Wednesday’s Wink from Above 07/08/2026 Homily Cycle A 12th Sunday 06/21/2026 – Ordinary Time – Offered at OLPH.

 

A Sunday school teacher was quizzing her students after teaching them about God's omnipotence. At the end of her lesson she asked: "Is there anything God can't do?"

There was silence. Finally, one boy held up his hand. The teacher asked: "Well, what is it that God can't do?" The boy replied: "He can't please everybody." [Sermons.com, Gary W. Houston, “What God Can't Do” Cowherding Christians, CSS Publishing Company]

God offers us total love and that will please everybody, BUT we must choose to accept God’s love. Today’s Gospel urges us to acknowledge Christ without fear. Jeremiah follows the Lord despite this enemies plotting against him. St. Paul reminds us that death came through Adam yet Grace through Jesus Christ. And Jesus instructs His Apostles [& us] not to fear, in His Divine Providence He is watching over us.

Bette Midler’s hit song “From a distance” [1990] is a powerful & beautiful song. Some of the lyrics are: “From a distance the world looks blue & green … the ocean meets the stream… the eagle takes to flight… there is harmony. And it echoes through the land,  It's the voice of hope, the voice of peace… the voice of every [one]. God is watching us, God is watching us, God is watching us From a distance.”

Although it’s a beautiful song, it gets one thing wrong, very wrong God is not watching us from a distance, God is with us in our waking and sleeping. Our God walks with us, talks with us in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist He will enter into us, into our very being.

The Biblical meaning of “the Fear of God” points us to a deep sense of God’s otherness, it leads us to wonder and awe. It leads us to abide in God who loves us & believes we are worth far more than many sparrows. It leads us to Joyful Hope for the Coming of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah experienced persecution, mockery and intense pressure yet he believed the Lord was with him.

Do you believe the Lord is with you?

In the darkness of our times, most of the attacks on our faith are subtle, in whispers to distract our minds and hearts from focusing our lives on God. Jesus teaches the Twelve and us to “Fear no one” and courageously proclaim the Good News with our lives.

Pope Leo XIV urges us in “Magnifica Humanitas” [“Magnificent Humanity”] “… to look at the ways we communicate the Gospel to a world deeply in need of it. At its heart, that communication is the sharing of Jesus Christ, the Word.” [“Priests: Please don’t let A.I. write your homilies for you,” America Magazine, Louis Cameli, 06/10/2026]

The famous Jesuit poet and writer, Daniel Berrigan said, “If you want follow Jesus, you’d better look good on wood.” We will have many splinters and crosses to deal with BUT True Hope, real Hope can only be found in Jesus Christ, the hope that the world offers is fleeting. Our world, our nation desperately need Hope today, we need Hope.

In the December of 1941 after Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Franklin Roosevelt told the nation, “There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.” We have been Baptized in Faith and in the Hope of our Savior Jesus Christ. We are in Ordinary Time in the Church liturgical calendar, St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “Saints are people who do ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

We do a lot of ordinary things to do in our lives, so start now and offer them up to our heavenly Father. Take some time [today] and think about how you will offer up your Ordinary actions and thoughts to God.

May God Be Praised.

Wednesday’s Wink from Above – Special 4th of July Edition [Saturday 07-04-2026]

 

As a nation we celebrate 250-year anniversary and as Kellys we celebrate the "Miracle of Marietta and Kennesaw" and as the Miracle continues to unfold, Laurie, Brian, Caiden John, and Berkleigh are at home in Kennesaw, GA. It is July 4, 2026, and once again, Brian’s sister Elizabeth and her family [husband Kyle, their children: Declan, Deacon, Maren & Kellen] are celebrating my-daughter-in-law Laurie’s continued recovery from the brain aneurysm and stroke she suffered on July 4, 2018. 

The Koch's made a stop in the Smokey Mountains on their way to Georgia, saw a bear, climbed a mountain and had a wonderful time in Tennessee, before they continued on to Kennesaw. 

Each year since 2018 Brian’s sister Elizabeth and her family visit the Georgia Kellys to share the 4th of July Holiday, a.k.a. HOPE FILLED DAY, to celebrate Laurie’s continued recovery from her aneurysm and stroke. Her recovery is remarkable, her recovery a miracle, and a blessing given to Brian, Caiden, Berkleigh, and all of us. 

Today they celebrated at the movies, Toy Story 5.

Perseverance in Prayer [pleas, tears, shouts & joys], assistance from friends, family and others from the community and Laurie’s tenacity with her therapies, have contributed to her recovery.

Eight years ago, Brian prayed for Divine Intervention and The Lord answered Brian “it is not Laurie’s time to enter eternity, but it is your time to help her carry her cross here trusting in God’s never-failing mercy.”

Laurie’s progress has been steady and wonderful to behold. She continues her therapy each week and vigorously pursues her goal of full recovery. Laurie, Brian, and all of us are grateful for your prayers over the years and hope that you will continue praying for them. Trust that we pray for you and your families every day.

 

 

The family photo above was taken on July 2025, when the Kelly Family gathered for our annual Sunset Beach, N.C. Vacation and where we will Vacation again this July 2026.

Today, as indicated above, we celebrate the 250th Anniversary of our Independence. In 1776 our Declaration of Independence announced our break with Great Britain and offered these ideals: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

With all the problems we face as a nation [political, social, economic, etc.] take time today to count your blessings and thank God for our nation, however, flawed. May we heal, hope, seek and pray for the United States of America as we seek to live the ideals we proclaim.

May God Bless America and May God Bless all people of all nations today and every day.

May God Be Blessed.

Blog Wednesday’s Wink from Above 07/01/2026 Prayer - The Little Prince & Useless Time

 

In The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry points out that many adult are obsessed with strict "usefulness" [making money & owning thing]. He argues that what is important in life invisible—love, imagination, and relationships, these cannot be measured by practicality or profit. Jesus “… dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.” [Matthew 14:23]

The world says, “If you are not making good use of your time, you are useless.” The world means pursuing money & goods. The Word [Jesus] says, “Come spend some time with me.”  Jesus means just sit quietly with me, in a way be “useless.”

If we think about prayer in terms of its usefulness to us – what prayer will do for us, what spiritual benefits we will gain, what insights we will gain, what divine presence we may feel – God cannot easily speak to us.

But if we can detach ourselves from the idea of the usefulness of prayer and the results of prayer, we become free to “waste” a precious hour with God in prayer. Gradually, we may find, our “useless or wasted” time will transform us, and everything around us will be different.

 

May God Be Praised.