July 4 2018 - Independence Day - Declaration of Independence and the Sacrifice of Christ

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence to declare to the world that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as sovereign states independent from the rule of the British Empire.

In response to this historic event, John Adams, one of only two of the Founding Fathers to go on to become president, wrote to his wife Abigail:

“…This day ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

How fitting that as Catholics we begin this day of pomp and circumstance with the greatest of all celebrations: the celebration of Holy Mass.

There is a beautiful congruence of what our nation celebrates and what our faith celebrates. Our nation celebrates today freedom from tyrannical rule. It was the contention of our Founding Fathers that the British Rule of the American Colonies was tyrannical and unjust, and so we declared our independence from that tyranny in order to govern ourselves justly, that we may freely exercise and pursue our God given rights.

The Mass is a celebration of freedom as well. It is a celebration of freedom from the tyranny that we impose upon ourselves through sin, a tyranny rooted in man’s grasping at the fruit of a forbidden tree.

To many people, the notion of “freedom” means the ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want.  You even sometimes hear children claim, “I can’t wait until I grow up, then, I can do whatever I want.”  But, freedom does not mean doing whatever we want, but doing what we ought.  Adam and Eve ought to have used their freedom to remain obedient. We all ought to use our freedom to pursue righteousness.

We know that our founding Fathers had to fight many battles to obtain the freedom which they believed was our God given right. Independence Day is always a day of gratitude for all those who battled for freedom and a reminder that the battle for freedom endures today.

The Mass is also the commemoration of a battle, a spiritual battle, and the victory of Christ at that battle, a victory not obtained through military arms, but by Christ’s arms outstretched upon the cross, a victory won by Christ’s obedience.

In a sense, the Mass is not a declaration of independence, but a declaration of dependence: the Christian declaration that we can never be truly free or truly good without God.

So we pray for our nation today, that the citizens of this country will be committed to pursuing and protecting our freedom. We pray in gratitude for those who shed their blood for the freedom we enjoy today. And we pray that we, as Christians, will witness to the world that freedom, in it’s ultimate sense, can only be found through Christ and His Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Please stand for our petitions.  Our petitions this morning are those composed for the inauguration of President George Washington by Archbishop John Carroll, First Roman Catholic bishop in our country whose brother Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. We pray to the Lord.

Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty. We pray to the Lord.

We pray for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they maybe enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability. We pray to the Lord.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. We pray to the Lord.

And we pray especially for all of our countrymen who have gone before us in faith, for all those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, for all the of the deceased members of our family and friends, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.  We pray to the Lord.

28th Sunday in OT 2017 - Mystical Marriage and the Wedding Feast

On Tuesday evenings, we’ve been offering the video series titled “The Pivotal Players”. The series beautifully presents the lives of men and women who deeply impacted Church history. We’ve studied St. Francis of Assisi who brought important reform to the Church of the Middle Ages by calling men and women back to Gospel simplicity in a time when Christians were beginning to become enamored with the luxuries of their day.

We learned from St. Thomas Aquinas, the priest, scholar, and theologian whose writings and systematic thinking about God and the Church continue to be of inestimable value.

Last week, we studied the life and impact of different sort of theologian, the mystic St. Catherine of Siena who is pivotal in helping the Church to contemplate the mystery of God’s love. Listen to her words: “You are a mystery as deep as the sea;” she says, “the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I search for you.  But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more.  When you fill my soul, I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light.”

Catherine’s deep yearning for God was also accompanied by extraordinary mystical phenomena such as visions and revelations, raptures, the stigmata. Catherine, lived many years eating nothing except the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  And often, her prayer was so intense, she would begin to levitate.

Catherine was named by Pope Paul VI as a Doctor of the Church, which is surprising because she was illiterate. As a Doctor of the Church Catherine teaches the Church of all ages essential lessons about the Christian Life. And Catherine is very clear that the purpose of the Christian life is to grow in union with God through prayer, fervent meditation on the suffering of Christ, fasting, cultivation of the virtues, purification from sin, reliance on the Sacraments of the Church, and total abandonment to the Holy Will of God.


Union with God was a theme of her writings and reflections. At the age of 19, having already attained tremendous sanctity, St. Catherine had a vision, in which Jesus gave her a wedding ring, symbolic of her union with Christ the Bridegroom of the Church. Theologians call this the Mystical Marriage, a foreshadowing of the eternal union the blessed obtain in heaven. This is the point of the Christian life, to grow in this union here on earth, that we may share in this union in heaven.

This image of mystical marriage with God isn’t just the fanciful imagining of medieval mystics. Jesus himself uses this image in the Gospel parable we heard today: A king had thrown a wedding feast for his son and sent out servants to invite the guests.  Some guests ignored the invitation.  Others abducted the king’s servants, mistreated them, and killed them. One guest was found unworthy or at least unprepared for the feast.

Who is the king in this parable? Who is the son? Who is his unnamed Bride? Who are the servants? Who are the guests?

Well, of course, the King is God the Father, who celebrates the Marriage of Christ, His Son to  the Church. The Marriage was accomplished on the cross. Jesus himself announces this on the cross, when he says, “Consummatum est”—it is consummated. The servants are the apostles and all those God has sent out into the world to invite sinners to repent and become members of the Church. The guests are those who are given a choice: will you join the wedding feast or not?

At the end of the parable, there is a guest who is thrown out because he is not wearing the wedding garment. Perhaps, this is a Christians, who had lost his wedding garment through sin. Perhaps here is a Christian-in-name-only who went through life simply going through the motions, but never actually sought the intimate union that God wants to establish with us.

In baptism we do receive a wedding garment. But it is up to us to keep that wedding garment unstained and intact. And if it becomes stained or tattered or lost by sin, it must be cleansed and repaired through the Sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Confession.

The wedding feast of the parable is certainly an allegory for heaven. And yet, we cannot help but see a parallel to what we are doing here, right now.

Since the earliest days of the Church, the Mass, celebrated each Sunday and every day for almost two thousand years, has been called “the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.” Here at Holy Mass, we are the wedding guests who have responded to the invitation of the King. Here at Holy Mass, those who are prepared through Sacramental Confession, are able to feed on the richest food and choicest wine of all, the Body and Blood of Jesus. Here we are able to receive a foretaste of the Communion the blessed enjoy at the eternal wedding feast of heaven.

Over the last few decades, millions of Catholics have fallen away from the Catholic Church.  BUT, the number one reason why Catholics return to the Church is because of their hunger for the Eucharist.  People return to the Church, because here and only here does Christ give us his true flesh and blood.

Many Catholics come to Mass every day because of this deep hunger for Him. To paraphrase Catherine of Siena, the more we eat, the more we hunger. The desire to know God, to be with God, to be close to God is very good, it’s our deepest longing. But it’s up to us to pursue it, to pursue the God who wants to see us flourish in holiness, who wants to see us become saints.

As I mentioned St. Catherine subsisted for years only on the Eucharist. This was possible because the Eucharist is the supersubstantial food of heaven, it is the very life and presence of God. St. Catherine would often see blazing fire in the consecrated host, for rightly so, the Eucharist is the ardent fire of God’s love for us. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church’s life, for from it we receive the grace to live out our union with Christ in the world.

May each of us like Saint Catherine be set aflame with divine love, be united to the Lord in his sufferings, and be devoted to the building up and serving of his Holy Church for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Tuesday - 26th Week of OT 2017 - Divine love shining through perfect humanity

Luke is the favorite gospel of many people. In fact, it has been called "the most beautiful book ever written". In elegant and articulate style, Luke gives the reader a powerful and emotional picture of  Christ. St. Luke presents Jesus as the Great Physician, healer of body and souls. More than any other Gospel writer, Luke calls Jesus “the Son of Man”, and not so much deemphasizes Jesus’ divinity, rather, shows Jesus’ divine love shining through his perfect humanity. Luke repeatedly shows Jesus’ compassion for the poor, the needy, the sick, the sorrowing, the sinful women rejected by society, the despised Samaritans, tax collectors, beggars, lepers, and even the dying thief, crucified at his side.

In the early infancy narratives, Luke sets the tone for much of the Gospel: Jesus’ birth is met by thanksgiving, rejoicing, and prayer by some, yet there is also clear foreshadowing, that Jesus will be rejected and will suffer.

After the infancy narratives, after years of the hidden quiet life in Nazareth, Jesus embarks on his public ministry, announcing the coming of the kingdom of heaven, which is marked by miracles of healing and powerful preaching. Today’s short passage is the turning point in the Gospel. From his public ministry through Galilee, Jesus resolutely turns to journey to Jerusalem, he sets his face to journey to suffering and death.

For the rest of the Gospel, much of what Jesus says and does is in reference to what will happen when he gets to Jerusalem, the meaning and importance of what he does there.

And, there in Jerusalem, Jesus fulfills the prophecy we heard in the first reading from the prophet Zechariah: “Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem”. That prophecy is fulfilled in the celebration of the Mass, where men and women of every race and tongue stream to Jerusalem, to the foot of the cross, where the love of God and the goodness of God are made manifest. The divine physician brings healing at the Eucharist, “the Son of Man’s” divinity shines through his perfect humanity in his self-giving on the cross and in the Eucharist.

It is at the Eucharist that compassion is shown to the poor, those rejected by society are gathered in, the repentant sinner is shown mercy. The celebration of Holy Mass is the gathering of all nations on that Holy Mountain, at which the Lord wipes away tears from all faces, who gathers and mends all of broken humanity, and feeds the hungry with the richest of foods.

Let us turn resolutely to the Lord who goes to the cross for us, who embraces suffering and death for us, who feeds us with his body and blood, 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.

For the peoples of all the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, especially the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas and their families.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of October: That all workers may receive respect and protection of their rights, and that the unemployed may receive the opportunity to contribute to the common good.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.

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.