19th Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - Friday - Marriage Matters

 A few years ago, in 2016, Pope Francis issued a document called Amoris Laetitia, latin for “The Joy of Love”. Love, authentic love, brings authentic joy, particularly in the life of Christian families.

Love, practiced and cherished and striven for within the family, is to be a sign to the world of God’s love. Children are to learn that they are loved and how to love within a family. Spouses practice self-sacrificial love within the family.

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

We are seeing in our own day how faithless, disordered relationships, rampant promiscuity and unrestricted sexual license bring so much brokenness, so much sadness. Deviating from the plan of God yields joylessness and woundedness. 

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

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

So part of the Church’s mission regarding marriage is to help form individuals in the maturity—in the virtues and self-knowledge—necessary for happy, healthy, holy marriage. This is why we are constantly praying for families to cherish and study and practice and live out the word of God. This is why we take Christian education so seriously, which forms not just the intellect, but the whole person. This is why we try to instill a habit of daily examination of conscience—the daily examination that is needed to really get serious about rooting out selfishness, which is so devastating to family life.

Our culture tells us to abandon the institution of marriage, but the Church says, no. Marriage matters. Marriage is in fact vital for the future of humanity. And faithfulness to God's plan regarding marriage is possible. Because God is real and gives us grace. Pope Francis concludes Amoris Laetitia with encouragement and words of hope. He writes, “May we never lose heart because of our limitations, or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which God holds out before us.” Each of us are certainly called to a life full of love. May each of us strive for that Christ-like love and self-sacrifice which brings joy and life to the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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

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

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

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

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

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

August 15 2023 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin - "A great sign appeared in the sky"

 Throughout the Scriptures God uses signs and wonders to get people’s attention, to indicate that he is at work to save His people, to show his favor, to call sinners to repentance, or simply to demonstrate that He is God and we need to listen to Him.

The rainbow after the flood and the dove carrying the olive branch were signs indicated God’s peace and a new beginning for humanity.  The handwriting on the wall in Daniel chapter 5 was a sign indicating that the Babylonian rule of the Jewish people was coming to an end. Remember, the Judge Gideon asked for a sign that God would provide protection and victory over the soldiers of Baal—a fleece that remained immune to the morning dew. The plagues of Egypt were signs that God was serious about delivering his people from slavery. And the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night were signs that God was guiding his people to freedom.

Heavenly signs accompanied the birth of the savior: the star of Bethlehem, the virgin’s conception. And the Lord himself performed numerous signs to show that he was truly God and Messiah—the changing of water into wine, the miraculous feeding of the multitude, walking on water, healing the blind and the lame, raising the dead.

The twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation speaks of a sign—a sign that would signal the communion between heaven and earth forever—the sign of the woman--A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Our Lady assumed into heaven is the woman of Revelation--she is the great sign. 

Not only is her assumption a sign that she is favored by God, but a sign for all of us, a sign of God's protection and victory for his people, a sign that the rule of the enemy over our minds and bodies and souls has come to an end, a sign that is to guide the Church, a sign that we need to repent of all the ways that we are not like her.

God has given us a sign. This sign—the sign of Our Lady’s assumption—is a pledge and promise from God to all people, of all places, and all times that loving God as Mary loves God leads to heaven. 

Mary's Assumption is God's sign to us: every Christian who follows Mary's path of humility and fidelity to God's can look forward to following her into the glories and joys of heaven. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Those who hear and observe the Word of God, as Mary did, will enter into the beatitude of God, as she has. 

It is always good for us to honor our Lady, to celebrate the marvelous deeds God has worked in her and through her. And yet, today’s feast, is so tremendous, because it’s the stamp of guarantee. Love God, obey God, and your destiny will be with God forever. 

She is, as we sing in the salve regina, Mary is spes nostra: Our hope. Her Assumption enables us to truly call her our hope. What God has done for her, he promises he will do for us. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” is a promise from the lips of God, the Word made flesh. You will be blessed, if you become like her, and trust like her, and obey like her, seek to please God like her, and cooperate with the will of God.

She is our hope in another sense. For she is not just an inanimate road-sign, or map, or picture for us to gaze upon. She cooperated mightily with the will of God during her life on earth, and she continues to cooperate with the will of God from her place in heaven. She is at work in each of our lives to help us join her company. She will always help those who turn to her aid, come to that place prepared for each of us.

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

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May all members of the Church, like the Virgin Mary, magnify the goodness of God through word and deed.

That the Assumption of Mary may awaken government leaders to the supreme dignity of each human life, called to the heights of heavenly glory.

For all mothers, that they may find in Mary the example and strength to carry out their vocation, for the sanctification of all families, and the protection of all young people from the evils of error and sin.

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

For the deceased members of our family and friends, for all of the poor souls in purgatory…

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 - The need for quiet prayer

 Often times throughout the Scriptures we find our Lord going to a secluded place to pray. In the Gospel, we hear how after a very long and arduous day teaching the crowds, healing the sick, performing the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, seeing to the feeding of thousands of people, as the sun set, Jesus climbed a mountain in order to pray in solitude. His heart-to-heart prayer with His Father must have been a great consolation for the Lord, especially as he prepared to offer his life on the cross. 

The Lord’s own prayer is an example for all of us. As the master has done, so must the disciple. We need prayer, every day, to refresh us, and strengthen us, and guide us, in which we go to a quiet place, to church or a quiet room in our house, to focus our minds and hearts on God, in which we lift up our needs and the needs of our families, and we allow God to speak to us. Quiet solitude is often the place of divine encounter.

In the first reading from the first book of Kings: there was this loud earthquake, but the Lord was not heard in the loud earthquake, there was this loud booming fire, but the Lord was not heard in the booming fire, there was a strong driving wind, but the Lord was not heard in the wind. Rather, it was in the tiny whispering sound.  God’s voice was detected and heard in the quiet. The lesson here is that we must become quiet in order to hear the voice of God. We are often deaf to the voice of God because we have failed to become quiet enough to hear Him.  He wants to speak quiet piercing words to our hearts which help us to fall in love with Him; but if we have the television going, the iphones going, the video games going all the time, and so we do not hear him.  

Recall the Gospel story of the Lord healing the deaf man: the Lord places his fingers in the ear of the deaf man and says, “ephphatha” and his ears are opened. The Lord opens our ears so that we may hear his voice. The Lord wishes to perform that same healing for us. Prayer is part of the remedy for spiritual deafness, but also that healing requires the removal of those things which are causing too much noise.

Oftentimes its our own anxious thoughts keep us from prayer. Now of course, we are allowed to bring our anxieties to God, and we should. Daily we should be honest with God, and let him know what is causing us fear and anxiety: “Dear Lord, these are the things that are causing me anxiety right now.” But anxious fretting is not prayer. Rather, prayer is needed which surrenders to God and hands over those anxieties so we can experience the peace of his presence, to ask God to give us strength to bear our crosses, that his will be done, like Our Lord prayed in the Garden.

With the busyiness of life, it is often difficult to find time to pray, but it is necessary to make time. Christians do well to recall that prayer is essential for the Christian life. It’s essential. It’s a pillar without which the temple will crumble, the foundation without which our houses will fall. The Scriptures are clear: Christians need to pray. Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation.

The Christian Life involves learning how to pray, learning to imitate the Lord, who himself drew near in faithful communion to his Father. And it does involve learning; for St. Paul admits, “we do not know how to pray as we ought”. But just because they are unknown waters, doesn’t mean we aren’t to traverse them, or become immersed in them. The Holy Spirit will teach you how to swim in the ocean of prayer, if you let him. But you have to practice, and you have to prioritize.

And the more we pray, the happier we become. The more we pray, the less anxious we become, and we are filled with a greater peace of mind and heart. The more we pray, the more we understand ourselves, for we come to know God more intimately, and we really only know ourselves to the degree that we know God personally. The more we pray, the more we begin to see the hand of God in our day to day life—we see Him acting in our life. We begin to see that He loves us, personally. 

Prayer isn’t to be a sporadic or undisciplined practice where we only pray when we need something really badly. Rather, the Christian is to develop a habit of prayer, a habitual practice, as habitual as eating, maybe more so. Because there may be days where we don’t get to eat, but we must still pray. I think of so many Christians who have been imprisoned, where prayer sustained them. 

Prayer brings protection from the waves and storms which seek to overcome us. Through prayer, the Lord deepens our faith and trust, enabling us like Peter to walk on the waters toward Him. 

Prayer also protects our hearts from going astray toward sin. Prayer keeps us from greed that seeks to secure happiness in created things. Prayer keeps us from lust that seeks happiness in the pleasures of the flesh. Prayer keeps us from pride which seeks to build a life without God’s help. Failure to pray is a sign that we’ve failed to put our lives in God’s hands. That we are failing in the first beatitude, for to be poor in spirit is to allow God to be in control. Prayer surrenders control to God. 

Prayer also protects us from the deceptions of the evil one. The Devil is superior to us in intelligence and willpower. We are not smart enough to outwit him and to see through his lies on our own. We need God’s help and that comes through prayer. Where there is division, hatred, unforgiveness and animosity, there is a failure to pray. 

At bare minimum, each day we need, what I call a prayer sandwich, like two thin slices of bread, with a bunch meat and goodies in the middle. Begin the day, with simple prayer, as I mentioned last week, a prayer in the morning asking God to guide your day, to fill your day with His light, and then pray the hail mary; and then a prayer at the end of the day, before laying down to bed, in which you make a brief examination of your conscience and repent of your sins and thank God for the blessings. And then pray the hail mary, or the hail holy queen.

But then, you still need the meat, the stuffing, and that’s where scripture reflection, meditation, and contemplation, come in. A break, somewhere in the day, where it is just you and God, like Jesus in the Gospels going to that secluded place to pray. Bring to God the deep stuff, your deepest struggles. Open the Scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to pray with God’s word, to open your mind and heart to be pierced and illuminated by God’s Word.

St. John Vianney wrote, “When we pray with attention and humility of mind and heart, we quit the earth and rise to Heaven.  We reach the outstretched arms of God." Recall how in the Gospel, the  Lord extendshis hands to lift Peter out of the depths. This happens to us when we pray.

May we accept the invitation of the Lord to walk on the water toward Him in prayer, toward Him who is our delight, our Lord, that he may be the firm foundation of our lives for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

August 11 2023 - St. Clare of Assisi - To love and serve God is everything

 The idea of entering a monastery in order to pursue a life of prayer and joyful communion with the Lord, like St. Clare, is quite foreign to the vast majority of the world today.  Our modern culture tells our young people that they cannot be happy unless they abandon the values of the past and create themselves anew. They are told that religion has nothing to offer—and to seek happiness is riches and internet celebrity and positions of power in the corporate or political world. 

But St. Clare rightly discerned that there is something more than the world has to offer. Clare was raised in an aristocratic Italian family, she lived in a castle, she wore rich clothing and jewels, and was to marry a noble prince. 

However, she met the son of a cloth merchant, who had left behind the trappings of the world in order to follow Christ in radical poverty and charity, St. Francis of Assisi. Francis, radiated a profound joy, that attracted of thousands and thousands of followers in the first few years of his ministry. Clare desired that joy, and so determined to dedicate her life to pursuing the joy that the world cannot give, the joy that comes from radical discipleship, on Palm Sunday in the year 1212, Clare left her family home, to consecrate herself to Christ. At the altar of Our Lady, Clare traded her rich clothing for the rough brown woolen habit of the Franciscans; she exchanged her jeweled belt for a common rope with three knots to symbolize poverty, chastity, and obedience, and caught off her long golden tresses.  Thus she became espoused to Christ.  Her sister Agnes, 14 years old, soon joined her, as did several other women, in the following weeks.

They lived a simple life of poverty, austerity, and seclusion from the world.  Clare and her consecrated religious sisters went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat, and observed almost complete silence.  This was the beginning of the cloistered order of Franciscan nuns known as the Poor Clares, thus the Virgin Clare was made the mother of countless virgins consecrated to Christ.

It took a lot of courage for clare to leave behind her old life, just as it takes a lot of courage for young people today to discern a religious vocation. But it’s a vocation the Church needs, that humanity needs, to remind us that there is something beyond the gold and fame and power of the world, something that all of us should do everything in our power to obtain. 

Not all of us are called to religious life, but all of us are called to pursue holiness as much as we possibly can. Christ tells us to love God with our whole, heart, mind, soul, and strength. And St. Clare challenges us. Am I seeking to love God as much as I can? Am I seeking to serve God as much as I can?

The Lord promises in the Gospel “everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more”. Why am I so slow to trust him? What would I give up if I trusted God a little a bit more? What is God inviting me to give up in order to love Him and serve Him for deeply?

May we, like Clare, trust God enough, love God enough, may we have the courage enough to follow him out of the luxury of the world, away from the empty promises of our culture, to pursue the promises of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For an increase in vocations to the consecrated religious life, that young people may hear the Lord calling them to radical holiness, and for the Poor Clares and all those consecrated religious under St. Clare’s patronage, for their sanctification, and that they may be a witness to the whole Church to seek the holiness for which we were made.

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

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

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

August 9 2023 - St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - Turn toward the Eternal

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

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

10 years later she imitated Theresa of Avila by entering the Carmelite convent and took the name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.  It was 1933, Adolf Hitler was Chancellor of Germany.

For 9 years, Sister Teresa cultivated holiness through the beautiful Carmelite way of life. She wrote, “In order to be an image of God, the spirit must turn to what is eternal, hold it in spirit, keep it in memory, and by loving it, embrace it in the will.”

As a young philosophy student her "turn to the eternal" led her deeply into the heart of God. So many of our young people and our contemporaries could learn from her. Instead of living for earthly things that will pass away, we must like her turn toward the eternal, love it, and embrace it. 

Her turn toward the eternal led her to the Carmelite Order. But for each of us who turn toward the eternal, and pursue it with seriousness, we will find the fulfillment God wants for us, and the fulfillment of our purpose.

But that means learning to saying no to the temporal, to detach from the earthly, to fast from the nonessentials in order to pursue what is most essential. “In order to be an image of God, the spirit must turn to what is eternal, hold it in spirit, keep it in memory, and by loving it, embrace it in the will.”

In 1942, the Nazi’s arrested Sister Teresa.  She and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, were transported to Auschwitz in Poland by boxcar.  One week later, Sister Teresa died in a gas chamber.

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

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For all those who wander in atheism, agnosticism, those who are cynical towards Catholicism, for moral relativists, and those who reject the Faith and all lapsed Catholics: may the Holy Spirit will help them discover the Truth of Christ. 

That the Holy Father, the Bishops and all Clergy and Religious will be shining examples of fidelity to the Truth.

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

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

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

August 8 2023 - St. Dominic & The Pro-Life Rosary

 St. Dominic is the Founder of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominican Friars, and lived around the same time period as Francis and Clare. Dominic was born in Spain around 1170 to an old noble Castilian family. Supported by a priest uncle, he was well educated, and had a great love of Sacred Scripture and for the poor.  

As a young priest, he accompanied his bishop on a diplomatic mission to Northern Europe, and while staying with innkeepers in southern France, he came face-to-face with a heresy that was sweeping through Europe, the Albigensian heresy. 

The Albigensians claimed to be Christians, but also held the erroneous belief that the created material world is evil. They denied that God truly became man in Christ, and also our doctrine of the resurrection, believing material bodies to be evil. They denied the good of marriage, and procreation. 

St. Dominic stayed up all night to convert the Albigensian innkeepers. And he came to recognize within himself this deep desire to help souls in error come to the true faith. Following his mission, Dominic made pilgrimage to the Pope, and brought to the Pope’s attention this heresy that was sweeping throughout Europe. Consequently, the pope personally asked Dominic to devote himself to preaching to and seeking the conversion of the Albigensians. By spreading the devotion of the rosary and demonstrating the Truth of our Faith from Scripture, Dominic won many converts. 

Now, one might say, St. Dominic was successful, because, there aren’t a lot of Albigensians walking around. But, in a sense there are, a lot of them. There are a lot of people these days who hold a lot of the same errors as the Albigensians. There are people who deny that the child in the womb is good, and so they justify it’s destruction. There are people who deny the good of their bodies created by God, and so they justify mutilating their bodies in sex-change operations. There are people who deny the good of marriage and procreation. And of course there are many who deny the incarnation of Christ and the resurrection. 

Tell you what though, I’ve never met anyone who prayed the rosary devoutly who held these errors. The rosary is a means to convert the modern day Albigensians. We need to get rosaries in their hands, and teach them to love this great prayer. The rosary given by Our Lady herself to St. Dominic is the battering ram that can topple these horrible errors which lead souls away from God. This voting day, is a perfect day for praying the rosary for the defense of life and for the conversion of those who do not value bodily life as a gift from the Creator. 

May St. Dominic assist us in our modern day campaign to bring souls to the Truth of Christ, Truth which is a share in God’s beauty and goodness, the Truth which leads to human flourishing and eternal life, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

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That the pope, bishops, and clergy may be filled with constancy in teaching and living out the Gospel, and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to our life-giving faith in word and deed.

That our nation, and the State of Ohio, especially on this voting day, may be guided by God’s wisdom as we seek the defense of children and families from laws harmful to life.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, especially for the Dominican Orders. 

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for those recovering from surgery, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families.

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

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Dominic, help us preach the truth of Christ always and everywhere. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

August 7 2023 - St. Cajetan - Trust in God at all times

 

Saint Cajetan, the founder of the Clerics Regular, who was born in 1480 and died on this day in 1547, lived at a profoundly troubled time in the life of the Church. There was corruption in the hierarchy. There was Protestant Revolt. There was moral decay throughout society going uncorrected by the clergy, many of whom were either complicit in immorality or indifferent to it. The Church was “sick in head and members”.

The italian priest, Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene, knew something had to be done. He knew that the soundness of life of the Church depended upon a holy clergy, and so renewal in the Church required clerical reform. 

So, Fr. Gaetano, or Cajetan, formed an association of the regular clergy who would model the life of the Apostles. The Ordo Clericorum Regularium, the Ordo of Clerics Regular also known as the Theatines after the birthplace of St. Cajetan.

The Theatines would live in community and take vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability. They endeavored to recall the local clergy to an edifying life of virtue and the laity as well. They founded oratories and hospitals, devoted themselves to preaching the Gospel, and reformed lax morals. and zealously endeavored to combat the errors of Martin Luther. They wore the simple black cassock of the local clergy.

While the Theatines have diminished in number, they are still present in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.S., where they maintain a parish at Durango, Colorado in the Diocese of Pueblo. 

At a most bleak moment in the life of the Church, the light of Christ shown forth in the life and work of Saint Cajetan, of the priests who joined him, and in other saintly faithful who would not permit discouragement to overcome them.

Discouragement is a temptation in this dark time. St. Cajetan, as the collect for his feast said, trusted God at all times. He trusted that God chose him for that moment in history, that dark time.

And so, I repeat my message from Sunday’s homily, the Lord chose us to be born and live in this time. To be beacons of light and reform. We are to ourselves ever more ardently to the service of Christ and the Church, trusting in His word: “Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid to witness, do not be afraid to pursue virtue, do not be afraid to do penance, do not be afraid of imitating the saints. Do not be afraid of entering religious life, or the priesthood. Do not be afraid to pursue the prayer life you need, in order to witness to Christ as you should. 

If you could do anything for God, what would you do? Maybe that’s the thing you should be pursuing. For the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That Pope Francis and all bishops and clergy may lead the Church by example in witnessing to the truth of the Gospel with courage and living the Gospel with charity and perseverance, and for the reform of the clergy where it is needed.

That the light of Christ may radiate in our parish through our reverent worship, works of mercy, preaching and teaching, patience, kindness, generosity, and suffering for the sake of the Gospel.

That politicians and government officials may protect religious freedom, promote virtue, and look to the law of Christ to guide their work for the good of nations and the human race, especially for the protection of the unborn.

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

August 6 2023 - Transfiguration - Jesus Christ is God and King

This week I watched a brilliant little film with a priest friend of mine. Neither of us had heard of it before, and so we gave it a chance, and it was pretty good. It was called “The Coldest Game”. The movie takes place during the Cold War between America and Communist Russia on the very eve of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962. The main character, this American math professor and former international grand master chess champion is tapped by the US government to represent the united states in a chess match against the soviet world champion. 

As the movie progresses, the math professor realizes that there’s more going on than a game of chess. He discovers that the government agents who brought him to the tournament are using this trying to gain intelligence from a Russian spy regarding the soviet’s intentions with their ballistic missiles equipped submarines off the coast of Cuba.

I wasn’t around in 1962, but historians tell us that the Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war—which would have basically meant annihilation for the human race.

And, this math professor realizes what is at stake. H was around when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during world war ii—and the great threat nuclear war poses for our planet.

For many who grew up in the 1950s and 60s and throughout the Cold War, the threat of Nuclear Conflict was constantly looming. The basement for this church was a bomb shelter, we still even have the bomb shelter sign on the church exterior. The anxiety over nuclear annihilation was felt by many. 

The Church over the past 60 years has worked to diminish the possibility of nuclear war through her teachings and in her diplomatic activity. And thanks be to God there were treaties signed between the US and Russia to limit the possibility of nuclear war, like the one limiting intermediate-range ballistic missiles like those at play during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Sadly, due to Russia’s supposed lack of compliance with the that treaty, the USA has pulled out as well. Several other nations have access to nuclear weapons.

Why do I bring any of this up on the feast of the Transfiguration? Because amidst all of the anxiety inducing chaos and corruption and war and the threats of war right now, what is revealed in the Transfiguration is that Jesus Christ is God, and God is in charge. And that if the world wants peace, it needs Jesus Christ, to acknowledge that He is the beloved Son of the Father, and that we must listen to Him. The Feast of the Transfiguration is like a combination of Trinity Sunday and Christ the King. Because the Transfiguration celebrates that Jesus Christ is God and King.

In the book of the prophet Daniel we read of how God, the Ancient One, sits on his throne, “His clothing bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; his throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire.” And how does Matthew describe the Lord Jesus’ transfiguration? Jesus takes his disciples up the mountain, like the mountain upon which God sits as King enthroned in his Holy Temple, “And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” Jesus Christ is God. The great prophets Moses and Elijah attend to Him as servants around his throne. 

And this Truth is so vital for us to remember. Which is why St. Peter in his epistle writes how the Church must draw great strength from the Transfiguration. “You will do well to be attentive to it,” he writes, “as to a lamp shining in a dark place.”

Why? St. Peter knows, God knows, how our earthly journeys involve a lot of darkness. Sometimes, it seems like our earthly journey is nothing but darkness. There are periods of history which are darker than others—dark because the light of faith is obscured and eclipsed by the world. And we need the light of faith—faith that Jesus Christ is God and we must listen to Him.

There are dark and filthy philosophies at work in our society which are succeeding in corrupting minds and hearts—hardening hearts against God and the Truth of the Christian Gospel. Darkness pervades this neighborhood and this city: real moral decay caused by faithlessness, so many turning to drugs instead of turning to God. Jesus Christ is not enthroned in the hearts of many people in this neighborhood. He has been dethroned in the hearts of many people who were baptized in this very church. 

And perhaps that dethronement occurred as a result of scandal, or mediocre catechesis, or the corrupting influences in modern society, but part of our enduring parish mission is to assist souls in making Jesus Christ King of their hearts again or for the first time. 

And that mission is facilitated by the light of faith shining more brightly in each of our lives. Each one of you are sharers in the mission of this parish. It’s no accident you are here. Because you are chosen by God for a share of the mission of shining the light of faith in this very dark time in history. 

And so I’m asking you to consider, what would it look like if you allowed the light of faith to shine a little more brightly. What would it take for the light to shine more brightly in your life? 

I have a couple of recommendations. 1) If you are able, come to mass on a weekday or two. When we are gathered together in prayer, our individual lights become a bonfire. 2) Come to Eucharistic Adoration at least once a month on Saturdays or on First Friday evenings. 3) Increase the number of times per year you are going to the Sacrament of Confession—it will dissipate the smoke of Satan in your life. 4) Friday is a day in which all Catholics are bound to do some act of Penance. Get serious about that. Abstain from meat on Fridays if you are able. 5) Say grace before every meal, in private or public. 6) Meditate on Scripture every day. A day should not go by without meditating on the Truths of God contained in God’s Word. 7) Put a crucifix in your house so it can be seen by anyone who visits. 8)  Begin and end every day with prayer: a prayer in the morning asking God to guide your day, to fill your day with His light, and then pray the hail mary; and then a prayer at the end of the day, before laying down to bed, in which you make a brief examination of your conscience and repent of your sins and thank God for the blessings. And then pray the hail mary, or the hail holy queen. 

If it feels like the darkness is encroaching in your life, increase the light by strengthening your faith. Pope Francis writes, “Faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey.”

In the beautiful and faith-filled words of Pope Benedict: “in spite of all darkness God ultimately triumphs in glory. Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love. Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God. To experience love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world.” For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

August 4 2023 - St. John Vianney - Persevering in Prayer

 When St. John Vianney arrived in the small village in Ars, it was just like other villages in France in the wake of the French Revolution, that is, there was the loss of faith.  The local taverns seemed to be the center of the life of the village. The people were given over to worldliness and pleasure seeking; they were indifferent to the faith and the things of religion. 

But the new pastor ventured out to gather in his scattered sheep: he visited families, got to know them, got to know their moral situation; above all, he prayed:  he was seen to wake up early and go to the blessed sacrament to beg conversion for his parishioners. 

Two prayers were the bulwark of John Vianney’s prayer life, the Divine Office and the Holy Rosary.  He could be seen going from home to home praying his office as he traveled; and also the rosary, asking Our Lady for the grace of conversion for his parishioners.  He would also hand out rosaries to encourage that devotion among his parishioners.

After 8 years, there was a transformation in the village of Ars.  What was at first a place of lukewarmness with respect to the faith became fervent.  There was regular attendance at Mass among the villagers, and long lines for the confessional: John Vianney often spent over 12 hours a day in the confessional, sometimes 16 to 18 hours. By the time of his death, a special railway was established for the number of pilgrims coming to Ars, up to 120,000 people per year.

St. John Vianney is the patron of priests, and also a shining example for all Christians. Perseverance and constant prayer are needed in our mission of spreading the Gospel. God sends us into those lukewarm, faithless places to rekindle faith and to spread the faith anew. And we mustn’t become disheartened when our efforts are not met with immediate success. It takes time for hearts to become warmed to the Gospel, to begin to see the emptiness in living without God. 

Constant prayer helps us to remain attuned to God and the heart of the Shepherd, so that we do not become disheartened. Prayer helps us love the godless with compassion and patience. 

St. John Vianney said: ”My dear brethren, not only is prayer very efficacious, but, even more, it is of the utmost necessity for overcoming the enemies of salvation.”  The enemies and obstacles to salvation in our day are great, may we be fervent in prayer for all those who have fallen away or do not know Christ, and that we may be faithful in working for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That through the intercession of St. John Vianney, Patron of Parish Priests, faith, hope, and charity may increase in the priests of the Church, particularly those experiencing vocational crisis and those most in need of our prayers.

For a deeper love for and devotion to the Eucharist, for those who do not believe in the Real Presence, for the spread of the Eucharistic Reign of Christ in society. For the conversion of the irreligious in our neighborhood. 

That our young people on summer vacation may remain close to Jesus through prayer, attendance at Holy Mass with their families, repentance through Sacramental Confession, and faithfulness to all the teachings of Christ. 

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families. We pray to the Lord.

For 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.

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.

August 1 2023 - St. Alphonsus Ligouri - Divine Love and Suffering

 In 1731, a very holy nun, Sr. Maria Celeste, who has been recently beatified by Pope Francis, had a vision of our Lord with St. Francis on His right hand and a priest on His left. A voice told her, “This is he whom I have chosen to be head of My Institute, the Prefect General of a new Congregation of men who shall work for My glory.” This priest had spent his early priesthood as a missionary, preaching in parishes, seeking to renew the faith in a society where the faith was languishing, the priest was Fr. Alphonsus Ligouri, who, a year later in 1732, began the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known now as the Redemptorists, a preaching order who endure to this day.

I remember a Redemptorist priest coming to my home parish in Madison when I was a young boy for a preaching mission, and it really was one of the first stirring homilies I remember.

St. Alphonsus was a tremendously popular preacher. His clear and organized sermons had universal appeal. And he was successful in his mission, the renewal of hearts, the renewal of faith.

And no doubt the devil hated him. After the founding of his order, St. Alphonsus had a life rife with persecutions and betrayals. His companions began to abandon him as they did not want to live under the strict Redemptorist Rule, and the Congregation was rife with division. He suffered lifelong persecution from the Prime Minister of Naples.  After being made Bishop he suffered assassination attempts.

Troubled with ill health, by the time the saint was 85, he was crippled, mostly blind, and deaf. He suffered from a raw wound on his chest made from the constant rubbing of his chin upon it due to his badly bent neck from rheumatic disease. He additionally suffered the “dark night” of his soul, replete with many interior struggles and trials.

Despite his own sufferings, he penned many moral, dogmatic, and devotional works to aid his flock and the Church. His famous work “Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament” saw 40 editions in his own lifetime and greatly influenced the practice of Eucharistic Adoration. His “Glories of Mary” is one of the most widely used devotionals to the Blessed Mother. These and his many other writings were instrumental in his being named a Doctor of the Church.

His willingness to suffer for God and for the Church, and his patience in doing so were sure signs of his love for God, and perhaps a source of his efficacy. Alphonsus writes about suffering, “The brightest ornaments in the crown of the blessed in heaven are the sufferings which they have borne patiently on earth”—”the sufferings endured for God are the greatest proof of our love for Him”—" By the law of nature, there is no pleasure in suffering; but divine love, when it reigns in a heart, makes it take delight in its sufferings” in other words, love of God transforms suffering for God into a delight. 

Many Christians, likely most of us at times, neglect the work God wants them to do because they run away from suffering, from doing anything difficult, habituated to seeking only comfort. But St. Alphonsus reminds us that when we bear our crosses with love like Christ, the cross is transformed into the most powerful instrument for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For the grace to accept sufferings for the work of the Gospel. 

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Redemptorist Order, founded by St. Alphonsus, and for the sanctification of all marriages. 

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families. 

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

O God, 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 31 2023 - St. Ignatius of Loyola - Discernment

 While convalescing from a military injury, the young soldier Ignatius of Loyola discerned that the pursuits of the flesh, fame, wealth, and power brought him emptiness and disappointment, where the pursuits of the spirit, as lived out in the lives of the saints and the famous spiritual volume, The imitation of Christ, brought him a sense of completeness and true peace.

Ignatius uncovered a truth that runs through Scripture and the spiritual tradition. Seeking God, seeking to please God, obeying God, conforming to God’s will brings peace, where serving idols, seeking selfish aim, obeying only bodily appetites, conforming to the world brings exhaustion, unhappiness, guilt, and restlessness. St. Paul writes to the Galatians: “the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit.”

Ignatius initial discernment led him to give his life over to the greater glory of God. AMDG, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam “for the greater glory of God”, became the motto of the Jesuit Order which he founded, which took the traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, as well as a special fourth vow of unconditional obedience to the Holy Father: to go wherever the pope should send them for the salvation of souls.

We all do well to engage in this type of discernment: examining our life and identifying the things and pursuits that take away our spiritual peace and joy and begin detaching ourselves from them. Sin brings me exhaustion and guilt, well, let’s root out the sin. Service brings me happiness and fulfillment, well let’s engage in more of that then. Where can I work more service into my life. 

In addition to this basic type of discernment, Ignatius’ developed rules for discerning God’s will for our lives. We know we are all called to cultivate virtue, to remain faithful in temptation, and engage in prayer and works of charity, and that God wants all of us to be united with Him, to serve Him, to utilize our gifts in service, but how? For each of us that’s different. Ignatius’ rules can be utilized to discern is God calling me to priesthood or religious life. Is God calling me to some form of missionary activity, a particularly serious penance for the good of souls, a change of career. 

Ignatius also developed what is called the daily examen, a daily discernment prayer, prayed at  at the end of the day, to reflect on the day’s activities, to review the events of the day and consider, did I follow God’s initiative or my own, did I sew in the field of the flesh, or the field of the spirit. Then, in silence and peace, to express thankfulness for the gifts and blessings of the day, and ask repentance for our failure to live up to our Christian identity. Then finally, to ask God to help us resolve to grow and trust in the loving guidance of God tomorrow.

Rather than following our own whims, St. Ignatius helps us to remember that we must apply the wisdom of the scriptures and the saints to discerning God’s will in our lives—for our sanctification, and for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

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For deliverance from all disordered affections and attitudes, for detachment from earthly goods in order to value the goods of heaven, that the Holy Spirit may guide our discernment for God’s service. We pray.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, for the Society of Jesus, and that we may all be dedicated to the greater glory of God. 

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

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests, religious, especially for all deceased Jesuits who have served our local Church, 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.