13th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2022 - The journey of Dante and Jesus

 This summer I have begun a bit of a journey—a literary journey. I’m taking a journey with the Poet Dante Alighieri—through his Divina Commedia---his Divine Comedy. I took the journey once before, back in undergrad, through the three books of La Commedia—Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso—Dante’s Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.

My guide through Dante that first time around was John Carrol professor, Dr. Thomas Nevin, who could brilliantly lecture to the very small group of us as if he were addressing a full auditorium. Dr. Nevin was also my latin professor who taught us the ancient language with great love and excitement.

This time through Dante’s Commedia, I have a small set of companion books, titled “Spiritual Direction from Dante” written by the Oratorian Priest Father Paul Pearson. And I’m really finding his commentary quite insightful and helpful. For the journey through the Commedia is complex, and steep, and confusing, and sometimes a bit horrific…just like life.

And that’s how the poem opens: with Dante, himself the main character in his epic poem, lost in a dark, bewildering forest. Life is sometimes like a dark, bewildering forest. And, it’s not always clear how we become lost or overwhelmed by life, is it? For Dante it was unclear to him if it was because he was having a midlife crisis, or that he had strayed off the path that God had wanted for him. And that can happen to any of us, you stray a little bit off God’s path; maybe you stop saying your daily prayers, stop coming to mass every week, maybe you allow a bad habit to get out of control, and you find yourself in a place that is wholly unfamiliar and confusing. 

So there is Dante, in the middle of his life, in this dark forest, and for a moment, he thinks he can find his way back on his own, so he makes his confused way through the forest, but soon comes across a pack of wild beasts—symbolizing the sins of his life—blocking his way. His struggle with his sins and his guilt keep him from finding his way.

But right when Dante sees this wolf of lust ready to pounce upon him, he detects someone in the distance, and desperately calls out for help: “Miserere di me…Mercy upon me, mercy”. 

With him in the dark woods was one of the poets of old, the Roman poet Virgil, who he had studied in his youth. Sometimes we need to remember the lessons of our youth, don’t we? Come to discover, Virgil had been sent to help Dante by the Blessed Virgin Mary. And Virgil was tasked with leading Dante on a journey:  a journey that would take him through the bowels of hell to witness the punishment of the damned, up the steep mountain of purgatory to witness the purification of the poor souls, and through the celestial realm of heaven to witness the reward of the saints basking in the glory of God. 

For Dante had become complacent about his sins. And so he needed to make the journey into hell to finally come to the understanding of the destructive power of sin. And to witness the glory of the blessed that he would forsake, if he allowed himself to be consumed by his sins. He needed to see how sin wounds the human mind, the human heart, and the human soul. We, too, often minimize the effects of sin. We say, “Sin isn’t that bad. It doesn’t hurt anybody.” False. We need to see sin from God’s perspective. Allowing sin to take root in one’s life leads to the sort of terrifying places dante will visit in the first stage of his journey. 

I bring up Dante’s journey, again, partially to tell you a bit about my summer spiritual reading, feel free to join me by the way, but also because of the opening line of today’s Gospel, on this 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time: “When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem”

This line from late in Luke chapter 9 is the spiritual midpoint of St. Luke’s Gospel. Up until this point, Luke has told us of the miraculous events leading up to our Lord’s infancy, his glorious birth, and the infancy of his public ministry, the calling of the first apostles, his early teachings about holiness and discipleship, parables about the kingdom of God, and miraculous healings, like that of the Gerasene Demoniac. 

But today’s Gospel is the turning point in which the Lord “resolutely determines to journey to Jerusalem”. And the Lord is very well aware of what that journey will entail, the hostility he will face from his enemies—and how that journey will end—with betrayal, suffering, and death.

The reason Dante resolves to make the journey through Hell and Purgatory is not unlike the reason Our Lord resolves to make his journey to the cross. It is God’s will. And it will bring about salvation. Dante makes his journey to face and overcome the sins in his own life, that he may come to the reward of the Blessed. The Lord makes his journey, not for his own sake, but for ours: Jesus journeys to the cross to die for our sins and to win for us that grace to help us overcome the attachments to sin remaining in us which seek to reclaim us.

The english translation of today’s gospel says that the Lord “resolutely determines to journey to jerusalem”, though literally St. Luke’s Greek says, “he set his face to jerusalem” recalling the verse from the servant song of Isaiah that we hear on Ash Wednesday every year, “I have set my face like flint, that I shall not be put to shame.” Jesus, God’s chosen servant, made the conscious decision to make the uncomfortable journey---a  journey that would require courage, fortitude, perseverance, and longsuffering, fruits of the spirit that are to fill our lives as well.

Are you resolutely determined to journey to God? Is your set face like flint against the many resistances Christians inevitably face in the spiritual life? Will you do what you need  to do in order to make the journey? Will you have the courage to face your own sins honestly? to overcome the sins God wants you to overcome? Will you leave what is comfortable to obtain the sanctification God wants for you?

Dante was overwhelmed by that question. He almost fled in fear back into the forest and allowed himself to be devoured by the wild beasts. So Virgil, his guide, reasons with him, helping him to trust that God wants him to make the journey, that he needs to trust God, he needs to trust the Blessed Virgin who knows the state of Dante’s soul, his doubts, his confusion, and his longings.

You see, Dante had forgotten that God and the Blessed Virgin and the saints are on our side. They desire our salvation more than we do. They are on our side before we are, like the shepherd in search of the lost sheep before the sheep either knows it is lost or wants to be found. They want to help us face our sins, and to allow God to deliver us from them. 

“Follow me” the Lord beckons to each of us, as he did in the Gospel. Make the journey. For freedom’s sake, allow Christ to set you free, as St. Paul says in our second reading, free from our secret fears and our sins which keep us from being the people God made us to be, free to be zealous in doing good works and spreading the Gospel.

Guided by the Spirit, may we live by the Spirit, confident that God desires what is best for us, and through Mother Church teaches us to live by his commands and by his grace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

June 22 2022 - St. Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons

 One of my favorite films of all times is “A Man for All Seasons” the historical drama about St. Thomas More who is honored today along with the English martyr, bishop John Fisher. The film does an amazing job presenting the political and religious tension in England when King Henry VIII declared himself head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and amazingly captures the wit, intelligence, courage, and holiness of St. Thomas More, played by Paul Scolfield, who also portrayed the saint in the original stage version by Robert Bolt.

If you have a few free hours, check out “A Man for All Seasons”. And the title of the film and play raises an interesting question? Why does the author refer to St. Thomas More as “a man for all seasons”? Thomas More despite tremendous pressure from his friends, from his family, probably from a number of clergy, from the king of england, not to mention the threat of torture and martyrdom, remained true to his principals and Catholic religious convictions throughout all the seasons of his life. 

Whenever I watch the film adaptation, I am so deeply impressed by Thomas More’s spiritual leadership in his family and community. He is a loving husband, a provident father, a fair employer, a lawyer who does not bend to corruption and bribes, a sound counselor, a learned man who saw through the empty philosophies of his day, whose convictions informed his decisions. He is depicted as “man fully alive” as Irenaeus would say, a man whose mind has been strengthened by reason and the Gospel, a man whose moral compass is firmly set on Christ, a man who stands for Truth even when bishops and priests cower in fear. And it happened. It’s not just a fiction. He was that great.

But that’s what also makes him a man, not just for 16th century England, but a man for all seasons of history. His virtues are for every age. His stance for Truth is needed in every age. We need Thomas More’s in every season. We need Thomas More’s now. We need Catholics who will remain true to their faith despite the pressures of the world, their families, their peers. Catholics of rightly formed conscience.

And when you watch it, you think, that’s the sort of man I want to be, in every circumstance, making him truly, a man for all seasons.

May St. Thomas More inspire us by his life and assist us with his prayers, especially when it is our time to stand for Truth, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

That our bishops and clergy may be zealous in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel.

That through the intercession of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, people of faith may remain vigilant in defending religious liberty and preaching the Gospel courageously.

That our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors of our culture, and that their families may be places where the faith is practiced and cherished.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and for X for whom this Mass is offered.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

12th Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Tuesday - Do not give to dogs what is holy

 In my fifth year of seminary, we took a class on the synoptic Gospels, the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. There was a separate class on the Gospel and letters of John. And, for the final term paper we were to choose a single passage from one of the Synoptic Gospels and write a 12-15 page paper on that passage. I thought I’d challenge myself and pick a single verse. And the verse I chose was the first verse of today’s Gospel: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine”

It's a perplexing teaching. What is our Lord talking about? Evangelization? Eucharist? Or is it a broad principle to be applied to a variety of situations? Obviously he’s not saying that we should refrain from preaching the holy Gospel to the unevangelized. That’s definitely our mission as Christians: go and make disciples of all nations. 

This line would be interpreted by the Church fathers in the early church to refer to the prohibition of admitting to holy communion those in a state of mortal sin. Do not give to dogs what is holy. The holy referring to the Eucharist, and the dogs referring to those who have given into their bestial nature and have fallen into sin without repentance. 

But, what makes this enigmatic teaching more perplexing is that in the preceding passage, as we heard yesterday, the Lord tells us not to judge. So, on one hand he is telling us to stop judging, on the other hand, he tells us that we are to use our judgement, in order to refrain from throwing pearls to the swine.

I tend to believe that the passage does contain a lesson for our efforts in evangelization. There comes a point where your audience, at least for a time, shows itself to be closed to the gospel message. And it’s time to stop wasting your energy and move on to another group of people. There comes a point, as the Lord himself teaches, that the evangelist has to shake the dust from his sandals, and move on. In Matthew 10 he says, “And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.” That’s not giving in to defeat, that’s just being wise with your time.

But, just because the Gospel is rejected in one place, by one person, doesn’t mean you give up altogether. That’s where as Christians, sometimes, we give up too easily. We run into a little bit of difficulty in our Gospel mission, and throw our hands in the air and give up entirely.

The saints show us what such perseverance looks like. At age 11, St. Aloysius was teaching the catechism to poor children and fasting three days a week and often woke in the middle of the night to pray.  He joined the Jesuits despite great resistance from his family. And when the plague struck Rome in 1591, he nursed the sick, washed them, made their beds, continuing to care for the plague victims even when he himself caught the disease.

St. Aloysius shows us that Christians are to be filled with youthful-enthusiasm in the works of mercy, and perseverance when we face our own crosses.

May St. Aloysius aid us in our share of the Gospel mission for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Pope Francis and all the clergy may witness to the truth of the Gospel faithfully, courageously, and compassionately. 

Through the intercession of St Aloysius Gonzaga, patron of young people, that the young may be blessed with true faith, the desire to serve the Lord above seeking the pleasures of the world, and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life.

For the conversion of the unbelievers, for the return of Catholics who have left the Church, and for success in our Gospel mission.

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for victims of natural disaster,  those who suffer from war, violence, and terrorism, all victims of abuse, especially children, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for those who struggle to live the call of Christian chastity, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families. 

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

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

Corpus Christi 2022 - Why Eucharist?

 During my eighth year of seminary, we devoted an entire semester simply to study the Sacrament which is at the heart of today’s feast: the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Eucharist. We studied how the scriptures, like St. Luke's feeding of the multitude, as we heard today, influenced the early Christians. We studied some of the ancient Eucharistic Prayers. We studied the medieval Theologians, especially Thomas Aquinas, who composed the prayers and hymns for today’s feast.

And at the end of the term, after hours and hours and hours of reading ancient texts and obscure theologians and the church’s most recent documents, our professor, Fr. Michael Woost—now Bishop-Elect Michael Woost tells us that the best way to prepare for the exam is to “study everything”, as the exam would be comprehensive of all the material we’ve covered since class one.

So I studied the 9th century Eucharistic Controversies, Thomas Aquinas, Pope John Paul II, and what cutting-edge theologians were writing about. Exam-day arrived and I was ready! So we get to the classroom and Fr. Woost passed out the blank exam booklets which we’d use to answer the exam questions. But, he then explained that the exam only had one question. He then handed us a small piece of paper with the exam’s only question, which consisted of two words and a question mark.  The big exam question was “Why Eucharist?” 

Fr. Woost said, “you have two hours, I suggest you use it wisely.”  I see my classmates open their exam book and start writing. And I just sort of sat there stunned for a moment. What do you mean, “Why Eucharist?” I’ve studied Hugh of St. Victor, St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, Blessed Sacrament Priest Eugene LaVerdie, Cardinal Ratzinger, I memorized the third Eucharistic Prayer, and most of the first and second ones. And this simple question just stunned me.

My first thought was to write, “Why Eucharist? Why Not!” and hand that in. But if I did that, I probably would not have been ordained. So, as my classmates were writing and writing and writing, I’m just sort of sitting there. I had no idea where to start.  How can you answer that question?  “Why Eucharist” is like asking, “Why did God give us the Eucharist?” and it seemed pretty arrogant to presume we can even come close to answering that. We don’t call it the “Mystery of Faith” for nothing. 

So, I sat there for what seemed like 15-20 minutes before writing a word.  I felt stupid.  And it probably took me a little too long to pray for inspiration. But when I did, I got an image. The image of kneeling in the chapel, in front of the monstrance, just prior to benediction. This is something that I had experienced hundreds of times. And I thought of the words of the priest, right after the Tantum Ergo. “Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death. May our worship of this sacrament of your body and blood, help us to experience the salvation you won for us and the peace of the kingdom, where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.” That is the prayer, prior to benediction, written by St. Thomas Aquinas…for today’s feast.

So when those words popped into my head, I thought, Thanks be to God, thank you St. Thomas. Because that prayer answers the question, “Why Eucharist?” So, you can tell I didn’t fail the exam, because…well, here I am.

So  hoes does today’s feast answer the question “Why Eucharist?” The Collect says it all. “Lord Jesus, you gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of your suffering and death” The Eucharist is given to us as a “memorial”. We are not angels, we have imperfect memories, we forget things, we need reminders. And the Eucharist is to help us remember that Jesus gave his Body and Blood for us on the cross.  Without that great labor of love, there would be no hope of heaven for any of us. 

When we celebrate Mass, we are transported to the Mount of Calvary; we kneel on the Mount of the cross, that we may be sprinkled with his cleansing blood. The Eucharist is the memorial of the Cross that Church has celebrated every week for 2000 years. For without this weekly reminder, Christians begin to drift away from the Church, we drift away from the power of the Cross; the power of His blood begins to dry up in our lives. “Do this in memory of me” the Lord says. And faithful to his command at the last supper, we come to mass every week for the Eucharist.

“Why Eucharist” The second part of that beautiful prayer, continues to answer that question “May our worship of this sacrament of your body and blood, help us to experience the salvation you won for us and the peace of the kingdom.” 

The Eucharist is not an empty exercise. This act of worship has more power than anything else on earth to bring us grace and peace if we are open to it. When we come to Mass, and are open to it, we can experience deliverance from our sinful ways, help to face temptations, and the peace of the kingdom. We come to mass with the anxieties of uncertain futures and past sins, we bring our strained relationships, new loves, old hatreds and resentments, we bring our successes or distressing failures, our promotions at work and job losses, happy marriages, broken marriages, good health and impending deaths, our feelings of closeness with God, our feelings of His absence. 

Whatever is going on in our lives, we come here to the altar to worship, to experience grace and Christ’s closeness, that the power of the cross may flow into all those relationships, all those successes, failures, challenges, and temptations, that they might be transformed like the bread and wine. 

Why Eucharist? The Body and Blood of Jesus is the food of truth and spiritual life that sustains us on our earthly journey and mission. Without the Eucharist we will never overcome our sins, we will never love each other as we should, we will never spread the Gospel as we are tasked. “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you do not have my life within you.”

Thanks be to God for this great gift, left to us that we may never, never forget, and always, always know the fruits of his saving sacrifice for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

11th Week of Ordinary Time 2022 - Friday - The sin of consumerism

A few years ago, the Arts & Entertainment channel began airing a show called, “Hoarders”.  The show chronicles people whose accumulation and hoarding of material stuff has become so excessive that it is has become difficult to move through the house; sometimes whole rooms are inaccessible becomes they are filled with material stuff that has begun to decay.  In many cases the houses become so unsanitary that children are forced into foster care, or the house is condemned.  

There are no doubt many psychological factors involved in compulsive hoarding, but often the show challenges the viewer to examine our own attachments to material things.

When Jesus says “do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” he is not imposing a ban on all possessions, of course; it is not a sin for us to own things. The Catechism speaks of a right to private property. Nor is Jesus forbidding us to “stock up” and save for times of famine.  The book of proverbs tells us to look to the example of the ant that stores up in the summer for what it will need in the winter and calls foolish those who make no provisions for their families or the future.

But, St. Thomas Aquinas would say that concern for earthly things becomes sinful when we treat material things as ends in themselves; we fall into sin when we become so preoccupied with material things that we neglect our duties toward God and our neighbor.

Now, most of us are not compulsive hoarders. But, we live in a very materialistic consumeristic culture where it is easy to overvalue THINGS. The culture promotes preoccupation with earthly things, earthly concerns to the detriment of spiritual matters. Because "money makes the world go round", right? 

But consumerism is deadly because at its root it says my happiness can come from something other than God. It says, “You have stuff and if you are unhappy, you just haven’t found the right stuff, the right thing. So keep buying, keep hoarding, eventually you’ll find it.” And that is radically contrary to the Gospel. To quote St. John Paul II, Consumerism leads to “attitudes and life styles… which are objectively improper and damaging to physical and spiritual health”.

So we need to be on guard against the prevailing consumeristic headwinds, and teach our young people especially, to value spiritual matters, by our own good example.

Every day, we need to be intentional in turning away from the pursuit of happiness-through-consumerism by seeking heavenly treasures through prayer and charitable service. 

When our lives are focused merely on the material, the earthly, we become unhappy and exhausted.  Rather, the spiritual life brings us into right relationship with God—the peace and joy that the world cannot give.  May we spend this day in God’s service, properly ordered, seeking spiritual things over earthly things, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians will guard themselves against the evils of the world through study and prayer, and cultivate the life of the spirit for the good of all.

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

That the Lord will rescue all those who live at a distance from Him because of self-absorption or sin.  

For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], for whom this Mass is offered.  

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

11th Week of Ordinary Time 2022 - Wednesday - The importance of regular penance

 

Today’s Gospel Reading should sound familiar to us; we heard it on a Wednesday earlier this liturgical year: on Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent. 

This section of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount sets the tone for Lenten season—giving the Church her marching orders for the forty days. And what does those marching orders consist of? Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, that is, the importance of doing penance, and the manner in which it is to be done, not for outward show, but with a genuine spirit—out of love and worship for God.

We fittingly reflect upon the Lord’s precept to pray, fast, and give alms not just at the beginning of Lent, but also, now, during Ordinary Time, because these penitential practices are to be part of the ordinary life of the Christian.

Doing penance for sins is an importance dimension of the Christian life. Our Lady of Fatima repeatedly called for penance – penance for our own sins and for the sins of others—especially for blasphemies against her Son. “Penance, Penance, Penance” the Angel told the three shepherd children at Fatima. 

By penance we make atonement for offenses against God. Additionally, Penance is medicine for the wounds caused by sin: wounds in our human relationships, wounds in our minds and souls, wounds in our relationship with God. Penance brings about personal and interior conversion.

Pope Francis echoed the ancient call to prayer and penance saying, “penance and prayer will help us to open our eyes and our hearts to other people’s sufferings and to overcome the thirst for power and possessions that are so often the root of those evils.”

Penance also strengthens our fortitude, our ability to suffer for the sake of goodness. Willingly undertaking penance out of love for God strengthens us against temptation and strengthens us for the mission of the Church.

So many Christians are pushovers against temptation, they fall to the slightest temptations, especially temptations of the flesh, because they have not mortified their senses, appetites, and passions through penance. And many Christians recoil at expending any effort for the spread of the Gospel, again, because they have no fortitude built up from intentional acts of penance.

The Lord doesn’t say, “if you pray…if you fast…if you give alms”, but “when you pray, when you fast, when you give alms” implying that these penitential practices are to be part of the ordinary life of the Christian.

Today is a good day for examining our attitude toward penance and mortification, and asking the Holy Spirit to guide us to all truth concerning the penances that should be part of our every day life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians will commit to fervent prayer so as to grow in greater love and holiness.  

For the faithfulness to fasting and to all the ways that the Lord wishes to sanctify us.  

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

That the Lord will rescue all those who live at a distance from Him because of self-absorption or sin.  

For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], for whom this Mass is offered.  

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

11th Week of Ordinary Time 2022 - Tuesday - Love Your Enemies

Early on in his Sermon on the Mount, the Lord explains that the righteousness of his followers is to surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees. 

Now the Scribes and Pharisees prided themselves on their observances of the ritual laws of the Torah and keeping the 10 commandments: they practiced ritual cleanliness, they avoided contact with unclean things and “unclean people” like Gentiles and prostitutes. 

But Christians are to strive for true righteousness: to be righteous and God is righteous, to be filled with the life and justice and peace and beauty and love of God.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes for us the way God the Father loves. As God the Father forgives and loves those who have made themselves his enemy through sin and serving other gods, so the way of Jesus demands that we love and pardon our enemies.

Not only are we to love our neighbor, but our enemies as well: those who persecute you, those who sin against you, those with whom your country is at war, those who cut you off in traffic, those who may have bullied you a half a century ago in grade school, those who misuse their power and authority. Love them.  

Love them, forgive them, be patient with them, feed them, clothe them, teach them, serve them, hold no grudges toward them, visit them, pray for them, seek what is best for them. Love them even when it feels like they are scourging you at a pillar, even when they are forcing you to march to your crucifixion.

We see the Lord doing everything he can to solicit the conversion of those who persecute him throughout the course of his ministry, he prays for them even as he is suffering and dying on the cross. And we are called to do the same. That is love. Remaining patient with ones enemies, seeking their conversion, and even praying for them if they nail you to a cross.

This is the way of perfection, because this is what the perfect God did. And the Lord teaches today that we will not really become children of God until we start behaving like God—God who is Love—God who loves everyone, forgives everyone, desires the good of everyone.

Many people in our highly-offendable culture walk around just waiting to attack those who offend them, to verbally assault those who inconvenience them. They are just looking to mark someone as their enemy so they can pummel them with their pent up frustrations, to make them into a scapegoat for all of their problems. 

Christians, rather than being at the ready to pounce on our enemies, must be ready to forgive them, to love them.

May the Lord bring about that change of heart in each of us, to readily love with Christ-like love, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the bishops of the Church will act as true prophets through their faithful teaching, their courageous witness, and their self-sacrificing love. Let us pray to the Lord.

That government leaders around the world may carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for freedom and the dignity of human life.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the Church’s missions amongst the poor and unevangelized throughout the world, that the work of Christ may be carried out with truth and love. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the grace to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors and enemies and those who persecute us, and to share the truth of the Gospel with all.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those who share in the sufferings of Christ—the sick, the sorrowful, and those who are afflicted or burdened in any way.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. Let us pray to the Lord.

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