December 03 2025 (school mass) - St. Francis Xavier - Purpose

 

On just the third weekday of Advent this year, we wear not Advent purple, but white, as we celebrate the obligatory memorial of a saint of the Church, St. Francis Xavier: a reminder, that the purpose of the season of Advent is to make us saints. The purpose of Advent prayer, Advent Symbols and songs, Advent charitable-giving, is to make us saints.

St. Francis Xavier was filled with zeal for helping others prepare their hearts to receive Christ. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit priest sent by the founder of his Order, St. Ignatius of Loyola, to spread the Gospel to the people of India, Japan, and the Philippines who did not believe in Christ. In the course of only 10 years of teaching people about Jesus, he baptized over 80,000 people.

Why did Francis Xavier leave his home and travel to the far reaches of the world? As we heard in the Gospel today, Jesus gave a command to his followers: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

God the Father sent his Son into the world so that none of us would perish. And Jesus sends his followers to continue that mission: to help people believe that Jesus is truly the Son of God, and by becoming his followers we come to eternal life.

Again, that’s why I’m here, that’s why your teachers are employed here, that’s why Corpus Christi Academy is here, that’s why St. Clare parish is here, to help you believe in and follow Jesus.

During the season of Advent, each of us does well to consider what we must do to follow Jesus more faithfully, to understand his teachings and the purpose for which he came into the world, and to make our hearts more like his: loving, peaceful, joyful, devoted to doing the will of the Father. St. Francis Xavier was led by the Lord to preach and teach to India, Japan, and the Philippines.

Where might God be leading each of us? God how are you calling me to use my gifts to build up your kingdom? To lead others to you? How by my words and actions are you calling me to better witness to your goodness, truth, beauty, and love? What sins are you still at work to save me from? How are you calling me to make my heart more like Christ’s for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

1st Week of Advent 2025 - Monday - The Centurion's Advent Faith

 “"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” On this first weekday of Advent we read the powerful Gospel passage of the faith of the Centurion. The Centurion, a non-Jew, like us, believed that Jesus had the power to heal.

Out of all of the Gospels, why does Mother Church present us with this Gospel in particular on the first weekday of Advent?

Advent starts with desire: the ache for God to come close, to save, to heal, to set things right. The Centurion’s simple cry—“Lord… only say the word”—is the voice of every human heart waiting for Christ. Advent begins not with the instruction to make sure we buy the right presents or decorate our homes with the right amount of tinsel, but with a plea for mercy—humble longing, confident trust, and the recognition that we cannot save ourselves.

The fact that the Centurion is a Gentile is a signal that Christ came for all nations. So, On Day 1 of Advent, the Church reminds us: The Messiah is for the whole world. This echoes a constant theme we’ll hear from Isaiah throughout this season: of all nations streaming toward the mountain of the Lord.

The Centurion believes without seeing — Advent is a season of unseen hope. Jesus does not go to the house. He speaks a word. The servant is healed. Advent involves this kind of faith: a willingness to trust God before the fulfillment is visible, to believe the promises before the manger is filled, to hope for what we do not yet see.

And yet, this exchange between Jesus and the Centurion certainly foreshadows Christmas, at which we celebrate that God enters under our roof—not because we are worthy, but because He is merciful. 

Hence, the Centurion teaches us how to wait for Christ: with humility, with faith, with hope in God’s power to save, with a universal vision of a Messiah for all people, with the readiness to welcome Him under our roof

It is the whole spirituality of Advent packed into a single moment of great faith.

As the Lord enters our roof in the celebration of Mass today, in Word and Sacrament, may we learn from the humble Centurion in preparing well for Christmas for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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With humble trust in the Lord who speaks the saving word, let us present our prayers and petitions.

As we begin a new liturgical year and the season of Advent, we pray for the gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love to fill the Church, the world, and our hearts.  Let us pray to the Lord.

That Christ may guide the minds of those who govern us to promote authentic peace and justice according to God’s Holy Will. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the protection of our armed forces, police, and firemen and all those who risk their lives to preserve our security and freedom. For peace in those war-torn areas of the world and God’s protection of persecuted Christians. Let us pray to the Lord.

That, like the Centurion’s servant, those in need of healing—physical, emotional, or spiritual—may experience the saving word of Christ spoken over their lives. Let us pray to the Lord.

That as we receive the Lord in Word and Sacrament today, we may welcome Him with humble longing, confident trust, and a renewed desire to prepare well for Christmas.

For our beloved dead: That those who awaited the Lord in faith may now behold the fulfillment of every promise in the Kingdom of heaven.

God our Father, in Your mercy You sent Your Son as Savior of All nations. Hear these prayers we bring with faith, and grant us the grace to welcome Christ under our roof with humility and hope. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

1st Sunday of Advent 2025 - Preparing Well

 Happy Advent Everyone.

The most important things in life require some preparation, don’t they? When parents discover they are expecting a new child, they prepare a room for the child and a crib—clothes are purchased, a baby shower is thrown. When a couple becomes engaged for marriage, they prepare, they plan. They meet with the priest for marriage preparation, they attend a pre-cana day, the reception is planned, the wedding garments are acquired, a home is made ready. 

Similarly, when a young man realizes his call to the priesthood, his seminary formation involves nine years of theological training, experience in different ministerial settings like visiting the sick in hospitals and nursing homes, visiting the imprisoned, learning how to craft a homily, teach in the classroom, and celebrate the sacraments.

We prepare for big tests, big presentations and tasks at our jobs. We prepare emotionally to tell someone difficult news; we prepare our wills for the end of our lives. A priest friend of mine would often say, “everything prepares us for something else.” 

Often the sufferings of the past and present help to prepare us for some future task that will require mature faith and endurance. St. Paul even says that our sufferings prepare us to console others who suffer.

The two most important feasts of the Liturgical Year are so important that they both have entire seasons to prepare for them. The season of Lent prepares us for easter, and the season of Advent which begins today prepares us for Christmas.

So how does Advent prepare us for Christmas? Well, certainly by helping us focus our time. We have 4 weeks to prepare. 4 weeks to space out the physical preparations, the shopping, the planning of parties and gatherings, the decorating, the baking of Christmas cookies.

But more importantly, yes? Are the spiritual preparations. Through the Advent scriptures and liturgies and Advent symbols Mother Church helps us to prepare our minds, hearts, and souls for the celebration of the birth of the Christ-Child?

On each of the four Sundays of Advent we read from the book of the prophet Isaiah. Throughout Advent we hear Isaiah’s message for God’s people to practice justice, the need for repentance, the reality of judgment, God’s promise of salvation and proclamation of mercy; Isaiah urges God’s people during times of darkness to practice faith and hope. 

All of those lessons are important to meditate upon, but Isaiah is read during Advent particularly because the book of Isaiah contains Scripture’s clearest proclamations of the coming of the Messiah. God will intervene in history. History filled with so much strife and chaos, war and oppression, injustice and sadness. And Isaiah proclaims the promise that the Messiah will enter history to bring mankind the peace and reconciliation and salvation that our hearts long for. 

If possible, during Advent spend time each day with the Church’s scripture reading, meditating on Isaiah’s promises. If you can’t make it to mass throughout the week, the scripture readings are available on the US Bishop’s website every day. You can even sign-up to have them emailed to you every day. 

Reading through the daily scripture readings will help you to be spiritually prepared for Christmas.

Active, intentional preparation is vital, so vital, that Our Gospel contains a message about preparation from Our Lord Himself. In this passage from near the end of Matthew’s Gospel, teaching in Jerusalem during Holy Week, Jesus teaches about the consequences for not being prepared.

He says the people of Noah’s day were not preparing for what was to come, but, instead they were eating, drinking and having a good time, preoccupied with earthly matters and so were unprepared and unrepentant when the flood came. Moses and his family were spared the flood because they were listening to God, they prepared for the flood by listening to the instructions of God, building the ark, battening the hatches, preparing for this mighty act of God which would cleanse the earth of wickedness.

Similarly now during Advent, Christians need to take time to listen to God. The rest of the world is busy busy busy with all of the physical preparations for Christmas. But Christians don’t just prepare like the rest of the world, we prepare spiritually as well which will enable us to experience deeply the flood of grace at Christmas, which the world will ignore.

Here the Lord gives us a warning and our marching orders for Advent. “Stay awake” he says. Make sure you are prepared for God wanting to break-in to your lives. Make sure you are engaging in sufficient prayer, reflection on the Word of God, acts of charity and repentance of sin.

It is certainly appropriate during the season of Advent to make a good confession. For what better way to prepare our soul for the Lord coming more deeply into our lives, than by confessing and receiving absolution for those sins which weigh us down, our failures to love the Lord as we should.

“You know the time;” Paul says,  “it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.” What are the spiritual practices that will awaken you from whatever spiritual lethargy has crept into your life? What do you need to do to remain spiritually awake throughout Advent? Today is a great day to come up with a good spiritual plan for Advent: what will your Advent spiritual reading consist of, when will you make your Advent confession, what are the good works you intend to engage in (even if that just means baking a plate of cookies for the lonely widow next door). 

We will never regret the time given to the Lord to prepare spiritually for his coming, to prioritize faith during this busy season, to prepare room for him to live and dwell in you this Christmas, for the glory of God and salvation.

32nd Week of Ordinary Time 2025 - Friday - Beauty of the Natural World and Vigilance for the Coming of Christ

 

In the 5^th century, the great Doctor of the Church Saint Augustine wrote about how the beauty of creation points to the one who created them. “Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air, amply spread around everywhere, question the beauty of the sky, question the serried ranks of the stars, question the sun making the day glorious with its bright beams, question the moon tempering the darkness of the following night with its shining rays, question the animals that move in the waters, that amble about on dry land, that fly in the air; their souls hidden, their bodies evident; the visible bodies needing to be controlled, the invisible souls controlling them; question all these things. They all answer you, 'Here we are, look ; we're beautiful.' Their beauty is their confession. Who made these beautiful changeable things, if not one who is beautiful and unchangeable?”

It is good to behold the beauty of the world, but everything beautiful in this world points beyond itself.

Both our first reading and psalm speak too of how examining creation points to the existence and glory of the creator. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” The reading from Wisdom suggests that you have to be a fool to study the works of creation and not to come to the belief in God.

Before we pat ourselves on the back for being more enlightened than the fool who disbelieves in God, Wisdom also admits how easily it is to be distracted by the things of creation: “They are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair.” We know how easily it is to become distracted and wrapped up with earthly things that we neglect heavenly things.

Jesus gives the same warning in the Gospel: “They were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building…” and were consequently unprepared for the coming of the Son of Man.

None of those things is sinful in itself — but people became so absorbed in everyday life that they lost sight of the coming judgment and God’s presence.

This warning of the Lord is important for all of us. At all times, we must be spiritually ready, detached, and alert — not lulled into complacency—by our earthly endeavors.

The Alleluia verse commanded this: “Stand erect and raise your heads, because your redemption is at hand.” Christians must constantly lift our eyes from earthly things, to ensure that our efforts are being dedicated to the things of God: infusing our minds with the light of God’s wisdom through study of our faith and reading of the scriptures, sufficient prayer and meditation, and intentional acts of charity for the good of others.

We do well to examine how we use our time, to ensure that the ordinary is not keeping us from seeking and pursuing the extraordinary, the natural is not keeping us from seeking the supernatural, that earthly beauty is not keeping us from seeking the source of that beauty—for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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 Trusting in the God who reveals His glory through all creation and calls us to lift our eyes toward our redemption, we bring our prayers before Him.

 For the Church throughout the world: that she remain faithful in pointing humanity to God and to be vigilant and ready for the coming of the Son of Man.

 For our world, so often distracted by material pursuits: that hearts may be turned away from what is passing and lifted toward what is eternal.

 For all who are burdened by illness, anxiety, or distraction: that Christ may raise their heads, strengthen their hope, and make His nearness known to them.

 For those who cannot see God’s goodness because of suffering or hardship: that the Lord may illuminate their lives with signs of His love and care. Let us pray to the Lord.

 During this month of November, we continue to pray for all of the faithful departed:  that having sought the face of God in this life, they may behold the fullness of His beauty in the life to come. Let us pray to the Lord.

 Heavenly Father, source of all beauty and author of all creation, hear our prayers, guide our hearts, and keep us ever ready for the coming of your Son. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

November 12 2025 - St. Josaphat (School Mass) - Martyrdom and Truth

 

The month of November began with the great feast of All Saints. There are many types of saints canonized over the centuries. Saints who were Holy Popes, priests, and deacons; saints who were married or widowed; saints who were religious brothers and sisters who remained unmarried and consecrated themselves to Jesus for their whole of life; saints whose names and stories we know, and saints whose names we will only learn in heaven.

A very special group of saints is known as the martyrs. The word martyr comes from the Greek word for witness. The martyrs witness, they testify, they tell the world about Jesus, not only through their preaching and teaching, but to the point of death.

Today, the Church honors the martyr St. Josephat, a Catholic bishop who was killed by a mob of people who hated the Pope. St. Josephat witnessed to the truth that Jesus created the Church and organized it to have a spiritual leader, the pope, who governs the Church in faithfulness to Jesus. Not everyone believes this, but this was the will of Jesus. For defending this truth, Josephat was killed.

Christians like Josephat are worthy of our praise and imitation: Christians who are willing to stand up for the truth, even when it brings them the hatred of the world.

In his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Here Jesus makes a promise. If you are willing to suffer for preaching and seeking the truth that comes from God, your reward will be heaven.

The martyrs, like St. Josephat are counted among the blessed ones of heaven because they were willing to be persecuted, hated, mocked, arrested, tortured, and killed for the sake of what was right—the truth proclaimed by Jesus and His Catholic Church.

Josephat didn’t water down the truth. He taught it with clarity. He didn’t hide the truth. He taught it boldly. And he did so because He loved the Truth—He loved Jesus and His Church and wanted to gather everyone into the unity of the Church, as Jesus prayed for, as we heard in the Gospel today, “I pray that they may be one”.

Through the intercession of St. Josephat and all of the holy martyrs, may each of us have the wisdom to seek the highest truth, the truth revealed by the Most High God, and the courage to witness to it, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

31st Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Friday - Cunning Missionary Disciples

Early on in the pontificate of Pope Francis, God rest his soul, the pontiff began to focus his teaching on a particular aspect of our faith—that all Christians are called to be missionary disciples. We find the phrase already in one of his first apostolic exhortations back in 2013—Evangelium Gaudium—“On the Proclamation of the Gospel in the World Today”. 

The entire people of God are called to proclaim the Gospel. Evangelization is the task of the Church—she is an agent of evangelization. “In all the baptized, from first to last,” he wrote, “the sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us to evangelization… In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples.” And we live out that identity of being missionary disciples in our faithfulness to Jesus in whatever part of the world or society we find ourselves. 

In the first reading today, St. Paul talks about his particular calling to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul describes how God has called him to bring the Gospel to places where it has never been brought before. 

And there is an important dimension of missionary discipleship as well. Each one of us is called to bring the Gospel to places where it has not currently taken root. And where might that be?

We must certainly ensure that we are bringing the Gospel to our own minds and hearts. We are to be faithful to Jesus in every dimension of our lives. Christ is to be the center of our professional life, our leisure time, how we use our minds, how we use our words, how we use our bodies. We are to develop skills to be used in God’s service. 

But also in our relationships—with family, friends, and strangers. Recognize where the Gospel could be stronger in those relationships—where the peace of Jesus, the kindness of Jesus, the charity, and self-sacrifice of Jesus is to be imitated and lived out. 

In the Gospel, the Lord tells a parable about cleverness. The worldly are often very clever in pursuing their ends and their goals. Well, Christians need to be clever too in working for God. We are to exercise ingenuity, creativity, and cunning in our missionary discipleship. 

We need to be more clever in organizing charitable activity than head coaches in organizing victory for their franchises. We need to be more diligent in disciplining our minds and hearts than professional athletes in training their bodies. We need to be more clever than Wall Street bankers, in storing up treasure, not on earth, but in heaven. We need to be more dedicated to the Gospel, than world-class musicians and artists are in developing and pursuing their art.

We aren’t to just give God our leftovers, but our very best. Just as God made each of us unique, there are places and people to whom God is calling us uniquely to bear the Gospel. And we are to do so with courage and fortitude and patience and wisdom like that which St. Paul and so many of the saints show us for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may endeavor to put their time, talent, treasure, creativity and energy into serving the mission of the Church. Let us pray to the Lord.

That our young people may be blessed to be raised in faith filled homes, that they may be protected from the evils of our culture, and be granted a firm knowledge of their vocation to holiness. Let us pray to the Lord.

That Christ the Good Shepherd will draw close to all who suffer, the sick, the needy, victims of injustice, and the dying.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, all deceased members and benefactors of our parish, our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

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.

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.