Monthly Archives: October 2013

O God, Be Merciful to Me a Sinner

Posted on October 27, 2013 by deacondsm

HOMILY

Preached at Holy Sepulcher Parish on October 26 and 27, 2013 for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C at the 6:00PM (Vigil), 8:00AM and 5:30PM Masses

I bought a pressure washer recently.  I wanted one so that I could clean my deck and siding.  It works great, but I haven’t really used it yet except to clean a bird bath and some garden gnomes, despite having it for a month or so.  Who knew there were some many makes and models to choose from: gas or electric; cold or hot water; residential, commercial, or industrial.  Luckily I found a website that compared the prices and the pluses and minuses of all the available features of hundreds of different pressure washers so that I could buy the right one. Continue reading →

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Spiritual Multitasking

Posted on October 20, 2013 by deacondsm

BULLETIN

Published as a column in the Holy Sepulcher Bulletin for October 20, 2013

Today’s readings focus on two important keys for our spiritual life: Scripture and prayer.  Sacred Scripture is important because it gives “wisdom for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” and helps us to be “competent, equipped for every good work” as Paul tells Timothy in the second reading.  Prayer is so important that Jesus teaches the disciples in today’s gospel about “the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.”  But how can we find time to obtain wisdom and deepen our faith through Scripture or pray without becoming weary in our already busy lives?  The answer is something that we are probably already doing – multitasking!

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McKenzie Jane

Posted on October 13, 2013 by deacondsm

BAPTISM

Holy Sepulcher October 13, 2013 11:45AM

Baptism Holy Sepulcher

Baptism Holy Sepulcher

I baptized McKenzie Jane, daughter of Kara and Michael, who were celebrating on this very same day their one year anniversary of their marriage at Holy Sepulcher.

May the almighty God bless you and your parents now and forever.  Amen!

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Celebrating Thanksgiving Every Day

Posted on October 13, 2013 by deacondsm

BULLETIN

Published as a column in the Holy Sepulcher Bulletin for October 13, 2013

Thanksgiving is coming up soon!  It is November 28 this year, just over a month away.  How are your preparations coming along?  For Canadians Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October, Monday of this week, so their preparations should be just about completed.  For practicing Jews Thanksgiving is not a day, but a week-long festival called Sukkot (pronounced Sue Coat, also known as the Festival of Tabernacles) whose date moves much like Easter does for Christians, and is held sometime between September and October.  It ended on September 25 this year, so they have already cleaned up and finished for the year.  Today’s gospel reminds us that Thanksgiving should not be a holiday or festival that lasts just a day or a week.  Today’s gospel calls us to regular Thanksgiving.

Continue reading →

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Having Faith in the Slow Work of God

Posted on October 6, 2013 by deacondsm

BULLETIN

Published as a column in the Holy Sepulcher Bulletin for October 6, 2013

Often during Sunday homilies priests and deacons do not cover the Old Testament readings in any detail, if at all, because the gospel is the most important reading and so it gets most, if not all, of the attention.  So I thought I would devote some time in the bulletin this week with an Old Testament reading that I believe speaks very well to us in 2013.  In today’s first reading we hear from Habakkuk (rhymes with “have a look”), a prophet who was upset about what was happening in the world around him.  Today’s reading, as in much of the short book of Habakkuk, we hear the prophet complaining very directly to God: Continue reading →

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