Father Castor’s Weblog

Yes, I know I haven’t posted for 3 weeks. But now I’m going to try to get caught up. Here you can download the text in PDF or the sound in MP3:

June 18, 2006	Corpus Christi	Sound
June 25, 2006	12th Sunday OT	Sound
July 2, 2006	13th Sunday OT	Sound

Deuteronomy 4:32-34.39-40

Romans 8:14-17

Matthew 28:16-20

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Listen to this homily: Click here to play or download MP3

Pope Leo XIII, who led the church 100 years ago, once wrote that “the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity … [is] the greatest of all mysteries, since it is the fountain and origin of them all. In order to know and contemplate this mystery, the angels were created in Heaven and men upon earth.” This is truly an incredible thought—that the reason for our very existence is to contemplate the Blessed Trinity. This is the mystery we contemplate today—one God in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One week from today, we will observe Father’s Day, when we honor our earthly fathers. Often, these two celebrations—a religious holy day and a civil holiday—fall on the same Sunday, or at least during the same month of June. When we think of these two celebrations, it’s natural to focus upon the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, God the Father. Have you ever wondered why we don’t have a special feast day in the Catholic Church honoring God the Father? After all, we have a number of feast days of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God the Son. And just a week ago we celebrated the great solemnity of Pentecost, on which we especially remember God the Holy Spirit. So why not a Holy Day dedicated to God the Father? Read the rest of this entry »

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Listen to this homily: Click here to play or download MP3

Just as Easter replaces the Jewish feast of Passover in the Christian calendar, Pentecost also replaces a Jewish holiday—the Feast of Weeks—Shavuot in Hebrew. This was one of the three great pilgrimage festivals (along with Passover and the Feast of Booths), and it was instituted by God at Mount Sinai to be the occasion when the Hebrew people would celebrate the early harvest, bringing their first fruits of figs and grapes as a thanksgiving offering to God in Jerusalem. There is a span of exactly seven weeks between Passover and the Feast of Weeks—seven times seven being an expression of supreme perfection—49 days, with the feast itself falling on the fiftieth day. This fact is what gives the day its Greek name “Pentecost,” a word which means “fifty”.

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Acts 1:1-11

Ephesians 4:1-13

Mark 16:15-20

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Listen to this homily: Click here to play or download MP3

Today, we celebrate the mystery of the Ascension that moment, 50 days after the resurrection, when our divine Messiah entered into heaven with his human body and soul, took his place at the right hand of the father, to intercede for us and to prepare our heavenly home. Of course, this event is a wonderful manifestation of divine power—proof of our Lord’s Divinity and triumph over death—a moment of great joy for the disciples. But it was also a moment of sadness, because they were losing the visible and immediate physical presence of their Lord. He was leaving them once again and, although it was not in death, still they knew that they would not see him until that day when they would follow him to heaven. On the other hand, unless Jesus was taken away, he could not send the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the disciples would not be able to accomplish the task entrusted to them. And unless the disciples “proclaimed the Gospel to every creature,” the good news of Jesus Christ would die with them. So, not only was this a wonderful thing for the disciples to witness, it was also to their spiritual advantage—and to ours as well.

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This is the address I gave at the Jones County High School Baccalaureate. The Gospel passage was John 16:12-15.

The words of Jesus which we have just heard were spoken by him on the night he was betrayed—the night before he died. He was preparing his disciples for this event which would shake their faith to its very foundations. But he was also preparing them for what would happen after his crucifixion: his glorious resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, and his sending of the Holy Spirit. From that point on, the disciples would go to the four corners of the world proclaiming the good news of salvation. But they are not yet ready. Even though they have been with the Lord for three years, traveling with him, listening to his every word, witnessing his miracles, still they were not fully prepared for their mission. And so our Lord tells them, “There are still many things I must teach you, but you cannot bear it now.” He is asking them to be open and receptive to what they will receive from the Holy Spirit.

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Acts 10:25-26.34-35.44-48

1 John 4:7-10

John 15:9-17

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Listen to this homily: Click here to play or download MP3

The Easter season which we are now celebrating is soon coming to an end. In fact there are only two more weeks until Pentecost. But that doesn’t mean our Easter joy has to come to an end. Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.” It’s interesting, however, that Jesus should say these words, because when he told this to his disciples it was just before his crucifixion. What kind of joy could he have possibly known at this moment of crisis in his life? Yet our blessed Lord cannot lie, so we would do well to ask: what is this complete joy—this perfect joy—which Christ wants to share with us?

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<li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0011/_PWS.HTM"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Acts 9:26-31</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0011/_P10L.HTM"><span style="font-size: 12pt">1 John 3:18-24</span></a></li>
<li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0011/_PVN.HTM"><span style="font-size: 12pt">John 15:1-8

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Listen to this homily: Click here to play or download MP3

Throughout the season of Easter, we hear many I am statements from our blessed Lord: I am the bread of life, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the gate for the sheep, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Today, we hear yet another I am statement: I am the true vine. In each of these I am metaphors, we learn something about who Jesus is, his relationship to the Father, and the purpose of his mission on earth. But today there is a difference. Not only does Jesus make a metaphor about himself, but he makes one about us as well. “I am the vine,” he proclaims, “you are the branches.”

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Acts 4:8-12

1 John 3:1-2

John 10:11-18

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Listen to this homily: Click here to play or download MP3

Each year, on this fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church invites us to contemplate our Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd. In Year A, we consider who and what the Good Shepherd is in contrast to those who would harm and misuse the sheep. In Year B (our current year), we look at what the Good Shepherd has done and is doing for his sheep. Finally, next year, Year C, we will consider what the Good Shepherd will do for his sheep in the future.

In last year’s reading from John chapter 10, we learned that Jesus, as the good Shepherd, is the gate for the sheep. This expression reflects the ancient practice of shepherds by which they would construct a makeshift sheepfold out in the field: a circle of rocks with a gap in which the shepherd would lay once he had gathered the sheep into the fold. Quite literally, his body formed the gate through which the sheep had to pass if they wanted to get out of the sheepfold and with which a wolf or robber would have to contend if he wanted to get in. In making himself the gate for the sheep, a good Shepherd, then, really did lay down his life for the sheep, as Jesus says in today’s Gospel. But what Jesus means by this expression goes far beyond what even the best of shepherds would be willing to do.

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Acts 3:13-15.17-19

1 John 2:1-5a

Luke 24:35-48

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Listen to this homily: Click here to play or download MP3

If you cast your mind back to the 3rd Sunday of Easter last year, you might recall that, on that day, we heard from the Gospel of St. Luke the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. It was the Sunday after Passover — the day of the resurrection — some of the women and a couple of the eleven disciples had already seen the empty tomb; Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalen. But for the most part, confusion still reigned among the followers of Christ, and word had not yet gotten out to everyone that he had risen from the dead. Two of Christ’s followers have apparently given up hope and are walking home from Jerusalem. One is named Cleopas and the other — at least according to one tradition — is his wife. They are heading toward Emmaus, a little town a few miles west of the city. It is afternoon and, while they had heard the stories of the empty tomb, still they did not understand what had really happened. As far as they know, Jesus their Lord is dead and gone, and their hopes are dashed. But then a strange man comes along and begins to walk with them. He listens to their sad story and responds in a totally unexpected way: “Oh, how foolish you are!” he tells them, “How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,” Saint Luke tells us, “he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.”

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