Homily: Friday of the 1st Week of Lent - Radical Change of Heart

Today Jesus sets some pretty high standards for all of us. “Unless your holiness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the kingdom of God.” How could our holiness possibly "surpass" that of the Pharisees? They prided themselves on following every letter of the law—observance of the 613 commandments found in the Torah, their concern for ritual purity was surpassed by none other.

It seems as if Jesus is demanding the impossible for his disciples.

Remember on Ash Wednesday, we heard the Gospel passage about prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Jesus condemned those who like to parade around, appearing to give alms, or appearing to pray, or appearing to fast. Jesus calls us beyond the mere appearance of following religious laws. He condemned these people who were concerned with mere appearances as hypocrites. The word hypocrite, comes from the greek word meaning, “mask-wearer”. Jesus doesn't want us to act as if we are praying, he wants us to really pray, from the heart. He doesn't want us to just act as if we are charitable, he wants us to really give, to really sacrifice for the good of others.

Jesus saw many of the pharisees as hypocrites, more worried about wearing the mask, acting, appearing to be righteous and in God's friendship. What Jesus teaches is for us to seek radical change. Radical means, going down to the root. To change not just our outward actions, but our inner attitudes.

This sort of inner conversion requires deep examination of our motives. Not only seeking repentance for my road rage, but seeking to change the part of my heart which gets impatient when things don't go my way. Not only avoiding stealing and murdering, but changing the part of my heart that needs to get in the last word when I'm arguing, to change the part of me that takes delight in sharing pieces of juicy gossip, that likes to put my mother-in-law in her place. Not only do we need to avoid stealing, but change the part of us that avoids charitable giving of our time, talent, and treasure.

Radical change requires radical prayer and self-examination in light of the Gospel. Frequent sacramental confessions which go to the root of our selfish attitudes are very helpful in allowing the Lord to change us from the inside-out.

May the Holy Spirit help us to make serious and honest examinations of our lives, motives, attitudes, and habits, and come to that radical change of heart to which the Lord calls us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Wednesday of the 1st Week of Lent - Open to change

The Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent take on a more penitential tone. And our readings are literally about people repenting and the Lord praising their repentance.

The third chapter of Jonah contains one of the most dramatic responses to the call to repentance in the entire old covenant—the entire a city of Nineveh—about 120,000 people—everyone, the nobility, the peasantry, even the cattle and sheep—all repented when God sent Jonah to preach to them.

When the Ninevites repented, they expressed their repentance by fasting, covering themselves with sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. But better yet, they had the best sort of repentance, as they indicated their sorrow "by their actions how they turned from their evil way".

During lent we undertake the external practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to show our repentance, as signs of repentance, and to bring about that entire conversion which will have an effect on our behavior, attitudes, and choices.

Why, does Jesus in the Gospel call this generation, an evil generation? Because it was so resistant to repentance. It didn’t want conversion, it didn’t want to be open to God’s message as the Ninevites were, it wanted signs, it wanted a magic show, it wanted to be entertained. Sounds familiar.

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

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

What God desires so much more than Catholics to give up Chocolate and meat on Fridays, is that we be changed by our Lenten sacrifice—that our spirits be renewed for the work of the spread of the Gospel throughout the world. What kind of change does God want for us this Lent? Perhaps it's a change in the way we treat strangers, or treat family members, perhaps it's a change in the way we spend our free time, perhaps it's going from a mediocre prayer life, to an intense experience of God's presence through prayer.

May the Holy Spirit open our hearts to the change God wants for us this Lent for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of the 1st Week in Lent - What is holiness?

I remember quite vividly attending a high school graduation party of a very good friend of mine almost the summer after my first year of seminary. Some of my friends still couldn’t believe that I had even chosen to enter the seminary, and so they had a lot of questions. What was it like? Do you really just pray all day? Isn’t it boring?

Some of my friends grew up without really practicing any sort of faith, and so they had a lot of questions about religion and Catholicism. One of them thought that I was wasting my time with studying to be a priest because he thought religion was just one big waste of time.

I remember saying to him, “For thousands of years people have practiced religion because they thought it was the path to holiness.” I asked him, what is holiness? And he looked at me like he’d never even heard the word before. The idea of 'holiness' just didn't fit in to his secular worldview. Nearly every culture in human history has had some sense of sense of this word.

People would seek out the holy places in order to commune with the divine, or seek the advice of holy men and women: the hermit, the holy man, the shaman. And for many of these cultures, the moral codes were not just a set of laws prescribed for the ordering of society, but they also helped a person be in right relationship with their god. Even Socrates had a conversation with the religious expert Euthyphro, “what does it mean to be holy”.

Over and over in the Old Testament, God explains that his actions and commands are for the purpose that his people may be holy as he is holy. In the first reading we heard the words which God spoke to Moses, tell the assembly, all the children of Israel, tell them, “Be Holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” And then he lists a number of commandments. Being holy involves avoiding stealing, not lying, not speaking profanely about God. It involves treating workers fairly, being patient with those who struggle, acting honestly, and justly, correcting other believers so that they don’t fall into sin, and loving your neighbor.

In the Gospel, Jesus explains not only the criteria for a holy life, but also the consequences for failing to live a holy life. If throughout life we ignore the cries of the poor, there will be eternal consequences.

Both readings show that holiness is very practical. Holiness isn't a feeling that we evoke in ourselves. Nor is it that abstract. Holiness involves practical, concrete works of generosity, self-giving, self-denial, self-sacrifice.

During Lent, we not only root out our selfish attitudes and behaviors, but seek to cultivate practices of holy generosity and self-giving for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 1st Sunday of Lent - Desert Warfare

In Old Testament times, soldiers and warriors would be anointed with oil before battle.  This weeks Gospel immediately follows Jesus' annointing by the Holy Spirit at his Baptism.  Like the soldiers and warriors of old, following his anointing, Jesus is led by the Spirit to do battle in the desert with Satan.

To the biblical imagination, the desert is not only a place of trial and challenge, but the dwelling of the evil spirits.  The Gospel mentioned the wild beasts—the desert predators—that also lurked there.  Well, in the desert, Jesus encountered the greatest of predators—the Devil—he who Saint Peter says “lurks like a prowling lion looking for souls to devour”.  This is the same predator that lurked in the garden of Eden under the form of a serpent.

Jesus went into the desert—into Satan's territory—deliberately—to begin his campaign of spiritual warfare against the powers of evil which would culminate in his ultimate victory over the powers of sin and death on the cross.

Now, you might say, well, what kind of fight is that anyway, Jesus who is God versus some fallen angel? There’s no challenge there.  The devil is not God's equal. “By the blast of God his enemies perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed,” and all that.  Of course Jesus is going to be come out victorious.  But Jesus doesn’t confront Satan with a blast of divine lightning, but with his frail human nature.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi, a good Italian Franciscan saint from the 16th century comments: “Christ came into the world to do battle against Satan…He could have accomplished this by using the weapons of his …but in order that his victory might be the more glorious, he willed to fight Satan in our weak flesh.  It is as if an unarmed man, right hand bound, were to fight with his left hand alone against a powerful army; if he emerged victorious, his victory would be regarded as all the more glorious.  So Christ conquered Satan with the right hand of his divinity bound and using against him only the left hand of his weak humanity.”

Christian tradition has always recognized the spiritual battle as a dimension of the Christian life.   Just as Jesus was tempted and tested, so are his disciples.  Just as Christ was opposed by the hostile powers of evil, so are his disciples.  And just as Christ was misunderstood and persecuted by the world, so are his disciples.  But, just as Christ was victorious over the powers of sin and death, so, shall his disciples be, because, the victorious Christ dwells within them.

The Catechism says that all of human history is a story of combat with the powers of evil. It says, “The whole of man's history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day.” Think about it, up and down the centuries we have stories of men and women who choose good and men and women who choose evil.  Think about how our nation's history—how greed and slavery and selfish men have compromised our nation's greatness.

Who here has not been affected by the powers of evil.  Temptation is on every television channel, on every website, temptation to cheat our neighbor, to cheat on one's spouse, to cheat at school, to cheat at work.

“Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield,” the catechism says, “man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God's grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity.”

The season of Lent provides the opportunity to take a stand against those temptations, to fight against the distractions which keep us from that integrity the catechism mentions.

The long history of the Church has preserved prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as indispensible practices for our spiritual integrity.  Fasting for Christians isn’t just a sort of religious weight loss program.  We don’t fast for the purpose of reducing our waist size.  We fast in order to deepen our hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Fasting and self-restraint are disciplines necessary for our eternal salvation and our Christian mission on earth.

Last night, here at St. Clare we began our Lenten Book Club “The Screwtape Letters” by the great 20th century Christian apologist C. S. Lewis.  Screwtape is the name of a demon writing letters to his demon nephew with instructions on how to tempt the human assigned to him.  Screwtape Letters is an excellent case study in the psychology of temptation, the tactics which the Enemy uses to turn our minds and hearts away from God.

For C.S. Lewis, losing our souls wasn't the result of one terrible sin, but a lifetime of cutting corners, of sliding very gradually into selfishness.  The loss of one's soul, for C.S. Lewis, came as a result of many lost battles in which we, using our free will, choose bodily desire over faith.

We had a packed room last night, even when Cleveland is getting more snow than Anchorage Alaska and was colder than certain parts of Siberia, the devil drew a good crowd.  And really, it wasn't the devil, it was the Lord, who teaches us, and arms us.  If you aren't able to make the book club, consider doing some spiritual reading this Lent, that the challenges us to think about the spiritual life in a fresh way.

Firstly, this Lent we do well to take up the weapons of self-restraint: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  God has given us the weapons and the training, but it is up to us to use them.  If we are pushovers to every impulse of our senses, every bodily desire, every fleshly temptation, we are not living the authentic Christian life.

Secondly, we have to remember, that we are in enemy occupied territory.  We will be constantly bombarded with enemy propaganda.  The enemy knows our weaknesses, he knows the tone of voice of our spouse to which we are the most impatient, he knows the websites to which to lead us, his hand is literally on the mouse, he knows how busy we are and how to distract us from dedicating time to prayer as we ought.

The enemy is smarter than us, and knows us better than we know ourselves. And so must must cling to Christ our victor.

So during Lent we become refamiliarized with our marching orders and in whose territory we are fighting, what the stakes are, what our weapons are, who are general is; we get back down to the bedrock basics of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, to do all we can in the battle for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday after Ash Wednesday - "Then they will fast"

Jesus offers a strange, even confusing prophecy in the Gospel this morning: “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”  This statement is confusing.  For Is Jesus not still with us?  Before his Ascension he says, "Behold, I am with you always until the end of time".  So, are we supposed to fast or not?

The Bridegroom is INDEED still with us.  In the real presence of the Eucharist, in the celebration of word and sacrament, where two or three are gathered in his name.  Jesus told his disciples not to fast as long as he is with them, so are we supposed to fast or not?

The reality of Lent and lenten fasting isn't that Jesus is not with us, but that we are not always with HIM.  We fast, not because he has left us, but that we have so often, voluntarily, through our sins, left him.

Fasting is one of those means by which we begin to hunger for Him again.  Through fasting we recognize that the things in this world are not what make us full and satisfy us, but that only God can do that.  And so we fast, in order to stoke up our hunger and thirst for God, for righteousness, for faithfulness.

We certainly fast this Lent by cutting down on the unnecessary worldly activities: limiting the television, limiting the desserts, limiting the snacking.  Perhaps a few days this Lent to fast on bread and water.  We fast that we may hunger for what truly fills us, lest we become satisfied with the things of the world.

Healthy fasting should always lead us to the other two lenten disciplines of prayer and almsgiving.

Listen again to what Isaiah had to say about fasting today: his, rather, is the fasting, that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the throngs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.”

Our fasting helps us come to Jesus more closely in prayer, that we might go out to the world with Him in charity.  May our Lenten fasting help us hunger and thirst more deeply for doing God's Holy Will, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Ash Wednesday 2015 - "Repent and Believe in the Gospel"

You may have noticed that Mass started a little differently today.  After the sign of the cross and the greeting, typically, we have the penitential rite.  We acknowledge our sins in order to prepare ourselves for the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries.

It is fitting that Mass begins with the call to repentance, for Jesus began his public ministry calling people to repentance.  The very first words out of our Savior's mouth in Mark's Gospel are the words “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”  μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ, in St. Mark's Greek.

Tonight, instead of the penitential rite at the beginning of Mass, ashes will be placed on your foreheads as a sign of repentance, and those same words as Jesus spoke will be spoken to you: “μετανοεῖτε, Repent and Believe in the Gospel”

What does it mean to 'repent'?  Yesterday, over in the day school, I asked the seventh and eighth graders, what does that word mean: repent?  Sometimes we use words so often they lose their meaning.   Well, they gave me a lot of really good answers: to repent means to be sorry for your sins, to turn away from your sins, to ask God forgiveness, to ask God for mercy, to change your sinful attitudes and behaviors, to work to repair the damage done through your sins.

Sometimes when young children break the rules, their parents ask them, are you sorry for what you did? To which they respond, I'm sorry I got caught.  That's not repentance.

The greek word in St. Mark's Gospel for repent is the word, “metanoia”, which means change your heart, change your way of life, go beyond your old way of doing things.  The prophet Joel gives a good definition of repentance in our first reading today. Urging those who had strayed from God's commandments he says: “return to me with all your heart.”

So, the repentance which begins this lenten season isn't just making ourselves feel sorry for your sins.  It's meant to be the beginning of a change in us: in our attitudes, in our behaviors.

The ashes which you receive today are not just an outward sign for other people to see that you are a Christian. In the Gospel, Jesus condemns the hypocrites for their outward show.  The word hypocrite comes from the greek word meaning mask wearer.  A hypocrite was an actor.

Today's ashes are an outward visible, sign of our faith, but they also represent our inner desire to be changed by God.

Today's ashes are not about wearing a mask, but piercing through the illusions of our egotism, of asking God to free us from our sinful, selfish attitudes, behaviors and attachments.  Today's ashes mark us as pilgrims on a 40 day-long journey of inner renewal.  The dead palm branches remind us to die to the things that keep us from serving God with our whole hearts.

Similarly Lent is like going back to boot camp or basic training.  People who enlist in military service know that those first few days of boot camp can be brutal.  The officers push you to your limits in order to help you be faster, stronger, endure more, think faster, and be more obedient to orders.

The Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, mentioned by Our Lord in the Gospel today are meant to stretch us.

Starting today we will pray more, we will fast more, we will give of ourselves more.  We go beyond our ordinary religious practice, we rigorously practice self-restraint, that we may experience the metanoia which Jesus preached.  This can be a life changing lent for you if you want it to be.  Allow God to stretch you this Lent, to lead you beyond old selfish ways of thinking and acting; let him transform you, that you may become an ever more effective witness and instrument of his grace in the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time - Cain's Unacceptable Sacrifice

Why was Abel’s sacrifice found pleasing to God and his brother Cain’s was not?

The Letter to the Hebrews explains  “By faith Abel offered God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s.” 

Something important, something vital was lacking in Cain’s sacrifice.  When he offered to God the fruits of his labors he did so with defective faith.  Biblical scholars have discussed what this has meant for centuries. 

Abel gave God the best firstlings of his flock; perhaps Cain only gave God the leftovers.  Perhaps Cain offered the sacrifice half-heartedly.  Remember our Lord praises the widow who gave, not from her leftovers, but from her need.

Cain had no doubt worked hard to produce his harvest, but perhaps he loved the fruits of his labor more than God—loving what is seen more than He who is unseen.  Perhaps he wanted to get the sacrifice over as soon as possible so he could go back to worldly pursuits--like the person who wants Mass to be over as soon as possible so they can go back to playing Angry Birds on their iPhones.

Perhaps, he only offered the sacrifice in order to get something out of it.  Kind of like the followers of the so-called Prosperity Gospel today, who come to Christ because they believe God will make them prosperous and wealthy in this life on earth. 

Just how Cain’s sacrifice was defective in faith, we do not know.  But it seems God even gave Cain another chance” “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen,” the Lord asks Cain.  If you do well, you can hold up your head…There’s a demon lurking at the door, but you can be his master.”  The Lord was explaining that there was still time, there was still a choice to be made. 

Maybe Cain did not understand the Word God spoke to him, but rather than seeking to understand, rather than seeking to perfect his defective sacrifice, rather than submitting to God, Cain submits to the demon.  He closes his ears to God, he becomes closed in on himself, he gives in to the feelings of jealousy and resentment, and he takes Abel into a field and attacks and murders him.

Often, our anger and feelings of resentment come as a result of turning away from the truth, turning away from faith.  There are people who hate the Church simply because she claiming that there is right way and a wrong way to live. 

St. Paul in his letter to the Romans urges Christians to offer their bodies and minds—their very selves—as living sacrifices to God, by not conforming to the pattern of this world, but being renewed through Christian truth.

The letter to the Hebrews speaks once more of the sacrifice of Abel: “You have drawn near…to Jesus…and to the sprinkled blood which speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.”

As we draw near to Jesus and to His blood in the Eucharist today, may we come to offer a more pleasing sacrifice of ourselves to God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time - Ephphatha, Be opened!

Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf, was once asked:  If you had a choice of being blind or deaf, which would you choose?  She replied that she would prefer to be blind because deafness makes communication so difficult. 

By definition a community is a group of people one can communicate with.  Being deaf and mute in Jesus time would result in virtual isolation from one’s community.  This man had no access to the speech of others.  The stories of history and faith, which were mostly passed on orally in Jesus’ time, were completely closed to him.

So, when Jesus healed him and spoke the words, “Ephphatha, Be opened,” he literally tore down the walls that kept this man from the fullness of life.  Now, he could hear the sacred stories of his people, the laughter of children, and communicate his wants and desires to them as well.   Now, he could hear of God’s immense love for him.

During the baptism ritual, the priests recalls this powerful story.  Touching the ears and mouth of the person being baptized the priest says, “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak.  May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God.”  In the old days, during this rite, the priest would moisten his thumb with saliva, like Jesus in the Gospel.

Just as physical deafness and muteness hinder or even sever our ability to communicate, spiritual deafness and muteness hinder our communion with God. 

We heard the story of the “original sin” of Adam and Eve in our first reading today.  Here is the origin of our spiritual deafness, when Adam and Eve closed their ears to the commands of God.  They chose, with their free will, to not listen, to disobey.  Not only are we born with the effects of this spiritual deafness, but the cycle of sin in each of our lives continues this turning away from the voice of God.

Jesus healing the deafmute man in the Gospel reminds us that Jesus came to cure us from not only physical deaf muteness, but spiritual deaf muteness as well.  May our ears be open to receive his word as it comes to us through scripture and the teaching of the Church.  May our mouths be open to proclaim that faith when we are called to share it, with unbelievers, with those who need encouragement in the faith.  May each of us come to hear more deeply God’s great love for each of us, and share the message of that love with others, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Feb 10 - St. Scholastica - Love more, do more - School Mass

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Scholastica twin sister of St. Benedict.  

Benedict was studying in Rome when he heard God calling him to devote all of his life to serving God. He organized several communities of monks who also felt called to religious life.  The most famous of Benedict’s monasteries was at Monte Cassino, in Italy. 

His sister, Scholastica also felt called to the religious life, and the two siblings helped each other start a community for religious women about five miles south of Benedict’s monastery.

Because they were so dedicated to their holy way of life, they were only able to visit together once a year, and only for a short while, for they both had to return to their communities according to their rule of life. 

One year, they met at a residence half way between their two communities to spend the day praying and  speaking of God and the spiritual life.

When Benedict said he had to return to the monastery, Scholastica begged him to stay and talk awhile longer. Benedict refused, saying that his rule required that the monks be in their monastery at night. Heartbroken, Scholastica folded her hands, put her head on the table, and quietly wept and prayed. As she prayed, a storm began, so terrible that no one could venture out. "What have you done?" Benedict exclaimed to his sister. She explained that since he had refused the favor she has asked, she had turned to God instead, and God granted it. Benedict and Scholastica continued their conversation and prayer until morning.  And then both returned to their monastery. 

Three days later, while praying in his cell, Benedict had a vision that his sister had died.  In his vision her soul rose to heaven in the form of a dove.  Benedict buried his sister in the tomb that had he had originally prepared for himself.

Scholastica loved and served God with a purity of heart, and purity of heart leads to the experience of the joy of God’s friendship.    St. Gregory the Great said, “Since God is love, then surely he can do more who loves more.”  The story of Scholastica and Benedict illustrates the power of love and faith and trust in God, something we are all called to.

Scholastica is honored as a consecrated virgin.  The consecrated virgin dedicates her life to deepening her faith and love for God.  Pope Francis has designated this year as a Year for Consecrated Life. 

Sometime this year, every young person should ask God, “Are you calling me to consecrated life, like St. Scholastica, like St. Benedict”?  The Church needs monks and nuns who are powerful witnesses of God’s love.  Monks and nuns to remind us that God’s love is more important than worldly fame, success, money, and the accumulation of possessions and pleasures.

How do you know if God might be calling you to become a consecrated religious?  When you think about living a life totally dedicated to God, does that fill you with a sense of peace or joy?  Do you have a desire to make the world a better place by serving Jesus? 

Each of us should pray constantly, asking God to show us how we can be of greater service to Jesus.  But particularly this year, pray for an openness to a life dedicated to God as a religious sister or brother.  God has a plan for each of us, and when we say yes to that plan, we will find our greatest joy.

The primary tenet of the rule of St. benedict, which Scholastica helped author is “To prefer nothing to Christ.”  May God help all of us “prefer nothing to Christ”, that we may serve Him and find joy in Him always, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time - How Great Thou Art!

For several weeks we have been reading from the letter to the Hebrews.  Today until Ash Wednesday we will be reading from the first book of the Bible—the book of Genesis. 

Genesis opens with the account of the seven days of creation.  Throughout the seven days God speaks a word and the corresponding reality comes into being.  On the first day God speaks light into existence. "Then God said, "Let there be light, and there was light."  At the end of each day God stands back and reflects, "And God saw how good it was."

The responsorial psalm takes up the theme of glorifying God for the beauty and might of creation.  Blessing God for the manifold works of creation.

Throughout Christian history hearts have been moved spontaneously to praise God for the gift of creation.  One of the most loved Christian hymns "How Great Thou Art," praises God for wonders of creation:

O Lord my God!  When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy pw'r throughout the universe displayed;

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee,

How great thou art, how great thou art!

It is a gift to be able to look at creation, and to be filled with wonder and awe at what God has done.  It is in fact one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be filled with wonder and awe at the works of God.  Like all the gifts, wonder and awe needs to be cultivated.  Spending time in nature, considering how beautiful God must be if his creation is so beautiful.

In our modern age, with such an abundance of technology we sometimes fail to appreciate the beauty of creation.   A real tree, real clouds, real snow will always be more beautiful and more reflective of the Creator than their digital counterparts. 

Many of our young people don’t even go outside to play anymore.  It is bad for the soul to spend so much time alienated from nature for nature is created good by God himself. 

Old Father Wilfred Smith, long time pastor out at St. Mary’s in Mentor, upon retirement came to live at my home parish out in Madison for many years.  He would often say, we need to learn to thank God for the sunrise, and thank God for taste buds.  Thank God for the ability to experience his beauty in creation, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - "For this reason have I come"

I don’t know about you, but I found Jesus’ response to Simon in the Gospel today, somewhat strange and even a little perplexing.  Jesus had spent the previous day healing an entire town.  People suffering from illnesses and demon possessions came to him to be healed. 

After going to bed, probably after midnight, like so many of us he rose very early, before dawn to go and pray.  Likely, he wasn’t able to spend much time in prayer, for St. Mark tells us how Simon and those who were with him tracked Jesus down and exclaims, “Everyone is looking for you!”  No doubt all those people who Jesus had spent hours healing the day before, had friends and family from the surrounding region who wanted to be healed by Jesus too.

And here’s what’s strange.  We might have expected Jesus to be a little bit more excited about this.  “Wonderful”, he might have said.  The ministry seems to be off to a great start.  People were healed, more people were asking for more.

Yet, how did Jesus respond when he heard that everyone was looking for him?  Did he say, “wonderful, come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you” as he does later in the Gospel?  No, he says, let’s get out of here.  Let us go to the neighboring town.  And then he explains his motive: “let us go, that I may preach, for this reason I have come.” 

We are reminded here that the reason Jesus had come was not simply to heal our physical illnesses.  This is not to say that his healing miracles were bad.  Of course he loved everyone who he had healed, everyone who he had liberated.  He loved every single person with the burning love of God. 

More than helping to relieve our physical sufferings, He came to proclaim and usher in the kingdom of God, for the forgiveness of sins—to reconcile sinners estranged from God.

Jesus didn’t want people coming to him just because he was a miracle worker.  He wanted to give them something more.  He wanted the people to come to Him not as the Physician of their mortal bodies, but as the savior of their immortal souls.

This isn’t the only time Jesus has to correct the apostles and to remind them of the real reason for his ministry.  Remember, after he had performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fed all those thousands of people, they continued to follow him, and he turns to them and says with great candor, “Amen, Amen I say to you, you are looking for me because you ate your fill of the loaves”.  They were looking for a Baker: they wanted a free lunch rather than a savior. 

All of the miracles of Jesus, though good in themselves, were meant to show people who he was.  He was God, in the flesh, come to save them, to bring them healing, not merely of body, but of soul, to feed them not merely with bread of the earth, but food from heaven, not merely to calm physical storms, but the storms of our souls.

Remember when Jesus foretold his Crucifixion and Death, Peter says God forbid, that should never happen to you.  And how does Jesus respond?  “Get behind me Satan; you are thinking not as God, but man”

Sometimes we like Peter view Jesus on our terms instead of his.  We become upset with God when our prayers do not seem to be answered on our terms.  God why won’t you find me a job.  God why won’t you bring peace to my troubled family.  God why won’t you take away my annoying neighbors.  God why won’t you relieve my suffering.

In our own day, many come to Jesus as they came to him then, as a miracle worker—someone who might be able to pull some strings with God, so that we can get what we want, as a powerful friend who can provide a quick-fix to some problem we are facing. 

I think we are challenged by this Gospel today to really ask ourselves, “why am I here?”  Why do I come to Mass?  Is it because we are hungering and thirsting for what God really wants to give us?  Are we here to try to align our priorities with His? Or align His to ours?  Are we here in order to change God’s mind about something? Or to allow him to change ours?

I came across a wonderful article this week titled “My Top Ten Favorite Excuses that People give for not going to Church”.  I shared it on my Facebook account if you are interested.  One of the excuses listed in the article is the ever-popular “if I walk into a church the roof will fall down”.  Honesty, with some people,  I’m a little surprised when the roof doesn’t fall down!  Higher up on the list is something “Mass is soooooo booooring, I just don’t get anything out of it.”

There is some truth to that.  Coming to Mass won’t put more money in the wallet.  It probably won’t help you get a job.  If you have company coming over this weekend, coming to Mass isn’t going to clean your house.  The psychological benefit probably isn’t any greater than getting an extra hour of sleep and exorcising for an hour.

Coming to Mass from an earthly point of view is a waste of time.  The football game is more entertaining, the extra hour of sleep is more calming, you don’t have to deal with the whole parking lot situation, and there are more practical things to do.  Redoing the kitchen, paying the bills, cleaning the house.

But no amount of house renovations, yard work, sports games can bring us the gift of everlasting life.

“For this reason, have I come,” Jesus says today: to preach the Gospel. 

And so we are challenged today to embrace his Gospel more deeply.  To allow him to change our minds and hearts, so we like St. Paul may come to say “woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel”  Woe to me if I do not live the Gospel.  Woe to me, if I do anything other than for the sake of the Gospel.

Conversion, Growing in faith, growing in holiness, and receiving the gifts God wants to give us often requires a reorientation of our priorities.   Mass, daily prayer, scripture reading, study of the catechism: we practice our faith, not just we can turn to Jesus for a miracle, if and when we need one, but that his Gospel may bring our souls to life

Help us Lord to come to you on your terms, to live the Gospel on your terms, bring us to life and strengthen us in holiness on your terms for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Feb 6 - Saint Paul Miki & Companions - 26 Japanese Martyrs

Saint Paul Miki and his 25 companions suffered martyrdom on February 5, 1597 on a hill overlooking Nagasaki, Japan, on what is now called the Holy Mountain.  The group was comprised of 6 Franciscans from Spain, Mexico, and India and 3 native Japanese Jesuits.  Among the 17 lay Catholics martyred there were catechists, doctors, simple artisans and servants, old men and innocent children.

After being forced to march 600 miles from Kyoto to Nagasaki, they were all hung on wooded crosses with ropes and chains and then put to death by the thrust of a lance. 

Paul Miki had joined the Jesuits as a young man and become known for his eloquent preaching.  He helped many Buddhists embrace Christianity.  Now many of the people that he had helped to convert were being crucified along with him.

There would be more persecutions in the years to follow.  Many would be forced to publically renounced their faith.  The Japanese Catholics would did not apostatize would undergo some of the most severe torture in this history of the Church.

While hanging upon a cross, Paul Miki preached to the people gathered for the execution: “The only reason for my being killed”, he said, “is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ… I thank God it is for this reason I die… After Christ’s example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”

For nearly two hundred years, priests, religious, and Christians missionaries, Catholic and Protestant, were banned from Japan.  And, when missionaries returned to Japan in the 1860s, at first they found no trace of Christianity. Yet, soon they discovered thousands of Christians living around Nagasaki. They had secretly preserved the faith that Paul Miki and his companions died for two hundred years.

The spread of Christianity in the Far East is slow and difficult.  Today, Christians in Japan comprise only 2.5% of the population.  Yet, there is far less government interference in Japan than there is in say China or certainly North Korea.

When John Paul II visited Nagasaki in 1981, he said, “In this holy place, people of all walks of life gave proof that love is stronger than death. They embodied the essence of the Christian message, the spirit of the Beatitudes, so that all who look up to them may be inspired to let their lives be shaped by unselfish love of God and love of neighbor.”

May we like Paul Miki and his companions be found faithful in witnessing to the unselfish love of God and neighbor, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: February 2 - Feast of the Presentation - Feast of the Encounter

Forty days have passed since Christmas.  According to Jewish custom, Jesus was brought to the Temple by Mary and Jesus

According to Mosaic law, a woman was considered ritually unclean for 40 days after giving birth.  At that point, she was expected to present herself to the priests of the Temple and offer sacrifice to mark her purification.

Today’s celebration is as much a celebration of Jesus’ first appearance in the temple, as it is that of Mary’s purification.

Sometimes today’s feast is even called the “Feast of the Encounter” referring to the encounter Simeon and Anna had with Jesus.  Because of their faithful observance of God’s law, by fasting and prayer and hope in God’s promises, Simeon and Anna were able to encounter Jesus at a deep level of faith, as the long awaited Messiah.

In the 8^th century Pope Sergius began the tradition of a candle-lit procession on this day; which led to the custom of blessing candles on this day for the entire church year. 

Saint Pope John Paul II designated February as the World Day for Consecrated Life; as Jesus was presented to the Lord he was consecrated for His mission of the salvation of mankind.  Many consecrated religious with their communities will renew their religious vows on this day.

Today might be a good day, especially since many in this part of Ohio are snowed in today, for a quiet day of reflection and gratitude.  To think about and thank God for the people that have helped us encounter Jesus at a deeper level.  Our parents and grandparents who passed on the faith to us, the catechists, the priests.  Particularly, today, on this World Day for Consecrated Life during this Year for Consecrated Life, we do well to pray for the consecrated religious who have touched and blessed our lives, teaching us, guiding us, helping us to encounter Jesus more deeply.  Pray for their souls, and pray that young men and women may continue to answer God’s call to religious life, that they may be a blessing in the Church to help others encounter Jesus.

Through prayer we do well to present ourselves to God for his plan, his purpose.  We may ask Him today to give us a deeper knowledge of how we may use our gifts and talents to serve Him.  Perhaps he is calling us to begin a new chapter, a new mode of service.  

Homily: 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Power over unclean spirits

In Our Gospel reading today from very early on in St. Mark’s Gospel, the first chapter, we witness this dramatic encounter between Jesus and the Devil.  The devil had taken possession of a man in the synagogue where Jesus had been teaching.

Typically, we say that Jesus’ first public miracle was his turning water into wine at the Wedding at Cana.  But his first miracle in the Gospel of Mark is that of rebuking the unclean spirit and commanding it to leave this man.  His first miracle, in Mark at least, was an exorcism.

Although we have seen a proliferation of horror movies on the topic of demonic possession in recent years, the devil is certainly not a fashionable topic in polite society.  Modern elites will often dismiss our Christian belief in angels and demons as childish and unscientific.

Yet, the story of Jesus’ life and ministry simply cannot be told without referring to the adversary.
The Apostle John, in his First Letter (4:8), sums up Jesus'  entire mission with the following words: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." Jesus frequently refers to the devil in his parables and other teachings, and the devil himself engages Jesus in the desert and returns again later to engineer Judas' betrayal (cf. John 13:2).

This Gospel lesson is perhaps uncomfortable, but undeniable: the devil is real, and he is bent on sabotaging the work of grace.

The devil is a fallen angel: an angel who was created good by God but then rebelled against God and took many of his fellow angels with him in that rebellion.  The fallen angles, called demons, together continue to work against God by seeking to extinguish the life of grace in human souls.  They try to convince us to use our free will, like them, to revolt against God by breaking his commandments.

And the devil is relentless.  As St Peter puts it in his First New Testament Letter (1 Peter 5:8): "Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour.”
St. Mark called the demon today “an unclean spirit.”  ‘Unclean’, is an Old Testament term for a person or thing that has been ritually defiled and therefore prohibited from taking part in worship. The devil was cast out of heaven because he defiled himself by refusing to worship and obey God.

The demons are unclean, too, because they are filled not with God’s love and life and beauty and truth but malice and hatred for God and his creation.

Christians, if we are to be filled with God’s life and truth and come to behold the face of God in heaven, we must remain pure by refraining from Sin.  Jesus in the beatitudes said “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

The enemy attacks us on many fronts—impurity, impatience, attitudes of anger and violence, fear of speaking the truth.  Sometimes he tries to keep our wounds of grief open much too long, or to keep us from forgiving one who has hurt us.  Sometimes he raises up a distraction to keep us from praying, or brings up images to distract us during times of prayer.  Most often he urges us to find comfort and pleasure in things other than finding our joy in God.  He is bent on keeping us from deepening in God’s grace, in growing in love of our neighbor.

But all of his attacks can be resisted by clinging to Christ.  St. James says, “resist the devil, and he will take flight.”  We resist him by making the sign of the cross and speaking the names of Jesus and Mary when we are tempted, and by building up our resistances to demonic attack by practicing prayer and charity throughout the day. So many times we fall into sin because we fail to put up any fight. We heard St. Paul in the second reading today say, “adhere to the Lord without distraction” Cling to him, when you are facing anxiety about your marriage, cling to him, in times of temptation.

The presence of the demons is perhaps frightening.  Yet, in our Gospel today it was the unclean spirit that was filled with anguish and terror when Jesus unleashed his power to free the possessed man.  The power and authority of Christ is infinitely superior to the demons.  God and the Devil are not equal in power.  The entire demonic army is cast out by a single word. This should fill us with great hope and confidence.  Any and all evil in our lives and in our world is able to be overcome by the power and love of God.

There is a spiritual battle going on beneath and above the surface of human history, and of our personal history.  We cannot avoid being involved in this battle as long as we are here on earth - the devil is just too interested in making our lives miserable, now and forever, by separating us from God.  But Jesus was able to expel the demon from this possessed man easily and definitively. And he is also able to give us strength to overcome the temptations that plague us.

Three things especially can help this strength flow more freely in our lives.

First, stay close to Christ, cling to him, adhere to him without distraction.  It was because the man in the Gospel came near to Christ, that the demon was expelled.    The same goes for us if we stay close to Christ, especially through regular prayer and the Eucharist.

Second, stay close to the truth. The devil's main weapon is deception. He manipulates our selfish tendencies by filling our minds with lies and half-truths. This is one reason he fights to keep us out of the confessional. Confession is the gift of truth: we face the truth about ourselves by confessing our sins, failures, and weaknesses, and God, through the priest, reminds us of his truth: mercy, forgiveness, and unconditional grace. The devil loves the darkness; confession unleashes the light.

Third, stay close to others in need. The devil is the lord of selfishness, and Christ is the Lord of love. When we resist our selfishness by serving others, whatever their need may be, we weaken the devil's influence in our lives.

Today, as Jesus becomes present to us in this Holy Mass, let us renew our commitment to Him. That each day this week, we will draw near to Christ in prayer, near to Christ by studying the truth of our faith, and close to those in need for the glory of God and salvation of souls.