Homily: Monday of the 17th Week in OT 2015 - Parables of Growth

In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses two short parables to describe the growth of the kingdom: growth of the Church throughout the world, and growth that occurs in our heart.  The parable of the mustard seed shows that at first the kingdom of God appears very small, in seed form, but from this tiny seed a great bush emerges becoming so big that birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.  Jesus recalls here an Old Testament description of God’s kingdom: Ezekiel in particular foretold how Israel would gather the nations like a mighty cedar gathers birds; and now Jesus uses this image to show that the kingdom, despite its small beginnings, will fulfill Israel’s mission—all nations, all peoples will gather in the tree of the New Israel.

The second parable continues this theme of unimpressive beginnings yielding tremendous growth.  The kingdom of heaven is likened to yeast mixed with a batch of dough.  The small amount of yeast causing the dough to expand and rise again points to the kingdom: despite its inconspicuous beginnings and with a hidden dynamism like yeast in dough.  Look how one crucified jewish carpenter and his small band of followers have shaped human history.

Over the centuries the Church has experienced tremendous growth, starting out with a small number of Apostles in Jerusalem, and growing to exist in nearly every corner of the globe.  In our own day, the western world has seen a great falling away, and hearts seem to be unresponsive to the Gospel call.  But God is working in human hearts to bring them to Christ. 

And ultimately that is where the seed of the kingdom, the yeast of the kingdom, first begins to work: in the human soul.  We must never underestimate the great power of sharing the truth of the Gospel with unbelievers. We’ve seen this throughout the centuries in the lives of the saints.  Often, unknown, uneducated, unremarkable people become bright, shining, majestic souls which glorify God because someone, often a parent, shared the Word of God with them.

Pope Benedict has warned Catholics to resist what he calls “the temptation of impatience”, that is the temptation to insist on “immediately finding great success” in “large numbers”.  “For the Kingdom of God and for evangelization, the parable of the grain of mustard seed is always valid.”  This new modern phase of the Church’s evangelization mission to the secular world will not be “immediately attracting the large masses that have distanced themselves from the Church”, rather, we need “to dare, once again and with the humility of the mustard seed, to leave up to God the when and how it will grow”. 

However, we Christians need to act as the yeast in society.  Just as the faith needs to permeate every dimension of our lives, Christians need to permeate every dimension of society, bringing the Gospel into every corner of civic and family life, so that it can be transformed from within. 

So we mustn’t lose heart nor lose sight of our goal, which is always the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jesus Feeds a Large Crowd

Since the Second Vatican Council our readings for Sunday Mass are organized into a three-year cycle.  The first year we hear from Saint Matthew’s Gospel, the Second year, from Saint Mark, and the third from Saint Luke.  Yet right in the middle of the Year of Saint Mark, for about six weeks, the Gospel readings are taken from the sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel, and we won’t hear from Saint Mark again until September.

The sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel is a crucial chapter, it’s known by biblical scholars as the Bread of Life discourse, where Jesus teaches us about the Eucharist—the bread of life—his flesh and blood.  It’s a tough teaching; at the end of his discourse some of the people who were following him walk away, they go back to their former beliefs, their old life, and no longer follow Jesus because it was a hard teaching—that we are to eat and drink his flesh and blood.

But, the sixth chapter begins not with direct teaching, but with the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, which we heard today.  This great crowd had assembled, at the foot of the mountain.  Much like that great crowd, over a thousand people gather here at St. Clare every week men, women, and children of all ages, from various economic and cultural backgrounds, different political stances, cradle Catholics and newly initiated Catholics and some who are thinking about becoming Catholic.  We are this great diverse crowd called together that Jesus might feed us.

I came across a copy of a church bulletin from another parish recently.  It read “We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, filthy rich, dirt poor, no habla ingles.  We extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds.  We welcome you if you sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor, who can’t carry a note in a bucket.  You’re welcome here if you’re ‘just browsing’, just woke up, or just got out of jail.  We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism.  We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted.  If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.  We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleedings hearts…and you!”

An important reminder, that the Church is not just a collection of my kind of people.  A reminder to welcome those who do not look like us, speak like us, or smell like us.

The local parish is meant to be a reflection of the entire Church in which the diversity of peoples are gathered together by the Lord Jesus to share the One Bread of the One Lord in One Spirit and One Faith.  The fact that we have browns fans and steelers fans worshipping together shows that faith runs deeper than team loyalties.  That we have Africans and Caucasians and Asians worshipping together shows that the faith runs deeper than race.

Not only does the Church contain a diversity of nationalities and languages, she also contains  multitude of diverse liturgical traditions: the Latin Rite, which we celebrate here at St. Clare, the Byzantine Catholics, Syriac Catholics, Maronite Catholics, all professing the same faith, but celebrating it in liturgically diverse ways.  Such diversity does not do damage to Church Unity it reflects the diversity of peoples called together as one—and reveals the richness of our Catholicity.
Diversity in the Church is a good, healthy, holy thing.  However, there is a great difference between diversity and division.  Diversity is good, division is bad.  Sinful division occurs when groups or individuals within the Church hold or profess beliefs that are contrary to Christian doctrine. For example, if I held that the Church was wrong in what she teaches about the sixth commandment, or what she teaches about the Blessed Mother, or transubstantiation, that would create division contrary to the will of Jesus.

When the Church teaches in matters of doctrine and morality, she is not speaking her opinion, but handing on teaching that comes from God. And every Christian has the responsibility to accept, and to believe, and to seek to understand those teachings and to conform our lives to them.  To disagree with her, is to disagree with Him.

Out of many, we are made one, by the Lord.  And he sends us out to all nations, to gather the scattered into his fold.  Jesus died for all, that all might come to eternal life; and he sends us out, not just to “our people”, but to the weird and strange and smelly and lost, out to the whole of the human race—to call everyone, rich, poor, young old, everyone, to believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Like the diverse crowd coming to Jesus to be fed in the Gospel today, the diverse Church is gathered to be fed, at the one table of the Lord, at the Eucharist.  And there is no greater sign of our unity of faith than the Eucharist—this is why it is called “Holy Communion”.

Saint John Paul II said that, “the Eucharist builds the Church”.  The Eucharist expresses our faith, it builds our faith; it strengthens our bonds of unity, and assimilates us ever deeper into Christ. When we receive Holy Communion we are saying that I believe everything that the Church believes and teaches to be true and I want to live in total conformity to the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church.  And when I see my neighbor, or a smelly stranger, come forward to receive the Eucharist, that strengthens our bonds of unity.

Yet, we cannot extend the invitation to receive Holy Communion to members of Protestant and non-Christian communities.  For, the Eucharist is not a sacrament of “I’ll believe whatever I want to believe”.  It’s a Sacrament of unity, a profession that “I believe everything that is revealed by God through His Catholic Church”.  And Protestants and non-Christians simply don’t believe all that the Church teaches to be true.

Also, Catholics who have no intention to live according to Catholic teaching, for example, Catholics in ongoing adulterous relationships, cannot partake in the Eucharist.  For the Eucharist is also a statement that I am doing everything in my power to put my life under the Lordship of Christ.  Those in mortal sin cannot receive the Eucharist until they’ve made a sacramental confession.  Because in that confession they repent of their sin, and make a firm purpose of amendment to make the changes in their life so it once again corresponds with the teaching of Christ.

The Eucharist builds up the Church, and it also builds up the Christian soul.  The Eucharist, so says the Council of Trent, “preserves the supernatural life of the soul by giving the communicant supernatural strength to resist temptation and by weakening the power of concupiscence. It reinforces the ability of our free will to withstand the assaults of the devil” and gives us a spiritual joy in the service of Christ, in defending His cause, in performing the duties of our state of life, and in making the sacrifices required of us in imitating the life of our Savior.

As we celebrate the Eucharist today, open your hearts to the grace and strength and purification the Lord pours out upon the Church, when we gather for Mass. May Christ deepen our love and generous response for Holy Communion and bring us all into the unity of God’s eternal kingdom of peace for His glory and the salvation of souls.

Homily: July 24 - St. Charbel Mahkluf, Priest & Hermit

St. Charbel was a Maronite Catholic, born in a small mountain village in north Lebanon in 1828.  His peasant family lived a strong faith, they attended Divine Liturgy devoutly and had a great devotion to the Mother of God.

Charbel spent his early years as a shepherd, and spent much time in quiet reflection and prayer.  At age 23, he joined the monastery of St. Maron, was ordained a priest, and lived as a hermit until his death in 1898.  His deepest desire was to live a life of prayer and solitude where he could focus his attention on Christ.

Known for his holiness, his strict austerity, penances, obedience, and chastity. People from surrounding villages would come to him to receive a blessing and ask for his prayers.
At the closing of the Second Vatican Council, on December 5, 1965 Charbel was beatified by Blessed Pope Paul VI who said:

"...a hermit of the Lebanese mountain is inscribed in the number of the blessed...a new eminent member of monastic sanctity is enriching, by his example and his intercession, the entire Christian people... May he make us understand, in a world largely fascinated by wealth and comfort, the paramount value of poverty, penance, and asceticism, to liberate the soul in its ascent to God..."
During this Year of Consecrated Life, we do well to consider the example and seek the prayers of Saints like Charbel: to consider how each of us are called to Gospel poverty, penance and reparation for the sins of the world, solitude in order to seek Christ above all.

We are not all called to be hermits, but the hermits remind us that each of us does need a great love of quiet and solitude in which we can seek the heart of Christ and the face of God.  Jesus himself would often go to quiet deserted places in order to seek His Father’s Will.  We too must go to God in solitude, every day, to be refreshed.

The hermits are witnesses that the kingdom of noise and distraction of our digital age is not the true kingdom.  The graces of the true kingdom—prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, faith, hope, and love— are found when we withdraw from distraction in prayer.

May St. Charbel and the holy consecrated hermits continue to enrich the Church by their, meditation, silence and penance, and teach us to seek first the kingdom of God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Woe to the bad shepherds

On Good Shepherd Sunday this last Easter I reflected upon how Scripture is full of Good Shepherds: Before Abel was killed by his brother Cain, he was a good Shepherd whose work and sacrifices were pleasing to God.  Abraham was a Shepherd, as was Jacob.  Before he became King, David was a shepherd boy.  The Old Testament psalms describe God as a shepherd leading his flock to nourishing, restful, safe places.  Jesus himself describes himself as a good shepherd.

Good Shepherds feed, protect, and guide their flock.  But, in our first reading Jeremiah the prophet utters a chilling condemnation of bad shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD.”

Jeremiah was speaking to those leaders in Israel who failed to feed, protect, and guide God’s flock.  King David and Solomon were pretty faithful, but the later Kings of Israel were pretty despicable people.  They failed in many ways to keep God’s flock united.  They allowed, and even practiced themselves, false worship; they erected temples to evil Canaanite Gods and allowed human sacrifice, prostitution, and immorality.  During the time of these negligent Kings, Israel became vulnerable to her enemies, and were conquered.  The holy city of Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was destroyed, the Jews were carried off into Babylonian captivity, scattered and separated from their families.

Jeremiah condemns the bad shepherds, today speaks a word of hope: Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security.”  Of course, Jeremiah’s prophecy is fulfilled not in an earthly king, but in Jesus Christ whose kingdom is not of this world: Jesus who is the shepherd king our hearts long for.

This longing for a good shepherd king can be seen in the Gospel today, when people were pressing upon him in great numbers; when he crossed the sea to get a way to a deserted place, the numerous crowds were there waiting for him.  They were like sheep without a shepherd, St. Mark tells us.
During his time on earth, Jesus called apostles to shepherd the Church after his Ascension until his return in glory.  This is why bishops, to this day, carry the crosier—the shepherds staff.  From the early Church, the saints urge us to remain close to our shepherds, the bishops.  St. Ignatius of Antioch in around 110 A.D. was urging priests to remain fitted to their bishop as strings are to the harp.  To both clergy and laity he urged us to, “be obedient to your bishop, and contradict him in nothing.”  If we are to have the unity Jesus desires for the Church, obedience to the leadership and teaching of our bishops is essential.

Now, of course, in 2000 years there have been bad shepherds in the Church, bad bishops, even bad popes.  In reading Jeremiah’s words of woe to the bad shepherds, I can’t help but think of an anecdote from Church history.  Napoleon Bonaparte was in a many ways a power hungry tyrant who hated the Catholic Church.  And during a frustrating argument with a Roman Catholic cardinal, Napoleon Bonaparte burst out: “Your eminence, are you not aware that I have the power to destroy the Catholic Church?” The cardinal ruefully: “Your majesty, we, the Catholic clergy, have done our best to destroy the church for the last 1,800 years. We have not succeeded, and neither will you.” In other words, If bad popes, power hungry bishops, immoral priests, and countless sinners in the Church hadn't succeeded in destroying the Church in 1800 years from within, neither could Napoleon.

And this is of course because of the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ promise that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against the Church.  There will always be a faithful remnant of Catholics.

Not even bad popes can destroy the Church.  That is not to say there are no consequences for being a bad shepherd.  St. John Chrysostom said that the The floor of hell is Paved with the Skulls of Bishops.  Even in the first generations of the Church there were bad shepherds who failed to preach the authentic faith.  St. Paul condemned the so-called “Super Apostles” for preaching a false Gospel.  In his second letter, St. John warns the laity about opening your home to false teachers.  Jesus himself echoeds the words of Jeremiah the prophet when he said, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!”

Shepherds, priests and bishops, have a duty to always present the Gospel truth; when they don’t, there is division. But we all have the duty to follow the good shepherds, the ones who teach the actual Gospel—“those who, holding to the truth, hand on the Catholic and apostolic faith”.

In our present age, we have a lot of voices, a lot of competing world views.  There is a lot of division in the Church caused by bishops and priests failing to present the authentic faith clearly, and also division from Catholics allowing false teachers into their homes.

St. Paul spoke of our present age, when he wrote to Timothy: “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

We are told by the culture that we must tolerate every immorality, and condemn sound moral teaching.  In a morally confused and defunct age like ours, it is not fashionable to profess the Catholic faith; we are labeled as intolerant bigots for teaching what Jesus Christ taught.
But, whether you are a pope, bishop, priest, or layman, altering sound doctrine, the revealed truth of God, is not an option.

We might be mocked for this, we might be thrown in prison, we might be beheaded for this.  I think of St. John Fischer, bishop during the terrible reign of Henry VIII.  When Henry declared himself head of the Church, St. John Fischer was the only bishop in England who opposed the king’s heresy.  For this, he was beheaded.  Could you imagine, in our own country, if every bishop but one abandoned the true faith; this is how it was in England.  How would you, as a lay catholic, know which bishop to follow?
This is why every Catholic has the duty to learn the faith, to believe the faith, to proclaim the faith, in season and out of season.  We must remain faithful, and the great act of love we are called upon by Jesus to practice is to share the true faith without changing it or watering it down.

But we cannot give what we don’t have, we cannot teach what we do not know.  In order to share Him and preaching Him, we need to know Him, and to love Him, we need to radiate His love for us contagiously so that others will see us as sign posts pointing to Him who fills us with the joy and peace for which their hearts hunger. For us to be capable of bringing Christ to others, we need first to bring ourselves to Him, to spend time with Him, to be fed by Him so that we can in turn feed others.
Jesus himself wanting to form his apostles to be good shepherds, first taught them how to be good sheep. “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile” he said in the Gospel today.

We need to follow that command every day, going to a deserted place to rest with Jesus: by reading a bit of scripture, reading a bit of church teaching, the catechism or a papal encyclical or the writing of a Church father, and prayer, and quiet prayer.

If we are going to be able to tell the good shepherds from the bad, we need to know the Good Shepherds voice and his teaching.  Again, St. John urged Christians to not allow false teachers into their homes: for us that means being very careful with television and the internet.  We should basically assume that every time we turn on the television or internet, some bad shepherd, some false teacher is presenting us with some moral or doctrinal error.  Weigh what you hear in our culture, against what you read in the scriptures and the catechism.

May each of us, today and all days, commit to spending time with the Lord, in our own deserted place, a quiet place to rest in Him, to be taught by him, to be strengthened by Him so that we can bring others to Him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath

Passing through a field, the disciples were hungry and began to pick heads of grain and eat them—an action certainly permitted in the Old Testament Law.  However, doing so on the Sabbath was strictly prohibited.  So the Pharisees accused Jesus of violating the Law by "working" on the Sabbath:  “Six days there are for doing work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Anyone who does work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.”

You heard that right: to willfully reject the covenant command and to be engaged in manual labor instead of worshipping God on the Sabbath was a death penalty offense under the prohibitions of the Sinai Covenant.   God knew that Sabbath worship was indispensable for forming the religious identity of Israel and helping them remember who they were called to be, so violating the Sabbath carried the greatest penalty.

Jesus challenged the Pharisees' understanding of the covenant command by teaching that acts of mercy and ministry are acceptable "works" on the Sabbath and He told them He has the authority from God to offer such a teaching.

If we were to continue reading this passage from Matthew, Chapter 12, we’d hear how the Pharisees left the Temple area and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death for seeming to undermine God’s law.

Jesus allows works of mercy and ministry on the Sabbath: feed the hungry, feed your family, get in a car and visit the nursing home after morning Mass.  Mercy does not violate the worship we owe to God, but flows from it.  At the very conclusion of Holy Mass, the priest or deacon even sends out Christians to go do the work of God, spreading the Gospel, which is the work of mercy: he says, “God in peace, glorifying the Lord by your Life. Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.”

Unfortunately, for many Christians, Sunday has become not a day for the Lord, but a day for glorifying themselves, for pursuing personal ambitions—a day for taking instead of a day for giving.

Even though the consequence for violating the Sabbath isn’t physical death, in a sense, it is worse: withholding the honor and worship due to God extinguishes the life of Grace in our souls.

Sunday is not merely a day to catch up on yard work, shopping, and bills, but to strengthen the bond of love which matters most, our love of God.  I know I’m sort of preaching to the choir here by talking about Sunday mass during at a weekday Mass, but I do so to strengthen our resolve to draw others back to this most fundamental Christian practice.  It is an act of mercy, therefore, an act of love, to remind fallen away Catholics, that Sunday is the day of Christian Sabbath.

May we be committed to going out to all corners of the earth to proclaim Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 13 - St. Henry - Holy Roman Emperor

When most people hear the name King Henry, they probably think of King Henry VIII, who ruled in England in the 1500s and brought about a break with the Roman Catholic Church. 

The King Henry who we honor today is King Henry II, duke of Bavaria and Holy Roman Emperor;  he died in 1024.  As far as Christian Kings go, he used his power practically and humbly. Though wealthy, he had a great concern for the poor of his lands.  He saw material possessions as blessings from God meant to help others. 

It was his custom to undertake nothing without prayer and often saw angels and martyrs guiding him—protecting him and his army who guarded his lands from the encroaching barbarian hoards. 

One of the great goals of Henry’s reign was to establish a stable peace in Europe.  He knew that the Gospel of Christ was indispensable for society, and he devoted himself to the spread of Christianity by rebuilding churches and founding monasteries.   He promoted monastic reform where needed, believing monasteries to be indispensable centers of prayer and focal points for the civilization of people. 

He was a Christian emperor who acted justly.  It is all too obvious today what a danger it is to have civic leaders who do not value the practice of true religion, who do not understand the cooperative relationship the political order is to have with the Church.

When Saint Henry was not ruling over his empire and leading his army to stabilize Europe, he was cultivating a holy marriage with his wife.  Both he and his wife St. Cunegunda are canonized saints.

Here is a man who balanced his earthly responsibilities with this Christian vocation, and his vocation as husband and father. If a Holy Roman Emperor can do it, so can we.  St. Henry shows us that holiness is possible when we strive to give glory to God whether as a king or farmer, priest or monk or husband or wife, that joy is found not in hoarding treasure and glory on earth.  All that King Henry had, his mind, his wealth, he gave to help others; he put his entire time, talent, and treasure at the service of the establishment of God’s kingdom of peace.  May St. Henry’s prayers help us to do the same for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 15th Sunday in OT - "Through his Blood, we have been redeemed"

Most of the priests of the diocese of Cleveland will tell you that one of the most important parts of our seminary formation is what we call our “field education” when we are sent out into the field, if you will.  We receive hands-on experience, learning how to minister in hospitals, nursing homes, jails, schools, emergency rooms, bereavement groups. 

And towards the end of our seminary education we were able to choose an area which we would like to further develop.  After having a wonderful experience on my internship at Holy Trinity Parish in Avon, especially at their school, I asked if I could be sent to minister to families that were struggling, particularly with addiction issues.  So, during my seventh year of seminary, I went every week to a treatment center not too far from here for teenagers with addiction problems, but I would also meet some parents who also had addiction problems. 

And I can remember a woman I met, in recovery who had been, what she called “a hopeless alcoholic.”  She said she had been through a number of programs, and had attained sobriety for a while, but would always end up getting drunk again. There was a point in her life where she said she really hit rock bottom: She went on a drinking binge for several month in Chicago, and woke up one morning, in an ally next to a dumpster. Disgusted by herself, she came to the decision to take her own life by jumping in front of a train.  And on her way to kill herself, she passed by St. Peter’s Church, the Franciscan Parish in downtown Chicago, and for a reason she couldn’t quite explain she went in to the Church and in to the Confessional.  And she told the Confessor Priest that she was in such desperation that she was going to kill herself.  “Why?” the priest asked her.  She said, “because I am a hopeless drunk, I’m worthless, I am disgusting” And the priest responded vigorously: “No you are not.  You are a child of God.  Made in His Image and Likeness, bought back from evil, from darkness and death, at the cost of His only begotten Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  That’s who you are.  You also happen to have a severe drinking problem.  But maybe, if we begin to work on who you are, the bad things that you do will begin to take care of themselves.”

This woman, who I met, here in Cleveland, said that was the turning point in her life.  What she began to believe that day, was the truth found in our Second Reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  St. Paul writes, “It is in Christ, through His blood, that we have been redeemed, and our sins forgiven.”

She discovered that her Christian identity, a loved, redeemed child of God is deeper than her worst problems.  Christian is our deepest identity.  Being Christian is not a matter of belonging to a social club, a political party, or worker’s union.  Being Christian is soul-deep, for the blood of Christ in which we were immersed in Baptism, goes down to our deepest self.  The blood of Christ has changed us forever. 

We can pretend otherwise, we can forget about our baptism, we can ignore the fact, but in the end, you and I will appear before the judgement seat of God as Christian souls, who have been adopted by God.  And our faithfulness to that deepest identity will determine if we will spend eternity in heaven or hell.

If I was able to assign you homework for the week, I would direct you to reread, slowly and deliberately that magnificent passage from Ephesians.  If you feel nothing, or don’t understand it, go back and read it more slowly, thinking about the implications of every line. 

St. Paul says, “the riches of his grace have been lavished upon us.”  Yet, like all blessings, those riches can be taken for granted, if we don’t stop once and while, and reflect upon them, and give thanks to God for them, we can begin to take them for granted, and then perhaps forget that we received them altogether.

This passage from St. Paul is a moving hymn of praise to God our Father, which the early Christians sang to glorify God for the redemption they received in Christ’s blood.  Reread this passage, allow it to sink down into your soul, immerse yourself in it , make it your song of praise—your song to God.

“It is in Christ, and through his blood, that we have been redeemed, and our sins forgiven.  So immeasurably generous is God’s favor to us.”  How consoling, how refreshing, how encouraging it is for us to contemplate that we have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. 

Traditionally, the month of July is dedicated to Jesus’ Precious Blood.  If you happen to have an old prayer book, you might come across the Litany of the Precious Blood, which would be very appropriate to pray throughout this month.

“Precious Blood of Jesus, wash me clean.”

“Blood of Christ, inebriate me.”

“Precious Blood of Jesus, bathe me in thy tide.”

“Precious Blood of Jesus, pulse through my veins…” 

How powerful to recall his precious blood, poured forth from the cross on Calvary for us.  How quickly temptations subside when we recall in that moment that we have been bathed in his blood.  How easy it is to remain patient with our words, when we recall that we have received his body and blood in the Eucharist on our tongues. 

The reason we so easily fall into sin is because we forget his blood.  We forget the pain he suffered to give new life to us. 

This is why it is so important to have a vibrant prayer life, where we reflect deeply upon the Scriptures, so that in the moment of temptation we can draw upon that sacred fountain for strength, so that in the moment of despair and sorrow, we can remember God’s closeness which is deeper than even our human emotions.

None of our troubles can take away our redemption, our new identity in Christ.  Because of his blood, our troubles can become an opportunity for transformation, as we draw close to God, and learn to trust him and to find our strength in him alone. 

“Precious Blood of Jesus, wash me clean.”

“Blood of Christ, inebriate me.”

“Precious Blood of Jesus, bathe me in thy tide.”

“Precious Blood of Jesus, pulse through my veins…” 

For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday of the 14th Week of OT - "Sheep amidst the wolves"

The Lord tells his followers today that he sends us out as sheep amidst wolves, urging us to be prepared for the hostility we will inevitably face as his disciples.

I think of those Christians of the first few centuries.  The Church underwent open and state-sanctioned persecution longer than America has been a country.  The early Christians could not build Churches and had to gather for Mass in secret.  For professing the Christian faith they were arrested, beaten, and tortured in unspeakable ways.  Sometimes they were even betrayed by close family members.  Some Christians became so frightened of the wolves, that they gave up the faith, left the flock, and began to run with the wolves.

Jesus gives this strong warning because the threat is serious—persecution, he knows, will be inevitable.  “You will be hated by all because of my name” he says.  There will not be a single age, a single sector of society, where you will be completely safe.  There will always be Wolves who will want to kill us simply because we are sheep—non-Christians who will misunderstand us, seek to silence us, desire to break us, simply because we are Christian. 

In an age of growing hostility we know that many people do not agree with Our Lord and his Church.  They laughed at him, mocked him, thought he was naïve, thought he was blasphemous, and they do the same to us.  They worked to prevent him from spreading His Gospel, they do the same to us.  As this country, and really all of Western Civilization, falls into moral decline, it is not surprising that Christians are being fined for operating our businesses according to Christian principles, it is not surprising that we are called bigots for not tolerating all the perversions of the culture. 

We are called to be sheep—docile and obedient to God, even when the wolves start closing in.  Though the Lord tells us to be sheep—that doesn’t mean we are called to be punching bags.  He tells us, “be as shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” 

The word for simple means “unmixed”, suggesting that all of our persecutions should be faced with the simple desire of glorifying God and spreading the Gospel. 

And to be shrewd as the serpent, means to be cunning, wise, and crafty.  Anticipate the threats, be cunning in the way you practice the faith.  The early Christians facing persecution gathered in the catacombs in the middle of the night.  That’s cunning.  They showed themselves to be better citizens, more moral citizens than the non-Christians, they evangelized the emperor, that too, was very wise.

Jesus doesn’t say “If they hand you over” he says, “when they hand you over”—each of will face trial—moments when our faith is attacked.   “When they hand you over, do not worry what you are to speak or say” the Lord tells us.   Remaining faithful to the Lord amidst the persecution speaks more than words. Some wolves may even be converted when we are faithful amidst our trials. 

In all of our trials, may we persevere to the end, in faithfulness to all the Lord commands, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 5 - St. Maria Goretti - 11 year old Virgin Martyr

Maria Teresa Goretti was born of a poor family and was uneducated.  Her father died when she was ten years old, and one of the men who had worked with her father, 19 year old Alessandro Serenelli, had made several attempts to seduce Maria.  She told him that he could go to hell for what he wanted to do.  Her refusal and her words of faith so angered him that he threatened to kill her, which he eventually did, stabbing her 14 times. 

It took Maria two days to die from those stab wounds.  And On her deathbed, Maria, not only pardoned Alessandro, but she said: “I hope that he too will join me in Paradise.”  Maria died in the hospital after forgiving her murderer.  Maria Goretti was scarcely twelve years old, when she died in defense of her chastity on July 6 1902. 

In 1910, during his 18^th year in prison, Alessandro had a dream in which the Maria presented him with a bouquet of lilies—lilies are of course a symbol of purity. Repentance filled his heart, and he turned to Jesus for mercy.   Alessandro was released from prison after 27 years and after asking pardon of Maria’s mother, who said, “If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withhold forgiveness?" Alessandro received Holy Communion with her at the Christmas Mass.  Alessandro spent his last years as a third-order Franciscan and died in 1970.

Maria Goretti was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950, and it is the first time in history that the mother of a saint was present at the canonization.  Alessandro was also there, also probably the first time that the saint’s murderer was present at the canonization, and thanks be to God, his soul was right with God. He had testified in her cause for canonization, talking about her holiness, not only in her courageous protection of her purity, but throughout her eleven years. 

Maria is such a needed saint today.  Maria is a patron saint of catholic youth, especially teenagers and catholic girls.  Of all the things she could have desired as a beautiful young caring girl, she desired a pure heart, for herself and her Alessandro, not wanting him to risk his eternal soul in the act of violation.  Can you imagine? She was more concerned about her assailant's soul than her own physical well-being.  Here is a truth, as our Lord says, is often “hidden from the wise and learned, but revealed to little children.”

It is said that "Even if she had not been a martyr, she would still have been a saint, so holy was her everyday life".  The holiness of her everyday life helped her at a crucial moment to see with the eyes of faith and to love with the heart of Christ.

May St. Maria Goretti help our culture to reclaim a love of innocence, chastity, and modesty, and help all of us to remain steadfast in faithfulness to God who is the author of innocence and lover of chastity, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time - The Gift of Freedom

This weekend we celebrate the 239^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

Sadly, in a recent poll, less than 50 percent of our nations students could identify the phrase "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" as a line from the Declaration of Independence.

Though our freedom is inherited, it is also something that we need to learn how to cherish, protect, and exercise in every age.  Every citizen of this country has a duty to learn how to use our freedom for good.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited our country back in 2009, his first stop was at the White House to meet with the President.  And President Bush did something quite noble: he asked the Holy Father to give us a catechesis on the real meaning of Freedom.  “In a world where some see freedom as simply the right to do as they wish, we need your message,” President Bush said to the Pope, “that true liberty requires us to live our freedom not just for ourselves, but in a spirit of mutual support.”

Pope Benedict didn’t let President Bush down.  Over the course of his several day visit the Pope made Freedom one of the central themes of all of his talks.  He also called us to recognize all of those counterfeit versions of freedom that are undermining the real thing.  For true liberty gives our country life, abuse of freedom threatens our country’s future. 

This weekend as we give thanks to God for our gift of freedom, it’s fitting to return to Pope Benedict’s message.

Pope Benedict began his catechesis reminding us that our founding fathers, who risked their lives to sign the declaration of independence, recognized the essential link between freedom and the truth of the moral order created by God.  “From the dawn of the Republic,” the Pope stated, “America's quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator.

Because of a intellectually defunct notion of the separation of the Church and State, our media often portrays many of our founding fathers to be secular humanists who wanted nothing to do with religion.  However, 26 of the 58 signers of the declaration of independence had some sort of theological degree.  John Adams spoke for many of the signers of the declaration when he said that, “it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.”

“The framers of this nation's founding documents,” the Pope said, “drew upon this conviction when they proclaimed the self-evident truth that all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights grounded in the laws of nature and of nature's God.”

So the exercise of liberty must always be done in reference to God’s moral law. 

“Freedom is not only a gift,” the Pope emphasized, “but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience -- almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good, and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one's deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good”

I think that’s one of the most important things the Pope said when visiting our country.  And haven’t his words turned out to be extremely prophetic.  Since his visit 6 years ago, his words have been largely ignored, and we have seen morality diminish, and the notion of freedom perverted, not just in last week’s Supreme Court decision to redefine the ancient institution of marriage, but over and over again, freedom too has been redefined as the license to do whatever you want to whoever you want without any reference to the laws of nature’s God. 

I heard an interesting quip recently: Many of us often wonder what kind of planet we're leaving behind for our children. But few ask the opposite: what kind of children are we leaving behind for our planet?  When Moses had led the Israelites to the precipice of the Promised Land, he urged them: “Drill into your children” the importance of following the commands of God.  Otherwise, they will become pushovers to the evils of those who currently inhabit that promised land. 

Unfortunately, it did not take long for the Israelites to forget Moses’ warning.  Israel fell into immorality, they began to worship pagan gods, and as a consequence they became subjected to their enemies, and carried off into Captivity.

In our first reading, we heard how God sent Ezekiel to these Israelites who had fallen into sin and false worship.  God acknowledged how his own people had rebelled against Him, how they had become “hard of face and obstinate of heart.”

By virtue of our Christian Baptism, all of us are sent, like Ezekiel as prophets, into the lives of those who rebel against God’s laws, who have hardened their hearts to God,  to bring the Word of God to those who have strayed, to preach the word of hope, that in God we can find true freedom.  Yet, if we are to authentically preach the word of freedom to captives, we have to show by our lives, that we, by God’s grace, are free.  This is why, we Catholics, make frequent use of the Sacrament of Confession, and begin every Mass acknowledging our sins, asking God for mercy.  For it is difficult to free the captives, if we ourselves are captive to sin.

In the Gospel, Jesus is the prophet par excellance, bringing freedom to captives.  Yet, today we heard this strange account how apart from curing a few sick people in his home town, we heard how Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deeds there.  Similarly, in our own day, there may be only few, who are receptive to the Gospel.  But those conversions are of no little value.  For oftentimes in the Church, 100 people with burning faith can do so much more than a 1000 with lukewarm or mediocre faith. 

So what is our duty in this campaign for reclaiming authentic freedom?  As always, as Christians, are duty is to become Saints.  To become as Holy as we should through obedience to Christ’s teaching and laws of God, and to pass the faith on to the next generation.  I guarantee there is at least one person in each of our lives, a family member, a coworker, a neighbor, a stranger that we have not yet met, who is yearning to be set free, and the key, is for us to share the faith with them in a patient, clear, and compelling way.  Think of someone during this Mass, lift them up, as the Eucharistic elements are lifted up; pray for their conversion daily.

Pray too, that we may be authentic in spreading the message of true freedom, that like Ezekiel, we may speak the Word of God even to the rebellious and obstinate of heart, and like Our Blessed Lord, endure any resistance or mockery, in order to seek out those who are yearning for his liberating grace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls

Homily: July 3 - St. Thomas the Apostle, Martyred for Condemning Polygamy

Poor Saint Thomas the Apostle!  Whenever his name is heard, one tends to think of a skeptic, a doubter.  We even call people “doubting Thomas’s”.  There is much more to know about this apostle than his one moment of doubt, just as there is much more to know about Peter than his denial. 

Before his moment of doubt, earlier in the Gospel of John.  When Jesus heard of the death of Lazarus, he exhorted his apostles to follow him to Bethany, which would bring them dangerously close to Jerusalem.  On that occasion Thomas said to his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

His determination to follow the Master is truly exemplary and offers us a valuable lesson: it reveals Thomas’ total readiness to stand by Jesus even to the point sharing with him the supreme trial of death. And that readiness is follow the Lord anywhere is a fundamental disposition of discipleship.  “This is a trustworthy saying”, writes St. Paul: “If we die with him, we will also live with him.”

In the Scriptures, there are no further accounts of the apostle Thomas, after his acclamation at seeing and touching the resurrected Jesus: “My Lord and My God”. 

Accounts from the 3^rd century tell of Thomas’ apostolic and missionary activity in modern day Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  And accounts from the fourth century tell us of his work in western and finally Southern India where he was martyred.

The story goes that a pagan indian king, upon meeting the apostle, immediately put great trust in him and hired him as a royal architect.  Because of this, St. Thomas is the patron saint of architects.  Anyway, the king put at Thomas’ disposal the great wealth of his treasury for planning and building the new royal palace.  But Thomas donated the entire sum to the poor, telling the King, that this way he builds a greater palace in heaven.  For this Thomas was forgiven when the king’s dead brother appeared to the king and testified to the reality and glory of the heavenly palace. 

Thomas was martyred, however, when he converted the king’s many wives to Christ and persuaded them to remain abstinent because Christian marriage is between one man and one woman. 

In a sense then, Thomas was a martyr for authentic marriage.  After the Supreme Court ruling two weeks ago, changing the civil definition of marriage, many claim that polygamy is the next hurdle to overcome. 

The Apostle Thomas rightly and boldly passed on Christ’s teaching concerning the moral conduct of his followers even though it would bring about the king’s wrath.  Thomas the apostle shows us the courage to which Catholics are called.  The courage and willingness to follow Jesus anywhere: In front of kings and judges and presidents, the boldness to speak the truth of Christ no matter the consequence.  We pray that we may not cave in to the growing trends of secularism in our society, but strong in faith and courageous in defending the right to live our faith, and follow Christ with zeal, like Thomas, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 1 2015 - Blessed Junipero Serra, Missionary

Today is the last day in human history on which we will celebrate the feast day of Blessed Junipero Serra; for when Pope Francis visits these United States in September, he will celebrate the Mass of Canonization of Junipero Serra at the Basillica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  Although, Americans have been canonized before, this is the first canonization to be celebrated U.S. soil. 

During the time when our founding Fathers were fighting for our nation’s independence on the east coast, the Franciscan Priest Father Junipero Serra traveled up through Mexico to labor for the spread of the Gospel in present-day California. 

He was a university professor in Spain, but he gave up his position to come to California to teach the Native Americans about the Lord, He devoted himself to building churches and schools for the poor and the native people, catechizing those in his care and raising up dedicated priests to continue the Lord’s work.

During that time, when the civil authorities were violating the humanity and rights of the indigenous people, Padre Serra was devoted to improving their spiritual and material well-being boldly fighting against their mistreatment.

For his work in raising up priests from the native population, Junipero Serra is a great patron Saint for vocation promotion.  There is even an international group for the promotion and support of vocations who look to his patronage called Serra International who have a chapter here in Cleveland and meet regularly to pray for vocations.

When his body was exhumed for the purpose of the canonization, it was shown that he had cancer of the legs, making the long hard journeys up the coast of California even more difficult.  Yet, he did so, out of love for God’s people, fueled by fervor for the spread of the Gospel. 

Pope Francis recently called Junipero Serra one of the founding fathers of the United States and praised his willingness to abandon the comforts and privileges of his native Spain to spread the Christian message in the new World.  May each of us, inspired by his prayers, and assisted by his intercession, take seriously the call the bring the Gospel to those who are ignorant of it, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.