Homily: 18th Sunday in OT 2016 - "...rich in what matters to God"

A few years ago, I was able to make pilgrimage to Italy. We prayed in the Basilicas and catacombs of Rome, viewed the sacred art of Florence, visited the majestic cathedral of Milan. I was deeply impressed when we visited the city of Pompeii, about 90 miles south of Rome. In the year 79, nearly 2000 years ago, the nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius erupted, and in a matter of minutes buried Pompeii in lava. The lava covered and encased the entire city, preserving a snapshot of life, as if freezing a moment from the past.

Archaeologists have now uncovered a lot of the ancient city. Now, you are able to walk down its streets, past shops and villas. It is quite amazing, that there are 2000-year-old pizza ovens, just like the kind my grandfather used. Fast food restaurants where Pompeii’s citizens would stop for a quick bite to eat. You can get a sense of the Italian genius which built magnificent structures and operated within a complex social, political and commercial system.

When archaeologists uncovered the lava-encased city, in addition to the architectural structures they found, persevered for 2000 years in hardened lava, the bodies of the Pompeii’s inhabitants. They found entire families gathered around a meal - buried in lava before they even knew the volcano had erupted; beasts of burden standing in their stables; they also found some people who had seen or heard the eruption and were trying, in vain, to run away when the lava flow caught up with them.

The very first human remains that the archaeologists found were the skeletons of a man and a woman. And they found the skeletons' bony fingers clutching handfuls of gold coins. As they died, their last thought was not family or faith, but money.

Many of the ancient cultures buried their dead with money, believing that riches would follow them into the afterlife. For the Christian, however, we believe that “we can’t take it with us”—in fact, a life bent on the pursuit of riches is a vain one.

We don't know much about the man in today’s Gospel who came asking Christ to settle a financial dispute between him and his brother. Maybe he was sincerely interested in justice. Maybe his heart was full of greed, and wanted every last penny his brother owed him.

In either case, Jesus makes the most of the encounter to teach one of the most basic (though not the most popular) Christian lessons: the meaning of life does not consist in getting rich; the treasure that matters to God has nothing to do with anything you can put in a bank.

Of course, we need money and possessions to engage in commerce, to obtain food, shelter, and the like. When we are using our money and possessions rightly, it is not a sin to enjoy them.  Jesus knows how easily we are tempted by money and possessions - they seem to promise so much! How often have we thought, “when we get a bigger house, then we’ll be happy, when we get the new apple device then I’ll be happy, if we just take that vacation to Disney, then we’ll be happy” We know the common adage: “money can’t buy happiness” but so many think to ourselves, “maybe it will work for me”. 

Sometimes the money and material goods can lead us to neglect a healthy relationship with God. Our possessions, then, begin to possess us, like a demon, and lead us to skip prayer, skip church, skip healthy human relationships.  They can lead to our souls becoming very sick, even devoid of life and grace.

This soul sickness permeates our culture. Think of how our culture idolizes the rich and the famous. They may be total losers on the moral level, corrupt, perverted, manipulating, but if they are on the cover of Sports Illustrated or People magazine we idolize them, we watch stories about them, we fantasize about meeting them, being brought into their circle of friends, if money can line their pockets, maybe we’ll get rich too.

If we put a sign up on the front lawn saying Bill Gates would be here next week, and he’ll be handing out 50,000 dollars to everyone who came to church, there would be standing room only. Even if it was the hottest day of the summer and he was going to give a 45 minute sermon, this place would be packed. And yet, when we come to Church, doesn’t God give us more valuable than silver and gold? He gives us the gift of eternal life, he gives us his very self, in the Eucharist, he gives us treasure that does not pass away: wisdom, charity, patience, moral direction.

I have a lot of conversation with couples who are preparing for marriage in the Church, and many of them are not coming to Mass. And they try to justify it, saying they don’t come to Mass because they have to work, they need money. We all need money, but not more than we need God.

Why do we justify so easily breaking the third commandment, to keep Holy the Sabbath? If you needed money, would you break the fifth commandment, would you kill someone? No, of course not. If you needed money, would you break the sixth commandment, would you prostitute yourself? I hope not. If you needed money, would you break the seventh commandment, would you steal it or rob a bank? God forbid. Then why, when we need money, or go on a vacation, or want do sleep in, do we break the third commandment so easily?

I get it, too. I wasn’t raised in a family where faith came first always. But there comes a time when we really need to consider, “What am I living for? What am I working for? Do I really trust the commandments are the path of life? What in my life is vanity? What is granting me life and what is taking it from me? How much of my life is consumed with obtaining earthly treasures instead of heavenly ones?”

Jesus knows how easily we are tempted by money and possessions - they seem to promise so much! But, Jesus exposes that living for money is, what our first reading, called “a vanity of vanities” the Hebrew way of saying, “a complete waste of time”. Deadly even, when they take the place of God.

St. Paul even called greed a form of idolatry, a type of false worship. Greed, sexual impurity, immorality, evil desires, keep us from the true joy Jesus died to bring us.

And “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world at the cost of his soul?”

Rather when Christ is the center of our lives, our families, work, meals, vacations, civic life, decisions, problems, accomplishments and losses, the whole of our lives become charged and changed by God’s presence. All that we do, we should begin with prayer, and end by thanking God. And if we can’t do that, maybe we need to rethink some things.

We certainly ask the Holy Spirit today to help us be rid of all idolatry and vanity, to help all those who have left the faith for the pursuit of false gods, to return to God before it is too late, that all of us may seek the true treasures of heaven in lives of faith, hope, and love, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 29 2016 - St. Martha - Welcoming Jesus

The story of Martha and Mary should be relatively fresh in our minds, as it was the Gospel reading from St. Luke, just two Sundays ago.  The Prayers of the Mass, today, the Entrance Antiphon and the Communion Antiphon all refer to incidents in the relationship of Jesus with his friends at Bethany. 

Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus were evidently close friends of Jesus. In the house at Bethany Jesus was welcomed by Martha as a guest and as a friend. Though he was no doubt grateful for her hospitality, Jesus mildly rebuked Martha when she complained that Mary was not helping her with the domestic duties.  Jesus had to correct one of his saints. This reminds us, that those who reach a saintly level do so because they allow the Lord to correct them, to fine tune them.

In the face of correction Martha did not turn away from Christ because he challenged her to change.  So, too, we need welcome Jesus’ correction in our spiritual lives.  We labor and live amongst many worldly distractions, and at times need to be roused out of complacency, and reminded of the One thing that truly matters.  We need to welcome this work of the Lord to sanctify us--to grant us greater faith, hope, and love. Welcoming Jesus more deeply in our houses, our lives, and hearts, always means being open to change and growth and conversion and deeper faith.

We read today of Martha’s great moment of faith, Lazarus had died, and Martha goes out to meet the Lord.  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  “I am the resurrection and the life,” said the Lord; “whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”  “Yes Lord,” Martha said.  “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 

Martha affirms that the Lord is capable doing all things, she truly recognizes his divinity. She affirms that Jesus has power over life and death, yet she humbly asks, Lord, if it is your will raise my brother from the dead.  She actively seeks the Lord, she asserts his power and his divinity, and humbly submits to his will, praying, Thy will be done, and she awaits his response.  Because she welcomed the Lord more deeply into her heart, she is able to recognize Him as savior--as the one we answers are deepest longings.

Here is a Saint who knows what it means to grow, to change, to deepen in faith, to serve, to welcome the unexpected guest, to trust in God at the death of a love one.

May St. Martha help us not to become anxious over our worldly duties, nor allow them to distract us from our Lord’s invitation to find our life in Him alone. May she help us to welcome the Lord to correct our faults and help us to love God and neighbor with ever greater love, and to trust God with an ever deeper surrender for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday - 17th Week of OT - Parable of the Net

Throughout the 13^th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel we read several parables all concerning what Jesus calls “the kingdom of heaven.” Scholars call these parables “the seven Kingdom parables” in which Jesus uses the word “kingdom” twelve times.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a sower who sowed good seeds in the soil”

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed”

The kingdom of heaven is like yeast”

Today we heard the last of the kingdom parables, “the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea”. Jesus’ first disciples were fisherman, but we can understand this image pretty well.  This net is dragged through the sea.  And if it is dragged, it picks up everything: not just fish, but debris, seaweed, and everything else that might be in the way.  And when you get back to shore, you have to separate what is good from what is bad.  And Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is like that. 

Then Jesus even clarifies, he says, this image is about the kingdom of God at the end of time.  There will be judgment at the end of time, when Jesus comes again, on whether or not we belong in the kingdom or whether we are like the debris and garbage that is thrown back. 

We profess this belief every week in the creed that, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”. 

For many, the idea of being judged worthy of heaven or hell is a terrifying idea.  Some grow scrupulous over their moral choices, while others reject the notion of judgment, and live as if everyone is destined for heaven. There is a prevailing attitude in our secular culture that says, it doesn’t really matter how you act, it doesn’t really matter what you believe, everybody goes to heaven.  Kind of like, just because we are born, we are entitled to heaven, no matter if you live a life rejecting God’s grace or not. 

Somewhere in the middle of scrupulosity and laxity is the need for each of us take our moral choices seriously, while also entrusting ourselves to the mercy and goodness of God. Like a fisherman, being a Christian is hard work: for priests, for parents and godparents responsible for passing on the faith to those in their care, for all of us.

Pope Benedict, (in a message to the US Bishops), said, “Truly caring about young people and the future of our civilization means recognizing our responsibility to promote and live by the authentic moral values which alone enable the human person to flourish.”

We recall that each of us has a role in God’s plan of salvation, each of us called to be part of that dragnet God uses to catch souls by spreading the Gospel, while also taking seriously the need to conform our minds and hearts to Christ in all things—to be merciful, to be humble, to be pure, to be committed to justice, to be faithful as Him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 26 2016 - Saints Joachim and Anne - Grandparents of the Lord

Today we celebrate the grandparents of the Lord. Sacred Scripture tells us nothing about them. Some of the early apocryphal sources, like the Protoevangelium Jacobi—the Proto Gospel of St. James—which uses Christian imagination to try to fill in some of the details which scripture omits. What is clear, in that apocryphal text, beyond their names, is that Joachim and Anne were very old when the Blessed Virgin was conceived, they were devout.  Their longing for a child was great, and in their old age, God blessed them with such with such a miracle, in the immaculate conception of Mary.

Many statues of St. Anne depict her teaching the young Mary how to pray. Joachim and Anne, raised their daughter to be so faithful, to be so courageous in serving the Lord—that when the angel of God visited her, she, fearlessly, gave her whole “Yes” to God—the perfect surrender of faith.

We do not know whether Jesus knew his maternal grandparents. By the time of his birth, Mary had left the home of Joachim and Anne to live with her husband Joseph.  If they were alive during Jesus’ childhood, given the culture of the Holy Land, Jesus would have spent considerable time with His grandparents. He would have known their human affection, and seen their beautiful Jewish piety and devotion. Perhaps Anne taught Jesus stories from the Hebrew Scriptures, psalms, prayers, like she did Mary.

Saints Joachim and Anne are the patron saints of grandparents.  It’s good today, then, to reflect on the role that grandparents play within the Church.  Some grandchildren are blessed to grow up near their grandparents, while others because of distance only get to spend time with their grandparents a few times a year. 

I think of my own grandparents, who for many years on Sunday, when my parents worked late the night before, would drive miles out of their way to pick me up for Sunday Mass.  The role of grandparents today is paramount in an age where there is a growing laxity in the practice of the faith.  They can help to ensure that the Tradition and Faith is passed on to the younger generations, and help to guide their own children in responsible Christian parenting.  Teach them to how recite the Ten Commandments, teach them stories of the heroic saints, teach them that being a Catholic is most important.

Grandparents, when you know there is something wrong, don’t be afraid to remind your families of the importance of faith and prayer, by your words and example.  If the grandkids come over, pray a rosary before the television goes on in the evening, make sure that grace is said before family meals, teach the traditions, instill the faith. Make sure that marriages are taking place within the Church and that grandbabies and great-grandbabies are being baptized.

On these feast of the grandparents, we’re reminded of grandparent’s special role and responsibility in forming the generations to come.  Through the prayers of Saints Joachim and Anne may we all come to a deeper knowledge of the role we have in spreading the Faith for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

Homily: July 25 2016 - St. James, apostle - The Pilgrim Way

Before his martyrdom, Saint James carried the Gospel to the ends of the known world, over 3000 miles from the shores of the Sea of Galilee where he was first called by the Lord. Saint James’ relics are now laid in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where Saint James evangelized. Now, nearly 2000 years later, Christians from around the world make pilgrimage, following in the footsteps of Saint James on what is called El Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim way of Saint James.

I met the holy bishop of Gallup, New Mexico this weekend who is embarking on the Camino with his parishioners this week. Certainly a pilgrimage I would like to make one day.

You may have seen the wonderful movie with Martin Sheen, who makes the pilgrimage in memory of his son. On the course of the pilgrimage he meets fellow pilgrims who touch him and teach him in some way, and as he makes the pilgrimage he faces the grief of his son’s death and comes to a renewed faith.

Art and stained glass windows often depict St. James with the pilgrim’s walking stick and a seashell, which is both a symbol of baptism and pilgrimage.  For the entire Christian life is like a pilgrimage. We walk side by side with our fellow Christians, we urge each other on, we inspire and encourage each other, we help each other when we’ve fallen. The pilgrimage requires perseverance, long hard roads, filled with unexpected turns. The pilgrimage requires that we follow the road-map of Christian teaching, studying the word.  On the long pilgrim journey we distance ourselves from the distractions of the world, in order to focus on the most important thing, the one thing that matters most, our union with Christ—our communion with Him in his mission.

The joys and sufferings of the pilgrimage remind us that striving to be like Jesus in our service to God, is full of both joys and sufferings. Making a pilgrimage, like the Camino of Saint James, can be a way of reigniting our zeal for living and spreading the Gospel. If you are experiencing some dryness in your faith or prayer life, or have a special intention, perhaps you carry a great guilt or a great grief, make a pilgrimage to a shrine or a holy place. Make an intentional spiritual journey to a holy place to seek the special intercession of the saint honored there. 

We recognize that each day we are on a pilgrim journey, through which we are to walk by faith, recalling the need to walk in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, to bear the cross with Him, to spread the word with Him, to suffer and die with him that we may be raised with him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday - 16th Week in OT - Jesus stretched forth his hands

When Jesus, in the Gospel today, proclaimed “those who do the will of the heavenly Father” to be his “mothers, and sisters and brothers”, did you notice what he did with his hands? He “stretched out his hands”. A few times in the Gospel Jesus does this, typically when performing a healing miracle. 

He stretches out his hand and touches a leper to cleanse him.  Remember when Peter, commanded by the Lord to walk on the water, begins to doubt, and starts sinking? Jesus stretches out his hand to Peter, to save Peter from drowning.

Extending a hand, is a gesture of healing, a gesture of saving, and in the sense of today’s Gospel, a gesture of incorporating.

Extending the hands is a beautiful gesture depicted often in the scriptures. Psalm 144 asks God to stretch forth his hand from on high to rescue us and save us. While Isaiah speaks of God stretching forth his hand over all the nations to fulfill his plan of salvation.  Moses is even commanded by God to stretch out his hands over the red sea, that the Hebrew slaves might be delivered safely from their Egyptian captors.

This gesture is used quite often in the most sacred liturgical prayers of the Church.  The priest stretches his hands over the bread and wine, calling down the Holy Spirit over the gifts which have been placed on the altar.  He stretches his hands over the water of the baptismal font and calls down the holy spirit as he blesses water for baptism.  Though you often can’t see it, as the priest prays the prayer of absolution in the sacrament of confession, he stretches out his hand to the penitent. Again, the priest stretches out his hand over the sick and the dying in the sacrament of anointing.

The bishop stretches his hands over those he is about to confirm. And, he does the same at sacred ordination, stretching out his hands over those men he is ordaining deacons or priests.

In a sense, bride and groom stretch out their hands to each other, they join hands as they exchange the vows in which God joins them as one.

This gesture in all seven sacraments show us that God does indeed save us, heal us, unite us.

And really, in God, those three actions, saving, healing, uniting, are one. To the extent that we are united to God, we are saved and healed.  Because Jesus stretched his hands out on the cross, we are able to be saved and incorporated into the very life of God--a broken relationship healed, through the stretching out of hands.

We thank God today for stretching out his hands to his, inviting us, blessing us, and healing us, that we may walk as disciples of the Lord, and stretch out our hands to all those in need, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 18 2016 - St. Camillus - Conversion of a Con Man

St. Camillus’ mother died when he was but a young child, and his father was a mercenary soldier, who often left the boy to fend for himself. So the young boy Camillus severely neglected developed many bad habits. He got into fights with the neighborhood boys, he skipped school. One biographer wrote that, in Camillus’ youth, “there were no signs of sanctity”. We might know boys of Camillus…we might have been boys like Camillus.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Camillus at the age of 19 became a soldier, and he quickly picked up a lot of the vices of the military camp—swearing, drinking, visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a father and son con artists, swindling their fellow soldiers.  Because of his violent habits, after four years, Camillus was discharged from military service and found himself destitute.

He picked up odd jobs here and there until a wealthy gentleman gave him a job doing menial construction work in the Italian village of Manfredonia.  They were employed to construct a new Franciscan monastery, and while working Camillus began to acquire two virtues he had never tried to cultivate before: self-discipline and responsibility.  His faith was kindled when one of the Friars at the monastery began to share the faith with him. 

He tried to enter the Franciscan order on three separate occasions. But was not allowed formal entry into the order because of an incurable wound on his leg.  So this wound eventually brought him to Rome where he was cared for in the famous hospital of San Giacomo. It is there that he fell in love with caring for the sick.  

There too, he put himself under the spiritual direction of St. Philip Neri. St. Philip encouraged Camillus to study for the priesthood. So at the age of 32, Camillus entered seminary. After his ordination he founded a religious order called the “Servants of the Sick” who were devoted for caring for the destitute sick.

What a beautiful conversion. God’s grace has the power to convert even the most hardened sinners. And look how God worked through the generosity of an employer, the word of humble Friar, the care of doctors and nurses.  We never know when our small acts of charity will be the moment when someone, hardened in sin, finds God.  So we should engage in them frequently.

St. Camillus is a saint because someone saw beyond the violent, philandering con man, and showed him dignity by providing an opportunity for Camillus to practice virtue.  May each of us take seriously our own call to conversion and our call to reach out to the destitute with patience and generosity, and to build up God’s kingdom of peace for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 16th Sunday in OT 2016 - Sitting at the Master's feet

Back in 1850, Pio Nonno, Blessed Pope Pius IX, sent a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati named Fr. John Baptiste Lamy (La-may), out west, as a missionary to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Within a few years, Fr. Lamy would become the first archbishop of the place, but when he first got there, he recognized that there were a lot of needs: there were no schools, no parishes, no priests, no seminary, no convents, no catechetical programs, or hospitals.  There were so many towering needs that Lamy needed to discern very wisely which pastoral need he was he to tend to first.

And it may surprise us, as it surprised many of his contemporaries, the first thing he did was to invite an order of contemplative sisters who would come to Santa Fe, this vast wilderness, to spend their lives in quiet, silent, prayer and penance.  Contemplatives like the Carmelites and the Poor Clares. St. Clare herself was a contemplative, who left the riches and busyness of the world to spend her life in quiet adoration of the Eucharist. 

Father Lamy believed that amidst all of the towering needs, the first need is silence, prayer, adoration of the Lord in the Eucharist, and penance. Father Lamy certainly had his critics.  They said, “what a waste of time, let’s get people to open schools, let’s get priests to run parishes, let’s get sisters who can teach the faith and run hospitals, let’s train people to pass on the faith and do the charitable works.  What good are these contemplative sisters who hide themselves away in silence? What good are these sisters who spend their day doing nothing, from an earthly point of view, except devoting themselves to silence, prayer, and penance? And Fr. Lamy, defending his decision, pointed to the Gospel we just heard proclaimed. 

He said, “We need Mary’s before we have Martha’s” He said, “If I can get Mary’s here, the Martha’s will naturally come.”  What did he mean by that? Well, what did the Gospel say? Jesus shows up at the home of beloved friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus over in Bethany, just a few miles outside of Jerusalem.  He comes to enjoy their friendship and their hospitality. Martha is busy doing all these chores: cooking, cleaning, readying the house, preparing to offer hospitality. Mary, her sister, is sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus, savoring his company, and listening to his words. Martha and Mary. Martha is doing good works. Mary, according to Martha, is doing nothing. And when Martha confronts Jesus about this, Jesus says that Mary is doing something, the most important thing, the one thing, the only thing necessary, the better thing. 

You see what Jesus is saying? First things first. First, pay attention to Jesus, sit at his feet, listen to his words, savor his presence, love him, then let’s worry about all the details of hospitality.

Fr. Lamy was saying the same thing. First things first, the one thing, the most important thing, let our hearts, and minds, and souls, first be set on Jesus Christ. So following the very teaching of the Master, he sought contemplative women to sit at his feet, and to pray assiduously for the needs of the nascent diocese, and then the Martha’s will be rightly focused in their work.

The Church of course needs both, Martha’s and Mary’s.  Martha’s who will do the work, who will run the fish fries, the vacation bible school, the St. Vincent de Paul care for the needy, who will organize trips to the shrines, who will catechize the young people, who will visit the homebound and the sick in hospitals and nursing homes, who will wash the linens we need for Mass. Thank God for our Martha’s. Because when people see us involved in the charitable works, they see that we are putting our money where our mouth is. 

Yet, the Church certainly needs Mary’s, to sit at the Master’s feet. Young women and men to answer the call to the contemplative life. St. Therese the Little Flower, called to mind the image of the Church as a body. And just as a body has many parts, hands, feet, arms, legs, head, mouth to do the works, to preach the Gospel, so the body also needs a heart. And her vocation, as a contemplative Carmelite, she said, was to be the heart, to beat in silence, so the blood and love of Jesus might flow throughout the body. We need women and men to be the heart—to be the Mary’s. To remind us that nothing in the world satisfies as does the vocation to love Christ in prayer.

And really, what is true for the Church as a whole, is true for us as individuals, each of us needs to be a part Martha and part Mary. First and foremost, to be like Mary. Every day, we need to go to a quiet place and sit at the feet of the master, to listen to him and to love him. Every day without fail.  Only when we are first like Mary, will our works and endeavors be rightly ordered, for God’s glory.

6 weeks ago I proposed to the parish a 10 minute challenge. Reading the Bible for 10 minutes a day in a quiet place, and reflecting about what God’s word is saying to us. Today, I renew that challenge. Don’t turn on the televisions unless you’ve spent 10 minutes in quiet prayer. Don’t mow the lawn, don’t sweep the floors or do the dishes, don’t jump into the swimming pool, without that 10 minutes of prayer. Don’t do the Martha work until you’ve done the Mary work and recognized that Mary work is more important.

For how else are we to recall that Jesus is with us, that he is teaching us and shaping us, unless we turn our faces to him, and turn our ears to his words?

I saw in the paper yesterday, that for the first time in American history, the largest group of voters are those who describe themselves as non-religious. The non-religious now outnumber us. Where did they come from? At least half of this group are former Catholics. Catholics who stopped going to Mass, who married outside the Church, who stopped studying their faith, who stopped reading God’s Word, who stopped praying.  Many of these folks simply got wrapped up in their worldly pursuits, sending their kids to sports practice, going shopping, paying the bills. They let themselves become Martha’s without recognizing the need to be Mary’s. They stopped sitting at the feet of the Master, and simply drifted away. Perhaps they were never really here, for they never fell in love with the Lord. They simply went to Catholic school, came to Mass with their families, but never fell in love.

Parents, grandparents, help your children fall in love with the Lord, help them to realize the truth of his teaching, that sitting at his feet is truly the one thing necessary, by making your homes and families places of authentic encounter.

I also think this is one of the mistakes of politics. We think if we just elect the right Martha, then we’ll have peace. No. We will never have peace until our hearts are rightly ordered to Jesus Christ through the way of Mary.

As thousands of people stream to Cleveland this week for the RNC, let us pray for peace in our streets and peace in our hearts, and that we may witness to Jesus Christ by our prayerfulness and faith for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

  

Homily: July 15 2016 - St. Bonaventure - Burning love of the Crucified

In the early 13^th century, a young boy named Giovanni di Fidanza became gravely ill, to the point of death. His mother, sought ought a holy man who had been preaching the Gospel of Christ throughout the land.  The preacher prayed over the boy, and cured him, and spoke the words, “O Bonaventura”—“O one for whom good things will come”.  The preacher of course was St. Francis, the boy Giovanni, would later take the words of prophecy uttered by Francis as his name.  Good things certainly were to come through the life of this boy healed by the love of God.

Bonaventure entered the Franciscan Order at an early age. Because of his great intellect he was sent to study in one of the world’s great universities in Paris. Because of his great intellect and virtue, one of his professors said of his, “In Bonaventure, it was as if Adam hadn’t sin.” Not much later, at the age of 27, he was made a professor at that great school. And again, because of his wisdom and holiness, he was elected, at the age of 35, minister general of the Franciscans.  He is often called the “second Founder” of the Franciscans because of the great impact he had on the order, particularly in stressing the importance of study and loving Christ with a burning heart.

Named after the Seraphim, the order of angels who serve at God’s throne and offer God constant praise, Bonaventure is known as the Seraphic Doctor. The word Seraphim means burning one. Bonaventure loved God and served God with a burning love. His writings as a Doctor of the Church are filled with urgings to love God. “There is no other path (to heaven, to God, to happiness),” he writes, “but through the burning love of the Crucified.” Only a “raging fire” in our soul, a fire of “intense fervor” and “glowing love” can carry our soul to God. 

Is your heart on fire with love of God? If not, why not? For our souls to catch fire, Bonaventure encourages us to strive to avoid sin, to pray for the healing of our deformed nature, to meditate upon God’s word, that our mind might be illuminated by the knowledge of divine things, and to practice contemplation, to focus our hearts and minds on God alone.

Bonaventure reminds us that it is through the mercy of God that we are healed, that we are called to cooperate with God through study and prayer as God works to purify, enlighten, and enflame our intellects and hearts.  May we benefit from Bonaventure’s example, teaching, and heavenly intercession in our souls’ journey toward God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 14 2016 - Saint Kateri Tekakwitha - Magnifying Christ through a life of dutiful service

 At Kateri Tekakwitha’s Beatification in 1980, Saint Pope John Paul II said this of her: the sweet, frail yet strong figure of a young woman died when she was only twenty-four years old: Kateri Tekakwitha, the "Lily of the Mohawks" …spent her short life partly in what is now the State of New York and partly in Canada. She was a kind, gentle and hardworking person, spending her time working, praying, and meditating…When her family urged her to marry, she replied very serenely and calmly that she has Jesus as her only spouse…This decision, in view of the social conditions of women in the Indian Tribes at the time, exposed Kateri to the risk of living as outcast and in poverty…at the age of twenty-three, with the consent of her spiritual director, Kateri took a vow of perpetual virginity - as far as we know the first time that this was done among the North American Indians.

The last months of her life were an ever clearer manifestation of her solid faith, straight-forward humility, calm resignation and radiant joy, even in the midst of terrible sufferings. Her last words, simple and sublime, whispered at the moment of her death, sum up, like a noble hymn, a life of purest charity: "Jesus, I love you....".

Her beatification should remind us that we are all called to a life of holiness, for in Baptism, God has chosen each one of us "to be holy and spotless and to live through love in his presence". (Eph. 1:4) Holiness of life--union with Christ through prayer and works of charity--is not something reserved to a select few among the members of the Church. It is the vocation of everyone."

At her canonization in 2012, Pope Benedict said, “Her greatest wish was to know and to do what pleased God. She lived a life radiant with faith and purity.”

Here is a woman who was ostracized for her faith, she was driven from her Tribe. To be faithful was a cross, but it was a yoke that was sweet and light because of her love for Jesus. Despite the social pressures lived a life of humble service and prayer, and her service, her labor for Christ was not a burden, but a source of constant refreshment.  How important for all of us to keep in mind examples such as St. Kateri. To seek to “magnify God” through our own “dutiful service” and, like Saint Kateri, to strive to hold fast to Christ alone for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday - 15th Week of OT 2016 - Woe to you, Cleveland!

Last Fall, we offered a Bible Study on the Book of Matthew.  What a luxury to be able to go through chapter by chapter, line by line.  Those who attended remember that the structure of the Gospel of Matthew is very pronounced.  Matthew can be divided into five smaller units, each containing narrative and discourse sections.  In the narrative sections throughout the Gospel, Jesus travels to towns, he performs healings, he manifests the power of the kingdom, he confronts Pharisees. And then the narrative, the action, is followed by a teaching, a discourse—for example, the Sermon on the Mount follows Jesus’ calling of his first disciples.

Today’s Gospel passage is taken from the third narrative section of Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus has just sent the twelve apostles on their first missionary journey.  He had given them instructions to preach the Gospel and to perform healing miracles, just like he had been doing in the previous part of the Gospel; what the master does, so must the disciples do.  While they are gone, Jesus begins to preach again to crowds of people, people who he had met before. Jesus preaches here with great intensity and seriousness about the consequences for failing to repent.

He calls those who fail to head his words, “a wicked generation”.  He compares the hard-hearted Pharisees to a bunch of children playing games in the marketplace. In today’s Gospel he reproaches the towns which failed to repent. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe, to you Capernaum! Woe, to you Bethsaida! These three towns, Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida were places Jesus had spent the majority of his time in his ministry so far.  They had witnessed the majority of his miracles, he had opened the scriptures to them, they heard of God’s love and the need to repent.  Jesus says that if Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, some of the most wicked cities in history, had witnessed his ministry, they would have repented on the spot.

Jesus speaks with great seriousness, because the something of the greatest importance is at stake: our eternal souls. The second person of the Holy Trinity didn’t incarnate and undergo the Passion because He was bored.  Repentance and living a life of faith is of the highest importance.  Everything else pales in comparison.  

I don’t think we are necessarily called to go out into the shopping malls and sporting arenas and preach: “woe to you Mayfield Heights, Woe to you Cleveland. Repent, for judgment is coming!” But I do think passages like todays should certainly challenge us to ensure that our priorities are in order, that we are living firstly for God, that we have repented of our sins, and that we do take seriously our call to spread the Gospel with conviction and patience for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 11 2016 - St. Benedict - Holy Protector against Satan

 A few years ago, one Saturday morning before going to pray at the Abortion Clinics on Shaker Blvd. I was attending Mass at St. Andrew’s Abbey, the Benedictine Monastery here in Cleveland. And after Mass, a holy old Benedictine monk came up to me and placed in my hand a blessed St. Benedict medal and a holy card.  He told me to pray it every day for protection against evil.

One side of the medal bears an image of St. Benedict, holding a cross in the right hand and the Holy Rule in the left. On the one side of the image is a cup, on the other a raven, and above the cup and the raven are inscribed the words: “Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti” (Cross of the Holy Father Benedict). Around the margin of the medal are the words “Ejus in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur” (May we at our death be fortified by his presence).

The reverse of the medal bears a cross with the initial letters of the words: “Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux, Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux” (The Holy Cross be my light, Let not the dragon be my guide).

The morning I received the medal, the holy monk emphasized the powerful prayer on the around the backside of the medal: “Vade Retro Satana, Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana — Sunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas” (Begone, Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities — evil are the things thou offer, drink thou thy own poison).

Jesus himself taught us to pray for deliverance from evil in the Lord's Prayer.  

Promises attached to the medal include:

1. To destroy witchcraft and all other diabolical and haunting influences;
2. To impart protection to persons tempted, deluded, or tormented by evil spirits;
3. To obtain the conversion of sinners into the Catholic Church, especially when they are in danger of death;
4. To serve as an armor against temptation;
5. To destroy the effects of poison;
6. To secure a timely and healthy birth for children;
7. To afford protection against storms and lightning;
8. To serve as an efficacious remedy for bodily afflictions and a means of protection against contagious diseases.

There is no special way prescribed for carrying or wearing the Medal of St. Benedict. It can be worn on a chain around the neck, attached to one’s rosary, kept in one’s pocket or purse, or placed in one’s car or home. The medal is often put into the foundations of houses and building, on the walls of barns and sheds, or in one’s place of business. The one rule about the St. Benedict Medal is that it be properly blessed.

The purpose of using the medal in any of the above ways is to call down God’s blessing and protection upon us, wherever we are, and upon our homes and possessions, especially through the intercession of St. Benedict. By the conscious and devout use of the medal, it becomes, as it were, a constant silent prayer and reminder to us of our dignity as followers of Christ.

The Medal of St. Benedict can serve as a constant reminder of the need for us to take up our cross daily and “follow the true King, Christ our Lord,” and to turn away from the deceits of the devil.

St. Benedict has been for countless Christians, a Holy Protector against the devil and his evil works. May we know his constant aid and intercession, engaged as we are in our constant spiritual battle for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 15th Sunday in OT 2016 - "Go and do likewise"

Biblical scholars and preachers usually interpret today’s Gospel passage, the parable of the Good Samaritan in one of two ways.  The first is to read as Jesus’ answer to what mercy, compassion, and neighborliness looks like.  The scholar of the law asks Jesus, “who is my neighbor”, and Jesus says even the person that you would normally overlook, even the person that the rest of the world considers unclean, that’s your neighbor, and you need to pick him up when he has fallen, you need to see past your preconceived notions and stereotypes and prejudices, and you need to treat him with mercy and compassion and tenderness.

The second way of interpreting the Good Samaritan parable is to see in this parable an allegory for what God has done for each one of us in Christ Jesus.  God has raised us up when we fell upon robbers and have been “half dead” because of sin.  We’ve been raised up, tended, cared for, restored to life because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  No human power can do what God has done for us—restoring our souls to life through baptism, healing us through grace.

Before I was ordained a priest, a group of seminarians one Sunday afternoon after attending Mass in the morning, decided to visit one of these non-denominational Mega-Churches that had become somewhat popular, you know, to see what all the fuss was about.  In fact, a lot of former Catholics end up at these Mega-Churches for various reasons. 

So that morning, there were about 800 people gathered in what looked more like a concert hall than a church.  The service opened with about 20 minutes of Christian Rock, all with electric guitars, smoke machines, and laser lights. 

The pastor then took the stage and performed a dramatic retelling of this morning’s Gospel, the parable of the Good Samaritan.  And so he picked one person out of the congregation to be the victim, he picked a couple young kids to play the robbers and rough him up and leave him for dead, the priest, levite, Samaritan, and innkeeper. 

Afterwards, he gave a sermon, basically interpreting the parable in that second way, that we are the man who fell among robbers; because of our own free-will given over to sin, we were lying on the road, half-dead, where no human power could help us.  And then, out of His infinite love, God sent his son to die for us and redeem us, to raise us up to new life. 

Then the pastor asked the congregation to close their eyes, and asked, “Have you fallen amongst robbers, have you been struggling in sin, are there choices that you’ve made against God’s commandments, have you pridefully rejected God’s grace, have you been selfish with the time you’ve been given?”  And I’m thinking to myself, sure I have, I’ve struggled, I’ve fallen, I’ve been prideful, I’ve been selfish towards my neighbor, and so, I raised my hand.  All of a sudden, he says, “Oh, I see someone with their hand up”.  I open my eyes and look around and thought, “oh no, that’s me!”  My classmates said I looked like a deer in headlights.  So I quickly shoot my hand down, and try to hide in my seat.  But I start to think, how am I the only one in this church that is guilty of sin?    

And I’m thinking, you know, this is one of the big differences between the Catholic faith and a lot of these non-denominational groups.  They believe that once you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you are saved, you’re living the life of grace.  Catholics however, realize that though we truly begin a new life at baptism and are truly washed clean of sin, we may still fall, and we may still sin.  We remain free after baptism free to reject grace, and that happens every time we sin—when we ignore the commandments.  Baptism is not a guarantee that we will reach heaven, it is merely the first step of the journey.  Holiness is not a once and for all acceptance of grace, we are tempted to reject grace daily, and we need to practice the works of mercy every day.  Thank God for the Sacrament of Confession, which restores us to grace when we’ve fallen. So when a so-called born again Christian asks you, “Have you been saved”, answer, “I have been saved, I am being saved, and I hope to be saved."

Pope Francis said recently, that the Church is a field hospital.  In war, a field hospital is set up, where soldiers can be brought in when they are wounded.  The Church exists to heal our wounds, the wounds of sin and selfishness. That confessional, in a sense, is more important than any doctor’s office. For a doctor can treat our physical ills, but only through the ministry of the priest, can our sins be healed.

The prayers of this Mass reinforce this point: in the opening prayer we prayed, “may all of us who follow Christ reject what is contrary to the name of Christ.”  We acknowledge that temptation will come, and that we need God to resist those temptations.  In the priest’s prayer over the gifts, I’ll pray, may this Eucharist “bring us ever greater holiness.” 

And here is where the two interpretations of this parable converge. For as we are treated with mercy by God—with “saving love”, Jesus sends us out to “Go and do likewise”.  Having been treated with saving love by God, we are to show that same saving love to our neighbor.

“Who is our neighbor”? Our neighbor is not just the person who lets us borrow a lawnmower when ours isn’t working.  Our neighbor, Jesus is teaches, includes every member of the human family. Of course those sitting in the pews around us this morning, but our neighbor is the Samaritan, those who look different, talk different, worship differently—whether in Pittsburgh or Zimbabwe.  Our neighbor are the desperate people around the world who are starving, those who are mourning the loss of a loved one, those who differ politically.

In this year of Mercy, Pope Francis challenges us to acknowledge the mercy we have received, and to seek to grow in holiness by performing the works of mercy for others. We are to be the Good Samaritan whose lifts our fallen brother up, tends his wounds, pays for his lodgings, and comes back to check on him.  This requires real sacrifice on our part, going out of our way, breaking out of our comfort zone to see that every man is indeed our neighbor and we are to treat him as we ourselves wish to be treated.

And as we continue with this celebration of the Eucharist in which Jesus’ body and blood are given to us by the merciful love of the Father, may the saving effects of the Eucharist grow within us, that we may bring God’s love generously to our neighbor for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday - 14th Week in OT - Fear of Speaking

There was a national survey which asked people about their greatest fears.  They listed Aviophobia, the fear of flying, Lygophobia, fear of the dark, acrophobia, fear of heights, arachnophobia, the fear of spiders.  I read recently, that zoos are starting to have special programs to help people face their fear of spiders, where you eventually become comfortable holding those disgusting eight legged creatures in your hand.  

Very high on the list was a fear that Jesus tells us to be free from in today’s Gospel, Glossophobia, fear of speaking.  High on many of these lists is always that same fear of public speaking, giving a speech or public presentation.

Psychologists say that this fear is connected with fear of the unknown, not knowing what’s going to happen when you step up to that podium, how people are going to react to your message. There’s a fear of making a mistake, being judged, not measuring up to people’s expectations. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says that his servants will be called upon to give public witness to his Gospel. Not only public witness, we will be dragged before governor’s and kings.  And he tells us, that when it is time to witness to the Christian Gospel, we are not to worry about speaking, witnessing to these people.  Now many of us don’t like sharing our faith with our closest friends and family. However will we overcome this greatest of fears?

For one, sharing our faith, sharing the Gospel, speaking about our faith should be as natural as breathing.  We should become some practiced, so familiar with the Gospel, that sharing it is as customary as sharing our own name.  The Gospel, the tenets of our faith should be so internalized, as if the words are written in our hearts.

Also, we should be confident in the Gospel. St. Paul says in Romans: “I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe.”

Ease in sharing the Gospel comes from our confidence in its saving power.  Money can buy food, medicine can bring bodily health, but the Gospel brings eternal life.  So when we come before an unbeliever, their need for the Gospel is greater than a starving man needs food.  And we wouldn’t hesitate to feed the starving, so we shouldn’t hesitate in sharing the Gospel.

Jesus also mentions that the Holy Spirit will give us the words to speak. Through a life of prayer, meditation, contemplation, study of God’s work, putting on the mind and heart of Christ, performing the works of mercy, we grow in tune with God’s Spirit.  Sharing the Gospel, evangelization, is a fruit of being rooted in the soil of God’s word.  If we fear sharing the Word, return to the Word, read it, learn it, believe it, practice it.

Homily: July 4 2016 - Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord

Yesterday, in the first section of Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, there appeared a full page ad, paid for by Hobby Lobby.  You may remember hearing about Hobby Lobby from the news these past few years. Hobby Lobby is an American chain of retail arts and crafts stores. The Christians owners of Hobby Lobby have fought assiduously against certain provisions in the President Obama’s HHR mandate which seemed to violate our first Amendment right of religious liberty.  Hobby Lobby continues to be a strong voice on the national level in communicating the importance of religious liberty and the importance of our nation to take religion seriously.

This full page ad in yesterday’s paper contained a compendium of quotes from the founding Fathers, Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, Supreme Court Rulings, Congress, and even foreigners commenting on the importance of religion and Christianity in America, while affixed to the top of the ad, were the words of the 33rd Psalm: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” How many local business owners would have the courage to place similar ads? For each of us should have the courage to proclaim our faith proudly, and to preach its importance with similar fervor.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” and so many of our founding fathers were men who believed that our nation would succeed or fail to the measure she kept to the precepts of Christianity.  It may surprise the modern American, but Presidents of years past once placed great importance on following and promoting the tenets of the Ten Commandments, Supreme Court Justices ruled in favor of the Bible being read and taught in public schools, as well as looking to the laws of God found in the Holy Scriptures as being foundational for our understanding of civil law.

Our first President, in fact, was a truly pious man.  One of my favorite paintings is of George Washington, having dismounted his horse while on his way to Valley Forge, kneeling in the snow in prayer.  Besides having said that “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible”, the Hobby Lobby ad in the Plain Dealer contained another beautiful quote from our nation’s first president: “It is the duty,” he said, “of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, and to obey his will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.”

While many of our compatriots, have lost the religious sense of this day, we gather at the altar today, on this civil celebration of our Nation’s independence, to do just what Washington urged us to do, to gather in gratitude for God’s benefits, firstly, our freedom, and to humbly implore God’s favor and protection.

And as we gather for hotdogs and hamburgers and fireworks today, let us be mindful of the God who grants us such freedom, and who calls us to defend that freedom against our enemies, even from our civil leaders who seeking to amass power for themselves, violate our first liberties.  May each of us be counted as good and faithful stewards of our American liberties, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Please stand for our petitions.  Our petitions this morning are those composed for the inauguration of President George Washington by Archbishop John Carroll, First Roman Catholic bishop in our country whose brother Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. We pray to the Lord.

Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

We pray for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they maybe enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

And we pray especially for all of our countrymen who have gone before us in faith, for all those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, for all the of the deceased members of our family and friends, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.

Homily: 14th Sunday in OT 2016 - Freedom

This 14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time coincides this year with our great National Holiday, the celebration of our Independence.  This gives us a chance to reflect a little bit on the fascinating theme of being American and being Catholic: being Catholic in the land of the free and home of the brave. And I’d like to focus particularly today on perhaps the most highly valued of American principles: freedom, liberty.

What is freedom?  In this country right now, there seems to be at least two understandings of freedom. The first, let’s call the “modern American notion of freedom” and the other let’s call the “Catholic understanding of freedom.” How do they differ? Can they be reconciled?

The modern American notion of freedom usually means the freedom of self-expression. American freedom is summed up in motto like “I gotta be free, I gotta be me” and “I do what I want”, "My body, my choice". American Freedom doesn’t want to be restrained by the past, past traditions, past moralities. Religious authorities are suspect of trying to control the masses with outdated morality.  

If this seems abstract, look at the famous Supreme Court decision of 1992, Casey vs. Planned Parenthood.  Trying to bolster the earlier judgment of Row vs. Wade, the justices, in their great hubris, claimed that “freedom” allows us to determine the meaning of one’s own life, existence, and the universe. In other words, according to the majority decision, a mother has the power to determine if the life inside her womb is human or not. This same line of thinking would allow a Nazi officer to redefine the life of his Jewish prisoner as sub-human. This flies in the face of 1000s of years of moral tradition. But even Dr. Seuss knows, “A life is a life, no matter how small.”

The idea that we have the freedom to make up our own truth, that self-expression trumps objective truth, is foreign to western civilization and our Judeo-Christian moral tradition.  No doubt, decisions like Row v. Wade and Casey vs. Planned Parenthood, have led to the unravelling of the moral fabric of our nation. 

Contrast the Supreme Court decisions with how St. Paul presents the notion of freedom. Last week, weheard: “It is for freedom, that Christ has set us free.” Freedom isn’t over against Christ, nor does Christ hinder, obstruct, or violate or freedom. Christ is the foundation for freedom.  Paul is saying, Christ has set us free from the slavery of sin and error.

On the other hand, consider what he says in his letter to the Romans. He introduces himself this way in the letter, he says, “I am Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus”.  A slave is someone, in the ordinary sense, whose freedom has been taken away.  But Paul is saying, that when we have surrendered all to Christ, then we are truly free. 

Freedom is not opposed to truth, true freedom is grounded in truth—and Christ is the Truth.  We become free when we live according to Christ.  A person who believes it is morally licit to murder his fellow man, a mother who believes it is right to murder her unborn child, a father who abandons his children and family, isn’t free: that’s the old slavery to error, slavery to the rule of death, which Christ died to liberate us from.  Rather, as Christians, we say, that you are truly free to the measure that you submit yourself to objective moral truth, to the teachings of Christ. In that submission to truth and true goodness, you find your true freedom.

And here is the point of congruence between American Freedom and Biblical or Catholic Freedom. The biblical notion of freedom is the foundation on which this country is built.  As the biblical notion of freedom is undermined in our great land, our nations’ foundation cracks, and the whole edifice is threatened.

Come back with me to a stuffy, Philadelphia boarding house in the sweltering summer of 1776, where a young Virginia lawyer is composing a rather important document.  In the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights”.  Familiar words, hopefully, powerful words, moving words. 

Freedom comes from where? The government, the courts, the individual mind? No! Freedom comes from the Creator.  And our fundamental human equality comes from the fact that we are each created by God.  We may not be equal in intelligence, skill, courage, morality, or excellence, but our fundamental equality is deeper, and so our freedom comes from a deeper place.  The freedom to choose the good, to seek out the truth, this freedom comes from God.  Jefferson may not have been a Catholic, but in this instance, his notion of freedom is totally congruent to our Catholic understanding.

 Contrast that to the totalitarianism of the last century.  Nazism, communism, in denying that all men have the right to life and liberty were able to run rough-shod over millions of people.  When freedom is divorced from morality, destruction follows.  Saint John Paul II, who championed the defeat of Communism wrote: “freedom negates and destroys itself, and becomes a factor leading to the destruction of others, when it no longer recognizes and respects its essential link with the truth.”

So how do we protect and defend freedom? First we must conform our minds and hearts to the truth of Christ in all things.  He must be the foundation of our lives.  We must read his Word, study his teaching, put his way of life into practice.  Every home should have a Bible and a Catholic Catechism, and both books should be worn out by our constant use of them.  Truth is not an obstacle to personal fulfillment, but it’s greatest servant. We must spend more time with God’s word than Netflix.

When the Bill of Rights was ratified, religious freedom had the distinction of being the First Amendment. Religious liberty is indeed the first liberty. The First Amendment guarantees that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Yet over and over again, this first right is undermined.

So, we must demand that our civil leaders and legislators are men and women who share our Catholic values.  Politicians and laws which ignore the principles of natural ethics and yield to ephemeral cultural and moral trends work against our national survival.  Politicians who stand with organizations opposing religious freedom need to be voted out of office.

Honestly, I think the constant stream of Netflix and video games and professional sports and all of this entertainment, with which we are bombarded, can be so dangerous because if we are busy binging on Netflix, we aren’t worried that our fundamental freedoms our being violated and taken away, we aren’t keeping our politicians honest. 

So as our nation celebrates our independence, let us each commit to being stewards of that freedom, committing to the work and prayer that is needed to protect our freedom from its enemies, that we may all work together for the building up of the kingdom of God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: July 1 2016 - St. Junipero Serra - Bringing Jesus to Others

On this memorial of Junipero Sera, patron of promoting vocations, we have the Gospel of Jesus, the original vocation promoter, calling Matthew, the tax collector.

Matthew was a Jew who collected taxes from his fellow Jews on behalf of the occupying Roman forces.  Tax collectors, therefore, were considered as loathsome as murderers, assassins, thieves, robbers, criminals, and prostitutes. Yet, The Lord entered into Matthew’s life, the world of sinners, and invited him to the life of grace.

Notice, immediately after Matthew begins to follow Jesus, they go to Matthew’s home, where Matthew had invited other tax collectors and sinners to come and meet Jesus. Matthew, called out of sinfulness, becomes the conduit for Jesus to meet other sinners. Matthew becomes an instrument for the conversion of others. 

That’s what we are called to.  Jesus calls us out of our sin, that he may use us to be instruments of conversion.

What a fitting Gospel as we honor the Franciscan missionary, Junipero Serra.  St. Junipero. Was a university professor in Spain, who 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. Pope Francis canonized Junipero Serra on September 23, 2015. during a Mass in Washington, DC.

Junipero like Matthew was called by the Lord out of sin, to go back into the world, and build up the Church.

The promotion of priestly vocations and building up of the Church is the responsibility of the whole Church; from parents and grandparents raising their children in faith filled homes, all of us praying and encouraging young people to consider priestly and religious vocations. Sometimes it is difficult for young people to accept the call.  They think Jesus only calls the supremely holy.  But no, Jesus calls sinners, he calls the ordinary, to do extraordinary things for the Father.

We do well to ask ourselves what we can do to promote and work for vocations, how in our neighborhoods we can work to promote the Gospel.  It has never been harder for young people to hear the call of the Lord, but that also means that they have never been hungrier, they have never longed to hear his voice more deeply.  As we read in the Psalm: “My soul is consumed with longing for the timeless ordinances” of God. 

As we prayed in the Collect this morning, may our hearts be so joined to Christ as to carry always and everywhere before all people the image of God’s Only Begotten Son for the glory of God and salvation of souls.