September 12 2023 - The Most Holy Name of Mary - Invoke her fair name

 For many years, about 200 years actually in our own country, Mary was the most, or nearly the most popular name for baby girls. Around 1970 the name slipped out of the top 10, and starting in about 2009, Mary is no longer even in the top 100. No doubt this trend corresponds to a decline in the practice of the Catholic faith—which upholds such reverence for Mary, and loves and invokes her fair name. 

The Church celebrates the memorial of the Holy Name of Mary shortly after her birthday on September 8, just like we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus shortly after Christmas.

Richard of St. Laurence, a 13th century French theologian states "there is no such powerful help in any name, nor is there any other name given to men, after that of Jesus, from which so much salvation is poured forth upon men as from the name of Mary… the devout invocation of this sweet and holy name leads to the acquisition of superabundant graces.”  

"Thy name, O Mother of God, is filled with divine graces and blessings," says St. Methodius, so much so, that St. Bonaventure declares, "that thy name, O Mary, cannot be pronounced without bringing some grace to him who does so devoutly."

Additionally, Thomas of Kempis affirms "that the devils fear the Queen of heaven to such a degree, that on hearing her great name pronounced, they fly from him who does so as from a burning fire." 

The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to St. Bridget "that there is not on earth a sinner, however devoid he may be of the love of God, from whom the devil is not obliged immediately to fly, if he invokes my holy name with a determination to repent."

The directives for the liturgy instruct us to bow our heads in reverence at the name of Jesus, at the name of Mary, and at the name of the Saint of the Day when they are mentioned in the prayers of the liturgy.  

When we pronounce her name, we affirm her power, we implore her aid, and place ourselves under her protection.  As she said “Yes” to God in full freedom and love, she helps us to do the same.

It is a privilege to know and to be able to call upon with Love the name of Mary.  At her name demons flee and angels rejoice.

May all come to have confidence in calling upon the holy name of Mary, to seek her protection and receive comfort and strength in the Christian life for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Pope Francis and all members of the Church, like the Virgin Mary, may magnify the goodness of God through word and deed.

That those in need of repentance will call upon the holy names of Jesus and Mary for help. 

That all Christians may find in Mary the example and strength to carry out our individual vocation, for the sanctification of all families, and the protection of all young people from the evils of error and sin.

For those who suffer any sort of trial, illness, addiction or trial: that the help of Our Lady, queen of heaven and earth, may fill them with the grace needed to carry their crosses with faith and hope 

For the deceased members of our family and friends, for all of the poor souls in purgatory…

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.

23rd Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - 9/11, Suffering, and the need for Christ

 In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, congress passed a bill requesting that the President designate September 11 of each year as Patriot Day. The U.S. flag is flown at half-staff at the White House and on all U.S. government buildings and establishments throughout the world; flags are also encouraged to be displayed on individual American homes. Additionally, a moment of silence is observed to correspond with the attacks, beginning at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

This terrorist attack was a great source of suffering for our nation, not to mention the victims and their families. I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the first plane striking the North Tower. I was on my way to class with a group of seminarians—a philosophy class called the philosophy of the human person, in which we were examining man’s intellect, soul, mind, body, and free will. And certainly that day, we received a terrible lesson of man’s capacity for evil, his ability to inflict suffering on his fellow man.

St. Paul wrote about suffering in our reading from his letter to the Colossians today. Paul suffered prison, shipwreck, beatings, starvation, and exhaustion, and ultimately death for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul doesn’t curse God for his sufferings, or even complain about them, rather he writes boldly, “I rejoice in my sufferings” and goes on to explain that he saw his sufferings for the sake of the Church as gifts from God because they enabled him to understand more deeply the love of Christ.

Fulton Sheen was fond of saying that, the great tragedy in life is not suffering, but suffering that goes wasted, suffering that we do not allow to bring us closer to God.

Following the September 11 attacks the churches were packed. Our nation rightly responded to evil by falling to our knees, not simply praying to God to alleviate suffering, but to help us to learn, so that evil may not be repeated. “Never forget” was the motto in the months to follow. Let us never forget what evil can do.

And yet the lesson of suffering was only headed by some. Instead of drawing closer to God, repenting of sin, uniting to Christ through his Church, many dug in their heels to building a culture of death. Instead of stretching out the withered hand to Christ, they clutched all the tighter at perversion, greed, and power. But such is the pattern of sinful man, when he refuses to grow in wisdom—if he doesn’t fall for one empty promise, he’ll fall for another until he lives for Christ. 

And so the Church’s task in 2023, is the same as St. Paul’s and that of every age, to preach Christ and him crucified, for He is our only salvation and hope, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That through Our Lady, Queen of Peace, terrorism and war, and the cheapening of human life may be brought to an end.

That our civil representatives may use their authority to lead and build our nation in godly ways.

For all those who harden their hearts toward God, for those who have left the Church, for all those in serious sin, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for victims of natural disaster and inclement weather, those who suffer from war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, the imprisoned, the unchaste, 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. We pray.

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

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 - The Watchman

 This last week we celebrated the feast day of a very important Saint:  Saint Gregory the Great.  Saint Gregory was pope at the beginning of the 7th century and he’s one of only two Popes to be given the title “the great” the other being Pope St. Leo the Great.

Saint Gregory was born into the world of politics—he was the son of a Roman senator.  Because of his great administrative talents and moral integrity St. Gregory came to occupy the highest civil office in Rome, that of Roman Prefect, when he was only 30 years old.  And yet, Gregory desired to devote his life more fully to the service of God, and became a quiet, simple servant of the Lord as a Benedictine monk.

God, however, had other plans for Gregory.  He was asked by the Pope to leave the monastery and become the Pope’s personal representative to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.  And Gregory was so talented in administration and preaching and teaching that when the Pope died, all of the priests and people of Rome acclaimed him to be the new Pope.

He is called “the Great” not just because he was a talented leader.  He is called “Great” because he poured himself out in service to the Church in an exemplary, yet humble way.  He knew that true human greatness is not found in athletic trophies or political office or wealth, but through humble service to Christ.  

And I came across a wonderful commentary by Saint Gregory on the prophet Ezekiel, where Ezekiel is receiving instructions by God for his role as a prophet. God says to Ezekiel “You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.”

A watchman—St. Gregory explains is one who stands on a high place so that he can see the enemy coming from afar. When I visited Scotland at the beginning of the year, I visited Hadrian’s Wall, marking the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire. The Roman Soldiers appointed watchmen would patrol the top of Hadrian’s wall and watch the forests to the north from which the enemy was likely to approach. The watchman would stand vigilant, ready to alarm the encampment, not if, but when, the enemy approached. 

And the enemy was formidable. The Romans at Hadrian’s Wall called the tribesmen up in northern Scotland there, the pictae—from which we get the word picture. The pictae would paint themselves in camouflage and would attack at night. And so the Romans at the edge of the empire had to be extra vigilant, extra watchful because the enemy was cunning and dangerous. After all, the pictae had kept the great Roman Empire from expanding further north.

“You, Son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel.” God is speaking here to Ezekiel. As a prophet, Ezekiel was tasked with watching and pointing out the spiritual enemies of God’s people—those spiritual idolatries which so tempted the Jewish people and kept them enslaved in sin—kept them from the spiritual greatness God wanted for them. So Ezekiel had to watch and issue God’s warnings to the people. Such is the role of the prophet—to be watchmen. And every Christian is baptized to be a prophet--a prophetic watchman--to stand vigilant against evil--to warn souls and protect souls--to urge souls to turn to God.

Christian parents are to be prophetic watchmen for their children, too right? Parents are to guard their children from things that are harmful to their minds, bodies, and souls.  I can hear my parents saying, “Don’t run with scissors, don’t play in traffic, put down the video games and read a book”  Now, parents must be even more vigilant about the popular ideas their children are being exposed to on the internet and classrooms—ideas, that if followed, lead children away from the life God wants for them. And there are terrible pressures in our society now on parents, which tell parents, pressures to just let the kids do what they want. But children need to be protected, their brains and their virtues are not fully formed; not to mention that the enemy today is camouflaged—they smile, they talk about inclusivity and equality and compassion, but rooted in error, they lead so many young ones astray to distrust and hate of right religion. 

Pope Gregory explained how the bishop in his diocese is a watchman. Next week, there will be a flyer in the bulletin from the bishops of Ohio regarding the upcoming vote on the Amendment to the Ohio Constitution in November. Unlike issue 1 back on August 8, for which Catholics were free to exercise prudential judgment regarding their personal politics, the November issue is not simply a political issue. As one of our local pastors has said, “it is not a matter of Right vs. Left, but right vs. wrong” for the change to the constitution being proposed would open up unfettered access to abortion up until the time of birth as well as impacting parental consent for abortion and transgender issues. The Watchmen are telling us that we need to fast and pray to defeat this repugnant issue. 

In the Gospel, this weekend, Jesus tells his disciples, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”  Obeying or disobeying the good watchmen with their sound and stern teaching will have eternal ramifications. 

In his commentary on the watchman, St. Gregory also talks about how difficult it is for the watchman to remain focused on his job. Pope Gregory lamented how as Pope, not only did he have to deal with all the problems of the church but also what he called “worldly men”— who did not always have the Gospel as their main priority.

If it was difficult for the pope, a former monk, and man most learned in scripture and prayer, to remain vigilant against distractions, how much more do we need to practice those virtues of the watchmen: focus, vigilance, discipline, balance of work and rest so that we do not grow drowsy in our duties. 

It’s hard to remain vigilant when we are surrounded by the worldly. Have you ever been visiting family out of town and it becomes apparent that they aren’t planning on going to Church that weekend?  It takes a real effort to fulfill our religious obligations when those around us don’t.  It takes a real effort to follow the commandments when it seems like everyone else is disobeying them. When everyone else is shoplifting and pirating, why shouldn’t I? When every one else is disengaging from society just to play video games all day, why shouldn’t I? When every other young couple is cohabitating, why shouldn’t we?

So like the watchman, we must constantly be on guard against that creeping worldliness that seeks to lull us to sleep in our Christian duty to guard our community, our families, and our souls from evil.

May the Holy Spirit help us to be watchful, and vigilant, sober and alert, with hearts unhardened to the voice of the truth and goodness of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

September 8 2023 - The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mary the Temple, Christ the Temple's Lord

Two themes pervade the readings and prayers of this feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary: joy and light. The liturgy tells us: “Let us celebrate with joy the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for from her arose the sun of justice, Christ our God.” Joy and Light.

Christians are a joyful people—a joy-filled people because Joy is the result of allowing the light of faith to flood our minds and hearts. Joy comes from recognizing the importance, meaning, and weight of what God has done for us—and Christians are the most joy-filled of the people of the earth, Christianity is the most joy-filled religion because we alone acknowledge the fullness of what God has done for our salvation.

Scripture commands God’s people to joyfully proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations, and today the Church joyfully sings what God has done in the Blessed virgin Mary.  “With delight we rejoice in what the Lord has done” – we proclaimed in the Psalm.

What is particularly joyful about this day? Saint Andrew of Crete said “all creation sings with joy, exults, and participates in the joy of this day....for this is, in fact, the day on which the Creator of the world constructed His temple; today is the day on which by a stupendous project a creature becomes the preferred dwelling of the Creator"

It took Solomon seven years to build the Jerusalem Temple, and when it was completed and dedicated, King Solomon and the priests sang and danced and fell prostrate before the Temple which shone with the light of the Glory of God.. 

Exactly 9 months ago, today, we celebrated the conception of Our Lady, and today we celebrate her birth. Mary is the New Temple, who would be filled with the fullest manifestation of God’s glory on earth—the incarnation of Christ. And at the moment of her own birth—inside her tiny body was the egg, the ovum, which would become Christ years later when she would conceive miraculously through the Holy Spirit’s power.

Whenever we celebrate the great things God has done through, with, and in Mother Mary, we are filled with light. There are a lot of things in this world that take away our joy, but celebrating Our Lady is not one of them. 

If we want joy we need to turn to her devoutly for joy, if we want light we need to turn to her earnestly for light, for help in increasing the light of faith in this darkened world; if we want to be with God forever in heaven, we need to turn to Mary fervently for help in following Christ faithfully for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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To Our Lady’s most powerful intercession, we recommend ourselves and the entire Church.

That Our Lady may bring constant guidance and assistance to the Holy Father and the Bishops in their apostolic mission, and aid all who help them in their work. 

That all government leaders may be awakened to the supreme dignity of each human life, and that all people of our nation may work together for an end to the culture of death. 

That through Immaculate Mary, Queen of Peace, hatred, violence, and cruelty will cease in the world.  

That the sick may draw strength, consolation, and healing by turning to Our Lady, who intercedes for us from her place in heaven. 

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight.

22nd Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - Tuesday - Nazareth vs. Capernaum

 For the first nine weeks of Ordinary Time, the weekday Gospel readings are taken from the Gospel of Mark. And then for about 12 more weeks, the Gospels are taken from Matthew. From now until the end of the liturgical year, we read from the Gospel of Luke. 

Yet, we don’t start with chapter one of Luke’s Gospel, for those are read throughout the advent and Christmas seasons. So we begin at the beginning of Our Lord’s public ministry, about 30 years after his birth, in Luke chapter 4.

And chapter 4 begins with the Lord in Nazareth, the place where he grew up, and he enters the synagogue on the sabbath, reads from the prophet Isaiah, basically claiming to be the fulfillment of the Messiah prophecy, and is then driven to the edge of the cliff by the townsfolk and almost killed. 

Today, the Lord comes to another synagogue, to the town of Capernaum, about 25 miles to the northeast. It’s the sabbath again, so perhaps only a week has gone by. 

And again he teaches. But, unlike the people of Nazareth who were filled with fury, the people of Capernaum were filled with astonishment. And then he performs an exorcism. 

In an atmosphere where Jesus is accepted and believed and listened to, demons are driven out. Where he is rejected, man allows the demons to remain in control, and push Jesus to the edge of their lives.

The task of the Christian is to bring Jesus into the lives of the peoples of our world, into their families, and homes. Will they reject him, like they did at Nazareth, or will they accept him and allow him to cast out their demons like in Capernaum? Well, we don’t find out until we are faithful to our task of bringing him into the synagogues of their lives. But we can’t be afraid to bring Jesus into someone’s life because the reaction might be a Nazareth and not a Capernaum. 

Nor can we give up on someone just because a demon shows up that is initially hostile. We must spend enough time with folks where we give Jesus the time to cast the demon out. 

There’s certainly some missionary instruction in today’s Gospel, and some of us are called to be missionaries. The missionary mustn’t be afraid of demons, rather, the manifestation of the demon is a sign that the Lord wants to cast it out. When the demon bares its teeth and calls for Jesus to be silenced, you don’t run away. You rebuke that demon in the name of Jesus, and pray for it to be cast out. Then the healing can begin, and the conversion to Christ.

And that’s true in our own life, when an old demon, an old temptation, bears its teeth, remain calm, and pray for the Lord to cast it out.

May our lives, our parish, our neighborhood be places where the Lord is encountered and believed, may his authority over the powers of darkness cast out demons and bring the light of faith, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For a flourishing of spiritual gifts needed for the missionary work and evangelizing mission of the Church.

For all those afflicted with demons, those who are overwhelmed with the Spirit of the World, that, through the ministry of the Church, they may know the cleansing power and mercy of Christ.

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, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for those who struggle to practice 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; and for N….

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.

Labor Day 2023 - Hikikomori and Good Honest Work

 I was watching a documentary recently about the social group in Japan known as the Hikikomori. The Hikikomori have this extreme disinterest in going to work and engaging in society that they isolate, usually in the home of their parents, and spend the day playing video games or consuming media. These are abled bodied adults who could work, who could engage, but have chosen isolation, and as a result they are depressed and often develop other mental illnesses. 

When St. Paul was wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians, he was addressing a similar problem. There were Christians, who were able, but who were choosing not to work. Even though he had instructed them to imitate his example of remaining industrious until the coming of the Lord, these non-workers were taking advantage of the generosity of their brother Christians.

And so St. Paul gives this stark instruction “if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.” He called those unwilling to work, disordered, as well as those who were “too busy minding the business of others.” Unwillingness to work, like the Hikikomori, and many in our own culture, who could work, but who take advantage of the system or their parents and family or the generosity of charities, is a disorder, a disordered life.

The Catechism says that Working with God to bring the best out of creation is part of God’s original plan—we are Co-laborers with God—who himself is the original worker, the shaper of the universe, the bringer of life, a Gardner. Good holy work therefore honors God. Work honors the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from him. Good honest work is not only good for the soul, it is in imitation of the Divine--one might say, a participation and cooperation in divine life.

Labor Day, for much of the our society, is an extra day off, and many of us need it, because we do have to work very hard to meet our basic needs. I saw that in you compare the purchasing power of the dollar, we are worse off right now than in the Great Depression. Good honest laborers are working very hard for those basic necessities. And so we do need to be generous with those who are struggling to make ends meet like so many of the people we assist in our St. Vincent de Paul Society, as well as the mentally ill. 

But we also need to give encouragement to the discouraged, and lazy, to work to the extent they are able. We must also cultivate a much healthier attitude toward honest work in our young people. The addiction to the instant gratification of entertainment needs to be replaced with the lasting fulfillment that comes from honest hard-work and contribution to the common good. 

May this Labor Day be a source of true refreshment for laborers, for society, and the Church. God made us to imitate him in our work, may our work be rightly ordered to the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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.