31st Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Wednesday (school mass) - "Love God"

 

Yesterday, I was able to visit a number of the classrooms, and I spoke about one of my favorite subjects and activities: prayer—different types of prayer, different ways to pray, when we should pray, why we pray, and we even talked about the five-finger method of prayer, how our fingers can remind us for whom to pray.

We talked about the sort of prayer that asks God for help—help for those closest to us, help for our teachers, help for those in charge, our leaders, prayer for the week, the suffering and the sick, and prayer for ourselves.

We talked about the sort of prayer which asks God for mercy when we’ve sin. “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”

We talked about the importance of offering prayers of thanksgiving: thanking God for the gift of life, thanking God for the shelter, food, and health, thanking God for the beauty of creation, thanking God for Jesus dying on the cross for us and the gift of our salvation, and the church, and the sacraments.

Lastly, we talked about the sort of prayer that most of us probably don’t do enough—the sort of prayer that simply tells God, “I love you.” “I love you, Lord”.

The more we love God, and express our love for God in our words and actions, the happier we will be. The saints show us this over and over. Their joy is great because their love for God is great.

Some people do not love God at all—they love money, and fame, and pleasure, and power, but they do not love God—and deep down, they are miserable for it. Some people love God only a little, and that’s a start—they know about him a little, but God makes little difference in their life—and they go from pursuit to pursuit, relationship to relationship, chasing happiness, but never really finding it, because they don’t believe God is the source of happiness. But Christians are taught by Jesus to love God with our whole heart mind soul and strength. Love for God is to be the driving force of our lives, the motive behind all our actions.

It is the reason I became a priest, it’s the reason I am here right now.

And daily, many times a day, we need to reconnect with the love of God, to call it to mind, to remind ourselves that love is to be the reason for my decisions, my choice of words, how I treat people, what I do with my time and my body.

As Jesus makes himself present at Mass today under the appearance of bread and wine, express your love for Him. “Jesus, I love you. Lead me and guide me.” For the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

August 1 2023 - St. Alphonsus Ligouri - Divine Love and Suffering

 In 1731, a very holy nun, Sr. Maria Celeste, who has been recently beatified by Pope Francis, had a vision of our Lord with St. Francis on His right hand and a priest on His left. A voice told her, “This is he whom I have chosen to be head of My Institute, the Prefect General of a new Congregation of men who shall work for My glory.” This priest had spent his early priesthood as a missionary, preaching in parishes, seeking to renew the faith in a society where the faith was languishing, the priest was Fr. Alphonsus Ligouri, who, a year later in 1732, began the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known now as the Redemptorists, a preaching order who endure to this day.

I remember a Redemptorist priest coming to my home parish in Madison when I was a young boy for a preaching mission, and it really was one of the first stirring homilies I remember.

St. Alphonsus was a tremendously popular preacher. His clear and organized sermons had universal appeal. And he was successful in his mission, the renewal of hearts, the renewal of faith.

And no doubt the devil hated him. After the founding of his order, St. Alphonsus had a life rife with persecutions and betrayals. His companions began to abandon him as they did not want to live under the strict Redemptorist Rule, and the Congregation was rife with division. He suffered lifelong persecution from the Prime Minister of Naples.  After being made Bishop he suffered assassination attempts.

Troubled with ill health, by the time the saint was 85, he was crippled, mostly blind, and deaf. He suffered from a raw wound on his chest made from the constant rubbing of his chin upon it due to his badly bent neck from rheumatic disease. He additionally suffered the “dark night” of his soul, replete with many interior struggles and trials.

Despite his own sufferings, he penned many moral, dogmatic, and devotional works to aid his flock and the Church. His famous work “Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament” saw 40 editions in his own lifetime and greatly influenced the practice of Eucharistic Adoration. His “Glories of Mary” is one of the most widely used devotionals to the Blessed Mother. These and his many other writings were instrumental in his being named a Doctor of the Church.

His willingness to suffer for God and for the Church, and his patience in doing so were sure signs of his love for God, and perhaps a source of his efficacy. Alphonsus writes about suffering, “The brightest ornaments in the crown of the blessed in heaven are the sufferings which they have borne patiently on earth”—”the sufferings endured for God are the greatest proof of our love for Him”—" By the law of nature, there is no pleasure in suffering; but divine love, when it reigns in a heart, makes it take delight in its sufferings” in other words, love of God transforms suffering for God into a delight. 

Many Christians, likely most of us at times, neglect the work God wants them to do because they run away from suffering, from doing anything difficult, habituated to seeking only comfort. But St. Alphonsus reminds us that when we bear our crosses with love like Christ, the cross is transformed into the most powerful instrument for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -  

For the grace to accept sufferings for the work of the Gospel. 

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Redemptorist Order, founded by St. Alphonsus, and for the sanctification of all marriages. 

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families. 

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

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

September 14 2022 - Exaltation of the Holy Cross - The sign of God's love for sinners

Today marks the celebration of what Saint John Paul II called THE symbol of Christianity. Most of us marked ourselves with it upon entering the Church today, we began mass with it, we’ll end Mass with it.  Essentially, every time we Catholics pray, we begin and end our prayer with it.  Many of our bedrooms and dining rooms have one.  All types of people where it around their necks, from bishops to baseball players to teenage rockstars.   The priest holds his arms in this shape during the Eucharistic prayer.  It is the central focal point of every Catholic church.  Of course, I’m speaking of the cross.

Worn around our necks, adorning our homes and churches, beginning and ending our prayers, the cross is not a good luck charm, it is a reminder that in baptism the Christian has been claimed by Christ, loved by God, that Christ has died for us. “God so loved the world” as we heard in our Gospel today, “that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Christ was sent unto the cross, that we might be delivered unto heaven.

The cross is a sign of God’s love. When we make the sign of the cross, when we wear a cross, when we adorn our home with a cross, that cross is to be a reminder of God’s love; the willingness of Christ to go to the cross for you and for me and every sinner. Not because we were righteous, but because we were lost. Heaven was closed for us. Hell was our destiny.

The cross of suffering and death embraced by Christ is the key that opened the gates of heaven, it is the new tree of life from which flows the fruit of eternal life, so much so that the early Christians sang: O Crux ave, spes unica.  Hail O Cross, Our Only Hope. Piis adauge gratiam, reisque dele crimina, grant increase of grace to believers and remove the sins of the guilty.

And yet, today is not simply a reflection on the importance of the cross 2000 years ago, it is a called for Christians to make the cross known to the world. The feast is called the exaltation of the cross—the lifting high of the cross, the bringing the light of the cross to others.

St. Louis de Montfort says "The cross is a sure sign that God loves you... The greatest proof that we are loved by God is when we are despised by the world and burdened with crosses--when we are made to endure the privation of things we could rightly claim; when our holiest wishes meet with opposition; when we are afflicted with distressing and hurtful insults; when we are subjected to persecution, to have our actions misinterpreted by good people or by those who are our best friends... If Christians knew the value of the cross they would walk a hundred miles to obtain it, because enclosed in the beloved cross is true wisdom..."

The light of the Cross shows us the love God has for us, and by taking up our own crosses, embracing self-sacrifice, service, mortification, penance and ever persecution for the sake of the kingdom, we show that it is by the light of the cross, not the light of worldly values and pleasures, that we are made worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

May we exalt the cross in all we say and do, and by it ourselves be exalted, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - 

That the Church may lift high the Cross of Christ, proclaiming forgiveness and redemption in him alone, we pray to the Lord...

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and take hold of the peace and justice that only he can bring, we pray to the Lord...

That all whose lives are marked by suffering may discover the saving power of the cross of Christ, and be victorious in all their trials, we pray to the Lord...

That those who embrace the cross as they work for justice for the poor, the oppressed, and the unborn, may find strength and success in their work, we pray to the Lord…

That the sick may be blessed with patience during the difficult parts of their journey in life, we pray to the Lord...

That all who have died may experience the eternal life won by the cross of Christ, especially the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for my dear friend Father Robert Wendelken on the anniversary of his death, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered, we pray to the Lord...

Almighty ever-living God, comfort of mourners, strength of all who toil, may the prayers of those who cry out in any tribulation come before you, that all may rejoice, because in their hour of need your mercy was at hand. Through Christ our Lord. (From Good Friday Petitions)

 

3rd Sunday of Easter 2021 - Love of God perfected in us

 At 10am this morning(yesterday), His Excellency Bishop Malesic ordained 5 men to the transitional diaconate. They are called transitional deacons, as their ordination to the Sacred Order of Deacon is a transitional step on their way to priestly orders. This is in contrast to the permanent deacons, who will remain in the Order of Deacons permanently. The new transitional deacons will serve in parishes over the summer and throughout the next year as they complete their seminary formation. They are certainly in our prayers.

I’ve mentioned it before, but my favorite moment in the ceremony for diaconate ordination, is when the deacon kneels in front of the Bishop who hands the newly ordained the Book of the Gospels. The bishop then charges him: “receive the word of God whose herald you have become: believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.

What is the significance of this ritual? The Church needs the ordained to be men of Truth, don’t we. Men who know the Scriptures, know the Gospel, and who teach Truth and live the Truth. We want priests who have encountered Jesus in prayer and will help others meet him and live his teachings. 

Right belief is required for right teaching. Right teaching is required for right practice. Without this harmony of right belief, teaching, and practice in our shepherds, the sheep become scattered. So many divisions in the Church come from church leaders failing in their duties to believe rightly, teach rightly, and live rightly. Rather we need good shepherds whose minds and hearts are in union with the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his flock.

I meet a lot of Catholics these days who simply don’t know their faith. Some of my young couples that I work with in marriage preparation, they cannot name the seven sacraments, some of them don’t know there ARE seven sacraments, nor do they know what sacraments are. They can’t name the 10 commandments or more than one or two books of the bible. I recently asked a young Catholic if she knew what is meant by “the state of grace”, and she said, “oh, like the Taylor Swift song”. I kind of laughed and cried at the same time.

By the way, googling the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s hit single, I wouldn’t recommend listening to it, one does not find an explanation of the necessary condition of soul at death to attain heaven, the soul’s possession of the gift of sanctifying grace which is lost through mortal sin, without which the soul upon death will be severed from the life of God forever.

In the first reading today, St. Peter guided by the Holy Spirit goes into the streets of Jerusalem and begins to preach. “The author of life you put to death but God raised him from the dead”. Peter, once slow to believe, who even denied knowing his master as he carried his cross, now filled with conviction, speaks the Truth.

And he does so passionately, but patiently, he says, he put the author of life to death, and I know, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did” but now it’s time to believe. He is patient with those who acted out of ignorance. But he’s also very clear. Now it’s time to repent, and convert. 

I remember within my first week or two of seminary. And I remember sitting in my room with the catechism. And my mind was being blown. I’d never encountered the Truth so clearly presented. I had a pretty lousy catechetical education as a young kid. My parents were not at all concerned about the quality of the catechesis I was receiving in my parish PSR program. They did not at all understand that they were tasked to be the primary educators of faith. 

And in seminary I quickly came to discover how inadequate my catholic education had been. So many of the other seminarians, and my seminary professors, knew the faith, very well. And I remember a very pivotal moment, when I was sitting there with my catechism, and I prayed, Lord, if I believe any errors, help me to be free of them. If at any point, I think I know better than the Church, humble me, correct me. Replace my ignorance with your truth.”

Theological knowledge is important. Believe what you read. Teach what you believe. We should always be open to doctrinal correction. If I believe or teach any error, may I be corrected. But the third part of that diaconal charge is also essential. Live what you preach. Live the truth of the Gospel.

“Those who say, “I know him,” but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them,” writes saint John in our second reading. It is not enough to know about God. Head knowledge, theological knowledge isn’t the end-all-be-all measure of the Christian life. The ability to give a theological treatise on grace will not gain us entry into heaven. If we claim to know God and claim to be in right relationship with him but are not keeping his commandments, then we are deceiving ourselves. 

Now of course, sometimes we fall into sin out of weakness. Those falls are easy to confess and repent of. John, rather, is very concerned with the Christians who are allowing sin to take root in their lives and are failing to repent of them.  If you are justifying serious sin, attitudes and activities that holy mother church defines as sin, allowing them to take root, you are deceiving yourself. “Repent, and be converted,” says Peter in our first reading, “that your sins may be wiped away.”

For when we do, and this is good news, they are. God grants mercy and gives us strength to change. Change is scary, but the Lord is with us. He walks with us showing us a new way of living. The one who hears God’s word, who puts that word into practice in his daily life, “the love of God becomes perfected him” writes John. Our love for God increase, and the presence of God’s love in our souls becomes perfected. When we keep his word—through right belief and right practice—God’s love reaches its intended goal, the perfection of our souls. 

The one who goes to confession every two weeks, because he acknowledges the sins of his life, and confesses them because he loves God and wants to grow in perfection, is much closer to the kingdom, than the one who refuses to acknowledge his sins or has justified them and is allowing them to take root.

In the Gospel we see this progression of perfection on display: in the beginning of the story, the disciples are filled with fear, fear stemming from ignorance.  Then as they spend time with the Lord, who teaches them, their ignorance is replaced with understanding. They spend more time with him in conversation. They eat with him. They study the scriptures with him. Their fear is transformed into joy, and the Lord proclaims them and charges them at his witnesses.

Here is a beautiful program of Christian growth for all of us. We study our faith and grow in our conviction that Christ is Risen. We immerse ourselves in the scriptures, allowing God to open our minds to his truth through them. We come to Mass to eat with Him, to be bolstered in our love for Him as we share the Eucharistic meal with Him. And then we are sent out as witnesses—our faith, our relationship with Jesus—having a real, observable difference in our day-to-day lives: our speech, our activities, our relationships, our leisure activities.

Through repentance, conversion, and the embrace of our Catholic faith, may we be free from error and fear; may the love of God be perfected in us, that we may be his true witnesses for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Lent 2021 - Friday - The Greatest Commandment

 

Many of the religious leaders saw Jesus as a threat to their power, and so they closed their hearts to his truth, and conspired to silence him. 

The scribe in today’s reading, on the other hand, seems to approach Jesus with more noble intentions. The scribe asks a simple question, “which is the greatest commandment”. 

The scribe's desire to know the greatest commandment reflects a heart that was seeking to understand what God wants from us, so that he may respond appropriately.  He wasn't just trying to trip Jesus up like many of the Pharisees, nor did he want Jesus to tell him the bare minimum of what God expects of us. The scribe sought from Jesus a single simple principle underlying the complexity of the law—a foundational commandment that gives meaning to all of the ensuing rules and regulation of religious life.  

The command to love God and neighbor is not just an order or duty.  After all, no one can love simply because he is told to do so!  The greatest commandment impels us to align our will to God's will in everything we do; to make loving and obeying God our highest principle.  

Jesus responded to the scribe’s question by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5, the great Israelite confession of faith known as the Shema: Shema Israel, Adonai Eluhenu, Adonai Ehad – Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God. He is Lord alone!  

By the time of Jesus, this statement was understood to mean that God of Israel is not only the one God of the Jews but the one and only God of the whole universe.  In a world of polytheism, the jews were the only people to have been granted this earth-shattering insight: there is but one God, who has created all things and who holds all things in existence by his goodness and power.  His claim on us is therefore total, calling for a total response at every level of our being.  

The Great Commandment to love God with all your strength—to make God’s will the highest and guiding principal of your life—is the only truly appropriate response to the One God and Creator of the Universe. 

The rightly ordered life seeks to love God amidst all of the other activities of life. God is not to be set aside as we engage in business, family life, leisure, or political involvement. God is to be served and sought in every dimension of life. 

St. Paul wrote, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”  Many of us glorify God before our meals, by praying, and saying grace. But we can better order all of our activities by beginning them with prayer: praying before getting in the car, praying before exercising, praying before turning on the television.  We do well to pray before meeting with the group of friends with whom we are prone to gossip, before sitting down to the computer where we are prone to waste precious time.  If we are tempted NOT to pray before any of our daily activities, perhaps we need to consider if we should be doing them in the first place, or why we are resistant to bringing them to God and under God’s sovereignty. 

God knows this commandment is not easy.  Left to our own powers it would be impossible.  But through God's grace, the grace he makes available in the Sacraments, the grace he gives in the Eucharist, he transforms our hearts to rely on his strength in order to love him with all of ours.  May we approach the Lord in the Eucharist, as the scribe in the Gospel, seeking to learn from Jesus to love as he loves, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 - - - - - - - - 

That obedience to all the commands of Christ and the Church may mark the life of every Christian. 

For all those preparing to enter into Christ through the saving waters of Baptism and those preparing for full initiation this Easter, may these final Lenten weeks bring about purification from sin and enlightenment in the ways of holiness.

For those who have fallen away from the Church, who have become separated from God through error and sin, for those who reject the teachings of Christ, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

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

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.

6th Sunday of Easter 2020 - To fall deeply in love with Jesus Christ

There’s a catholic philosopher and author I very much enjoy named Dr. Peter Kreeft. And Dr. Kreeft tells the story about a time he was invited to give a talk at a small monastery up in Connecticut.  And at the end of his visit, the monastery’s holy abbot approached Dr. Kreeft and said, “I’d like to ask you a question, Doctor. And it’s the same question we ask every visitor to our monastery when they are about to leave. And the question is, “If God asked you, what gift would you give to these monks if you could, what gift would you ask for these monks?” 

Dr. Kreeft, thought about it for a moment, and said, “I would ask God to make every single one of you fall totally in love with Jesus Christ for the rest of your life. That is the gift for which I would ask.” At his answer, the abbot smiled and some of the monks began to chuckle.  Not thinking it was a terrible answer, Dr. Kreeft asked the abbot why the monks were laughing at him. And the abbot said, we are not laughing at you or your response, it’s just that last month, Mother Theresa visited us, and she gave the exact same answer: that you may fall totally in love with Jesus Christ.

Why would Dr. Kreeft consider this the greatest gift you could wish for someone? Why do Mother Theresa and the Saints consider falling totally in love with Jesus Christ the greatest of all gifts? Why would they say if you could give one gift to a spouse or child or family member, one gift to you neighbor, one gift to a stranger, to the sick, imprisoned, or orphan, you’d want them more than anything to love Jesus Christ? What’s behind this answer? I promise it’s not false piety. They are serious, dead serious.

Well, because the love of God is the key to everything. Love is the key to the great joy of the saints. It is their motivation for lives of tremendous generosity and self-sacrifice. The love of God is what gives meaning to following the most difficult commandments in times of fiercest temptation. It’s what gives souls the motivation to turn away from sin, to leave lives of selfishness and self-destruction and wickedness. Sinners are converted when they learn to love Jesus Christ more than themselves. Children are inspired to seek lives of radical holiness when they learn to love Jesus Christ more than the prospect of wealth, fame, or power. Loving Jesus Christ is more important than becoming the all-star athlete, well-connected politician, or technological innovator. 

Love of Jesus Christ is the pearl of great price that is worth abandoning everything else in the world in order to obtain. To pursue It is to pursue eternal life. “If you wish to enter life,” Jesus tells the rich young man, “keep the commandments, love God with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength.” Love of God, love of Jesus Christ true God and true man, sets us upon the road to eternal life. It keeps us on the road, when the road becomes difficult. It draws us back to the road when we foolishly go astray.

When we deeply love Jesus Christ we begin to value all that supports, nurtures, and sustains that love. We come to value prayer as the most important of our daily activities, prayer which brings us in contact with Our Lord; prayer which opens our ears to his voice, his teachings, his guidance and or hearts to follow his example of selfless oblation.  We come to value fasting, confessing, forgiving, turning the other cheek, generous giving, self-forgetting. 

And, when we love Jesus Christ, we begin to disdain all that hinders that love, all that keeps us from loving him whole-heartedly. We begin to scorn those forays into selfishness so prevalent in our modern culture. We disdain begin to disdain self-indulging, dishonesty, bearing resentment, impurity, impulsiveness, and self-aggrandizing. 

As we increase in our love of God, our love of Jesus Christ, our capacity to love others increases. Christian author C.S. Lewis, speaking about how to rightly order his love of God and love of his wife said “only when I have learned to love God more than my wife, shall I begin to love my wife as I should.”

Love of Jesus impels us to serve him in the poor and needy. It’s what impelled St. Francis to embrace the leper, St. Vincent de Paul to embrace the plague victims, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini to leave her native land to serve the immigrants, St. Junipero Sera and St. Rose Philippine Duchesne to educate and serve the Native Americans, St. Mother Theresa to serve the poorest of the poor, St. Maximilian Kolbe to take the place of the concentration camp prisoner about to be executed.

Love of Jesus Christ transformed the lives of these ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and it can for us as well, if we let it, if we make it our greatest pursuit, as did they. 

Love of God is the key to following all of the commandments. If you love me, Jesus tells the apostles in the Gospel today, keep my commands. The apostles’ personal love for Jesus leads them to obey his commandments, his teachings, and his example. All of them, save Judas the betrayer, would go on to suffer greatly for the spread of the Gospel.

Love of God enables us to suffer wrongdoing patiently, to be kind to those who slander or mock us. Love enables us to overcome jealousy, pride, rudeness, and every earthly attachment. It enables us to bear all things,  believe all that the Church teaches, hope in the promises of Christ, and endure every trial. Love never fails.

May you fall totally in love with Jesus Christ today and all days, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

6th Week of OT 2020 - Tuesday - The remedy for every temptation

Yesterday, we heard from St. James that Christians must keep their faith throughout the inevitable trials of life. When we keep the faith when faced with hostility for the Gospel both from outside and within the Church, when we keep the faith in times of poverty, grief, and illness, God perfects us, James says.

Today James addresses a particular trial universal to all people of all places and times, a trial even faced by our Lord: the trial of temptation. Every trial tests our constancy, but temptation is a particular enticement to sin and to turn away from God, to choose evil rather than good.
“Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him.”

James declares that the reward for persevering temptation is blessedness—holiness in this life and the experience of beatitude in eternity. And he also gives us the key to perseverance. Love of God. We resist temptation by loving God more than the object of temptation to the point of suffering for what is good in order to resist the evil.

In the moment of temptation, we must be quick to make an act of love: “God help me to remain faithful to you, whom I love and should love above all things. God, you are more to me than the pleasures of my body, more important than my reputation among men, more important than my bank account, more important than obtaining the position of authority, more important than offering that cutting remark about someone who hurt me.”

Failure to love God was at the heart of original sin. Adam and Eve failed to love God, they failed to heed his command and to trust that God could provide all that they needed to be perfectly happy. So, they grasped at happiness for themselves, allowing their love and trust in God to die in their hearts.

So too, failure to love God is at the heart of every sin. This is why Jesus’ greatest commandment is to love God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love, in this sense, is the remedy for every temptation.

“Whoever loves me will keep my word,”  saith the Lord, “and my Father will love him and we will come to him. ” Again, in the moment of Temptation, when we make that act of love and trust and surrender, the Lord comes to us with the strength we need to resist the strongest of temptations.

St. Alphonsus says “it is not necessary to acquire riches, nor to obtain dignities, nor to gain a great name. The only thing necessary is to love God.”

In every trial and temptation, may our minds, hearts, and wills turn to God in love, that we may obtain the crown of life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - -
 
That in every temptation we may love God with our whole hearts, minds, souls, and strength..

For Bishop Perez, as he is installed as Archbishop of Philadelphia tomorrow, for blessings upon his ministry, and for the Holy Spirit’s guidance to direct the appointment of a new Bishop for the Church of Cleveland.

That young people may seek Christ amidst all the perversions and distractions of the world, and for the protection of innocent human life from evil.

For healing for all those suffering disease, especially diseases without known cures, for the people of China and all people afflicted by the Coronavirus, and all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, and For the Holy Father’s prayer intentions for this month: that the needs of migrants and victims of human trafficking may be heard and acted upon.

For the dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Holy mass is offered.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith, we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

October 22 2019 - Pope St. John Paul II - Love of the Shepherd

As many of you know, I was able to study in Rome in the year 2004. I was still five years away from ordination, but during those months I was certainly confirmed in my vocation and my desire to serve the Church in many ways. This was especially true on the morning of Holy Thursday, as we gathered for the Chrism Mass at St. Peter’s basilica. I had a great seat, right on the aisle, I would be able to see Pope John Paul II as he processed to the altar. I had seen the holy Pope from a great distance before at World Youth Day in Toronto, and several times during that semester as we gathered from Wednesday Audiences and the Sunday Angelus’, but this was as close as I’d ever be. And I swear as this frail Pope processed toward the altar, he looked right into my eyes and it was as if Jesus Himself were looking at me in love. And I got an overwhelming sense that my path toward the priesthood was the right one.

Many people still speak of powerful encounters with Pope John Paul and the miracles that surrounded him. But I’ll never forget his loving gaze.

The Gospel for this memorial retells the Lord’s invitation to Peter to love him. No doubt, St. John Paul, a successor of Peter, loved the Lord immensely. And his love of the Lord enabled John Paul to truly feed the Lord’s flock with a shepherd’s heart. The love of the shepherd emanated from the holy Pope, it shined from his eyes and his embrace of the poor in his world wide travels, logging over 725 thousand miles in travels, visiting corners of the globe that no Pope had previously visited, proclaiming, as we said in our psalm, “God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.” He was truly a missionary Pope that taught us to be courageous in spreading the Gospel.

“Do you love me” the Lord asks to each of us. Then “feed my sheep.” May each of us take up the invitation to love and to feed with the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Holy Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That through the teaching, preaching, and pastoral care of the Church all Christians will grow in their love of the Lord Jesus.  We pray to the Lord.

That we may all benefit from the heavenly intercession of Pope St. John Paul II, especially in this time of “spiritual turbulence.”

For all missionaries who seek to bring the Gospel to the margins and marginalized.

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

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 - Friday - Recognizing the Risen Lord

The post-resurrection accounts of the disciples’ encounters with the Risen Jesus often contain an interesting detail. The disciples often do not recognize Jesus after his resurrection. Mary Magdalene thought that Jesus was the gardener. She did not recognize it was the Lord until he spoke her name. The disciples on the road to Emmaus walked, talked, and ate with Jesus but did not recognize him until he broke the bread.

In today’s Gospel, though Jesus was standing on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, the disciples did not realize it was Jesus. It was not until they brought in this miraculous catch of fish that St. John, the beloved disciple recognized that it was Jesus.

Why this failure to recognize Jesus? Scripture isn’t exactly clear. Jesus truly had a material body after the resurrection: he truly stood on earthly ground, he sat and ate food. And it was the same body that was crucified: in the upper room, he bore the scars of crucifixion. But there was also something different. Where our earthly bodies decay, and age, and are bound by earthly limits: Jesus’ glorified body was something that no one had ever seen before. Heaven—eternity—now infused his earthly body.

One Scripture commentator ponders todays passage. He writes: you will ask how was it that John was the first to recognize Christ I reply that while Peter was occupied in drawing up the net full of great fishes John more carefully looked at Jesus and Jesus first presented his appearance to st. John because he most chiefly loved him and because he was most pure. “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”

Among the Apostles, John had never married, and he also had a special purity about him, and a special Love for the Lord. John reclined at the breast of Jesus at the last supper. The more familiar and intimate anyone is with God—the more we truly contemplate, adore, and love God—through prayer and service, the more we will recognize the attributes of God when we come across them.
The same commentator explains that a pure heart means “first, a chaste mind free from all lust and carnal concupiscence. Second, a pure conscience, cleansed from every stain of sin, from evil thoughts and desires…evil intentions, especially duplicity and hypocrisy.”

St. John, likely recognized Jesus, because he loved Jesus above all things. He alone among the Apostles followed Jesus all the way to Calvary. May St. John, the patron of our diocese, help us to cultivate that purity of heart, that love of Jesus above all things, that we may recognize the Lord more easily in the circumstances of life, and come to behold his face in eternity, 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. And for the victims of the terrorist bombings in Sri Lanka and their families, for consolation in their grief, and assistance in their needs.
For our parish, 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.

3rd Week of Lent 2019 - Friday - Love God with your WHOLE heart

So many of the Lenten themes run throughout our reading from the prophet Hosea this morning: returning to God, pleading God’s mercy, God’s healing, God humbling the proud, leading the wise, and causing the sinner to stumble.

Yet, all of those Lenten themes can be summed up in the word’s offered by the Lord in the Gospel this morning: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Put simply: Lent exists so that we can experience God’s love for us and we can love others better.
God so desires the transformation of our hearts so we can experience all of the love he has for us, so that our hearts can in turn be free to love others with that same sort of love. To paraphrase Hosea again, God wants to heal the defects in our hearts, so that we can be loved more freely—more deeply, more fully.

Our sins have made us afraid of God’s love.  “Well, if I let him in, he might see all of me, he might see my secret sins, he might see the resentment I hold on to, some of the grief I’m not ready to let go of, some of the hurt that I’m not ready to be healed of.”  We are afraid to be encompassed in the consuming fire of God’s love, for we know that God’s consuming fire will change us.  We are afraid to trade anger for forgiveness, lust for purity, selfishness for selflessness. We are afraid to change, but we need to remember that the change God wants for us is always for the better, He has our best interests in mind, and he always provides the grace and help and aid for doing what he asks of us.

The Lord desires so much to heal from our sinful defections, and disordered desires and attachments, addictions, vices, and bad habits.  He so wants to transform our hearts so we can experience all of the love he has for us, so that our hearts can in turn be free to love others with that same sort of love.
At this point in Lent some of us begin to pull away from the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to which we’ve committed. Yet, God wants to heal our hearts through those Lenten penances, again, to trade the love of things, of power, of wealth and fame, for the love of the Divine, love of service and penance, and self-forgetfulness for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - -
 
That love of God and neighbor may mark the life of every Christian.

That all families will recommit themselves to fervent prayer this Lent so as to grow in greater love and holiness.  We pray to the Lord.

That this Lent we will be faithful to fasting and to all the ways that the Lord sanctifies us.  We pray to the Lord.

For generous giving for the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, victims of natural disaster, terrorism, war, and violence, the grieving and those most in need.  We 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.  We 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.

3rd Week of Lent 2018 - Friday - Everyday Evangelization

As many of you know, I post my homilies on facebook and on an internet blog. And I do this for several reasons. One, several years ago, Pope Benedict encouraged Catholics to “take back the internet.” Where the internet is often host to a lot of filth, error, anger and gossip, it can also be used as a powerful means of evangelization and catechesis. I chose to post my homilies specifically on Facebook, because on Facebook, when you post an article or a picture, it will appear on the screens of everyone in your network.

So a homily on forgiveness, or belief in God, or the importance of confession, will appear not just on the screens of those who are looking for these topics, but on the screens of the atheists, fallen away catholics, cafeteria catholics, pious souls, seekers, and the anti-religious that make up my network.My prayer is, even if they don’t read the homily, but simply glance at it, they but for a brief moment, consider the call to believe more deeply in God and seek his truth.

Pope Francis spoke about the importance of evangelization in his encyclical Evanglii Gaudium. He writes, “there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbors or complete strangers. This is the informal preaching, which takes place in the middle of a conversation… Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.”

Jesus, of course, calls us to love God and love neighbor. And, I think Pope Francis, highlights the important connection between these two loves. Love of neighbor is the embodiment of our love of God. Love of God is not simply something I hold in the secret of my heart, it is to be evident and physically manifested. My thoughts, words, and actions are to flow from my love of God, and point others to the love of God.

The kindness shown to a stranger at the supermarket, or at the coffee shop, or the kind word of encouragement to a discouraged spouse or family member, these can be powerful avenues for the love of God to become manifest. And perhaps, for a moment, the former Catholic who renounced his faith, might miss God, miss the Church which fosters the love of God, might even come to a renewed faith; the seeker, raised without religion, as more and more of our fellow citizen are these days, might come to discover, the God who loves them

May our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, open our lives to sharing the love of God in our everyday encounters, that the love of God and neighbor which is manifested most fully in the heart of Christ on the cross, may manifest in our own lives as well, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - - - -

That those preparing for baptism and full Christian initiation at Easter may be strengthened in Faith, Hope, and Love through the Church’s prayer and witness.

For the whole world, that in lasting tranquility and peace our days may truly become the acceptable time of grace and salvation.

For sinners and those who neglect right religion, that in this time of reconciliation they may return wholeheartedly to Christ.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence.

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.