21st Sunday in OT 2019 - Strive to enter through the narrow gate

In the course of his public ministry, Jesus is asked a lot of questions. After all, he is a teacher; he has disciples who call him “rabbi”. Sometimes people ask questions about his motives, he is asked, “why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?”; sometimes he is asked about his identity, “who are you? Are you the one who the scriptures foretold? Are you the messiah?”, other times Our Lord is asked to give commentary on the moral law, or the law of moses, “is it lawful to divorce and remarry?”

And quite typically, one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ teaching is that he often does not answer questions directly. He often redirects the question to consider matters of greater importance.

When asked in today’s Gospel, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?", the Lord doesn’t answer with a yes or no, as the question would dictate. Rather, he seems to indicate that the question “how many people will be saved” isn’t nearly as important as the question “HOW will we be saved?” The number of the saved isn’t nearly as important as the manner by which we are saved. The Lord leads the questioner to consider what is of greater importance.

In a similar incident, when asked when the world was going to end, he didn’t answer the question directly, there either; rather he urged the questioners to “prepare themselves.” For knowing the day or the hour isn’t as important as the need to prepare your soul through repentance.

Again, the Lord reorients the questioner to consider what is of greater importance. That shifting, that reorienting is at the essence of the Christian life, isn’t it? Christianity reorients us, from focusing on what is of lesser importance to what is of greater importance. What is of greater importance, the earthly or the heavenly? What is of greater importance, the size of your house, the neighborhood in which you live, or if you make your home a Christian home where the love of God is practiced? What is of greater importance, seeking wealth, fame, and power, or holiness, humility, and service?

Now the worldly soul might say, well does it matter? What does it matter if my life is focused on the worldly? What does it matter if my life is focused on non-essentials? Why do we need to be reoriented?

Part of it has to do with joy. In the end the earthly does not give us true joy. And the Lord say, “I have come that you might have joy, and your joy might be complete.” You might think that the biggest house on the block will bring you joy, but what actually gives joy is that the house is filled with people who you love and who love God, that your home is filled with the peace that the world cannot give. You might think that wealth, fame, and power bring your joy, but we know that pursuing these things alone leads to exhaustion. You might think that the million-and-one non-essentials will bring you joy, but our hearts are restless until they rest in God.

And the deeper reason we need conversion, the heart of the matter, isn’t just that these million-and-one non-essentials leave us exhausted and joyless in this life, but rather, that there are eternal consequences at stake. What we do in this life echoes into eternity. And in the end there are only two possibilities for our eternal souls, which the Lord describes in today’s Gospel, one way that leads to the “wailing and grinding of teeth” and the other “to reclining at table” at the eternal banquet in the kingdom of God. As the ancient Christians put it: there is one way that leads to life, and another that leads to death, and there is a great chasm between the two.

So, how can we be saved? What is the way that leads to everlasting life, “how can we come to that place at God’s eternal table?

““Strive to enter through the narrow gate”. Heaven cannot be taken for granted. We must strive for it, we must make every effort to reach it. The Greek word, translated as strive, in the Gospel today, is the word “agonizomai” from which we derive the word Agony. Agonize, make the supreme effort. The greeks used this word to describe the effort of the Athlete who seeks to win the Olympic games and to survive hand-to-hand combat with your mortal enemy. Do you want to be saved? Are you doing everything you can to be saved?

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus’ passion begins with the “agony” in the garden, where he agonizes over abandoning his will to the will of the father. He sweats blood over it?
Notice Jesus doesn’t say today, stand at the gate and complain about how narrow it looks.  Some Christians look at the commandments of God and teachings of the Church and reject them, claiming that they are too narrow, too rigid, outdated.  They seek to refashion the gate, and make it wider.  But that’s not what Jesus commands here.

Rather, Entering the narrow gate requires us to change.  It requires that we conform ourselves to its narrowness, to deflate our egos if our egos are too big, to let go of the attitudes which are not of christ, to drop the selfish clinging to worldly pleasures, grudges, and fears if they are keeping us from following Jesus in the way of love and self-sacrifice.

This all seems very hard, very difficult, and perhaps unpleasant. But, that’s where our Second Reading reassures us, that to those who allow themselves to be disciplined by God, for those who strengthen their drooping hands and weak knees, for those who allow themselves to be corrected and converted, they will know peace, they will know the peaceful fruits of righteousness, they will know themselves as children of a good God who seeks what is best for them, who desires that we become our best selves, who we seeks our salvation from all those self-destructive vices and attitudes.

It is a tough gospel, a tough lesson. But in the end it’s the message of the cross, it’s the essence of Christianity: let those who wish to follow me, deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me,” says the Lord. And we know that the cross, and the cross alone is the royal road to heaven, it’s the secret to true joy, and eternal life for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

August 23 2019 - St. Rose of Lima - A life of penance

St. Rose of Lima was a third order Dominican, the patroness of South America, the first canonized saint of that continent. She is also one of the patron saint of gardeners. Born in Lima, Peru in 1586 she worked even as a child to help support her family, growing flowers and doing embroidery and other needlework.

She was physically very beautiful, but consistently refused offers to marry, for she took a vow of virginity, and at the age of 20 became a third order Dominican and undertook serious penances and mortifications, modeling her spirituality after the extraordinary third order Dominican, St. Catherine of Siena. Rose lived a mostly secluded life, but also labored often amongst the poor and sick natives and slaves. She died at the young age of 31.

She has been given the title St. Rose of Penance, and wrote on the importance of penance for all Christians, saying “Without the burden of afflictions, it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases.”

To do penance and to labor for the Gospel even when those labors bring suffering upon ourselves, is to enter into the divine life, for Jesus himself embraced suffering on the cross for the salvation on our souls.

And When we hear in the Gospel today the command from the lips of Our Lord to love God and love neighbor, remember, love is not just a sentimental feeling. Love is the embrace of hard work for the good of others, it is the willingness to suffer for the one you love. So we should not shy away from the difficulties of living and spreading the Gospel, the difficulties of the works of charity, the self-sacrifice, the discipline, the fasting and penance, for they are opportunities to show our love and grow in love, as we are commanded to do.

St. Rose said, “No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him if he could come to know the scales on which they are weighed” by God, the graces obtained when we embrace our cross with faith.

Listen again to the powerful collect for the st. rose today: “O God, you set St. Rose of Lima on fire with your love, so that, secluded from the world in the austerity of a life of penance, she might give herself to you alone; grant, we pray, that through her intercession, we may trad the paths of life on earth and drink at the stream of your delights in heaven.” For the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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For an increase in vocations to the consecrated religious life, and that our consecrated religious may continue to be a shining and burning light in the Church.
That the carrying of our crosses and penances may bring about deep conversion for ourselves and others.
That the young students of our school beginning classes this week may know the love of Christ in their families, that each school family may seek to practice right religion to the honor of God.
For mercy and peace for all those who suffer: for the sick and diseased, for those undergoing surgery this week, for the destitute and despairing, for all victims of war, violence, and abuse, and for those who will die today and the consolation of their families.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for N., for whom this mass is offered.
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.

August 21 2019 - St. Pius X - To restore all things in Christ

At his election as Pope in 1903, Saint Pius X took as his papal motto “Instaurare Omnia in Christo”—“To Restore all things in Christ”. He saw as his mission, building up the Church, strengthening the faith, especially in the face of the modernist philosophical errors of the 19th century.

His plan for restoring faith in the Church involved building up the piety of the laity and their love and devotion for Our Lord in the Eucharist and for His Blessed Mother.

My first parish assignment at St. Columbkille in Parma has a statue of St. Pius X, holding the chalice and host as the priest does at mass. For in 1910, Pius X issued his famous decree Quam singulari which lowered the age for first communion for Latin Catholics and advocated frequent communion.
Then in regard to Our Lady, on the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of her Immaculate Conception, he wrote an encyclical in her honor.

And we saw in the early and mid-20th century the fruits of his labors: wonderful Marian movements like the Legion of Mary.

Pius X also encouraged strong Catechesis for both children and adults, and promoted sacred music, particularly Gregorian Chant for the liturgy.

But what Pius X is probably best known for was his condemnation of the heresy of modernism in his two documents Lamentabili and Pascendi. Modernism is so insidious for it says, all that came before doesn’t matter, all that we’ve received from the Apostles doesn’t matter, objective moral truth really doesn’t exist, forms of sacred beauty, art, architecture, sacred liturgy doesn’t really matter. All that matters is my own personal experience, my own subjective sense of truth and goodness and beauty.

And though Pius X, sternly warned the Church against modernism, that most insidious heresy ran rampant throughout the 20th century, continues into our own day, in many segments of the Church.
Instaurare Omnia in Christo”—“To Restore all things in Christ” we prayed in the Collect for this memorial. May St. Pius X help us to be purified of modernism, to love and revere Christ in the Eucharist, to turn assiduously to the intercession of his Blessed Mother, and to seek faithful catechesis, and the truth, goodness, and beauty that comes from God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our Holy Father, all the bishops, priests, and deacons of the Church will courageously preach the Truth of the Gospel in its fullness.
For the purification of Holy Church from all error and heresy, especially among those who preach and teach.
That the young students of our school beginning classes today may know the love of Christ in their families, that each school family may seek to practice right religion to the honor of God.
For mercy and peace for all those who suffer: for the sick and diseased, for those undergoing surgery this week, for the destitute and despairing, for all victims of war, violence, and abuse, and for those who will die today and the consolation of their families.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for N., for whom this mass is offered.
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.

August 20 2019 - St. Bernard - A light shining and burning

Adviser of popes, preacher of the Second Crusade, defender of the faith, healer of a schism, mystical contemplative ,reformer of a monastic Order, Scripture scholar, theologian and eloquent preacher: today we celebrate the memorial of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

In the year 1111, around the age of 20, Bernard left his home to join the Cistercian monastery at Citeaux in France.  St. Bernard with his intelligence and holiness of life attracted many vocations, in fact two of his uncles and five of his brothers joined the monastery with him, and his sister became a Benedictine nun. There is even a book written about St. Bernard’s family called, “The Family that Conquered Heaven.” Bernard founded not only the monastery at Clairvaux, but 163 other monasteries throughout Europe. 

The Collect Prayer for his memorial calls Bernard a “light shining and burning” in the Church. And his light was certainly not hidden under a bushel basket, rather it drew many to seek holiness, as it does for us.

From where did his holiness derive? Bernard’s love for Our Lady is renowned. Bernard had a unbounded confidence in the intercession of Our Lady, and composed that powerful prayer, the Memorare: “Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.”

The Magnificat Antiphon for Vespers this evening calls Bernard the “most eminent preacher of the Virgin Mary’s glory”. St. Bernard’s love for the Blessed Virgin was so renowned, that when Dante composed his Divine Comedy, it is St. Bernard who leads the pilgrim to the highest heaven, to the mystical rose, to Our Lady whose faith, hope, and love for God surpasses all others. It was Bernard who proposed the title for Our Lady as Mediatrix of Grace.

It was Bernard, too, who uttered one of my favorite quotes. He said, “the three most important virtues are humility, humility, and humility.”

Through the intercession and example of St. Bernard, may we grow in confidence and love for Our Lady, may we grow in humility, humility, humility, and may we seek that personal holiness, which becomes a light for others to draw near to Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

For an increase in vocations to the consecrated religious life, and that our consecrated religious may continue to be a shining and burning light in the Church.

For those who disbelieve in Our Lady’s role in the Church and plan of God, for increased devotion to Our Lady’s intercession, that we may imitate the love of her Immaculate Heart.

That the young students of our school beginning classes this week may know the love of Christ in their families, that each school family may seek to practice right religion to the honor of God.

For mercy and peace for all those who suffer: for the sick and diseased, for those undergoing surgery this week, for the destitute and despairing, for all victims of war, violence, and abuse, and for those who will die today and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for N., for whom this mass is offered.

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.

August 19 2019 - St. John Eudes - Mercy of the Sacred Heart

You will often see depictions of St. John Eudes, holding an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; for the saint was a great devotee and proponent of the devotion.

John Eudes preached the mercy of the Sacred Heart to combat 17th century French Jansenism which had spread to many corners of the Church, including the seminaries.  Jansenism included a number of heresies, a very negative view of the human person, and a moral rigorism that tended toward scrupulosity, an unhealthy and unreasonable fear that God would condemn a soul to hell for the smallest infraction.

In our modern day, moral rigorism is not the scourge it once was. However, the opposite vice, seems to be operant: moral laxity—the belief that nothing we do could result in damnation—an indifference to sin. Pope St. John Paul II lamented the loss of the sense of sin which leads to complicity in it.
John Eudes preached a middle road, the Catholic road: that a total love and trust in the merciful heart of Jesus leads us to repent, to seek freedom from sin trusting that our Good and Loving God wants to see us thrive in the spiritual life. “Let us therefore give ourselves to God,” says St. John Eudes, “with a great desire to begin to live thus, and beg Him to destroy in us the life of the world of sin, and to establish His life within us.”

“Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation,” he says “must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desire, and his disposition live and reign there.”

In his treatise on the Sacred Heart, St. John Eudes gives us a marvelous summary of the life of the Christian: “There will be no true life for you except in Jesus Christ for he is the source of true life.  He must be both the source and purpose of your life.  You are one with Jesus as the body is one with the head; you must then have one breath with him, one soul, one life, one will, one mind, one heart.  And he must be your breath, heart, love, life, your all.”

May St. John Eudes help us to repent of sin, to trust in the Lord’s mercy, to live and love in union with His most sacred Heart, the furnace of All Love, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the return of all who have wandered from the Sacraments, for those who do not believe in God and for those whose love for God has grown tepid, and for all those who sadly suffer from scrupulosity, for a trust in the Mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

That the young students of our school beginning classes this week may know the love of Christ in their families, that each school family may seek to practice right religion to the honor of God.

That the mercy of the Sacred Heart may bring peace to all those who suffer: for the sick and diseased, for those undergoing surgery this week, for the destitute and despairing, for all victims of war, violence, and abuse, and for those who will die today and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for N., for whom this mass is offered.

 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.

20th Sunday in OT 2019 - Servants of the Divine Fire

I remember exactly where I was the first time today’s Gospel reading really hit me in the gut. I was attending the Saturday evening vigil mass at St. Noel Parish in Willoughby Hills. After Mass I was to meet with Father Tom Dragga, who was, at the time rector of Borromeo Seminary. I would be meeting with him to discuss my entrance into seminary that fall.

“I have not come to establish peace on the earth…but rather division”, in other words, following Jesus may not always be the popular thing, his truth might contradict popular opinion, you might lose friends because him, your family might not understand you, they might even come to hate you because of him.  Hopefully not! But to me, this Gospel always speaks of how counter-cultural being a disciple of Jesus Christ really is.

And the Gospel really hit home as I prepared to meet with the seminary rector, as most of my high school friends were either non-practicing catholic or very critical of the catholic church. Most of my family were lapsed Catholics. Even though I attended a Jesuit University, many of the students and professors seemed quite at odds with Catholic Truth. Would I lose friends over entering the seminary, would I be pressured by family not to enter?

I have a priest friend, in fact, whose parents did kick him out of the house when he said he was going into the seminary.  “No son of mine will be a priest” they said. Yet, he chose to enter seminary, even though it would cause division in his family because his call came from God.

So with the possibility that my own choice would cause division, when Father Dragga asked me why I wanted to enter the seminary, I simply recited the beginning of today’s Gospel: “I have come to cast fire upon the earth. How I wish it were already kindled.” The priesthood is at the service of this divine fire.

So many of the tragic situations in my hometown, my high school, in our nation, and around the world was due to its alienation from the fire of Jesus Christ. So many broken families, so many young people turning to drugs, even modern art and music seeks to sever itself from what was true, good, and beautiful from God.

I also shared with Father Dragga how I was deeply moved by my visit to the seminary that previous spring. Because there I met this group of young men who felt the same way. It was evident that their hearts had caught fire, as had mine. I felt a particular kinship amongst the kindled. And to this day, my brother priests certainly continue to be a source of inspiration. As do so many of you, who have such a passion for the Truth and Goodness and Beauty of the Christian Gospel.

Members of the Body of Christ are meant to inspire each other and call each other to be ever more faithful. You’ll notice in the bulletin this week a report from our June parish visioning dinner. You’ll notice four pillars of St. Ignatius parish: four aspects of our parish life and history that continues to inspire and draw people to the fire of Jesus. Over the next few months, the parish council and I will explore how we can continue to build on these four pillars.

At the visioning meeting parishioners shared the many different ways how the fire of love for St. Ignatius Parish was kindled in their hearts. For some, the fire was kindled in their early years, attending the elementary school. For some, the fire was kindled the first time they walked into the Church: a church that looks like a church, the cathedral of west blvd, with its inspiring architecture and beautiful liturgies and music. For some, the fire was kindled because they were warmly welcomed by our greeters and friendly parishioners. For some, they were impressed by the service opportunities, the ways we care for the poor and hungry in this neighborhood. We certainly have a mission, don’t we, certainly not just my mission, but our mission, to continue to stoke these fires so that new generations can come to meet Christ in this beautiful place.

Our second reading spoke of the “great cloud of witnesses” who surround us, who inspire to persevere in running the race when things get difficult, who challenge us to serve the divine fire more faithfully, to allow the divine fire to burn away all our sins and selfishness.

The month of August is filled with some of the most amazing, counter-cultural saints, on fire with love for the Gospel. During the month of August we celebrate St. Dominic who traveled throughout Europe preaching the Gospel in the face of a growing heresy called Albigensianism. St. Clare, raised as an Italian noble, gave up her wealth, her social prospects, and consecrated herself to a life of adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, a young jewish philosophy student whose search for truth led her to the Catholic faith, who was arrested and sent to gas chambers at Aushwitz. Fr. Maximillian Kolbe, also murdered at Aushwitz, who gave up his life for a jewish prisioner condemned to death.

What led these saints to offer their lives in service of the Gospel? What made them willing to engage in such counter-cultural activity? Their hearts were set on fire by Christ. And that fire, they nurtured through prayer, study, and service, and gratitude for the witness of those who had gone before them,. They kept their eyes fixed on the witness and example of the Lord Jesus who is consumed with obedience to His Father’s will. Any fire that we have as Christians can be traced back to the furnace of His Sacred Heart.

So we must each ensure that we do our part in stoking the fire in our own hearts, again through prayer, fasting, study, and service, and to rekindle fires that may have been extinguished through sin by going to Sacramental Confession.

And we must do our part in spreading that fire to others: Inviting the lapsed back to Mass, back to the Sacraments. Inviting them to Holy Hour, to faith formation, to volunteer opportunities, to speak with passion about our faith to those who do not know Christ. Jesus is yearning to set hearts on fire through our words and deeds.

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already ablaze” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

19th Week in OT 2019 - Friday - Love and Marriage

A few years ago, already, in 2016, Pope Francis issued a document on the topic of “Love in the Family” called Amoris Laetitia, latin for “The Joy of Love”. Love, authentic love, brings authentic joy.

Pope Francis offered this document on the issues of marriage and family because marriage and family matter.  Doing what it takes for a healthy marriage, having a God-centered family, raising children according to the law of Christ, these things matter for the future of civilization and the salvation of souls. The Pope said, “The welfare of the family is decisive for the future of the world and that of the Church.”

We are seeing in our own day how faithless, disordered relationships, rampant promiscuity and unrestricted sexual license bring so much brokenness, so much sadness. When men and women seek marriage for selfish reasons, disaster ensues. They bring hurt to themselves and particularly to their children.

Any priest who has worked on marriage annulments can attest to how selfishness, stunted maturity, attachment to worldliness, unwillingness to forgive, poor communication, secular notions of happiness, all effect marriage negatively.

This is why the Catholic Church takes what the Lord teaches in the Gospel this morning very seriously. Where many of the Christian denominations water down, change, or simply ignore this teaching, the Catholic Church sees this morning’s Gospel as pivotal for civilization’s survival and our faithfulness to the Gospel.

Not all are called to Christian marriage. Some are called to celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of God. Some need to work on the selfishness in their hearts before seeking to enter into marriage, for marriage, as you know, requires great selflessness.

For those who are living the Christian life in an “imperfect manner” as the Pope calls it: those living together outside of marriage, those only civilly married, those divorced and remarried outside of the Church, Pope Francis explains that “following the divine pedagogy”, that is the teaching of Christ, “the Church seeks the grace of conversion for them”, the Church seeks to help people remedy their lives.

Pope Francis concludes Amoris Laetitia with these words: “May we never lose heart because of our limitations, or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which God holds out before us.” Each of us are certainly called to a life full of love. May each of us strive for that Christ-like love and self-sacrifice which brings joy and life to the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may seek to be faithful to the Lord’s teachings and commandments concerning marriage and the family, that Christian families may be filled with love and joy.

For all married couples, that they may be faithful to the Gospel in every dimension of their married life and give all an example of God’s ever-faithful love.

That the children of our parish and school may be blessed to know the grace of faith-filled families, that they may be shielded from the sins and errors of our culture.

For Pope Francis and for all the bishops and clergy of the Church: that they will be faithful to the preaching the truth of the Gospel especially in the face of secular pressure and persecution.

That the sick, lonely, elderly, homeless, widowed, and all those experiencing trials or suffering of any kind may be strengthened by God’s love and know His comfort and peace.

For those who have died, for all deceased spouses; that they may know the eternal peace and joy of the kingdom of heaven.

August 15 2019 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - The New Ark and the Obedience of Faith

In the early history of the nation of Israel, before the establishment of the Davidic Kingdom in Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant traveled with Israel through the desert as a sign of the presence of God with his people as He prepared them for the promised land.  Inside of the Ark were three items: the second stone copy of the 10 Commandments, the priestly rod of Aaron, and a jar of manna. 

In the book of Chronicles we read of Israel’s great rejoicing as the Ark made its ways into the Holy City of Jerusalem. The Levite priests carry the ark on their shoulders, there is chanting, and musical of instruments, and the loud sound of rejoicing.

Down in Little Italy there is a procession much like the procession described in 1st Chronicles.  And here too, today we gather in similar exuberance, celebrating liturgically Mary, New Ark entering the New Eternal Jerusalem—Heaven. Mary’s Assumption is like a procession by which she entered the liturgy of heaven, to sit on her throne as Queen of the Blessed.

Mary is the fulfillment of the old testament ark, for she contained within her womb, what the objects in the old ark foreshadowed. 

Where the old ark contained tablets of the law, Mary, the New Ark contained in her womb, Jesus, the new the fulfillment of the law—and the giver of the perfect law of charity. Where the old ark contained the priestly rod of aaron, Mary, the new ark contained in her womb, Jesus the High Priest, who is himself the fulfillment of the priesthood: he is priest, altar, and the lamb of sacrifice. And as the old ark contained manna from the desert, Mary, the new ark, contained in her womb, the one who said: I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

The Ark was the holiest object in existence to the Jews; and now Christians honor Mary as the New Ark, and most blessed, most holy of all women. The book of Revelation describes Mary as the Ark, containing the Christ child in her womb, clothed in the radiance of the sun. We certainly look to the glorious light of Mary’s example that we may come to that place prepared for each one of us in the heavenly kingdom.

Elizabeth in the Gospel proclaims Mary to be blessed, because she believed in the Word of God, she allowed the word of God and the plan of God to be fulfilled in her life. And we recognize that if we wish to be counted among the blessed, we must do the same. We must not only be hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word of God, obedient to the Word and instruments of the Word.
We must follow the commands of the law, which Mary carried within her. We must allow Christ the Priest to save us from our sins and reconcile us to God. And we must eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, the living bread.

May the pilgrim journey of our lives be marked by joy, knowing that where Mary has gone, we are meant to follow, knowing the life that she carried within her, dwells within those who strive for that same obedience of faith. May Our Lady be present at every step of our pilgrim journey, filled with trials and sufferings of every kind that we, like her, may come to that eternal place prepared for us in heaven, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That through the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church will grow in wisdom and holiness. We pray to the Lord.

That the prayers of Mary, Queen of Peace, will assist the nations of the earth to experience the justice and righteousness of the Gospel.  We pray to the Lord.

That the hope revealed in Mary’s Assumption will inspire many young people to strive for lives of holiness and bring about an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life.  We pray to the Lord.

For the sanctification of families: that the undying love of the Mother of God in heaven will bless all families with new hope and true healing.  We pray to the Lord.

For the conversion of our culture, and for the protection of all human life from conception to death.  We pray to the Lord.

For those who suffer any sort of trial, illness, addiction or handicap: that the help of Our Lady, gloriously assumed into heaven, may fill them with the grace needed to carry their crosses with faith and hope.  We pray to the Lord.

August 14 2019 - St. Maximilan Kolbe, martyr - The most deadly poison of our time is indifference

Last Friday, on August 9, we celebrated the martyr Saint Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, a jewish convert to Catholicism and Carmelite nun who was killed in the Nazi Concentration Camp in Aushwitz in 1942.

In 1941, today’s Saint too died a heroic death in Auschwitz.

Prior to his arrest, Fr. Kolbe, a Franciscan Friar, hid nearly 2,000 Jews and Poles, in his Polish monastery. But, in 1939 he was arrested by the Nazis and without trial or sentence, Fr. Kolbe was transported to Auschwitz. Yet, the Lord had work for him even in that desolate place; there he heard confessions and celebrated Mass using smuggled bread and wine.

One day, several prisoners managed to escape.  As punishment, 10 men from his block were selected to die.  When a married Jewish man with a family was among them, Fr. Kolbe asked to take his place.  The stunned Nazi officer agreed to the exchange.  Fr. Kolbe and the other nine men were stripped, locked in a cell, and left to starve to death.  After two weeks, some, including Fr. Kolbe were still alive.  They were given lethal injections of carbolic acid, and their remains were thrown into an oven.

Father Kolbe’s death was not a sudden, last-minute act of heroism. The holiness, the service, the love and care of souls, led him to the willingness to sacrifice his life, for the good of a stranger.

Saint Maximillian once said, "The most deadly poison of our time is indifference.” Indifference toward God and the dignity of human life led to the massacre of millions in Fr. Kolbe’s day, and in our own it has led the draconian abortion laws in our country and around the world, it leads to mass shootings and lack of sympathy to the plight of the poor, the immigrant, the lonely.

Kolbe spoke of Christian love as the remedy for indifference. Love, he said, is a “creative force.” Look at what Christian love has done throughout the centuries: the invention of hospitals, orphanages, universities, the most magnificent art, music and architecture in human history, and the conversion of gravely hardened heart.

Let’s pray today for the conversion of hearts from indifference to love, and through Saint Maximilian Kolbe’s prayer and example may we too be made into instruments of peace for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That all members of the Church, laity and clergy, will be committed to self-sacrificial service in their daily lives.

For an end to indifference to God and human dignity in our government institutions, universities, businesses, and personal attitudes.

That the young students of our school beginning classes next week, may know the love of Christ in their families, that each school family may seek to practice right religion to the honor of God.

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 priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.

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.

August 13 2019 - Saints Pontian and Hippolytus - Welcoming back the lapsed

Pontian and Hippolytus: Pope and anti-Pope.  Pontian served faithfully as pope from 230 to 235. Meanwhile, Hippolytus had a long history of criticizing the popes; he was the leader of a schism in the church that began in 217 and continued through three pontificates, including that of Pontian.  Hippolytus had himself elected anti-pope by a group of followers that agreed with him that the church was too lenient with penitents.

Hippolytus contested that those who renounced the faith during the persecutions could not be readmitted to communion, even though Pope Callistus had decreed that they could be readmitted if they repented and went to Confession.

Well, in 235 , the new Roman emperor Maximinus launched a new violent persecution, specifically targeting bishops and priests. Both anti-Pope Hippolytus and the new Pope Pontian were arrested, imprisoned for a time, and then exiled to the mines of Sardinia.   There, Hippolytus came to his senses, renounced his error, and submitted to Pontian.

Both men died that same year, and Hippolytus is now the only former anti-Pope to be recognized as a saint. And. He is the author of Eucharistic prayer II, which we use almost every weekday.
From this dispute we see a reflection of current Church law (canon 916), that those lapsed through serious sin, those who fall away from the Church, can be reunited, they can be readmitted to Communion by repenting and going to Confession. We joyfully welcome back the lapsed. And we do well to encourage the lapsed to return to the Sacraments, to work for reconciliation, to be ambassadors of mercy. Like the Lord in the Gospel, we willingly go after the one-out-of-a-hundred who has gone astray, to lead them back to the fold.

Hippolytus wrote: “Christ, like a skillful physician, understands the weakness of men. He loves to teach the ignorant and the erring... he seeks all, and desires to save all, wishing to make all the children of God, and calling all the saints unto one perfect man”  It took being imprisoned with the Pope to bring Hippolytus back into the fold, but if an anti-pope can be reconciled to Christ, so can our fallen away family members. We do well to invoke Saints Pontian and Hippolytus on behalf of all those who have fallen away.

May the loyal suffering of Saints Pontian and Hippolytus, fill us with the love of God and make our hearts steadfast in faith for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Pope and all the clergy may be steadfast in preaching the fullness of the Gospel, especially in the face of worldly pressures and persecutions.

That through the intercession of the martyrs Pontian and Hippolytus, lapsed Catholics will be moved to return to the Sacraments.

That the imprisoned may know the grace conversion and the consolation of the Spirit.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

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 the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

19th Week in OT 2019 - Monday - Sons of the King

Prior to ascending the Mount of Transfiguration, Our Lord announced to the apostles his forthcoming Passion. We know how the apostles reacted; Peter, especially was aghast, and tried to talk the Lord out of it. To which the Lord responded, “get behind me Satan, You aren’t thinking like God but like men.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus has come down from the mount of transfiguration, and returning to Galilee, he makes his second Passion prediction. And again, his disciples are overwhelmed with grief. The truth has sunk in, a little deeper. He’s going to the cross. Peter doesn’t try to talk Jesus out of it this time; after all, he’s witnessed the Lord speaking about his Passion with Moses and Elijah while in Transfigured Glory.

Our Lord and the twelve then travel back to the base of operations, Capernaum, where the Lord’s public ministry began, and we hear this strange tale about fish and taxes. And perhaps, this incident is meant to lift the apostles spirits a bit. Because in the course of this story, the Lord once again equates himself with a King, and his disciples with his subjects. And really, our translation of the Greek isn’t great here. The Greek word really doesn’t mean subjects, but sons. Disciples of Jesus are not just members of the kingdom who live outside the king’s own house, they are sons of the king, members of the royal family, who eat at the king’s table, who receive the special blessings and special intimacy with the king. We have the king’s ear, always. We participate in the life of the King and the work of the King.

This important for the Christian to remember when we face our own crosses, when we are overwhelmed with grief and exhaustion. Just as a king showers blessings on his children, Jesus blesses us as members of his family.

St. Leo the Great said, “Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom.”

It is important for us to recollect many times a day, our Christian identity and our Christian mission. That amidst the trials and crosses, we are Christians, we members of the royal family, and we have mission for which we are blessed with abundant graces, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all members of the Body of Christ may preserve and live-up to their Christian identity always and everywhere.

For the Holy Father’s prayer intention for the month of August that that families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly "schools of true human growth."

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

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 the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

19th Sunday in OT 2019 - Confident Relationship with God

If there is a common theme in today’s scripture readings, it is certainly “faith”. What is faith? In the old baptism ritual, parents were asked, “why have you brought your child to church?” and they would answer “faith”. Faith is certainly why we are here today. So, what is faith?

We can come up with various definitions. The Catechism says, “by faith we are to completely submit our intellect and will to God.” By faith we seek to know and follow the commandments of God and seek to understand the teachings of the Church. Yet, faith is not simply a set of commandments or doctrines, a set of lists to memorize or recite. Faith involves confidence and trust. In fact, one definition of faith I heard recently, is that faith is a “confident relationship with God.” So, when parents bring their children to the baptismal font, why are they bringing the child? They want their child to have a confident relationship with God that leads to everlasting life.

An example of faith held up for us in the scriptures today, from our second reading, the letter to the Hebrews, is Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, whom the Catechism says, is the Father of All Who believe. And three events in Abraham’s life are mentioned as signs of his faith.

First, God calls Abraham when he was 75 years old. Just when Abraham thought that his life was sorta starting to wind down a bit, God called him to begin something new—to pick up from the place where he had settled down with his wife, Sarah and to move to the promised land…at age 75. Not an easy or enviable task, but because Abraham had a confident relationship with God, he found strength for this task with his wife Sarah, to leave their home, leave their comfort, and journey into the unknown.

What is faith? Faith is a relationship with God, that enables us and empowers us, to travel confidently into the unknown, to begin something new, for God’s sake no matter how old we are, to matter how comfortable we’ve grown. We are never too old, or too set in our ways, to begin a new chapter in our faith life, our prayer life, new modes of charitable service.

The second incident in Abraham’s life mentioned by Hebrews occurs 25 years later: Abraham has arrived at the promised land, and God appears to him in a dream and says that he will become the father of a great nation, his descendants would be more numerous than the stars. Abraham and his wife Sarah are now 100 years old, and God says that he will make them more fruitful than anyone in history. Sarah laughed, but Abraham trusted. “By faith, he received power to generate” Hebrews says. And we know Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Faith transformed barrenness to fruitfulness.
What is faith? Faith is a relationship with God that brings spiritual fruitfulness, again, no matter how old we are. Where there is only self-concern, faith can bring true charity. Where there is despair faith can bring joy. Where there is anxiety or turmoil, faith can bring peace. Where there is impulsiveness, faith can bring self-control. Where there is harshness, faith can make you gentle. If you let it, if you trust.

The third incident, involves Abraham’s relationship to the surrounding culture. People of faith are often tempted to believe and act just like everyone else around us “out there”, to give-up the ways of God and give-in to the ways of the world.

Well, when Abraham and Sarah moved to the promised land, it was still occupied with many pagan peoples. And one of the grizzly practices of those pagan Canaanites was child-sacrifice. The Canaanites would sacrifice their children to the Canaanite gods. And Abraham, likely because he witnessed the surrounding Canaanites willingness to sacrifice their children, began to imagine that God desired the sacrifice of his own son Isaac. So, we know the story, Abraham and Isaac ascend Mount Moriah, God tells Isaac that God would provide the lamb of sacrifice, Abraham binds Isaac, places Isaac on the altar, and raises the knife, but his hand was stopped by the Angel. God, pleased with Abraham’s willingness to offer the thing he most valued, did not desire the grizzly murder of Isaac. In the fullness of time, God would provide the Lamb, his own Son as the sacrifice for the salvation of the world.

What is faith? Faith is the confident relationship with God that sets us apart from the pagan practices of the world, that moves us to offer what we value most, to trust God more than pressures from the surrounding culture.

How does God want to increase your faith at this moment in your life? On what new journey, new endeavor, new ministry does God want to send you? What area of your life does God want to make more fruitful? And what is he calling you to give-up, perhaps something that has made you a little too much like the surrounding culture?

Speaking of faith, Bishop Robert Barren was in the news this week, lamenting the recent Pew Research report that over two-thirds of Catholics have lost their faith, or never had faith, that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist—that bread and wine are truly transformed, not just symbolically, but truly, into the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. If you are one of the two-thirds that do not believe, I invite you, I urge you, to ask the Lord for the gift of faith. For it has been taught from the very beginning that bread and wine are truly transformed at Holy Mass. Pope Francis said recently, “the Eucharist is the spiritual life-blood of the Christian because in receiving it we consume the body of the Lord, whose life transforms us, elevates and empowers us to become like him.”

To provide the opportunity to deepen our faith in the Eucharist, to allow the Eucharist to be a source of blessing and strength for our parish, I am instituting, on the first Friday of each month at 7pm, an hour of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with devotions and benediction beginning the first Friday of September. Come and pray and adore the Lord. Also, on the second Friday of the month, I will be offering faith formation sessions, an opportunity to come together and study our beautiful faith. Come and Renew and study the faith.

For as we see in the example of Abraham, Faith brings us into a relationship with God where miracles can occur, it brings fruitfulness, and Christ-like self-sacrificial love.

Lord, deepen our faith. Through faith, give us courage, fruitfulness, and the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

August 9 2019 - St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - Chosen for the cross

Today we celebrate Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.  She was born—Edith Stein— the 11th child of a large family of orthodox jews in Germany in 1891.  Her life came to an end 50 years later in a gas chamber at Auschwitz.  By then she was a Carmelite nun who had converted to Catholicism.  Though the Jews were the principle victims of the Nazi’s in World War II, millions of Catholics, including bishops, priests, and nuns were murdered in the concentration camps.

While attending university, the young jewish girl, Edith Stein began to develop a strong interest in Catholic belief and thinkers. After reading the autobiography of St. Theresa of Avila, she asked to be baptized.

10 years later she imitated Theresa of Avila by entering the Carmelite convent and took the name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.  It was 1933, Adolf Hitler was Chancellor of Germany.
In 1942, the Nazi’s arrested Sister Teresa.  She and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, were transported to Auschwitz in Poland by boxcar.  One week later, Sister Teresa died in a gas chamber.

Perhaps St. Teresa Benedicta had today’s Gospel in mind when she wrote, “One cannot desire freedom from the cross when one is especially chosen for the cross.” As Christians we have been chosen for the cross. Our Lord says, each of us must “take up his cross, and follow” him to the cross.

Jesus demands a commitment of faith that is ready to embrace the will of God wherever it leads, even unto death. We in 2019 Cleveland were chosen for the difficult task of spreading the Gospel in an increasingly secular culture. We were chosen to endure sufferings for the Gospel—for the difficult conversations, for speaking truth in the face of relativism.

Those who seek happiness in life only by pursuing their own interests will never be fulfilled. Only by giving one’s self to God and others do we experience the lasting fulfillment God wants for us, only by embracing the cross will we find salvation for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For all those who wander in atheism, agnosticism, those who are cynical towards Catholicism, for moral relativists, and those who reject the Faith, and all lapsed Catholics, that the Holy Spirit will help them discover the Truth of Christ.
That the Holy Father, the Bishops and all Clergy and Religious will be shining examples of fidelity to the Truth.
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 priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.
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.

18th Week in OT 2019 - Wednesday - Faith of the Caananite Woman

The Canaanite woman in the Gospel today is a wonderful example of what happens when the power of faith in Jesus Christ is unleashed in one’s life.

In requesting, even begging, Jesus to cure her daughter, this mother unleashed the healing power of God on her child and on her family. She loved her daughter so much that she was not discouraged by the reaction of the disciples who wanted to send her away. Rather, she approaches Jesus courageously and persistently, overcoming the obstacle of what others might think of her.

Social pressure, is a major stumbling block for some. “What will people think if I pray in public?” “What will my family member think if I say something about them cohabitating outside of marriage?” “What will people think if I pray outside the abortion clinic?” “What will people think if I abstain from meat on Fridays all year?” “What will people think if I start a new ministry endeavor at my parish?” “What will people think if I become a lector at Sunday masses?” “What will people think if I enter the convent, if I enter the seminary?”

This non-Jewish woman faced tremendous social pressure. A woman, a non-Jew, approaches a Jewish Rabbi, at the dismay of his disciples, to beg him to heal. And what happens when she allows her love and her faith to overcome her fear, her social anxiety? Her faith amazes even Jesus who exclaims “woman you have great faith” and healing flows from Him.

In what area in your life is Jesus waiting to say “you have great faith”, waiting for your faith to be the conduit for his power and grace and healing? This might be the most important question you’ll ever ask.

Let us be courageous, persistent, and full of faith and love today, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our love and faith may be greater than our self-concern and earthly fears.

That our nation’s elected officials may be people of integrity, and a deep concern for authentic truth and goodness.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, that our young people may have the courage to answer the call.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness: that the healing of Jesus Christ and the consolation of the Holy Spirit may overflow in their lives.

For the deceased members of our families and parish, for all deceased priests and religious, and all the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered.

Heavenly Father, hear the prayers of your pilgrimage Church, grant us what we truly need to remain faithful to your Son in all things. Through Christ Our Lord.

August 6 2019 - Feast of the Transfiguration - Glory through self-emptying

The Transfiguration of Jesus reveals the destiny of our human nature, a destiny which our first parents in the Garden of Eden failed to attain. They were meant for glory, but Adam and Eve headed the voice of temptation, which suggested to them that they had been forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge because God jealously wanted to keep them in a state of immaturity. But knowledge in itself does not make us like God.

Knowledge needs to be accompanied by humility, obedience to God, thanksgiving, purity of heart, willingness to suffer for goodness sake. The glory indicated by the Transfiguration is only to be attained through the self-emptying of the Passion. St. Luke hints at this truth, by depicting Our Lord, in transfigured glory speaking to Moses and Elijah about his passion to come. And Immediately following the Transfiguration, in St. Luke’s Gospel, Our Lord teaches "If anyone wishes to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

This teaching" St Cyril of Alexandria comments, "is our salvation". It prepares us for heavenly glory through the acceptance of suffering for Christ's sake. The converse is also true: the vision of heavenly glory granted to Peter, James and John prepares them to accept the suffering that is shortly to come upon them...To see the Transfiguration is to see the kingdom of God. The radiant humanity of the Lord shows the apostles the destiny that awaits them. The Lord can now go to his suffering and death and the apostles can follow him, confident in the glory that can only be attained through sharing in the Cross.

If we wish to attain the glory revealed in the Transfiguration, each of us has much suffering to do, many crosses to carry, penances, detachment from earthly pursuits and pleasures. We have hard work to do, in preaching the Gospel through word and dead, in many works of mercy. Glory is only attained through self-emptying, self-effacement, self-forgetting.

May our faith, hope, and charity increase as empty ourselves of all willfulness and selfishness and bear our crosses in union with Our Blessed Lord for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That Holy Church may radiate the beauty of the transfigured Jesus through her preaching, teaching, works of mercy, and suffering for the sake of the Gospel.

That the Holy Father and all the ordained may find in the Transfiguration the strength and courage needed to bear the crosses which their mission entails.

For those who doubt or deny the divinity of Christ: May the Transfiguration help them believe that Jesus is true God and true man.

That those whose lives have been disfigured by vice and sin, may find in the transfiguration the inspiration they need to begin a new life.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness: that the glory of the Transfiguration may bring them hope and consolation.

For the deceased members of our families and parish, for all deceased priests and religious, and all the souls in purgatory, that they may come to the destiny revealed in the Transfiguration of the Lord, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered.

Heavenly Father, hear the prayers of your pilgrimage Church, and grant us what we truly need that we may follow your Son in His Passion and Death and become heirs of his glorious Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

August 5 2019 - St. Mary Major Basilica - Christmas in August

My pilgrimage to Rome at the end of May took me to the beautiful basilica whose dedication we celebrate today. The present basilica of St. Mary Major was built in the fifth century, not long after the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as “Mother of God.”  The basilica is the largest and oldest church in the world honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It stands atop one of Rome’s seven hills, and despite many restorations, still has the character of an early Roman basilica, in fact, it inspired the architectural design of this Church of St. Ignatius in many ways.

For four hundred years today’s feast was called “Our Lady of the Snows”.  According to legend, the basilica was constructed on the site where the Mother of God produced a miraculous mid-summer snow fall and left her footprints as a sign.  The legend has been long celebrated by releasing a shower of white rose petals from the dome of the basilica every August 5.

Below the Basilica’s main altar are relics from the manger of Bethlehem, in which Mary laid the newborn Savior of the World.  At the Basilica, in a sense, it is Christmas every day as groups of pilgrims will approach the manger and sing the beautiful Christmas hymn “Silent Night”. And I can say that it was deeply moving to sing “silent night” in this roman basilica, with 25 other priests from the diocese of Cleveland and our Bishop, and to imagine that the Christ Child was laid in this very manger.

The Christmas Creche is such a powerful symbol of our faith. It’s a symbol that our Good God chose to be born in the poverty of our world, that his mother who embraced him with such tender love, embraces us as well, and teaches us how to embrace her son, as well. And then to be make pilgrimage to this ornate basilica, to see the Creche adorned with gold and jewels, is to share in the Church’s veneration throughout the centuries. Christians have made the basilica so immensely beautiful, they’ve adorned the Creche so beautifully, because our faith is beautiful, and that beauty leads us to love, it leads us to God.

At the beginning of the Holy Year of Mercy, Pope Francis opened the holy doors at St. Mary Major and said, “Let us allow Mary to lead us to the rediscovery of the beauty of an encounter with her Son Jesus.

May Our Lady help us live out our beautiful faith, lived in the poverty of the world, that it may lead many to an encounter with Christ the Savior, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That Our Lady may lead all people to the love of Christ, protect the Church from all evil, and aid us in the mission of the Gospel.

That all government leaders may be awakened to the supreme dignity of every human life, and that all people of our nation may work together for an end to the culture of death.

That through Immaculate Mary, Queen of Peace, hatred, violence, and cruelty will cease in the world, especially today, we pray for the victims of the mass shootings around our country.

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

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.

18th Sunday in OT 2019 - Put Greed to Death

The book of Ecclesiastes was written about 300 years before the birth of Our Lord and is part of the Old Testament known as the Wisdom literature, along with the book of Proverbs and Psalms. The Jewish people read from the book of Ecclesiastes every year during the festival of Sukkot, the festival of Booths, at the end of autumn, when they celebrate the fall harvest. In the midst of the abundance of earthly things, they read “vanity of vanities all things are vanity”—a reminder that the things of the earth pass away, they are as ephemeral as a breath.

Ecclesiastes reminds all people that the purpose of life isn’t simply to toil for earthly things; in fact, that in the end our earthly pursuits aren’t really that important. It’s a travesty to spend all your life, all your time, to just make a bunch of money and then die, to pass it onto children who will just squander it. Rather, through the seasons of life, we are to cooperate with God that God may place the timeless into our hearts and reorient us from the earthly to the eternal, we are to pass on to future generations not just wealth, but wisdom, to help them value wisdom more than wealth or earthly accolades.

When confronted someone from the crowd who is clearly overly concerned with earthly matters, Our Lord in the Gospel this today teaches, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Greed—the love of money—the love of possessions—is a powerful motivating factor for a lot of people, in ancient Israel, in Jesus’ day and in our own. We commit Greed when we overvalue the things of the earth and undervalue the things of God.
And in order to reinforce this command, Jesus goes on to tell a parable, known as the parable of the rich fool. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’

Notice, right from the start of this parable that the only person this rich farmer talks to is himself. He’s not seeking the timeless wisdom of God, he only keeps his own counsel. He only listens to himself. Here’s the first indication that he’s a fool. As the book of Proverbs says: Those who trust only in themselves are fools.

Notice, too, that the reaction of this farmer to the abundance of his crop is not gratitude but an impulse to hoard. He identifies his crops as his possession to be hoarded for himself. I will build bigger barns to store my grains and my goods. He foolishly does not see the good things that he has as gifts from God, the source of all blessing. He foolishly dismisses the wisdom of Proverbs which teaches that are are to give the firstfruit of our labors to God. This foolish farmer has not even considered his duty toward God, nor his duty toward the needy in his community. He sees his abundance only in greedy, selfish terms. His goods will enable him and him alone to eat, drink, be merry, and rest for years to come.

But, then he gets a surprise, doesn’t he? God has overheard his interior monologue. God knows the selfishness in his heart. God says, ‘You fool!” forget about those years and years of merriment you have planned for yourself, “this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ The farmer’s greed has resulted in a sort of death of soul—greed after all is listed as one of the 7 deadly sins, causing the death of grace in our souls, the death of the love of God in us.

Jesus then drives the point home, by teaching: “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” So, in order to avoid the spiritual death of the greedy, we do well to consider what does it mean to be rich in what matters to God?

Well, the last few weeks we have heard wonderful stories about what matters to God. Three weeks ago, we heard the story of the Good Samaritan. What matters to God is that we exercise charity to all, we expand our definition of a neighbor to include those whom the rest of the world overlooks. What matters to God is that we become Good Samaritans to all. Two weeks ago, we heard of Jesus’ visit to the home of Martha and Mary. When Martha complained about being overwhelmed with earthly matters, we heard what mattered most to Jesus is that Mary was concerned with heavenly matters, she nurtured that intimate relationship with Him by listening to his words, sitting in his presence, that’s what matters to God.

And then last week, we heard how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He taught his disciples the perfect prayer, the Our Father. What matters to God is that we seek His Will over our own, that we approach him with open-hands daily instead of relying on our own self-sufficiency, that we practice unconditional forgiveness, and seek God’s protection and deliverance from all evil.
One of the points of today’s parable is that God is not impressed by the quantity of our assets. What impresses God is the quality of our lives, the quality of our souls, whether our lives are filled with his truth, goodness, and beauty, or not.

Elsewhere in the Gospel, Our Lord teaches, where your heart is, there your treasure will be also. Do you want to know what a person values? Look at that person’s life, his commitments. On what does he spend his time? On himself, on building himself up in the eyes of the world, in pursuit please? Or does he treasure the things of God?

In the Second Reading, St. Paul says bluntly: “put to death, the parts of you that are earthly:” Here’s the remedy for our tendency to love the things of earth more than the things of heaven.

The parts of us that are obsessed with the goods of this world, put them to death, the parts of us that consider the earthly more important than the heavenly? Nail them to the cross and leave them behind. The things that cause you to forget Christian duty and your Christian identity, sever your relationship with them.

Paul says put to death “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.”  Immorality ignores the commandments of God and the teachings of the Church, put an end to it.  Impurity uses one’s body in ways that it is not meant to be used, put an end to it.  Greed wants too much of what it does not need and too little of what gives life to the soul, put an end to it.  Say “no more” to every impulse that seeks happiness in things rather than the newness of life that comes from God.

For that is what God wants for us: to share his very life with us, to make us like himself, full of generous self-giving and limitless charity, to glorify God in seeking and living out His will.

At this Holy Mass Jesus comes once again to renew us in Word and Sacrament, may he continue to free us from the desire for earthly things and increase our hunger and thirst for holiness, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

17th Week in OT 2019 - Friday - Jesus rejected in his native place

When Our Lord’s public ministry brought him back to his hometown of Nazareth, he was met with rejection. Why? News of his miracles, parables, and teachings had proceeded him, you’d think the townsfolk would embrace him wholeheartedly.

But, the prophet is often rejected in scripture. This is why so many prophets are reluctant to take up the prophet’s mantle. Prophets are put to death for speaking a message many don’t want to hear: the word of God, the call to conversion. The prophet points out the infidelities and idolatries, and he doesn’t change his message just because he’s speaking to relatives because his message is true no matter who he is speaking to.

The prophetic role of the Church, the prophetic role of bishops, and indeed of every baptized Christian provokes the same kind of reaction.  Many Bishops and priests shy away from the prophetic role because it brings such consternation.  Many have chosen to remain silent because of the resistance they would face.

Many of you may have at some point run into a similar attitudes in your families or at work when the topic of religion is brought up.  We often face cynicism, mockery, or simply hardheartedness from fallen away Catholics. Personally, I’ve met Protestants more open to discussing topics of faith than fallen away Catholics, or Catholics who dissent from Church teaching. I know I’ve ended up saying the words of Jesus to myself with a sigh, “a prophet is not without honor except in his own house”.

In such situations I’ve found that it’s best to put the situation or the person in God’s hands. God is the One who brings about the conversion and the understanding. Our job is simply to preach the truth, to explain the teaching. And we might be rejected, but that’s the job we signed up for at baptism. The Lord leaves the preaching to us, and the conversion of heart we leave to him.
“Woe to me,” as St. Paul says, “if I do not preach the Gospel.”

May the Lord sustain us when we do experience rejection. May He assist us in preaching and teaching clearly and with conviction. May he increase our willingness to suffer for those who are in darkness, that the light of His Truth may shine in every human heart for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
That the Ordained may be faithful and courageous in preaching the Gospel in its entirety, and that all the baptized may be faithful in their prophetic role in the Church.
For the conversion of those who do not believe in God, for Catholics who have left the Church, those guilty of heresy or schism, and for a return to the sacraments of those who have fallen into serious sin.
That our young people may turn away from the empty promises of the world and from all self-centeredness, for blessings upon all Christian families, for the protection of the unborn.
For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for those recovering from surgery, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families. We pray to the Lord.
For all the souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.
Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.