2nd Week of Ordinary Time 2023 - Friday - Keep your heart fixed on Christ

 Over the past two weeks, our weekday readings have made their way through just over half of the Letter to the Hebrews.

Remember, the letter was written first to those jewish converts to Christianity. For accepting Christ, they were kicked out of their synagogues, they were persecuted by the Romans, and their gentile brothers and sisters in Christ were probably a bit skeptical of them at times too. 

So the author to the letter to the Hebrews writes to these dear ones and reminds them to hold fast to their Christian faith, don’t fall back to the old way of life, but throughout all of your troubles, everything that you are going through, your rejection by former friends and family, the hostility from the Romans, the very slow acceptance of gentile Christians, throughout all that, keep your heart and mind focused on Christ.

And the same is true for us: going through an illness, keep your heart focused on Christ; a family drama—keep your heart focused on Christ; an economic crisis, a temptation of an addiction you thought you had long-ago overcome? Experiencing paralyzing anxiety? Keep your heart focused on Christ. Imagine him. Imagine his face. Imagine him nailed to the cross for you. With real effort of will, fix your heart on Him.

This mid-section of the letter to the Hebrews is highly Christocentric. Chapters five, six, seven develop a rich theology of Christ’s priestly sacrifice. He is the eternal high priest. He is the fulfillment of the both the priesthood of Melchizedek and the priesthood of the Levites. He himself is the sacrifice, offering himself to his Father out of love for us.

Today, from chapter 8 we hear how the Lord having died and risen, has ascended to the right hand of His Father in heaven, into the heavenly sanctuary. The perfect sacrifice has risen to the heavenly sanctuary itself. The self-sacrifice of the obedient Son is now in heaven and is a guarantee of the promises of salvation—a guarantee of the new and everlasting covenant.

This explains the Letter to the Hebrew’s emphasis on keeping your heart fixed on Christ. For the Father Himself in the heavenly sanctuary fixes his eyes and heart on his crucified-and-risen Son. To keep your heart fixed on Christ is a divine thing. It’s a foretaste of heaven that can carry you through the most difficult moments of life. It’s the act of the will that can be justified at every moment of every day, Keep your heart fixed on Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her, care for her, and aid her in her mission.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may establish and preserve harmony among us.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may grant them relief and move Christians to come to the aid of the suffering.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

2nd Week of Ordinary Time 2023 - Monday - Christ the High Priest

 One of the reoccurring subjects of the Letter to the Hebrews is the priesthood of Jesus Christ. 

Last week, in Hebrews chapter 2, we heard that “Christ had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people.”

In chapter 3, there is another reference to Christ’s priesthood: “That is why all of you who are holy brothers and share the same heavenly call should turn your minds to Jesus, the apostle and the high priest of our profession of faith.” The author of Hebrews says “turn your minds” to Christ’s priesthood—as if to say, Christ’s priesthood is something that Christians should ponder and meditate upon.

Today’s reading from Hebrews chapters 5 continues this subject: “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” What is a priest? One who is a representative of God who offers gifts and sacrifices to God.

And all throughout the Old Testament we find people undertaking the priestly duty. Cain and Abel offer sacrifices—though only Abel’s sacrifice was found pleasing to God. Noah offered sacrifices, as did Abraham, who even showed willingness to offer his most beloved son Isaac, if it were God’s will. Prior to the tribe of Levi becoming the official priestly class of Israel, every father of a family and his sons undertook this priestly role, offering bloody animal sacrifices on behalf of the family. 

A high priest, Kohen Gadol in the Hebrew, would be chosen from those Levites who could trace their lineage back to Aaron, the brother of Moses, who would enter the holy of holies in the tabernacle and later in the temple, and offer sacrifice for the expiation of the sins of the entire nation. 

Yet, Hebrews speaks of another order of priests, the order of Melchizedek, whose name means “righteous king”. St. Jerome and other church fathers says that Melchizedek is likely Noah’s son Shem. Abraham came to Melchizedek, who offered not a bloody animal sacrifice, but the sacrifice of bread and wine.

The Catechism says, “Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men." He is the high priest who offers himself for the expiation of sins on the cross, and gives his flesh and blood to us, under the appearance of bread and wine, the eucharistic sacrifice of the altar which blesses, unites, and gives life to his brothers and sisters.

Ordained priests, like myself, continue the perpetuation of the sacrifice of the altar under sacramental signs, but in Baptism, all Christians have a share in Christ’s priesthood. All Christians are called to offer gifts and sacrifices to the honor and glory of God, “to offer ourselves as living sacrifices” as St. Paul says, and to labor to lead others out of sin. May we be faithful to this priestly vocation of ours in union with Christ the High Priest, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

Passion Sunday 2022 (EF) - The Eternal High Priest and the gift of Mercy

Today the Church celebrates Passion Sunday, the beginning of the brief liturgical season called in the extraordinary form Passiontide, during which the Church turns all of her attention more explicitly toward the betrayal of the Lord, his sufferings and death. Passiontide helps us to prepare well to enter deeply into the mystery of, and receive more fruitfully than ever before, what the Lord accomplished for us during his passion, death and resurrection. 

Regardless of how the Season of Lent has gone until now — whether it’s been what it should have been, a season of conversion through more intense prayer, fasting, and sacrifice; or whether it’s been a series of missed opportunities — now is the time to focus, to get serious, to reorient priorities to make sure we’re not just bystanders of the sacred mysteries, but active participants, zealous recipients, and passionate sharers of Christ’s saving work.

In the Letter to the Hebrews, we are presented with this image of Our Lord as the Eternal High Priest. The letter contrasts the Lord’s Passion with the sacrifices offered on the Jewish Day of Atonement—Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, there were three ritual sacrifices: a bullock that, following the Book of Leviticus (16:15,21-22), the priest offered for his sins; a goat that he offered for the sins of the people; and, following what God dictated in the Book of Numbers (Numbers 19), a red heifer whose blood would be sprinkled in front of the tabernacle area and whose ashes would be placed in a clean place outside the camp. The Jews believed that those sacrifices, whether in the temple or in the desert, were necessary and sufficient for taking away their sins.

And so the Epistle to the Hebrews helps us to appreciate what the Lord accomplished as our high priest: he made forgiveness of sins possible for us by becoming not only our high priest but making himself the victim, the sacrifice, by whose blood achieve eternal redemption.

The Letter also makes clear what our response has to be: the High Priest and Saving Victim has cleansed us from dead works that we might use our freedom to “worship the living God.” And so, as we approach Holy Week, we need to examine whether worship of the living God is really the center of our life or just a part of it.

In the Gospel, the Lord is in contentious dialogue with the scribes, Pharisees, chief priests, and others in the Temple area immediately after saving the life of the woman caught in adultery. In their hardness of hearts they had absolutely refused to acknowledge the mission of the Savior; as a result, they schemed in a thousand ways to oppose His teachings and to belittle Him before the people by declaring Him a liar and one possessed by the devil. Their animosity had increased to the point where they decided to stone Him.

But in the face of such hostility, the Lord exhibits zeal for their souls, meekness, and total abandonment to God; he seeks to enlighten their minds, attempting to drawn them away from error. We are certainly challenged to consider any hostility within us toward the conversion, purification and enlightenment the Lord desires for us, and seek to imitate his composure, his patience, his love, his conviction. We seek his mercy for squandering the time we’ve been given and allowing selfishness to continue to reign in our minds, hearts, and wills.

Nine years ago, Pope Francis preached his first Sunday mass as Pope, in which was read the Gospel of the woman caught in adultery, but his words are relevant to us as well. After explaining how the woman caught in adultery encountered the mercy of God,  the Holy Father stressed “God never tires of forgiving us…it’s we who tire of asking for forgiveness.” Then he prayed, “May we never tire of asking for what God never tires to give!”

Next week, on Palm Sunday, we will hear the Lord’s Passion, how the High Priest goes to the cross that each of us may be forgiven, over and over, if need be. All we have to do is repent, confess our sins, intend to sin no more, put forth some effort in amending our lives.

“May we never tire of asking for what God never tires to give!” for the glory of God and salvation of souls

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 A reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews

Brethren: But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God. For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

The continuation of the Gospel according to St. John

At that time Jesus said to the multitudes of the Jews:Can any of you charge me with sin? If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not listen, because you do not belong to God.” The Jews answered and said to him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed?” Jesus answered, “I am not possessed; I honor my Father, but you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the one who judges. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” [So] the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

1st Sunday of Lent 2022 - Desert Temptations and the Road to the Cross

 Each year on the 1st Sunday of Lent, we hear the powerful Gospel passage of Our Blessed Lord facing temptation in the Judaean desert. The mere fact that we even know about this story is significant. For remember, the four Gospels were based on eye witness accounts. Matthew and John were two of Lord’s twelve apostles: they heard him preach and teach, so we know where they got their material. Mark likely received most of his details from St. Peter, and Luke, as he tells us at the beginning of his Gospel, thoroughly investigated the events of the life of Jesus as accurately as possible. 

But, none of the four evangelists were with Jesus in the desert, so the details of this story must have come from the lips of Jesus himself. He wanted us to know about this profound experience. “Yes, even I was tempted, just like you.” 

The Letter to the Hebrews explains the Lord’s solidarity with us poor sinners, saying: “because he Himself suffered and had been tempted, he is able to help all those who are tempted.” “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning.”

We hear this Gospel each year, at the beginning of Lent, firstly, because during Lent, we are to be confronting our demons, our temptations. Lent is a time of honesty, acknowledging sin and temptation, going to confession, seeking conversion, and learning to trust in the Lord in times of trial. 

We hear this account of our Lord remaining faithful to God in the midst of temptations, to help us finally come to the conviction that He is with us even in our temptations. The faithful high priest lives in the hearts of all of the baptized. His faithfulness can conquer the devil in our lives, so much so that we can say, “I do have the power to say no to temptation because He lives in me. I can remain faithful to God in my trials because Christ lives in me.”

But this reading plays such a central role each Lent because something else is going. While there are many important events in the life of Jesus prior to his desert temptations, this reading is pivotal for his mission. The events of his infancy and childhood, his activity in the Temple at the age of 12, even his Baptism in the Jordan, serve as a sort of prelude to this event. Those early stories point to Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, God incarnate. But it’s this event, which in a sense, is the beginning of his way to the Cross. For his spiritual battle with the devil shows him rejecting the way of earthly power and glory and accepting the way of suffering and the cross. Let’s examine how.

Firstly, the Lord rejects the temptation to turn stones into bread. Why? After 40 days of fasting, “he was hungry” as St. Luke tells us. And since Jesus is God, he could surely transform the limestone rocks of the Judaean wilderness into food for himself. But, the deeper temptation: His divine power could be used to feed others. He could feed the starving of the world. That would benefit the Gospel mission. In a sense, the Devil here is tempting Jesus, not just to feed Himself, but to win people over with material things. “If you want people to follow you, use your wonderful powers to fill their bellies. They’ll follow you if you feed them.

But Jesus rightly says, I’ve not come just to feed their bodies, but to feed their souls with the truth, with the Word of God. And so the task of the Church is not to create some utopia on earth. The task of Christianity is to bring people to faith, that they may live in such a way as to live forever—to be reconciled with God through Christ, that they may live forever.

In the second temptation, the devil tempts Jesus: “I will give you everything you want, if you worship me.” Now again, Jesus knew his mission was the salvation of our souls. And the devil was saying, I can do that for you. I can release souls from hell without all that suffering, without the cross. I can do anything you want, just give me the praise, honor and glory due to your Father. I’ll give you everything you want, all you have to do is compromise the first and greatest of the commandments. And Jesus was tempted by this. 

This temptation isn’t unlike the first temptation of Adam and Eve…I’ll give you everything you want, you’ll be like gods; only don’t listen to God, listen to me. The devil is always offering us this empty promise, tempting us to compromise our faith to obtain some apparent good without paying the price, the cross. But it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world and lose his soul. So too, in our lives, in order to achieve some good, we must never compromise the commandments. 

The third temptation Jesus faced was to use his divine powers in such a way that no one could deny who he was: to jump off the roof of the temple like Superman and survive, that would prove to everyone once and for all that he was who he said he was. And the Lord could have done this if he wished; this and more. He could have continued his earthly life for two thousand years and healed everyone who ever entered a hospital without medicine or surgery. He could have performed a miracle a day, inviting the skeptical scientists to investigate them. He could have performed undeniable miracles, just as God could appear to everyone right now—everyone on earth at the same time—and give us undeniable proof of His existence. 

But the Lord resists this temptation. For, it is part of the mysterious plan of God, that God wants us to cultivate faith. He doesn’t want to force us to believe in Him by making his existence as undeniably as the sun undeniably shines in the sky. Rather, God desires that we have Faith, for Faith can move mountains. 

Rejecting these temptations, St. Luke tells us that the tempter departed from Jesus for a time. The Lord would be tempted again before facing the cross, just as each of us is tempted to turn away from our own crosses. 

During the desert of Lent, the devil will no doubt appear to each of us. Likely, he already has. Maybe you’ve already been tempted to reject the call to do penance, to skip out on prayer, to eat meat on Ash Wednesday and Friday, to just go ahead and do what you’ve always done. And what shame if you’ve given in. But, Lent is just beginning. And it’s not too late to recognize the game the devil is playing: trying to keep us complacent and satisfied with mediocrity, trying to get us to harden our hearts toward God little by little. 

But it’s not too late to recognize that we do not live by bread alone, that we owe God worship from the depths of hearts, that God invites us to trust in Him in times of trouble, to repent and believe in the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

2nd Week of OT 2021 - Monday - Christ the Bridegroom and High Priest

 

In the time of Jesus, Jewish law required fasting once a year, on the Day of Atonement, which we know as Yom Kippur, and a few other minor fast days. Above and beyond what the law prescribed, the Pharisees practiced fasting twice a week. Jewish rabbis and their followers would practice increased fasting as well. The disciples of John the Baptist, too, apparently imitated John’s ascetic lifestyle, fasting as a sign of repentance and in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. So there was a sort of religious attitude toward fasting in Jesus’ day that the more one fasted, the holier one must be. 

In contrast, Jesus and his disciples are seen not only feast with sinners but failing to observe the days of fasting prescribed by the law. 

In reply to those voicing criticism concerning his practices, the Lord takes the opportunity to reveal something about his identity. These meals that he has been sharing, these feasts, are no mere ordinary gatherings for physical sustenance. When he gathers with his associates, his friends, and with sinners, he is a bridegroom with his wedding guests. 

What is more important, in the course of his public ministry than fasting, is revealing that he is the long awaited for Messiah—who will fully restore the nuptial bond between God and his people lost by sin.

He is the High Priest, as we heard in the first reading from the letter to the Hebrews, who reconciles God and man, through his flesh, who becomes a “source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

So, this Gospel is much more about how often we should fast as followers of Jesus, for as he said, “the days will come when my disciples will fast.” This Gospel is about recognizing that Jesus was much more than a common rabbi, a pharisee, much more than even John the Baptist. 

And again, this is still just chapter 2 of Mark’s Gospel. So imagine you are reading this for the first time, and more and more of Jesus’ identity is being revealed. You’d be thinking, this keeps getting better and better! God is not just doing something of the same old thing, he’s doing something new.

And just as it was 2000 years ago, God wants to do something new in our lives—to bring about new gifts, a flourishing of new ways of showing his glory, new ways of reconciling sinners to himself, new ways of reaching the hardest of hearts, new ways of revealing the love of the Bridegroom for his Bride the Church. May we be attentive to the ways the Holy Spirit wishes to use in in new ways for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For a deeper openness to God’s will, readiness for service, attentiveness to those in need, and peace in our world and our hearts.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those preparing for baptism and full initiation: that they may be open to the grace of conversion and the joy of the followers of Christ.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For a new springtime of justice: that all people of good will may work together against the increasing threats to civility, religious liberty and human life.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who struggle because of addiction, discouragement, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind:  that the new wine of God’s grace through Christ will bring them consolation and peace.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, For the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for the souls in purgatory and for…N. for whom this mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

7th Week of Easter 2018 - Tuesday - The High Priest's Love for God and Man

There are many titles applied to Jesus throughout the Scriptures: he is the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God, the Son of Man.  He is also called the High Priest.  Each title focuses on a particular aspect of who Jesus is and what that means for us.  Today’s Gospel is from the final section of Jesus’ farewell discourse known as his High Priestly Prayer.

Jesus turns from addressing the apostles and begins addressing the Father, praying that his Father might be glorified in what he is about to do: namely his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, and that his disciples might receive eternal life through it.

In his High Priestly prayer Jesus opens a window into his relationship with His Father. The Father glorifies the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father. The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father through his humble self-sacrifice. Jesus reveals the nature of God, that “God is love”, a reality St. John will reflect upon in his first New Testament Letter. Jesus reveals the inner nature of God and simultaneously calls his disciples to the same highest, purist form of self-giving. God’s life is to become our life, our lives must become characterized by divine love.

Whether you are an ordained priest,  a homeless beggar, a widow, or a farmer, like St. Isidore, whom the Church honors today, we are called to a life which glorifies God, a life in which the love that exists between the Father and the Son increasingly characterizes our own life.

Love isn’t easy. Love involves embracing suffering for the good of others, it involves self-sacrifice for those who have no way of repaying you. But by practicing this form of Christ-like love, our souls expand, our life obtains the purpose for which it was created.

Today each of us are called to bring God to others and bring others to God. God is to be glorified in us by accomplishing the work that God has given us to do, to bring others to believe in the one that God sent for our salvation.

May the entirety of our lives—our thoughts, words, actions, and attitudes, all be conformed this day to Jesus Our High Priest for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For Catholics in all walks of life, that we may glorify God through our daily labors in service of the Lord.

Through the intercession of St. Isidore, we pray for farmers, day laborers, and those who work by the sweat of their brow, that they may receive a just reward for their laborers, and for the unemployed and underemployed.

That spouses may help each other to grow rich in the treasures of heaven, and all those preparing for Holy Matrimony may do so rightly and chastely in the eyes of God.

That all families may seek to model themselves after the Holy Family and always know their guidance and protection.

For the sick, the suffering, the lonely, and the dying, that they may know the consolation of the grace of God.

For the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for all those who have fought and died for our nation’s freedom.

Homily: Jan 20 2017 - Sts. Sebastian & Fabian - Jesus the High Priest & His martyrs

One of the overarching themes of the letter to the Hebrews is the priesthood of Jesus Christ. In a Jewish context, “priest” meant something very specific: a descendant of Aaron who offered animal sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple in accord with the Mosaic law. So to call Jesus a priest is strange because Jesus fits none of those characteristics.

Yet, Hebrews shows how Jesus is indeed High Priest in a way that fulfills and infinitely surpasses the old priesthood of the Mosaic law. He is the priest who uniquely offers himself in sacrifice—he is both the offer-er and the offering, the priest and victim.

In today’s reading, Hebrews shows that this new priesthood was foretold in the Old Testament. And it does so by quoting the prophet Jeremiah, this quotation actually being the longest Old Testament quotation in the entire New Testament. This should tell us something about how important this concept is.

The reading began with explaining how Jesus the High Priest forms a new covenant. We speak of the “new and everlasting covenant” at every Mass. If a new covenant was needed, what was wrong with the first covenant? Hebrews clarifies that the problem was not in the covenant itself, but with the people who were unfaithful to it.

So the High Priest does for us, what we could not do for ourselves. We could not free ourselves from sin, we could not open the doors to heaven. Jesus the High Priest offers himself for us and for our salvation because we could not save ourselves.

Today, the Church honors two martyrs, Saint Sebastian the former soldier who called out the Emperor Diocletian for his persecution of the Church, and Pope Saint Fabian who suffered torture and death at the hands of Emperor Decius.

Two martyrs who offered themselves in union with Jesus the High Priest for the good of the Church. They suffered for the truth of the Gospel; they suffered that the Word of God would not be stifled, that the promise of salvation through Christ would be made known to the ends of the earth.

Today on this Inauguration Day, we certainly pray for the president-elect. Some of our citizens are overjoyed at his election, some are in deep despair. We recall today, that our salvation is not in an earthly prince, but in the High Priest. We recall that whoever takes the high office of earthly leader, does not change the job of each one of us, to witness faithfully to Christ, to offer our lives in service to Him. We render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s for the glory of God and salvation of souls.





Our petitions this morning are those composed for the inauguration of President George Washington by Archbishop John Carroll, First Roman Catholic bishop in our country whose brother Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. We pray to the Lord.

Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

We pray for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they maybe enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

And we pray especially for all of our countrymen who have gone before us in faith, for all those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, for all the of the deceased members of our family and friends, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.

Homily: Thursday - 2nd Week in OT 2017 - God's silence in the face of suffering

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of watching the new Martin Scorsese movie, called “Silence” based on the book of the same name, by Catholic Japanese author Shūsaku Endō . In the story, two Jesuit priests travel to 17th century Japan to discover the fate of another priest, who had been spreading the Gospel there in Japan, who had disappeared. Christian lay faithful and priests were being arrested and put to some of the most severe tortures in Church history. Knowing that the Japanese government was seeking to wipe out Christianity from the land, the two Jesuits courageously journey to Japan to find him.

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but the priests are not in Japan long before they begin to witness these terrible persecutions first-hand. One of the priests prays to God, trying to understand why these good people must suffer so terribly; he calls out to God seeking answers, but he begins to despair when he doesn’t hear God answering him back, hence the title of the movie, “Silence”: God’s silence in the face of our ardent prayers and suffering.

The letter to the Hebrews, which we’ve been reading for over a week now, presents the image of Jesus as the High Priest. Today we read how the High Priest, “lives forever to make intercession for us”.  He who bore all of humanity’s suffering and sin, now sits at God’s right hand. So, we can trust that God does hear our prayers.

But, sometimes we doubt that he hears us because God doesn’t answer the way we think he should. We pray for someone to be cured of cancer, the cancer doesn’t go away, so we conclude God didn’t hear our prayer.

Sometimes it seems God is silent, but the fact is, he’s already spoken. He has heard and answered every prayer, through Jesus Christ. You might not understand what that means, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

In a very real sense, more than we often understand, God has already “cured” cancer and every disease, by making them opportunities to grow in sanctity through Jesus Christ. He has transformed every trial, every moment of suffering, into a conduit of grace.

The journey of faith involves growing in confidence that Jesus Christ is our strength, he is the answer to our prayers for deliverance, he is the way that leads to eternal peace and joy. No matter what we suffer, God is there inviting us to trust Him, to bear our sufferings in union with Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday - 2nd Week of OT 2017 - Struggling vines make better wines

There is an old Italian saying, “struggling vines make better wines.”  Grape vines that struggle, that have to work hard, generally result in a better quality grape which will produce a better quality wine. 

It’s sort of counter-intuitive. You’d think that the vine that could simply relax in a restful vineyard, in well-tilled soil would grow plump-juicy berries, but no. Vines will produce grapes of greater character, and richness, when they have to struggle through slate, and sand, and rock, and tree.

Similarly, in the Christian life. Luxury, decadence, and comfort often produce rather mediocre, and likely deficient Christians. The person who has to strive and suffer and work for an object, typically tends to value that object more than the person who does little or nothing to obtain a thing. Suffering for a thing produces a deeper desire and appreciate for a thing.

The Letter to the Hebrews today speaks of the suffering of Jesus the High Priest. He suffered to obtain eternal salvation for us. Consider how much God must love us, in order to suffer unfathomable suffering for us.

We also see the suffering in the lives of the martyrs and saints. They are willing to embrace suffering, torture, imprisonment, and death, in order to obtain the eternal life the High Priest won for us.

To grow in our own desire for the Lord, the saints by word and example teach us to fast and offering up our own suffering.

Fasting. Fasting is counter-intuitive as well, isn't it? If food was made by God, and God made our bodies to desire and hunger for food, why would we ever deprive ourselves of it? For one, Fasting toughens us up like those struggling vines. Intentional fasting deepens our hunger for God.To fast from physical food is an act of faith, that spiritual food and reliance on God is more valuable. “When we fast, our body prays”

Likewise, the sufferings of every day life, can become an occasion to unite ourselves with the Lord who suffered. From papercuts and mosquito bites to the ravages of cancer and the death of a loved one, being ignored, cut-off, criticized, or demeaned; these occasions of sufferings can become occasions for grace when we become mindful in our suffering of the one who can bring good out of the greatest suffering. We do offer up our suffering with little prayers like, “Use this pain, Lord, for the salvation of my brother, my country, my soul."

Today our nation recognizes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, as a civic hero, a man who suffered for the sake of justice and peace. On this day, let us consider how we are called to suffer and labor for righteousness for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

For Pope Francis and all Church leaders: that their example and service may lead others to Christ and bind the Church in greater unity

For our next President and his administration: that the Lord may give them the strength for effective dialogue aimed at healing the deepest roots of the evils in our world. ….Let us pray to the Lord.

For the Church, that we may be a witness to Christ's love by practicing charity and promoting justice and peace throughout the world, that the values of our faith may guide us as we exercise our civic responsibilities.

For all civic leaders that they might find ways to bring an end to war and violence, and promote peace and development for all nations.

For the seminarians preparing for priestly service in our diocese: that they may persevere in their studies and preparation for ministry.

For all the needs of the sick and suffering…

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead…