5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - Salt

 

I remember as a kid, my dad telling stories about working in the salt mines under Lake Erie when he was a younger man.  Morton Salt has about 3 miles of salt mines 2000 feet underneath our great lake.  . This salt is an important source of revenue for the State of Ohio, and the salt is utilized in a number of ways: particularly as a seasoning for our food and on our roads during the winter. With 3 miles of salt mines, it kind of makes you wonder why we supposedly have a winter salt shortage this year. But I degress.

Immediately following the Lord’s teaching on the beatitudes, which we heard last Sunday, the Lord says that his disciples must become like salt. Talk about bringing us down to earth. In order to attain heaven, you must become like salt.

Salt was used in a number of ways in Jesus’ time, just as it is for us. And those different ways salt is used can certainly help us to understand what Our Lord meant when he told us to become like salt.

First salt is used as a seasoning. So, too, Christians are to be a sort of seasoning to an otherwise bland world.  There is nothing more interesting—no one more full of life than a true Christian saint filled with the life of Christ. The saints are the best season we can imagine, and we must become like them. Do you know the names of any famous athletes, actors, businessmen, or politicians from the 13^th century? But we certainly remember names like Francis, Clare, Dominic, Anthony of Padua, Elizabeth of Hungary, Hedwig, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Raymond of Penafort, Albert the Great. So why would we want to be like athletes and actors? Strive to be truly remembered for your holiness, for seasoning people’s lives with the goodness of God.

How else is salt used? Salt is necessary for life. Even the most stringent nutritionists have to admit that salt is a necessary component of the human diet. The ancients, too, understood, salt was necessary for good health.  Similarly, Christians need to be salt in this way. The health, the survival of a society depends on Christians—doing what Christians do, infusing societal life with the life and goodness and truth and beauty of God. Our mission isn’t just to come to Church and leave our faith at the door. Our mission is to infuse this neighborhood with the saltiness—the life—of Christ because without the life of Christ it will die.

Salt is also a Preservative: In the days before refrigeration, salt made preserving food. Salt keeps food from decay. So Christians, have the task of preserving our world from spiritual decay. Seeing many of the strong Christian values in our country begin to fade, Christians need to take up again this call to preserve. Christians must preserve our world—and protect our children—from spiritual rot.

Salt is also a Purifier: The salt in the oceans of the world act as a natural cleaning agent, and most water purification systems use salt as a "purifier." Christians are to be the world’s purifiers: opposing the corrupting powers of malice and perversion and greed. Each of us too needs to seek the constant purifying of our minds from the world’s corrupting influence. In his second New Testament Letter, St. Peter writes, “make every effort to be found without stain or defilement.” So, we must constantly purify our minds through study of God’s word, interiorizing the doctrines of our faith, imitating the example of the saints.

Salt also has a destructive power.  As a kid, I’d run to the kitchen to get a salt shaker when I found a slug in the garden.  In the ancient world, when an army would conquer their enemy, they’d knock down the walls, raise the city to the ground, then really to rub it in sometimes they would cast salt upon the earth so that nothing would ever grow there again. Are Christians to be a destructive power in society? In a sense we are! We are to be a an opposing force against the powers of evil and the manifestations of the Antichrist.

Satan is like that slug, a garden slug, and he is diminished when Christians really get salty with the life of Christ. We are meant to disrupt the work of the antichrist to deface the dignity of the human person. Satan seeks to pervert life, lead souls away from God, and we must get salty in this battle. We need to take back territory and claim it for Christ.

Another use for salt: as we know all too well, living here in Cleveland—Salt is used for the melting of ice. Salt makes things flow that are frozen.   The Church’s task is to loosen up a world frozen in its own self-regard, frozen in violence and selfishness, frozen in habits of “oppression, false accusation and malicious speech” to quote our first reading.  When we are faithful to Christ, we have a melting influence.  

Think of the power of one saint. Saints melt hearts frozen against Christ. Hardened atheists have come to Christ by finding about the goodness of Francis, the piety of Padre Pio, the selfless charity of Mother Theresa and Elizabeth Ann Seton. Many souls have been converted to Christ because they saw Christians selflessly engaged in acts of charity. When the Church is faithful, we have that melting influence to get cold hearts flowing in the right direction again.

Finally, just like it’s used on our roads, in ancient times salt was also used to prevent people from slipping on slippery paths.  Christians are called to help souls from slipping into damnation—promoting the teachings of Christ on a societal level which give stability to civilization, pointing out when fellow Christians begin down slippery paths away from God. We call them fallen Catholics because they have slipped. The reason why we are to take Catechesis and strong moral formation is to help people from slipping and falling

You and I are called to be salt. But the Lord warns that salt can lose its flavor. Perhaps maybe you have lost a bit of enthusiasm for the Christian life. Perhaps Christ is not the vital force in your marriage that he should be.  Maybe you don’t feel like you are having a positive influence on your neighbors, or the fallen away members of your family. 

The solution: Pray, pray, pray.  You cannot be salt without constant prayer.  A priest who does not pray is worthless, husbands and wives who do not pray will not have the strength and power to faithfully live out the Christian responsibilities of the marriage sacrament.  Young people who do not pray will not have the strength to withstand the nearly unending torrent of evil from our culture. 

Salt: an ordinary substance with tremendous potential, which is why the Lord tells us to be salt: ordinary people with tremendous potential, many uses, vital to life and civilization. We must become salt by bringing Christ into our workplaces, into our conversations, into our civic life, in our family life. Be salt, my friends, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

10th Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Tuesday - Holy Saltiness

 

Well, after 40 days of Lent, and Holy Week, and the Paschal Triduum, and 50 days of easter, almost exactly 25% of the liturgical year, we’ve returned once again to Ordinary Time.

The green of Ordinary time reminds us of the growth for which we are to strive, the growth in holiness, and virtue, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Green is also the color associated with the theological virtue of hope. We hope that what we do in the ordinary course of the Christian life will lead to heaven.

Our Gospel readings during Ordinary Time focus mostly on the teachings and works of Jesus throughout the course of his public ministry, from after his baptism in the Jordan before he reaches Jerusalem.

Ordinary Time is like a slow pilgrimage, during which we are pondering each day, with each step, the truths of our Lord, and how to incorporate them into the concrete details of our life.

Today Jesus teaches that his followers are to be the salt of the earth. In the ancient world, salt had a number of uses. So, too, Christians have a number of jobs.

The first job for salt most of us think of is seasoning. Salt makes food tasty. So, too, Christians are to be a sort of seasoning to an otherwise bland world.  There is nothing more interesting, no one more full of life, than a Christian saint filled with the life of Christ—something each of us are to aspire to.

Salt is also a Preservative: In the days before refrigeration, salt made preserving food possible for times of famine. Christians have the job of preserving what is good and holy in creation, and fighting off spiritual decay.

Salt is also a Purifier: most water purification systems use salt as a "purifier." Christians are to be the world’s purifiers: opposing the corrupting powers of malice and perversion and greed, purifying the mind and heart of society by preaching the word and calling to conversion.

Salt is used to melt ice. Christians are called to melt the coldness of the icy hearts of the world, particularly through our charity. There is nothing more heartwarming than when we act in selfless Christian charity.

Finally, salt is used to prevent people from slipping on slippery paths.  Christians are called to help souls from slipping into damnation—again by preaching the Gospel, instructing the ignorant, and correcting the sinner.

During this Ordinary Time, consider how you are called in the concrete details of your life to add some holy saltiness—purification, sanctity, warmth, and stability—to the people and relationships around you for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

As we journey through Ordinary Time, trusting in the Lord’s grace at work in our daily lives, let us offer our prayers for the Church and for the world:

For the holy Church of God: That through her preaching, teaching, and sacramental life, she may bring the seasoning of joy, the warmth of charity, and the light of hope to a world grown cold with indifference.

For all who are called to positions of leadership and influence: That they may uphold what is true and just, and help preserve what is good in society.

For our parish community: That we may grow each day in holiness and virtue, becoming instruments of God’s grace in our families, our workplaces, and our neighborhoods.

For the sick, the poor, those who struggle with spiritual dryness or despair, and those in need: that God’s grace may bring healing to their wounds and warmth to their hearts.

For the faithful departed: That, having followed Christ in this life, they may now rejoice in the eternal banquet of heaven.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

1st Week of Lent 2025 - Friday - Transformation of heart and behavior

Several times this first full week of Lent, we read from Jesus’ great Sermon on the Mount. 

On Tuesday, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray—that Christian prayer is much more than babbling, like the pagans. We are to prayerfully turn our hearts to the Father, seeking His Will, His sustenance, His forgiveness and ability to forgive, and his protection from evil. Our prayer is to be deepened and purified during this Lenten season.

Today, we hear that not only our prayer, but our hearts and minds are to be purified as well. Not only are we to avoid grave sins like murder: we are to be purified from the slightest hint of any attitude that leads to murder. We are to avoid anger toward our brother, we are to avoid calling him belittling names, and we are to seek to reconcile with him even before fulfilling some of our other religious duties.

Here is yet another teaching from the Sermon on the Mount that our conversion must be more than skin-deep, our conversion to Christ means more than just giving lip service to ideas like forgiveness and peacemaking. 

We are to be purified from inner attitudes that lead to sin, injustice, division, and malice. We are to seek to actively overcome our inhibitions towards working for peace. In fact, we are to actively cultivate those dispositions where we are ready to go out and make peace even when it costs us something. 

If you don’t, what does the Lord say, “you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.” If we are unwilling to purify our hearts and actively work for peace there is a sort of debt, there is something missing. And we will not be able to progress spiritually in this life or likely from purgatory into heaven in the next life until that purifying has taken place.

From what the saints say, it is more pleasant to work for that purification in this life, than in purgatory. So we should do it now. My guess is that this is issue is a major stumbling black in the spiritual life for a lot of Christians: the unwillingness to make peace with those who have offended us, with whom there is some sort of open wound.

I get it, it’s hard, it’s uncomfortable, it’s humbling. “Why should I have to be the one to make peace?” Because we are Christian and the Lord told us to.

Again our readings remind us, that Lent is not simply about performing exterior deeds of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, but is aimed at inner transformation, where we can think with the mind of Christ, and more importantly, love with his heart, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - -  

We should pour forth prayers at all times dear brothers and sisters but above all in these days of lent we ought to watch more intently with Christ and direct our petitions more fervently to God.

For the Church, that this Lent may be a time of deep interior purification, leading each believer to more fully embrace the mind and heart of Christ.

For those struggling to forgive or reconcile with others, that they may find the courage, humility, and strength to actively seek peace

For those preparing for baptism and reception into the Church at Easter, that their hearts may grow pure and radiant through prayer, fasting, and acts of charity, we pray to the Lord.

For Holy Father Pope Francis, in this time of illness, and for all the sick, suffering, and those who carry heavy burdens, that they may experience the comforting presence of God, who draws near to those who earnestly seek Him, we pray to the Lord.

For the faithful departed, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for all the souls in purgatory, that through our prayers and sacrifices, they may swiftly enter the eternal peace of God’s presence.

Grant we pray our 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.

1st Week of Lent 2022 - Monday - Be Holy as the Lord is Holy

 For the celebration of Mass during the season of Lent, I like to make use of the first Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation due to its inclusion of many themes and petitions relevant to Lent.

Just the very name, “Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation” calls to mind our need to “return to God with your whole heart” which echoes throughout this season. 

The prayer speaks of Christ stretching out his arms and being nailed to the cross, being for us the sacrificial victim who reconciles the human race to God, and offers petitions for the healing the wounds of sin and division within the human race. 

I bring up this Eucharist Prayer because it begins with the call to holiness: “You are indeed Holy, O Lord, and from the world’s beginning are ceaselessly at work, so that the human race may become holy, just as you yourself are holy.” These words echo the sentiment found in the first reading today from the book of Leviticus, God speaking through Moses to the whole house of Israel, telling them, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.”

Here is another important principal for the season of Lent: through the practices of Lent, God is seeking to make us holy, as He is holy. 

And our scriptures today highlight two dimensions of the call to holiness—two sides of the same coin. On one hand, in the first reading, we have a number of what are sometimes called the “negative commandments”—the “thou-shalt-nots”—thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not profane the name of God, thou shalt not act dishonestly or bare hatred toward your neighbor. The call to holiness involves eliminating those behaviors and attitudes which God prohibits—those attitudes which are selfish, impure, prideful—those which constitute a lack of love.

Our Gospel today highlights the other side of the coin, some “positive commandments”. Our Blessed Lord tells us that we must not only avoid impurity, selfishness, and pride, but holiness consists of engaging in active charity: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, visiting the imprisoned.

Holiness, the holiness to which God calls us to cultivate during this season of Lent, involves both: purification from the selfish & prideful AND engagement in charity.

And we ought to take this call to holiness quite seriously, for the Lord explains what’s at stake in the Gospel as well: eternal punishment and eternal life. We are to be ridding ourselves of all that might lead us to punishment and practice all that contributes to the pursuit of eternal life, that we might be reconciled ever more deeply to God in this life, that we may enjoy his beatitudes forever in heaven, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

For “an immediate end to the hostilities in Ukraine, for a restoration of peace and for the safety of all Ukrainian citizens. And for the Ukrainian community in Northeast Ohio, that their friends and family members in their beloved homeland be kept out of harm’s way.”

For mercy for the most vulnerable of our human family, the unborn; that their mothers may choose life and be supported by a culture of life. 

For the young people of our Church. May they be strengthened to be witnesses to the Gospel of mercy and work for a future that embodies a genuine culture of mercy.

For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter: that they will be profoundly blessed in their preparation for full initiation into the Body of Christ.  .

For the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, or suffering from addiction, mental, or physical illness, imprisoned, and those most in need: that the Lord in his goodness will be close to them in their trials.  

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all the poor souls in purgatory, and N. 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. Through Christ Our Lord.

5th Week of Ordinary Time 2022 - Wednesday - Purification from what defiles us

 He fed five thousand people with a handful of bread, he walked on water, he performed countless healings, but the Pharisees and scribes choose to focus on how the Lord and his disciples ate without the ceremonial purifications that weren’t even prescribed by the law.

Sure, the Law of Moses prescribed ceremonial washing for the priests serving at the altar in the Temple, but the Pharisees extended these rules to everyone, and then condemned people for not observing them.

The Pharisees were perverting the Law of Moses and missing its purpose entirely—they were like the mean kids from grammar school that bullied you for breaking rules you didn’t even know about. And now they are all grown up, and have political sway, but they are still on the same toxic power trip.

In response to the Pharisees criticism, our Gospel begins today with the Lord summoning a crowd to address this unjust Pharisaical standard and their misapplication of the Law of Moses—their fake news, so to speak. 

“Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters a person from outside can defile that person,” rather what defiles are the moral evils that fester in the human heart: unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, and so on.

You want to know what defiles a person? Human sin, evil conduct. 

The Lord exposes the Pharisees for being more concerned with outward appearances than true inner moral goodness. They were a bunch of fakers, religious fakers. And the Lord, speaking with authority, sets the true standard for his followers. We must seek authentic conversion from all sin, including inner purification from sinful desires and ruminations. 

For Catholics, we’ve come up with some pretty practical ways of conforming to this teaching. We are to make a daily examination considering if our actions and attitudes over the course of the day have been unclean, and if they were, to repent of them. 

We are to make frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are to reflect upon God Word daily, to help us examine and conform our lives. We are to avoid using dirty language and fixating on dirty images. We are to seek freedom from all unforgiveness, ingratitude, selfishness, greed and gluttony. 

Jesus makes a very powerful promise to the pure of heart. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” The Pharisees were unable to see that Jesus was God because they may have been ritually pure on the outside, but inside, they were full of corruption and defilement. 

So too in our culture: so many have lost touch with God precisely because they have allowed themselves to be defiled and refuse to repent and seek that purification that can only come from Him.

Lord, cleanse us, make our hearts new, purify us that we may see your face, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - -  

For the Holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her, and bring cleansing to all the impurity which afflicts her members and leaders.

For the conversion of all those who have fallen into serious sin, for a return of fallen away Catholics to the Sacraments, and that all young people may be protected from the perversions of our culture.

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.

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.

Pentecost 2021 - Wind and Flame

Today is the great Feast of Pentecost, the feast that ranks with Christmas and Easter as the greatest of the Church Year.  It is the Feast of the Holy Spirit who enlivens and animates the Church.

Listen again to the account of the first Pentecost nearly 2000 years ago from the Acts of the Apostles.

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

Wind and fire are two symbols associated with the Holy Spirit, and they tell us a lot about how the Holy Spirit wishes acts in the Church and in our lives.

First, Wind is powerful. I’ve seen wind knock over trucks. Acts describes the Holy Spirit as a strong driving wind. Tornado winds can devastate villages and cities, and uproot trees, yet it can also turn gigantic turbines to produce power, and propel sailing ships across the sea. The Holy Spirit, propels the Church and grants her power and uproots the vices of her members.

Also, there is something unpredictable about the wind.  You don’t know quite where it comes from or when it will blow. Jesus himself in John’s Gospel says, The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.”

That says something about the Holy Spirit, there is something elusive, unpredictable, and wonderfully so, about Him. He is unpredictable, a good of surprises. He surprises us with holy joyful moments and encounters and moments of prayer.

And yet, this also makes Him a little daunting. It’s daunting to surrender to something you can’t control. God might upset our applecart, and that’s scary. But he leads us sometimes where we do not want to go, in order to bring about his kingdom. Yes, it’s scary to surrender to God.  He might ask me to confront my prejudices, kneel down to the level of a homeless beggar, he might ask me to become a priest or a religious sister, speak hard truths to obstinate sinners. He might blow us out of our comfort zones. No doubt, as we return to Church after the long pandemic, he is blowing us into the lives of family and friends, to invite them back to the Sacraments—to remind the fallen-away of goodness and love of God waiting for them here.

On Pentecost, the Church is invited to unfurl her sails once again, to allow the Holy Spirit to propel her into the world for the mission of the Gospel, to uproot our vices, to blow away the dust that has settled through inactivity. 

Wind, fresh air, is needed continually for life itself.  If your faith life or prayer life feels stifled, strangled, or stagnate, make a novena to the Holy Spirit to breathe new life, new enthusiasm, new joy into your soul. 

The other great symbol of the Holy Spirit is Fire.  Fire, can be devastating and destructive.  Yet, it can also be cleansing.  The Holy Spirit is like a cleansing Fire.  

God wants to burn away the attitudes and behaviors which are inconsistent with the life of grace.  God wants to burn away our selfishness, so that not an ounce remains, God wants to burn away our envy, our resentments, our lusts.  If you are struggling with a particular temptation or sin, pray “Come Holy Spirit” burn this temptation away, burn this addiction away.

Fire brings purity. It also brings light. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Those purified by the fire of the Spirit will have the light they need to see God. They will understand more deeply the things of God.  Do you want to come to a deeper understand of the Scriptures, of the Faith. Ask the Holy Spirit. Do you want to understand how to love your unlovable neighbors?  Ask Him! Do you want to understand God’s Will for your life, your vocation in life?  Ask Him!  

Fire also brings warmth of course. In those moments when we are experiencing the coldness, loneliness, isolation, grief. The Holy Spirit will help us to know the closeness and love of God, and the closeness and love of his angels and saints. We also do well of course, to intercede for others experiencing life’s coldness, and to recall our vocation to bring the warmth of God’s love to them, if we can.

Finally, fire symbolizes the passion and courage God wants us to have for the spreading of the Gospel.  After Jesus’ crucifixion, the Apostles hid in the upper room behind locked doors.  Jesus had sent them outwards, out into the world, but they hid.  They were more like Apostates, than Apostles.  But when the Holy Spirit descended upon them with tongues of flame, they burst through the locked doors, into the busiest part of town and courageously proclaimed Jesus risen from the dead.  3000 people converted on the spot.

We need this sort of courage! In an era where our modern culture wants Christians to privatize their faith, to hide behind locked doors and keep our faith to ourselves—we need Christians on fire. 

That is precisely our prayer for our four dear ones who will be confirmed this weekend—that they may filled with fire and wind—filled with the Spirit. Their Confirmation is a reminder to all of us, to dispose our souls, to open our minds, our wills, our hearts to the fire and wind of the Holy Spirit. 

May the Holy Spirit—wind and flame—sanctify us, comfort us, enflame us, uproot our vices and protect us.  Veni Sancte Spiritus, Come Holy Spirit, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

6th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - Pre-Lenten Preparations

 What perfect readings for this final day of Ordinary Time prior to the penitential season of Lent—the season of purification and enlightenment.

First, Noah’s preparation for the forty day flood.  At a point in history where humanity had turned away from God, had become so mired in sin, “the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth…that his heart was grieved.”

Today we, like Noah, are called to make preparation for the forty days of Lent. We are to examine the sin in our lives and resolve to repent, and to consider how we will be showing our repentance through acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For throughout Lent, we must make reparation for our own sins, but also the sins of the world, the wicked of the world, to show our love and concern for the souls even of those who reject God and the call to conversion. We do penance for those unwilling to do so for themselves. Who will you pray for, who will you fast for, who will you engage in sacrificial almsgiving for. Fix them in your mind, hold them aloft to God over the next 40 days. Do penance for them, those outside of the ark of the Church—either because of ignorance or willfulness—for their purification, that they, one day, may accept the invitation to come aboard the ark of the Church—to sail to the promised land.

The Gospel, too, is a wonderful pre-Lenten reading, for the Lord sits in a boat, like the ark of noah, with disciples who do not quite understand everything that’s been happening, everything that he’s been doing and teaching. They have eyes and not see, ears and have not heard.

The season of Lent is also for those who are already in the boat of the Church, to come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of everything the Lord has done for us and continues to do for us. Lent is the season of purification, but also enlightenment. As we contemplate all the Lord suffered, his time in the desert, his march to Jerusalem, his ensuing passion and death, we are enlightened with a deeper understanding of the depths of his love for us and what it means to be his disciples, his apostles sent out into the world. 

May we prepare well for the 40 day flood which brings purification and enlightenment as we engage in the Lenten works and contemplate the depths of the Lord’s love and the call to ever more faithful discipleship, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance and bring to all people purification of sin and selfishness and enlightenment in the ways of God.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that the season of Lent will bring them great conversion to way of Christ. 

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

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. Through Christ our Lord.

18th Week of OT 2020 - Friday - Purification, Restoration and St. Cajetan

 Two of the reoccurring themes of Scripture that sort of go hand in hand are purification and restoration—the purification of what has become corrupted by sin in order that it may be restored and begin to grow again. We are familiar with the story of the biblical flood—how the world had become so corrupted by sin, that God sends a purifying flood. Sometimes purification is difficult—like scrubbing out an infected wound is painful. But, following purification, God restores order by building humanity up again after the flood.

Immediately after the fall of Adam and Eve, God hints at the promise of a redeemer—one who will bring purification and restoration to the human race.

Nahum the prophet speaks about restoration in our first reading. Because of her sins, the southern kingdom of Judah had become vulnerable to attack and invasion. Babylon had sacked Jerusalem and carried off her citizens into exile. 

But Nahum the prophet speaks a word of promise, that after the purification, Judah and the holy city of Jerusalem, and her holy feasts will be restored. “The Lord will restore the vine of Jacob” he says. Again purification precedes restoration.

We see this divine logic in the Gospel as well. Jesus over and over heals the sick and then restores them to their families. He dies on the cross to purify humanity of its sinfulness in order that it may be restored to what God had intended it to be.

Today we honor a saint of restoration. St. Cajetan was a priest…well, he was a lawyer who then became a priest who was tasked to work in Rome—in the Roman Curia in the early 1500s.

He came to realize that the Church needed reform. He said the Church was “sick in her head and in her members.” The Church seemed to have lost her zeal, her commitment to authentic worship, her commitment to the evangelical counsels. Protestantism, which arose shortly in this time, was a sort of reaction to the Church’s sickness. But unlike his contemporary, Martin Luther, Cajetan believed that the Church could be reformed from the inside—through a return to what is truly good and holy. So Cajetan founded a religious order, the Theatines, who took the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and working to reignite apostolic zeal amongst the clergy.

It is no secret that there are parts of the Church that are sick right now—parts of the world where faith has been decimated, watered down, corrupted by worldly values. So, we do well to invoke Saints like Cajetan, to help purify the Church from corruption—the corruption of authentic doctrine and religious practice and liturgical worship, to help us experience the restoration the Holy Spirit wishes to work in our own day.

But no doubt, purification and restoration begins in the individual human soul. Each one of us, lay, cleric, religious, priest, cardinal and Pope, has a duty to seek purification as difficult as that is from all that is prideful or selfish, that what is corrupt in us may be purified, that what is broken may be restored, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - 

That Pope Francis and all bishops and clergy may lead the Church by example in witnessing to the truth of the Gospel with courage and living the Gospel with charity and perseverance. 

That politicians and government officials may protect religious freedom, promote virtue, and look to the law of Christ to guide their work for the good of nations and the human race, especially for the protection of the unborn.

That our young people on summer vacation may remain close to Jesus through prayer, attendance at Holy Mass with their families, repentance through Sacramental Confession, and faithfulness to all the teachings of Christ. We pray to the Lord.

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

5th Week of OT 2020 - Wednesday - What defiles a man?

Following his miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and feeding of the five thousand, a group of Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem come to question Jesus. Initially, they are not impressed. Jesus and his disciples eat their meals without the ceremonial purifications that had become popular. The Law of Moses prescribed rules for ceremonial washing for the priests serving at the altar in the Temple, but the Pharisees extended these rules to everyone. For the Pharisees, Jesus’ contact with sinners, his traveling to pagan territories, eating with what they considered unclean vessels, and unclean foods, without proper purification, meant that he was unclean, he was a sinner, he couldn’t be a true religious leader, he couldn’t be trusted.

This back and forth with the Pharisees reaches a climax in today’s Gospel, so much so that the Lord summons a crowd to listen to his pronouncement. “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters a person from outside can defile that person,” rather what defiles are the moral evils that fester in the human heart, moral evils that are acted upon: unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, and so on.

The Pharisees were perverting the Law of Moses and missing its purpose entirely. You want to know what defiles a person? Human sin, evil conduct.

So, as followers of Jesus, we seek that interior purification and doing everything we can to remain clean interiorly.

This means examining our conscience daily and consider if our actions and attitudes have been unclean, and to repent of them. We make frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation for its cleansing power. We reflect upon God’s cleansing Word. We avoid using dirty language and fixating on dirty images. We seek freedom from unforgiveness, ingratitude, selfishness, greed and gluttony.

Jesus makes a very powerful promise to the pure of heart. Do you remember, from the beatitudes? Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. The Pharisees were unable to see that Jesus was God because they may have been ritually pure on the outside, but inside, they were full of corruption and defilement.

So too in our culture: so many have lost touch with God precisely because they have allowed themselves to be defiled and refuse to repent and seek that purification that can only come from Him.
Lord, cleanse us, make our hearts new, purify us that we may see your face, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - - - -

For the Holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her, and bring cleansing to all the impurity which afflicts her members and leaders.

For the conversion of all those who have fallen into serious sin, for a return of fallen away Catholics to the Sacraments, and that all young people may be protected from the perversions of our culture.

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.

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.

17th Sunday in OT 2019 - Purification from earthly pride

The Catholic poet, Dante Alighieri, wrote a famous poem, almost 800 years ago now, called the Divine Comedy—La Comedia Divina.  In the three books of La Comedia, Dante chronicles a pilgrimage he makes through hell, purgatory, and heaven.   He describes the horrific sights and sounds of the punishment of the wicked in hell for their failure to repent from their self-centeredness. He then makes his way up the mountain of purgatory, where he meets those undergoing purification from the effects of their life’s sinfulness. Dante finally visits heaven, il paradiso, where amidst glorious celestial light he meets the blessed saints who free from all selfishness now enjoy the beauty of being in God’s presence.

Dante uses an interesting literary device to depict the suffering of the wicked in hell, a device called Contrapasso. Contrapasso means the punishment fits the sin. For example those who in hell unrepentant of the sin of lust are caught blown about the second circle of hell by this terrible hellish whirlwind. How does the punishment fit the sin? As the lustful allowed themselves to be carried by the winds of their passions on earth, in hell they are subject to these uncontrollable winds for eternity—without rest.

In purgatory, for Dante, the purification also fits the sin. At the base of the mountain of purgatory, the largest group of people Dante meets are those who need to be cleansed of the sin of pride. For Dante, every sin can be traced back to pride. Pride turns away from God, pride claims to know better than God, better than the Church. We commit pride when we act as if we were the center of the universe. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their pride and traced their inability to recognize him as the Son of God back to pride.  Our self-centered pride keeps us from loving God and loving neighbor as we should.

So if for Dante, the purification fits the sin how did he depict the purification of the prideful? Well, what is the opposite of pride? Humility. The purification of the prideful of purgatory involved a very specific act of humility, an act of humility prescribed by the Lord Himself. Their purification, the healing of their willfulness, their self-centeredness, their sinful egotism, was to recite over and over, humbly and devoutly, the prayer we find at the beginning of the Gospel today, the Our Father.

Why does Dante see the Our Father as a fitting purification for pride? Sinful Pride claims “MY WILL BE DONE”, the Our Father prays “Thy Will be Done.” Sinful pride asserts its own self-sufficiency and control; the Our Father approaches God with open hands, seeking the daily bread that can only come from God. Sinful pride refuses to forgive, never forgiving an affront to our almighty egos, the Our Father asks God for the grace to forgive, allowing the wounded ego to heal. Where sinful pride does not acknowledge that it could ever make a mistake, could never sin, the Our Father pleads mercy for our sins, mercy that can only come from God.

A good priest once suggested to me that our holiness as a Christian can be measured by our ability to pray the Our Father from the heart. In Dante’s purgatory, the Our Father is prayed over and over as an act of purification from pride, until these souls truly learn to pray it from the heart, with a heart in union with the heart of Jesus.

The Our Father is one of the first prayers we learn as Catholics: we commit it to memory, we pray it every week at Mass. I remember committing it to memory in first grade PSR. Now, once committed to memory it becomes easy to rattle off the words, barely thinking about what they mean.  So, there is certainly a difference between praying the Our Father from memory and praying it from the heart, isn’t there? 

To pray the Our Father from the heart means to pray it from your very depths, to mean every phrase of it, to pray it with the heart and the mind of Jesus Christ.  As a spiritual exercise it is helpful from time to time to pray the Our Father, very slowly, reflecting upon every word, what those words really mean for us as Christians.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, by the way, is a wonderful resource for this, the entire final 100 paragraphs of the Catechism deal with each line and each phrase of the Lord’s Prayer.

Let’s just like at the first word of Jesus’ prayer. Where pride focuses on me, me, me.  The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to focus on us, on we.  We are to address God as part of a community.  The first word of the Our Father is Our. 

In teaching us to pray, Jesus teaches us to focus not just on ME, my life, my needs, my desires, rattling off my wish list. For Christianity is not a mere private affair.  The Church Jesus founded is not just a gathering of isolated individuals, but persons who have been brought into a new communion with God and one another.  We go to God together. 

Look at Sunday Mass.  We cannot fulfill our Sunday obligation by sitting in a room, by ourselves, communing with God.  We are meant to come together, at least every week, in united prayer. Someone who claims that they don’t need the Church to be Christian needs to reexamine the data and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The Christian Church is a communion, a community, a family of souls on earth united in faith and prayer to the souls in purgatory who both receive the help of the blessed souls of the saints in heaven. And the Our Father, to be prayed by every Christian every day, opens us, reminds us, recommits us, to being a faithful members of this communion. It humbles our egocentrism, opening us up to new vistas of charity and living in harmony.

Seek and Ye shall Find. And in the Our Father, the Lord teaches us a prayer of perfect and unselfish love offering ourselves entirely to God and asking from Him the best things, not only for ourselves but also for our neighbor.

May this Holy Eucharist help us to truly be purified from all earthly pride, to grow in humble surrender to the holy will of God in all things, to pray with the hearts and minds of Jesus, united with all of the holy souls and the saints, that Our Father may truly be hallowed on earth as He is in heaven, for the Glory of God and the salvation of souls.

December 14 2017 - St. John of the Cross - Lessons from Prison

For attempting to reform his Religious Order, the Carmelites, St. John of the Cross was imprisoned, nearly starved, and publicly flogged by his own religious brothers. They opposed John’s determination to observe the primitive Carmelite rule which emphasized austerity, poverty, and discipline.

It was in prison that John came to know the cross acutely, for there he learned to unite his suffering with the suffering and death of Jesus, as he sat month after month in his dark narrow cell.

His sufferings did not diminish his desire for holiness, rather, his desire for union with God increased. He passed the time reflecting on the Scriptures which he had memorized and composing poetry. In the darkness of the prison, he bloomed into a great mystical poet and theologian.

He authored books and poems titled The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, the Spiritual Canticle, and The Living Flame of Love. 

Of the thirty-six Doctors of the Church, John of the Cross is known as “the Mystical Doctor” for his writings on the mystical union with God the soul achieves through purification and purgation of its selfishness in this life through suffering and penance.

In his Ascent of Mount Carmel, John teaches, evidently from his own experience, that the soul must empty itself of itself, of selfishness, of ego-centrism. The source of our unhappiness in this life isn’t suffering, necessarily. Rather it’s selfishness.

We are restlessly dissatisfied because we seek to fill the infinitely deep caverns of our souls with the petty goods of the finite world: pleasure, sex, power, and prestige.  This drive to fill our hearts with the finite only leads to deeper dissatisfaction.

Yet, when we turn our hearts over to the infinite, to God, our deepest yearnings are met.  The spiritual life, therefore, consists of letting go of false aspirations, ideas, and attachments, and rightly ordering our desires: putting God first, and everything else second and only for the sake of God.

John is an excellent saint for Advent. He teaches us that the best way to prepare for Christ is through the renunciation of selfishness. We prepare best for Christ’s coming into our life through seeking to be free from all that keeps us from knowing, loving, and serving God. By undergoing this purification we become ready to receive the one we are destined to receive, Jesus Christ, whom we wait for, and prepare for, and long for, and hope for, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.
That through self-denial and embrace of the cross the Christian people may experience ever-deeper union with Christ and a more faithful proclamation of the Gospel.

For the members of the Carmelite Order, that their life of prayer and penance will be for the Church a source of renewal and strength.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life and a strengthening of all marriages in holiness.

That Christ may banish disease, drive out hunger, ward off every affliction, and strengthen all who suffer persecution for the sake of the Gospel.

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.

Friday - 33rd Week of OT 2017 - Post-Thanksgiving Housecleaning

I pray that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, filled with gratitude for the manifold gifts of God, good food, conversation, and time with family and friends. For many, the day after Thanksgiving has one important task, cleaning up after the big feast—not everyone’s favorite chore, but it must be done.

Both of the scripture readings today speak of another sort of housecleaning. From the book of Maccabees, we heard of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers returning to the Temple to cleanse it of the abominations which the enemies of Israel had constructed there. They undertook the resanctification of the desecrated Temple by engaging in ritual prayer, song, praise, repairing damage, decoration, that the Temple might be rededicated to the purposes of God.

Today, the post-thanksgiving house cleaning involves putting the house back into order. Hopefully, not to many repairs are needed. Many will begin to put up their Advent and Christmas decorations, and begin to play Christmas music. They dedicate their homes for being a place where Christmas is celebrated.

Our Lord in the Gospel, also undertook some housecleaning. It had been two hundred years since Judas Maccabeus had rededicated the temple, and once again it had become filled with corruption. So, our Lord took it upon himself to drive out the corruption from the Temple.

These two scenes are reminders that God wishes to drive out the corruption of sin and selfishness from humanity and from our individual souls.

As we are cleaning and decorating our homes today, let us remember that more important is that our souls are cleansed and purified through repentance, that our souls be adorned and ornamented with virtues of generosity towards the poor, self-control, and prayerfulness.

The changing of a liturgical season is always a good time to do some self-examination of our spiritual lives. It is a good time to make a good confession. Today is a good day for ensuring that the Temple of our life is truly a house of prayer; so it’s a good day to make some plans for the types of prayer we will engage in during the Advent season. I recommend a daily Advent reflection in addition to daily Mass, and any practice that will help us to learn and to live God’s cleansing and purifying Holy Will, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That Christians may undertake the meditation and prayer necessary to live holy and righteous lives.

For a healing of all family divisions, reunion for the estranged and welcoming of the alienated.

That those who have fallen away from the Church or fallen into serious sin may repent and return to the grace of the Sacraments.

For the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the aged, the lonely, the grieving, the unemployed, those who are facing financial difficulties, those with addictions, and the imprisoned: that God will draw close to them, and bless them with grace and peace.

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.

O God, you 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.

November 9, 2017 - St. John Lateran - Cleansing the Temple and the Church

Throughout the centuries, St John Lateran has survived fires, earthquakes, barbarian invasions, and world wars; she is the oldest church in Europe, and perhaps symbolic of the universal Church, who has survived schisms, heresies, corruption, and government persecution—the storms and chaos of nearly two thousand years.

But, the endurance of Holy Church based on the promise of Our Lord, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her, should never be taken for granted. We must never grow lax striving to remain pure of worldly corruption and doctrinal error.

In the Gospel for this important feast, Our Lord cleanses the corruption from His Father’s Temple.  The temple was God’s house, the place where His people offered worship and where they were to be instructed in the ways of righteousness, and yet, it’s loveliness had been replaced by corruption. Our Lord cleansing the Temple, reminds us of His desire that the New Temple, His Bride, the Church, should always strive to be free from any error or moral transgression; each of us have a responsibility to strive for inner purity.

Blessed John Henry Newman, living just over a century ago, quipped, “I thank God that I live in a day when the enemy is outside the Church, and I know where he is, and what he is up to. But, I foresee a day when the enemy will be both outside and inside the Church…and, I pray for the poor faithful who will be caught in the crossfire.”

Sadly, I think Cardinal Newman’s prophecy has come to fulfillment. Error pervades many corners of the Church, clergy and religious and lay sew error among Christ’s flock; many are saddened, confused, and led astray. These are difficult times to be a faithful Catholic, faithful to all the Lord teaches. Our culture, the media, pressures Church leaders to change immemorial teachings.

But St. Paul, writing to a group of Christians, offers a frightening warning: “If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person” And Paul is writing here, to the Corinthian Church, which had become riddled with immorality and error and division.

So, we recommit all the more to zeal for our own purification, from sin, error, and selfishness, to faithfulness to the eternal truths of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - - - -

For the purification of Holy Church, and for all Bishops and clergy, that they may always lead us in fidelity to the saving Gospel of Christ.

For those who have fallen into error, for Catholics who have grown lukewarm in their faith, for those who have left the Church, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

During this National Vocations Week, for an increase in vocations to priesthood and consecrated life, and that our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the godlessness of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

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, you 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.

All Souls' Day 2017 - Praying for the Dead

Yesterday, All Saints' Day, we praised God for his masterpieces: the saints, those Christians who reached spiritual maturity in this life, and so entered heaven immediately after death.

Today Catholics join in praying for the eternal repose of our many brothers and sisters who died in friendship with Christ, but who hadn't yet reached spiritual maturity. Instead of entering heaven immediately, these souls were taken by God to the spiritual hospital called purgatory.

Even though there is firm scriptural basis for the practice of praying for the dead, many Catholics are uncomfortable with this doctrine. But from the very beginning the Church has engaged in this practice. The saints urge us to pray for the dead. St. John Vianney said, "We must say many prayers for the souls of the faithful departed, for one must be so pure to enter heaven."

St. John Chrysostom, over 1200 years before John Vianney even recommended to every Christian family that they have a box at some convenient place in their home where they put coins which would be used to have masses said for the Poor Souls.

Common sense, the testimony of the saints, and the Bible all agree: purgatory is real; many if not most of us will need to be purified from the vestiges of sin and selfishness after we die, so that we can fully experience the joys of heaven.

This is not a complicated doctrine. Though, the Church has made no definitive statements about what exactly this purification is like or exactly how long it takes, three things for certain: that a purification after death exists, that it is not entirely pleasant, it involves suffering, but the church on earth can assist those souls in purgatory with our prayers.

Knowing this motivates us to do two things.

First, it certainly motivates us to prepare our souls, while here on earth. Doing penance for our sins during our earthly life is preferable to the pains suffered in purgatory.

Second, we can alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters who have died and are now in purgatory by praying for them, offering Masses for them, obtaining indulgences for them...God has generously connected our lives to theirs.

And so, we who are members of the Church Militant here on earth, can help the members of the Church Suffering in purgatory, arrive more quickly to their eternal destination: the Church Triumphant in heaven.

May we be generous in our prayers and acts of charity toward our beloved dead, that with them, we may come to see God face to face in heaven, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - -

May all those baptized into Christ’s saving passion, death, and resurrection, and nourished at the Eucharistic table of the Lord, be welcomed into the halls of the heavenly banquet.

For all those who suffer from violence, war, famine, extreme poverty, addiction, and those who are alienated from their families.  May they know God’s mercy and be gathered to the eternal kingdom of peace. 

That God may send his angel of consolation and comfort to all those for whom death draws near, and all those who grieve the death of a loved one might find peace in the promises of Christ.

For all those who despair of eternal life because they do not know God, may they receive faith in the saving resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For all of the holy souls in purgatory, especially those forgotten by time and have no one else to pray for them, that they may know the constant aid of the Church on earth, especially the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for deceased clergy and religious, and those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Heavenly Father, grant to our beloved dead your mercy and forgiveness, hear and answer all of our prayers according to your gracious will, through Christ our Lord.

Monday - 18th Week of OT 2017 - Alternatives to complaining

In the book of Exodus we read of the great works that God accomplished to free the Jews from slavery in Egypt and deliver them to the promised land, the land “flowing with milk and honey”
The trek from Egypt to Israel, which should have lasted maybe several months, took the Jews 40 years of desert wandering. Why were the Jews condemned to the desert? The desert was to be a place of purification. It was quickly evident that the Jews were not quite ready for paradise: disobedience and unbelief filled their hearts. And in order to be the people God had chosen them to be, purification was in order.

We heard today the complaint of the Israelites. They claimed they had it better in Egypt. They preferred well-fed slavery to the struggle of freedom.

This is the story of every baptized Christian who falls back into sin. In baptism, we are freed from the slavery to the devil, the flesh, and the world. But sometimes we hear and feel those old temptations calling—temptations to fall back to the comfortable, to just give in to the urgings of the flesh, the easy road, to forsake struggle for slavery.

St. Paul wrote to the Galatians: “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery...You were called for freedom…Do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love."

A lesson we can learn from the Jews’ desert wanderings, is that perhaps complaining is a quick road to disobedience. We start to the focus on the negative, the pleasures of the old sinful ways, and soon we are living back under slavery.

To combat that incessant urge to complain when things aren’t going our way, or to forsake the way of Christ in the midst of trial: we should certainly think before we speak, think before we act; we should seek to see our trial from God’s point of view, perhaps contemplate the lessons God wishes to teach us by allowing us to undergo our trials, and to remember that there is no spiritual growth without suffering; no pain, no spiritual gain.

The martyrs, like Pope St. Sixtus and his companions, whom we honor today, remind us that the way of Christ, making our way on this earthly pilgrimage to the heavenly promised land, requires perseverance, fortitude in resisting temptation, and surrender to the providence of God.

May we live in the freedom of Christ, the freedom of the saints and martyrs, that we may safely reach our heavenly homeland and become the chosen people God made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - -

That all Christians experiencing trials of any kind, may know the grace of perseverance and faithfulness.

For Bishop Nelson Perez, the next shepherd of our diocese; that the Holy Spirit will empower his diocesan leadership with grace, wisdom, and faith.

That our young people on summer vacation may remain close to Jesus through prayer, attendance at Holy Mass with their families, repentance through Sacramental Confession, and faithfulness to all the teachings of Christ. We pray to the Lord.

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. We pray to the Lord.

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. We pray.

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.

Homily: 5th Sunday in OT 2017 - Salt of the Earth

I remember as a kid, my dad telling stories about working in the salt mines under Lake Erie when he was a younger man.  Morton Salt has about 3 miles of salt mines 2000 feet underneath our great lake.  This salt is an important source of revenue for the State of Ohio, and the salt is utilized in a number of ways: particularly as a seasoning for our food, and on our roads during the winter.

Jesus uses the metaphor of salt to teach his followers the Gospel. He says to his followers, you are salt of the earth. Salt, for Jesus’ listeners, must have evoked a number of images, just like it does for us.
Of course, salt is a seasoning. It adds flavor to an otherwise bland dish.  It’s not an entrée in itself; you aren’t going to sit down to a nice bowl full of delicious salt for breakfast.  Christians are to be a sort of seasoning to an otherwise bland world.

Christians, fully alive with the life of Christ, are anything but bland. This week we celebrated Catholic Schools week, and daily over in the school, the students learned about some of the patron saints of Christian Education, saints like Thomas Aquinas, John Neuman, Angela Merici, Elizabeth Ann Seton, holy men and women who bristled with energy and joy and charity. Their saltiness has changed human history, has changed the way the faith is passed on to the young generations.
Not only do we look to them in great gratitude, but for inspiration for developing our own brand of Christian saltiness on our own lives. For each of us are called to be saints, to heroic virtue and selfless service.

How else is salt used? Salt is necessary for life. Even the most stringent nutritionists have to admit that salt is a necessary component of the human diet. The ancients, too, understood, salt was necessary for good health.  Similarly, Christians need to be salt in this way. The health of the church in a particular area can be measured by whether or not its Christians are living according to the precepts of our faith.

Salt is also a Preservative: In the days before refrigeration, salt made preserving food possible for times of famine. Christians need to be a preservative in our culture, to preserve what is good and holy in creation against the spiritual corruption of worldly vices. Seeing many of the strong Christian values in our country begin to fade, Christians need to take up again this call to preserve. Christians must preserve the nation, marriage, family, the young from spiritual rot.

Salt is also a Purifier: The salt in the oceans of the world act as a natural cleaning agent, and most water purification systems use salt as a "purifier." Christians are to be the world’s purifiers: opposing the corrupting powers of malice and perversion and greed. Each of us too need to seek the constant purifying of our minds from the world’s corrupting influence. We purify our minds through study of God’s word, interiorizing the doctrines of our faith, the example of the saints.

Salt also has a destructive power.  As a kid, I’d run to the kitchen to get a salt shaker when I found a slug in the garden…a little morbid, yes.  In the ancient world, when an army would conquer their enemy, they’d knock down the walls, raise the city to the ground, then really to rub it in sometimes they would cast salt upon the earth so that nothing would ever grow there again. Are Christians to be a destructive power in society? In a sense we are! We are to be a force against all manifestations of sin, all the ways in which human life is violated and discounted, all forms of hatred and violence, we are meant to interrupt them and get in their way.

Finally, as we know all too well, living here in Cleveland, Salt is used for the melting of ice. Salt makes things flow that are frozen.   The Church’s task is to loosen up a world frozen in its own self-regard, frozen in violent and perverted ways.  We have this melting influence, when we are faithful to Christ.  Think of the power of one saint, how he can melt hearts that have been frozen against Christ. Many souls have been converted to Christ because they saw holy people selflessly engaged in the acts of charity. Just like it’s used on our roads, in ancient times salt was also used to prevent people from slipping on slippery paths.  Christians are called to help souls from slipping into damnation—promoting the teachings of Jesus on marriage, family, and morality, which give stability to civilization.

We look to our culture and see a lot of problems.  But when the Church is faithful, we can have that melting influence in a neighborhood or state or country to get things flowing in the right direction again.

You and I are called to be salt. But the Lord warns that salt can lose its flavor. Perhaps maybe you have lost a bit of enthusiasm for the Christian life, or your marriage has gone a little bland. Maybe you don’t feel like you are having a positive influence on your neighbors, or the fallen away members of your family.

The solution: Pray, pray, pray.  Only when we are united to Christ in a vibrant prayer life can we hope to bring his light and goodness and beauty into the world.  You cannot be salt without constant prayer.  A priest who does not pray is worthless, a bishop who does not pray is worthless, husbands and wives who do not pray will not have the strength and power to faithfully live out the Christian responsibilities of the marriage sacrament.  Young people who do not pray will not have the strength to withstand the nearly unending torrent of evil from our culture.

Salt: an ordinary substance with tremendous potential, many uses, vital to life and civilization. We must become salt by bringing Christ into our workplaces, into our conversations, into our civic life, in our family life. Be salt, my friends, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.