<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[OLG+IC+SJ | Roman Catholic Community]]></title><description><![CDATA[Welcome to OLG+IC+SJ, the Roman Catholic Community of Glenville, New York! We look forward to welcoming you into our community!]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 01:15:56 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.olgicsj.org/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[MOVING]]></title><description><![CDATA[Happy Easter I decided to move my own blog from the church website to my own.  I want to work on posting some posts on the wider topics in social work etc. and figured having my own web site would maybe give a wider audience.  For the last month I have been posting on both sides, but this is getting time consuming. So my posts will be on the following site: https://frtomthoughts.blog/2026/04/06/happy-easter/ This is my Easter homily. I do not know if there can be a permanent link from the...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/moving</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69d3bdc8d142869289e815a3</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 Apr 2026 14:10:36 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Simon Peter and Judas]]></title><description><![CDATA[Traditionally, today is called Spy Wednesday:  the day that Judas finalized the plans to betray Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Today’s betrayal and yesterday’s predication of Peter’s denial need to be seen together. Both men were long term disciples, and both had a place in the Lord’s heart. Simon who had been entrusted with the name Peter; the rock upon whom the Church would be built. Judas trusted with the money of the group and one trusted to give the alms to the poor. We could assume...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/simon-peter-and-judas</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cd100fcf5ec76e2970234a</guid><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:46:04 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_3329f136f2384d2c9d518e8ab2d3a151~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_400,h_269,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mary's waste of money]]></title><description><![CDATA[The first three days of Holy Week give us three different people to pray with. Today, we look at Mary, the sister of Lazurus, who anointed his feet with precious oil. She was doing an act of welcome and hospitality and did not hold back. Her lavish act shows us how we are to treat the Body of Christ. We are not to give our excess but go all out. I think of the number of times someone will give something to clothes drive that is worn out and that person will not wear. Somehow, we all think it...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/mary-s-waste-of-money</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ca99c39ff7d57ccdbb0510</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2026 15:41:59 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Palm Sunday                   homily]]></title><description><![CDATA[Twice a year, we read the Passion of Jesus:  here today and will hear it again on Good Friday. It would be easy to see it as an ancient story that had a beginning and an end. However, it never ends. The suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus continues to this day, especially in His wounded Body, the Church, in us. His suffering Body is the survivors of abuse and those from St Clare’s. His suffering Body is the soldier who deals with the effects of war and the spouses who have...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/palm-sunday-homily</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ca93659ff7d57ccdbaecf0</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2026 15:16:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_518858fa7bf94287921f6f75d3287e85~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_627,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ezekiel 37/21-28]]></title><description><![CDATA[In today’s reading from Ezekiel, we read about the promise of a new Exodus from the exile and a return to the Promised Land. These words of hope must have been like gold to those who had been exiled for years. Many had probably never been to Israel and only heard about it in the telling of the stories that formed the Scriptures we know. God promised them a land of plenty where there is plenty of food, no worry, a land of peace. The only thing that was asked of them:   follow the demands of...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/ezekiel-37-21-28</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c7f34daf19906fa177a9b7</guid><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 15:36:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_00b9f94fb24f4b63aedaefa01c0958b5~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[triduum]]></title><description><![CDATA[Church of the Holy Sepulcher,  Jerusalem                              We are one week away from Good Friday. Where has Lent gone? In less than a week we will enter into the Sacred Triduum and immerse ourselves through prayer and ritual into the most sacred event of our faith:  the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. It is sad to think at time that many of our younger people have never been a part of the washing of the feet, spent time with the Lord on Holy Thursday, felt the silence...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/triduum</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c6a498653657f03d62b838</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 15:39:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_ea7f6127bd874ddb8676202b794b6620~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[yes!]]></title><description><![CDATA[image of Mary in the Church of the Annuciation in Nazareth I had the opportunity over 10 years to visit the Holy Land. On our last day, we went to Nazareth and went to the Church of the Annunciation. It is hard to describe what it was like to read Luke’s account of the Annunciation in the very place where it happened. I have not read the story the same since. In that sacred place, God became human through the simple yes of a poor young woman. Mary’s yes has resounded since. Her yes to go to...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/__yes</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c3f7cd043183ace6e01c8e</guid><pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:02:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_9f8ffd09edf34d81b0184a3fd751f02a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_643,h_960,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[the Cross]]></title><description><![CDATA[Last Lent. when I led Matt Rowles series on the Passion Narratives, The Final Days, one line from the series has stayed with me for the entire year. The line basically said that when we sing the hymn, “Lift High the Cross”, are we really saying that we Christians do that to avoid the reality of Jesus’s call and example:  that the Cross is carried by so many in our world and we do not see it and the reality of what Jesus says, “Take up your Cross and follow me”.  If we lift it high, we can...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/the-cross</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c29b2f69ed8cb882adbec9</guid><pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:12:52 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_c234bf23986e403f9644065cba3ca862~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_225,h_225,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Daniel 13: 1-9.15-17,19-30,33-62    Susanna and the two elders]]></title><description><![CDATA[Today’s first reading about Susanna is tough one to hear. This poor young woman was exploited the old men, and they blamed her for what they wanted to do. Many women today are exploited or shunned by society:             Women who are struggling to make ends meet and are on Social Service            	    Young women sold into human trafficking.             Women who are exploited in the porn industry and made into objects                 Women in domestic violence situations             The...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/daniel-13-1-9-15-17-19-30-33-62-susanna-and-the-two-elders</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c1590ee26320a33934ecc2</guid><pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:16:26 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA["untie him and let him go free"      Homily from the Fifth Sunday of Lent]]></title><description><![CDATA[A few years ago, I preached about a friend of mine who sent me a letter about his struggle with sadness, grief, and depression. Everything about this weekend’s Gospel reflects his life, and maybe ours.  For whatever reason, a person struggles, those times of darkness, struggles or feeling hopeless are real. My friend described his experience like being stuck in a cave and tied up by regrets, fears, anxieties, and the overwhelming feelings of hopelessness. He talked about feeling abandoned by...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/untie-him-and-let-him-go-free-homily-from-the-fifth-sunday-of-lent</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c154ceb9d5370ce323b1bd</guid><pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:59:32 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[jeremiah............]]></title><description><![CDATA[Jeremiah never gets a break. He does what God wants and people walk away. He says that God tells him to say and they want to kill him (and try a few times). He talks about faithfulness to the covenant of Sinai and people ignore him. False prophets are able to drown him out with a more comfortable and easier message. Jesus had the same problem. He came as the eternal witness to the Love of God because he was the Love. He came in poverty to be in solidarity with those who most need God. He...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/jeremiah</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69be9cbe6e2d8139248c229c</guid><pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 13:27:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_7f37a8003fa9480086c211434bbee92b~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_203,h_248,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[lift high the Cross]]></title><description><![CDATA[As we come to the end of the fourth week of Lent, it is hard not to see the Cross looming in the near future. On Sunday, we will hear the story of the raising of Lazarus. Jesus being perturbed at death destroys the hold it has on his friend. This is the foretaste of what he would do for all humanity by his own death and rest in the tomb. No one let him go free on Easter morning; he was freed from death by the power of the Love that flows from the inner life of God himself. He broke the chains...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/lift-high-the-cross</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69bda7c6bd46da1f6b27a32a</guid><pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2026 20:02:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_993c2ab8a3de4e15b4d5045e9eea991a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[st joseph, pray for us]]></title><description><![CDATA[St Joseph                                                          outside the Church of St Joseph in Nazareth St Joseph is someone we know in the church, but he gets lost and overshadowed. My gut sense is that he does not mind. He says nothing in the Gospels but is a silent witness to the mysteries that are unfolding. He is a strong man in body and character. Faced with his wife being stoned, he tries to send her away until God lets him know what the plan is. He accepts the plan, takes Mary...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/st-joseph-pray-for-us</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69bbff0e75ade47ce7bdb649</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 13:50:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_83128a4716244902bc83816e5f74e5d7~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_803,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[can a mother forget her child?]]></title><description><![CDATA[As I have reflected on the last lines of today’s last lines from Isaiah, “Can a mother forget her child? Even if she forgets, I will never forget you,” I cannot help but wonder why we try to tell God how to love us. As I read this, God will love us despite ourselves. I hear so often that God will never forgive me for x, y, or z, but if we really hear these words, then he will forgive. God does not hold grudges. He longs for us to be free and loves us into freedom if we let him. Perhaps, we...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/can-a-mother-forget-her-child</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69bad44023f9a3655ef081c5</guid><pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:36:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_e18d1a4b4700435fbd5b31e128908d0e~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_225,h_225,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[make me a channel of your peace]]></title><description><![CDATA[Our deacons preached yesterday so I did not have a written homily to post. Even though the past posts have been on the daily readings of Lent, I want to share some thoughts that came about as a result of our Evening Prayer for peace in the world. One of the main things I walked away with was the importance of the Christian community sitting in the same room in the context of prayer and sharing our thoughts and differences. Like the apostles who gathered with Jesus in the evening to have a...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/make-me-a-channel-of-your-peace</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b81ab3faed8c5e63c7e69a</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:06:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_56b0c0074d47400eb1e125149bf7dd23~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[humility]]></title><description><![CDATA[As much as I would like to say the I am the poor guy in the back of the temple, too often I am the one in front.  Not just from my position as a priest, but in my ego.  I have degrees, experience in ministry, trained in prayer, but today I ask myself, do I have the humility that is required to truly be a disciple?  I invite you into that question too. Often, when people debate me about liturgical points or moral issues, I can get “puffed up” and on my high horse about rightness.  I know...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/humility</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b563464898c9cce5a16dc0</guid><pubDate>Sat, 14 Mar 2026 13:31:54 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[listen]]></title><description><![CDATA[The words from Jeremiah in the first reading: This is what I command my people; LISTEN to my voice” (the caps are mine) has haunted me most of the day even until now; it is midafternoon. I have been wondering how well I do as a listener. I have had all sorts of training as a therapist, priest, etc. to learn how to listen; but do I really listen to God? In reflecting today, I realize how noisy I have let my life begin. TV is on in the background, You tube videos, scrolling through Facebook...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/listen</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b312e0f0e950e3b3890e18</guid><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:24:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_0fdf56fade224a24bc546b253b4854a3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[exile]]></title><description><![CDATA[It is thought that author of the book of Deuteronomy was a person writing towards the end of the Babylonian exile. He took the writings we know as the 5 Books of Moses and put them together so that a generation who have never been to Israel, saw the Temple of Jerusalem, and had grown up in a Babylonian culture would know the Sacred Story of how God chose their nation and how vital following the covenant made on Sinai was to the life of the people. 	My own thought is that it is very reflective...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/exile</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b1a2cbedb584b04e28375a</guid><pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:17:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_75a6121e0c63463d99e697185d9fd41c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[change]]></title><description><![CDATA[Yesterday and today, I was at two talks about change in the church. The present, Dr Richard McCorry authored a book, Dancing with Change, in 2004 and was the spark of my interest in how the change process works in the church. As I listened, it became clear to me that change is the core message of Christianity. Jesus came to show us how to change our hearts and enable them to be reflections of the divine image. We talk a lot about “conversion” and I wonder if we realize that this is about...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/change</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b06457a547e1dd3d7d8fa1</guid><pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:36:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_bcad247bb2dc4064bfe5b132962ddea0~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_792,h_785,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Photina:  the luminous one]]></title><description><![CDATA[This weekend many homilies will be preached about the life of the woman at the well, for good or bad. We do not even ask her name, just her past. The tradition of the church remembers her name as  St. Photini  (or Photina, Svetlana), meaning "the luminous one" or "enlightened one".  She certainly was enlightened by her meeting Jesus at that well so many years ago. Her shining example is one we can all from. What makes her important is not her past; it is her faith in the one who saw her for...]]></description><link>https://www.olgicsj.org/post/photina-the-luminous-one</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ae09c5d66894c6d6f9c147</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:03:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c3f949_e1d1664f8727446a9e42f15ed189969c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Fr. Tom Konopka</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>