Christ the King 2017 - Viva Cristo Rey!

“Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live Christ the King!” These were the last words Fr. Miguel Augustin Pro uttered before he was executed by firing squad by the virulently anti-Catholic government of Mexico on November 23, 1927.

When Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in the 19th century, it also sought to divorce itself from Catholicism. Mexico’s 1917 Constitution brought the seizing of church property, the outlaw religious orders, and the government’s insertion into internal Church affairs. The Constitution prohibited priests from voting or offering any comment on public policy. Priests were also banned from wearing their clerical attire or vestments outside churches. Public displays of faith like the Corpus Christi Procession or praying the rosary publicly were strictly forbidden.

Some Catholics rebelled against the government persecution; the Cristeros movement fought against the anti-Catholic regime, which by the 20s was executing priests and even young people who practiced their faith.

Pope Pius XI wrote three encyclicals denouncing the persecution in Mexico, calling upon faithful Catholics to defend the Church when possible. The persecution finally ended when a Catholic president, Manuel Avila Camacho, was elected in 1940. Yet, when Pope St. John Paul visited Mexico in 1979 it was still illegal for him to celebrate Mass in public.

The most famous martyr of this persecution is the Jesuit priest Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro. When Churches were closed by the government, Fr. Miguel would celebrate Mass in secret to provide the Eucharist for Mexico’s faithful. He became known throughout Mexico City as the undercover priest who would show up in the middle of the night, dressed as a beggar or a street sweeper, to baptize infants, hear confessions, distribute Communion, or perform marriages. Several times, disguised as a policeman, he slipped unnoticed into the police headquarters itself to bring the sacraments to Catholic prisoners before their executions.

Eventually, Fr. Pro was captured and arrested and sentenced to death. The President of Mexico ordered his execution to be photographed in great detail, hoping to incite fear amongst the Cristeros Catholics. You may have seen the photographs of Fr. Pro, dressed in a suit, facing the firing squad, with arms outstretched like Jesus on the Cross. The photographs, instead of inciting fear had the opposite effect, and Catholics began to show great devotion to the martyr—soon the government forbade the distribution of the very photos it had publicized!

When Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King for the universal Church in 1925, Christians were facing grave difficulties: the Mexican persecution of course, the rise of National Socialism which would become Nazism in Germany, Atheistic Communism in Russia, rampant Materialism, Consumerism, and Racism here in the States. The Pope instituted this feast for one, to show “the deplorable consequences” produced when individuals and governments rebel against and reject the Gospel.

Pope Pius XI also wanted to strengthen and encourage Catholics facing persecution, like the Cristeros Catholics in Mexico. This message, this feast, gave Fr. Pro and so many others, the courage to continue to work for the spread of Christ’s reign, despite formidable hostilities.

But this feast is also reminder to all Catholics: that amidst all the trials of life, when we submit our hearts and minds and wills and bodies to the reign of Christ the King, when we live in accordance with the laws of God’s kingdom, we are counted among Christ’s good and faithful servants. Our faith in Christ can and will sustain us in the most difficult moments of life, it can and will transform our fallen world, if we let it. And to those who allow Christ to reign in them and through them, our Good King will speak the words we long to hear: “'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.  Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

In the Gospel of the Final Judgment, Our King teaches us that he will judge us, he will determine our eternal destination on how we treated others in this life, whether or not we allowed his mercy to reign in us by feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, tending the sick, and bringing the freedom of truth to those imprisoned by the errors of secular culture.

The month of December, and the season of Advent, we know is filled with many demands on our time. So during all of the busyness of the month ahead, we must remember our deepest duty is to Christ: not to contribute to the growing godlessness of our culture, but to bring about his Kingdom through faith, hope, and charity.

The changing of a liturgical season is always a good time to do some self-examination: to examine whether selfishness, pleasure, lust, control, pride, reign in our lives, or Christian generosity, self-control, humility, and prayer. And it is a good time to make a good confession of the times we let sin reign in us, rather than Christ.

This week, I encourage you to plan ahead for Advent, which begins next sunday; plan additional prayer time with your family, additional spiritual reading, additional acts of mercy and charity. Perhaps, try to get to daily Mass throughout the week, to allow the peace of Christ to reign in you.
When we allow Christ to reign in us, he transforms us into instruments of his justice and his goodness. We become partners with Christ in reuniting divided humanity, in extending God’s mercy, truth, and love to all, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Friday - 33rd Week of OT 2017 - Post-Thanksgiving Housecleaning

I pray that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, filled with gratitude for the manifold gifts of God, good food, conversation, and time with family and friends. For many, the day after Thanksgiving has one important task, cleaning up after the big feast—not everyone’s favorite chore, but it must be done.

Both of the scripture readings today speak of another sort of housecleaning. From the book of Maccabees, we heard of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers returning to the Temple to cleanse it of the abominations which the enemies of Israel had constructed there. They undertook the resanctification of the desecrated Temple by engaging in ritual prayer, song, praise, repairing damage, decoration, that the Temple might be rededicated to the purposes of God.

Today, the post-thanksgiving house cleaning involves putting the house back into order. Hopefully, not to many repairs are needed. Many will begin to put up their Advent and Christmas decorations, and begin to play Christmas music. They dedicate their homes for being a place where Christmas is celebrated.

Our Lord in the Gospel, also undertook some housecleaning. It had been two hundred years since Judas Maccabeus had rededicated the temple, and once again it had become filled with corruption. So, our Lord took it upon himself to drive out the corruption from the Temple.

These two scenes are reminders that God wishes to drive out the corruption of sin and selfishness from humanity and from our individual souls.

As we are cleaning and decorating our homes today, let us remember that more important is that our souls are cleansed and purified through repentance, that our souls be adorned and ornamented with virtues of generosity towards the poor, self-control, and prayerfulness.

The changing of a liturgical season is always a good time to do some self-examination of our spiritual lives. It is a good time to make a good confession. Today is a good day for ensuring that the Temple of our life is truly a house of prayer; so it’s a good day to make some plans for the types of prayer we will engage in during the Advent season. I recommend a daily Advent reflection in addition to daily Mass, and any practice that will help us to learn and to live God’s cleansing and purifying Holy Will, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That Christians may undertake the meditation and prayer necessary to live holy and righteous lives.

For a healing of all family divisions, reunion for the estranged and welcoming of the alienated.

That those who have fallen away from the Church or fallen into serious sin may repent and return to the grace of the Sacraments.

For the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the aged, the lonely, the grieving, the unemployed, those who are facing financial difficulties, those with addictions, and the imprisoned: that God will draw close to them, and bless them with grace and peace.

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

O God, you 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.

Thanksgiving 2017 - Gratitude leads to happiness

Thanksgiving is not an explicitly Christian holiday, it’s not a feast day of the Church, even in the United States. Yet, it certainly has a religious dimension, the character of what the medievals called “the virtue of religion.”

The word “religion” comes from the latin word religare which means to bind. And so religion deals with the most important bonds in the human experience, our most important bond, our bond to God, and also the bonds of family, friendship, nation, the goods of the earth, and our neighbor.

The civic holiday of Thanksgiving acknowledges this religious impulse and religious duty to give thanks for these things. Which is why we fill Thanksgiving with the things we value and are most grateful: friends, family, food and football, and hopefully some prayer.

It is not that we ignore the divisions, strife, pain, friction, brokenness, or sorrow out there. But it is a very important human need to stop and give thanks. It’s not a day for political arguments, but for refreshing society.

Many Catholics, like ourselves, rightly begin the day by going to Holy Mass, even though it’s not a holy day of obligation. We turn to God, with gratitude, for the gift of our salvation, for the good things that fill our lives, and asking God to bless the people we’re going to spend the day with, whether they go to Mass or not.

Counting blessings, adding up the good things of your life, including the gift of life itself, makes for a more virtuous people precisely because it increases the virtue of gratitude in those who are thankful. For as Thomas Aquinas said, gratitude is the “mark of a happy disposition to see good rather than evil.” Thankfulness is the soil in which the soul thrives.

So, If you spend any moment of the day thinking about what people owe you, you’ve missed the point. Rather, focus on nurturing the virtue of gratitude today, for the time you’ve been given, for the people who have touched your life and continue to bless you, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That the pilgrim Church on earth may shine as a light to the nations.  We pray to the Lord.

That all people of good will may work together against attacks on religious liberty and the Christian Faith.  We pray to the Lord.

For the protection of our armed forces, police, and firemen and all those who risk their lives to preserve the security of our country.  We pray to the Lord.

For the safety of travelers, the peaceful resolution of all family divisions, and national hostilities, for protection from disease, and harmony amongst all those who gather together today. We pray to the Lord.

For the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the aged, the lonely, the grieving, those who are out of work, those who are facing financial difficulties, those with addictions, and the imprisoned: that God will draw close to them, and bless them with grace and peace. We pray to the Lord.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray to the Lord.

O God, you 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.

November 22 2017 - St. Cecilia - Singing joyfully amidst persecution

Having been involved in singing in choirs both in high school and in seminary, I came to develop a devotion to St. Cecilia, patron saint of musicians. And so when I visited Rome for the first time, one of the first Churches I made sure to visit was the Church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere. The church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is reputedly built on the site of the house in which she lived; the original church was constructed in the fourth century

St. Cecilia is one of the most famous Roman martyrs, her name is listed in the Roman Canon along with Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, and Anastasia.

The daughter of wealthy Christian family of Rome, Cecilia was promised in marriage to a Pagan man, despite an inner vow of virginity she had made to God. On the night of the wedding, she told her husband that God had set an angel over her to guard her virginity. Quite skeptical, of course, Valerian asked to see the angel. He saw the angel, and quickly went to the Pope to be baptized.
Cecilia’s holiness became a cause for many Roman pagans to seek conversion. But soon, she attracted the attention of the authorities; she was arrested and sentenced to death. Throughout her tortures, which lasted for three days, she sang God’s praises, which is why she is the patron saint of music.

Why was Cecilia so revered by the early Roman Church? Why is she revered still today?

St. Cecilia, the virgin martyr, singing God’s praises in the midst of persecution and torture, gives us example for the persecutions we must each face. The Lord promised that each of us would have to face our own persecution, that each of us would be misunderstood, mocked, even hated for the faith. And Cecilia reminds us that the Christian faces these persecutions joyfully, knowing that they lead to espousal with the Lord, eternal union with God in heaven.

If you cannot imagine facing persecution joyfully, pray for that grace—the grace to remain faithful and even joyful when your faith is tested, that in the moment of trial, your heart might be gladdened with the knowledge, that what suffer for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
For all Christians, that as they experience persecution for the faith, they may know the closeness and love of the Lord and remain true to the Gospel.

Through the intercession of St. Cecilia, we pray for all musicians, that they may use their gifts and talents not for their own sake, but for the glory of God.

For peace to reign in the hearts of all preparing to gather for the Thanksgiving holiday and for the safety of all travelers.

That our young people may grow in a deep love of the Lord and his commands and be preserved from the errors of the world.

For all those struggling with addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, or for those who will die today.

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

O God, you 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.

November 21 2017 - Presentation of Mary - Daily dedication to God

Pope St. John Paul wrote how the Church from the beginning has modeled her earthly journey on that of the Mother of God. “It is to her as Mother and Model that the Church must look in order to understand in its completeness the meaning of her own mission.”

What does the sacred event which we commemorate today teach us about the Church’s mission, our mission?

Though she belonged entirely to God from the moment of her immaculate conception, the Church Fathers speak of how Mary herself desired to be brought to the Temple, to be presented to God in a formal, solemn, and public way to demonstrate to all that she really did belong to God.

This certainly reveals an important dimension of Christianity. It is not enough for us simply to belong to the Lord privately. We show that we belong to God in formal and public ways. The Sacramental system certainly reflects this principle. Catholics show we belong to God every week, some of us, every day, by gathering at the altar for the celebration of the Eucharist. Here, we present ourselves to God, we receive the nourishment of the Eucharist. But, our dedication to God does not end here. We receive the Eucharist that we might go out into the world to build the kingdom of God.

In the Gospel for this feast, Jesus pronounces belonging to his spiritual family, the Church, requires more than a biological bond: “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother and sister and mother”.

Our dedication to the Lord is seen when we engage in the works that God wants of us. Without these works, faith is dead, says St. James.

It is good and important to dedicate ourselves to God through prayer and the sacraments. The morning offer is a powerful way of dedicating ourselves to God on a daily basis, particularly when we cannot come to daily mass. But even the morning offering speaks of our works: “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.”

Pope John Paul II once said that the practice of praying the Morning Offering is ‘of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful.’ It is a daily reminder to make our entire day, our whole life ‘a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God’ (Romans 12: 1).”

A daily prayer of dedication can help to order our day, that we like Mary, may remain united to God in all of our thoughts, intentions, affections, desires, words, and deeds, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
 
For deeper Marian devotion amongst all Christians, that the Church may more deeply share in Mary’s dedication to God.

For all mothers, that they may find in Mary the example and strength to carry out their vocation of love, and that all sorrowful mothers may know the consolation and peace of God.

For all consecrated religious, that their dedication may inspire all Christians to deeper faith, hope, and charity.

That through Immaculate Mary, Queen of Peace, hatred, violence, and cruelty will cease in the world. 

That from the moment of conception all children will be preserved from bodily harm; for the overturning of unjust laws permitting the destruction of innocent life; and that the minds of all may be enlightened to know the dignity of every human life.  We pray to the Lord.

That the sick may draw strength, consolation, and healing by turning to Mary, who intercedes for us from her place in heaven

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

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, dedicated to your Holy Will,  may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight.

Monday - 33rd Week in OT 2017 - Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!

Seventeen verses in the New Testament describe Jesus as the “son of David.” But, how could Jesus be the son of David if David lived approximately 1,000 years before Jesus?

The answer is that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the seed of David. Listen to this prophecy from 2 Samuel: “I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

So, the title “Son of David” is more than a statement of physical genealogy. It is a Messianic title. When people referred to Jesus as the Son of David, they meant that He was the long-awaited Deliverer, through whom God would establish his eternal kingdom.

Often, when Jesus is called by this title, it is by people seeking mercy or healing. The woman whose daughter was being tormented by a demon cries out: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David”, and today, we heard of the blind man, begging by the wayside. Calling Him “Lord” expressed their sense of His deity, dominion, and power, and calling Him “Son of David,” expressed their faith that He was the Messiah.

The Pharisees understood exactly what the people meant when they called Jesus “Son of David.” But, unlike those who cried out in faith, the Pharisees were so blinded by their own pride that they couldn’t see what the blind beggars could see.

Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind. He asks us: "What do you want Me to do for you?" We should respond: "I want to see".

Notice also how upon receiving his healing, the blind man follows Jesus and glorifies him. In our Psalm we replied, “Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.” The sight, the healing, the mercy we receive from Jesus, is good in itself, but mercy is given in order to transform us into agents of mercy, healing is given to make us into instruments of healing.

We come to the altar today, thanking God for the mercy and the healing we have received, and beseeching him all the more to continue to transform us, to make us his instruments, that we may follow him all the more faithfully, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That the spiritually blind of our world, may gaze upon Jesus, Son of God and Son of David, and believe.

That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for the dignity of every human life.  We pray to the Lord.

For all those struggling with addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, or for those who will die today: that they will be fortified and blessed with God’s special favor and consolation. 

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

O God, you 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.

33rd Sunday in OT 2017 - How Examination of Conscience can save your life

This is the last Sunday until January 14, the feast of the Epiphany, that the priest will be wearing a green chasuble. Next Sunday, the priest will wear white or gold for the Feast of Christ the King, in which we show that our allegiance to Jesus Christ is above any other allegiance: national, economic, or ideological. And the Sunday after that the green of Ordinary Time is replaced with the purple of Advent.

In fact, we already we see a lot less green out in nature, don’t we? As winter nears?  For Green is the color of growth, and winter is coming.  During Ordinary Time, we are concerned with the spiritual growth of the soul. And, so the liturgical color green reminds us of the need to engage in those spiritual practices which bring growth to our souls: prayer, meditation, study, works of mercy.
And so, as we come to the end of the season of growth, what’s your soul look like? Has your soul grown in the last six months? Have you grown in faith, hope, and love? For some of us our waist lines have surely grown, but what your soul? What have you done with the time you’ve been given? In the Gospel, this same question is asked by the master: What have you done with the talents given to you by God?

It is important for us to answer this question honestly. For our Gospel is clear, there are eternal ramifications for what we do with the time, talent, and treasure afforded to us by God.
Last week I finished a very interesting book on Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s called, “How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life-Changing Wisdom of History's Greatest Poem”. Rob Dreher, author and former journalist, described the impact of reading and reflecting upon Dante’s Epic Poem, how Dante helped deliver him from his mid-life crisis, depression and existential doubt.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Divine Comedy, a man named Dante finds himself in the middle of a dark forest, symbolic of the darkness and confusion of his life. These three vicious beasts, a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf attack him—the beasts symbolic of the lust, pride, and cupidity that have plagued his life. Dante cries out for deliverance, and there appears a figure from antiquity, the ancient poet Virgil. Virgil and Dante then embark on an adventure of a life-time, down through bowels of hell, up the mountain of purgatory, and into the celestial orbs of heaven.

In hell, Dante meets the souls of the damned, who were unrepentant for the selfishness and violence they committed during their lives. As Dante confronts the souls in hell and their eternal punishment, Dante confronts his own failure to love God and neighbor as he should, making gods out of earthly things, and as he makes this pilgrimage, he seeks God’s help to be purified from them.

I had read Dante in college, but I found this return to Dante to be very beneficial. It’s a reminder of the pilgrimage we must all make through life, turning away from idols and selfishness, and opening our hearts to the grace of God, so that we might love Him more.

Yet, Dreher’s book wasn’t simply a summary of Dante’s journey; it was more of a spiritual journal of how he applied the lessons of Dante in his own life. Dreher described how the pride of the souls in hell, could be seen in his own pride and resentment toward his family, who treated him as a sort of outcast. He saw how lust and greed tainted many of his choices during his college years. He saw how his self-absorption had led him, to this very dark place.

Using Dante to examine his conscience and his life, he became aware of sins from his past and present and brought them to the sacrament of confession. This he claims helped to deliver him from his depression and alienation from his family. Helping him find spiritual growth when he desperately needed it.

Many of us are not used to this sort of deep and prayer reflection. One of the tendencies of modern man is to go from one event to another without any sort of reflection on lessons learned. Just take this new fad of binge-watching television shows. Binge-watching is when you watch two, three, five episodes or more of a television show without any break. What’s the problem with that? First, it likely leads to the neglect of our household and family duties, and the exercise and sleep we need for healthy bodies. Secondly, if we are binge watching television, we aren’t engaged in prayer, study, meditation, and the works of mercy. And thirdly, it’s mindless. There’s no reflection. It’s just a constant stream of stimulation. It's "unexamined".

This lack of examination of conscience and lack of engagement in real life, is what led Dante to the middle of the Dark Forrest to begin with, he felt his life was not worth living because he wasn't engaged in real life, just sinful alternatives. He could not see the presence of God in his life because all he was focused on were earthly realities, especially his sinful attachments, and this led him to despair.

The saints, on the other hand, are so full of life and joy and charity, they are so keenly aware of the presence of God is because through the thorough examination of conscience in light of the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ, they distance themselves from the pursuits and attitudes which distract them from God and from doing His Holy Will.

We all know how busy Advent can be. With parties and shopping and concerts and baking and wrapping and decorating. And this can lead to much emptiness if we do not keep Christ at the center of it all, by reflecting on the meaning of the season. So perhaps, this Advent you might consider a spiritual journal. Read through the scripture readings for the day, and spend some time reflecting upon them, asking God what he might be trying to teach you in the concrete details of your life. Come to daily Mass throughout the week, if your schedule permits. And so importantly, if it’s been a few months or years, make a good examination of conscience and Sacramental Confession.

This way, you won’t lose your way in the busyness of the season, but will be able to truly enter into the joy the master has in store for us. Again in the Gospel, rewards and praises those who use their time and talent to do the master’s will. So, let us reflectively take stock of the talents we’ve been given, to repent of our selfish misuse of them, and recommit to using them to bear fruit that will last unto eternity, that we may enter into the master’s joy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

November 17, 2017 - St. Elizabeth of Hungary - Clothing yourselves with Christ

Like our own parish patron, St. Clare, St. Elizabeth of Hungary was deeply moved and motivated by the preaching and poverty of St. Francis of Assisi. Like Clare, Elizabeth was born and raised in a castle, and was surrounded by the rich trappings of luxury and flattery. But Elizabeth did not let earthly treasures keep her from storing up heavenly ones.

In fact, the fame of the virtues of St. Elizabeth of Hungry reached Italy while St. Francis was still alive. Cardinal Ugolini, the future Pope Gregory IX often spoke of her to St. Francis, about the support and protection Elizabeth had given to the Franciscans and her great love of poverty.

One day the Cardinal asked St. Francis for a gift for her as a symbol of his recognition. As he made his request, he took the worn cape off St. Francis’ shoulders and recommended that he send it to her. “Since she is filled with your spirit of poverty,” said the Cardinal, “I would like for you to give her your mantle, just as Elijah gave his mantle to Elisha.” St. Francis consented and sent his mantle to St. Elizabeth, whom he considered as a spiritual daughter.

She would wear the cloak while she engaged in charitable works. She built a hospital next to her castle, and personally tended to the sick and the poor, feeding over 900 people daily. After the death of her husband, the king, her family conspired against her and forced her and her 4 children into exile and poverty with nothing, except the mantle of St. Francis.

During her exile, she did not curse God for her fate, but thanked God for permitting her a share in the savior’s cross. She worked odd jobs, spinning garments, to provide for her children. And when a new emperor came into power, and allowed her to return to the castle, she went right back to her charitable works, even building a second hospital. This continued only for a short while, as she died at the young age of 24. She was canonized only four years later, by Pope Gregory who knew of her virtue, and also due to the great number of miracles occurring at her grave. Elizabeth is the patron saint of third order Franciscans.

Shakespeare wrote that “clothes maketh the man.” Well, St. Elizabeth clothed herself, not with the robes of nobility, but with signs of poverty, humility, and virtue, she clothed herself with Christ, as St. Paul enjoins us to do. She embraced her hardships—widowhood, family division, destitution, exile—trusting in God’s grace, uniting her sufferings with Christ, and she teaches us to do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - -
 
For our consecrated religious, particularly those under the patronage of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, may they be strengthened and supported in their witness to Christ’s saving Gospel.

That families experiencing division may know the peace and reconciliation that comes from Christ.

For all those struggling with addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, or for those who will die today: that they will be fortified and blessed with God’s special favor and consolation.

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

O God, you 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.

November 16 2017 - St. Margaret of Scotland - A pilgrim's reflection

I’ve been awaiting this day for several months. Last summer, I was able to make a pilgrimage to the land of St. Margaret of Scotland. It was my first time visiting a former Catholic country, a country in which Catholicism flourished for centuries, particularly through the efforts and sanctity of today’s saint, but which has become catastrophically secular and anti-Catholic.

It was traumatic for me to see not only closed Churches, by defaced Churches and ancient monasteries beyond repair. St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, formerly a great Catholic Cathedral had been clearly stripped of much of its Roman art and statuary. Monasteries, which predate Queen Margaret by centuries, and also many which she helped to establish had been ransacked and left to crumble by the Scottish reformers. The pilgrimage was very sad at times. But, the petition for the reconversion of Scotland was a perpetual prayer throughout my trip.

I particularly prayed at the places where St. Margaret is still honored by the Scottish Catholics. I stayed near a placed called Queensferry, named after Queen Margaret, where she established a ferry offering free passage across the river Fife for pilgrims traveling to the great shrine of the Apostle St. Andrew.

Wife of the King and mother of eight children, St. Margaret’s sanctity was clearly seen in her compassion, energy, and commitment to the relief of the suffering poor in the midst of extreme political and social upheaval. Sadly, visiting Scotland now is also a reminder how the work of the saints is undone by evil which roots itself in men’s hearts. That is a danger not just in Scotland, but every land.

But I believe rediscovering the holy lives of the saints, turning to their intercession and striving to follow their example helps to win back lost territory for Christ, if not simply the territory of our hearts and minds and souls.

St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland could have indulged in the luxuries of the royal court, and as queen, had any earthly desire satisfied.  But she first and foremost sought to become a saint, and she teaches us to do the same, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - -

We pray for the Church in Scotland, that her members may continue to resist the forces of secularism and heresy and be strengthened in their witness to the saving Gospel of Christ.

For those who have fallen into error, for Catholics who have grown lukewarm in their faith, for those who have left the Church, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

For all those struggling with addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind: that they will be fortified and blessed with God’s special favor, healing and peace.  We pray to the Lord.

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

O God, you 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 - 32nd Week of OT 2017 - Unprofitable servants and slaves for Christ Jesus

Chapter 17 of Luke’s Gospel begin the final leg of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. The chapter begins with four sets of teachings on different aspects of discipleship: how to deal with sin and scandal within the Christian community, the importance of Christians to forgive one another, the power of faith to do amazing things, and finally the parable we heard today, the parable of the unprofitable servant.

In this parable, Jesus uses an image that, though politically incorrect in our own day, would have been common and completely relatable in his day. Jesus compares Christian discipleship with the relationship between a slave-owner and his slave.

Jesus’ culture practiced and to some degree accepted slavery. So, even though we might find the comparison distasteful, we do well to look for the gem of truth.

In this culture, slaves belonged to their masters completely. The slave would not expect any recompense for his service. And Jesus is saying, so too must it be for the Christian. We do not simply engage in good works because of the promise of heavenly reward. Prayer, penance, works of mercy, are not simply done because God will reward them. They are our way of life. Christians cannot ignore the need for prayer any more than we can ignore the need to breathe and eat.

St. Paul felt the necessity of preaching the Gospel in his very bones. Paul went so far as to say “woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.” Preaching wasn’t just something nice that Paul did in his spare time, he couldn’t imagine life without helping people enter right relationship to God through Jesus.
The idea of simply “doing the bare minimum” in order to achieve a place in heaven would have been completely foreign to Paul, any more than a slave belonging completely to his master would consider not fulfilling his obligations. Even called himself, “a slave for Christ Jesus”. That does not mean his relationship to God was loveless, quite the opposite. He made himself a slave, out of love.

The fact that we might not understand Paul here, the motivation of the unprofitable servant, shows just how much conversion we have to do: to consider the fulfillment of the precepts of the Gospel as indispensable to our very being. We see this attitude not just in the life of Paul, but in the lives of all the saints. We see their extreme asceticism, their radical prayer life, their drastic renunciation of earthly pursuits. And I guarantee, they wouldn’t have it any other way. For in making oneself a slave of Christ, subordinating every passion to Him, we find our greatest freedom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That our Church leaders may be instilled with genuine Faith, Hope, and Charity and help all people to grow in those virtues.
That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for the dignity of every human life.  We pray to the Lord.

That our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the godlessness of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

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

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

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

November 13 2017 - Mother Cabrini - The Immigrant Saint

Small and weak as a child, born two months premature, Francesca Cabrini remained in delicate health throughout her 67 years. Yet, even as a little girl she dreamed of being a missionary.

Her poor health kept her from being admitted to religious life, but at the behest of her local parish priest, Francesca took over care of a local orphanage. Francesca persuaded several woman who worked at the orphanage with her to begin their own religious community. So, in 1877, she became Mother Superior to the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.  Within a few years she and her sisters had opened six orphanages. And when Pope Leo XIII, in 1889, asked her to go to the United States to care for the Italian Immigrants, she did not hesitate. Within a few years, she opened a Catholic school in New York City, founded an orphanage and hospital for the immigrants which had wards which were free to the poor.    She built other hospitals in Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Seattle, New Orleans, and Chicago.

This frail, immigrant, virgin nun become Mother to so many, particularly immigrants. She is also the first American citizen to be canonized, having become a naturalized US citizen in 1909. She never really mastered the English language, but that did not keep her from doing great and holy work, either.

At her canonization in 1946, Pius XII said in his homily:

“Where did she acquire all that strength and the inexhaustible energy by which she was able to perform so many good works and to surmount so many difficulties?  She accomplished all this through the faith that was always so vibrant in her heart; through the divine love that burned within her; and, finally, through the constant prayer by which she was so closely united to God…She never let anything turn her aside from striving to please God and to work for his glory for which nothing, aided by grace, seemed too difficult or beyond human strength.”

Is there some holy work you think God might be calling you to do? Likely, He is! So like Mother Cabrini seek strength to do this holy work through your faith and prayer and closeness to God in the Sacraments, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
For an end to the violence and poverty that displaces so many people from their homes and homelands, and that migrants, refugees, and strangers in our midst, may know the kindness and compassion of our local Church.

That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for the dignity of every human life.  We pray to the Lord.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of November: “That Christians in Asia, bearing witness to the Gospel in word and deed, may promote dialogue, peace, and mutual understanding, especially with those of other religions.”

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

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

O God, you 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.

32nd Sunday in OT 2017 - Wake Up! Not all the glitters is gold!

At the end of every liturgical year, as the trees grow bare, the wind becomes colder, and daylight is seen less and less, the Sunday readings too become increasingly foreboding, darker and starker. They begin to focus on the last things: the end of the world, judgment, the afterlife, heaven, hell, purgatory.  We return to these readings every year, that we might not be “caught unaware” of these ultimate realities.

Our second reading today comes from the very earliest of the Christian Scriptures. St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians was written in the early 50s of the first century, about a dozen years before the first of the Gospels.  And what we find is that from these earliest days of the Church, Christians were concerned with what happens after death. 

The fear-of-death has plagued mankind since its beginning, and man has turned to many different remedies for this fear. 17th century Catholic philosopher and theologian, Blaise Pascal , said, “most of us, spend most of our time, diverting ourselves from facing the inevitability of our mortality”. 

Seeing death as an inevitable end, some adopt the philosophy of the Ancient Epicureans: “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die!” Believing that this life is all there is, they fill their days with as much pleasure as possible. 

Others live in constant dread of death, and they develop numerous neuroses, like hypochondria, or other phobias and addictions because of their fear. The end always seems looming, and they don’t know how to deal with it.

Both of those approaches contain some truth, but they also lack the most important truth. On the one hand, yes, death is inevitable, and we do need to make the most of our life. And, on the other hand, yes, death is inevitable. But the truth that is missing from both of these approaches, the truth that St. Paul wants the Church to remember, is Jesus Christ.

It struck the first Christians, Paul especially, that the resurrection of Jesus changed everything. Death on a cross was not the end for Jesus, and so earthly death will not be the end for the baptized. Paul wants us to have a firm conviction that God’s grace will carry us through the terrible experience of death into the experience of eternal life.

Listen again to St. Paul’s teaching here: “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus, died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” 

Our hope in eternal life isn’t merely wishful thinking, a story we tell ourselves to make our peace with the inevitability of death. The resurrection of Jesus is our proof that death is not the end.

The fear of death is not to keep Christians from living life to the fullest. But, for Christians, living-life-to-the-fullest does not mean giving-in to every worldly desire and impulse of the flesh, like the Epicureans. Living-life-to-the-fullest is found by ordering our passions to the truth of Christ, and finding joy in being instruments of God’s grace. We make our peace with death by acknowledging its inevitability, and then preparing rightly for it through the repentance of sin and seeking to live a life of charity and grace in imitation of Jesus.

In the Gospel we heard of the five foolish virgins and the five wise virgins. The wise virgins kept their lamps burning brightly for the return of the bridegroom, the foolish virgins fell asleep, and allowed their lamps to become extinguished. Again, here is a teaching from our Lord, of how we are to use the time we have been given in this life.

Do use your time wisely or foolishly? Well, how can you tell? Why are the wise virgins wise? They remain attentive, vigiliant. They do not allow themselves to fall asleep, but they keep watching and waiting on the Lord. The Christian life can be described as a constant struggle to remain awake, to resist the anesthetizing effects of worldly distractions.

As we know, all too well, many of our contemporaries have fallen asleep, like the foolish virgins. They are inattentive to the spiritual realities of this life and busy themselves with all the non-essentials of the world, instead of focusing on the one thing that matters most, our eternal soul.

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote how “not all that glitters is gold”. So many worldly endeavors are like enchanted gold from a fairy story. Pursuing them, they cause us to fall asleep in a potentially eternal slumber. That is certainly one of the dangers of having digital entertainment on demand, there is always something to distract us from the spiritual life. Yes, sometimes we do need to rest our tired minds and bodies, and just relax a bit, but if we are not careful, we can easily succumb to spiritual sloth, in which the flame and fervor of faith slowly diminishes one Netflix show, one iphone app, at a time.

Christian vigilance requires us to be very cautious toward the pleasures of the world. Christian Asceticism trains our bodies, minds, and spirits. We seek to always be growing in our spiritual lives, our prayer lives, our charitable service, to keep the flame of faith burning brightly.

As the Bridegroom comes to us in this holy Mass under the appearance of bread and wine, let us joyfully great Him with joyful hearts, and allow Him to rouse us from spiritual slumber, and ignite in us the fire of charity for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Friday - 31st Week in OT 2017 - Prudent and Clever in our Christian Mission

In our society there are many pragmatic and clever people, and that cleverness is employed in many ways, some good, some bad. The internet, cellphones and computers help us communicate better, work faster, produce more, but they are also utilized by hackers and criminals to steal identities, cause chaos in governments, and even used by common folk to spread rumors and bully their peers. We have sophisticated weather systems to warn us of impending disasters like hurricanes, tsunamis and other natural disasters, but also instruments of war which can destroy the world. All made by very clever people.

Often cleverness, shrewdness, and skillfulness are busy working for financial and social gain, to protect ones own interests, but Jesus teaches, particularly in the Gospel today, that people of faith are especially called to use their cleverness, shrewdness, and skillfulness for others. It is not simply that we are to be other-minded, but that other-mindedness needs to be put into action.

We need to be more clever in organizing charitable activity, than head coaches of professional sports teams are in organizing victory for their franchises. We need to be more diligent in disciplining our minds and our hearts than professional athletes in training their bodies. We need to be more clever than Wall Street bankers, in storing up treasure not on earth, but in heaven.

Pope St. Leo the Great certainly put his intellectual and spiritual gifts at the service of the Gospel. He’s known as one of the best administrative Popes of the ancient Church. He labored to put down the prominent heresies of his day; he led the defense of Rome against barbarian attack, persuading Atilla the Hun to halt his path towards Rome which he was planning to plunder. His personal sanctity and pastoral care are evident from his writings and spiritually profound sermons.

He put his nearly boundless energy, compassion, and intellect in service of the Church as Pope for 21 years, one of the longest reigning Popes in Church history.

Like Pope Leo, and so many good Christians before us, let us endeavor to put an ever-greater portion of our time, talent, and treasure, our intellect and compassion, at the service of the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That Pope St. Leo and all the saints may assist the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and governing and teaching the Church to faithfully address the challenges of our times.

That our president and all civic officials will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for religious freedom and the dignity of human life.

During this National Vocations Week, we pray for an increase in vocations to priesthood and consecrated life, and that our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the godlessness of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For all those struggling with addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind: that they will be fortified and blessed with the Father’s healing, light, and peace.  We pray to the Lord.

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

O God, you 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.

November 9, 2017 - St. John Lateran - Cleansing the Temple and the Church

Throughout the centuries, St John Lateran has survived fires, earthquakes, barbarian invasions, and world wars; she is the oldest church in Europe, and perhaps symbolic of the universal Church, who has survived schisms, heresies, corruption, and government persecution—the storms and chaos of nearly two thousand years.

But, the endurance of Holy Church based on the promise of Our Lord, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her, should never be taken for granted. We must never grow lax striving to remain pure of worldly corruption and doctrinal error.

In the Gospel for this important feast, Our Lord cleanses the corruption from His Father’s Temple.  The temple was God’s house, the place where His people offered worship and where they were to be instructed in the ways of righteousness, and yet, it’s loveliness had been replaced by corruption. Our Lord cleansing the Temple, reminds us of His desire that the New Temple, His Bride, the Church, should always strive to be free from any error or moral transgression; each of us have a responsibility to strive for inner purity.

Blessed John Henry Newman, living just over a century ago, quipped, “I thank God that I live in a day when the enemy is outside the Church, and I know where he is, and what he is up to. But, I foresee a day when the enemy will be both outside and inside the Church…and, I pray for the poor faithful who will be caught in the crossfire.”

Sadly, I think Cardinal Newman’s prophecy has come to fulfillment. Error pervades many corners of the Church, clergy and religious and lay sew error among Christ’s flock; many are saddened, confused, and led astray. These are difficult times to be a faithful Catholic, faithful to all the Lord teaches. Our culture, the media, pressures Church leaders to change immemorial teachings.

But St. Paul, writing to a group of Christians, offers a frightening warning: “If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person” And Paul is writing here, to the Corinthian Church, which had become riddled with immorality and error and division.

So, we recommit all the more to zeal for our own purification, from sin, error, and selfishness, to faithfulness to the eternal truths of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - - - -

For the purification of Holy Church, and for all Bishops and clergy, that they may always lead us in fidelity to the saving Gospel of Christ.

For those who have fallen into error, for Catholics who have grown lukewarm in their faith, for those who have left the Church, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

During this National Vocations Week, for an increase in vocations to priesthood and consecrated life, and that our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the godlessness of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

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

O God, you 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 - 31st Week in OT 2017 - The Parable of the Great Feast

Two of the great themes of Luke’s Gospel come together in our reading today. As we reflected upon yesterday, over and over in Luke’s Gospel, we see Jesus eating and dining, and using those opportunities at table to teach. Today’s passage is the 10th such “table discourse” and Jesus offers a parable on one of his favorite topics, the kingdom of God.

One of his fellow dinner guests utters a surprisingly accurate statement: “Blessed is the one who will dine [literally, eat bread] in the kingdom of God.” Jesus then tells a parable about the eschatological banquet at the end of time

In the symbolic language of the parable, the host is God and His servants are the prophets, and three groups of people have been invited to this banquet.

The first group knew they had been invited, but they didn’t appreciate the great honor and gave some pretty lame excuses for not attending the banquet. Jesus was certainly addressing the Jews of his day, particularly the Scribes and Pharisees, those who believed themselves to be assured a place in the heavenly kingdom. But through their failure to believe, they would be excluded.

This could be applied to Christians of our own day who do not take the faith seriously, we see Catholicism as more of a cultural identity than a way of life. These are those who are more concerned with earthly concerns and possessions and social relationships, than the call to conversion.

The second group consists of the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. This group accepts the Lord’s invitation. And though they are dispossessed and alienated in this life, their hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied in eternity. Here is a call to turn to the Lord in our spiritual poverty, and trust in his promises.

The third group consists of those in the highways and hedgerows. This third invitation symbolizes the evangelization of the Gentile nations of the earth by the Church throughout the centuries. Many accept the Gospel of the Lord, but many do not.  But we are called to faithfully share the Gospel, to extend the invitation to believe in the Lord and follow Him.

To these, Jesus uses some pretty strong language: make them come in, almost…almost…force them to accept. Be persistent in the invitation. There are people too embarrassed, too laden with guilt, too broken to accept the Gospel themselves. They silently cry out for someone to lead and guide them into the Church. Although their words and actions push you away, their spirit is crying out for God to send a leader to break open the path. So persistent, drag them to Church and to parish events and service opportunities.

As St. Paul teaches, “Do not grow slack but be fervent in Spirit; He Whom you serve is the Lord." For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - - - -
 
During this National Vocations Week, for an increase in vocations to priesthood and consecrated life, and that our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the godlessness of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for deceased clergy and religious, for those who have fought and died for our freedom, we pray to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, hear our prayers. May the grace of Christ Your Son, the Divine Physician, bring healing of our sinfulness, and make us worthy of the kingdom of heaven, through the same Christ our Lord.

Monday - 31st Week of OT 2017 - Room at the Table

Have you ever noticed how many times Jesus is either sitting at a meal or talking about meals in his parables? Meals feature so prominently in the gospels that scholars have commented: ‘Jesus ate his way through the Gospels.’ A Catholic Scripture scholar even commented, “‘… they killed him because of the way he ate; because he ate and drank with sinners.’ Jesus revealed the Kingdom as he shared meals with others, and so we have much to learn from where he ate and with whom he ate.

The first half of the Gospel of Luke, from which we find our Gospel passage today, Jesus is dining at the home of a leading Pharisee, and he gives a series of lessons.

First, he speaks about the licitness of healing on the Sabbath. Then, upon noticing how the the dinner guests picked the places of honor at the table, Jesus tells the parable of taking the lower place at the wedding feast and waiting to be invited higher. Today’s Gospel is a direct teaching related to that parable. Jesus instructs to not only invite those who will boost your social standing, but to invite those who cannot pay you back.

On one hand, Jesus is challenging us to reach out to the poor, to people who cannot repay our charity. On the other hand, Jesus is challenging us to identify as the poor, in the grand scheme of salvation.
Each of us come to the table of the Lord, poor and hungry, unable to provide for ourselves. The Lord is the host who has invited all of us the physically and more importantly spiritually poor and lame and crippled.

Because the Lord feeds us in our poverty, we, in turn, are to reach out with our meager possessions, to those who have less than us, expecting no repayment, save that of eternal life.

How can we repay the goodness the Lord has shown to us? Paying the debt of our sins through his suffering and death when we were incapable of paying it ourselves? The entire Christian life is a response to the Lord loving us when we were unlovable, feeding us in our spiritual starvation, teaching us to walk rightly again in our spiritual lameness, clothing us when we were in the abject poverty of sin and separation from God.

We must seek to love as we have been loved, looking for opportunities to give without expecting repayment. Mother Theresa said, Jesus often hides behind the unattractive disguise of the irritable, the exacting, and the unreasonable. She prayed to recognize Jesus in these people, and to find the sweetness of serving Him in them; and so must we, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That bishops, priests, and all ministers of the Gospel may seek to imitate Jesus in his charity, compassion, self-sacrifice, and witness to the Truth.

That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for religious freedom and the dignity of human life. 

For victims of violence, especially the victims of the Church shooting in Texas yesterday, for their consolation, and that all forms of violence may be replaced by the Peace of Christ.

For the impoverished and sick and those experiencing any sort of trial: that Jesus the Bread of Life will be their sustenance, and that Christians will be instruments of God’s mercy for all those in need. 

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

O God, you 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.

31st Sunday in OT 2017 - The corruption of the best is the worst

Last week I told a story about a recent encounter I had with my tailor. She had asked me why I became a priest, and I replied that I believe that with all the evil in the world, the priesthood can be a powerful instrument of God’s grace—his love and mercy and truth—in the world.

She replied that she had a problem with organized religion in general. She said how in her home country, the Atheist Communist Leader Stalin had outlawed religion, but when Stalin was overthrown, many of the Communist party members traded the hammer and sickle, the symbols of atheistic communism, for the cross, the symbol of Christianity. They had taken up the once repressed faith, but instead of using the terror and violence of Communism to control people’s lives, they now used religion to control people and oppress people.

I think many people have this problem with organized religion. The Communist Philosopher Karl Marx called religion “the opiate of the masses.”—seeing religious simply as a way to control people. And to be honest, there has been corruption in the Church, here and there. But, all of us here, I hope, know of the tremendous potential of Christianity, the power of grace to transform sinners into saints.

Religion: it can be the best thing around, and it can be the worst thing around. When religion functions well, according to its own deepest purpose, it brings us into friendship with God, it can bring out the best in man. But, when it is dysfunctional, when religion goes bad, it goes really bad, it can bring out the worst in us. The ancient Romans would say: “Corruptio optimi pessimo”, the corruption of the best, is the worst. When the best thing goes bad, it really goes bad. And that’s certainly true for religion. Dysfunctional religion can be very dangerous. It can create murderous terrorists who commit acts of violence in the name of God, it can create tremendous greed, it can create terrible scrupulosity where the love of God is replaced by a false image of God as a tyrant, it can lead religious leaders to abuse their power, and lay people to become addicted to false piety and self-righteousness.

The authors of the Bible, both Old Testament and New, were fully aware of this problem. The great prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, and Malachi, as well as Peter, James, John, and Paul, and of course Our Lord himself, who knew the potential of His Church, all seemed to be keenly aware how religion could be misused.

Jesus engages the Scribes and Pharisees, our Gospel today. Our Lord explains how these supposed religious leaders were preaching, but not practicing.

Notice, how even though Jesus points out the religious failure of the Scribes and Pharisees, he doesn’t discredit religious leadership altogether. Were the Scribes and Pharisees in many ways corrupt? Yes. But does that mean that the whole idea of teaching authority and religious leadership is altogether corrupt? Absolutely not.

Jesus is saying don’t let their corruption keep you from right relationship with the Father. He even says, do whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. In other words, when they teach authentically, listen to them, but don’t let their corruption keep you from the truth, either.

The Pharisees misused their position of authority, and placed themselves on a pedestal; they sought to be honored for their purity and supposed holiness. They made religious leadership a means of their own self-aggrandizement rather being instruments of the truth and goodness of God.

Now contrast the false religious leadership of the Pharisees with the great humility and authentic leadership of the saints., who we celebrated this week on the Holy Day of Obligation, All Saints Day. The saints are the truly holy ones in our midst, yet we don’t see them using their holiness to control others or to demean others, rather, they become conduits of God’s goodness and grace. They do not use religion to inflate their own egos, rather, they do everything they can to help others to be as holy as possible. Their humility is truly humbling, their goodness is truly inspiring. They guide us not through fear, but love. The saints never preach what they are unwilling to do themselves, but we see that they are willing to do quite a bit. They are the first ones in the confessional when they’ve sinned, and are the first ones with a cup of water, to give drink to the thirsty. The show that our faith IS demanding, but do everything they can to help us with those demands through their wisdom and good example.

Particularly, I think of St. Charles Borromeo, whose feast day is today, November 4. St. Charles was born into a wealthy Italian noble family. He received the highest education of his day, and his ecclesiastical career into the highest-ranking posts in the Church was almost guaranteed. He lived in  a time of some lavishness and some corruption within the Church. And, Charles Borromeo could have become one of these terribly decadent and corrupt Cardinal Princes always vying for more and more power. Rather, Charles took, “Humilitas”—humility, as his personal motto.

He allotted most of his income to charity, forbade himself luxuries.  When the plague struck his diocese, he fed thousands of people daily, taking upon himself a huge debt requiring years of repayment.  Whereas the civil authorities fled the city, he stayed and ministered to the sick and the dying. He also developed a Catechism which was used world-wide after the Council of Trent to educate Catholics in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, helping Catholics know their faith, so that they could live their faith more fully.

G.K. Chesterton once said that it is not that Christianity “has been tried and left wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.” In other words, when we see corruption in the Church, in Catholics ordained and not-ordained, the problem isn’t with Catholicism. Our faith is the best thing around. It is the remedy for the ills of the world, it is the instrument God gave us for our salvation and sanctification, but if we want it’s transforming power to be unleashed, we must be faithful to it, not just the parts we like, but all of it.

We can become saints, we can become the people God made us to be through our beautiful faith. We certainly pray for our religious leaders, that they may practice what they preach. But we also take personal responsibility for our own practice of the faith, that we may allow ourselves to be taught, to be led in the authentic practice of our religion, that we may schooled in holiness, and live lives betting of the children of God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

November 3 2017 - St. Martin de Porres - Charity rather than resentment

Martin was born in Lima, Peru in 1579 to Spanish conquistador and an African Slave, who were not married.  Martin’s father rejected him at his birth because of his dark skin, and throughout childhood, Martin was given cruel names like “half-breed”.  Perhaps because he himself was poor and despised, Martin developed a heart for charity.

While a young man, he became an associate of the Dominican Order. He spent long hours caring for the sick and dying, particularly among the slaves and indigent. Daily he fed nearly two hundred people, and weekly he disbursed hundreds of dollars worth of food, clothing, and other necessities of life among Natives, Africans, and Spaniards.

There is an interesting confluence in the life of Martin and the Gospel today. Once again, Jesus is found in the middle of a controversy over healing on the sabbath. Jesus points out that the Pharisaic interpretation of the law was quite ridiculous. For, the Pharisees condemned Jesus for healing on the Sabbath even though they wouldn’t hesitate to pull their son or ox out of a cistern on the Sabbath.

Due to a ridiculous interpretation of church law, Martin was forbidden to become a full member of the Dominican Order. A law from Deuteronomy was being interpreted to exclude him from the order due to his slave background. So what did Martin do? He dedicated himself to healing, to charity, He became known as the Apostle of Charity, and many stories arose about his closeness to God and healing miracles.

No matter what our circumstances: whether we are ridiculed for our race, our nationality, our economic level, excluded unjustly, like St. Martin, being conspired against by the powers-that-be, like Our Blessed Lord, we are called to intimacy with our Lord, we are called to be instruments of healing and charity.

Martin could have developed a bitterness and even hatred for his fellow man, even for the Church, but he allowed God’s grace to break through any resentment or self-pity.  We too are called to open ourselves to God through prayer, scripture, and the sacramental life of the Church, that God’s life may penetrate and transform us into Apostles of Charity, for the glory of god and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - - - -

That religious indifference and religious persecution in our country and around the world may be transformed to radical commitment to the Gospel of Christ.

For the transformation of all attitudes which lead to war, violence, racial hatred, and religious persecution.

For the conversion of Atheists, hardened sinners, lapsed Catholics, and the conversion of all hearts.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of September: “That Christians in Asia, bearing witness to the Gospel in word and deed, may promote dialogue, peace, and mutual understanding, especially with those of other religions.”

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

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

O God, you 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.

All Souls' Day 2017 - Praying for the Dead

Yesterday, All Saints' Day, we praised God for his masterpieces: the saints, those Christians who reached spiritual maturity in this life, and so entered heaven immediately after death.

Today Catholics join in praying for the eternal repose of our many brothers and sisters who died in friendship with Christ, but who hadn't yet reached spiritual maturity. Instead of entering heaven immediately, these souls were taken by God to the spiritual hospital called purgatory.

Even though there is firm scriptural basis for the practice of praying for the dead, many Catholics are uncomfortable with this doctrine. But from the very beginning the Church has engaged in this practice. The saints urge us to pray for the dead. St. John Vianney said, "We must say many prayers for the souls of the faithful departed, for one must be so pure to enter heaven."

St. John Chrysostom, over 1200 years before John Vianney even recommended to every Christian family that they have a box at some convenient place in their home where they put coins which would be used to have masses said for the Poor Souls.

Common sense, the testimony of the saints, and the Bible all agree: purgatory is real; many if not most of us will need to be purified from the vestiges of sin and selfishness after we die, so that we can fully experience the joys of heaven.

This is not a complicated doctrine. Though, the Church has made no definitive statements about what exactly this purification is like or exactly how long it takes, three things for certain: that a purification after death exists, that it is not entirely pleasant, it involves suffering, but the church on earth can assist those souls in purgatory with our prayers.

Knowing this motivates us to do two things.

First, it certainly motivates us to prepare our souls, while here on earth. Doing penance for our sins during our earthly life is preferable to the pains suffered in purgatory.

Second, we can alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters who have died and are now in purgatory by praying for them, offering Masses for them, obtaining indulgences for them...God has generously connected our lives to theirs.

And so, we who are members of the Church Militant here on earth, can help the members of the Church Suffering in purgatory, arrive more quickly to their eternal destination: the Church Triumphant in heaven.

May we be generous in our prayers and acts of charity toward our beloved dead, that with them, we may come to see God face to face in heaven, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - -

May all those baptized into Christ’s saving passion, death, and resurrection, and nourished at the Eucharistic table of the Lord, be welcomed into the halls of the heavenly banquet.

For all those who suffer from violence, war, famine, extreme poverty, addiction, and those who are alienated from their families.  May they know God’s mercy and be gathered to the eternal kingdom of peace. 

That God may send his angel of consolation and comfort to all those for whom death draws near, and all those who grieve the death of a loved one might find peace in the promises of Christ.

For all those who despair of eternal life because they do not know God, may they receive faith in the saving resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For all of the holy souls in purgatory, especially those forgotten by time and have no one else to pray for them, that they may know the constant aid of the Church on earth, especially the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for deceased clergy and religious, and those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Heavenly Father, grant to our beloved dead your mercy and forgiveness, hear and answer all of our prayers according to your gracious will, through Christ our Lord.

All Saints Day 2017 - Nothing matters more than sanctity

It is pretty profound that today is so important to the Church that it is a Holy Day of Obligation for all Catholics to attend Mass, even when it falls on a weekday. Think about that. Why is that important?
It is not hard to understand why it is absolutely essential for us to celebrate Christmas and Easter. It is certainly in keeping with the third commandment, that all Catholics are obligated to go to Mass every Sunday. But why do we celebrate this feast day, with such solemnity, giving it such great importance, that every Catholic in the world needs to go to Church this day?

All Saints Day is a surprisingly old feast. It arose out of the Christian tradition of celebrating the anniversary of the death of a martyr. The Martyrs gave the ultimate witness to Christ, witnessing to Him with their very life, they were faithful to the very end, and so were celebrated by the Church of needing no further purification after death, and so they went directly to God in heaven as Saints.
Soon, the number of martyrs became so abundant because of the persecutions of those early centuries, that a common feast day—an All Saints Day—would ensure that all the martyrs, known and unknown, were properly honored.

But this feast day isn’t a holy day of obligation simply because it is over one thousand six hundred years old. Nor is it a holy day of because we are celebrating a select-few, a handful of spiritual heroes. I think it is a holy day of obligation because it reminds us that becoming a saint is the ordinary goal of the Christian life. The whole purpose of the Church: the purpose of baptisms, eucharist, priests and sacramental marriages, the purpose of learning our catechism, engaging in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, fasting, doing penance, going to confession, the purpose of all of the things, every action of the Church is to make saints.

The only people who go to heaven are saints. Only those who prepare their souls rightly in this life, and those who are purified in purgatory, go to heaven. And that is the whole purpose of the Church, is to help you and me, and every person who seeks God, get to heaven.

This feast reminds us, that the only thing that really matters in life, is being holy, so that we can be with God forever in heaven. You can be the richest person in the world, but if you do not become a saint, you have wasted your life. You can be the best athlete, the most talented musician, the most skilled doctor, the most famous actor in Hollywood, but if you do not become a saint, becoming the person God wants you to be, you have wasted your life.

Becoming a saint should be what we think of every day, it’s what we should worry about and strive for most. And how many of us really worry about this? Think of all the time we spend fussing about non-essentials, reputation, entertainment, physical appearance, social standing, while neglecting the most essential, our sanctity.

Non-essentials can be so dangerous because they can lead us away from God; we all know how non-essentials can lead us not to pray as we should, not to love our family as we should, not to give to our neighbor as we should, not to go to Church as we should. Non-essentials can even lead us to losing our place in heaven, forever, if we allow them to consume us.

Today we give honor to all those saints, saints we know, saints who have been canonized by the Church, and those saints who passing from this life still needing some purification are now with God. We honor them and they teach us, plead with us, to put Jesus first, to put sanctity first. On this Holy Day, we celebrate, that in the end, the only thing that matters is: do I love Jesus Christ with my whole heart, my whole mind, and am I doing everything in my power to become like Him, am I doing everything I can to be with Him and His Saints forever, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.