Father Chris Looby

  If you visit a Jewish home, you might notice a small decorative case attached to the doorframe. It's called a mezuzah . Inside that little case is a small scroll containing passages from the Book of Deuteronomy, including one of the most important prayers in Judaism, known as the Shema . It begins, "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!" And then comes the commandment to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Many Jewish people have the custom of touching the mezuzah as they pass through the doorway, as a reminder of their relationship with God and their responsibility to live according to his commandments. Now, why am I telling you this? Because in today's Gospel, a scholar of the law approaches Jesus and asks him a question: "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" And out of all the commandments Jesus could have chosen, he quotes that very passage from Deuteronomy! In other words, the answer to...

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is asked a question designed to trap him: “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” After asking whose image appears on the coin, Jesus gives his famous response: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” With Election Day only a few weeks away, those words are worth taking to heart. As Catholics, we are called to be good and responsible citizens. We should take our civic responsibilities seriously, learn about the issues, form our consciences carefully, pray for wisdom, and vote. But Jesus also reminds us that Caesar does not get everything. No political party is the Gospel. No candidate perfectly represents the Kingdom of God. No ideology should ever become more important to us than our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ. The coin bore Caesar’s image. We bear God’s image. That means that before we are Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals, we belong to God. And when we enter the voting booth, ...

Last Saturday I attended the annual Catholic Daughters Remembrance Mass at St. Peter’s Church in Plattsburgh. Each year, the Catholic Daughters gather to remember the members of their local courts who have died during the past year, and Bishop LaValley celebrates the Mass. The Bishop had just begun his homily when suddenly we heard a loud noise from the entrance of the church, followed by a painful groan. An elderly gentleman had fallen coming up the steps. His cane was lying on the floor, and he was wearing an Honor Flight jacket, so I knew he was a veteran. One of the Catholic Daughters and I helped him up, and we found him a seat in the front row. Now, I was pretty sure he wasn’t a Catholic Daughter! But there he was. And at the Sign of Peace, Bishop LaValley came down, shook his hand, and checked to make sure he was okay. I thought about that gentleman when I read today’s Gospel. Jesus tells us about a king who prepares a magnificent wedding banquet for his son. The food is prepare...

  If you've spent any time working or volunteering in a parish, you've probably heard these words more than once: “We've always done it this way!” And I have to admit, I've probably said them myself! Someone comes along with a new idea, a different approach, a suggestion for doing something better. And before they've even finished explaining it, we're already thinking, “Nope. We've always done it this way!” Now, sometimes there's a good reason for that. Not every new idea is a good idea. But sometimes, “We've always done it this way” is just another way of saying, “I don't want to change.” And that brings us to today's Gospel. Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who plants a vineyard and leases it to tenants. When harvest time arrives, he sends his servants to collect his share of the produce. But the tenants refuse. They beat one servant, kill another, and stone a third. Finally, the landowner sends his own son. And they kill him, too. J...

  Last week, I watched Michael J. Fox receive the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmy Awards. (Watch the full speech here) Most of us remember him as Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties or Marty McFly in Back to the Future. But in 1991, at just 29 years old, Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. For years, he kept his diagnosis private. In his acceptance speech, he explained that he was afraid of what would happen if people knew he was sick. Would it affect his career? Would audiences still laugh at his jokes? Those were understandable fears. But eventually, something changed. He realized that accepting Parkinson's didn't mean surrendering to it. Instead, he began asking himself what he could do for other people living with the same disease. He went public with his diagnosis, became an advocate for patients, raised money for research, and established a foundation dedicated to finding a cure. And as I listened to him speak, I was struck by something. His circu...