5th Sunday of Lent, Year B – Homily

5th Sunday of Lent, Year B
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15 (12a)
Hebrews 5:7-9
John 12:20-33
March 17, 2024

The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

God had previously formed a covenant with the Israelites when He led them out from slavery in Egypt towards the promised land.  The Israelites responded, “All that the Lord has said, we will hear and do” (Exodus 24:7).

The Israelites pledged to follow the covenant that God had formed with them but they instead they broke the covenant.  They sinned in disobeying the Lord. 

This covenant required obedience to the Law.  If you kept the commandments, you would be saved.  It was not long before the people began sinning.  God knew this would happen.  He prescribed sacrifices for their sins. 

God offers a new covenant in Jesus.  God did not throw out the Law.  Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).  God has given us a law that is good for us.  We do well to follow it. 

However, our salvation centers not on a technical following of the Law.   Our salvation is now rooted in Jesus’ Crucifixion.  In the garden, Jesus laments with “prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears.”  He didn’t want to suffer his Passion.  He cried out, “Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will” (Mark 14:36).  Jesus submitted his obedience to our Father’s Will and thus, “he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Even in this world, our lives are best when we follow what the Lord has taught us.  When we don’t follow it, we sin.  When we sin, we can turn our hearts to Jesus, who in his compassion, has died for us, so that our offenses can be wiped out, washed in the blood of Jesus.  When we repent, we ask God to create a clean heart in us and renew a steadfast spirit within us. 

We can’t do this on our own.  We don’t need to.  It is God’s will and in his power to cleanse us and save us.

Do you want to be saved?

You might say, “of course.”

Are you willing to submit yourself to the Lord?

Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but it dies, it produces much fruit.

Are you willing to die to your sins, are you willing to die to worldly things in order to receive the grace of your salvation?

God has already placed within you the seed of faith for your salvation.  The Lord had said, “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Here lies our conscience.  People have a right to follow their conscience (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1782).  However, this does not mean that can do whatever our “inner voice” says.  Conscience involves more than just a general feeling.  We need to allow God to bring outward what He has planted in our heart.  We need to have a well-formed conscience (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1783-1784). 

It is not the world that should form our conscience.  Remember, as Peter said, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).  (For more on conscience, please see my presentation, Where Do We Go for Truth?, and my article, “Do We Listen to our Conscience?”.)

We need to do the best we can in having a well-formed conscience and following it.  Yet we may fall short.  Then we rely on the Lord’s words, “I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.”  It’s not that our sins no longer matter.  It is that God wipes them away when we submit ourselves to his will.

God does not abandon us to sin.  He does give us free will.  We make the best use of our free will when we choose to die to the things of this world to live in accord with the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love our neighbor.

Some people want God to give them a place in Heaven but they want to live their own way in this world.  They want the reward but they want complete freedom. 

We cannot save ourselves.  Jesus came for this purpose, to save us.  His obedience to the Father is “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

The Hidden Depths of the Mass #32

The Sign of Peace

Having celebrated the Sacrifice of Jesus in the Eucharist, after praying the Lord’s Prayer, we offer a Sign of Peace.  On several occasions Jesus offered peace to his disciples.  The words said by the priest here come from John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

Jesus continued, “Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”  The Sign of Peace we offer to each other is not a worldly “hello, how are you doing.”  It is not a worldly peace we offer.  We are expressing our “ecclesial communion” (GIRM, 82).  We do not move around the church like at a social hour.  Rather, we let the Peace of Christ spread out from one to another after the priest first says, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.”

(The previous articles in this series are available online at https://renewaloffaith.org/bulletin-series-on-the-mass-2023/)

How the Family Feels

I don’t know how many funerals I have done since I was ordained a priest almost seventeen years ago.  Depending on the parish, I have done anywhere from ten to fifty funerals a year (including Masses and services without a Mass).  It would not be hard for it to become routine.  I don’t want it to be routine. 

There have been funerals where I didn’t know the deceased person at all or the family.  In some of those, someone in the family started coming back to church after the funeral.  Others I never saw again. 

There are also funerals where I knew the person as a member of the parish.  Some were a familiar face in the parish.  Sometimes I knew a family member but not the deceased themselves.

No matter what category the deceased person or their family fell in, one thing is certain.  They are all children of God.  Each deserves to be treated with dignity and compassion.  Funeral ministries may be repetitive as a base level, but funeral ministry should never become purely routine. 

God reminded me of this during the past week.  One of my aunts, my mother’s oldest sister, passed away.  I had visited her in the hospital last month to anoint her and offer all the prayers for the dying.  Yesterday I presided and preached at her funeral at the church where she had been a parishioner for many years, St. Catherine of Siena.  It is the church where I was baptized in 1970 and confirmed in 1981 (we had lived elsewhere in between).  After the funeral Mass, we laid her to her place of rest in same row at the church cemetery where my grandparents (her parents), my mother, and a grandson of this aunt who died at birth are buried.

Even the inclusion of my aunt’s name in the Prayers of the Faithful at Sunday Mass in the parish I serve was different.  This weekend we had six people included.  I had never met five of them. 

Does the family experience emotions at the death of a loved one?

Yes, and I know what this is like.  We all need to grieve and we each grieve differently (see my article, “Allowing Ourselves to Grieve”).  However we grieve, it is important and necessary that we allow ourselves to grieve.  It is natural and it can be healing.

Traditionally, there are calling hours before the funeral Mass.  “After” the Mass, there is a burial.  I put “after” in quotations because the burial is seen as part of the funeral by the Catholic Church.  You may have noticed that there is no final blessing at the end of the Mass in church when the burial immediately follows.  The final blessing comes at the end of the burial, the Mass and burial seen as one.  Then, the family often gathers for a luncheon (see my articles, “Why Do We Celebrate Funerals?” and a Sunday homily I offered in 2017 on our Catholic funeral customs.)

The experience of these funeral customs is different when the deceased is someone I know.  Even the planning for the funeral is different.  When I don’t know the deceased, an important part of meeting with the family is finding out about the person to personalize the funeral.  In this case, I knew my aunt.  The conversation was different.  Actually, a deacon who is a friend of her family did the official meeting but I did spend time on the phone with one of her daughters discussing the funeral.

It is becoming less common for families to have calling hours.  Sometimes it is because the family doesn’t think anyone will come because all the friends of the deceased have already died or might be unable to come because of their own health.  However, we shouldn’t think the calling hours are without purpose and can be readily omitted.  In the look at the funeral book for Catholic funerals, the first ritual you find in the book are vigil prayers for the calling hours.  The funeral book talks about the calling hours as an opportunity for others to offer comfort and sympathy.  This is the fourth Spiritual Work of Mercy, to comfort the sorrowful (see Isaiah 40:1). 

Generally, the calling hours are the day before the funeral.  Now, people are starting to have calling hours right before the funeral.  While this can be convenient, think of the person who has to work that day.  Offering the calling hours the night before gives them an opportunity to offer their sympathy to the family and a final goodbye to the deceased if they know them directly.

Offering the funeral service is part of the seventh Spiritual Work of Mercy, to pray for the living and the dead.  Here we can ask the question, “who is the funeral for.” 

I think people today often see the funeral as only for the loved ones still living.  Certainly, we gather to offer those who are living comfort and we pray for them to be comforted by God in the hope of the resurrection, knowing that Jesus died for our sins.  This is a very important part of our funeral customs.  However, it is not the only reason.  We pray for the deceased to be welcomed into Heaven.  Our prayers do not change how God will judge for their sins.  That is between them and God.  Our prayers can be of aid for their time in Purgatory.  Yes, the Catholic Church still believes in Purgatory (see my article, “Purgatory as a Gift That Gets Us in Shape for Heaven.”)

At the funeral service, we have Bible readings that speak of how the Christians are called to live and what God offers us for eternal life.  These words offer us hope in knowing that lived is changed in death, not ended.

Then we go to the cemetery to lay our loved one to rest in a dignified place (see Tobit 1:16-18).  This fulfills the seventh Corporal Work of Mercy, to bury the dead.  We don’t randomly discard the body.  While cremation is now allowed, our Catholic faith still holds that we don’t separate the ashes by dividing them among family members to wear as jewelry nor are we to scatter the ashes out of respect for the remains of our loved one.  It saddens me to hear that some people today refer to what is done with the deceased body after death as “disposal of the body.”  Disposal?  The body is not a piece of trash.  It is part of who our lived one is, body and soul (see my blog articles on new methods of “disposing of the body” “Respecting the Dead” and “More on Respecting the Dead”).

After my aunt’s burial, we gathered for a luncheon and shared fellowship along with food.  My aunt was a good cook.  I wish we would have been eating something she cooked rather than having celebrated her funeral yesterday.

Our Catholic funeral customs offer comfort for the mourners and prayers for the deceased.  It can also be a time of closure.  I don’t know what families and friends do when an obituary says there are no services.  How does one have any hope in that or find any closure?

Before concluding, throughout the article I have provided links to articles I have written about Catholic funeral customs and praying for the deceased.  You can find a complete list of all the articles I have written on funerals on my website at https://renewaloffaith.org/funerals-mass-intentions-and-purgatory/

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

4th Sunday of Lent, Year B

Last week we hear God giving the Ten Commandments to his people (Exodus 20:1-17).  God made it clear to his people how He expected them to live.  It’s not just what He wanted.  God knows that the Ten Commandments are good for us.

While God knew that the Ten Commandments are good for his people, it wasn’t long before they began breaking them.  God’s people have a history of sin over the centuries.  We hear of their sins in today’s first reading from 2 Chronicles, “In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelitypracticing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.”

Do you follow the Ten Commandments or do you sin?

God had not given the Ten Commandments only to abandon his people.  He wanted to help them.  “Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them.”  God sent the prophets as his messengers to warn them of their sins and call them to a better way of life. 

Why did God send his messengers?  Because “he had compassion on his people.”  God loves his people.

How did the people respond through the centuries as God sent his messengers?  “They mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets.

Does the same thing still not happen today?  When someone offers the gospel to people today are they not sometimes mocked for their faith?  At times, some people scorn us for our Christian beliefs.  Other people simply ignore the warnings that God offers them.  Sin continues…

In the time 2 Chronicles was written, the sin of the people had gotten so bad that God allowed them to fall in battle against their enemies.  Their enemies even “tore down the walls of Jerusalem.”  Yet, the people initially failed to understand why God allowed this.  They did not recognize their own sins.

Are we any different today?  Do we recognize our own sins and repent?  Do we recognize the sins of society and point our society back to God?

Today’s first reading ends with a few verses of what happens after the Exile is over.  “The LORD inspired King Cyrus” with a message and charged him to build a new house for the Lord in Jerusalem.  King Cyrus does it.  Good things happen when people listen to the Lord.  The first temple had been destroyed because the Israelites did not listen to God.  A new temple was built when King Cyrus, who was not a Jews, listened to the Lord and fulfilled what God asked of him.

As today’s psalm says, “By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept…How could we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land.”  In exile, God’s people lamented their defeat.  From their lament, many of them came to realize their sins and repented. 

I pray this happens today.  Society needs to recognize its sins.  Sins that kill innocent babies.  Sins that mask ending the life of the terminally ill early as false compassion.  Sins of greed and thirst for power that leads to wars.  Sins that do not respect our own bodies and/or the bodies of others.  Sins of omission in not standing up for the poor.  I pray that God opens all our eyes to the sins of our world today.

Is there hope?  Yes!

Paul writes to the Ephesians in today’s second reading, “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for useven when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved.”  We may be sinners but God still loves us.  While we must repent and allow God to change us, our salvation does not come from our own works.  “It is the gift of God.”

How does God present this gift to us?

We find the answer in today’s gospel (specifically John 3:16-17), “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Sonso that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

This is what provides our hope.  Jesus makes salvation possible.

Still some people don’t repent.  They like the pleasures of their sins.  They keep to their wicked ways.  They do not accept the Light of Christ.  “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.  But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.”

In Baptism we receive the Light of Christ.  Embrace the Light and let it shine through you to others.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

New Video – Why Should I Go to Mass (Weekly)?

I completed my presentation, Why Should I Go to Mass (Weekly)?, last night. This video isn’t just for people who don’t go to Mass. It will help you reflect on why it is important to go to Mass.

You can find the video and slides online on my website at https://www.renewaloffaith.org/whymass .

If you watch the video in the next few days, you can complete an online evaluation at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpMHglApaaFZr65oZ1H0uaJql0q2KMFPYl3y6eCnl8hJAxtw/viewform?usp=sf_link .

I pray this video help you deepen your appreciation of what God offers us in the Mass and I encourage you to share it with others.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

The Hidden Depths of the Mass #31

The Lord’s Prayer

Every time Mass is celebrated we all join together in saying the Lord’s Prayer.  Why include it at Mass?  The whole of Mass comes from the Lord and is rooted in the Bible.  In Matthew 6:5-8, Jesus teaches how to pray.  Then, in verses 9-13, He explicitly gives us the Lord’s Prayer.  What prayer could be better than the one Lord teaches us? 

We say the Lord’s Prayer at Mass.  Do you actually pray the words or do you just say them?  Do you think about what they mean?  Do you live what the words mean?  It is not always easy to do the Lord’s Will?  That’s why the priest says, “At the Savior’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say.”  Please take some time to think about what the words mean.

(The previous articles in this series are available online at https://renewaloffaith.org/bulletin-series-on-the-mass-2023/)

There is Still Hope

Last week I wrote about the hope I saw in the Alabama State Supreme Court’s decision that “embryos are children” (“There is Hope in Alabama”).  Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that many people do not get the significance of the decision that “embryos are children.” 

What makes it clear that they don’t get it?  I am not surprised that those who support abortion don’t get it.  If they did get it, they won’t support abortion because they would understand that abortion ends the life of an innocent child. 

What does surprise me is how many politicians who are against abortion are now rushing to enshrine in law a right to IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).  It seems they don’t understand that the use of IVF involves the creation of “extra” embryos that are frozen and/or destroyed.  Is this the way we treat our children?

I’m not surprised that in the past that some people who are pro-life may not have understood all the issues involved in IVF (see my article from last week, “There is Hope in Alabama,”) but I would hope that the Alabama’s State Supreme Court declaring “embryos are children” would make them think and, hopefully, change their thinking on IVF.

Does this take away the hope I saw in the court’s decision that “embryos are children.”  I would say that it does lessen my hope in humanity for an immediate change to end all abortion and procedures that end the lives of embryo children.  However, it does not take away my hope.  Why?  First and foremost, because my true hope is not rooted in humanity.  My true hope is based on my faith and trust in God.  “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  I know God is prolife. 

There is an aspect of what is going that keeps some “hope in humanity” alive for me.  I have heard of no one arguing that the decision of the Alabama State Supreme Court that “embryos are children” under Alabama law.  Why don’t they argue against it? 

Perhaps it is because they know it is true.

I think of how many times in the Old Testament people tried to silence the prophets.  The story of the prophet Jeremiah in the book in Old Testament that bears his name is a good example.  (See my article, “Jeremiah Today”)  At times the people tried to silence him.  They did not like what he was saying.  If he was right, they would have to change their lives.  They didn’t try to prove him wrong.  I suspect this is because they knew what he said was true.  So, they wanted to silence him.  Following the decision in Alabama that “embryos are children,” I think they don’t argue against because they know they can’t win and they don’t want to draw any attention to the statement that “embryos are children.”

I think what we are seeing is the fulfillment of what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy.  I used the following quote in my presentation, Where Do We Go for Truth.

People have stopped listening to the real Truth and have begun making up their own truth.  They declare the truth to be what they want it to be.  Then, they expect us to “tolerate” their position (see my article “Tolerance, Hate Speech, and Dialogue?“)

Relativism says everyone must be free to decide for themselves what they believe.  I agree that we shouldn’t force our beliefs on others.  As I quoted in my presentation, Where Do We Go for Truth, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says

Yes, people have a right to follow their conscience.  With this right, they have a duty to have a well-formed conscience.

This means we can’t just say we believe “X” and declare it to be based on our conscience.  Contrary to what Justice Kennedy said in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), “at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life” (Reilly, Robert R., America on Trial A Defense of the Founding.  San Francisco:  Ignatius Press.  2020.  6.  interior quote “Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. et al,. v. Casey, Governor of Pennsylvania, et a, 505 U.S. 833, 851 (1992)  https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/91-744.ZS.html.“), our meaning has to flow from something greater than ourselves. 

Christians say in the Lord’s Prayer, thy will be done.  We do not pray solely for our own will.  We recognize that God is the one who is all-knowing.  To ask for something in Jesus’ name is not to ask simply for what we want.  To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray that God’s Will be done just as Jesus prayed in the garden, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). 

The Church is God’s instrument on earth.  As Pope John Paul II wrote in Veritatis Splendor, “the Magisterium itself is considered capable of intervening in matters of morality only in order to “exhort consciences” and to “propose values”, in the light of which each individual will independently make his or her decisions and life choices” (Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor,  August 6, 1993, access date 3/5/24, paragraph 4).

As we read in Exodus 23:2, “You shall not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When testifying in a lawsuit, you shall not follow the crowd in perverting justice,” the real Truth is not deciding by majority rule.  The Truth comes from the One who is greater all of us together. 

As “Peter and the apostles said in reply, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

God gives us the gift of reason to learn and understand.  However, that doesn’t mean we are going to understand everything.  It doesn’t mean we get to pick and choose what we belief (see my article, “Cafeteria Catholic? Not!”).  When we don’t understand, we are called to trust in God.

It is time to end the partisan politics.  It is time to end the war between Israel and Hamas as well as the Ukraine and Russia.  It is time to end religious murders and persecution in Africa.  It is time to end the hatred in our country towards illegal immigrants.  It is time to love God and to love our neighbor.

The truth?  The truth is not a burden.  The truth is a gift.

As Pope John Paul II wrote in Veritatis Splendor, “Those who live “by the flesh” experience God’s law as a burden, and indeed as a denial or at least a restriction of their own freedom. On the other hand, those who are impelled by love and “walk by the Spirit” (Gal 5:16), and who desire to serve others, find in God’s Law the fundamental and necessary way in which to practise love as something freely chosen and freely lived out. Indeed, they feel an interior urge — a genuine “necessity” and no longer a form of coercion — not to stop at the minimum demands of the Law, but to live them in their “fullness” (18).

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B – Homily

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 12 (John 6:68c)
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25
March 3, 2024

At times, Paul tells us that as Christians we are not under the Law.  Rather, we are under the Spirit.  This does not mean that we get rid of the Law. 

The Law was given by God.  Thus, as Psalm 19 says, “the ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just.” 

Paul tells us that “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”  Jesus loving act of giving his life for us on the Cross reveals God’s absolute love for us.  Because of his love for us, we can count on his wisdom. 

Jesus himself observed the Law as demonstrated by his going to Jerusalem for the Passover. 

As Psalm 19 also says, “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.

The Ten Commandments are not just a bunch of rules.  They are a way of life (see my presentation, Are They Rules or a Way of Life?). 

We can use the Ten Commandments to examine our conscience.  Are we living as God asks of us?

The First Commandment to have no other gods calls us to ask if God is our greatest priority or is there something else that is more important to us.  Sports?  Money?  Career?

The Third Commandment to keep holy the sabbath day calls us to ask if Sunday a day for the Lord for us or do we spend the day doing something else?  Do our actions make other people work without real need on the Sabbath?

The Seventh Commandment says, “You shall not steal.”  Do we use pirated software or illegally download music or videos without paying for it, robbing the composer of their rightful pay?

The Eighth Commandment calls us to tell the truth?  Do we gossip?

Just as we are called to individually examine our consciences, we need to collectively look at how society is doing.  I am not encouraged by what I see.  When we are so fortunate to have a secular court declare that “embryos are children,” many fail to see the significance of this decision (see my blog article, “There is Hope in Alabama”).

How are we doing as a church?

In today’s gospel, Jesus goes to the temple for the Passover.  What does He find there?  He finds people selling oxen, sheep, and doves as well as finding money changers there.  What are they doing in the temple area?

People went to the temple to offer sacrifice.  Theoretically, the money changers are there to exchange currency for those who come with coins of other nations.  The oxen, sheep, doves are there to be purchased to offer as sacrifice.

On the surface, this might seem convenient.  We may think what is “convenient” is “good” but the problem is they have made our Father’s house a marketplace.

This should lead us to think about how our two parishes are doing.  We have been surviving for a long time but is just “surviving” enough?

Jesus did not tell us disciples to maintain what He had started.  It is not enough just to maintain.  Jesus told them, “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

Jesus has given us a mission to share the gospel.  Our mission as a parish starts with us allowing ourselves to be transformed by the gospel. As, not after, we are transformed, we must take the gospel out to those who don’t come to church.  It’s what Jesus asks of us

It starts with seeing ourselves as temples of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said to the people in the temple area, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

They thought He meant the temple building.  In that thinking, it would seem impossible to rebuild it in three days.  “But he was speaking about the temple of his body.” 

When we see our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, then we will observe all that the Lord has commanded us (see Matthew 28:20) and teach those we see outside the church to do the same.  We need to do it as individuals and together as a community of believers.

As we make the effort, remember Jesus’ words, “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

The Hidden Depths of the Mass #30

The Eucharistic Prayer – The Concluding Doxology

The Eucharistic Prayer ends with the priest saying, “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.”

Everything that happens in the Mass happens through the Lord.  The bread and wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  “We celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice” (Eucharistic Prayer III).

What we celebrate in the Eucharist is beyond “amazing.”  How do we respond?  With one word, “Amen.”  Amen means we believe what has been said and done.

(All previous articles in this series can be found online at https://renewaloffaith.org/bulletin-series-on-the-mass-2023/)

A New Look to My Website

After three months of much work, my website has a new look. Those of you who know me, know that I normally update my website myself. The change started when my old blog crashed in November. It didn’t work for three days. From there, my website hosting provider required a change of software (I knew this was coming at some point). This required copying over the entire website. This required more work than I had time for. So, I hired them to do the redesign. The good news is I had been wanting to give the website a fresh look for some time.

It is now visible at https://www.renewaloffaith.org.

It’s the same content as before and I will continue to add continue. The look is different. Perhaps the biggest visible change is that my blog and website are now one.

Perhaps the most beneficial change for people using my website is the addition of a search bar at the top of every page. You can enter words and it will show you where to find them on the website and the blog.

The menu bar near the top is different. If you look at the upper right corner, you will find three horizontal lines stacked on top of one another. That is the new menu bar. Just click on the three lines to see the menu bar. If you prefer a traditional menu bar, you can find it at the bottom of every page.

If you were subscribed to my old blog, you will need to subscribe to the new blog. However, that doesn’t seem to be working yet…please be patient. For those unfamiliar with this, when working, if you enter your email address in the subscribe box, whenever I publish a new article to my blog, you will automatically receive it in an email.

Lastly, you will notice the addition of the “s” in the website address (https://www.renewaloffaith.org). This is an added level of security. If you used to get messages that my website was unsecure, this should eliminate that.

As I said, the blog subscription doesn’t work yet. You can also see that links in my blog articles aren’t in color yet. They are working on that. If you notice any other problems such as missing text or links that don’t work, please let me know.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff