Homily: Monday of the 4th Week of Advent - Magnificat

After the Annunciation, Mary went out in haste to her cousin Elizabeth.  The mere greeting of Mary, who had in her womb the Word of God made flesh, made the infant in Elizabeth’s womb leap for joy.  Elizabeth proclaimed Mary blessed.  And Mary spoke her beautiful Magnificat. 

Since Seminary, I’ve prayed the Magnificat every day. The Canticle of Mary as it is sometimes called, is part of the Church’s official Evening Prayer, and is prayed every day by priests and religious, all over the world.  No matter what time of day it is, two things are true.  Somewhere in the world, a priest is celebrating Mass, and he is praying his breviary.  So along with the other prayers of the Church, the Magnficat is being sung all day, every day. 

It is always inspiring to pray Evening Prayer with a group of priests.  The Psalms change every day, so for the recitation of the Psalms we hold our prayer books close.  But, when we get to the Magnificat, all or most of the priests close their books, and often close their eyes and recite these words of the Blessed Mother from memory, or should I say, from their hearts.

I’ve known priests to burst into the magnificat at times of great joy in their own lives.  The memorization of a prayer, a pslam, or another line of scripture can be a powerful thing. Carving the words of Scripture upon our hearts, we make a place for God to dwell.

Mary herself must have had some scripture memorized, for her Magnficat echoes the song of Hannah from the first book of Samuel.  After prayering for many years through a time of barrenness, Hannah, conceived in her old age, and offered a song of thanksgiving to God.  She praises God as the helper of the weak, who casts down the mighty and raises up the lowly, and who alone is the source of true strength.  And Hannah’s song was richly inspired by verses from the Torah. So she too, must have known some scripture.

Pope Benedict wrote, “Mary is the great believer who humbly offered herself to God as an empty vessel for him to use in his mysterious plan.  She did not try to live according to human calculation, but put herself completely at the disposal of God’s mysterious, incomprehensible design.  All she wanted to be was the instrument and servant of the Word.  Despite the fear of the unknown, despite all of the inexplicable demands God made on her, she believed, even as she faced a task that no other human being had ever, or would ever have again, to mother the incarnate Son of God.”

May each of us, like Mary, become an empty vessel to be used in God’s mysterious plan.  May we trust in God amidst all of our fears, and be filled with great joy in his service, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 4th Sunday of Advent - Mary, the Queen Mother

All four candles of the Advent wreath are lit, for we are on the threshold of Christmas.  And it’s important to use these few days the best we can to prepare well for the Christmas mysteries. 

As we get ready to celebrate the birth of Christ our King, on this fourth Sunday of Advent we heard in our First Reading of God speaking to another King— King David.  God tells King David of his desire to make his dwelling place among his people and to establish a kingdom that will last forever.  In this eternal kingdom God’s people will be able to take refuge from their enemies and to have an intimate relationship with God as a Father to a Son.

David is told that his descendent—the King of Kings—will sit on a throne that will last forever.  When a new king would begin his reign, the people would no doubt wonder—“is he the one?”  We can read about the Kings of David’s line throughout the Old Testament books of Kings and Chronicles.  But is it not until the Gospels of the New Testament that we meet this Jesus of Nazareth, a descendent of David, who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

Throughout the Old Testament, when the Scriptures detail the beginning of the reign of the new Davidic King, always mentioned is the name of the King’s mother. In Israel, the most important woman in the kingdom was not the Kings wife—he may have had many wives, some of whom were not even of Hebrew blood.  The most important woman in Israel was the King’s mother—the Hebrew title for her, the queen Mother is Gebirah.  The Gebirah was the King’s chief counselor.  Her coronation was celebrated all people, and she sat on a throne on the right hand of the king. 

Even when the king died, the Queen mother was not deposed, she continued to exercise an essential role in the political, military, and economic affairs of the kingdom. 

So in the Old Testament, as an introduction to the reign of the new king, we would first focus on his mother.  And how fitting that Saint Luke does the same thing, before writing about the birth of Christ he first mentions several important stories about Jesus’ Mother.  And how fitting it is that we prepare for the celebration of Christmas by focusing our attention as well on his mother.

In the Davidic Kingdom, the Queen Mother sitting beside the King was not only his chief counselor, but also  the primary intercessor between the people and the king.  When the poor had a particular need, they would bring it to the queen mother, and she would present it to the king who loving and respecting his mother’s counsel, would grant the request.

If a humble peasant wished to present a small gift to the king, it would first be given to the queen mother who would polish the gift, put it on a golden plate, surround it with flowers.  The king would never refuse the gift coming from the queen who showed such concern for the poor peasant. 

So too, we do well to bring our humble prayers and good deeds to Mary, to present to our Lord.  She accepts our meager offerings purifies them, beautifies them and presents them to the King.  If you wish to present something to God, no matter how small it may be," says St Bernard, "place it in the hands of Mary to ensure its certain acceptance."

Whenever we begin a charitable work or undergo a difficult trial, we do well to consecrate it to Mary, Our Queen.

Particularly, now, as we prepare for Christmas, we do well to ask our Queen Mother to help us.  That we may come to love the Christ Child as she loved Him—with perfect, burning charity.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote in his autobiography, “the only sorrow in my life, or any life, is not to have loved Christ enough.”  If we are to show our love for Christ at Christmas, we do well to look to the example of the woman whose love for Him surpasses all others. 

St. Alphonus Ligouri talked of Mary’s great love for us and for God.  He wrote, “neither the angels nor saints surpass Mary in loving God” and “no one, after God, loves us or can love us as much as Mary.  If we were to combine all the love that mothers bear their children, all the love of husbands for their wives, all the love of the angels and saints for the souls all earth, all this would not equal Mary's love for a single soul.” 

Her great love and surrender to God can be seen in our Gospel reading today, when she says, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to Thy Word.” 

Also, as soon as Mary found out that Elizabeth was with child, Mary was concerned that Elizabeth’s pregnancy would be difficult for she was advanced in years.  So, Mary left the comfort of Nazareth to help. St Luke tells us that, prompted by concern for Elizabeth and love for her cousin, Mary goes in haste to help.  She goes in haste. 

Now think of what this journey meant for Mary.  Elizabeth and Zechariah weren’t just a drive across town.  They lived in the hill country of Judea, outside of Jerusalem.  This would be a difficult journey for the young pregnant teenage Mary of Nazareth. 

But also, Mary had her own problems: she was with child. She was betrothed to Joseph but carrying a child that was not his.  She would have to explain her pregnancy to her parents, to her fiancé.  How was she going to provide for her child if Joseph ended the engagement, as was his right.  What would it be like to be mother to the King of Kings?  She could have stayed at home feeling sorry for herself, worrying, comparing herself to Elizabeth.  At least Elizabeth had a home and a husband. 

The fear of the unknown often paralyzes us.  Our Queen mother shows us to look beyond our own problems and worries to the needs of others.  If we are overly concerned for ourselves, we miss God calling us to help with the needs of others.

To prepare well for Christmas we look to our Queen Mother, we ask her intercession that we may love God and neighbor like her, that we may trust God like her.  Faithful and obedient to God’s commands like her, pure of sin and full of hope like her, may we humbly serve God and celebrate the saving power of God at Christmas like her, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday of the 3rd Week of Advent - Samson and John the Baptist

As we draw ever nearer to the great feast of Christmas, our scripture reading urge us to reflect today on two very important people from Salvation History: Samson from our first reading and John the Baptist in our Gospel. And these two men, these servants of the Lord have a lot in common.

In both readings today, their parents were very old when an angel appeared to them to announce their births.  Elizabeth was 88 years old when Gabriel appeared to her husband to announce the birth of John.

In the readings we heard how both Samson and John were to be especially consecrated to the Lord, they were both to avoid wine and strong drink.  The Spirit of the Lord would be present to both of the boys. 

Both boys would have a role in delivering and saving Israel from their enemies.  Samson was chosen by God among the people to deliver Israel from the evil Philistines, to show and remind Israel that God had not abandon them so they should not abandon God by falling in to sin.  With his life, Samson showed the people that God drew near to save them.

Similarly John the Baptist was chosen to show and remind Israel that God had not abandoned them, that God drew close to save them not just from earthly enemies, but our most ancient enemies, sin and death.  John announced to the people to get ready for the coming of the Messiah by repenting.  The best way to make our hearts ready for the Messiah is by turning away from our sins.

Both Samson and John the Baptist heralded an ear of peace.  Samson heralded the establishment of the Kingdom of David who would bring unity to Israel and the building of the beautiful Temple in which God would be honored and worshiped by his people.  And John heralded the coming of the True King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who is the source of peace for the whole human race and whose Church would be the Temple in which all people could gather to give honor and worship to God until he comes again.

During these final days of Advent, we focus on this chosen men, to remind us that each one of us has been chosen by God for a special purpose: to proclaim with our lives that God is near, that salvation and peace are found in Jesus Christ.  People need to see us coming to Church to give God worship and honor for the good things he has done for us and continues to do in our midst. 

Both Samson and John called people to turn away from sin and be faithful to God’s laws, and we too prepare our hearts well in order to truly welcome Christ when he comes more deeply into our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of the 3rd Week of Advent - On whose authority?

On Wednesday, the Church enters into the period of what is called Deep Advent, from December 17-December 24.  During the first two weeks of Advent, our readings concern the prophecies of the coming Messiah, now, during this second half of Advent we begin to focus more intensely on the person, identity, and mission of Jesus Christ.  When we understand Jesus better, we come to understand better what our daily response to him should be.

St. Matthew this morning gives us two very important concepts to consider about Jesus’ person, identity, and mission: his “authority” and his origin—that he comes “from heaven”.

Today’s passage comes very soon after Jesus entrance into Jerusalem.  He had entered the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers and merchants, teaching that his Father’s temple is to be a house of prayer, not a den of robbers.  He then began to cure the blind and the lame.  He then began to teach about faith with authority.

The elders questioned his authority, and Jesus refused to answer their question directly.  Advent for us requires a choice, for all those who hear of his deeds, for all those who hear about Him, we are called to make a choice, is Jesus going to have authority in our lives or not.  If he is just a man, then no, of course not, his words and teachings are no more authoritative than any other.  Yet, if his authority comes from God, and of course it does, then we must conform our lives completely.  It is not up to us to pick and choose which teachings we like, and just follow those. 

Sadly, many modern-day Catholics have made themselves the authority.  They ignore or reject authoritative teachings of the Church which Jesus founded.  This is somewhat understandable.  After all, in our own time we have seen authorities grossly misuse their power. In recent decades we have seen the authoritarianism of Nazi and Communist regimes. 

Archbishop Fulton Sheen once wrote that “as soon as one mentions the authority of [the Church] there are visions of slavery, intellectual servitude, mental chains, tyrannical obedience, and blind service.”  He said, “There is nothing more misunderstood by the modern mind than the authority of the Church.” 

The authoritarianism of tyrants is altogether different from the authority of Jesus and the Church, the authority that comes from heaven.  The authoritarianism of tyrants does enslave.  The authority of God, rather, comes to free: to free us from the slavery of sin, to free us from the burden of being our own god. 

We do well to consider today the areas of our life that we have not handed over to Christ.  If we are honest we are likely to find a few, if we are very honest, we are likely to find many.  It is no easy task to give up our authority, yet Advent calls us once again to bow the knee to Christ the King, in whom we find true freedom, true peace for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: December 8 - Immaculate Conception - Potuit, Decuit, Ergo Fecit

About seven hundred years ago, there was a little Franciscan Friar by the name of John Duns Scotus, teaching Theology at the University of Paris, probably the most important school in the world in the 1300s.  One day, one of his students asked him to explain the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and he said simply, in Latin of course,” potuit, decuit, ergo fecit”.  God could do it, it was fitting that he do it; therefore, he did it.

Could God preserve Mary from all stain of original sin from the moment of her conception? Absolutely.  The Archangel Gabriel in the Gospel today said it perfectly: “nothing is impossible for God”.

Did he do it?  Yes!  When Gabriel met Mary, he greeted her as one already having been made full of grace.  Mary received many special graces from God throughout her life, one in particular which kept her soul clean of sin at the first moment of her life.

Why did God do it?  Friar John Duns Scotus said, it was fitting.

Suppose you had the power to design the soul of your own mother.  Would you not make her the most beautiful woman in the world both on the outside and on the inside?  Would you not make her to radiate every sort of virtue? Every manner of kindness and charity and loveliness? A mother who by the purity of her life and her mind and her heart would be an inspiration not only to you but to everyone?

Knowing that he would come into the world as our Savior, God made Mary’s soul the most beautiful in human history; that when he did come, born as a babe in Bethlehem, he could be in the arms of a mother who loved him completely.

Jesus chose Mary to be his own Mother, and he chose her to be our Spiritual Mother.  All throughout his own difficult ministry, as he was whipped and scourged, and crowned with thorns, and nailed to the cross, Jesus knew that Mary loved him.  So too through all of our difficult journeys, Mary loves us.  She watches over us, prays for us, dispenses graces from God to us.

When you are sick?  We call out to our mothers to bring us medicine.  When we are scared.  We call out to our mothers to bring us courage.  When we are doubtful, we call out to our mothers to give us direction.

So we are meant to do with our perfect spiritual mother Mary, whom God made immaculate for himself and for us.

As we continue this Holy Mass, let’s thank God for blessing us with so beautiful a mother, and let us ask for the grace to be her faithful children, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 2nd Sunday of Advent - A New Beginning

On this second Sunday of Advent we read the opening lines of Saint Mark’s Gospel.  St. Mark’s Gospel was written between the years 60 and 70, just a few years after the deaths of Peter and Paul at the hands of the Roman authorities.  In fact, St. Mark had been a very close companion to the Apostle Peter, traveling with Him to Rome, where Peter was put to death.  Mark was not an eyewitness to the actions and teachings of Jesus; he learned the details of Jesus’ Ministry which he put into his Gospel from Peter.  Mark composed his Gospel most likely in Rome, in the heart of the city that put his friends to death, while his fellow Christians were being thrown to the lions in the Coliseum.

The Opening Lines of ancient texts, such as the Gospels, are often very important, encapsulating the author’s purpose for writing.  Listen again to Saint Mark’s opening line: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”

The very first word of Mark’s Gospel is the greek word, arche—the beginning, found also in the opening line of the Gospel of St. John.  In arche ho logos, wrote Saint John, in the beginning was the word.  And the first words of both of those Gospels harken back to the very first word of the entire Bible itself in the book of Genesis. The first word of the entire bible is the Hebrew Word, Bereshyth – “in the beginning.”  “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth”—the story of creation.
And Mark uses this word purposely telling us that this Gospel is the story of a new creation—it’s a new beginning.

We know we live in a fallen world, a world torn apart by violence and sin and selfishness and perversity, a place where things are not as they should be, not as God intended.  The world is good, it is not completely fallen, but amidst the goodness of the world, we realize that things are off-kilter, people die before their time, good people suffer, wicked people prosper.

St. Mark’s Gospel isn’t merely a story about an inspiring ethical teacher who performed a few miracles. St. Mark uses this word, arche, intentionally to show that just as God brought creation into existence, through Jesus, God is bringing about a new order, a restoration, a healing of all of creation, and reconciliation between God and man.

The second word in the Greek, is the word euangelion  from which we get the word, evangelize.  The Greek word euangelion means glad tidings or good news, we translate it often, Gospel.  At the time of the birth of Christ, the Romans worshipped Caesar as a God, in fact, a title for Cesar Augustus was “Son of God”.  Caesar’s birthday was called the ‘Good News’ the Gospel.  To use this word in Rome, to apply it to someone other than the emperor, was very dangerous.

Euangelion in Mark’s time was also a word used to announce an imperial victory—when the emperor won a battle, the angeloi—the messengers—were sent around the empire announcing the euangelion—the victory message of the emperor.
And Saint Mark has the audacity to announce from the belly of the beast, from the heart of Rome, the capital of this great empire, that the true euangelion is not the birth of Ceasar, it has nothing to do with an imperial victory—the Gospel that St. Mark was announcing is the victory of Jesus Christ over the powers of sin and death—and the ushering in of God’s kingdom which is greater than any earthly kingdom.

St. Mark had tremendous courage proclaiming that Caesar was not the Son of God, it is not Caesar who is the anointed Christ of God, rather, it is Jesus of Nazareth.  It is his kingdom that will have no end. This is why the symbol for St. Mark’s Gospel by the way is a lion, a symbol of courage.

St. Mark’s opening passage continues, recalling the prophecy of Isaiah which we also heard today, of a voice crying out in the wilderness, in the desert, prepare ye the way of the Lord.  In the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, the prophet explains that the terrible calamity that had befallen the Jewish People is because of their unfaithfulness to God.  Because of their sins, because they did not uphold the ways of the Lord, because they did not teach their children to be faithful, they had become vulnerable to their enemies and had been captured and carried away into exile by the Babylonians.  Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was destroyed, the people marched into Babylonian captivity.

The 40th Chapter of Isaiah is also a new beginning; it begins Isaiah’s message of Consolation. The prophet describes a time where God will restore, he will rebuild, he will bring the exiles home.  St. Mark draws upon this image to show that the Gospel of Jesus Christ Son of God begins the definitive story of God bringing the exiles home.  Jesus is the consolation for which Israel longed; and all those who are lost in sin, all those who are captive to the powers of the world, will find freedom in Jesus Christ.  This is very good news, so Isaiah says, “Go up on to a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice”.

The life of every Christian should involve telling others about the Good News.  Reaching out to people who feel enslaved, caught in the chains of addiction or fear or grief; they feel helpless, hurt by the selfishness of others, frustrated.

There are people out there who don’t know Jesus Christ.  Sometimes even baptized Catholics don’t know Jesus Christ.  Pope Francis and Pope Benedict have called them, baptized pagans: people who have been sacramentalized but never evangelized—who may have been baptized, but never really came to follow Christ.  Catholics who perhaps went to Catholic school for 12 or more years, yet get married outside of the Church, or stop going to Church altogether, or reject certain teachings of Jesus.  I think there have even been priests who make it through seminary without really encountering Jesus as Savior.

The season of Advent is to prepare our hearts for Jesus Christ to come into our hearts in a new way.  We make straight the paths of our hearts, we prepare our hearts to make  place for Him.  Through prayer, repentance, acts of charity we carve out a place in our hearts for Christ to dwell.  During Advent, especially, we need to set aside time every day for quiet prayer, for reflection.  We become quiet, that we may encounter the Lord.  Only then can we truly be filled with the glad tiding of Christmas, the good news of Jesus coming to set captives free.

St. Mark wrote his Gospel for people who feel exiled, captive, alone, afraid, frustrated, oppressed. He wrote his Gospel for the Church and all humanity who long for a deeper knowledge of Christ, who long for him to return again.  As an Advent meditation, I highly encourage you to read the Gospel of Mark, from beginning to end: it’s the shortest Gospel, taking maybe an hour to read.  If you can suffer through an hour of Browns football, you can set aside some quality time for encountering our Savior in the written Word of God. Read it out loud, feel the words of the Gospel on your lips. Believe what you read in the Gospels, and proclaim what you believe for the Glory of God and Salvation of souls.  

Homily: Friday of the 1st Week of Advent - Healing of Spiritual Blindness

During the Advent Season daylight is seen less and less, the darkness comes earlier, the weather grows colder.  Remember back in summer—the long wonderful days of summer, sunlight until 9pm, the warmth?

As we near Christmas the days get darker and darker, the Christians Church calls to mind the promises of God’s light.  We wait for, and watch for “the dawn from on high to break upon us”, we watching for the coming of the Lord, the coming of the Messiah, and Isaiah foretells of there being so much light that “out of the gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see”. 

Without God humanity walks in blindness. And in the Gospels, one of Jesus’ most oft repeated miracles was the healing of the blind. 

Yet, the Messiah heals something far worse than physical blindness: spiritual blindness is far, far worse. 

To not have the light of God in one’s life, is far worse than being physically blind.  In our current age, we see in every dimension of society men and women going through life, raising their families as if God did not exist.  They do not know his promises, they do not recognize his presence, they do not walk in his truth.

Spiritual blindness is truly an epidemic—its symptoms are the erosion of the moral fabric of families and cultures, the corruption of children, the neglect of the poor among us.

The blind men in today’s Gospel are wonderful examples of faith.  In a way, though they were physically blindness, they could already see better than most.  They had heard the promises of God—that David’s heir would come bringing true healing, true peace.

Without physical sight, they recognized Jesus to be the Messiah and cried out, “Son of David, have pity on us.”   “Have pity on us.”  They recognized their blindness, they recognized their need for healing, and they recognized that they cannot heal themselves.

During Advent we say to God, like those blind men, “have pity on us.”  Bring us light, bring us healing, “come, that we may see you”.   Jesus proclaims in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”  This Advent, may we be purified of all that keeps us from seeing God.  May we be healed of our spiritual blindnesses, that we may bear the light of Christ to all those we meet, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday of the 1st Week of Advent - When the storms come

Constructing a strong building and laying the foundations for a solid spiritual life are very similar.  A good builder knows that a building’s foundation has to be deep and solid—rock-like—if the building is going to stand through inevitable storms.  Imperfections in the foundation can have devastating effects in the future.

After Hurricane Katrina, back in 2005, some of the engineers who examined the breached levees in New Orleans found that it was not because of the force of the surge, that the levees did not hold, but because of they were built on sand—they had a poor foundation.

Jesus concludes his most famous Sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, with this parable of the wise man and the fool—the wise man who builds his house on solid rock, the fool whose builds his house on sand.  The parable presents us with a choice: will I build my life on the solid rock of the truth of Jesus Christ, or the shifting sand of worldliness—of popular opinion and human emotion?  Will I hear God’s word and act upon it, or will I reject it for worldly wisdom? 

We are invited to follow Christ and to found our lives on him as our rock.  As we heard in the prophet Isaiah:  “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock”. 

Notice, that both houses are buffeted by storms.  Those with faith are buffeted by storms just as much, and sometimes more, than people without.  Just because we are built on the solid rock of Christian faith doesn’t mean there won’t be storms—Jesus promised that Christians would have crosses.  Rather, the Christian with rock solid faith and trust in God will be able to withstand the storms, when they inevitably come.

Advent has a unique way of SHOWING whether our lives ARE built on the strong, firm, solid foundation of God’s word, or the shallow, fragmented, unsound foundation of worldliness.  We continue to hear stories of people trampling each other on black Friday, the annual new book trying to disprove the authenticity of the Christian faith, daily temptations to allow franticness to replace the practices of prayer and silent reflection. 

Instead of being a time of peace, for many, Advent becomes a time of exhausting frenzy.

Rather, the wise Christian knows that we must make time for quiet prayer, penance, grateful giving, taking the time to visit the lonely and look to the needs of the poor.

Homily: Monday of the 1st Week of Advent - The Centurion's Amazing Faith

A few times in the Gospel Jesus praises people for their faith.  Today is the only time in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus was “amazed”.  Not only was it a gentile coming to him asking for healing, but the gentile even trusted that Jesus could heal his servant from a distance.

At the beginning of Advent we are given this example of Amazing Faith, faith that God in the Flesh described as Amazing. 

This Centurion recognized Jesus as one who had the power to save.  He believed that Jesus really had the power to work, to transform, to heal.  What do you need to be healed from this Advent?  What part of your life needs to be transformed?  What area of your life and the life of your family do you long to see God at work?

After all, the centurion wasn’t so much seeking healing for himself, but for his servant.  His Amazing Faith showed great concern for others.  Perhaps, we might pick a person to pray for throughout all of Advent, to lift them up to Jesus, to heal, to strengthen, to bless.

Also, notice how the Centurion approached Jesus: with great humility.  The Roman Centurion was a man of considerable power and influence.  Yet, he acknowledged his unworthiness before the Lord of all.  We recite his words as we prepare to receive Holy Communion at every Mass.  “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the world and my soul will be healed.” 

To Him we surrender control of our lives, we acknowledge that all too often we have not let Him be in charge.  During Advent we become aware of our sinfulness, times that we have acted in ways unworthy of the name Christian.  Repentant of our sins, we ask Jesus to come deeper into our lives, to bring healing, to charity where selfishness once reigned, to bring mercy where sin once reigned.

May we, with greater faith and humility call upon Christ our Savior who longs to heal us.  May we open our hearts to Him, that he may transform us to bring his light and mercy to others, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 1st Sunday of Advent 2014 - The Potter and the Clay

Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” begins, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  When the prophet Isaiah was writing to exiled Israel, it was simply, “the worst of times.”  The destruction of Jerusalem, and the Temple, at the hands of the Babylonians was the ultimate calamity for the people of Israel. 

The Kingdom of Israel had already experienced division.  The one Kingdom of David had been divided into a northern Kingdom and the southern kingdom.  The King of the North, not wanting his people to travel south to the Temple, set up his own false temples to false gods, with a false religion, false feast days, and false religious tenets.  Because they had no real religion to support them, they soon fell into immorality and became vulnerable to their enemies.  The northern kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians in 740 BC. 

Witnessing what happened in the North, Prophets in the South urged God’s people to remain faithful to God.  They had everything they needed to remain faithful: they had the holy city of Jerusalem , home to the true Davidic Kingship and the True Temple, the True Religion was being taught.  Yet, they began to slip.  Prophets like Obadiah, Joel, and Habakkuk warned that the disaster which befell the North would soon befall the South if they did not reform their lives and teach their children to walk in the ways of righteousness.

In the first reading today, Isaiah calls the southerners an “unclean people” their deeds “like polluted rags”, their nation “withered like leaves”.  Just as the prophets had foretold, their wickedness had caused them to grow weak and vulnerable to their enemies.  In 605 BC, the Babylonians captured the South, in 589 Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem culminating with the destruction of the city and the Temple in 587.  Because of their wickedness they were “carried away” by the wind. 

The Jews of the South were carried off, in chains, with no possessions, and marched into Babylon.  They were exiled from their homeland, from their temple; loved ones are separated.  Think of how devastated we were on September 11, 2001, at the loss of life and that our great nation could be attacked. The suffering of Israel was orders of magnitude greater.  Everything had fallen apart.  It was the darkest point in Israel’s history.

Imagine how shaken the Jews must have been.  No doubt, they thought, How could God allow this to happen to his chosen people, his city, his temple.  Had God abandoned them?

The exiled Jews were in anguish, desperate for some sign that God was still there.  Isaiah even verbalizes some of Israel’s frustration: “oh that you would rend the heavens and come down with the mountains quaking before you.”  Why don’t you show us your face, O God.  Why don’t you act?  

Why don’t you do something? 

Who can’t identify with that sentiment.  Who hasn’t felt captive? Who hasn’t felt like everything has gone wrong, God has abandoned me?  Perhaps, watching the nightly news, seeing the violence, the war, the political turmoil, the civil unrest, the grave immorality, wondering when, O Lord will you show yourself?  When will there be peace? 

Perhaps, you are in a very dry period in your prayer life, wondering, when will prayer become sweet again for me?  Even the great saints experienced times of great dryness in their prayer life—when it felt like God had withdrawn.  Sometimes it’s like God has hidden himself, Isaiah verbalizes this in our first reading: he says, “God, you have hidden your face from us.” 

God allowed Israel to be exiled, so that that could recognize the need to be obedient, the need to form their families in faith.  They had rejected the need for worship, the need of the commandments, the need for holy learning; they rejected the need for God, so God allowed them to come to realize how captive they were to sin without Him.

The experience of longing for God is a good thing.  It helps us recognize that without God we are indeed captive.  It helps us to cry out, as we did in the Psalm, “Let us see your face and we shall be saved.”

At the end of the Isaiah reading, we get this beautiful image—an image that we do well to remember for all of the season of Advent, in image we do well to remember whenever God feels distant, or we are going through any sort of trial or difficulty: “Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you are the potter, we are all the work of your hands.”

When we are in anguish, frustrated that God’s face seems hidden, captive by events we cannot control: illness, war, death, Isaiah encourages us to consider ourselves clay to be shaped by the hands of Our Father in heaven.  God will use the hard events of life, to form us into something great. 

God is not distant, he is not absent, even when he seems hidden.  God is intimately involved with humanity.  He wants to be intimately involved with every human soul.  He wants to form us, he wants to shape us. 

Yet, we have to offer ourselves as clay to be formed, by God.  The clay of our hearts must not be hard, unpliant, immalleable.   We must be open to change.  We must be open to becoming more prayerful, more generous, more patient.

This desire for God to shape us, form us, save us, is at the heart of Advent.  Advent is about recognizing our need for a Savior—recognizing that all too often our hearts and lives have been like hard stone, instead of soft clay. 

St. Ireneus said that as long as the clay of our hearts remains supple and moist, the work of the potter is relatively painless.  But if the clay becomes brittle, and hardened, it can break under the work of the potter. 

We look inward at the state of our souls during Advent, to do everything in our power to make our souls pliant to God.  During Advent we look to people like King David, John the Baptist, Mary of Nazareth as people who were open to allowing God to use them, the shape them for his purposes, people of great active watchfulness.  We prepare our hearts In Advent for the celebration of Christ’s coming at Christmas, by doing penance, by going to confession, by setting side time every day for quiet, yet active prayer, spiritual reading, and engaging in acts of service.

As Jesus comes to us in the mystery of the Eucharist at this holy Mass, may we allow him every deeper into our hearts, to prepare our hearts for the celebration of his coming in history at Christmas and majesty at the end of time, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 34th Week in OT - The Kingdom Bursting Open

The fig tree was a an important and common source of food for the people of Israel.  It bore food twice a year: in the autumn and in the early spring.  The fig tree is used throughout scripture as a sign of Israel itself.  When Israel is faithful, she bears fruit, like the fig tree.  Jesus, in a parable, curses a fig tree and it whithers to show that when we are unfaithful to God, when we ignore his commands, when we do not recognize the authority of Christ to transform our lives, we become like a barren tree. 

According to Jewish tradition, the fig tree yields its first fruits right after Passover.  And the Jews believed that when the Messiah came, he would usher in the Kingdom of God at Passover time, when the fig tree was bearing fruit.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the buds of the fig tree burst open as a sign of the Kingdom of God.  This parable foretells the joy of God’s kingdom.  The joy of new life and the promise of an eternal age of peace and blessing.

The fig tree bearing fruit is evident to all those who can see it.  So too, the coming of God’s kingdom is evident to all those who can see it.

This parable comes at the end of the 21^st chapter of Luke.  Jesus had just foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, he tells of the awful calamities which will precede the end of the world and his second coming, he tells how his followers will be persecuted; that Christians will be hated because of his name; and at the great tribulation there will be signs in the sky, people will die of fright.

At the same time, Jesus says the kingdom of God is bursting open in their midst.

So too in our own time amidst all of the news of political strife, social turmoil, shootings, natural disasters, amidst all of our own personal experience of physical and emotional illness, addiction, vice, brokenness in families, the kingdom of God is still bursting open.

Amidst all of the awfulness, there are men and women who are dedicated to God’s Word, who are bearing fruit in righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Spirit.  The Church really is like the eye of the hurricane.  Amidst all of the chaos and evil that surrounds us, peace, joy, and righteousness are available to all those who are receptive to God’s Word.

In less than 48 hours we will pass into the new liturgical year, the season of advent, the season of peaceful waiting, a season of expectation.  May we prepare our hearts for the special graces of the advent season, with a burning desire for all that God has in store for us, for the ways that he desires his kingdom to burst open in our lives, that we may bear fruit that will last, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thanksgiving Day 2014 - Catholic Thanksgiving Facts

In the year 1615, an English explorer Thomas Hunt, a compatriot of the famous John Smith, captured a group of Native Americans to sell them on the slave trade. One of these Native Americans was Squanto.  The group was rescued by Catholic Franciscans Friars, who baptized Squanto and catechized him in the Catholic faith.  Squanto went to England where he worked in the shipyards and became fluent in English.  He returned to his Native America where he was living for about 5 years when the pilgrims left England in order to pursue a Calvinist Utopia in Massachusetts because they thought the Anglicans were “too Catholic”.  The pilgrims however had no food and were starving.  Squanto, hearing of their distress, came to their aid teaching them how to grow corn, fish.  They celebrated their first successful harvest in 1621.  The real hero of Thanksgiving was Catholic Squanto.

Does he not embody the words of our Collect today?  With gratitude for God’s kindness, he shows concern for his fellow man, and shared his gift of loving service.

Yet, the first American Thanksgiving was actually celebrated, in St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565, the feast of the Birth of Mary.  56 years before the Puritan pilgrims of Massachusetts, Spanish Explorer Don Pedro Menendez, came ashore amid the sounding of trumpets, artillery salutes and the firing of cannons to claim the land for King Philip II and Spain. The ship chaplain, a Franciscan Priest, chanted the Te Deum and presented a crucifix that Menendez ceremoniously kissed.  Then nearly the 1000 Catholics aboard the Ship along with the Timucuan Indians who greeted them celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in gratitude to God.

The second American Thanksgiving happened on April 30, 1598, when Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate requested the friars to say a Mass of Thanksgiving, after claiming the land north of the Rio Grande for the King of Spain. The men feasted on duck, goose, and fish from the river.

Every Catholic Mass is a celebration of Thanksgiving for life and the blessings that fill it.  In fact, the Greek New Testament Word for Thanksgiving is Eucharistia.  At the Eucharist, we first and foremost give thanksgiving to God for the gift of our salvation.  Without Jesus Christ’s self-sacrifice on the Cross there would be no hope of heaven for any of us.  For this we give thanks to God, and it is important for us to come to Mass recollected, that is, with our thanksgiving first and foremost in our hearts, to recognize that we have been saved by a God who loves us.

Perhaps, the reason why 80% of Catholics do not come to Mass is that they never really came to believe that Christ had saved them, and that we are not entitled to heaven by any work that we have done.

Remember, it in the Gospel, 10 lepers received healing, but it was the one leper, who returned to the Lord to give thanks who was saved. 

In a few weeks, the busyness of the Christmas season will be upon us, and we will be reminded to keep the Christ in Christmas, to remember that his glorious birth is the reason for our celebration.  We do well, to keep the Thanks in Thanksgiving. 

And today, as you gather with your families, recall the blessings of life, food, shelter, family, and of course our faith, which promises everlasting life. Offer a prayer and perhaps  the wonderful limerick of Catholic historian Hilaire Belloc:

“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Nov 25 - Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin & Martyr

Today we celebrate one of the most revered saints of the early Church.  In fact, I was very impressed to see one of our first graders dressed up as Saint Catherine two weeks ago.  St. Catherine lived at the end of the thirst century in the city of Alexandria in Egypt.  She was so beautiful and wise that she attracted the attention of the Emperor Maximian.  She however, would not marry the emperor because she had consecrated herself to Jesus, vowing to remain unmarried so she could be devoted to Jesus in a special way. 

The Emperor sent his 50 wisest philosophers to convince Saint Catherine to change her mind, but they proved no match for Catherine’s amazing debating skills; they were so impressed with her, and her explanation of the Gospel, that all 50 became Christian.

The Emperor had Catherine imprisoned; yet while imprisoned she converted the empress, the leader of the armed forces, over 200 soldiers, and other members of the emperor’s family

This angered that Catherine would not give up her faith and marry Him, the Emperor ordered Catherine to be tied to a wheel and tortured.  The wheel however was struck by ‘fire from heaven’ and was shattered.  Catherine was uninjured, but angered even more, the emperor had Catherine beheaded.  Legend has it that her body was carried away by angels and buried on Mount Sinai—the place where Moses received the 10 commandments. 

Neither political pressure, imprisonment, torture, or death could cause this great saint to compromise her faith.  Through her reception of the Eucharist, through prayer and study, Catherine was filled with tremendous faith and love of God which transformed the lives of others even as she suffered.

Similarly God wishes to fill us with that same faith and love through the Eucharist and through our prayer and study.  The saints remind us that we must have courage in allow God’s life to grow within us, to let Him be the One who guides our thoughts and actions.  The Christian life demands that we seek to grow every day in our faith.

Only when we are faithful, constant, and trusting in God will God give us the ability and strength to live happily in this life throughout all of life’s challenges and to witness courageously to Him.

This week, families will gather for the great thanksgiving meal.  It is a good and holy thing for families to put aside all of their worldly responsibilities in order to share a good meal with each other.  Yet, God calls us to gather as a family of faith every week, for the Eucharist.  Many would never dream of skipping thanksgiving dinner, but have no problem skipping Sunday Mass. 

Saint Catherine and so many thousands of martyrs died to show us that the practicing our faith is more important than anything else.  Let nothing keep us from the sacred banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of his passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

Through her intercession and holy example may Saint Catherine teach us to be truly grateful for the gift of our salvation and help us to be faithful to Christ in all things, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: November 24 - St. Andrew Dung-Lac & Vietnamese Martyrs

On June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul II canonized a group of 117 martyrs who died for the Roman Catholic Faith in Vietnam during the nineteenth century.   Members of this group included 8 bishops, 50 priests, 59 lay Catholics. 

Christian Persecution in Vietnam was not limited to the 19^th Century however, but existed since the time the Faith was first brought to Vietnam by the Jesuits in the 1600s.  One of the Vietnamese kings saw Christianity as a threat to his rule, so he banned all foreign missionaries and tried to make all Vietnamese deny their faith by trampling on a crucifix. 

Between 100,000 and 300,000 Catholics in Vietnam were subjected to great hardship in the persecutions of the 19^th century, many were killed, including foreign missionaries from France and Spain.  In 1862, the last of the martyrs were 17 laypersons, one of them a 9-year-old.

St. Andrew Dung-Lac was a native Vietnamese diocesan priest. He came from a poor, non-Christian family and was taught by a Christian lay catechist. He worked in the missions with French Missionary Priests. He was imprisoned and repeatedly tortured during the persecutions of Minh-Meng, the emperor of Vietnam between 1820 and 1840 who was famed for his persecutions of the Christians

As John Paul II reiterated during the canonization homily, “the blood of the martyrs, is the seed of the Church.”  Where Christians struggle to remain faithful, where sacrifice is made for the spread of the Gospel, it is there that Christianity flourishes, where souls are brought to Christ. 

The 19^th Century persecution of Christians in Vietnam was among the most terrible in the long history of Christian martyrdom.  Yet, the Church in Vietnam today is alive and vigorous and blessed with strong and faithful bishops, dedicated religious, and courageous and committed laypeople.  Though, I read recently that persecution of Catholics is again rearing its ugly head in Vietnam, especially of Catholics who oppose the Communist Party there.

As we come to the end of another Church year and prepare for the celebration of Advent, we are challenged by the witness of the martyrs.  It is the martyr who is truly prepared for the coming of Christ.  He has readied his soul with virtue, and the deepest trust and faith in God. 

Though we may not be called upon by God to give the witness of martyrdom, we still seek to make our souls like theirs: faithful amidst the trials of this life, making our lives a pleasing sacrifice to Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Solemnity of Christ the King - "Christ in distressing disguise"

Today the Church celebrates with great joy the Solemnity of Christ the King. It is the last Sunday of the liturgical year and, in many ways, the culmination.  All of the seasons and feasts point to this reality: that Jesus Christ is the King of the Universe, the Lord of all.  All of time, all of history, is heading toward this climax when Christ will be revealed as the universal King of Kings.
Although this feast wasn’t officially on the Church calendar until 1929, it’s been a doctrine of the Church since the very beginning—Christ is the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, as Handel’s Messiah proclaims.

For a little cultivation of mind and soul, recently I read Shakespeare’s Henry V.  There is the poignant scene in Act IV when the night before the major battle, King Henry disguises himself as a commoner.  The king dressed in peasant garb visits his soldiers, walks among them, calls them brothers, in order to raise their spirits for the upcoming battle.

Sound familiar?  The King of the Universe became one of us.  And it wasn’t just an act, God really became man, and sent the Church on a campaign to bring the Gospel to all of the corners of the earth.  We refer to the Church on earth, as the Church militant—campaigning through time against the forces of evil, to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom of peace.

Another famous story about royalty disguising itself as the commoner is the story of the Prince and the Pauper.  The prince and a poor commoner trade places, the prince goes and lives in the streets, begging for food, and the pauper lives in the castle and is treated like royalty.  While he is on the streets, some treat the prince with kindness, some ignore him, even spit on him.  At the end of the story, the prince comes back to the castle, sits on his throne and rewards those who cared for him, loved him, helped him, when they did not know he was the prince.

That lesson should sound familiar as well.  It sounds like Matthew’s Gospel this weekend!  In Matthew’s 25th chapter, as he his passion and crucifixion grew closer and closer, Jesus says that the son of man will come back and sit on the throne and make a judgment.  He will separate all of humanity—every human that has ever lived into two camps, the camp of the sheep and the camp of the goats.

And then he listed the critiera upon which he would base this judgement?  The king has very specific criteria, which he makes known to us.

The sheep are those who, throughout their lives performed the works of mercy.  When we were young we learn about the corporal and spiritual works of mercy: feed the hungry, cloth the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, nurse the sick, visit the imprisoned.
Jesus says, that when we personally care for the poor, we care for him.

St. Martin of Tours lived in the 4th century.  He was a soldier, but also a Christian.  And one very cold day, much like today, he came across a poor, nearly naked man, lying at a city gate, begging for help.  Martin had no money.  So the story goes that he took his red soldier’s cape, and cut it in half, and gave it to the poor man, to keep warm.

That night, St. Martin had a dream.  He saw Jesus Christ in the heavens, seated on his throne, wearing half of his red soldier’s cape.  An angel asked Christ, why are you wearing that cape, wear did you get it from?  And Christ responds, “My brother Martin gave that to me.”  When we care for the poor, we care for Christ.

Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta said, “at the end of life, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done, we will be judged by, ‘I was naked and you clothed me, I was hungry and you fed me.”  But then she broadens the concept, “hungry not only for bread, but hungry for love; naked, not only of clothing, but of human dignity and respect, homeless not only of a room of bricks, but also homeless because of rejection…this is Christ in distressing disguise.”

The catechism validates Mother Theresa’s words, when it says, “On Judgment Day at the end of the world, Christ will come in glory to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil…when he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace.”  

There is a great difference between being nice and being holy.  Being nice means not ruffling other people's feathers; being nice, is merely surface deep.  Being holy means going out of our way to do what is morally right, and to serve others in need; it goes deep and always involves self-sacrifice, going the extra mile.

Someone can be nice and still be completely self-centered - using niceness to gain popularity.  But again to quote the catechism, we will be judged according to the “secret disposition of our hearts”.  Jesus calls us not just to be nice on the surface, but to be holy from the inside out.  To do good for others not in order to be rewarded for it, or noticed for it, but because they are truly in need.

We will be judged on how we acted in our everyday lives.  We can show that we are on the side of Christ by looking for opportunities to serve him: by making friends with the new kid at school, defending the colleague who always gets bullied, supporting an unwed mother, adopting an orphan, staying late at work to help a coworker who is behind in his project, bringing fresh flowers to a relative confined to a hospital bed, inviting a lonely neighbor over for tea and cake.

Our everyday encounters carry, as St. Paul says, an “eternal weight of glory”.  Because we perform acts of kindness for Christ, they take on eternal proportions, they reverberate forever.  Through acts of kindness, we can grow in holiness.

The Feast of Christ the king challenges us once again to truly put Christ at the center of our lives: to allow him to reign in every aspect of our life: our political life, our social life, our leisure time, our family, our friends, our parish, our attitudes, our behaviors, our thoughts, to put all under the dominion of Christ, to subject ourselves to his rule, to ready our souls for judgment by serving Christ in the poor, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Nov 21 - Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today’s feast is ancient.  It has been celebrated by Christians since the 6^th century and commemorates an event before the birth of Christ. When Mary was a young girl of the age of 3,  her parents, Joachim and Ann brought her to the Temple in Jerusalem to be presented to God, according to the Jewish custom.

There, Mary would receive her religious formation—brought up by the consecrated virgins of the Temple until she was 11 or 12.  Not long after, she would be betrothed to Joseph.

There in the Temple, Mary would have had a truly blessed childhood: busy with prayer, chores, studying the Sacred Scriptures, learning the prayers should would one day pass on to her son, and loving God with her whole heart.  What a wonderful example she must have been to the other young girls there, to the holy women, and to the priests of the Temple.  And what a wonderful example for us.

On this day, consecrated persons renew their vows to the Lord in memory of the offering of Mary to the Lord’s service. 

In just a few days, this year, on the first Sunday of Advent, we will begin a Year of Consecrated Life.  In the past, the Popes have declared the Year of the Rosary in 2002 the Year of the Eucharist in 2004, Year of St. Paul in 2008, Year of the Priesthood in 2009, Years of Faith in 1967 and 2012.  So this year, Catholics around the world look to the example of the Consecrated Religious, thank God for their wonderful calling, and pray that they can be ever more faithful in being a sign of devotion and a sign of God’s love for the Church.

We will do well to thank God personally for the consecrated religious who have touched our lives, who have taught us our prayers, who have shown us how to practice the works of charity, to pray with them and for them, if they are living, or to raise them up to God if they have passed from earthly life.

At baptism, each of us has been dedicated to the Lord.  We look today and all days the model of discipleship, the Blessed Virgin devoted to God in all things, offering to him her whole pure and immaculate heart, may she continue to teach us to love God as she does, that we may be presented to God as a worthy offering for His glory and the salvation of souls.

Homily: November 17 - St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Today we celebrate the feast of Elizabeth of Hungary patroness of the Franciscan third order.  Elizabeth was born in the year 1207, right about the time St. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscans.

She was the daughter of Andrew II, King of Hungary.  As was the custom at the time, she was betrothed, soon after her birth, and was sent, at the age of 3 years, to be reared in the castle of her betrothed, who was about the same age—Louis, the Landgrave of Thuringia.  St. Elizabeth grew up very devout.  And, even at a young age she loved to give things to the sick and poor, especially lepers. 

Elizabeth and Louis grew up together, they loved each other, and they were both devout.  After their marriage, when she was 18, Louis encouraged her to continue her works of charity. 

In a wonderful description of their marriage, it is written that they had an “unusually happy marriage”.  So often,  vice and sin, selfishness and hard hearts lead to unhappiness in marriage; but God made marriage to help spouses to grow in holiness.  A marriage with God at the center becomes charged and changed by his presence.

St. Elizabeth, as part of her charitable works, built a hospital next to their castle.  She, herself, would personally tend to the sick and the poor, feeding over 900 people daily. 

As all of the saints of the Church, she shared in the cross of Christ.  Her husband died on his way to fight in the crusades.  His four brothers, who weren’t as holy as he, rose up against her, and drove her out of the castle.  She was forced to flee with her 4 children, one of those children being only 2 months old.  She was cast out, like the Holy Family, she could find no place to enter, for people were afraid to take her in out of fear of her husband’s brothers.  Like the Holy family she was granted asylum in a stable. 

The amazing thing, she didn’t complain, she didn’t curse God, she saw this as a sign of God’s favor, and she gave thanks to God for permitting her a share in the savior’s cross and be conformed to the Holy Family.  She continued to work odd jobs, spinning garments and selling them.  She was allowed to come back to the castle under the new emperor, and even built a second hospital.

She died at the age of 24.  Yet, because of the great number of miracles at her grave, Pope Gregory canonized her, only four years after her death.

Here was a holy woman, more concerned about the nobility of her soul, than her noble status in the world—more concerned with clothing her soul with virtue, than with the fine garments of a queen—a holy, virtuous woman, industrious in doing good works. 

Because her eyes were set on heaven, when she met the cross, she did not despair; rather, she saw the sufferings of her life as an opportunity to conform herself to Our Lord.  So let us follow in Elizabeth’s footsteps, in performing many good works and accepting all of the trials that God deigns to send us, and learn to accept the cross with gratitude that we may partake in the cross of His son, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 33rd Sunday in OT - "Blessed are those who fear the Lord"

This week in RCIA, with our adults preparing for initiation into the Catholic Church, we were discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, gifts given to every Christian at their Baptism, which help us to be faithful to all that Jesus calls us to.  Traditionally, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are numbered seven: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord.

Our psalm today mentioned one of the Spirit’s seven-fold gifts. “Blessed are those who fear the Lord.”  Fear of the Lord enables us to live a blessed life.  The book of Proverbs says that “the fear of the Lord” is the beginning of all wisdom; it helps us to live with our priorities straight.

Fear of the Lord, is completely different from fear of spiders or fear of difficult tasks.    

365 times in the bible we find the phrase, “do not be afraid”.  Almost as if saying it once for every day of the year.  When life becomes difficult, when carrying the Christian cross seems daunting, Jesus urges us to a sort of fearlessness, or rather, combating our fear by turning to God, trusting in Him, that he is with us.  “Do not be afraid” is Jesus’ most repeated phrase.  So do not be afraid when life gets difficult, God is with you.  Do not be afraid of the difficult tasks to which God is calling you. 

Founding Father and third President, Thomas Jefferson, spoke about fear: "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When governments fear the people, there is liberty.”  Our politicians could probably do with a little more fear of the people, to remember that it is never wrong to hold our politicians accountable for their negligence of duty.

The biblical greek word  theosebeia, fear of the Lord, though it sounds a bit troubling, is in fact a very good and holy thing. 

Sometimes, fear of the Lord, refers to the reverence God’s people are to have for Him.  We are to revere Him at all times. To revere his Holy Name is to treat his name with respect.  To revere the Lord’s Day is to come to Church for worship.  To revere his Temple is to respect the church building as a house of prayer.  To revere his presence is to genuflect when we enter or exit the Church.  We revere his commands by keeping them always in mind.  In this sense, we cannot revere the Lord too much.

Fear of the Lord also refers to the sense of awe and wonder we are to have for God and for his works.  We visit the grand canyon and niagra falls or study the solar system or witness a child’s birth with a sense of awe at God’s beauty and power and order.  When we read through Scripture we are struck with a sense of awe at what God has done for our salvation; when we reflect on Jesus’ suffering and death, we are struck with awe, even a sense of unworthiness, at the depths of his love.

From the book of Proverbs this morning we read a description of a God-fearing woman. The God-fearing wife “brings good and not evil to her husband, she extends her hands to the poor.”  She recognizes physical beauty is fleeting, so she focuses on the beauty of her soul.  Our culture has it backwards, doesn’t it?  There is an obsession about physical beauty.  But watch MTV for 5 minutes, and you realize there is a monumental difference between physical beauty and moral beauty.  The moral ugliness on television is a good indicator that our culture has been poisoned.

Yet, the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  She becomes a blessing to others because she considers the state of her soul throughout all of her earthly endeavors and relationships.  That goes for men too.

And that’s what “Fear of the Lord” boils down to: considering the state of one’s soul before God.  Most likely, we have so many Catholics we do not go to Mass or Confession because they do not consider the state of their soul before God. They do not have the fear of Lord as they should.  Jesus himself says, “I will show you the one whom you should fear…Fear him who…has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. (Lk 12:5)”

Recently, Pope Francis has stressed the Mercy of God.  Yet, some people, especially in the media, have perverted what the Pope has said, and therefore pervert the Christian message. They equate mercy with doing away with all of the Church’s teaching that we find difficult.  They claim that since God is all-merciful, it doesn’t really matter if we follow the commandments or not; they claim we’re free to redefine Church doctrine to fit more modern sensibilities, like those found on MTV.

To some the two ideas of “Fear of the Lord” on one hand, and “God’s mercy” on the other, are irreconcilable, so they do away with one, depending on their fancy.  In previous centuries, we had rigorist groups like the Jansenists, who lost sight of the power of God’s mercy and love for the sinner.   They required sacramental confession every time you were going to receive the Eucharist, because they claimed most people probably committed mortal sin throughout the week. 

In our own time, we have the other extreme, perverting God’s mercy to mean Divine Permissiveness—treating the commandments more as guidelines that can be bent, shaped, reinterpreted or simply ignored without any danger to immortal soul.

Neither extreme is healthy or accurate.  Rather, fear of the Lord is what enables the sinner to admit his need for God who is merciful.  But God does have expectations of us.

As we heard in the Gospel, when God gives us talents, gifts, we must make use of them in a wise and prudent manner.  Jesus calls the servant “wicked and lazy” who fails to make use of the opportunities God gives him. 

We would like to be counted among the faithful servants in the Lord’s parable today. Yet, we’re honest, aren’t we all a little like that lazy servant.  God has blessed us with so much, yet, we squander, we waste, we hoard for ourselves, cling selfishly to things because of our unhealthy fears. 

In baptism, God has blessed us with this beautiful Gift, fear of the Lord.  It helps us to use the things of this world temperately, lest we use them in ways displeasing to God.  It helps us to keep in mind the great dignity that we are called to as Christians, to keep our hearts pure and holy and pleasing to the lord in all things.  it helps us to be a blessing to others, and build up the Church, and find joy in a life with God at the center for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 32nd Week in OT - Promises and Warnings

Today's scriptures are full of promise and warning. 

In the Psalm we heard promised that those who follow the law of the Lord will be blessed, they will come to beatitude.  We are left wondering though, what about those whose lives are not blameless, those who do not seek God with their whole heart.

In the first reading , John rejoices greatly that some of the Christians are “walking in the truth”.  The truth, for St. John, is the way that leads to the Father.  As he reported Jesus saying in his Gospel, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”

John then warns that there is a group of deceivers, so-called “progressives” that are not teaching accurately about Jesus.  This is a perennial problem in the Church.  John warns that those who do not remain in right teaching, do not have God.

In the Gospel, Jesus is warning his disciples that the second coming will be like the days of Noah and Sodom: some will be ready and some will be left behind.   He promises that those who are prepared will be gathered into the Father’s presence forever.  But he also warns about being found unprepared. 

Those in the days of Noah and Sodom who were unprepared were those who were preoccupied with the things and pleasures of the world.  They had ignored God and wandered away from the obedience of faith.

Promise and warning.  The promise is of eternal life and happiness and joy.  But the great warning is to be prepared.  To prepare our hearts for the day of judgment, by following the law of the Lord, seeking God with our whole hearts, as we heard in the psalm, not seeking to be so “progressive” that we leave the truth of the faith, as we heard in second John, and by turning away from preoccupation with worldly things, to focus on the one thing, as we heard in the Gospel.

While we live in this world, worldliness must not claim our hearts. 

Prepare our hearts O Lord! Make us worthy of your promises and headful of your warnings, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: November 13 - St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Missionary

As a young girl, Francesca Cabrini dreamed of being a missionary.  She would dress up her dolls like nuns and put them in paper boats pretending to send them to China to spread the faith.  She wouldn’t eat sweets because she didn’t think they would have sweets in China. 

Born in the little village of Sant’Angelo in the Lombardy region of Italy, two months premature, she had frail health her entire life.  Though she was a certified teacher by the age of 18, she was rejected by several religious communities because of her poor health. 

But she persevered in following her lifelong calling as a missionary.  At the encouragement of her bishop, Francesca started her own religious community, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1877.  Within a few years she and her sisters had opened six orphanages.

Early in 1889 Pope Leo XIII asked her to go to the United States to care for the Italian Immigrants who came to the US.  Within a few years, she opened a Catholic school in New York City, founded an orphanage and hospital for the immigrants which had wards which were free to the poor.    She built other hospitals in Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Seattle, New Orleans, and Chicago.

Her thirty-seven years as a missionary sister saw her constantly on the move.  When she died in 1917, she left behind sixty-seven convents in Europe, the United States, and South America housing 1500 Sisters.   

Mother Cabrini’s relics are enshrined in the Church’s altar at her shrine in Manhattan, where she served so many Italian immigrants. 

Since she was naturalized as an American citizen in 1909, she is the first American citizen to be canonized. 

At her canonization in 1946, Pius XII said in his homily:

“Where did she acquire all that strength and the inexhaustible energy by which she was able to perform to many good works and to surmount so many difficulties?  She accomplished all this through the faith that was always so vibrant in her heart; through the divine love that burned within her; and, finally, through the constant prayer by which she was so closely united to God…She never let anything turn her aside from striving to please God and to work for his glory for which nothing, aided by grace, seemed too difficult or beyond human strength.

Mother Cabrini lived deeply the mission of the Church to bring Christ’s compassion and care to all people.  May we find through prayer and Sacraments and Mother Cabrini’s intercession, that same inexhaustible energy for serving God’s kingdom for his glory and the salvation of souls.