6th Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Tuesday - Are your hearts hardened?

 

Our scripture readings this morning highlight the importance of turning away from sin and trusting in the Lord.

In the account of Noah, we recall a moment in history when humanity’s wickedness had reached such a level that the Lord was “grieved” in His heart. Yet, among the corruption, Noah stood out for his faithfulness. He obeyed God’s command to build an ark, trusting that divine justice and mercy would prevail.

Our sin not only displeases God, it can lead to our ruin. But, like the purification God enacted through the waters of the flood, God desires to flood us with purification, that we may be free from our self-destructive ways, and live in a relationship of renewed trust. Like Noah, we need to trust that God desires to rescue us from sin, so that a new life of holiness might flourish.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus similarly warns His disciples to “guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Leaven, or yeast, is a small ingredient, yet it permeates an entire batch of dough. Jesus uses it as a metaphor for the subtle power of sin and spiritual corruption. The Pharisees, with their hypocrisy and pride, and Herod, with his worldly ambitions and moral compromise, represent two faces of sin that can deteriorate and distort our relationship with God.

Both Noah’s story and the Lord’s  warning highlight the seriousness of sin and the need to do something about it. Much like Noah had to build and enter the ark to escape the destructive waters, we are called to take deliberate steps to rid ourselves of sin’s influence. This often requires self-examination, repentance, and vigilance. The Lord asks us, “Are your hearts hardened?”.

Signs of a hardened heart might include a failure to empathize with the suffering of others, a resistance to acknowledge one’s personal faults or accept guidance, holding on to grudges, bitterness about past hurts, unwillingness to reconcile, spiritual apathy, and habitual sin without remorse.

Ultimately, guarding ourselves against sin—against the “leaven” that corrupts—means living in humble obedience to God’s will. We examine our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, uprooting what leads us away from God and replacing it with virtue, prayer, and a heart open to grace and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Seriousness about uprooting sin and selfishness allows us to experience the fullness of life the Lord desires for us, a life marked by spiritual integrity, peace, and a deeper union with Him for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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With hearts open to God’s grace, let us offer our prayers for ourselves and for the world:

For the Church: That she may always guard against spiritual corruption, proclaiming the Gospel with humility and integrity, and guiding the faithful to turn away from sin and trust in the Lord’s mercy.

For leaders in our society and world: That they may resist the “leaven” of pride and ambition, serving the common good with honesty and compassion, and promoting justice for all people.

For those trapped by sin or harmful habits: That, they may respond to God’s call, trusting that He desires to rescue them from the flood of destruction and lead them to a life of holiness.

For the sick, the lonely, and those in need: that they may be open to the healing and strength that comes from a relationship of deep faith in God.

For all who have died: That they may receive the fullness of life promised by Christ, especially N.

Heavenly Father, you call us to trust in your saving power and turn away from whatever leads us from you. Hear our prayers, and grant us the grace to guard our hearts from sin, living in humble obedience and love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

5th Week of Lent 2021 - Friday - "You are gods"

 One week from Good Friday, with Holy Week looming on the horizon, our Gospel today begins in  dramatic fashion. The opponents of Jesus are ready to stone him to death. The violence, the plotting, the hostility toward Jesus is all starting to mount and come to a climax.  

It was the festival of the Dedication of the Temple—what today is called Hanukah, and Jesus stood in a sacred place, one of the porticos of the Temple, preaching the truth about how he has been sent by the Father as the promised Messiah, the Son of God.

This enrages the people who weren’t ready to believe in Him, and certainly weren’t ready to give him the authority as the Messiah.  So they plotted against him, and were prepared to carry out that plot by stoning him to death as the Gospel opened today.

Jesus then speaks up and asks them, “why” are they persecuting him? They claim Jesus has committed blasphemy, but Jesus asserts, “I have simply been restating to you what is in your own scriptures.”  Jesus says, “you are trying to kill me for claiming to be the Son of God, while your own scriptures make that claim about all God’s people”  And he is right, of course.  Psalm 82 speaks about how the children of Israel can rightly be called “gods”—not because they have any claim on Divinity—but because God speaks to them as his own children—and calls them into a filial relationship through justice and sharing his divine life.

While Psalm 82 certainly calls Israel to filial love of God, it also stands as a powerful indictment of Israel’s failure to love and bow to God’s authority. “How long will you judge unjustly and favor the cause of the wicked?” God asks the religious leaders in Psalm 82. Not ironically, that is precisely what Jesus was doing in that moment. He was standing in the Temple, the dwelling place of God, passing a sort of judgment on Israel’s leaders. For failing to acknowledge that He comes from the Father, Israel’s leaders will be counted among the wicked and die. 

This certainly puts into perspective why the religious leaders want to arrest and kill Jesus right then and there. They aren’t so much concerned about Jesus’ supposed blasphemy, but that Jesus exposes their wicked, unbelieving hearts.

This dramatic event certainly helps us to prepare for Holy Week by helping us understanding some of the dynamics that were going on in Jerusalem leading up to Good Friday. And yet, like so many of our Lenten Gospels, they invite us to examine our own hearts: how does my pride keep me from loving Jesus as I should? How does my hardness of heart keep me from the fullness of life as a child of God?

May these final Lenten days help to humble our earthly pride so to help us live in the fullness of God’s children, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For an increase in faith for the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity. And That the Church might be delivered and protected from all spirits of error, heresy, schism, and unbelief. Let us pray to the Lord.

That during this Year of St. Joseph, the Church may discover a deeper devotion to our Universal Patron. That through St. Joseph’s intercession families may be strengthened, priestly and religious vocations may increase, demons may be scattered, and the sick and dying may know the peace of Jesus. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or illness: may they experience the healing graces of Christ. 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. 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.

February 6 2018 - St. Paul Miki - Hands stretched forth toward heaven

When invited to pray, many modern people close their eyes, bow their head, and fold their hands. We find this posture helps us to speak words of the heart to God. Another common posture of prayer, was to kneel down in worship of God, as the Psalmist says, “Let us worship and bow down, let us kneel down before the Lord our Maker.”

Another very common posture of prayer described in the Old Testament, was to spread out the hands toward heaven in a gesture of surrender and openness. The priest adopts this gesture—of hands extended toward heaven—throughout the mass, particularly when he is praying on behalf of the whole Church.

This posture is adopted by Solomon: with the Temple complete, Solomon, stood on the steps of the Temple, and offered a very priestly prayer, with hands extended to heaven, he prayed that the Temple be a place where heaven and earth would meet: a place where God was honored, a place where God would hear the petitions offered by his people.

In the Gospel, Our Lord condemns a certain posture of prayer, one that was taken by the Pharisees. And this was an internal posture, of honoring God with their lips, while their hearts are far from Him. The Pharisees adopted grand gestures, but their hearts were hardened.

On the cross, Jesus unites word, gesture, and heart: with arms and hands outstretched in perfect surrender to the will of the Father, Jesus prays and offers his life for us. We adopt the gesture of kneeling, bowing, stretching our arms to heaven in prayer, that our whole lives might become a prayer of surrender to God, like Christ’s.

The martyrs of the Church, like St. Paul Miki and his companions honored today, imitate our Lord in his self-sacrificial prayerful offering. They assume, in their martyrdom, the posture of surrender, offering their lives, in union with Jesus, for souls and the good of the Church.

Paul Miki and his companions were marched, processed to the hill of execution at Nagasaki, Japan. And there, they were hung on crosses. With arms outstretched, St. Paul Miki prayed for his persecutors. He said, “The only reason for my being killed”, he said, “is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ… I thank God it is for this reason I die… After Christ’s example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”

May our prayer today, our Eucharistic celebration, enable us to offer out lives in complete and humble offering for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the Holy Father’s prayer intention for the month of February, that those who have material, political or spiritual power may resist any lure of corruption. We pray to the Lord.

For Christians who are persecuted throughout the world, especially those who face martyrdom, that they may have a faith that is constant and pure.

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

July 18 2017 - St. Camillus - The conversion of the hard-hearted

When Jesus began his proclamation of the Gospel around the age of 30, he chose as his early headquarters, Capernaum, on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. There he stayed in the home of St. Peter. We read in the early chapters of the Gospels how he worked many miracles there and in surrounding towns, places like Chorazin and Bethsaida.

In the Gospel today, Jesus rebukes these towns for their failure to repent and believe in the Gospel.  Jesus even says, that Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, some of the most wicked cities in history, would have converted in response to the same miracles.

Yesterday, too, we reflected upon the need to choose, the need to respond to Jesus’ invitation to believe. Why did so many people harden their hearts in the face of the undeniable presence of God? The miracles were undeniable. Jesus spoke with an authority and performed works that nobody had ever witnessed.

Jesus condemns spiritual hard-heartedness throughout the Gospels, which seems to be the primary reason the Pharisees and the unrepentant choose to disbelieve and conspire against him. Spiritual hard-heartedness, sklerocardia. Sklerocardia, though it sounds like a physical illness, is really a spiritual illness. It is when we choose over and over again not to listen to anyone but ourselves, not to seek wisdom, not to see the value of humility, it is the attitude of pride which sees oneself as more important even than God.

I believe the Lord gives the hard-hearted every chance he can, to open their hearts to him. Today’s saint was a man who lived many years with hard-heart. At the age of seventeen, Camillus joined a group of mercenary soldiers, and he quickly picked up a lot of the vices of the military camp—swearing, drinking, visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a father and son con artists, swindling their fellow soldiers

They went from war to war when Camillus’ father fell seriously ill.  Giovanni sent his son to fetch a priest, and after Giovanni made a good confession, repenting from all his sins and crimes, he received Holy Communion for the last time and died.

This was a turning point in Camillus’ life. His father, a life time gambler, cutthroat, and conman called for a priest in order to die in a state of grace. And this shattered Camillus’ own hardness. Camillus went on to found a religious order caring for the sick and destitute of Rome.

God is at work, even now, working to shatter the hard hearts of our fallen-away family members and non-believers, and to do that, he often utilizes us, our faithfulness, our repentance, our willingness to undergo sufferings and penances for the conversion of sinners. May the Lord, in his mercy shatter the lasting vestiges of our own hard-heartedness, and may we be faithful in being instruments of that same mercy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops and clergy may be zealous and clear in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel.

For our Holy Father’s prayer intention for the month of July: that our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the merciful closeness of the Lord and the beauty of the Christian life.

That our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors of our culture, and that their families may be places where the faith is practiced and cherished.

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 and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

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.

Homily: Thursday - 1st Week of OT 2017 - "Harden not your hearts"

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

There are many places within the Bible which describe a terrible spiritual disease which, if left untreated, can lead to the death of the soul. The disease is called “hardened heart”, or, in the ancient Greek translation, “sclerocardia.”

Of course, “hardening of the heart” is not an affliction of the physical heart muscle, but is something that happens at the level of the human soul.  What are the symptoms of the disease? Setting one’s will in opposition to God, being closed to the things of God, attachment to sin, failing to bear the fruits of the spirit—fruits like joy, gentleness, and peace.

We’re familiar with the famous example of Pharaoh, hardening his heart, obstinately refusing to listen to God’s word through Moses. Of course, the New Testament has its share of examples of this disease. The Pharisees, Chief Priests and Scribes harden their hearts toward Jesus.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews quotes Psalm 95, which was also our responsporial Psalm today, which speaks of the Israelites hardening their hearts in the desert.  The Israelites had succumbed to the effects of “sclerocardia” on their pilgrimage through the desert to the promised land—they became filled with complaint against God, they considered returning to Egypt, reasoning that at least in Egypt that had succulent food, wine, oil, and garlic. They preferred the things of the world to the freedom to which God was leading them.

The author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95, because the Jewish-Christians of the early Church were in danger of hardening their hearts. As they experienced the persecutions, they were in danger of turning their hearts from God. This is a danger, too, for all of us who share in the cross of Christ. As we are called to turn away from the delights of the flesh, or when the trial of faith grows difficult, we can start to question: “Is it really worth it?”

Hebrews says, “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God.”

How do we guard against this spiritual heart disease? Learning from the stories of scripture and the lives of the saints, meditating on the cross and on the Passion of Christ, making sure that each day we take time to enter into God’s rest, to peacefully meditate on his presence with us, and our place within his plan.

Proverbs says, “With all vigilance guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life.” May we guard our hearts from hardness, from cynicism, from selfishness, from grumbling, from obstinance toward God’s commandments, from fear of doing God’s work, that we may experience his peace and his joy for the glory of God and salvation of souls.




That the hearts of all Christians may be always open to the Holy Will of God.

That the minds of our government leaders may be opened to the truth of the Gospels.

For those who have hardened their hearts to God and the teachings of Christ, for those who have become callused or bitter towards the Church, for their conversion, and the conversion of all hearts.

That the hearts of all young people may be fertile ground for the life of the Spirit.