34th Week in OT 2019 - Friday - Daniel's Apocalyptic Vision and the Spiritual Summer

One of the last readings of the liturgical year is today’s apocalyptic vision of Daniel. Daniel’s apocalyptic vision of beasts rising from the sea strongly resembles the vision of John in the Book of Revelation, and like most apocalyptic passages in scripture is highly symbolic. The four vicious beasts rising out of the sea represent the kingdoms of the earth rising out the chaotic sea of history. For Daniel, the lion with eagle’s wings was Nebuchadnezzar, the bear with three tusks ready to attack was the kingdom of the Medes, the leopard with four heads was the Persians, and the terrifying beast with iron teeth and ten horns was the technologically advanced Greek Empire, the blasphemous little horn, Antiochus Epiphanes.

Church fathers have interpreted this vision, along with the vision of Revelation, to be symbolic of the different kingdoms which stood in opposition to God throughout history, and the little horn to be symbolic of the Anti-Christ.

Whoever these strange symbols stand for, it is clear that they will be judged by the one who sits on the throne of heaven. And this one, is not like those beasts who rise up from the sea, he is not terrifying and vicious, but glorious and just. And, he resembles not the beasts, but shares the human condition. He is God and man, whose coming we prepare for during the upcoming season of Advent.

Our task, again, as we said the other day, is to be on the right side of history, not in league with the vicious kingdoms the earth, but in union with the Ancient One who sits on the throne of heaven.
In the Gospel, the Ancient-One-made-flesh speaks of a spiritual summer in which the fig trees bloom, their buds burst over. He speaks of the spiritual summer of the age of the Church, in which the seeds of the Gospel bloom into the fruits of the Spirit.

To be on the right side of history is to be cultivating those fruits, allowing the Gospel to bloom into the fruits of charity and joy and peace and justice and patience and long-suffering.
Though Advent takes place mostly in winter, it is meant to be a spiritual summer in which we prepare assiduously for the Lord through repentance, penance, prayer, and charity.

In the hours we have before Advent, prepare to prepare, come up with a spiritual plan for your Advent: your spiritual reading, spiritual penance, a list of the good works you hope to engage in, to allow the Gospel to bear fruit in your lives, fruit that will last for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Lord, sanctify your bishops and priests, and grant them courage to preach the Gospel in its fullness.
Make the lives of parents examples of faith to inspire their children to seek first your heavenly kingdom.

Bring all those who have fallen away back to the sacraments, help them to repent of their sins and desire the life that can only come from you.

That the upcoming season of Advent may be a season of spiritual renewal for the Church.
Bring comfort to the sick and suffering, charity and care to the destitute and down-trodden, be present through your church to the miserable.

Welcome into your kingdom all the faithful departed, those whose names are written in our parish necrology, all clergy and religious, and X for whom this mass is offered.

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 Day 2019 - The religious duty to give thanks

Thanksgiving is not an explicitly Christian holiday, it’s not a feast day of the Church, even in the United States. And yet, Thanksgiving Day certainly resonates with our deep religious impulse, what the philosophers call 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. To be religious is to fulfill our duty towards these bonds.

And so this civic holiday of Thanksgiving meets this universal 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, football for some, and hopefully some prayer.

Many Catholics, like ourselves, rightly begin the day by going to Holy Mass, even though it’s not a holy day of obligation. Like the Leper in the Gospel today, having acknowledged that we have received blessing from God, we return to God to give thanks. We turn to God, with great 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.

Around the Thanksgiving table many families still have the very healthy practice of each naming something that they are grateful for. Naming blessings, counting our blessings, adding up the good things of your life, including the gift of life itself, is in a sense a religious duty. To call to mind the blessings and the sources of those blessings and to give thanks for those blessings.

St. Thomas Aquinas said that gratitude is the “mark of a happy disposition to see good rather than evil.” Thankfulness is the soil in which the soul thrives.

Now, it is not that we ignore the divisions, strife, pain, friction, brokenness, or sorrow in the world. In fact, gratefulness should lead us to help alleviate the troubles in the world. But, today we focus not so much on division, but on the real human need to stop and give thanks. Today is not so much a day for political arguments, but for refreshing society, our families, and our souls through gratitude for the time and blessings we’ve been given.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I forget how important it is to be thankful to God, but that makes today, and the celebration of thanksgiving so important, that what we do here today may carry over, into every day of our lives, for Christians are called to be a people who live in perpetual gratitude, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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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.

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.

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.

34th Week in OT 2019 - Wednesday - Testimony in Pagan Courts and Thanksgiving Tables

Jesus’ final Temple discourse continues in our weekday Gospel readings with a description of the end times, the era of the Church. The Lord explains how our faith will lead us to giving testimony before the pagan governors and kings.

This certainly came to pass in the lives of the apostles. I think of the Apostle Thomas preaching against polygamy in the court of the King of India, Simon and Jude preaching against the false gods of Persia, the Apostle Matthew being martyred in Ethiopia.

And then of course the Roman martyrs like Paul and Saints Perpetua and Felicity, St. Agnes, St. Agatha, and Lucy. And John Fischer and Thomas more martyrs for Christ because the opposed the British king’s claim as head of the Church. St. Charles Lwanga who opposed the pederasty of the King of Uganda.

Simple people, mostly: fishermen, maidens. They gave testimony to Christ with their words and convictions and they gave testimony to Christ with their lives.

In the first reading, Daniel foreshadows Jesus’ teachings and the role that Christians will have in the world in giving testimony before kings. Daniel interprets this strange vision of the hand of God writing on the wall of the final Babylonian King, Belshazzar. Daniel interprets that the Babylonian Kings have been on the wrong side of history. They have opposed the One True God, the have defaced his Temple and oppressed his people.

Notice that Daniel has not prepared some systematic defense; his ability to speak for God comes from this spiritual gift he has nurtured through a life of holiness, his vibrant relationship with God cultivated even while in exile.

So, too, our ability to witness to Christ in the courts of the kings and governors of the world, not to mention at thanksgiving dinners, doesn’t come so much from preparing our intellectual arguments ahead of time, but from the gifts of God that we have cultivated in the course of the spiritual life.

The pagans, the godless, the nones, as they are called these days, those who practice no religion, are, like Belshazzar, on the wrong side of history. But, the Lord wishes to use us, as he did Daniel, and so many of the Apostles and martyrs, to give testimony to Christ by the integrity of our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Lord, sanctify your bishops and priests, and grant them courage to preach the Gospel in its fullness.
Make the lives of parents examples of faith to inspire their children to seek first your heavenly kingdom.

Bring all those who have fallen away back to the sacraments, help them to repent of their sins and desire the life that can only come from you.

That the Wisdom of Christ may preside over our thanksgiving gatherings tomorrow, for safety for all travelers, and protection from food-born illnesses.

Bring comfort to the sick and suffering, charity and care to the destitute and down-trodden, be present through your church to the miserable.

Welcome into your kingdom all the faithful departed, those whose names are written in our parish necrology, all clergy and religious, and X for whom this mass is offered.

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.

34th Week in OT 2019 - Tuesday - The kingdom that shall never be destroyed

Yesterday, we heard how Daniel, because of his faithfulness and obedience to God was given “the understanding of all visions and dreams.”  Today we hear how Daniel, uses this gift, and interprets a dream of King Nebuchadnezzar.

Through the prophet Daniel, God wanted King Nebuchadnezzar to know that his kingdom, so dear to him, could and would undergo destruction.  Other kingdoms would take its place, but they, too, would last only a time.  The prophecy of Daniel foreshadowed the words of Jesus, when he spoke of the Temple of Jerusalem:  it, like everything built by human beings, will be destroyed. 
We are not to put our hope in earthly institutions, buildings, or kingdoms.

But then, Daniel prophesied about a kingdom established by God Himself, a kingdom that would never be destroyed. Daniel did not know that he was speaking about the Church: not church buildings, of course,  but the Church herself, made up of “living stones”.  And this kingdom, “the kingdom of truth and life, the kingdom of holiness and grace, the kingdom of justice, love and peace,” as is described in the Eucharistic Preface for the Solemnity of Christ the King, this kingdom is eternal.

The Letter to the Hebrews states, “we who are receiving the unshakable kingdom should have gratitude, with which we should offer worship pleasing to God in reverence and awe.” Gratitude for the blessings of life, gratitude seen in works of self-sacrifice, gratitude for salvation is a necessary hallmark of the members of the eternal kingdom.

Members of the eternal kingdom have a great responsibility, to ensure that we retain membership in it. For membership in God’s kingdom is not based on race or social status or place of birth, but on union with Christ through grace, through faith, hope, and love, and gratitude.

The Greek word for gratitude is of course “Eucharistia”—Eucharist. The gathering for Eucharist to offer pleasing worship—worship in which we unite our lives in reverence and awe to the sacrifice of Christ— is a hallmark of membership in the eternal kingdom.

May our gratitude for membership in the eternal kingdom through Christ be seen in works of love today, works which build up the kingdom made of living stones through the preaching of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Lord, sanctify your bishops and priests, and grant them courage to preach the Gospel in its fullness.

Lord, make the lives of parents examples of faith to inspire their children to seek first your heavenly kingdom.

Lord, bring all those who have fallen away back to the sacraments, help them to repent of their sins and desire the life that can only come from you.

Lord, make us truly grateful for salvation and for the blessings that fill our lives.

Lord, bring comfort to the sick and suffering, charity and care to the destitute and down-trodden, be present through your church to the miserable.

Lord, welcome into your kingdom all the faithful departed, those whose names are written in our parish necrology, all clergy and religious, and X for whom this mass is offered.

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.

34th Week in OT 2019 - Monday - Daniel's Obedience in Exile

During this final week of the Church’s year, our First Readings are taken from the book of the Prophet Daniel. 

Some of the most famous and arresting stories in the Bible are found in this book, including the three young men in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, the “hand writing on the wall” written by a disembodied hand, and of course, Daniel in the lion’s den.

The book of Daniel is set in Babylon during the sixth century before Christ. The virtuous and pious sage Daniel and his companions find themselves in the court of a capricious foreign king.

We heard today how the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Israel and carried away some of the children of royal blood to be brought to the king’s palace to be raised as Babylonians.  And among these men of Judah were: Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishaal.  These young men had been brought to the table of the heathen king, but insisted on remaining true to the Lord. 

This reading should remind us of the story of old Eleazar and the mother with her seven sons last week from Maccabees, who when ordered by King Artaxerxes to eat pork, refused to break Jewish dietary law. 

Two and a half millennia later, the Church is in exile similar to that of Daniel.  She is tempted by the heathen food of secularism, many of our children have been captured by the glamour of the world.  Christian marriages and families are in disarray.  Four out of five registered American Catholics disobey the Lord weekly by not going to Sunday Mass.  The culture’s attitudes of forgiveness, prejudice, impurity, profanity, carnality, perversity bombard the Church.  Instead of being a great light to the nations, spiritual and religious mediocrity make the Church like so many secular institutions.

It is no coincidence that these readings at the end of the liturgical year have to do with being tempted to disobey.  They are a reminder that during these end times, we will be bombarded with temptations from the world. 

Knowing this, we, must imitate the faith of Daniel, becoming “intelligent and wise, prudent in judgment” in the ways of the Lord. We must turn ten times the more to seek God, to reject the food of disobedience and draw our strength from the food given to us from heaven, to nourish us, to protect us, to transform our lives. For our readings form Daniel will show us how the Lord works through his faithful ones. How even exile can be a place where God’s power becomes manifest to convert the hearts of the faithless for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Lord, sanctify your bishops and priests, and grant them courage to preach the Gospel in its fullness.

Lord, make the lives of parents examples of faith to inspire their children to seek first your heavenly kingdom.

Lord, bring all those who have fallen away back to the sacraments, help them to repent of their sins and desire the life that can only come from you.

Lord, bring comfort to the sick and suffering, charity and care to the destitute and down-trodden, be present through your church to the miserable.

Lord, welcome into your kingdom all the faithful departed, those whose names are written in our parish necrology, all clergy and religious, and X for whom this mass is offered.

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.

Christ the King 2019 - Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat

In the middle of St Peter’s square in Rome, there stands a great obelisk. Standing over 80 feet tall and weighing over 325 Tons, this stone spear-like monolith originally stood in the temple of the sun in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis over four thousand years ago, representing the egyptians’ desire to communicate with the divine, like an antenna to the heavens. The obelisk was brought to Rome by the dreadful Emperor Caligula and set in the emperor’s gardens upon the mons Vaticanus, the Vatican Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. A decade later, the equally dreadful Emperor Nero erected a circus there, an open-air venue for public events, and it was in that circus that St Peter was martyred; the obelisk may well have been the last thing on this Earth that Peter saw.

The obelisk was moved about 1500 years later to its present location by Pope Sixtus V who engraved the following words upon the top of the obelisk, “Christus Vincit, regnat, imperat, ab omni malo plebem suam defendat: Christ conquers, He reigns, He commands; may He defend His people from all evil.” And it was topped with a bronze cross containing a fragment of the True Cross of Calvary.
These magnificent words are certainly part of the message resonating throughout this great feast of the Solemnity of Christ the King. “Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!” – “Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands”

Notice, that these words, are not in the past tense. Certainly, Christ conquered. He conquered death through his resurrection. He fought and won on the field of battle through his self-sacrifice. He conquered the false gods of the worlds and showed himself to be the true victor, the true God. And yes, he issued many commands. He commanded the apostles to teach and preach the gospel and to baptize all nations, he commanded sinners to repent, he commanded his followers to pick up and carry their own crosses, to eat his flesh and drink his blood, to follow him, to rejoice, to let their light shine, to honor god’s laws and to love god with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and your neighbor as yourself, to be reconciled with estranged brethren, to keep one’s word, to go the second mile to help one in need, to love one’s enemies, to pray, to seek the kingdom of God, to beware of false prophets, and to not be afraid of persecution, suffering, and death.

But those words, Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! are not in the past tense. They are in the present tense. For Christ conquers now, he reigns now, he commands now.

Christ the King conquers now. He conquers our pride, he conquers our lusts, he conquers our self-centeredness, he conquers coldness and fear. He conquers through the light of his Gospel truth in our minds, he conquers through the working of sacramental grace in our souls, he conquers the dark parts of our world when Christians choose life over death, faith over disbelief, hope over despair, love over selfishness.

Christ the King reigns now. He reigns in hearts that love the things of God over the things of earth. He reigns when Christians make his Gospel the guiding principle of their lives over secular political philosophies. He reigns in the authentic teaching and governance of the Church. He reigns in the hearts of his saints on earth who leave their comfort to raise up the poor and down-trodden from their miseries. He reigns in families who make Him the center of their family life.

And Christ the King commands us now. Well, everything that he commanded his disciples 2000 years ago, he commands us now. For christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” Go and teach all nations, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you.” “If you love me, keep my commandments” He commands us through the Deposit of Faith. He commands us through the legitimate authority of the Pope and Bishops in union with Him. He commands us to be faithful and to turn to him for strength when we are tempted and tried and tired.

On this great solemnity of Christ the King, may we unite our minds and wills and hearts to Christ Our King and allow him to conquer in us, reign in us, and command us. May he defend us his people from all evil, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

November 22 2019 - St. Cecilia - Courage of the Martyrs

When we celebrate the feasts of the martyrs, like St. Cecilia, we do so for a number of reasons. First, to give thanksgiving and praise to God. We join our lives to theirs through this act of divine worship. For the martyrs came to altars just like ours. They thanked God for the salvation of their souls just like we are doing. And from this altar they received the body and blood of Jesus that nourished their souls, that helped them to love Jesus so much that they were willing to die for Him.

Secondly, we celebrate the martyrs for their example of courage. As we’ve been reading through the Maccabees this whole week, these acts of heroic faith echo through the centuries, inspiring us to be faithful when we are tempted, setting good example for young people, that their lives may be ordered to seek after that which is most important, a vibrant relationship with God that directs the whole of their lives.

And of all the virtues of the martyrs it is certainly their courage that we seek to emulate. C.S. Lewis
wrote that “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” If we are to practice any of the virtues of the Christian life: faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, and fortitude, we need courage to practice any of them.

We need courage to have faith: to believe that God exists even though we have no empirical proof of his existence, to believe in he testimony of the apostles that Jesus is risen, we need courage to believe that we are truly forgiven of our sins. We need to have courage to hope, that amidst all the chaos and evil in the world, the goodness of Christ will triumph. We need to have courage to love, to go beyond self-preservation and self-interest and caring for others, looking to their needs instead of only our own.

Courage is needed for the Christian Life, and the martyrs like Cecilia, remind us of that, and pray from their place in heaven, that we may be courageous when our faith, hope, and live are tried.

While Cecilia was imprisoned and being tortured for her faith, she continued to speak of the saving Gospel and to sing God’s praises. She is known as the patron saint of musicians, because by her courage her life became a powerful song of witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

May her prayers and example aid us in having courage in the face of all trial for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Pope and all bishops and priests may lead the church in the courage practice and proclamation of the saving Gospel of Christ.

That parents may be models of courageous faith for their children, and center their family life on the Gospel through worship, prayer, and charity.

For members of our parish faced with temptations and trials, that they will choose faith and know the strength and peace of God.

That through the intercession of St. Cecilia, in thanksgiving for our parish musicians, that their lives may be blessed as they develop and share their talents for the glory of God.

That Christ the Good Shepherd will draw close to all who suffer, the sick, the needy, victims of injustice, and the dying.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.
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 Week in OT 2019 - Wednesday - Living for God

Alexander the Great had embarked on an incredible military journey—his goal was to Hellenize the world—that is, to spread the greek language, the greek culture, the greek Gods.  He conquered the known world stopping just shy of India.

The rule of the Greeks, which included control of the Holy Land, was originally fairly sensitive and tolerant of the Jewish religion. But shift of power within the Greek Empire led to the tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes  imposing a program of radical Hellenization—he wanted all traces of the Jewish faith wiped out, under penalty of death-- the Jews could not worship, nor could they practice their faith in any way that distinguished them from the Hellenists. They could not observe the Sabbath, and not only could they not practice circumcision, already circumcised Jews had to cover up the mark of their circumcision.

The Jews were being forced to deny their faith by publicly violating Jewish dietary law.

Yesterday, we read of the courageous old sage, Eleazar, refusing to eat pork, dying a martyr for God and setting an example of faith for the young. And, today a mother with seven sons faced a similar trial.  The youngest son had been offered riches and happiness by the king, if he but broke the Jewish law.  The son wouldn’t, so the king appealed to the mother to persuade her son to accept his offer to save his life.  But both she and her son realize that life comes from God, and so faith and hope in God is not to be violated. The son professes hope in God’s vindication for those who suffer injustice: “you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews, will not escape the hands of God."

These powerful reading of these Jewish Martyrs encourage us to have hope during times of persecution, to be courageous when faced temptations and trials, to remember that there is more to our existence than this temporal earthly life—we must live for God, and have faith that God will raise his faithful ones up to eternal life.

And yet, they also challenge us to repent of those time when we have given in to the pressures of the world and the flesh, those times when we gave up our faith because it was expedient, when we offered some justification for giving-in to temptation, when we buried our talents rather than putting them into the service of God because they required too much energy, or it was too costly.

We renew our trust and faith in the Lord Jesus who is both our merciful savior and also the vindicator of the oppressed. May his fortitude and faithful Spirit dwell within us, in all we say and do, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops and priests may be models of faith and preach the Gospel faithfully amidst the pressures of the world.

That parents may be models of faith for their children, and center their family life on the Gospel through worship, prayer, and charity.

For members of our parish faced with temptations and trials, that they will choose faith and know the strength and peace of God.

That Christ the Good Shepherd will draw close to all who suffer, the sick, the needy, victims of injustice, and the dying.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

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 Week in OT 2019 - Tuesday - Examples of faith for young people and the whole nation

What a powerful passage from second Maccabees this morning: the martyrdom account of the elderly sage Eleazar. We come to understand the reasons for his willingness to suffer death. For one, he dies for the sake of the holy laws of his faith, refusing to violate them and refusing to be forced to violate them. And two, he stands for his faith to set good example for the young believers of his faith. If he can’t courageously stand for his faith, how could the young people be expected to keep the faith? I love how second Maccabees puts this: his ability to make up his mind was “the merited distinction of his gray hair.”

Young people need adults to set good example, to be exemplars of faith. When we look around, in 2019, at the lack of young people attending Mass and professing the faith, we wonder, where was the failure to set good example? On the part of bishops and priests allowing secular values to infiltrate divine worship, not to mention the scandal of their misdeeds? On the part of catechists failing to teach the faith with conviction and its eternal consequences? On the part of parents valuing materialism over religion, making excuses for not coming to Church, treating the faith as less important than worldly success? Likely all these things.

I for one believe young people are starving for God, to know God, to experience the stability that comes from the concrete truths of our faith amidst all the chaos of the world, to experience the beauty of our ever-ancient, ever-new religion, to participate in the charitable outreach to the poor our faith commands.

But we need Eleazar’s, men and women of conviction, who refuse to violate our sacred laws because they come from God and his representatives on earth, and men and women of courage, who are unashamed to preach the truth when our culture tries to silence us. Men and women who are able to witness why living for Jesus Christ matters more than anything else, like Zacchaeus in the Gospel, willing to make a fool out of himself in front of his peers, climbing trees to see Jesus, willing to give his possessions to serve Jesus. Courage requires sacrifice and sacrifice requires courage.

May our love for Jesus impel us to set heroic example for those of weaker faith today, especially the young, may we be models of courage and “examples of virtue not only for the young but for the whole nation” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops and priests may be models of faith and preach the Gospel faithfully amidst the pressures of the world.

That parents may be models of faith for their children, and center their family life on the Gospel through worship, prayer, and charity.

That God will raise up many priestly and religious vocations in our diocese and that young people may strive after holiness and God’s will in their lives.

For an end to all scandal which drives souls away from Jesus, that we may be guarded by all error and heresy, and that all Christians may head the call to spread the Gospel.

That Christ the Good Shepherd will draw close to all who suffer, the sick, the needy, victims of injustice, and the dying.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

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 18 2019 - St. Rose Philippine Duchesne - Missionary to Native Americans

Today we celebrate St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, who came to this country as a missionary to the Native Americans.  Many people have never heard of her, for she was canonized rather recently, by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

She was born in France, just prior to the French Revolution.  Without telling her parents, at the age of 19, she entered the convent of the Visitation sisters.

As the French Revolution broke, hostilities towards the Catholic Church caused many convents to close, including that of St. Rose.  Yet that did not stop her from ministering to the poor, sick, and homeless.

When the Revolution ended, she attempted to bring her community back together, but she was unsuccessful.  So she and the few remaining nuns joined the young Society of the Sacred Heart, whose young superior, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, became her lifelong friend.

From the time she was a young girl, Rose longed to go to America as a missionary among the Native Americans.  When the bishop of New Orleans in Louisiana came to convent looking for missionaries, St. Rose volunteered. She and 4 nuns made the 70-day sea voyage and worked for several years establishing parish schools in Louisiana and Missouri.

Finally, at the age of 72, in poor health, she began a mission at Sugar Creek, Kansas, among the Potawatomi tribe.  Their convent was a wigwam and they slept on the bare ground.  Let me say it again…at the age of 72!  They opened a school for the Indian girls, but she had great difficulty in learning the native language, and had to spend her time praying and caring for the sick. 

The severe winters and the lack of proper food sapped her health, and she died, thinking herself a failure.

She was the first missionary nun among the Indians, and courageously blazed the trail for a host of valiant women who were to follow her. She did not convert people by her speeches, she converted them by her prayers and her charity towards them.  A priest said of her, “her kindness was like water, pure and fresh, to which the Indians could come and drink.”  Her example spoke volumes to those she served, sewing the seeds of the Gospel through her kindness. 

St. Rose wrote, “we know that God does not require great achievements from us, but a heart that holds nothing back for itself.”  Through the Eucharist we celebrate today, where Jesus gives himself totally for our salvation, may we give our entire hearts to be poured out in service of those in need, hearts to be transformed by grace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may exercise courage and fortitude in laboring for the good of souls.

In thanksgiving for the consecrated religious whose selfless efforts laid the foundation of faith for so many in this country.

That our young people may have as their role models, Christians of magnanimous spirit and heroic charity.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, 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 all who have died, for those whose names are written in our parish necrology and all the deceased members of our parish, for deceased clergy and religious, and for all the poor souls in purgatory for whom we pray in a special way during the month of November, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

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

33rd Sunday in OT 2019 - Persevering in faith until the end of time

At the beginning of Holy Week, on Palm Sunday every year, we reflect upon Jesus’ triumphal entry into the holy city of Jerusalem. As he processes through the city gates, Jesus is hailed as king, the Messiah who comes in the name of the Lord to usher in the kingdom of God. After his Palm Sunday procession, Jesus made his way to the Jerusalem temple, and he went there to teach and preach and prophecy and confront the Pharisees and Sadducees and cast out the money changers like the prophets of old.

The temple was the center of Jewish life, the focal point of Jewish divine worship. So, Jesus going to the Temple during Holy Week is symbolic, a hint that he is not only a human messiah, he is divine, he is God. As the prophet Habakkuk acclaims,“God is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him.”

St. Luke goes on to detail Jesus’ several visits to the Jerusalem temple throughout Holy Week. Today’s Gospel passage contains part of his final teaching in the Temple before the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. The Lord had already lamented how the Jewish leaders had failed in their mission to lead God’s people to the fullness of faith—they were like a barren fig tree, spiritually defunct and pastorally useless. Sure they were popular, but were they holy? Well, Jesus condemnation of the spiritual leaders was not as shocking as the teaching we heard today.

Standing in the Temple, Jesus announces, “Everything you see here, the costly stones, the votive offerings, all of this will be destroyed.” Now, we have a hard time imagining how shocking this would be because as Christians we believe that our faith is not tied to a building. We gather in beautiful church buildings, we adorn our church buildings because we love God, but our faith is not tied to a building. Our faith has survived barbarian invasions and decades where we had to gather for worship in catacombs and family homes because of government persecution.

But, for first century Jews, the Lord’s prophecy of the Temple’s destruction meant an end to religious life as they knew it. And if that weren’t shocking enough the Lord goes on to describe these terrifying events— powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues, and persecutions—that would proceed the end of the world.

Why did Jesus give this teaching? Why the dire prophecies and dark subject matter? To prepare us, certainly, that his followers might be prepared, that we might keep the faith and persevere in the faith when these events came to pass.

And just as he said, 40 years after his death and resurrection, the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed, there have been famines and plagues earthquakes and wars, his followers have been persecuted up and down the ages, but the Church continues, the faith endures, and she will continue to persevere in faith, until the end of time.

These terrible events will not so much be signs that the Lord is about to return imminently. Rather, we need to persevere in faith despite them. Will there be signs that he is about to return? His teaching basically says today is “no.”  We need to be prepared always. “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” Perseverance in what? Perseverance in faith despite the chaos in the world, despite the sufferings we endure. Keeping the faith through whatever the world and the devil throws at us will enable us to secure eternal life.

St. John Paul  once said, “Fidelity always has to undergo the real test, that of endurance…it is easy to live consistent with our faith for a day or a few days…but only a consistency which last right through life deserves the name ‘fidelity’.”

I remember a couple of years ago the Media was reporting on the Mayan Calendar which supposedly predicted the end of the world, do you remember this? The Calendar of the ancient Mayans only counted up to the year 2012. And so people were jumping to the conclusion that that is when the Mayan’s thought the world would end. Christians didn’t buy into the hype. We bought new calendars for 2013. For, we do not know the day, nor the hour the Lord will return.

In our second reading, St. Paul gives instruction to the Thessalonians on how they were to conduct themselves as they awaited the Lord’s return. Paul had received reports of disorder in Thessalonica. Christians were not living in an orderly, diligent manner, they were not focused on persevering in faith, in fact, they were busy about minding the business of others. Paul calls them busybodies, focused, not on the Lord and the work of the Lord.

Instead of building up the church, the busy bodies tear it down through gossip, they sow divisions and set poor example through their sloth and idleness—busy about their own plans instead of the plans of God. They carry the name Christian, but they are play-actors.

When our lives are not sufficiently centered on Christ, when we are not sufficiently preparing for Christ’s return, when we are not sufficiently working for the spread of the Gospel, we begin to focus on what is non-essential, we focus on the business of others, rather than the good of others, and we are filled not with peace, but anxiety, exhaustion and unhappiness.

As a remedy for the busy-bodies, St. Paul urges us to “work quietly”, to engage in humble work for the good of the community out of the spot-light, humble work to build up the Church.  For peace and joy are found, not in selfish pursuits, but in giving ourselves away in imitation of Jesus. Minding the business of others of likely a sign we are neglecting some spiritual work to which God is calling us and that we have constructed obstacles to authentic communion with God and neighbor.

What is the humble work that God is calling you to this week? What are the quiet ways the Lord is calling you to spread his Gospel? How is the Lord calling us to be less anxious about the future, and less anxious about the business of others, and more diligent in prayer and virtue, more focused on the presence of God in the Temple of our souls?

May this Holy Eucharist renew us in purpose and peace, amidst all the chaos and sufferings of our life, renewing us in our mission in working to build up the Church, the temple built of living stones, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

November 15 2020 - St. Albert the Great - Joining Wisdom to Divine Faith

As we near the end of Ordinary Time, our readings from the Gospel of Luke near Jesus’ arrival to Jerusalem, the end and culmination of his earthly ministry. The Lord’s teachings grow more and more dire, urging his disciples to prepare their souls for the end of their own lives.

In today’s passage, the Lord warns us to be ever vigilant against becoming too focused over earthly pursuits.  Eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building aren’t bad in themselves, of course, in fact, they are necessary for maintaining earthly life. However, if we become too overly focused on them, and forget that our ultimate purpose is to serve God and to seek the kingdom of God, then Our Lord says that the consequences will be as dire for us as they were for the people of Noah’s time who perished in the flood or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were destroyed by fire and brimstone.

Of course, our Lord is alluding to the eternal punishment of hell for those who live only for this world and neglect the call to holiness through faith.

Similarly, the passage from the book of Wisdom speaks of how it is foolishness to become enamored by the things of creation, as beautiful as they are, while neglecting the author of creation, who is the source of their beauty. The foolish become distracted, wisdom says, by earthly things while neglecting the most important thing, their relationship with God. That which distracts us puts our souls in danger, and yet, we foolishly return over and over again to the distraction.

Rather than foolishness, we are to live wisely, putting things in their proper order, seeking first the kingdom of God, seeing distractions for what they are, engaging in the works of the earth only as a means to achieving our ultimate purpose, life with God.

Today, we honor one of the great saints of the middle ages, Saint Albert the Great, who was the teacher of the greatest theologian of the time, St. Thomas Aquinas. The Collect for his feast speaks of how God made Albert great through his joining of wisdom and divine faith.

What made Albert Great? He wisely put his life in order, he had his priorities straight. He put God first, he put his tremendous intellectual gifts at the service of the kingdom. He sought to love and serve the Lord with his whole mind, heart, soul, and strength. May we do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Pope Francis and all bishops and clergy will help defend the Church against error, and lead her members always in the pathways of truth, righteousness, and charity.

For the conversion of all those who perpetuate error or set bad Christian example for young people and those of weak faith.

That Christians may be fortified against the distractions and temptations of the world and work diligently for the spread of the Gospel.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, 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 all who have died, for those whose names are written in our parish necrology and all the deceased members of our parish, for deceased clergy and religious, and for all the poor souls in purgatory for whom we pray in a special way during the month of November, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

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

November 13 2019 - Mother Cabrini - Impelled by Divine Love

Listen again to the first stanza of the psalm this morning, psalm 82:

Defend the lowly and the fatherless;
render justice to the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the lowly and the poor;
from the hand of the wicked deliver them.

Francis Xavier Cabrini was born near Milan, Italy.  She was rejected from joining several religious orders, having been told that her frail health would not be well suited to being a missionary.  So, she founded a new religious congregation, the Missionary sisters of the Sacred Heart. 

Her dream had been to be a missionary sister to China, but her bishop and Pope Leo XIII asked her to be missionaries to the United States, to care for the growing number of Italian immigrants. So, Mother Cabrini and six sisters of her congregation sailed for America in 1889 where they established schools, orphanages, and hospitals.

Mother Cabrini followed the Lord’s call to minister to the poor and the downtrodden, to lift them out of there desperate circumstances and to help them realize their dignity as children of God.  In the words of our Psalm, she defended the lowly and fatherless, rendered justice to the afflicted, rescued the lowly and the poor.”

In 35 years, despite constant poor health Frances Xavier Cabrini founded 6 institutions for the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated and the sick, and organized schools and adult education classes for formation in the Catholic Faith. She died of malaria in her own Hospital in Chicago in 1917.
Mother Cabrini was the first US Citizen to be canonized, and she is known as the patron saint of immigrants.

Pope Pius XII at her canonization asked, “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?...the divine love burned within her.”

May the divine love burn within us. May we nurture it through prayer and the sacraments. May it impel us to be attentive to the lowly and fatherless in our midst. May it help us find the courage to leave our comforts to care for the needy. May that holy fire illuminate our lives and guide us in imitation of the selfless Christ and His saints for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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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.

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

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, for those who fought and died for our freedom and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

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 12 2019 - St. Josaphat - What we were obliged to do

When I think of the apostles and martyrs willingly going to their death for Christ, martyrs like our parish patron, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. Josaphat whom the Church honors today, I wonder if they shared the sentiment found at the end of our Gospel reading today: “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'

The martyrs, men and women, up and down the centuries, so loved Christ that they were compelled when given the choice to abandon the faith or to die for Him, they chose to die. These are the ones who did what they were commanded to do. They took up their cross and followed the Lord all the way to Calvary because they loved Him and believed in Him and trusted in his promises.

“All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing” writes Ignatius of Antioch. “It is better for me to die on behalf of Jesus Christ, than to reign over all the ends of the earth”

St. Josaphat was born into an orthodox family in 1580, but as an adult he joined one of the eastern churches that had recently returned to full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained a priest and eventually a bishop. And through the education of his flock, the reform of his clergy, and his personal example of holiness, Josaphat succeeded in winning the majority of the Orthodox in his diocese to full communion with Rome. Those who opposed him plotted his death. With furies cries of “Kill the Papist” he was killed and thrown into a river.

And yet, knowing his end, would have chosen to water down his teaching? Would he have put off the work of Christian unity for someone else. Would he have given the excuse that it was too dangerous, or not politically correct? Likely, he would have said, “I have done what I was obliged to do.”

And for this, at the time of his judgment, he appeared before the throne of God who welcomed him, “well done my good and faithful servant…Come and share your master’s joy.”

May each of us cultivate that intense love of the Lord and the Truth of his Gospel, that we may willing to serve Him in all things despite the cost for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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For the healing of the wounds of all Christian division and for success in the work of evangelization.

For perseverance in carrying our crosses in fidelity to the Lord Jesus.

For safety for travelers and for the homeless and destitute affected by cold and inclement weather.

That we may be attentive to the needs of the sick, the poor, and the despairing in our midst.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, for those who fought and died for our freedom and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

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 11 2019 - St. Martin of Tours and Veteran's Day

On November 11, 1919, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed an Armistice Day to be observed annually, to honor the armistice ending World War I—with major hostilities formally ending at the 11th hour of the 11th day of  the 11th month of 1918.  After WWII, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law, that November 11 would be a day to honor all veterans, and so today our country celebrates Veterans Day.

We thank God today for the sacrifices of our veterans: leaving their homes, leaving their families, leaving the comforts which we all take for granted, and putting their lives at stake for our freedom. They lived and fought for the greater good, our freedoms. And what we do with those freedoms brings either honor or shame to their sacrifices.

My father, uncles, and godfather are veterans of Vietnam. Both my grandfathers were proud veterans of World War II, and my great grandfather was honored as the oldest veteran of world war I in lake county, when he died.  I thank God for them today, and we certainly join together in thanking God for the veterans in all our families, and those veterans whose names and sacrifices we will only discover in eternity.

Providence would have it that November 11 is also the feast day of a veteran saint, one of our Church’s well known and beloved soldier Saints, Saint Martin of Tours, who is patron Saint of soldiers along with St. Michael, St. George, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and St. Joan of Arc.

St. Martin of Tours was the son of a veteran, a soldier and officer in the Roman army. Martin was actually forced to serve in the army against his will at the age of 15. But, while serving in the army, he came to understand sacrifice, honor, loyalty and it was there that he was exposed to the Christian faith. Soon Martin began to desire baptism and was enrolled as a catechumen.

There is the famous story when on a bitterly cold day, Martin met a poor man, almost naked, trembling in the cold and begging at the city gate.  Martin had nothing but his weapons and his clothes.  So he drew his sword, cut his cloak into two pieces, and gave one piece to the beggar.  Some of the bystanders laughed at Martin’s foolish act of charity. But that night Martin had a vision of Jesus dressed in the cloak he had given to the beggar. The Lord said, “Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with his garment.”

At the age of 23, Martin ended his service to the empire and discerned a calling to religious consecration. Martin was discharged from the army and became a hermit under the direction of another saint, St. Hilary. . Years later, despite his desire for a life of solitude, Martin was elected bishop. He continued to live the ascetic life as a bishop, always keeping to heart, “that which you did for these least of my brethren, you did for me” as he did for that beggar.

We come to the altar praying that we may emulate st. martin’s charity and faith, and use well the freedom won for us by so many good veterans in service to Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the nations of the world will seek to work together in harmony and peace; we pray to the Lord:

That our homeland will be preserved from violence and terrorism; we pray to the Lord

That even in armed conflict, we may keep clearly before us the defense of all human rights, especially the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

For all veterans experiencing physical or psychological suffering, that they may know God’s healing and strength, and that all veterans may be blessed for their self-sacrifice.

For all veterans who gave their life for our liberty, and for the repose of the souls of all of our beloved dead, family, friends, those whose names are written in our parish necrology, deceased priests and religious, for all the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

God, Almighty Father, creator of mankind and author of peace, as we are ever mindful of the cost paid for the liberty we possess, help us to use that liberty to promote peace and justice and spread saving Gospel of Christ. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

32nd Sunday in OT 2019 - Courage in the face of suffering

I attended a prayer group recently, and the group began with an icebreaker question: what is your favorite inspirational movie? A fun, yet poignant question! The first person his favorite inspirational movie is Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” though he had to admit that some of the graphic violence is hard to watch. The second person mentioned a movie I had never heard of, called “Glory” about the U.S. Civil War’s first all-black volunteer company, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, detailing the prejudices they faced from both their own Union Army and the Confederates, and the sacrifice they made for the cause of freedom and national unity. The third member of our group mentioned the movie “Unplanned”, the story of Abby Johnson, a former director for planned parenthood, who is confronted with the grizzly evil of abortion, joins the ranks of the pro-life movement and the ensuing backlash she experienced.

I have a hard time with the topic of “favorite movies” because I really do enjoy a good film, but I immediately thought of the movie “A Man for All Seasons” the story of St. Thomas More who stood up to King Henry VII when the King rejected the authority of the Catholic Church’s teaching on divorce. Sir Thomas More, as you might know, was Chancellor of England and a good friend of the Kings. The movie wonderfully depicts St. Thomas More’s jovial personality, his cunning mind, strong family life and devout faith. But when the King demanded that Catholics, clergy and laity alike, bow to his claim that he was the head of the Church in England and therefore able to refashion Church doctrine, Thomas More refused to acknowledge the king’s claim. For this he was stripped of his office, arrested, separated from his family, imprisoned in the tower of London, and eventually beheaded. Here’s a man who refused to compromise his faith when faced with the pressures of family, friends, and political authorities. He is certainly an inspiration to Christians of every age.

And reflecting on the four movies shared by members of our prayer group, I don’t think it is a coincidence that all four movies share a common theme: “self-sacrifice”. The self-sacrifice of Christ of course in the passion movie, the self-sacrifice of the black infantrymen willing to fight against prejudice and even to die for those who hated them in “Glory”. The self-sacrifice of Abby Johnson, having her name dragged through the mud, receiving death-threats for exposing the evils of planned parenthood and the abortion industry. Movie Theater owners in fact have received death threats for showing her movie. And the self-sacrifice of Thomas More, a martyr for the truth of the Christian Gospel. Stories of self-sacrifice are most inspirational.

Our first reading from Second Maccabees certainly recounts an inspiring tale of self-sacrifice. Around two-hundred years before the birth of Christ, Greek culture had spread to Israel. Many of Israel’s leaders had allowed Greek cultural values and the promise of political power to replace their faith. The Greek King ruling over the Jews had tried to eradicate Judaism. If you were caught practicing the tenets of Judaism, you would be put to death. And in our reading today, seven brothers with their dear mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges because they refused an order of the Greek King inducing the Jews to eat pork in violation of Jewish law.

This family courageously refused to betray their faith even to the point of physical maiming and death. Why? Why didn’t they just give in?

Well, listen again to what one of the sons says to his executioner: “you accursed fiend,” he says, “you are depriving us of this present life, but the king of the world will raise us up to live again forever.” Yes, you are killing us, but the Lord will raise us up! 

They understood that the choices we make in this life affect our eternity. Our faith matters. The practice of our faith matters. Faith leads to eternal life, disobedience to death.

The next son, holds out his hands to his executioner who is going to cut them off.  He says, “it was from heaven that I received these…from God I hope to receive them again.”  This cruel executioner is going to cut off his hands, and the son says, fine, God gave them to me, and one day, God will give them back to me.  He believes that that even this present body is less important than eternal life.

The last brother, as he dies, says, “it is my choice to die at the hands of men, that God who gives life will raise me up.”

This family of faithful Jews foreshadow the self-sacrifice of Christ; they are certainly proto-martyrs, embodying what the Lord taught a few Sundays ago, “Those who lose their life for my sake, will gain it.” To be faithful to Christ is to do what these young men did, to keep our minds and hearts fixed on God and on his promises especially in the face of trial.

There are moments when our relationship with God will cost us. Depriving ourselves of some bodily pleasure because pursuing it would be sinful costs us something. Depriving ourselves of material gain because pursuing it would be to cheat or to steal costs us something. Deprive ourselves of some position of power because pursuing it would involve lying or exaggerating the faults of others costs us something. Refraining from sinful gossip when it would bolster our social status costs us something.  Going to mass every week, even when my family or my hobbies make demands on my time costs us something. Contributing to your financial needs of the parish, the needs of our neighborhood poor, committing time to prayer, all costs us something. And don’t we gain so much more, when we are generous with God and trust his plan?

When we speak of inspiring movies or inspiring scripture passages or inspiring stories from the lives of the saints, what are they inspiring us for? The inspire us for those moments when we have to make the choice. Will we do what is right, even when it brings us suffering, or not? Will we witness to our belief that God’s promises are real, that there is something beyond this earthly life, or not? The veterans our nation honors on Monday, veterans day, are so inspiring to us because they were willing to put their lives on the line for us, they we might enjoy freedom and peace.

There are many people who dismiss God as a distant cosmic force that has little bearing on every day life. But Christians, by living out our faith when it is costly to us, shows that God is more real than anything else.

Our own parish patron Saint, Ignatius of Antioch, realized this truth. When Bishop Ignatius had to choose between faith and escaping suffering and death, he chose faith. Ignatius wrote: “All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing. It is better for me to die on behalf of Jesus Christ, than to reign over all the ends of the earth. ‘For what shall a man be profited, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?’ Him I seek, who died for us: Him I desire, who rose again for our sake.”

Ignatius understood, as has every martyr, that if we are only concerned with this prospering in this world something in us is already dead. Rather, the Christian is to witness that the life to come is to be obtained by those who love God more than this present life.

May we witness to that faith in everything we say and do today and all days, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

31st Week of OT 2019 - Friday - Have I Squandered God's Gifts?

Consider the last line of the Gospel. “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.”

If Jesus’ followers were as prudent in doing the work of God, as children of the world are in seeking after their own self-interest, how different would the world be?

Would that Jesus’ followers were as diligent at storing up treasure in heaven, as the greedy and corrupt are in acquiring earthly wealth. Would that Jesus’ followers were as meticulous at organizing charitable activity in their parish as the head coaches of professional football teams are organizing their teams for victory. Would that Jesus’ followers were as thorough at disciplining their minds and hearts against temptation, as professional athletes are in training their bodies.  Would that Jesus’ followers were as painstaking in teaching the Gospel to our children, as the culture is in malforming them. What a different world this would be.

How have we squandered the time we have been given? ? How many wasted hours in front of a television? Or a computer screen? In pursuing mindless entertainment or social media status? How many wasted opportunities for visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, visiting the lonely? How many God-given gifts, have gone unused because we didn’t want to leave our comfort zone?

Isn’t God saying to us, what rich man said to the steward in the Gospel, “What is this I hear about you? Squandering the gifts I have given you?”

What would my life look like, what would my soul look like, if I was putting those gifts into practice with diligence, devotion, discipline, courage, and generosity?

Let us take serious accounting,, and by God’s grace, seek a transformation, a reorientation of values and practices, that our whole lives may be at His service for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That the Pope and all the Ordained may courageously call forth and order the gifts of all the faithful.

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.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, for the repose of the soul of Bishop Richard Lennon who will be buried today, for those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

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 Week in OT 2019 - Wednesday - Indebted to God's love

In this last section of the letter to the Romans, St. Paul continues to elaborate on the moral and practical implications of the Gospel for Christians. He reiterates today the teaching of the Lord in the Gospel, summing up all the commands of the law into One Great Command: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

St. Paul contextualizes this commandment as a response to what Jesus has done for us in dying for us poor sinners. We have a debt, we owe a debt to God, to love others as we’ve been loved. So not only should we follow the Great Command to love our neighbor because the command came from the lips of Jesus Himself, St. Paul is saying, we must follow it for another reason, we owe it to God. Because we have been loved so extraordinarily loved by God, our lives are to be permeated with love for one another.

So this certainly causes us to reflect, to ask ourselves, “what is the motivating factor in our life?” Self-preservation? Accumulation of comfort? The seeking of novel pleasures? Or Love? If the answer is not love, something needs to change in us.

For Paul, love for others is a response to being loved by God. Many Christians don’t realize how loved they are. They never stop to look at a crucifix. They never consider the sad state of their souls. They live the unexamined life. Many do not consider what they owe to God. Many of us fall into a routine, in which we just go from one event to another, without considering how I am called to allow God’s love to permeate me and motivate me in this moment.

Paul became such a powerful preacher of the Gospel because of his conviction that he was a sinner who was lost, who has been saved by God’s love, who was now in the debt of God. Yet this experience of indebtedness to God became the starting point for a mission of love that changed the world.

May we take this message to heart, that we may be faithful to the great command to love God and neighbor wholeheartedly, to renounce all that keeps us from this love, as our Lord teaches in the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That the love of God and neighbor may permeate the life of every Christian.

For the strength to be faithful to all of the Lord’s commands and the grace and humility to repent of our failings.

That during this National Vocations Awareness Week our young people may respond generously to the call of the Lord to serve the Church.

That we may be attentive to the needs of the sick, the poor, and the despairing in our midst.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, for the repose of the soul of Bishop Richard Lennon who will be buried today, for those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

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 Week in OT 2019 - Tuesday - Renewal of Minds and Sharing Spiritual Gifts

 Our daily readings from Romans have brought us into the final major section of Paul’s great letter. St. Paul has completed his teachings on basic Christian doctrine and has spoken of God’s plan to bring unification to humanity. Now in the last part of his letter he turns his attention to instruction on the moral considerations and consequences of the Gospel—how members of the Church are to treat each other, non-believers, and the poor.

Paul begins his instruction by setting the stage: Christians must not model their lives and their behavior on the contemporary world. For the Roman Christians, they were to avoid the excesses, the decadence, the violence, the impurity, and the worldview of the Pagan Romans. What would be his exhortation to us? Avoid the excesses, the decadence, the violence, the impurity, the worldview of secular society!

Rather, Paul says, renew your minds, metamorphousthe, he says in the Greek, be transformed by the renewal of your minds. Put on the mind of Christ in all things, study the faith, meditate on the word of God day and night, that you can know what is good, and pleasing to God. Wonderful advice. To the extent of their intellectual ability, every Christian should seek to understand the faith. You are never to old to renew your minds.

Okay, then Paul gets to the exhortations we find today. Rather than conforming yourself to the world, having put on the mind of Christ, Paul explains how God wants communities of Christians to discern and share and make use of their spiritual gifts. The gifts of prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, acts of mercy are to be discerned, developed, and shared.

What are these gifts? Ministry is the gift of practical service to others, particularly to widows, orphans, and the elderly. Teaching helps believers and non-believers to understand the faith with clarity. Exhortation encourages others and motivates them to live the gospel with heroic fidelity. Generosity prompts persons to make give liberally of their financial resources to assist the needy and to advance the mission of the church. Community leadership orchestrates the gifts of the community, perhaps helping other discover their gifts. Mercy is reaching out to the hungry, sick, dying, imprisoned and so forth.

We pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our parish, to protect us from the errors of the world, to teach us what is good and pleasing to God, and to help us discern, develop and share our spiritual gifts for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That God’s manifold gifts may be evident in our Diocese and in our parish.

That our parishioners may be kept safe from the errors of the world and be transformed by the renewal of their minds and hearts through the Gospel.

That during this National Vocations Awareness Week our young people may respond generously to the call of the Lord to serve the Church.

That we may be attentive to the needs of the sick, the poor, and the despairing in our midst.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, for the repose of the soul of Bishop Richard Lennon who will be buried today, for those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

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 4 2019 - St. Charles Borromeo - National Vocations Awareness Week

Yesterday began, in the United States, National Vocation Awareness Week. We’ve observed National Vocation Awareness Week since 1976, but it’s only been since 2014 that National Vocation Awareness Week has been moved to the first full week of November. And this is quite fitting, as this week of prayer will now contain today’s feast of St. Charles Borromeo, who is the patron saint of seminarians, those discerning and being formed for the priestly vocation.

We do well to pray for the particular young people in our lives this week, that they may discover their vocation.

Our diocesan college seminary here in Cleveland is under the patronage of St. Charles Borromeo. During the Council of Trent, St. Charles,  was instrumental in developing the modern seminary system, and he also developed the Catechism of the Council of Trent which was used by parish priests for centuries for teaching the faith to their people, laying the foundations of faith in young people, and preparing non-Catholics for initiation into the Catholic faith.

It is simply unfathomable how many people have been impacted by the life and labors of St. Charles Borromeo. Not simply how many priests have been well-formed to serve the Church because of him, but how many souls have been touched and inspired and nurtured and brought back from sin because their priests were well-formed. Like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, how many souls have been shepherded to God because this man said yes to his vocation to holiness?

As a nephew to a Medici Pope, St. Charles could have become just another corrupt Renaissance Bishop. But he became a driving force of reform within the Church, who has impacted countless souls. May we be filled with that same spirit, and strive to live according to God’s plan for our lives, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That through the intercession of the Bishop St. Charles Borromeo, bishops and church leaders will be models of inspiration and holiness for the Church.

That God will raise up many priestly vocations in our diocese and that the young people of our parish may strive after holiness and God’s will in their lives.

For all seminarians from our diocese, that as they prepare for priesthood, they may be formed into credible and holy witnesses of the Gospel, and given generous hearts for service of the Church.
For the renewal of the clergy and reparation for their sins.

That Christ the Good Shepherd will draw close to all who suffer, the sick, the needy, victims of injustice, and the dying.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

Hear our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Charles Borromeo grant us renewal and the increase in charity, wisdom, and grace. Through Christ Our Lord.