Springtime Revelations

Here is my Palm Sunday homily to my beloved Northeast Washington flock. Perhaps you websurfers will get something out of it…

Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But not my will, but Yours be done. (Luke 22:42)

Not everything is immediately visible to the eye. It takes time for some things to be revealed.

Admit it: When I first arrived here at Holy Name, you thought to yourself: What in the world is this tall, quiet, nineteen-year-old white boy doing here as the pastor of our parish? You know you were thinking this.

With time, though, I hope something that was hidden has been revealed. I may be a stiff, quiet, young-looking white man. But: You can count on me to get up here and put the Word of God on you. I am going to preach Jesus Christ to you as much as any man—old, young, black, white, yellow, or red.

St. Albans School
Maybe this was hidden at first. Hopefully it has been revealed now.

God did not give you Barack Obama to be your pastor. Young-looking Father White–upper-northwest St. Albans boy, crewcut, glasses, goofy nerd—I am the pastor God gave you, and the white boy is just the one you need.

So we see: With time, hidden things can be revealed.

This happens every spring. Springtime comes. All the beauty of the earth, which has been hidden through the winter—that beauty is revealed to our eyes.

The Lord Jesus was conceived in His mother’s womb in the springtime. Our Lady consented to the Archangel Gabriel on March 25. The Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and the Word became flesh in her womb.

As soon as the Son of God became one of us, He declared His obedience to the Father. Christ prayed in Mary’s womb and said, “Behold, Father: I come to do your will.”

Throughout His pilgrimage on earth, the Lord Jesus always did the will of the Father, down to the most minute detail of His life.

“My food is to do the will of the One Who sent me…I do only what I see the Father doing…The Father works, so I work.”

But the full extent of Christ’s obedience lay hidden for most of His life. Everyone who knew Him saw that His will belonged to God above. But no one could have imagined just how perfect Christ’s obedience really was.

It was in Holy Week that the full measure of Christ’s submission was revealed. What was hidden in the Virgin’s womb was made visible when He went up to Jerusalem for the last time.

In the womb, He had said, “Behold, Father, I come to do your will.”

Then, in the Garden, He said: “Father, if it be possible, let this most bitter cup of suffering pass from me. But not my will, but Yours be done.”

Tokens of Warmth + a Vow

Last summer I got a big, fat book. I started it while I was on vacation at the beach.

Every morning I study a few pages of this particular book. I am only about halfway through.

This morning I held the book in my hands, and I remembered the day when I started reading:

The warm sun was sweetly baking my SPF-15-protected skin. The light was perfect for reading through sunglasses. The waves were lapping in from Europe. It was heaven…

…I have a pair of cufflinks which I bought to remind myself of the beach. They have little sailboats on them.

Here is my vow to you: I am going to wear these sailboat cufflinks every day until the official National Airport temperature hits 70 degrees Fahrenheit…

…Listen: If you missed Sunday Mass because of bad weather, please remember that your pastor needs the monetary offering that you would have given.

All His Benefits

Spiderman will catch you in his web

The Hoyas are 6-0. Jason Clark has a seven-foot wingspan.

The Redskins almost beat the New Orleans Saints.

And Archbishop Wuerl gave us all kinds of goodness at Holy Name yesterday.

Archbishop gives Holy Name the good Word
New pastor: Goofy looking, but semi-competent

Happy Days

God is good to me.

I say this not just because the Geogetown Hoyas are 5-0, having trounced the Mount last night, even more thoroughly than they did a year ago.

I say it not just because He makes the sun rise in the morning and the moon at night.

I say it not just because maybe some day I will be able to go to jail for refusing to let two grooms use our church hall for their “reception.”

(By the by, our old friend had the guts to vote against the madness today).

No. The reason I praise God is that He has brought together two events in my life in such a way that I could never have asked for something so wonderful.

For me, there are two kinds of days on the calendar. There is December 8, and then there are all the other days.

December 8 is the day when the Garden of Eden was restored to the earth, the day when the flower of mankind bloomed again.

I am the happy slave of the Lady conceived on December 8.

For me, the days leading up to December 8 are special holy days of prayer and closeness to the Immaculata.

It just so happens that during the Immaculate Conception Novena this year, Archbishop Wuerl is going to come to my church and renew my consecration as a priest, when he installs me as the parish pastor this Sunday.

I am unworthy of such good timing–to be able to give myself again to the priesthood during the days when I first gave myself to the Blessed Mother as a slave.

May our Lady make good use of me. She is a gentle mistress.

Pastor’s First Sermon

Thank you for your prayers and kind concern for me. Here is the little homily I gave on Sunday…

joshua1Joshua said to the Israelites, “If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling.

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15

The Lord called Abraham from the darkness of paganism and promised to make a mighty nation from his descendants. The Lord gave Abraham his son Isaac, and Isaac his son Jacob–also known as Israel.

The Lord sent Moses to lead Jacob’s descendants out of slavery. God did wonders to defeat all of Israel’s enemies. And the Lord brought the Israelites into the Promised Land. He gave them food to eat which they did not plant and cities to live in which they did not build.

Continue reading “Pastor’s First Sermon”

Archbishop’s Decree

stbernardine-elgrego
St. Bernardine of Siena holding the insignia of the Holy Name of Jesus

This is what His Grace handed me:

For the welfare of the people of God, I appoint you, Reverend Mark D. White, pastor of Holy Name parish, Washington, D.C.

I hereby commit to you the full pastoral care of souls in this parish…May God grant you the grace and health to carry out this charge of priestly service for souls.

Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington

I am unworthy of such trust. Please pray for me. May the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, who together gave our Savior His Holy Name, watch over me and all the people of “Capitol Hill extended” and Trinidad.

Holy_Name_Church_and_Rectory
Eleventh & K Sts., N.E.
Bernardine with ihs
Click AMDG above for more info
Old map--does not include National Arboretum
Old map--does not include National Arboretum

Pastoral Charity

st-peter

In his letters, St. Peter referred to the fact that his job was to remind his people of things they had already learned. They learned them when they first embraced the Catholic faith.

St. Peter also promised to make sure that there would be someone else to remind them after he had died (II Peter 1:15).

mosesThere is an unbroken succession of Popes from St. Peter to Benedict XVI. The succession from one pope to the next began with the fatherly love of the first Pope for his people…

…Please say a little prayer for me. The Archbishop has asked me to come to his office this afternoon. I am afraid he might do something rash, like entrust one of his parishes to me.

Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)

…I am working on a new special-edition Bests list, to be published soon. In the meantime, here is an extra:

Best Bobby Darin song: