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“There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord.”Isaiah 11:9The lion resting with the lamb... the leopard reclining with the kid. These are just two of the traditional images of Christmas that convey our message of peace and good will.The birth of the Christ Child is nothing less than the transformational event of our lives. We call the Infant Jesus our Savior and Prince of Peace because God is asking us to become messengers of peace, too. Are you ready to transform your world with the gift of peace?We become peacemakers by accepting the grace we received at Baptism and sharing it with a generous heart. So these are my thoughts for the second week of Advent: Do all you can to care for God’s gift of Creation... for the people who enrich your life… for the faith that sustains you... and for the possibility of peace and reconciliation that we see in the Christ Child.Friend, I look forward to a world in which the lion and the lamb lay down together. Where relationships are at peace. Where the gift of Creation is cared for and ready to be passed on to the next generation of caregivers. More than anything, Advent is the time we prepare ourselves to receive the promise of salvation. We know it’s within our grasp because God gave us the Christ Child.

Life has a way of challenging our faith. At times it seems that God is asking us to carry burdens that are more than we can bear. We yearn to see things more clearly and understand God’s purpose for us and those we love. From time to time, I admit that includes me.The first step in receiving our “God of the living” is to trust. As I wrote last week, we cannot know the inner workings of the universe. The mystery is just too vast. But we do know that in Christ we are destined for greatness as people of compassion, forgiveness, and love. We know that the Communion of Saints is our spiritual universe—holy men and women we admire for their courage and devotion, and loved ones who nurtured our faith by example.The two great feast days that we celebrated just last week—All Saints Day and All Souls Day—are a reminder that God is inviting us to eternal life. That is our calling, no matter the circumstance of our lives. And remember, too, that the good works we do as missioners—and the joy we express knowing that eternal life is ours—will be models of faith for those who follow in our footsteps. Take comfort in the words of Isaiah 55:12: “Yes, in joy you shall go forth, in peace you shall be brought home.”Friend, are you ready for sainthood? It just takes faith—and trust in God. I’ll be praying for you.

“Before the Lord, the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.”~ Wisdom 11:22Friend,The universe is almost unfathomable—more than we can imagine. It’s even more than scientists can grasp because with each discovery comes a puzzle, another awesome mystery to unpack.The human mind is naturally curious—we just want to know the intricacies of our universe. At the same time, it’s important to accept that our capabilities are finite. Understanding the overwhelming greatness of creation—and the Creator—is beyond us. That’s why we have faith.Faith allows us to see the majesty and wonder of God, and to celebrate our greatest joys. Faith also allows us to accept the complexity of our lives in the face of disappointment and loss.And there’s one more thing… Faith gives us the ability to connect the past with the future. On Friday, All Saints Day, we remembered the saints in heaven as the trailblazers who will lead us home. Yesterday, we honored our beloved deceased who modeled lives of compassion and nourished us in the Gospel. I think of these moments as markers on the timeline of our souls, preparing us for all eternity.A drop of morning dew can be as awe-inspiring as the universe itself. It’s overwhelming to us, but not to God. So rest well in your faith. Listen to the psalmist who has better wisdom than I: “Be still and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:11)Prayer for 31st Sunday in Ordinary TimeO Lord, my God, Creator, and SaviorYou rule the far distant galaxiesno less than the cells and atomsof my world and my body.The stars fill me with wonderand the sunset fills me with awe.Who am I that You should care for meor my family that You are concerned?Yet You created me and all peoplein Your divine image and likenessand became one of us throughJesus Christ that I might knowYou are ever with me by my side.For though I am but the smallest partof Your vast creation, You havebreathed in me Your spirit,called me by name andempowered me to gaze at...

When was the last time you updated your résumé?I’m kidding, of course, but not by much. The most important title any of us can have is “Compassionate Missioner,” although I imagine that’s not how you usually talk about yourself! As we begin our third week of the Church’s Extraordinary Month of Mission, I invite you to think about how you can grow as a compassionate missioner, and build up our Church along the way.Our Holy Father Pope Francis calls this a commitment to missionary formation: the process of preparing ourselves to go out into the world as disciples of the Gospel. Spending a little more time studying scripture and celebrating our sacraments and liturgies are all good ways to do that. Then let’s not forget about those who came before us: the martyrs and saints, and the role models in our own family and parishes who gave us an early appreciation for our faith. Recalling their devotion is a good way to strengthen our mission spirit.In the end, we are known by our good works... visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, and caring for the most vulnerable. Each time we express our faith this way, we are not just growing stronger as compassionate missioners. We are modeling mission for the rest of the world. May your light shine bright this week... next week... and always.P.S.: Today is Mission Sunday, a reminder that you are God’s presence in the world. We are all called to salvation in Christ. Go forth and celebrate!Next week’s mission lesson: Always practice charity.

For people of faith like us, we have a trove of inspiration to help us live our mission calling. I’m talking about the saints and martyrs—and the unsung heroes of everyday life who have crossed paths with us and left behind a blessing or two.This week, during our Extraordinary Month of Mission, our Holy Father Pope Francis asks us to deepen our faith by spending time with the missionary saints, martyrs and confessors. From the earliest days of the Church right through the present century, we can call on their examples of self-sacrifice and devotion as a guide for our own mission journey.Here are a few companions to invite into your life this week—and all the weeks that follow...St. Francis of Assisi who sacrificed status and wealth to follow the Gospel as a humble servant of the Lord.St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a patron saint of the missions thanks to her constant prayers and letters in support of missionaries. She is a reminder that it is the little things that grow God’s kingdom.The North American martyrs, eight Jesuit missioners who died heroically for their faith.St. John Paul II who said at his elevation in 1978, “Swing wide the gates to Christ...” He devoted his life to serving the poor,the oppressed, and to reconciliation among Christians.Maryknoll missioners gave us examples of selfless devotion as well. I’m thinking of Bishop Francis Xavier Ford who was martyred for his faith in Communist China. And Bishop Patrick James Byrne who died on a forced march in Korea. In more recent times, we remember the heroism of Father Vincent Capodanno, M.M., the chaplain who died serving his men on a battlefield in Vietnam.Friend, Paul’s message to the Hebrews says it all: “We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses...” This week, find your own inspiration. Then dedicate your journey to a mission hero who will lead you home.Next week’s mission lesson: Developing your personal missionary spirit.

Welcome to the Extraordinary Month of Mission!Our Holy Father Pope Francis invites each of us to practice our faith a little more deeply, with a little more fervor this month. Here’s why: In order to increase our faith, as Luke says, we must go out to others. That’s what mission is—a personal relationship with Jesus impelling us to be more and do more in his name. He is asking you to be his personal ambassador.Proclaiming mission is something we were gifted in baptism. So our Holy Father has come up with four ways—one for each week of October—to renew our mission spirit now and for the rest of our lives.

“Indeed the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”1st Letter to Timothy, Chapter 1 Verse 14In devoted service to the Mabatini region of Tanzania, Transfiguration is celebrating 15 years of evangelization. Here, practicing the Gospel values of caring and compassion are part of everyday life.

“We say, ‘Kristo anaishi hapa Mabatini,’ ”says Maryknoll Father Lam Hua (NOTE:pronounced hwah). Transfiguration’s pastor. “That means, ‘Christ is living in Mabatini!’ And he is. Our parishioners constantly transfigure Christ by caring for one another, sharing each other’s joys and difficulties, and celebrating the Sacraments. We are one family in the Lord,” says Father Lam (NOTE: pronounced Lahm).

Transfiguration began as a small mission under its founder, Maryknoll Father James E. Eble. Over the past 15 years the parish grew as more people left rural areas and migrated to the city. Today, Father Lam serves with the steady support of his assistant pastor, Father John W. Eybel (NOTE: pronounced eye-bl).Father Lam and Father John call Transfiguration a healing ministry. If you haven’t already read the story of Transfiguration in the July/August edition of Maryknoll Magazine, I encourage you to do so! Healing for the soul is oh, so evident at Sunday Mass, at charismatic celebrations, and in Transfiguration’s small Christian communities.

The parish’s public health program is a lifeline for families dealing with illness. Children with disabilities receive therapy on site and at home. Dental and vision clinics provide free or low-cost screenings. And a program that teaches health education is now available in six primary schools.

Friend, Transfiguration Parish is more than a sign that Christ lives among us. It’s a tribute to your prayers and gifts that in the words of Paul to Timothy have made God’s grace flow abundantly. Thank you for Transfiguration’s first 15 years. You have blessed us and all the people of God.Sincerely yours in Christ,
 Father Raymond J. FinchPrayer for 24th Sunday in Ordinary TimeGod of the seed and harvestYou bless the sower and reaperthat all might enjoy the fruitsof their labors of love.So too with those who workin fields afar...

“And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours:  prosper the work of our hands for us!”Psalm 90:17Today I am writing to you from Hong Kong—where I have a special mission to perform! This Thursday, the Catholic Church will remember a great and inspirational missioner whose example of love and compassion is still being felt throughout the world.  I speak with love and admiration of Maryknoll’s co-founder, Father Thomas Frederick Price.  Along with Cardinal John Tong and other dignitaries, I will concelebrate a memorial Mass for Father Price who entered eternal life on September 12, one hundred years ago.Father Price was in the first class of Maryknoll missioners who went to southern China in 1918.  Sadly, after only one year, he fell ill and died in Hong Kong, cutting short his dream of overseas mission. The impact of his all-too-brief life continues to inspire the Church—and missioners like me.  Father Price lived by the words inscribed on his tomb:  “In caritate, non ficta” or “In sincere love”—loving without prejudice, witnessing the compassion of Our Lord with an open heart.  That was Father Price.  He had genuine love for everyone he met.   From his earliest years, Father Price had a special devotion to Our Blessed Mother whose Nativity we celebrate today.  Imagine this:  In 1908, he began writing her a daily letter, sharing the challenges and joys he encountered as diocesan clergy in North Carolina—the state’s first Catholic priest! Friend, Father Price is every missioner’s inspiration to love and serve the Lord.  Today, he has the title, Servant of God, one of the first steps toward sainthood in the Church.  In his honor—and because of his sincere and enduring love—the Maryknoll family remembers our co-founder, Father Thomas Frederick Price.  Please celebrate along with me in prayer and thanksgiving for his gift of mission. Sincerely yours in Christ,Father Raymond J. Finch, M.M

Dear Friend,Paul’s message is perfectly fitting for the Labor Day holiday we observe tomorrow... doing everything in God’s name for God’s glory. For those of us who are believers, is there any other way?“Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”~ 1 Corinthians 10:31The early Christians recognized the dignity of work, giving it a special meaning. Their worship was known as “liturgy,” a word derived from the Greek for “public service” or “work.” So for the early Christians you could say the world was their workplace! Their mission was to invite others through prayer and witness into life with Christ.Fast forward... and we see that the celebration of labor in the United States is a time-honored Catholic tradition with Masses, parades, and speeches. As his predecessors did, Pope Francis advocates passionately for justice in the workplace and the dignity of all labor. His message is especially important today because of the seemingly endless desire to accumulate and consume—regardless of who may be hurt or marginalized along the way.Friend, as you pause to observe Labor Day tomorrow, know how grateful I am for the example you have set over the years through your own work. You have used your talents well in praising God. Then please say a prayer with me for the workers and families left behind: those looking for work, those sidelined by illness or disability, and all those impacted by the hardship of unemployment or underemployment. May they and everyone have the opportunity to live fully and contribute to a just world, fashioned in the image and likeness of God.Sincerely yours in Christ,Father Raymond J. Finch, M.M.

On the weekend of June 22-23, we’ll celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – what we know to be the Eucharist. During today’s Prayer Guild, we invite you to reflect upon two aspects of this blessing of the Eucharist.  First, that it is God’s gift of self through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection; and second, that we are sent-out by our Church to others to be Jesus’ nourishing Body and Blood for them. In moving beyond the Easter Season, we are now faced with living-out Jesus’ teachings daily, much like Jesus’ disciples who did likewise following Pentecost. Jesus culminated his three years of teaching and healing by showing us two very clear examples of what it means to give oneself for others. First, at the Last Supper, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and reminded them, “I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you”. (John 13: 15)  We share life by doing and being for one another. Second, Jesus also at that same time predicted his suffering and death as recalled and recorded by St. Paul in the second Reading for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ:  “The Lord Jesus said, ‘This is my body that is for you.  This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this in remembrance of me’.” (1 Corinthians 11: 24-25)In response to Jesus’ command, “Go to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples” (Matthew 28: 19), our Maryknoll Society was founded and commissioned 108 years ago to go out to the world in service and self-sacrifice as representatives of the Catholic Church in the United States to become God’s word and Jesus’ nourishing Body and Blood for others. Pope Francis reminds us in The Joy of the Gospel  that, if we have experienced God’s love in Jesus Christ, then through our Baptism we’re all sent as “missionary disciples” in self-giving to our sisters and brothers throughout the world (#120). It has been popularly noted recently that “mission is from everywhere and to everywhere”. In light of God’s gift of mission...

In anticipation of this coming Sunday’s Mother’s Day, we celebrate all of you as our Prayer Guild members who are mothers as well as joining you in giving thanks for your own mothers.  We also take advantage of this occasion and invite you to reflect with us today upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and her elder clousin Elizabeth; and their meeting when Mary visited Elizabeth (Luke 1: 39-56). Given God’s custom and practice of using ordinary human beings to help realize God’s extraordinary design in and for our world, both of these woman played crucial roles in God’s plan of salvation through the persons of their sons, John the Baptist and Jesus. In the affirmative responses of their mothers to God’s messengers, the impossible (Mary unmarried; Elizabeth beyond child-bearing age) became possible.  In living-out these reflections today, we’ll come to learn more deeply how God is calling and inviting us to be God’s Good News for others.Mary spoke her Magnificat (Song of Praise) during her visit with Elizabeth; and both recognized and named what is was for Mary to have made the impossible, possible through her “Yes”:  “All will call me happy because of the great things that God has done for me”.  (Taken from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1, Verses 48 to 49.) Likewise, following John the Baptist’s birth, his father Zechariah spoke his prophecy (for himself and Elizabeth) in response to God for having called him and Elizabeth into parenthood for John in their old age:  “You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God to tell his people that they will be saved”.  (From the Gospel of Luke, Chapter one, verses 77 and 78) Both Mary and Zechariah here are witnessisng to and proclaiming that God is faithful to God’s promises – the very same message that their sons will proclaim in their respective earthly ministries.  Similar to what happens to us when we try to live-out the Scriptures proclaimed in our Liturgies in our everyday lives, we ask ourselves here:  What are Mary and Zechariah trying to tell us today? Very simply, they’re reminding us that...

April, 2019In two days we’ll celebrate Palm Sunday, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem which opens-up our Holy Week remembrances of the Sacred Triduum (3 days), beginning with Holy Thursday and Good Friday and leading up to Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Sunday.In his relatively short public ministry here on earth, Jesus’ main objective was to choose, call, and form apostles and disciples who would replace him in proclaiming God’s Good News to the world.I suggest that the “process” which Jesus followed in doing so, although he never spoke about it in this way, is summarized with a threefold invitation (“Come and see; be transformed; go and tell!”). This summons of his is found in the dynamic of the relationship among Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.On Holy Thursday we recall the institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist: “Do this is memory of me. My body and blood given for you”. (Mark 14: 22; and Luke 22: 17-19) We also remember on that day Jesus’ washing of his apostles’ feet: “I have just washed your feet. You should wash one another’s feet”. (John 13: 14)   All are invited to be in service to others - (“Come and see!”).On Good Friday Jesus and we are forever changed and returned to God - (“Be transformed!”).And on Easter Sunday we’re sent-out by Jesus to share this Good News with others as Mary Magdalene did in response to seeing Jesus: “Go to my brothers and tell them that I’m returning to my Father and their Father, my God and their God”. (John 20: 17) - (“Go and tell!”). We’re invited once again this year to celebrate and to re-dedicate ourselves to living-out this commissioning in our daily lives.Recall that at the conclusion of each Eucharistic celebration we’re sent-forth anew to go out and to become God’s word and Jesus’ nourishing Body and Blood for others. Alleluia!