Homily: January 31 - Saint John Bosco - "Work, work, work for the salvation of souls."

 

This year marks the 200^th year since the birth of Saint John Bosco.  So many miraculous occurrences happened to and around John Bosco that Pope Pius XI said of his life, “The supernatural almost became natural, and the extraordinary, ordinary”.  Through Don Bosco’s blessing, many people were cured of dread diseases. One young boy who died in a state of sin, was even raised from the dead so he could make a good confession  He had the gift of prophecy, and could read hearts.  He had a vision of Our Lord and Our Lady at the age of nine, and from then on was determined to become a priest to fulfill the vocation they had shown him.  Although he started his studies late, John was so diligent that he completed the necessary work and was ordained in 1841, at the age of 26. 

Don Bosco was deeply concerned with the youth of his parish, many were being arrested for juvenile delinquency.  Once in prison, they learned more about crime, and would be back in jail soon after their release. 

He worked tirelessly with young boys in his neighborhood, providing for them a solid education and formation in the faith.  “There are three things to stay on the path to Heaven, he would tell them, “Go to confession regularly, receive Communion often, and choose a regular confessor to whom you can unburden your heart.” 

His goal to make saints out of them, and at least one of his boys became a saint, St. Dominic Savio. 

Set aflame with the same fire of love, may we seek out souls and serve you alone.  Don Bosco would say, “work, work, work for the salvation of souls.”  Through his love and care, many of these young boys, not only were saved from a life of crime, many of them entered seminary and become good and holy priests. 

The lives of the saints – like the life of Don Bosco – should be for each of us not merely some pious stories that we recall just to make us feel good; the lives of the Saints should be a daily challenge for each of us, a challenge to our complacency, a challenge to the easy compromises we make to the demands of Christian living, a challenge to the spiritual myopia that prevents us from seeing the needs of the materially and spiritually impoverished in our midst.

So we pray through Don Bosco’s intercession for the salvation of our young people from our culture of death, and that we may be diligent in working always for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Ordinary Time - Wednesday - Whoever has ears ought to hear

One of the most distinctive and well-known characteristic of Jesus’ teaching is his use of parables.  A parable is a short, memorable story or image, usually drawn from nature or daily life, that conveys profound spiritual truths.

And though we are 20 centuries and thousands of miles removed from ancient Israel, Jesus’ parables and teachings speak right to the heart.  Jesus’ parables are simple enough for a child to understand them, yet they have a hidden depth of meaning that it is not always easy to grasp, but only comes to light upon thoughtful, reflection.

Jesus acknowledges the real possibility that people might see him but not perceive him, hear and listen to him and not understand him.  Even the disciples are often very slow in grasping the message Jesus has to give, but he insists that they must allow themselves to be drawn into his teaching and accept the radical implications for their lives.

So, in a way, through Jesus’ parable of the sower, he teaches us how to listen to parables.  It is a parable about parables.  When you are listening to the teacher you do best when your heart is not rocky, or thorny, but when you have cultivated the rich soil of your heart to receive Jesus’   Word. 

Jesus the teacher wishes to teach.  But it will be very hard for the thorny rocky heart to accept his teaching.  The obstinate heart is a real enemy to discovering who God is, what God wants for you, receiving the mercy God wishes to bestow, and bearing the fruit God made you to bear.  Like rich soil, the disciple hears the word of God, accepts it, and bears fruit.

How’s the soil of your heart?  Rocky, thorny, thin, or rich?  What kind of fruit is it bearing? Love or selfishness? Joy or melancholy? Peace or restlessness? Patience or boredom? Kindness or stinginess?  Gentleness or harshness?  Self-control or laziness?  The type of fruit we bear might be a good indicator that the Word of God has not fully penetrated and transformed our hearts, that we have not cooperated with it as intensely as we ought.

May our hearts be cultivated into the rich soil that generously receives God’s word and bear fruit that will last into eternity for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 3rd Week of Ordinary Time - Tuesday - "Here are my mother and brothers"

So densely packed was this crowd surrounding Jesus that his family couldn’t get near him.  News reached him that his mother and family were outside looking for him.  Looking to those seated around him he said, “here are my mother and my brothers.”   To Jesus’ 1^st century Jewish audience family bonds were all-important, and here Jesus is saying there is no relationship more important than Christian discipleship.  The closest human bonds—that of family—are not as important as the new family Jesus was establishing.

The new family, the family of God, whose members are united around Jesus in a bond of love and loyalty, is more important than any blood relationship. 

From time to time, my family will come to visit for Sunday Mass.  They live a good hour away, and will come every month or two to the noon Mass.  Nevertheless, if there are confessions after Mass, or a baptism, or a hospital call, my parish responsibilities come first.  Sunday is also the day for family birthday parties, but I sometimes either have to arrive late or not at all because my priestly ministry comes first, and I would have it no other way.  Only after fulfilling my priestly duties can I spend time with my family.  Luckily, my family is very understanding.  But there is always a little heart-ache, especially on Christmas eve, when I know my family will be gathering at grandma’s for our traditional Italian Christmas eve dinner. 

Doing the will of God is the priority for the Christian disciple—if we have to choose between spending time with family or going to Mass, we must go Mass. 

In the early Church sometimes pagan family members would forbid relatives from being baptized.  There are even stories where pagan family members would have their Christian family members arrested and sent to martyrdom. 

But the feelings of family do not change the fact that doing the will of God is the first priority for the Christian disciple.  The absolute priority in the heart of Jesus is to please his Father, and to do his Father’s will.

Remaining rooted in the truth of Jesus Christ is the road to heaven.   May we be found faithful to God’s Holy Will amidst all of the pressures of our culture, rooted in our commitment to Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: January 28 - Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor

Saint Thomas Aquinas is called the angelic doctor for a number of reasons: he was simple like the angels—he had single-hearted devotion for service of God.  He was clear like angels, when you  read Thomas’ theology, you find he is very clear and understandable.  He is full of the praise of God, like the angels, and he is pure, he is free from distractions and passions.

There is an incident from Thomas’ life where Thomas was kidnapped by his own family because they didn’t want him to join what they considered a disreputable religious order of begging friars called the Dominicans.  They locked him in a tower and threw a prostitute in there with him.  But, he immediately resisted the temptation by taking a flaming firebrand out of the fire and chasing her out. According to the story, that night God sent two angels to Thomas and blessed him with supernatural fortitude which enabled him to remain celibate his entire life in service to the kingdom of God.  So he was totally free from passions, like the angels.

Chesterton once said, the angels are able to fly because they take themselves lightly.  In a sense, Thomas was able to fly; his mind certainly flew to the heights of the knowledge of God precisely because of his great humility.
You cannot read enough of Saint Thomas Aquinas.  And you would have a difficult time if you tried, again, not because it is hard reading, but because there is so much of it.

All seminarians preparing for the priesthood become very familiar with his teaching, and all of the faithful should be encouraged to seek to understand our faith to the best of their ability, so that they may give explanation of the faith to the best of their ability.  In 1880 Pope Leo XIII declared the angelic doctor patron of all Catholic schools.  

At the end of a life totally dedicated to serving the Church, while praying before a crucifix, a voice asked Thomas what reward he wanted for his labors.  He replied: “None but yourself, O Lord.”  

To echo our opening prayer: God made Saint Thomas outstanding in his zeal for holiness and his study of sacred doctrine, may we understand what he taught and imitate what he accomplished for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Rediscovering Catholic Identity

Ezra the priest, from our first reading, was a descendant of those Israelites who had been carried away into exile by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.  For over a hundred years, Jews had lived and worked in Babylon, cut off from their traditions, their history, their rituals, their stories, and their worship.  A generation of Jews was growing up without knowing about God freeing their people from slavery in Egypt, they grew up without known the promises God made to Abraham, without the knowledge of the ten commandments or the promised land.  They grew up only knowing the gods and practices of Babylon-- a culture which practiced child sacrifice, polygamy, and other behaviors condemned by Jewish law.

Imagine if your children or grandchildren knew nothing about their family histories, knew nothing about their heritage, in fact, they had adopted practices which were exactly opposite of the truths of their faith.  In a way, not knowing their history, not knowing their faith, you would say, that they did not know themselves. 

While in captivity, some like Ezra the priest strove to keep alive knowledge of the Jewish faith and culture—but most of his fellow Jews had become assimilated by the surrounding culture.

The Babylonian King Artaxerxes allowed Ezra and Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem and what they found broke their hearts.  They found Jerusalem, the once great capital, a wreck--her walls breached and knocked down, the great temple destroyed.  They wept.

Their hearts had been broken by this terrible falling away, so they endeavored to rebuild.  Nehemiah launched a campaign to rebuild the temple and Ezra the priest endeavored to reeducate the people who had grown ignorant of their history, of their traditions, rituals and practices to teach the people who they were, their identity, and the laws of the faith which enabled them to be the people God had chosen them to be.

So as we heard, Ezra gathered the men, and women, and children, and read to them from the Torah.  He stood, on a raised platform in the rebuilt Temple, and from morning until midday read the Torah, from beginning to end:  Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Levitcus, and Deuteronomy.  Hours and hours the men, women, and children listened to their story, their family history, the laws which God had given them; they discovered who there were. They raised their hands in the air, and proclaimed, “Amen, Amen”. 

They were hungry for meaning.  They were hungry for an identity, and God, through the priest Ezra, taught them, once again, their identity.  And they bowed down to the ground and wept discovering who they were for the first time.  They were not captives, they were not Babylonians, they were the people chosen by God to manifest his greatness.

Now, that’s some nice ancient history, isn’t it?  Yet, is this really just a story about freed Jewish captives twenty-five hundred years ago?

This dramatic scene reminds us of our mission to drill into our children who they are, to form them according to the laws of Jesus Christ lest they be formed in the laws and ways of the culture.  And we our reminded of our mission to reach out to those who have become captivated by entertainment-on-demand, pleasure-on-demand, culture, with its materialism and selfishness and self-concern, those who have fallen into ignorance of their faith, and to call them home. 

What a unique and wonderful mission to work for the spread of the Gospel and building up of the Church in a such a challenging time in human history.  God chose you and me to spread the Gospel in this 21^st Christian century with all of its challenges and obstacles.  Spreading the Gospel is not somebody else’s job, it’s not just the job of bishops and missionaries, it’s your job, your mission, to reeducate, to reinstill, to re-conciliate—to reconcile—the ignorant to God and to remind the fallen away who they are meant to be.

So many of our own families have drifted into a sort of Babylonian exile, largely assimilating themselves to the surrounding secular culture.  In meeting with couples for marriage preparation I am a little heartbroken that people who had attended 12 years of Catholic school or more are now living with each other before marriage and haven’t been to Mass since their Confirmation, and disagree with the Church’s moral teachings.  But, marriage preparation can also be a blessing for rediscovering faith and how God is working in their lives to prepare them for forming a holy and happy family.

But I emphasize to them the importance of Sunday Mass.  For over 75% of Catholics are not coming to Mass every week. The great rituals of our Catholic faith are meant to shape us.  The hear of the Word of God proclaimed in the community of faith, and celebrating the Eucharist is meant to shape us.  And when we don’t come to Mass, you can be sure that the forces of our culture are filling that empty space.  The values of Hollywood and the morality of pop music fill the emptiness, and malform entire generations.  Mass is so important.  Not just because we give God the worship that is owed to Him, but because this is where he forms us, and feeds us, and sends us out.

Sadder yet, I’ve even been to some Catholic parishes where the Mass was barely recognizable as Roman Catholic ritual, and sacred music had been replaced by childish and theologically deficient rock music.  I think one of the errors of the 70s and 80s which still has some effect was the belief that the Church had to make itself look like the world, in order to attract the world to the Church.  Rather, the opposite is true, the Mass celebrated according to the mind of the Church including sacred music of a timeless nature, offers a peace and an encounter with the Lord, a peace which the world cannot give .  And so even the Church continues to reform herself, that she can strive to be faithful to her liturgical heritage—in continuity with the way the she has worshiped for two thousand years. 

Saint Paul said “conform yourself not to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind and by the knowledge of what is good and pleasing” to the Lord. 

What a perfect message for this Year of Faith, and what a perfect message as we begin Catholic Schools week.  That the purpose of all Catholic education is not to form young minds in conformity with the world, but to shape according to the mind of the Church. 

In the end it was never the noisy distractions of the culture which could satisfy our deepest longings, but the encounter with Christ through his word, through his sacraments, through prayer, through service of the poor.  May we continue to be renewed in spirit, that we may be equipped for the work of building up the Church, instructing the ignorant, reconciling the fallen away, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Saints Timothy and Titus - "The Church exists to evangelize"

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.”  Timothy was the son of a jewish mother and a pagan father, and Paul was directly instrumental in Timothy’s conversion from paganism.  When Paul visited the city of Lystra, Timothy, about twenty years old, joined him.  He assisted Paul in the establishment of the major Christian communities and he was with Paul during his first Roman imprisonment, and Timothy himself was imprisoned for spreading his work for the Gospel. 

 Titus was also a close friend and disciple of Paul, and accompanied Paul in his missionary activity.  He 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.

Pope Paul VI once said, “The Church exists to evangelize.”  Faithful to the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see in the early Church these great figures of apostolic zeal, overcoming tremendous obstacles, both challenges from outside of the Church and challenges from within.  Likewise we are called to utilize the gifts of the Spirit given to us, not to stagnate in self-containment and self-concern, but to go out, and spread Christ’s Gospel in this generation, with all of its challenges and obstacles.

We saw hundreds of thousands of good people yesterday, enduring the cold, traveling—some of them, thousands of miles—to witness to the Gospel of Life.  Sometimes spreading the Gospel just means showing up and walking hand in hand with other Christians.  But it means doing something, intentionally that the Gospel of Christ takes root more deeply in a human heart or in a culture or in a family.  Doing something other than pretending that this call to evangelization is somebody else’s job. 

Through the example and prayer intercession of Saints Timothy and Titus may we be found faithful in service of the building up of the Church for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: January 24 - St. Francis de Sales - "The measure of love is to love without measure"

St. Francis de Sales once said, “the measure of love is to love without measure”.  Francis took seriously the words of Christ, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” For to learn to love without measure, we have to look to Jesus Christ, the obedient Son of the Father.

If we wish to effect true change in the world, we must first change our hearts; our hearts must beat with the Love of the Heart of Christ, and nothing else.  St. Francis de Sales is a doctor of the Church, and he’s known as the Doctor of Charity.  

Desiring that his flock come to a greater love for and imitation of the love of Jesus, he wrote The Introduction to the Devout Life, the spiritual classic that hasn’t gone out of print in 400 years.

His distinguishing idea was that everyone is called to be a saint—Vatican II called this the Universal call to holiness.  

A young mother once wrote to Francis when he was Bishop and said, Bishop I’m trying very hard to live a good life, to be holy, but I can’t get to Mass every day because I have these seven children who are driving me crazy (imagine that!).  Francis de Sales wrote back to her and said “Madam, you should not go to Church every day; you become a Saint by being the best mom you can be.”  Now he’s not saying here that you shouldn’t go to daily Mass.  But love and growing in holiness are very practical things; that a mother shouldn’t neglect the her duties as a mother, in order to come to daily Mass.  Conversely, a mother shouldn’t be wrapped up on the world, that she neglects her duties as a Christian, either.

The Lord gives us all opportunities to love every day.  Free time that we might selfishly devote to our own pursuits, that should generously be turned to his service.

This theme of love and service was found in the Opening Prayer this morning: “O God, who for the salvation of souls willed that the Bishop Saint Francis de Sales become all things to all, graciously grant that, following his example, we may always display the gentleness of your charity in the service of our neighbor.”

To advance in holiness is to advance in love.  Through the example and prayers of St. Frances de Sales may we learn to love without measure those God brings into our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: January 23 - Saint Vincent, deacon & martyr

Because January 22 is designated as a day of prayer for the legal protection of the unborn in the United States, the feast of Saint Vincent the martyr can be observed today. 

Vincent of Saragossa was one of the Church's three most illustrious deacons, the other two being Stephen and Lawrence. There was a deep devotion to Saint Vincent the martyr in the early Church.  He is also Spain's most renowned martyr.  He was martyred at Valencia Spain, during the Roman Emperor’s state sponsored persecution of Christians—when the Roman Emperor had issued edicts for the immediate arrest of the clergy.  Both Vincent, and the bishop who ordained him were captured and imprisoned.  When Vincent was forced to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods he was subjected to unspeakable tortures before his martyr’s death.

Vincent could have denied his faith in order to save his life. 

If we were arrested because we were Christian, would we have the same courage? 

In the Opening Prayer of the Mass highlighted the courage of St. Vincent in enduring torture and death and asked God to fill us with your Spirit and strengthen us in your love.

The martyrs are heroic examples of what God's power can do. It is possible with God’s grace to endure extreme hardship and trial and torture and remain faithful to God –even to give witness to God’s glory in the face of hardship!

Saint Augustine said, “No one ought to be confident in his own strength when he undergoes  temptation.”  Our perseverance comes from Christ.  So we must cultivate that strength through prayer, fasting, mortification, and daily imitation of our Lord.

For us we are faced with situations which are uncomfortable or difficult: witnessing to the value of human life, witnessing to fallen away Catholics who are sometimes even members of our family, forgiving estranged friends or family members.  But the Lord fills us with his Spirit and strengthens us with his love through these Sacraments, when we cling to Him.

May the Lord who gave St. Vincent courage in enduring torture and death fill us with the same spirit and strengthen us in love, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: January 22 - Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

Today, January 22, 2013, marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.  In keeping with the instruction of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops– we are observing a special day of penance and reparation for sins against the dignity of the human person through acts of abortion.

Since that tragic decision, more than 55 million children's lives have been lost to abortion, and the lives of millions of their parents have been shattered. That single legal opinion, and the subsequent millions upon millions of individual and societal decisions that have been made in its wake, not only have taken the lives of countless human beings in the womb, but have also taken an unimaginable toll on those who have turned to abortion, those who have performed abortions, those who have encouraged abortions, and on our society as a whole as we have witnessed a steady desensitization regarding all forms of assaults on human dignity and life at all its stages.  

Abortion is directly repugnant to the teachings of the Catholic Faith and has always been so. Abortion was practiced by the Greeks, Romans, and even the Egyptians. But the Catholic Church has always condemned abortion as gravely sinful. Our Faith teaches that a baby is human from the very moment of conception and that innocent human life may never be directly and deliberately taken. Abortion is murder and it is intrinsically evil. 

So, the Catholic Church prays intently today for the legal protection of unborn children.  The priest wears purple vestments at mass today as we express our sorrow for the countless sins committed against human dignity specifically through abortion.  But today is also a day of hope.  We trust that God hears our prayers.  Many who once supported abortion have come to embrace the Church’s teachings on the dignity of human life; many workers in the abortion industry have become faithful, practicing, and vibrant Catholics.  

May the Church faithfully continue to be God’s instrument of hope, healing, conversion and life for our culture for His glory and the salvation of souls.

Homily: January 21 - Saint Agnes - "Belonging to Christ without hestitation"

Of all the virgin martyrs of Rome, none was held in such high honor by the early church as Saint Agnes.  She has been honored since the 4th century.  Her name appears in the first Eucharistic prayer.  

St. Agnes of Rome was very young, when she was martyred in the last half of the 3rd century, when Christianity could still not be practiced in public.

When she was about thirteen years old, the son of the Roman governor became infatuated with her.  Agnes had given her heart to Christ—she was a consecrated virgin—she had consecrated herself to Christ for the sake of His kingdom.

When she resisted the governor’s son.  He then threatened her, and told her that he would accuse her of being a Christian.  This meant that she would face death, since it was against the law to be a Christian.

Her heart belonging to Christ, she boldly resisted him.  He accused her of practicing the Christian faith, and she was beheaded.

Pope Benedict, in a reflection on Saint Agnes, said, “ Her martyrdom illustrates “the beauty of belonging to Christ without hesitation.””

Belonging to Christ without hesitation.  Jesus, without hesitation follows the will of His Father.  So too his saints learn to be free from all that keeps them from God’s will.  

When we are tempted, without hesitation we are to cling to Christ.  When we become aware of a need of our brothers and sisters, without hesitation we are to set on the road to helping them.  When we are given the opportunity to witness to the Gospel, without hesitation, without fear, we are to boldly proclaim the Gospel with conviction.

While still a young girl, Agnes had learned that being a disciple of the Lord means loving Him, even at the cost of one’s life.  

Do we have the maturity, the integrity, the courage of this young saint to give ourselves without hesitation when Christ calls us?  

We can see how Agnes’ spiritual life was animated by her intense relationship with God.  Are we cultivating such a relationship with him?

Agnes is a reminder that holiness does not depend on length of years.  Children understand, often better than adults, that following Jesus means to follow him with our whole hearts and minds and soul.  
With the help of Saint Agnes’ prayers and example may we come to see Christ’s glory in the eternal kingdom of heaven.

Homily: 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - One Spirit, Many Gifts

This Sunday we enter once again into Ordinary Time.  We completed the sacred seasons of Advent and Christmas; and we are still a few weeks away from Lent and Easter; and so, during ordinary time we focus on the ordinary life of the Church, our everyday life as followers of Christ.

As a Christian, what should ordinary life as Christians look like?  Mary, in today’s Gospel puts it very clearly: “Do whatever he tells you.”  There’s the ordinary task of the Christian, there’s a summary of the work of the Church: “Do whatever he tells you.” Obey Christ.  Fulfill the mission he’s given.  Do his work.  Follow his will.  

And when we do that, Jesus is able to transform water into wine—he is able to transform the ordinary works and words of our life, into the rich, intoxicating stuff of God.  

The trouble is, of course, that we all too often obey our own desires, do our own work, follow our own will, and the water remains water, the ordinary remains ordinary.  And sometimes we don’t recognize the gifts that God has given us.

Saint Paul enumerates in our second reading these many spiritual gifts God has given which make our ordinary Christian life quite extraordinary.

“To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to some benefit.”  God gives every baptized member of the Church special gifts to make them fit and ready to undertake the renewal and building up of the Church.  These gifts are not just for the clergy, not just for people formally involved in missionary activity.  But to you and me and every baptized member of the Church, gifts for bringing others more deeply into His divine life and the life of the Church.  
Saint Paul enumerates these gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, mighty deeds, prophecy, discernment of spirits, varieties of tongues, interpretation of tongues all meant for build-up the Church. 

First, Paul listed Wisdom—what’s that?  Saint Thomas Aquinas called wisdom, “the view from the hilltop”.  The wise person sees life from the high vantage point.  He’s put his life in order, his priorities are straight, and helps us do the same.  
When there’s a conflict, or confusion, we do well to seek the counsel of the wise person to help us make the changes we need in our life that they might better reflect the Gospel.  We should pray every day that our bishops and those in authority will be prudent, practical, rational, sensitive, judicious.  

Second, Paul lists the gift of “knowledge”.  Are you knowledgeable in science, math, history, philosophy, theology, sports?  If you are, share that knowledge!  Your knowledge has been given to you as a gift.  To make a lot of money or to show off?  No.  To lord it over others? No.  Knowledge is meant for service.  

The Catholic faith has produced the greatest thinkers of all time: Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, John Henry Newman, not to mention great scientists like Louis Pasteur, Alexander Fleming inventor of Penicillin, Galileo, Copernicus, Marie Curie, not to mention that Catholicism produced the first Universities.  It was a Roman Catholic priest, George Lamaitre  who first proposed the Big Bang Theory!

These men and women remind us that our knowledge is meant to be at the service of the Church and the human race. So each of us must reflect upon whether we are using our knowledge for ourselves or for others.  

The next spiritual gift Paul mentions is “faith”. All of us here have faith; we’ll all stand and profess the Creed after the homily.  So, when Paul lists faith as a unique charismatic gift, I think of that person who is gifted with that sort of contagious faith; you talk with them and they draw you deeper into the life of the Church, they speak about prayer and want to go home and pray, they speak about their guardian angel, and you think, yeah, I need to become better friends with my guardian angel, or they speak about confession, and you think, yeah, it’s been a while.  

If you have this gift of faith, the Church needs you to share it, to draw others to the Church, to Christ
.  
Are there people languishing outside of the Church because those with this gift have not exercised it?  Yes.  So we must become more open and more practiced in exercising these gifts because we need the power of gifts which are not being used to become unleashed for building up of the Church.  

Paul mentions next, “gifts of healing”.  All of the baptized are empowered to pray for healing.  Every Sunday we always have a petition for the sick and the suffering, and each of us instinctively turns to God when we are sick or have a sick family member.  

Yet, throughout the centuries God has given some the gift of miraculous healing—like Christ in the Gospels.  

The Spirit might wish to work miraculous spiritual healing through someone here in this parish.  I think there are a lot of people in the Church who have been given the gift of psychological healing: people who almost naturally bring calm and peace, who can sooth inner turmoil, who can calm troubled psyches and souls.  If you have it, you are meant to share it.
The Lord might be calling you to help someone who is grieving, or suffering from an emotional trauma, or to help someone who suffers from an addiction.  

I think the gift of healing particularly can become unlocked when we ourselves have received healing.  The person who has overcome an addiction often finds that he can help others still struggling.  The gift is meant to be shared.

Finally, the gift of discernment is very important.  You might not have the gift of healing, wisdom, knowledge, but discernment is meant help others discover their gifts.  To discern the work of the Spirit in others, is no small thing.  You are the one God wants to use to help others identify their gifts and put them into practice.  

The one with discernment is also able to act like a bridge.  You detect someone who is suffering emotional turmoil and you lead them to the one with the gift of healing.  You detect someone who is doubting the faith, and you bring them to the one with the gift of faith or knowledge.  You detect a family situation that requires outside help, perhaps a troubled marriage, and you get that troubled marriage the help it needs.  You detect that a particular young person is being called to religious life or to the priesthood, or that a fellow parishioner should consider joining the choir or becoming a lector or Eucharistic minister or deacon or catechist, you help point them in the right direction, and that is invaluable.  The person with discernment helps me to see something about myself that I cannot see.

Every baptized Christian is tasked with building up the Church, but we don’t have to do it on our own.  And with the authentic exercise of the charismatic gifts, a parish can be renewed and a community riddled with division can become unified.

May the Spirit who bestows us with so many gifts help us to discover them, grow in them, and utilize them for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday after Epiphany - Getting ready for the Baptism

At the conclusion of our observance of the liturgical season of Christmas, and marking the beginning of ordinary time, this weekend the Church will celebrate the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus.

Our readings this morning are giving us a little foretaste of the feast to coming.  We heard of the water and blood and spirit which testify to who Jesus is.  We shall hear this weekend how when baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, and the voice of the Father from heaven said, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Our Gospel today also hinted at the importance of baptism.  When the man full of leprosy came to Jesus to be healed he said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”  And the Lord said, “I do will it” and the man was immediately cure of his illness.

This reading too points to baptism, for the Lord instituted the Sacrament of Baptism in his Church for the washing away of sin—he wished to make us clean through the waters of baptism.  

People with leprosy were driven out of their community, alienated from their families because of their contagious, disfiguring disease.  And now healed, the man could be reconciled with those whom he was distanced from because of his disease.  

And in baptism what happens?  Original sin has alienated from God, the poison of sin leading us to strife, and division, and violence throughout history.  And through baptism we are washed clean of sin, reconciled to God, and brought into the new communion of the Church.  The root cause of our tendency to violence and selfishness and division is healed.  Sure the effects are still felt within us, but the root cause is healed, and we now spend our Christian lives continuously being healed of any remnant divisiveness in us through God’s grace in the Sacraments, through prayer, and acts of charity.

So as we prepare for the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord this Sunday, what’s our challenge?  To reflect on the dignity of our own baptism?  To consider the parts of our lives where the poison of sin still lingers? To open ourselves to the continuing unfolding of baptismal grace in our lives, that we may be led to deeper imitation of the Lord Jesus, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday after Epiphany - Sent to bring liberty to captives...

These Epiphany week readings continue to reveal important insights into Jesus’ identity.  The child born in Bethlehem, who had grown up in Nazareth, entered the synagogue, and revealed that he is the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah, He is the anointed one sent by God, to bring liberty and healing. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

All throughout the Advent season we heard of the prophets promising liberty to captives—those who, has a result of their sin, had been driven from their land, and held in captivity by enemy powers.  The people of 1st Century Nazareth, felt they were captives in their own land, under the rule of hostile foreign powers.  They await the Epiphany of the Messiah, they longed for it.

Yet, the reaction of the people of Nazareth was a far from the response of the Magi coming with gifts and adoring hearts.  
Well, the reading ends with the crowd looking intently at him, flabbergasted.  “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? The carpenter’s Son?” Then people in the synagogue are all filled with fury.  They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to a cliff on the edge of town, to throw him over and kill him.

Here was an opportunity for an Epiphany—to come to belief in Jesus’ identity through his self-revelation.  But Jesus was met with unbelief, and hostility, and an attempt on his life.

Their hearts were closed and hostile to the truth Jesus had to bring.  A sad response to Jesus’ self-revelation.  A rejection of the freedom and the healing of blindnesses He, the anointed one, was sent to bring..

Closedmindedness and pride are the age-old enemies, not only by hindering unbelievers from coming to faith in Christ, but hindering believing Christians from growing in holiness.  Closedmindedness and pride hinder us from surrendering more deeply to the transforming, liberating, enlightening grace of God, and keep us from the opportunities to serve God’s kingdom.  

We are blessed with the ability to come to Mass every day, to profess our faith in him and our desire to grow in holiness.  May our celebration of Word and Sacrament help to bring us liberty in our continued captivity to sin and to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and Lord with more and more of our lives, and witness to the world to his salvation for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Wednesday after Epiphany - "They were completely astonished"

Throughout Epiphany Week, the Gospel readings seem to emphasize the special identity of the Christ Child born at Christmas and adored by the magi at the Epiphany.  Monday we heard of him healing the sick, the paralyzed, the possessed.  Yesterday, we heard of him feeding five thousand with two loaves and fishes.  Today, we hear of his mastery of the powers of creation—he walks on water.  Even his apostles, his closest followers, even though they had just witnessed the miracle of the multiplication were shocked and completely astonished by this.  

These miracles show us Jesus' almighty power and how much He emptied Himself when He became a helpless Infant.  That this God who has power over human life, able to bring so much abundance out of so little, power over the forces of nature, has become this little tiny Child is a testament to his great love for us.
The all-powerful Creator of the world could not walk, talk, or roll over on us own. The second Person of the blessed Trinity talked baby-talk, wore diapers, and spit out His food. Almighty God weighed just a few pounds, shivered, cried, and nursed at His mother's breast.

The message of Christmas and God's incarnation is astonishing. He Who created the billions of galaxies with billions of stars, Who created the countless creatures on this little planet, became completely dependent on His parents, just like us.

It seems almost blasphemous to suggest that God became a weak human being. 
Yet He did, out of love for us.

And Saint John tells us in his first letter this morning, if God has loved us, amazingly, "we must have the same love for one another".  The love God has for us which is revealed in Christmas is astonishing, and we are to have that same astonishing love for one another. 

I think the saints get this command, and we, so often fail at it.  Mother Theresa lifting the helpless out of the gutter, she got this message of astonishing love.  Saint Francis, stripping away the attachments to wealth and material things and spending his life preaching and poverty for the sake of the kingdom, he got this message of astonishing love.  

What changes in attitude and lifestyle must I make, in order to love others as God loves?  May the Holy Spirit continue to enlighten us, lead us into this selfless, humble, astonishing love of God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday after Epiphany - Jesus is revealed as the one who feeds.

This week we are between two feasts: the Epiphany of the Lord and the Baptism of the Lord.  At the Epiphany Jesus as revealed as a light to all nations.  At the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan River, Jesus will be revealed as the Only-begotten son of the Father.  When he is baptized, the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and the voice of the Father says, “This is my beloved Son”.

These two feasts are linked in the mind of the Church by that theme of revelation—the revelation of Jesus’s true identity—his identity as Savior and Son and God.

This theme of revelation permeates the readings this week.  Yesterday we heard Matthew’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ preaching and teaching throughout Galilee.  The paralyzed, the possessed, the lame were brought to him for healing.  Jesus is revealed as the one who brings healing.

Today we proclaim one of Jesus’ most famous miracles: the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  Jesus reveals God’s great love for us, that he desires to feed the hungry.  He is moved with pity by our hunger.  And he doesn’t just feed us from afar, but has entered into our world of hunger, he has become one of the hungry, but is also revealed as the one capable of feeding.  For if he can feed five thousand from five loaves and two fish, he has the power to feed all those who come to him, in abundance. 

Jesus calls us to similar concern for the hungry, particularly the spiritually malnourished.  So many people have lost their appetite for the spiritual nourishment of God’s Word and Sacraments because they have so deeply indulged in the food of worldliness.  Our job, perhaps, is to help wean them off the world by instilling a hunger for the truth of Christ.

Also, notice that the Lord performs this great miracle of the feeding of the multitude by taking the little that is possessed by the people and transforms it into food for the multitudes.  What is not brought to him is not transformed.  But what is brought to him is blessed and multiplied and shared.

The Lord has real concern for our hunger, real concern for those who continue to turn away from his banquet.  And he will use us, if we bring him our time, talent, and treasure, for the feeding of the world’s hungry, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday after Epiphany - A light in the darkness

“The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen.”

Despite the great Christian joy of Christmas, the Christmas season can be a time of great darkness: winter depression grows, loneliness is deeply felt, grief often resurfaces.   Family breakdowns intensify at Christmas.  “How things are” is found to be very far from “how things should be.”    

Yet, at this very time, when darkness overshadows so much, the true Hope of the World is proclaimed, that Christ is the light shines in the darkness. 
Yesterday, we celebrated the Epiphany of the Lord, the revelation, the shining forth of Jesus as savior of the world. 

And on this Monday after Epiphany, the passage of Matthew Gospel describes Jesus starting his mission in Galilee.  It's another 'epiphany,' or 'shining forth,' or 'manifestation' of Jesus as the light that shines in the darkness.  Jesus preaches and teaches amongst those dwelling in darkness, and he sends his Church to do the same. 

He calls those in darkness to the light of repentance and discipleship.  Repentance and discipleship are the remedy for the darkness of the season, because Christ is the remedy for the darkness of the season.  In the light of Christ our false hopes and the empty promises of the busyness and materialism of secular Christmas are exposed as illusions, and the true path, to happiness, Christian discipleship, is illuminated.

The Gospel also tells us that the sick were brought to him.  If there is anything we still need to repent of, the Holy Spirit works to bring us to repentance and Jesus’s divine mercy.  But also, the Holy Spirit works to use as instruments to bring the sick in our family and in our community to Jesus’ divine mercy, through our words, example, and actions.

May we be docile and obedient to all the Lord asks of us today, that we might be witnesses of his light, that his light may continue to shine on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Epiphany 2013 - Servants of the grace that invites all people to Christ

Happy Epiphany. Today is really the last of the great Christmas Celebrations, when we celebrate the three wise men from the east following the start of Bethlehem and adoring the newborn savior of the world presenting him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Epiphany comes from the Greek word which means “Revelation”.  At Christmas, Jesus was proclaimed as the long-awaited Messiah of the beloved people of Israel.  Today is the day when we celebrate the Epiphany, the Revelation that Jesus is the Savior of the entire world.  We recall those three wise men from the east, who tradition names Melchior, Balthezar, and Caspar: how the Christ Child was revealed to them as Savior of all people, all lands, all times, all places. Jesus is the universal savior.

In many parts of the world, the feast of the epiphany is celebrated with as much solemnity as Christmas.  For, today, in many countries, is the day gifts are exchanged, recalling the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh brought in honor of the new born King.

Having followed the star from the east, to Jerusalem, they met with Herod, whose evil intentions towards the Christ Child were veiled, but evident.  The wise men then continued to Bethlehem where they found the newborn Savior, they worshipped him and adored him.  Then in a dream an angel told them that Herod had terribly vicious designs to kill the Messiah, to kill baby Jesus.  So as we just heard, they departed for their country by another way, the went home another route.

A deep spiritual meaning is contained in that line: “they went home another route”. They searched for the savior, they found him, and upon finding him, were changed forever.  There is the important spiritual truth: Once you meet Jesus Christ, once you adore Him, once his identity is revealed to you, once you have the epiphany, once you place your faith in Him, your life is changed forever. Once you meet Him, you go through life a different route.

(There is a fresco by Giovanni da Modena of the magi returning home, not on camels, but in a large ship, perhaps a prefigurement of the Church founded by Christ.)

Throughout the centuries of the Church we have stories of people from all over the world who begin life one way, and upon encounter Christ their lives are changed forever.

Think of those first called by Christ, Peter, Paul, Andrew, and James.  They began life as fishermen, but meeting Christ, encountering him, their lives were changed forever.  They went from local ordinary fishermen, to miracle working world missionaries and martyrs!

I think too about Saint Paul.  While a very stringent adherent of the Jewish law, he was putting Christians to death.  But upon the road to Damascas, and he encountered the Risen Christ, his life was changed forever.  Saint Paul definitely went home a different route.

I came across a book a few years ago, entitled “Saints Behaving Badly: The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil-Worshippers Who Became Saints.”  Men and women who begin life one way, encounter the Revelation, the Epiphany that Jesus Christ is Lord and calls them to newness of life, and follow Him, and depart from that encounter changed forever.

Men like Saint Ignatius of Loyola, who begins life, arrogant, full of himself, seeking fame through war, full of ambition, vain about his appearance, addicted to gambling and dissolute in his dealings with women.  He went everywhere armed, looking for a fight, obsessed with proving himself in battle. But an epiphany occurred in his life, which changed him forever.

After rushing into battle, his legs were shattered and wounded by a cannonball.  And as he lay convalescing in bed, his sister-in-law gave him two books, a life of Christ and a collection of the lives of the Saints.  There in his solace, shattered, broken, he met Christ.  He repented of letting his vanity, and his pride, and lust, and violence rule his life.  He began to pray, and dedicated himself to Christ.  He founded the Jesuit Order and became a soldier in quite a different sense, soldiers in spreading the Gospel throughout the world—to the darkest jungles and most foreign lands.

We think of the Great Saint Augustine, who rebelled as a teenager from the faith of his mother, monica.  While in college he flirted with the popular heretical faiths of his day, and embarked on a life of promiscuity, he even fell into thievery.  Yet, through his studies he continued to search for the Truth.  And he met him one day, through the preaching of the Archbishop of Milan, the great Saint Ambrose.  Inspired by Ambrose to take and read the scriptures, Augustine came upon a powerful line from Saint Paul: “ Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness . . . . But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof."  And Augustine said, that upon coming to the end of that sentence, it was the light of faith flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.  That’s a life changing epiphany—an encounter with the Lord Jesus through his Word.  Augustine was baptized, and ordained a priest and was later consecrated a bishop.  Come to find out his mother had been praying many many years for his conversion.

Our Church history, our parish history is full of stories of such men and women, who come to encounter Christ through the prayers and faith of others and whose lives are changed forever.  Our prayers for people’s conversion matter, as do our little acts of kindness.  I think particularly of the men and women in our RCIA who have sought after Christ and found him here in the Catholic Church.  And it is so often because of a book given to them or a conversation they have with a Catholic that God uses to bring them home.

But epiphanies  are not just for the uninitiated.  God wants to continue to reveal himself in epiphany moments in our lives as well.  Our daily prayer, when we kneel, humbly before God with our desires for conversation and for peace and healing—those are meant to be epiphany moments.

Vatican II called Sunday Mass the source and summit of the Christian life: like the wise men who encountered the Christ child, we too who encounter Christ in word and sacrament and should return home a different route.  Do you come to Mass desiring that, hoping for that, open to that epiphany moment, where your encounter with the Lord Jesus at Mass changes you, so that you go home a different person than when you came…

Priests and religious pray one of the Psalms every day that goes “if today you hear his voice, hardened not your hearts.”  Because when the Lord does speak to you, in prayer, and in your service, harden not your hearts so you do not miss the opportunity to be changed, to grow in holiness and sanctity.

After encountering the Lord in the Eucharist today, the priest or deacon is going to send you forth into the world from Mass. Do not go home the same route you came, but think of how the Lord is calling you to change, that you can give better witness to the Lord to those you meet this week, to be more responsive to the ways the Lord is calling you to be servants of the grace which invites all peoples to Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: January 4 - Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saint Elizabeth was from a wealthy Episcopalian family in Manhattan in New York; she received an excellent education.  In 1794, Elizabeth married William Seton, with whom she had five children.  Unfortunate circumstances led to the family losing their wealth, and having to go stay with some Catholic friends in Italy.

Even more unfortunate is that William died of Tuberculosis after just six weeks in Italy.

In that time of great loss, the compassion her Catholic friends showed her brought her great comfort, and she saw a great difference in the way that the Catholic families in Italy were dealing with death and loss and the protestants back in new York—how they were nourished by the sacraments and the company of the Saints.

Elizabeth began to feel very attracted to the Catholic faith and especially to the Eucharist and through growing love of the Blessed Mother.

Despite stern opposition from her Episcopalian friends, she became Catholic on March 4, 1805.

Here’s a woman who became Catholic and ultimately a saint because she was treated with great kindness by Catholics at moments of great tragedy—Catholics who were simply living their faith with deep devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin.

The Opening prayer referred to Saint Elizabeth’s “burning zeal to find God”.  Despite difficulty, hostility towards her faith, she sought after the truth that would change her life and make her a devoted servant of God’s kingdom.

Elizabeth went on to work for the conversion of souls as the foundress of the first religious congregation having its origin in the United States—the Sister of Charity.   She basically founded the Catholic School System in the United States.

A wife, mother, widow, impoverished single-mother, foundress, educator, social minister, and spiritual leader, Elizabeth Seton was the first person born in the United States to become a canonized saint.

Saint Elizabeth wrote, “We know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life. We know that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.”

May this first canonized Saint native to the United States help us to come to that holy life God desires for us, and know the grace of God which carries us through every obstacle and difficulty for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: January 2 - Saints Basil & Gregory

Today we celebrate two Saints, Basil and Gregory. They were both bishops, they were both born in the year 330, they both had an excellent education.  In fact, they were friends, in life, meeting at the most famous school of the time Ceaserea in Cappadocia, modern day Turkey. They were baptized together in the year 358.  They are two of the three Cappadocian Fathers of the Church, the other being Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Basil’s brother.

 These two friends, Basil and Gregory, eventually became Bishops.    But both started out as, “men of the world”.  Basil writes about frivolously wasting time on vanities, and “one day, like a man roused from deep sleep, I turned my eyes to the marvelous light of the truth of the Gospel, and I wept many tears over my miserable life.” 


Both Basil and Gregory were great friends and spent themselves without reserve in faithful service to the Church and in the virtues.  And perhaps that is the true measure of authentic friendship, a great friend helps you to become a saint, and imitate Christ, and serve God with more of yourself.  They help to bring out those qualities in you which are effective in building up the kingdom of God.  Have you been a good friend to those in your life, to your spouse, to your children?

Both men are doctors of the Church for their preaching and teaching of the faith.  Both faced the growing hostility of the Arians, those who denied the divinity of Christ, and both sought to mend divisions within the Church. 

Both were dedicated to the charitable works.  In fact, the charitable institutions Basil founded in his diocese of Ceasarea in Cappaddocia where the sick would come to receive treatment are the origin of our modern day hospitals.

The liturgy refers to these men as luminaries—they illuminate by their teaching and example what it means to lovingly profess the truth of the Gospel.  May they continue to assist us to seek to know the truth and live the truth, to spend ourselves in faithful service of God and our neighbor, and to be luminaries of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.