Pentecost 2026 - New beginnings

We have come to the end of the Easter season. But this great Feast of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, is not really about an ending. It is about a new beginning.

Pentecost is the beginning of the Church’s public mission. It is the beginning of the Apostles’ courageous preaching and the Gospel going out to the nations. It is the beginning of new life made possible by the Holy Spirit.

In our first reading, the Apostles are gathered in the Upper Room. They have already seen the risen Lord. They know that Jesus has conquered sin and death. But they seem stuck, like the Lord Jesus’ mission is over.

And then the promised Holy Spirit comes: a strong driving wind fills the house, tongues as of fire come to rest upon them, and the Apostles are changed. Men who had been hidden behind locked doors begin to proclaim the mighty works of God. Filled with the Spirit, they burst out of the Upper Room and begin preaching to the nations. Those once divided by language and sin begin to hear the Gospel in their own tongues.

That is Pentecost: it is the end of something. It’s the end of inactivity due to fear or confusion and the beginning of the Church living out the mission.

In the Gospel, we hear a particularly important dimension of the Church’s mission. The Lord appears to the apostles, breathes on them, and declares, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

This certainly makes us think of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confession Because one of the first fruits of Pentecost is not simply that the Apostles go out and speak. It is that they go out with the power of Christ to bring forgiveness, reconciliation, and new life. The mission of the Church is not merely to give good advice. It is not merely to inspire people to try harder. The mission of the Church is to communicate the grace of Christ.

And that grace always means a new beginning.

In Baptism, there is the new beginning of becoming a child of God. In Confession, there is the new beginning of forgiveness after sin. In Confirmation, there is the new beginning of being strengthened for Christian witness. In Holy Communion, there is the new beginning of being nourished more deeply by the Body and Blood of Christ. In the Anointing of the Sick, there is the new beginning of grace and strength in suffering. In Marriage and Holy Orders, there is the new beginning of a vocation lived with special grace from God.

So each of the Sacraments have a special connection with Pentecost; for it is through the Holy Spirit that our Sacraments are efficacious.

In the Sacrament of Confession, when the priest raises his hand and prays the prayer of absolution, he says:

“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.”

Through the Holy Spirit our sins are forgiven. That’s why when we go to Confession, we are not engaging in a therapy session, just getting something off our chest, or simply receiving encouragement to do better next time. God’s mercy is truly bestowed upon through the Holy Spirit.

And again, just like Pentecost, a valid Confession is the end of something and the beginning of something new. It is the end of separation from God and the beginning of restored communion. It is the end of being trapped by past sin and the beginning of freedom in grace. It’s the end of an unhealed festering wound, and the beginning of real spiritual recovery. It is the end of carrying the shame of our guilt, because we hear from the priest, that in the name of God we are forgiven: God loves you and is so pleased to offer you a new beginning--a new beginnings of peace with God.

This is why we should never be afraid of Confession. Now, the devil wants us to be afraid of Confession. He wants us to stay locked in the upper room of our own guilt, our own embarrassment and discouragement. He wants us to think that our sins define us, that our failures are final, that nothing can really change.

But Pentecost tells us something different. The Holy Spirit opens locked doors and carries the peace of Christ into ours souls, and sets us back on the right path.

Each of the Sacraments, in some way is a new beginning. And yet, the new beginnings God wants for us are not limited only to sacramental moments. The Christian is called to be open to the newness of the Holy Spirit every day. New beginnings every day: new beginnings of a deeper prayer life. A new willingness to serve. A new courage in witnessing to the faith. A new effort to leave behind fear or complacency. A new growth in patience, humility, chastity, generosity, or charity. A new attempt to rebuild a bridge where there has been division. A new willingness to forgive someone, or to ask forgiveness ourselves.

So the question for us today is simple: are we open to the Holy Spirit beginning something new in us?

Are we open to being moved out of fear and into courage? Out of complacency and into mission? Out of discouragement and into hope? Out of sin and into grace? Out of isolation and into communion with God?

So today, at the end of Easter, we do not simply close a season. We ask for a new beginning for ourselves, our families, our parish.

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in us the fire of your love. Renew the grace of our Baptism. Lead us to the forgiveness of sins. Strengthen us for the mission of the Church. Unite us more deeply to Christ. Help us to begin again in holiness, in courage, in charity, and in faith. And lead us, through Christ, into the fullness of life with God forever for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

September 23 2024 - St. Padre Pio - The tribunal of mercy

 Padre Pio lived a truly remarkable life filled with many amazing mystical phenomena. 

He could bilocate, that is, he could appear at two places at once, hundreds of miles apart. He could heal people like Our Lord, in the Gospels. Laying his hands on the sick, they would be immediately healed. He could even heal with his prayers. 

And of course, Padre Pio had the mystical stigmata, the wounds of the Lord’s crucifixion in his hands.

Why did God give Padre Pio these strange and marvelous mystical phenomena? One reason was for Padre Pio’s own sanctification. God chose him to bear a share of the cross in a unique way, to merit grace for his own soul and the souls of others.

Another significant aspect of Padre Pio’s life was his tireless ministry in the confessional. He would spend hours upon hours each day hearing confessions, sometimes for up to 16 hours, bringing countless souls back to God through the mercy of Christ. He called the confessional a 'tribunal of mercy,' where sinners were invited to experience the transformative power of God’s forgiveness. 

For Padre Pio, the sacrament of confession was not just about seeking forgiveness but about healing and conversion. He believed that every confession was an opportunity for a soul to experience a deep inner transformation, moving from sin and selfishness to holiness and communion with God. Sacramental confession allows penitents to acknowledge their faults and weaknesses, receive God’s grace, and be strengthened to resist future temptations. Regular Sacramental Confession is key step in the Christian’s ongoing journey toward holiness.

Padre Pio’s long hours in the confessional were a reflection of his deep love for souls and his commitment to helping people experience the mercy of God. In Sacramental Confession we see the heart of Christ’s mission: the salvation of souls through mercy. 

May we seek that same flowering of holiness which blossomed in the life of Padre Pio through prayer, acceptance of our sufferings, the confession of our sins, and by extending mercy in generous and heroic ways for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the Church, that, following the example of St. Padre Pio, she may be a beacon of Christ’s mercy to all who seek forgiveness and healing . And that priests may imitate the tireless dedication of Padre Pio in their ministry of reconciliation, bringing the love and compassion of Christ to all penitents.

For all Christians, that we may embrace the sufferings and crosses in our lives as opportunities for holiness, trusting that God’s grace will sanctify us and strengthen us to do His will.

For those who are sick and suffering, they may experience healing, both physical and spiritual, and be comforted by the presence of Christ in their trials. 

 For all who have fallen away from the faith, that through the mercy of God and the prayers of St. Padre Pio, they may be led to conversion, reconciliation, and a deeper relationship with Christ.

For our parish community, that inspired by Padre Pio’s life of prayer and devotion, we may grow in holiness, seek God’s will in all things, and extend His mercy to others.

For all the faithful departed, that through the mercy of God they may be welcomed into the fullness of eternal life.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord. listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you, and through the intercession of St. Padre Pio and all the saints, grant us what we truly need. Through Christ our Lord.

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time 2024 - The remedy for pharisaical externalizing

 Having completed five weeks of readings from the Eucharistic Discourse of chapter 6 of St.  John’s Gospel, we return this Sunday to the Year B continuous reading of the Gospel of Mark.

The last time we read from Mark’s Gospel was back in July, when we read from chapter 6 of Mark, how the Lord had sent the apostles on a missionary journey of healing and preaching, and afterwards, he invited them to a deserted place to pray and rest. So, St. Mark told us how Jesus and the apostles went off to  deserted place, but all these people from the town followed him, and his heart was moved with pity because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Now in chapter 7, this week, the Lord has left the deserted place and has gone back to work when he encounters a team of Pharisees and Scribes—these men who claimed to be the shepherds of Israel. And these guys were more like wolves-in-sheep’s clothing. 

Unlike John the Baptist who humbly pointed out the Son of God to the people, the scribes and pharisees were basically doing the opposite. They were so blinded by their pride and their greed that they were acting as obstacles to God, rather than helping people prepare the way for Him. 

And so, the Lord is going to has some pretty challenging words for these guys. He calls them hypocrites—sinners who refused to acknowledge their sins and their need for God. And there’s a big difference in the Gospel, isn’t there, between sinners who repent and those who refuse to repent. Sinners who come to Jesus and beg for mercy are shown mercy. But the pharisees and scribes, these guys, were sinners who refused to acknowledge their need for Christ.

Often, we find the Lord berating the Scribes and Pharisees for worrying so much about appearances, about externals, rather than dealing with the glaring issues in their souls. 

Psychologists call this ‘exteriorization’…it’s when things are not well inside, so you spend your energy—inordinate amounts of energy— trying to control the things around you. I sometimes see this in my ministry in people who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Every little thing about the funeral has to be controlled and planned and perfect—every flower petal, every funeral song, every family member has to be standing in the right spot. So many of our addictions (to technology, shopping, substances) come from that same impulse to externalize.

But what’s needed in times of grief, chaos, and confusion, aren’t all these attempts to control external realities, what is needed is the opening of the mind and heart to God—who is the only real source of healing and peace. He’s the only one who can calm the inner storm—the pain and the sadness from wounds of loss. 

When externalization becomes a habit, or a lifestyle, it causes real problems for individuals and families. When those unresolved inner conflicts are allowed to fester, they can turn into real emotional disorders that can sap the joy from life and turn into rage or depression. Wounds from our childhoods, wounds of rejection or jealousy that we don’t bring to Lord for healing, can cause us to rot from the inside out. Some people are not happy unless they are controlling other people, and that is a real soul sickness.

And that is the very soul sickness the Lord has diagnosed in the Pharisees and Scribes, and this is why the pharisees and scribes were failures as religious shepherds—out of pride they refused to acknowledge their moral disorders and their need for God to heal them, and spent all this time and effort worrying about and enforcing human traditions.  Not that human traditions are bad—but it’s foolish to worry about these things when our souls are in danger of hell. 

Today’s Gospel is an important Gospel because in it the Lord is stressing the importance of getting your priorities straight. No matter what you are going through, you need to make sure that your soul is right with God. God is waiting to relieve our guilt. But we have to acknowledge our sins and bring them to God.

This is done primarily in the Sacrament of Confession, the great unutilized Sacrament these days. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, if it has been more than a few months since your last confession, make a good thorough examination of conscience and get in the box. I have guides printed out back by the confessional for this purpose containing a list of sins that should be confessed, just like the list of sins Jesus offered in the Gospel today: “unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance”

Unconfessed serious sins are not only an obstacle for grace, not only do they jeopardize our eternal salvation, but they damage to our minds, bodies, and souls and relationships. They impact our relationship with God, and so they impact every other relationship. 

The Lord takes sin seriously because he loves us so deeply. He died to save us from them, not just sin in general, but the very sins we commit in this life. And so we should welcome any opportunity to overcome sin that we are given. 

Like the bronze serpent in the desert, God has given us the sacrament of Confession to relieve our guilt, and to experience the transforming love of Christ for sinners. Confessions are available here at St. Ignatius from 3:30 to 4:30 every Saturday, and Sunday morning after the 9am mass. Pope Francis said recently that the Sacrament of Confession is a sacrament of joy because through it you are able to encounter the Father’s love, “as children who run to receive the Father's embrace. And the Father lifts us up in every situation”

But even outside of the confessional, we do well to bring our resentments, fears, failings, challenges, stresses to God every day in prayer, so that our hearts may remain open to the help that can only come from him.

May the Lord deliver us from our pharisaical tendencies and lead us to the fountain of grace and mercy where he wishes to restore our souls, bring healing to our minds and bodies, and grant us peace and the fullness of joy for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

29th Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - Friday - I do not do the good that I want

 With piercing insight into the human experience, St. Paul wrote about the Christian’s ongoing struggle with sin. It is a struggle we all face: most of the time, we know what we should do, we recognize the desire to do it, yet we frequently fail. There is a glaring discrepancy between our intentions and our actions, a moral disconnect. 

The reason for this disconnect—is that even though we are baptized—we still experience the effects of fallenness. We continue to wrestle with the agitations of sin—with the frailties and inclinations to sin experienced by all the descendants of Adam. 

Baptism brings the forgiveness of sins. The guilt of sin is remitted in baptism, but concupiscence remains. We are reborn as children of God, but the memory of the old man remains, and not just the memory, but some of his frailness, so that by struggling against it, sanctity and virtue might be produced in us.

Christians sin. And we admit that. It’s the first step of Christianity: admitting I’m a sinner in need of a savior. That admission begins every time we gather for Mass.

Yet, admitting our sins doesn’t mean justifying our sins. We are to make no provision for the flesh. We are to root out sin as best we can, with God’s help, through sacraments, and sacramentals, with examinations of conscience, penances, fasting, and mortification. But when we fall under the influences of the flesh, which is nearly inevitable for most of us, we repent. We go to confession. We beat our breast before God. We do penance. 

We must also not allow ourselves to become too discouraged over sin. We are weak. And that doesn’t cause God to love us any less. Yes, there is a failure to rely on God’s grace when we sin. But, the sooner we recognize that, the sooner we can repent and try again. This time, maybe with our pride put in its place.

Humility about our own sinfulness also produces patience with others. Humility leads us to extend the same patience with others—in their sins—that we would want for ourselves, as the Lord says, “the measure with which we measure, shall be used against us.”

When we humbly and sincerely approach the mercy of God, we begin to experience the freedom, joy, and peace that comes from God for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may know the grace of sincere repentance and seek to grow in virtue and the fruits of the spirit.

That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

For all the sick and suffering, and for all those in hospitals, nursing homes, and hospice care, for all those who will die today, for their consolation and that of their families.

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

God of mercy, hear our prayers, ease the sufferings and comfort the weakness of your servants, and bring us to eternal life, through Christ our Lord.

Pentecost 2023 - Renewing the Covenant

 Happy Pentecost everyone. 

The word Pentecost comes from the Greek word “pentecostes” which means “fiftieth.” Originally, Pentecost was the Greek Name for the Jewish spring harvest festival of Shavuot in the Hebrew. On Shavuot, Jews gave thanksgiving to God for the completion of the spring harvest, at which the newly harvested barley would be baked into two loaves of bread and offered to God. Shavuot was a celebration of God causing the crops to live and grow and bear fruit, which allow God’s people to live and grow and fulfill their purpose. 

On Shavuot, the Jews also celebrate God’s covenant with Noah, which took place fifty days after the great flood, a second chance for the human race that had become deeply corrupt with vice and sin. Shavuot therefore celebrates God’s mercy and a new beginning for humanity called to goodness, faithfulness, and virtue. 

Thirdly, Shavuot celebrates the Covenant God made with Moses at Mt. Sinai occurring, you guessed it, fifty days after the Exodus from Egypt. At Sinai, the Spirit of God was given to the jewish elders, enabling them to prophesy and teach and lead God’s people. Therefore Shavuot also celebrates a new and deepened relationship with God as a chosen people. 

In these three ways, the Jewish Feast of Pentecost foreshadowed the Christian Feast we now celebrate.  For today, like the Jews thanking God for the harvest that allows them to live and grow and bear fruit, we express our gratitude for the gift of the Holy Spirit which allows the Church live and grow and bear fruit. Like the Jews thanking God for the covenant with Noah, a second chance for the human race, so too the Church thanks God for the new beginning offered to humanity through Christ and the Spirit. And like the Jews who celebrate the covenant at Sinai and the imparting of the spirit upon the elders, we Christians celebrate the giving of the Spirit upon the whole Church; for through Baptism, every Christian is given the gift of the Holy Spirit and the task to preach and prophecy and order our lives in a way that glorifies God and draws souls to Christ. 

In the Acts of the Apostles all throughout the Easter Season, we’ve heard of the early Church faithfully carrying out that mission begun on that first Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the upper room in presence of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit filled the apostles with a fire for the mission of the Church—evangelization. And we find them bursting out of the locked doors of the upper room, speaking in all the tongues of the nations, so that all peoples could understand and believe the saving Gospel of Christ. So too, we must speak in all of the languages of the world today, to draw souls to Christ. The animating fire given to the Church 2000 years ago that first Pentecost continues to burn and spread wherever the Gospel is preached and the fruits of the Spirit are manifest and shared.

On Pentecost Sunday in 1978, Blessed Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador, said, “It will always be Pentecost in the Church provided the Church lets the beauty of the Holy Spirit shine forth from her countenance.  When the Church ceases to let her strength rest on the Power from above which Christ promised her and which he gave her on that day, and when the Church leans rather on the weak forces of the power or wealth of this earth, then the Church ceases to be newsworthy.  The Church will be fair to see, perennially young, attractive in every age, as long as she is faithful to the Spirit that floods her and she reflects that Spirit through her communities, through her pastors, through her very life" 

The blessed Archbishop reminds us that we have a duty to cooperate with the Spirit, to cultivate the life of the Spirit, and the Church, our way of life is attractive when we do so. But he also reminds us that there are a lot of forces in our world that seek to extinguish that fire—a lot of vices that vie for our attention and sap our spiritual energy—that make us boring and unattractive. Why would anyone become Christian if we just looked like the rest of the world?

The Venerable Fulton J. Sheen once said something similar. He said, "Even though we are God's chosen people, we often behave more like God's frozen people--frozen in our prayer life, frozen in the way we relate with one another, frozen in the way we celebrate our Faith." And that happens when we return to the sin and vice and fear that God desires to deliver us from. Pope Francis said something similar when he warned of how Christians due to fear of living out the Gospel can become “spiritual mummies”. Encased in tombs, inanimate, unenthusiastic.

So today is a powerful day to ask the Holy Spirit to show you how your sins or fears might be keeping you from bursting out of locked doors like St. Peter. 

The Holy Spirit descended upon the Church to embolden us for the Gospel, and also to help purify us, like a fire, from our sins, vices, and earthly attachments. 

And he does so, most radically, in the Sacrament of Confession. “Receive the Holy Spirit” t Lord commanded the apostles: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

The prayer of absolution in Sacramental Confession echoes today’s Pentecost Gospel when the priest says, “God, the Father of mercies, through the Death and Resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.” 

Frequent Confession is a powerful means of making our lives fertile soil for Spiritual Fruit to grow. It renews the covenant in us, it is one of the works of the Holy Spirit now, in the Church, to bring about fecundity and growth and life. Sacramental Confession is a Pentecost. Embrace Pentecost by embracing Confession. Please, don’t let fear keep you locked and frozen and mummified in your sins. But allow the Holy Spirit to revivify you and renew his Fire within you frequently, regularly. 

Pope Francis himself pleaded with the Church to make good use of the Sacrament of Confession. He said, we cannot remove our sins by ourselves. Only God takes [our sin] away, only he by his mercy can make us emerge from the depths of our misery. Like those disciples [who had run away from the cross and locked themselves in the upper room], we need to let ourselves be forgiven, to ask heartfelt pardon of the Lord. We need to open our hearts to being forgiven. Forgiveness in the Holy Spirit is the Easter gift that enables our interior resurrection. Let us ask for the grace to accept that gift, to embrace the Sacrament of forgiveness…Confession is the Sacrament of resurrection, pure mercy.” Whatever you are going through in life, there is always a desire for that "interior resurrection" that Holy Father speaks of of, to be lifted out of some misery, through the spirit. And that can happen when we make good use of Sacramental Confession.

Pentecost is the capstone of everything we've been celebrating from the beginning of Lent, through Easter: the forgiveness of sins is available to us through Christ. And Sacramental Confession renews that covenant in Christ's blood which forgives the sins we commit after baptism. It is good for us to go to Confession during Advent and Lent of course, but we have a long stretch of months before Advent, so make sure you get to confession regularly, in order for the Holy Spirit to remove some of those road blocks to God’s grace. 

We’ve got work to do as God’s people, God’s work, and the fire of Pentecost needs to be emblazoned among us. So make use of Confession, and all the ways God wishes to kindle his life within you. Veni Sancte Spiritus. For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

5th Week of Ordinary Time 2022 - Wednesday - Purification from what defiles us

 He fed five thousand people with a handful of bread, he walked on water, he performed countless healings, but the Pharisees and scribes choose to focus on how the Lord and his disciples ate without the ceremonial purifications that weren’t even prescribed by the law.

Sure, the Law of Moses prescribed ceremonial washing for the priests serving at the altar in the Temple, but the Pharisees extended these rules to everyone, and then condemned people for not observing them.

The Pharisees were perverting the Law of Moses and missing its purpose entirely—they were like the mean kids from grammar school that bullied you for breaking rules you didn’t even know about. And now they are all grown up, and have political sway, but they are still on the same toxic power trip.

In response to the Pharisees criticism, our Gospel begins today with the Lord summoning a crowd to address this unjust Pharisaical standard and their misapplication of the Law of Moses—their fake news, so to speak. 

“Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters a person from outside can defile that person,” rather what defiles are the moral evils that fester in the human heart: unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, and so on.

You want to know what defiles a person? Human sin, evil conduct. 

The Lord exposes the Pharisees for being more concerned with outward appearances than true inner moral goodness. They were a bunch of fakers, religious fakers. And the Lord, speaking with authority, sets the true standard for his followers. We must seek authentic conversion from all sin, including inner purification from sinful desires and ruminations. 

For Catholics, we’ve come up with some pretty practical ways of conforming to this teaching. We are to make a daily examination considering if our actions and attitudes over the course of the day have been unclean, and if they were, to repent of them. 

We are to make frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are to reflect upon God Word daily, to help us examine and conform our lives. We are to avoid using dirty language and fixating on dirty images. We are to seek freedom from all unforgiveness, ingratitude, selfishness, greed and gluttony. 

Jesus makes a very powerful promise to the pure of heart. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” The Pharisees were unable to see that Jesus was God because they may have been ritually pure on the outside, but inside, they were full of corruption and defilement. 

So too in our culture: so many have lost touch with God precisely because they have allowed themselves to be defiled and refuse to repent and seek that purification that can only come from Him.

Lord, cleanse us, make our hearts new, purify us that we may see your face, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the Holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her, and bring cleansing to all the impurity which afflicts her members and leaders.

For the conversion of all those who have fallen into serious sin, for a return of fallen away Catholics to the Sacraments, and that all young people may be protected from the perversions of our culture.

For healing for all those suffering disease, especially diseases without known cures, for the people of China and all people afflicted by the Coronavirus, and all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For the dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Holy mass is offered. 

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

1st Sunday of Advent 2021 - History, Mystery, Majesty

 

It’s new year’s day on our church calendar, as we commence a new liturgical year, with this advent season of four weeks in preparation for Christmas. 

The word Advent, coming from the latin word “adventus” means an arrival. Advent celebrates the arrival of Christ—or should we say arrivals. 

The comedian George Burns used to quip, “it’s not that I don’t believe in God, I do believe in God, I just wonder when he is going to show up.” Well, Advent helps us to appreciate and celebrate  just “how” in fact God does enter our lives. Specifically, three ways.

Firstly, God has already broken into history. He did come at Christmas, that first Christmas, 2000 years ago. God took on human flesh and was born in Bethlehem. Advent, helps us to spiritually prepare for the celebration of Christmas. For Christmas is an event so important, a liturgical feast, so glorious, that we need some time to prepare for it. We decorate our homes and our churches in preparation for Christmas, and we decorate our lives with special Advent liturgies, and prayers, and by practicing the Advent virtues of faith, hope, joy, love, and patience, and by engaging in extra acts of mercy and charity.

Secondly, Advent helps us celebrate the ways that God enters into our lives, now, in the present life of the Church.

He comes to us now in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church: In the pouring of water at baptism, at the absolution of sins in Confession, at the sacramental anointing of the sick—God enters into the lives of individual Christians through the Sacraments. He comes to us at every celebration of Mass, truly present in the Eucharist.

And he comes to us in our private prayer lives, too, doesn’t he, when we are at home contemplating his Word, bringing to him our doubts, our wounds, our anxieties, our gratitude for blessings. As we draw close to God in prayer, God draws close to us, with his gifts of peace, healing, strength, consolation, and courage.

Both in our private prayer and our public liturgical sacramental life, the Lord’s Advent is mysterious and subtle. Even for life long Catholics, his presence is sometimes difficult to detect, his presence is veiled behind the gestures and words and ritual elements. What the senses fail to grasp, can only be detected through faith. 

This is not unlike how many of Jesus’ contemporaries did not recognize him as God when he came in history 2000 years ago. In the prologue of John’s Gospel we hear the sad words that “he came into the world, but the world did not know him, and his own did not recognize or accept him.” The worldly did not recognize him then, and the worldly do not recognize him now. 

So, Advent helps to increase our spiritual sensitivity to the way that Jesus enters into our lives through the sacraments and in the silence of private prayer. We are encouraged to come to Mass as often as possible throughout Advent, and to make a good confession, and to set aside time every day to reflect on the scriptures and to engage in devotional prayer during this holy season. In this way Advent will open our minds and hearts to the myriad ways the Lord enters into our lives.So, The Lord came in history, the Lord comes in mystery, and lastly, the Lord will come in majesty at the end of time as judge of the living and the dead.

Right at the beginning of the Church year, this first day of the new Church year, we begin with the end in mind, by considering the Lord’s return at the end of time.  And His coming in majesty will not be veiled, or mysterious, as it was 2000 years ago and in the sacraments. When he comes again, every knee on earth will bend, every tongue will proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord. He will not come in a hidden way, but with a blare of trumpets.

When will this be? We know neither the day nor the hour. He could return at any moment, in 10 minutes, 10 years, 10 millennia. I’d say it’d be nice if he came at least after the collection today, but at that point, the offertory will be irrelevant, for the earthly mission of the Church in time will have come to an end. 

We do not know when the Lord will return, so, we are to live always with the Lord’s return in mind, as if his return is imminent. The motto of the U.S. Coast Guard describes the position of the Church in time, “semper paratus”—always prepared. Our souls are to be prepared for Christ’s final advent by confessing any serious sins in the Sacrament of Confession, we are to be prepared by not being too attached to material earthly things, by busying ourselves not with selfish pursuits, but living generously for God and others. 

In the verses immediately following the today’s Gospel the Lord says, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.” The Lord gives this warning because it would be a tragedy of the highest kind if our souls were not prepared for his return because of sin and earthly anxiety. If we were too busy making provision for the flesh as Paul says in the epistle, that we were not prepared for the Lord’s return.

We also prepare well by savoring each moment the Lord has blessed us with. Each moment is a gift given to us to grow in holiness and merit grace. In a sense, we are to live each day as if it were our last. Gratitude is to be a mark of the mature Christian—gratitude for the blessings that fill our lives, recognizing that even earthly blessings are but hints of the good things to come for God’s faithful ones in eternity, they are appetizers for the feast to come. Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the good things which God has prepared for those who love him.  

The Lord’s return in glorious majesty at the end of time should fill us with urgency to make sure that our souls are prepared, but also to use every moment wisely, with gratitude, and joyful expectation of the blessings to come.

Though George Burns wondered when indeed God will show up, we Catholics have it on good authority that He has come in history, he does come in mystery, and he will come again in majesty at the end of time. May this Advent stir up our faith to help us prepare well for Christmas, to appreciate with greater faith his coming in the mystery of the sacraments, and to live always in expectant hope in the Lord’s imminent return in majesty, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

30th Week of Ordinary Time 2021 - Monday - Crippled by sin, healed by Christ

 The miraculous healing of the crippled woman in the synagogue is a story only found in Luke’s Gospel. While teaching in the synagogue, the Lord notices this woman, hunched over, unable to stand upright. St. Luke tells us that she was afflicted by an unclean spirit for 18 years. Her physical affliction is certainly symbolic of the moral and spiritual state of sinful humanity. We are crippled by sin. Sin cripples our minds, our bodies, and our souls.

Well, the Lord, notices the crippled woman, goes to her, and sets her free from her infirmity. Through this miracle she is immediately able to stand erect and immediately glorifies God. 

This healing, again, is symbolic of the Lord’s entire mission. God has compassion for the waywardness that is ours, humanity’s fallen state. We are crippled by sin, unable to walk in the freedom for which we were created—our intellect is darkened, our wills are weakened. And Through Christ we are liberated, healed, set free, able to walk upright again, and worship God in spirit and in truth. 

In the Epistle we heard of the way of the spirit that leads to life and the way of the flesh that leads to death. St. Paul shows his concern in many of his letters that Christians, who have been baptized, were returning to the ways of the flesh. They were putting their eternal souls at risk, by abandoning the way of uprightness, but returning, willingly to that crippled spiritual state. 

Paul models what it means to be a true pastor here. He doesn’t just want people to get baptized. He doesn’t want Christians in name only. He wants Christians alive in the spirit, free from those temptations to sink back into the immoral muck of sin. 

The spirit of the flesh will always be trying to cripple us, to the point that we are hunched over by self-absorption, addiction, selfishness, materialism, and the like. So we must be vigilant against them by continually remembering our identity as Children of God set free from sin. And when we have willingly given in to these evils, we must allow Jesus to heal us through the Sacraments, especially any serious sins in the Sacrament of Confession.

Healed by Jesus, the woman stood up straight and glorified God. In all spiritual and moral uprightness, may we too glorify God in all of our words and deeds this day, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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That the effects of sin may continue to be healed in us, that we may walk in the moral uprightness God desires for his children. 

For the healing of all the wounds of division afflicting the Church, for an end to heresy and schism, for turning away from all doctrinal error and hardness of heart.

For spiritual healing and mercy upon all those who have fallen away from the Church, those who have fallen to mortal sin, for those who blaspheme, for the conversion of atheists and non-believers.

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.

Heavenly Father, hear our prayers. May the grace of Christ Your Son, the Divine Physician, bring healing of our sinfulness, and make us worthy of the kingdom of heaven, through the same Christ our Lord.

3rd Week of Lent 2021 - Tuesday - God's Mercy and the Amendment of our Ways

 In the year 587 BC, the Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem. The Holy City was conquered, the temple was destroyed, and the Jews were separated from their families and marched into Babylonian captivity. 

Once the Jews had arrived in Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar erected an enormous golden idol. The King ordered that anyone who refused to prostrate themselves in worship of this idol would be thrown into the fiery furnace. Three young Jewish men, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, refused to abandon their Jewish faith, and so the king had them bound up and thrown into the fiery furnace.

The Lord sent an angel to save these young men, and they were able to walk through the furnace unharmed. Today’s first reading, involves Azariah, standing in the furnace, asking God to look kindly upon the Jewish people, to forgive their sins which had brought them such torment and suffering.

The biblical understanding of the Babylonian captivity is that it was due to Israel forsaking the covenant with God, abandoning the commandments and right worship, and then ignoring the prophets that made them vulnerable to their enemies. Their captivity in Babylon, their suffering, was essentially, their own fault. 

And so even in the furnace, Azariah is calling upon God to help them return to the covenant, that the sacrifices, that they hope to offer should they survive, will help them follow God unreservedly. 

The plea to God for mercy was repeated in our responsorial psalm today, “remember, your mercy, o Lord”. And this plea is followed with requests, much like that of Azariah, guide me in your truth, help me to be humble, that I may walk in justice. The plea for mercy must always involve an amendment of one’s life, or else the mercy is wasted, the plea is empty.

A similar dynamic is involved in the Sacrament of confession, isn’t it? The acknowledgement of one’s sins, that expression of contrition, is followed by a plea for God to help us amend our lives. The firm purpose of amendment and the act plea for forgiveness, again goes hand in hand.

Hence in the Gospel, we hear this parable of a servant who receives mercy from his king, but then fails to extend that mercy to others. For this failure to extend mercy, there are severe consequences.

In Christ, God has answered the prayer of Azariah, the plea of the Psalmist: mercy has been shown, and truth has been taught. And now, it is up to us, to walk in that truth and to extend mercy for others, lest we end up like that unforgiving servant, who has failed to forgive as he has been forgiven.

Our Lenten penances are the sacrifices in which we show God how much we desire to follow him unreservedly. We give up those non-essentials, to help us amend our lives from our sins, that our entire hearts may belong to Him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That readiness to forgive may mark the life of every Christian. Let us pray to the Lord.

That all families will recommit themselves to fervent prayer this Lent so as to grow in greater love and holiness.  Let us pray to the Lord.

That this Lent we will be faithful to fasting and to all the ways that the Lord sanctifies us.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For generous giving for the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, victims of natural disaster, terrorism, war, and violence, the grieving and those most in need.  Let us pray to the Lord.

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

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

1st Week of OT 2021 - Friday - The power to forgive sins

In just the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, we learn a lot about Jesus. He is the one of whom the ancient Jewish prophecies foretold, rising up out of the waters of baptism, we learn he is the beloved Son of the Father, in the desert, we learn that he is in opposition to the powers of Satan,. Walking by the see of Galilee, he is the caller of disciples. In Capernaum, he casts out demons and cures the sick—even drawing near to lepers—the outcasts, the unclean.

Today’s reading begins just the second chapter of Mark, and something new is discovered about the Lord—he claims the authority and power to forgive sins. Again, imagine you knew nothing of Jesus or Catholic theology. Here is this man claiming a power that only belongs to God—the ability to look into a man’s heart and release him from the burden of guilt. 

Guilt and shame can be paralyzing. An act committed in a moment of selfishness, or in a period of greed, can haunt a person, especially as the impact of one’s sin begins to be realized. For sin often has ripple effects that cannot be predicted. An act of evil can bring ruin to not just one’s self, but one’s family or one’s nation—and the burden of that guilt can lead a soul to such crippling despair that life begins to lose it’s meaning. And in a sense it should—because evil is contrary to life. It’s contrary to the meaning of life and the purpose for which we are made. Evil is always a stifling of our potential—what could have been if we were less selfish. 

And no matter what we do, we cannot release ourselves from the debt of sin. For every sin is an offense against God, a violation of a divine command. So only God can forgive sin. Hence the connection with paralysis in the Gospel today. Sin brings a paralysis of soul, in which we cannot walk in the freedom God wants for us. 

And for Jesus of Nazareth to make this claim to this group of scribes who knew very well that only God can forgive sin, caused them to believe that he was blaspheming. And if he were only a human, they’d be right. 

But the Lord can forgive sin, he does forgive sin; he cures the paralysis of soul that allows us to walk in the freedom of the children of God. There is no burden of guilt so heavy, that cannot be forgiven when humbly confessed, hence the feeling of levity as we walk out of the confession, we literally feel lighter, when we sincerely confess our sins. Who wouldn’t want that?

And yet, many are afraid of the confessional, or refuse to enter the confessional. And perhaps that’s why this Gospel begins with the paralyzed man being brought to Jesus by four friends. Sometimes it takes a number of good Christians, speaking the truth, praying, witnessing the power of the Lord to heal and relieve guilt, to bring a hardened soul to repentance, to lead them to Jesus in the Confessional, to the Lord continues to forgive sins through his priests.

May we humbly repent of our sins, and take up the duty of being good friends to the hardened, perhaps even paralyzed sinners in our life, to lead them to the mercy of Jesus for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the preaching and teachings of the Pope, Bishops, and clergy may be a source of strength and guidance for the Holy Church and deliverance from the evils of the enemy.

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 liberation of those bound by evil, those committed to sin an error, those oppressed or possessed by evil spirits, and for the conversion of the hardest hearts.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all 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.

September 23 2020 (Ember Day) - St. Padre Pio - Mystical Phenomena (Padre Pio Academy EF Mass)

I like to wish you all a very happy feast day of the patron of your school, St. Padre Pio. I have to be honest, I do not know why, in fact, your school is under the patronage of St. Pio, and you all have probably studied his life, and know that he did have a truly remarkable life filled with many amazing mystical phenomena.

He could bilocate, that is, he could appear at two places at once, hundreds of miles apart, in order to deliver a message, or a word of comfort or challenge to someone. He could heal people like Our Lord, in the Gospels. Laying his hands on the sick, they would be immediately healed. He could even heal with his prayers. He would get a letter, and pray for that person, and they would be healed, even if they were on the other side of the globe.

Padre Pio, like St. John Vianney, often heard confessions for ten or twelve hours a day. He could read the hearts of the penitents, knowing their sins before they confessed them, or if they had forgotten a particular sin, or was too ashamed to confess a particular sin. Sometimes when he absolved the sins of a great sinner, he would experience great agony, the pains of Jesus’ crucifixion very deeply, a reminder that we are only able to be absolved because of what Jesus suffered for us.

And of course, Padre Pio had the mystical stigmata, the wounds of the Lord’s crucifixion in his hands. And he suffered greatly from them. When asked if the stigmata were painful, Padre Pio replied, "Do you think that the Lord gave them to me for a decoration?"

Why did God give Padre Pio these strange and marvelous mystical phenomena? One reason was for Padre Pio’s own sanctification. God chose him to bear a share of the cross in a unique way, to merit grace for his own soul and the souls of others.

This is certainly a reminder that every Christian is to embrace the suffering given to him from God, as a share in the cross of Jesus for the salvation of the world.

Also, those amazing mystical phenemona—the bilocation, reading of hearts, and miraculous healing—are a reminder of the amazing things God can do in our lives when we love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. The Lord Jesus even said that not only would we do the miraculous works he did in his ministry, but even other things, greater things, he said. We need to be open to God doing amazing things through us, by surrendering to God and uniting our lives with God to the best of our ability.

Thirdly, Padre Pio’s mystical phenomena are to help the world know that God is real and that God loves us and invites us to a share in his own life through faith and communion with His Son.

And really, that’s the mission of Padre Pio Academy isn’t it? To form disciples to share in the sufferings and mission of Christ, to help you young people to love God with your whole hearts, so that you can help the world know that God is real and calls humanity to believe in His Son.

In the old liturgical calendar today is an Ember Day. One of the special days of penance that occur four times a year around the changing of the seasons. Ember days are penitential in character: the priest wears penitential purple, the gloria is omitted, there is an extra scripture reading, which are all a little longer than a normal ferial day, there was no alleluia. We are kneeling for a little longer throughout the mass. What a fitting day to share with Padre Pio. For on this ember day we get to engage that activity that made him holy, a little extra penance, a little extra prayer.

Growth in holiness, making God’s goodness and love known to the world involves real effort. To quote Padre Pio himself, "The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain". 

The flowering in Padre Pio’s soul which blossomed into such tremendous holiness, came because he willingly accepted those sufferings which came from God, he turned away from all selfishness, and embraced God’s Divine Will. May we do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

1st Week of Lent - Wednesday - Heed the call to repentance

Our Lenten readings urge us each year to consider the story of Jonah. Jonah, a Jewish prophet, and a reluctant one, was sent by God to preach to a pagan people, to a people who did not know the God of Israel, and certainly didn’t follow his ways. Nineveh was the capital city, in fact, of Israel’s great enemy at the time, the Assyrians. Nineveh is described as enormous, taking three days to walk across, and thoroughly evil. Nineveh is symbolic of every city of the earth, whose inhabitants are far from God.

God certainly sends his modern day prophets, Christians, us, to preach to the pagan cities of the earth. And yet, the point of the story during Lent is for us to identify not so much with Jonah, but with the Ninevites, who surprisingly, respond wholeheartedly to the call of repentance.

Hearing the Word of God, the 120,000 residents of Nineveh, everyone from the nobility to the peasantry, even the cattle and sheep—expressed their repentance by fasting, covering themselves with sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. God saw by their actions, how their repentance was genuine.

Now consider in the Gospel today, how the Lord Jesus condemns those of his generation for failing to repent. Jonah preached the Word of God and the Ninevites repented, now Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, preached, and his generation fails to repent. The Lord himself explains the eternal judgment for those who fail to repent.

Lent presents us with a stark option: will we associate with the Ninevites, who repent and show their repentance by their holy works and actions? Or will we be condemned by Jesus for failing to repent?

Next week, Wednesday evening, every parish in the diocese will have confessions from 5 to 8pm. If there is anyone in your life who has fallen away from the Church, be Jonah for them, call them to repentance. Your invitation might be the prophetic gesture which leads them back to God. And be a Ninevite for them, show them the power of repentance, the joy that comes from encountering God’s mercy, of returning to Him with your whole heart, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance and bring to all people purification of sin and selfishness.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that they may continue to conform themselves to Christ through fervent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence. And for all victims of the coronavirus and their families.

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

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

September 16 2019 - Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian - The medicine of repentance

In yesterday’s Sunday Gospel, we heard three parables of rejoicing when the lost are found. There was joy and a celebration when the lost sheep was found. There was joy and a celebration when the lost coin was found after a time of diligent searching. And there was joy and a celebration when the lost son, the prodigal son, came to his senses, and returned home: he was dead and has come back to life, he was lost, and now is found.

Our Lord told these parables in response to the pharisees criticism that he dined with sinners. He tells these parables to signify that he has come precisely for sinners, and that the pharisees should be rejoicing over this fact. They should be rejoicing that he has come as the instrument of God’s mercy, that sinners may repent and be reconciled to God.

The saints we honor today, a martyred Pope and a martyred bishop from the 3rd century were church leaders who were concerned with the reconciliation of sinners.

During the persecution of Decius, many Christians had offered incense to the gods to save their lives. Others had bribed the authorities and had obtained a document which stated that they had offered such sacrifices.

The question arose of whether it was possible for these apostates to be reconciled to the Church. In the year 251, Pope Cornelius called a synod in Rome, and declared Catholics could be restored to the Church with what he called, “the usual medicines of repentance”.  That through penance and firm purpose of amendment, a sinner could be readmitted to Communion again. He was supported in this by many bishops, but especially St. Cyprian, the most important bishop in North Africa, who was one of the most important theologians and writers of the time.

There is no sin so great that it cannot be absolved in the Sacrament of Confession. . God reaches out to the sinner, those who have publicly denied him, those living as if he did not exist. I think of many atheists who have publicly claimed to not believe in God, some of them were raised Catholic. For whatever reason, anger at God, pride, public pressure, they renounced their faith. God is even reaching out to them.

We pray for apostates: as long as they breath it is not too late for them to repent. The Lord might even be preparing some of us to witness to the faith to them, preparing us to be apostles of mercy, instruments for the conversion of sinners. The angels of heaven who rejoice over the conversion of sinners, are waiting for us, to do our part in the reconciliation of those who have fallen away. Unlike the joyless second son in yesterday's Gospel, we welcome sinners home with great celebration

Through the intercession of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian may we faithfully bear God’s mercy to all those in need of it, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That the Pope and all the clergy may be courageous and kind instruments of mercy, and for the grace and strength to seek out the lost, last, and least.

That through the intercession of the martyrs Cornelius and Cyprian, lapsed Catholics will be moved to return to the Sacraments.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

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 the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

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.

24th Sunday in OT 2019 - God is at work to find the lost

In the three parables of Luke chapter 15, we hear of three lost objects: A lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.

What do they have in common? Well, they are lost. The sheep becomes lost because he strays from the flock. The coin is lost in the darkness of a windowless home perhaps due to the negligence of its owner. “My son was lost” the father said, lost in selfishness, lost in his stubbornness, lost to his passions, lost to the consequences of his imprudent actions, lost in a ruptured relationship with his family, with his father.

Now, of course, the first two objects, you can’t really blame for becoming lost. The dumb sheep really doesn’t know any better than to wander off; inanimate coins can’t be blamed for becoming lost. But the son, he made some choices, didn’t he? His alienation from family, his separation from his father’s house, was due to his own free will; he chose to demand his inheritance before the proper time; he chose to squander his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

His prodigality, reminds us of Eve in the garden. No doubt he began to entertain some really bad ideas even before the demand of the inheritance, without thinking of their consequences. He allowed himself to become enraptured in temptation.

And like Adam and Eve, his sin involved a father. Adam and Eve ignored the commands of the Heavenly Father, to not eat from the forbidden tree. And the prodigal son treated his father, as if he was meaningless to him.

The prodigal son, squandering his inheritance in sin, is representative of humanity, become separated from God in sin. And much of humanity still, living their life as if God did not exist. We, like Him, can become so lost, we don’t even realize it.

It makes us think of those who seem lost to addiction. The addict often denies the damage being done in their lives. They see their bodies wasting away and continue to drink; they see the damage they are doing to their families and continue to gamble or overspend; they see the broken relationships and broken dreams and continue to head down the path of self-destruction. The addict minimizes the most important things, like family and health, and over values the high, the pleasure, the indulgence.
So too the prodigal son overvalues his independence, his pleasure, and undervalues the relationship with his father.

This parable is often read as analogy, where again, we are the prodigals. God the father, runs to embrace us with his mercy, an embrace of love and forgiveness and welcome when we have sinned. Yet before the father saw his son form a distance and ran to him, God was also at work mysteriously behind the scenes, in the son’s decision to return home.  It’s really a sort of miracle that he even recognized how lost he was, how close he was to death. For often, addicts push themselves to the brink of destruction. The sinful soul often denies its loss of grace, the danger of hell, and fails to repent.

When I celebrate the sacrament of confession, especially for a soul in mortal sin, it is a joy. We rejoice with the angels of God who rejoice when a sinner repents. And as a priest, it is a joy to be that instrument of mercy. But I also recognize that before that soul walks into the confessional, God was at work to wake them up, to help them to realize their sinful state, to bring about the repentance, which is so often the fruit of the prayers and sufferings of the Church, your prayers, and the sufferings offered up in union with the Lord.

It also makes me think of those with whom we work in the RCIA. Yes, RCIA prepares souls for the Sacraments of New Life, baptism, confirmation, and eucharist. But, God was already at work, behind the scenes, before these souls even show up to that first RCIA session. Again, the fruit of prayers and penances.

Everyone I’ve worked with in the RCIA has always shown up to that first session, because whatever has been going on in their life, perhaps they were protestant, perhaps they were raised with no religion, perhaps they lived a life of dissipation, like the prodigal son, and recognized the damage of their self-destructive behavior, perhaps, like St. Paul describes himself in the second reading, they were a persecutor of Catholics, arrogantly convinced of their own self-righteousness. In all these cases, they always show up to that first session because God has been working, and they have this holy desire for something more.

We are happy to announce that RCIA will be starting in just a few weeks. If you are unbaptized or a member of another faith tradition and are seeking something more, RCIA is for you. God has placed that desire for something more in your heart, and it’s time to make the journey home.

The parable of Son is an invitation for all of us to seek that something more. If you are not a fully initiated Catholic, seek that something more in the RCIA. If you are a Catholic who has fallen into mortal sin, seek that something more in the Sacrament of Confession, the merciful embrace of the Father. If your spiritual life has become arid, dry, seek something more through prayer and service. If you know of someone who has fallen into a life of dissipation, invite them to something more. Be the instrument of God in their life, that helps them home. Pray, pray, pray for those who are lost, that they may be found. They may appear lost to us, but they are not lost to God.

God is at work in each of our lives, urging us to seek that something more, that union with Him through faith, hope, and love, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

August 13 2019 - Saints Pontian and Hippolytus - Welcoming back the lapsed

Pontian and Hippolytus: Pope and anti-Pope.  Pontian served faithfully as pope from 230 to 235. Meanwhile, Hippolytus had a long history of criticizing the popes; he was the leader of a schism in the church that began in 217 and continued through three pontificates, including that of Pontian.  Hippolytus had himself elected anti-pope by a group of followers that agreed with him that the church was too lenient with penitents.

Hippolytus contested that those who renounced the faith during the persecutions could not be readmitted to communion, even though Pope Callistus had decreed that they could be readmitted if they repented and went to Confession.

Well, in 235 , the new Roman emperor Maximinus launched a new violent persecution, specifically targeting bishops and priests. Both anti-Pope Hippolytus and the new Pope Pontian were arrested, imprisoned for a time, and then exiled to the mines of Sardinia.   There, Hippolytus came to his senses, renounced his error, and submitted to Pontian.

Both men died that same year, and Hippolytus is now the only former anti-Pope to be recognized as a saint. And. He is the author of Eucharistic prayer II, which we use almost every weekday.
From this dispute we see a reflection of current Church law (canon 916), that those lapsed through serious sin, those who fall away from the Church, can be reunited, they can be readmitted to Communion by repenting and going to Confession. We joyfully welcome back the lapsed. And we do well to encourage the lapsed to return to the Sacraments, to work for reconciliation, to be ambassadors of mercy. Like the Lord in the Gospel, we willingly go after the one-out-of-a-hundred who has gone astray, to lead them back to the fold.

Hippolytus wrote: “Christ, like a skillful physician, understands the weakness of men. He loves to teach the ignorant and the erring... he seeks all, and desires to save all, wishing to make all the children of God, and calling all the saints unto one perfect man”  It took being imprisoned with the Pope to bring Hippolytus back into the fold, but if an anti-pope can be reconciled to Christ, so can our fallen away family members. We do well to invoke Saints Pontian and Hippolytus on behalf of all those who have fallen away.

May the loyal suffering of Saints Pontian and Hippolytus, fill us with the love of God and make our hearts steadfast in faith for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Pope and all the clergy may be steadfast in preaching the fullness of the Gospel, especially in the face of worldly pressures and persecutions.

That through the intercession of the martyrs Pontian and Hippolytus, lapsed Catholics will be moved to return to the Sacraments.

That the imprisoned may know the grace conversion and the consolation of the Spirit.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

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 the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

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.

15th Sunday of OT 2019 - Good Samaritan Saints and Sinners

Biblical scholars and preachers usually interpret today’s Gospel passage, the parable of the Good Samaritan in one of two ways.  The first is to read it as Jesus’ answer to what Christian compassion, mercy, and neighborliness looks like.  The scholar of the law asks Jesus, “who is my neighbor”, “who should I care about” and Jesus answers: your neighbor is everyone, even the person that you would normally overlook, even the person that the rest of the world considers unclean, that’s your neighbor, and you need to pick him up when he has fallen, you need to see past your preconceived notions and stereotypes and prejudices, and you need to treat him with mercy and compassion and tenderness. So that’s the first interpretation.

The second way of interpreting the Good Samaritan parable is to see in this parable an allegory for what God has done for each one of us in Christ Jesus.  God has raised us up when we fell upon robbers and have been “half dead” because of sin.  We’ve been raised up, tended, cared for, restored to life because of Jesus’ saving death.  No human power could do what God has done for us—restoring our souls to life through baptism, healing us through grace.

Before I was ordained a priest, a group of seminarians one Sunday afternoon after attending Mass in the morning, decided to visit one of these non-denominational Mega-Churches that had become somewhat popular, you know, to see what all the fuss was about.  In fact, a lot of former Catholics end up at these Mega-Churches for various reasons. 

So that morning, there were about 800 people gathered, we sat in chairs up to a stage filled with drums and guitars.  The service opened with about 20 minutes of Christian Rock music, smoke machines, and laser lights. 

The pastor then took the stage and performed a dramatic retelling of this morning’s Gospel, the parable of the Good Samaritan. 

Afterwards, he gave a sermon, basically interpreting the parable in that second way, that we are the man fallen amongst robbers; because of our own free-will given over to sin, we were lying on the road, half-dead, where no human power could help us.  And then, out of His infinite love, God sent his son to die for us and redeem us, to raise us up to new life. 

Then the pastor asked the congregation to close their eyes, and asked, “Have you fallen amongst robbers, have you been struggling in sin, are there choices that you’ve made against God’s commandments, have you pridefully rejected God’s grace, have you been selfish with the time you’ve been given? If so, raise your hand”  And I’m thinking to myself, sure I have, I’ve struggled with sin, I’ve fallen, I’ve been prideful, I’ve been selfish towards my neighbor, and so, I raised my hand, I didn’t think twice.  All of a sudden, he says, “Oh, I see someone with their hand up”.  I open my eyes and look around and thought, “oh no, that’s me!”  My classmates said I looked like a deer in headlights.  So I quickly shoot my hand down, and try to hide in my seat.  But I start to think, how am I the only one in this room of 800 people that is guilty of sin?   

And I’m thinking, you know, this is one of the big differences between the Catholic faith and a lot of these non-denominational groups.  They believe that you only have to raise your hand once in your life. Once you raise your hand, and go up to the altar, and profess that Jesus Christ is your personal Lord and Savior, your saved, you never need to raise your hand again. Catholics, on the other hand, we raise our hands daily. At every Mass or at the end of the day in our examination of conscience, we take sin seriously, we take our hands and we beat our breasts and see even those smallest acts of selfishness, for what they are, acts of free will contrary to the Love of God and Neighbor and we repent, daily.

And when those sins are of a serious nature, they cause a serious disruption in our relationship with God, we brings those sins to the ear of a priest, and to confess them and to be absolved from them in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Scripture and the lives of the Saints show that only when we acknowledge ourselves as sinners, do we truly begin to love God and neighbor. The second way of interpreting the parable, is a sort of key, to unlocking the first. The humble acknowledgement of my own need for a savior, my need for conversion opens us to truly love as we are made to love—to love God with our whole hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

I’ve been told that I sure talk a lot about sin and confession. But that’s only because humble repentance is the most important key to loving God and neighbor authentically.  We see this so evidently in the lives of the Saints. The saints, who become charged and changed by God’s presence living within them, recognize and acknowledge themselves constantly falling short of the love of God, and so they strive to love more perfectly day after day. The Apostle St. Paul calls himself the “chief of sinners” after his initial conversion. He saw himself first and foremost as a sinner, who has unworthily received the new life of Grace. And he lived his life as a response to that grace.

St. Francis of Assisi, most beloved of saints, looked upon himself as a sinner, too.  In fact, he believed himself the greatest of all sinners. Our most beloved of saints, thought himself the greatest of sinners. “He was accustomed to say that if the mercy shown him by God had been given to any other sinner, the latter would have become ten times holier than he, and that to God alone must be attributed whatever was found in him of goodness and beauty.

Saints are not the opposite of sinners. Rather, saints ARE sinners who acknowledge the truth about themselves and about God, and live in loving and grateful response to mercy through lives of grace and service. Saints allow themselves to be saved by Jesus the Good Samaritan, and go to become Good Samaritans for others.

Francis of Assisi once told his monks that if they were in the midst of the Beatific Vision and a beggar knocked at their door asking for a cup of cold water, turning away from the heavenly vision to help the beggar would be the real heaven, and turning away from the beggar to keep the blissful vision would be turning from God's face.

Daily we do well to ask the Holy Spirit to help us acknowledge and repent rightly of our sins, and to help us identify the times that we turned away from those opportunities to be the Good Samaritan. Daily repentance leads to daily conversion and daily acts of charity for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Holy Week 2019 - Spy Wednesday - Being Honest with Jesus

Wednesday of Holy week is known as Spy Wednesday, because on this day Judas made the shameful bargain with the high priest for 30 pieces of silver and went "spying"--looking--for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

How did this happen? How did Judas go from giving up everything to follow Jesus, to betraying Him for a miserable thirty pieces of silver? The beginning of Judas’ downfall, perhaps, was his secrecy. In the beginning of his discipleship, Judas Iscariot was, must have been, open with Jesus, sharing his thoughts, his dreams, his desires, and his fears like any of his apostles. And then, little by little, Judas became disillusioned and jaded. He withdrew into himself. He cloaked his temptations, his fears, his struggles, and his failures. The first time we hear from Judas in the Gospels, he is erupting with fury over Jesus being anointed with the costly oil. Judas had bottled up his anger, instead of bringing it to Jesus.

Something very similar happens when a soul stops going to confession, or confesses too infrequently, or puts off going to confession. One becomes accustomed to living with the sickness of one’s secrets. One adjusts to living with them, and they poison the soul. This need to confess has always been valued by the Church. How important it is to lay bare our souls to a trusted spiritual father, to admit not only our sins, but also our temptations and our struggles. This act of humility disarms Satan, and renders him powerless. When we fail to confess our sins and, instead, hide them, we give the Evil One a foothold in us. Failure to confess sin will almost always lead to estrangement from God and resentment toward the Church and other Christians.

Judas must have stopped conversing with Jesus in a personal way. Certainly he continued talking to Jesus superficially, but mostly about business. He was, after all, responsible for administering the common fund of the Twelve. He stopped relating to Jesus in a personal way, as one trusting friend talks to another, heart to heart.

Hopefully, our Lenten observances have helped us to trust Jesus more deeply. Hopefully, we have encountered him in quality prayer, and not simply superficial babbling in his general direction. Hopefully, we have opened our hearts to Jesus, to allow him to see our woundedness and frustration. Hopefully, unlike Judas who was filled with greed and selfishness, we have learned to serve Jesus lovingly and generously. If not, it’s not too late.

We will be invited over the next three days very close to Jesus’ heart. Jesus freely undergoes the events of the Paschal Triduum out of love for us and the desire to save us from our sins, from our Judas-like tendencies and experience the true freedom of the children of God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For increased faith and understanding in the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity.

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

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

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

4th Sunday of Lent 2019 - The Return of the Prodigal Son

One of the most famous of the parables of Jesus, proclaimed on this 4th Sunday of Lent, is the renowned Gospel we call the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The word prodigal isn’t one we use every day. It comes from the latin “prodigus” which means wasteful, excessively extravagant, or greatly lavish. The prodigal son was certainly excessively lavish and wasteful, selfishly demanding his share of his father’s estate. He took it, he left his father and brother, and went with all that money, and what did he do? He was prodigal with it. He wasted it on drinking, gambling, prostitutes, and soon enough he had squandered it all and was reduced to eating pig food. Finally, he gets the idea that he could go crawling back to his father, and perhaps enter into lowly servitude in order to subsist. He would have to live with the consequences of his prodigality, his lavish waste.

And yet, could we not also call this the parable of the Prodigal Father? Wasn’t the father, in a sense, prodigal? Not Prodigal in wasting money on earthly pleasures, of course, but excessively lavish and extravagant…in mercy, in forgiving his son. For when his prodigal son attempted to return, the father would have had every right to turn the wretch away: “How dare you show up here. You made your bed, now sleep in it.” And yet the father was Prodigal, lavish, in his mercy. He says, “Son, your return here, to my embrace, to the shelter of my house is something to celebrate. Welcome home.”

The point of Jesus’ parable of course is that WE are the prodigal sons and daughters. We waste God’s many gifts, we squander His blessings; instead of using the time we’ve been given to pursue truth, goodness, and beauty, we pursue flattery, selfishness, and the boring ugliness of sin. We are prodigal in our relationship to God. Yet, thanks be to God, God is Prodigal in Mercy. When we kneel before the Father, and say, Father I have sinned against you, I’m no longer worthy to be called your son or daughter, what does God Our Father do? He wraps us in the mantle of His Mercy, He calls for celebration in heaven when a sinner repents. He lavishly showers immense blessing upon the contrite, he welcomes home the wayward and the squandering with open arms. If that’s not good news, if that doesn’t cause us immense joy, what will? How appropriate that we have this message of joyful reconciliation on this 4th Sunday of Lent, which is called Laetare Sunday, Joy Sunday. God’s mercy is the source of our joy.

As you probably know, we have a beautiful print of Rembrant’s painting of the Return of the Prodigal Son in the parking lot entrance way. This was one of Rembrant’s last paintings before his death, and he beautifully depicts the son, in clothes, tattered from his life of dissipation, his sandals deteriorated from his wayward path, kneeling penitentially at his father’s breast. His father calmly embraces his son, laying hands on his shoulders as if to absolve him of sin. The dark scene is illuminated by the father’s tenderness, a symbol of weary and sinful mankind taking refuge in the shelter of God's mercy.

Now here is the challenge though: we must not let the message of mercy become a generic. God’s mercy is not just something that Jesus wants us to think about. Rather, he wants us to experience it, concretely and personally.

We are to really, physically kneel down and utter those words, “Father, I have sinned against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son or daughter. I have squandered your blessings. And here are the precise ways I have sinned.” And this humble acknowledgement and accounting of sin is primarily done in the Sacrament of Confession, the Sacrament instituted by Jesus Himself for the forgiveness of sins committed after baptism.

It is there in the Sacrament of Confession, we hear the words we long to hear, the words of our father saying, “welcome home, all is forgiven, you are still my son, you are still my daughter.”

Our Lord has given us the Sacrament of Confession to be that precise, concrete, personal moment of reconciliation, where we admit our prodigality before God, and we rejoice in God’s prodigality, who lavishes his mercy and forgiveness upon the repentant.  And there is no better time to return to the Sacrament of Confession than the season of Lent, as we prepare for Holy Week and Easter.

To be honest, there has been a great falling away from the celebration of this Sacrament over the past few decades. We are soberly aware of some distressing statistics. In a recent CARA study, only 12 percent of Catholics go to Confession at least once a year. 42% said, they never go. It’s not good. We are in danger of becoming Prodigal—wasteful—of one of the most beautiful, powerful, and life-changing ways that God wishes to encounter his people. “No thanks God, I’m fine, I don’t need your mercy.” How dangerous.

There are various excuses one hears for not going to confession: “the priest yelled at me when I was little, some priest or nun told me that Vatican II did away with the need for frequent confession,” this is not true. “I forgot how to go to confession, I forgot my act of contrition, it’s been too long, I wouldn’t know where to begin” or the worst of all “I don’t have any sins to confess”, which likely means you have failed to thoroughly examine your conscience…there are a lot of excuses, but none of them amount to anything, compared to the mercy God wishes to give you in that sacrament. If we really understood how much the Father wishes to meet us in the Confessional, we would run to the confessional. If you are avoiding confession out of laziness, embarrassment, fear, anger, confusion, or you disagree with the very institution of Confession, it’s time for a change. God, the Father, is waiting for you; for some of you, he’s been waiting a long time, but he is ready, to embrace you as the Father embraced the son in the Gospel today.

In the Lenten Scripture readings and orations today the Church challenges us to consider the joy of being reconciled to God. The Opening prayer spoke of hastening with promptness and eagerness to encounter God. And the prayer before communion speaks of the joy that comes from receiving the remedy for sin. Let’s allow God to answer these prayers in our life.

If you haven’t already, please make a Lenten confession, that you may know the peace and joy of the embrace of our merciful Father. To quote Paul in our second reading: “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

And let us all pray for those who are lost, those who have left the Father’s house of the Church, that the lost may be found, that those dead in sin may through repentance and grace receive new life. There are inactive members of this parish and members of our family who, let’s be honest, are lost. And our prayers and our penances are so important in winning for them the grace of repentance. St. Paul, saw himself as an ambassador for Christ, an ambassador for the reconciliation that comes through Christ. Let us too be ambassadors for reconciliation and mercy.

May we be generous with God, continuing our Lenten penances with great gratitude and joy over the gift of God’s mercy, that his grace and mercy may abound in our parish and in our families for the glory of God and salvation of souls.