Easter Octave Wednesday 2024 - Communal Witness, Shared Mission

The end of the Emmaus story, as recounted in the Gospel of Luke, captures a moment of profound revelation and communal joy among the disciples. After recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread and realizing He had been with them all along, the two disciples from Emmaus couldn't contain their excitement. Their hearts burning within them was both a metaphor for spiritual awakening but also a visceral, emotional response to encountering the Risen Lord.

Imagine their hurried journey back to Jerusalem, fueled by an urgency to share their experience. The roads that seemed so long and desolate before were now pathways of purpose and hope. Upon arriving, they find the Eleven and others gathered—sharing how the Lord appeared to Simon. Hearing this confirmation, coming from such a trusted source within their community, would only amplify their joy and astonishment.

Imagine how they were encouraged to share their own account—words tumbling over each other, hands gesturing vividly, their faces alight with awe—their excitement would be infectious. They recount every detail: their initial failure to recognize Jesus, His explanation of the Scriptures, and the moment of revelation at the dinner table. Each word would add to the growing sense of amazement and joy among the listeners.

The shared experiences of encountering the Risen Christ would forge a deep, communal bond among the disciples, uniting them in a shared mission and a renewed sense of purpose.

This Gospel is not simply about individual encounters with the Risen Christ but also about the formation of a community of believers, transformed by their experiences of the Resurrection. 

This narrative illustrates how individual faith journeys are enriched and given meaning within the context of communal belief and shared mission.

Each of us have our own faith journeys, but they are inextricably linked to each other’s. Easter is not just about my faith, but our faith—not just about my mission to witness, but our mission to witness. The Church is stronger when we are encouraging one another, praying with one another, sharing our faith with one another, and helping each other identify and strengthen our spiritual gifts.

As members of the Church, Easter invites us to reflect on our role within our communal mission. How do we contribute to the sense of community in our parish? In what ways can we support one another in our journey of faith? 

The Emmaus story reminds us that our faith is not a solitary endeavor but a communal journey towards encountering the living God. It calls us to recognize Jesus in each other, to share our stories of faith--our encounters with the Risen Lord--and to walk together in the mission entrusted to us by the Risen Lord, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ. 

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

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

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

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

January 2 2024 - Sts. Basil & Gregory - Building up the Body of Christ

Today is the only day of the entire year on which we celebrate two doctors of the Church together. Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory Nazianzen were both bishops of the 4th century and dear friends. Both the Church of the East and the Church of the West look upon them with great love Their holiness of life, the excellence of their teaching and the harmonious synthesis of their gifts in service of the Gospel were exemplary. 

For their memorial today, we read a passage from the letter to the Ephesians where Paul is writing about the mission of the Church and Church unity.

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers of the Church are to work together to equip Christian believers with the tools and competencies for serving God—for carrying out the mission of the Church. And what’s our mission? St. Paul tells us that our common mission is building up the Body of Christ. 

A parish, like ours, isn’t just a building for Catholics to fulfill their obligation to attend Mass on the Lord’s Day. It’s a place where believers themselves are to be built up—to grow in Christian maturity. It’s a training ground for believers to receive the training they need to do the work of God in the world to make new disciples. My efforts as pastor, in conjunction with the Bishop, and those in church leadership is to help train the members of this parish to build up the body of Christ.

Saints Basil and Gregory, who we honor today, through their teaching and preaching confronted a terrible heresy that was drawing souls away from the one true faith. The Church was being ravaged and divided by the Arian heresy—instead of being built up, it was being torn down by the heretics. And so Bishops Basil and Gregory devoted themselves to teaching the Apostolic Faith received from Christ from the beginning to help heal the wounds caused by error. Church unity was preserved and strengthened through their efforts.

The saints take seriously St. Paul’s admonition to “live in a manner worthy of the call you have received”—the call to rid ourselves of sin and selfishness, error and folly, and to spend ourselves without reserve in the service of God. 

Let us pray through the intercession of Saints Basil and Gregory, that the Church and that our parish may be opened to being equipped, being trained for the work God desires of us, for building up the Body of Christ for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

In this time when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior have appeared, let us, dear brethren, humbly pour forth to him our prayers, trusting not in our own good works, but in his mercy.

That the witness of the Church may help all nations come to believe in the Lordship of Jesus, and that our Bishops and Priests might have the courage to proclaim the truth amidst the errors of the world.

That those in civic authority may submit their minds and hearts to the rule of Christ, the Prince of Peace and Hope of the nations.

For the healing of families divided by sin and selfishness, for a strengthening of all marriages, and that young people may be formed to have deep and authentic faith. 

For those oppressed by hunger, sickness, addiction, or loneliness, that through the mystery of the Nativity of Christ, they may find relief in both mind and body. 

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

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

20th Sunday in OT 2019 - Servants of the Divine Fire

I remember exactly where I was the first time today’s Gospel reading really hit me in the gut. I was attending the Saturday evening vigil mass at St. Noel Parish in Willoughby Hills. After Mass I was to meet with Father Tom Dragga, who was, at the time rector of Borromeo Seminary. I would be meeting with him to discuss my entrance into seminary that fall.

“I have not come to establish peace on the earth…but rather division”, in other words, following Jesus may not always be the popular thing, his truth might contradict popular opinion, you might lose friends because him, your family might not understand you, they might even come to hate you because of him.  Hopefully not! But to me, this Gospel always speaks of how counter-cultural being a disciple of Jesus Christ really is.

And the Gospel really hit home as I prepared to meet with the seminary rector, as most of my high school friends were either non-practicing catholic or very critical of the catholic church. Most of my family were lapsed Catholics. Even though I attended a Jesuit University, many of the students and professors seemed quite at odds with Catholic Truth. Would I lose friends over entering the seminary, would I be pressured by family not to enter?

I have a priest friend, in fact, whose parents did kick him out of the house when he said he was going into the seminary.  “No son of mine will be a priest” they said. Yet, he chose to enter seminary, even though it would cause division in his family because his call came from God.

So with the possibility that my own choice would cause division, when Father Dragga asked me why I wanted to enter the seminary, I simply recited the beginning of today’s Gospel: “I have come to cast fire upon the earth. How I wish it were already kindled.” The priesthood is at the service of this divine fire.

So many of the tragic situations in my hometown, my high school, in our nation, and around the world was due to its alienation from the fire of Jesus Christ. So many broken families, so many young people turning to drugs, even modern art and music seeks to sever itself from what was true, good, and beautiful from God.

I also shared with Father Dragga how I was deeply moved by my visit to the seminary that previous spring. Because there I met this group of young men who felt the same way. It was evident that their hearts had caught fire, as had mine. I felt a particular kinship amongst the kindled. And to this day, my brother priests certainly continue to be a source of inspiration. As do so many of you, who have such a passion for the Truth and Goodness and Beauty of the Christian Gospel.

Members of the Body of Christ are meant to inspire each other and call each other to be ever more faithful. You’ll notice in the bulletin this week a report from our June parish visioning dinner. You’ll notice four pillars of St. Ignatius parish: four aspects of our parish life and history that continues to inspire and draw people to the fire of Jesus. Over the next few months, the parish council and I will explore how we can continue to build on these four pillars.

At the visioning meeting parishioners shared the many different ways how the fire of love for St. Ignatius Parish was kindled in their hearts. For some, the fire was kindled in their early years, attending the elementary school. For some, the fire was kindled the first time they walked into the Church: a church that looks like a church, the cathedral of west blvd, with its inspiring architecture and beautiful liturgies and music. For some, the fire was kindled because they were warmly welcomed by our greeters and friendly parishioners. For some, they were impressed by the service opportunities, the ways we care for the poor and hungry in this neighborhood. We certainly have a mission, don’t we, certainly not just my mission, but our mission, to continue to stoke these fires so that new generations can come to meet Christ in this beautiful place.

Our second reading spoke of the “great cloud of witnesses” who surround us, who inspire to persevere in running the race when things get difficult, who challenge us to serve the divine fire more faithfully, to allow the divine fire to burn away all our sins and selfishness.

The month of August is filled with some of the most amazing, counter-cultural saints, on fire with love for the Gospel. During the month of August we celebrate St. Dominic who traveled throughout Europe preaching the Gospel in the face of a growing heresy called Albigensianism. St. Clare, raised as an Italian noble, gave up her wealth, her social prospects, and consecrated herself to a life of adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, a young jewish philosophy student whose search for truth led her to the Catholic faith, who was arrested and sent to gas chambers at Aushwitz. Fr. Maximillian Kolbe, also murdered at Aushwitz, who gave up his life for a jewish prisioner condemned to death.

What led these saints to offer their lives in service of the Gospel? What made them willing to engage in such counter-cultural activity? Their hearts were set on fire by Christ. And that fire, they nurtured through prayer, study, and service, and gratitude for the witness of those who had gone before them,. They kept their eyes fixed on the witness and example of the Lord Jesus who is consumed with obedience to His Father’s will. Any fire that we have as Christians can be traced back to the furnace of His Sacred Heart.

So we must each ensure that we do our part in stoking the fire in our own hearts, again through prayer, fasting, study, and service, and to rekindle fires that may have been extinguished through sin by going to Sacramental Confession.

And we must do our part in spreading that fire to others: Inviting the lapsed back to Mass, back to the Sacraments. Inviting them to Holy Hour, to faith formation, to volunteer opportunities, to speak with passion about our faith to those who do not know Christ. Jesus is yearning to set hearts on fire through our words and deeds.

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already ablaze” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Easter 2018 - Thursday - Pledge of Eternal Life

In his Bread of Life discourse, Jesus promised food that would bring eternal life. Natural bread feeds our bodies, it sustains our physical life. But the super-substantial bread given to us by Jesus Christ, enables our souls to live forever.

The Sacrament of the Altar has many names, and each of those names signify a different dimension of the sacrament.

The Sacrament is called Eucharist: Eucharist, coming from the Greek word, Eucharistia, which means thanksgiving. At the Eucharist the Church gathers first and foremost to give our thanksgiving to God for the gift of our salvation won for us through the self-sacrifice of His Son on the cross for us.

The Sacrament is called Holy Communion: for through it, souls are brought into communion with our Holy God, made sharers in his divine life, and the holy bond between Christians is strengthened.

The Sacrament is called the Body and Blood of Christ: for as Jesus teaches, this bread is His true flesh. And as Thomas Aquinas poetically summarized: Verbum caro, panem verum Verbo carnem éfficit: Fitque sanguis Christi merum,” The word made flesh, makes bread, by his word, flesh, and wine into the blood of Christ.

The Sacrament is called the Most Blessed Sacrament: for though in the other sacraments Christ performs a holy action, baptizing, confirming, absolving, marrying, this Sacrament IS Jesus.

And one of my favorite titles for this Sacrament: it is called The Pledge of Eternal Life. For as Jesus promises in the Gospel today, “whoever eats this bread will live forever.” A divine pledge, a divine promise is given to those who partake of this Sacrament.

There are many reasons to become Catholic, or to return to the active practice of the Catholic faith: but this one ranks pretty high: eternal life promised by God.

Through the Eucharist our mortal natures become incorruptible, as St. Ireneus taught, in the 2nd century.

This truth was echoed for centuries in the Old Rite of Mass. as one knelt down to receive holy communion, the priest would bless the communicant with the host and say the words: Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam: May the Body of Christ preserve your soul unto everlasting life.

May our Easter celebration continue to open us to the joy of the risen Christ, and his presence in the Church particularly in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, the Eucharist, His Body and Blood, and our pledge of eternal life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Church will deepen in her devotion to the Eucharistic sacrifice which is the source and summit of our Christian life.  We pray to the Lord.

That the redemptive power of Christ’s Eucharistic sacrifice will extend to the hearts and minds of all those who govern peoples and nations.  We pray to the Lord.

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

That the Real Presence of Jesus will be experienced in all marriages, in all business relations, in all daily encounters, and in our friendships.  We pray to the Lord.

For those who live in want: that Jesus the Bread of Life will be their sustenance, and that Christians may bring the justice and mercy of Christ to all those in need.  We pray to the Lord.

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

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

Pentecost 2017 - The Holy Spirit fills the Church

Today we celebrate the great feast of the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, the word “Spirit” is used about a thousand times, the Holy Spirit certainly left his mark on the inspired Scriptures. The word “spirit” is a translation of the Hebrew word ru’ach and the Greek word pnue’ma. These words refer to that which gives life to a body—the breath of life.

The body needs the spirit in much the same way a radio or mobile phone needs electricity. As long as electricity runs through the device it will work, when the electricity runs out, the device is unusable, except as a paper-weight.

Having “spirit”, the “breath of life”, is something we humans share with the animals and plants, the living beings. What separates us from the animals and plants, is that part of us that is immortal, the human soul. The soul is that part of us that goes before the judgment seat of Christ when we die, and waits to be rejoined with the body in the resurrection.

We also use the word “spirit” to refer to the purpose that unites a particular group, l’esprit de corps, as the French say. We speak of the “spirit of the American people,”, “team spirit”, “the fighting spirit of the United States Marines”.

St. Paul speaks of the Spirit of the Church in our second reading, but he’s not speaking of a club or group, he’s speaking about something entirely new in the course of history. The Church is not a club, but a living organism; not a building, but a body made up of baptized souls united and filled with the Holy Spirit.

A radio’s purpose is to broadcast news, music, entertainment. The Church’s purpose is to broadcast, as St. Paul says, “Jesus is Lord”. Lebron isn’t Lord, politics isn’t Lord, pop stars aren’t Lords, not even the Pope is Lord, money isn’t Lord, sex isn’t Lord, celebrity and power aren’t Lord. The Holy Spirit enables the Church to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, amidst all the noise and distraction of the world.

The Holy Spirit also animates the Church to engage in many kinds of service: we feed the hungry, we clothe the naked, we call sinners to repentance, and instruct the ignorant, we go out to the lost and forsaken, the addict, the imprisoned, and help them to know the comfort of God. And yet the Church is more than a secular charitable organization, She’s an organism of Love, concerned not simply for earthly welfare, but the eternal soul.

She speaks the truth when no one else will, when the world is against her, in and out of season. She comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable, speaks truth to power, and suffers for the sake of righteousness.

St. Paul also says the Holy Spirit produces many different kinds of spiritual gifts, what are known as the charismata, the spiritual charisms: some members of the Church are blessed with gifts for preaching, gifts for teaching, gifts for comforting, gifts for organizing, gifts for fundraising, gifts for hard-labor, gifts for grand visions, and gifts for minute details, gifts for healing. What is your unique gift? Is it being used to build up the Church?

There are also the seven Spiritual Gifts given to every baptized soul. In each and every member of the Church, the Spirit produces wisdom which helps us desire God over the things of the earth; Understanding, which helps us to grasp the divine truths of our faith, knowledge; which helps us to see God’s plan in the events of our life and use the things of creation in a way that will lead us to heaven; counsel, which helps us to judge how best to act in the circumstances that confront us in our daily life; fortitude, which helps us to remain sturdy against the temptations and challenges in the Christian life; piety, which fills us with love affection for God and enables us to experience joy in prayer and service; and fear of the Lord which helps us to be conscious that the eye of God is watching us always, helping us to be mindful that we will all face judgment for the choice we’ve made in our life.

The seven-fold gifts are given to every Christian, but to grow in them, we must nurture them through the practices of the spiritual life. This is why there are wise octogenarians and foolish octogenarians, young people who are wise for their age, and young people who…well, don’t have a clue.
What is animating your life? The Spirit of God or the spirits of the world. When we are cooperating with the Spirit of God he produces the good spiritual fruits of gentleness, self-control, meekness, patience, and temperance. When we are indulging in the spirits of the world there is recklessness, irascibility, perversion, addiction, greed, anger, envy, jealousy, pride.

How do we become so filled with these worldly spirits? Part of it is how we spend our time: inordinate time with entertainment, social media, insufficient time studying and praying with the Word of God, undue focus on selfish pursuits, rather than service. These things have spiritual consequences.
In the Gospel reading for Pentecost, Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit through whom sins are forgiven. To be free from the spirits of the world, we must turn our souls over to God in the sacraments. In Sacramental Confession we name those spirits that we might be delivered from them.

In the solemn ritual of exorcism, in which a soul held captive by a demonic spirit is liberated through the power of Christ, before deliverance can occur, the demonic spirit must be named. The need for solemn exorcism is extraordinary and rare. But Christians must face and name the unclean spirits which seek the ruin of our souls, by naming them, by bringing them to Christ in Sacramental Confession, by turning away from the near occasions of sin, and by strengthening the weak parts of our souls through prayer and acts of charity.

On this great Feast of Pentecost, as the Easter Season comes to a close and Ordinary Time begins again, we recognize how the Holy Spirit wants to produce new a glorious effects in our lives. He wants to help us take up new modes of serving those in need, the physically poor and the spiritually poor. He wants to produce in us new charisms for the building up of the Church. He wants to deepen in us the seven-fold gifts. He wants to help us to be cleansed of the unclean spirits of the world. He wants to do all these things and more, that we may proclaim to all the world “Jesus is Lord” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.