Foot-washer

 A Wedding Homily    Jeremiah 31:31-32a, 33-34a Psalm 128 Romans 15:1b-3a, 5-7, 13 Matthew 7:21, 24-25 Good afternoon, friends and family of L and A and especially to our very soon-to-be bride and groom.   It is a pleasure to be here with you to celebrate and witness to this joyous event. I am Ned Berghausen, permanent deacon here at St. Agnes. If you ask L and A how they met, the two of them will tell you a story with lots of disputed facts.   They first met when they were out at night somewhere. Maybe…   A doesn’t remember that.   L’s told him many times the facts of the meeting he just doesn’t remember it. No, he says, they first met when she began interning at his workplace.   But she was acting strangely shy—and hiding behind a pillar. The two of them frequently interrupt and tease each other.   You can tell this is a story that they’ve told and fought about many times.   They tell me, “our friends would describe us as an old ...

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time   Cycle C Feb 6, 2022 Bellarmine University – Our Lady of the Woods Chapel https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020622.cfm   Good evening Bellarmine and Happy Sunday.   I’m Ned Berghausen, a permanent deacon at St. Agnes across the street as well as graduate of this university.   Thanks to the friars for inviting me to serve and to preach this evening.   The first time I preached with Fr. John it was very unexpected.   I travelled with him to India on one of the Christmas Break trips he organizes. This was six or seven years ago before I was ordained.   I was at an early morning mass in a friary filled with Franciscan priests and seminarians.   Fr. John read the Gospel and when he was done, he turned to me and said, “we don’t usually give homilies at morning mass, so I would like to invite Ned to come up in preach.”   Luckily, he gave me a little more warning for this one.   And I’ve had a little more t...

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122520-mass-at-night.cfm In the first reading tonight, we hear a very familiar passage from the prophet Isaiah proclaimed: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… for a child is born to us, a son is given to us. Upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” Six years ago at midnight mass, I heard these words while sitting in the pews. My wife, Kate, and I went with my family to Holy Trinity parish. I remember it vividly because ten days before the two of us had found out that she was pregnant. Our Christmas Eve was in that electric time when no one else, only she and I knew the secret: a great joy had just entered into the world. Holy Trinity that night was jammed packed. So full that we sat in overflow seating in a separate section of the church with no view of the altar and with the audio piped into our room. That suited us fine because she needed to sit clo...

4 th Sunday of Advent Cycle C Dec 18/19, 2021 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121921.cfm I have a cousin who was born one week after me.   I always think of him when I hear this story of Mary’s visitation to her relative Elizabeth when they were both pregnant.   In fact, at his wedding reception, I gave a toast saying that I liked to imagine that I leapt for joy in my mother’s womb when we first met.     Patrick is my first cousin, the son of my mom’s sister, and he is my oldest friend.   Though I am a week older, it is only because I was premature by a month.   He was expected to be born first.   My hurry to enter the world made me the first grandchild in our family—which has been a source of much gentle rivalry and teasing throughout our lives.   Having a cousin so close in age is like having another brother.   Almost a twin.   First a so-called “belly buddy,” then a “brother from a different mother.”   Every year at...

  Feast of Christ the King   Cycle B  Nov 20/21, 2021 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112121.cfm In 1963, there was a meeting between the first Catholic President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and the pope of the time Paul VI in Rome.   This was the first time that a Catholic president had met a pope, and there was quite a bit of speculation about one particular question: would JFK kneel down in front of the pontiff and kiss his ring.   Most Catholics of the time would be expected to do just that at a papal audience– but this was the so-called “leader of the free world,” a powerful person in his own right.   Kneeling would suggest subservience and would present political problems for the young president.   When they finally did meet, there was no kiss.  The two leaders shook hands and then proceeded to meet each other on an equal footing as human beings.   In the Gospel today, we have a similar tableau of two...

Genesis 2:18-24 Psalm 128 I Corinthians 12:31-13:8 Mark 10: 6-9 Good afternoon, friends and family of A and E and especially to our very soon-to-be bride and groom.   It is a pleasure to be here with you to celebrate and witness to this joyous event. My name is Ned and I am a former teacher of E’s.   I taught her when she was a senior at Mercy and I was a first year teacher.   I don’t always remember every student, but E is extremely memorable.   Unforgettable even.   At 18, she had an exuberate personality and a deep well of kindness.   When I met with A and E over the summer, that was something that A said that drew him to her, as well.   She is constantly writing thank you notes to people and giving them gifts.   She has incredible patience for the people she serves as a dental hygienist and an overall good attitude.   I am so glad, after reconnecting with you, to see that those qualities have continued, E.   And I am thrilled to ...

  Today we celebrate Mercy Day, which is a day dedicated to Mary.   One of her many titles is “Our Lady of Mercy.”   Mary was a Model of Mercy for Catherine McAuley.   By a happy accident, Catherine opened her House of Mercy on the feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, September 24.  This House of Mercy on Baggot Street in Dublin was a place that educated the ignorant, especially women, housed the homeless, and healed the sick. It was and is a place of welcome, symbolized by a striking red door.    Nine more Houses of Mercy would open in Ireland—Tullamore, Charleville, Carlow, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Birr, Kingstown and Booterstown—and  many more around the world. Following Communion, we will recognize several people in the community of Assumption who model Mercy, following the examples of Mary, Catherine and the Sisters of Mercy.  I would like to tell you about a person in my own life who models mercy, my mom, Karen Cassidy.  Throu...