Easter Sunday 2026 - Easter Renewal

 

He is Risen, Indeed He is Risen! Alleluia!

On Good Friday, the world was darkened by an eclipse of the sun. Evil was so tangible that even the earth shuddered with an earthquake. It was a day when lies and conspiracies and plotting seemed to conquer truth, and darkness seemed to eclipse light, and death seemed to have been victorious over life, and Satan seemed to have gotten the upper hand on God.

But enough of that. For now we celebrate a morning when the tomb was empty; a morning when light was so bright it blinded roman soldiers and burnt an image into a burial cloth; a morning when life triumphed over death, and truth trumped falsehood, and hope was victorious over despair, and faith championed doubt, and God put Satan in his place. For He is Risen, Indeed He is Risen! Alleluia!

The extraordinary news of Easter morning is that not only did Jesus Christ conquer death for himself, but that he shares that victory over death and sin and despair and darkness and sin and evil with us. His victory is ours. He invites us to share in his triumph. If that is not extraordinarily Good News, I don’t know what is.

On the High Holy Days, many of us come to Church for a lot of different reasons: perhaps you are here today because it’s simply family tradition or because it just seemed like the right thing to do; perhaps you are a life-long Catholic, and there was never a doubt that you’d be at Church on Easter Sunday.

Maybe there’s a bit of darkness, or a lot of darkness in your life, and you just needed to draw near to the brightest light you possibly could today. In that case, you’re in very good company, because I’m pretty sure everybody in this Church has experienced are periods in life that seem more like Good Friday than Easter Sunday. Periods of life when you wonder about life’s meaning, periods of life when we seem stuck on a cross, or overwhelmed, like life has buried us in a tomb, when we struggle to find God amidst all the chaos and violence and evil in the world.

The message of course today is that Good Friday does not get the last word. Easter morning does. Our faith in Jesus Christ allows us to be confident that evil and death do not get the last word. So, if there is a part of your life, that still seems to be stuck in Good Friday, I invite you to ask Jesus very sincerely today, to enter that part of your life, to transform it. Ask him to come into that Good Friday broken relationship, that Good Friday doubt or confusion, that Good Friday sense of defeat. And to allow him to bring Easter Victory to your Good Friday sufferings.

A number of years before his death, Pope Francis offered these words on Easter: “Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If up till now you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as he would have you do.”

In just a few moments we will renew our baptismal promises. From time to time I meet a college student or older adult who, though baptized as an infant has left the practice of the Catholic faith: they aren’t coming to mass and they don’t accept the truth behind particular Church teachings.  I ask them why they’ve left the practice of the faith in which they were raised.   And they often say, “well, I was baptized as a baby, so I didn’t get a choice to become Catholic or not.”

Well, to all of you, who feel like you didn’t get a choice, today, and every Easter, we renew the promises of our baptism, we renew our faith that Jesus rose, we renew our belief in all the Church teaches in his name.  You will then be sprinkled with the Easter waters, that the Lord may breathe new life into your religious commitments.

In fact, the Early Christians celebrated every Sunday as a “little Easter”. They knew that without this little Easter every week, they’d be allowing those forces which conspired against Christ on Good Friday to have power over them. So, if you want to make this Easter part of your deliverance out of the Good Fridays in your life, make every Sunday a “little Easter”

For, if the power of Christ’s resurrection is to overflow in your life, constant faith must be an open conduit. Don’t shut off the flow of grace. If you are tempted to do so, remember that it’s the power of the world trying to isolate you again.

So today, the priest will ask every one of you here six questions for the renewal of your baptismal promises.  The first three have to do with Sin.  Christ’s Easter victory was a victory over sin, so the Christian is to seek to be rid of anything that has to do with sin.  So the priest will ask, “Do you renounce sin, so as to live in the freedom of the children of God. Do you renounce the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over you? Do you renounce Satan, the author and prince of Sin?”

What are we saying, when we say “I do” to these questions?  I’m promising to do everything in my power, with the help of the power of Easter, to put an end to sin in my life, to put an end to all self-absorption and all selfishness. I’m promising to do everything in my own power to change my life, to alter my daily and weekly routines, that they can better reflect the Christian faith as taught by the Catholic Church.  I’m renouncing all of those excuses of laziness which hinder the power of Easter becoming more manifest in me. All the powers of lust which cause me to focus on passing earthly pleasure instead of eternal heavenly joy. Today, we readily turn away from these things. For those excuses, those sins, are the most likely culprits for not enjoying the peace and joy God wants for us.

The last three questions of the baptismal promises concern the doctrines of the Faith.  Do you believe in God the Father, do you believe that Jesus Christ suffered and died and rose again, do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church.

These are teachings the Church professes every Sunday when we profess the Creed.  These are the truths upon which our religious life rests.  These are the truths that give us strength in the face of temptation, they are the light of truth in the darkness of the world’s confusion and error. Amidst all of the nonsense in the world, all of the error perpetuated through modern media, all the fake news out there, the Christian can say, I know these things to be true.

We renew our baptismal promises today, and by doing so open ourselves to the power of Christ’s Easter Victory. Through them, we become heirs of the promises of Christ, that we, like him, shall be risen from the dead and live forever. For he risen from the dead, indeed he is risen, alleluia, alleluia. 

 

 

2nd Week of Advent 2025 - Wednesday - God's promise of renewal

In the first reading, God promises strength for his people. Isaiah says, “They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings: They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.”

To Isaiah’s original audience, this promise was not a vague spiritual encouragement. It was a concrete proclamation spoken into one of the darkest chapters of Israel’s history. Recall that this promise was being given to a people exiled in Babylon. The Jews had lost their land, lost their Temple, lost their monarchy, lost their identity as a nation, and wondered if God had abandoned them. They were a defeated people with no political leverage and no military strength. They experienced the exhaustion of futile existence and defeat.

But to these people, God assured them: I will restore you, I will rejuvenate you. Your defeat will not get the final word. Hope in the Lord, he will come for you. God remains faithful despite appearances. 

Throughout Advent, we read these promises from Isaiah to understand the spiritual state of humanity awaiting the savior. Israel’s exile was the consequence of their persistent unfaithfulness—idolatry, injustice, hard-heartedness. The loss of the Temple, the land, the kingship, and the city was not just political—it was identity-shattering.

The promises of Isaiah are not just significant for historical Israel, but for all of humanity. God would restore what was lost through sin, he would restore dignity, identity, mission, renewing the human heart enabling us to become the people God made us to be. 

In the Gospel today, Jesus identifies himself as the one who brings the strength and rejuvenation Israel and all of humanity longed for. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Rest. Rejuvenation. New strength. Renewal. Jesus is the answer to humanities longing. He is the font of new life.

We know how the burdens of life and the demands of mission of the Gospel can be quite demanding and exhausting. Raising a family in the faith, being faithful to the demands of our particular vocation, caring for the poor in all the ways God is calling us, fighting against temptation and worldly distraction. Sharing the Gospel to a world that mocks us, hates us, persecutes us. The Christian pilgrimage can be exhausting.

But during Advent, we are to take the time to renew our hope and trust in the Lord, quieting down, turning away from worldly distraction, so that we can be rejuvenated, strengthened when the Lord comes. 

The Christian life isn’t just about gritting our teeth, relying on our own talents, pushing through on our own, but learning to hope in the Lord in times of difficulty. Those who hope in the Lord will be strengthened. Those who turn to the Lord will have strength for the long haul, strength to do small things with great love, strength to embrace great challenges, for the building up of the Church, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls

 

Trusting in the God who renews the strength of His people and who calls us to find rest in Him, let us offer our prayers.

That during this Advent season, the Church may deepen her hope in the Lord and draw renewed strength from Christ, who restores what sin has broken, and for renewal in our parish.

That all who serve the poor, fight against injustice, experience Christian persecution or witness to the Gospel in difficult environments may receive fresh strength from the Lord to continue doing good without growing weary.

That parents, spouses, and caregivers, may be strengthened by God’s grace to persevere with patience, love, and hope amid life’s demands.

For all of the sick, and that those who feel burdened, defeated, or forgotten—may find renewal in Christ.

That all who have walked the pilgrimage of faith and now rest from their labors may rejoice in the fullness of the Kingdom prepared for them.

God of strength, You renew the hearts of those who hope in You. Hear the prayers we place before You and grant us the grace to find in Christ our rest, our renewal, and our salvation. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

June 6 2025 - St. Norbert - Renouncing the world to gain life

“Renouncing your possessions, hating your father and mother, carrying your cross.” The Gospel today speaks of the need to put God first and putting the things of the world, even your ties with family second. To die to self, in order to live for Christ.

The saint we honor today, St. Norbert did just that.

Norbert was born into nobility. He was not the first born son, so, as was common in those days, in the high middle ages, the second son entered the church. Now again, he was of the high nobility, so he was basically guaranteed a high position in the Church. 

As a young cleric he was named personal chaplain to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. Though he was put in charge of dispensing alms to the poor, Norbert began to take on a lot of bad habits of the wealthy elite of the emperor’s court. As he grew in worldliness, his faith began to diminish.

A close brush with death, however, caused Norbert to reexamine his priorities. He decided to give up his position in the imperial court and dedicate his life to the contemplation of Christ.  

He was ordained a priest later that year. He renounced all of his worldly possessions and formed a religious order of like-minded men now known as the Norbertines.

He put wealth and a position of influence and luxury and the expectations of family and worldly comfort behind him, and finally began to live. Norbert and saints like francis and clare and so many others saints remind us of the need to put Christ first. 

We might not be called like Norbert, Francis, and Clare to take religious vows of poverty, but every Christian is to live in the world without allowing wealth and possessions to distract us from our Christian mission. Once in a while, when given an opportunity for luxury, we should turn it down. We must keep that tendency of ours of running away from difficulty and suffering in check, lest we miss an opportunity to bring about some good for the sake of the kingdom.

Even as a cleric, Norbert’s faith began to diminish, because he allowed the world to fill his heart. And in God’s mysterious way, a brush with death, he woke up, thanks be to God, and sought renewal of purpose. 

May each of us constantly seek that renewal of intention and purpose in service of the Lord, in which is found fulfilment, joy, and eternal life for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Inspired by the saints  who renounced the world to follow Christ with greater fervor, let us offer our prayers with hearts open to the will of God.

For the Church, that she may remain faithful to her mission of proclaiming the Gospel with courage, even when it requires sacrifice and detachment.

For bishops, priests, and all in consecrated life, that like St. Norbert, they may be renewed in zeal and holiness, placing Christ above all worldly gain

For those who have grown lukewarm in faith, that through moments of grace or trial, they may rediscover their purpose in Christ and return to Him with a renewed heart.

For young people discerning their vocation, that they may be open to the call of Christ, willing to renounce worldly ambition for the sake of the Kingdom.

For the success of our parish retreat tomorrow, that it may new our parish in putting our gifts in service of the Church’s mission.

That the sick, suffering, poor and afflicted may know that constant help of God’s grace.

For the faithful departed, especially those who sought the Lord with sincerity and humility, that they may now rejoice in His eternal presence, we pray to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, you raised up St. Norbert to be a witness to the power of conversion and the joy of discipleship. Through his intercession, may we too be strengthened to carry our cross and follow Christ more faithfully, for the glory of your Name. Through Christ our Lord.

4th Week of Lent 2024 - Monday - Promises of New Life

The fourth Sunday of Lent, yesterday, marked a threshold in this liturgical season.  No longer will the weekday readings emphasize prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The Church assumes, that at this point, we have habituated these practices. Rather, from now until Holy Week, our weekday scripture readings will focus on the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, and the mounting hostility he faced leading up to his arrest and crucifixion. 

The gospel book changes as well.  Since Ash Wednesday, we’ve read from one of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, or Luke.  For the rest of Lent, we will read predominately from the Gospel of John, which presents Jesus as “the resurrection and the life”. 

The promise of new life is introduced in our reading from the prophet Isaiah this morning. God announces his plan and his promise to create a new heaven and a new earth where the sufferings and sadnesses of life—caused by sin and death and evil—shall not be remembered, but will be replaced with endless rejoicing and happiness. 

And then how did our Gospel reading show Jesus fulfilling this promise of new life. The weeping of the royal official over his dying son is replaced with joy when Jesus restores health to the boy. Joy is brought to the entire household. 

Yesterday, on Laetare Sunday the liturgy urged us to be joyful, for all who mourn shall be made to exult. And again today, we have this connection with joy and new life. The new life available to all of us through Christ is the cause of our joy. 

Joy should be evident in the life of the Christian. Even as we undergo Lenten penances, there should be joy. Because we know that our Lenten penances bring life. They are aimed at the spiritual growth of our souls, and softening hardened hearts to the life of God. 

Our collect prayer this morning, too, spoke about the renewal God desires to bring about through Christ. What is the renewal God wants for you, right now, and this point in your life? Can you identify it? If not, ask God to help you identify those parts of your mind, body, and spirit that he wants to renew through Christ. And if you do know, ask for the strength to pursue that renewal, that new life. It might not be easy. Renewal might require change and breaking habits and thinking and speaking differently. But that change is good because it is the change desired for you by God. 

May the joy of our salvation in Christ pierce through every darkness and lead us and those we pray for to the eternal light of Heaven for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

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As the Solemnity of Easter approaches, dear brethren, let our prayer to the Lord be all the more insistent:

That God may be pleased to increase faith and understanding in the catechumens and those to be fully initiated in the coming Paschal Solemnity

For Peace throughout the nations of the world most threatened by hatred, division, and violence, for the protection of the unborn and the safety of the men and women in our armed forces.  

That all families will commit themselves to fervent prayer this Lent so as to grow in greater love and holiness.  

For the physical, emotional, and spiritual healing of all people, especially the spiritually blind and hard of heart.  

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…  

Have mercy, O Lord, on the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in the divine mystery may never be left without your assistance. Through Christ our Lord.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 - Transformed by the renewal of your mind

 

I’ve shared before how, when I was a teenager, I went through a phase where I was not very interested in our beloved Catholic faith. I had stopped going to church, and became immersed in some real secular ways of thinking. I started to buy into the idea that religion had nothing to offer, that science and politics were the answers to humanity’s problems. I began to read Marx and Freud and was watching a lot of entertainment in which religion, particularly Catholicism was derided and mocked. 

“Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”. Our age, as you might know, is very antithetical toward religion. Mockery of religion, the bible, the church, the priesthood pervades so much of the media. And it’s relentless. The mockery and contempt for religion is found in so many classrooms, workplaces, political rhetoric, media, pop songs and movies, internet forums. And hearing this preacher, break open this scripture passage from St. Paul late one night, helped me to realize that I had bought right into it: this idea which is still very prevalent that religion was not part of the solution, but part of the problem.

But, the idea that the world can fix itself without God is foolish. Just look at what happens when God is driven out of society, politics, science, not to mention the classroom: you get concentration camps, weapons of mass destruction, torture, human trafficking, mental illness, broken families, crime, and self-destruction through drugs and alcohol.  

When we conform ourselves to the world—we are swallowed by the world and our light dims, our minds are dulled, and our wills are weakened to the point where we just go along with the fallen corrupt human system because it’s easier. 

Rather, the way of Christ is the way of transformation and healing. Which is why in the Gospel when Peter tells Jesus to abandon the cross, Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan, You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Funny how, thinking as “human beings do” always leads away from the cross. 

Why does Jesus call Peter Satan? Because Satan does not want mankind saved. Satan does not want mankind transformed. Satan wants us enslaved while thinking that we are free. Satan is the great enemy: he wants you chained to your sins, trapped in cycles of sin and depravity. He wants you to hate, and resent, and manipulate, and abuse. He wants to see all that is holy in you, all that is a reflection of the goodness of God trampled upon. You wants you using your bodies in degrading ways, he wants your minds atrophied, and your wills broken to give-in to every one of his temptations. Satan loves when we abandon religion for science for politics, when we worship anything but God. 

Satan wants us to settle for fallenness, but God wishes to raise us up, which is why St. Paul says renew your mind that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. 

What does it mean to renew your mind? The Christian is to always be about the business of seeking to know, understand, and interpret the world through the lens of the Word of God. The Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the writings of the saints, must be the interpretive lens, the filter, the hermeneutic, to understand all things, and to shape and guide and inform all of our decisions. And if we arrive at some conclusion contrary to the Gospel—well we have not thought and prayed and studied long enough.

Satan is hard at work, creating division—turning man against brother—Christian against Christian—undermining right religion, frustrating domestic tranquility, spreading terrible confusion—duping even Christians to embrace attitudes and behavior which is repugnant to the word of God. But, as I said a few weeks ago, God chose us to live now, in the year 2023, in the midst of this nearly-all pervasive Satanic spirit—to show the world another way, the way—To show and to witness, to follow and to suffer for the one who says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through me.”

The Catholic of 2023 must be a bullwork of right faith, who pursues the true, the good, and the beautiful in opposition to the error, corruption, and ugliness of the world. The Catholic of 2023 must take up the cross and follow Christ—no matter the hostility or pressure from the Satanic spirit. You are chosen for this. You and I were made for this.

We are called to be the great transformers of the world, but we must first let God and his will transform us. Read the Bible. Study the Catechism. In fact, you should study your faith to the highest capacity of your intellect. In other words, if you can grasp high school theology, you should study high school theology. If you can grasp college or graduate level or doctorate level theology, then you should. Our minds have tremendous capacity for the Truth. But if all you do is fill your mind with the garbage on tv and the internet, your life, and mind, and wills, and bodies will suffer for it.

We have a wonderful new Bible Study starting up in a few weeks on Monday nights. But every day, you need to seek the renewal of your mind. Every day learn something new about your faith. I’ve been a priest for 15 years. I have two masters degrees in Theology, a bachelors in philosophy, and I promise you cannot exhaust what there is to learn about God and about our faith. Likely, the thing that is keeping us from the daily renewal God wants for us is laziness and fear of the cross. 

So, in the name of Jesus Christ, rebuke Satan, just like Jesus did in the Gospel today, rebuke any attitude, any fear, any habit, that is keeping you from the renewal and the transformation God wants for you, for therein lies joy, freedom, peace, and the fullness of life for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

1st Week after Epiphany 2023 (EF) - Monday - Transformed by the renewal of your mind

One of the themes of Epiphanytide is revelation. Christ is revealed as a light to the nations. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh reveal that the one born at Bethlehem is king, priest, and savior. 

Today’s Gospel is another sort of Epiphany, revealing a profound truth about Jesus. He responds to Mary’s questioning, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” The Lord himself reveals—he is the Divine Son of the heavenly Father, confirming the words of the prophet Isaiah, that Mary would give birth to the one called, “Son of the Most High”. 

The twelve-year old Son of the Father has spent three days in the temple, to the astonishment of Mary and Joseph, because his first priority in this life was to do the will of the heavenly Father. He takes on the Messianic mission because he was sent to do so by the Father and was obedient to the Father unto death. The obedient Son came to reverse the disobedience of Adam’s sin. And through the Son’s obedience, we are redeemed and become heirs to the Kingdom of heaven.

And as the Christ, so too the Christian. Obedience to the will of the Father is to mark our lives, even, when it comes at great cost to our egos and social status and so many other dimensions of our lives. 

But we willingly surrender to the will of the Father because the Son reveals that life is found in doing the Father’s will. 

Conform yourselves not to this age, St. Paul says in our epistle—this age whose errors and depravity are so contrary to the truth and goodness of the Father. There is this pull, this pressure, this temptation to disobey like Adam. It is so much easier simply to conform, to go along with the ways of the world, to swallow the errors unquestioningly. But truth is not determined by a majority vote, as the dear departed Pope Benedict was fond of reiterating.  

Rather than conforming to the world, we, like the Son of God, are to conform to the Will of the Father, through the renewal of our minds, as Paul says. In a commentary on this passage from Paul, Pope Benedict writes: “transforming ourselves, letting ourselves be transformed by the Lord into the form of the image of God, transforming ourselves every day anew… this is the true novelty which does not subject us to opinions, to appearances, but to the Grace of God, to his revelation. Let us permit ourselves to be formed, to be molded, so that the image of God really appears in the human being.”

Daily may we seek that renewal of our minds through prayer, study, meditation, contemplation, good works, the restraining of vices and penance for sin, that we may be conformed ever more to the Son, and filled with His life for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 A reading from the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans

Brethren: I urge you therefore, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned. For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.

A continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke

When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple,  sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

 

31st Week in OT 2019 - Tuesday - Renewal of Minds and Sharing Spiritual Gifts

 Our daily readings from Romans have brought us into the final major section of Paul’s great letter. St. Paul has completed his teachings on basic Christian doctrine and has spoken of God’s plan to bring unification to humanity. Now in the last part of his letter he turns his attention to instruction on the moral considerations and consequences of the Gospel—how members of the Church are to treat each other, non-believers, and the poor.

Paul begins his instruction by setting the stage: Christians must not model their lives and their behavior on the contemporary world. For the Roman Christians, they were to avoid the excesses, the decadence, the violence, the impurity, and the worldview of the Pagan Romans. What would be his exhortation to us? Avoid the excesses, the decadence, the violence, the impurity, the worldview of secular society!

Rather, Paul says, renew your minds, metamorphousthe, he says in the Greek, be transformed by the renewal of your minds. Put on the mind of Christ in all things, study the faith, meditate on the word of God day and night, that you can know what is good, and pleasing to God. Wonderful advice. To the extent of their intellectual ability, every Christian should seek to understand the faith. You are never to old to renew your minds.

Okay, then Paul gets to the exhortations we find today. Rather than conforming yourself to the world, having put on the mind of Christ, Paul explains how God wants communities of Christians to discern and share and make use of their spiritual gifts. The gifts of prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, acts of mercy are to be discerned, developed, and shared.

What are these gifts? Ministry is the gift of practical service to others, particularly to widows, orphans, and the elderly. Teaching helps believers and non-believers to understand the faith with clarity. Exhortation encourages others and motivates them to live the gospel with heroic fidelity. Generosity prompts persons to make give liberally of their financial resources to assist the needy and to advance the mission of the church. Community leadership orchestrates the gifts of the community, perhaps helping other discover their gifts. Mercy is reaching out to the hungry, sick, dying, imprisoned and so forth.

We pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our parish, to protect us from the errors of the world, to teach us what is good and pleasing to God, and to help us discern, develop and share our spiritual gifts for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That God’s manifold gifts may be evident in our Diocese and in our parish.

That our parishioners may be kept safe from the errors of the world and be transformed by the renewal of their minds and hearts through the Gospel.

That during this National Vocations Awareness Week our young people may respond generously to the call of the Lord to serve the Church.

That we may be attentive to the needs of the sick, the poor, and the despairing in our midst.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, for the repose of the soul of Bishop Richard Lennon who will be buried today, for those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

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 4 2019 - St. Charles Borromeo - National Vocations Awareness Week

Yesterday began, in the United States, National Vocation Awareness Week. We’ve observed National Vocation Awareness Week since 1976, but it’s only been since 2014 that National Vocation Awareness Week has been moved to the first full week of November. And this is quite fitting, as this week of prayer will now contain today’s feast of St. Charles Borromeo, who is the patron saint of seminarians, those discerning and being formed for the priestly vocation.

We do well to pray for the particular young people in our lives this week, that they may discover their vocation.

Our diocesan college seminary here in Cleveland is under the patronage of St. Charles Borromeo. During the Council of Trent, St. Charles,  was instrumental in developing the modern seminary system, and he also developed the Catechism of the Council of Trent which was used by parish priests for centuries for teaching the faith to their people, laying the foundations of faith in young people, and preparing non-Catholics for initiation into the Catholic faith.

It is simply unfathomable how many people have been impacted by the life and labors of St. Charles Borromeo. Not simply how many priests have been well-formed to serve the Church because of him, but how many souls have been touched and inspired and nurtured and brought back from sin because their priests were well-formed. Like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, how many souls have been shepherded to God because this man said yes to his vocation to holiness?

As a nephew to a Medici Pope, St. Charles could have become just another corrupt Renaissance Bishop. But he became a driving force of reform within the Church, who has impacted countless souls. May we be filled with that same spirit, and strive to live according to God’s plan for our lives, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That through the intercession of the Bishop St. Charles Borromeo, bishops and church leaders will be models of inspiration and holiness for the Church.

That God will raise up many priestly vocations in our diocese and that the young people of our parish may strive after holiness and God’s will in their lives.

For all seminarians from our diocese, that as they prepare for priesthood, they may be formed into credible and holy witnesses of the Gospel, and given generous hearts for service of the Church.
For the renewal of the clergy and reparation for their sins.

That Christ the Good Shepherd will draw close to all who suffer, the sick, the needy, victims of injustice, and the dying.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

Hear our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Charles Borromeo grant us renewal and the increase in charity, wisdom, and grace. Through Christ Our Lord.

5th Sunday of Lent 2019 - "I make all things new"

Fifteen years ago already, actor, director and producer Mel Gibson released a film depicting the final hours, crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ called The Passion of the Christ.  I saw the film during my semester abroad in Rome, and it was during Holy Week, and I remember being deeply and tearfully moved by this highly realistic presentation of Jesus’ passion.  It definitely changed the way I pray the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary and the stations of the cross, the graphic bloodshed and suffering etched in my memory. 

Particularly difficult to watch was the scourging of Our Lord at the pillar and when the crown of thorns was shoved onto his forehead, and when he fell underneath the weight of the cross on the road to Calvary.  Difficult to watch, not just because the amount of blood and suffering was gross or morbid, but as the film progressed I got that growing awareness that his suffering was because of my sins.

I remember tears nearly squirting out of my eyes at the scene depicting the 4th station of the cross where Jesus meets his mother. Amidst the mockery and beatings from the roman soldiers, Jesus meets his mother, looks at her, bloodied and beaten, and says words we find in the book of Revelation, “See Mother, I make all things new.”  All of the suffering, all of the blood, the hard road of the cross was for the purpose of ushering in something new.

Both the first reading and the Gospel this weekend made me think of that powerful utterance. In the first reading, Isaiah seven hundred years before the crucifixion of Jesus, speaks a word of hope to the Jews in exile. In a sense, Israel had been bloodied and beaten by its captors.  God’s people suffered the humiliation of living in a foreign land, under foreign rule.  The promises of God seemed ever so distant; it looked as if God’s enemies were victorious.

And in the darkness, God sends a prophet, Isaiah.  And through his prophet, God says, as we heard in the first reading, “see, I am doing something new!”  God is promising that He is going to break-in to creation in an unexpected way, he’s going to break the bonds of our captivity.  He’s going to usher in a new unheard of era of freedom from the powers of darkness and evil, a new way of walking in friendship with God, a whole new order to creation.

Certainly this is the kingdom Jesus establishes: in his Church, through the Sacraments, Jesus makes souls new, he makes human relationship news, he even makes new God’s relationship to us in making God present to His people in a way he had never been before, so that our very bodies and souls become temples of the Holy Trinity.

So many of the Gospel stories brim with that newness.  In the Gospel today, it looked like it was the end of the road for the women caught in the act of adultery.  She was guilty of a capital crime.  Yet, Jesus does something new.  He stops the momentum of this violent crowd and forces them to consider something new, to consider that they too are sinners, and that should change how they treat each other. As the crowd walks away dumbstruck, Jesus then invites the sinful women to a new way of life—a life without sin made possible through His mercy.

Last week, I talked about the Sacrament of Confession, how God the Father embraces us in His mercy there. With this week’s Gospel in mind, we could say that in Confession, God makes us new. Though our sins be as scarlet, we are washed clean,  our sins absolved. And in Confession, the priest dismisses us, much like Jesus in the Gospel today, Go and sin no more. Something new is possible through the Sacrament of Confession.  The slate is wiped clean.  It’s a new start, a fresh start, with God’s promise that He will help me overcome the sinful tendencies I’ve just confessed.

Lent challenges us to seek that newness God wants for us. The very word, Lent, refers to the springtime lengthening of days, in which new growth emerges from the dust of the earth. Our Garden Club, knows well that Spring is also a time for clearing away dead branches, and pruning—cutting away the less healthy branches so that new growth can occur.  Lent helps us to identify unhealthy attitudes and behaviors that need to be cut back, so new growth can occur in us. All that keeps us from loving Christ and loving as Christ should be counted as rubbish, as St. Paul says in our second reading today.

For me, the hardest part about Lent, isn’t so much the fasting or the prayer, but the willingness to make the break with unhealthy attitudes and behaviors. We’re all struggling with that aren’t we, “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” so we better be patient with each other, and give each other the benefit of the doubt that we’re trying, shouldn’t we. To not be so quick to condemn. Humble awareness of our own inner flaws should bring us greater more patience, not less, with the flaws of others. We should seek to learn all we can from others, instead of condemning them.

Speaking of new things. This week, Holy Father Pope Francis, issued a new apostolic exhortation, titled, Cristus Vivat! Christ is alive. The document is dedicated to young people, and the opening lines are so powerful. Pope Francis writes: “Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life.” The words new and renewal are used 104 times in this document. The Holy Father promises young people that the answers to the new questions of modern life can be found in Jesus. How Jesus always invites us to make a new start when we’ve fallen. How when we look to God we find the beauty that is ever ancient, ever new, the beauty our heart longs for. How young people, in facing new and difficult modern challenges, not to be supported by us, taught the truth of the faith, so that they can be equipped with the Gospel.

Certainly, one of our challenges here at St. Ignatius is to ensure that we continue to be a community  welcoming to all people who are seeking renewal and refreshment in Christ and especially young people and young families who are hungering for that newness of life, that truth, goodness, and beauty ever ancient, ever new. We have a long history here of being a parish where a rich diversity of people gathers in Catholic worship, and we seek to continue to be faithful to that heritage. Our individual duty, then  is to constantly be seeking that inner renewal that comes through a vibrant relationship with Christ, so that Jesus might draw all people to himself through us.

Pope Francis writes to young people and to all of us: …God loves you just as you are…but he also keeps offering you more: more of his friendship, more fervor in prayer, more hunger for his word, more longing to receive Christ in the Eucharist, more desire to live by his Gospel, more inner strength, more peace and spiritual joy.”

Next week, we shall begin the Week called Holy. Hopefully, we’ve taken that call to seek that something more, that something new, in our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, so that we can experience the Paschal Mysteries with new eyes and new heart and with new gratitude for the depths of Jesus love for us in his willingness to suffer and die for us.

May we open our minds and hearts to all the ways that God wants to do something new in us—new ways of serving, new ways of praying, new ways of doing penance, new ways of spreading the joy of the Gospel—for the glory of God and salvation of souls.