September 2019 - First Friday Holy Hour - New Wineskins and Eucharistic Adoration

“New wine must be poured into fresh wineskins” .

At mass this morning, I reflected upon how these words remind us of the need for constant renewal in the Christian life. Baptism transforms our souls into new wineskins of grace, but without renewal, prayer, without faithfulness, and the Sacraments, our souls can become brittle again, resistant to the sanctification the Lord desires for us.

We know Catholics, even members of our families, who though baptized, have become resistant to grace. The mere mentioning of the Church at a family gathering, or even a gentle reminder of the need to return to the Sacraments can lead to a heated argument.

So we come before Our Eucharistic Lord tonight for them and for ourselves. We entrust the fallen-away to the Sacred Heart, pleading for miracles of conversion. And we come before Lord asking for conversion for our hearts as well, for the grace we need to be instruments of healing and evangelization.

At World Youth Day, in Cologne, in 2005, Pope Benedict spoke about the profound transformation which the Eucharist both signifies and brings about. He said, “This first fundamental transformation of violence into love, of death into life, brings other changes in its wake. Bread and wine become his Body and Blood. But it must not stop there; on the contrary, the process of transformation must now gather momentum. The Body and Blood of Christ are given to us so that we ourselves will be transformed in our turn…His dynamic enters into us and then seeks to spread outwards to others until it fills the world, so that his love can truly become the dominant measure of the world.”

We kneel down in Adoration, there is a profound contact of our heart with His. The Latin word for adoration, after all is, is ad-oratio - an embrace of love. We embrace Him and He embraces us to make us like Himself.

So let us take some time now to become quiet, to adore the Lord who embraces us and transforms us, who longs to heal us of selfishness and fear, we seeks to set our hearts ablaze with the fire of His Sacred Heart.

After a period of silent adoration, we will offer prayers of reparation followed by benediction.
Rejoice, for the Bridegroom is with us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

22nd Week in OT 2019 - Friday - First School Mass - Purpose of Catholic Schools

Why are you here today? Why are you here in Church on a Friday morning?

One answer, at least for our students, is because, well our teachers told us we were going over to church, and so we here we are.

But why, have they brought you here? Why are you not in your classroom, or playing basketball in the gym, or learning your morning lessons?

Why do students at Catholic schools go to Church, why do you trek across the parking lot, for the celebration of what Catholics call Holy Mass?

That’s an important question, as you will be going to Holy Mass at least once a month this school year. Why are you here? Why disrupt the academic day to come to Church, why do you put down your pencils and crayons and basketballs, in order to come to Church to kneel down and pray? And for those who are Catholic to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion?

What if I told you, that what we do here, is more important, than what goes on over there? That what we do here, makes what we do over there, possible? Do you believe that? Students? Teachers? Staff?
Just about 50 years ago, the Second Vatican council talked about the purpose of Catholic schools. It said that Catholic schools are, like most schools, zealous about forming young people, teaching young people, reading, writing, arithmetic, academics, and all that. But what makes Catholic schools special is that they, and I quote, to enable young people “to grow in the new life which has been given them in baptism.” New life. We are here at Church, at Holy Mass, to grow in New Life.

This new life is what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel today. If you put new wine into old, dried-up wineskins, they will burst. Similarly, Catholics schools don’t just focus on the mind, on academic learning, but the soul, making sure that our souls don’t become long those old, dried-up wineskins in the Gospel, but that our souls are pliant, open to the new life of God.

Catholic schools recognize that for humans to truly flourish, to really become the people God made them to be, we do not ignore the need of the human soul for God, for worship, for prayer, but we realize its priority, the priority of faith.

Why are we here? To allow God to do the work that teachers cannot do, that none of us can do on our own: to nourish our souls, to transform our souls, to give new life to our souls. For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

22nd Week in OT 2019 - Friday - Weddings and Wineskins

In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ first miracle takes place at a wedding, the wedding at Cana, where water is turned into an abundance of wine. It was there that Jesus ushered in something radically new. He wasn’t just a teacher, he wasn’t just a commentator on scriptures, he wasn’t just a do-gooder: that first miracle at the wedding, with the wine, signaled something new in God’s plan of salvation for sinful humanity.

Today’s from Luke’s Gospel, we encounter those two images again of weddings and wine. Jesus first compares his presence with his disciples to a wedding celebration.  Just as a wedding is filled with joyful celebration, so too, Jesus’ public ministry is a time of great joy for his disciples.  And so too, as Jesus is our companion throughout our own lives, there is a joy that cannot be taken away by any earthly misfortune.  Things can never become so dark that we cannot call upon Jesus as Lord.  No matter how severe our suffering, it can always be united to Him.

Second, Jesus says, “no one pours new wine into old wineskins.”  Since leather wineskins would become dry and brittle with age, the new wine, still in the process of fermenting would burst the old wineskins. 

Before baptism, before discipleship, we had an old nature, an old wineskin.  But when we were baptized and truly made the commitment to follow Christ, we set aside the old nature, and acquired a fresh new nature. For many of us, baptism was very long ago, and those fresh, new wineskins, if they are not constantly renewed can start to grow brittle again, resistant to change, resistant to the new wine of the spirit.

Many of us know Christians, even members of our families, who dabbled in Christianity, practiced it for a while, even 12 years of Catholic school, but now they seemed to have lost their taste for the things of God; even mentioning the faith leads to a heated argument.  The wineskin has burst.

They have allowed their souls to resemble the old nature, prior to baptism, without Christ as Lord.
In the first reading, we heard the great Christological hymn from the letter to the Colossians, proclaiming Christ the first born, the head of the Body, all creation is to be subject to Him, His Lordship. In order to keep the winskins of our souls pliant and fresh, in order to know the joy of the bridegroom in our every suffering, we must subject Ourselves to the Lordship of Christ in all things, in our every endeavor, every relationship, in our every need.

Rejoice for the bridegroom is with us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
 
That all Christians may experience the profound renewal of Spirit needed for spreading the Gospel in our modern world.
For the return of all Christians who have fallen away of the Church and into serious sin, for their conversion, and the conversion of all hearts.
That our young people may be kept safe from the errors and poison of the world, so to grow in the ways of righteousness and truth.
For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, abuse, and terrorism, for the sanctification of the clergy, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.
Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.