Homily: Monday of the 4th Week of Lent - Seven Signs

We now begin the second half of Lent.  Leading up to Holy Week, our Gospel readings for daily Mass are taken from the Gospel of John.

Where St. Luke strives to give a historical, chronological account of the ministry of Jesus Christ, John’s Gospel is arranged, not strictly chronologically, but topically or theologically.  He aims to answer the theological question: Who is Jesus Christ?

Where each of the other evangelists record many miracles, John chooses only seven: the miracle at the wedding of cana, the healing of the nobleman’s son, the healing of the paralytic, the feeding of the five thousand, the walking on water, the healing of the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus.

Through these miracles many come to believe that he is God incarnate.   He is able to give the supernatural life he promises because He is God.  He is able to forgive sins because he has the divine authority to do so.  We heard today Jesus say, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” So John records seven.

John carefully records people’s reactions to Jesus.  After the healing of the nobleman’s son we hear how the whole household began to believe in him.  After his teaching on the Bread of Life in chapter 6, we hear how many people who were initially following him turned away from him, finding the teaching too hard.

During the remaining days of Lent, these Gospel readings can strengthen our faith that Jesus truly has the power to free us from our sins.  Whatever sinful attitudes or behaviors of selfishness we are struggling with, Jesus truly has the power to free us from them.

“A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy,” Jesus says in John chapter 10.  “I came, so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Through our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, allow Jesus to free you from selfishness and give you the gift of abundant life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 4th Sunday of Lent - The key to Joy

I heard a story recently, that I immediately knew I wanted to share on this laetare Sunday. 

A holy man was walking down the road when a robber jumped out, held a knife to his throat and said ‘Give me everything you have.’  Without hesitation, the holy man gave the robber everything, but as the robber was leaving, the holy man stopped him and said, “Wait.  I have a ruby in my sandal.”  He handed it over to the robber saying, “It’s yours now.”  The next day, walking down the same road, the same robber approached the holy man.  The holy man said, “What are you doing?  I gave you everything I had yesterday, I have nothing left.”  The robber said, “I want what you have that made you give me the ruby.”

True wealth, one writer put it, is not determined by how much we have, but by how little we need.  Christians know that we need so little, we are free to give away even precious gems because we have already received the greatest treasure, the most precious gift.

In talking with the school kids about what they were giving up for Lent, I am always a little saddened when I challenge them to give up video games and television, and they say, “no, I couldn’t live without that.”  It’s not like the human race survived and flourished without iphones for thousands of years or anything.

Lent challenges us to examine those things from which we derive inordinate joy and to practice detachment from them.

This week our 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders attended a showing of the new “Son of God” movie about the life of Jesus Christ.  Some of you may have seen Mel Gibson’s somewhat more graphic film, “The Passion of the Christ.”  To watch these films, and to pray the stations of the cross or the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary, to meditate on Jesus’ passion, we can’t help but ask, what made him do it?  What did he have that enabled him to give up his life—to freely shed his ruby red blood?  Where did his strength to carry that heavy cross come from; to stand up after falling three times, to allow the guards to drive nails into his hands and feet?

Do you want we he had that enabled him to walk the way of the cross?

Today we are wearing rose-colored vestments, because today, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, is "Laetare Sunday".  Laetare means rejoice. We rejoice in the salvation Christ has won for us through his Passion and Death.  We rejoice in the forgiveness of our sins, which otherwise would mean eternal death.  For only the Christian, out of all the world’s religions can know the joy of hearing the words, “your sins are forgiven.”

Pope Francis tweeted recently that our deepest joy comes from Christ: remaining with him, walking with him, being his disciples. 

In the last year, Pope Francis has really made headlines.  From his first moment in the spotlight, he seemed to radiate with a joy that is sadly lacking, at least visibly, in many members of the Church.  And we get a sense, don’t we, that his joy comes not from any amount of earthly wealth.  Not even being elected as Vicar of Christ seems to be the cause of his joy.  For we get a sense that he would be just as joyful, taking the bus to work back at the Chancery in Argentina.  No, it seems, the source of Pope Francis’ joy, is his deep, abiding friendship with the Lord  Most likely our lack of authentic Christian joy, is because of our failure to suffer with Christ.  True Joy is not dependent on wealth, on possessions, or power. Rather, true joy is only possible when we are detached from those things.

Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, who was animated by the Spirit of Joy, was once asked by the sisters, “Mother, tell us how to get Joy; how does Joy come into our life.”  Well, she said, “you look at the word itself:  J-O-Y.  And you let each of those letters stand for a word, in that order: J stands for Jesus, O stands for others, and Y for yourself; if those are the priorities in your life, first Jesus, secondly other people, and only last, yourself, you are going to have Joy.” 

If you want real joy, structure every day, every week, based on those priorities: first Jesus, second, others, lastly, yourself.  Having those priorities is absolutely essential for cultivating the Joy you so desire.  Our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us to do just that.

Yet we will never have joy, if we say, “I could never live without video games; I could never live without gossiping; I could never live if I weren’t the one in control.”

On the night before he died, Jesus said, “I have spoken these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”  He wants us to know his joy, and it is up to us to give up those things which keep us from receiving the gifts he came to give us.

Free us, O Lord, from all disordered attachments, and help us to remain and walk with you, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent - I will lead her into the desert

We have many accounts of early Christians going off into the desert.  The first Christian monks were those who went into the desert for a life of solitude and prayer.  Foreboding and desolate, with steep, barren mountains, dusty, rocky soil the color of bones.  Jesus himself was led by the Spirit into the desert.

The season of Lent is meant to be a desert experience when we strip away the extra baggage and learn again the value of Christian simplicity.

One of the great desert fathers was blessed Macarius who lived to the ripe age of ninety in 4th century. Echoing the words of St. Paul, he said "If you die to the world and to yourself, you will begin to live with Christ."

Early in the book of Hosea, God speaks to Israel who had grown complacent, who was unfaithful in many ways, and God says, “I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.”

The desert is a place of testing, of simplicity, but it is also meant to be a time of profound encounter with God, of God speaking to our hearts.  This is why we encourage not just fasting during Lent, but prayer as well.

God does not need a desert to speak to us, but sometimes we do.  For our hearts become so clogged with false desires.  We need desert moments where we have stripped away everything unnecessary, where we approach God in nakedness and silence to hear the voice of Our Father more clearly.

We enter the desert, that we, according to the command of Christ, You may love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. and  love our neighbor as yourself.

Led by the Spirit, Jesus entered the desert.  May we follow him into the desert, that we may encounter him there, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday of the 3rd Week of lent - "Sin darkens the intellect"

The people of Jeremiah’s time had become so disobedient, so rebellious, so hardhearted, that God was lamenting that “Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.”

So blind to the truth were some of the people who witnessed Jesus casting out a mute demon, that they claimed the Son of God was casting out demons through the power of Satan.  In other words, they were saying that instead of Jesus being the incarnation of God who is love, he was an agent of evil.

The old catechism states that sin lessens the love of God in our hearts.  It also clouds the mind, darkens the intellect, and blinds us to truth. Sin closes the heart to God’s love and truth.

Sin is so dangerous that it can lead to the rationalization of evil actions.  It can cause Christians to forget about their responsibilities to be faithful to their baptismal promises and the call to holiness, to serve and promote human life and to fulfill our religious obligations.

It can cause someone who attended Catholic school for 12 years to question the ancient truths.  “Does it really matter if I attend Mass?  Does it really matter if I pray daily?”

Any sin, even venial sin, is a spiritual disease that devastates the soul and clouds the intellect and therefore our judgments and attitudes. The longer we let these spiritual diseases live in us, the more damage is done. The good news is that Jesus Christ, our Divine Physician, heals us with his grace.

Our Lenten prayer, fasting, and acts of mercy enlighten our mind and invigorate our spirits because they bring us into contact with he who is Truth and Light and Love.  The light of His truth eradicates darkness and casts out evil.  Our faithfulness to the Lenten disciplines are instrument Jesus uses to bring deep healing and light and love into our minds and souls and hearts, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: March 25: Annunciation Humility

Before the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council it was the centuries-old practice at the recitation of the Creed on Sundays and Solemnities to genuflect at the mention of incarnation of Christ.  Since Vatican II, we simply bow reverently, as we recite, “and by the power of the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.”

However, that old gesture, that gesture of genuflection at the mention of the Incarnation, which is normally reserved to the Real Presence in the Eucharist, is retained twice during the liturgical year.  First, at our Christmas celebration of the Nativity of Christ, as we celebrate his Holy Birth at Bethlehem.  And second, today, on this Feast of the Conception of Christ, when he was truly made present in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, when the Eternal Word was made flesh. 9 months from today, the length of a pregnancy, we will genuflect on Christmas day.

There is a sort of lost art to genuflection in many of our churches.  Yet, it remains an act of humility and submission— to bend the knee as an act of loyalty towards our true king.

In the recitation of the rosary, the virtue associated with the 1st joyful mystery, the annunciation is humility.  Humility abounds in that scene at the Virgins house in Nazareth.  The humility of the Blessed Virgin as the Archangel appeared to her, and as the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, cannot be fathomed, merely contemplated.  The humility of the archangel as he knelt before this human girl who would become his queen.  And the humility of the Eternal Word himself as he shed the glory of divinity to take on the burden of humanity.  As Paul says to the Phillippians, “he emptied himself, and became a slave.”

Genuflection is appropriate on this Feast, in fact, it’s the least we can do.

Today we reflect on how profoundly history has been changed as a result of Mary’s “yes” to God and we seek to imitate that blessed humility.   She humbly calls herself the handmaiden of the Lord who seeks not her own will, but the Holy Will of God.  May we imitate her in humble service today for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 3rd Sunday of Lent: "Let anyone who is thirsty, come to me..."

As we venture deeper into the desert of Lent this weekend, we hear in our scripture readings a lot about water and thirst: the thirst of the Israelites in the desert—how they called out to God in their thirst.  Jesus himself asks a Samaritan woman for a drink of water, and then they begin to talk about her thirst for something deeper.

We all experience different types of thirsts.

Daily our bodies thirst.  We of course desire actual water to quench parched lips and dry throats.  Our bodies need water; it’s part of our nature.  Without water, our bodies die.

One summer I visited the African Country of Madagascar with Catholic Relief Services.  I remember visiting villages where regular access to clean drinking water could be a real problem, let alone the sort of plumbing we take for granted.

Sometimes we are thirsty for other very good things of the earth: a thirst for companionship, a thirst to do something fun and exciting, a thirst for the security of having a stable job, a sturdy roof over one’s head, a thirst for knowledge.  It’s part of our nature to desire these things as well.  They are very good.

Yet, we also have another kind of thirst—a thirst that goes deeper, a thirst that nothing, no earthly relationship or earthly pursuit can quench.  This thirst, this desire is also built into our nature.
Of course I’m talking about the thirst that only God himself can satisfy.  Our deepest thirst is not for some THING, but for some ONE.  God.  God IS the living water, of whom St. Augustine said, “my heart is restless until it rests in you, my God.”

Remember that beautiful Psalm 63: “O God, you are my God, for you I long, for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water”  And Psalm 42, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God.”

Our thirst for God is not the same desire as the selfish child who wants every toy in the toy store.
The selfish child wants a toy, and he’s not going to share it.  The selfish desire of the child whining for a toy is kind of a sad thing to behold, isn’t it?  When we see it, there is a part of us that knows that humans aren’t supposed to act that way.

Our bodies need H2O and food, our minds need companionship and knowledge, and our souls need God—our souls need intimate, personal contact with Him.

As the Catechism puts it: "Man is made to live in communion with God, in whom he finds happiness" (#45).  God has created the human person to be in Communion with Himself.  We will never find true joy outside of His will.

That’s not to say that we don’t try…

How often have I tried to quench that deep thirst with things that cannot quench.  Is not every sinner who turns to sin for happiness not searching in some way for God?

Some people are even dying of this thirst because they fail to quench it at the source.  They do not pray, they do not come to Mass, they fill their lives with sports and toys and busyness all the while thirsting most desperately for a real drink of living water.

In my seminary formation, I had the blessing of visiting the order of religious sisters founded by Mother Theresa, the Missionary Sisters of Charity.  Here are women who thirst deeply to serve God.  And they do so by going out into the gutter, into the poorest sections, and bringing food and drink and medicine to those who others simply ignore.

In every chapel of the Missionary Sisters of Charity is a crucifix under which is written the words, “I thirst”.  The words spoken by Christ as he hung upon the cross: “I thirst”. The saints thirst to do the will of God because Christ thirsted to do the will of the Father even unto death.  The saints willingly undergo physical thirst and detachment from earthly things to unite themselves to Christ who really thirsted.

Christ took upon himself the greatest of thirsts in order to satisfy our deepest thirst, to live in communion once again with God.

Jesus says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.” Jesus wants to give us this living water of His very Life with us, but he will not force us to drink.  And he does come to us in his very flesh and blood in the Eucharist today.  Will you allow him to increase your desire for Him today?

Will you let him free you from all those things that keep you from drinking fully of his life giving waters and pouring yourself in Christian service for others?

Our wonderful Lenten practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving deepen our thirst for God.  Fasting helps to purify our desires.  We give up the television, video games, chocolate and dessert in order to be reminded that deepest joy is not found in those things, but in God.  Journeying closer to Holy Week we do well to deepen our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving instead of relaxing them, for they offer us opportunities to drink of living water.

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Saturday of the 2nd Week of Lent - Mary, Mother of Reconciliation

Throughout the year, Saturday is set aside as a day in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The Saturdays of Lent offer us an opportunity to meditate on Our Lady’s burning desire for our conversion and reconciliation with God.

The Fathers of the Church in the early centuries, in discussing the mystery of the incarnation of the Word, speak frequently of the virginal womb of the mother of the Lord as the place where "peace" between God and the human race came to be.

In the Middle Ages ecclesiastical writers, deepening their understanding of the maternal role of the Blessed Virgin, gave her titles such as "mother of reconciliation" and “refuge of sinners”.  In the Hail, Holy Queen she is called, “Mother of Mercy.”

In a locution to Saint Brigid of Sweden, Mary herself said: “ I am the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Mercy; I am the joy of the just, and the door through which sinners are brought to God."
She is able to be called Mother of Mercy because Jesus Christ is Mercy itself.

In a prayer to the Blessed Mother, St. Anselm of Canterbury says, "There is no reconciliation, except the reconciliation that you bore in purity."

She is the channel through which our compassionate God pours out upon us Mercy to help us overcome our miseries and meet our true needs.

In our own day the Blessed Virgin is honored in many places under the title of "reconciler of sinners." Though she was sinless, her heart burns with loving compassion for sinners.  I have known, even some non-Catholics that have come to know our Mother’s love as they struggled with sin.

Discovering her sweet maternal compassion, they turn to her with trust as they ask God’s forgiveness, and seeing her beauty of spirit they seek to turn away from the ugliness of sin; and taking to heart her words and example they learn to keep the Commandments of God.

Despite our unworthiness, she does not distance herself from us, but rather intercedes for us with constancy and love.

So we do well to turn to our mother’s intercession this Lent, that as the prodigal son was reconciled with His Father, we may experience the grace of conversion from all of our sins and selfishness for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 2nd Week of Lent - The stone which the builders rejected

In both first reading and Gospel we hear of rejection.  In the first reading Joseph’s brothers rejected him and plotted to kill him.  In the Gospel, in the parable of the wicked tenants we hear how the tenant farmers reject, seize and kill, not only the vineyard owner's servants but also his son.

Jesus refers to himself as the stone which the builders rejected.  He too will be seized and killed by those who reject him.

The tale of rejection goes back to the beginning when Adam and Eve rejected God’s command, thereby rejecting His plan for them and for mankind.  By rejecting God they forfeited paradise.

The sinner rejects God’s truth and God’s plan; he pretends that his life belongs to him for his own purposes.  

Sometimes the teachings of the Church are found difficult—they infringe on our sinful habits and attachments—and so they are rejected.  They are difficult so often because we have hardened our hearts against them.

Yet, as G.K. Chesterton said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” 

God sends his missionaries and messengers into our lives in order to free us from pretend lifestyles.  The Gospel helps us to remember that I am not the vineyard owner, merely a tenant; and God has sent his Son, to free us from our sins.

Our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are meant to till the hardened soil of our hearts; to wake us up out of our tendency to reject God’s truth, and to help us obtain a life free of envy, impatience, jealousy, violence, arrogance, self-centeredness—for a life of authentic service of the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Lent: Whoever humbles himself...

St. Theresa of Avila, great mystic and doctor of the Church said, “The foundation of the entire edifice of prayer is humility.  Nothing matters more than humility.” 

The saints stress humility so often because Our Lord stressed humility so often. 

The Lenten journey is one of humility.  We began Lent with an act of humility, sprinkling our foreheads with ashes while hearing the words, “Remember man, you are dust, and to dust you will return.”  We were reminded by those ashes that we are mortal, that we are sinful, that we are in need of God.

And that is humbling isn’t it?  Because we have a tendency to forget those things, we have the tendency to live as if we don’t need God, that we are entitled to eternal life in heaven.

Humility is the virtue which combats the deadly sin of pride.  Pride, said St. Bernard, is the chief of all iniquities because it makes us treat God’s gifts as if they were rightful attributes of our nature, and thereby robs God of his due glory.

The three Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving combat pride in our souls.  Each of these practices takes us out of the realm of self-concern and self-interest and moves us into concern for our neighbor and the right worship of God.

Where the pride hardens the heart against spiritual things, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving till the soil of the soul so that it can rightly accept God’s word and God’s grace. We will never advance in the spiritual life, in sanctity, without humility, and lots of it. 

I think of that wonderful gestures of beating one’s beating of the breast during the Confiteor, “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grevious fault”.  One priest wrote: “To strike the breast is to beat against the gates of our inner world in order to shatter them.  The blow also is to wake us up. It is to shake the soul awake into the consciousness that God is calling.” 

God is calling us this Lent to turn away from our failure to trust Him, that we may grow in grace and holiness for His glory and the salvation of souls.

Homily: Saturday of the 1st Week of Lent - Love your enemies

Revenge upon ones enemies is a popular theme in literature and drama.  Think of Hamlet avenging the murder of his father by killing his uncle, or the Count of Monte Cristo enacting an intricate plot of deception and manipulation in order to exact HIS idea of justice upon those who ruined his life. 

Yet, as Christians we do not look to Hamlet or Edmond Dantes on how to treat our enemies.

Though it is almost a natural instinct to get back at those who hurt us or try to control us, Jesus teaches us by his word and example, “love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.”

I think of Pope John Paul II visiting in prison the Turkish terrorist, Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who had seriously wounded him in an assassination attempt.  Instead of calling for his death, the holy Father wanted to personally tell Agca that he forgives him.

Jesus says, “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” he is calling us to perfect love.  This sounds impossible, but we need to trust that God will provide all we need in order to fulfill this command. 

Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are meant to make our hearts more like Christ’s.  If you can think of someone who you consider an enemy, to yourself, or to Christ, and you haven’t fasted a day in your life for them, have your really followed Jesus’ command here “to pray for those who persecute you”?  Fasting is not only changing our bodies but our hearts.

An important aspect of loving our enemies is also forgiveness.  Jesus teaches us that we are to forgive even while we’re in the process of being crucified.  Forgive immediately, forgive repeatedly.  If you can think of someone who you have a hard time forgiving, pray, “holy spirit give me the grace to forgive this person” and fast for that person.

It was Alexander Pope who said: “to err is human; to fogive is divine.”  St. Julian of Norwich said, “and in this mortal life mercy and forgiveness are the path which always leads to grace.”

Jesus prayed for his enemies and persecutors from the cross, and we are called to do the same: to love all, to pour out our lives for all, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 1st Week of Lent - "Unless your holiness surpasses..."

Today we hear of an important Lenten theme: that of growth in holiness.

Unless your holiness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the kingdom of God.

The scribes and Pharisees were admired for their zeal, concern for purity, their external conformity to the law of Moses.  How could our holiness possibly "surpass" that of the people of Jesus' day who obeyed every letter of the law?  It sounds as if Jesus has just set the highest standards in history.

Jesus is of course not talking about external conformity to the law, but internal conformity as well, that the law and commandments of God be so interiorized that it penetrates to one’s heart and leads to living according to God’s ultimate intentions.

Jesus calls for much more than external conformity to regulations, he calls his followers to wholehearted trust and obedience toward the heavenly Father that radiates God’s love to the world—total obedience to God—complete self-giving to neighbor.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus then gives six examples of what this radical interiorization of the love of God looks like.  Today we hear just one example.

If there was some family dispute it would be good to go to the Temple altar in Jerusalem in order that a sacrifice be offered for your family.  First, before that gift is brought to the altar make peace with your brother yourself.  Don’t let tensions in your relationships fester.  How many of our own families have these festering wounds that could be healed if we took the initiative to be reconciled!

Here Jesus is showing how that external sign of devotion—the gift at the altar—is not enough. We are to pour ourselves out in our peacemaking efforts.

There is an urgency to make peace, an urgency for reconciliation in Jesus’ teaching today.  What a wonderful Lenten practice it would be, for all Christians to work urgently for peace and reconciliation in their families!
We continue to seek this Lent complete and wholehearted transformation of our hearts, for growth in holiness always means growth in charitable self-giving  for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent - Ask, Seek, Knock

During Ordinary Time, our Gospel readings typically are taken in sequential order.  During Lent, our Gospel readings are organized more according to the different Lenten themes: fasting, conversion, liberation, penance, almsgiving.  Today’s Gospel from Matthew comes at the tail-end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus encourages his disciples to ask, to seek, and to knock with the expectation that God will respond.
Those are some pretty big promises, aren’t they?  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  It sounds as if the Father will give us virtually anything we ask for, regardless of what is best for us.

But, notice: Jesus doesn’t say, “ask, and you will receive anything you ask for”, “seek, and you’ll find anything you are looking for”.  Jesus isn’t saying, if you haven’t won the lottery yet then you haven’t prayed hard enough.  Or, if you haven’t beat cancer yet, you haven’t prayed hard enough.

Rather, he’s making a more important promise.  The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ great teaching on the kingdom of God.  So the object of the asking, and seeking, and knocking is something very particular—but in the end the most important thing—eternal life.

These promises are made to every person in every age.  It is a promise to the young person who is lost amidst all of the competing voices of our culture—that he will find God if he truly looks for him.  It is a promise to the sinner that he really can turn his life over to God.  It is a promise to the Christian that he can grow in holiness if he seeks it.

These are powerful promises to reflect upon during Lent.   As we spend time reflecting on our sinfulness and selfishness, our failures to love, and be the people God made us to be, we hear this promise, that God leads us out of the darkness of ourselves when we turn to Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Wednesday of the 1st Week of Lent - An evil generation

In the Gospel, Jesus says, this generation is an evil generation.  Why?  Because it was so resistant to repentance!  It didn’t want conversion, it wanted signs, it wanted a magic show, it wanted to be entertained.  Sounds familiar!

For weeks the diocese of Cleveland has been hosting television commercials to advertise that every parish in the diocese will have confessions this evening from 5 to 8pm.  If there is anyone in your life who has fallen away from the Church.  Like the Ninevites, they might surprise you and respond very positively. If they are on the fence, offer to come with them.

The people of Nineveh, wicked as they were, made the connection between their sins and impending destruction. These people frequently brutalized and butchered large numbers of people. They were pagans, spiritually dead, the least likely to repent. Yet the prophetic word pierced their hearts, and they repented en masse.

Jesus himself pointed to the repentance of the Ninevites as exemplary.

When people are in sin, encouraging them to repent is not unkind or cruel or “judgmental”. It is an act of love, because only in this way can they correct their lives and receive eternal life.

During lent we undertake the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to show our repentance.   By them we pray for a transformation of our hearts and a transformation of our world for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday of the 1st Week of Lent - "Words, words, words"

In Scene II of Act II of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark sits in a library, reading a book when, Polonius, the King’s chief counselor asks the melancholy prince, “What do you read, my lord?” Hamlet says, “words, words, words.”  Of course, Polonius wants to know what Hamlet is reading about, the meaning of the words in the book. Hamlet suggests that the words he is reading are meaningless to him.

In Isaiah we heard how God’s word is anything but meaningless.  God’s word comes forth from his mouth and fulfills the end for which He sent it.  The letter to the Hebrews says “God’s word is powerful and effective”.

This evokes two images.  First, God’s word in Holy Scripture.  When we hear the words of Scripture, they are meant to sink into our soul.  God’s word challenges us, corrects us, encourages us, transforms us, and brings forth new life in us.  The Bible is not just a decoration for one’s coffee table, it’s meant to be read.

It’s a wonderful Lenten practice, or practice for any time of year, to sit meditatively and reflectively with a small passage of Scripture: to study it, to let it sink in, to think about what it means for the Christian life, what it means for your life.

God’s word fulfills the end for which he sent it: to bring new life.  And this of course also points to the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ: Faithful to His Father in all things who brings new and eternal life.

When asked to teach his disciples how to pray, Jesus teaches that prayer isn’t just about multiplying meaningless words, prayer isn’t about babbling.  Rather he gives us a key to his own heart, when he teaches us the Our Father.

The whole mission of the Word-made-flesh is wrapped up with this prayer: the glorification of the Father’s name, the surrender to his Holy Will, the giving of daily bread, the forgiveness of sins, and the deliverance from evil.

To pray the Our Father devoutly is to seek to become like the Word-made-flesh Himself: to seek God’s will and God’s glory above all things, to be faithful to God in all things.

If we are ever lost about how we are to pray, we should pray the Our Father very slowly and meditatively, and allow God’s word to speak to Our Heart.

May our hearts always be open to the power and effective word of God, that they may be transformed into hearts like Christ’s for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 1st Sunday of Lent - Temptations in the desert

Down in the school this year, the sixth graders and I had the luxury and the blessing of being able to spend almost two months studying the book of genesis.  When we spent 30 minutes just on the first verse of genesis, they knew they were in trouble. 

In just a few verses from our first reading we read an account of both the origin of man as well as the origin of man’s sin—what we call original sin.

We truly had humble origins.  Man was formed from dirt, from the earth.  In Latin, the word for earth or soil is humus, from this word we get the word, humble, which means, down to earth, and also human, which means the one formed out of the earth.  To be a humble human is to remember that our life comes from God, that God gives us all we need to live a life in harmony with His own.

Eve forgets her humble origins when she believes the lie of the serpent.  He tells her that she isn’t good enough, that God has been withholding something from her, and that she needs to disobey God in order to be happy. 

The serpent, the devil, has told that same lie to every human since: that you can't be happy unless you disobey God's commandments.  

The saints are those who recognize the serpent for what he is: a liar who makes empty promises. 

What are the serpents in your life?  Is there a voice urging you to grasp at some forbidden fruit?  Is there a voice telling you that obeying the teaching of the Church is foolish?  I know many young people who listen to a voice telling them that they are not beautiful enough; they cannot be happy if they do not look like the models in the magazines.  So they starve themselves or hurt themselves in order to achieve this lie.  The serpent says we can’t be happy unless we have the fashionable pair of jeans, the new video game, the new tv. 

What do we do when the serpent whispers in our ear?  Well, what does Jesus do in the Gospel today? 

The Spirit led him out into the desert.  To the biblical imagination, the desert is always that place of testing, a place where we encounter our inner demons.  There, in the desert, Jesus, like Eve, encounters the devil.  He is tempted three times.  And these three temptations correspond to three very real temptations in our own lives.

First Jesus is tempted, “if you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread.”  After 40 days in the desert with no food, that’s a real temptation.  I’m usually hungry about 40 minutes after the last meal. 

Our desires for food, comfort, and pleasure, good in themselves.  But the temptation is to find our happiness in these things alone, to divorce our bodily desires from our identity as children of God.  The devil tempts us to separate all of these desires from our identity as followers of Christ.  Food, comfort, pleasure, leisure & entertainment are all to be guided by our faith.

Which is why Jesus responds, “man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”  God’s word is meant to direct our entire life, the bread we eat, our leisure activities. 

One of our Lenten practices strengthens us against this temptation to misuse earthly goods.  We practice Lenten fasting to recall that our happiness is not found in merely satisfying earthly hungers, but by engaging in the practices of our Faith.

What was the second temptation?  If the first temptation corresponds with pleasure, the second temptations has to do with power.   The devil tempts Jesus by taking him atop the temple of Jerusalem.  Remember, no place in Jewish life was more central and important than the temple: economically, politically, culturally, religiously.  History is dominated by people who desired to wield power over the lives of others.  The devil’s famous line in John Milton’s Paradise Lost is “it is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.”  Yet Jesus and the Saints preach the opposite: that it is better to serve God than to be king of the world. 

Jesus teaches us not to seek the seats of power but the places and opportunities for service.  We are not meant to lord power over others.  This is a real temptation: for an employer to lord power over his employees, for a wife to dominate her husband or a husband to dominate his wife.  The strong are not meant to lord power over the week, but to become their servants.

Our Lenten practice of almsgiving combats the temptation of hoarding power.  When we give alms we serve rather than enslave.

Thirdly and finally,  the devil takes Jesus to this high mountain and says all this I shall give you if you worship me.  The temptation here isn’t so much about power, but about glory, honor, and admiration, to be the one in the spot-light.  We enjoy when others notice us.  Yet it is a real temptation to be the one to share the juicy piece of gossip.  We are tempted to jealousy when others get the attention and you do not.

This is one reason why for centuries the celebration of Mass took place with the priest and the congregation facing the same direction, towards the tabernacle.  Because the Mass isn’t about the personality of the priest, but our worship directed towards God. 

To combat the devil, Jesus says, “the Lord, your God, shall you worship”.  Our destiny is not found in getting others to worship us but to worship God. 

This is why our Lenten practice of prayer, and daily prayer is so important. When we pray, when we truly pray, we transfer our attention from ourselves, to God.  Our petty self-preoccupation is transformed into loving adoration for the one who made and saved us.

The point of this Gospel story isn’t just to teach us that the devil is real.  We know the devil is real.  We know there are real temptations to ignore our faith.  We see the effects of sin on the daily news and the divisions in our families. 

This story shows us that the devil doesn’t get the last word.  Temptation can be overcome when we cling to the Word of God.  St. Peter says, resist the devil and he will take flight.  Many times, we get into trouble because we put up no resistance.   We do well to imitate Jesus in those moments of temptation, to look at the temptation right in the eyes, to look the serpent right in the eyes and so, “No, I will not sin because I am a Christian.” 

This Lent, we practice fasting, almsgiving, and prayer in order to strengthen our resolve for doing God’s will, of turning our hearts a way from earthly pleasure, power, and glory, and to recall that our true happiness is found in communion with Jesus Christ and humbly following God’s plan for our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday after Ash Wednesday - Why Fast?

Before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the entire season of Lent was a time of rigorous fasting for all adult Catholics: No eating between meals, and two smaller meals not adding up to the main meal of the day.   And throughout the whole year, Catholics were to abstain from eating meat on Fridays.

After Vatican II, these disciplines changed.  The abstaining from meat on Fridays throughout the year may now be substituted with some other penitential practice, though Fridays during Lent are still days of abstinence from meat.  And we have only two mandated fast days to observe: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

The practice of fasting goes far back into our biblical roots.  The Old Testament shows people fasting as a sign of conversion and repentance .  The New Testament also recommends the practice.  Jesus says, “when you fast” not “IF you fast”.  And the long history of the Catholic Church has preserved fasting as a practice important for our spiritual lives.

Fasting for Christians isn’t just a religious sort of weight loss program.  We don’t fast for the purpose of reducing our waist size.

Fasting is a spiritual self-discipline that makes us conscious of our dependence on God.  We voluntarily experience physical hunger in order to become aware of our true spiritual hunger.  That the deepest hunger of the human soul comes for the peace and joy and life that can only be satisfied by communion with God.

Another reason we fast is to subdue our passions and self-will.  If we cannot control our stomach, how can we control our urges for pleasure, money, and power?  Conscious of the many evils of our culture, we remember that Jesus taught us that some demons can only be cast out by prayer and FASTING.

Fasting opens our heart to charity.  Listen again to the Prophet Isaiah this morning: “This, rather, is the fasting, that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the throngs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.”

May we take seriously the call to fasting this Lent, that our minds and hearts may be conformed ever more deeply to Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday after Ash Wednesday - "Why do you fear to take up the cross?"

The book of Dueteronomy is one long speech, spoken by Moses, as the Israelite people prepare to enter the promised land after 40 years in the desert.  They stand on the precipice of a new life, their exodus from Egyptian slavery complete.  Moses, who would not enter into the land of Canaan, gives his farewell sermon as instruction and encouragement and warning for the generations that would be born in the promised land. 

The essential point of Moses’ sermon is simple: there are two ways available: the way of obedience to God and the way of disobedience.  We heard today, “If you obey the commandments of the LORD…you will live… , however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen…you will not”.  These roads lead to two different destinations just as surely as two different physical roads lead to two different physical destinations.  The way of obedience leads to inheriting all God’s promises.  The way of disobedience brings misery and failure.

Think of Lent as standing on the precipice of a new land.  And we are given a choice: will I follow the Lord more deeply through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving? Or not?

Added to this, we hear Jesus’ bold claim “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  Lent is an invitation to follow Christ more deeply through a share in the cross. 

There is no transformation without suffering, there is no new life without hardship.  The cross is the path of life, and we are invited at the beginning of Lent to share the cross more deeply that the Lord may bring us to new life.

Thomas Kempis, the author of the spiritual masterpiece “The Imitation of Christ” wrote of the Cross as the Royal Road to the Kingdom of Heaven.  “Why, then, do you fear to take up the Cross-, which is the road to the Kingdom? In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross. Take up the Cross-, therefore, and follow Jesus, (Matt. 16:24) and go forward into eternal life. (Matt.25:46) Christ has gone before you, bearing His Cross; (John 19:17) He died for you on the Cross, that you also may bear your cross, and desire to die on the cross with Him. For if you die with Him, you will also live with Him. (Rom 6:8) And if you share His sufferings, you will also share His glory.”

This Lent, see how the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ in which he has given you a share has become the tree of everlasting life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls

Homily: Ash Wednesday 2014 - 40 days and 40 nights

Ash Wednesday begins forty days of Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Down in the school yesterday, we discussed the significance of the number 40.  We find the number 40 many times in scripture.  It is used over 140 times in the Old and New Testaments.  it is the traditional Hebrew number for the duration of a trial of any kind, when times are hard a person’s faith is tested.

Noah and company were in the confines of the cold, wet ark for 40 days and 40 nights during the flood.  The Israelites were led by Moses for 40 years in the desert.  Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness where the Son of God himself was tempted by Satan. 

Ninevah had 40 days to repent of their wickedness, unless they be destroyed.  So they dressed in sackcloth and covered themselves with ashes as a sign of their repentance.

Most baseball teams in spring training split into two groups and each play 20 games.  So each team plays 40 games, practicing the basics, getting ready for the new season.

Also, a woman carries a baby in her womb for 40 weeks, as it grows inside her, preparing for life in the world.

Each of these 40s are not-so-comfortable periods of preparation for something new.

During Lent, we undergo extra prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in order to prepare ourselves for the new life of Easter.  These are the basics of the Christian life, so like the baseball teams in spring training, we Christians go back to the basics that we should be practicing all year round.

Ashes remind us today that we are mortal, that we are dust, and to dust we shall return as a consequence of Adam’s sin.  We acknowledge our need “to be reconciled to God” through repentance, and through the forgiveness that comes through Christ’s blood.

“Behold, now is a very acceptable time” as we heard in our second reading.  It is acceptable, it is good, it is right, that we come before God humbly, acknowledging our need for his mercy, acknowledging our desire to be reconciled to Him fully, in all things: that our thoughts, and attitudes, and behaviors, and decisions may be those of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

March 4 - St. Casimir - "To serve you is to reign"

St. Casimir was born in 1458 and was the son of the King of Poland.  Though he was in line to be king himself, he had no interest in succeeding his father. He himself lived simply, gave away his possessions in charity, and devoted hours to prayer and study and helping the poor and imprisoned.  Despite pressure to marry the Emperor’s daughter, Casimir vowed to remain celibate.  

He died of tuberculosis in 1483 at the age of 23.  Casimir is the patron saint of Lithuania, Poland, and Russia.

The Opening Prayer began with the phrase: “to serve you is to reign.”  The Son of God left his heavenly majesty to make himself as a ransom for many, to serve, not to be served.  The heart of Christ the King is a servant’s heart, for Christ served the Father’s will on earth, and claimed no earthly power.  Mary, too, whose Immaculate Heart burns in union with Her Son’s, is the obedient heart of a handmaid, and it is she who is crowned Queen of Heaven.  Today’s saint, Casimir always preferred to be counted among the meek and poor of spirit, among those who are promised the kingdom of heaven, rather than among the famous and powerful men of this world. 

On this final day of Ordinary Time before Lent, we do well to consider the Lenten practices which will help us to imitate Christ’s servant heart: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, that our hearts might become like His.  

Don’t wait until tomorrow to come up with a plan for lent.  God calls us to a radical transformation of our heart.  So spend time today thinking about what God is calling you to fast from, where is he calling you to give alms and perform extra acts of charity, and when he is calling you to greater and deeper prayer.

May St. Casimir help us to remember that our true King is Jesus Christ so that our hearts may continuously be a house of prayer, and our lives: our time, talent, and treasure is to be put at the service of the kingdom of God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: March 3 - St. Katherine Drexel

Mother Katherine Drexel was born into wealth in Philadelphia. Her father was a very successful international banker, and she was an heiress to a large fortune. Yet, she was involved in many of her family’s philanthropic and charitable works.

Around the age of 30, aware of the plight of the poor and the marginalized, and she was touring Europe, when she met Pope Leo XIII, and she asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James O’Connor.  The pope replied, “Why don’t you become a missionary?”

This shocked her into considering new possibilities.  She could have easily dismissed the Pope’s suggestion and left the work to someone else.  She could have married, and used some of her wealth for this good and holy work.  But, she felt God calling her to something more.  And she answered that call.  She made the decision to give herself to God, along with her inheritance, through service to American Indians and Afro-Americans

Newspaper headlines read: “Heiress gives up Seven Million”, lot of money in 1889. 

Listen to what Pope John Paul II said at his homily when he canonized Katherine in the year 2000: From her parents, she learned that her family’s possessions were not for them alone, but were to be shared with the less fortunate.  As a young women she was deeply distressed by the poverty and hopeless conditions endured by many native americans and African americans.  She began to devote her fortune to missionary and educational work amongst the poorest members of society.  Later, she came to understand that more was needed. 

As we prepare for the upcoming season of Lent we are called to consider “what attitudes or habits or even personal possession might we be called to give up in order to serve the Gospel to a greater degree?  Where is God calling you?  If you are aware of a pressing need in your family or in this community, you may be the 

one that is being called to work for that need. 

“With great courage and confidence in God’s grace, St. Katherine Drexel chose to give, not just her fortune, but her whole life, totally to the Lord.  St. Katherine Drexel is an excellent example of that practical charity and generous solidarity with the less fortunate which has long been the distinguishing mark of American catholics.  May her example, help young people in particular, to appreciate that no greater treasure can be found in this world than in following Christ with a divided heart and in using generously the gifts we have received for the service of others and the building of a more just and fraternal world (JPII)” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Sunday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time - "Do not worry"

Have things ever gotten so bad that you’ve felt as if God weren’t listening, that God had forgotten you? Have you ever uttered those or similar words found in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah today?  “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me”.

Israel had been conquered, captured, and forced into exile by Babylon.  They were a nation on the verge of annihilation.  Though God had promised centuries before to Abraham that Israel would be a royal dynasty, a blessed nation, now, in Babylonian captivity, Israel had no king, no leader, no army, no homeland.  Israel seemed like a nation without hope.

And in their hopelessness they cried out, “The Lord has forsaken us, the Lord has forgotten us.” Hopelessness, is a real temptation for all those who suffer.

The loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of health may cause us to question if God is really listening.  The media is almost designed to cause us to worry, about the next winter vortex   Just a few minutes of the nightly news can lead us to worry about what the world will be like for future generations.  The continued attacks on religious freedom by government officials and programs may cause us to worry about what our nation will be like for our future Christians. 

To hopeless Israel, God sent his prophet, Isaiah, to speak a word of hope: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”  God’s love, his care, is stronger than the greatest human love or care.  God does not abandon or forget even and especially at the darkest hour.

There was a bible study, and the group was reading st. paul and they came across one of St. Paul’s long list of sins.  And the group was being very honest about their own struggle with temptation and sin.  And an older women, who had remained quiet up to that point startled the group when she said, “I’ll tell you what the worst temptation in my life is…what sin I just can’t seemed to overcome…it is the sin of worrying.”

Another member of the group asked, “is worrying really a sin?”  And the elderly lady stunned the group when she said, “you bet it is.  Does not our faith tell us that God has promised that he is in charge? Does not our faith teach us that everything God has promised is in his omnipotent hands?  Does not our faith tell us that God has promised that everything will work out in the end for those who believe?  So if I worry, I’m sinning against faith.”

Jesus says four times in the Gospel today, “do not worry.” Our Lord urges us to believe that our “heavenly Father knows” what we truly need.  He does not abandon us, rather, God provides comfort and strength and guidance when we turn to him.

We worry about the economy, we worry about politics, we worry about the Church, we worry about our health.  Many of our young people worry sometimes incessantly about their physical appearance.  They are worried what their friends will think if they don’t get the new ipad, or the newest fashionable pair of jeans or tennis shoes.  As Clevelanders, this lesson shouldn’t be so hard: we know how useless worrying about things like weather and sports teams actually is.

Now there is a great difference between worry and concern.  Worry and fretting are bad, often sinful.  Concern is good!  Worry is a vice, concern is a virtue.  Worry is counter-productive, concern is helpful and thoughtful.  Concern is when we size up a problem, make a plan, and do something about it.  See, judge, act, pray, and leave the rest to God.

We should be concerned about those in need.  We should be concerned and do something about increasing government pressures upon religious liberty.  We should be concerned about the innocent babies who are aborted.  We should be concerned about the 80% of American Catholics who aren’t going to Mass every week by identifying those people and inviting them back.

The last hundred years produced some of the greatest atrocities in human history:  concentration camps and genocides and economic collapses, wars and the threat of wars.  Yet in those dark years, God was also at work, producing some of the most amazing saints: saints like Maxamillian Kolbe, Mariann Cope, Katherine Drexel whose feast we celebrate tomorrow.

My Church history professor back in seminary used to mention how blessed the Church was during the 20^th century to have such holy popes: Pope Saint Pius X, whose image we have on the stained glass window in our sanctuary. The causes for sainthood have been opened for both Pius XII, Pope during the second world war, and Paul VI, Pope during most of the second Vatican Council. 

And on the second Sunday of Easter this year, Pope Francis will celebrate the canonization of Blessed Pope John Paul II and Blessed John XXIII, Pope from October 28, 1958 to June 3 1963. 

As I thought about our scripture readings about worrying, I recalled a story about Blessed John XIII.  Good Pope John, as he was known in Rome, faced many problems. He met with world leaders about global poverty, famine, and war, particularly the threat of nuclear war.  He intervened during the Cuban Missal Crisis.

Yet, faced with world-sized problems, every night, before he went to bed around midnight, Pope John would go into his private chapel, and he would kneel down in front of our Blessed Lord in the tabernacle, and he would list the problems he had heard that day. Then he would reflect upon what he did about them: the advice he had given, the concern he had exercised.  Finally, he would then look at the tabernacle, and say to the Lord, “I’ve done the best I could Lord, now, I’m going to bed, the Church is yours.”

We would save ourselves a lot of sleepless nights, if we made our peace with God about our worries, as Pope John did.  By the way, John XXIII would also sneak out of the Vatican at night to feed the poor; each of us could use a little more of that too.

As we prepare for the season of Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday, we do well to  show deep concern about our souls and identify those parts of our lives that we need to hand over to God in a deeper way.  

Those Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are all about surrendering more and more of our lives over to God.  For when we feel that anxious worry tighten around our hearts, we do well, to see, judge, act, pray, and leave the rest to God.

So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’or ‘What are we to drink?’or ‘What are we to wear?’ Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,and all these things will be given you besides.For the glory of God and salvation of souls.