Homily: Monday of the 4th Week of Easter - I came so that they might have life

When Saint John Paul II came to the United States for World Youth Day back in 1993, the theme for World Youth Day, that year was taken from the words of Jesus in the last line of today’s Gospel: I Came that they might have life and have it abundantly.

That’s a pretty important line for the mission of the Church and for each of us individually.

For so often, our Christian faith is caricatured by the world as a very negative way of life—that all we do as Christians is say “no” to very enjoyable things.  Perhaps as a priest, we hear this critique more than lay catholics: we give up sex, we give up money, we give up control.  It seems to some that all we do is “give things up”.  And perhaps priests do not preach enough about how much we actually gain through our very unique relationship with the Lord and the Church.

And perhaps one of the reasons Catholics do not spread the faith as much as we should is because our notion of the faith is burdensome, and we don’t want to place our burdens on people. 

One of the joys of working with the RCIA program is that the new Catholics find the faith as anything but a burden.  They experience the joy of finally finding their home, after many, many years of searching.  Finally, being reunited with their family, for whom they have been longing; finally, receiving a drink of fresh, clean water, after years and years of thirsting.  Finally, discovering the purpose of their life.  And there is great joy in that.

We are never hesitant about spreading the faith, when we are in touch with the true joy that comes only through the Christian faith.

For true joy and Life to the fullest is available to mankind through the Christian faith and the Christian faith alone.  For life to the fullest is available to mankind through Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ alone. 

For, his notion of abundant life is very different from the world’s understanding.  A full life isn’t merely doing whatever you want to whomever you want, being rich, famous, powerful, and sensually gratified at every waking moment.  Rather, a full life—abundant life—comes through learning how to love, and sacrifice yourself for others—putting the needs of others over your own desires—putting your life at the service of the Father—like the Lord.

The counterfeit path to life is very seductive.  Many walk that path thinking they have life, but rather, it is being taken from them.  It is the path, as Jesus says, of theft, slaughter, and destruction—the path that leads not to everlasting life, but everlasting death. 

Jesus calls us, not to fleeting gratification, but lasting love.  May we follow him, and enter through Him, to abundant life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Homily: 4th Sunday of Easter - The Good Shepherd feeds, guides, and protects

In Saint John’s Gospel, Jesus uses many different titles and images to describe himself.  “I am the bread of life” he says.  “I am the vine, you are the branches”?  “I am the resurrection and the life,” “I am the Way, the truth, and the life”?  In today’s Gospel Jesus uses a very tender image, when he says, “I am the good shepherd.”

Good Shepherds are found throughout Scripture.  Abel, son of Adam, was the first shepherd in human history.  For bringing to God the firstlings of his flock, the Lord looked favorably on Abel and his offering; yet tragically Abel also became human history’s first murder victim, killed by his jealous brother Cain. 

Abraham was a shepherd, as was Jacob.  Joseph was shepherding his father’s flock when he was arrested and betrayed by his brothers.  Moses was shepherding his Father-in-law’s flock when he stumbled across the burning bush through which God revealed his Holy Name and gave Moses and Holy Mission.  Before becoming king of Israel, David was a shepherd.  And the prophet Amos was a shepherd before being sent by God to denounce Israel’s idolatry and hallow prosperity.

Shepherds who were murdered, shepherds who became kings, shepherds who gave God’s law and spoke in the name of the Father, shepherds who became heads of great families.  In Jesus, we see all these things wrapped up into one.  He is a shepherd who was a prophet, who revealed God’s Law, who was also betrayed and murdered, yet also a King, and head of the great family, the Church.

Scripture describes God Himself as a Shepherd.   As his father Jacob lay dying, Joseph knelt at his father’s bedside and recalled how God had been his shepherd every day since his birth.  Recall how Joseph was betrayed, sold into slavery by his own family, falsely accused, and thrown into prison.  Yet, he believed that God never abandoned him.

The Prophet Isaiah condemned Israel for acting like a flock of sheep gone astray from God the Shepherd.  Yet, Isaiah also foretold of a day when God would send His servant to give his life for the transgressions of the straying sheep.

The 23^rd Psalm is probably the most beautiful literary expression of God’s shepherding care.  The Psalm tells us that God is the Shepherd who feeds us in green pastures, who leads us to safety, who protects us in dark valleys.  He feeds, he guides, he protects.

On the 4^th Sunday of Easter, ever year, we read from the 10^th chapter of St. John, and recall that Jesus IS the Good Shepherd, who feeds, guides, and protects.

How does he feed us?  The 23^rd Psalm says that he “prepares a table for us in the midst of our foes”.  Amidst all of the evils of the world, all of the temptations, all of the distractions, he gathers us for Sunday Eucharist, to feed us through Word and Sacrament.  For “not on bread alone does man live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  At Holy Mass, Jesus proclaims the Scriptures, and through the ministry of the priest in the homily breaks open the Word for us, that the Word may become nourishment for our daily lives. 

And of course at Holy Mass, Jesus’ Body and Blood—broken and poured out—become the food of everlasting life.  Without this food, Jesus says in John Chapter 6—we do not have life within us.

Secondly, Jesus the Good Shepherd guides his flock.  The 23^rd Psalm says, “he leads us in right paths for his name’s sake.”  How does he lead and guide us?  By studying the faith, by following in Jesus’ own footsteps, by looking to the example of the saints, we learn how to walk rightly.  Through our religious study and faith formation we learn the difference between right and wrong.  “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,” Our Lord tells his disciples.

Jesus guides us to become the people God made us to be, and shows us what it really means to love one another and love God. 

Through his Saints, he shows us what is possible when we walk the path of righteousness—amazing things can happen.  The saints show us how to love God with heroic courage.  Saint Francis giving up everything to follow Jesus.  Saint Clare giving up wealth and luxury to dedicate her life to prayer and adoration of the Eucharist.  Saint Paul who traversed bandit-ridden highways, steep mountain passes, malaria-plagued villages, endured ship wreck and imprisonment in order to share the Gospel.  St. Catherine of Siena, whose feast day is this Wednesday, who stood up even to the Pope. When the papacy had fallen under the sway of worldliness and into opulence, Catherine prayed assiduously, did fervent penance, and pleaded with the Pope to return to Rome and imitate the Lord in his humility and self-sacrifice for the Church.

The Lord guides us even today, through good and faithful teachers, priests, bishops, religious, popes, and the example of fellow Christians whose blood is poured out for the faith—such as the 28 ethiopian Christians who were martyred by Islamaic terrorists last week. Through his martyrs and saints, by his own example Jesus the Good Shepherd shows us the true meaning of love: there is no greater love than this, than for one to lay down his life for his friends.

Finally, Jesus the Good Shepherd protects his flock.  Jesus tells us that there are thieves and robbers  who seek to steal, slaughter, and destroy His flock. There are wolves who want to catch and scatter the flock.  Yet, at his Holy Name it is the thieves, robbers, and wolves who scatter. Demons flee at the mention of his name.  We can be assured that any evil we must face, we face with him at our side.  The Christian is never alone.  The Good Shepherd never abandons his flock to the thieves and robbers and wolves.

This Sunday is a special World Day of Prayer for vocations to the priesthood.  We certainly pray today that the Good Shepherd might inspire many young men to become shepherds in the new millennium.  We pray particularly for our own dioecesan seminarians, and for the five men to be ordained priests for our diocese this May.  The Good Shepherd is calling young men to serve the Church as priests, and all of us have a responsibility to help them hear the shepherd’s voice.  Parents, grandparents, god parents, encourage your sons to prayerfully consider the truly blessed calling to the priesthood—to be the shepherds the Church needs.

Yet, all of us, are called to be instruments of the Good Shepherd—to imitate Him—and to allow him to feed, guide, and protect others for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

Homily: Friday of the 3rd Week of Easter - Hail, true flesh!

Today’s Gospel is the last in a series of readings from John, Chapter 6—from what is called the Bread of Life discourse.  This week, we’ve heard Jesus has talk about how the food he gives does not perish, how it is the bread of life, and that those who eat this bread will be raised on the last day.

Today Jesus perhaps gives the hardest part of the teaching on the Eucharist, this bread of life is his flesh and his blood, and unless we eat of it, we will not have eternal life with Him.

This shocking statement started a quarrel amongst the disciples; and as a result of their inability to accept this teaching, some of those who had begun to follow Jesus, turned away from him and went back to their former way of life.  Nevertheless, Jesus did not recant or even modify His terminology. He was willing to lose even the twelve apostles rather than change or water down his teaching here.

Even to that first generation of Christians, who were already gathering for the celebration of Mass, the constantly litany throughout John chapter 6—“eat”, “drink”, “flesh”, “blood”—would have resonated with the same sacramental overtones that they hold for us, turning their thoughts toward the Eucharist.

St. Thomas Aquinas maintained that believing in the Eucharist is the most challenging act of faith.  “The presence of Christ’s true flesh and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone which rests upon Divine authority”.  The Eucharist does not look like Christ; thus it tests not our sight, but our faith.  

In a short poem, called the Adoro te Devote, St. Thomas wrote: “Sight, taste, and touch in Thee are deceived; the ear alone most safely is believed: I believe all the Son of God has spoken: Than Truth’s own word there is no truer token.”  We can trust that the Eucharist is Jesus’ true flesh and blood, because He Himself has told us so, and there is no truer Word than His.  

Listen also to the words of the beautiful hymn, O Sacrum Convivium, also composed by St. Thomas: "O sacred banquet (O Sacrum Convivium) in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us."

The Adoro Te Devote, is often recited while kneeling in front of the Eucharist in Adoration; listen to how St. Thomas concludes the poem: “Jesus, whom now I see hidden, I ask you to fulfill what I so desire: That the sight of your face being unveiled, I may have the happiness of seeing your glory.”

Let us rejoice that Jesus has given this gift to all generations until he returns in glory; for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Easter - Super-Substantial Bread

Every day, for some of us, many times a day, we pray the words of the Our Father, “Give us this day our daily bread”. This request is similar to the request Jesus himself received when he began to teach about the Bread of Life. Jesus said, “My Father gives you the true bread that gives life to the world.” To which the people responded, “Lord, give us this bread always”.

In asking God, “give us this day, our daily bread” we are certainly asking God to give us all the things we need for a healthy and holy life. God loves us, and wants to see us flourish, and become the best version of ourselves, as one of the posters in the school says. He wants to see us become as smart as we should be, he wants to see us become as hard workers as we should be, he wants to see us become as generous and charitable as we should be, and most of all, he wants us, when our earthly life is over, to be with him forever in His Heavenly Kingdom.

The great St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, said, “Pray as if everything depended on God, work as if everything depended on you.” Pray to God for everything you need to lead a healthy holy life, work, and work hard, to become as healthy and holy as you should. But all of these things require a choice. We have a choice don't we: to study or play video games, to work or to be lazy, to be generous or to be selfish. Becoming the people God wants us to be requires real work.

Yet, when Jesus taught us to pray for our “daily bread” he used a word that is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. The word which we translate into “daily”, is the greek word, epi-ousios, which really means, “super substantial”. Give us this day our, super substantial bread. We aren't just praying for ordinary bread that you'd buy at giant eagle or bake in your oven. We are asking God for a type of bread that only God can give.

Jesus says in today's Gospel that not only does he give us this special type of bread from God—the Bread of Life—He IS the Bread of Life. Later this week, Jesus will say, that this bread is his flesh and blood. Of course, we Catholics believe that this bread, Jesus gives, his flesh and blood, is the Eucharist. And he gives us the Eucharist, so that we might follow him for faithfully, and receive eternal life.

Last friday, our second graders had a retreat day, because they are preparing to receive the Eucharist for the first time. Today, let all who believe come to the Eucharist with that same excitement, recognizing that the Eucharist is God's answer to our prayer for the super substantial bread that brings eternal life to our souls and which helps us to be the people he made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of the 3rd Week of Easter - Working for food that does not perish

“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life”  The word used for “work” in this passage is the Greek word, ergon, a word that denotes hard labor and physical exertion.  Here Jesus is saying that belief in him, and following him, is no easy matter; belief requires more than merely emotional or intellectual assent.  Daily we are called to the ergon—the hard work—of turning away from our sins and embracing Jesus' commands.  Daily, we are called to the hard work of bringing our hearts, which so love independence and self-reliance, before the throne of God to submit to his will.

Jesus speaks these words here in chapter 6 of John's Gospel as a sort of prelude to his Bread of Life Discourse, his teaching on the Eucharist.  It will be hard work to come week after week, every Sunday, to come to receive the Bread of Life.

Even though Jesus has done the hardest work of all, carrying our sins to the cross for our eternal salvation, we must engage in the hard work of following him in everything.  But of all the things and distractions vying for our attention in our busy secular world—He alone is worthy of our lives.  We often work so hard for things that will not bring us eternal life, let alone real, deep satisfaction in this life.  We settle for so much less than the greatness for which we've been created.

Bishop Lennon once wrote that when our lives are focused on false Gods of prosperity, prestige, or pursuit of what our secular world calls the good life, we will likely reap a harvest of unhappiness and exhaustion.  Yet, when God is at the center of our lives, when we fulfill all of our responsibilities as ways of serving Him, when He is included in our meals, chores, conversations, parenting, work, vacations, civic responsibilities, decisions, problems, crises, accomplishments, and losses—then the whole of our lives become charged and changed with God's presence.

Working with all of our hearts to serve God does not bring exhaustion and unhappiness, rather it brings new life and joy.

May the Holy Spirit help us to understand what it means to do the work of God.  And may we be willing to work in order to experience of the joy of the Lord, knowing that He alone is worthy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 3rd Sunday of Easter - "Christian for Real"

I'd like to focus on five points from our readings today.

The first is about ignorance. In today's first reading, speaking to the people of Jerusalem just 53 days after Jesus' death on the cross, St. Peter says, “I know you acted in ignorance” He said that first to everybody, then he said, “I know your rulers acted in ignorance.”--those who had a responsibility to know better had a hand in the most heinous sin imaginable, the murder of God in the flesh. Jesus knew they acted in ignorance, which is why he prayed with arms outstretched, with his final breaths, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” All of us are capable of this sort of violent, murderous ignorance. We too can be guilty of ignorance that does not acknowledge the presence of God in our midst.

The second point is how do we overcome that ignorance? St. John talks in the second reading today begins refers to the Christians under his care as “little children”. Jesus himself said, unless you become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So we need to recognize that we are all little children who still have a lot of learning to do—we need to be educated, we need to learn, the ways of God. All of us little children need to sit in the lap of “Holy Mother Church” and listen and learn like obedient children.

Thirdly, there is a danger for little children who think that they are all grown up. The child who doesn't think he has anything to learn is terribly self-deceived and can get into a lot of trouble. Again, listen to what St. John says, “whoever says, 'I have come to know him' but doesn't obey his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in them.” The one who thinks he knows everything, especially in matters of faith, and closes his heart to learning is the blindest person of all.

Socrates, teacher of Plato, and probably the wisest and most famous Greek philosopher was asked what made him so wise. To which he responded, “I am wise because I know that I do not know what I do not know.” In other words, he knew that he didn't know everything. What made him wise was that he knew that the search for truth and the virtuous life, were never-ending.

And so too for our faith; in this life, the Christian is never a finished product. Not a person in this church, myself most of all, has learned enough, has prayed enough, is as holy as God wants us to be.

The fourth point is that there is a danger of closing our hearts to wisdom and understanding Jesus wants for us. In the Gospel, Jesus appeared to his disciples in the upper room, and St. Luke tells us, he “opened up their minds to understand the Scriptures”. They had heard the Scriptures before, but it had never really taken root. Jesus told them three times that he would be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, he would be scrouged, tortured, nailed to a cross, but on the third he would be raised from the dead. But the way they reacted after his death, it was like he words went in one ear and out the other.

Sometimes that happens to us too. We listen to the readings at Mass, father's homily, and “in one ear out the other”. Just as Jesus opened up the disciples minds to understand the Scriptures, he wants to do so with us.

I heard a statistic that only 3% of Catholics have any exposure to Scripture outside of Sunday Mass. But, the Scriptures are meant to be a daily source of wisdom and nourishment for the soul.

One of the most powerful habits we can form is to read the Bible on a daily basis. Most of you can't come to Mass every day, work and family obligations are more demanding than ever. But each of us can set aside 15 minutes to read and reflect on the Scriptures. But, I promise that if you read through and reflect upon the Sunday Readings a few times before coming to Sunday Mass, if you pour over them, try to figure them out, ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand them; you will dispose yourself to a great degree to the Wisdom Jesus wants to share with you, and the strength he wants to give you.

Finally, the fifth point. Jesus wants to teach us so well, that not only do we know his truth, not only are we living his truth, but he wants to make each of us teachers of his truth. He wants to train us to pass on His truth clearly and effectively to others. He wants to make us bearers of His Word. “Be witnesses of these things” he says in the Gospel.

In the first reading, we see what can happen when we become witnesses. 50 days after the crucifixion, St. Peter stands stands up in front of all of these people, some of whom even called for Jesus to be crucified, and he witnesses--he says, “the author of life, you put to death, but God raised him...repent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” So powerful was St. Peter's witness, that 3000 people asked to be baptized. That has be the most powerful sermon in history. 3000 people repented for not recognized Jesus for who he was—God in the flesh, come to save them from their sinfully hard hearts.

How many of our family members who do not go to Church fail to recognize Jesus for who he is? They think they know him. They think they know him so well that they do not need to come to Church. So we need to be witnesses of our encounter with Jesus—through word and sacrament. Who else, if not you, will teach them? I can't reach them. I'm not invited to their homes, but you are. I don't have their cell phone numbers to invite them out for a cup of coffee and talk about the faith, but you do. I can't volunteer to pick them up and bring them to Church on Sunday, but you can.

Rather than spreading the faith to others, we hide. Instead of being witnesses, we act like we're in the witness-protection program—neither seen nor heard. Perhaps we fail to share our faith because we don't really know it as well as we should. We can't give what we don't have. So each of us needs to study the faith, that we can share it, clearly and patiently.

I recently heard the story of a man named Kiko Arguello, the founder of a Catholic Organization called the NeoCatechumenal Way. As a boy, Kiko attended Mass with his family, but he began to notice how his family was really only attending Mass for the most superficial of reasons, as if merely to fulfill an obligation. He couldn't wait for Mass to be finished because that's how his parents acted. At home, the faith wasn't nurtured. They never prayed together, at the dinner table his parents wouldn't talk about the faith, only about money—how to make money, how the business was going. When Kiko went away to college, he became exposed to one of the most famous atheists in Europe, John Paul Sartre. Soon, Kiko came to believe that the entire Christian faith was a lie, and stopped practicing the faith altogether.

Well, Kiko won the most prestigious award for artistic ability in Spain; he was given a large monetary prize, he appeared on television, he was offered positions, his whole future seemed to be directed at becoming very rich and very famous. But he was struck by the emptiness of all of the glamour. One night, he began to weep in the solitude of his room, at how empty his life felt. But, it was then that he began to feel the flicker of the light of God. The next day he went to a priest. And said, “Padre, Father, I want to be a Christian.” And the priest said, Kiko, you've been baptized, you already are a Christian. And Kiko said, no that's not what I meant. Then the priest interpreted him and said, you've already made your first communion, and Kiko said, yes. So, the priest said, then all you need to do is make a good confession. But Kiko said, I need MORE than a good confession, Father. I need someone to help me to love my enemies when they strike me on the cheek, I need someone to help me to not gossip. I need to be taught how have a pure heart. I need to learn how to lay down my life for others, for that's what Jesus calls us to do.

And so he began approaching fellow Catholics and would say, “Ayuda mi, help me to be a Christian for real”. And this was the beginning of a movement that has become worldwide. Ordinary Christians gathering together to help each other be Christians for real. And we must do the same. Not just go through the motions, but allowing Jesus to open up our minds and hearts to the fullness of faith and charity he wants for each one of us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 2nd Week of Easter - Miracle of Multiplication

Having read through the entirety of Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus from chapter 3 of St. John's Gospel over the past four days, we now begin a week long reading of John Chapter 6. St. John's sixth chapter is comprised of two miracle stories—the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and Jesus walking on the water—and the great Bread of Life discourse. I encourage you to read and reflect on the entire chapter to get a sense of what's coming over the next 8 days.

Word is spreading about Jesus' miracles. It is now almost impossible for Him to avoid crowds of people following Him in their desire to witness His miracles. Although John highlights only 7 public signs/miracles performed by Jesus, St. John tells us that Jesus worked many miracles—as we know from the other Gospel writers. St. John chose 7 public signs as representative of Jesus' many miracles and because they illustrate certain facets of the mystery of Jesus the Messiah.

What does the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves reveal about Jesus and what does it have to do with our Easter renewal of faith?

For the past few days we've heard Jesus talk about the importance of believing in Him that we may have eternal life. This miracle story seems to answer the question, “what kind of life does Jesus offer?”. “What kind of life does Jesus offer?” Abundant life. In the miracle of the multitude he takes the little that is possessed by the few and transforms it into a feast for the multitude. What is brought to him, is multiplied and shared.

The message of this story isn't that God gives us free lunches, but shows that God is generous, he has concern for us, and calls us to bring that little that we have to Him to be transformed, that it may blessed and shared.

For the neophytes baptized at Easter, this might mean learning to bring your time, talent, and treasure to God for the first time. For us veteran Catholics it might mean bringing parts of our lives to God which we have never brought to him before or getting involved in a new type of volunteer work or charitable service, adopting a new devotion, or reading the writings of a saint or pope which you've never read before.

Easter faith means encountering God anew, and allowing him to make us anew, to transform us, bless us, and share us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday of the 2nd Week of Easter - Eternal Life

This is the fourth and final day of reading through Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus from chapter 3 of St. John's Gospel. Yesterday, I mentioned how the St. John the Evangelist, stresses the importance of belief. Another constant theme throughout John's Gospel is the notion of life. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” we heard Jesus say today.

41 times in John's Gospel, nearly as many as the Matthew, Mark, and Luke combined, we find Jesus speaking of life. “that we might not perish but might have eternal life,” as we heard yesterday; Jesus says to the Samaritan woman, “the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life”. We will hear next week Jesus say “I am the bread of life”. And later, after raising Lazarus, he says, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

The Greek word for "life" Jesus uses in each of those passages is “zoe.” This is the root of the English words "zoo" and "zoology." Zoe is the animating principal of all living things. It is the living breath that we share with the plants and animals.

Scripture reveals that the source or fount of this zoe life is God the Father. Indeed, Jesus calls Him him the “Zao Pater” "the living Father" In the Greek New Testament, zoe has a special meaning. It speaks of the life that is given by God through Christ Jesus to those who believe the gospel. .

In today's Gospel, the Zoe, the life which comes through believing in Jesus Christ is modified by the adjective aionios which means "eternal", "everlasting". Belief in Jesus Christ leads to life everlasting.

Through sin, we had lost this gift; we were without life—we were dead in our transgressions. We were alienated from God who Himself is the only source of life.

Yet, God so loved the world, that life everlasting is available to us through Jesus Christ. Yet this Zoe Aionios, this eternal life, isn't a package that God gives to us, like Santa delivering presents. As we find later in John's Gospel, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The zoe aionios we receive is Jesus Himself. Through belief and obedience to God, Jesus truly dwells in the hearts and souls of the faithful—he “is the spring of water welling up to eternal life.” It is only through him that we are able to experience God in heaven, it is only through Him that our mortal bodies will be raised to everlasting life.

In this earthly life, we are called to protect this gift, and also to allow it to flourish, to nurture it. So often, we stifle what God wants to do in us; we fall back into old sins when temptations arise; we fearfully turn away from opportunities to be generous toward the needy.

But this Easter every one of us is being called to recognize anew the great gift of life God gives us, and to use that gift to build up his kingdom through concrete acts of charity, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Easter - "so that those who believe..."

Do you believe in Jesus Christ?  John’s Gospel states from the very outset that what marks Christians as children of God is that they believe in Jesus' name.  John ends his gospel stating that his purpose for even writing his Gospel is that his readers would believe. No other gospel emphasizes belief like John's. The Greek verb used for belief, pisteuō is found 98 times in his gospel. 

After Jesus’ first miracle, the wedding at Cana, John’s Gospel says his disciples began to believe in him.”  When Jesus cured the royal official’s son, Scripture says, “he and his whole household came to believe.”  And When Jesus gave sight to the blind man, his response was “I believe, Lord.”  

Not had such a positive response to Jesus’ miracles and teachings.  Many chose not to believe.  Many found his teachings too hard and walked away.  After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, from that day the high priest and the Sanhedrin planned to kill him.

We heard proclaimed today the often quoted John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  Belief leads in Jesus Christ leads to eternal life.

Faith however is not just holding a single idea “just in case”.  You know, just in case there is a God, I’ll believe that Jesus was sort of important person.  Christian faith is to orient our whole existence.  The Bible says faith is an act of the “heart”, it’s supremely personal rather than being superficial and unenthusiastic.  

Our “faith life” must not be separate from our “family life” or “work life”.  Faith is meant to encompass the totality of our activities.  If I go to work and set my faith aside, then faith is not genuine.  If I go on my annual vacation, but also take a vacation from the commandments of God, then faith is not genuine.  Faith is to encompass and guide everything.  

Pope Francis wrote in his first encyclical on faith, “If man has lost the fundamental orientation which unifies his existence, he breaks down into the multiplicity of his desires.”  In other words, without faith we have nothing to guide us accept our emotions.  And that can lead to some pretty perverse actions! As it does for many!  

Faith cannot be sustained unless we are in constant contact with the living God. Which is why we need daily prayer and meditation, regular study of the Christian faith, reflection on the lives of the saints who embodied faith so beautifully, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, Blessed is she who believed!

I'll conclude with the prayer concluding Pope Francis encyclical on faith:

Mother, help our faith! 

Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call. 

Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise. 

Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith. 

Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature. 

Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One. 

Remind us that those who believe are never alone. 

Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!

Homily: Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Easter - Jesus the Teacher

Over the course of four days this week, we are presented with the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus the Pharisee from chapter 3 of St. John's Gospel.

Now remember, the Pharisees presented themselves as men who knew everything there was to know about the Law and Sacred Scriptures. Over and over  they present themselves as know-it-alls, and Nicodemus is not immune to this behavior. At the beginning of the conversation, as we heard yesterday, Nicodemus called Jesus “a man coming from God as a teacher”. Jesus however does not even acknowledge the complement, he knew it was mere flattery, lip-service.

In fact, in today's Gospel, Jesus rebukes Nicodemus: “you claim to be a teacher, yet you do not understand.”

Nicodemus, initially gave no sign that he was even interested in being taught.

However, as the conversation ensues, notice how Nicodemus' remarks get shorter and shorter, while Jesus' answers get longer and longer. Tomorrow and thursday, Nicodemus doesn't even get a word in, as Jesus, the Word-made-flesh teaches about the love of God, the nature of his mission, and the importance of believing in his message.

There are many in our culture who treat Jesus and the Church with similar Pharisaical intellectual snobbery. “What could Jesus or the Church possibly have to teach me?” Even many “adult Catholics” refuse to crack open the Bible or the Catechism believing that they know it all or have nothing to gain from coming to deeper understanding of the faith.

The Christian, however, is perpetually a disciple—a student. And our Christian faith is an inexhaustible source of knowledge. The Church is “Mater et Magistra”, Mother and Teacher, and too many of us refuse to sit in mother's lap and learn.

The renewal that God may want for us this Easter may be to learn how to learn: how to be enriched more deeply by the teaching of the Church, or how to encounter His timeless wisdom in the Scriptures in a new way.

By the end of his conversation with Jesus, Nicodemus seems to learn a very important lesson: he learns how to stop talking and how to listen.

Jesus doesn't want flattery, he doesn't want lip service; he wants to teach us.

May the Holy Spirit help each of us to take once again the posture of the student—the disciple—and learn from Jesus the Teacher, who yearns to instruct in the ways of righteousness and self-sacrifice for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Monday of the 2nd Week of Easter - "Born again"

Last week, throughout the Easter Octave, we read from each of the four Gospel writers, their accounts of Jesus' resurrection, and Jesus' post-resurrection appearances to his disciples.

For the rest of the Easter Season, we will be reading from the Gospel of John—the discussion with Nicodemus this week from chapter 3, and onto chapter 6—the miracle of the multiplication and the great Bread of Life discourse next week.

The Gospel of John was the last of the Gospels to be written, nearly 60 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. By then, some of the apostles had already been martyred—including St. Peter and St. Paul.

The fourth Gospel is notably different in tone from the other three. It's sometimes said that where Matthew, Mark, and Luke reveal the flesh and bones of Jesus, St. John reveals His Spirit. Writing a whole generation after St. Mark, It often seems that St. John is writing his Gospel for people already familiar with the other Gospels. Even for those who are already baptized. Notice how we read through John's Gospel primarily after Easter, after Baptisms are celebrated.

So when we read the account of Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus about being born again by water and Spirit, we who are already familiar with the life of Grace, immediately make the connection with our practice of baptism. No matter what early Church life looked like, we know that baptism marked the beginning of belief in Jesus Christ. Remember last Tuesday we read the account from the Book of Acts, after emerging from the darkness of the upper room, Peter gave such a stirring sermon that 3000 people were baptized.

Later this evening, I will meet with the newly baptized for the first time since the Easter Vigil. We'll engage in a practice that goes back to the early Church called “mystagogy.” Mystagogy means “interpretation of the mystery”. In mystagogy we reflect upon, we unpack, we interpret the sacred mysteries that they celebrated at Easter, in order to come to a deeper understanding of what their new Christian life entails. Particularly, we'll talk about what symbols or rituals from the Easter Vigil struck them or resonated with them.

Easter marks the beginning of Christian life for the neophytes, but as we veteran Catholics continue through this Easter season, all of us are meant to be renewed in the Spirit. We do well to engage in a little mystagogy ourselves throughout easter. You may ask yourself, or have a conversation with another veteran Catholic, what signs, symbols, and rituals continue to resonate with you? Or simply reflect upon How has being a Christian and a disciple of Jesus changed your life? How has the faith made a difference? How have the grace of the Sacraments strengthened you? How is the Spirit leading you now to more faithfully or courageously live out the promises of your baptism?

May that same Holy Spirit continue to lead us along the paths of Christ to deeper faith, hope, and love in God's service for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Divine Mercy Sunday 2015 - Mercy available to all

It was fifteen years ago, that Pope Saint John Paul II surprised the world and many of his cardinals by declaring this second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday.

Though the Feast of Divine Mercy is relatively new, the message of God's merciful love is certainly not a new concept.  It's the central message of the Christian faith preached for almost 2000 years.  God has mercy upon sinners; we are loved by God even when we are unlovable because of our sins—no matter how sinful, God's forgiveness is available to all who turn to Him.

The celebration of Divine Mercy is a fitting conclusion to the octave of Easter.  For on Easter we celebrated the triumph of God's love over the powers of sin and death.  Jesus' resurrection shows that Sin and death do not get the last word.  God did not counter our violence with fiery wrath from heaven.  Rather,  God defeated man’s sin in a totally unimaginable and unexpected way, forgiveness. 

Think about it.  On Mount Calvary, we violently killed God in the flesh.  The crucifixion, in a sense, is man's ultimate rejection of God.  At that moment, more than any in human history, wouldn't God have been justified in simply wiping out humanity?  

Yet from the cross he prayed for our forgiveness, and from his side blood and water flowed as rays of divine mercy.

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

Today we celebrate the mercy that has changed our life.  Who here hasn't encountered God's mercy in the confessional: “Your sins are forgiven, now go, and sin no more.”  Those words are life changing, for God's mercy is life changing.

We pray in thanksgiving to God for the sweet mercy to which we always have recourse.  There is no sin so great, that it cannot be absolved in the waters of baptism and the sacrament of confession.  No sin so heinous that will not be forgiven by God if you but ask Him to.  

We also pray today for those who have closed themselves to God's mercy.  There may be people in our lives who seem to have locked the doors of the heart to God.  They do not go to Church, they may even claim not to believe in God.  Perhaps, there is a very serious sin that they are so ashamed of, or perhaps they are unwilling to turn away from a sinful lifestyle or sinful habits.  Some even harbor a hatred of the things of God.  

Today we recall that Mercy is available even to those who initially close their hearts to God—out of fear, out of hard-hardheartedness, out of unrepentance.

This is evident in the Gospel today.  The doors of the upper room were locked.  Yet, Jesus, risen from the dead, appears behind locked doors in order to announce his peace to them.

Even the most hardened heart can be unlocked.  But we must pray for them.  The keys to locked hearts are often obtained through much prayer and much fasting and penance.

The feast of Divine Mercy was announced at the canonization of a little known polish nun named Saint Faustina Kowalska.  The Lord Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina many times, insisting that she make known His desire to pour out his mercy upon all people.

From Saint Faustina we receive what is now a fairly popular devotion known as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  A short prayer, prayed on the beads of the rosary, imploring, God, “for the sake of Jesus' sorrowful passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world.”  

The chaplet can be prayed individually, or in a group.  It is prayed here at St. Clare before morning Mass throughout the week.  

Jesus himself, said to Saint Faustina, “My daughter, encourage souls to pray the chaplet I gave you…help me save souls.”  The chaplet of Divine Mercy is a simple but powerful prayer.  We do well to pray the chaplet, especially for those whose hearts are hardened to God and are therefore in danger of hell.

While on her deathbed, Saint Faustina prayed the chaplet for a hardened soul.  Through her prayers, she became present to a man, on his death bed, who lay in torment.  While he lay dying, demons surrounded him waiting to take his soul to hell.  But she continued to pray for him: “for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”  Soon, the dying man became calm, repentance for his sins filled his heart.  He was comforted by the Divine Mercy which flowed over him,  which came to him through Faustina's praying of the Chaplet.

If we do not believe that there are souls in danger of hell, we are deluded.  There are people who are resisting God even in their final breaths.  Yet, as Our Lord himself said to Saint Faustina, there are souls, whom he wishes to save through the praying of the Chaplet.  

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

Divine Mercy- God’s love, to quote Pope Benedict, “is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working” for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

Homily: Easter Friday - Renewed Strength and Joy

Remember in Luke's Gospel, Peter, James, and John had been out fishing all night on Lake Genesseret, when Jesus commanded them to go back onto the Lake and cast their nets into the deep waters. They brought in so many fish that their nets were tearing. Peter, recognizing that this galilean carpenter was a very special man, indeed, fell to the ground saying, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” To which the Lord responded, “Do not be afraid, from this day, you will be a fisher of men.”

Today's Gospel of the miraculous catch of fish is meant to remind us of that first miracle. The set of circumstances, the type of miracle, is repeated, in order to bring about in Peter, Thomas, and Nathaniel a renewal of their first calling, a renewal of their vocation as disciples of the Lord and fishers of men.

We need renewal from time to time. And Easter is meant to be a time of new vigor, new enthusiasm, and new joy.

This is why on Easter Sunday we renewed our baptismal promises. We were invited to profess our faith, as if it were the first time, we were invited to come forward to receive the Eucharist, as it was the first time, to engage in a life of prayer with renewed enthusiasm. It's been five days since Easter Sunday. Are there any signs of a renewed faith in you? If not, what needs to change?

After they recognize the Lord, today, Peter jumps out of the boat and runs the length of a football field in great joy towards the Lord. Are you filled with that sort of Easter joy? If not, why not?

Notice too, how even though all the fishermen in the boat could not bring in the full net of fish, after they recognized Jesus, Peter was able to drag the entire net onto shore, by himself. So full, was he, with renewed strength and enthusiasm, that he had the strength of more than three men. Such is the power of Easter faith. Easter is meant to fill us with strength to do miraculous deeds.

The Lord becomes present to us today in the Eucharist. Let us come forward to receive him with renewed faith, hope, and love, that he may fill us with renewed joy and enthusiasm for spreading the good news of his resurrection and being fishers of men, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Easter Monday 2015 - "Do Not Be Afraid. Go and Tell"

For much of the secular world, Easter is now over. In the world there is more rejoicing that Easter Chocolate is on sale than the fact that Jesus, crucified for our salvation, has risen from the dead. For us, we continue to celebrate Easter for fifty days. And we begin to unpack it's meaning. For though the resurrection is the most important event in human history, we must personalize it, we must let it penetrate our hearts.

It wasn't until fifty days later, on that first pentecost, that Peter and the apostles began to witness to the resurrection. It took several times of Jesus appearing to them, telling them not to be afraid. And it took the Holy Spirit himself coming down upon the apostles like tongues of fire, to impel them out into the streets of Jerusalem.

During the Easter Season we will read extensively from the book of Acts of the Apostles. And today we hear, on that first Pentecost, Peter, giving one of the greatest sermons in the history of the Church. Three thousand people will hear his words and ask to be baptized.

Think about how much courage it must have taken for him. He speaks to the people of Jerusalem about fifty days after Jesus’ crucifixion. That’s not that long ago, about fifty days ago we were just beginning Lent. Jesus’ crucifixion would have been fresh in their minds.

He stands up, in front of all these people, some of whom, may have watched as Jesus carried the cross through the streets, they may have cried “crucify him, we want Barabbas, we have no king but Caesar” at the court of Pontius Pilate, they may have heard the nails being pounded into his hands and feet. Peter, stands before all of these people, and says, “You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs…This man...you killed...But God raised him up because it was impossible for him to be held by death.”

So powerful was this speech, that Luke tells us “it cut the audience to the heart”. But then they ask to be baptized.

If we are to convince people that they should believe in Jesus as follow Him, we must truly take the message of the Resurrection to the heart. We must have a missionary heart. Three quarters of Catholics don’t attend Mass. So we must hunger to bring them back into active relationship with Christ. We are hemorrhaging members. Why? Perhaps the Gospel message never truly “cut them to the heart” as it is meant to.

In Matthew's Gospel, the first commands Jesus gives to the first people who saw Him after His resurrection are: "Do not be afraid! Go and carry the news" of My resurrection (Mt 28:10)

The risen Jesus Himself commissioned his disciples to be witnesses of His Resurrection. Jesus speaks to the world through the witnesses He has chosen.

Some may sneer at the news, others might ignore it, some may even try to silence us. But, some will open their hearts to the Lord. There is no doubt someone in your family, or someone the Lord has put in your life, to whom you are called to witness. And the Lord says to us, just as he said to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in the Gospel: “Do not be afraid! Go and tell!” Carry the news, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Easter Sunday 2015 - "He is Risen!"

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.  Alleluia.   Jesus is Risen, He is truly risen, Alleluia

Finally, we can sing that word again.  Alleluia.  It’s one of our best attempts to give verbal expression to the joy of Easter that is beyond words.  Alleluia.  it’s a jubilant cry of exultation, it’s an exclamation of the heart directed to God whose greatness and love are beyond words. 

The word “Alleluia”  comes from two Hebrew words meaning “praise the Lord”.  So every time we say “Alleluia” we are saying “the Lord be praised...for his goodness...for his greatness...for his gifts to us”.  And this word is especially associated with the Easter season because the greatest gift that God has given us is the gift of new life through His Son’s death and resurrection. “If Christ had not been raised, our faith would be in vain”.  

But he did rise, just as he said he would Alleluia.  St. Augustine said, “"We are Easter people and Alleluia is our song!"  What that means is that our entire life is meant to be a joyful song of thanksgiving to God for the gift of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The Resurrection is meant to change everything about us.

Easter is the most significant feast of the Church year.  In fact, Easter is so great, it’s not merely one day; it is an entire season, lasting 50 days until Pentecost.  St. John Chrysostom said that we should celebrate the entire Easter season as one LONG Sunday lasting 50 days.  So we don’t just stop for one day, and say, Jesus rose from the dead, alleluia, now let’s get on with our lives back to normal.  Easter joy should fill our hearts more and more and more and more.  

I want you to try something.  For the next 50 days, every morning when you wake up say those words, “Jesus is Risen, He is truly risen, Alleluia”.  Let those be the first words from your lips every day.  If you are married, let those be the first words you speak to your spouse in the morning, “Jesus is risen.”  Or the first words you speak to your children or to your brother or sister: “Jesus is risen, he is truly risen, Alleluia”.  If you do that, I promise, you will be blessed joy.

One of the focuses of this Easter season is to simply celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus with great joy and to allow that joy to permeate our lives.  Certainly we hope that as you gather with family and friends today for your Easter meals you recall the reason for your gathering: “Jesus is risen, he is truly risen, Alleluia”.  

Another focus of the Easter season is the strengthening of the faith of the newly initiated.  Last night, here at St. Clare, 5 adults received with great joy the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.  In fact, in the United States alone, 100,000 adults became neophytes in the Catholic faith.  

Why do we call them neophytes? The word ‘neophyte’ comes from two Greek words; “neo” meaning “new”, and ‘phyte’ meaning “a shoot or stem of a plant”—so, neophyte, is a sapling, a baby plant.

Recall the image we heard on the fifth sunday of Lent.  Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a seed.  But if it is planted in the ground and dies, it will grow and flourish and bear new life.  The neophytes are like those seeds which now have been planted and have sprung to new life.

Notice the baptismal fount here at St. Clare looks like a garden, a place of new life.  Going down into the waters of baptism, the neophytes received the new life of grace through the Easter Sacraments, the seeds were planted and now have sprouted.  There is new life here at St. Clare because they heard Christ calling them to die to their old ways of life and old ways of thinking and acting.  They heard him calling to hand over their lives to him, so that they might be raised with Him in eternity.  They heard Christ calling, and they answered, Alleluia.

These next few weeks after easter, the neophytes will continue to meet, to pray and to learn more about putting their newly received faith into practice, so that the little saplings can become mighty fruit-bearing trees.  But these next few weeks are very delicate, for saplings need time and effort to really take root.

Even though springtime has come, there is danger of that late frost which threatens to come cause the life in those delicate new saplings to wither. So we need to pray for the neophytes and encourage them.  The deadly spring frost of worldliness endangers them just like it does to us.  

If faith is not practiced and protected it is likely to be lost.  We have to protect our faith by remaining close to the fire of Christ through prayer and good works.  If any of you who join us today have been away from the Church for any number of weeks or months, we invite you to make a good confession, and rejoin us next week and every week, that the faith of Christ which God has planted in you, may be kept alive.

One of the things the Church invites all of us to do during the Easter Season is that all of us take on the mind and heart of the neophytes.  We’re invited to live out the practices of the faith with new enthusiasm, as if we are living this easter for the first time; praying every day with the enthusiasm of those just baptized.  

Those of you here who were baptized as adults know what I’m talking about here.  Remember those  first few weeks of extremely fervent prayer, of close attention to treating other with utmost charity, the enthusiasm with sharing your joy and the good news of your baptism with others, the joy of receiving Jesus in the Eucharist.  Enthusiasm is another good greek word, meaning literally to be ‘filled with God’.

How do Christians lose their enthusiasm—how do faces of joy become faces of vinegar, as Pope Francis calls them.  What happens? For one, we start to make excuses.  Excuses start to creep in, and they douse the fire.  Excuses to not pray, to not attend Sunday Mass.  We start to justify giving into the gossip again, and the lust again, and the laziness again.  We start to give in to all those dangerous voices of the world which seek to distract us from the life of holiness which we should be devoted to.  

Brothers and Sisters, that voice telling us we do not need to pray is not the voice of God.  The Voice which  tells us that we don’t have to go to Mass except when it is convenient is not the voice of God.  That voice that tells us it’s okay to give in to that instance of gossip, you know, because it’s really juicy, or to watch that inappropriate movie or visit that inappropriate website: not the voice of the risen Christ.

So this Easter, we are invited to become neophytes again, to sit again at the feet of the Lord Jesus and learn from him, invited to undergo the transformation of our minds and hearts by the power of his Resurrection.  

Today, we renew once again the promises of our Baptism. Proclaim your faith as if it were the first and last time.  For those of you are in a state of grace, receive the risen Lord in Holy Communion as if it were your first at last time, that you may be transformed by this encounter and filled with the life and joy of Jesus who is triumphant over sin and death for the glory of God and salvation of souls. “Jesus is risen, he is truly risen, Alleluia”

Homily: Good Friday 2015 - Pressing the Cross to our hearts

There was a young boy, about 8 years old, who liked to have his own way, and would become very angry anytime his will would be contradicted. He would talk back to his teachers, fight with his brothers, he was in a perpetual state of pouting and sourness and selfishness. He would be disciplined in school and at home, but nothing seemed to alter his behavior or attitude, and his parents began to despair.

One day, there was an unexpected change. His selfishness seemed to entirely disappear; he became one of the most obedient and gentle children. His parents began to wonder about this change of behavior, and then they noticed that from time to time, the boy would put his hand to his chest, and press something under his shirt close to his heart.

The boy’s father asked what he was doing. The boy said, just something grandpa gave me to help me. The boy took out a crucifix which hung from a thin chain which he had been wearing underneath his shirt. “When I am angry that I’m not getting my way, I press this image to my heart, I think of what Jesus suffered, and then I find it easy to be good.”

Today we press the cross to our hearts.

An eastern orthodox saint named St. Symeon the Theologian who was a monk in the 11^th century wrote, “The only way to protect oneself against the devil is by constant remembrance of God: this remembrance must be imprinted in the heart by the power of the Cross, thus rendering the mind firm and unyielding”.

Today we remember; we remember what he suffered for us. We press his cross to our hearts, and discover, that first, we were pressed to God’s heart, by God himself.

In the Old Covenant, it used to be thought that anything unclean touching something clean would render both unclean. In the New Covenant of Christ’s Passion and Death, it is the other way around. All the filth of the world—all the injustice and cruelty—all the evil in men’s hearts which comes in contact with Him is made clean by His blood—all is made pure, which comes in contact with the infinitely pure one. Through this contact, the filth of the world is truly absorbed, wiped out, and transformed in the pain of infinite love.

God brings good out of evil—he transforms it in the crucible of his own heart. Which is why today is truly called Good Friday. For today, God takes all the suffering and evil of the world upon himself, and purifies it through his precious blood.

Today we offer solemn intercessions on behalf of the world and the Church, pressing our needs and struggles to his cross. We also solemnly venerate the wood of the cross, we press the cross to our lips, or our foreheads, to remember his great love, and that we may be rendered firm and unyielding in the face of temptation and confirmed in the desire to carry our crosses in union with the Son of God, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.