Martin Luther King identified with other people's suffering because he endured grave afflictions. In the last year of his life he suffered depression that led to hospitalization. We can understand his depression in light of the stress he was under: savage attacks from the press, family troubles, financial woes, a splintering movement with internal divisions and betrayals - and his own demons that led him to seek relief in alcohol and infidelity. Those failures and sins brought guilt that drug him deeper into depression.
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His staff members - many of them fellow ministers - worried about him. They finally got him to take a few days away. At the place they were staying one of them - at 3 in the morning - realized Dr. King was not in his bedroom.

--Heroism of St. Marianne
--Anger of God against injustice
--Justice as essential argument in favor of faith in eternal life
--Definition of Justice
--Racial Justice:
-----Biblical view of race
----Martin Luther King & struggle against segregation
----Personal application: sin of racism

​(Generations of Faith - January 23, 2019)

Mi vision para liturgy en Santa Maria del Valle. Que sucede en la misa y la importancia de lectores y ministros extraordinarios de la Sagrada Comunion.

My vision for Liturgy at St. Mary of the Valley. What happens at Mass - and what are roles of lectors and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion?

Back when I was in college a popular book came out: I'm OK, You're OK. Written by psychiatrist Thomas Harris, the book encouraged people to affirm themselves and others. It had some good points, but I have to admit I took pleasure in a book that came out as a response to I'm OK, You're OK. Its title: I'm OK, You're Not So Hot! That's probably how some of my classmates felt about me.

Many people follow the "I'm OK, You're OK" approach to life. It's a pleasant philosophy, but is it really true? As we will see at the conclusion of this homily, in one sense it is - or at least can be, but first we have to face some hard truths. When we look at our long, sad history, human goodness does not exactly shine through. Our history shows wars, greed, torture, rape, mass murder, concentration camps, genocide.

And if that's not enough ask these questions: If we are so good, why do two people deeply in love with each other, have such a hard time staying together? And why do we love hearing other people's faults? Once I mentioned in a homily that gossip was circulating about me. People later told me they wanted to know what the gossip was! Maybe you're curious yourself. Come to Generations of Faith - I'll talk more about it. We can take a deeper look at the I'm OK, You're OK philosophy.
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Some of the people we most admire acknowledge they are not OK.

Cuando estaba en la universidad, salió un libro popular: Yo Estoy Bien, Tu Estás bien. Escrito por el psiquiatra Thomas Harris, el libro alentó a afirmarse a uno mismo y a los demás. Es una filosofía agradable, pero ¿es realmente cierto?

Como veremos al final de esta homilía, en un sentido es, o al menos puede ser, pero primero debemos enfrentar algunas verdades difíciles. Cuando observamos nuestra larga y triste historia, la bondad humana no brilla.. Nuestra historia muestra guerras, codicia, tortura, violación, asesinatos, campamentos de concentración, genocidio. Y si eso no es suficiente, haga estas preguntas: si somos tan buenos, ¿por qué dos personas que están profundamente enamoradas, tienen tantas dificultades para permanecer juntos? ¿Y por qué amamos escuchar las fallas de los demás?
Algunas de las personas que más admiramos reconocen que no están bien. Uno de los hombres más grandes en la Biblia es el rey David. Sin embargo, cometió terribles pecados: adulterio y asesinato. Cuando el profeta Natán lo confronta, David admite: "He pecado contra el Señor". Luego David escribe un Salmo que dice: "Ten piedad de mí, oh Dios ... Mi pecado siempre está delante de mí"....

Human beings in different cultures and different centuries have asked these questions: Why is there something and not nothing at all? What is this web of life we belong to? And the stars and planets: How do the heavens relate to our lives here below?
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The magi - the Kings or Wise Men - asked those kinds of questions. In the bulletin I wrote something about the magi and their significance - especially for people who have bought the idea that science and faith are opposed to each other. As today's Gospel shows, the magi study the night sky and see a star. It leads them to a very peculiar people - a people who believe God is not some kind of impersonal force but rather a true person - a person who has entered into a covenant with them. The star guides the magi to Jerusalem where they meet the Jewish priests and scribes who explain their writings - the Scriptures - to them.