14th Week in OT 2020 - Friday - Persevere to the end

After giving instruction to his disciples in his Sermon on the Mount, the Lord, as we heard on Wednesday, names apostles. The word apostle comes from the Greek ‘apostolein’ which means, to send out. So after naming these apostles, the Lord sends the twelve out into Judea to preach, heal, and cast out demons. In addition to the basic instruction of what they are to preach, the Lord takes the opportunity to speak about the inevitable resistance his followers will experience. We heard that instruction today, “I’m sending you out as sheep amidst the wolves…you’ll be arrested and brought before governors and kings, you will be hated by all.”

The Lord’s prediction has certainly come true throughout the centuries of Christianity. The apostles experienced this hostility and resistance, St. Paul certainly did, and so did countless numbers of the faithful.

Resistance to the Gospel, hostility from the world, should not surprise us. Persecution is not a sign that God is displeased with us; rather, it is a sign that we are doing well, that we are being faithful to what the Lord commanded us to do. So we mustn’t back down when things get tough, when the worldly oppose the Gospel.

I saw a quote from a holy religious sister last week, she said, “The Christian should expect to be regularly crushed under the inexorable wheels of history until Jesus comes again. We are not here to be relevant, powerful, and understood. Our challenge is to simply remain faithful to the Gospel, to love our enemies, and to persevere in faith.”

Wonderful words. We should expect to be crushed—to be opposed. Whatever the origin of the Coronavirus, and whatever its actual infection rate, we are certainly seeing the powers of the world take advantage of this opportunity to place unreasonable restrictions on Christians. In certain parts of the country there are more restrictions on Churches than restaurants and bars, let alone strip joints and abortion clinics. And in response to this, many Christians, many bishops, have simply backed down.
But the Lord didn’t instruct us to back down, but to persevere. “Whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

It is evident that the powers of the world are launching a serious attack against the Church, hostilities are just ramping up. So we must pray for each other, pray for our bishops, pray for fellow Christians to take courage, to endure to the end, to continue to preach, heal, and cast out those demons. We are surrounded by wolves, but the Lord is our fortress and our shield. By his grace may we keep the faith, run the race, and persevere to the end, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all bishops and clergy will lead the Church in faithfulness to the Gospel mandate and in the practice of every Christian virtue.
For all those who have fallen away from the Church, those who have fallen into serious sin, for non-believers, atheists, and those in error, for their conversion, and the conversion of all hearts.
For Christians experiencing persecution for the faith, that they may hold fast to the Lord in their sufferings.
For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, for victims of abuse and scandal, for the imprisoned and the addicted, for all those recovering from or undergoing surgery today, and for the consolation of the dying.
For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.
Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

Ascension 2020 - Don't just stand there

Way back at the beginning of Lent we heard the Gospel story of Jesus going out into the desert, where he fasted and prayed for 40 days. There in the desert, Our Lord prepared emotionally, mentally, and spiritually his public ministry of preaching and teaching, healing, and confronting the error and evil which had crept into jewish religious life—into the hearts of his people. Those 40 days prepared him to embrace His Father’s will, which would culminate with his sacrifice on Calvary.

After his resurrection and prior to his ascension, Our Lord also prepared for 40 days, not so much himself, but he prepared his disciples for their ministry—to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. St. Luke tells us in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles how Our Lord prepared his disciples: He appeared to them, he presented himself alive to them, he showed them proofs of his suffering and victory over death. And he instructed them, he spoke of the kingdom of God to them, he gave them specific marching orders and also formed them for the Gospel mission to the ends of the earth. And he spoke of their coming baptism in the Holy Spirit, Pentecost.

This time of preparation was vitally important. They would need courage. They would need competency. And they needed the divine life within them. For they would be facing torment, and opposition, and the very powers of hell bent at tearing down all that is holy.

At the end of those 40 days after the resurrection, before their very eyes, St. Luke tells us, Our Lord was lifted up, he ascended. An event which resonated deeply in the early church, for it is recorded in all four Gospels and the book of acts.

And in Acts, immediately following the Lord’s ascension, we read a very interesting detail, it’s almost comical, if not predictable, if you’ve been paying attention to how the apostles typically respond to Jesus’ instructions. Our Lord ascends into heaven, it’s time for the apostles to get to work, and what do they do? Acts tells us, they just stood there, looking intently at the sky.

They were so immobilized that God had to send angels to get them moving again.  “Men, of Galilee, why are you just standing there looking at the sky?” Don’t just stand there, do something. Get to work! 

A few years ago, Pope Francis spoke about how Christians can be alot like those disciples in that moment after the Ascension.  In fact, Pope Francis had some pretty strong words about it. He said, “Christians who stay still, who don’t go forward, are non-Christian Christians...They are slightly ‘paganized’ Christians: (they) who stay still and don’t go forward in their Christian lives, who don’t make the Beatitudes bloom in their lives, who don’t do Works of mercy… they are motionless. Excuse me for saying it,” the Pope said, “but they are like an (embalmed) mummy, a spiritual mummy. There are Christians who are ‘spiritual mummies,’ motionless.  They don’t do evil but they aren’t doing good.”

Pretty strong words! For what is a mummy, but a former human who has become dried-up, devoid of life, stuffed into a casket. Motionless.

Christians are to be so much more than mummies. The Lord said, I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.  Our Christian faith exists to make us fully alive, to fill us with life and conviction and spiritual gifts for the building-up of the kingdom, but so often, we just stand there, fearful to step forward, afraid of making a mistake, fearful of appearing too Christian. What would our neighbors think if we invited them to church? What would our family members think if we got involved in volunteer work in the parish. What would people think if we took initiative in starting up a prayer group, a bible study?

Fear is certainly one of the great enemies of the spiritual life, fear which mummifies, paralyzes, causes us to stand still in the spiritual life and the work of the Gospel. And yet, we know that great spiritual vibrancy is possible. Up and down the centuries the saints show us what happens when you allow Christian courage and spiritual fecundity to animate one’s life.

I remember when I came face to face with Pope Saint John Paul II when I was living in Rome 16 years ago.  The man had already begun to be crippled from Parkinson’s, and yet, he was bursting with life, the light of Christ radiated from his eyes, the joy of the Gospel and the love he had for the Church bristled in every word. Though his physical life began to fail, his spiritual life thrived. It’s possible, for each one of us, spiritual vibrancy is possible whether in quarantine, in prison or poverty, peacetime or war.

Now, I know, we’ve had a very difficult, very strange Lent and Easter this year. Fear of sickness and disease may have caused us to become a little spiritually paralyzed, spiritually immobile. With eyes agape we’ve gazed for too many hours at television and computer screens. Instead of making our homes places where spiritual life thrives, we’ve made them into mummy’s caskets.

As our parish reopens for weekday mass this week and Pentecost Mass next Sunday, we do well to identify those mummified parts of our lives that need to be re-vivified, those fearful chambers of our hearts that need to be emboldened, the arid parts of our souls that need to be watered. Be generous with God this week as you prepare not only to return to Church, but for the work of the gospel out in the world. For yes, we come to Church, in order to worship and adore our God and Savior, but we come to Church in order to be strengthened and emboldened to go out into the world to preach and to teach, to make disciples, and to baptize, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Divine Mercy Sunday 2020 - The Risen Christ and the Locked Room

Two years ago, on Divine Mercy Sunday, from St. Peter’s square, Pope Francis reflected upon today’s Gospel: of the Lord Jesus, after his resurrection, entering into the locked room, where the apostles had barricaded themselves from the world and from their fears. Little did the holy father know, that two years later, the vast numbers of the Catholic faithful, would, too be barricaded behind locked doors because of the Corona Virus.

The Apostles barricaded themselves, why? well, out of fear.  They feared the repercussions of their association with Jesus of Nazareth. Rumors had already begun to spread throughout Jerusalem that the apostles had stolen the body of Jesus claiming that he had risen from the dead. The apostles feared that they now would be arrested, and beaten, and tortured, and killed like their master, by those who conspired against Him. After all, in this very room, on Holy Thursday, Jesus had told them, that where the Master goes, so must the disciple.

Perhaps they also locked themselves in the upper room out of shame. Only one of the Apostles, St. John, had followed the Lord all the way to the cross. Peter, had even denied that he knew Jesus. Their shame became a locked room, a prison, their shame over their failure to believe and follow. The way out of their prison, out of their immobility, paralysis, and confusion, was not clear, as they failed to grasp the implications of Jesus’ Resurrection.

Now, our locked doors over this last month of quarantine are a little different. Our doors were locked out of safety and concern for our health and our neighbors, in compliance with government policy and the guidance of our religious leaders. And from talking with parishioners over the phone these last few weeks, most of us are quite ready to throw open those doors once again.

And, for many Christians, for believers, these locked doors have not been much of an obstacle to the Peace of Christ. I’ve heard wonderful stories how Christian families have been reading from Scripture together, praying together more than they ever have before. Christians have been phoning, and video conferencing family, and neighbors, and friends, baking and cooking and shopping for each other, sewing quarantine masks. Even the internet has become a way out of the locked room, or rather, an entry point for the Lord, when we’ve watched mass. We’ve learned once again the power of making spiritual communion with Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar even when we could not be physically present there. Our desire for Him, our longing for Him expressed in prayer has been a gateway out of our locked rooms into the dwelling place of God in heaven.

Like the Christians of the early Church in our first reading, have learned new ways and rediscovered old ways to be devoted to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers by studying our faith, and reaching out in charity to members of our community, and coming together for the breaking of the bread, albeit, through computer and television screens.

And we’ve grown in solidarity with many Christians around the world, like our brothers and sisters in the diocesan missions in El Salvador who do not have access to churches, to weekly mass, and yet they continue to study the word of god, and pass on the faith to the young, and spread the Gospel through their good works and preaching.

Perhaps, these weeks of quarantine have also helped us to have a deeper understanding of what Vatican II called the “domestic church” the Church of the home. The prayer, and devotion, study, good works, and forgiveness so essential to the spreading the Gospel out in the world, must first begin at home.

Maybe we’ve come to discover that a locked door is not necessarily a bad thing, truly coming to appreciate the Lord’s teaching on the first day of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, He instructs his disciples to go to their inner room, and shut the door, and pray in secret.

A locked room can be a place where the peace of Christ is experienced profoundly. Why? Because the Lord Jesus, as we heard in the Gospel today, is not hindered by locked doors. The Risen Christ appeared and stood in their midst, and announced “Peace be with you” and he does for us as well. 
Now, there are many in the world, who lock the doors of their minds and hearts to Jesus. Their pride, their egos are so swollen, their sins or addictions or ignorance are so great, you meet them, and you think they’ll never allow Jesus into their lives. And there those who lock doors to Jesus out of shame, who hide from God like Adam and Eve in the Garden, they are ashamed of their sins, they fear going to Confession, they fear repentance and change of heart, and so they just hide.

But even shame, Pope Francis says, is a gift from God. Shame is a first step toward repentance. Shame is a sign that the conscience is still alive. Shame isn’t so much a locked door, but a sign that there is something, someone outside of ourselves .The tragedy, Pope Francis says is when we are no longer ashamed of anything. Let us not be afraid to experience shame! He says. Let us pass from shame to forgiveness!

Neither shame, nor pride, nor fear, are complete obstacles to the Lord Jesus. Know that he is with you now, in your locked rooms, announcing the invitation of his peace. For those who do not recognize his presence with them, et us pray assiduously that every imprisoned mind and selfish heart may come to detect his presence and know his mercy. No doubt, the very way he wishes to enter into the lives of nonbelievers and unrepentant sinners is through us, through those prayers, and acts of charity, the phone call, the hot meal or the plate of cookies, perhaps reaching out to that family member who we haven’t spoken to for years.

The mission of the Church now and always is bring the peace of Christ into the locked doors of the world, and we will be ever more effective in this mission, when we have opened every locked door of our own mind and heart to him through prayer and penance and works of mercy for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Sunday - 2020 Belongs to Him!

Last night, at the Easter Vigil, in an empty Church, I performed one of my favorite rites of the entire Church year, the blessing of the Easter Candle, the Paschal Candle. Into the wax of the candle is carved the holy cross, the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, and the four numerals of the current year. As the priest carves these characters, he says the following words: “Christ yesterday and today, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. All time belongs to him and all the ages. To him be glory and power through every age and for ever.”

This ritual was strange this year for a number of reasons. First, to carve the year 2020 into the candle called to mind the strange and terrible events of these last few months. 2020 began in January with the escalation of international tensions and the threat of war. February saw the beginning of the spread of a terrible pandemic, which has brought sickness and death, economic instability, loss of job, family tensions and anxiety about the future. We have seen government taking measures to mitigate these forces, but also, in some places, government dangerously approaching the infringement of our great freedoms, the right of free speech, assembly, and religion. And then of course, one of the saddest consequences of the global pandemic, and the reason for this video, the closing of church doors, the suspension of public liturgies and celebration of the sacraments.

And yet, I was profoundly struck to, that those numerals 2020 are carved into the Paschal Candle between the symbols Alpha and Omega—symbols of Christ’s reign over all of human history. 2020 belongs to Him. All time belongs to him and all ages. Ages of good health, ages of pestilence, ages of war, ages of peace. In a sense, 2020, is just another year, in which the mission of the Church remains the same—to proclaim, celebrate, and live out the dominion of Jesus Christ over the forces of evil and death.

2020 belongs to Him. And the power of his Easter victory is unleashed when Christians pray, and when we preach, and when we allow his Word and His grace to guide our lives.

Even now, the good that is being done in this time of pestilence, can be traced to him. Hospitals were invented by Catholics following the Lord’s teaching to care for this sick. The Catholic Church remains the largest non-government provider of health services around the world, providing care to the young and old alike, regardless of religion or economic status. The scientific method being utilized to find a cure for this virus was developed by Catholics. And faithful to the Lord’s teaching, the poor and hungry continue to be fed even when the temptation is to be only concerned for ourselves.

The Paschal Candle reminds us, this feast reminds us, that Jesus Christ is not simply alive yesterday, he lives not just yesterday, but today and for eternity.

In a very real sense, the corona virus, and our hours and days and weeks of isolation and quarantine are under his dominion, and he calls us to seek him, and find him, and believe in him, and follow him. 2020 has offered us the opportunity to head the Lord’s call to “seek what is above” as St. Paul writes in our second reading, to consider what is most important in life, to not be so consumed with the earthly. Let me share with you the power words of Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, on this topic.

“This virus acted as a warning. In a matter of weeks, the great illusion of a material world that thought itself all-powerful seems to have collapsed. A few days ago, politicians were talking about growth, pensions, reducing unemployment. They were sure of themselves. And now a virus, a microscopic virus, has brought this world to its knees, a world that looks at itself, that pleases itself, drunk with self-satisfaction because it thought it was invulnerable. The current crisis is a parable. It has revealed how all we do and are invited to believe was inconsistent, fragile and empty. We were told: you can consume without limits! But the economy has collapsed and the stock markets are crashing. Bankruptcies are everywhere. We were promised to push the limits of human nature ever further by a triumphant science. We were told about artificial procreation, surrogate motherhood, transhumanism, enhanced humanity. We boasted of being a man of synthesis and a humanity that biotechnologies would make invincible and immortal. But here we are in a panic, confined by a virus about which we know almost nothing. Epidemic was an outdated, medieval word. It suddenly became our everyday life. I believe this epidemic has dispelled the smoke of illusion. The so-called all-powerful man appears in his raw reality. There he is naked. His weakness and vulnerability are glaring. Being confined to our homes will hopefully allow us to turn our attention back to the essentials, to rediscover the importance of our relationship with God, and thus the centrality of prayer in human existence. And, in the awareness of our fragility, to entrust ourselves to God and to his paternal mercy.”

2020 belongs to Him. No doubt we all long to return to Church and return to the Sacraments in the weeks ahead, and even return to work or school. But we are also urged to consider how the light of Christ’s resurrection can fill our lives today. How his light can shine even in isolation, even in sickness and darkness and death. How Easter Joy is to be manifested today—how our hearts and minds and talents and treasure in His service, in the service of his Easter victory.

After carving those numerals, 2020 into wax, the Paschal candle is carried through the dark Church. It is carried through the church and lifted high, symbolic of our duty to allow the light of Christ to shine in the darkness of our lives. The candle is carried in darkness, but not before the priest offers a powerful prayer: “May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”
Whatever darkness our world is experiencing, whatever darkness you are experiencing, allow Christ’s light to dispel it. Look to His light, open your mind and heart to his light through daily prayer and reflection on His Word and His Truth. Conform yourself to His light by turning away from all sin and selfishness, all irrational fear and worry, all addiction to material creation, and trust in earthly princes, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

April 03 2020 - Seven Sorrows of BVM (EF) & Quarantine

A few weeks ago I was thinking that my office needed a bit more sacred art. A priest friend of mine recommended a website (FineArtAmerica) where I could find some beautiful art, and I decided to purchase a print of this beautiful image by William Bouguereau titled "Pieta" (1886).

Today, on the Extraordinary Form liturgical calendar is the Commoration of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which I had the honor to celebrate. I couldn't think of a more appropriate day for the print to arrive via FedEx.

In the image, Our Lady, the Sorrowful Mother, holds the lifeless body of her Son, the Savior of the World. Sorrow pierces her heart, as was foretold by Simeon.

The Collect for this morning's Mass speaks of this event: "O God, in Whose Passion the sword, according to the prophecy of blessed Simeon, pierced through the soul of Mary, the glorious Virgin and Mother, mercifully grant that we, who reverently commemorate her piercing-through and her suffering, may, by the interceding glorious merits of all the saints faithfully standing by the cross, obtain the abundant fruit of Your Passion".

As I hung the print on my office wall, I thought of how this image speaks powerfully of our current sadness, the sorrow of so many good Catholic faithful who long for the Eucharist, but cannot attend mass because of the COVID-19 quarantine. We long to receive not a lifeless body, but the living Body of Christ--a living Body that gives life.

Our Lady knows the grief of the Church during this time, for she has felt it more deeply than we can possibly imagine. The Collect for the Mass certainly resonates not only with our grief, but also with the hope--a hope to receive once again the abundant fruit of the Lord's Passion--the fruit of His Body and Blood offered for us--which we receive in the Eucharist.

As we continue to experience the grief of not being able to receive the Eucharist as often as we would like, we certainly are united with those Catholics in the missionary territories, who only have a priest to celebrate mass for them a few times or only once a year, sometimes less. They are certainly our teachers, that during the desert of Eucharistic fasting, we can practice the precepts of our faith well, study our faith, and pass on our faith.

We also unite are grief with our Lady, who teaches us to trust and submit to God every moment of our life, especially in our grief, in hopes and trust that the Lord God is at work for the greatest good, the salvation of souls.

2nd Week of Lent 2020 - Friday - God brings good out of evil, even viral pandemics

On this Friday of the second week of Lent, we hear the story of Joseph betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph foreshadows, certainly how Our Lord was betrayed by Judas and sold for the price of a slave—30 pieces of silver.

If we were to read on in the Old Testament, God brings good out of this great evil. Joseph, sold into slavery, would go on to serve in the house of Potiphar, but then, he would be falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife. He would be imprisoned for this accusation, but while in prison, his penchant for interpreting dreams, would lead to his release, and employ by the king of Egypt. He would become so influential in Egypt, that when his brothers come from the holy land to Egypt seeking food in a time of extreme famine, he is able to provide for them, and is even reconciled with them and his father. He is in the position to save their lives only because of the evil he suffered. God brings good out of evil.

Similarly, in the case of our Lord, through the evil he suffered, his rejection by the religious leaders, his betrayal, imprisonment, torture, mockery, crucifixion, and death, God would bring about the greatest good.

Perhaps, as the deadly effects of the Coronavirus spread throughout the world, we might consider what good might God be bringing about in our midst. Perhaps the conversion of those who face mortality; thinking perhaps, how to prepare their souls for eternity—for more serious than any earthly virus is unrepented sin. Certainly, we have seen the international scientific community working together for a vaccine, and the use of media to dissipate errors and panic and to spread truth. Perhaps, the Lord gives the Church an opportunity to show the world what generosity and selflessness look like.

We recall that the ways of God are mysterious, but also that God is in charge, even in the face of great evil. And that great evil cannot hinder God in bringing about greater good.

May we keep calm and carry on the work of the Gospel in the face of every evil, not cowering in fear, but trusting that God has given us the way to eternal life, 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.

For the Holy Spirit to guide the appointment of our next Bishop—that he may be a man of true faith and courage.

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, and for deliverance from all pestilence.

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.