Foot-washer

Deacon Ned Berghausen St. Agnes Catholic Church September 23/24, 2023 25rd Sunday of Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090422.cfm Good evening / morning St. Agnes and guests. Thank you for joining us for this mass celebrating the Season of Creation. This liturgical period, which runs from September 1st to October 4th, is a time in which we are called to “renew our relationship with the Creator and with creation, through celebration, conversion and commitment.” Whoever wrote that description really likes the letter ‘C.’ Today’s parable could well be Americans’ least favorite of all time. The vineyard owner in this story pays workers the same wage, regardless of how long each worked or how hard. For many, this offends our cherished principle that hard work should be rewarded amply. We might well agree with the worker who grumbles, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” Ye...

Holy Family Catholic Church 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072323.cfm   [Modified Gospel Reading: short form with mustard seed parable from long form] Tonight, my St. X High School class of is celebrating our 25 th anniversary of graduation.  Many of my classmates are here with their families before heading down to the other end of Poplar Level to celebrate.     The Bible is a strange book. It contains a wild patchwork of genres mashed together.  Amidst the narratives, poetry, law codes, and myths, is one type of text a reader might not expect to encounter in Holy Scripture: very specific instructions on farming, including rules about what can and can’t be planted together in one field. After reading these instructions, we might think of the Bible as an Old Farmer’s Almanac.  Maybe a ‘very old’ and ‘holy’ Farmer’s Almanac for the people of Israel. Jesus’ parables today, then, would be very surprising to his l...

  Deacon Ned Berghausen St. Agnes June 24/25, 2023 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062523.cfm If the psalm prays, pray. If it laments, lament. If it rejoices, rejoice. If it hopes, hope. If it fears, fear. For everything which is written here is a reflection of us.  St. Augustine. There is one book of the Bible that we hear at almost every single mass, both on Sundays and at daily mass with the exception of only four days of the year [where we hear canticles].   It is the longest book of the Bible.   Do you know what it is?   It’s the Book of Psalms.   Today we heard Psalm 69 which we sung together, led by our cantor [name], in between our first and second reading.   It’s sometimes easy to miss or forget that these songs are Scripture, just as much as the other readings and the Gospel.   When we approach the Bible, we may think of it primarily in terms of narrative stories, law codes and rule books, parabl...

St. Agnes Catholic Church 4th Sunday in Easter Cycle A Apr 29 & 30, 2023 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/043023.cfm Ten years ago, Kate and I travelled to Rome and the Vatican for our honeymoon.  We spent a couple days exploring St. Peter’s Basilica, which as I am sure you know is the biggest church in the world, located in Vatican City where the pope lives and the global Catholic Church is centered.   We signed up for a special tour that took us deep into the necropolis underneath St. Peter’s Basilica. The great church was built onto what used to be a cemetery on Vatican Hill on the spot where St. Peter was martyred. It takes about an hour to explore this subterranean cemetery.  The ground slowly rises until you come to an ancient tomb, which is marked by a very simple monument that is scrawled with Greek graffiti saying, “this is Peter.” In the center, is a simple, transparent box containing the very bones of Peter.   As we ascended back t...

St. Agnes Catholic Church February 25/26 1st Sunday of Lent https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022623.cfm Good evening / morning, St. Agnes, and a blessed beginning of Lent. On Martin Luther King weekend, a group of St. Agnes parishioners from the St. Thea Bowman Society visited Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic church, a predominately Black parish on the West End. My six-year-old son EJ was with me. In the lobby were numerous posters of Dr. King in honor of the occasion, but there was also a permanent framed poster on the wall there.  It was titled, “the Fork in the Road” and it shows a man and a woman standing at a crossroads.  On one side is a leafy green pathway reading to Jesus, wreathed in a rainbow and clouds with his arms extended in invitation.  On the other half of the image, is a desolate path, enveloped in storm clouds and lightning.  At the end top is an ominous figure with a death’s-head and horns.  Just like Jesus, his arms are extended in ...

St. Agnes Catholic Church Good Friday Cycle C Apr 15, 2022 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041522.cfm What is the greatest crime a person can commit?   What is the evilest action that a human being can do?   When I was in middle school, an English teacher taught my class a list of vocabulary words ending in the root, - cide . which means “to kill” or “to cut down.”   These words are a catalogue of awful things, many of them have a good case to be the answer to the question I posed about humanity’s word deed.   Listen to this litany of terror: Homicide – the killing of another human being Patricide – the killing of a parent Aborticide – the killing of an unborn child Infanticide – the killing of a child Suicide – killing oneself Regicide – killing a king Most of our worst actions involve violence, especially taking the life of a human being.   To this catalogue of cruelty, we added two words in the bloody 20 th century.       Genoc...

St. Boniface Catholic Church  M and M’s Wedding April 2, 2022 “…as I love you.” Song of Songs 2-8-10-14-16-8-6-7 (?) Psalm 103 Romans 12:1-2, 9-18 John 15:9-12 Good afternoon, friends and family of Groom and Bride 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 at St. Agnes parish.   I am also a former teacher of Bride’s.   I taught her when she was a senior at Mercy and had the pleasure of working with her for a year at Mercy.   Bride is a third generation Mercy employee, following in the footsteps of her grandmother, Lillian, and father, Kevin.   I have gotten to know Groom this year through the process of wedding preparation. It is a thrill to be presiding on your special day.   Groom and Bride have been together for ten years and have grown into a comfortable, solid couple, relaxed in their ability to be in each other...