Father Jim 
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother?” Imagine that you were among the four hundred people who lived in Nazareth with Joseph, Mary and Jesus. You have known Jesus since he was a boy learning carpentry and other trades from Joseph and others in the small town, … Read more
We live as hungry people in a hungry world that is often not satisfying. Everyone is looking for something that will sustain and nourish life, something that will feed and energize, something that will fill and satisfy them. Everyone is looking for bread. Real bread. The problem is not that we are hungry, but the … Read more
In light of the attempted assassination of former President Trump, I felt that I would heed President Biden’s National Oval Office Address and ask that we all take a step back, reevaluate what is really important, think carefully about what we believe and who we are willing to lose from our lives over someone who, … Read more
In this coming Sunday’s Gospel, we will hear, “He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” Jesus needed rest. While you read this message, my family and I are out resting! (Well, we are on a family vacation to Delaware to visit family with everyone in tow, so … Read more
We lost a friend to Saint Miriam last week. Donna Conway lost her battle to pancreatic cancer. I married Donna and her husband Dan just a couple years ago. You might have met them when they attended Mass at the parish often. She was a beautiful soul and warm woman and a lady in every … Read more
When Jesus visited Nazareth, where He grew up, He faced rejection. He was not able to perform any miracles, apart from curing a few sick people. He was amazed at their lack of faith! Contrast this with the story of the Centurion, when He said, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel … Read more
Mark’s Gospel continues this Sunday with the story of the woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years and the synagogue official’s daughter who had died. Last week it was Jesus calming the Sea. It is as if Mark’s Gospel is a highlight tape of Jesus that includes His greatest hits. It’s short, fast-paced, and to … Read more
With this Sunday finding Mark’s Gospel bringing us the famous lesson on storms and the fact that President Biden offered a way for immigrants to stay together in our country, and it also being a week of remembering freedom with Juneteenth, I decided to go deep into the water to remind us that, as Catholic Christians, … Read more
This coming Sunday we hear another famous parable! Jesus often thinks and speaks in parables and uses images which he draws from the world around him. Jesus reaches especially for symbols of life and growth in His wonderful illustrations using words and story. Today we hear a familiar, yet ever evolving, mustard seed parable! From … Read more
People imagine their god intervening in the world to different degrees. Once, God is like a Watchmaker, Occasionally, God is a tinkerer for some but not for all. Constantly, well we are mere Marionettes! The whole idea of a tinkering God suggests that God might have created one thing, later decided to change it, or … Read more
This Sunday is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, or Trinity Sunday! We priests often joke that a new seminarian is often appointed to preach on this day by the Pastor because no one can explain the Holy Trinity! I know that many will suggest that the Trinity is an obscure doctrine that we’re … Read more
The Holy Trinity: God is three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We all know that. We may not completely understand it. But we know the facts. But here’s a question: how do we know that God is Trinity? It’s not something we could have figured out on our own. The truth is, we know God is Father, Son … Read more
Well, it’s here! Finally! It is Pentecost! Pentecost takes place on the 50th day after Easter Sunday and commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, the beloved mother of Jesus, and the Apostles of Jesus, while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles. … Read more
This Sunday’s passage from John occurs near the end of Jesus’ life. Jesus’ lengthy discourse actually begins back in chapter 14 and runs all the way through chapter 16. When used of relationships, as it is here, it suggests we live within a deep, steadfast relationship using our heart and soul in unity with God. In order … Read more
In our Gospel this Sunday we hear, “Jesus said to his disciples:‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.You are already pruned because of the word that I … Read more
Ah, the Good Shepherd returns! It is always one of my favorites, if but overly used at times. Seeing Jesus as the example of being a good shepherd makes sense, because that was one of the major occupations throughout Palestine in His day. His listeners knew about them. People that cared for flocks of sheep … Read more
As I watched the donkey watch us on Palm Sunday, I was reminded of simpler things and all things less fancy. It was in his expression that I knew this year needed to be different. This Holy Week was meant to be different. This Holy Week will not be about numbers at each mass in attendance, or … Read more
The world has simply become more caustic by any measure. The interactions on social media, between persons, and against the vulnerable, and those who identify as LGBTQ, and the foreigner and refugee are all more acidic and debilitating. The political rhetoric is nothing short of vile. We, as a people, have become less patient, less … Read more
The opener to this week’s Gospel is great: “some Greeks” come to Andrew and say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” It is a powerful verse, simple and yet so full of complexities, that it is also engraved on a brass plate on the inside of our pulpit at Saint Miriam. Why? Because we want … Read more
If You Think We Aren’t Needed… As I greeted folks departing from Mass last Sunday, I realized how fortunate we are to be a progressive and truely welcoming Franciscan Catholic Parish. I was reminded how needed we are; not so much myself, but all of us together that make us so special, and this place … Read more