2nd Week of OT 2020 - Friday - Apostles and Bishops and Us

The calling forth of the Apostles is a fitting scripture reading for us to reflect upon, particularly in light of yesterday’s news that Bishop Perez has been called forth by the Holy Father to be the next Archbishop of Philadelphia.

The word Apostle, comes from the Greek, Apostolein. Which means “to send”. We can see the English word “post” in there, like a postage stamp is used to send things, or a post office, a place where you send things, or simply to post, is “to send” something.

An apostle is first summoned by Christ. He is called from the world. He is called from the greater number of disciples. He is summoned to have a special intimacy with the Lord and to receive a special mission. In the case of the Apostles during the earthly ministry of Jesus, the Lord gives them a special mission of preaching and driving out demons. They are to do what he has done, what they have seen and witnessed him doing. In a sense, he’s already gone before them, showing them that the task is possible.

In their preaching, they shall use the words that they have heard him using, calling sinners to repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, to turn away from their sins, to change their ways, that their lives may better reflect the values of God.

And they are to engage in spiritual warfare with the powers of darkness, driving away the entities and attitudes and forms of spiritual slavery through the power of God, the power given to them from God himself.

Having spent time with the Lord, having received their marching orders, the Lord then sends them out into the unknown. There they will encounter hostility, as he has encountered it. They will have to answer questions, make decisions, speak words some—many—are not willing to hear—helping them break from the sinful habits of the past in order to prepare for a future with God.

At the age of 32, St. Francis de Sales, whom we honor today was ordained a bishop. For 20 years, he labored zealously for the conversion of the Calvinists, administrated his diocese, and also found time to write his spiritual opus, The Introduction to the Devout Life, which hasn’t gone out of print in 400 years.

We certainly invoke the intercession of the bishop St. Francis and all those apostle saints and bishop saints, for Bishop Perez, called forth from Cleveland to fulfill the Apostolic mission within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. We recognize that we too, in our own way, are called to be with the Lord, that we may preach and drive out demons in the unknown territories of our lives. May we receive all the help we need from God for that purpose, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That all members of the Church may live out their baptismal call with greater conviction and faithfulness, and turn to the Lord in their sins with sincere contrition.

For Bishop Perez, for the churches of Philadelphia and Cleveland, for our future bishop, whomever he may be, for faithfulness to the Apostolic mission.

For the safety of all at the March for Life today, and that the witness to the dignity of human life may bring about greater protection for the unborn and conversion to the Gospel of Life.

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.

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

Octave of Easter 2019 - Tuesday - Easter Conviction

Throughout the Easter season we hear the unfolding saga of the Acts of the Apostles. The Acts of the Apostles is Part Two of St. Luke’s Two Volume work on the Mission of the Messiah. In Part I, his Gospel, Luke details Jesus’ mission to establish the Kingdom of God and bring salvation to the mankind. Luke’s Gospel culminates in Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

The Book of Acts is Part II of the mission, God works through the Apostles to spread the Gospel, to make disciples, to make salvation known.

50 Days after Easter Sunday, on Pentecost, we read how Saint Peter emerges from the upper room with the other Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, and begins to preach.  His sermon was the first public proclamation of Jesus’ Resurrection: his audience, the citizens of Jerusalem.

He stands up, in front of these people, some of whom, may have been the very same who called “crucify him, crucify him” at Jesus’ trial before Pilate, they very same people who watched as Jesus carried the cross through the streets of Jerusalem, some may have heard the nails being pounded into Jesus’ hands and feet.  And now Peter, stands before all of these people, and says, “This man, Jesus the Nazarean, whose mighty deeds and wonders and signs pointed to the fact that he was sent by God…you killed, you crucified him.  But God raised him up…So now, “Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.””
So powerful was this speech, that Luke tells us today “it cut the audience to the heart”, and they turned to Peter and the Apostles and asked, “what they should do”?  Peter answered, “repent and be baptized”.  And about 3000 were baptized!

This is the same Peter, who denied Jesus out of fear.  He is now filled with courage and conviction.  Peter is a model for us. For we have received that same spirit and that same mission.

On the first page of the Catechism we read: “Those who with God's help have welcomed Christ's call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ's faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.”

We do well to pay great attention to these marvelous passages from the book of Acts, that we can be filled with that same conviction and courage as the Apostles, the same love of the Lord and concern for human salvation. May the Holy Apostles help us to be faithful to the mission of Christ here in our own town, in our own day, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
 
Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.
For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

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

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

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

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.
O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

12th Sunday of OT 2017 - "What you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops"

This week we celebrated the feast of two of my favorite saints, saints who truly exemplify this Sunday’s Gospel: two English saints, the martyrs St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More.

You may be familiar with the story which brought these two holy men to their martyrdom. King Henry VIII desired to divorce his wife because she was not bearing him a son.  At the time Henry was a Catholic; in fact, Catholicism had flourished in England for over a thousand years. Henry had himself written theological texts defending Catholicism against the Protestant Errors of Martin Luther.

But, the desire for an heir, a male son, became an all-encompassing pursuit for the King. Wanting to marry another woman who might bear a son, the King asked the Pope for an annulment. But, after a thorough examination, the Pope decreed that marriage was valid, there were no grounds for an annulment.

The King didn’t like being told what he could and couldn’t do, so King Henry claimed that he was head of the Church in England, and granted himself the annulment.

He then forced all the bishops and all government officials to sign and swear an oath to these claims: they had to swear publicly, that the King was head of the Church, which contradicts the Catholic Faith.

You’d think that this claim would be met with clear denunciation on the part of the England’s bishops; but no. And even though, it is clear from Scripture and the uninterrupted teaching of the Church, that our Blessed Lord while he still walked the earth made St. Peter and his successors the head of the Church, all save one of the Bishops folded to political pressure, and spoke the words the king wished to hear. One lone bishop witnessed to the true faith with his life, that bishop was St. John Fisher.

Thomas More had been chancellor of the kingdom, the highest office in the land, next to the throne. Thomas, in fact, was a very good friend of the King’s and a close confidant. As a high ranking official, te too was being pressured to acknowledge the king’s claim to have this authority to redefine Christianity, to redefine marriage. But Thomas was a man of true faith. He resigned his office, and stood up to the king, who was his friend. For this he was imprisoned, and eventually beheaded.
Henry VIII ended up marrying not just one wife, but six; he beheaded two of them, and simply dismissed two others.  And he is responsible, at least partially, for this grave wound within the Church, a wound which continues to weaken Christianity’s witness.

Bishop John Fisher and the statesman Thomas More were faithful even when numerous bishops, priests, and government officials pressured them to contradict their faith. In fact, Thomas was pressured by members of his own family. They were Catholic, they knew the faith, they tried to convince Thomas just take the oath publicly, while keeping the true faith in your heart. But he said, no, what is oath but words of the heart spoken publicly, words spoken to God.

Our Lord in the Gospel today urges us to be faithful, and to be bold in proclaiming our faith publicly: “The words that I’ve spoken in private, speak in the light, those words that you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” Our faith is to be shared, shouted from the rooftops. What we do publicly, how we act, how we treat people in public, these things matter. Someone once said, you can tell a lot about what is in a person’s heart by how they treat a waitress, a cashier, a salesperson. We are to reflect the goodness of God, and the love of God, in public, to strangers, to our spouses, to our parents, to our children.  How we act at a restaurant, at the supermarket, in the parking lot, these things matter.

We should also not be afraid to share our faith. I was talking to a parishioner this week. He was…well..complaining about a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses who came to his door. He told them that he didn’t have time to talk with them, and that they aren’t going to convert him anyway, since he was solid in his Catholic Faith. I told him, of course they aren’t going to convert you, but your job is to convert them! That was an opportunity God was giving you to share your faith. He said, well, they gave me some reading material. And I said, that’s fine, but what did you give them? A Catechism, a holy card, a pamphlet on our Faith, anything? No, Father, I don’t have that, I didn’t have anything to give them, I just wanted to get back to my yardwork.

Saints like John Fisher and Thomas More believed that there is nothing more valuable, nothing more important than our Catholic faith. And if we really believed that, we should never be afraid to share it, to practice it openly, to pray publicly, in the workplace, at the restaurant. I tell the kids at school, that I hope I never see them eat at a restaurant without praying before their meal.

I know people who will not attend bible study or adult faith formation, they won’t volunteer at summer bible camp, or go to daily mass, or even pray the rosary on an airplane, because they don’t want to give off the impression that they are “one of those Catholics”…”too religious”…”too serious about religion”…

We live in such a strange age. In some parts of the world, Christians die for the faith, and in many parts of our own neighborhood, many would rather die than practice it!

Don’t be afraid to shout your faith from the rooftops. That’s certainly part of the Gospel today.
The other part, is a great warning: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” If faced with the choice between dying for the sake of Christ or denying him to save one’s life, we must remember that the worst thing our enemies can do is kill our body; but they cannot kill the soul. Better to save one’s soul than to preserve one’s physical life. Therefore we should revere God much more than we fear our persecutors, for only God can determine our eternal destination.

As he climbed the steps of his place of martyrdom, St.Thomas More was asked if he had any last words. He said, “I die the King’s true servant, but God’s first.”

May our faith take precedence over all of our earthly duties and relationships. May this Eucharist deepen our conviction of the Truth that we possess in our Catholic faith, and deepen our commitment to proclaiming it from the rooftops, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Monday 2017 - Fearlessly sharing the good news

“Do not be afraid!” Easier said than done! The women left the tomb, half overjoyed, half fearful. They had come face to face with the angel of the Lord and experienced a violent earthquake. Anyone in their right mind WOULD be afraid. The romans had crucified their Lord, the Jewish leaders couldn’t be trusted, capable of insidious plotting and conspiracy. The only way you wouldn’t be, if you were commanded by God…as they were, and as have we.

“Do not be afraid!” the Lord commands us. His Word strikes down our fears when we trust Him.
This Easter week is all about preaching, preaching the good news of the resurrection, spreading it among non-believers, those who have still not allowed the Gospel to take root in their hearts. We are not to allow fear to keep us from this mission, the divine mandate: to preach, to proclaim, to spread.
The two Mary’s in today’s Gospel are tasked with bringing the good news to the apostles, those who should have known better. Sadness, fear, depression had begun to grow in them, their lives seemed ruined, they were crushed—their leader, their master and teacher arrested and killed. Even after the Lord had told them repeatedly he would rise, they just couldn’t see past their sorrow.

So the two Mary’s are sent to them: to rekindle hope, to deliver the message of good news.

Likely, there are people in our own lives: neighbors and family who suffer from similar sadness, fear, depression, those who think they are trapped in a cycle of bad luck, or face illness or unemployment. Perhaps the Lord wants to send us on a mission: to go to them to say, “the Lord will give you strength because he is risen…when life gets me down I find it important to go to the blessed Sacrament chapel…or a particular passage of scripture…or I pray a rosary every day in order to bring my troubles to God…or I make sure I gather together with other Christian families to know that I’m not alone”

Christ is alive, he is risen, and we can receive his life, his peace, his strength, his wisdom, when we unite ourselves to him and trust him.

May we be free from fear and faithful in proclaiming the good news this day and all days for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
Filled with paschal joy, let us pray more earnestly to God that he, who graciously listened to the prayers and supplications of his beloved Son, may now be pleased to look upon us in our lowliness.
1. For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely, the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.
2. For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace given by Christ.
3. For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness which no one can take from them.
4. For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.
O God, who 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.