July 30 2021 - St. Peter Chrysologus - A good tree bears good fruit

 

A week and a half ago, on July 20, we celebrated the feast of St. Apollonaris, who was bishop of the Italian diocese of Ravenna when he was martyred in AD 79. Today, we celebrate the feast of another bishop of Ravenna, living about 400 years later, Peter Chyrsologus, whose name means “golden words”. Bishop Peter of the golden words was known for his elegant homilies, over 150 of which have survived and continue to speak to us today. His golden words attest to the Church's ancient and perpetual beliefs about Mary's perpetual virginity, the powerful value of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, Christ's Eucharistic presence, and the role and primacy of the Pope.

Emerging from the persecutions, the church of the 5th century had its own challenges. As the church flourished throughout the empire, heresies like Arianism and Monophysitism also sprung up. These errors taught that Jesus,  lacked a full human nature. God did not fully incarnate. Bishops like St. Peter Chyrsologus addressed these errors in their own dioceses, but that the entire church might be united in the faith, the Great Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon was called 451 AD. A still-existing text from the council written by Peter Chyrsologus corrects the error of the Monophysites, affirming that Jesus is fully God and fully man, and calls for obedience to the Pope in teaching this truth of the faith. 

In addition to his contributions to the council, as shepherd of Ravenna, Bishop Peter encouraged his flock to daily reception of Eucharist, helped them to apply the moral teachings of Christ to their daily lives, and urged a special care of the poor.

"A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit” says the Gospel for his feast today. Peter Chrysologus was certainly a good tree, that bore much fruit, because he was rooted in Christ, his mind and heart were made good soil to receive the seed of the Word of God. His golden words were the fruit of allowing the word of God to be nurtured through prayer, good works, study, holy meditation, careful speech, frequent reception of the Eucharist, love of and devotion to the Blessed Mother.

We need bishops like Peter Chrysologus; we need clear teachers of the faith like him, and we need uncompromising faithful sons and daughters of the Church like him. May his golden words continue to teach the church and encourage us to the unity of faith and enflame us for the mission of the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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May the Church constantly be enriched through her study of God’s incarnate word and learning of God’s statutes and commands.

That all Bishops may preach and teach eloquently and faithfully the truth of Christ’s Gospel.

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

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. Peter Chrysologus, free us from all that keeps us from the truth of Christ. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

17th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Wednesday - Pearl of Great Price

 Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel contains a number of parables. It begins with the Parable of the Sower, one of my favorite parables, a parable about parables, if you will, where the Lord explains the necessary disposition of mind and soul to listen to and receive his teaching. Our minds and souls are to be good soil, clear of the thorns of worldly attachments, willing to remain faithful to his teaching when things get rocky, weary of the cunning tricks of the devil to draw us away from the Lord’s truth. 

The Lord goes on to liken the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, then another likening the kingdom of God to yeast put into batch of bread. These have to do with the way the kingdom of God will grow as we are faithful to its mission.

Today, we heard some parables about the value of message. How it should be accepted with great urgency. As with much fervor and urgency as a merchant who finds a pearl of great price we are to conform our lives to his teaching.

The merchant reflects Jesus’ first disciples who left everything to follow Jesus. So, too, all of humanity are invited to prioritize his Gospel above everything else. His teachings require a radical reorientation of our lives, our priorities. And like the one who sells all that he has to buy the field with the buried treasure, we joyfully abandon everything to obtain the treasure Jesus wants for us.

The source of so much sadness in the world is the unwillingness to give up sin, unbelief, pride, and worldly attachments, for the Gospel. And so the Church’s mission is to make the source of our joy known to the world—let our light shine before men, that true joy and fulfillment is founding in knowing him, loving him, serving him, reorienting your life to him, dying with him, so that you may rise with him.

Christ is the greatest of treasures. When our lives reflect this truth, we are filled with supernatural joy. But to truly possess this pearl we must embrace, not just some of his teaching, but the whole Christ, His truth, his call to conversion, his suffering, his cross, his 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. Let us 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. Let us 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. Let us pray to the Lord.

That Christian family homes may be places where the Gospel is studied, understood, observed, and cherished. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those who suffer illness, those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care. Let us pray to the Lord.

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. Let us pray to the Lord.

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 Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - Jesus explains the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat

Today we witness sort of a rarity in the four Gospels. Jesus takes his disciples away from the crowd and offers a point-by-point explanation of an earlier parable—the parable of the Weeds and the Wheat.  

He explains how each of the elements in his parable, the field, the weeds, the wheat, the sower, the harvest are symbols for a deeper reality.  

Why, out of all the parables, does the Lord explain this one? After all, the original parable isn’t that difficult to understand, is it? Perhaps, it’s because this parable in particular is addressing not just the moral life, or Christian attitude toward the poor, like the parable of the good Samaritan. It’s just to instill a sense of urgency toward conversion, like the parable of the pearl of great price. 

The Lord explains parable of the weeds and the wheat for it concerns the very mission of the Gospel: why he came, why he is forming the Church, and the obstacles which the Church will face as we continue his work until his return. “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.”

We should not be discouraged by the amount of evil in the world.  It seems like it is just getting worse and worse out there, and harder and harder to remain faithful.  So many distractions to the life of faith, so many people falling away, acts of true goodness rarer and rarer.  

Today Jesus provides assurance that the faithful children of God’s kingdom will be vindicated, that God has a divine plan, even as weeds of wickedness sprout up in abundance in this presence age, a future age of glory will follow for God’s faithful ones.  We must remain patient in the presence of the wickedness of the world, and faithful to all God asks of us. For there will come a time when the faithful will go to their eternal reward, and the wicked, to perdition.

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 that’s the territory. And that’s the mission. To live out the Gospel amidst all that confusion, to cooperate with the Lord who continues to sew the seeds of the Gospel through the lives of his faithful ones. That things are going pretty sour out there, shouldn’t surprise us. Our task is to keep the faith, in its entirety, without compromise, with fervor and grace, 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. Let us 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. Let us 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. Let us pray to the Lord.

That Christian family homes may be places where the Gospel is studied, understood, observed, and cherished. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those who suffer illness, those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care. Let us pray to the Lord.

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. Let us pray to the Lord.

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 Ordinary Time 2021 - God's grace and human effort

 This last week, we had a little cookout for the parish council and finance council over in the rectory courtyard. Always a nice event. Everybody brings something.. It’s one thing I love about being Catholic…the pot lucks! Our parish picnic too a few weeks ago, along with the wonderful company, of course, we had some really good food! Not only did we have enough to go around, but we even had some folks passing by along west blvd stop by and grab a plate.

In the Gospel, this weekend, we heard of a community meal of sorts: the feeding of the five thousand. 

In the 19th Century, there was a German Protestant biblical scholar by the name of Heinrich Paulus. And it seems he was the first to put forth the theory regarding this passage of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, that you may have heard.

Heinrich Paulus claimed that the real miracle occurred when the crowds saw the generosity of the boy who shared his lunch, that they all brought out bread that they had secretly stashed away, and shared it with each other. And that’s why there was really plenty of food to go around.

Now, I guess that’s a nice idea. The charity of one inspires charity in others. If ordinary Christians, like you and me, we were all just a little more generous and a little more trusting of each other, we’d have a lot more resources to share for the work of the church. A nice moral lesson.

And yet, is that the really point of the story? For, the passage itself indicates that the Lord Jesus did something ordinary people could not do. He effected a miracle in which twelve wicker baskets were filled, not with fragments stashed in everybody’s knapsacks, but from the five barley loves.  

To read this passage as if Jesus did not perform a miracle is to do violence to the Bible - it's distorting the words of the text, not interpreting them.

The text is clear: there was not enough food to feed everybody. Not even a year's salary (two hundred denarii) could buy enough for such a feast, as Philip nervously points out.

Again, what’s the point of the story? There are problems in this world that we cannot solve on our own—neither science nor politics nor simple humanitarian effort.  There are problems that money cannot solve. Man’s natural talents and ingenuity are incapable, ultimately, to defeat the forces of evil. Human strength is insufficient to overcome selfishness, lust, and greed that rage within the human heart. No amount of human cunning, cleverness, brute force, or application of natural resources are able to bring about a solution to sin or death.

Only when we put all that we have and all that we are into Jesus’ hands will we ever be truly fed, united, and delivered. Because Jesus is God. That’s the point of the story. We must go to God to be fed, united, and delivered and he is abundant in feeding us, uniting us, and delivering us when we bring ourselves to Him.

This of course is not to say that we should not exert great effort in feeding the hungry of the world, working for peace through political means, and seeking to heal the sick and relieve human suffering. Christians even need to work together with people of different faiths to accomplish these goods.

However, human endeavors ultimately fail, when they are not rooted in God. In vain do the builders labor, unless the Lord builds the house.

And yet, more is at stake than mere earthly, temporal peace. Ultimately, this passage is about eternal life. St. John begins the 6th chapter of his Gospel, which we will be reading through for the next five weeks with this miracle story. John wants us to know, that the Bread, the food, that brings eternal life, comes only through Jesus Christ. For in today’s Gospel Jesus is doing something that human beings cannot do on their own. For he is God. Only He can feed the multitude of the peoples’ of the world. 

And yet, it isn’t helpful to completely ignore the role of the ordinary people in today’s Gospel. Jesus in fact DID ask the apostles to bring to Him the little they had, and he did work wonders with what they gave him.

We are invited, commanded, taught to entrust to Jesus the little we do have. Grace accomplishes what human effort cannot, but human effort is still needed. For what is not given is not multiplied. What is not offered is not transformed.

He does ask of us to bring to him the little we have—the little time, talent, and treasure, which I know you’ve heard before. But when the little we have is given to God it is infused and multiplied by Him. 

Time in prayer, especially, given to God throughout the day becomes a conduit for God to reach into our lives and heal wounds, and transform hearts, and multiply our meager resources, physical and mental, clear away confusion. 5 Minutes in the morning, 15 minutes in the evening with bible in lap, television turned off, phone set aside can do wonders. 

Father, I’m too busy to pray. False. You just haven’t given the Lord the little time you do have, in order for it to be multiplied. Make time for God and he will make time for you.

Not only our time, but our talent is held back from God. Sometimes we minimize what we could do, so we don’t have to do it. But the Lord wants our meager talents, our parish needs live people showing up to do work. Our legion of mary, our svdp, our garden club, for example, could really use some new members. It’s becoming clear that the Lord is presenting us with some mighty challenges, some wonderful opportunities, but we need folks to show up. It just can’t be the same small handful of folks. Your pastor is appealing to you. Get involved. Bring your ideas, your talents, your words of encourage. In your daily prayer ask God, what can I do for you today that I’ve never done before?

And folks. I know. I’ve been there. I ask the Lord what do you want from me, an idea pops into my head, and I’m like…how about something else. Can’t I just do your will sitting in my office? Can’t I just stay at home? I’d have to rearrange my schedule if I were to do that…Lord, can’t you think of something more convenient for me?

But trusting in him, willing to give up our plans, our time, our treasure into his hands, he multiplies them, transforms them, making us his instruments for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

July 21 2021 - St. Lawrence of Brindisi - Producing fruit a hundredfold

Augusto_Mussini_-_S._Lorenzo_da_Brindisi

St. Lawrence of Brindisi devoted himself to many different forms of service in his 60 years: Franciscan priest, Army chaplain, diplomat & peacemaker, miracle-worker, exorcist, theologian, biblical scholar, linguist, confessor, mystic, and leader of the Counter-Reformation, doctor of the Church.  Certainly a man of many talents. 

A 17th Century  contemporary of his, the Cardinal theologian Cajetan, said that St. Lawrence of Brindisi was “an incarnation of the old apostles, who, speaking to all nations, were understood by all.  He is a living Pentecost.” St. Lawrence was certainly enlivened by the Holy Spirit, he was able to preach effectively in at least 6 languages. 

As vicar general for the Capuchins he combined his brilliance, his great administrative skill, and his great sensitivity and human compassion.  He founded many friaries, in Prague, Vienna, Bohemia, Madrid, and Austria.

What was the source of his greatness, of his devotion, of his fortitude, and immense energy?  No doubt he allowed the seed of the Word of God to be planted deeply in his heart, to borrow the image from the Gospel today. And that seed did not remain dormant and unnourished. Lawrence had a vibrant interior life—particularly a great love for the Mass and a profound devotion to the Blessed Virgin to whom he attributed his vocation. He would sometimes be so caught up in ecstasy during the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice that he would be weeping with love and adoration.

He cleared his soul of the thorns of earthly attachment by a life of poverty and simplicity. He cleared out the rocks in his soul of hard-heartedness, stubbornness, resentment. 

If we wish to become the person God made us to become, we too must nurture the seed of the Word of God and till the soil of our souls. To develop a burning love of Christ, we must seek purification from all of our sins, habituating ourselves in the ways of Christ through a fervent practice of the virtue, enlightenment of mind through meditation of His Holy Word, and seek as our true nourishment prayer and the Sacraments. 

In the words of St. Lawrence: “My dear souls, let us recognize, I pray you, Christ’s infinite charity towards us in the institution of this Sacrament of the Eucharist. In order that our love be a spiritual love, He wills a new heart, a new love, a new spirit for us.”

May we seek that new heart, new love, new spirit, and new energy for the work of the Gospel in the Eucharist we celebrate and receive this day, that our lives may bear fruit a hundredfold, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That the Holy Spirit may animate the lives of all Christians, deepening in them conviction for the Gospel. 

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.

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

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

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

 

July 20 2021 - St. Apollonaris, martyr - Witness matters

 My final year of college seminary, I was able to spend a semester studying abroad in the Holy City of Rome.  Not only were we able to soak up the culture, piety, and religious history of Rome, but we were able to travel to many of the other important cities to Catholicism, at least in Italy.  

Our Church architecture professor took us to the city of Ravenna, known for its beautiful mosaics and ancient churches.  In the Cathedral of Ravenna, behind the altar is a beautiful mosaic of that city’s first bishop, the saint whom the Church celebrates today, Apollinaris.  Apollinaris was a disciple of the Apostle Peter and was famous for the gift of healing.  In fact, that’s what started to get him into trouble.  

Sent by Peter to Ravenna, Apollonaris began preaching in the town. A certain, Roman Tribune impressed by the man, welcomed the new bishop to his home. The tribune brought the bishop to the bed of his blind son who Bishop Apollonaris immediately healed.  The Tribune and his family converted on the spot, and even offered their home as the new headquarters for the bishop. 

The faith flourished in Ravenna in the 26 years Apollonaris was Bishop there, until the Imperials had enough of him. He was imprisoned and tortured, exiled after he miraculously survived his tortures, including being plunged into boiling oil. He continued to win converts even in exile, so he was captured and imprisoned again, and finally beaten to death in the year A.D. 79. 

Whenever we celebrate the martyrs, we are challenged by them in a number of ways.  Would I have the strength of faith to witness with my life?  But also, the perhaps more pressing question, do my words and deeds mark me as a Christian?  Do I make people like the Roman Imperials concerned because souls are becoming Christian or taking their faith more seriously because of my efforts?  

Now the beautiful ancient churches and famous mosaics of Ravenna were not fashioned for about 400 years after the martyrdom of her first bishop. But without men like Apollonaris there wouldn’t have been Christians in Ravenna whose great great grandchildren would go on to build those churches and mosaics. What we do in this life matters. The example of our faith and the perseverance through difficulty matters. 

May the Martyrs preserve us, inspire us, and strengthen us for the witness and work God has for us in our own time, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Our Savior’s faithfulness is mirrored in the fidelity of his witnesses who shed their blood for the Word of God. Let us praise him in remembrance of them:

The martyrs professed their faith by shedding their blood, may we have a faith that is constant and pure. 

The martyrs followed in Christ’s footsteps by carrying the cross, may we endure courageously our earthly trials and all the misfortunes of life.

The martyrs washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb, may we be helped by their prayers to overcome the weaknesses of the flesh and worldly allurements.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of July: That priests, who experience fatigue and loneliness in their pastoral work, may find help and comfort in their intimacy with the Lord and in their friendship with their brother priests. We pray to the Lord.

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

16th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Monday - Prideful rejection of Truth

 “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.  And at this point, you really begin to wonder, are the Pharisees really seeking the truth about Jesus here, or are they seeking to validate their own narrow view. 

In a sense, they are looking for a sign, but not a sign that Jesus is God and his word is truth. They are looking for a sign to prove themselves right. 

The Lord exposes the Pharisees here as belonging to an evil and unfaithful generation who have closed their hearts to God. They don’t acknowledge God when he is standing right in front of them. They don’t acknowledge truth when it is clearly being explained to them.

Why? Certainly the sin of pride is at work. Pride doesn’t care about the truth. It blinds us to the truth. 

St. Thomas Aquinas gives a thorough treatment of the sin of pride. He says, pride is when we make ourselves out to be more than we are. In the case of the Pharisees, they wanted to be the arbiters of truth. They wanted to dictate what is holy, rather than receiving that teaching from God. They pridefully refused to be corrected by the data right in front of them.

Thomas continues. He says, Pride is an assumed self-sufficiency which omits or discounts God in considering what one is. The atheist essentially is a prideful soul because he refuses to acknowledge that we live, and move, and have our being because of God. And even though that God is the author of life, they refuse to bow, to worship, to obey, to heed his commandments. Christians who allow pride to dominate their life become practical atheists.

St Thomas then quotes St. Gregory who teaches that pride is a claiming of excellence not possessed. The pharisees do this all the time, they claim to be holy, without possessing authentic holiness. The Lord exposes them for this over and over. Then Gregory says, pride ultimately consists of “despising others and wishing to seem the exclusive possessor of what one has”. The prideful soul is a spiteful, yet lonely soul. Refusing in the end to acknowledge the goodness in others, it is a self-imposed prison.

We can see why pride is a mortal sin. There is no place for pride in heaven. We must be rid of every ounce of pride before we can enter heaven. Freedom from pride is certainly one of our ongoing projects as followers of Jesus. And most of us will still require some purgation of pride after shedding our mortal coil. But, when, cooperating with grace, we become empty of pride, the humble goodness of Jesus fills our souls. 

 

That Church leaders will humbly lead God’s people in the ways of righteousness and truth. 

For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, for atheists and those who reject the word of God. 

For all those who suffer from violence, war, famine, extreme poverty, addiction, discouragement, loneliness, and those who are alienated from their families.  For all those who suffer illness, and 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.

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.

8th Sunday after Pentecost (EF) 2021 - The Dishonest Steward and the Motu Proprio

 

What do we do with the time that we’ve been given? What do we do with the blessings with which we’ve been blessed? And what does it matter?

The Lord answers these questions in the Gospel today. In the Gospel parable, this steward has been dealing dishonestly with his master’s accounts, and when he is found out, he sort of scrambles to settle the accounts of his master.

The honest listener to the Lord’s parable would have to admit his resemblance to that dishonest steward.  We’ve all been given this great patrimony to administer, we’ve been given natural gifts from God, intellect, creativity, physical and emotional strengths, not to mention the great supernatural gifts that flow from God’s grace. And yet, the honest Christian admits the dishonest misuse of our blessings. 

And like the steward in the parable we will have to make an accounting for how we used or misused our time talent and treasure. The hour for rendering an account will come for each one of us, and we do well to ensure that we are doing all that we can to atone for squandering the gifts of God. 

While certainly not praising the wasteful stewardship of his master’s good,  the Lord praises a particular aspect of the steward’s conduct: his shrewdness. He deals shrewdly—wisely—with his master’s debtors, and for this the steward is praised. 

How are we to use our time in the master’s service? How are we to use the gifts we’ve been given? Christians need to be wise, shrewd, and clever.

Elsewhere, the Lord says that his disciples are to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. I think of the Lord’s own shrewdness in dealing with the Pharisees. He was crafty and clever in exposing their errors and hypocrisy. And so should we. Or the early Christians, who faced terrible persecution. Shrewdly, they gathered in secret when the government outlawed their worship. They studied their faith, they passed on the faith to the children and neophytes, they evangelized not just the commoner, but also the imperial courts, the aristocracy, and finally the emperor. That’s clever.  They didn’t just evangelize by their words either. They became known for their charity toward the poor. They made beautiful music, beautiful art to lift the soul, to attract souls to God.

I think this Gospel is so very fitting in light of the this week’s disheartening Motu Proprio issued on Friday, which depending on how our bishop reads it may or may not limit our ability to celebrate the beautiful mass of the ages in this diocese. I’ve only been celebrating the EF for two years, I can’t imagine how some of you must be feeling. Not only from the possibility of the mass being limited, but a sense of injustice, misunderstanding and betrayal from church leaders. What has happened to accompaniment? What has happened to pastoral sensitivity?

I’d like to share with you some encouraging words from the great Fr. Zuhlsdorf, which you may have already seen. They gave me comfort. He  wrote, “To those of you who have put your heart and goods and hopes into supporting and building the Traditional Latin Mass, thank you.

Do not for a moment despair or wonder if what you did was worth the effort, time, cost and suffering.  It was worth it.  It still is.

By your efforts you made it possible for many people to come close to an encounter with Mystery.  That is of inestimable value and eternal merit. By your efforts you supported many priests who deepened their appreciation of who they are, as priests, at the altar." And that includes me.

But I’d like to add, and this is inspired from the Gospel, that there is an opportunity here, for great shrewdness. The mass will continue to be made available in this diocese. Make use of the time we’ve been given. Be shrewd and be clever, in inviting souls to share its beauty and goodness.

We’ve in a sense been wounded, and there is sadness. But be careful. Whenever sadness is not handed over the Lord, it can become poisonous.  Somehow, this is an opportunity to bring souls to Christ. To build up the church and strengthen ecclesial communion.

If the Holy Father is concerned that this form of the mass is a form of division, let’s show him the opposite. Show our bishop your strong, solid, orthodox faith that supports him in his role as chief shepherd of the diocese. Invite the bishop to get to know you, to see the good spiritual fruit that flows from this form of the mass. Be clever, be kind, be aware that people are watching to see how we react. Be innocent as doves in word and deed. 

Knowing this group just for a few months now, I know, this is a very resourceful group of faithful, crafty catholics. As clever as they come. So keep calm and worship on for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - Restful waters

20 years ago, in 2001, the summer after my first year of seminary, I went up to northern Ontario for a little summer vacation with a few fellow seminarians, to a quiet, remote cottage sitting on the bank of Little Hawk Lake about 4 hours north of Toronto. Since 2001, we’ve gone back up to the cottage, well over 20 times. We couldn’t go last year due to COVID, and it doesn’t sound like we’ll be able to go up this year, as the Canadian border is still closed to tourists. 

We try to take vacation right before the school year starts up again. We swim, we cook, we pray. We celebrate Mass. We catch up on reading. We’ll play board games, watch movies. Nothing too strenuous. In a sense, we try to fulfill the words of our Lord in the Gospel today today, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

Rest is a good and holy thing. The Creator rested on the seventh day. He calls us to sabbath rest, away from the busyness and business of the rest of the week, to be refreshed in worship and family. We require rest. A third of our lives is spent resting. Healthy minds, healthy bodies, healthy souls need rest. 

In the 23rd Psalm, God is the good shepherd who leads his flock to restful waters. What a beautiful image. Not the violent stormy sea. But restful waters. One of my favorite things to do on vacation is simply to sit by the restful waters with a book or to take a flotation device and just float around the restful waters. 

That beautiful word in the Hebrew  for rest is “menuchah”. It’s found a number of times throughout the Old Testament. It’s used often to describe the promised land—the land of rest and refreshment for God’s people. Psalm 116 speaks of the soul filled with the rest of God after recognizing how blessed it has been by God’s graciousness. Psalm 132 uses the word to describe how God will rest upon his throne in the eternal Jerusalem upon completing his work of salvation. Psalm 95 speaks of how the hard-hearted, for turning their minds and hearts from God—shall not enter into the rest—the menuchah—of the promised land. We long for the rest and refreshment only God can provide. 

Hopefully, each of us experiences a foretaste of heavenly rest when we come to Mass. For, the Mass, on this side of heaven, is the place of restful water where the Shepherd leads his flock, each week. 

Many many people have shared with me, how something is amiss, something is missing, when they can’t get to Mass every week. That rest. That refreshment in God’s presence is missing, and their souls know it. It affects the rest of the week. The batteries begin to lose their charge. It becomes a greater struggle to be patient and generous and pure of heart without it.

This is why many people attend daily mass. The rest and refreshment of daily mass gets us started off on the right foot. If you are retired, consider attending weekday mass once and a while. It will do wonders for your faith life. 

Our spiritual director in seminary would often say that each of us needs an hour per day, a day per week, and a week per year of this spiritual refreshment. That’s good advice, not just for seminarians and priests, but for all Catholics. An hour a day for quiet prayer and mass and spiritual reading and meditation. A day per week for Sunday Mass of course, a day free from the stressful concerns of one’s job, and one week per year for some sort of spiritual retreat. Priests are even mandated by canon law to make a spiritual retreat.

When we fail to recharge our spiritual batteries, we risk becoming like those misguided shepherds in the first reading. Instead of living for God, we become bent on fulfilling our own will, seeking fulfillment in all the wrong places, ultimately becoming a source of division. Instead of gathering others to God, the spiritually defunct Christian is like that wicked shepherd who scatter the sheep, driving souls away from God. 

Stress, discouragement, and so many other crippling emotions can wear us out if we aren't prayerfully resting in Jesus every day. Only our union with Christ can supply us with the strength and wisdom we need to be the people God made us to be, and do the work God has for us. Without prayer, study, and time alone with God, our well will soon run dry - we will have nothing substantial to offer others.

So in order to be the shepherds we are called to be, the parents, grandparents, employers, priests, we are called to be—we need to allow God, daily, weekly, and yearly, at the restful waters of prayer. 

Why is the Lord Jesus constantly leading his disciples to the quiet places to pray and listen and teach them? It’s So that they will be equipped for his work. Rest prepares us for work. Prayer prepares us for apostleship and evangelization.

When I go up to northern Ontario, it usually takes a few days to unwind and enter into the rest,  but then something happens. As the batteries begin to recharge, I start to long to come back to work. I really do. I want to put the theological insights from my reading into practice. Having encountered God in prayer, having good heart-to-heart talks with God about the challenges facing the parish, I want to come back here to face those challenges.  

Rest and prayer for the priest is eminently important for his ministry, but that’s because rest and prayer are eminently important for all of our vocations. All of the work God has for us requires us to be rooted in Him. Not in some abstract political philosophy or utopian ideology. We need to be rooted in the living God. God wishes to be our portion and our cup. God wishes to be our peace and our strength, our light, our food, our life.

Make time to rest every day. Rest from your work. Rest from your electronic devices. Rest from your anxieties. Rest in God. God wants to meet you in your rest. He wants to refresh you there. But you’ve got to allow yourself to rest. You’ve got to say no to distraction. You’ve got to withdraw from the whirlwind of family drama, in order to hear the consoling whisper of God. Make time, every day, every week, and for a dedicated portion every year, to allow God to lead you to the restful waters for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

July 16 2021 - Our Lady of Mt. Carmel - Contemplating the Eternal Word

 For a number of months I’ve been reading the beautiful book of daily meditations by the Carmelite priest Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, entitled “Divine Intimacy”. Father Gabriel, being a Carmelite has something to say concerning today’s feast.

He writes, “Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a special call to the interior life, which is preeminently a Marian life. Our Lady wants us to resemble her not only in our outward appearance but, far more, in heart and spirit. If we gaze into Mary’s soul, we shall see that grace in her has flowered into a spiritual life of incalculable wealth: a life of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted oblation to God, continual contact, and intimate union with him. Mary’s soul is a sanctuary reserved for God alone, where no human creature has ever left its trace, where love and zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of humankind reign supreme. […] Those who want to live their devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel to the full must follow Mary into the depths of her interior life. Carmel is the symbol of the contemplative life, the life wholly dedicated to the quest for God, wholly orientated towards intimacy with God; and the one who has best realized this highest of ideals is Our Lady herself, ‘Queen and Beauty of Carmel’.” 

The first Carmelite monks looked to our Lady as a model of contemplative prayer. For, Scripture tells us that Mary through contemplation and prayerful listening to God, kept and pondered in her heart the words of God. 

In many paintings of the Annunciation, Mary is depicted with the scriptures open on her lap, to show that she had made her mind, her body, her heart a sanctuary for the Eternal Word to dwell even prior to Him becoming incarnate in her womb. St. Augustine put it this way, he said, "Mary, full of grace, first conceived Jesus in her heart before she conceived him in her womb."

So too every Christian is to follow Our Lady’s example, in making our hearts a sanctuary for God. There needs to be time, every day, where we can be found, like her, with the scriptures upon our lap, pondering the promises of God and the mysteries of God, a point every day where we become quiet enough to hear the tiny whisper of God’s voice in the silence of our hearts for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That all Christians may grow in prayerfulness and fidelity to the Divine Will through the intercession and example of Our Lady.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, and for blessings upon the Carmelite Order as it works and prays for the good of the Church.

That our young people on summer vacation may be protected from all physical and spiritual harm, shielded from the errors and perversions of the world, and kept in closeness to God through prayer and virtue.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, 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

July 14 2021 - St. Kateri Tekakwitha - The blossoming of real holiness

 Kateri Tekakwitha 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. 

Kateri’s mother was an Algonquin who had been baptized, but she was taken captive by the Iroquois and given as a wife to the chief of the Mohawk tribe.   Two children were born of this marriage, but only Kateri survived; her parents and her brother died in a smallpox epidemic when Kateri was 4 years old.  Kateri’s own face was permanently disfigured and her eyesight was impaired because of the disease.  

New Jesuit missionaries were granted permission by the new chief of the Mohawks to minister to the Christians, most of them Iroquois captives like Kateri’s mother. And Since her mother was Catholic, Kateri was allowed to study the catechism with the Jesuits.  She was baptized on Easter Sunday at the age of 19.

At 23, she took a vow of virginity, consecrating herself to the Lord. But the celibate life was not held in high regard among the Mohawks, and Kateri was subject to constant abuse and insults.  She was ridiculed for keeping Holy the Sabbath and for praying the Rosary. 

On the advice of a priest, she fled the abuse and walked two hundred miles to an Indian Mission village near Montreal.  There she devoted herself to prayer and works of charity and penance and her sanctity blossomed.  She is known as the Lily of the Mohawks.  

Kateri herself said: “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus.  He must be my only love.”  She was beatified by Pope St John Paul II in 1980 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.

At her canonization, Pope Benedict said, “Her greatest wish was to know and to do what pleased God. She lived a life radiant with faith and purity.  Kateri impresses us by the action of grace in her life in spite of the absence of external help…”

Kateri repeats the example of so many saints before her: Holiness thrives on the cross, it blossoms on the cross. Faith grows when its tested. Charity grows when it costs something. Holiness is like a muscle that grows through resistance training: it only gets stronger as it’s strained. 

St. Kateri had to face quite difficult circumstances, hostility, open hostility by those closest to her for loving Jesus. She is a model for all those who are rejected by their own because of their fidelity to Christ. 

May Kateri, Lily of the Mohawks, help us all to endure our crosses faithfully and to blossom in holiness 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.

15th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - Reproaches to Unrepentant Towns

 Yesterday, we heard how the Lord sent out the twelve into the surrounding towns to preach. He instructed them and warned them to prepare themselves to be misunderstood, hated, and persecuted.

Today, we hear, that while the twelve are off on their missionary preaching mission, the Lord himself revisits some of the towns where he had preached and performed mighty deeds in the past, namely Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. 

It appears that for the most part, the people of these town have failed to heed the Lord’s message of repentance. They had witnessed many of his mighty deeds, miracles of healing and exorcism, and yet they had failed to repent. They’d missed the whole purpose of his miracles. 

The miracles were signs that God was at work in their midst, God wanted their attention. By them, Jesus was showing them that he is God in the flesh calling them to repentance and new life. And yet it seems, they had just gone back to their same unbelieving ways. They had gone back to sleep.

So, he really lets them have it. This passage contains some of the Lord’s strongest criticism of those who refuse to repent of their sins. 

Jesus says that if Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, some of the most wicked cities in history, had witnessed his miracles, they would have repented on the spot. In other words, what is wrong with you? How hard your hearts must be.

And he explains that, for this refusal to repentance, for this hardness of hearts, there will be serious consequences on the day of judgment. 

Are we supposed to imitate the Lord’s rhetorical style in our preaching of the Gospel? Are we supposed to go out into the streets and say, “Woe to you West Blvd. Woe to you Cleveland. Repent, for judgment is coming” I don’t know. 

I don’t think we should dismiss the Lord because his style conflicts with modern sensibilities. There certainly is a time for explaining to those who dismiss the Gospel the very real consequences for failing to believe and repent. 

But this passage isn’t just meant to inform how we deal with others. The Lord’s strong message here challenges us individually to ensure that our own priorities are in order, that we are living firstly for God, and that we are taking our personal sinfulness seriously, and that we are making use of the time that we have been given, to confess our sins, to repent, to strive for holiness, and to preach the Gospel as we can, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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That our bishops and clergy may be zealous and clear in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel and for the continued recovery of Holy Father Pope Francis following his recent surgery, may the Lord’s comfort, healing, and peace sustain him.

For the grace to respond generously to God in carrying out the mission 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, 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 those who have fought and died for our freedom.

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 Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Monday - Family ties

 Chapter 10 of Matthew’s Gospel is a pivotal one. It began, as we heard last week, with the Lord tasking the 12 apostles with going out into the surrounding areas with the good news of the Gospel and the Lord granting authority to them to heal the sick and cast out demons.

Up until that point in the Gospel, the Lord has been the one preaching; he has been the one healing the sick and casting out demons. And now the authority and power that he has wielded, the work of the Father that he is doing, is now to be shared with ordinary fisherman.

Before the 12 depart to fulfill their mission, the Lord began to give what is called his missionary sermon—a teaching to his new missionaries, those being sent out. And this sermon is full of warnings.  

There are some towns that are going to welcome you, some towns are going to reject you. I’m sending you out as sheep amidst the wolves—a cheery thought. Everyone is going to hate you because of my Gospel. You are going to be persecuted, and from time to time, you’ll even need to flee from your persecutors. Where do I sign up?

Today’s Gospel passage concludes his sermon, but it includes what may be the starkest of warnings. His Gospel will even cause division in those closest of human relationships—family. This is a difficult teaching for many people. Family is so very dear to us. It’s a source of stability, support, and compassion. 

And yet, the Lord is clear today, that his Gospel might upset that for some families. When some family members accept the Gospel, and so do not, this will cause division. And this, the Lord acknowledges, is a heavy cross, a heavy price to pay. But family cannot give eternal life. Only he can. Which makes Him and His Gospel the highest priority.

Catechism # 2232 explains this teaching. It says, “Family ties are important but not absolute.  Parents and children must be convinced that the first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus.”

How blessed the family who supports each other in the Gospel. But not every family, especially these days, believes this. This is teaching is particularly challenging in an age where many family members are choosing lifestyles which are incompatible with the Gospel. 

The Lord understands how difficult this teaching is. And promises blessing to those who adhere to it. Blessed is the one who sets good example for his family members, who witnesses to the priority of the Gospel, the priority of eternal life.

This Gospel certainly elicits a choice, doesn’t it? To have conviction, to have principles, to love Christ above all else, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops and clergy may be zealous and clear in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel and for the continued recovery of Holy Father Pope Francis following his recent surgery, may the Lord’s comfort, healing, and peace sustain him.

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 those who have fought and died for our freedom.

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 Ordinary Time 2021 - God has chosen me

 I always feel bad for our lectors when they have to proclaim this weekend’s second reading. In the Greek, those 12 long, complicated, overflowing, and theologically dense verses from the introductory chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians form one, single, sentence. And even with the periods and breaks in our English translation, his thought is still somewhat difficult to follow. 

Did he want to confuse the Ephesians? You can imagine the first recipient of the letter maybe rubbing his temples, certainly reading over those verses more than a time or two.

But what was Paul thinking? What’s he doing here? It appears his purpose for this dense chunk of text, wasn’t to provide a systematic explanation of Christian doctrine like he does later in his letter. Rather, these 12 verses appear more to be a profound expression of Paul’s wonder and awe. He’s trying to put into words, something ineffable, something beyond words.

The medium, in a sense, is the message. He’s writing his heart out. He’s composing a hymn of praise to the God of the universe who he’s come to realize has done something, Paul could not fathom prior to his conversion to Christ. The Father of Jesus has chosen Him, personally, and has chosen each member of the Church for a wonderous vocation—to the life of holiness and grace.  

“God has chosen me. God has chosen me” the little ones sing in their religion classes. And they do so with smiles on their faces. I’ve seen them. Now, Paul wrote these words from prison. And yet, this knowledge, of being chosen by God brought him a light and joy that prison could not contain. He’s compelled to compose these words to the Church, that we might share his joy. 

Here Paul gives us an insight into what it means to be a Christian. It’s to recognize this calling, our election to be holy, and to allow the knowledge of being chosen by God to reach all the way down to the depths of our being, so that not even prison could cause us to lose our faith. 

This experience of being chosen by God fueled Paul’s missionary work. It impelled him to carry the Gospel through rapid rivers, steep mountains, malaria-plagued lowlands, and bandit-ridden passages, enabled him to endure robbers, attempted assassinations, imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom all for the sake of the Gospel, all out of love for Jesus Christ. He risked his life to share the Gospel, trusting that this is the most important message ever. We’re chosen by God to be holy. 

“He chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.”

To be holy…if you are sitting in this church and listening to these words, you have been chosen by God for this—to grow in virtue, to restrain vice, to practice deep, soul-stiring prayer, to share the Gospel, to attend to the needy. You aren’t here by accident. You are part of God’s plan. Your sanctification is part of God’s plan. Paul wants Christians to know this because God wants Christians to know this. 

The pursuit of holiness is to animate our lives not just for an hour a week, but always. Don’t run away from your election. 

Paul later writes, everything is rubbish, compared to being taken possession of by Christ Jesus. Everything is loss, that keeps me from the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus. So, if holiness isn’t your greatest pursuit. Start Now. If you aren’t examining your life daily, and working on moderating, and getting rid of anything that keeps you from living this vocation to your fullest potential. Start Now.

Last night, in our second Friday of the month faith formation, we studied the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola…the other Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits. In his youth, he thought the most important thing in life was seeking after earthly fortune and glory, so he entered military service in the hopes of becoming this soldier of great renown. But a cannonball to the leg, changed his life. Talk about a wake up call from God. God wants us to know we are chosen, sometimes he needs to use a cannonball to the leg to help us figure that out.

Anyways, while convalescing, Ignatius had nothing to do but consider his life and read. And there was only one book he had access to, a book on the lives of the saints. And he began to read, not of glorious knights in shining armor, but of saints clothed in holiness. He read of Dominic solid in his faith preaching to and converting the Albigensian heretics. He read of Francis practicing Christ-like poverty, so closely united to Christ he bored the holy stigmata. He read of Benedict pursuing radical holiness in monastic simplicity, in simple work and prayer. In his solitude, in his reflection on the saints, Ignatius came to recognize that he too was chosen, not just to be another Francis, another Benedict, another Dominic, but called to be himself totally conformed to Christ. He had been chosen, and he changed the world forever. And we too have been chosen. 

If you are having difficulty believing this or recognizing this, ask for help today to recognize your calling. Holy Communion, especially, is an opportunity to express our great gratitude for the blessings of the Lord, but also to hear the Lord calling us by name, pouring his royal treasure of grace into our hearts, and giving us the strength we need to become saints, to be his faithful followers and instruments in the world in the coming week.

Let holy Mass be a new beginning today, of living ever more faithfully and God’s chosen sons and daughters, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

14th Week in Ordinary Time - Friday - Sheep, serpents, and Doves...Oh my!

 The Lord tells his followers today that he sends us out as sheep amidst wolves, urging us to be prepared for the hostility we will inevitably face as his disciples.

I think of those Christians of the first few centuries.  The Church underwent open and state-sanctioned persecution longer than America has been a country.  The early Christians could not build Churches and had to gather for Mass in secret.  For professing the Christian faith they were arrested, beaten, and tortured in unspeakable ways.  Sometimes they were even betrayed by close family members.  Some Christians became so frightened of the wolves, that they gave up the faith, left the flock, and began to run with the wolves. We’ve had wolves in sheep’s clothing, sometimes wolves in shepherd’s clothing!

The Lord gives such a strong warning because the threat is serious—persecution is inevitable.  “You will be hated by all because of my name” he says.  There will not be a single age, a single sector of society, where you will be completely safe.  There will always be Wolves who will want to kill us simply because we the Master’s sheep—those who seek to silence us, desire to break the power of the Church, simply because we are Christian.  They conspired to prevent him from spreading His Gospel, they do the same to us. They laughed at him, mocked him, thought he was naïve, thought he was blasphemous, and they do the same to us.

As this country, and really all of Western Civilization, falls into moral decline, it is not surprising that we are called bigots for resisting the perversions and errors of the culture.  But, we are called to be sheep—docile and obedient to God, even when the wolves start closing in.  

I Am sending you as sheep, to follow wherever he leads us, even into wolf-infested territory. We are to be docile in following the Lord, but also like Him we are to “be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.”  We are to be docile to the Lord, not to the wolves. To the wolves we are to be like serpents: cunning, wise, and crafty in handling our enemies.  Anticipate their threats. Out maneuver them in wisdom, like the Lord handling the Pharisees.  The early Christians facing persecution gathered in secret, to worship and study their faith. That’s cunning.  They evangelized the emperor, the imperial courts, the aristocracy. Cunning. They made beautiful music, beautiful art to lift the soul. 

And they were innocent as doves: they showed themselves to be better citizens, more moral citizens than the non-Christians, innovative. Innocence, cunning, docile to the will of God. It’s a winning combination! It’s converted nations and drawn souls to Christ over and over again. May we be faithful to this vocation of ours 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 Ordinary Time 2021 - Wednesday - Our apostolic mission

 I read in an article from Catholic News agency this morning that the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont has reported a record-low number of priests this year, with only 50 diocesan priests ministering to the entire state of Vermont. 50 priests for 110,000 Catholics. What’s going on up there? 

In just a few verses prior to today’s Gospel, the Lord announces that the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few. But why are there SO few? 

Before sending out the 12 in the Gospel today, the Lord first teaches them to pray, he instructs them and forms their minds by his teaching, and then he calls them by name. This is how the Church works and has worked for two thousand years.  

So what’s going on up in Vermont? Quite simply we could say there’s a priest shortage. But why? My guess is there has been a failure to form disciples who understand the importance of the mission of the Church—a failure to teach the importance of prayer, basic church doctrine, and helping young people hear the Lord calling them by name, to know that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

While on vacation last week, I attended a church down in florida where the music was so trite, the preaching so insipid, and the celebration of mass by the priest was so irreverent, I nearly cried. What young person would be converted by this ? How could they even hear the Lord calling them amidst such dribble? It was closer to hell than heaven! And it was a beautiful church building too, but a beautiful building is not enough!

Hunger was felt throughout Egypt, in our first reading. Sometimes spiritual famine does strike the Church in certain places due to reasons beyond our control. And in those times, we certainly do well to pray, in the words of the psalm today, to preserve us in time of famine. 

But what is in our control is that every Catholic is an apostle sent out by the Lord, with the responsibility to feed the spiritually hungry and to help form the next generation of missionary disciples: by ourselves and families practicing fervent prayer, passing on the faith clearly without compromise with worldly errors, helping others to encounter the living Lord in the Church’s worship and the sacraments.

May we be faithful to the Church’s work in this place and this time in announcing the Gospel, forming disciples, and laboring without tiring for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles, will wield their authority wisely and courageously in standing against the unclean spirits and evils of this age.

For all those who hunger for the Word of God, that all members of the Church will be faithful in leading them to the one who satisfies every hunger.

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.

July 6 2021 - St. Maria Goretti, virgin martyr - Lover of Chastity

Today we celebrate the 99th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maria Goretti. Maria was just 11 years old when one of the men working for her father made several attempts to seduce young Maria.  Her refusal so angered him that he threatened to kill her, which he eventually did, stabbing her 14 times.  Maria died in the hospital after forgiving her murderer.  

God is invoked in the Collect for her feast as the “author of innocence and lover of chastity.” Chastity is a virtue to be practiced by all Christians, and St. Maria Goretti is a model of this virtue for us. Even at the age of 11 Maria knew that giving in to seductive advances outside of marriage is sinful, telling her seducer that God forbids such behavior as sinful and could lead to the damnation of their souls.

Maria had a rightly formed conscience. Her parents brought her to Church and instructed her in the virtues. Her faith rightly guided her. Sadly, so many of our young people have no guidance in these matters save for what they see on television and internet. Sex before marriage and cohabitation are commonplace. But that doesn’t make them right.

Even when her seducer tried to wear down her conscience through multiple attempts to seduce her, Maria remained strong. When there was the threat of death, she remained courageous. Our young people, and all Christians need fortitude and courage in resist the constant and relentless barrage of perverted sexuality in our culture. For perverted sexuality brings only inner emptiness, shame, and dysfunctional relationship. So we do well to invoke St. Maria Goretti as the patron saint of young people and a patron saint of chastity.

Maria loved chastity because Christ loved chastity, and calls all Christians to practice chastity consistent with their vocation in life. And because chastity is beautiful, it attracts souls to Christ. May St. Maria Goretti’s steadfastness help us all in keeping and obeying all Christ commands of us for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

O God, author of innocence and lover of chastity, who bestowed the grace of martyrdom on your handmaid, the Virgin Saint Maria Goretti, in her youth, grant, we pray through her intercession, that, as you gave her a crown for her steadfastness, so we, too, may be firm in obeying your commandments.

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Through the intercession of St. Maria Goretti and all the holy virgin-martyrs, for an increase in 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.

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

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - For Freedom's Sake

 

On July 4, 1776, 245 years ago, this weekend, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence to declare to the world that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as sovereign states independent from the rule of the British Empire.

In response to this historic event, John Adams, one of only two of the Founding Fathers to go on to become president, wrote to his wife Abigail:

“…This day ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

It is called Independence day because we celebrate our independence from tyrannical rule. It was the contention of our Founding Fathers that the British Rule of the American Colonies was tyrannical and unjust, and so we declared our independence from that tyranny in order to govern ourselves justly, that we may freely exercise and pursue our God given rights.

Freedom. It’s not just a civic or philosophical ideal, but a biblical one. St. Paul wrote to the Galatians “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” But, what does Paul mean by that word, Freedom? Paul was certainly echoing our Lord, who said in John chapter 8, “If the Son of God sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Through Jesus we are now free to pursue our highest good, eternal life with God in heaven. We are able to exercise our free will aided by grace to pursue truth and goodness for ourselves and our fellow man.

Back in 2009, I was able to travel to Washington D.C. when Pope Benedict visited our nation’s capital. When he came to D.C., Pope Benedict’s first stop was the White House to meet with the President.  And President Bush did something quite noble: he asked the Holy Father to offer a teaching on the Christian meaning of Freedom.  “In a world where some see freedom as simply the right to do as they wish, we need your message,” President Bush said to the Pope, “that true liberty requires us to live our freedom not just for ourselves, but in a spirit of mutual support.”

Over the course of his several day visit the Pope made Freedom one of the central themes of all of his talks, while also calling out all of those counterfeit versions of freedom that are undermining the real thing.  For true liberty gives our country life, abuse of freedom threatens our country’s future.  

This weekend as we give thanks to God for our gift of freedom, I’d like to reflect a bit on Pope Benedict’s message.

Pope Benedict began his catechesis with the founding fathers, who risked their lives to sign the declaration of independence. These men were of great intellectual, philosophical, and theological integrity.  Holy Father stated, “From the dawn of the Republic America's quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator. 

The media often portrays many of our founding fathers as secular humanists who wanted nothing to do with religion.  However, 26 of the 58 signers of the declaration of independence had degrees in theology.  John Adams spoke for many of the signers of the declaration when he said that, “it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.”

Freedom, therefore, is inextricably linked to the moral order, to God’s moral law. Without right religion, right morality, freedom is threatened. This is why we need our populace and politicians, police and judges, to be moral, religious people.

In the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord laments how Israel had hardened its heart toward the commandments of God—Israel had become a rebellious house. And so God sent Ezekiel to help Israel wake up and repent and return to the way of life that would bring them freedom from sin. 

When you and I were baptized, the priest or deacon put oil on our heads and said, I anoint you priest, prophet, and king. So, like Ezekiel those thousands of years ago, you and I, in this age of the church, have a prophetic role to this nation. We are tasked by God to prophetically preach the word of freedom to the captives. To call our fellow citizens, our politicians, to uphold the tenets of right morality, for freedom’s sake, for their souls’ sake. 

Now you might say, that it’s improper to force our religious beliefs on anyone, and you’re right. We aren’t to force anybody, but we have to make the invitation. It’s our duty, it’s our identity—to be prophets. In the words of Ezekiel, “whether they heed or resist—they shall know that a prophet has been among them.” Whether the world listens or not, we have a prophetic duty to teach the truth.

But of course, actions speak louder than words. So, more important than engaging in political debate is the need to embody that freedom in our lives. 

“Freedom is not only a gift,” Pope Benedict said but “a summons to personal responsibility…The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good, and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one's deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good”

That our public schools and universities are becoming devoid of a proper understanding of civic responsibility, and inundated with perverse philosophies should be deeply concerning to us, for these things do undermine and threaten liberty. But what Pope Benedict here is rightly teaching is freedom begins at home, moreso, with the personal responsibility of cultivating virtue in our own life. 

Our greatest duty in the ongoing campaign to reclaim and preserve authentic freedom, as always, as Christians, is to become a Saint.  Become as Holy as we can through the grace of God and the practice of our faith is of the greatest prophetic value. True independence is found by recognizing and living out of our total dependence on God.

Dependence on God for our daily bread. Dependence on God to order our life, to guard us from temptation, to forgive our sins through Christ his Son. Dependence on God to convert the hardened of heart, to bring unity to a divided nation, to sanctify us and enable us to live in the true freedom of the children of God.

So we pray for our nation this Independence day, that we and our fellow citizens will be committed to pursuing and protecting authentic freedom. We pray in gratitude for those who shed their blood for the freedom we enjoy today. And we pray that we, as Christians, will prophetically witness to the world that freedom, in its ultimate sense, can only be found through Jesus Christ and His Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

13th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Friday - God brings good out of evil

 Scripture is full of examples of God bringing Good out of Evil. In the story of the sons of Jacob, for example, Joseph is betrayed by his brothers, thrown in a well, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, only to be put in the position where he is able to save his family from starvation. 

Over and over, we see the people of Israel falling into the evil of sin and depravity, only for God to reveal his Goodness and Mercy by delivering Israel from slavery and exile.

In today’s readings we see two such stories. God is able to bring something good out of the death of Abraham’s wife Sarah. After all those years, Abraham finally comes into possession of the land promised to Him by God which would become the seed bed of his great progeny. And we even get a glimpse of the new life for the line of Abraham, as Abraham’s son, Isaac, is blessed with a wife.

So, too, in the Gospel. The Lord brings about conversion, and a new way of living, out of the sinful life of the tax collector Matthew. Where there was sin and evil and collaboration with the enemies of Israel, God is able to bring new life and goodness and blessing.

And yet for Joseph and Israel and Abraham and Matthew, the goodness God wishes to bring about in our lives often requires giving something up. For Israel to be delivered from slavery, it had to give up its sin. For Abraham to possess the promised land, he had to give up his homeland. For Matthew to possess discipleship and apostleship, he had to give up his old sinful occupation.

The Lord is able to bring good out of the most tragic events, and in the life of the hardened sinner. But more often than not, something must be given up, left behind. Something at odds with the life of God needs to be set aside. 

What do I need to set aside, leave behind, walk away from, in order for God to manifest his goodness in me, to breathe new life into my stagnate ways, new blessing, new intimacy with Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the bishops of the Church will act as true prophets through their faithful teaching, their courageous witness, and their self-sacrificing love. Let us pray to the Lord.

As our nation celebrates independence and freedom this weekend, for the grace to use that freedom to pursue our highest good in every dimension of our civic and national life. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the Church’s missions amongst the poor and unevangelized throughout the world, that the work of Christ may be carried out with truth and love. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those who share in the sufferings of Christ—the sick, the sorrowful, and those who are afflicted or burdened in any way.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. Let us pray to the Lord.

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