Tuesday - 7th Week of Easter 2017 - No vacation from vocation (school mass)

Last week, I was able to visit several of the academy classrooms, and we discussed one of my favorite topics: vocations.

In the Gospel today, Jesus talks about his vocation, his calling. He was called by his Father, to reveal the love of God and the truth of God on earth; Jesus was called to glorify His Father by accomplishing the work that the Father gave Him: to save us from our sins.

It shouldn’t surprise you to hear, that we have received the same calling from God; our calling, our vocation is glorify God by doing the work God has given us. That is true for every single person in this church, Catholic or non-Catholic, young or old.

We glorify God by doing the work he gave us to do. Throughout the school year, your work has been to learn, to pray—as our academy motto puts it: To inspire, to excel, to serve, in the Catholic tradition.

How have you done? Have you studied as hard as you should have? Have you prayed as devoutly as you should have? Do you inspire your classmates to be better Christians? Do you inspire your fellow parishioners? Did you excel in the tasks you were given? Did your heart grow by serving others?

Jesus was always faithful to the calling he received from the Father. Us, on the other hand, not always as faithful as we should be. Sometimes the call comes and we ignore it, sometimes we are so distracted by vain pursuits, selfishness, and arrogance, that we don’t even hear the call. Some of us hear the call, initially answer it, but hang up on God, finding sustained faithfulness too difficult.
But on the other hand, Jesus is glorified when we are faithful to the call we have received. And Jesus has been glorified in many of your good works, this school year, the times that you put being a follower of Jesus more important than anything else.

As the school year ends, and summer vocation looms near, we recall, once again, that there is no vacation from vocation. You have been called to glorify God, and we don’t simply take a vacation from that. Every single person in this church has a vocation: to pray daily, to obey the commandments, to attend Church weekly, to make your families places where Jesus is welcomed and celebrated, to forgive your enemies, and serve the needy.

This is true whether you are Catholic or non-Catholic, returning to the Academy next year, or going on to another destination. There is no vacation from vocation God has given us, to glorify Him through lives of faithfulness to his Divine Will for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Memorial Day 2017 - Lives worthy of their sacrifice

St. Thomas Aquinas said: "After God, man is chiefly indebted to his parents and to his country, and, therefore, just as religion must render worship to God, so, to a lesser degree, piety must pay honor to parents and to country."

So, love of country is a Christian duty, and from that comes the duty of gratefulness for the benefits that the citizen has received from the people and from the country in which he was born and reared. We are the inheritors of the blessings of freedom, and we have a duty to live in a grateful manner for those blessings.

Where Veteran’s Day, in November, honors those veterans who survived their time of service. The purpose of Memorial Day is to honor our war dead. Over a million and a half servicemen and women fought and died in our wars and battles over the many years: a million and a half men and women who put service before self for the country they loved, for ideals which serve as the foundation of freedom, for a better and more secure future for their family, friends, and even total strangers.

In the Church, we remember and honor the martyrs of our faith—those who laid down their lives for the Gospel, believing that faith in Jesus Christ leads to eternal life. “If the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” as St. Ireneaus said, then something too can be said about the blood of our civic martyrs for the life and freedom of our nation. Our civic martyrs gave up their lives in order to obtain and protect the freedoms we often take for granted and blessed to wake up with every morning.

We are reminded today of our duty to be grateful for those who gave their lives for our freedom, and our duty to live lives worthy of their sacrifice. This duty involves remembering them and honoring them, yes, but most importantly utilizing those freedoms to grow in virtue, not to squander our freedoms on vain pursuits, but striving to develop our minds and characters to become worthy of their sacrifice, to live our lives, to raise our families, to educate our children, and to be responsible in our civic duty for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Let us pray to our Heavenly Father, confident that He is generous to those who call upon Him with faith.

For Pope Francis, Bishop Thomas, and all the bishop may lead in faith and serve in love those entrusted to their care by Christ the Good Shepherd.

For our President and all elected government representatives, may the Holy Spirit grant them wisdom and guide them to promote authentic and lasting peace in the world, an end to terrorism, respect for religious freedom, and a greater reverence for the sanctity of Human Life.

For the lonely, the alienated, and the orphaned, that they will receive consolation from the closeness of the Lord.

For the protection of all those who serve in our nation’s military, and for our servicemen wounded in service.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom for whom this mass is offered.

Gracious Father, hear the needs and prayers of your Church, grant us your grace, keeps us close to, and lead us to the glory of your kingdom, through Christ Our Lord.

Ascension Sunday 2017 - The prostrate heart ascendeth

Last Friday evening, Bishop Thomas ordained 8 men priests in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist downtown. It’s always inspiring to attend an ordination: to witness enthusiastic, pious young men making the commitment to lay down their lives in priestly service.

Bishop Thomas gave an extraordinary homily in which he reflected upon one of the unique parts of the ordination ritual: when the ordinandi, those to be ordained, lay down on the cold marble floor of the sanctuary. I’d like to share with you some of his words.

He said, “These 8 men are about to lay down their lives; they are about to prostrate themselves on the floor of the sanctuary of this cathedral. The prostration of the candidates is always one of the most memorable, moving, and yes, photographed moments of any priesthood ritual. But why? What is so mesmerizing about people lying on the floor? As all the saints are invoked for these candidates in the litany we will sing, they take a posture of awe and reverence in the presence of the All-Holy. It is a posture of abandonment, of complete self-offering, of utter humility, of total surrender to the Lord, a posture of dying to the “old man”, so that they might rise to the “New Man”, Christ Himself.

Now when does anyone, let alone 8 healthy vibrant young men, ever lie on the floor before anybody else for any reason? It is perhaps the most vulnerable surrender-position one can take. But they won’t lie here, prone as unwilling captives, waiting to be murdered, hands behind their heads, lying before terrorists. No, they will lie on this floor as willing victims, longing to be transformed, heads resting on folded hands, prostrate before the three-fold-terror of Love, the Holy Trinity.

This evening in prostration, we witness an act which signals something that is counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. In this symbol is contained the very essence of what Jesus did for us, the very essence of what these 8 men will do for the rest of their lives as priests.

In a world fixated on power and influence, the prostration symbolizes their dying to themselves: in the promise of respect and obedience to the bishop, a respect and obedience born of the love of a son for a father, for the sake of an openness to the will of God and a readiness to do that Holy Will.
In a world, drunk on sexual perversion and pleasure, confused about identity and marriage, the prostration symbolizes their dying to self in their already, chaste celibacy, to offer a loving commitment to the Body of Christ, to love for Christ’s sake, as Christ loved.

In a world deaf to God’s word and ignorant to recognize his presence, the prostration symbolizes their openness to the inspiration they will receive in prayer and their commitment to offer themselves in the sacrifice they offer each day at the altar.

Is what they are about to do crazy? One author, a protestant minister, wrote an article titled, “Why I am not a celibate, but I’m glad priests are”.  And in the article, he said, I am so glad I have priest friends who are celibate. Is being celibate crazy? Absolutely! As crazy as a young man in the military, throwing himself on a grenade to save his fellow officer, out of love. That’s how crazy, what they do tonight is!”

“Dear sons and brothers,” the bishop said to the ordinandi, “lay down your lives through your reverent celebration of the Holy Eucharist and the Sacraments and living each day in that mystery. Lay down your lives: revealing His mercy within and without the saving Sacrament of Penance. Lay down you lives: healing the wounds of body, mind, and spirit, in Holy Anointing. Lay down your lives: praying the Liturgy of the Hours faithfully and fervently for and with your people. Lay down your lives: caring for the poor and needy, being a voice for the voiceless, and teaching the saving truth of Christ and his Church. Lay down your lives: loving with celibate chastity those entrusted to your care. Lay down your lives: inspiring all, especially young people, to become holy disciples and follow the vocation the Lord has for them. Lay down your lives: joining men and women in Holy Matrimony. Lay down your lives: for Christ and His Church.

I share these words of the Bishop, not only because they are beautiful and powerful. They are pertinent to the feast we celebrate today, the Feast of the Lord’s Ascension.

40 days after his resurrection from the dead, before the very eyes of his closest followers,  Jesus Christ ascended body and soul in heaven.  He ascension—his glorious and victorious return to the Father—was possible because first, he laid down his life.

The prostration of the ordinandi teaches all of us, the posture we must all take if we truly wish to follow Christ. We must prostrate, if we wish to ascend. We must surrender, in order to attain victory. We must lay down, in order to rise up.

In explaining the significance of the Ascension, the Catechism begins with the cross. It says, ““The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into heaven”. On the cross, Jesus, according to the will of the Father, laid down his life, that we might be lifted up from sin.

Pope Francis echoed this recently. He said, “We should be clear in our Christian life that entering the glory of God demands daily fidelity to His will, even when it demands sacrifice and sometimes requires us to change our plans.”

The Ascension is one more proof that following God’s will leads is the road to becoming the people God made us to be, it leads to victory, it leads to eternal life. Following his will for us demands change, conversion, sacrifice, laying down our life for the good of others, but all that effort, all that suffering, will bring eternal life, because Christ has transformed those things, he has transformed the cross to be the royal road to eternal life.

May we take that posture of prostration before God through daily prayer, through acts of charity. God will never spurn a heart truly prostrate before Him. Rather, the soul prostrated before God, surrendered to God is transformed into an instrument of his goodness and his love for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

May 26 2017 - St. Philip Neri - Pilgrimage & the Miracle of the Heart

As the home of the Pope and his Curia, as well as the locus of many sites and relics of veneration related to the apostles, saints, and martyrs; Rome has been a destination for pilgrims for most of Christian history.

Rome was certainly the destination for today’s saint, Philip Neri. He was born in Florence. And already when he was just about five years old, he was known as “good little Philip” by his parents because of his innocence and obedience. At age 8, he almost died, a horse fell on top of him crushing him to the ground, but when he emerged unscathed he credited his preservation to God, and dedicated his life to God’s service. He went to Rome to study philosophy and theology, although the divine truths were so clear in his mind he didn’t have to study much, the only two books he owned were the bible and the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas.

St. Philip seemed surrounded by celestial splendor, holiness radiated from him, the effect of his angelic purity which he never lost despite the many temptations of Rome. He always maintained sexual innocence and his virginity. He was fiercely tempted by his flesh and the devil, but he won these battles by fasting and mortification.

In 1548, together with his confessor, Neri founded the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and Convalescents whose primary object was to minister to the needs of the thousands of poor pilgrims who flocked to Rome, especially in jubilee years.

There is a special tradition, started by St. Philip Neri, of visiting the seven pilgrim churches of Rome, a tradition I was able to partake of when I visited Rome the first time.

Philip would often make pilgrimages to the catacombs where he would pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit and venerate the relics of the martyrs. In the catacomb of St. Sebastian, Philip witnessed a great miracle. A few days before Pentecost in 1544, while he making a late night vigil, praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, when a globe of fire, entered into his mouth and lodged in his chest; he was filled with the tremendous fire of love and he almost couldn’t bear it. When the doctors examined his body after death, they discovered that the saint’s heart had been dilated so much under this powerful impulse of love, that in order that it might have sufficient room to beat, two ribs had been miraculously broken and curved in the form of an arch.

Each of us need to make a pilgrimage of love from time to time. It should be a sacrifice, it should take some time, some effort, and done for the soul purpose of honoring God. And if we make that pilgrimage, our hearts will expand.

May St. Philip Neri inspire us to make that journey for God, that our love for God might increase so to become every greater instruments in his service, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the merciful love of the Good Shepherd may fill the hearts of all of the ordained.

That the entire church might emulate the sacrifice and charity of the saints.

For all the safety of all travelers, especially those who make pilgrimages to the Holy Places.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing and comfort to the sick.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

May 25 2017 - St. Bede the Venerable - Putting Christ at the Center

40 days ago, we celebrated the Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus on Easter Sunday.  And 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended to the right hand of his Father in heaven.  Traditionally, the Feast of the Ascension, a holy day of obligation, was celebrated today.  It still is in several dioceses throughout the world.

In the rest of the dioceses of the United States, the celebration of the Ascension has been transferred to the following Sunday.
 
The Church honors three of her Saints today: St. Bede the Venerable, St. Gregory VII, and St. Magdalene de Pazzi.  Two of them, the Venerable Bede, and Pope Saint Gregory were Benedictine Monks.

The Collect prayer spoke of how God brings light to the Church through the learning of the Priest Saint Bede”. St. Bede is a learned doctor of the Church born around 672. He was a historian who wrote biographies, martyrologies, works of science, numerous commentaries on the bible and sacred chant. As a historian, his Ecclesiastical History of the English People has remained one of the most authoritative source of that time period, so he is even venerated by secular historians. But that is not the extent of his impact. He is credited for beginning the custom of marking the dates of history from the Incarnation with the term anno domini.

So we mark the year as 2017 AD, anno domini, because of St. Bede. His love for Christ has changed history and the way we view history. Civilization, Christian or not, marks its years by the birth of Christ because this saint allowed his faith to permeate his life. He did so by frequent and ponderous meditation on the scriptures and the life of Jesus.

And he encouraged us to do the same; St. Bede said, “Because we cannot totally avoid idle thoughts, we should put them to flight, as far as we can, by stirring up good thoughts, and especially by frequent meditation on the scriptures, according to the example of the psalmist who said, “Oh, how I have loved your Law, O Lord; it is my meditation all the day.”

So to meditate on the scriptures throughout the day is a powerful way of sanctifying time and making Christ more and more the center of our life. The words of Scripture are living words and become a source of wisdom and inspiration as we ponder them.

As a Benedictine monk, St. Vede would have practiced lectio divina, divine reading of scripture, reading that lifts the mind and heart and soul to the Divine One.

May we, like St. Bede, make Christ the center of our history by making him the center of every day, meditating on his words, imitating his love for the Father for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Saints may inspire us and continue to help us put Christ at the center of our life.

That the Saints may inspire us to works of charity and caring for the needy.

That the Saints may inspire us to confess our sins, strengthen in virtue, and be devoted to the spread of the Gospel.

That the Saints may inspire us to bear our sufferings in union with Christ, and may help the suffering to know the comforting presence of God, especially the sick, the elderly, those in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice care, addicts and those imprisoned, those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

For our beloved dead…

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

Tuesday - 6th Week of Easter 2017 - Spirit of Truth, Pillar of Fire

Throughout the New Testament the third person of the Holy Trinity is revealed by many different names and titles.

He is of course called the Holy Spirit. We read in the Acts of the Apostles how those gathered in the Upper Room were “filled with the Holy Spirit”.

He is called Comforter, Counselor, Advocate. All three titles are translations of the same Greek word, Parakletos from which we get the word “Paraclete” That title is found in today’s Gospel.
St. Paul in Romans calls him “Spirit of Life”; the Holy Spirit imparts the life that Jesus died to win for us.

This Sunday and in today’s Gospel, he is called the “Spirit of Truth.” Jesus promised that, after the resurrection, the Holy Spirit would come to “guide you into all truth.”

Many times in the Gospels, the apostles seem confused about the words of Jesus, they don’t seem to comprehend his words. But after Pentecost, after they received the Spirit of Truth, they are preaching, teaching, explaining, and helping people understand what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
This is one of our tasks, this is part of our mission, this is the work of the Holy Spirit, to guide others to truth.

Because the Spirit has been given to the Church and has enlightened her teachings, we are able to discern the foolishness of the ways of the world; how the ways of the world lead to destruction and separation from God.

Just as God gave the Israelites the pillar of fire to escape their slavery in Egypt, to guide them through the treacherous desert, to light their way in the darkness wilderness with all of its pagan ways, the fire of the Holy Spirit has been given to the Church to guide us through the darkness of the ages.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, helps us convince—convict—the world about the error of sin and not believing in Jesus. He helps convince us to turn away from some of the sins that still linger in us, the destructive habits, the behaviors and attitudes that tear down relationships instead of building them up. He helps us show how Christianity, though not popular with the world, is attractive to those who yearn for truth and righteousness.

Over half a million adults became Catholic at Easter this year. The Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Church, through the faithfulness of Catholics like ourselves, drew them, guided them to the truth of Christ.

May we continue to cooperate with the Spirit’s work to convict the world, and cooperate more fully by being bearers of truth always for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all bishops, priests, catechists, and parents may be faithful in preaching and teaching the saving Gospel of Christ.

For the healing of divisions caused by heresy, moral and doctrinal error among Christians.

For those who do not believe in God and for those who have fallen away from the Church.

For the sick, the suffering, those in nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice care, for the underemployed and unemployed, for the imprisoned, those with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, that the Spirit of Consolation may comfort them.

For the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all those who fought and died for our freedom.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

May 22, 2017 - St. Rita of Cascia - Battered wife, sorrowful mother, stigmatist, saint

St. Rita is a truly remarkable figure in the history of the church and the history of the saints. She was born in Umbria in 1381. From an early age she wanted to become a nun, a religious dedicated entirely to God. But her parents had other plans for her. They wanted her to marry, and so she did; she obeyed her parents’ insistence and married at a young age. But her husband turned out to be cruel and harsh and the marriage was very difficult, Rita’s only consolation during these years was God; she united herself often, in prayer, to Christ’s sorrowful passion.

After 18 years of a difficult, abusive marriage, her husband, who was a quarrelsome fellow got himself killed in a brawl. When her two sons vowed to avenge their father's murder, she feared for their souls. She tried to persuade them to let go of their anger, but to no avail, they began to plot a murder.

So she prayed, and she petitioned God to prevent her sons from sinning and losing their souls, even if it meant that they lost their earthly life. And it so happened that the sons developed dysentery; but, they were reconciled to God before they died, repentant of their hatred.

Free from earthly ties, St. Rita entered the Augustinian nuns in the nearby town of Cascia. She became renowned for her austerity, devotion, prayer, and charity; and for her patience in long-standing illness, she received visions from heaven and the stigmata—a wound resembling the crown of thorns on her forehead, which she bore until her death, which occurred on May 22, 1457.

So many spiritual lessons, from this brief description of her life:

She united her suffering to passion of Christ. And she followed God’s call to a life of religious consecration. I wish we lived in a culture where it was more common, as it was in those days, for men and women to enter religious life, and to become dedicated to God in prayer and fasting.

And she understood the consequences of mortal sin and the value of the souls of her sons. She understood that sin is the greatest of evils because its effects are eternal. So many parents these days are overly concerned about their children’s earthly successes without greater concern for their eternal welfare. The neglect of religious formation is deeply troubling.

St. Rita is one of the patron saints of impossible causes, we certainly invoke her intercession for the transformation of our culture whose conversion seems quite difficult these days. May St. Rita continue to teach us, inspire us, and challenge us, that we may reach the perfection for which we were made for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Christians may grow in grace by uniting their sufferings to the Sufferings of Christ and know God’s presence with them in their sufferings.

For all those in difficult or abusive marriages, that the Lord will protect victims of abuse and bring healing and reconciliation where it is possible.

That all young people may come to value discipleship of Jesus Christ above all earthly pursuits, be preserved from sin, and grow in grace and holiness.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, and for a strengthening of all vocations of service.

For all those impossible cases which only the grace of God can remedy.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the repose of the soul of Fr. Robert Wendelken, longtime pastor of St. Rita parish, for all of the pour souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

6th Sunday of Easter 2017 - The Spirit of Unity and Truth

The readings of the Easter season have begun to shift. We’ve gone from scriptures detailing the accounts of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to his disciples to Jesus speaking about what comes next. Last week, he spoke of how even though he prepares to go to the Father, we must not be afraid. And this week, he continues his teaching to speak of the coming of the Holy Spirit. And so the readings have begun to focus on the two glorious events of Jesus’ Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

For many centuries, Ascension Thursday, 40 days after Easter Sunday was a holy day of obligation. So, we would have been meeting again this Thursday, had the bishops not commuted the celebration of the Ascension to the following Sunday, which will be next Sunday.

Right before Jesus ascended to the Father, he commanded his disciples to gather together and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And we know they were faithful to that command: they gathered together in the upper room, and devoted themselves to constant prayer, with the Blessed Mother.
They prayed for nine days before receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. These is the origin of the practice of novena prayers. Novena coming from the word, novem, which means nine. So, Friday of this week begins the Pentecost Novena. By praying the Pentecost novena we follow the Lord’s command to prepare for Pentecost.

I encourage everyone here to pray this Novena. I’ll put a link to the Novena on the parish website and twitter account, and you can even sign up to have the daily prayers emailed to you by visiting the website “Praymorenovenas dot com” The Pentecost Novena is a powerful plea for the light and strength and love so sorely needed by every Christian. You would do well to pray it together as a family, with your spouse and children, or with your fiancé or significant other.

I remember, it was my second year of seminary, and I was walking past one of the priest’s offices, and he was meeting with a young couple preparing for marriage.  He stopped me, and asked if I had any advice for this young couple. Now, I was a celibate college kid, what did I know about marriage? But I heard myself blurting out the words, “the couple that prays together stays together”. I’ve shared that advice with the couples I’ve prepared for the Sacrament of marriage.

Statistics show just how important it is for families to gather together for weekly Mass. The less husbands and wives attend mass together the greater the chances of the hardening of hearts and division. Prayer, worship, and faith are to unite us.

I had an engaged couple who had a long-distance relationship; the groom, I believe, lived in Chicago leading up to the wedding. But every night, they would pray the Church’s official Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours over the phone together. And they are a very strong and faith-filled married couple now. Free nights and weekends, there’s no excuse not to pray with your spouse if you are ever traveling on business!

Doing marriage preparation, I also meet a lot of young couples who are not practicing the faith. Some of them really haven’t been to church since their confirmation a decade before. With many of them, faith was not a priority for their families growing up and it still isn’t as they prepare for marriage. Thankfully, sometimes during the course of their marriage preparation they do rediscover the faith, or discover its power for the first time. But, sometimes they grow resistant, they make no effort to go to mass, they laugh off my insistence that they go to confession, they do not practice chastity. They put their future at risk, their marriage and their souls.

If we are to stay together, we must pray together. This is why weekly mass is so important. For Christianity is not simply a “me and Jesus” faith. The Body of Christ is to gather every week to remain united in common worship and the Spirit of Truth.

The Holy Spirit was sent upon the Church that we may be unified “in Spirit and Truth”. Think of the many ways the Holy Spirit brings unity. Through the Holy Spirit, the sinful soul is reunited with God. The Holy Spirit enables baptism to be powerful and effective. The Holy Spirit enables the Sacrament of Confession to reconcile souls separated from God through sin.

The Holy Spirit unites Christians in the bond of faith. For, it is through the Holy Spirit that apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders continues, so we can be united under the shepherding of Bishops who trace their lineage all the way back to the apostles. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are able to profess the one Faith received from the Apostles, free from error.
The Holy Spirit strengthens our faith and deepens our love and bestows countless gifts so that we continue to build up the church and have the courage to spread the faith.

The Holy Spirit unites families; a family that prays together opens itself to the strengthening of the Holy Spirit. When a family prays together the Holy Spirit heals wounds of division in a family, and gives family members patience to love each other as they should. Having a lot of arguments with the family? Consider coming to Sacramental Confession together on a Saturday afternoon. How powerful would that be!

The Holy Spirit works to unite the divided members of the human race by softening hardened hearts to the truth of Christ.

And the Holy Spirit works to bring unity within our own divided selves, our wounded fragmented selves. Often we continue to fall into sins because our egotistical, selfish, impatient, lustful selves still have healing to do.

Healing for a soul, a family, a parish, a nation occurs when we dispose our souls to the unifying power of the Holy Spirit: through prayer, the rosary, the divine mercy chaplet, the liturgy of the hours, lectio divina with scripture, novenas, through the humble confession of sins in the sacrament of confession, and through acts of charity.

St. Paul says, “The Holy Spirit brings life”…life which Jesus died to obtain for us, the life of grace, the life of holiness and wholeness, life for the spread of the gospel, the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Friday - 5th Week of Easter 2017 - Chosen and Sent

In the readings today we have a lot of choosing and sending. Our Lord tells the apostles in the Gospel: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.” And in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, “the Apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole Church, decided to choose representatives and to send them”

Tonight, at the Cathedral, the Bishop will choose to ordain and send 8 men as presbyters for this age.
This Bishop, addressing the chosen men will address them with the following words: “A priest's duties are to offer sacrifice, to bless, to govern, to preach, and to baptize. So high a dignity should be approached with great awe, and care must be taken that those chosen for it are recommended by eminent wisdom, upright character, and a long-standing virtuous life…. Therefore, my dear sons, chosen as you are by the judgment of our brethren to be consecrated as our helpers, keep yourselves blameless in a life of chastity and sanctity. Be well aware of the sacredness of your duties. Be holy as you deal with holy things.”

If you’ve never attended an ordination before, tonight would be a wonderful opportunity to see this ancient rite that is traced back to the Lord himself choosing his apostles and sending them for the building up of the Church.

I believe I’ve attended ordination every year since my own ordination. I always find it brings renewal in my own priestly vocation.

It is also a reminder that each of us as disciples must freely choose every day to follow the Lord in holiness, we must choose to follow him when it is hard to do so, we must choose to follow him in the face of temptation, we must choose to pray amidst so many distractions, we must choose to obey the teaching of the Church, we must choose to love those who at times appear unlovable, and to forgive those who have insulted us or violated our freedom.

We make our choices in response to the Lord who has chosen each one of us for a life of holiness. He has chosen us because he has loved us, now we are called to love God and love another in return, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For ever deeper faithfulness in following the commandments of Christ and for the grace to love those who are difficult to love.

For lasting peace throughout the world: that Christ, the Prince of Peace will put an end to all enmity and division, and unify the peoples of the world.

For the 8 men who will be ordained presbyters tonight, that they may be ever faithful to their calling.
That those chosen to represent us in government will use their authority to protect the dignity of human life and the well-being of the poor, especially the unborn.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness, and that the Lord may grant his gift of peace to those most in need of it.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

Thursday - 5th Week of Easter 2017 - Remaining in Christ's love

St. John’s Gospel is so filled with teachings on Love that it is sometimes even called the Gospel of Love.

Saint John, the patron of our Diocese, was the only one of the twelve faithful apostles who did not suffer martyrdom.  They tried to kill him because of his faith, he was plunged into boiling oil, but he emerged unscathed. So, he was exiled from his home to the island of Patmos, a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea where he lived to a very old age. There on Patmos, as you might imagine, as last of the twelve apostles, people would flock to him to hear stories of the Master and to hear the Gospel preached.

Every Sunday, the Christians of Patmos, would make pilgrimage to see Saint John and he would celebrate Eucharist for them and preach.  And Sunday after Sunday he always had the same message for them: he would say, “My little children, God loves you.  Now you love Him and love one another.”  Always the same message, Sunday after Sunday: “my little children, God loves you.  Now you love Him and love one another.”

After some time, someone, asked him, “why do you keep repeating the same message, over and over again?” To which St. John replied: “I keep repeating it over and over again because the Master repeated it over and over again. “My little children, God loves you.  Now you love Him and love one another.”

Love is to be at the heart of the Christian life—Jesus tells us to love one another as he loves us. And in the Gospel today, he tells us to remain in his love by following his commandments.Which commandments? Well, all of them. And through the scriptures Jesus issues quite of few of them:

His first command in the Gospel of Matthew is “repent”, turn away from sin and back to God. He commands us to follow him, to rejoice in the things of God, to let the light of faith shine for all to see, to honor God’s law; he commands us to be reconciled with our brothers, to rid our hearts of lust, to go the extra mile in caring for a brother in need, to love, love, love your enemies. He commands us to lay up treasures in heaven and seek first the kingdom of God. He commands us to be baptized, to eat his flesh and drink his blood, to deny yourself take up his cross and follow him.

By keeping his commandments, we remain united to Him and to His Father, we are filled with the Holy Spirit who produces peace, fortitude and joy in us. May we remain in him always, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For ever deeper faithfulness in following the commandments of Christ and for the grace to love those who are difficult to love. We pray to the Lord.
For lasting peace throughout the world: that Christ, the Prince of Peace will put an end to all enmity and division, and unify the peoples of the world.
For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, and for the 8 men who will be ordained priests for our diocese tomorrow evening in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
That civil leaders will use their authority to protect the dignity of human life and the well-being of the poor, especially the unborn.  We pray to the Lord.
For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness, and that the Lord may grant his gift of peace to those most in need of it.
O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

Tuesday - 5th Week of Easter 2017 - Freedom from the captivity of comfortable lies

Scripture speaks often of God’s desire to give his people “peace”. Psalm 85 says that God promises peace to his people. Psalm 29 says, “The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.” Paul tells the Galatians that the fruits of the Spirit are “love, joy, goodness, faithfulness, and peace” Isaiah prophecies that the Messiah will be called “Wonder-Counselor and Prince of Peace”

You can tell when people are filled with the peace of God. The holiest people I’ve met have been the most peaceful, peace surrounds them like cloak. I think the opposite is also true; most of us have met people that seem surrounded by a cloud of distress, bitterness, unhappiness; drama and chaos and division follow them everywhere. We speak of people having a chip on their shoulder, their lack of peace, having a physical reality. Perhaps, you’ve met someone who has allowed grief to turn into anger at the world or anger at God and that anger just exudes from them.

In the Gospel, Jesus offers peace to those who believe in him: peace the world cannot give, peace which banishes fear. This is not to say that when we believe in and follow Jesus, our fears and anxieties simply evaporate. Jesus leads us on a journey of peace.

Pope Benedict wrote that “Real peace can only be brought by release from the captivity of comfortable lies and the acceptance of suffering.  Repression is the most common cause of mental illness and healing can be found only in a descent into the suffering of truth.”

Jesus leads us on a journey of peace which involves acknowledging the truth of our suffering. So that person who has allowed grief to turn into anger, Jesus will lead to confront that grief and teach them to bear it with grace. The person with the resentment, Jesus will help them confront the resentment, to be honest about it, and to be released from it. He helps us face our comfortable lies, the lies we tell ourselves so that we don’t have to face our sufferings. He will help us, if we let him, to confront the truth of why we are so angry with certain family members, or neighbors, or politicians...and to know his peace.

I would add that many addictions come from burying pain under a pile of lies, and freedom from that addiction comes only when we allow Jesus to lead us through the lies, to the root of the pain.

For facing our sufferings is the only real road to healing which is the only real road to peace. It is a peace which is beyond all understanding, at least the understanding of the world. The world tells us, if we’ve been hurt, we should be angry, we should get revenge, we should seek worldly justice, we should claim our victimhood. Jesus shows us, how people of faith can know peace even while nailed to a cross.

May the Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace free us from the captivity of our comfortable lies and make us into instruments of his peace for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For lasting peace throughout the world: Christ, the Prince of Peace will put an end to all enmity and division, and unify the peoples of the world.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, and for the 8 men who will be ordained priests this Friday for our diocese.

That civil leaders will use their authority to protect the dignity of human life and the well-being of the poor, especially the unborn.  We pray to the Lord.

For deliverance from all evil and all temptation: for those under the influence of drug abuse, addiction, insanity, occultism, atheism, sexual perversion, and any spiritual evils which degrade the human person.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness, and that the Lord may grant his gift of peace to those most in need of it.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

May 15 2017 - St. Isidore the Farmer - Rich in the treasures of the Spirit

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Isidore the farmer. Isidore's parents were very religious and would have liked to provide their son with a first rate education, but since they were tenant farmers, they couldn’t afford it. So Isidore, too, would spend his life in the same occupation, working for the same rich landowner in Madrid all his life.  Isidore married a woman who was rich in virtue, but from a family as poor as his own.

One day, their son fell down a well, and they feared the worst. But, trusting in God they prayed for his safe return, and water in the well began to rise, and the boy was able to escape. Out of gratitude to God, from that day on, Isidore and his wife practiced perfect continence after the example of Mary and Joseph of the Holy Family.

Isidore would rise early every morning to go to Mass, he had a strong devotion to Mary, the saints, and would call upon his Guardian Angel to help him in his work. Coworkers sometimes complained he was late because of lingering in Church. One day his employer went out into the field and accused Isidore of neglecting the farm and Isidore replied, "I know, sir, that I am your servant but I have another Master as well, to Whom I owe service and obedience." Another time, the employer saw two strangers plowing for Isidore with a team of Oxen and realized they were angels who were helping Isidore make up work missed while at Mass.

Once, his parish was hosting a dinner. Isidore arrived with a group of beggars he had invited to the meal, and his fellow parishioners were upset with him, fearing there wasn’t going to be enough food. But the more they filled their plates the more there was for everyone else. To which Isidore replied, “there is always enough for the poor of Jesus”.

Isidore died on this date, May 15 in the year 1130. 40 years later, his remains, which had been buried in extremely wet ground were found incorrupt when they were exhumed and brought to the church of St. Andrew in Seville for veneration. The miracles surrounding his relics have been countless: heavenly music has been heard on the wind, he has appeared to protect Seville in times of danger, and has brought about healing miracles. Isidore is patron saint of farmers and of the United States National Catholic Rural Life Conference.

Isidore reminds us that sanctity can be achieved by all: the simple laborer, by putting Christ first, by devotion to the blessed mother and the saints, devout participation at holy mass, visits to the blessed sacrament chapel. Great sanctity doesn’t stem from status or even higher education, these things, in fact, can even become obstacles to sanctity.

Rather, simplicity and faith can bring about the flourishing of the human soul, the blooming of charity, and affluence in the riches of the spirit, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For Catholics in all walks of life, that we may achieve sanctity through our daily labors in service of the Lord.

For farmers, day laborers, and those who work by the sweat of their brow, that they may receive a just reward for their laborers, and for the unemployed and underemployed.

That spouses may help each other to grow rich in the treasures of heaven, and all those preparing for Holy Matrimony may do so rightly and chastely in the eyes of God.

That all families may seek to model themselves after the Holy Family and always know their guidance and protection.

For the sick, the suffering, the lonely, and the dying, that they may know the consolation of the grace of God.

For the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for all those who have fought and died for our nation’s freedom.

5th Sunday of Easter 2017 - Mother's Day and Fatima 100th Anniversary

Happy Mother’s Day.

We celebrate a very special Mother’s Day this weekend. 100 years ago, on May 13, 1917, Our Blessed Mother began appearing to 3 little shepherd children near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon, Portugal. In honor of the centennial anniversary this weekend, Pope Francis has traveled to Fatima to celebrate the canonization of two of those children, Francisco and Jacinta, who after their encounter with the Blessed Mother lived lives of great sanctity. An encounter with the Blessed Mother always changes you, and when you entrust yourself to her, she will help you to be as holy as God made you to be.

At Fatima, Mary tasked the children and all of us to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for the conversion of Russia, and to pray especially for sinners in danger of hell. She urged the children also to offer their lives in reparation for the sins and to make mortifications throughout the day for the conversion sinners.

You may have also heard of the three secrets of Fatima; the Blessed Mother delivered three secret messages to the children, two of which they were allowed to reveal soon after the apparitions.  The first secret was actually a terrifying vision: Mary showed the children a vision of a multitude of souls languishing in hell. They saw blackened souls, surrounded by torturing demons, lakes of fire with souls screaming in torment.

Mothers seek to protect their children from harm. And Our Blessed Mother is concerned not only with the well-being of our bodies, but our souls. And this first vision is a warning, of what happens when souls separate themselves from God through serious sin, when they live godless lives, and persevere in error.

The second secret was a prophecy.  The Blessed Mother told the children that World War One was about to end, but unless Russia converted to Catholicism and was consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, the godless errors of atheistic communism would spread throughout the world and another great war would follow the first; great destruction would be wrought upon earth the human evil and the Church would be persecuted.  But in the end, her immaculate heart would triumph.

The first war did end, shortly after the apparition. And though Russia was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart by Pius XII, Russia did not embrace the Faith and a second war did follow, World War II. Atheism and communism have spread. The 20th century contained more death, destruction, and martyrdom than all of the previous centuries combined.  The Church suffered terribly in the 20th century: 8000 priests in Spain alone were killed in the 1930s; 3000 priests in Mexico, 6000 priests were sent to the concentration camps of the Nazis. Countless souls turned away from the saving faith in the 20th century to the errors of atheism and the grave sins of the sexual revolution.

Our Mother’s promise will come to fulfillment at the end of time: her Immaculate Heart will triumph, when the love of God brings about the ultimate end of evil.

The third secret was made known to the world during the reign of Pope St. John Paul II. The children were shown a a vision of an angel with a flaming sword, who cried out “Penance, Penance, Penance” Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious climbed up a steep mountain and at the top of the mountain, an immense Cross. There they beheld a Bishop, dressed in white, shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him. Two angels then gathered the blood of the martyrs in holy water buckets and sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God. A very strange vision.
Pope Benedict believed this vision of the Bishop dressed in white to refer to the Popes of the 20th century collectively, who shared in the suffering of the Church, and how the Church is strengthened by their Holy Witness. The Popes of the 20th Century were very holy men compared to some of the Popes of centuries past.

Pius X, John XXIII, John Paul II have been canonized. Paul VI has been beatified, and Pius XII is on his way to canonization. These holy men gave incredible witness and clarity of teaching, during one of the bloodiest and secular ages the Church has faced. And although the 21st century has seen the incredible leadership of Pope Benedict, who in my opinion is a living saint, and Pope Francis who has so impressively called us to embody the mercy of God, the errors of the 20th century continue to lead souls away from God and put them in danger of hell.

Yet, Our Lady promised, in the end, “Her Immaculate Heart would triumph.” Pope Benedict interpreted these words as well. He said, “The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Saviour into the world—because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word.”

Mother’s day! How can we honor our mother’s this day? We honor our mother’s with cards and candy and flowers, taking them to their favorite places, or perhaps visiting the grave of the mother’s who have died. But I think the greatest honor we can show our mothers is by becoming the people God made us to be, people of faith and love, the people our mothers hoped we would be. That goes for our earthly mothers and also our Blessed Mother.

We show great honor to our Mother by taking up the rosary as she taught us, by turning to her example of love, and emulating the resounding Yes she made to God. Take seriously your Mother’s wishes, that her children pray the rosary, do penance for sinners, seek the purification of our own hearts from all resistance to God. Allow her immaculate heart to triumph over the evils that still linger in our world and hearts.

Make your mother smile today. Your earthly mother and the Blessed Mother. And may each of us entrust our fates, our souls to mother Mary, that we, with her “may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ” in the world and in our hearts, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

May 12 2017 - St. Pancras the Martyr - Conversion, Happiness, Intercession

Saint Pancras was born in Phrygia, a kingdom in what is today west central Turkey, around the turn of the 4th century. He is also known by the names Pancritas and Pancratius. Pancras was orphaned at an early age and was taken to Rome by his uncle, Dionysius. The two of them converted to Christianity after meeting some Christians there.

Pancras lived during the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who we know mounted some of the fiercest persecutions of the early Church. And so converting to Christianity during this period was highly dangerous. And it wasn’t long before he was arrested and beheaded, perhaps on the same day as Saints Nereus and Achilleus, whose feast days are also today. Pancras was only 14 when he was beheaded, and so was one of the early patron saints of teenagers.

That’s about all we know of the life of St. Pancras. In 514 Pope Symmacus erected a Basilica in his honor. And in 672, Pope Vitalian sent his relics to the Northumberland in England. And through the centuries devotion to Pancras grew, many healing miracles came through his intercession. His powerful intercession and “glorious prayers” are mentioned in the Collect prayer.

Three lessons for us:

One, His conversion came through the influence of faithful Catholics. We never know how the Lord will use our simple faith to raise up saints. We do well to share our faith because people are craving an authentic relationship with God, even though at times they don’t act like it. And God will use us to draw them to Himself.

Two, Pancras converted and was martyred as a teenager. We need to share our faith with clarity and patience especially to those at such a tender age—when the ways of the world compete for their loyalty. Don’t be afraid to challenge them. Pope Francis recently said to teenagers: “there is no app for happiness”, meaning, he challenged their absorption with technology, in a clear, compelling, but loving way. And we shouldn’t be afraid to do the same.

Three, the intercession of the Saints, is powerful. Just because you currently don’t have a devotion to St. Pancras, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have one. Devotion to the early martyrs will not only strengtrhen your own faith, but bring great graces.

May our devotion to St. Pancras, Achilleus, Nereus help us to stand firm and to persevere in sharing the faith and living the faith for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Our Savior’s faithfulness is mirrored in the fidelity of his witnesses who shed their blood for the Word of God. Let us off our prayers.

That our parish may grow it bearing witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.
May all teenagers and young people, through the intercession of St. Pancras, avoid all worldly allurements and have a faith that is constant and pure.

For those who hold public office and those who assist them in promoting the common good.
For those who travel by sea, land or air, for captive and all held in prison.

The martyrs followed in the footsteps of Christ by carrying the cross, may all those enduring the misfortunes of life know endurance and peace, especially the sick and the dying.

For the dead...

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

Thursday - 4th Week of Easter 2017 - Dirty Jobs and Humble Service

The Gospel passage this morning is a continuation of the passage proclaimed at the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday: these were the words Jesus spoke immediately after washing his disciples’ feet.

Our Easter Faith calls us to follow the Lord’s own example of humility and service.

“As I have done for you, you should also do” Washing the feet of the dinner guests, Jesus, did the job of a lowly servant, doing the dirtiest job there was at a supper. Imagine a CEO at a corporation going to each of their employee’s offices and emptying the garbage and scrubbing the bathrooms. The kids in the school often giggle when I tell them that we need to wash each other’s feet, just as Jesus did. This means doing the jobs for each other that no one wants to do, we need to go out of our way to humbly serve those in need.

One of the spiritual diseases of our modern day is that attitude of entitlement, acting as if others need to bow down and wash my feet because I’m so great.  Rather, the opposite is true, the medicine we need is to consider ourselves the slaves and servants of others.

Every time our egos start to inflate, we do well to remember that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords took the humblest job, the dirtiest job, and so should we.

There is no act of service that any of us is too good for. There is no act of service that is beneath us as Christians because Our God has taken the lowliest position. Just in case any of us his apostles missed this point, Jesus referred to Himself as “I AM” at the Last Supper, as we heard today.’

As we come forward to receive Holy Communion today, we also accept the responsibility it entails, that of becoming humble servants: to be a footwasher today. Through humble service we witness to the power of Christ’s love to transform lives and to make us worthy of the kingdom of heaven, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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We raise our prayers of petition to the throne of heaven:
For a genuine spirit of humble service among Christians.
For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life.
For the poor, the hungry, the lonely.
For caregivers and all who comfort the sick.
For people in need of healing.
For our dead.
For our own needs, which we remember now in silence…
Heavenly, we praise and thank you for your goodness. Help us in our needs and hear our prayers, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Tuesday - 4th Week of Easter 2017 - "The Father and I are one"

“The Father and I are one”

What could be more a profound statement? You can just imagine how Jesus’ hearers might have responded to this truth. In the verse following today’s reading, we hear some of his audience wanted to stone him for claiming equality with God. Others were probably so astounded that they began to reevaluate everything Jesus said and did in light of such a claim.

Jesus’s words here are certainly part of the basis of our belief in the Trinity. As St. Augustine teaches: “He did not say, 'I am the Father' or 'I and the Father are one [Person].'  But when he says 'I and the Father are one,' notice the two words 'we are' and 'one'.. if 'we are', then there is both a Father and a Son.

Jesus is one in substance with the Father, yet the Father and the Son are distinct Persons.

So Jesus words teach us WHAT God is, and he also teaches us HOW God is, what God is like.
Jesus speaks about his deeds, how they point to the Father. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus teaches, “He who has seen me has seen the Father”. In everything he said or did, Jesus revealed something about the Father. And with each revelation, the loving, just, and compassionate character of the Father became clearer and clearer.

Whenever he healed, Jesus revealed his Father’s compassion. He revealed his Father’s mercy when he forgave the woman caught in adultery and offered living water to the woman from Samaria. He demonstrated the power of God when he calmed the storm, and showed his power to be transcendent to that of nature when he walked on turbulent waters and passed through solid walls. He showed God’s righteousness when he overturned the merchants’ tables in the temple. Time and time again, he revealed the wisdom of God as he deftly answers the religious leaders’ attempts to trap him in his own words.

God is full of wisdom, compassion, power, mercy, and love. And through Jesus we are united with God, his power and wisdom and mercy and love begin to permeate the life of the faithful Christian. Through their union with God through Jesus the Saints are powerful signs of God’s presence and care for the world, and that is our vocation as well: to become saints who point to the Father in all we say and do.

May our union with God grow today through acts of faith, prayer, and righteousness for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Jesus is Risen from the dead, and leads his flock to eternal blessings. With new trust, we now bring our needs to the Father through him.

That all Christians may be strengthened in the grace that helps them witness to the Mercy of God.
For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, and for the 8 men who will be ordained priests in the diocese of Cleveland next Friday.

For our young parishioners who received their First Holy Communion this weekend, that they may always be blessed to raised in faith-filled homes and know the closeness of Jesus their Shepherd.
For mercy upon those who have fallen away from the faith or who have fallen into serious sin.

For the poor and homeless, for those who suffer discrimination and rejection, those with addictions or mental illness, for the imprisoned, and for all who are ill or undergoing surgery this week.

For the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for all of the pour souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, that those who have died may be led by the Good Shepherd to the waters of eternal life.

Father, you call each of us to serve you with faithfulness and joy. Hear our prayers, and bring us to the joy that never ends. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Monday - 4th Week of Easter 27 - "Shepherds after my own heart"

Today’s Gospel is a continuation of the passage we heard proclaimed yesterday on Good Shepherd Sunday. In it, Our Lord continues to draw upon that powerful Shepherd imagery which permeates the Hebrew Scriptures.

Especially in the Psalms, God himself is represented as the shepherd of his people.  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”---Psalm 23. “He is our God and we are his people the flock he shepherds”—Psalm 95.

The Shepherd is simultaneously a leader and a companion. He is a strong man who is capable of defending his flock against wild beasts. He is also gentle with his flock, giving them careful attention (Proverb 27:23), bearing them in his arms, as we hear in the prophet Isaiah: “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.” His authority over his flock is based on devotion and love.

Jesus shows himself to be the Good Shepherd. God’s flock, the Church is under his leadership, he leads us to the life giving waters of Baptism and feeds us with the Eucharist. We know our Good Shepherd and he knows us by name, we who he has saved from the robbers and thieves who seek to slaughter and destroy the human soul.

And he is the perfect Shepherd because He gives his life for the sheep.

Throughout the Easter season we’ve been reading from the Acts of the Apostles in which we hear the story of the first shepherds of the Church, those who Jesus appointed, charging them to watch over the Church, guide the Church, lead her, teach her, continue to feed her.

We in Cleveland await a new shepherd, a new bishop, to be appointed. Though the Holy Father has appointed Bishop Thomas as our Apostolic Administrator, and he is doing an excellent job, we miss having a bishop of our own. And we pray that the Holy Father will send us a bishop who will lead and protect and carry our diocese close to his heart who will help us to know the closeness of the One Good Shepherd. For the Lord promised through the prophet Jeremiah: Pastores dabo vobis iuxta cor meum, "I will give you shepherds after my own heart"

May we draw near to the One Shepherd today through word, sacrament, prayer, and acts of charity in imitation of his own love and care for the Church for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Jesus is Risen from the dead, and leads his flock to eternal blessings. With new trust, we now bring our needs to the Father through him.

For our Holy Father, Pope Francis, as he selects the next shepherd of our diocese;  for our Apostolic Administrator, Bishop Daniel Thomas, as he serves the pastoral needs of our diocese while we are in transition;  for Bishop Richard Lennon, as he adjusts to a new stage in his life and ministry; that the Holy Spirit will enlighten and empower all the leaders of our church with faith in the promises of Christ, hope for the years to come, and charity that knows no boundaries.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, and for the 8 men who will be ordained priests in the diocese of Cleveland next Friday.

For our young parishioners who received their First Holy Communion this weekend, that they may always be blessed to raised in faith-filled homes and know the closeness of Jesus their Shepherd.

For the poor and homeless, for those who suffer discrimination and rejection, and for all who are ill or undergoing surgery this week.

That those who have died may be led by the Good Shepherd to the waters of eternal life.

Father, you call each of us to serve you with faithfulness and joy. Hear our prayers, and bring us to the joy that never ends. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

4th Sunday of Easter 2017 - Don't talk to strangers

One of the first lessons parents teach their children is “don’t talk to strangers”, right? Well, I saw a pretty alarming video this week, that proves the importance of that lesson. A gentleman was conducting a sort of social experiment. He would introduce himself to a parent sitting on a bench watching their child play on a playground. He’d point out the camera and tell the parent he was performing this social experiment. He’d ask them “have you taught your children not yyto talk to strangers” and the parent would always say, “of course”. And he would then ask, “so, if I go over to your child, do you think they’d talk to me or run away?” And the parent, very assuredly, would say something like, “I’m pretty sure they’d run away”

The man would then ask the parent’s permission to go and test out the assumption. He’d walk up to the child, welcome them to play with his pet puppy, and then he’d then say something like, “I have more puppies, back at my house, do you want to go see them?” And the parents would be stunned when their children walked off with a complete stranger.

Very frightening. It certainly causes us to make sure that our children know, really know, what it means,  don’t talk to strangers.

And this video shows that sometimes kids don’t heed their parents lesson. Sometimes the stranger looks nice, sometimes he offers candy or puppies. Most kids are pretty wary of strangers who are mean-looking scary in some way. But some strangers go out of their way to look friendly and safe to children. And these are very dangerous.

Jesus uses this image of following strangers in the Gospel today. He says, there will be thieves, there will be robbers who try to take you away from me. And the result of being separated from Jesus has eternal consequences.

Spiritual thieves and robbers will offer the equivalent of candy and puppies: things that look good, that look like they’ll bring us pleasure or make us feel good. Passing on the juicy piece of gossip—it feels good when people notices us, when we’re the ones to appear “in-the-know”. Or of course, sins of the flesh: looking at pornography, over-indulging in alcohol or using drugs, fornication outside of marriage. If these things didn’t feel good, people wouldn’t do them. Stealing, offers a thrill. Snapping back with an insult when someone insult you. These things feel good, but that doesn’t mean they are good. To follow these temptations—the voices of strangers—is to be led away from the Good Shepherd.

There are also thieves and robbers who look friendly, who smile, who make us feel welcome, who claim to know Jesus and claim to be passing on his Gospel. But, who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. The false shepherds who teach false doctrine and heresy about Jesus and his Church. They tell us the Catholic church is outdated, that we don’t need to follow the moral teachings of the Church, we don’t need to make use of the sacrament of confession if we commit serious sin, we don’t need to pray or read the scriptures. To follow the voices of these strangers, again, is to be led away from the Good Shepherd.

How do we ensure that we are not following the voices of strangers? Jesus says in the Gospel that those who follow Him recognize his voice. So how do we accustom our ears, our souls, our wills to the voice of Jesus?

The four pillars of Catholicism keep us united to our Good Shepherd. Do you know the four pillars of Catholicism?

The first is the Creed. We need to know our Creed, know our Catechism, know what the Shepherd teaches us about God, about his Church, so we can distinguish the Shepherd's words of truth from the world's words of error.

The second pillar is the Sacramental system. We follow the Shepherd by being baptized as he taught us, by confessing our sins, as he taught us, by eating his flesh and blood as he taught us, to call for the priests when we are sick and near death, as he taught us.

The third pillar is obeying the commandments. Our culture doesn’t like that word, “obey”. We’re told that obedience makes us into some sort of mindless robot. But the Christian virtue of obedience isn't mindless and irrational. It's the obedience of an elite athlete to an expert coach. It's the obedience of a docile student to a wise teacher. It's the obedience of a sick patient to an experienced and good doctor. It's the obedience of a healthy child to his loving parents.

Christ doesn't want us to be blind robots, but he deoes want obedient sheep. In fact, the word “obedience” comes from the Latin word, to hear, to listen. And if we aren’t obeying the commandments of the bible and the moral teachings of the Church, we aren’t listening to the Shepherd.

Finally, the fourth pillar is prayer. I’m not just talking about rattling off an Our Father once a day if we remember, but following the Lord’s own example of prayer. Jesus himself would withdraw in seclusion, and become absorbed in prayer to His Father. So, if Jesus as the Son of God, engages in that level of communication with His Father, how much more do we need it!

Prayer is coming before God in a position of humble trust. Speaking to Him as we would speak to our most beloved and trusted friend—entrusting our concerns, our hopes, our desires to Him. But like a good conversation, we must not only speak, but listen. God will address our concerns if we become quiet enough to listen; we can hear him telling us not be afraid and to trust Him more deeply.

Again, I encourage praying with Scriptures. Sitting down for 10 minutes a day, with a single passage, reading it, re-reading, thinking about what it means, how God’s word addresses the challenges of life.

The four pillars of Catholicism are like the four legs of a table: remove one, and your faith will topple.

We must accustom our ears to the voice of the Shepherd, so that we can hear him calling us deeper into our faith, and so that we can distinguish his voice from the voice of robbers and thieves who seek to take us away from Him.

Hear Him calling you today to trust Him, to follow Him, to obey Him, to love Him more deeply for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Friday - 3rd Week of Easter 2017 - Life-giving effects of the Eucharist

Last week, remember, we read through the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus in which Jesus speaks of supernatural birth for his followers, a second birth, in which we are born anew to the supernatural life of the Spirit.

This week, we’ve read through the Bread of Life discourse in which Jesus teaches us not of supernatural rebirth, but supernatural food—food that will sustain the life of the spirit

The Eucharist truly is the bread of life; the Eucharist produces life in us because the Eucharist IS Jesus Christ who is Our Life. The Eucharist truly is superabundant in life it effects in our souls.

The Eucharist sustains the supernatural life begun at baptism. When the body is deprived of food it languishes and dies; and it is the same with the soul, the Eucharist sustains supernatural life in us, as Jesus says, “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you do not have life within you.”

The Eucharist is our pledge of eternal life and resurrection: He who receives Eucharist, Christ will “raise up on the last day”. St. Ignatius of Antioch said is “the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ”

The Eucharist restores the soul which has become weakened by venial sin. St. Ambrose said Holy Communion “is a remedy for our daily infirmities”. The damage we do to our souls through venial sin is restored through Holy Communion.

The Eucharist is also a “spiritual vaccine” protecting the soul from the assaults of temptation. St. Cyprian, writing in the early third century, says Christians imprisoned and tortured for the name of Christ received from the hand of the Bishop the sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, so they would not yield to a Roman prosecutor and deny their faith. Before going on trial, they pleaded, “Give me Communion, so I’ll be able to resist.” From the very beginning of the Church, this was the reason Holy Communion was brought to the Christians in prison, that they could be strengthened in their persecution and temptations.

The Eucharist helps us to persevere in faith at the hour of our death. This is why the Eucharist is brought to the dying.

And the Eucharist increases sanctifying grace in our souls: helping us to love with the heart of Christ, making our lives more pleasing to God.

As the Catechism teaches: “The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself”

Through the Eucharist, may the life of Christ in us continue to be sustained, nourished, strengthened, and increased for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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By offering His Body and Blood for us, Jesus reconciles the world to the Father. Therefore, we can present our needs to God with confidence.

That the Church, which draws her life from the Eucharist, may worship this mystery with ever deeper faith and devotion, we pray to the Lord...

That Christians may always approach the Eucharist worthily, in full communion with the teachings and practices of the Church, we pray to the Lord...

For Catholics who have fallen away from the Eucharist, that they may know the grace of sincere repentance and return to the table of the Lord.

That all God's children may have sufficient bread for their physical life and the Bread of Life for their spiritual life, we pray to the Lord...

That those who have died may share the eternal life that Jesus promised to those who feed on the Bread from Heaven, we pray to the Lord...

Thursday - 3rd Week of Easter 2017 - Deepening our Spiritual Hunger for God

All of this week, our Gospel readings are taken from the sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel.  The sixth chapter of John is usually known as the “Bread of Life Discourse” because in it, Jesus speaks of Himself, as we heard today, as the Bread of Life.  In fact, Jesus refers to himself as the ‘Bread of Life’ 11 times.

St. John Vianney said, “The soul hungers for God, and nothing but God can satiate it.  Therefore He came to dwell on earth and assumed a Body in order that this Body might become the Food of our souls"

Spiritual hunger is different than physical hunger.  With physical food, the more I eat the less hungry I am.  With the spiritual food that God gives, the more I eat, the more I hunger.

This is why the saints seem to crave God more than we do. This is also why 75% of Catholics who do not go to Church are not banging on the doors to receive the Eucharist which they have denied themselves.  With spiritual food, the less you eat, the less you notice the hunger. Plenty of false spiritual food from our culture is available every minute of the day; the false spiritual food leaves us unhappy and exhausted.

Saint John Paul II wrote in one of his last letters to the Church: “God has placed in human hearts a “hunger” which will be satisfied only by full union with him. Eucharistic communion was given so that we might be “sated” with God here on earth, in expectation of our complete fulfillment in heaven.
No philosophy or scientific discovery or piece of technology or earthy pursuit can satisfy our spiritual cravings.  No amount of money, success, fame, or power.  Only Jesus can fully satisfy.

Do you crave Him? If not, eat more! Serve more, love more.

With physical food, the hungrier we are, we start to get grumpy, cranky, weak, “hangry” as they say these day, is when you are so hungry you are angry. This is why there is so much anger in our culture these days, we do not hunger enough for God.

 But with Christ, and this is definitely a paradox of our faith, the more we hunger for Him the happier we are, the more at peace, the stronger we are. What a beautiful paradox! “Blessed are those who hunger for Him, for they will be filled” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Church, which draws her life from the Eucharist, may worship this mystery with ever deeper faith and devotion, we pray to the Lord...

That Christians may always approach the Eucharist worthily, in full communion with the teachings and practices of the Church, we pray to the Lord...

That all God's children may have sufficient bread for their physical life and the Bread of Life for their spiritual life, we pray to the Lord...

That those who have died may share the eternal life that Jesus promised to those who feed on the Bread from Heaven, we pray to the Lord...

May 2 2017 - St. Athansius & The Lordship of Jesus Christ

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses, is rendered as Kyrios, "Lord". When we are reading either the Old Testament or the new Testament, when we see that title, “Lord”, it is referring to God’s Divinity.
The New Testament uses the title "Lord" both for the Father and for Jesus. Scripture affirms the divinity of Jesus Christ. You can’t walk away from reading the Scripture without confronting this fact, that Jesus is fully God. This was the teaching of the Apostles. The Apostle Thomas proclaims, “My Lord and My God” when he witnesses the resurrected Christ.

The early Christian Church was persecuted for this faith, for proclaiming not “Caesar is Lord” along with the rest of the Roman Empire, but “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

One group of heretics who denied the Lordship, the divinity of Christ, were the Arians, named after a heretic priest, Arius. As Arianism spread, the Bishops of East and West gathered at the council of Nicea, to confront this problem.

St. Athanasius was a key figure at the council, at which the consubstantiality of Jesus with the Father was clarified.  Though the Council was definitive, Arianism continued to spread, due to the emperor adopting Arianism. Neither emperors nor inflated egos like rival gods!

So many bishops betrayed the faith for political gain, that one historian said, it was as if it were Athanasius contra mundum, Athanasius against the world.

Arianism spreads again in our modern culture, of course. Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are essentially Arian, as are the Muslims. Islamic extremists in a sense are a form of militant Arians. But many modern men deny the Lordship of Christ.

We’ve seen such a decline in Church attendance and religious practice since the so-called “Golden Age” of American Catholicism in the mid-twentieth century, likely because this truth, the consubstantiality of Jesus with the Father, was not passed on to the next generation, it was sort of taken for granted, or traded in for new gods called pleasure, wealth, and power. One can typically see who or what is Lord of one’s life, by what they do on the Lord’s Day.

So we must witness to Christ’s Lordship, to his divinity in word and speech, in everything we do: helping to pass on the true faith to the next generation, to correct the faith of those in error, and strengthen those weak in their faith. May the Lord Jesus Christ, consubstantial with the Father, be with us in spreading the Holy Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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God the Father was glorified in the death and resurrection of his Son. Let us pray to him with confidence.

God the Father bathed the world in splendor when Christ rose again in glory, may our minds be filled with the light of faith.

Through the resurrection of His Son, the Father opened for us the way to eternal life, may we be sustained today in our work with the hope of glory.

Through His risen Son, the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world, may our hearts be set on fire with spiritual love.

May Jesus Christ, who was crucified to set us free, be the salvation of all those who suffer, particularly those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction, and grief.