Homily: April 29 - St. Catherine of Siena - Contemplation and Service

The Opening Prayer stated that her contemplation of the Lord’s Passion and her service of the Church set Saint Catherine of Siena was on fire with divine love.

St. Catherine’s life was filled with extraordinary mystical phenomena such as visions and revelations, raptures, mystical marriage.  So united to Christ in his Passion was she that she received the holy Stigmata on her hands, feet and heart. Originally, her stigmata were visible, but she prayed that they not be seen by others, and her prayer was answered.  However, at her death, the stigmata reappeared.

Listen to her words addressed to God: “You are a mystery as deep as the sea;” she says, “the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I search for you.  But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more.  When you fill my soul, I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light.”

As a dominican tertiary not only did she believe in the importance of contemplative prayer, but also in charitable service.  She nursed the sick and the dying and brought comfort to prisoners by visiting them in jail.

St. Catherine’s incorrupt body is preserved in the beautiful gothic basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.  I visited her a few times in that amazing basilica, and had the honor of attending Mass on, this, her feast day, in a small chapel behind the sacristy of the basilica. She would make a daily pilgrimage from that small chapel to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray for the return of the Pope from Avignon.




This great saint died in Rome in 1380. Even though she barely reached the age of thirty-three her accomplishments place her among the great women of the Middle Ages.  She was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius II in 1461. In 1970, Pope Paul VI declared St. Catherine a Doctor of the Church.

She was so fueled by her Communion with God that she lived for many years only on the Eucharist.

She teaches us and prays for us to find our fulfillment in the service and contemplation of God, to offer him our entire lives, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of the 2nd Week of Easter - From Indifference to Boldness

In Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dante, the pilgrim travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.  He sees the eternal fate of those hardened sinners in hell, those who did not repent.  He travels through the purifying fires of purgatory, and finally glimpses the sweet rewards of those in heaven.

Near the beginning of the journey, after passing through the gates of hell, the first place to which Dante comes is a place called Acheron, which is a sort of ante-chamber before entering Hell proper.  Acheron isn’t filled with the murderers and adulterers and betrayers that he encounters later in his journey; rather, Acheron is filled with those who were apathetic to the spiritual life, the lukewarm, the apathetic.

Putting them in this sort of ante-chamber, Dante is saying that neither hell nor heaven wants them, because they are so lukewarm, and their fate is to be blown about forever like tumbleweed.

Better to be blown about like tumbleweed than to suffer some of the more awful tortures Dante devises for the more spiritually corrupt, but these souls are forever deprived of the sight of God in heaven. 

Now, Dante had a pretty harsh view of those who lack a commitment to pursuing goodness, but spiritual indifference does plague our world.

At the end of our first reading, Peter and John and the disciples in prayer are filled with holy boldness for spreading the Gospel.  They are filled with the transforming power of the Resurrection to become fearless preachers, willing to undergo persecution, even death, for the person and message of Jesus. 

So many of our modern Catholics have fallen into a sad indifference towards the Gospel, and are blown about like tumbleweed by the currents of culture.  When we are more committed to video games and sports games and tv shows than to matters of faith, there is a problem.

Hence, the Church’s call in modern times for all committed Catholics to be emboldened in faith and to engage in a new evangelization, to rouse the spiritually apathetic to a renewed commitment to the Gospel.

Through the celebration of these Easter mysteries may we be roused out of any spiritual apathy that we may engage more fully in the work of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Divine Mercy Sunday & Canonizations of John XXIII & JPII

It was the Sunday after Easter 14 years ago that Pope John Paul II canonized  an obscure polish nun named Sr. Faustina Kowalska.  It was on that day John Paul II also designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday.  Three years ago on Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope John Paul II was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI.  And this morning in Rome, Pope Francis celebrated his canonization, along with the canonization of another 20th century Pope, good Pope John XXIII.

He was called “good Pope John” because he was beloved by the Italian people; he was dearly affectionate and had a good sense of humor.  He was once asked by an interviewer, “Holy Father, about how many people work in the Vatican”.  To which the Pope responded, “about half of them.”

The phrase “Santo Subito” – sainthood now, was chanted by millions at both of their funerals. Now we can officially call them Saint John Paul II and Saint John XXIII. 

What a fitting day to celebrate their canonization on this Divine Mercy Sunday, for both Pontiffs made it their mission to make God’s Mercy known to the world. 

Divine Mercy is not a new concept.  The message of God’s Mercy has been preached for almost two thousand years.  It is the message of the Christian faith.  God’s mercy is available to everyone.  We are loved even when we are unlovable because of our sins—no matter how sinful, God extends his mercy to all through the death and resurrection of His Only Begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pope Benedict said, Jesus Christ is divine mercy in person: Encountering Christ means encountering the mercy of God.  Jesus willingly gave himself up to death so that we might be saved and pass from death to life.  Mercy has a name, mercy has a face, mercy has a heart. 

Thomas Merton said, “Mercy is the key to transforming a whole world in which sin seems to have sway.” 

Each of us know all too well, that within five minutes of the nightly news you are going to see evidence of sin having its sway in the world.  Hatred, violence, war and the threat of war are all present realities.  Sin and immorality even in our own families.  Evil laughs as it destroys life. 

The Lord Himself appeared to Sister Faustina Kowalska and said, “Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.” 

Again to quote Thomas Merton, “Mercy is the key” to the world’s transformation.  Jesus Christ is the key.  He is the remedy.  He is the light in the darkness. 

So many people in our time are searching for God, they are searching for Jesus and His Bride, the Church, they are in search of divine mercy: the yearn to hear the words Jesus spoke to the sinful woman, “your sins are forgiven, now go, and do not sin again.”

While kneeling at the Shrine of Our Lady of Chestehova – the Blessed Mother spoke to Sister Faustina, telling her to speak courageously about God’s mercy.  Speak courageously, tell the world, make the message of Mercy known!  But it’s not just for little Polish nuns to speak about God’s mercy; it is the task of every Christian: to draw our family members and our neighbors and all mankind to the fountain of God’s mercy that they may have life.

In order to be faithful to this task, our conviction that Jesus Christ is the key to the salvation of the world must be for more than an hour once a week. 

One way the Church encourages us to increase and strengthen our faith is through the praying of devotions.  In the devotions we have a rich tradition of powerful prayers which strengthen our faith and bring us comfort in difficult times.  Devotions like the rosary, the stations of the cross, a wonderful host of novenas and litanies, visiting shrines, visiting the blessed sacrament throughout the day.  Here at St. Angela’s we practice a wonderful devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help on first Saturdays after the morning Mass.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the rich devotional life of the Church has suffered as rosaries were exchanged for cell phones and trips to the tabernacle were exchanged for trips to the gym or sports fields.  But it doesn’t have to be so.

Both John XXII and Pope John II encouraged devotions for the sanctification and salvation of the world.  John XXIII recalled how as a young boy his family would often pray a litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus.  Together with his parents he would pray, “Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross, save us… Blood of Christ, help of those in peril, save us.  Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened, save us.” 

John Paul II, in addition to encouraging the praying of the rosary, promoted a devotion called the “Chaplet of Divine Mercy”.    The Chaplet of Divine Mercy was given to Saint Faustina by Our Lord Himself.  Jesus appeared to her and said, “My daughter, encourage souls to pray the chaplet I gave you…help me save souls.” 

As she lay dying of tuberculosis, she began to pray the chaplet.  And while praying the chaplet, she received a vision: she saw herself at the death bed of another soul, an unrepentant sinner who lay in torment.  While the sinner lay dying, a host of demons surrounded him waiting to take his soul to hell.  But, she continued to pray the words of the chaplet of divine mercy: “for the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world”.  Soon the dying man became calm, repentance for his sins filled his heart. He was comforted by putting his trust in God’s mercy which came through Faustina’s praying of the Chaplet for him.

So many people have hardened their hearts towards God.  They live in habitual sin with no desire to amend their lives.  It is so important that we pray for them, that they will open up their hearts enough to let in the flood of Divine Mercy God wants for them.

With all the hatred, war, violence, and bigotry, the world is in great need of God’s mercy.  And now, more than ever, Christians need to be those instruments of mercy, through prayer, and through concrete acts of love.

Divine Mercy- God’s love, to quote Pope Benedict, “is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working.”  Through the intercession of Saint John Paul II and Saint John XIII may we, like them, be instruments of God’s mercy for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the Octave of Easter - Temptation to turn back

In the Gospel, Jesus finds Simon Peter and the others go back to their former lives—fishing in the Sea of Galilee.  Remember, when he first met Peter? Jesus told Peter to leave the fishing business and follow Him.  He said “come, follow me, I will make you fishers of men”

The Apostles had seen Jesus perform miracles; they witnessed his saving death, and the Risen Lord had appeared to them in the upper room.  You would think their lives would have been radically changed, yet now, they simply returned to work on the Sea of Galilee as fishermen.  Had anything really changed for them? 

Every Christian has to face the temptation of turning back of returning to one’s former life and former habits.  The newly baptized who entered the Church at Easter will be tempted to return to former ways; each of us, though we just renewed the promises of our own baptism on Easter Sunday when we rejected sin and all of the empty promises of the enemy will continue to be tempted to return to old habits, old attitudes, old behaviors.  

It’s important for us to humbly admit our temptations to God.  To acknowledge those areas of my life in which we are tempted to backslide and to fortify ourselves against them with God’s help.

Despite this tendency to stray from the new life, Jesus, in his mercy, continues to invite his disciples to fellowship with him, in order to remind them of their mission to witness to his resurrection.  I think the Lord shows some of his infinite patience in the Gospel today.  He enters in to their lives once again.  After they bring in a miraculous catch, he sits down with them, eats a meal with them. 

During the Easter season we are mindful of our baptismal promises that we can remain faithful to them particularly when it is difficult.  May the Lord continue to fortify us against sin and strengthen us to work always for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday of the Octave of Easter - He is TRULY risen!

When the apostles saw the risen Christ on the evening of His resurrection, "they thought they were seeing a ghost". Because of their fear and their lack of faith he didn’t seem real.  Their fear and lack of faith kept them from experiencing the Real Presence of Jesus in their midst.

Jesus tried to prove He was real by showing them His hands and feet, inviting them to touch Him, and eating a piece of fish.

Why does Jesus seem so unreal to so many people in our modern culture?  We are often so quick to label those in previous generations as “out of touch”.  Yet, it is our culture that is addicted to escaping from reality, using alcohol, drugs, TV, promiscuity, video games, computer games, mind-games, etc. 

Many live in a world of fleeting emotions without an anchor in objective truth.  Many pretend that they'll live forever and never face Judgment Day. 

In a world so out of touch with reality, it's understandable that the risen Christ may seem to be a ghost.

One of the themes of the Easter season is “the strengthening of our faith”.  Another way of saying that is “getting in touch with reality.”  Jesus is truly risen!  He is truly present in the Eucharist.  He leads us to real truth when we study His words and teachings in Scripture.

This is a great time of the liturgical year to do a bible study or pick up your copy of the Catechism.  To combat the unrealities of our culture and to lead people to truth we need to be intimately knowledgeable of Jesus who is Truth itself. 

Jesus shows himself to his friends, he opens their minds to understand the Scriptures and he says, “You are witnesses of these things.”  May this Easter season be a time of joyful encounter with the risen Christ and increased faith for all of us, that we may be more effective witnesses for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Easter Tuesday - Preaching from the heart

Throughout the Easter season we read from the Acts of the Apostles.  Today’s reading immediately follows yesterday’s:  50 Days after Easter, Saint Peter emerged from the upper room with the other Apostles, and filled with the Holy Spirit, began to preach.

So powerful was this sermon, that St. Luke tells us today, “it cut the audience to the heart.”  Those are the best homilies aren’t they?  They were so moved by Peter’s proclamation of the resurrection that they turned to him and asked, “what should we do?”  Peter answered, “repent and be baptized”.  And about 3000 people were baptized right then and there.

His proclamation “cut the audience to the heart.”  He convicted them.  He led them from sorrow for their sins, to belief in Jesus Christ crucified, and faith in his Resurrection. 

Peter isn’t just the model for priests whose primary ministry is preaching the Gospel.  He is the model for all of us, every Christian.

Recent Popes have spoken of the ‘new evangelization’ in which all Christian are called upon to work for the reawakening of the faith in those parts of the world where Christianity is in decline.  Each of us is called to be an evangelist.

Fr. Robert Barron has offered several qualities of the New Evangelist.

He said the New Evangelist must first be in love with Jesus Christ.  If we are to convince people that they are to love him more than all of those cultural distractions out there, our own love for him must be a fire.

We must know our story, the story of our salvation history and our great tradition.  We should attend Bible Studies and Adult Education opportunities whenever we have the chance so that we can give fuller and clearer reasons for the faith.

We must have a missionary heart.  The Catholic Church is hemorrhaging members to Protestantism and Agnosticism.  Three quarters of Catholics don’t attend Mass.  So we must hunger to bring them back into active relationship with Christ.

It is a challenging time to be a Catholic, yet, the Lord blesses us with so many opportunities to grow in our faith and to spread that faith.  We are each called to share what has been handed on to us.  May we be faithful to this privileged call to work for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of Easter Week - Courage to witness

For much of the secular world, Easter is over now. They're back to normal life. For disciples of Jesus Christ, however, Easter means risen life is normal life.  Alleluia! Today is the second day of fifty days of glory.

It is also the second day of the Octave of Easter, meaning, we celebrate Easter each day this week.  We keep celebrating so that we might continue to enter into the meaning of the resurrection. 

In the early Church, the newly baptized would be at each liturgy this week, wearing their white garments.  Listen to the words the priest speaks to the newly baptized:

You have become a new creation
and have clothed yourselves in Christ.
Receive this baptismal garment
and bring it unstained to the judgment seat
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
so that you may have everlasting life.

At the Easter Vigil, and yesterday, all of us renewed our baptismal promises of rejecting sin so as to live in the freedom of God’s children, rejecting the glamour of evil and refusing to be mastered by sin, and rejecting Satan father of sin and prince of darkness. 

Having been clothed with Christ we are a new creature, a new creation, and we must live always according to that dignity. 

In Matthew's Gospel, we hear that right from the beginning there was a chilling conspiracy to hide the fact of the resurrection.  The chief priests and the elders gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’  The early Church was well aware of the dark powers that continue to work at odds against the Church, against Christ.

Nevertheless, the first commands Jesus gives to those who first saw Him after His resurrection are: "Do not be afraid! Go and carry the news".  We cannot be afraid to witness.  Non-believers are waiting to meet Christ through your witness.

Some may sneer at us, others may even try to silence us, but some are waiting to meet Christians who are faithful to the promises of their baptism, who give witness to the Resurrection of Jesus, who witness through their integrity of life, through their conviction, through their conversion from sin.  They await your witness for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Easter Sunday 2014 - He is Risen!

A doctor met with a patient to share with him his resent lab results.  “I have your lab results and there is some bad news and worse news,” the doctor said.  “The bad news is that your lab results say you have 24 hours to live”.  “How could it get any worse?” the patient asked.  “The worse news is that I’ve been trying to get a hold of you since yesterday.”

Today we ponder not bad news, but good news.  The best news there could possibly be.  Jesus Christ defeated death.  Though all seemed lost on Good Friday, today we rejoice: for he is risen; indeed he is risen.

“If Christ has not been raised,” St. Paul, “then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain”.  The Christian faith stands or falls with the truth of the testimony that Jesus of Nazareth is risen from the dead.

Without the Resurrection, Good Friday would be the story of a failed religious leader.  Sure, we could reflect on his teachings, perhaps marvel at his miracles; yet, had he not risen from the dead, Christianity would be no better than any other worldly philosophy, no better than a fairy tale or entertaining story to pass the time.

If Christ had not been raised, death would not have been defeated.  We would continue to live with the fear that death got the final say.  Without the resurrection the Sacraments would not be encounters with the risen one, but mere fantasies.  Baptism would have no power; there would be no real hope in eternal life.

 “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain”. But…He is Risen!  Indeed, He IS risen, Alleluia! 

From time to time I meet a college student or older adult who, though baptized as an infant has left the practice of the Catholic faith: they aren’t coming to mass and they are publically at odds with teachings of the Church.  I ask them why they’ve left the practice of the faith in which they were raised.   And they often say, “well, I was baptized as a baby, so I didn’t get a choice to become Catholic or not.”

Well, to all of you, who didn’t get a choice as infants, today, and every Easter, we renew the promises of our baptism.  Immediately after the homily, I will ask you a series of questions that you might renew the promises of your baptism.

We renew our faith that Jesus rose, we renew our belief in all the Church teaches in his name.  The priest will then sprinkle with water all those gathered as a reminder of the waters of baptism and a renewal in our commitment to live out those promises.

And really, it’s not just on easter that we renew our promises.  Every time we receive the Eucharist, we our saying “Amen” to being in communion with the Church, being one with the risen Lord who promises us eternal life.  The Early Christians celebrated every Sunday as a “little Easter” because EVERY SUNDAY the Church gathers to celebrate Christ’s Easter victory.  This is why attendance at Mass every Sunday of the year is just as obligatory as it is on Easter Sunday.  Easter is to be celebrated week by week, “celebrating Christ’s victory over sin and death, looking forward in active hope to his return in glory to make all things new.”

We come to celebrate this awesome victory, that its power will be unleashed in us. Today we reject sin and satan and all his empty promises that the power of the resurrection may continue to transform us. 

The news of Christ’s resurrection is the greatest news there can be.  It is the news that Love is more powerful over death.  The darkness we see in the world will forever be vanquished.  Hatred and division and disease and suffering and selfishness and lust do not get the final say.  God’s word can be trusted.  Resurrexit sicut dixit. He is Risen as he said he would! Indeed, He IS Risen!  Alleluia!

Homily: Holy Thursday 2014 - Three gifts of the Last Supper

Of all the feasts of the Church year, only once does the Roman Missal actually instruct the priest about the content of the Homily. Tonight, at this Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the priest is instructed to give a homily shedding light on three things: the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the ordained priesthood, and the Lord’s command to love one another.

I’m reminded of a story.  A few years ago, a priest from China, named Fr. Rafael, who had been studying at the Catholic University of America.  After learning English, he had been sent by his Bishop from China to come and study theology here in the US.  And after six years he had now earned his doctorate in theology. 

At the end of the academic year, he had been invited by the University’s board of directors, comprised of several bishops and priests to share his story. 

Fr. Rafael spoke about how grateful he was to the University, how much he had learned, and how eager he was to get back to China.  All the while, he heard news of how the persecution of the Church in China was increasing. 

Yet, despite the persecution, the arrests, and the discouragement by the government, the Church is actually growing in China. 

One of the Bishops of the board asked Fr. Rafael what he was going to do upon returning to his homeland.  He said, “Well, I could be arrested as soon as I get off the plane, but I think I will be alright.”  So the Bishop probing a little more asked him, “Well, what about your bishop, will he have an assignment for you?”  And Fr. Rafael said, “I don’t know, my Bishop disappeared three months ago.  We think he’s been arrested, but nobody really knows where he is, so I don’t really know what my assignment will be.” 

The bishop then asked, “Well, Fr. Rafael where will you live?”  And he answered: “I don’t know, I guess I could live with my mom back home in the village, although I’m a little worried that by living with her I could get her in trouble, so I don’t know exactly where I’ll live.”

The Bishop then asked him, “Well what will you do?” Fr. Rafael looked at the Bishop and said, “well, that’s easy!  I will celebrate Mass every day for the people, and I will give them the Holy Eucharist.”  He said, “I don’t know where, maybe the parish Church will be open, you never know.  If not there, I will say Mass in the fields; if not there, I will say mass in a barn; and if not there, I will say Mass in someone’s home.  All I know is that people want the Eucharist, the bread of life; so I will celebrate Mass for the people and I will give them the Eucharist.”

Here is this young priest going home with his doctorate in theology to a hostile land, who doesn’t know where he is going to live, who doesn’t know where his Bishop is, who himself risks imprisonment and trouble for his family, and who believes the most powerful and most important thing he can do is to celebrate the Eucharist and bring the Body and Blood of Christ to the people of God.

Fr. Rafael reminds me of so many of the martyrs, who gave their life in witness to the Christian Faith.  They believe the Christian Faith is worth dying for.  This belief continues to inspire men and women to give their lives in service to the Church.

Here in Cleveland, enrollment in the seminary is at a 20 year high.  Young men from our diocese are hearing and answering that call to give their life in ordained service. We should be inspired by their conviction and renew our commitment to discerning how we are called by God to serve the Gospel.

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us three gifts.  He gave the Church the first ordained priests, priests whose primary tasks are to teach, govern, and sanctify: to teach the Gospel, to administrate and order the life of the Church, and to celebrate the Sacraments.  No priests, no Eucharist. 

Secondly at the Last Supper, Jesus gave us the Eucharist.  As we teach the second graders preparing for their First Holy Communion, the Eucharist is not just special bread, it’s not just a nice symbol or a reminder of what Jesus did at the last supper.  When we celebrate the Eucharist here at St. Angela’s or any altar around the world, bread and wine are truly changed into the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. 

This is why we genuflect to the tabernacle when we enter a Catholic Church.  We bend the knee, if we are physically able, to our King, who is truly, really present; who desired to be with his Church in Sacramental form until his return in glory.  

Just as Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it, when we receive the Eucharist our prayer is that we, like Him, might be blessed, broken and given in love for others.

St. Augustine, writing about the Eucharist said that if we receive Holy Communion worthily, we become what we receive.

Thirdly, at the last supper, Jesus gave us his example with an important mandate: to love as he loved.  In a few moments, I will wash the feet of several of our fellow parishioners.  Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, the first priests, is a reminder to all priests, that the priesthood is about service.  Pope John Paul II, who will be canonized a saint in 10 days reminded us over and over that the ordained are to be the servants of the servants of God.  The Church doesn’t exist for the service of the hierarchy, the hierarchy exists for the service of the Church.

It is good for priests to be reminded of that.  And I ask all of you, in the name of all priests, please pray for us, often, that we may be faithful to the life to which we have been called. 

Yet, when he said, “as I have done for you, you should also do” he was speaking not just to the Twelve Apostles, but to all of us. All Christians are to be footwashers. We need to pay attention to the posture that Jesus takes: that of a house slave.  No chore or act of hospitality is too low for us, when it is done in love.   All Christians are to be poured out in service for their fellow man. 

I’m going to give you a little spiritual exercise.  Next time you go to the grocery store, every time you walk past someone, say to yourself, “I’m called to be their servant.  I’m called to wash their feet. “  No matter what ethnicity, gender, age, or religion; “I’m called to be their servant; I’m called to wash their feet.  I am called to be broken and poured out for them.  As I have seen Jesus do, God help me to do.”

At this Sacred banquet Christ teaches and feeds and washes and prepares us for the sacred banquet of heaven which will last for all eternity. 

As the Lord rose from supper and began to wash the feet of his disciples as an example to follow, I now invite those who have been chosen to come forward for the washing of their feet.  Please pray for your priests and pray for each other, that we may lay our hearts bare to Christ to be washed and fed, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Holy Week - Spy Wednesday

Wednesday of Holy week is known as Spy Wednesday, because on this day Judas made the shameful bargain with the high priest to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. 

How did this happen? How did Judas go from giving up everything to follow Jesus, to betraying Him for a miserable thirty pieces of silver? The beginning of Judas’ downfall was his secrecy. In the beginning of his discipleship, Judas Iscariot was, perhaps, more open, sharing with Jesus his thoughts, his dreams, his desires, and his fears. And then, little by little, Judas became disillusioned and jaded. He withdrew into himself. He cloaked his temptations, his fears, his struggles, and his failures.

Something very similar happens when a soul stops going to confession, or confesses too infrequently, or puts off going to confession. One becomes accustomed to living with the sickness of one’s secrets. One adjusts to living with them, and they poison us. This is something that the Church has always known. How important it is to lay bare our souls to a trusted spiritual father, to admit not only our sins, but also our temptations and our struggles. This act of humility disarms Satan, and renders him powerless.

When we fail to confess our sins and instead hide them, we give the Evil One a foothold in us.

Judas must have stopped conversing with Jesus in a personal way. Certainly he continued talking to Jesus superficially, but mostly about business. He was, after all, responsible for administering the common fund of the Twelve. He stopped relating to Jesus in a personal way, as one trusting friend talks to another, heart to heart.

He could have talked to Jesus.  Judas could have gone to Mary and said, “Mother, behold, my life is filled with wicked desires, with anger, and jealousy, and pride. Mother, I am ashamed to confess this to thee, but I am losing confidence in thy Son. I cannot accept His way of doing things. I am hardening my heart against His teachings. Mother, help me!

He could have said to Peter, “Peter, my brother, tonight, let us get together for a glass of wine and a plate of figs. I need to talk. I am confused, troubled, restless. Hear me out. Help me.”

The very act of reaching out is an expression of humility, and humility opens the floodgates of Divine Mercy. Merciful Jesus, save us, lest we, like Judas, betray you with a kiss!

Homily: Tuesday of Holy Week - John, Peter, and Judas

In Yesterday’s Gospel, Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, and Judas Iscariot had two different responses to Jesus.  Mary, drew near, adoring the Lord, anointing him with oil.  Judas, on the other hand, turned away; with avarice in his heart, he looked for opportunities to betray.

In today’s Gospel, three disciples give three different responses to Jesus.

John, the beloved disciples lays his head on Jesus’ chest .  Peter, confesses his desire to follow Jesus even unto death, but at the sight of the cross flees in fear.  And Judas, with betrayal in his heart goes into the night. 

Sometimes we are like John: we have moments of great intimacy with Jesus, of deep prayer and unshakable love for the Lord.  Of all the apostles, it is John who stands at the cross with the Blessed mother. 

Sometimes, we are like Peter: we can be so pious and enthusiastic one moment, saying, “Master, I will lay down my life for you”, and then the next moment running away in fear.  How does that enthusiasm so easily turn into sinful fear? The cross.  When it was time to actually suffer with Christ and for Christ, Peter’s enthusiasm deflated like a broken balloon, and denied the Lord three times. Jesus knows precisely how many times we will deny him in the course of our life, yet he calls us to follow him and witness to him just the same.

And then sometimes we can be like the silent Judas, rejecting the light and slinking off into the darkness.

If we are honest, I think we’ve all had wonderful John moments, naïve Peter moments, and dark Judas moments. 

The Sacrament of Confession helps us to turn away from those times we have been like Judas.  And our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us to build up some courage and fortitude so that we don’t run away, like Peter, at the sight of the cross.

I expect, when John the beloved inclined his ear to Jesus’ heart, Jesus knew John’s weaknesses and fears.  But drawing near to the Lord’s heart changes us.  For his Sacred Heart is stronger than any cross, or any of our failures.

May we continue to be strengthened in our love for him as we journey with him to the cross, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of Holy Week - Mary or Judas

Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve apostles.  Yet, never has the liturgical calendar given a date for his feast day; no people in the entire world claim him as their patron.  Artists in the early Christian centuries would often deliberately obscure Judas to avoid honoring him with the other eleven apostles.

We almost don’t even like to say his name.  Yes, each of the apostles was burdened with human weakness, but they eventually came to accept the grace of God and became great evangelizers and martyrs for the faith.  But not Judas.

Today we hear of Judas’ avarice:  in the house of Bethany, he objected when oil was used to anoint the feet of Jesus, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and used to steal from the contributions. 

Recall, an earlier Gospel story about the house of Mary and Martha.  Jesus extolls Mary for sitting at the feet of Our Lord, and listening to Him.  He commends Mary over Martha’s frantic busywork.  It was Mary whose heart was focused on Christ. 

Now Judas too fails to enter into the intimate moment of adoration.  His heart is filled with greed.  His avarice keeps him from appreciating what is going on here: that Jesus is preparing to go to his death out of love for sinners. 

Mary and Judas serve as an important dichotomy at the beginning of Holy Week.  Again, Mary has chosen the better portion.  She pours out a year’s salary to anoint and adore Christ.  Judas’ heart was far from Christ.  He was probably already looking for opportunities to betray Jesus.   

Mary gives, while Judas takes, and keeps things from Jesus.  Mary pours out, while Judas betrays.  Let us, of course, follow Mary’s example, gladly pouring out the best we have in order to adore Christ and repent from our greed which has kept us from loving Christ. 

This is a week for intensifying our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, that, as Christ’s blood is poured out for the world on Calvary, we might be poured out with him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Palm Sunday 2014 - Sounds of Holy Week

Today, Palm Sunday begins Holy Week.  And this week is filled with many sounds and voices.  We hear the crowds singing praises to Jesus as he enters Jerusalem as Messiah, and how those praises all too quickly turned into jeering and mocking and calling for crucifixion. 

Throughout the week, we’ll hear the sounds of crying, whipping, hammering.  The cries of crucifixion, the prayers to the Father, and the deafening silence of the tomb.

The sounds of Holy Week are piercing and thunderous. Jesus cries out in a loud voice as he gives up His spirit. The curtain of the sanctuary is ripped in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, boulders split, tombs opened.

There is a betrayal with a kiss, a rooster crowing at the occasion of Peter’s denial, the sound of a mother weeping. 

Since this  week is filled with so much sound, we are called to do a lot of listening.  Listening to the narratives of Jesus’ final days and hours and moments this week, we incline our ears to hear God’s Word of love for each of us. 

If you’ve never attended the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday or the Easter Vigil you might consider attending this year.  I’m told that the candlelight Taize service on Tuesday evening is particularly moving.  Each of these are opportunities for us to listen.  In such a noisy world, with so many distractions we need these moments to listen to the Word.

It was the practice of many homes to turn off all the radios and televisions on Good Friday, as a way of saying this is not a day for entertainment, but a day of turning my heart to what matters most.

If all we listen to are the sounds of the world: the bitterness, the resentment, the violence, and the lust, our lives will soon only echo the values of the world. 

We listen to God’s Word—the sounds of self-sacrifice and outpoured love, so that our lives may echo and resound with his life.  For, the way of Jesus is different than the way of the world.  The way of Christ, the pattern of Jesus’ life, is the way of sacrificial love.

This week, I encourage you to make time to read through the passion narratives again.  Perhaps pick the part of the passion that resonates with you most.  A day shouldn’t go by during this Holiest Week of the Church year, without spending quality time in prayerful reflection upon Jesus’ Passion.

Where will you incline your ear this week?  To the sounds of the world, or to the beating heart of the Word?

The saving event of Christ’s passion and death is meant to change us and transform us.  As he is broken, offered and poured out, may our Holy Week practices help us to be broken, offered, and poured out for others for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 5th Week of Lent - Never Alone

Today’s readings, just one week from Good Friday, grow more ominous as the enemies of Jesus seek to put him to death.  What threatens them the most?  He looks them squarely in the eye and speaks the truth.  They want to kill him, in order to stop the message of the gospel he brings to them.

We all want to be liked and approved for what we do, but what do we do when our actions elicit not approval from others but criticism and even persecution?

Jeremiah faced this challenge in proclaiming the prophetic message God had given him.  Amid the severest persecution leading eventually to his death, Jeremiah trusted in the Lord.  He says, "All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. . . .But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion."

As we move into Holy Week with Jesus, we realize poignantly that being a faithful disciple of Jesus may not always be easy.  God may call us, as God called Jeremiah and Jesus, to stand up for righteousness and truth even though this righteousness and truth may not be accepted in our communities, in our workplaces, or even in our families: to call people back to Mass who have fallen away, to call people back to prayer, to call people to repentance and belief in the Gospel, to call people back to works of charity.

Am I willing to suffer rejection for the sake of the Gospel? 

Both Jeremiah and Jesus set an example for us today: in the face of rejection they turn to God in faith and trust.

Jeremiah refers to God as a mighty champion who will defend him.  Jesus knows God intimately as his Father.  Has your Lenten prayer helped you to come to encounter the Father’s closeness?  Jeremiah’s mighty champion and Jesus’ loving Father is the same God who is with us in our moments of trial and rejection—when we stand as the lone defender of the truth, even when we are abandoned by friends.

We are never alone.

On the verge of a very intense week in the Church year, may we come to know God’s closeness in all that we suffer with Jesus for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday of the 5th Week of Lent - I AM

The great events of Holy Week are just a few days away; our Gospel readings see the tensions quickly mounting between Jesus and his audience as they try to come to grips with his identity and his authority.  His claim that those who listen to him will never taste death, that through him sins are forgiven come from his identity as God: “before Abraham came to be, I AM”.

The phrase, “I am” is the culmination of many “I am” statements that appear throughout scripture concerning Jesus’ divinity.  “I am the living bread”, “I am the light of the world.” “I am the gate, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the true vine.” “I am one with the Father.”

In ten days, at Easter we will be asked a series of questions in order to renew your own baptismal promises.  We will be asked if we reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God’s children.  We will be asked if we reject the glamor of evil, and if we reject Satan the father of sin?  Then, the Church will ask us whether we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Great I AM, God Himself. 

This is the choice that changes lives. 

It is a "Yes" not only to worshipping, obeying, and witnessing for Jesus, but also to suffering, rejection, and persecution for love of Jesus.  A “yes” to that question, is a “no” to the self-worshipping religion of the world.  It is a “no” to my own will, and a “yes” to God’s will.  It is a “yes” to the “Him” increasing and the “me” decreasing.

Throughout these forty days, the purpose of our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are to give to Jesus Christ greater reign in our life.

Let us continue to prepare for this renewal of our baptism by denying worldliness, practicing self-sacrificial charity, and entering into deeper and more intimate prayer, to deny the “I” in order to make room for the great “I AM” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday of the 5th Week of Lent - "Lifted up"

“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM.”

John uses this phrase “lifted up” to refer to both Jesus’ death on the cross, being lifted up on the hill of calvary, and also, being lifted up in the resurrection.  Like the bronze serpent which was salvation for those who looked on it in that first reading, Jesus lifted up becomes salvation for all who look on him in faith.

It is the task of the Christian is to constantly lift up Jesus for all to see, that Jesus may continue to draw all people of all time to himself.

We lift him up on the cross.  It is important for us to encourage others to display crucifixes in their homes and workplaces, even in their car, and on their person. 

He is lifted up in the Eucharist at Mass.  It is important for us to invite those who have fallen away back to Church. 

Jesus is lifted up in the monstrance at Eucharistic Adoration.  So many people who are hungering for intimacy with Jesus have never considered coming to spend time with him in a Holy Hour.

Jesus is also lifted up in the preaching and teaching of the Church.  Next time an adult education or scripture study opportunity is offered; invite someone who is struggling with their faith to join you.

He is to be lifted up in our speech.  Many Christians don't share their faith in Jesus with others, but many are hungering to know Jesus, to know how he changes lives and leads to the peace of heaven.  In our efforts of spreading the Gospel, that personal testimony of how faith in Jesus Christ has changed you is so important.

Lift him up so that others may come to believe in him every way you can.  May our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us renew our efforts in spreading belief in Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 5th Sunday of Lent 2014 - "I will open your graves"

On this fifth Sunday of Lent we hear another of these magnificent miracle stories from the Gospel of John.  Two weeks ago we heard the story of the woman at the well.  Caught up in a rhythm of sin and thirsting for God , she encountered the Lord Jesus, who said to her, “I will give you living water, which alone can satisfy”.  She represents all of us: all thirsting for God, but all too often trying to quench that thirst in all the wrong places.

Last week we heard of the man born blind.  Again, he is all of us: born in the blindness of sin.  Our minds so often clouded and confused, even in our attempts to live righteously.  Jesus says to him and to all of us, “I am the light of the world.”  If you want to see rightly, be grafted on to me. 

These stories in John’s Gospel move toward a sort of crescendo.  I am living water, he says, “I am the light,” he says.  And today Jesus speaks the greatest of the “I am” statements.  He says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” What is our God interested in?  Life! 

One of my favorite quotations from the early Church fathers is from St. Ireneus of Lyons, who said, Gloria Dei Homo Vivens, “the glory of God is the human being fully alive.”  Jesus himself said, I came that they might have life, and have it to abundance.

Christ died, that we may live, free from sin, full of divine life. 

God’s glory, what gives God happiness, is that we are fully alive.  Conversely, what saddens the heart of God is when we continue to allow sin and death to reign in us at any level, physically, emotionally, spiritually. 

No, God is not distant, aloof, indifferent to the sufferings of man.  We have a God whose human and sacred heart breaks for us.  Our Lord has experienced our sufferings, anyone whose heart has broken over the death of a loved one.

Jesus was fully human.  He loved to visit three of his best friends: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.  He loved a good meal with them, He enjoyed their hospitality.  In today’s Gospel we see his response when one of his best friends dies: he cries.  Jesus wept.  The shortest verse in the Gospel, John 11:35: Jesus wept.  The God of life who made man and the cosmos from nothing, wept, that death had power over his loved ones. 

We certainly see Jesus’ humanity on display.  Yet, we also see his divinity.  For only God can raise the dead to new life.  Only God has the power to free us from the chains of bondage.  Only he has the power to break the bonds of death.  He is the giver of life, and has entered into our humanity that we may be freed from sin and death.

St. Augustine said that Lazarus in his grave symbolizes man in the state of spiritual death.  In sin, the life of God’s grace in man’s soul is dead.  Only God, the giver of life can restore him from spiritual death.

Remember, in front of Lazarus’ tomb was rolled this huge rock.  It is the huge rock that we roll in front of our hearts when we choose sin, turning away from God’s commands and the life of charity.  Deep down inside because of that, our hearts, our souls are filled, like the tomb of lazarus with rot. 

Think about it: the human heart is meant to be a temple for God, adorned with virtue, especially faith, and hope, and love.  The soul of a saint and the soul of the sinner are quite different.  Imagine that same temple, filled not with love for God, but with anger, hatred, lust, and selfishness. 

I remember reading that Saint Christina would become nauseated when she was in the presence of people whose souls were dead and rotting because of mortal sin.  A heart which becomes closed to God begins to fill with decay, and rot, and death. 

The good news? The stone is rolled away and Jesus brings light and life and renewal and freshness.  Jesus commands the stone to be rolled away, even when there would be a stench.  There isn’t a soul so rotten that Jesus cannot heal it.

This week we will celebrate a communal penance service at 7pm.  In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, when we confess our sins, the stone is rolled back.  The sins may seem rotten, embarrassing to tell to the priest; but when we confess them with sorrow, Jesus brings light and life and renewal and refreshment.  What a wonderful Sacrament!

For most of us, we do not have full big stones rolled over our hearts in total rejection of God.  Yet, what about stones covering certain facets of our hearts; where we fail to give God our whole hearts.  "I know i should love my neighbor, but not that one, it's too hard." "I know i should follow the teachings of the Church, but not that one, it's too hard." "I know i should resist a certain temptation, but not that one, it's too hard."

That is what Lent is all about, that the stones which we roll in front of our hearts which keep us from experiencing the love of God and the lives he desires for us may be rolled back.  Remember the first line of our first reading today, “O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them.”  The Sacrament of Confession is always a new beginning where we receive new energy to live the Gospel and remain faithful in times of temptation.

He will bring us light and life and renewal if we expose our hearts to him.  Christ died, that we may live, free from sin, full of divine life.  May we die to sin and be filled and stirred to a new life of faith, hope, and love for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 4th Week of Lent - A psychology of evil

Wisdom 2:1, 12-22 View Readings

Psalm 34:17-21, 23

John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

During the final weeks of Lent, the readings detail the growing hostility towards Jesus culminating in his crucifixion.  Why do Jesus’ enemies hate him so?  Our first reading from the book of Wisdom gives us a glimpse of the dysfunctional thinking of the wicked as they plot against the righteous man.

“Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, he reproaches us for transgression of the law.”  The wicked in this passage conspire to condemn the just man to a shameful death because he reminds them of their impurity. 

A line from John’s Gospel says, “everyone who practices evil hates the light”.   The wicked come to love their sin more than they love the truth.  They call what is good, “evil” and what is evil, “good.” 

This reading helps us to understand the thinking of those who plotted to kill Jesus in the final days of his life.  

For, Jesus, the just man, came to free us from our sins.  But those attached to their sins felt threatened by that.

Secondly, this reading is a reminder that, if we are living the Gospel, if we are preaching it in our words and actions, we will, like Jesus experience resistance and persecution.  Although many non-Christians pride themselves on being tolerant, hostility towards the Roman Catholic Church and the Christian Gospel continues to mount in this increasingly wicked age. 

There was a story this week about a religious sister, a Dominican, who gave an assembly at a Catholic High School on the Church’s moral teachings.  Students and parents were outraged when she presented, clearly, the Church’s teaching on abortion, homosexuality, and birth control.  How fallen have we become when a Catholic nun cannot teach the Catholic faith at a Catholic school?!

Yet, Jesus pronounces us “blessed” when we are persecuted for his sake.  And many, who are yearning for the truth, and yearning for the freedom of Christ’s Gospel will respond positively.

Thirdly, this passage from Wisdom is good examination of conscience for each of us.  Have I, like the wicked man, resisted God’s truth.  Have I turned away from the Church’s moral teachings?  Have I resisted the call to fast, pray, and give alms this Lent? Have I justified my own small acts of wickedness?

Amid ferocious opposition, Jesus publicly and boldly proclaimed the word of God.  May we turn away from all sin, and courageously proclaim the saving Truth of Jesus Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday of the 4th Week of Lent - "Come to me to have life"

Continuing his teaching following the miracle of the healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus offers some very challenging words to his hard-hearted audience today.  He explains how it shouldn’t be so difficult to believe in Him, after all John testified to who he was, his Father testified, his works testified, the scriptures testified.

You know why you don’t believe?  Because you are more interested in receiving praise from others for your good works, than getting to the heart of your faith--in truly serving God and loving God.

Therefore, he says, “I know that you do not have the love of God in you.”  What terrifying words to hear from the lips of the incarnate Son of God.  For was it not their greatest commandment to love God with their whole hearts, minds, and souls?  He says, you fail to love God, because you are more concerned about getting people to praise you.  You have missed the point of faith and service because you have made them all about you.

What terrifying words!  Yet, Jesus offers an invitation.  “Come to me to have life.”

He calls us away from what is inessential back to what is absolutely essential: having our hearts set on God before all else: before fame, before pleasure.

Those Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us to realign our priorities, to dispose our souls again to all that God desires for us.

Ash Wednesday was four weeks ago, if you haven’t found Lent to be challenging perhaps it’s time to enter more deeply into the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that we may, as we prayed in the opening prayer “be corrected by penance and schooled in good works, to persevere sincerely in God’s commandments and come safely to the paschal festivities” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Wednesday of the 4th Week of Lent - Jesus reveals the face of God

The past two days we have heard in our Gospel readings, two of the seven signs that testify to Jesus’ identity: monday we heard of the healing of the royal officials son, and yesterday, the healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda.

Often following the miracles in John’s Gospel, Jesus gives a lengthy teaching.  He got their attention with the miraculous sign, now, he lays it on them. 

For us, these teachings clarify who Jesus is, and the mission he is about: He is the Son of God, he is here to do His Father’s work. 

These teachings, however, also deepen the antagonism between Jesus and his persecutors.  Especially as we get closer to Holy Week, we will experience with Jesus a deepening antagonism from those who will eventually call for his death.  The clearer He makes his identity and mission, the more the world seems to hate him for it.

As hostility mounts against him, the Faithful are called to draw nearer to Him: to lay our heads on his breast, like John the Evangelist, the beloved disciple, to remain close to the sound of his voice. 

Jesus came, as he says, to reveal the voice, and will, and face, and hands of the Father.  Jesus reveals that God is full of mercy, compassion, self-sacrifice, and love.

We do well to allow Jesus to draw us deeper, particularly in our Lenten prayer, into a more intimate, loving experience of God.  Lent, like a good spiritual retreat, is meant for the renewal of our spiritual lives and our lives of charity.

Faithful to this call to prayer, may the Lord continue to reveal the merciful, compassionate face of his Father to us, that we may bear witness to His love to our neighbor, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent - Healing Waters

Water runs throughout our Scripture readings today…no pun intended…

John tells us, the water in the pool of Bethseda was believed to have healing and life-restoring powers.  This is not too foreign of a concept.  Many people travel to Lourdes, France every year to bathe in its healing waters.  Many miracles have been attributed to bathing in that place where Our Blessed Mother appeared to St. Bernadette.

Almost 70 healing miracles at Lourdes have been officially declared by the church. The lame, the crippled, those riddled with disease have received healing there.  And there have no doubt been hundreds, if not thousands of other healings, for those who have washed in those sacred waters.

In the first reading ,the power and presence of God are symbolized as water flowing from the temple, and this water is life giving: Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of water in our scripture readings this Lent.

On the 3rd Sunday of Lent we hear Jesus’ invitation to come to him to drink of the living waters of God.  Jesus promised: "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never be thirsty; no, the water I give shall become a fountain within him, leaping up to provide eternal life" (Jn 4:14).

Every member of the human race longs and years and thirsts for God himself.  Only God can quench man’s deepest thirst.

Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving brings us back to those life giving, healing waters.  In fasting, we detach ourselves from those things which does not ultimately satisfy.  In prayer we drink deeply of the love of God and bathe in his presence, and in almsgiving we taste the sweet drink of engaging in loving charity towards others.

The choice is ours though.  He will not make us bathe; He will not make us drink.

We hear these readings two-and-a-half weeks before we renew our baptismal promises in the Easter waters.  May our Lenten practices continue to draw us to those life-giving, soul-cleansing, freeing, healing waters, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.