30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024 - Blind Bartimaeus and Priesthood Sunday

 

Since 2003, the last Sunday of October is designated as Priesthood Sunday— an opportunity for us to reflect upon the role of the ordained priesthood in the life of the Church.  

Today we welcome Tate Johnson, a second year seminarian at Borromeo Seminary here in Cleveland, who will speak to us after communion about his own discernment and formation for the priesthood.

For the homily today, I’d like to consider the role of the priest in light of our Gospel reading---the story of Bartimaeus.  The story offers several meaningful insights relevant to Priesthood Sunday and the priestly vocation and our own call to holiness.

The story begins with blind Bartimaeus crying out to Jesus. In the course of his ministry, the priest encounters countless people who are crying out to Jesus. Many of them, like Bartimaeus, have a hard time seeing Jesus due to the challenging circumstances of their life—a crisis, an illness, a unique encounter with the evils of the world or in their own heart. 

The priest helps people see Jesus. Particularly at Mass, right? The priest has a unique role in the Church to help others see Jesus. Through the celebration of the sacraments—the priest makes Jesus present through the sacramental rituals, particularly in the changing of bread and wine into the Lord’s Body and Blood so we can see Him present in our midst. Also in the homily, hopefully, each week, I help you see Jesus in the concrete details of your life. 

One of my favorite functions in the priestly ministry is to teach OCIA. I’m always pleased to meet those souls hungering, longing to see Jesus. And in those sessions their eyes become more and more attuned to Jesus present in the Catholic Church and come to understand the invitation Jesus makes to them—to come and be changed and transformed. 

Consider another detail in the Bartimeus story. Bartimaeus longs for Jesus, but many in the crowd make it difficult for him—they tell him that he is wasting his time. Similarly, there are many forces in the world today which tell us that we are wasting our time turning to the Lord and seeking to follow Him. The priest has a role in helping members of the Church to take courage in standing up against the worldly forces that seek to silence the Church and to ensure that we never ally ourselves with those terrible powers.

As many of you know, I was appointed by Bishop Malesic as Chaplain for an apostolate called Courage International which helps men and women with same-sex attraction live faithfully the Lord’s call to follow him. Now the world tells them, ah, just give in to your impulses. But, Christians recognize that not every impulse leads to Jesus. Rather, we need to restrain and discipline those impulses that are misaligned. And priests help others break through those wordly voices. Thanks be to God for those priests who tell us the truth and encourage us. 

Next in the story, Bartimaeus runs to Jesus, and Jesus surprisingly asks, “what do you want?” It’s surprising because Jesus already knows what Bartimaeus wants and needs. Jesus can read his heart, he made him. But Jesus asks, and listens. This reflects a very important aspect of priestly ministry. Listening. Before a priest can offer words of advice, or spiritual guidance, or make decisions regarding the life of a parish, he needs to listen. I hope that when you have brought your concerns to me, you have felt listened to. 

You might not have received the answer you liked, I can’t promise that all the time, but I hope that you’ve felt that your concern was taken seriously and it was given the attention it deserved. 

But moreso, we’re not just talking about decisions about clambakes here. The priest takes concerns of the soul with profound seriousness. If you are seeking to follow Jesus more faithfully, more deeply, the priest will listen and pray for you and with you and bring your concerns to the Lord.

Finally, in the story, Jesus heals Bartimaeus.

The ministry of the priest certainly has a healing dimension. Every priest is called to dispense the healing of Jesus Christ primarily in the Sacrament of Confession and the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

The Confessional is a place of the most profound healing, a healing of those wounds we inflict on our relationship with God and our fellow man through sin. Now yes, some of our spiritual wounds can be healed in other ways—our venial sins can be healed through repentance and reception of the Eucharist. But our most serious sins, our grave sins, our mortal sins, can those mortal wounds can be healed only in the Sacrament of Confession. 

When we confess our sins to a priest and receive absolution we know that a profound healing occurs at that moment—we feel lighter, we feel the weight of guilt relieved, we feel peace. And I hope that no one here is depriving themselves of the healing that Jesus is waiting to dispense to you through his priests. I hope that neither pride, nor shame, nor embarrassment is keeping you from crying out like Bartimaeus for healing. If you can ‘t get to confession on Saturday afternoons or Sunday mornings, give me a call, we can schedule something. I’m not too busy to hear your confessions, that’s why I’m here. 

Similarly, with the Sacrament of Anointing. If you are going in for serious surgery, or you’ve gotten a serious diagnosis, or you feel the effects of old age or declining health really taking its toll, all you have to do is call, and say, Father, I’d like to receive the Anointing of the Sick. For through that Sacrament Jesus gives powerful spiritual healing and spiritual strength to bear our afflictions with grace.

Recall, that every priest is also Bartimaeus, with his own blindnesses. So always please be patient with your priests, with the same patience you would want for yourself.

And recall too that every member of the Church has a priestly role, of bringing souls to Jesus, of listening to the afflicted and offering wise counsel and comfort, and seeking as best we can to be instruments of the Lord’s healing. Every soul we encounter is another Bartimaeus, who deep down longs to see the Lord.

May all priests and all the priestly people of God be strengthened in their vocations of service and holiness for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024 - Last Supper and Eucharist foreshadowed

This weekend, we begin a five-week stretch of reading from chapter 6 of St. John’s Gospel in which the Lord feeds the large crowd through the miracle of multiplication then teaches them about the Bread of Life. This passage introduces us to concepts the Lord will realize at the Last Supper when he institutes the Eucharist.

Many non-Catholics deny that the Gospel of the miraculous multiplication has any connection with what Catholics the Sacrament of the Eucharist. But the connections are overwhelming.

First of all, notice that John records Jesus performing this miracle on Passover. Passover—the same jewish feast on which Jesus institutes the Eucharist at the Last supper.

Secondly, note that for this miracle Jesus sits down with his disciples on the mountain, just as later he sits with disciples on Mount Zion to celebrate the Last Supper. His posture is a connection with the Last supper.

And not only his posture, but note that commands the people to recline. At the last supper we read of St. John reclining on the breast of Jesus. It’s the only other time that posture is highlighted in the entire Gospel. 

Fourthly, note that at the heart of the miracle account, John describes Jesus multiplying the loaves by utilizing specific actions. he takes the loaves and gives thanks—identical actions to those at the Last Supper. And recall that the Greek word for giving thanks is “Eucharisteo”, which was the early church word for the celebration of the Mass.

John also describes the remains that were left over after the multiplication—the klasmata—in the Greek—the parts broken off—which echoes the Last Supper accounts of Jesus “breaking the bread” into fragments.

In the teaching that follows throughout the remainder of John chapter 6, which, again, we’ll be reading over the next four weeks, we’ll see even more themes that are repeated in the Last Supper. For example, in two weeks, we’ll hear of Jesus teaching about the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life. Jesus foreshadows his own changing of bread and wine into his flesh and blood at the last supper and commanding his disciples to do this in memory of him.

With so many clear connections to the Last Supper and our church doctrine on the Eucharist, why do non-Catholic fail to get the point? Why do these insist on a non-Eucharistic reading of John Chapter six? It’s likely because they have separated themselves from the Church’s celebration of the Eucharist. They have done away with bishops who can ordain priests who alone can confect the Eucharist. So they falsely interpret the scriptures based on their separation from the deposit of faith.

But the Catholic Church, going all the way back to the apostolic age, has taught the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Consider the words of St. Justin Martyr from the year 150, whose feast day was back on the first day of June.

And this is a bit of a long passage, but it’s so fascinating. St. Justin writes, “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles (the Gospels), or the writings of the prophets (like our first reading) are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the presider verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things (as I’m doing now, in the homily). Then, we all rise together and pray (like we’ll do in the general intercessions), and…when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the presider in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings…and the people assent, saying “Amen”; and there is a distribution to each, and a partaking of the eucharisted substances, and to those who are absent, a portion is sent by the deacons.

So already in the year 150, we see the structure of the mass that we celebrate today.

And this food is called among us eucharistia, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things we teach are true…For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but…we have been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word…is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks said, “Do this in remembrance of me, this is my body” and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, “This is my blood” and gave it to them alone."

So the doctrine of the real presence, is also clearly articulated in 150, just a few decades after the death of the last apostle.

Now consider what our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians adds to the conversation here. In the second reading Paul urged the Ephesians to strive for unity. This is why denominationalism and schism are not from God—Christians are not to separate ourselves from the teachings of the apostles. St. Paul urges unity, because Jesus at the last supper taught his apostles to remain as one, as he and the Father are one. 

And it is not a coincidence that the Lord’s own teaching on unity occurred while he was instituting the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the great sacrament of unity in which all people of all places are invited to believe and partake. Now of course, you should not partake, as St. Justin said, if you do not believe, if you are not part of the communion of the Catholic church. 

This is why we have the RCIA process each year. Every year hundreds of thousands of non-Catholics around the world hear the Lord calling them to the communion he emphasized at the last supper in order to be fed with the Bread of Life. 

Here at St. Ignatius RCIA, which will be called OCIA henceforth, the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, will begin mid-September. So get praying now for that non-Catholic friend who is searching for a spiritual home. Perhaps say a novena for them, or a daily rosary for them, or make a holy hour for them, come and kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and pray that they can respond to Jesus’ invitation. And then, give them the OCIA flyer in a few weeks. Tell them that you’ll accompany them, if they’d like—how they’ll no doubt find the thing that they have been looking for, here. 

Last week, I asked you all to read through and try memorizing the 23rd Psalm. I’d love to hear how that went for you. But, consider how even that Psalm foreshadows the Eucharist. How our Divine Shepherds walks with us through the dark valleys and leads us to the table at which he feeds us for our earthly journey that we make come to the eternal banquet of heaven. There are so many souls whom he wants to lead here, to the table of the Eucharist. By our Eucharistic celebration may become effective instruments of our shepherd, instruments of Eucharistic faith, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

5th Sunday of Lent 2024 - We want to see Jesus

 Some Greeks arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover to render worship to God. They approached Philip and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

The opening lines of the Gospel this week raise some questions: Why were Greeks, who were raised to pay homage to the pantheon of Greek gods--gods like Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, and Aphrodite, why were these non-Jews going to Jerusalem for Passover? Well, these Greeks were known as proselytes, non-Jews who had come to believe in the God of Israel, but who had not yet undergone circumcision. Well, that answers who they were, but why were they there? Why…how…had these Greeks, these gentiles, these pagans, come to believe in the One True God of Israel?

Well, why does anyone convert? 

I came across an internet video a few weeks ago. A young woman who is described as “A Major Protestant YouTube Star” announced in this internet video that she was converting to Catholicism.” She explains, “I did not want to be Catholic. Not only did I think Catholicism was wrong, I just didn’t like the vibe of Catholicism. I wanted to be anything but Catholic… I fought so hard to get out of this intellectually.”

So why is she converting? Well, she had been planning on going to Thailand as a Protestant Missionary, when she came across internet videos that challenged some of her preconceptions about the Catholic Church. One video she said was titled “10 Lies Protestants Believe about Catholicism.” So, to verify Catholic teaching for herself,  she started reading the Early Church Fathers, and discovered, these guys were Catholic. She discovered how the Catholic Church’s teaching about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is clearly biblical. And through reading and study even became convinced of the truth of the papacy. 

She, like countless souls before her, had searched for the Truth with an open mind and open heart, and found it, here, in the Catholic Church.

In today’s Gospel, the Greeks had come to Jerusalem searching for the Truth, and that search for the truth led them to declare to the Apostle Philip: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” 

Their simple request reflects a universal sentiment in the heart of every human being. We want to see Jesus. We want to know God. We want to be in His presence.

Throughout my years as a priest, I have worked in the RCIA at several different parishes. We’ve had Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Southern Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, and folks raised without any religion whatsoever, even some souls who were once very vocal critics of Catholicism, who urged people to leave the Catholic Church. But their search for the Truth, their search for the face of God, had led them here, had led them home.

“Sir, we would like to see Jesus” is the reason each one of us is here today. We are here because we want to see Jesus in eternity, and in order to do that, we must be His faithful followers, now.  

The desire to see Jesus, has impelled us throughout Lent to undergo Lenten penances like abstaining from meat on Fridays, fasting from non-essentials, engaging in extra prayer-time throughout the week, and offering our meager earthly treasures to help the poor. Praying, fasting, and almsgiving help us to see Jesus.

This desire to see Jesus is fulfilled when we come to Mass. We enter the church, genuflecting to the tabernacle, believing that Jesus is really here. I can go to any Catholic church or chapel in the world and see Jesus and visit Jesus in any tabernacle in the world. And at Mass, we can “see Jesus” become present under the appearance of bread and wine. 

And we come to Mass every week, we follow the Lord’s teachings, we engage in penances and acts of mercy, not only because WE want to “see Jesus” but because Jesus wants others to see Him in US. The way we act, the words we utter, how we use our time, are to help others “see Jesus”.

How had the Greeks in the Gospels come to believe? How have the billions of Catholic converts throughout the millennia come to believe? News of Jesus Christ was shared with them. They had seen Jesus speaking and acting in the lives of ordinary Catholics like us.

There have certainly been some extraordinary saints who have made it their life’s work to help others see Jesus. I think particularly of the Saint we honor this weekend: the great patron of Ireland, St. Patrick. 

Many of you know some of the stories of St. Patrick: Patrick was born in Roman Britain. And when he was fourteen or so, he was captured by Irish pirates during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave. At the time, Ireland was a land of Druids and pagans, but Patrick, the son of a Deacon, kept his Catholic faith.

Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty years old, when he escaped slavery after having a dream from God in which he was told he could find his freedom by fleeing to the sea coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britain where he was reunited with his family.

Patrick wasn’t home long, when he sensed a call from God to return to Ireland to preach the Gospel. He was trained as a priest and was ordained by the bishop St. Germanus, who sent Patrick back to Ireland as a missionary bishop.

The legend of Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland is symbolic of driving paganism from the Emerald Isle, and leading its inhabitants to Christ. And Patrick was successful because he was filled with the life and love of Christ. 

The famous breastplate of St. Patrick speaks of the saint’s immense trust in the strength of Christ, but that other may encounter Christ through him: "Christ be within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me, Christ in the eye of every man that sees me, Christ in the ear of every man that hears me."

There are people in our lives who long to see Jesus, and we like the apostles, like so many saints, are called to help them to see the Lord, by patiently and clearly and zealously sharing Jesus with them.

After the Greeks share their desire to see Jesus, Jesus gives a teaching that his followers must become like grains of wheat, that die to themselves in order to truly live. The life of God cannot dwell in us if we are unwilling to die to ourselves. Christ cannot be seen in us, unless we decrease. So we must willingly pursue dying to our selfish desires, dying to the errors of the world.

In two weeks, we will celebrate again the great Paschal Solemnity of Easter the feast of new life--the new life God wants for us, but in those two weeks, we still have much dying to do. Pray more deeply, fast more assiduously, seek Jesus in the poor who need your assistance, and help others see Him, in your kindness. If you have any family members or neighbors who have fallen away from the Church, invite them to attend sacramental confession or invite them to attend our Good Friday veneration of the cross. Invite them to see Jesus. Through the dying and rising with Christ may we come to see Jesus face to face in the glorious resurrection, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Epiphany of the Lord 2023 - Seeking the Light of Christ

 

Happy Epiphany everyone. In many parts of the world, the feast of the epiphany is celebrated with as much solemnity as Christmas: families gather together to feast, sing, and exchange gifts—recalling the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh brought by Magi from the east in honor of the new-born King.

I too, have returned from the east. Last night, I returned from two weeks in Edinburgh, Scotland. And I too, traveled with a few wise men, two brother priests. After four years here at St. Ignatius, you may have noticed that I enjoy traveling a bit: seeing new places, tasting new foods, seeing how different cultures go about their day-to-day life, and the art and architecture they have produced. It’s a chance to glimpse how God has worked and is working around the world. 

Years of study preceded the Magi’s journey from the East—these pagan scholars studied the Hebrew Scriptures and the known astrological charts and set out to follow the star which signaled the birth of the King of Kings, whose reign of goodness, peace, and justice would be eternal. And follow the star they did. Coming to Jerusalem they first met a real imposter of a king, King Herod, just like many of us, in our journeys, encounter so many imposters to God.

The wise men then continued their journey to Bethlehem, the little town in which King David was born and raised. And there in Bethlehem they found the newborn heir of David, the Savior whom the prophets foretold, they brought him gifts, and worshiped and adored him. 

They searched for the savior—through study, through the exhaustion of a thousand-mile journey. And upon finding him, they worshipped and adored.

Finally, they return to their home country, by a different route, having been warned to avoid Herod’s treachery.  

You’ve no doubt heard the famous reflection that “of course they go back a different route, you never come to Christ and go back the same way you came.”  The encounter with Christ changes you.

Throughout Christian history we have countless stories of people from all over the world who begin life one way, and upon encountering Christ, their lives are changed forever.

Think of those first called by the Lord—Peter, Paul, Andrew, and James.  They began life as fishermen, but meeting Christ, encountering him, their lives were changed forever.  They went from ordinary Galilean fishermen to miracle working world missionaries and martyrs!

Saint Paul, too, remember, was a stringent adherent of the Jewish law who put Christian converts to death.  But upon the road to Damascas, Paul encountered Christ, and his life was changed forever.  

There have been cutthroats, crooks, trollops & bigamists, war-mongers, shard sharks and con men, devil-worshippers and atheists who have not only converted to Christ, but who have become saints—men and women who began life one way, far from any semblance of righteousness, but who were led grace to follow a star, and came to know, love, adore and worship Jesus Christ as God and Lord. 

One of my favorite sinners turned saints is the great St. Augustine. Augustine, remember, rejected his mother’s Catholic faith for many decades. In his youth, he engaged in thievery and promiscuity, in his college years, he joined a cult and promoted heresies about God. “It was sinful and I loved it” was his motto for many years. And yet, his heart remained restless, he was not satisfied with those imposters. He yearned for Truth, he yearned for Christ. 

He searched and he listened. And the Epiphany for Augustine came through the preaching of the holy bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, who inspired Augustine to pick up the Christian Scriptures. And picking up the Bible, Augustine came upon a powerful line from St. Paul. “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness . . . . But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh "  

Augustine says that reading that verse caused the light of faith to flood into his heart and the darkness of his doubts were dispelled. Augustine prepared for baptism, and was later ordained a priest and bishop. 

Our Church history, our parish history is full of such stories of life changing Epiphanies. Many of you, no, have been led on journeys, which started in doubt and sin, but ended in faith? Thanks be to God.

Each year, I have the honor of working with such journeying souls in our RCIA program. And they often enter RCIA because they have heard Christ or glimpsed Christ in our Catholic worship, or witnessing Catholics putting their faith into action in works of charity, witnessing Catholics standing up for the truth in this morally ambiguous culture, or they have received a book or had a conversation with a Catholic that challenged them to question their opposition to Catholicism. Catholics doing what Catholics are supposed to be doing has led to countless epiphanies for those seeking Christ.

But epiphanies are not just for the uninitiated.  God wants to continue to reveal Himself to each of us—to help us deepen our faith, hope, and love for Christ. And that happens, how? It happens through prayer, daily prayer. Daily we must pray, kneeling at the crib of Bethlehem, kneeling at cross, kneeling and the throne of our King. Faith, hope, and love are deepened by picking-up the scriptures like St. Augustine, and meditating on those timeless words, considering what it means for us to "put on christ" and to "make no provision for the flesh". Faith, hope, and love are deepened through selfless works, and pilgrimages, and holy conversations with strangers, and acts of kindness. 

Seek an Epiphany every time you come to Mass. Seek an Epiphany every day. Seek to be renewed in that holy desire to fall down before the Lord in worship and adoration, and to be changed by him for His purposes, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Sunday 2021 - Who will roll back the stone for us

 “Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.” Consider for a moment how Mary Magdalene had begun making her way to the tomb with no idea that the stone blocking the tomb would have been rolled back.

In fact, in Mark' version of the Gospel, Mary Magdalene states to the other women accompanying her, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” After all, the stone was heavy. It was large. It was truly a foreboding obstacle. It took several people to roll it into place. And yet, even before the first rays of Sunday-dawn began to fully shine, the faithful holy women went anyway to the tomb anyway—to anoint the body of Jesus. 

And yet, maybe there was something else. A hope. An intuition that something had changed. Perhaps, even an unspoken confidence that God would provide the means to overcome this obstacle. God was drawing them forward, despite the obstacle. And behold, hardly had they arrived when the saw “the stone rolled back”. For the Lord had risen!

We too have a keen desire to find the risen Lord. And we often worry that there are many obstacles to finding Him—wounds from the past, concerns about the present, anxieties about the future, doubts, attachments, preoccupying questions: My life is so busy, however will I find him? My life is so complex, however can I really trust Him. My sins are so great, however will he triumph over my vices?

I can assure you, precisely because you want to find the Lord, you have already overcome many obstacles-many doubts and attachments. God has already rolled back many stones for you.  

Last night at the easter Vigil, two souls in particular were in our midst, who, like Mary Magdalen, like Peter running to the tomb, Angela and Bruce, from our parish RCIA. Let me tell you, they were full of joy last night, seeking and finding the risen Lord in the Sacraments of the Church. We can only imagine the many obstacles that they had to overcome in order to make it here last night—and we are so glad they are—directed by divine providence, in answer to our prayers, and the sufferings of the martyrs and saints. The stone blocking the encounter with the Risen Lord in the Sacraments was finally rolled back. No doubt, a sign of new life, the life of the resurrection in our parish, as for the last two year we didn’t have any new initiates. It’s not too early to start praying for next year’s class, whoever those souls might be. Maybe someone here this morning will come to seek the Lord in Baptism or full initiation. For this we pray!

The search for the risen Christ, of course, is not only for the uninitiated. The search for God is an ongoing dimension of the Christian life. For this reason, following the example of the holy women, every Christian must always have a holy preoccupation about seeking and finding the Lord, daily. “Seek and Ye shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” Waking up in the early dawn—or whenever that alarm clock rings, and prayerfully committing to searching for him daily will make us industrious and diligent in our spiritual lives. 

And like the holy women, the Christian life also calls us to that confidence in divine aid, that the Lord will take care of those stones which are beyond our own strength to move. God is already at work to roll back many stones—many obstacles to grace—in the life of this parish, as he always has been. But not just the life of the parish in general, God is occupied with the large stones in our individual spiritual lives. For, the Lord desires to draw each of us deeper into His divine life, and will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, when we trust Him.

Trust. It’s not easy for many of us. Especially for those who have been wounded and betrayed in the past. But Easter is a time of new beginnings. So, trust that the Church’s teachings will enable you to walk in the fullness of life. Trust that devout prayer is worth more than all other earthly responsibilities. Trust, that the Church’s pastors will lead you in holiness and truth. Trust that the effort to break your selfish habits is worth it. Trust, not in your own strength, but in God’s grace, to roll back those unfathomably heavy stones.

Every year, Easter marks a time of renewal in our faith lives, our spiritual lives, in our search for God. But Easter is the promise that the Risen Christ can be found even in the emptiest of places, the most sorrowful places, those places once ruled only by death. 

In just a few moments, we will renew our baptismal promises: our resolve to not be mastered by sin, by those immovable rocks, but that through the faith of the Church, we will seek Him who longs to be found, over and over in our lives. For He is Risen. Death couldn’t hold him. Unbelief and human cruelty couldn’t vanquish him. Politics can’t replace Him. Science can’t explain him away. The noise of the world cannot silence him. Perversion, selfishness, human weakness cannot keep him from being longed for. 

For He was bound and now brings power. He was bruised and now brings healing, He was pierced and now eases pain, He was persecuted and now brings freedom, He was killed and now brings life. For he is Risen. Indeed, he is Risen. Alleluia. Alleluia. For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

6th Week in OT 2021 - Monday - The wholehearted sacrifice

 Over the past few weeks in RCIA, I’ve been offering catechesis to our catechumens on the Sacraments. We start with baptism, of course, the doorway to the sacraments, and make our way to the culmination of the sacramental life of the church, the source and summit of the Church’s life, the Eucharist. 

And I begin the session on the Eucharist examining the notion of sacrifice in the scriptures—sacrificial offerings made to God, for the Eucharist, of course, is the sacrifice the Son makes to the Father of his flesh and blood and life for the sake of the world. 

This morning we read from the book of Genesis the first depiction of sacrifice in scripture: Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil, while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.

Both of the sons of Adam and Eve offered sacrifice to God—they made sacrifice offerings from the fruit of their work. Both had no doubt worked hard for the fruits of their labors—by the sweat of their brows they shall obtain fruit. And even though, but were born with the effects of the sins of their parents, both still had this urge to make sacrificial offering to God. 

And yet, God smiled upon Abel’s sacrifice, where upon Cain’s he did not. Why? Well, we read Abel, brought the best of his flock. Cain, by contrast, did not; he gave God the leftovers. The Letter to the Hebrews explains  “By faith Abel offered God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s.”  Abel’s sacrifice was filled with faith and love, Cain’s was lacking. 

Perhaps Cain offered the sacrifice half-heartedly.  This makes us think, perhaps, of the widow in the Gospel, praised by the Lord, who offers not her leftovers, but from her sustenance. 

Perhaps Cain loved the fruits of his labor more than God—loving what is seen more than He who is unseen. Perhaps he wanted to get the sacrifice over as soon as possible so he could go back to worldly pursuits--like the person who wants Mass t
o be over as soon as possible so they can go back to playing Candy Crush on their iPhones—or back to his resentful musings which led to his brother’s murder.

Perhaps, he only offered the sacrifice in order to get something out of it.  Kind of like the followers of the so-called Prosperity Gospel today, who come to Christ because they believe God will make them prosperous and wealthy in this life on earth.  

On the Cross, and therefore, in the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus offers the perfect sacrifice, the wholehearted sacrifice, the sacrifice of his very self to the honor and glory of his father and for the highest good of others, greater even than the favored sacrifice of Abel. Again from Hebrews: “You have drawn near…to Jesus…and to the sprinkled blood which speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.”

In the Eucharist we draw near to the perfect sacrifice, we receive it, that we may become what we receive, that we may give the wholehearted, unselfish, sacrifice of our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all members of the Church will discover and offer their gifts wholeheartedly in service of the Gospel. 

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, that young people may live in faith-filled homes where the Gospel is cherished, studied, and lived-out.

For the grace to set good Christian example, and to courage to share the faith with non-believers and the lapsed.

On this President’s Day, Assist with your spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, Joseph Biden, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides. May he encourage due respect for virtue and religion. May he execute the laws with justice and mercy. May he seek to restrain crime, vice, and immorality.

For all of the sick and suffering, for the grace to unite their sufferings with Christ and to know His consolation and peace.

For our departed loved ones and all of the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered. We pray to the Lord.

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

1st Week of OT 2021 - Monday - Beginning of something new

 

When I begin RCIA in the fall, the participants often have had very little exposure to the Gospels—they may have heard some stories about Jesus’ miracles and certainly his death and resurrection on the cross. So one of the first Gospel stories I share with them is todays Gospel, and that’s kind of fitting, for it was peter, james and john’s first encounter with the Lord too.

Here is the call to leave behind the comfortable: our comfortable lives our comfortable habits, perhaps even our livelihoods; everything needs to be set aside that hinders me from following Jesus Christ; everything that keeps me from knowing him and loving him is to be seen as an obstacle—and something to be cast aside like the nets of the fishermen.

It’s no coincidence that we read of this Gospel as we begin, once again, the season of Ordinary Time—the time of the year that we focus on imitating the Lord and putting his teachings into practice in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. Ordering our lives to conform more with his, again, always means setting aside the comfortable—to follow him more closely.

Thomas Aquinas spoke of a sadness that comes from our unwillingness to seek after our greatest good—he called it acedia—a sort of depression that sets in when we aren’t attending to our spiritual lives as we should.

Rather, than acedia, we are to be filled with the excitement Peter, James, Andrew, and John experienced when the Lord said, “Come after me. I will make you fishers of men.” There is an excitement that comes from a willingness to follow the Lord into the unknown, trusting that whatever he has planned is much better than anything than I could come up with. 

This Gospel represents God breaking into our lives to call us to something new, and God is certainly doing that has we enter into this new liturgical season.

It may be a new spiritual devotion, a new way of service, a new way of offering up our sufferings.  But even in these short weeks before the season of Lent begins, the Lord wants to stretch us, change us, transform us, and fill us with the new wine of the spirit.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discover how to follow Christ more deeply today, that he may make you fishers of men for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

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

 

24th Sunday in OT 2019 - God is at work to find the lost

In the three parables of Luke chapter 15, we hear of three lost objects: A lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.

What do they have in common? Well, they are lost. The sheep becomes lost because he strays from the flock. The coin is lost in the darkness of a windowless home perhaps due to the negligence of its owner. “My son was lost” the father said, lost in selfishness, lost in his stubbornness, lost to his passions, lost to the consequences of his imprudent actions, lost in a ruptured relationship with his family, with his father.

Now, of course, the first two objects, you can’t really blame for becoming lost. The dumb sheep really doesn’t know any better than to wander off; inanimate coins can’t be blamed for becoming lost. But the son, he made some choices, didn’t he? His alienation from family, his separation from his father’s house, was due to his own free will; he chose to demand his inheritance before the proper time; he chose to squander his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

His prodigality, reminds us of Eve in the garden. No doubt he began to entertain some really bad ideas even before the demand of the inheritance, without thinking of their consequences. He allowed himself to become enraptured in temptation.

And like Adam and Eve, his sin involved a father. Adam and Eve ignored the commands of the Heavenly Father, to not eat from the forbidden tree. And the prodigal son treated his father, as if he was meaningless to him.

The prodigal son, squandering his inheritance in sin, is representative of humanity, become separated from God in sin. And much of humanity still, living their life as if God did not exist. We, like Him, can become so lost, we don’t even realize it.

It makes us think of those who seem lost to addiction. The addict often denies the damage being done in their lives. They see their bodies wasting away and continue to drink; they see the damage they are doing to their families and continue to gamble or overspend; they see the broken relationships and broken dreams and continue to head down the path of self-destruction. The addict minimizes the most important things, like family and health, and over values the high, the pleasure, the indulgence.
So too the prodigal son overvalues his independence, his pleasure, and undervalues the relationship with his father.

This parable is often read as analogy, where again, we are the prodigals. God the father, runs to embrace us with his mercy, an embrace of love and forgiveness and welcome when we have sinned. Yet before the father saw his son form a distance and ran to him, God was also at work mysteriously behind the scenes, in the son’s decision to return home.  It’s really a sort of miracle that he even recognized how lost he was, how close he was to death. For often, addicts push themselves to the brink of destruction. The sinful soul often denies its loss of grace, the danger of hell, and fails to repent.

When I celebrate the sacrament of confession, especially for a soul in mortal sin, it is a joy. We rejoice with the angels of God who rejoice when a sinner repents. And as a priest, it is a joy to be that instrument of mercy. But I also recognize that before that soul walks into the confessional, God was at work to wake them up, to help them to realize their sinful state, to bring about the repentance, which is so often the fruit of the prayers and sufferings of the Church, your prayers, and the sufferings offered up in union with the Lord.

It also makes me think of those with whom we work in the RCIA. Yes, RCIA prepares souls for the Sacraments of New Life, baptism, confirmation, and eucharist. But, God was already at work, behind the scenes, before these souls even show up to that first RCIA session. Again, the fruit of prayers and penances.

Everyone I’ve worked with in the RCIA has always shown up to that first session, because whatever has been going on in their life, perhaps they were protestant, perhaps they were raised with no religion, perhaps they lived a life of dissipation, like the prodigal son, and recognized the damage of their self-destructive behavior, perhaps, like St. Paul describes himself in the second reading, they were a persecutor of Catholics, arrogantly convinced of their own self-righteousness. In all these cases, they always show up to that first session because God has been working, and they have this holy desire for something more.

We are happy to announce that RCIA will be starting in just a few weeks. If you are unbaptized or a member of another faith tradition and are seeking something more, RCIA is for you. God has placed that desire for something more in your heart, and it’s time to make the journey home.

The parable of Son is an invitation for all of us to seek that something more. If you are not a fully initiated Catholic, seek that something more in the RCIA. If you are a Catholic who has fallen into mortal sin, seek that something more in the Sacrament of Confession, the merciful embrace of the Father. If your spiritual life has become arid, dry, seek something more through prayer and service. If you know of someone who has fallen into a life of dissipation, invite them to something more. Be the instrument of God in their life, that helps them home. Pray, pray, pray for those who are lost, that they may be found. They may appear lost to us, but they are not lost to God.

God is at work in each of our lives, urging us to seek that something more, that union with Him through faith, hope, and love, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 2nd Sunday in OT 2017 - "Renamed and Called"

The Christmas season has ended, and we’ve returned to the observance of Ordinary Time. Each of the seasons of the Church year certainly has their own spirituality and themes.

During Advent, we reflect on the coming of Christ: our lives are meant to take a quieter mood, a reflective mood, meditating, anticipating Christ’s coming, like Mary anticipating the birth of her son. During Christmas of course we celebrate his birth with hymns of praise, we consider how our lives are called to be filled with the light and beauty and splendor of his presence.

Lent, which we will begins on Ash Wednesday, March 1st, this year, is a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, concrete acts of penance; we unite ourselves to Jesus in the desert, Jesus in his Passion and suffering on the cross, we meditate on his great love for us in what he suffered.
Then during Easter, we of course celebrate the Resurrection; we focus on being free from all that keeps us from proclaiming and living Christ’s victory over sin and death.

But during Ordinary Time, we focus on the ordinary life of the Christian, which is really an extraordinary thing, when you think about it. For the Christian is certainly called to live an extraordinary life. The life of sin is what’s ordinary; following the whims of the culture, giving in to every passing fancy, every disordered desire. The life of the Christian, however, is out-of-the-ordinary: the Christian lives conscious of the presence of God in our lives, conscious of God’s moral law, the commandments, the virtues, the examples of the saints, the power of the sacraments. The Christian life is an extraordinary calling to the life of grace and holiness and charity
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Though we are in Ordinary Time, Mass began today with an extra-ordinary ritual. In the rite of Acceptance and Welcoming. Geoff, Michael, Amanda, Megan, and Jennifer, stood before you today, publicly declaring their desire to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. Though they were baptized into different protestant denominations, they seek the extraordinary. They publicly declared, “what you Catholics believe, I want to believe”, “what you Catholics do, I want to do”, “the Sacraments that you Catholics receive, I want to receive”, how extraordinary!  We also had three others, Tawny, Karie, and Jodie, Catholics who declared their desire to complete their Sacraments of initiation. If you are a Catholic who hasn’t received the Sacrament of Confirmation, please contact the office, so that you can undergo preparation to receive this powerful sacrament which completes baptismal grace.

I’d like to turn our attention to the second reading today, simply to the opening line, the beginning of Saint Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. There is something in Paul’s address that sums up, in a very simple way, what the ordinary life of the Christian is all about. Paul begins his letter in an ordinary way, a way that was typical to letters of the 1st century.

He introduces himself as Paul. We know that Paul he was born with a different name, with the name of Saul. And that the name of Paul is a new name, a new name he received when he began the new life of a Christian, a believer in Christ-crucified-and-risen. This change of name is consistent with the ancient biblical phenomenon of receiving a new name from God, when God calls you to something new.

For example, Abram, when called by God to become the Father of a New Nation, is given the new name, Abraham. Jacob’s name was changed, after wrestling with God, to identify him as a patriarch of the people of Israel, who would so often wrestle with remaining faithful to God and understanding the ways of God.

Jesus renamed Simon son of John as Peter, prince of the apostles, the rock upon whom Jesus would build his Church. And here in our second reading, Paul introduces himself by this new name, acknowledging that he has begun a new way of life, an extraordinary way of life, under the discipleship of Jesus Christ in union with his Holy Church.

At the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, we Catholics choose new names, to identify ourselves as new creations through the grace of the Sacraments. In many religious orders, a new name is given, when the person enters the order, and of course the Popes continue this practice as well; Jorge Bergolio took the new name of Francis, when he became successor of St. Peter, Bishop of Rome, Pope of the Holy Catholic Church.

This renaming is to help us realize that once we have encountered the Lord, that changes us. Once we receive a calling from God, that changes the direction of our life. Becoming a Catholic requires change. Going to confession, requires the repentance of sin and also the desire and intention to change. The Ordinary Life of the Catholic involves openness to change. We dispose ourselves to the grace of the Sacraments so that we can grow in holiness, we can love our neighbor, we can love our enemy a little more. Hopefully, each of us has changed for the better since this time last year. If not, we need to do some serious soul-searching and make more frequent use of the Sacrament of Confession.

This new name, this new identify, is a discovery of our truest self. The great theologian Hans Urs Van Balthasar said, “you do not know who you are, until you find yourself in Christ.” Before that, you have some identify, but it’s not your truest identity. The attachment to worldly ways and worldly philosophies and worldly errors, that’s not who we are meant to be. We are meant to be people of light, people of goodness, people of truth, and to be Christian is to acknowledge that only as a disciple of Him can I discover what it means to be truly good and truly happy; only in Christ can I become my truest self.

So much of our unhappiness in life is caused by not knowing who we are meant to be, not knowing the point of our suffering. We do well from time to time to reorient ourselves with what it really means to be a Christian. Am I truly allowing my Christianity to permeate every dimension of my life?

Now listen to how Paul introduces himself, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”. He identifies himself in the passive voice, “called to be an apostle” by someone else. How does modern man explain himself? “I’m my own man, It’s my life, my decision, my projects, get out of my way.” Paul has tapped into a different way; he’s discovered that happiness and fulfillment aren’t obtained simply by being a self-determined person.

The Christian receives his identity, he receives his faith, he receives his moral compass, from a higher authority than ourselves. As Christians we don’t determine right and wrong for ourselves. We don’t determine the ways our rituals are celebrated, we don’t determine what is true and what is false. This disposition of receptivity is fundamental, for without it how can we receive the gift of life which we lost through sin?

Paul writes to the Church who he says is “called to be holy”. May we strive to be worthy of that calling, faithful to that calling. May the Holy Spirit help us identify those parts in our lives we have yet to conform to the grace and truth of God, and may that grace continue to renew, reshape, and reform us, to become the people God made us to be, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Dec 8 2016 - Immaculate Conception - Mary's Way of Grace

On Monday evenings between Labor Day and Easter I meet with groups of adults wanting to become Catholic. Some of them were baptized in a Protestant denomination; others were never baptized; but each of them possess this growing desire to become Catholic. Some are attracted to the beauty of our rituals, the clarity of our teachings, our faithfulness to the Word of God—each person, no doubt, gains a deepening sense that God is calling them.

Last Monday, I presented to them a lecture on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I showed them pictures, paintings from throughout the centuries. I showed them Renaissance Painters like Michelangelo, and Fra Angelico, and Leonardo Da Vinci.  The earliest Christians had a deep love for Mary, Jesus had a deep love of his Mother, and so, it is no surprise that much Christian art depicts the Mother of Our Lord.

Particularly, I showed them several different paintings of the biblical passage we heard today, the story of the Annunciation. And one of my favorite depictions of the Annunciation, one that I have showed even in several of the classrooms in the school is by the Italian Renaissance painter named Sandro Botticelli. Botticelli is probably most famous for his painting of the Greek goddess Venus, emerging from the sea shell; and he brings that same mastery of his art to painting Our Blessed Mother.

In his painting of the Annunciation, Botticelli paints Mary ever so gracefully, so fluid, like a ballet dancer; it is amazing how Botticelli is able to depict Mary turning from her reading of the open Bible toward the Archangel Gabriel who greets her, “Hail Mary, Full of Grace”. Where Adam and Eve sinfully and pridefully turn away from God’s plan; Botticelli depicts Mary trustingly and lovingly turning toward God’s plan.

And what’s amazing is how Gabriel appears to be approaching Mary very slowly, very cautiously, like he doesn’t want to scare her. But also, this angel of God approaches Mary, this human woman, so reverently, as if he is more scared of her. The angel is almost trembling as he delivers his message from God.

Typically, in scripture, when an angel approaches a human, the angel has to reassure the human not to be afraid. But Botticelli shows Gabriel nearly fearful, like a scared cat coming out of hiding. Why does he do this? Because Mary was unlike any human he had ever met. Mary was unlike any human God ever made. From the moment of her conception, God made Mary clean of every sin that has ever tainted the human soul.So even in a painting of the Annunciation, Botticelli is able to show the grace that filled Mary's life at every moment.

Through this special grace—the grace of her Immaculate Conception—God prepared Mary for the monumental mission of being the mother of Jesus and the mother of the Church. God gave Mary everything she needed to fulfill her mission in life, but it was still up to her to respond freely and generously to the angel's invitation. And thanks be to God she did. Amazing things, wondrous things happen, when we, like Mary trust God, and make use of the grace he gives to each of us.

Whenever I read the story of the Annunciation or gaze upon Botticelli’s beautiful painting, I hear questions being asked to me, questions God asks each of us: Are you as full of grace as you should be? Are you using the grace God gave you?

Each one of us, when we were baptized received God’s grace. Each one of us, when we receive Holy Communion receive God’s grace. We have been blessed, as St. Paul said in the second reading: “with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” What have I done with that grace?

So often, instead of protecting and guarding that grace, nurturing it, growing it, using it for the intentions of God’s will, we turn right back to the old sinful ways of Adam and Eve. How often have you used the tongue God gave you to hurt others with your words or to lie? How often have you spent your time on selfish pursuits, instead of using that time to better your mind and heart and help others?

Instead of turning to the example of Adam and Eve, we Christians need to turn  to the example of Mary, who trusted God, who kept herself pure and without blemish, who made serving God the highest goal of her life.

On this great Feast, let us recommit to Mary’s way of grace: turning toward God every day in the sort of prayer we need, practicing the self-control we need, developing habits of generosity as we should, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.