33rd Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - Monday - Persevering faith amidst a culture of death

 300 years before the birth of Christ, Alexander the Great embarked on a mission to Hellenize the world—that is, to spread the greek language, the greek culture, the greek Gods.  He conquered vast territories from Greece, down to Egypt, and just shy of India to the east.  

But Alexander didn’t plan well; he died suddenly leaving his vast empire, which included Israel, to his generals—Ptolemy and Seleucus. Judea was initially under Ptolemaic rule, but fell to the Seleucids around 200 BC.

Ptolemaic rule was fairly sensitive and tolerant of the Jewish religion, but things changed when the Seleucid tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes came to power, whose
name we heard in the first read today.  Radical Hellenization was imposed under penalty of death-- the Jews could not worship, nor could they practice their faith in any way that distinguished them from the Gentiles. So they could not observe the Sabbath, they could not observe the laws of circumcision.

And we also heard how some of the Jews believed it was expedient to go along with Hellenization. And they even influence the jewish king to order that the jews abandon the precepts of the Mosaic Law in favor of the Greek custom—they were to abandon the laws of God for the laws of man. What a sell-out to the culture! This even led to the Holy Temple of Jerusalem dedicated to the One True God becoming a place of pagan worship and pagan sacrifice.

As people of faith, we need to be in the world, but not of the world. There can be no compromise between the laws of God and the laws of man. 

In the Gospel, a blind man is hindered by the crowd in approaching Jesus in order to be healed by him. The crowd here is similar to the Greeks and the hellenized jews in the first reading. There are many worldly forces that will keep us from approaching Jesus, even compromised Christians will try to convince us that we are taking our faith too seriously. 

But we must persevere. If the world seeks to drown out our cries for Jesus, we need to cry out all the more. If the world seeks to distract us from following Jesus, we need to draw close to Him all the more. If Christians abandon the work of the Gospel, we need to endeavor in that work all the more. If born and raised Catholics abandon the Sacraments, we need to make use of them all the more, lest we become like them, instead of becoming like Christ.

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That we may endeavor to put our time, talent, treasure, creativity, and devotion into serving the mission of the Gospel. 

For a strengthening of Christian marriages; for an increase in virtue among spouses; for healing in troubled marriages; and for God’s mercy to replace bitterness, resentment, and selfishness. 

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we pray for the safety of travelers, the peaceful resolution of all family divisions and national hostilities, for protection from disease, and harmony amongst all those who gather; for the lonely and forgotten, and that holy gratitude may fill our hearts and animate our lives.

For the safety of police and firefighters, for first responders, the underemployed and unemployed, for those struggling with addiction, for the incarcerated, for those suffering from depression or burn-out, and for the sick and dying. 

We pray in a special way during this Month of November, for all of the faithful departed, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for all the souls in purgatory, and for…

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.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2022 - Hope in the Resurrection and Courage

Throughout the Gospels we hear of the different religious and political factions of Jesus’ day. You had the scribes, the pharisees, the herodians, the saducees, the zealots, and the essenes. 

The Pharisees were the most influential religious leaders in our Lord’s day. They were the popular experts in theology and morality. If you had a religious or moral question—how to apply a particular scripture passage to your life or circumstance—you went to a pharisee for a religious answer.

Oftentimes the Pharisees interpretations were right on the money, consistent with revealed Truth, however they also got in trouble with imposing their own personal opinions—in a rigid manner. Hence the term, Pharisaical. However, the pharisees rightly taught that at the end of time, God would raise the dead—in the resurrection. 

Their teaching on the resurrection was drawn from the later books of the Old Testament—like second book of Maccabees, from which we read this weekend: “God will raise us up to live again forever." Rightly said!

The Pharisees believed this, and Jesus himself taught this: that the righteous will be raised to the resurrection of eternal life, and the wicked, those who reject God and his laws will be condemned to the resurrection of eternal damnation.

In the Gospel this weekend, we hear of the Sadducees. And the Sadducees rejected the later books of the old testament, like the second book of Maccabees, as do many Protestants by the way. And because the Sadducees didn’t find the doctrine of the resurrection in the first five books of the bible--in the Torah—they rejected belief in the resurrection. The Sadducees reject the resurrection which is why they were sad-you-see? 

The Sadducees were not only religious rivals but also political rivals to the Pharisees. For the Sadducees collaborated with the Romans, who the Pharisees and most of Israel saw as enemy occupants, a foreign power who had no business in Israel. But this political alliance was calculated, and for allying themselves with the Romans, the Sadducees enjoyed some political power and also wealth. 

And it kind of makes you wonder: did the Sadducees start living worldly, pleasure-centered politically motivated lives because they had lost faith in the Resurrection, or did they lose faith in the Resurrection because they started living worldly, pleasure-centered lives? There is an old proverb that says if we don't live according to what we believe, we will soon believe according to how we live. 

This is a danger for us in the Church today, because the prevailing values in our society are not Christian. The Church's moral teachings are laughed at and even violently opposed. Chesterton said: “These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.” There are even some Catholics who, embarrassed at or opposed to Church teaching, seek to exert social, political, and financial pressure on Church leaders to change Church teaching, as if our moral teachings did not come directly from Christ. 

Anti-religious sentiment makes it difficult, doesn’t it, to even discuss our faith? No one likes to be laughed at, no one likes to be excluded from mainstream culture, criticized, labeled or hated. But in the face of these challenges, if we lose courage and deviate from Christ, we will end up like the Sadducees, losing the very faith that leads to eternal life—we will be sad-you-see?

Courage. C.S. Lewis says, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” When we pray for courage, we are praying, that in the moment when virtue is hardest, our trust in God will overcome the vice—and overcome fear.

We need Courage to overcome Gluttony: at that moment where we want more than we should, we need to have the courage to say, “I don’t need that. It’s not good for me” and to turn away from the excess. We need courage to overcome Lust: at the moment when our powerful bodily urges desire pleasure that is forbidden, we need to have the courage to say, “I don’t need that. It’s not good for me” and turn away from the perversion.

We need courage to practice real sacrificial kindness, too: in that moment where we second guess the inspiration to help someone, reaching out to a stranger, we need the courage to say: “of course kindness is better than walking away. I need to get out of my house and perform more acts of kindness.”

And we need courage when it comes time to share our faith: in that moment where we become fearful of sharing our faith, or fearful that someone might reactive negatively, we need the courage to tell ourselves: Jesus calls us to share our faith. Just do it.” Or when we are tempted to compromise our faith—we need courage to say, “this is what God has revealed, it must be right.”

Our first reading this weekend is such a powerful image of courage: a mother and her seven sons were arrested and tortured in attempt to force them to violate God's law. And one of the sons speaking for the whole family says, “We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of God.” That’s courage. We need that form of courage, in facing our sins and working for the mission of the Church. I’d rather die than violate God’s law. Woe to me, if I don’t share the Gospel. 

So, if Courage is needed, where does Courage come from? It comes, of course, from God. When we praise the martyrs for the Courage, we are praising the God who gave them such Courage.

Courage comes from God, and so we need to go to God for courage, daily. This is why daily prayer is so vitally important. Daily we need to bring all the things that are testing your faith to God and pray for God to help us at those testing points—when faced with temptation. God give me courage to overcome my addiction. God give me courage to turn away from social media in order to study and pray. God give me courage to get more involved in volunteer work. God give me courage to keep my mouth shut when I feel insulted. God give me courage to hold back that snarky remark. God give me courage to share my faith with the faithless, to reach out to family members who have fallen away from the faith, to encourage them to come home. God give me courage to bring my embarrassing sins to Sacramental Confession.

I’m a priest and my faith is tested every day, my guess is yours is too; there are many testing points every day, and we all need to pray assiduously for courage. 

Also, the truths of our faith give us courage. When faced with torture and death, the family in the first reading recalls that remaining true and faithful to the laws of God will be rewarded in eternal life. We are to live for eternity—to live with eternity in mind. To turn our faces from God in this life, may result in the loss of the beatific vision for ever. 

Pope Francis said recently: “Courage is needed for the Kingdom of God to grow.” May we cultivate and exhibit real Christian courage, that the kingdom will grow in our midst, in our hearts, in our land. May we courageously turn away from sin and turn away from fear; and turn towards God and his kingdom in prayer, faith, and works of charity, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

33rd Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Friday - Cleansing the Temple: An ongoing battle

 The first and second books of Maccabees in the Old Testament tell the story of a Jewish revolt against the occupying Greek government that began 175 years before the birth of Christ. 

The Greeks had great disdain for the Jews and sought to replace the Jewish faith and culture by importing as much Greek culture, philosophy, and religion into the holy land as possible. They went so far as to suppress Jewish worship in the Jerusalem Temple, placing the idol of a pagan God upon the altar, and allowing only pagan rituals to be performed there. 

After years of oppression, the Jews had enough and revolted against the Greeks. In the passage from first Maccabees we heard today, there had been an important victory, the Jerusalem temple had been reclaimed, cleansed, redecorated, and reconsecrated in an 8 day celebratory ritual. The anniversary of the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple is celebrated to this day by the Jews in the festival of Hanukah.   

Now, it’s going to be about 20-30 more years of hard fighting. A portion of the Jews will even side with the Greeks in the upcoming years and betray their own people. But notice, that in this effort to reclaim their land and drive out their oppressors, the faithful first reclaim their temple, cleanse it of foreign influence, and rededicate it to God in a celebratory festival.

This shows the priority of faith at work. The Maccabees recognized the importance of Temple first, God first, faith first, even in a time of war. They recognized that any true liberation from their enemy, victory in the only real war that matters, comes from God and must be directed by God. And knowing that they would face fierce retribution from the Greeks for taking back the temple, they took time to celebrate with joy.  What a powerful model for people of faith as we face what seems to be an ongoing war for our own culture.

About 175 years later, as we heard in our Gospel today, our Lord visited the temple, and he finds that worldly corruption has reentered the Temple once again, and it had been allowed to reenter, it had been welcomed by the Jewish authorities of the day—the pharisees, and scribes, and Sadducees, and Sanhedrin. The very ones that were supposed to be guarding the Temple, through negligence and their own selfishness and pride, had allowed worldly corruption to take the place of the worship of God.

So, the Lord leads a sort of one-man revolt, driving out those who have replaced prayer with thievery, and condemning those who have allowed corruption to flourish.

These two stories seem to indicate that God is pretty serious about keeping his Temple, keeping his Church free from corrupting influences—worldly error, selfish leaders, lukewarm faith. It is a perpetual task to remain vigilant against corruption, to learn our faith well, for truth is the great bulwark against error and heresy, and to pray, especially to Our Lady, to come to the aid of the Church, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For blessings upon the Bishops returning home from their annual meeting Baltimore that they may be men of deep faith, courage, and responsibility for the integrity and mission of the Church.

For the protection of our young people from the corrupting influences of our culture; and for families and communities experiencing division may know the peace and reconciliation that comes from Christ.

For all those struggling with addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, or for those who will die today: that they will be fortified and blessed with God’s special favor and consolation.  

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

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

4th Week of Easter 2021 - Tuesday - Jesus and Hanukkah

 

Several months after the Lord’s great discourse on the Good Shepherd, we read in today’s passage he’s still talking about sheep. This time he’s not talking to a group of pharisees, but to a group of Jews in Jerusalem who have made their way to the temple for the observance of the feast of the Dedication, what is called in Hebrew, Hannukah, which is still observed by Jews to this day.

What is Hanukkah? In the year 168 BC, the land of Judah was ruled over by the Greco-Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. The king started a massive persecution of the Jews, outlawing religious practices under pain of death and desecrating the temple by setting up in it a blasphemous statue of a pagan god. This sparked outrage among some Jews, leading to an armed Jewish rebellion called the Maccabean revolt named after its leader Judas Maccabaeus. A few years into the rebellion, the Jewish fighters recaptured the temple. They purified and rededicate it, making it suitable for worship once again. A joyous eight-day festival, Hanukkah, was instituted to celebrate the temple’s rededication and to praise God for victory.

The Lord’s teaching on sheep, hearing his voice, following him, being preserved from death, is particularly poignant in light of the Jewish festival being celebrated as he taught. For fresh in the minds of his audience was this Messiah figure, Judas Maccabaeus who brought salvation from the murderous blasphemous king. The Jews even ask him, are you the Messiah? In other words, have you come to do what Judas Maccabaeus has done?

And the Lord answers, “I’ve told you who I am, and you haven’t believed.” Yes, he’s a Messiah, but the salvation he’s come to bring, isn’t merely from a murderous blasphemous King, but from all the powers of darkness and sin and death. The Lord isn’t merely a human instrument of the God of Israel, like Judas Maccabaeus, he is one with the God of Israel, he IS the God of Israel. And Jesus says this, while walking in the Temple portico! 

You can guess what happens next. In the very next verse after today’s passage, we’d read of the Jews picking up rocks to stone Jesus to death for blasphemy! Because they’ve failed to believe that He is God, what Jesus just said is just as bad as King Antiochus erecting that blasphemous statue!

In contrast, Christians affirm and celebrate Jesus’ claim to be one with the Father. And we work and pray that all peoples may come to believe that He is the true light of the temple. He is the fulfillment of the Father’s plan of salvation. He is the Good Shepherd, and we do well to heed his voice and follow Him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For Pope Francis and Bishop Malesic, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd and for an increase in vocations to the ordained priesthood, and that our priests may serve the Church with the love and devotion of the Good Shepherd.

For our parish, that we may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ and his tender love for sinners and for the poor.

For members of Christ’s flock who have wandered far from the Church: for the desire and will to return to the Sacraments; for deliverance from all spiritual evils and an increase in virtue for the faithful. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: that they may know the peace and consolation of the Good Shepherd. Let us pray to the Lord.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

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

June 03 2020 - St. Charles Lwanga and Companions - Courage to preserve chastity

To many of us the name of the Ugandan Martyr Charles Lwanga is unfamiliar.  But, he is well-known and revered in much of tropical Africa as a patron saint of young people. Personally, I’ve grown increasingly devoted to this Courageous Saint over the past few years.

Uganda only began to be evangelized in the early to mid-1800s by the Society of Missionaries of Africa, known as the White Fathers because of the white cassock they wore. The earliest converts were soon preaching the Gospel in places inaccessible to the White Fathers. Charles Lwanga was among the early converts, and was a servant in the royal court of the Ugandan king, King Mwanga, who ruled in the south eastern part of the country.

Mwanga was a violent ruler and a pedophile who forced himself on the young boys and young men who served as his pages.  Following the violent death of the leader of the small Christian community within the court, Charles Lwanga took the leadership of offering Christian instruction within the community. When King Mwanga tried to force himself on these young men, Charles tried to serve as their protector, encouraged the young boys to preserve their chastity. For refusing the advances of the King, they were arrested and burned to death on June 3 by royal decree.

Charles and the 22 Ugandan martyrs are such valuable witnesses in a time where young people are increasingly at risk of falling to the perversions in our culture, and for all those who seek to practice Christian chastity in this over-sexualized age.

In that powerful reading from 2 Maccabees we hear of the unshakeable faith of the righteous young men. In the face of death, death by a king, they placed their trust and hope in God and in eternal life that can come only from Him: “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the God-given hope of being restored to life by him”

In the face of temptation, and when faced with threats from the world to compromise the Gospel, may we take courage in our hope of eternal life, that those who remain faithful to God in this life, will receive the great reward of glory in eternity, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the witness, sufferings, and death of the  martyrs may bring about rebirth of Christianity and civilization, in those places where faith and morals have diminished.

Through the intercession of St. Charles Lwanga, patron of youth, may our young people be protected from the perversion of our culture and be infused with virtue.

That religious indifference in our country and around the world may be transformed to radical commitment to the Gospel of Christ.

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 those who have fought and died for our freedom, and for The Smigovsky & Kermes Family, 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.

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FIRST READING          2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14
It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God's law.
One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said:
"What do you expect to achieve by questioning us?
We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors."
At the point of death he said:
"You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life,
but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.
It is for his laws that we are dying."
After him, the third suffered their cruel sport.
He put out his tongue at once when told to do so,
and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words:
"It was from Heaven that I received these;
for the sake of God's laws I disdain them;
from him I hope to receive them again."
Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man's courage,
because he regarded his sufferings as nothing.
After he had died,
they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way.
When he was near death, he said,
"It is my choice to die at the hands of men
with the God-given hope of being restored to life by him;
but for you, there will be no resurrection to life."


RESPONSORIAL PSALM           124:2-3, 4-5, 7b-8
Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est de laqueo venantium.

R./ (7) Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Had not the Lord been with us–
When men rose up against us,
    then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R./ Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
    over us then would have swept
    the raging waters.
R./ Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Broken was the snare,
    and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.
R./ Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.


ALLELUIA          Matt 5:3
Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


GOSPEL          Matthew 5:1-12a
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven."

33rd Week in OT 2019 - Wednesday - Living for God

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

33rd Week in OT 2019 - Tuesday - Examples of faith for young people and the whole nation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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