July 31 2020 - St. Ignatius of Loyola - From vanity to sanctity

Saint Ignatius was born at Loyola Spain in 1491, the youngest son of a noble and wealthy Basque family. In his autobiography, he described himself in that early part of his life as “a man given to the vanities of the world, whose chief delight consisted in martial exercises, with a great and vain desire to win renown.”

Vanity and the pursuit of renown animated his youth, but his life changed around the age of 30. For while defending the city of Pamploma from a French army, he was severely wounded in battle—his leg shattered by a cannonball.

And while he recovered, he had his great spiritual awakening. While convalescing, he read the life of Jesus and the lives of the saints.  He realized that his worldly pursuits, even though they involved courage and patriotism were to a large extent self-centered.  He saw how the Saints accomplished great deeds not for a worldly kingdom that will pass away, but for the eternal kingdom of God. He began to desire to emulate their radical poverty and humility and charity. 

And Ignatius noticed that as he resolved to imitate the holy austerities of the saints and to do penance for his sins, he was filled with a peace and happiness that he never experienced before.

Upon his recovery, he bade farewell to his family and made pilgrimage to Montserrat. He spent three days confessing the sins of his whole life. He hung his sword and dagger near the statue of the Virgin Mary as symbols of his abandoned worldly ambitions. And he clothed himself in sackcloth and spent the night in prayer. And for a number of months he lived as a beggar and practice those austere penances of the saints and attended mass daily.

After making pilgrimage to the Holy Land, then back to Rome, Venice, and Cyprus, he dedicated himself to study, that he might be able to help souls. He studied in Barcelona and then Paris, where he began to attract a small group of disciples, who took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, who would later go on to form the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits.  “Ad maiorem Dei gloriam” was their motto—“for the greater glory of God”

Nearly 500 years later, his life, writings, and deep love of the Church, continue to inspire us to put our lives in the service of God’s glory. 

Like with Ignatius, there each of us have vain pursuits which leave us empty and sad, and holy penances and holy works which would bring us such happiness and fulfillment, if we but resolved, with God’s help to complete them. May whatever we do today, be done with the intention of serving not ourselves, but the heavenly kingdom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Priest: We unite our prayers today with St Ignatius of Loyola and with all the community of saints.  

For Pope Francis, himself a member of the Jesuit Order, for wisdom and courage as he leads and guides our Church, and that all members of the Society of Jesus may strive for fidelity to Christ in all of their ministerial endeavors. 

That all Christians may strive daily for sanctity. For a rekindling of faith for the lukewarm, hope for the despairing, belief for the unbelieving.

For the safety and success of all missionaries. 

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.

That the sick and suffering may find comfort in the promises of Christ and the consolation of the Spirit.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the souls in purgatory, deceased bishops, priests, and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered.

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Ignatius, help us to live for your greater glory. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

July 29 2020 - St. Martha - At the crossroads of faith

What happened in today’s Gospel is not as important as what happened after—what was not recorded in the Scriptures. 

The Lord’s interaction with Martha in the Gospel, isn’t too unlike his interaction with many of the Scribes and Pharisees.  He senses that something is off, and he corrects, instructs, and invites them to change—to metanoia—to have faith. And the Gospels do often tell us how people respond to the Lord. The Pharisees grumble and go off and conspire to kill the Lord. But not with Martha. St. Luke’s Gospel doesn’t describe how she responds, what happened next.

St. Luke leaves Martha at a sort of crossroads. How will she respond? Will she turn her back on the Lord in anger who dared to correct her, will she become resentful for the Lord taking her sister’s side? She has a choice here: what is more important? The housework or prayer? The worldly duties or growing in our love for Jesus?

Every day we are faced with this choice, aren’t we? Do we allow ourselves to become burdened with worldly duties or do we take the time we need to sit at the feet of the Lord?

Again, St. Luke Gospel doesn’t tell us what happened next. He doesn’t tell us about the choice Martha made, as he does with a number of the other characters. But in St. John’s Gospel, when we encounter Martha, presumably later in the timeline of our Lord’s earthly ministry, when her brother Lazarus has died, we see Martha, full of faith, a faith that she lacked in Luke’s story. 

In response to the death of her brother, Martha places her faith in the Lord. “I am the resurrection and the life; who ever believes in me, even if he dies, will live….Martha do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 

The death of a loved one is a sort of crossroads, too. Do we turn in anger toward God, and blame God for taking away our loved one? Or, do exercise our faith, and make a choice to believe in Christ?

As we are faced with many worldly duties today, and perhaps, even with the experience of suffering and death in the world, may we follow Saint Martha’s example, of accepting the Lord’s invitation to change, to have faith, to focus not on what is non-essential, but on Him, the better part, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That all Christians may be open to constant growth in faith, hope, and love. 

For the conversion of all who resist belief in Jesus, for the conversion of hardened sinners, atheists, and agnostics.

That those who grieve may find comfort and consolation in Christ.

For the needs of all the sick and suffering, all those undergoing surgery, and those who will die today.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, all of the souls of purgatory, and N. 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 the faithful. Through Christ Our Lord.

17th Week in OT 2020 - Tuesday - The Prophet Weeps, but hopes

Jeremiah the prophet, wept deeply, over the inevitable destruction of Jerusalem and Judah. The Jews living in the south of Israel, as we heard yesterday in that unforgettable scene, had become soiled—like a soiled loincloth. They had allowed the corrupt practices of Babylon to spread among them. Their children, instead of learning to love God with their whole hearts—were worshiping idols and engaging in the corrupt moral practices of Babylon.

So Jeremiah wept. The Lord 600 years or so later, would also weep over Jerusalem for largely rejecting the Gospel message.

Many of us, too, look out at the corruption of the world, the overwhelming number of Catholics who have left the Church. So many weak bishops, so many weak priests. Young people not learning to love God, not being brought to the sacraments by their parents. And we weep.

But Jeremiah did not simply weep, he prayed. He prayed for deliverance from the evils afflicting Judah. He prayed for the salvation of that once holy city. He prayed for a savior. Now some might say that Jeremiah was simply focusing on the negative. I don’t think so. Jeremiah saw the consequences of faithlessness rightly. And he wasn’t just weeping and ringing his hands. The man had been out in the streets preaching, delivering the prophetic message to repent. He was a man of action as well.

In the Gospel, the Lord explains the parable of the weeds and the wheat to his disciples. He explains that yes, there will be tremendous evil in the world. Christians will have to strive to remain faithful to the Gospel amidst terrible, toxic evil. And evil is going to be so insidious, it will often disguise itself—like a wolf in sheep’s clothing—weeds and wheat, during our earthly life, will often appear indistinguishable.

But, before we are tempted to withdraw in isolation from the world, the Lord tells us we must live out in the world, not through isolation from our adversities, but through the unceasing struggle with the weeds that the enemy has planted.

We will grow in holiness and we will find our salvation when we struggle to remain faithful in spite of the sins and weaknesses in our hearts and in spite of the adversity we experience out in the world. And yes, we weep over the sad state of the world, but we must never let our tears keep us from our Gospel mandate.

We don’t know who is a weed and who is wheat, so we preach the Gospel without reservation to all people, we invite all people to conversion, to experience the grace and life the Lord won for us through his own suffering and death, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, and that Christians may be attentive to our responsibility of sharing the Gospel with all. We pray to the Lord.

For the purification of our minds and hearts from the errors of the culture and from the lure of worldly attachments. We pray to the Lord.

That leaders of nations may find guidance in the Word of God for proper governance and the pursuit of justice for all.

That Christian families may be places where the Christian faith is studied, understood, observed, and cherished.

For all those who suffer illness, those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. for whom this Mass is offered.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain

17th Week in OT 2020 - Monday - The rotten loincloth and the Mustard Seed

It usually isn’t too difficult to find a connection between the first reading and the Gospel. Today, though…well, let’s see.

First we heard of the rotten loincloth of Jeremiah. A strange image, but, thankfully it’s explained for us. Israel, which was supposed to have a very close, intimate relationship with God, had been soiled by the pagan influences of Babylon. And over time, those pagan influences had caused Israel to rot.
In the Gospel, we hear parables, not of rot, but growth, tremendous growth.

So, the connection between the two readings is not too difficult to grasp after all. When we allow ourselves to be corrupted by the wicked ways of the world, there will be negative consequences, but when we cooperate with the grace of God, there will be flourishing, and that’s true whether we are speaking about personal spiritual growth, or the growth of the Church.

In many places, we’ve seen a shrinking of the Church, our neighborhood—our country. There was a lot of worldliness that crept into the life of the Church the last 50 years: forsaking of time-honored devotions, attempts to change or water-down very clear moral teachings, and let’s not even speak about what happened to the liturgy—a liturgy that facilitated tremendous spiritual growth, was made almost unrecognizable from the liturgy of the ages.

And some folks—bishops and laity alike, believe that we didn’t go far enough, if we just make the church look even more like the world, then we’ll attract young people and non-believers. But that’s never worked, and it seems to contradict the wisdom of scripture.

Spiritual growth will come when we hold fast to that which is good, and preach the Gospel as it was given to the Apostles by our blessed Lord. Pope Benedict, speaking about this current phase of the Church’s evangelization mission to the secular world. He said, it’s not about “immediately attracting the large masses that have distanced themselves from the Church”, rather, we need “to dare, once again and with the humility of the mustard seed, to leave up to God the when and how it will grow”. 

Humility is required for growth, humility which acknowledges that we may have made some mistakes the last 50 years. We may have made a few too many compromises with the secular culture. We may have failed to teach with conviction and clarity the standards of the moral life, and made the liturgy a little too much about man, and not enough about God.

May we exercise the humility needs in order to be that people the Lord made us to be, that we may be a people which spread his renown, his praise, his beauty, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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For the humility to repent of our sins, learn from our mistakes and failures, and commit wholeheartedly to the work of the Gospel.

That leaders of nations may find guidance in the Word of God for proper governance and the pursuit of justice for all.

That Christian families may be places where the Christian faith is studied, understood, observed, and cherished.

For all those who suffer illness, those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, and all those who despair of the love of God.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. for whom this Mass is offered.

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

17th Sunday in OT 2020 - King Solomon and the Virtue of Prudence

Here at St. Ignatius, we have what is probably the most unique ceiling in the diocese, depicting the tree of Jesse. “A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. So, at the edge of the sanctuary, you see Jesse, on his side, with a shoot coming forth from his side. And we can trace that shoot, through the generations of Jesse’s descendants, all the way to Our Lord, who blesses us as we come into and exit out of the Church. From Jesse to Jesus was about 1000 years, so we don’t have all of the direct descendants of Jesse, in fact someone pretty important is missing right near the beginning.

Well, immediately after Jesse, we see depicted his son, King David, holding the harp, a reference to the psalms which he composed, the songs of praise and lament and joy and petition to Almighty God, that we still sing, 3000 years later. But, after David, our ceiling skips a generation for some reason, skipping one of the most intriguing characters from the scriptures, who we hear about in our first reading today, the son of David and Bathsheba, King Solomon.

It was under Solomon's rule that ancient Israel reached its pinnacle of prosperity, influence, and geographical size; the great Temple of Jerusalem was constructed by Solomon. And Solomon became quite renowned for his wisdom. In the Gospels, the Lord himself extols Solomon’s wisdom, speaking about how the Queen of the South traveled from the edges of the known world just to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

Most of us know the story of Solomon and the two prostitutes, that story is depicted in one of our magnificent stained glass windows, see if you can find it after Mass. From the first book of Kings we read of the two prostitutes who had each given birth to a baby, and during the night, one of the infants was smothered and died. The woman whose baby had died switched her dead baby with the baby of the other woman as she slept. She then claimed the living child to be her own.

The women came to Solomon to make a judgment about this case. And Solomon devised a very clever method of determining the truth. “Bring me a sword”, he said, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” In response, the first woman cried out, “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” While the other woman said, But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”

Solomon then gave his wise judgment: give the baby to the first; for the true mother would never consent to the killing of her child.”

I was always impressed by Solomon’s cleverness, and I always wondered how many other wise solutions did Solomon came up with.

Well, in our first reading today, we hear that not only was Solomon wise according to human standards, but considered wise by God. Early on, after taking the throne of Israel, God promised Solomon that he would give him anything he prayed for. So Solomon prayed to God for what he needed in order to govern Israel effectively. And he did not pray for a long life, or riches, or the heads of his enemies, or any of the other material thing that people often value.

Rather, Solomon believed that the most important thing he could possibly ask from God, was wisdom—prudence—to know what is right and how to pursue it. Solomon, in the words of his Father David, as we heard in the Psalm today, counted the law of God as more precious than silver or gold.

Of all the virtues, prudence, the ability to make right and sound judgments, according to the ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, and later by Christian theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas, was considered to be the most important of all the virtues. Prudence enables us to identify what is best, what is right, what is good, what is true and to order our lives accordingly.

Prudence says seek what is most essential before pursuing the non-essential. Should we blow all of our savings on a luxurious vacation, or should we make sure we can pay our bills, living within our means. Should I stay up all night playing video games the night before a big test, or should I study and get a good nights sleep? Should I spend all day watching television and social media, or should I go for walk, get some exercise, say my prayers? Should I gorge myself on junk food all day, or save my appetite for a good healthy dinner?

Prudence helps us to judge rightly. Who is the real mother? Who is lying and who is telling the truth?
The Lord extols prudence in the Gospel today, saying, do you wish to inherit the kingdom of heaven, become like the merchant who finds the pearl of great price, and does everything he can to obtain it. The merchant prudently identifies that this pearl is worth more than everything he owns, and he does what it takes to obtain it.

Prudence means using our intellect the best we can to discover the best thing to do with the time available. It enables us to discern among many possibilities which is best.

Again, in the Gospel, the man who found the treasure in the field had a lot of options: He could have told all his friends about the treasure before digging it up. He could have dug up the treasure at once, brought it home, told his wife and kids and neighbors. But he discerned among the many possibilities the best thing to do was to sell everything he had and buy the field. So, no one could accuse him of stealing it from someone else.

Prudence isn’t just about knowing what is right, but using our free will to do it. Having used his intellect, considering his many possibilities, the man in the Gospel made a choice, he took action. Prudence requires action. The man sold his worldly possessions, he bought the field, so, he got the treasure. He took action.

The virtue of prudence is important for Christians. It helps us to avoid sin and pursue what is good. It enables us to know what to do when faced with a moral decision: should I live with my fiancé before marriage, should I cheat on my taxes, should I spend all day in front of the television?

For every day we have a great many choices before us: but so many of them boil down to the choice Solomon made in the first reading today—do I pursue what is passing and superficial—riches, revenge—entertainment and pleasure—or do I pursue the one things that really lasts—friendship with God. Do I seek first the empty promises of the world—or do I seek first the kingdom of God?
Why is prudence so important? Every sin, essentially is failure to exercise prudence, to think before we act, to consider what is God’s will, to act according to what is true and good. And often we keep falling in to the same sins over and over because we fail to prudently avoid the near occasion of sin.
So much of the disorder, violence, division, and suffering in the world is the result of being cut off from prudence.  How much suffering in our families could be avoided if we thought before we spoke!

Without prudence we will never be truly free. Because prudence grants liberation from being ruled by our emotions or passions, not to mention by popular opinion, which is often at great odds with the wisdom of God.

Prudence, it’s a matter of freedom and a matter of salvation. For prudence enables us to identify the those non-essentials which keep us from pursuing the pearl of great price, the life God wants for us. What are the non-essentials the Lord is inviting me to leave behind, in order to pursue the holiness is wants for me?

May the Lord grant us prudence, that we may build our houses, not on the shifting sands of worldly opinion, but on the solid foundation of what truly lasts. Lord grants us prudence, that our children may live. Grant us prudence to become truly wise in your sight, dealing judiciously with the things of the world, and pursuing above all the kingdom of God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

July 24 2020 - St. Charbel - To liberate the soul in its ascent to God

This morning’s Gospel should sound familiar, we just heard it a week and a half ago on the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

In the parable of the sower, the different types of soil are the different responses to the Lord’s Gospel. Some souls' hearts are hardened to the Gospel, they have no inclination to understand what the Lord is teaching or why he is teaching it. Some souls are initially receptive and even enthusiastic about the Gospel, but discipleship is abandoned when it becomes difficult. Some souls do not make room for the Gospel amidst all the distractions of the world. But in some souls the Gospel flourishes—these souls receive the Gospel with understanding, with the willingness to suffer for it, making it the highest priority of their life.

Today we honor a saint, who did just that, St. Charbel the hermit, who made his soul into good soil where the Gospel flourished. Let’s examine how.

At the closing of the Second Vatican Council, on December 5, 1965 Charbel was beatified by Pope Paul VI who said:

"...a hermit of the Lebanese mountain is inscribed in the number of the blessed...a new eminent member of monastic sanctity is enriching, by his example and his intercession, the entire Christian people... May he make us understand, in a world largely fascinated by wealth and comfort, the paramount value of poverty, penance, and asceticism, to liberate the soul in its ascent to God..."

How did St. Charbel make his soul into good soil where the Gospel could flourish? Prayer, poverty, penance, and asceticism. A good gardener needs tools to cultivate soil. Well here are the indispensable tools if the soul wishes to ascend to God: poverty, penance, and asceticism.

We are not all called to be hermits, but the hermits to love quiet and solitude in which we can seek the heart of Christ and the face of God.  Jesus himself would often go to quiet deserted places in order to seek His Father’s Will.  We too must go to God in prayerful solitude, every day, to be refreshed.

The hermits are witnesses that the kingdom of noise and distraction of our digital age is not the true kingdom.  So we must practice penance and asceticism, yes, guarding our minds and eyes from that which corrupts, but also intentionally turning away from the non-essential, in order to focus on the spiritually essential.

May St. Charbel teach us cultivate our souls so that the Gospel may flourish within them, that we may be effective in spreading the Gospel in the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That every member of the Church may cultivate minds, hearts, and souls to receive the Word of God more deeply and fruitfully.
That leaders of nations may find guidance in the Word of God for proper governance and the pursuit of justice for all.
That Christian families may be places where the Word of God is studied, understood, obeyed, and cherished.
That the word of God may bring consolation to all those who suffer: for the sick, those affected by inclement weather or political turmoil, the indigent, those who will die today, and those who grieve.
For the deceased members of our families and parishes, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain

July 22 2020 - St. Mary Magdalene - Ardent love for Christ

It can be argued, that Mary Magdalene is the second-most important woman in the New Testament. Throughout the four Gospels, she is named 14 times, more than most of the apostles.  Yet, there is a lot of confusion about some of Mary Magdalene’s biographical information.

There is no scriptural evidence that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.  Nor is she the woman to have washed the feet of Jesus, that was Mary of Bethany in John’s Gospel; St. Mark and Luke do tell us that the Lord had cast out of her “seven demons”.

Movies like The Last Temptation of Christ and Jesus Christ Superstar portray Mary of Magdala as young, beautiful and as having…romantic interest…in Jesus, and we won’t even go into what Dan Brown, author of The Davinci Code has to say about her.

Mary Magdalene was a woman of deep faith and ardent love for the Lord. Everything we know about her speaks of her love for Jesus. St. Luke tells us that she helped provide for the needs of Jesus and His apostles out of her resources (Lk 8:3).

She, unlike many of the apostles, followed the Lord all the way to Calvary, and stood at the foot of the cross with Jesus (Jn 19:25). On Easter Sunday, she went to the tomb, found it empty and began to weep, believing the Lord's body to have been stolen.  But the Lord had risen, as he said he would, and spoke her name, "Mary".  Faith and Love then impelled her to bring the news of the resurrection to the apostles.

That is the last we read of her in the Scriptures.

Though we can’t take everything in pious legend as historical fact, there is something of her spirituality that we do well to consider. There is a legend that Mary Magdalene who was present at the crucifixion meditated on the Lord’s sufferings every day for the rest of her life. Faith and love for her meant contemplating the depths of the Lord’s sufferings, his wounds, his “stripes by which we are healed” as Isaiah says.

Why did she do this? So that she might not take his suffering for granted. To love a person is to value what they suffer, especially what they suffer on our behalf. This is one of the most important lessons in all of Christianity. We cannot overvalue the sufferings of Our Lord—what he suffered for us poor sinners who did not deserve salvation. Love itself suffered immeasurably for the unlovable.

By coming to deeper appreciation for what he suffered, we seek to conform our lives to his, that our lives may reflect the gratitude his sufferings deserve for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may seek to imitate the examples of the saints and grow in the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

For the demon-possessed and those hardened in sin, that they, through the intercession of St. Mary Magdalene, may know true deliverance and that young people  may be preserved from evil, and discover the great joy of loving and being loved by Christ.

That Christians may imitate the generosity of Mary Magdalene in providing for the needs of the mission of the Church.

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 human trafficking, natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for the unborn, 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, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Mary Magdalene, free us from all that keeps us from the love of Christ. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

16th Week of OT 2020 - Tuesday - He stretched out his hands

There is a beautiful line in the proper preface for the second Eucharistic prayer that has struck me the last few days. After speaking of the Incarnation of the Lord, the preface states: “Fulfilling your will and gaining for you a holy people, he stretched out his hands as he endured his Passion”. He stretched out his hands. We find that powerful image of the Lord stretching out his hands several times throughout the Gospels.

The Lord stretches out his hands and touches a leper, in order to cleanse him. Remember when Peter, commanded by the Lord to walk on the water, begins to doubt and starts to sink? The Lord stretches out his hand to Peter, to save Peter the rock from sinking.

When Jesus, in the Gospel today, proclaimed “those who do the will of the heavenly Father” to be his “mothers, and sisters and brothers”, did you notice what he did with his hands? He “stretched out his hands”.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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That Christians may be a sign for the world of God’s boundless mercy, by striving to practice Christian virtue in every circumstance.

For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, and that Christians may be attentive to our responsibility of sharing the Gospel with all.

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

For all those who suffer illness, and those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, that they may be comforted by the healing light of Christ. 

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. 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

16th Week of OT 2020 - Monday - Signs of Repentance

“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”  At this point in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus had offered more than enough healings and exorcisms and other miracles to show that he was not only from God, but also that He himself was God.  So, at this point, you really begin to wonder, are the Pharisees really seeking the truth about Jesus, or are they seeking to validate their own narrow view.

In response to this request for a sign, the Lord references two Old Testament stories: the repentance of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba making a great journey to learn the wisdom of Solomon.

We should know the story of Nineveh well, as we hear it every Lent. The people of Nineveh had fallen into great wickedness, and God sends Jonah to call them to repentance. The Ninevites recognized Jonah as God’s prophet and repented en masse, a city of 120,000 people repented.

So too with the Queen of the South, she heard mere rumors of Solomon’s wisdom, and she travels hundreds, if not, thousands of miles to hear it.

And the Lord is saying, even the wicked Ninevites and this pagan queen could detect what was good and holy and made every effort to respond to it. And now the Pharisees had something greater in their midst, God Himself Incarnate, and they were failing to acknowledge Him. Jesus isn’t just another prophet delivering a message from God—he IS God, and for the sake of their eternal souls he is calling them to turn away from wickedness, from narrow-mindedness, for he says “there is something greater than Jonah here.”

Since the earthly ministry of our Lord, not just thousands, but billions have done what the Pharisees failed to do: they’ve recognized Jesus as the Son of God and repented. Yet throughout these two Christian millennia many have still not headed the word of Christ and come to follow him. 

In light of the rampant unbelief in the world, St. John Paul II offered some very challenging words to Christians: "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

Some challenging words, no? That you and I have a responsibility for the faith and the souls of others. Unbelievers and hardened souls are waiting to see in our conduct the fruit of authentic repentance—of true faith.

So our call today, is the same as it is every day: to turn away from every sinful attitude, to seek to be perfectly generous with all of our time, talent, and treasure, to give witness to Christ—for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Christians may be a sign for the world of God’s boundless mercy, by striving to practice Christian virtue in every circumstance.

For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, and that Christians may be attentive to our responsibility of sharing the Gospel with all.

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

For all those who suffer illness, and those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, that they may be comforted by the healing light of Christ. 

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. 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

16th Sunday in OT 2020 - Weeds & Wheat, Who am I to Judge

When we think of the saints, we often think of people whose holiness was evident from a very young age. St. Bernadette, was a very holy and humble young girl, St. Catherine had visions and conversations with Jesus, Mary and other saints from a very young age. St. Maria Goretti, as a young girl consecrated herself to the Lord, and courageously protected her chastity to the point of death, the polish St. Stanislaws Kostka’s holiness was quite evident when he entered the Jesuit order on his 17th birthday.

Not all the saints exhibited holiness from their youth. St. Francis we know galivanted around town, spending his father’s money on women and drink. St. Augustine had a saying to describe his life before his conversion at the age of 40, he said, “It was foul, and I loved it.” And even after his initial conversion he described his half-hearted commitment to chastity in a little prayer, “Lord give me chastity, just not yet.”

St. Camillus, whom the Church celebrated this week on Friday, was another saint whose conversion came later in life. As a lad, Camillus gave his parents nothing but trouble.  He got into fist-fights with neighborhood boys, he skipped school, he learned his prayers, but refused to say them; he was so quick to unleash his violent temper that his mother was actually afraid of him.

At the age of seventeen, Camillus joined his father as a mercenary soldier, and he quickly picked up a lot of the vices of the military camps—swearing, gambling, drinking, and visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a con artist team, swindling their fellow soldiers.  The father and son conmen went from camp to camp, cheating at cards, and whatnot, until Camillus’ father fell seriously ill.

To Camillus’ surprise, on his deathbed, his father sent him to fetch a priest. And after Giovanni made a good confession, repenting from all his sins and crimes, he received Holy Communion and died.
This was a turning point in Camillus’ life…sort of. He was deeply touched by his father’s deathbed conversion.  If his father, a life-long gambler and conartist could have faith, then so could Camillus.  One of his uncles was a Franciscan, so Camillus thought he might give religious life a try.  But that didn’t last long; he soon fell into gambling again. And this time his luck really ran out—he lost everything and became homeless.

God’s grace broke into his life when a local business owner gave him a job doing menial construction work.  Here Camillus began to acquire two virtues he had never cultivated before: self-discipline and responsibility.  Through work he realized his dignity.

When his construction job was done he set out for Rome to work at the famous Hospital of San Giacomo.  There, he found great worth in nursing the sick and giving the desperately ill a clean, comfortable place to die. Doing this holy work, he discovered his vocation and was ordained a priest. He spent the last thirty years of his life dedicated to the sick.

What a conversion!  At many points in his life, it seemed unlikely that Camillus would even find God, let alone develop faith, humility, or compassion. Perhaps, there are some of us here, who like Camillus, were on the wrong path at some point in life. But somehow, God broke in. Maybe like Camillus we were given a chance by an employer, or we saw how much suffering we were bringing to our loved ones. If not yourselves, likely everyone here knows someone who seems trapped in an endless cycle of poor decisions.

But, the life of Camillus and our Gospel this weekend reminds us that we must be patient.  Everyone we meet might be one act of kindness away from getting back on the right road toward God. 
Our Lord tells us that weeds and wheat often grow in the same field.  Even expert farmers have a difficult time telling the difference between the two while they are still growing.  It is only at harvest time when the two can be distinguished. So we must be patient with everyone who is struggling. We must never write anyone off as incapable of conversion. St. Camillus’ sins are nowhere near the worst of those whose lives were turned, who turned out not to be weeds after all.

Like the wealthy employer who gave St. Camillus the job which was the turning point in his life, we too are called to be instruments of God’s grace in the lives of others.

A number of years ago, rather early on in his pontificate, there was a media storm around a comment Pope Francis made. The Holy Father was asked about the eternal consequences of a priest who had forsaken his vows and was living in a way contrary to the Gospel. And the Holy Father declared, “Who am I to judge?” In this pronouncement, the Holy Father was articulating a truth that is very clear in scripture and tradition. St. James writes in his epistle:  “There is only one lawgiver and judge.  He is the one able to save and destroy.  So, who are you to judge your neighbor?”

St. James is saying that neither the Pope, nor any Christian, can point to anyone and say, that person is definitely going to Hell because of their sins.  That person is definitely a weed. Such a judgment is reserved to God alone.  Again, the weeds and wheat will be sorted out on judgment day by God, the one and only judge.

But to be clear, Pope Francis is not saying that because only God can judge us we can live however we want. He’s not saying we can ignore God’s commands, throw away the Catechism and disregard Scripture because all roads lead to heaven. He’s not saying we should disregard the Lord’s mandate to preach the Gospel to everyone. No, he is saying nothing of the sort. He’s just saying, he’s not the one who makes the rules and none of us are either.

Our Gospel this weekend is very clear that there are eternal consequences for rejecting God’s law.  There will be a separation at the end of time: weed from wheat, sheep from goats, the saved from the damned, those who accepted God’s grace from those who rejected it.

And so, we must strive to live in conformity to the truth revealed in Christ, and to be very careful about how we treat those who have not accepted the fullness of the Gospel. We must strive for righteousness, call others to righteousness, but to be very patient with those who initially refuse that call. Because it ain’t over till it’s over, for them, or for us. We must persevere to the end, and remain hopeful and work and pray for the conversion of those who have not yet converted. And remain patient with God who works on his own time table.

And speaking of patience, as you may have seen on the internet or on television, the Holy Father has named a new bishop for the Diocese of Cleveland. Thanks be to God! Currently the bishop of Greensburgh Pennsylvania, until he is installed as our bishop in September, Bishop Edward Malesic. If you haven’t had the chance, you can watch the Bishop’s press conference on the diocesan website or on youtube. I also put a link to it on my personal facebook page.

In the press conference, the good bishop humbly acknowledged that most of us have never heard of him before. Likely, when we heard of the appointment a lot of us googled his name and his accomplishments. I know I did. He then said, he also googled the diocese of Cleveland and even some Cleveland priests, which made me kind of nervous, as I’ve been posting my homilies online for the last 7 years. I think they are pretty devoid of heresy, but if you happen to detect any, please let me know so I can…do a little revision before the bishop digs too deep.

Upon hearing of his appointment Wednesday night, I listened to a few of HIS homilies on the Greensburgh’s website and boy am I deeply impressed and excited.  My first impression is that Holy Father Pope Francis has sent us a great gift. Here is a man who will help us to know the grace of Christ, to respond to it, who will help us reach out to souls like Camillus and Augustine, to reach into the lives of those who seem lost, to bring Christ to them and to bring them to Christ.

His Excellency will be installed as our 12th Bishop on the 14th of September, the Feast of the Exlatation of the Holy Cross. It will be good to have someone at the helm again, but I think his spiritual leadership will be a tremendous blessing for us.
May he know the constant support of our prayers, and may we will know the guidance of the holy Spirit, that in whatever vocation to which we have been called, we may bear good fruit, we may judge rightly what is the will of God, that our lives may be holy, and pleasing, and perfect for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

15th Week in OT 2020 - Friday - Cleveland's New Bishop and Effectively Communicating the Gospel

Yesterday, as you may have seen on the internet or on television, the Holy Father named a new bishop for the Diocese of Cleveland. Thanks be to God! Bishop Edward Malesic. If you haven’t had the chance, you can watch the Bishop’s press conference on the diocesan website or on youtube. I also put a link on my personal facebook page.

After introducing himself, and speaking about receiving the call from the Papal Nuncio, he was asked a few questions by the attending press. And in the first question he was asked about his vision for the Church. And he gave a great answer, he said “I don’t have a vision, Jesus has a vision…The only vision I have” he said, “is to communicate the Gospel…. but then the big question is”, the Bishop asked  “how is that done?”

And that, indeed, is a very important question. We know we must communicate the Gospel, but How do we communicate the Gospel. When we are confronted by a non-believer, or an angry family member at Thanksgiving dinner, or a confused parishioner…HOW we communicate the Gospel is of great importance. Do we do so with patience, gentleness, clarity, with a tone of accusation, with embarrassment over Church teaching, wishing to water it down in order not to offend political correctness? It’s not always easy to know HOW to communicate the Gospel.

And I thought about this part of the bishop’s press conference in light of the Gospel this morning. The Lord Jesus is approached by Pharisees who condemn him for supposedly violating the sabbath. Now, the Lord could have responded to the Pharisees in a lot of ways. He could have argued with them, he could have condemned them for trying to trap him in some sort of technicality, he could have displayed his divine glory to them and had them cowering in fear. We do well to take note HOW the Lord engaged his opponents throughout the Gospels, for he certainly gives us some very valid options...which may or may not include making a whip out of cords and flipping over tables if the opportunity presents itself.
But at least in this instance, the Lord responds to his critics, his opponents, by drawing their attention to the Scriptures. He knows the Scriptures well, and so should we. He redirects the conversation, and the condemnation, to speak about the deeper meaning of the Scriptures.

HOW we communicate the Gospel is more art than science, really, in fact. The HOW comes through practice, reflection on our successes and failures, conviction in the truth of the Church’s teaching, it comes through study of the Scriptures, certainly.

But most importantly, the HOW comes from deep union with God, from authentic holiness. Remember, just two chapters earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, the Lord says, when you are brought before kings and governors because of me, do not worry what you are to say, the holy spirit will give you the words.” Our effectiveness at communicating the Gospel comes from deep union with God.

When we have cultivated that attentiveness to the voice and guidance of the Holy Spirit in the ordinary circumstances of our life, we will be able to hear him speaking to us in those extraordinary circumstances, when we are called to witness to the faith. This is what made Mother Theresa and Saint Francis, St. Ignatius our patron, such effective communicators of the Gospel: their holiness gave them authority, their love for God and love for neighbor, the virtues that they cultivated.
May we cultivate that deep union with God this day through Word and Sacrament, penance and works of mercy, that we may be effective communicators of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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In thanksgiving for the Holy Father’s appointment of Bishop Malesic, that he may be blessed with all the spiritual gifts he needs for this tremendous responsibility in leading the Church of Cleveland in the effective preaching of the Gospel.

For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, and that we may bring the healing of the Gospel to their troubled hearts.

For the purification of our minds and hearts from the errors of the culture and from the lure of worldly attachments.

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, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, 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

July 15 2020 - St. Bonaventure - To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge

Knowledge is a wonderful thing. We are born into this world knowing nothing but our instincts. We know enough to cry when we are hungry, or uncomfortable, or lonely. And there is a joy, when a child begins to learn—how to walk, how to talk. I remember visiting the library as a very young child, but not knowing how to read, the books there were basically useless. But the joy of learning how to read gave me access to the contents of those countless books. Even children who have a rough time with formal education find a joy in grasping new concepts and facts in school.

And of course knowledge helps us to make our way in the world: we learn how to take care of ourselves, how to cook, clean, use money, it enables us to pursue really good things, and can help us alleviate the sufferings of others.

On these feast of the Franciscan Saint Bonaventure, great doctor of the Church, learned in the ways of God, who teaches us so much about God, we have a reading from St. paul’s letter to the ephesians, in which the Apostle speaks of the most important knowledge of all.

Of all the things that we will ever learn or ever know, there is one thing that rises in importance above every other thing: it is the knowledge of Christ and His love.

St. Paul prays that Christians “may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Knowledge of the love of Christ fills us with the fullness of God.

The knowledge of an object or of a science is one thing, but knowledge of a person, the knowledge family members have of each other, the knowledge spouses have of each other. This brings great fulfillment. But higher still is knowledge of the love of Christ. Because it brings us a fulfillment that nothing else in the world can provide.

Knowledge of Christ’s love does not come simply through reading books. It comes experientially, spending time in his presence through prayer, following his example of charity and obedience to the will of the Father, and following in his footsteps by taking up our crosses. It comes sacramentally, for through the Sacraments we encounter Him, his mercy, his love, his strength. The Lord longs to share the knowledge of his love with us, but we must humble ourselves, and seek to love him more than our sins, more than the world, more than our very lives.

Having encountered this love, we seek to bring others who are outside of this knowledge, outside of this experience, into the Church, into relationship with God through Christ, that they may know it, too. For those outside of the Church are deprived of that which makes life worth living.

Bonaventure said, "If you learn everything except Christ, you learn nothing. If you learn nothing except Christ, you learn everything."

May we know the constant assistance of St. Bonaventure and the heavenly court in obtaining and sharing this surpassing knowledge which fills us with the fullness of God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may have a burning love for the Crucified-and-Risen Lord, and that love may be seen in the priorities of their life.

That the work and ministry of all Franciscan organizations and charitable institutions may bear fruit for the spread of the Gospel.

For the purification of our minds and hearts from the errors of the culture and from the lure of worldly attachments.

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, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, 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

July 14 2020 - St. Kateri Tekakwitha - Pursuing holiness above all else

by Terezia Sedlakova

Kateri Tekakwitha is the first Native American woman of North America to be canonized. She was born at Auriesville, New York in 1656, near the place where the Jesuits St. Isaac Jogues and John de Brebeuf had been martyred—tomahawked by Iroquois warriors just nine years before. She was exposed to the faith by a new set of Jesuit missionaries, and though it was frowned upon by her Tribe, she was baptized on Easter Sunday at the age of 19. 4 years later she took a vow of virginity, consecrating herself to the Lord.

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

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

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

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

Here is a woman who was ostracized for her faith, she was hated for her faith and driven from her tribe because of her faith. To be faithful was a cross, but it was a yoke that was sweet and light because of her love for Jesus. Despite the social pressures, ostracization from her people, likely even threats of death, she pursued holiness, faith and purity with courageous conviction.
May St. Kateri, Lily of the Mohawks, help us pursue holiness above all else, to endure our crosses with perseverance, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That every nation, tribe, and tongue may be gathered into the Church of Christ and magnify Him through works of praise.

That all those persecuted for their faith may know the strengthening grace of the Lord and come to receive the reward of the saints for their perseverance.

For the consecrated virgins of the Church, that as Christ as their spouse, they may inspire us to seek Him above all things.

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

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

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

July 13 2020 - St. Henry - Holy Roman Emperor and Husband

When most people hear the name King Henry, they probably think of King Henry VIII, who ruled in England in the 1500s and brought about a break with the Roman Catholic Church. 

The King Henry who we honor today wasn’t King of England at all. Rather, he was crowned King of Germany on July 9, 1002 and 12 years later was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII. 

One of the great goals of Henry’s reign was to establish a stable peace in Europe.  He knew that the Gospel of Christ was indispensable for society, and he devoted himself to the spread of Christianity by rebuilding churches. He promoted monastic reform where needed, believing monasteries to be indispensable centers of prayer and focal points for the civilization of people.  He himself was a Benedictine Oblate.

Though wealthy, he had a great concern for the poor of his lands.  He saw material possessions as blessings from God meant to help others.  And it was his custom to undertake nothing without prayer and often saw angels and martyrs guiding him—protecting him and his army who guarded his lands from the encroaching barbarian hoards. 

When Saint Henry was not ruling over his empire and leading his army to stabilize Europe, he was cultivating a holy marriage with his wife.  He and his wife St. Cunegunda are among the dozen or so pairs of married canonized saints.

Here is a man who balanced his earthly responsibilities with this Christian vocation, and his vocation as husband. If a Holy Roman Emperor can do it, so can we.  St. Henry shows us that holiness is possible when we strive to give glory to God whether as a king or farmer, priest or monk or husband or wife.

He used the time he had and his social position to spread the kingdom of God; he put his time, talent, and treasure to build up and preserve what was good, to guard his realm against those powers which tear down what is holy.  May St. Henry’s prayers help us to do the same for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Through the intercession of Saint Henry, we pray for all rulers of nations and those in governance, may they use their temporal power to build up, promote, and protect what is good and holy.

That our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors of our culture, and that their families may be places where the faith is practiced and cherished.

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 and religious, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

15th Sunday in OT 2020 - The soil of the heart

Matthew’s Gospel, through which we are reading extensively this year, is full of the Lord’s parables; of the four Gospels, Matthew has the most parables recorded. The Lord’s parables are simple enough for children to understand them, yet deep enough to continue to challenge the greatest of saints. In many of the parables, the Lord draws upon images, ideas, and customs from the everyday life of 1st century Israel, to illustrate some religious truth.  And though we now live 20 centuries and thousands of miles from ancient Israel, the Lord’s parables speak right to our hearts.

In fact, it is the human heart which is the focus of the parable of the sower we hear on this 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Is your heart receptive to the Gospel? is the question underlying this great parable. What is the state of our hearts? Are our hearts open, understanding, and responsive, to Jesus’ the Word of God and the grace of God.

The imagery of this parable was familiar territory for the Lord’s Jewish audience. In the Old Testament, the prophets often depict God as farmer, a sower of seed, who wishes to plant the seed of divine life in the hearts of his people in order to produce an abundant crop. As we hear in Isaiah, in the first reading, God’s word is a seed that is meant to bear fruit in us. Well, the Lord Jesus in today’s parable takes up that same theme. He is the sower and the seed is his Gospel, and the different soils represent the different hearts he encounters.

Let’s look at the four different types of responses to the Lord’s preaching. First there is the seed thrown on the path which is quickly eaten up by birds. Seed thrown on the sidewalk can’t take root, the sidewalk is too hard. So, too hearts can becomes so hardened to God by sin, that the preaching of the Gospel really has no effect on them. They might hear a nice sermon in Church or a fully accurate presentation of the Church’s moral theology, but they are unwilling to trade their sins for conversion and deep faith.

Lest we despair about just how many people seem to have hardened souls, these days, souls hardened toward God, we must not discount the power of grace to touch even the hardest of hearts. One of the promises the Lord made to St. Margaret Mary was that those who are devoted to the Sacred of Jesus, will have the gift to touch the most hardened of hearts. We believe that prayer and penance are powerful in obtaining the grace needed to touch and to reach those hard hearts. There are plenty of stories of atheists and people who even proclaimed to hate God, or who lived as if God didn’t exist, whose hearts melted when exposed to a beautiful liturgy, or a beautiful act of charity by a Catholic.
So just because a soul is hardened in sin now, doesn’t mean they are lost, or condemned to hell, just yet. God is at work to soften all hearts, and likely his instruments are people like you, people like me. But we must  remember such souls hardened souls, in our daily prayers, especially the rosary.

Secondly, we hear of the seed thrown on rocky ground. Our souls are rocky ground when we listen to the Gospel without the willingness keep the faith through rocky times. Here is the person who is initially enthused about the faith; maybe they have a powerful experience of the Lord at a retreat or in Catholic school, maybe they go through RCIA, but when they realize that Jesus makes demands of them, they give up the faith. They get a glimpse of the cross and instead of taking it up, the run away.
Again, we shouldn’t despair for these souls either. Plenty of lapsed Catholics come to recognize the importance of the faith for the good of their families and for their own eternal salvation. But again, these souls are brought back to God through our prayers and penances offered up for them.

Thirdly, we heard of the seed sown among thorns. What are these thorns but the attachments and distractions of the world. Our souls are thorny when we give too much energy to pursuing worldly things instead of seeking to grow in our faith and practice the works of charity: thorns like selfishness, lust, impatience, or resentment can cause the fire of faith to diminish, the seed of life to be choked out. Addictions especially can become so thorny they rip our souls to shreds. These spiritual thorns hinder the life God wants to grow in us. So, new Catholics and life-long Catholics must ensure that we stop the thorns from growing by making frequent examination of our conscience and frequent confession.

I saw a wonderful quote yesterday from the Bishop of Madison, Wisconsin about confession. He said, “If you don’t often go to confession, try going once a month for a year. Then, ask yourself, have I grown in virtue, overcome sins and bad habits? Am I more joyful, at peace, and more generous? Do I love God and neighbor more? The answer will be YES.”

Why does the bishop make that promise? Because confession helps us to rid our souls from thorns which keep us from the joy, peace, generosity, and love God wants for us.

Lastly, the Lord speaks of rich soil—the seed sown in rich soil. Our souls are rich soil when we hear God’s Word, when we accept its ramifications even with the willingness to suffer for it, when we clear out the thorns, the distractions the attachments, and we seek to understand all of the Gospel means for our ordinary lives. We must allow the Gospel to be planted deep in our their hearts, nurturing grace through prayer and acts of charity. And when we do, we bear tremendous fruit for the building up of the church.

We must make our hearts rich soil for the Word, but rich soil takes real effort to cultivate—our souls will never be fertile without prayer, serious examination of conscience, confession, meditation on Scripture, and getting serious about those works of mercy—clothing the naked, instructing the ignorant, feeding the hungry, bearing our crosses patiently.

But when we do get serious and make our hearts into that rich soil praised by the Lord, we become powerful instruments of the kingdom. May our hearts be like his, obedient to all the Father commands, filled with grace and courage for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

14th Week in OT 2020 - Friday - Persevere to the end

After giving instruction to his disciples in his Sermon on the Mount, the Lord, as we heard on Wednesday, names apostles. The word apostle comes from the Greek ‘apostolein’ which means, to send out. So after naming these apostles, the Lord sends the twelve out into Judea to preach, heal, and cast out demons. In addition to the basic instruction of what they are to preach, the Lord takes the opportunity to speak about the inevitable resistance his followers will experience. We heard that instruction today, “I’m sending you out as sheep amidst the wolves…you’ll be arrested and brought before governors and kings, you will be hated by all.”

The Lord’s prediction has certainly come true throughout the centuries of Christianity. The apostles experienced this hostility and resistance, St. Paul certainly did, and so did countless numbers of the faithful.

Resistance to the Gospel, hostility from the world, should not surprise us. Persecution is not a sign that God is displeased with us; rather, it is a sign that we are doing well, that we are being faithful to what the Lord commanded us to do. So we mustn’t back down when things get tough, when the worldly oppose the Gospel.

I saw a quote from a holy religious sister last week, she said, “The Christian should expect to be regularly crushed under the inexorable wheels of history until Jesus comes again. We are not here to be relevant, powerful, and understood. Our challenge is to simply remain faithful to the Gospel, to love our enemies, and to persevere in faith.”

Wonderful words. We should expect to be crushed—to be opposed. Whatever the origin of the Coronavirus, and whatever its actual infection rate, we are certainly seeing the powers of the world take advantage of this opportunity to place unreasonable restrictions on Christians. In certain parts of the country there are more restrictions on Churches than restaurants and bars, let alone strip joints and abortion clinics. And in response to this, many Christians, many bishops, have simply backed down.
But the Lord didn’t instruct us to back down, but to persevere. “Whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

It is evident that the powers of the world are launching a serious attack against the Church, hostilities are just ramping up. So we must pray for each other, pray for our bishops, pray for fellow Christians to take courage, to endure to the end, to continue to preach, heal, and cast out those demons. We are surrounded by wolves, but the Lord is our fortress and our shield. By his grace may we keep the faith, run the race, and persevere to the end, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all bishops and clergy will lead the Church in faithfulness to the Gospel mandate and in the practice of every Christian virtue.
For all those who have fallen away from the Church, those who have fallen into serious sin, for non-believers, atheists, and those in error, for their conversion, and the conversion of all hearts.
For Christians experiencing persecution for the faith, that they may hold fast to the Lord in their sufferings.
For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, for victims of abuse and scandal, for the imprisoned and the addicted, for all those recovering from or undergoing surgery today, and for the consolation of the dying.
For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, 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

14th Week of OT 2020 - Wednesday - The false gospel of prosperity

There is a strange teaching coming from a number of televangelists these days, it’s known as the “prosperity Gospel”. The claim is that God blesses us with material wealth, or things will start to go our way, when our faith is strong. Riches and material wealth become a sort of proof that we are on the right path.

This prosperity Gospel however is pretty inconsistent with the scriptural message. In the first reading today, the prophet Hosea addresses the Northern Kingdom. Remember, after David & Solomon, the kingdom became split, divided. The Northern Kingdom called itself Israel—having its own king, its own laws, its own temple, its own interpretation of the law. In fact, the Northern Kingdom was more “tolerant” to use a modern term, of the false religions. Altars and temples to the false gods were erected in multitude. Soon, many Jews were also worshiping the false gods and returning to the polytheism of pagan Egypt, and falling back into the pagan morality. But for a time, the Northern Kingdom grew prosperous.

Well, we hear Hosea in this morning’s reading, preaching to the Northern Kingdom how about luxurious they’ve grown-- the more Israel prospered, the more altars and sacred pillars to false gods were set up. Hosea, sent by God, makes known God’s displeasure for all of this idolatry and division, and so Hosea announces the consequences to the Northern Kingdom if they fail at ridding the idols from their midst and returning to the true faith.

“God shall break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars.” And life will become so miserable, and God’s judgment so mighty, that they will cry to the mountains to cover them from God’s wrath.

The lesson is that, sure, an individual or a  nation might prosper for a time after separating itself from God. But prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing, in fact, prosperity will not last long, when you separate from God’s Holy Will.

In the Gospel, the Lord calls forth the Apostles to be the foundation stones of the New Israel, the New United Kingdom of God. The Apostles, who are initially sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, will later be sent to all the scattered peoples of the earth, those downtrodden and abused by the mighty, to be gathered into One Faith, One Church, One Lord, One Baptism.

Sure, there are some individuals and nations who will prosper outside of the Church. But that prosperity will not last. We are certainly seeing in our own time, the effects of what happens when we stray from God: civil unrest, broken families, war, the prevalence of perversion, altars to false idols beginning to spring up everywhere.

Our job then is to ensure that we are not spending our life seeking to grow prosperous in the eyes of the world—pursuing worldly luxury and decadence, but in the eyes of God—in virtue, and holiness, and faith, hope, and charity, and to utilize whatever prosperity with which we have been blessed for the building up of the true kingdom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles, may use their authority wisely and courageously in standing against the evils of this world, and that the future Bishop of Cleveland may be a man of true faith.

For all those under the sway of evil, error, and corruption, for their deliverance by the power of Christ through the prophetic witness of the Church.

For the protection of young people from the corrupting influences of the world, for Christians families, and for the conversion of the faithless.

For the sick, suffering, and sorrowful, for miracles for hopeless causes.

For the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered.

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

14th Week in OT 2020 - Tuesday - Casting-out spirit of muteness

There are about twenty miracles in Matthew’s Gospel, most of them are healing miracles, though Matthew, like the other evangelists records miracles such as the feeding of the five thousand, the calming of the storm, and walking on water.

Of the healing miracles, there is subset of healings which are coupled with exorcisms—the casting out of demons which was either the cause of the physical malady or at least connected to the debilitation.  In today’s Gospel, a demon possessed man who could not speak was brought to Jesus, and when the demon was cast out the man was then able to speak.

Whenever we are attached to evil, or evil is attached to us, we are always less than we should be. Evil debilitates us. It keeps us from seeing as we should, hearing as we should, speaking as we should, walking as we should. It keeps us from understanding as we should, listening as we should, proclaiming good news as we should, and building the kingdom as we should.

These miracle stories are meant to teach us how the Lord wishes to restore what was corrupted through sin and put it into service of the Gospel.

The healing of muteness is particularly important. We are made in the image of God who speaks creation into existence, the second person of the Trinity is the Word who becomes flesh to save us. And attachments to evil and fear which keep us from speaking rightly mars the image of God in us.
But by healing muteness, casting out the evil which keeps us from proclaiming truth, speaking righteously, we are restored to be the people we were made to be. Through grace, we are freed from the evil attachments which keep us from developing well-trained tongues.

All of us are tongue-tied in some way. Perhaps we refrain from speaking truth to a loved one who is making all the wrong choices because we fear being rejected by them. Or maybe we hesitate sharing our faith with non-believers because we fear being judged by them in some way.  Yes, speaking truth will always have some consequence, some possibility of condemnation. But we were not made to be afraid of speaking truth, or so attached to evil habits that we never learn our faith enough to share it.

Rather, the journey of faith must involve allowing the Lord to loosen our tongues for the spread of the Gospel. So we do well to identify any spiritually unhealthy or unhelpful habits which keep us from learning our faith, or any fears that we have not handed over to the Lord which keep us from speaking what is true, good, and effective for the building up of the kingdom for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Holy Spirit may guide the selection of a new bishop for the diocese of Cleveland, that he may be a man of courage, competency, and conviction for the Gospel.

That all of our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors and vices of our time and be kept in close friendship with the Lord Jesus through the faith of their families, daily prayer, attendance at Mass, and the practice of the virtues.

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, for victims of abuse, especially children, 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, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, 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

July 6 2020 - St. Maria Goretti - A holy life prepares us for trial

Maria Goretti was born of a poor family in the central Italian town of Corinaldo. Her father died when she was 10 years old, and one of the men who had worked with her father, 19 year old Alessandro Serenelli, had made several attempts to seduce the young girl. She told him that he could go to hell for what he wanted to do.  Her refusal and her words of faith so angered him that he stabbed her, 14 times.

It took Maria two days to die from those stab wounds.  And On her deathbed, Maria, not only pardoned Alessandro, but she said: “I hope that he too will join me in Paradise.”  Maria died in the hospital after forgiving her murderer.  Maria Goretti was scarcely twelve years old when she died on July 7, 1902. 

Alessandro remained unrepentant for his attempted rape and murder of the young girl, but several years into his prison sentence, Alessandro had a dream in which Maria presented him with a bouquet of lilies—lilies are of course a symbol of purity. Repentance filled his heart and he turned to the mercy of Christ.  After 27 years in prison, Alessandro was released, and visited Maria’s mother, Assunta, whom he asked forgiveness. “If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withhold forgiveness?" she said. Alessandro spent his last years as a third-order Franciscan and died in 1970.

Maria Goretti was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950, and it is the first time in history that the mother of a saint was present at the canonization.  Alessandro was also there, also probably the first time that the saint’s murderer was present at the canonization, and thanks be to God, his soul was right with God. He had testified in her cause for canonization, speaking not only of her courageous protection of her purity, but the tremendous holiness the saint had cultivated over those short twelve years.

It is said that "even if she had not been a martyr, she would still have been a saint, so holy was her everyday life".  And this is such an important lesson for all of his: the holiness of her everyday life helped her at a crucial moment to remain courageous, to forgive and love her murderer with the heart of Christ. And her sanctity brought about the eventual conversion of a very evil man, who probably only died in communion with Christ because of her.

May St. Maria Goretti help us to cultivate a love of innocence, chastity, and forgiveness, and help all of us to remain steadfast in faith in the moment of trial, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Through the intercession of the holy virgin-martyr St. Maria Goretti, for an increase of reverence for and practice of the virtues of chastity, purity, and modesty and for greater respect for the dignity of the human body and all human life.

That all of our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors and vices of our time and be kept in close friendship with the Lord Jesus through the faith of their families, daily prayer, attendance at Mass, and the practice of the virtues.

That the Holy Spirit may guide the selection of a new bishop for the diocese of Cleveland.

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, for victims of abuse, especially children, 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, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, 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