10th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Monday - Beatitude in every season

 Over the next three weeks we will read through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount for our daily Gospel readings, beginning today with the opening verses of Chapter 5 of St. Matthew’s Gospel.  

The beatitudes are read at baptisms, weddings, funerals, and throughout the Church year because they are the attitudes and dispositions we are meant to cultivate throughout every season of life whether we are mourning or rejoicing, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in youth or old age.

Families often request the beatitudes be read because even in their grief, they recognize that it is good and holy to turn to God in gratitude for the ways in which their loved ones lived out the beatitudes and to pray for the ways their loved ones well short.

Bride and groom often request the beatitudes for their wedding because the beatitudes are the key to a happy, holy marriage. I often say to bride and groom: In the beatitudes, Jesus Himself gives all Christians a blueprint for a life of holiness and faithful discipleship.  Yet, here are also keys to a happy, holy marriage.

Your marriage will be blessed when you are poor in spirit, when you rely on the grace of God and put God first in your marriage at all times.  Your marriage will be blessed when you mourn, when you say you are sorry for moments of selfishness to God and to each other. Your marriage will be blessed when you are meek, when you are gentle instead of being domineering or self-centered. Your marriage will be blessed when you are merciful, when you are quick to grant forgiveness to each other. Your marriage will be blessed when you are clean of heart, when you guard your hearts, minds and marriage from the poisonous attitudes of our selfish culture. Keep your hearts and marriage clean from materialism, envy, entitlement, spiritual laziness. Your marriage will be blessed even when, and maybe especially when, you are persecuted for being a follower of Jesus, when you are faithful to Jesus even when there are consequences—socially, perhaps even financially. 

The beatitudes, however, are not just a list of commandments. They are about transformation. The blessedness of Christ is to transform our minds and hearts and personalities. We are to be meek, as he was meek; we are to be pure, as he was pure; we are to be devoted to doing the will of God as he was devoted.  

It is good to come across the beatitudes in Ordinary Time because they remind us that we must always be about the business of cultivating the blessedness of Christ in the ordinary circumstances of our lives—His blessedness is to transform us and animate us every day, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the whole Christian people, that the beatitudes of Christ may animate our lives. Let us pray to the Lord. 

For our President and all elected government representatives, may the Holy Spirit grant them wisdom and guide them to promote authentic and lasting peace in the world, an end to terrorism, respect for religious freedom, and a greater reverence for the sanctity of Human Life. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our young people beginning summer vacation, that they may be kept close to the truth and heart of Jesus, that young people may live in faith-filled homes where the Gospel is cherished, studied, and lived-out. Let us pray to the lord.

For all of the sick and suffering, for the grace to unite their sufferings with Christ and to know His consolation and peace.

For our departed loved ones and all of the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered. We pray to the Lord.

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

1st Week of Advent 2020 - Wednesday - The ultimate promise

 

To understand the impact of Isaiah’s words during advent, again, it is good for us to consider the context of the people of Israel at the time. Remember, it is the darkest point in Israel’s history. Most of the Jews had been banished from the land of milk and honey, the promised land. They were in exile. Family members had been separated as a way to break their spirits. The Temple of God, where they went to worship and bask in the presence of God had been destroyed.

So, imagine the impact of Isaiah’s message from God, this promise of a holy mountain on which the peoples would be gathered back together again, where they would feast, where tears would be wiped away. Ok. Maybe we can endure our sufferings a little longer, if this is what we have to look forward to. Maybe we will get our spiritual lives in order, so that we can become heirs of this promise.

This is certainly one of my favorite passages from the prophet Isaiah. And it’s no wonder why many family members request this passage to be read at funerals for their deceased loved ones. For it contains a powerful message of hope and peace and comfort at a time when it is desperately needed—a time of loss, separation, grief. The family dinner table will never be the same. 

This promise is so powerful because it speaks not just to the situation of Israel at a particularly dark moment in its history, but to the situation of every human person in relation to God. 

It’s the promise that through the Messiah, all that was lost through sin will be restored. The exile from paradise. The hostility between nations, and families, and individuals. The sorrow and grief. Hunger and disease. Death itself will be destroyed. And the encounter with God which was experienced in the Garden of Paradise will be made possible once again. 

Through the Messiah, as Isaiah promises here, we will behold God, we will see God who is hidden through life, who seems especially hidden in the dark times of our life. Here is the fulfillment of our hearts deepest longing--this really is the ultimate promise.

Advent helps us to mold our souls to receive this promise, helping us get our souls into shape through prayer and penance. So what needs to change in me, what attitudes need to change, what habits need to change in order for God to bring his promises to fulfillment in my life? 

The Lord is moved with pity, as we heard in the Gospel, over our sad, sorry state. He sees that we are spiritually famished for his presence. And we see him in the Gospel, on the mountain, feeding the hungry souls. May we respond generously to Him as he is so generous to us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.

That through the courageous witness of the Christian Church, Our Lord will bring hope to the hopeless and joy to the joyless.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That Christ may heal every disease, drive out hunger, ward off every affliction, and bring peace to the suffering.

For the deceased of our parish, family and friends, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Almighty ever-living God, you bring salvation to all and desire that no one should perish, hear the prayers of your people and grant that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and your Church may rejoice in tranquility and devotion. Through Christ our Lord.

4th Week of Easter 2019 - Friday - The Life of the Faithful Departed

Today’s Gospel is requested more than any other for Masses of Christian Burial, that is, for Catholic Funeral Masses. Why this one in particular? Why are these words of Jesus at the Last Supper so comforting, so powerful?

Perhaps it is because Jesus answers one of the ultimate questions of the human experience: “where do we go when we die?” And how does he answer that question today? He says that his followers, those who follow him, believe in him and obey him, those who allow his truth to guide their lives, those who preach his truth, and those who allow his life, his spirit, to dwell in them, will go to the Father. Christianity, “The Way” of Christ, leads to the Father, it leads to Eternal Life with God the Father.
Jesus offers this teaching at the Last Supper, before he departs from this life, for a time. Similarly, Christians who pass from this life, depart to go to the Father. We even speak of them as the faithful departed. Where have they departed to? To go to the Father.

When a beloved fellow Christian dies, we are often overwhelmed with grief. And that is quite understandable. Life will be different without them. But grief must be met by Christian hope based on the teaching of Our Blessed Lord: death is not the end for the faithful Christian.

Now, had Jesus died on the cross and not resurrected, if he had stayed dead, his words could be doubted, his words would have no more weight than any other religious leader in history. As St. Paul writes, “had Christ not risen from the dead, our faith would be in vain”. Jesus’ promises to the disciples at the last supper would be empty words.

But unlike Mohammed, Krishna, Buddha, or any other religious founder, Jesus has risen, Jesus is risen. Jesus resurrection is the stamp of guarantee on his teachings: following him, believing his truth, living his life, leads to the Father. Not all roads lead to heaven. In fact, Jesus says, today, there is one road, his road.

As we read through the Acts of the Apostles, this is why the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas are willing to suffer so, because the way of Christ is not man’s best attempt at religion, it’s not some unverified theory, it is the truth. And every person who hears the Gospel preached will have to grapple with this truth, and their acceptance or rejection of this truth will have eternal consequences.

May our easter celebrations deepen our conviction of this truth, and help us to enter more deeply, and walk more faithfully, the way of the Lord Jesus, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 

God the Father was glorified in the death and resurrection of his Son. Let us pray to him with confidence.

God the Father bathed the world in splendor when Christ rose again in glory, may our minds be filled with the light of faith.

Through the resurrection of His Son, the Father opened for us the way to eternal life, may we be sustained today in our work with the hope of glory.

Through His risen Son, the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world, may our hearts be set on fire with spiritual love.

May Jesus Christ, who was crucified to set us free, be the salvation of all those who suffer, particularly those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction, and grief.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.
For the 9 men who will be ordained priests at the Cathedral tomorrow, that their minds and hearts may be united to Christ the Good Shepherd in all things.
O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.