31st Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Wednesday (school mass) - "Love God"

 

Yesterday, I was able to visit a number of the classrooms, and I spoke about one of my favorite subjects and activities: prayer—different types of prayer, different ways to pray, when we should pray, why we pray, and we even talked about the five-finger method of prayer, how our fingers can remind us for whom to pray.

We talked about the sort of prayer that asks God for help—help for those closest to us, help for our teachers, help for those in charge, our leaders, prayer for the week, the suffering and the sick, and prayer for ourselves.

We talked about the sort of prayer which asks God for mercy when we’ve sin. “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”

We talked about the importance of offering prayers of thanksgiving: thanking God for the gift of life, thanking God for the shelter, food, and health, thanking God for the beauty of creation, thanking God for Jesus dying on the cross for us and the gift of our salvation, and the church, and the sacraments.

Lastly, we talked about the sort of prayer that most of us probably don’t do enough—the sort of prayer that simply tells God, “I love you.” “I love you, Lord”.

The more we love God, and express our love for God in our words and actions, the happier we will be. The saints show us this over and over. Their joy is great because their love for God is great.

Some people do not love God at all—they love money, and fame, and pleasure, and power, but they do not love God—and deep down, they are miserable for it. Some people love God only a little, and that’s a start—they know about him a little, but God makes little difference in their life—and they go from pursuit to pursuit, relationship to relationship, chasing happiness, but never really finding it, because they don’t believe God is the source of happiness. But Christians are taught by Jesus to love God with our whole heart mind soul and strength. Love for God is to be the driving force of our lives, the motive behind all our actions.

It is the reason I became a priest, it’s the reason I am here right now.

And daily, many times a day, we need to reconnect with the love of God, to call it to mind, to remind ourselves that love is to be the reason for my decisions, my choice of words, how I treat people, what I do with my time and my body.

As Jesus makes himself present at Mass today under the appearance of bread and wine, express your love for Him. “Jesus, I love you. Lead me and guide me.” For the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

November 2 2025 - All Souls' Day - Grief and Hope

 A number of years ago, during my first parish assignment at St. Columbkille, in Parma, All Souls Day fell on the first Friday of November. On first Fridays we had the practice of bringing Holy Communion to our homebound parishioners, as some of our Eucharistic ministers do here. And so my first communion call that day was to a woman named Josephine, and elderly woman with a thick polish accent to whom I had been bringing Communion for several years.  

Prior to administering Holy Communion I asked her a question I didn’t always ask during my communion calls. I asked her if she had any particular intentions that she would like to voice as she received Holy Communion that day. And she replied that since today is the Feast of All Souls she would like to pray and offer her Communion for her father who was arrested and killed in the Concentration Camp at Auschwitz during World War II.  After we prayed, and she received Holy Communion, she asked if I would like to see a picture of her father.  I said I would.

She went into the bedroom and brought out a rectangular photograph of very thin man, dressed in a prison outfit, in three poses: a profile looking to the right, one where he was looking up and to the left, and the middle one, he was looking directly at the camera with a haunted expression on his face. I thought of the horrors he witnessed in that Concentration Camp—they seemed reflected in his eyes--and I had to sit down.  

Josephine then said, Father, I try to think of good memories, but so often I am overwhelmed with sadness.  Why do we always remember the hurtful things?

After a moment, I said, I think it’s important not to forget our loved ones, as hurtful as their memories are, so that we can pray for them, and to pray that terrible things like war and genocide never happen again.

She said, “All Souls Day is always a very sad day for me, but it is also the anniversary of our coming to this country and escaping those horrors.”  How providential, I thought! Because that’s what All Souls is all about. On All Souls’ Day we pray that our loved ones arrive at their heavenly homeland. 

Today can be a sad day; to remember the faithful departed whom we loved in this life can evoke strong emotions.  And  sometimes we think of those we’ve encounter on life’s path—and those memories are not always sweet. So, today don’t only pray for those who were good to us in this life, but also those who may have hurt us—they need our prayers too. No matter who they were in life, how they acted, who they loved or hurt, we pray for all of the souls in purgatory today, that they may be open to all of the purification they need in order to enter eternal life with God.

Today is also a day of hope. All Souls Day reminds us to pray, but also it is a reminder that we hope to be reunited with our loved ones in the new and eternal life of the resurrection. That word hope was mentioned in the opening prayer: “Listen kindly to our prayers, O Lord, and, as our faith in your Son, raised from the dead, is deepened, so may our hope of resurrection for your departed servants also find new strength.” The preface for the Eucharistic prayer will also speak of the hope of resurrection.  In the face of sadness, it is so vital for us to renew our hope in the promises of Christ—that those who die with Him as Lord shall be raised with Him in the resurrection to come.

We also acknowledge today the power of our prayers.  Our prayers are powerful and effective in helping those in purgatory make their way to God and to prepare for the resurrection. When are overwhelmed with grief for our loved ones the best thing to do is to turn to God in prayer for their souls and to renew our hope in the resurrection. As Saint Thomas Aquinas said that the greatest act of love we can perform on behalf of the dead is to pray for them.  

May perpetual light shine upon our departed loved ones. And as we continue the celebration of the Mass for the repose of the faithful departed, we do so, not as a mere remembrance, but as a powerfully effective way of loving them and helping them, a duty that all Christians share, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

November 1 2025 - All Saints (PSR Mass) - The saint God made us to be

 

Dear ones. Happy Feast of All Saints. In school or by a family member, you may have been asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” If I asked every individual here, I bet I’d hear a whole host of answers. Some of you might say that when you grow up, you want to be a professional athlete or a teacher, a doctor or nurse or veterinarian, an actor or musician or artist, perhaps a soldier or police officer or fire fighter. At different times in my life I too considered different professions: there was a time I wanted to be an archaeologist and uncover ancient cities, later I wanted to be a mathematician. It wasn’t until I was a little older, in college, that I discerned that God was calling me to be a priest.

Well, no matter the profession, I bet every single one of us could answer that question, “when I grow up, I want to be happy. I want to do something that makes me happy.” No one wants to grow up to be unhappy or bored.

Well, what if I told you that being happy in life, being fulfilled, is not simply the result of your job or profession. Being happy isn’t based on the amount of money you make, the amount of power or responsibility you have, it’s not based on how popular or famous you become.

The key to happiness is to discover and pursue the reason God made you. Why are you here. Why do you exist? Why were you born, not 700 years ago, not 200 years ago, but now?

And the answer to those questions is partially hidden—it takes a while to figure out what we should be doing with our time, with our abilities. But the answer is also partially known. As Christians, we know what we should be doing with our time. We should be trying to become like the people we celebrate today. The saints. Because we, like them, are made by God, to become as holy as we possibly can.

If you want to be happy, if you want to be fulfilled, you should do everything you can to be a saint. That doesn’t mean you can’t be a musician or a doctor or a construction worker. St. Cecilia was a musician. Saints Cosmos and Damien were doctors. St. Francis of Assisi was a builder, he built a chapel for God, St. Luke was an artist. St. Sebastian was an athlete. St. John Bosco was a juggler and magician. St. Catherine was a philosopher. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was a teacher. There were Saints who were simply moms and dad who loved their kids. And saints who were politicians, even kings and queens of nations.

But choosing to be a saint is more important than choosing your profession. It’s more important than where you live, what language you speak, where you go to school. There have been saints that have done very well in school, and saints that had a very difficult time with their studies.  But what was most important is that they aimed at being saints, no matter what they did. Whether they were plowing their fields like st. Isidore, or engaging in priestly duties like St. John Vianney, or a missionary like St. Paul, a website designer like St. Carlo Acutis.

Seeking to become a saint is the most important thing we can do in this life. For in the Gospel today, did Jesus say blessed are you when you win trophies for your athletic accomplishments? No. Did he say, blessed are you when you are well-known in your professional field? No. Did he say, blessed are you if you have more friends, more money than other people? No.

What did he say? Blessed are you when you are merciful, blessed are you when you are pure of heart. Blessed are you when you seek to be righteous so much that you hunger and thirst for it.

One of the great tragedies of our time is that there are many people who do not consider their call to be a saint. There are a great number of people who have turned their backs on God and will fail to become the person God made them to be. And because they have turned their backs on God they are miserable and causing great problems in the world, for their family and countries.

Don’t be like them. Don’t get so swept up by the world that you begin to forget about God, about why God made you.

We celebrate the saints because they are our heroes in the faith, but they also show us what all humans are capable of when they trust in God, when they say yes to God with every ounce of their being. God made us not to be selfish, lazy, or fearful. He made us to have generous hearts, active hearts, courageous hearts in knowing, loving, and serving Him in this life, so that we can be happy with Him for eternity.

The Saints challenges us to aim higher—to aim higher than spiritual mediocrity, and the idiotic examples of celebrities.

God made us to be saints. And today, we ask the saints of heaven to help us become like them, to love Jesus more than anyone or anything. We look to their example, and seek their prayers, that we may become the saints that God made us to be for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

30th Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Friday - Jesus nourishes, heals, satisfies

All four Gospels contain accounts of the Lord eating and dining. All four Gospel record the Lord dining with his apostles on the night before he died at the Last Supper. Some stories of Jesus’ meals are shared between Gospels, some are unique. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the Lord dining in the house of the tax collector Levi, while St. John is the only to record the Lord’s attendance at the wedding feast at Cana.

St. Luke is the only evangelist to record the meal in today’s passage in which the Lord heals the man with dropsy in the house of a pharisee on the sabbath.

It is not the only story in which the Lord heals someone on the sabbath, but it is the first time he heals someone at a meal—combining the two actions of healing and eating. It’s also interesting who he heals; he heals a man with dropsy. What is dropsy? Dropsy is a medical condition involving the build-up of fluid in a person’s tissues. Consequently, because of this imbalance of fluid, the person with dropsy is always thirsty—they are perpetually thirsty. And so in this story the Lord combines healing and eating and satisfying unending thirst.

What does that makes you think of? I don’t know about you, but this certainly makes me think of what we’re doing right now. In the celebration of Mass, the Lord feeds, the Lord quenches thirst, and the Lord heals.

In the Eucharist, the Lord feeds us with his body and blood, giving us spiritual nourishment for the work of the Gospel and the pilgrimage to heaven. In the Eucharist, the Lord heals us of sinfulness, pride, grief, loneliness, division, and estrangement from God. And in the Eucharist the Lord quenches our thirst for the infinite God—like a dry weary desert, our souls’ thirst for Him, and here that thirst is quenched.

Commenting particularly on the healing properties of the Eucharist, Pope Francis, said a few years ago, that the Eucharist is “powerful medicine for the weak”. We have many weaknesses: fear in preaching the Gospel, timidity in doing the work of the Lord, weaknesses of the flesh, the lack of willingness to suffer for Christ, temptations to sin, concupiscence. And the Eucharist is medicine for these weaknesses. Those who deprive themselves of the Eucharist, refusing to go to mass, deprive themselves of real medicine the Lord wishes to apply to their souls.

The Eucharist is also medicine for the greatest of our weaknesses: mortality.

Writing soon before his own death, St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the Ephesians said that the Eucharist is the “medicine of immortality… the antidote which wards off death.” It “yields continuous life in union with Jesus Christ.”

Today and whenever we come to Mass, we do well to consider: what is the work for which the Lord wants to nourish us, what are the weaknesses the Lord wants to strengthen, what are the wounds he wants to heal?

May our souls be well disposed to the grace of the food from heaven, the food that strengthens, the food that heals, the food that quenches for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

We have gathered here dear brethren to celebrate the mysteries of our redemption; let us therefore ask almighty God that the whole world may be watered from these springs of all blessing and life.

 

For those who are deprived of the Eucharist, for lapsed Catholics, for the unbelieving, for those who doubt the Lord’s real presence, for those who have hardened their hearts toward God, and for a deeper appreciation of the great gift of the Eucharist among all God’s people. Let us pray to the Lord.

That young people will be blessed with good Christian example from their parents and fellow Christians, and that the word of God might be cherished, studied, and practiced in every Christian home.

During and following this month of October, dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, Catholics may take up this devotion with renewed vigor and trust in Our Lady’s never-failing intercession.

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for deceased clergy and religious, for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

 

May your mercy, we beseech you, O Lord, be with your people who cry to you, so that what they seek at your prompting they may obtain by your ready generosity.

30th Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Wednesday - How many will be saved? (school mass)

 

Last week, I was able to visit the kindergarten, first grade, third grade, fifth grade, and seventh grade, and I was able to share a bit about my priestly calling—how I discerned and came to know that God was calling to me to be a priest.

In the first reading today, St. Paul talks about our calling—how each one of us are called to particular purpose. Each one of us, every single one of us here, every person ever born has purpose—a God-given purpose.

On one hand, we all have the same purpose—God gave us life—so that we might become holy and live with him for ever. Why did God make you? “God made you to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.” Next time I visit the classrooms, I might ask, you to repeat that answer: “Why did God make you? “God made you to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.”

In the Gospel, Jesus is asked a question, that very much relates to the purpose for which we are made. Jesus is asked, “how many people will be saved?” “How many people will fulfill that purpose for which they were made? How many people will choose to seek to know God, love God, and serve God, and come to that place prepared for them, so that they can be happy forever?” What’s the number? Of all the humans from the beginning of time to the end of time will fulfill the purpose for which they were made?

And notice, Jesus did not give a number. He didn’t say, oh, about half, or 99% or 1%. How did he answer? “Strive to enter the narrow gate. For many won’t make it, so make sure you do”

Many will be lost. Many will fail to fulfill their purpose. Many will fail to get to heaven. Why? Because they choose not to strive to get there.

So, make sure you do. Make sure you seek to know God, love God, and serve God as well as you possibly can.

Again this is why we have a Catholic school, this is why we have Catholic parishes, so that souls like you and me can come to discover how God is calling each of us to be holy. May we make good use of the time we have been given, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - Priesthood Sunday - Humble Trust & Risks for God

 

A few years ago, for my new year’s resolution, I attempted to learn how to play the violin. I grew up playing a little bit of piano and trumpet and sang in the choir in high school and in seminary; so, I was pretty familiar with reading music, and figured, how hard could the violin really be? So, I got a hold of a violin, and realized pretty quickly that if I was going to progress in this instrument, I was going to need to take some lessons: I didn’t even know if I was holding the thing correctly.

And I have to admit, those first few violin lessons, were very humbling. I admitted to my violin teacher that I was a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed: a grown adult, a priest, several college degrees, and I could barely get through “Mary Had a Little Lamb” without the violin sounding like I was torturing some poor animal.

After several months there was some progression and I decided that I had fulfilled my new year’s resolution. But, I really have to admit: those first few weeks, were very humbling, and very uncomfortable. The violin didn’t care about my degrees, about the time I spent visiting the sick, or teaching in the classroom. And to sit with this professional violin player was kind of embarrassing. I felt like a little child.

But, I’m so glad I risked a little embarrassment, because now I can pick up the violin every now and then—one of my favorite musical instruments—and enjoy playing it a bit.

You may have had a similar experience: learning a new skill always involves that initial moment when you feel a bit like a child. But that’s not a bad thing: children are often much more courageous than adults. They don’t worry about what people think of them, they just engage. They’ll try new things because they look fun. They play without self-regard. They quickly make new friends—they are able to do things that many adults would be humiliated over doing—but that’s the key to their joy isn’t it…not fearing humiliation.

Would we honor Saint Francis of Assisi, if he had allowed his fears of what others thought of him to control his life? If he worried about being considered “overly religious”? Or St. Paul, what if he had allowed his fear of leaving his home country keep him from his missionary journeys. Or Saint Clare? What if she let social pressures keep her from leaving behind her family wealth to pursue radical holiness. So many of the great Saints risk humiliation, they risk failure, they risk mockery, in order to pursue true greatness.

Many of our young people do not consider entering the religious life or going to the seminary because of social and even family pressure “What will they think of me if I joined the monastery.” But, in the Christian life, each one of us absolutely needs to ask ourselves: do I want to be great in the eyes of the world, or in the eyes of God?

I pray that fear—fear of being considered “overly religious”—is not keeping anyone here from becoming more active in the life of holiness and the life of the parish. The parish needs your creativity; the Church needs you to take risks for God.

When I first started considering my priestly vocation and I visited the seminary for the first time as a freshman in college—what deeply impressed me most of all—was that here were men my age—and I was just 18 years old at the time—men my age willing to take a risk for God—not for themselves, but for Christ and His Church. And these were talented, smart, athletic young men who could go on to be very successful businessmen and find beautiful wives and have happy families if they wanted. None of them HAD to go to seminary. But I tell you, for myself, and for many of those men who are now priests, the risk has paid off. Because it’s not really a risk when the one you are trusting is God. God is the great “Guaranteer”. It’s guaranteed that what you give to God will be blessed and multiplied. And I hope that you believe that. That you will be blessed in this life and in the next, when you entrust your time, talent, treasure, and life to God for the good of the mission of the Church.

Since 2003, in the United States, the last Sunday of October has been designated Priesthood Sunday, an opportunity for us to pray for vocations to the priesthood and to consider the role of the priesthood.

But, where do priestly vocations come from? From family members pushing their sons to consider seminary? Maybe. Family support is helpful. But I think on a deeper level vocations come from humble trust—trust, that when we put God first, we are blessed. It comes from asking personally, “God how are you calling me, personally to serve the mission of the Church” That’s what needs to be cultivated in families. Openness to serving in whatever way God calls you to.

That’s a major reason why I left my pastorate of St. Ignatius of Antioch to come here. I was happy there. It was challenging, but I like challenges: a country boy in the inner city surrounded by homelessness, drug problems, crime, gang violence, prostitution, poverty. But when the Bishop asked me to come here—and he did ask, he didn’t command—when he asked, I believe God speaks through the bishop to his priests, to all of us. And amidst the challenges of these last four months, I’ve had to call that to mind once or twice—to recall that with the challenges of the two parishes—the needs of the parishes in 2025, I have to trust God.

Where is God calling you to humbly trust Him—with your time, energy, ability—in your prayer life, your civic life, your family life, your leisure time, your involvement in the parish?

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Don’t you want to be exalted by God? Then follow where he calls. Humbly trust, that what you have to offer IS what the Father desires to be entrusted back to Him.

May God bless our priests, on this priesthood Sunday. And may he guide and strengthen all of us in His service, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

October 22 2025 - Pope St. John Paul II (school mass) - Lives of holiness

 Last week, we gathered for Mass on the feast day of a saint who lived about 450 years ago, St. Teresa of Avila. Today we celebrate a saint who lived and died not 450 years, but just 25 years ago, Pope St. John Paul II. 

Not all Popes are saints and not all saints are Popes, but Pope John Paul II was one of the holiest men who lived in the last 100 years, and one of the great Popes of history.

He was Pope for 26 years, 5 months, and 17 days, the third longest papacy in history.  He traveled the world more than any Pope before or after, visiting 129 countries. He was the first pope to visit the White House, in Washington D.C.  He spoke latin fluently, but could also converse in Slovak, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Ukrainian, English, and of course, his native Polish.  

He wrote more than any other Pope, he canonized more saints than any other Pope in history.  He played a decisive role in the downfall of communism in eastern Europe. The list of accomplishments goes on and on.  

And yet, his personal holiness could be felt by those around him. I was in Rome back in 2004, and attended a Mass with Pope John Paul. And, I remember locking eyes with the Pope as he came up the aisle in the procession for Mass, and he looked at me, and smiled at me, and it was like I could see the light of Jesus in him and his deep love of God and for the people of the world. His love for God, his devotion to the Blessed Mother Mary, his love for the Church infused his life and radiated from Him.

Holiness is real, saints are real. And becoming holy, becoming a saint, is the most important thing you could do in life. It’s more important than wealth, riches, fame, popularity. You can be poor as dirt, you can be sick as a dog, but if you are holy, you have everything.

Again, the fact that John Paul was Pope was nothing compared to his holiness. You can be a brilliant scientist or the best athlete or most famous moviestar in the world, but it is all nothing, if you do not have the life of Jesus in you.

As holy Pope John Paul, did as the Lord commanded Peter in the Gospel today: he fed the flock of Jesus, the Church—he was an excellent holy leader, and his example reminds us that we too need to seek to be as holy as we possibly can through lives of prayer, service, study, worship, virtue, and good works in wherever we find ourselves—as a teacher, a student, a priest.

John Paul remained deeply united to God amid the many demands of his ministry, of his life, and in his sufferings. May Pope St. John Paul II, through his heavenly intercession help us to seek the deep union with God through a life of holiness that will make our lives complete for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - The Rosary and Persevering Prayer

 

During the 12th and 13th century, a dastardly heresy swept throughout Europe known as Albigensianism. The Albigensians struggled with the reality of evil in the world, like many of us. They believed in a good Creator God who wants our souls to flourish, but couldn’t understand how that a good God could allow evil and disease and war and suffering in the world. 

Instead of seeking the answer to this problem in the sound teachings of our Faith, the Albigensians adopted the heretical belief that because good and evil seem to coexist, there must exist two separate Gods—a God of Spirit and Light and then an equally powerful God of darkness and evil which governed the physical realm. 

The Albigensians then extended their error to explain that Jesus therefore couldn’t really be God, because the God of Spirit and Light couldn’t really take on flesh and suffer, because flesh and suffering were evil. And because according to the Albigensians flesh is evil, they forbade the eating of animals and milk, and they condemned marriage and procreation since they believed begetting children meant imprisoning a beautiful pure soul in a prison of flesh. They denied the sacraments of the Church, refusing to believe that the God of goodness could work through physical things like, oil, water, bread, and wine.

And you might wonder: who would join these people? But they actually became really popular. And many Catholics adopted the errors of the Albigensians and fell away from right religion.

To deliver souls from this error, God raised up a holy saint. In the early 13th century a young priest named Dominic Guzman was tasked by the Pope to preach against the Albigensians. He preached all through Europe. St. Dominic took up the mandate St. Paul gave to St. Timothy in our second reading today, "to be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching." And though he was persistant and faithful, St. Dominic, initially, wasn’t very successful in winning souls back to the Catholic faith.

So Dominic prayed and fasted and did penance. And one day in 1214, Dominic received a heavenly visit: Our Lady appeared to Him with some instructions from heaven. She said, “Dear Dominic, do you know what weapon the Most Holy Trinity wants to use to reform the world?...I want you to know that in this kind of warfare the ‘battering ram’ will be the Rosary. So, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them to God, preach my Rosary!” 

And this campaign must have worked. For in my hands I hold a rosary…and have you met any Albigensians lately? Dominic taught the people to pray the Rosary and Europe was converted.

I tell this story because it is October, the month of the Rosary; we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7. But, also because the praying of the rosary relates to our scripture readings today, on prayer and perseverance.

In the first reading from Exodus we heard how Moses had to persevere in keeping his hands raised during a battle with the Amalekites. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel was victorious in battle; but when he let his hands down, the Amalekites, Israel’s enemies got the upper hand. 

This is a great metaphor for the Christian life and the mission of the Church—when we keep our hands raised before God, persevering in prayer, engaging in the works of mercy, victory is won—our souls grow as they are meant to, the mission succeeds. When we grow lax, lukewarm, and disobedient, our souls diminish, the mission struggles. 

Similarly, in the Gospel, our Lord praises the widow who perseveres in petitioning the judge for justice. His hard is moved to acquiesce to her request when he recognizes her perseverance.

Perseverance is a required virtue for the Christian life. Daily, we must strive to keep the faith and do what is right, amidst temptations and errors and challenges. 

Often in the scriptures speak about perseverance. Jesus teaches about the need to carry our crosses daily; and gives us the example of his only perseverance in following his Father’s will unto death on a cross. St. Paul enjoins Timothy to persevere in right doctrine. Jesus teaches that amidst the evils of the world, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

How will we persevere amidst so many distractions and challenges? Daily prayer is so vital. St. Alphonsus Ligouri says, “if, then, we wish to persevere and to be saved—for no one cannot be saved without perseverance—we must pray continually. Our perseverance depends, not on one grace, but on a thousand helps which we hope to obtain from God during our whole lives, that we may be preserved in his grace.” 

While there are many helpful devotional prayers that can help sustain us in the Christian life. The Rosary is so powerful. Hardened souls are converted through the rosary, including our own. If you are struggling with a particular vice, a particular addition, a particular sin, take up the rosary daily for strength and the grace of conversion. If your family is going through a particularly turbulent time, pray the rosary together. If a loved one has fallen away from the Church and is engaging in a sinful lifestyle, pray the rosary for them. 

The rosary is not simply a relic from the past. As Our Lady told St. Dominic, it is a powerful spiritual weapon that the Holy Trinity wishes us to utilize to reform the world. And though the Albigensian heresy has been defeated, there is much reform needed in our present day--many errors and sins which separate souls from God.

So if you’ve never prayed the rosary, or don’t know how to pray the rosary, this is the month to take up this powerful devotion. A guide to the Rosary is available on our parish website.

Prayer is powerful. In can win miracles. It can convert hardened hearts. It can bring relief to the sorrowful and light to the confused. But perseverance is needed. Our Lady called the Rosary “a Battering Ram” because a battering ram is a large beam, sometimes a whole tree, handled by many people, used to open a large gate, or to make an opening in a wall.  It only works with the repetition of blows on the gate or the wall—with perseverance. 

And the Rosary is a battering ram, taking up by the many hands and hearts of the members of the Church, to knock down the walls which separate our minds and hearts from God. 

And if it’s not the rosary, it needs to be something. Each of us needs to discern well how God is calling each of us to persevere in the sort of prayer that will support the church and enable us to persevere in the Christian life, strengthened and supported in our weaknesses, and equipped, as St. Paul says, for every good work for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

October 15 2025 - St. Teresa of Avila - The pathway of prayer (school mass)

 Two weeks ago we celebrated the feast of the Carmelite nun, St. Therese of Lisieux. Recall how little Therese felt called by God to dedicate herself to a life of prayer and solitude—in the Carmelite monastery. Her day possessed a beautiful rhythm of prayer, meditation, quiet chores, meals, attendance at mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

The order of her day, the rhythm of her day, the spirituality of her life can be traced back to the saint we celebrate on the calendar today, another Teresa, St. Teresa of Avila, Avila being here birthplace in Spain who lived about 350 years before.

Teresa of Avila had a profound impact on the Carmelite way of life, which continues to this day. But she didn’t just have an impact on the Carmelites. St. Teresa of Avila is so influential to how Catholics understand prayer, that she is known as a doctor of the Church.

You see, Catholics don’t just pray. We don’t just learn our prayers—memorizing prayers like the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the act of contrition. Catholics love prayer so much that we study it. We write books about it so that we can do it better. We study the great mystics to understand how they prayed, so we can pray better and draw nearer to God—so that we can hear God better, and speak to God better, and experience God better.

And one of the most influential teacher of prayer, is today’s saint. If you want to become a master prayer—study St. Teresa of Avila. 

As a young nun, St. Teresa of Avila was rather lukewarm about prayer—meaning, she was neither hot, nor cold about prayer, she did it, but it wasn’t really that important to her. And, she had difficulties praying for any real period of time—especially when she had other things to do. 

But St. Teresa learned to quiet her mind, and quiet her heart, she began to connect with God on a profound level. In fact, she would become so absorbed in divine contemplation, her body would begin to levitate—she would float. And at times, she would become so filled with love for God in her prayer—that she felt that she would become swept away in the ocean of God’s love.

You see, St. Teresa didn’t just pray for things, like many of us. And that’s not a bad thing, we need to pray for the health of our families, and peace in our world. We need to pray for our loved ones who have died, and to grow in virtue and wisdom and the strength to carry our crosses. God hears and answers all those prayers in his own way.

But St. Teresa teaches us that God wants us to seek him in prayer. Quiet prayer, patient prayer, in which we come to understand and experience, that when we possess that profound relationship with God, you possess everything you need. For the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - Increase our Faith

If you could ask Jesus for anything—if you had one request—what would you ask for? In the Gospel today, the apostles made request—simple, yet profound. Did you catch it? They didn’t ask the Lord for riches or material security; nor did they ask for health or a long life. They asked him for something they far more important than all of these things combined. They asked him, “Increase our FAITH!” They asked for faith.

The very first encyclical Pope Francis issued back in June of 2013 dealt with Faith.  It was called “Lumen Fidei” – The Light of Faith. The Holy Father wrote, “The Church never takes faith for granted, but knows that this gift of God needs to be nourished and reinforced so that it can continue to guide her pilgrim way.” Like the apostles, we members of the Church on earth are to always be about the business of growing in faith—doing our part to make sure that our faith is strong as possible. 

But what is Faith?

In one of my favorite passages from his encyclical on faith, Pope Francis wrote, “Faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey. To those who suffer, God does not provide arguments which explain everything; rather, his response is that of an accompanying presence, a history of goodness which touches every story of suffering and opens up a ray of light.”

Do you get what he is saying here? What is faith? Faith isn’t some sort of magical power that removes the obstacles of religious people. Nor does faith eliminate the darkness in our life. Rather, it’s the light in the darkness that enables us to experience God’s abiding presence with us. 

So, again, to be a person of faith doesn’t mean that we expect God to remove all of our difficulties and sufferings. After all, Jesus promised us that each of us would have our own crosses to carry. Rather, to be a person of faith is to trust that God will provide enough light for us to make our way through the darkness, it’s to trust that God will provide us enough strength to bear the weight of our crosses; the fortitude to withstand the powers of evil that assail us.

What caused the apostles to make this request of the Lord to increase their faith in the Gospel today? Why did the apostles beg for an increase in faith? Well, in the preceding passage, the Lord had given his famous teaching on scandal: “It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” And so, the apostles hear this warning, and immediately ask for faith. Why? Well, this is an instance of the apostles showing some real humility. They knew how easy it is for us to set bad example for each other, and so they pray for faith—all the faith they would need to avoid leading souls astray. 

The apostles, as the first bishops, knew that people would be looking to them—to their words and example. Anyone in a position of authority, including parents, should conduct themselves with fear and trembling, knowing that people are looking to them. “Lord please, never let my missteps and failings cause anyone to doubt your goodness or love or the need to practice right religion. “Lord increase my faith, that by my conduct, I may not lead anyone away from you, today, but toward you.”

“Lord, increase my faith” This is a petition for those who take seriously the call to build up the Church, those who understand that the duty of the Christian is to draw souls to Christ. And that is a task incumbent upon each of us. And it’s not an easy one, is it?

We have a mountainous task before us: to evangelize this confused, fallen world in 2025. It seems impossible. But, faith, the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. I hope you believe that—faith can move mountains. The apostles did more with less. We are capable of doing great things when we trust God—when our faith is strong. And the more we nurture our faith—the more faith grows in us—the more faith is stirred into flame—the more room we make for God to do truly wonderful things in us and through us.

So what do I need to do to stir faith into flame? Well it certainly requires effort. Daily effort. We must read the bible daily. Study Catholic doctrine. Engage in daily devotions which nurture faith like the rosary, the chaplet of divine mercy, the liturgy of the hours. We must confess our sins—those times when we have neglected, ignored, or violated our Catholic faith in order to pursue selfish ends. We must make time for silent listening to God, for meditation and contemplation.  If you can, participate in daily mass throughout the week. These practices will increase the light of faith which will help you to see how God wants to use you to touch souls—to gather souls to Himself.

At times in our lives, we may feel as if our faith is weak. Then more must be done to strengthen it. Do penance to increase your faith. Fast. Make a pilgrimage. Dedicate serious time to the works of charity. When faith grows weak, many people make the mistake of pulling away from prayer. They stop going to church. They fill the emptiness with earthly endeavors. But that is the exact wrong thing to do. The small weak ember of faith must be stirred back into flame through intentional and disciplined spiritual means.

In the first reading, from the prophet Habakkuk, we heard, “the just one, because of his faith, shall live.” Faith is the light we need as not to stumble, the armor we need to withstand the attacks of the enemy and the hatred of the world, the wisdom we need to avoid causing scandal and to draw souls to Christ, and the lever we need to move the mountains God wants us to move.

May the Lord increase our faith, and may the Eucharist we celebrate, nourish us, and unleash the power of faith in our lives and our families and world, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

October 1 2025 (school mass) - St. Therese of Lisieux - The Little Way and the Mission of the Church

 The month of October begins with the feast day of a beloved saint of the Church, St. Therese.

Therese was born and raised in a profoundly religious home—where the Catholic faith was devoutly practiced and cherished. Therese’s parents, Louis and Zellie have also been declared saints due to the evidence of their profound holiness. All four of Therese’s older sisters became nuns. And from a young age, Therese also had a burning desire become a nun as well—to dedicate her life to prayer in the Carmelite Convent. 

And so at the age of fourteen, Therese traveled with her father to Rome to meet the Pope, to personally ask his permission for Therese to enter the Carmelite convent in the city of Lisieux. And it was granted.

The Carmelite convent that Therese entered had a very strict rule of life. The nuns lived a hidden life of prayer, silence, and sacrifice. the sisters ate simple meals, they wore a plain habit, like St. Clare is wearing in her statue. The nuns did not interact with people from the outside world, not even with members of their family, and they were not allowed to leave the convent grounds. Even their conversations were limited, because silence helped them to listen more closely to God’s voice.

Their days were carefully ordered, beginning very early in the morning with prayer, Mass, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. They prayed the Liturgy of the Hours together several times each day, lifting up the needs of the whole Church. When they weren’t in the chapel, they worked quietly at simple tasks like cooking, sewing, cleaning, and gardening.

But St. Thérèse didn’t see this way of life as gloomy or depressing. Therese and her sisters chose a simple, quiet life, in order to focus their minds and hearts on Jesus, and to do a very important work for the Church—praying. While we are engaged in working for Jesus and spreading the Gospel out in the world, Therese and Carmelites like her pray for us—that we can be faithful and have the strength and wisdom we need for our duties.

Therese prayed for the success of the mission of the Church—to go to all nations and make disciples of Jesus. That’s the mission of the Church. That’s why I’m here. That’s why Corpus Christi Academy exists. That why St. Clare parish exists. That’s why the diocese of Cleveland exists. We have a mission. To help people know, love, and follow Jesus Christ to the best of their ability.

This is why St. Therese took up this very strict way of life. Because she believed in the mission of the Church, and wanted to do everything she could to support it—which included praying many hours a day, fasting, doing penance, and doing small sacrificial things with great love. 

And this is another reason why St. Therese is so beloved by Catholics. She reminds us that often, the most powerful thing we can do for the mission of the Church—is to do small things with great love. Our conversations, teaching in the class room, learning in the class room, how you behave, how you treat people in the lunch room, on the playground, on the sports field, at work, the stranger, the person who annoys you, in everything we do, we are to pour into it, the love of God. May St. Therese help us to do all things with great love for the mission of the Church for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Eucharistic Devotions 2025 - Opening Mass

 As we open our weekend of Eucharistic Devotions, we celebrate a votive mass for the Most Holy Eucharist to honor God for the gift of the Eucharist. The Scriptures of the mass also help us to enter into what God is doing in our midst.

The Book of Proverbs tells us that “Wisdom has built her house… she has spread her table.” 

As a parish, we have wisely been preparing for this weekend. The work of preparation—placing flowers, lighting candles, adorning the altar—echoes the words of Scripture: Wisdom has indeed set her table, and now she invites us to come, to eat, to drink, to receive the Lord’s gift of life. People of God wisely set the table of our hearts for the Lord to come and dine.

In the Psalm we find another image of food. The Lord is my shepherd…he leads me to restful waters… You spread the table before me…he refreshes my soul.

We recognize that it is the Lord who draws us to these hours of adoration. And for those who take part in them, they will be restful and refreshing. In the hours of silence, and in our recitation of the liturgy of the hours—we allow our souls to breathe, we lay down our burdens and concerns and longings of the heart, and allow the Lord, Our Shepherd, to refresh us. The hours of prayer we give to the Lord are not empty time; they are refreshment for the heart.

Finally, in the Gospel, Jesus reveals the heart of this weekend: “I am the bread of life. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” What we honor and adore is not a mere symbol or memory—it is Jesus himself, living and present, giving us his Body and Blood. This devotion is meant to deepen our faith: faith that the Eucharist is truly Christ; faith that to receive him is to receive eternal life; faith that his flesh given for the world is our hope of salvation.

So let us enter this weekend with grateful hearts. Let us sit at the table Wisdom has prepared, let us rest beside the waters that refresh the soul, and let us believe ever more deeply in the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, present in the Eucharist for us for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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In union with Christ, who offers himself as living bread, we offer our prayers of petition:

For the Church, nourished by the Eucharist: that she may always proclaim with joy the presence of Christ in our midst. 

For peace in our world: that the Body of Christ may unite all peoples in justice, reconciliation, and harmony. 

For our parish community as we begin this weekend of Eucharistic Devotions: that our time of prayer may deepen our love for the Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament. 

For all who hunger and thirst—in body or in spirit: that they may be satisfied by Christ, who is the Bread of Life. 

For the sick, the lonely, and those carrying heavy burdens: that their souls may be refreshed by the Shepherd who leads us beside restful waters. 

For our beloved dead, who were nourished at the Eucharistic table on earth: that they may now share in the banquet of eternal life.

For the prayers we offer in the silence of our hearts, and for…for whom this mass is offered.

Loving Father, you feed us with the Body and Blood of your Son, the living bread from heaven. Hear our prayers, and grant us the grace always to remain close to Him, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

25th Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Monday - Deliverance from captivity

 For a period in Israel’s history known as the Babylonian Captivity, the people of God were cut off from their Temple, their families, and their land. While in captivity, the stories could not be told, the traditions could not be practiced, the faith could not be passed on. 

So, a generation of Jews grew up without knowing about God freeing their people from slavery in Egypt; they grew up without knowing the promises God made to Abraham—without the knowledge of the ten commandments or the promised land.  They grew up only knowing the gods and practices of Babylon-- a culture which practiced child sacrifice, polygamy, and other behaviors condemned by Jewish law.

This is not hard to imagine. So many children and grandchildren these days do not know their faith, and have been totally assimilated by the culture. 

Today’s reading from the book of Ezra details the turning point in this sad chapter. In 539 BC, the Persian King Cyrus defeated the Babylonians. A year later King Cyrus decreed that he would allow the captive Jews to return to their homeland. 

“The LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia” to free the Jews, and he even decreed that the Jews should be assisted in rebuilding the house of God—the Temple—in Jerusalem. God was faithful to his promise to deliver his people from their captivity.

Similarly, in our own day, God is at work to deliver the peoples of the world from the captivity of sin. And what instrument does he use? Us. The Church. 

It’s our mission to convert hearts to God—the hearts of kings and presidents and mayors and city councilmen and union leaders and heads of businesses and heads of families. This is why St. Paul writes to Timothy, as we heard in the Gospel yesterday, “First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority”

As we are faithful to our mission—there will be liberation; but when we neglect our mission, captivities continue. 

In the Gospel, the Lord instructs his disciples that lamps are not given so that they may be hidden under a bushel. The light of lamps is to be shared for the good of all. The light of faith, which we have given, isn’t simply for our own sake, for what we do inside of Church buildings. It is meant to shine out in the world—in our words and deeds—especially in our charitable works.

May we be faithful in sharing the light of faith with those we encounter today and every day, that those in captivity may be freed, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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“That our parishes, animated by a missionary spirit, may be places where faith is communicated and charity is seen.”

That all Christians tasked with the spread of the light of the Gospel, may be faithful to that same Gospel in every dimension of their lives. We pray to the Lord.

For all those who have fallen away from the Church, those whose lives are darkened by sin, for the conversion of all unbelievers and those who have fallen into error, and the conversion of all hearts.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering. 

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

O God, you 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.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - The Virtue of Justice toward God and Neighbor

 

One of my favorite features of any Catholic Church are often the stained-glass windows. Some Churches depict scenes from scripture, some depict the sacraments, some depict saints.

I remember when Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States for the first time. Upon visiting the marvelous St. Patrick Cathedral in New York City, he commented that stained glass windows illustrate the mystery of the Church. He said, You don’t really get to experience the beauty or message of stained-glass windows from the outside of the Church.  “It is only from the inside, from the experience of faith and ecclesial life, that we see the Church as she truly is: flooded with grace, resplendent in beauty, adorned by the manifold gifts of the Spirit.” One of our duties, as Christians, is to welcome people to come inside, so that they can learn and experience the presence of God, and behold the truth and goodness and beauty of the Church from the inside. 

Yet, even those of us who are inside of the Church, should take some time to consider the meaning of the art and symbols that surround us. 

The stained-glass windows here at St. Clare contain a variety of symbols. And they are not just randomly placed. The first seven windows are the seven gifts of the holy spirit: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, council, piety, fortitude, and fear of the Lord. Next, are the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love. And then there are the four cardinal virtues: justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude. 

I’d like to consider the symbol for one of those stained glass windows today, the symbol for justice: the scales. From ancient times, scales have been used in trade and business and engineering to ensure right measurement and fair transactions.  Scales utilize two flat plates or bowls hanging from a central beam. You put the item you want to weigh on one plate. Then, you add weight to the other plate until both sides are perfectly level. When they are level, it means the weight on each of the plates is the same.

The scale shows whether one side is heavier than the other, the “heavier” side symbolically represents a debt, something yet to be repaid, evened out. So scales are a symbol of justice because justice is all about what we owe to others and what we owe to God.

Our readings this weekend each speak of justice, in their own way. In fact, the first reading even contains mentions of scales. The prophet Amos describes how immoral, unjustice and wicked people of his day can’t wait for the Sabbath to be over so that they could get back to cheating their customers. Amos describes them fixing their scales for cheating. 

Their unbalanced relationship with God led to an unbalanced relationship with their neighbor. They were unjust toward God, and that was reflected in their unjust treatment of others. 

And so Amos had a stark message for them. God was well aware of their injustices. “Never will I forget a thing they have done!” In other words, there would be eternal consequences for injustice, if they did not change their ways.

The message is timeless—what we do in this life matters, how we treat people, what we give to God and what we withhold from God out of selfishness, has consequences, for both society and the individual. So many of Jesus’ teachings have to do with how we treat the poor and downtrodden—we owe them care and charity—the same care and charity we would want for ourselves if we were in their shoes.

In the second reading today, St. Paul writes to Timothy about another matter of Justice: one of our Christian obligations to our neighbor, especially our leaders is to pray for them. St. Paul writes, “First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority.”

If we want our government officials, our civil leaders, our bishops and priests to be righteous and good, we need to pray for them. We need to pray that they may have wisdom and prudence to govern well, and fortitude—because leadership is hard and affects many lives. There are temptations that our leaders face to tip the scales in their own favor. So we need to pray that they may be just in their duties. If justice demands they govern rightly, justice demands the governed pray for our leaders.

St. Paul goes on to explain the reason why it’s important to pray for our leaders: “that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.” When leaders govern wisely, families live in peace, society flourishes, the Church is able to worship God and spread the Gospel in peace. Injustice and poor leadership, on the other hand, spreads disorder and harm to many. 

No doubt, some of the leaders Paul had in mind (like Roman emperors) were hostile to Christians — yet Paul still insisted they be prayed for. Jesus told us to pray not only for friends but also for enemies—"love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” Justice before God means we pray for and seek the good of all people, even those who oppose us, especially those whose hearts are so misaligned that they would persecute the Body of Christ. 

In the Gospel, we have this strange parable where the Lord appears to endorse the practices of a dishonest steward. When the steward recognizes that he had neglected his duties, does something drastic and cunning to save his job. 

This too is a story of justice. The steward does what he can, he utilizes his unique position and authority— in order to make things as right as possible. He exercises cunning and takes drastic measures to make things right. 

The message to Christians is that we are to do the same. We have been given time, talent, earthly and spiritual treasures from God. We owe it to God to use these things for his purposes. Unlike the world, which uses people to gain things, we are to use our things to gain people for God.  Our possessions are not simply for our own comfort and pleasure. They are to be utilized for the mission of the Church. 

Now, sometimes we neglect or turn away from Justice because we believe that giving will make our lives emptier, but our faith shows us, over and over, that giving makes our lives not emptier, but more full.

The people that we most admire are those who are generous and self-sacrificial. “He would give the shirt off of his back to help someone” is one of the highest complements we could receive. The saints, the martyrs are those who give of themselves and so become filled with the life of God.

Justice is such a vital virtue for all of us to cultivate. In a sense it encapsulates all of the virtues and really the entire Christian life because it stands for everything that we owe to God. 

The Word of God and the lives of the saints show us that justice brings peace. Justice restrains deceit, it protects and cares for the helpless and most vulnerable. It ensures a good peaceful life. It leads us to pray as we should, give as we should, worship as we should, love as we should. Justice brings peace for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

September 19 2025 - St. Januarius - Why Miracles?

St. Januarius was a bishop of the early church in Benevento, Italy, not too far from where my own maternal grandparents families were from.  Januarius was martyred in Roman Empire’s last major persecution of the Church, that of Emperor Diocletian.  

It is said, that Bishop Januarius was arrested while visiting a fellow Christian who had been imprisoned for his faith and was awaiting execution.

Januarius is a saint beloved by the people of Naples who call him San Gennaro. And due to the large number of Napoletani in New York, a large multi-day festival is held each year. This year is the 99th annual San Gennaro festival in New York.  

There is a very unique relic connected to the feast of Januarius, a vial of the saint’s blood, which has dried up.  However, several times a year, including today, his feast day, the relic is brought out for public veneration, and the crusty, dried up blood liquefies.  This miracle has been occurring for over 600 years and it’s one of the most scientifically studied miracles in the world. Scientists have been unable to explain this miracle.  

Why does God perpetuate this miracle? Perhaps because it reminds the world that He is God of awe and wonder and awesome works and strange ways. The miracles of the saints show us that God is at work in human history. 

Miracles also humble us, reminding us that not all things can be explained by science.  Science is not the great savior of the world. There are limits to human reason, things which we must accept by faith. 

This miracle also reminds us that the blood of the martyrs continues to have power. The blood of Januarius, spilled for Christ, encourages us, and reminds us that God sees and treasures our sufferings for the Church. Their blood inspires us and encourages us to work for the Gospel with the same fervor, to seek to love God with the same love that filled their hearts.

Our efforts for God’s glory are precious in His eyes. Every drop of martyr’s blood, every ounce of suffering for the sake of goodness, for the kingdom has value—our fasting, our penance, our mortification, the mockery we endure for the faith—our venturing out of our comfort zones to help people, like St. Januarius visiting the imprisoned—it means something to God—our sufferings will be remembered for eternity and will be rewarded.

May the sufferings of Januarius and the martyrs continue to speak powerfully to our fallen world. May their blood continue to work the great miracle of the transforming our hardened hearts to love God more fully and to serve him more devotedly for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That religious indifference in our country and around the world may be transformed to radical commitment to the Gospel of Christ.

For the transformation of all attitudes which lead to war, violence, racial hatred, and religious persecution.

That Christians who are persecuted for their faith may be sustained by God’s love and the encouragement of the Body of Christ.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering. 

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

O God, you 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.

24th Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Wednesday - Pillar and foundation of truth (school mass)

 

If someone told you 2 + 2 = 5, would you believe them? Why not? Because you know the truth. Or if someone said the sun is cold, you’d know that’s wrong.

In the first reading today, St. Paul wrote to a young bishop, named Timothy, and explained that the Church—the Church established by Jesus—is the pillar and foundation of truth, meaning the Catholic Church makes sure we don’t get tricked about what is true about God, about love, about how to live rightly in the eyes of God. The Church is like a giant light that shines so we don’t get lost in the dark.

In the Old Testament there is the story of Moses leading the Israelites through the desert on their way to the promised Land. They had to travel hundreds and hundreds of miles, on foot, with no map, no GPS, no google maps to guide them. But God created a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night to guide them, so they wouldn’t get lost.

St. Paul, in calling the Catholic Church the pillar of truth, certainly wants us to think of that Old Testament story. Like that pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night guiding the Israelites through the desert on their way to the promised land, God has erected the Catholic Church as the pillar of truth, so that we may be guided to the promised land of heaven. 

This is why we have priests and bishops and Popes and trained teachers, who teach us about Jesus and what it means to follow Him. Because God doesn’t want us lost in the desert. He wants us to make our way through this life with clarity about how we are to live, with truth to guide our actions and decisions and behavior. 

So when you come to Mass, when you listen to your teachers, when you read the Bible, the Church is helping you learn the truth about God—the truth that God wants you to know.

For, Jesus didn’t want His truth to get lost or forgotten, so He gave us the Church. And just like that pillar of fire—shining with light in the darkness-- the Church shines with the light of God’s truth for the world that Jesus is real, that He loves us, that he truly is the Son of God, that He saves us, and that He is with us. 

In the Gospel today, Jesus described the people of his generation who turned their backs on the truth about who he was. So, too, in our own generation many people turn their back on God. Nonetheless, we have the responsibility of learning the truth, making God’s truth the foundation of our lives, living the truth, teaching the truth, shining with the truth of God for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time 2025 - The cost of discipleship...and what is gained

 

From now to the end of the liturgical year, our second readings will take us through each of St. Paul’s letters to individuals. So, starting today with St. Paul’s shortest letter, the one-chapter epistle to Philemon, over the next few weeks until Advent, we’ll then read from the apostle’s letters to St. Timothy and finally St. Titus. Today is the only day in the three-year cycle of readings that we read from Paul’s letter to Philemon. So, we should spend some time with it, shouldn’t we?

Around the year 60, Paul was arrested and imprisoned in Rome. Imprisoned with Paul was a slave who had been arrested for running away from his Master. The slave’s name was Onesimus. Imprisoned together, Paul got to know Onesimus; he shared the Gospel with him, baptized him, and formed him in the Christian Way. When Onesimus’ prison sentence had concluded, he was to return to his master, named Philemon, to whom Paul composed the letter we read from today. In this letter, Paul urged Philemon, who himself was a Christian, to free Onesimus from his bond of slavery, and allow Onesimus to return to Rome to assist Paul in his ministry.

This 2000 year old letter is an important testimony to the Christian belief in the equal human dignity of all persons—and the equality and unity of the baptized. 

According to the law of the land, Onesimus was Philemon’s legal possession. But, Paul urged Philemon to recognize that Onesimus was more than a possession, he was a brother. “Do what is proper” Paul urged Philemon: release him.

Now, consider what Paul was asking Philemon to do. Paul was urging Philemon to change his way of thinking and to give up something that he valued. Paul’s request was going to cost Philemon something. Philemon would have to change his lifestyle, change his household, change the way his family operated. Philemon no doubt relied on people like Onesimus. And now Paul was asking him to give something up that he relied on—to sacrifice comfort, societal norms, and his own preferences for the sake of the Gospel and because it was the right thing to do.

Paul knew that this request was going to be difficult—and costly to Philemon—but Paul made this request because it was the right thing to do.

In the Gospel this weekend the Lord speaks of how following him is costly to us--the cost of discipleship. Unless you give up family, you cannot be my disciple. Unless you carry the cross, you cannot be my disciple. Unless you renounce all of your possessions, you cannot be my disciple.

Discipleship has a cost—a cost from each of us. No one can pay it for you. It’s yours. Your responsibility. Your sacrifice. 

This is a hard message for us. Just like it was a hard message when Jesus taught it back then. St. Luke tells us in today’s passage that great crowds were following Jesus. A great number of people were with him. Moms and dads and kids and grandparents all walking together.

But then Jesus turns around and faces them, and addresses these moms and dads and kids and grandparents and says, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

This crowd of families just like you were walking with Jesus, but he says, if you want to follow me any further, if you want to follow me to my ultimate destination, it’s going to cost you something, something dearly. Your loyalty to family needs to come second, from here on out. Oh, by the way, your very life too, your impulse of self-preservation. You have to be willing to embrace the cross, to endure crucifixion—suffering and death. 

At this point in St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem. He was walking toward Jerusalem, on a sort of death march toward his Passion. And did any of these people end up following him there? Were any of them crucified with him on Calvary? Nobody, except two thieves. Not anyone from this great crowd, not his most beloved disciple. Some stood and watched and wept. But Jesus went alone, where fallen humanity was too fearful to go.

It’s not until after his resurrection when it finally clicked for us—when we understood--when the courage to follow Him unto death was truly bestowed upon us. 

Why should I give-up family loyalty and material wealth in order to follow him? Because it leads to resurrection and life everlasting. We don’t lose hope and turn away from God when we are presented with our crosses because we know God brings about tremendous good through them. Joy and life and profound transformation are discovered when we are faithful. When we go beyond our comfort zones to engage in the works of charity and to share the Gospel, when we resist temptation and willingly do penance—lives are transformed—minds and heart are filled with glory and light. We see it over and over in the lives of the saints.  St. Clare, left the luxury and wealth of her home, she left her family, despite their opposition, in order to devote her life to Jesus through radical poverty, like that of St. Francis. 

Ordinary people—transformed—filled with glory—because they were willing to follow Jesus when it cost them something. 

If the practice of the faith isn’t currently costing you something, you might not be heading in the direction the Lord is trying to lead you. And if that’s the case, pray for courage, pray for strength, ask him to help you, ask him to lead you where you are to fearful to go, if it be the will of God.

Because when you trust him, and follow him beyond your wants and fears and ingrained habits and prejudices and plans for your life, you will gain so much more: freedom, joy, blessing and life everlasting for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

September 5 2025 - St. Teresa of Calcutta - Transformed through prayer and charity

 

While a college seminarian, I spent a semester studying in Rome. Once a week, a few other students and I would walk down past the Coliseum. And right next to the Church of St. Gregory, the same patron saint as this church, there was and still is today a home for destitute and homeless men run by the Missionary Sisters of Charity the Religious Order founded by St. Mother Teresa

And at this house for the destitute, men would come off the streets, and the dear sisters would feed them, and offer them a bed for the night, a shower, medical care if need be.  

The sisters were breathtakingly patient, gentle, and kind as they treated these men as they would treat Jesus himself.  Mother Teresa took the words of today’s Gospel very seriously. “That which you did for the least, you did for me”.

I never met Mother Teresa , she died when I was still in high school, but I’ve met a number of her sisters, who had met her, who were inspired by her to give up their lives in service. And so many of those sisters possessed this charism of charity—that is certainly Mother’s lasting legacy to the Church.

It’s said that when anyone met Mother Teresa, they were often shocked at the fact that no matter how busy she was and no matter how many other people were around, when she talked to you, you felt like you were the only person in the world. She gave you her total attention, her total love, her total self every moment. She wasn’t looking past you to see if there was someone more important in the room. She wasn’t checking her social media.  She didn’t appear to be worrying about the other duties she had to attend to. She wasn’t trying to get back home so she could sit on her couch to veg-out or binge her favorite television show or get home to get dinner going. In her presence you experienced love.

One reason she was able to do this was because she gave Jesus her full-loving attention in her daily prayer. She would make holy hours of Eucharistic adoration daily. And because she gave Jesus her full, loving, attention in prayer, she was able to give you her full attention. And she didn’t just give Jesus her prayer, she gave him her service in everyone she met.

“That which you did for the least of my brethren, you did for me”. And you’d think that after day after day, week after week, year after year Mother and her sisters would be tired of helping people. But no. They are among the most fulfilled joyful people I have ever met. True joy. Not just bubbly, not just artificially cheerful, not putting on an act. When you allow love, charity to transform you, you receive the gift of joy.

May St. Teresa's holy example of loving service, charity for the poorest of the poor, care for the least, help us, inspire us, teach us, and challenge us, that, like her, we may be transformed through prayer and works of charity for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - 

 

Let us bring our prayers to the Lord with humility and trust.

For the Church throughout the world, that she may be a clear sign of God’s love for the poor and forgotten, and that her members may serve others with the selfless charity.

For all religious sisters, especially the Missionaries of Charity, that their lives of prayer, simplicity, and loving service may be strengthened and bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God. And for an increase in vocations to the consecrated religious life.

For the poor, the homeless, the sick, and the dying, those who feel unloved, forgotten, or abandoned, that through the care of Christian hearts and hands, they may know their dignity and the love of Christ.

For those who have died, the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, and for the forgotten and the poor who died alone, and for all the souls in purgatory, that they may come to see God face to face

God of love and mercy, You inspired St. Teresa of Calcutta to be a light to the world through humble service. Hear our prayers and grant that, following her example, we may love You with undivided hearts and serve You in our neighbor.

September 3 2025 - St. Gregory the Great - Striving for true greatness (School Mass)

 Throughout the year, we celebrate the saints as our heroes of Christian greatness. St. Clare, St. Francis, St. Paul, St. Benedict, St. Catherine—each of them show us what Christian greatness looks like. 

Today we celebrate a Saint, Saint Gregory, who is one of only a very few number of saints, in fact, a very few number of people in all of human history, who has been given the title “the great”. He is known as Saint Gregory the Great.

St. Gregory is known as “the great” for a number of reasons: he served the Church as Pope, and had great administrative skills. He served with the Gospel with great diligence, sending missionaries all over the world. He had great care for the poor. He ensured that the priests of the Church had a love for the poor and would go out into the streets of Rome to find and care for the poor in person. He had a great impact on the intellectual and spiritual life of the Church. And Gregorian Chant—the type of latin chant that has been used in the Church for over 1400 years is named after him—so he has a had a great impact on the Church’s worship.

But, in the end, most importantly, Saint Gregory is known as the great, not just because he a competent administrator, theologian or liturgist, but because he poured himself out in service to Christ.  He knew that true human greatness is found when we make serving God the most important thing in our life. 

In the Gospel today, the apostles are arguing about wanting to be great. And Jesus instructs them that true greatness isn’t about having power over people, about the number of people that owe you favors. True greatness isn’t about the number of followers you have—on the internet or real life. 

True greatness is about using your time, gifts, and resources to serve others—to help others.

Again this is why St. Gregory, and clare, and benedict, and paul, and francis are all great because they recognized the importance of serving God through service of others.

Jesus himself is the great exemplar of this—he serves the will of the Father to provide the greatest service to humanity possible, the salvation of our souls. Without Jesus’ great act of service—the service of his self-sacrifice—humanity would be lost forever.

Today, we do well to consider, how we are called to strive for greatness. Yes, we should strive to be great students, great teachers, great leaders, but not so we can hoard power over people, or be most famous in the eyes of the world. Rather, we strive for greatness in the eyes of God—great holiness, great imitation of Jesus, great charity, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.