7th Week of Easter 2024 - Friday - Do you love me?

 

On these last two weekdays of Easter, our Gospel reading comes from the very last chapter of John’s Gospel.  As I mentioned recently, Saint John’s Gospel has often been called, “the Gospel of Love.”  Naturally, the final story of the final chapter of John’s Gospel is a conversation about love.

“Do you love me?” Jesus asks. 

That question isn’t answered with a simple yes or no. That question is answered in the decisions we make today. It is answered in our faithfulness to our respective vocations as priest, spouses and parents, religious, single. It is answered in how we treat people, the time we offer them, the works of charity in which we engage in our community—feeding the hungry and instructing the ignorant—. It’s answered in our fervor in prayer, our willingness to do penance, our embrace of suffering for the good of others.

For Peter, loving Jesus meant “feeding his sheep”—a very specific, unique ministry within the Church. His love for Jesus would be proven if he was faithful in leading, shepherding, governing, teaching the flock of Christ, the Church. 

Similarly, our love for Jesus is proven in our faithfulness to shepherding those he has given us to shepherd, feeding those he has given us to feed, teaching those he has given us to teach. “Do you love me?” don’t just respond with your lips, respond with your choices, your faithfulness to responsibilities, your faithfulness to God in moments of temptation, your patient endurance and acceptance of the crosses God has given you.

We show our love for Jesus when we do the tasks we’ve been given without grumbling or arguing, with diligence and care. We show our love for Jesus when we seek him out in the poor and needy in order to clothe and console Him. 

When Jesus asks us, “do you love me”, he’s not looking for lip service, but actual service. May we show our love for Jesus in a million ways today, in our words and choices, with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Let us pray to our Heavenly Father, confident that He is generous to those who call upon Him with faith.

That the ordained and all members of the Church throughout the world may be a more visible sign of the love of God for humanity, calling all people to new life and communion with Him; and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ and his tender love for sinners and for the poor

For our President and all elected government representatives, may the Holy Spirit grant them wisdom and guide them to promote domestic tranquility, national unity, respect for religious freedom, and a greater reverence for the sanctity of Human Life. Let us pray to the Lord.

Like the apostles gathered with Our Lady in the Cenacle, may the Church grow in Marian devotion this month, especially in devotion to the Holy Rosary. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: that they may know the peace and consolation of the Good Shepherd. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for those who have fought and died for our freedom, and for …for whom this mass is offered. Let us pray to the Lord.

Gracious Father, hear the prayers of your pilgrim Church, grant us your grace and lead us to the glory of your kingdom, through Christ Our Lord.

7th Week of Easter 2024 - Wednesday - Unity through loving and joyful obedience

We have been reading for two weeks from Jesus’ Farewell Speech at the Last Supper, chapters 14-17 of the Gospel of John. 

Throughout the discourse, the Lord emphasizes the relationship between love and obedience. He repeatedly calls on his disciples to demonstrate their love for him by obediently keeping his commandments. 

We seek to faithfully observe the commandments of God out of love, for faithfulness is pleasing to God. And so we zealously seek to rid ourselves of infidelity, to muzzle our unfaithful tongues, discipline our willful spirits, and restrain our disordered appetites. And the Christian does so zealously, happily, and enthusiastically. Again because loving fidelity is pleasing to our Father. We show our love and practice love by keeping God’s commandments. 

A devotion to keeping God’s commandments—to following the rules of our Father’s household—is not pharisaical religion. Rather, it is a participation in the salvific sacrifice of Christ—who obediently accepted death, death on a cross—out of love for His Father.

In his rule, St. Benedict writes, “The first degree of humility is prompt obedience” To be poor in spirit like Christ, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, means to desire a practice obedience.

The great doctor St. Francis de Sales writes, “Obedience is a virtue of so excellent a nature, that Our Lord was pleased to mark its observance upon the whole course of His life; thus He often says, He did not come to do His own will, but that of His Heavenly Father.” 

Obedience is the means of aligning one's will with God's will, which is central to Christian discipleship. For we are to follow in the footsteps of the obedient Son of God. We are to surrender personal preferences and desires to fulfill a higher purpose—God’s Holy Will. “Not my will, but Thy will be done”. 

Obedience to God is the glue that unites Christians. At the conclusion of his Farewell speech, the Lord prays that his disciples be one, just as he is one with the Father—a oneness that is manifest in the Son’s obedience to the Father. 

Thomas Aquinas writes, “Obedience unites us so closely to God that in a way transforms us into Him, so that we have no other will but His. If obedience is lacking, even prayer cannot be pleasing to God.”

Faithfulness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. If faithfulness is not evident in our decisions, our connection to the Holy Spirit is damaged and compromised. Joylessness in the Christian life is almost always a sign that disobedience has taken root. For sinful disobedience causes the other spiritual fruits, like joy, peace, patience, and self-control to wither.

May the Holy Spirit, whose descent upon the Church we prepare to celebrate at Pentecost, draw us into ever deeper unity with the Father and with one another, through a sharing in the loving obedience of the Son, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That the ordained and all members of the Church throughout the world may be a more visible sign of the love of God for humanity, calling all people to new life and communion with Him; and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ and his tender love for sinners and for the poor

For those who do not believe in God and for those who have fallen away from the Church.

For an increase in the gifts of the Holy Spirit among all Christians, and for all who are persecuted for the faith.

That during this month of May, all people may turn their hearts to the Blessed Virgin Mary, seeking her aid and imploring her intercession with increased and fervent devotion, imitating her example of Faith, Hope, and Love. 

For the sick, the suffering, those in nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice care, for the underemployed and unemployed, for the imprisoned, those with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, that the Spirit of Consolation may comfort them.

For the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all those who fought and died for our freedom.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

May 14 2024 - St. Matthias - The apostolate of all the faithful

 Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthias, and the first reading explains the election of this thirteenth apostle who would take the place of Judas.  

After the Lord’s Ascension, but before Pentecost…kind of like, today…the Apostles gathered in the upper room.  Peter, prince of the Apostles, explains the qualifications Judas’ replacement.  The new apostle above all was to be a witness; he was to have accompanied them the whole time that the Lord Jesus was among them from the baptism of John until his death.  He was to also have been a witness to the resurrection.  

There were two men of equal merit. And so after praying, they cast lots and the choice fell on Matthias. So Matthias was chosen to take up that ministry of going out and teaching all nations. 

 Of the rest of his life we know very little except that he persevered in his vocation—that he was an untiring preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We do not really know the details of his martyrdom; one account states that Matthias was arrested and brought to trial in Jerusalem.  When threatened with being stoned to death like St. Stephen, Matthias professed that he would rather die than renounce the faith.  So, he was put to death, and legend says that his relics were preserved in Jerusalem until St. Helen had them brought to Rome.  

While not all of us are called to be members of the Apostolic College, that is, a bishop, like Matthias or Bishop Malesic, all Christians have a share in the Church’s apostolate. Apostolate comes from the same word as “apostle” which means—sent. We are all sent by God on a mission to witness to Christ.

The Catechism, specifically speaking about the laity says, “like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. (CCC 900)”

Each of us is tasked of bringing the Gospel into whatever spheres in society and the church that we occupy. We are chosen and sent by God to bring the divine message into the workplace, into our families, into our neighborhoods, into our political associations, into our friendships, more deeply into parish groups. There are gifts given to us uniquely, individually, that God hasn’t given to anyone else, that we are to put into the service of building up the Church.

And like St. Matthias, we are to be faithful to the apostolate when we are resisted, arrested, and even put to death.

Through the holy example and heavenly intercession of the apostles and martyrs may we be faithful to our apostolate—witnessing to Christ in every dimension of our life—for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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May we join the Holy Apostles in our prayer for the world and the Church.

As the Apostles witnessed to the Resurrection of the Lord, may we be his witnesses to the farthest corners of the world.

For the bishops, the successors of the apostles: That they may be courageous in stirring up the flame of faith and defending the Church from error.

For all of the sick and suffering, especially victims of natural disaster, poverty, and addiction, may they be comforted and supported by God’s healing love. We pray to the Lord.

For all who long to see the face of the Father, for all our departed loved ones and all of the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered. We pray to the Lord.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

May 13 2024 - Our Lady of Fatima - Fatima and Pentecost

 

During this final week of the Easter season, as we prepare for the Great Solemnity of Pentecost, we commemorate today “Our Lady of Fatima”. 

In 1917, in the small town of Portugal called Fatima, the Virgin Mary appeared to three young shepherd children. She delivered messages that were both a warning and an instruction: a call to prayer, especially the Rosary, and a plea for repentance and conversion. These messages were not just for those children or for that time; they are messages for all of us, across all times.

For, the messages of Our Lady at Fatima are consistent with the perpetual teaching of the Church: repent, believe in the Gospel, enter into a living relationship with God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the Church, through a life of prayer, the imitation of Christ, and reception of the Sacraments.

At Fatima, we see God continuing to use Mary as his instrument, to help the world know, love, and follow Jesus Christ. At Fatima, Mary echoes the same instruction she gave at the Wedding at Cana: “do whatever he tells you”.  

At Fatima, God gathered souls around Mary to be strengthened in faith and in the mission of the Church, just like at Pentecost, when the apostles were gathered around Mary. On Pentecost, the apostles, those spiritual sons of Mary, prayerfully prepared for the decent of the Holy Spirit with the assistance of her humble example and her prayers. 

As we prepare for Pentecost, the message of Fatima helps us remain intent on seeking the strengthening of our own faith, and a deeper openness to the gifts and movement of the Holy Spirit for the sake of the Church’s mission, through the aid of the Blessed Virgin.

We do well to follow Our Lady’s instruction at Fatima to pray the rosary each day this week, meditating on the mysteries of the life of Our Savior—that we may imitate what those mysteries contain and obtain what they promise. The Rosary is a powerful means to welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives, as did Our Lady. We pray for ourselves and for those who fail to pray as they should—unbelievers, hardened sinners, the prideful the lukewarm, and those souls at risk of hell. 

May our devotion to Mary and our anticipation of the Holy Spirit prepare our hearts to be renewed, that we might be effective witnesses of the Gospel in our world today for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That the maternal care of Our Lady may bring protection to the shepherds of the Church and all who preach the Gospel.

That Our Lady’s devotion to the Divine Will of God will move government leaders to work to build a culture of life and peace to further the reign of Christ.

That through the penance and prayers of the Church, hardened sinners will return to God.

That the intercession of Our Lady will bring comfort and care to all who suffer disease, violence, and afflictions of any kind.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.

Ascension 2024 - Awaiting the Spirit

 

Ohioans have certainly had reason to look to the sky lately! A month ago we witnessed a rare celestial event: a total solar eclipse. I remember sitting in the church parking lot back on April 9, gazing up at the sky. And in that moment of totality—of total eclipse--I could form no other words except “wow.”

Last night there was another very rare celestial event, for this part of the globe at least: the Aurora borealis also known as the Northern Lights could be glimpsed. I must have missed the news about this, as I didn't find out about the northern lights until this morning when I opened up Facebook and saw these beautiful pictures of the ribbons of blues and purples and greens of the Aurora borealis all throughout my Facebook feed.  From the pictures, it really looked like a site to behold.

What a coincidence that our readings this weekend depict the apostles gazing skyward. Before their very eyes, on the 40th day after his resurrection on Easter Sunday, the Lord Jesus ascended skywards. 

No doubt, the reaction of the Apostles was even more intense than our reaction to the eclipse and the aurora. Not just “wow”—look at that spectacle. But, the Lord’s ascension meant something for the rest of their lives. You saw the eclipse or you didn’t see the eclipse…we went on with our lives It was a marvel to see, it’s a lovely memory. But it didn’t really change anything for us, right? Likewise, last night, you saw the aurora borealis, you didn’t see the aurora. Again: a really neat spectacle. A wondrous phenomenon of God’s creation. But hardly life changing. 

But for the Apostles, witnessing the Lord’s Ascension meant something. The course of their life would now be quite different. For one, it was further proof of the Lord’s divinity and that God was at work in a major way. Secondly, it was a powerful reminder for them, as it is for us, to remain focused on heaven. Not just the sun and moon and stars, of course, but God’s heavenly domain, our eternal homeland. Reaching heaven and serving heaven is to be the main impetus of our life. We are to remain vigilant against anything that might distract us from our earthly journey toward heaven. As we reflect upon often in Advent, we are to be prepared for the Lord’s final Advent—his return from heaven. Thirdly, since the Lord Jesus was no longer going to be physically present, the apostles’ leadership of the Church had truly begun. They were responsible for passing on what they received and ensuring that the Church remained faithful to her mission. 

And of course, the Ascension meant that their mission to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth was about to begin. Over the course of 40 days after Easter, the Lord had appeared to them many times, proving that he was truly risen from the dead. He proved that God was truly victorious. Life is triumphant over death. He made them witnesses of his resurrection so that they would be prepared to go out and share the good news with the world.

And yet, notice, that just prior to his ascension, the Lord tells the apostles that they still aren’t ready to begin the mission. Even with everything they’ve witnessed—everything they’ve seen. They won’t be ready until they receive the Holy Spirit. 

Preaching the Gospel is going to change the world. The apostles are going to speak to kings and princes and emperors, rich and poor, sick and healthy, learned and unlearned, Jew and Gentile. They are going to speak about the things they’ve heard and seen and witnessed. In fact at the last supper the Lord told the apostles that they “will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.” The Lord healed the sick of Galilee, and His Apostolic Church has gone on to found hospitals spanning the globe. The Lord taught the ignorant of Galilee, His Apostolic Church has gone on to found schools and universities and teach people of every tongue. The Lord gathered in his earthly ministry, lets say, a few dozen followers. His Apostolic Church has baptized millions upon millions. The Lord fed a few thousand in the multiplication of the loaves, His Apostolic Church has fed and clothed and healed and taught billions.

We’ve done great things, by not by our own power. The Holy Spirit has impelled us into the world, has animated, guided, empowered, uplifted, emboldened, enlightened, and gifted the Church with those spiritual gifts necessary for the mission.

The Ascension is a marvel to celebrate—one of the great events in salvation history. But, in a sense, it was a means to an end. The Lord said, I have to go, so that the Holy Spirit may come. The event prepared them for Pentecost. And they did as the Lord commanded. The apostles spent the next nine days from Ascension Thursday to Pentecost Sunday: waiting for the Holy Spirit through prayer together. As we’ll hear next Sunday, they gathered in the upper room with the mother of Jesus and prayed. 

And as they did, so should we. During this next week, pray to be more and more open to the Holy Spirit: to be guided, empowered, uplifted, embolded, enlightened and gifted with spiritual gifts for the mission God has planned for you and for this parish.

The apostles gathered in the upper room with Mary, this is a good week to pray the rosary every day. Our Mother wanted what was best for her sons, the apostles, and she wants what’s best for us, all her spiritual children—and that’s profound openness to the life and gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

Now, yes, we have all received the Holy Spirit at Baptism. The day of our Baptism for every Christian is Pentecost Sunday. But, today’s feast of the Ascension reminds us of the need to constantly be cultivating that readiness for the Holy Spirit to move us and gift us and fill us and send us. At the direction of the Lord Jesus, the Apostles waited for the wind of the spirit to blow, and like them we are to unfurl the sails of our minds and souls, constantly, through daily prayer and mindfulness of God, so that we will respond with faith when the Holy Spirit so moves us.

Last night (Friday evening) we had a beautiful event. You see lined up on at the foot of the communion rail, candles. Each one of those candles is a soul who moved by the Spirit entered this church to pray. Parishioners and folks who just happened to be walking by last night from 7 to 8pm felt the Lord calling them to pray. It was truly a sight to behold. I’m deeply proud of our brothers and sisters who made last night a success. 

May these final solemnities of the Easter season animate us in joy in our share of the Gospel mission, guide us and open us more deeply to the gifts of the Lord, and help us to remain intent on the pursuit of heaven, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

6th Week of Easter 2024 - Friday - Mission impossible

 
In the ancient world, the city of Corinth was a mix between Las Vegas and New York City: it was a wealthy commercial center that gathered traders, sailors and slavers from all over the Roman Empire. And Corinth catered to their depraved appetites—the ancient city of sin was known for every sort of debauchery—the Temple of Aphrodite marking the city skyline was renowned for its temple prostitutes. 

This picture of the moral degradation of Corinth provides the context for St. Paul’s arrival with an astounding message: there is salvation and freedom from sin in Christ! Paul was sent to the drunkards and fornicators to preach Christ.  This was a great challenge. These are people who likely did not want to change. Paul would no doubt be mocked and challenged for preaching conversion and repentance in Corinth, not to mention the hostility from the business owners—sin was big business in Corinth, after all. Talk about Mission Impossible!

But as we heard today, the Lord himself appeared to Paul, and said, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city." This reminds us of God’s reassurance to Moses at the burning bush, Joshua prior to his mission, the Virgin Mary at Nazareth. “Do not be afraid, I am with you” is often God’s response to the fear and trepidation of those to whom he has given a humanly impossible mission. And converting Corinth was certainly a humanly impossible mission.

The Lord assured Paul that there were people in Corinth who would be receptive—soul whom the Lord knew would be receptive to the Gospel if Paul would simply have courage and preach.

And preach he did. Paul stayed in that moral cesspool for a year and a half, teaching those who would be taught. 

Friends, like Paul, we must not be afraid to preach and teach in whatever part of the world we find ourselves. We must not be afraid to call unbelievers to belief and sinners to conversion and to preach Christ crucified. The Lord is with us, he has tasked us with the mission, and he has not left us abandoned in our mission. He wishes to speak through us, teach through us, and make disciples through us. May we be faithful to this great and awesome responsibility, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That the ordained and all members of the Church throughout the world may be a more visible sign of the love of God for humanity, calling all people to new life and communion with Him; and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ and his tender love for sinners and for the poor

For those who do not believe in God and for those who have fallen away from the Church.

For an increase in the gifts of the Holy Spirit among all Christians, and for all who are persecuted for the faith.

That during this month of May, all people may turn their hearts to the Blessed Virgin Mary, seeking her aid and imploring her intercession with increased and fervent devotion, imitating her example of Faith, Hope, and Love. 

For the sick, the suffering, those in nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice care, for the underemployed and unemployed, for the imprisoned, those with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, that the Spirit of Consolation may comfort them.

For the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all those who fought and died for our freedom.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

6th Week of Easter 2024 - Wednesday - Evangelizing lessons from St. Paul in Athens

 Paul's proclamation of the gospel in Athens contains lessons for our evangelizing today.

Normally, as he did in Philippi, it was Paul’s custom to go to the synagogues to preach to the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles there. But not in Athens.

In Athens, Paul, in the manner of the Greek Philosophers, goes to the public square. He does not wait for people to come to church, as we may be inclined to do, but rather goes out in search of the lost like the Good Shepherd. 

Convinced of the truth and necessity of the Gospel, Paul is not afraid or ashamed to engage strangers in matters of faith, despite the unfamiliarity and even strangeness of the Christian message to the people with whom he is talking. Instead he does his best to explain and defend his beliefs. 

Notice, when Paul is invited to speak, he finds something positive to say about the sincere religious striving of his audience. He looks for common ground. He meets them where they are with the truth of the Gospel, as Bishop Perez liked to say—even affirming something true in their religion that he can use as a starting point for sharing the gospel. That’s a great strategy. We can affirm what is true in Islam and Hinduism and Buddhism and the Protestant denominations. What’s true is true. And that can be a starting point.

So Paul tailors his approach to his Pagan audience. He acknowledges that they are deeply religious. They pray, they worship, they engage in devotional practices. They are mindful of the gods in their daily lives.

But then he introduces the truth that there are in fact not a multiplicity of gods, but a single All-powerful Creator God who has sent his son as Savior. 

Paul quotes the Pagan poets—again meeting people where they are—yet, he corrects his audiences mistaken ideas about divinity. 

He then explains the necessity of repentance and tells them the sober truth about future judgment. He boldly asserts Jesus Christ, though he surely knows that this assertion will cause many Greeks to scoff. Finally, he is not discouraged when only a few receive his message. With evangelical fortitude, he sets out for his next mission, in the city of Corinth

Important lessons no? Don’t be afraid to engage strangers. Meet them where they are. Seek to understand them and what they believe. So you can lead them from that place to the fullness of truth. Don’t be afraid to assert the need to seek the truth revealed by God in Christ—the need to repentance. After all, the very first word of the Lord’s own public preaching, was “repent and believe.”

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That the ordained and all members of the Church throughout the world may be a more visible sign of the love of God for humanity, calling all people to new life and communion with Him; and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ and his tender love for sinners and for the poor

For those who do not believe in God and for those who have fallen away from the Church.

For an increase in the gifts of the Holy Spirit among all Christians, and for all who are persecuted for the faith.

For the sick, the suffering, those in nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice care, for the underemployed and unemployed, for the imprisoned, those with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, that the Spirit of Consolation may comfort them.

For the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all those who fought and died for our freedom.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

6th Week of Easter 2024 - Tuesday - Evangelical suffering

 Even when we are trying to do the tasks that God gives us without calling attention to ourselves, we may be unfairly treated. 

When St. Paul performed an exorcism in Philippi, he and Silas were arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail. 

But notice how the story from the Acts of the Apostles led to the conversion of the jailor. Tied to a stake in the innermost prison cell, they sang hymns and taught about Jesus. Even when Christians experience injustice at the hands of unbelievers, God can bring good out of the sufferings we endure. 

Keeping the faith when those sufferings come our way is not easy. Praising God while suffering injustice is the last thing most people would do. But when we are animated by faith and the desire to save souls those injustices are transformed into opportunities to build the kingdom of God. 

Now Paul and Silas were eventually freed from prison in Philip and continued to sew the seeds of the Gospel there before moving on to Thessalonica and Athens.

Five years later, Paul writes to the Christians in Philip in his famous letter to the Philippians. And in his opening address he writes to them, “I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you…I want you to know, brothers, that my situation has turned out rather to advance the gospel, so that my imprisonment has become well known in Christ throughout the whole praetorium and to all the rest”

Paul looked back on his time in Philippi, including his imprisonment, with gratitude because he had used his time for God. We never regret the time we give to God, even the times when we suffer. For Paul's suffering, faithfully endured, became evangelical, an instrument of the Gospel.

But so often, we have the intention of doing something good, but we get a small glimpse of potential suffering and discomfort, and we run away, and decide to spend the time on ourselves, on something easier—but ultimately less fulfilling—and we are unhappier for it.

Rather, let us take to heart Paul’s injunction to the Philippians, when he says, “conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel, not intimidated in any way by your opponents.”

 May news of our faithful conduct, our works of charity, our efforts for the Gospel resound for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Even when we are trying to do the tasks that God gives us without calling attention to ourselves, we may be unfairly treated.

When St. Paul performed an exorcism in Philippi, he and Silas were arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail.

But notice how the story from the Acts of the Apostles led to the conversion of the jailor. Tied to a stake in the innermost prison cell, they sang hymns and taught about Jesus. Even when Christians experience injustice at the hands of unbelievers, God can bring good out of the sufferings we endure.

Keeping the faith when those sufferings come our way is not easy. Praising God while suffering injustice is the last thing most people would do. But when we are animated by faith and the desire to save souls those injustices are transformed into opportunities to build the kingdom of God.

Now Paul and Silas were eventually freed from prison in Philip and continued to sew the seeds of the Gospel there before moving on to Thessalonica and Athens.

Five years later, Paul writes to the Christians in Philip in his famous letter to the Philippians. And in his opening address he writes to them, “I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you…I want you to know, brothers, that my situation has turned out rather to advance the gospel, so that my imprisonment has become well known in Christ throughout the whole praetorium and to all the rest”

Paul looked back on his time in Philippi, including his imprisonment, with gratitude because he had used his time for God. We never regret the time we give to God, even the times when we suffer.

But so often, we have the intention of doing something good, but we get a small glimpse of potential suffering and discomfort, and we run away, and decide to spend the time on ourselves, on something easier—but ultimately less fulfilling—and we are unhappier for it.

Rather, let us take to heart Paul’s injunction to the Philippians, when he says, “conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel, not intimidated in any way by your opponents.”

 May news of our faithful conduct, our works of charity, our efforts for the Gospel resound for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

6th Week of Easter 2024 - Monday - Preaching Jesus is indispensable

Having completed one missionary circuit through Asia minor with Barnabas, around the year 50 A.D., Paul set out a second time, this time joined by a young convert named Timothy.

And this second journey will take the Gospel beyond Asia minor into Europe. And the reading today contains the story of the first European convert: a business woman named Lydia. Lydia, was probably a widow who had taken over her husband's business selling luxurious purple-dyed cloth. She was a rarity in the 1st century: a business woman in a male dominated world.

The reading from Acts described her as among a group of women who had gathered for and a "worshiper of God". This suggests that she was a Gentile who had come to believe in the God of Israel.

Paul sits down with her, and finds her receptive to the Gospel. Paul attributes her receptiveness to the Lord Jesus himself, who opened her heart to what Paul was saying.

Sometimes we fear sharing the Gospel with others because we fear that we will not be able to convert them. But recall, Jesus is the one who wants to open their hearts. If we are sitting down with a prayerful seeker of truth, we can trust that grace has already preceded the conversation.

God is at work in the lives and minds and hearts of the people of this neighborhood, to make them receptive to the Gospel. But we like Paul have to go to them and sit down with them and share the reasons of our faith. We must preach the Gospel with deeds and words. Deeds are not enough. Words are not enough. We must use both. Like our Lord did. Like Paul.

In his great document on evangelizing the modern world, Pope Paul VI wrote, “It is by her conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world, in other words, by her living witness of fidelity to the Lord Jesus—the witness of poverty and detachment, of freedom in the face of the powers of this world, in short, the witness of sanctity.”

But also, “it is not superfluous to emphasize the importance and necessity of preaching. "And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?... So faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ." This law once laid down by the Apostle Paul maintains its full force today. Preaching, the verbal proclamation of a message, is indeed always indispensable.”

There are women like Lydia in this neighborhood, prayerful women, God fearing women, women with keen minds for business and the like. And the Lord Jesus wants to open their hearts to his Gospel, through us. May we be faithful to our call to witness, to testify, to preach for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - - -  

That all bishops, priests, catechists, and parents may be faithful in preaching and teaching the saving Gospel of Christ.

For those who do not believe in God and for those who have fallen away from the Church.

For an increase in the gifts of the Holy Spirit among all Christians, and for all who are persecuted for the faith.

For the sick, the suffering, those in nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice care, for the underemployed and unemployed, for the imprisoned, those with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, that the Spirit of Consolation may comfort them.

For the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all those who fought and died for our freedom.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

6th Sunday of Easter 2024 - Love one another

Over the last eight weeks we’ve had Laetare Sunday, Palm Sunday also called Passion Sunday, Easter Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, and Good Shepherd Sunday. Last week, we might’ve called “Vine and Branches Sunday”.  This week we could call “Love Sunday”.  For, in just the second reading and the Gospel, the word “love” is used 17 times.  In John’s first epistle he gave us that description of God that sets Christianity apart from any other religion; he said,  “God is love”, and in the nine short verses of the Gospel Jesus uses the word commandment five times and the word “love” nine times: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” Love…it’s not just for poets, song writers, and romantics. The practice of love is a commandment from our God. 

The truth that the One God of the universe is love in his very being is not found in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, or any of the pagan religions in all of human history. The practice of love and the worship of God who IS love in his essence and being sets Christians apart. In fact, in the Quran, there are more verses about the type of people God does not love, than those who he does. Islam separates humanity into the loved and the not loved, where Christians believe that God is love, and loves all people, dying for all, desiring the salvation of all.

Saint John, the patron of our diocese and author of our second reading today, was certainly devoted to the love of God.  He was called the beloved disciple of the Lord, and laid his head on the heart of Jesus at the last supper. 

Ancient Christian tradition tells us that after Mary’s Assumption, Saint John lived on the island of Patmos, a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea, until he died of old age, around the age of 100.  And there on Patmos, as you might imagine, being the last of the twelve apostles, people would flock to him.  I may have shared this before how Sunday after Sunday, the people would literally carry the Apostle John down from his mountain abode to come celebrate the Eucharist with them.

And the story goes that Sunday after Sunday, Saint John would offer the same simple message. He would say “my little children, God loves you.  Now you love Him and love one another.”  Sunday after Sunday, the same simple message: “my little children, God loves you.  Now you love Him and love one another.”  Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.

Finally, someone asked him: “holy apostle, why do you keep repeating the same message, over and over again?”  To which Saint John replied: “I keep repeating it over and over again because the Master repeated it over and over again”.

God loves you, now you live him and love one another.  It’s the essence of the entire Gospel, isn’t it?  God is love.  

Almost 20 years ago, already, all the way back in in 2005, Pope Benedict surprised much of the world, with his first encyclical. Prior to his election, Pope Benedict was the head of the congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope John Paul II. And in many instances, the future Pope Benedict was tasked with cracking down on some doctrinal matters. And so the world thought that the tone of his pontificate would follow in that manner. But no, his first encyclical, was called “God is love”. Deus Caritas est. God is love. If you haven’t read it, you should.  You won’t be disappointed.

As you might imagine, the Holy Father drew upon scripture passages like our second reading and gospel for this 6th Sunday of easter. And Benedict goes on to explain how since God is love, when we engage in charity, we aren’t just fulfilling an ethical duty, but we are participating in the life of God. 

“Love one another as I love you”. "In His death on the Cross,” Pope Benedict writes “Christ expressed love in its most radical form. By loving as He loved, which involves self-sacrifice, we live out His commandment of love and thus dwell in Him and He in us."

Love isn’t just about having nice feelings about people. Love is not a feeling. It is an action, of doing what is best for another person. And love reaches its highest expression, its truest form, when it costs us something. Sacrificial love shows that we really believe something to be so good that it is worth sacrificing ourselves for, even dying for. 

And, that type of love, we are to show towards all—with God-like love, Christ-like love. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Pope Benedict writes, “Love of neighbor…consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know."

Loving the Unlikable involves extending kindness and forgiveness to those who may have wronged us or whom we find difficult to like due to personality clashes, differing opinions, or past conflicts. We’ve all met unlikable people. Each of us have likely appeared to others as unlikeable. I’m a priest and people have not liked me for a whole number reasons. But we have to see beyond our emotions, and practice love to the unlikeable. 

We are to practice love to the Unknown: to strangers or people we do not know personally. This could include acts such as providing food or clothing to pantries for the impoverished, donating to charities that support refugees, or volunteering our time to feed and clothe and help people get their life in order or the medical care they need, or the education they want for their children. I think we do a great job of this here at St. Ignatius. Unknown people call us every day, and our SVDP, which many of you support so generously, is able to help so many people. 

And the charity we are able to offer and called to offer extends to groups of people that the rest of society may overlook or marginalize. We have a nice group of parishioners that brings communion to the sick and elderly in nursing homes.  

Pope Benedict also addresses the need for Christians to bring love into public life. This can mean engaging respectfully, respectfully, respectfully, with people who hold different political views, advocating for authentic justice, like the safety of the unborn in public policies, and working towards the common good in ways that uphold the dignity and rights of every person, especially the most vulnerable.

"The Church's deepest nature,” writes Benedict, “is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God celebrating the sacraments, and exercising the ministry of charity (diakonia). These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable." 

We preach the Gospel because we love non-believers and desire they share in eternal life with God through Christ. We celebrate the Sacraments, faithfully, because God desires to purify us of our sins and strengthen us in charity through them. And we engage in charity because that is our identity. To be Christian is to be a love-doer. A lover of God, a lover of your fellow man—in word and deed. 

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, who we honor in a special way during this month of May, most blessed of all women in her love of God and the Church, assist us by her example and prayers, along with St. John, St. Ignatius, and all the saints, in the practice of love toward all, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

May 3 2024 - Sts. Philip and James - Calloused Knees

 As Apostles, both Philip and James were both called by the Lord. They were witnesses of the Lord’s ministry—his teaching and miracles—his passion and death. Both were witnesses of the Lord’s resurrection. Both received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Both continued to preach the Gospel—Andrew in in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria—and James in Jerusalem. And both were martyred for the Lord.

I’d like to consider this morning a passage I found from the 4th century bishop Eusebius regarding the Apostle James. Again, James remained in Jerusalem. The Acts of the Apostles relates that it was James, as the head of the Jerusalem Church, who oversaw the First Council of Jerusalem.

But Eusebius relates some powerful details about James spirituality and role. Eusebius records how James spent long hours in the Temple of Jerusalem: “…he was in the habit of entering alone into the temple, and was frequently found upon his knees begging forgiveness for the people, so that his knees became hard like those of a camel.” 

How very priestly, no? Falling to one’s knees and begging forgiveness and behalf of others, especially those who reject Jesus and continue in sin and unbelief. Priests pray--they intercede--on behalf of others.

James, known as "James the Just" due to his exceptional virtue and righteousness, embodied a life of priestly prayer and intercession for his people. Not just ordained priests, but all of the baptized are priestly people. James' witness challenges us to consider our own commitment to prayer, especially for those who are lost or have turned away from God.

As Christians, we are called to be a priestly people, following the example of Christ, the great High Priest, and his apostles like James. This means not just praying for our own needs, but continually lifting up to God the needs of the whole world, even those who persecute and reject the Gospel. Like James, we must be willing to spend long hours on our knees, interceding with love and fervor.

James' devotion was so great that his knees became calloused like a camel's from his many hours of prayer in the Temple. What a striking image of persistence and self-sacrifice! It reminds us that prayer is not always easy or comfortable. True intercession requires spiritual endurance— willingness to push through dryness, distractions and discouragement—in order to plead for God's mercy.

And James prayed not in some hidden place, but in the Temple itself, at the very heart of Jewish religious life. In the same way, our prayer must be not a withdrawal from the world, but a priestly entrustment of the world to God. We pray from within the "temples" of our daily circumstances, lifting our families, our communities, our places of work, and our society to God's throne of grace.

Finally, James' martyrdom reminds us that our prayer and baptismal priesthood is to be configured to the Cross. Eusebius also wrote about James’ martyrdom, that “…he was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple, and was beaten to death with a club.” His place of prayer was the place where he was configured to Christ in his loving intercession, in his redemptive suffering, and in his glorious martyrdom. 

As we honor the Apostles we heed their examples that we may participate more fully in Christ's ongoing work of redeeming the world, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

May we join the Holy Apostles in our prayer for the world and the Church.

As the Apostles witnessed to the Resurrection of the Lord, may we be his witnesses to the farthest corners of the world.

For the bishops, the successors of the apostles: That they may be courageous in stirring up the flame of faith and defending the Church from error.

For blessings upon all the former parishioners of old Saint Philip and James here in Cleveland, especially those who have made their home here at St. Ignatius.

For all of the sick and suffering, especially victims of natural disaster, poverty, and addiction, may they be comforted and supported by God’s healing love. 

For all who long to see the face of the Father, for all our departed loved ones and all of the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered. 

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

5th Sunday of Easter 2024 - "Apart from me you can do nothing"

 Back on the 4th Sunday of Lent, I shared some insights from the celebrated 20th century Catholic author JRR Tolkien, the author of books like the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I shared how Tolkien believed that fairy tales and myths have been so powerful throughout the centuries because we love stories of good conquering evil. We love when we hear a story of an unexpected joyous turn of events—where grace and goodness triumph over sorrow, failure, and death. We love tales of courage and self-sacrifice.

And the Christian story is so compelling and joyous because it is the ultimate tale of the triumph of Good over evil, and it actually happened. Through the self-sacrifice of Christ, God has brought sinful humanity from the brink of ultimate defeat—the loss of our souls forever—to share in the victory of Christ. And again, the Christian story is not just a man-made myth or a fairy tale—Christ is truly risen.

Well, this last week, I celebrated mass with our school children. And I shared with them how since I was a young boy, I have enjoyed reading stories and watching movies like those written by Tolkien. How in his first book, called “The Hobbit”, this unlikely character Bilbo Baggins goes on a long journey with a group of long-bearded dwarves to recover a magical treasure from the clutches of an evil dragon named Smaug. The journey was treacherous and the dragon was formidable, but in the end Bilbo succeeds in recovering the treasure, not because he was physically stronger than the dragon, but because he and his friends were courageous and they used their minds to outwit the evil beast.

And I brought up the story of Bilbo and the dragon, because Tuesday was the feast day of St. George. And you may know that there is an ancient legend where St. George overcomes a dragon. According to the Legend a dragon was terrorizing a village, demanding tribute of trinkets and livestock, and when the villagers ran out of treasures and animals to appease the dragon, the cruel creature demanded the blood of a princess. So, the valiant Christian solider George, comes to the maiden’s rescue and courageously goes to face the foul and dangerous beast—slaying it with his mighty lance. 

St George has been venerated by the Church for 1700 years. Churches, Kings, Cities, States, Countries, and Beatles have been named after George. Pope Francis whose birthname is Jorge is named after the great saint. For not only courageously confront a literal dragon, at least according to legend, he also stood up to the Roman Emperor Diocletian.  Around the year 303 George was martyred for courageously refusing to renounce his Christian faith and offer sacrifice to the Roman gods.

St. George is always a wonderful saint to celebrate. For he models for us courage in defended the weak and the poor from the powers of evil, and that courage witnessed in standing up to the Roman Emperor—proclaiming with his life that Jesus Christ is true God, and that eternal life is obtained by becoming Jesus’ disciple.

St. George is also an important saint to invoke and emulate as we face our own dragons. Each of us face our own dragons, don’t we? Dragons such as selfishness, impulsiveness, laziness, resentment, disordered desires and ideas, foolishness. Dragons that want us to cower in fear instead of sharing the Gospel. Dragons that demand the tribute of our time, talent, and treasure instead of giving them to God.

But George’s story is so powerful because it is a reminder that when the life of Christ is within us, dragons can be defeated. 

Tolkien wrote that we tell legends and fairy stories to children not to prove the existence of dragons. Children, he wrote, know that dragons are real. Those stories help children learn that dragons can be defeated. 

And St. George triumphed over the dragon through the power of goodness, courage, and self-sacrifice. George’s life is a reflection of our Lord’s own triumph—his crucifixion and resurrection are the ultimate triumph of goodness over evil. Jesus has defeated the greatest of dragons—saving all of humanity from the clutches of Satan. And the Lord’s work isn’t done. For he wishes to continue to slay powerful dragons in the world through us—to bring deliverance and peace through us. 

But the great dragons of our own time cannot be defeated apart from Christ. “Apart from me you can do nothing,” he teaches in the Gospel this weekend. So, we must remain attached to Christ through constant prayer, and adherence to church teaching, and the sacramental life, and moral righteous living, and works of charity.

Now, the secular world foolishly believes that it can defeat the evils afflicting humanity without God. But biblical illiteracy, separation from the Church, dismissal of Church teaching, all allow the dragons—like war, perversion, broken families, drug epidemics—to multiply, despite our best efforts.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, writing on the topic of war, points out that the secular institutions can issue peace treaty after peace treaty, but unless individuals put an end to the civil war within their own souls—where we pridefully oppose the goodness and holiness that God wants for us—humanity will continue to be afflicted with war and the greed and injustice that lead to war. Unless our own dragons are dealt with by the power of Christ—we will have no hope for real peace in the world. 

But, so many of the Saints bear testimony to the transformation that comes through union with Christ and the good we can do when united to Him. St. Paul in our first reading, went from being a passionate anti-Christian, a hunter of Christians, an agent of the great dragon, to a passionate and courageous preacher of Truth--one who suffered for Christ and his saving Gospel.

The conversion of St. Paul is a reminder that we should pray and work for conversion of those who are hardened toward Christ and his Church. For if Paul can experience conversion, anyone can, by the grace of God. We exclude no one from the call to conversion. And likely, the most effective means of the conversion and spread of the Church, is when we are more deeply united to Christ in the humble works of charity, in sharing the gospel calmly, patiently, but of course, honestly. 

What can I do this week, to draw closer to Christ so to bear fruit that will last? What dragons in my own mind and heart, have I been too lazy or afraid to allow Christ to conquer? 

How do we know we remain in him? If we keep his commandments and love one another. May we be generous in our faithfulness and in our love for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

4th Week of Easter 2024 - Friday - Faith transforms grief into life

 Today’s Gospel is requested more than any other for Masses of Christian Burial, that is, for Catholic Funeral Masses. Why this one in particular, do you think? Why are these words of Jesus at the Last Supper so comforting and so powerful?

The Lord’s teaching certainly acknowledges the reality of sorrow and pain at the death of a loved one while pointing to the promise of eternal life and resurrection and reunion.

The passage begins with Jesus teaching, "Do not let your hearts be troubled". The death of a loved one certainly causes trouble to our hearts. It can cause intense emotional pain, sadness, and a sense of emptiness. Death can trigger feelings of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty about the future. The absence of a loved one can lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation. And its not uncommon for those who are grieving to experience anger or to question God's plan.

So the Lord acknowledges the soul-sickness and then prescribes the remedy—he addresses the heartache of loss by calling his disciples to deepen their faith. Faith enables us to trust in God’s plan in times of uncertainty, to know God’s closeness in times of loneliness and isolation, to grow in acceptance of circumstances beyond our control, and find meaning in events we cannot understand.

Faith does not eliminate grief, rather, it makes grief bearable and transforms grief into an opportunity for spiritual growth—of encountering and experiencing God in a new way. 

This is why St. Paul says that Christians do not grieve like the rest of the faithless, hopeless world. Christians are able to experience grief as a way of drawing nearer to God and even to become the people God made us to be.

Yes, the Lord’s promise of eternal life is consoling, but growing in faith doesn’t just bring alleviation of grief but also transformation. Faith practiced amidst crosses like grief and loss and suffering enables us to become more like Christ—not just in his humanity, but in his divinity. Faith transforms us, so much so that St. John writes “what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” 

Faith enables the fulfillment of our destiny to become more and more like God for eternity, but that journey begins by following Christ—who is the way, the truth, and the life, now—by seeking to become more like Christ in this life. 

May the Holy Spirit assist us in conforming our lives to Christ by bringing about in us an increase in that faith which deepens our communion with Christ in all things for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For Pope Francis and Bishop Malesic, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd and for an increase in vocations to the ordained priesthood, and that our priests may serve the Church with the love and devotion of the Good Shepherd.

For our parish, that we may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ and his tender love for sinners and for the poor.

For members of Christ’s flock who have wandered far from the Church: for the desire and will to return to the Sacraments; for deliverance from all spiritual evils and an increase in virtue for the faithful. 

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: that they may know the peace and consolation of the Good Shepherd. 

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

4th Week of Easter 2024 - Wednesday - Antioch: Spiritual Home and Strategic Hub for Evangelization

In this part of the Easter season, we hear in our readings from the Acts of the Apostles a lot about the city of Antioch. Yesterday, we heard that it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians. And so Antioch was a place where the identity of the early Church was developed—a place where we came to understand who we were and our mission in the world.

Antioch was one of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities in the ancient world, serving as a melting pot of cultures, religions, and ethnicities. This diversity provided an ideal setting for the spread of the Christian faith, as it allowed for the dissemination of the gospel message to people from various backgrounds. It was the first city where the gospel was really preached to the Gentiles on a large scale. 

And so Antioch become home to one of the most vibrant Christian communities outside of Jerusalem. Antioch was a center for Christian activity and growth, with believers gathering for worship, fellowship, charitable work, and the sharing of resources. As we heard in the reading today, there were Christians in Antioch with spiritual gifts like prophecy and teaching, so it was a place where spiritual gifts were discerned and developed. The Christians of Antioch practiced fasting and attentiveness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

It was in this atmosphere of vibrant faith in Antioch that the Holy Spirit formed Paul and his companions as missionaries and sent them out into the world. So Antioch, served as a spiritual and strategic hub for early Christian missionary efforts. 

Every parish is called to be a little Antioch, no? For a parish is a place where Christians are to gather together, to understand themselves and their mission, to teach and be taught, to be inspired and challenged by words of prophecy, to fast and pray, and listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to be formed for going out into the world. Every parish is a spiritual home, but also a strategic and spiritual hub for our evangelizing mission.

Yesterday, I went to the doctors for my annual check-up and the waiting room reminded me of Antioch. It was extremely culturally diverse: there were jews, muslims, whites, blacks, Hispanics, Russians, and ukranians. And like Antioch of old, the cultural diversity of a place is not simply a challenge or obstacle, but an opportunity for the Gospel to spread out like electrical currents in a body of water, when we are faithful to our mission. 

May the liturgical, catechetical, aesthetical, and charitable life of our parish help us to be attentive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in sharing the Gospel in this diverse neighborhood, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

- - - - -  

That the Church will deepen in her devotion to the Eucharistic sacrifice which is the source and summit of our Christian life, and that during this time of intentional Eucharistic Revival, our faith may be deepened, grace may increase, and our mission may be furthered. 

That the outpouring of charity in Christ’s Eucharistic Self-Sacrifice will become manifest in all marriages, in all business relations, in all daily encounters, in our concern for the downtrodden and care for the most vulnerable, among friends, strangers, and enemies.  

For those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction or grief; and for the consolation of all the afflicted. 

That the Eucharist will be for priests the source of their joy and their deeper configuration to Jesus Christ.  

For all those who have died, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

April 23 2024 (school mass) - St. George and the Dragon and Christ's Easter Victory

Since the time I was a boy, I have enjoyed reading and watching the films based on the stories of the author JRR Tolkien. You may have read or seen them. He wrote a book called “The Hobbit” in which Bilbo Baggins goes on a long journey with a group of dwarves to recover a magical treasure from the clutches of the evil dragon Smaug. And they succeed, not because they are physically stronger than the dragon, but because they are courageous and use their minds to outwit the evil beast.

Today on the calendar of the Church is the feast day of a saint named St. George. And there is an ancient legend were St. George overcomes a dragon. According to the Legend a dragon was terrorizing a village in modern day Libya, demanding tribute of trinkets and livestock, and when the people ran out of treasures and animals to feed the dragon, the cruel creature demanded the blood of a princess. The valiant solider George, a Christian came to the rescue and slew the dragon. The town and the grateful young lady were saved.

St. George was later martyred by the Roman Emperor Diocletian around the year 303 for refusing to renounce his Christian faith and offer sacrifice to the Roman gods.

St. George is a wonderful saint to celebrate—he courageously defended the weak and the poor from the powers of evil, and he courageously witnessed to our Christian faith that Jesus Christ was crucified and is risen, and the eternal life is obtained by becoming Jesus’ disciple.

George is a fitting saint to celebrate during the Easter season when we celebrate Jesus’ glorious resurrection from the dead. Because in the story of St. George we see an echo of Jesus’ own triumph.

For as St. George triumphed over evil through the power of good, courage, and self-sacrifice, it is a reflection Jesus' own triumph—his crucifixion and resurrection are the ultimate triumph of goodness over evil. He has defeated the greatest of dragons—saving all of humanity from the clutches of Satan who desires the corruption and eternal damnation of our souls.

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He has defeated death through the power of self-sacrifice and love, and we, like St. George are called to imitate Him. For each of us have dragons to face—dragons such as selfishness, impulsiveness, laziness, resentment, disordered desires and ideas, like greed, and foolishness. And the Wisdom of God, and the Love of God, and the Power of God, Jesus Christ risen from the dead will help us to slay those dragons, that we may walk with God in this life and live with God forever in heaven, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

Gospel

Lk 9:23-26

Jesus said to all,

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself

and take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world

yet lose or forfeit himself?

Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words,

the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory

and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

4th Week of Easter 2024 - Monday - Universal Love, Universal Mission

 During the Easter season we consider the Church’s call to spread the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

The Lord, in his first recorded post-resurrection appearance to his disciples in the Gospel of Matthew, mandates them to “go and teach and baptize and make disciples of all nations. 

We are sent to all nations and peoples because God loves all nations and all peoples. Our universal missionary mandate is grounded in the eternal and universal love of the Most Holy Trinity. God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" writes Paul to Timothy.

And even though this mandate was clearly enunciated by the Lord, it was certainly a challenge to the early Christians. Remember the earliest Christians including the apostles were Jews. The Jews were treated with suspicion and disdain even then, not to mention, they were a conquered people, non-Romans in a Roman controlled world—fisherman and farmers in a world controlled by military might. On top of that, their whole religion was about avoiding contact with the Gentiles, who were considered unclean for a variety of reasons.

Now, yes, there are many scriptural prophecies of how God would use the Jews to gather all nations, how the nations of the world would stream up to Jerusalem to glorify God. But Jesus’ commission wasn’t just to wait around in Jerusalem, waiting for the nations to magically appear—Jesus’ commission was to go out and gather, to put out into the deep. 

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, St Peter explains to the early Jewish converts in Jerusalem how he himself was initially hesitant to go out to the Gentiles, but God kept reminding him, like in the dream he described, not to call unclean what God has made clean. Not only was there a mission to the Gentiles, but through Christ, the Gentile is made clean, equally clean—a brother in the Lord.

Those of us of non-Jewish descent must be eternally thankful that Peter and Paul and the early Church overcame their fears and heeded the mandate. And as they did, so must we, in our own day, in our age, to all people in all places—not just waiting for others to come to us, but to go out and teach and share.

For, the Great Commission given by Jesus is not merely a suggestion but a mandate to actively go out and share the Good News with the entire world. Like those early Jewish converts we must allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with courage to reach across cultural barriers, prejudices, and the fear of rejection—to be motivated by authentic Trinitarian love for all people for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

That the love and goodness of the Good Shepherd may be evident in the charitable self-giving of Christians towards the poor; for unity among believers, protection from worldly errors and evils, and the gathering of scattered humanity into the one flock of Christ. 

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ—especially in places afflicted with violence, corruption, injustice and oppression.

That our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction or grief; and for the consolation of all the afflicted. 

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

4th Sunday of Easter 2024 - Called to Communion

 Communion. God desires Communion with us.

Communion is a very important concept for Christians. We speak of Holy Communion, The Communion of Saints, the Community of Believers. We speak of God’s communication with us through Divine Revelation because God wants to share his mind and plan and heart and life with us. We speak of the Evangelizing Mission of the Church to communicate the Gospel to others, so that they can share in communion with God that we share through the Church. 

After the sign of the cross, mass begins with a greeting expressing and praying for Communion: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.” This greeting expresses the communion existing in God Himself—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and at the same time is a prayer asking God to establish that communion more deeply among us. It’s a prayer that your spirit, and my spirit, may reflect and be filled with the Communion of God. 

The Catechism uses the word “Communion” over 1000 times. Right in the first chapter, Catechism paragraph 27 says  “the desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for:  The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God”

Our human dignity rests on our call to Communion. About three weeks ago Pope Francis’ Dicastry on the Doctrine of the Faith issued a teaching on Human Dignity. And he quotes that very paragraph from the Catechism—that we find the fullest expression of our dignity and freedom and joy when we are fullest communion with God. 

Communion.  St. Paul liked the word Communion a lot: he speaks about it in reference to the Holy Eucharist through which Jesus shares his life-giving Body and Blood with us. St. Paul writes, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”

St. Paul even speaks of his desire to know Jesus Christ so deeply that he desires to share communion in Christ’s sufferings. St. Ignatius of Antioch our patron writes about that as well—his desire to imitate Jesus’ sufferings through his own martyrdom was so great that he pleaded with the Christians in Rome to do nothing to keep him from martyrdom.

The life of the Church is at the service of Communion—proclaiming the call to Communion. And our readings this weekend all illustrate that truth. In the first reading, St. Peter, driven by the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost Sunday, takes to the streets of Jerusalem and preaches that salvation is found in Jesus Christ who was crucified, but is now risen. And that there is no salvation (no communion with God) through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved." Jesus came to deliver us from our great excommunication from God—the communion with God broken by sin.

And so Peter’s proclamation of Christ—is a call to restored Communion with God in the only way that God has definitely offered Communion—through Jesus Christ. 

The second reading deepens our understanding of what it means to be in this new communion-- “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.” Christians are God’s children. We aren’t mere beneficiaries of a contract between God and man. We aren’t pieces of property that God might cast away if he loses interest in us. Christian Communion means membership in the family of God—an intimate, loving, life-giving communion. And just as human parents rightly provide for the needs of their children—God provides for the safety, guidance, and flourishing of His children.

Now in the Gospel, the Lord teaches about God’s work to establish communion by drawing upon this beautiful image of a Shepherd. The mission of Christ the Shepherd is to gather scattered humanity into One flock—one communion.

And yet, the Lord acknowledges that there are terrible forces which have sought to break our communion with God. Wolves that scatter God’s flock by leading us to turn our hearts away from God.

Beginning in the Book of Genesis, the Old Testament is one story after another of individuals breaking communion with God and their fellow man through sin: Adam and Eve hardening their hearts toward God in the Garden of Eden, Cain breaking the communion of family and God’s natural law by killing his brother Abel, the builders of the tower of Babel making a name for themselves without reference to God, the Israelites crafting the golden idol, even moses allows his trust in God to waver and so does not enter into the promised land. So many stories of men and women and communities—the kingdom of israel pretty much as a whole on several occasions—breaking communion and the consequences that follow—scattering, division, expulsion from paradise, the flourishing of violence and perversion and adultery and injustice and exile. 

And it doesn’t take a biblical scholar to detect that those effects of sin and selfishness and broken communion continue to breed injustice and needless suffering in our own day.

Pope St. John Paul II at the turn of the millennia offered a special exhortation to Americans—in a document called Ecclesia in America, and the saintly Pope spoke about the need of American Christians to work for communion with God in a world suffering the terrible effects of division—the opposite of communion. He said, “Faced with a divided world…we must proclaim with joy and firm faith that God is communion, Father, Son and Holy Spirit…and that he calls all people to share in that same Trinitarian communion. We must proclaim that this communion is the magnificent plan of God the Father; that Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Lord, is the heart of this communion, and that the Holy Spirit works ceaselessly to create communion and to restore it when it is broken. We must proclaim that the Church is the sign and instrument of the communion willed by God, begun in time and destined for completion in the fullness of the Kingdom. The Church is the sign of communion because her members, like branches, share the life of Christ, the true vine. Through communion with Christ, Head of the Mystical Body, we enter into living communion with all believers.”

To work for communion is our task—the communion of humanity with God through Christ. And when we step forward to receive Holy Communion, we are saying “Amen” to being instruments of the communion that God wishes to establish in this world. And we become ever more effective instruments of that communion when the life of God is evident in our speech, in our actions, in our way of life.

Does your life, does your speech attract people to God? Are you doing what you can to shepherd souls into communion with God. If not? Why not? Why has your spirit ceased to draw others into communion? What obstacles have you imposed or failed to remove which impede deep Communion with God?

There are three common culprits for that: Error, Selfishness, and Fear. Those are three big bad wolves of our modern day. Error, which professes ideas contrary to the Church’s Magisterium, Selfishness, which pursues self-indulgence in inordinate or disordered ways, and Fear, which runs away from duty, devotion, discipline, conversion and the cross.

But when you refuse to allow those wolves to dominate your life, you will experience the joy and peace and fullness of life that God desires for you, communion with Himself through Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Easter 2024 - Friday - New Life through Christ's Flesh and Blood

 Early last week, we read of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3, in which the Lord speaks about being born again of the Spirit— the new life that comes from being his disciple. The Church fittingly reads of that conversation about spiritual rebirth and spiritual life during the Easter season—in which we celebrate the risen life of Christ and consider how we are to share in that life—through discipleship and the sacraments and through the life of the Church.

That theme of sharing in Christ’s life continues in John chapter 6—the Bread of Life discourse—in which the Lord teaches that in order to share in his life—and in the life of his Father—on earth and in eternity—we must eat his flesh and drink his blood: “unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life”

Discipleship of Jesus Christ is the path, the only true path to eternal life. That discipleship involves a living relationship with Christ—which includes faith that He is God, acceptance and practice of his moral teachings—including the avoidance of sin and the practice of works of charity, and a true sharing in his very life through the Sacraments of the Church.

We read in the Acts of the Apostles how Paul's sight is restored when he is baptized and given food. New life was given to Paul himself through the Sacraments.

Baptism, in which we are born again by water and the Spirit—begins that life. And eating his flesh and drinking his blood in the Eucharist, sustains that life. Receiving his Body and blood devoutly is part of our Easter proclamation that in Christ is found life—sanctified earthly life that leads to the blessedness of eternal life with God—that there is no other way to eternal life with God than through Christ.

It is a horrific tragedy that so many Catholics who should know better, deprive themselves of the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, choosing to skip Mass, and fill their lives with so much garbage that does not satisfy, that does not give life. 

Part of our Easter mission is to witness to them that the Eucharist is part of the constant spiritual renewal that God wants for his children. 

In one of his last encyclicals, Pope St. John Paul wrote about how the Eucharist is the source of our life. He writes, “In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope”

May we witness to our hope in Jesus Christ by receiving the Eucharist devoutly, allowing it to bear so much fruit in our lives—signs that Christ is alive in us and desires life for the world for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

That the Church will deepen in her devotion to the Eucharistic sacrifice which is the source and summit of our Christian life, and that during this time of intentional Eucharistic Revival, our faith may be deepened, grace may increase, and our mission may be furthered. 

That the outpouring of charity in Christ’s Eucharistic Self-Sacrifice will become manifest in all marriages, in all business relations, in all daily encounters, in our concern for the downtrodden and care for the most vulnerable, among friends, strangers, and enemies.  

For those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction or grief; and for the consolation of all the afflicted. 

That the Eucharist will be for priests the source of their joy and their deeper configuration to Jesus Christ.  

For all those who have died, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.