Ash Wednesday

Fr. Malloy’s Midweek Message.  Feb 22, 2023

Friends,

Today we once again enter into the season of Lent, a time of spiritual renewal.  Through prayer, fasting and alms giving, we open ourselves up to transformation in Christ. 

This year, we begin with heavy hearts.  The unending stream of incidents of police brutality ending in the deaths of young black men.  The war of Russian aggression against Ukraine, which is costing the world so much.  Billions upon billions are wasted on war as people across the globe lack food, housing, education, and medical care.  The immigration policies on the southern border of the USA leave thousands of refugees from terror in Central America stranded with nothing but the clothes on their backs and nowhere to go.  And over 50,000 killed by earthquakes in Turkey.  A never-ending litany of devastation, destruction, and death.

We desperately need a savior these days.  Who will see us through these difficult times?  What can provide the consolation and courage we need to survive difficult days and meet the challenges of our times? 

Jesus comes to save us.  And he saves us by setting his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) to confront the political and religious powers of oppression.  He saves us by accepting death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).  Jesus enters into the suffering and sin of the world to overcome death with the reality of the resurrection. 

We must know there is no resurrection without the cross, which means there is no cross that does not contain within it the seeds of resurrection.

As we enter into these days of prayer and reflection, let’s ask God to help us bear the crosses laid upon us in life.  Let our prayer provide strength.  Our fasting, wisdom.  And our almsgiving help and hope to those in need.

Listen to the beautiful song, Ashes.  “We rise again from Ashes, from the good we’ve failed to do; We rise again from ashes, to create ourselves anew.”  “Then rise again from ashes, let healing come to pain.”

Ashes by Tom Conry | Hymn for Ash Wednesday & Lent | Choir with Lyrics | Sunday 7pm Choir - YouTube

Peace,

Fr. Rick Malloy, S.J.

Keep Safe.    Keep Sane.    Keep Smiling

  

Miércoles de Ceniza. 

El Miercoles Mensaje del Padre Malloy, S.J.22 de Febrero, 2023

Amigos y Amigas,

Hoy entramos de nuevo en el tiempo de Cuaresma, un tiempo de renovación espiritual.  Mediante la oración, el ayuno y la limosna, nos abrimos a la transformación en Cristo. 

Este año, comenzamos con el corazón encogido.  El incesante flujo de incidentes de brutalidad policial que acaban con la muerte de jóvenes negros.  La guerra de agresión rusa contra Ucrania, que tanto está costando al mundo.  Miles y miles de millones se malgastan en la guerra mientras la gente en todo el mundo carece de alimentos, vivienda, educación y atención médica.  Las políticas de inmigración en la frontera sur de los EE.UU. dejan a miles de refugiados del terror en América Central varados sin nada más que la ropa que llevan puesta y sin ningún lugar adonde ir.  Y más de 50.000 muertos por los terremotos en Turquía.  Una letanía interminable de devastación, destrucción y muerte.

Estos días necesitamos desesperadamente un salvador.  ¿Quién nos acompañará en estos tiempos difíciles?  ¿Qué puede proporcionarnos el consuelo y el valor que necesitamos para sobrevivir a los días difíciles y afrontar los retos de nuestro tiempo? 

Jesús viene a salvarnos.  Y nos salva poniendo su rostro para ir a Jerusalén (Lucas 9:51) a enfrentarse a los poderes políticos y religiosos de la opresión.  Nos salva aceptando la muerte de cruz (Filipenses 2:8).  Jesús entra en el sufrimiento y el pecado del mundo para vencer a la muerte con la realidad de la resurrección. 

Debemos saber que no hay resurrección sin cruz, lo que significa que no hay cruz que no contenga en su interior las semillas de la resurrección.

Al adentrarnos en estos días de oración y reflexión, pidamos a Dios que nos ayude a soportar las cruces que nos impone la vida.  Que nuestra oración nos dé fuerza.  Nuestro ayuno, sabiduría.  Y nuestra limosna, ayuda y esperanza a los necesitados.

Escuchen la hermosa canción "Cenizas".  "Resurgimos de las cenizas, del bien que hemos dejado de hacer; Resurgimos de las cenizas, para crearnos de nuevo".  "Entonces resurge de las cenizas, que la curación llegue al dolor".

   

Ashes by Tom Conry | Hymn for Ash Wednesday & Lent | Choir with Lyrics | Sunday 7pm Choir - YouTube

La Paz,

P. Ricardo Malloy, S.J.

Sigamos Seguro.    Sigamos Sano.    Sigamos Sonriendo

   

“Love is the greatest force in the universe.  It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God”  –  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fr. Malloy’s Midweek Message.  Feb 15, 2023

Friends,

Here we are mid-February.  We continue to celebrate Black History Month.  We also enjoy Valentine’s Day (or feel pressed upon by Hallmark’s marketing of the day…).  And we continue to hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount at Mass these Sundays.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesus had much in common, most importantly their challenge to us all to love.  And to love even our enemies.  “Love is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos,” said King, and Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:44)

Love of those we love is challenging enough.  Love our enemies?  Come on.  Is this realistic?  I say it is.  Very realistic.  It is as real as the Civil Rights Movement whose nonviolent, active resistance of racism did so much to transform the United States of America.  It is as real as the movement Gandhi led in India that so changed that nation and liberated millions from colonial oppression. 

Love of enemies is a real as a woman I knew in Camden, NJ.  Her 13-year daughter Shaline was brutally murdered one hot, August day by a stranger who had no motive for killing the child.  Such murders are hard to solve, but Camden police never let it go.  Several years after the killing, the murderer was brought to Justice.  Lourdes, Shaline’s mother, let it be known that she did not want the death penalty for the murderer.  “It won’t bring my baby girl back,” she said.  She wanted him put away for life so that he could not harm any other people.  But she forgave him.  Her forgiveness helped heal a bit of the pain and agony that threatened Lourdes’s own spiritual and mental well-being.

Love of enemies is a real as those who forgave the sick, warped, hate filled, white supremacist who killed nine beautiful people at a Bible study in Charleston, SC, June 2015.  The day the killer was brought before the court, CNN broadcast live the words of forgiveness offered by family members of the victims.  The Washington Post reported the extraordinarily poignant and powerful expression of Christian forgiveness. 

“The relatives of people slain inside the historic African American church in Charleston, S.C., earlier this week were able to speak directly to the accused gunman Friday at his first court appearance. One by one, those who chose to speak at a bond hearing did not turn to anger. Instead, while he remained impassive, they offered him forgiveness and said they were praying for his soul, even as they described the pain of their losses. “I forgive you,” Nadine Collier, the daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance, said at the hearing, her voice breaking with emotion. “You took something very precious from me. I will never talk to her again. I will never, ever hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul.”

This Valentine’s Day, let’s practice transformative love, love even for those who do us wrong.

Peace,

Fr. Rick Malloy, S.J.

Keep Safe.    Keep Sane.    Keep Smiling

 

 

"El amor es la mayor fuerza del universo.  Es el latido del cosmos moral. Quien ama participa del ser de Dios" - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

El Miercoles Mensaje del Padre Malloy, S.J.  15 de Febrero, 2023

Amigos y Amigas,

Ya estamos a mediados de febrero.  Seguimos celebrando el Mes de la Historia Negra.  También disfrutamos del Día de San Valentín (o nos sentimos presionados por el marketing de Hallmark de este día...).  Y seguimos escuchando el Sermón de la Montaña de Jesús en la Misa de estos domingos.

El reverendo Martin Luther King, Jr. y Jesús tenían mucho en común, sobre todo su desafío a todos nosotros de amar.  Y a amar incluso a nuestros enemigos.  "El amor es el latido del cosmos moral", dijo King, y Jesús dice: "Habéis oído que se dijo: Amarás a tu prójimo y odiarás a tu enemigo. Pero yo os digo: Amad a vuestros enemigos y orad por los que os persiguen, para que seáis hijos de vuestro Padre celestial" (Mateo 5:44).

Amar a los que amamos ya es un reto.  ¿Amar a nuestros enemigos?  Vamos.  ¿Es realista?  Yo digo que sí.  Muy realista.  Es tan real como el Movimiento por los Derechos Civiles, cuya resistencia activa y no violenta al racismo contribuyó tanto a transformar los Estados Unidos de América.  Es tan real como el movimiento que Gandhi lideró en la India y que tanto cambió esa nación y liberó a millones de personas de la opresión colonial. 

El amor a los enemigos es tan real como el de una mujer que conocí en Camden, Nueva Jersey.  Su hija Shaline, de 13 años, fue brutalmente asesinada un caluroso día de agosto por un desconocido que no tenía ningún motivo para matar a la niña.  Este tipo de asesinatos son difíciles de resolver, pero la policía de Camden nunca lo dejó pasar.  Varios años después del asesinato, el asesino fue llevado ante la Justicia.  Lourdes, la madre de Shaline, hizo saber que no quería la pena de muerte para el asesino.  "No me devolverá a mi niña", dijo.  Quería que le encerraran de por vida para que no pudiera hacer daño a otras personas.  Pero le perdonó.  Su perdón ayudó a curar un poco el dolor y la agonía que amenazaban el bienestar espiritual y mental de Lourdes.

El amor a los enemigos es tan real como los que perdonaron al supremacista blanco, enfermo, deformado y lleno de odio que mató a nueve personas hermosas en un estudio bíblico en Charleston, SC, en junio de 2015.  El día que el asesino compareció ante el tribunal, la CNN retransmitió en directo las palabras de perdón ofrecidas por familiares de las víctimas.  El Washington Post informó de la expresión extraordinariamente conmovedora y poderosa del perdón cristiano. 

"Los familiares de las personas asesinadas en el interior de la histórica iglesia afroamericana de Charleston, Carolina del Sur, a principios de esta semana pudieron hablar directamente con el pistolero acusado el viernes en su primera comparecencia ante el tribunal. Uno a uno, los que decidieron hablar en la vista sobre la fianza no se mostraron airados. Por el contrario, mientras él permanecía impasible, le ofrecieron perdón y dijeron que rezaban por su alma, incluso mientras describían el dolor de sus pérdidas. "Te perdono", dijo en la vista Nadine Collier, hija de Ethel Lance, de 70 años, con la voz quebrada por la emoción. "Me habéis quitado algo muy valioso. Nunca volveré a hablar con ella. Nunca volveré a abrazarla. Pero te perdono. Y ten piedad de tu alma".

Este San Valentín, practiquemos el amor transformador, el amor incluso por quienes nos hacen mal.

La Paz,

P. Ricardo Malloy, S.J.

Sigamos Seguro.    Sigamos Sano.    Sigamos Sonriendo

Christmas 2022: Homily offered by Rick Malloy, S.J.

 

Christmas Homily 2022

Rick Malloy, S.J.

“The Logos was God, and the Logos was in communication with God.” -  Benedict XVI

Little kids’ Christmas play.  Cool 7-year-old Billy trumpets: “I bring Gold.”  Bobby, six, yells: “I bring myrrh.”  Barney, five, and always a little discombobulated, says “Frank sent this.”

What is brought to us as Jesus is born again in our lives and in our World?  What will we send as a result of the Incarnation?  To whom shall we send it?

First, Let me say something about the WORD, the LOGOS.  Second, Something about a Christmas Song.  And Third, something about The Letter, the documentary that aired on PBS the other night. It’s about the encyclical letter, Laudato Si, on the climate crisis.  Pope Francis sent Laudato Si in 2015.  He addressed it to the whole world.  We all must find ways to respond to this crisis. Finally, there will be a final suggestion….

1.  LOGOS.  This Christmas, we need truth and hope more than ever.  THE WORD, THE LOGOS, is truth.  THE WORD is not just in touch with reality, or just corresponding to reality. THE WORD creates and sustains reality, permeates, and penetrates all the pulsating beauty and bodacious being of existence.  The Logos might better be translated “the reason for existence.”  The “Purpose of our lives.”  The “Why we are here” is born in the baby in the manger.  We are born to praise reverence and serve God and be happy with God and all our loved ones forever.  This life is a prelude to life eternal. 

THE WORD has become human, and we see the glory, the glory of the Lord and the glory of “the human person fully alive.”  THE WORD takes on our human being and transforms us, giving us grace upon grace upon grace (John 1:16).  In Greek, grace is charis, from which we get the word charism, meaning a divine gift, a transcendent power.  Thomas Aquinas says grace is the ability to do what we could not do before.

And in this grace, the gift of God, we find hope.  We find purpose.  We find love.  And we and our worlds are transformed.  With this grace we are gifted with Peace.  We need to accept and actualize the gift of grace, this ability to make Peace in our world, in our communities and families and in our hearts.

2: Christmas Songs:  Now the Today show reported the other day that the most played Christmas songs are:  #5 It’s the Wonderful time of year  #4 Jingle bell Rock #3 Rudolph  #2 Rock christmas tree  #1 All I want is You.  But the song we really need to hear is “Do You Hear What I Hear.”

“Do you hear What I hear” was written in 1962 by a husband-and-wife song writing team.  They wrote it in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.  As we watch the horrors and atrocities happening right now in the Ukraine, we have to ask the first question of the song.  Do you see what I see?  Do we see what’s happening on our Southern Border as Central American countries descend into chaos. 

Do we hear what the lamb says to the shepherd boy, that there is a song high above the trees with a voice as big as the sea?  That song sends the shepherd boy to the mighty king.  The boy tells the King of a child who shivers in the cold.  He calls for the king to bring silver an gold, the wealth of the kingdom to the aid of the poor.  And the King hears and calls the people to pray for peace everywhere.  Let the child bring us goodness and light.

So much to hear in this song.  Peace.  Care for the poor.  Listen and pay attention to the deeper meanings of the Christmas story, the gift and grace of the LOGOS among us.  The call to care for everyone, and the images of nature in the song.  Night wind.  The voice as big as the sea. 

3.  THE LETTER:  We need to pray for peace.  We need to call those who control our political economy to care for the poor and desperate among us.  Even more as we listen this Christmas, we need to hear the cry of the earth. That cry is expressed in a documentary which aired on PBS.

The Letter is a beautiful meditation on people from all over the earth who Pope Francis invited to the Vatican for a conversation about how climate change is impacting their lives.  A woman from Ireland, a indigenous chief from the Amazon, a kid from India, a man from Senegal who breaks down weeping when telling about flood and rising tides destroying the village where he and his family and friends live.  The Letter brings home the impact of climate change on peoples lives. 

What can we do?  This year I suggest we all investigate the problems and challenges of climate change.  Maybe think about changing our diet and living a more planet friendly way of eating.  Maybe find small ways to lessen our global footprint.  Buy stuff from eco friendly corporations. 

Dan Berrigan, S.J., the anti-war activist during the Vietnam war and throughout his life once said: “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.  And the moral difference between doing something and doing nothing is monumental indeed.”

Finally, one other suggestion.  Let’s Forgive.  This year, as Jesus comes to reconcile us to one another, let’s forgive one another.  Greg Boyle is a well know Jesuit who runs Homeboys Industries in LA helping gang members escape the gang life, and helping the incarcerated get reintegrated into society after serving prison sentences.  His new book is Forgive Everybody. 

Maybe get to the sacrament of reconciliation, confession.  It’s good for the soul, and the world.

Jesus told us to “do this in memory of me” and we celebrate Eucharist daily.  Jesus also taught us to pray and the only command in the prayer is to “forgive those who trespass against us.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daughter, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt (I think her husband is a movie star) has a wonderful book, The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring stories from those who have overcome the unforgivable.  She tells of people like Sara Klebold, the mother of one of the Columbine Killers.  Imacullée Ilibagiza here tells of how she overcame he hatred for those who killed her family and millions of others with machetes in the Rwandan genocide of April 1994.  Hate filled rhetoric built into a holocaust with horrific consequences.  We need to tone down the truly alarming increase of hate speech in our society.  We need to listen to Christ’s call, “that we all be one.”

The Eucharist, the Mass, is the miracle and mystery of our faith.  When we take bread and wine and pray, the awesome reality of the power of God in our lives, the power to save us is present.  The power to rescue us from all sin and suffering.  The power to open ourselves and our world to transformation in Christ. 

“Frank” didn’t send this.  God sent this.  God becomes one of us, baby bald and vulnerable in the manger where animals munch their meals.  This Lord and savior remains among us as Eucharist, love incarnate, Emmanuel, God with us.  Let us realize and relish once again this amazing and loving God.  God is love.  Let’s forgive and love one another.  Let us pray.

Do You Hear What I Hear?
Said the night wind to the little lamb,
do you see what I see
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
do you see what I see
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
do you know what I know
In your palace warm, mighty king,
do you know what I know
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold

Said the king to the people everywhere,
listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere!
listen to what I say
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

The Present of Presence: All is Gift

 The Present of Presence: All Is Gift

(Here's an article I wrote for Christmas time years ago... Enjoy) 

BustedHalo.com  an online magazine for spiritual seekers in their 20s and 30s

 

All is Gift: Some thoughts on Christmas presence

by Richard G. Malloy, S.J.

 

HAVERTOWN, PA

December 1958

When I was little, I was small. At the age of four, my brother Timmy is a year older and can reach things I can’t.  One morning, he climbs up on a chair he’s put in the closet we’re not supposed to open, and sees toys on the shelf, new toys, still in their packages.  Fun!  He yanks down a set of blocks and a bunch of other stuff.  Soon I’m busy playing with a new set of beautiful, blond, wooden blocks, putting them one on top of another, and then immediately knocking them down.  Fun!  All of a sudden, our Mom, seeing that we’ve discovered the Christmas stash early, pulls us into the kitchen.  “Time for breakfast, boys.  I’m making chocolate chip pancakes and Maypo.”  I love chocolate chip pancakes and Maypo.  Forget the blocks.

A few days later, it’s Christmas morning.  I rip the bright, colored paper off a new set of beautiful, blond, wooden blocks.  Fun!  I start stacking them and knocking them down.  Fun!  My mother looks to see if I recognize the blocks.  I’m clueless.  The blocks also come in pretty handy as objects to throw at my brother.  Fun!  Mom stops that action.  Not fun!  Pretty soon, I’m sleepy.  Time for a nap.  As I drift off, I hear my brother asking, “Hey, aren’t these the toys we were playing with before?”  “I don’t think so, Timmy,” answers Mom.  “Santa brought these in his sleigh last night.”  “Wow,” my brother replies. 

 

 

PHILADELPHIA, PA

December 2005

When we are young, all is accepted as gift.  We rarely question why and how all the good things of life appear.  We believe whatever we are told.  Santa comes down the chimney.  Reindeer fly.  At the North Pole, elves make the toys.  The magic of Christmas is carried in the glow of the Christmas tree lights and the strong scent of pine in the living room.  Brightly wrapped packages appear during the night.  It’s all so miraculous when seen through the eyes of a little child.

Sing Christmas Carols and drink hot chocolate with marshmallows... Sled...Sit late in the quiet glow of the tree's lights and let God be with you... Most of all, pray.

 

As we mature, we come to realize that God gives even greater gifts at Christmas.  We discern and celebrate the reality and meaning of Christ’s birth.  His present to us is presence.  In a stable is born a baby, the savior of the world.  God lies in a manger, is warmed by the breath of oxen and ass, and makes his home among us.  This Christmas, once again, the miracle occurs.  We are reminded that the life of grace--the reality that God is present in the depths of our hearts and all that we love--is the center of our lives.  God becomes one of us, and we are God’s family.  God makes his home among us.

 

Christ’s birth reveals God’s love for us and promises that we will “come to share in the divine nature” (II Peter 1:4).  In the third century, St. Athanasius proclaimed, “The Son of God became man, so that we might become God.”  We become human-unto-God, as was Jesus, and participate in the mystery of creation’s transformation, “so that God may be all in all” (I Cor 15:28).

 

 

To Do…

This Christmas, be present to the reality and meanings of God’s gifts to us.  Eat hearty.  Party wisely and well.  Don't work too hard.  Read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Oscar Hijuelos' Mr. Ives' Christmas, a short, remarkable novel of faith and reconciliation.  Watch It’s a Wonderful Life and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Laugh and cry watching While You Were Sleeping, the story of an achingly lonely young woman without family, who falls in love with a goofy Irish clan in the week between Christmas and New Years.  Listen to "Christmas in the Trenches" by John McCutcheon, an amazing ballad that poetically retells the historically true event when, for a few fleeting hours, peace broke out in the frozen trenches of France, Christmas Eve 1914.  The singing of Christmas carols on both sides of the lines gave the men the inspiration and courage to lay down their guns.

Click Here  Christmas in the Trenches 

 

Take a child to see Santa.  Give generously to the poor.  Sing Christmas Carols and drink hot chocolate with marshmallows.  Sled.  Sit late in the quiet glow of the tree’s lights and let God be with you.

 

Most of all, pray.  Walk outside at 2:00 AM on a freezing cold, stunningly starlit night, and experience the awesomeness of the universe.  Go to Midnight Mass.  Read the first chapters of Matthew and Luke.  Engage the beautiful rhythms of the Liturgy of the Hours.  Sit in still silence, breath and realize life is a miracle and mystery. 

 

Know that Christmas is the time of year when we remember and ponder the birth of our God who loves us so much that he becomes one of us.  Vulnerable and wrapped in swaddling clothes, appears the one who saves the world.  Realize that Jesus is real and wants to be reborn again in our hearts.  The Lord has a mission for us.  Worship him these days and listen to that inner voice of your imagination where God communicates.  The presence of God confirms for us that St. Ignatius was right: All is gift.  Jesus again gifts us with his presence this Christmas.  O come, let us adore.

 

Rev. Richard G. Malloy, S.J., Ph.D., was an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. From 2010-2019 he served as Vice President for Mission and University Chaplain at the University of Scranton.  Since 2019 he has served as Director of Mission Integration at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore, MD.

 

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