.

Throughout the Christmas season give thanks for the gifts of faith, hope and God’s love that are present in your life.  Share these gifts of Christmas with your family and friends through the example of your life.  And let the joyous news proclaimed by the angels settle in your heart and lead you to the Father through the Glory  of Jesus his Son.

On behalf of the priests and staff of Mother of Divine Providence parish, I extend to all of you our prayers for a happy and holy Christmas.  May the light of Jesus Christ shine  brightly on you and your families today and forever.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Deacon Mark

Today’s gospel of the wise and foolish virgins is Jesus’ way of telling us we need to be prepared for “the last things” of our life. If we’re not, they’ll catch us off-guard like an early autumn snowstorm.  This is not the first warning we received from Jesus telling us we need to be ready.  The daily scripture readings during the past month have told us what happens to guests who aren’t ready to join the king for his son’s wedding.  They get dealt with harshly and are barred from the banquet.  Likewise, the servant who knew his master’s will but neglected to make the necessary preparations was severely beaten for not being ready upon his masters’ return.

Jesus reminds us over and over again that the time we are given to “get ready” is finite and set.  There’s no second chances, no do-overs, no extra-time.  What a shame it would be if we squandered our allotted time in life and never fully discovered the goodness of God.

In three short weeks we come to the end of the church’s liturgical year.  That time will once again gives us another opportunity to ask: “Am I ready?”  Am I prepared to meet God face to face if my time to do so comes unexpectedly soon?  Or am I like the five foolish virgins, unprepared for the bridegroom’s appearance, to be forever locked out of the feast?

Get Ready! Like the wise virgins in today’s gospel, it’s the prudent person who prepares himself to be ready for the unexpected.  But, you may ask, just what do I do to get ready? Lucky for us we have a guide to follow if we want to understand what that means.  Just follow Jesus. Follow the example of his life by pursuing the things he pursued and practicing the things he lived while he was among us.

First and foremost, be strong and unwavering in your faith and in living your Christian beliefs.  Pope Benedict recently said that Catholics around the world need to do a better job in living the faith they teach.  That means persevering in your beliefs even when society unceasingly questions them.

Take for example our Christian belief in the sanctity of marriage which involves a covenantal union of husband and wife with God. The impulse of today’s society is to redefine marriage in order to recognize same-sex unions and temporary relationships.  This reflects a grave misunderstanding of the true meaning of marriage. Yet that’s precisely what is happening today.  We, as Christians, need to voice our concern and work to preserve the definition of marriage as it was instituted by Christ.  Marriage is the union of one man and one woman in a permanent, faithful and exclusive relationship that is  open to the conception of children.

Right now the US Senate is getting ready to vote on repealing The Defense of Marriage Act, calling it a law that is has lost its relevance to current times. We need to let our legislators know our belief that it is only in the sacred spousal union of husband and wife, and in the rearing of children who are the fruits of their parents’ marital love, that justice and the common good are preserved in society.

Being ready also means embracing the truth as Jesus taught us. Current day issues involving the sanctity of life, social justice and human equality cannot be ignored.  Turning away from what Pope John Paul II described as “the culture of death” is a necessity if we are to embrace the truth Our Lord revealed to us.

This means working to protect every member of our society, including those who are the most marginalized, voiceless and vulnerable. Supporting fair immigration laws; working for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; promoting equality of gender and race are issues that concern us all. These types of issues mattered to Jesus and they also should matter to us.

We “get ready” by living a life that matters. Christ warns us not to fall into the trap of believing there’s always time “later on” to do the things we are asked to do with our life.  Don’t let good intentions be outweighed by ambivalence. Today’s gospel illustrates how precious little time we are given to pay attention to what matters most in life. Our Lord reminds us that all things — and all situations — are temporary and can change in an instant.

Our salvation is our own personal responsibility and NOW is the time to get ready for it.  Life is preciously short and fragile and being ready is more important than watching and waiting like bridesmaids.

“The bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.  Then the door was locked.”

Get ready…”For you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Deacon Mark