Priesthood Sunday 2022 - Calling imperfect men

 About 6 or 7 times in my priesthood, I’ve taken my annual retreat at Trinity Retreat Center in Larchmont, New York, about 25 minutes outside of the city. Franciscan Priest Fr. Benedict Groeschel, after his retirement, came to reside there, and I heard him speak on a few occasions, and was edified by his practice wisdom and holiness. But another priest, Fr. Gene Fulton, of the Archdiocese of New York, ran the retreat center. And Fr. Gene had an interesting story: earlier in his priesthood, he had spent time with the Russian mystic, the Baronness Catherine Doherty, at her home for troubled priests up at Madonna House in Ontario. 

Baronness Catherine had a deep love for priests going back to her childhood. She told the story of how, as a young girl growing up in Russia, she and her mother were walking down the street one day and they found their parish priest lying in the gutter drunk. The mother got the priest back to his rectory and returning home the mother spoke to her daughter, “Catherine take the flowers out of the ornate vase on the dining room table and put them in the toilet.” Catherine thought her mother’s command to be strange, but she did it. She took the flowers and put them in the toilet.

And then her mother asked her, “Catherine, are the flowers any less beautiful in the toilet than they were in the vase?” “No mother” Catherine said, “the flowers are no less beautiful” To which her mother responded, “remember that about priests, Catherine. No matter who the man is or what he has done, his priesthood is always beautiful.” And like I said, Catherine went on to devote her life to helping troubled priests whose priesthoods were in the toilet. 

On this priesthood Sunday, we can admit that some priests are ornate vases of beautiful flowers…and some priests are not. But their priesthood is always beautiful because their priesthood is the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus called the twelve apostles to himself, he didn’t call perfect guys. He called the most unlikely characters you could imagine: gruff fishermen and conniving corrupt tax collectors. Guys who had some serious issues like the political zealot, Simon, whose feast day was yesterday, and guy who stole from his friends, a thief, Judas Iscariot. He called not the perfect, but he called them nonetheless, and at the last supper ordained them the first priests. And those first priests would become the avenues by which the Gospel would be spread, the Church would be led, and the sacraments would be celebrated. 

Every priest, no matter how sinful, has the ability to raise his hands and call down heaven, spiritual fire, upon the Church, and not because of the priest’s intellect, his wisdom, or his sparkling personality, but because he has been ordained, configured to Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. 

One of the things about the priesthood that attracted me to begin discerning my calling is that priests enter people’s lives and are present to them at very critical moments: times of great happiness, like a baptism or wedding, times of sickness, times of sadness. I’ve been called into a hospital room where parents grieve a dead child. And the priest helps souls to know that God is with them, and that God invites them to holiness no matter what they are going through.

The priest announces the Gospel in these critical moments, and the priest celebrates sacraments in these critical moments, sacraments which are signs of God’s presence and grace entering into the concrete and often gory details of our lives.

When I entered seminary in 2001, the church was months away from being scandalized. News would soon be hitting every major newspaper that there were some priests who had failed to live up to their calling in grievous grievous ways, and some bishops had also failed to protect their flocks. 

And when the news hit of the terrible scandals: every seminarian at that time had some questions to ask himself: do I stick with this? Is this the sort of priest this seminary produces? Should I be here? 

And when I went to grapple with these questions, the call remained. Just because there were men who ended up as bad priests, doesn’t mean I wasn’t being called to be a good priest, or at least to try to be a good priest with God’s help. 

I think that realization was a great grace—it’s helped me to remain focused on the work and on God in the midst of some very sad moments, even some very bizarre and occasionally anti-Christian behavior from my brother priests. Strangely, remembering that priests are imperfect men, has helped me to remain focused on being a better priest. 

And I share this, on this priesthood Sunday, in the year 2022 of Our Lord, because things are still pretty chaotic out there, aren’t they, for Catholics. Liturgy wars are still being fought. We are having internal disputes over how to minister to the divorced and those with same-sex attraction and the trans-gendered, and over what it means to be pro-life. 

The Church needs young men now to answer the call to the priesthood, even in these chaotic times, because the Church will always need young men to answer the call to the priesthood. For this is how Jesus Christ designed his Church.  Some Christians don’t like the hierarchical constitution of Mother Church. Some even form splinter communities without priests, at their own peril, by the way.

But the Church will always need priests to help the faithful know and follow Christ’s teachings, to provide for the poor, to bury the dead, to pray with and pray for the Church, to lead in silence without a lot of support, to care for those who others have forgotten. 

This isn’t a call for everyone, but it’s a call for some. And Priesthood Sunday, it’s not for Catholics to congratulate priests. Priesthood Sunday is not for me. Priesthood Sunday is for the Church, to recognize that we all have work to do to help young men respond to God's call to discern the priestly calling--to make a visit to the seminary.

Our seminary in Cleveland isn’t perfect. It is very good, but not perfect. The presbyterate of Cleveland isn’t perfect. There have been some flowers in toilets in these parts. But that doesn’t mean that God isn’t calling young men to the priesthood (maybe someone here). Priests aren’t perfect, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t needed, or joyful, and fulfilled like no other profession on the planet. We are. Surveys continue to show this.

Dear people of God, pray for priests; pray that young men may hear and answer God’s call despite all the chaos and scandal in the world and in the Church, pray that priests with lukewarm hearts may catch fire, pray for priests whose priesthood is in the toilet, pray that priests who suffer unjustly may be sustained in their ministry, pray for these imperfect men, that our Good God will continue to grant his divine assistance through these imperfect hands and lips, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - A priest's rosary

 You may remember, all the way back at the beginning of the month, I shared how the month of October is traditionally devoted to the Holy Rosary, and how the Holy Father and the Bishops encourage us to pray the rosary daily during this month. 

Pope Francis offered a message about the rosary recently. He said, “I invite you to pray the rosary, and to carry it in your hands or in your pockets. The recitation of the rosary is the most beautiful prayer we can offer to the Virgin Mary; it is a contemplation on the stages of the life of Jesus the Savior with his Mother Mary and is a weapon that protects us from evils and temptations.”

Catholics often get frustrated because of the many difficulties that arise in prayer, how difficult it is sometimes to pray. But, the Rosary is easy enough that a child can pray it, profound enough for a mystic to pray it, and they do, and concise enough that a busy person with a lot on their minds can pray it.

I’d like to share with you a method of praying the rosary that I’ve been using for a number of years now. I offer each decade of the rosary, each set of 10 hail mary’s for a particular intention. No matter which set of mysteries I am offering: the joyful mysteries, the sorrowful mysteries, the luminous mysteries, or the glorious mysteries, I offer each decade for a specific intention. 

The first decade I offer for my greatest challenges. If I have a difficult decision to make, or if I am having a difficult time being patient or charitable with a particular person, I offer that decade for them. The Lord says, pray, pray, pray for those who persecute you. So I offer that first decade for an expansion of my heart to love those it is difficult for me to love.

The second decade I offer for those who are sick and suffering. As pastor, many parishioners ask for my prayers, and during this second decade I bring to the Lord those of you who are sick and suffering. Those who are lonely, those who are addicted, those who are anxious, those who are preparing for surgery or dealing wit heavy burdens, those who are dying or grieving.

The third decade I offer for a flourishing of spiritual gifts in the parish. In the third glorious mystery, the holy spirit descends upon the church and in the third joyful mystery the christ is born into the world. So I pray for the Holy Spirit’s gifts, and the life of Christ to fill this parish, to make us more effective in our Gospel mission.

In the fourth decade, I pray for priests. Priests need to support each other in prayer, priests need prayer, constantly. For, the devil hates priests and is bent on the corruption of priests and undermining the holy faith of priests. So I take up the mighty spiritual weapon of the Rosary to pray for the protection of priests from evil and temptation and the flourishing of their ministry.

In the fifth decade, I pray for myself. We need to pray for ourselves—to humbly admit what we need from the Lord, and to pray to by docile to the divine will—to be humble and holy.  I pray for the grace to be crucified with Christ, like in the fifth sorrowful mystery, to honor our lady as queen of heaven and earth like in the fifth glorious mystery, to be broken and shared like the Eucharist as in the fifth luminous mystery, and to find Jesus in the hidden events of my life as he was found in the Temple in the fifth joyful mystery.

I invite you to use and adapt this method, to see if it work and helps to focus your prayers. Our Lady will assist every soul who prays the rosary to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbor as we heard in the Gospel today. 

On Thursday, I was making my holy hour and about to offer my rosary when I was moved to adapt my method slightly. Since, on holy Thursday, the Lord gathered with his apostles and made them the first priests of the church, and, since this weekend being priesthood Sunday, I thought I would offer my rosary particularly for priests.

So, as I said, I adapted my method a little bit. In the first decade of my rosary, I prayed for the priests that I am challenged to love, the priests who have left active ministry, the priests who have been found guilty of crimes, the priests who spread heresy, the priests whose personalities just rub me the wrong way. I prayed for them by name, and prayed for the grace to love them.

In my second decade I prayed for the priests who are sick and suffering: the priests, I know, who are very sick or dying or diminished by old age, the priests who struggle with substance abuse, addiction, or who are unjustly treated by their bishops, by their parishes, the media, or government. The priests who may be struggling with the promise of celibacy, priests who may be finding it difficult to pray daily as they ought, the priests that may be on the verge of leaving ministry without proper discernment, and priests with clinical depression, and the like.

In the third decade I prayed for a flourishing of the spiritual gifts in the priests of our Diocese. We need priests on fire with the Holy Spirit. We need priests filled with wisdom, who are not timid in speaking the truth, who are tireless in ministry, who are prophetic, who are able to discern and call forth the Spirit’s gifts from their parishioners. We need priests who will preach, like Jesus, in the third luminous mystery,  throughout galilee, going to the margins as Pope Francis would say, to bring the Gospel to the farthest ends of the earth.

In the fourth decade of my rosary, I prayed for the priests who died. Like the fourth luminous mystery, where the Lord shines in Transfigured Light, I prayed for the priests I have known who have died, that the perpetual light of christ may shine upon them, and that their time in purgatory, if any, will be lessened. I have known many good and holy priests who have gone onto their eternal reward, and I’m sure you have as well. Please do not forget them in your prayers.

Lastly, as I do in all my rosaries, I offered the last decade, again, for myself, especially that I may good be a holy priest and receive a share of the spirit that has animated the priesthood of so many of our good and holy priests in the diocese of Cleveland. I prayed for the prudence of Bishop Pilla, the keenness of mind of Fr. Jack Murphy, the warm compassion of Fr. Jim O’Donnell, the indefatigable energy of Fr. Pete Colletti, the liturgical reverence of Fr. Mike Woost, and piety of Fr. Sean Donnelly, and the fortitude in suffering of Bishop Richard Lennon, those close to him know how he suffered for the church of Cleveland like very few have suffered.

On this priesthood Sunday, I ask once again for your prayers for priests. If there have been priests who have insulted or hurt you or your families, please pray for them, and pray for the grace to forgive them, that any lack of forgiveness might not keep you from deep engagement in the life of the Church. Please pray too for an increase in vocations to the priesthood. I do not know the last priestly vocation to come from this parish, but we do well to pray that God may raise up good holy priests from the young men in our midst. The Church will need good and holy priests until the Lord’s return, and it is the duty of every Catholic to promote healthy priestly vocations through prayer and encouragement.

Priest seek to help the church love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. So please pray for priests, Pray the rosary, pray for vocations for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Sunday of Easter 2021 - The Good Shepherd Feeds, Guides, and Protection + Vocation Sunday

 In Saint John’s Gospel, Jesus uses many different titles and images to describe himself.  “I am the bread of life” he says.  “I am the vine, you are the branches”?  “I am the resurrection and the life,” “I am the Way, the truth, and the life”?  In today’s Gospel Jesus uses a very tender image, when he says, “I am the good shepherd.”

Several Good Shepherds are found throughout Scriptures.  Abel, son of Adam, was the first shepherd in human history.  For bringing to God the firstlings of his flock, the Lord looked favorably on Abel and his offering; yet tragically Abel also became human history’s first murder victim, killed by his jealous brother Cain.  

Abraham was a shepherd, as was Jacob.  So was Jacob’s favorite son Joseph, who was shepherding his father’s flock when he was betrayed by his brothers.  Moses was shepherding his Father-in-law’s flock when he stumbled across the burning. Before becoming king of Israel, David was a shepherd.  And the prophet Amos was a shepherd before being sent by God to denounce Israel’s idolatry and hallow prosperity.

Shepherds who were murdered, shepherds who became kings, shepherds who gave God’s law and spoke in the name of the Father, shepherds who became heads of great families.  In Jesus, we see all these things wrapped up into one.  He is a shepherd who was a prophet, who revealed God’s Law, who was also betrayed and murdered, yet also a King, and head of the great family, the Church.

Scripture describes God Himself as a Shepherd.   The 23rd Psalm is probably the most beautiful literary expression of God’s shepherding care.  The Psalm tells us that God is the Shepherd who feeds us in green pastures, who leads us to safety, who protects us in dark valleys.  He feeds, he guides, he protects.

On the 4th Sunday of Easter, ever year, we read from the 10th chapter of St. John, and recall that Jesus IS the Good Shepherd, who feeds, guides, and protects.

How does he feed us?  The 23rd Psalm says that he “prepares a table for us in the midst of our foes”.  Amidst all of the evils of the world, the good Shepherd gathers us to be fed by his Word. For “not on bread alone does man live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  We are then fed with the supersubstantial bread of the Eucharist. Without this food, the flesh and blood of our Lord, we do not have life within us.

Secondly, Jesus the Good Shepherd guides his flock.  The 23rd Psalm says, “he leads us in right paths for his name’s sake.”  How does he lead and guide us? He certainly leads by example. He teaches us by the virtue and goodness of His own life, how to give ourselves away in self-sacrifice. We are to be poor in spirit as he was poor in spirit. We are to be pure of heart as he was pure of heart. We are to work for peace, feed the hungry, cure the sick, preach the word, pray, as he. By studying the faith, by following in Jesus’ own footsteps, by looking to the example of the saints, we learn how to walk rightly. Jesus guides us to become the people God made us to be, and shows us what it really means to love one another and love God.  

Finally, Jesus the Good Shepherd protects his flock.  Jesus tells us that there are thieves and robbers who seek to steal, slaughter, and destroy His flock. There are wolves who want to seize and scatter the flock.  Yet, at his Holy Name it is the thieves, robbers, and wolves who scatter. Demons flee at the mention of his name.  We can be assured that any evil we must face, we face with him at our side.  The Christian is never alone.  When we are assailed by the fiery arrows of the enemy, we have the protection of his grace. When we are bombarded with the worldly errors that we draw us away from the Truth, he protects us by sending his apostles and prophets into our lives. In the moment of temptation, he protects us by sending his Holy Angels to remind us of our Christian identity. When we begin to despair of our salvation due to our many sins, he protects us by reminding us to hope in his promises.

The Good Shepherd does not fail to feed, guide, and protect his flock; rather the unhappiness and sin in our lives is always a result of failing to head our shepherd’s voice.

This Sunday is a special World Day of Prayer for vocations to the priesthood.  As I mentioned last week, the Church needs men who believe rightly, teaching rightly, and practice rightly. This week we pray that the Good Shepherd might inspire many young men to become shepherds in the new millennium.  We need priests who will feed and guide and protect the flock, don’t we? 

The Good Shepherd continues to call young men to serve the Church as priests and all of us have a responsibility to help them hear the shepherd’s invitation.  Parents, grandparents, god parents, encourage your sons to prayerfully incline their ear to the shepherd’s voice—the consider the calling to the priesthood—to be the shepherds the Church needs.

The Diocese of Cleveland is blessed to have one of the greatest seminary systems in the country, and honestly, probably the world. I know for a fact that there are Vatican Cardinals who look to Cleveland to see how Cleveland has been so successfully in attracting so many young men to discern the priesthood, and how we are retaining so many young men.

As Bishop Pilla would often say, our seminary attracts young men who could be very successful in the different professions—men who could be doctors, lawyers, professors, movers and shakers. And yet good young men in our diocese continue year after year, to take the risk, to devote the time to discern God’s call. It is certainly a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is at work, when a very talented and gifted young man dares to ask the question, is God calling me to a life of holy ecclesiastical service? Is the Shepherd calling me to shepherd?

Our culture is becoming increasingly secular, and we need men to help us remain faithful to the Master—men who will proclaim the unchanging Good News of Jesus Christ and its bold message of salvation with conviction. May God raise up many good and holy priests to help us be holy, to help us work out our salvation, to equip us for the work the Master has for each one of us—to be his instruments in the world, that He may feed, guide, and protect others through us for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

January 26, 2021 - St. Timothy and Titus - The harvest is abundant, the laborers few

 Following the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul yesterday, today we commemorate two of Paul’s close co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord: Timothy and Titus.  Today’s two saints give us a glimpse of life in the early church: zeal for the apostolate, devotion to Jesus, and the deep bonds of friendship that sustained them.

Timothy was Paul’s dearest disciple.  St Paul calls him, his beloved child, devoted to him “like a son to his father.”  Biologically, Timothy was the son of a jewish mother and a pagan father. Paul, however, was spiritual father, to Timothy: directly instrumental in Timothy’s conversion from paganism.  

When Paul visited the city of Lystra, Timothy, about twenty years old, joined him and went on to assist Paul in the establishment of the major Christian communities. Timothy also stayed with Paul during his first Roman imprisonment. Timothy himself was later imprisoned for spreading the Gospel, and as bishop of Ephesus was martyred, clubbed to death by a mob for protesting against the orgiastic worship of the goddess Artemis.

Titus was also a close friend and disciple of Paul, also accompanying and assisting Paul in his missionary activity.  Titus was with Paul at the Council of Jerusalem, and when Paul was having trouble with the community at Corinth because of community division, erroneous faith and rampant immorality, Paul sent Titus bearing his letter to the Corinthians, and Titus embraced them with the love of the true pastor’s heart.  This was probably one reason, why Paul felt so assured at naming Titus bishop of Crete, which was also riddled with error. He too would be martyred—he was beheaded by his adversaries on Crete in AD 97.

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” The dynamic between Paul and Timothy and Titus show us how the Lord often attracts laborers for the harvest. A devout Paul, dedicating his life to the Gospel, willing to suffer for it, begins to attract spiritual sons, who are willing to do the same.

Our task then is clear. To be like Paul for the Timothy’s and Titus’ of the next generation. To live the faith so admirably that it becomes attractive to Pagans and unbelievers. To suffer for it, to show the value of the Gospel in contrast to the empty promises of the world. Our job is not to save the planet, or our nation-state, or our economy, but to save souls, not to secure a comfortable place in the world, but to build up treasure in heaven. Sure, it’s no sin to go fishing every once in a while, but certainly never to the serious neglect of our duty to become fishers of men.

- - - - - - -  

That our bishops may be courageous in stirring up the flame of faith and defending the Church from error.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, that young people may live in faith-filled homes where the Gospel is cherished, studied, and lived-out. 

For the grace to set good Christian example, and to courage to share the faith with non-believers and the lapsed.

For all of the sick and suffering, for the grace to unite their sufferings with Christ and to know His consolation and peace.

For our departed loved ones and all of the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered. We pray to the Lord.

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

Priesthood Sunday 2020 - Defend us in battle

 In my eleven and a half years of priesthood, I’ve had the honor of living and serving with almost a dozen priests. One was a former Certified Public Accountant, one was called to the priesthood later in life after having children and being left a widower; one had taken a year off of seminary to work to support his mother after the death of his father, another liked to begin every homily with a joke. One priest has since left the priesthood to get married, and another was a former Franciscan monk. One priest was among our diocese’s most talented organists, another likes hunting wild boar; one liked to dine on fine white tablecloths, another has visited more hospitalized, sick, and dying Catholics than the rest combined. 

I’ve been inspired by my brother priests, frustrated by my brother priests, have laughed with and cried with my brother priests, have nitpicked the latest star wars movie and attended opera, gone on pilgrimage and debated theology into the night with my brother priests.

Since 2003, in the United States, the last Sunday of October for us Catholics is known as Priesthood Sunday. 

On this priesthood Sunday, we pray for priests. Because we need priests. Priests to baptize, priests to absolve our sins, priests to celebrate the Eucharist, priests to help hardened sinners return to Christ, priests to help families live the Gospel faithfully.  We will need priests until the end of time, to carry out the ordained ministry according to Christ’s plan for his Church.  

Priests to visit the dying, priests to shepherd parishes, and to help ordinary Catholics know that they are part of something bigger than what they see, a universal church by bishops and popes, an ancient tradition where latin and Greek were spoken in catacombs, where Christians prepared for martyrdom at the hands of hostile governments. 

We need priests to help families help raise and catechize their children to be the next generation of Catholics who bring their faith out into the world, as Catholic professionals and workers—to practice their professions in a manner consistent with the Gospel of Christ. 

I have posted on the bulletin board this year’s vocation poster, which contains the 66 men who are studying at our diocesan seminary for the priesthood. Men, striving to love the Lord with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, as we heard our lord command in the Gospel today. For each of these seminarians, loving the Lord means having the courage to ask God if God is calling them to the priesthood. 

This is a habit that all of us do well to form, to ask on a regular basis, from the time we are very young, “God, what are you calling me to do with my life?” My father wants me to take over the family business, but, my God, what do you want me to be? Society tells me to hide my religion, Lord what do you want from me? To love God, is to seek the will of God, to put the will of God into practice in our lives. 

Each year, the vocation poster has a theme, and this year the poster has a picture of a statue St. Michael the Archangel, a statue which stands on our seminary grounds, and above it are the words, “St. Michael, Defend Us”. This is of course in reference to the St. Michael prayer which asks the Archangels protection and defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

All of us should turn to St. Michael each day to pray for protection. But especially so for priests. I’m not going to say the Christian life is harder for priests, or that our temptations are more numerous or more intense. But I will say that the devil hates priests and conspires to ruin priests. The devil makes special effort to tempt priests away from their ministry which is so vital to the Church. The devil certainly does not want these 66 men to be ordained to the priesthood.

Which again, is why, it is so good and important for us to pray for priests, to set aside special times throughout the week and throughout the year, to pray for priests. Personally, I  offer the fourth decade of my rosary for the priests of the diocese, and pray for priests especially on Thursdays, the day of the last supper on which the Lord Jesus instituted the priesthood, and I encourage all of you to do the same.

For the devil knows how much damage he can do to the church, to a parish, when he corrupts a priest, or when he wears away at a priest’s fortitude or patience. The devil knows the damage that can be done when a priest becomes discouraged in his vocation. 

And the devil knows just how much damage a good priest can do to the kingdom of evil. For priests are tasked with helping the Church battle back the powers of darkness, they help to liberate souls entangled by grave spiritual evils.

The devil once admitted to St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, that if there were three more priests like him in the world, the kingdom of Satan would be finished. So the devil will do everything he can to discourage priests, to tempt priests into not praying as they should, or obey their bishop as they should, to drink more than they should, or cultivate unhealthy relationships.

When priests live in a manner worthy of their calling—they become powerful instruments of God—conduits of grace into the lives of the Christian faithful. And we all know this. We have all been impacted by good priests, and we know the devastation, division, and scandal when priests fall. 

So, for priests who have caused scandal, we pray for healing. For priests who have lost their faith, we pray for renewal. For priests who have preached heresy, we pray that they may be corrected. For priests who are in mortal sin, we pray for their repentance. 

And for good priests who have touched our lives, who have brought us the comfort and consolation of the Sacraments, inspiration in their preaching, who have been icons of the Lord Jesus for us—icons of the love of God for us, we pray in thanksgiving. We pray that good priests may have the courage to preach and lead God’s people as we face the wickedness and snares of the devil and the hostilities of the worldly. And we pray for the sanctification of all priests, that they may be a blessing to the Church, that they may deepen in the gifts they need for ministry and become ever-more effective instruments of the Lord. 

On behalf of the priests of the Church—both living and deceased—I thank all of you for your prayers and fasting. We are supported, encouraged, protected, and fortified by your prayers in ways you cannot imagine. 

May each of us do our part in fostering healthy, holy priestly vocations. We pray that the young men of our parish and diocese may have the courage to answer that call with generous hearts. We pray for our seminarians. And for all priests, that in their battle against the powers of evil and darkness for the good of souls, they might be defended by the holy angels; that when they grow weary, may our priests be renewed and strengthened for the carrying out and preaching of the Gospel—that the good work God has begun in them, might be brought to fulfillment—for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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.

- - - - - - - -
 
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.

July 23 2019 - St. Bridget of Sweden - Holiness in all walks of life

The Opening Prayer mentions how God guided Saint Bridget of Sweden “along different paths of life.”  Bridget was a wife, a mother, a lady-in-waiting in the royal court, a mystic, a third Order Franciscan, and finally a foundress of a religious order.

Throughout the stages of her life, Bridget exemplified considerable holiness. At the age of ten, Bridget had a vision; she saw Our Lord as He was on the Cross. She meditated constantly on the mysteries of the Passion even in her youth. Throughout her marriage a Prince of Sweden, she was dedicated to the works of mercy. She even had a monastery built for the good sisters which she later joined after the death of her husband, when she renounced her wealth in order to live as the ascetical life as a Third Order Franciscan.

She went on to found the Religious Order of the Precious Blood, which is known familiarly as the Bridgettines, which still exist to this day. I would often see them in Rome. You can tell them by their very unique head guard to their religious habit. Her daughter joined the Bridgettines as well, and went on to become a saint. Saint Catherine of Sweden.

Pope John Paul II declared St. Bridget co-patroness of Europe. And In his declaration the Pope said, “In naming her a Co-Patroness of Europe”, she is not just a model for those in consecrated religious life, but especially for married people—that those who have “the high and demanding vocation of forming a Christian family will feel that she is close to them.”  The Pope emphasized how “she and her husband enjoyed a married life in which conjugal love was joined to intense prayer, the study of Sacred Scripture, mortification and charitable works. Together they founded a small hospital, where they often attended the sick. Bridget was in the habit of serving the poor personally. At the same time, she was appreciated for her gifts as a teacher”

“Who is my mother, who are my brothers and sisters?” Asks the Lord in the Gospel today. “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father” St. Bridget sought to do the will of God, and is a model for us all. Like St. Bridget, we are each to seek opportunities within our individual vocations to grow in holiness, opportunities to build the kingdom.

We see in the Saints what life is supposed to look like.  The Lord guides us along many different paths and desires to teach us, like St. Bridget, the wisdom of the cross: that fulfillment in this life and happiness in the life to come is found, not in wealth and possessions and making a name for ourselves but seeking the Lord’s will in all things, particularly in accepting the cross for the sake of the kingdom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
 
That members of the Church, priests, religious, married, and single, may seek the kingdom of God His and righteousness and the Divine Will above all.

For an increase in vocations to the religious life, for the spiritual good of the Bridgettine Order, for third Order Franciscans, that our consecrated religious may continue to bless the Church by their faithful living of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Through the intercession of St. Bridget, co-patroness of Europe, for the conversion of the people of Europe from all that keeps them from following Christ.

That the sick, suffering, and sorrowful may know the consolation and peace of the living God.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

Priesthood Sunday 2018 - Master, I want to See

In my nine and a half years of priesthood, I’ve had the honor of living and serving with almost a dozen priests. One was a former Certified Public Accountant, one was called to the priesthood later in life after having children and being left a widower; one had taken a year off of seminary to work to support his mother after the death of his father, another liked to begin every homily with a joke. One priest was among our diocese’s most talented organists, another likes hunting wild boar; one liked to dine on fine white tablecloths, another has visited more hospitalized, sick, and dying Catholics than the rest combined.

I’ve been inspired by my brother priests, frustrated by my brother priests, have laughed with and cried with my brother priests, played video games, and attended opera, gone on pilgrimage and debated theology into the night with my brother priests.

Since 2003, in the United States, the last Sunday of October for us Catholics is known as Priesthood Sunday.

On this priesthood Sunday, we pray for priests. Because we need priests. Priests to baptize, priests to absolve our sins, priests to celebrate the Eucharist, priests to help hardened sinners return to Christ, priests to help families live the Gospel faithfully.  We will need priests until the end of time, to carry out the ordained ministry according to Christ’s plan for his Church.

A parish like this has many young men with so much potential. Men who could be doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, men who could have a pretty successful college sports career.  Young men who could be successful in the world of business or politics, and we hope many will be.  Because we need men of strong faith in the world. And we need men who will be strong leaders of faith in their families, strong faithful catholic husbands and fathers.

But the Church also needs men who will visit the dying, who will go where the bishop sends them to celebrate the sacraments, who will listen to sins of God’s people and tell them that they are forgiven. We need priests who will shepherd parishes with the heart of Christ the Good Shepherd and remind parishes that they are part of something bigger, a church that is led by bishops and popes, some of them saints, all of them sinners. We need priests to teach us that we are part of something ancient, a tradition where latin and Greek were spoken in catacombs, where Christians prepared for martyrdom at the hands of hostile governments. We need priests to help those doctors and lawyers and professionals to practice their professions in a manner consistent with the Gospel of Christ, and to assist, in fresh, new ways, our younger generations to encounter Christ--priests to help us see the goodness of God and the goodness in ourselves.


There are over 90 men in this diocese currently studying at our seminary here in Cleveland.  Men, who, like blind Bartimaeus in the Gospel today, have cried out to the Lord Jesus, “Master, I want to see.” I want to see how you are calling me to serve you. I want to see the places where you will lead me. I want to see how the priesthood can transform the world.

No doubt, each of us does well to make that same request to the Lord: “Master, I want to see” I want to see how you are at work in my life. I want to see how, even in the tragedies of life and the chaos of the world, you are there, bringing peace and order and justice. I want to see your light pierce through my darkness. Master, I want to see what I can do to follow you more faithfully, as a parent, as a single person, as a priest or religious.

[Holy Angels: In light of Fr. Ruggeri’s leave of absence and Fr. Bang’s reassignment, there’s need, isn’t there to the Lord to bring light to this particular period of darkness. “Master, I want to see” how you are preparing this parish for the next stage of its mission. I encourage you to pray for each other every day, to lift up each other’s needs to the Lord and to pray for Fr. Ruggeri, Fr. Bang, and for the bishop, that the Lord’s healing power may visit this place. For if the Lord can heal an old blind man, he can certainly bring healing to this place which is so full of life.]

We are reminded by our second reading from the letter to the Hebrews that priests aren’t perfect, they aren’t chosen from some special group of spiritual supermen. The Letter to the Hebrews says, the “priest is taken from among men” and made a representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness.” The Lord calls ordinary men to do extraordinary things. Ordinary men who are beset with weakness and temptation like any of us..

Now, certainly the holier the priest is the better. A priest dedicated to prayer, serving the Lord in humility and gentleness and patience and courage is to be preferred to a priest who doesn’t pray, who is arrogant and harsh and morally compromised. Yet, we commit to praying for all priests, that the Lord may use them, despite their weaknesses, to build up the Church, with patience, gentleness, humility, and courage.

May each of us do our part in fostering healthy, holy priestly vocations. We pray that our young men may have the courage to answer that call with generous hearts, that all of us will be generous in our support for such young men—and that all priests might be renewed and strengthened in holiness for the carrying out and preaching of the Gospel—that the good work God has begun in them, might be brought to fulfillment—for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Jan 24 2017 - St. Francis de Sales - Introduction to the Devout Life

St. Francis de Sales was an outstanding and highly influential bishop, spiritual director, author, and preacher whose life spans the turbulent decades following the Protestant Reformation.  He was born at Savoy in France in 1567.  He studied with the Jesuits at Paris, and finally at Padua, Italy where he obtained doctorates in both civil and canon law.  It was hoped by his father, that he would become a lawyer and follow in his footsteps as a senator; instead, Francis desired to serve the Church.  He was ordained a priest in 1593 and dedicated himself to the re-evangelizing the many Catholics who had fallen away to Calvinism.  

Between 1595 and 1598 he won many converts to the Catholic Church by his persuasive preaching but at the same time he was often in danger of his life at the hands hostile Calvinists.

At the age of 32 Francis was ordained a bishop and three years later he was installed as bishop of Geneva.  For 20 years he labored zealously for the conversion of the Calvinists, and also found time to write his spiritual opus, The Introduction to the Devout Life, which hasn’t gone out of print in 400 years. What distinguishes this book from other spiritual treatises of the time, was that it wasn’t just written for consecrated religious in the confines of their monasteries, but for people of all vocations and all walks of life.

So, the spirituality of his book was somewhat revolutionary for the time: it emphasized that Christianity is an invitation for all people to belong completely to God: everyone from doctors, farmers, widows, street cleaners, kings, mothers of 7 children.

He acknowledged that the life of prayer, devotion, and service will look different in the life of the noble or the pauper; spiritual practices need to fit each individuals strengths and within their individual duties in life.

In the Introduction to the Devout Life he writes: “As often as you can during the day, recall your mind to the presence of God.... Consider what God is doing, what you are doing. You will always find God's eyes fixed on you in unchangeable love. Our hearts should each day seek a resting-place on Calvary or near our Lord, in order to retire there to rest from worldly cares and to find strength against temptation. Remember frequently to retire into the solitude of your heart, even while you are externally occupied in business or society. This mental solitude need not be hindered even though many people may be around you, for they surround your body not your heart, which should remain alone in the presence of God. As David said, "My eyes are ever looking at the Lord."

In all of our duties, interactions, moments of work and rest, may we know the guidance and prayerful intercession of St. Francis de Sales, that in all things we may we seek the glory of God and salvation of souls
 
 - - - - -

For the Holy Church of God, that the Lord and his Saints may graciously watch over her and care for her.

Through the intercession of St. Francis de Sales, patron of Spiritual Directors, that each of us may receive the guidance we need to grow in holiness and Christian perfection.

And for all those under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales, authors, writers, journalists, and educators, may seek to rightly communicate the good things the world needs to hear.