July 18 2023 - St. Camillus de Lellis, priest - The Con Man's Conversion

 The saint we honor today had, what we might call, a troubled childhood. St. Camillus’ mother died when he was very young, and his father was a mercenary soldier who often left the boy to fend for himself. So the young boy Camillus developed many bad habits. He got into fights with neighborhood boys, he skipped school. One biographer wrote that, in Camillus’ youth, “there were no signs of sanctity”. We might know children like Camillus…some of us might have been children like Camillus.

At the age of 19, followed in his father’s footsteps and became a soldier, and he quickly picked up a lot of the vices of the military camp—swearing, drinking, and visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a father and son con artists, swindling their fellow soldiers.  Because of his violent habits, after four years, Camillus was discharged from military service and found himself destitute. 

Camillus picked up odd jobs here and there until a wealthy gentleman gave him a job doing menial construction work in the Italian village of Manfredonia.  The construction crew was employed to construct a new Franciscan monastery, and while working Camillus began to acquire two virtues he had never tried to cultivate before: self-discipline and responsibility.  His faith was kindled when one of the Friars at the monastery began to share the faith with him.  

When his construction job was done he set out for Rome to work at the famous Hospital of San Giacomo where he fell in love with caring for the sick.   

In Rome, Camillus sought the spiritual direction of St. Philip Neri who encouraged Camillus to study for the priesthood. So at the age of 32, Camillus entered seminary. After his ordination he founded a religious order called the “Servants of the Sick” who were devoted for caring for the destitute sick. 

What a beautiful conversion! At many points in his life, it seemed unlikely that Camillus would come to such great holiness.  So we must be patient with the people in our lives who are struggling to find the right path. God’s grace has the power to convert even the most hardened sinners. And look how God worked through the generosity of an employer, the simple faith sharing of a humble Friar, and the counsel of a holy spiritual director.  People who seem to be oblivious to the need of putting their life in order, might experience great conversion when a simple Catholic shares the faith with them.

St. Camillus is a saint because Catholics saw beyond the violent, philandering con man, and showed him dignity by providing opportunities for Camillus to practice virtue.  

God is at work in the life of every human soul. As corrupt or lost they may seem, God is at work to bring about what we might deem as the most unlikely of converts. And instead of having knee-jerk reactions, turning away from people who aren’t living righteous lives by our standards, we do well to consider what we might do to help them, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That the Holy Spirit may help us to be instruments of grace and conversion, to hardened sinners, fallen away Catholics and to the faithless.  

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

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

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

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

July 18 2022 - St. Camillus de Lellis - The unlikely conversion

 

St. Camillus whom we honor today had what we would call a “troubled childhood”.  He got into fights with neighborhood boys, he skipped school, he learned, but wouldn’t say his prayers, he was so quick to unleash his violent temper that his mother was actually afraid of him. At the age of 12, his mother died, and he was left to fend for himself. 

Tall for his age, at the age thirteen he began to accompany his father, a mercenary soldier, from one military camp to another. And at 16, St. Camillus, joined his father in the Venetian army and fought in a war against the Turks.

Among the soldiers, Camillus picked up a lot of the vices of the military camp—swearing, drinking, visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a father and son con artists, swindling their fellow soldiers.  They went from war to war when Camillus’ father fell seriously ill.  Giovanni sent his son to fetch a priest, and after Giovanni made a good confession, repenting from all his sins and crimes, he received Holy Communion for the last time and died.

After the death of his father, Camillus was discharged from military service, due to his violent habits and found himself destitute.  He picked up odd jobs here and there until a wealthy gentleman gave him a job doing menial construction work in the Italian village of Manfredonia.  They were employed to construct a new Franciscan monastery, and while working Camillus began to acquire two virtues he had never tried to cultivate before: self-discipline and responsibility.  His faith was kindled when one of the Friars at the monastery began to share the faith with him.  

When his construction job was done he set out for Rome to work at the famous Hospital of San Giacomo where he fell in love with caring for the sick.   

There too, he put himself under the spiritual direction of St. Philip Neri who encouraged Camillus to study for the priesthood. So at the age of 32, Camillus entered seminary. After his ordination he founded a religious order called the “Servants of the Sick” who were devoted for caring for the destitute sick. 

What a beautiful conversion. God’s grace has the power to convert even the most hardened sinners. And look how God worked through the generosity of an employer, the simple faith sharing of a humble Friar, and the counsel of a holy spiritual director.  

St. Camillus is a saint because Catholics saw beyond the violent, philandering con man, and showed him dignity by providing an opportunities for Camillus to practice virtue.  

At many points in his life, it seemed unlikely that Camillus would come to such great holiness.  So we must be patient with the people in our lives who are struggling to find the right path, and become God’s instruments to help them come to grace.

God is at work in the life of every human soul. As corrupt or lost they may seem, God is at work to bring about what we might deem as the most unlikely of converts. And instead of having knee-jerk reactions, turning away from people who aren’t living righteous lives by our standards, we do well to consider what we might do to help them, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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

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

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

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

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

[EF Readings]

A reading from the first Epistle of St. John

Dearly beloved, Do not be amazed, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.

A continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. John

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples, This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends,* because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

16th Sunday in OT 2017 - The problem of evil in the world and in the Church

One of the oldest philosophical problems believers in God have had to address is what is called the Problem of Evil. The problem can be stated very simply: If God is so good, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world? If an all-good, all-wise, all-loving, all-just, and all-powerful God is running the show, why does hatred, injustice, and wickedness seem to flourish? Why do bad things to happen to good people?

How do we Catholics answer this question? How do we reconcile our belief in a good, loving God with all the evil and hatred in the world? Believers typically address the “Problem of Evil” starting with human free will. In the book of Genesis, we read how God creates the light, the water, the earth, the stars, the animals, and pronounces them “Good”. God is not the origin of evil; he did not create anything or anyone evil. Rather, evil enters into creation through the free choice of Man. Evil, discord, war, selfishness, divorce, these things result of man utilizing his free will to rebel against God’s plan.

God created us to love Him, to reflect His goodness, and to be in harmony with Him and with each other, and we said, “no, we’ll do it our own way.” Disease, war, famine, and death enter into creation because of us.

Okay. God is not the origin of Evil, but if He is all-good and all-powerful, why does he allow evil to continue? Well, for one, what good is free-will if it has no consequences. To eliminate the consequences of choices, is basically the same as eliminating the ability to choose. So, to respect our freedom, God allows our choices to play out.

Scripture is clear that the choice of Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit had eternal consequences. But, God in his goodness, immediately after announcing the consequences of sin, announces His plan to redeem us from sin. There, in same chapter of Genesis as we read about the sin of Adam and Eve, God announces the birth of one who would crush the head of evil forever. In the fullness of time, Jesus takes our sins, as if they were his own, and pays our debt with his precious blood. The problem is evil is solved. In Christ, God brings a greater good out of the evil caused by us.
What does the problem of evil have to do with our Gospel today? In the parable of the weeds and wheat, Jesus addresses the problem of evil. Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a field, in which is springing up both weeds and wheat.

The Lord is clear, in the Church, his kingdom on earth, there are both weeds and wheat. There are so many good things going on in the Church, Christians truly surrendering to the grace of the sacraments and becoming the people God made them to be, there is a great amount of wheat. But there also seems to be a great amount of weeds these days. Why does the Lord, the Head of the Church, allow this?

Most of us love the Church very deeply, and sometimes we wonder why there is so much error still around, why are there so many Catholics not going to Church, why don’t the Bishops do something about the liturgical abuses, why doesn’t the Pope do something about the immoralities and heresies amongst the clergy.

Today’s parable addressed the concerns of even those first generations of Christians. Even then, there were Christians who turning away from the Gospel, falling back into sin—Christians who received baptism and Eucharist, but seemed to be filled with vile, immorality, and pride. Paul had to write letters to the Christians in Corinth because some of them continued to engage in perversions like sodomy and incest. He had to write to the Thessalonians because there were rich Christians who refused to celebrate the Eucharist with poor Christians.

Jesus helps us understand that in the earthly Church, in this earthly life there will always be both wheat and weeds. There will be Christians who don’t seem to get it. So, be patient with them. Secondly, it’s not always clear to us how to distinguish between weeds and wheat. Even expert farmers have a difficult time telling the difference between the two while they are still growing.  It is only at harvest time when the two can be distinguished. In the end, the Lord will be the judge, who is wheat and who is a weed.

This week, we celebrated the feast of St. Camillus. For many years, it looked like St. Camillus was a good for nothing weed. At the age of seventeen, Camillus joined a group of mercenary soldiers; soon he was engaging in the vices of the military camp—swearing, drinking, visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a father and son con artists, swindling their fellow soldiers. It appeared he was on the straight road to hell.

After years of crime, violence and immorality, Camillus’ father fell seriously ill.  To Camillus’ surprise, Giovanni sent his son to fetch a priest. Giovanni made a good confession, repented of his sins and crimes, he received Holy Communion, and died in peace.

This was a turning point in Camillus’ life. His father, a life time gambler, cutthroat, and conman called for a priest in order to die in a state of grace. And this shattered Camillus’ own hardness. Camillus went on to become a priest, and even began a religious order caring for the sick and destitute of Rome.

Sometimes those who appear to be weeds, especially in the foolish years of youth, turn out to be wheat for the Lord. So we must not despair over those who leave the Church or appear distant from God. God is at work in their lives. Just as God can use the witness of Camillus’ father to break the hardness in Camillus’ heart, so too God can use our meager witness, to reach even the hardest hearts, and wake dormant souls out of their complacency

Our job isn’t to be the weed puller, to condemn those who continue to engage in sin. Our attitude towards young, immature or confused Christians should be very gentle.  With the immature we should be patient, knowing that Christian growth occurs in the Lord’s time.

We certainly shouldn’t tolerate false teaching, we shouldn’t invite the enemy into our field to sow seeds of error. We should never encourage people to engage in sin. A few years ago, there was a media storm around a comment Pope Francis made…imagine that.  He dared to utter those dangerous words, “Who am I to judge?”

In his comment, the Holy Father was basically quoting scripture.  “There is only one lawgiver and judge,” writes St. James in his Epistle.  “He is the one able to save and destroy.  So, who are you to judge your neighbor?”

Neither the Pope, nor any Christian, can point to anyone and say, “that person is definitely going to Hell because of their sins.”  Such a judgment is reserved to God alone.  Pope Francis isn’t telling us to throw away the Catechism and ignore the Scriptures because everyone automatically goes to heaven no matter what they do or what they believe. He’s just saying, he’s not the one who makes the rules and none of us are either.

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

Amidst the evils of the world, we are called to faith, to gentleness, patience, and the willingness to endure suffering for the sake of the kingdom, for the glory of God, and salvation of souls.

July 18 2017 - St. Camillus - The conversion of the hard-hearted

When Jesus began his proclamation of the Gospel around the age of 30, he chose as his early headquarters, Capernaum, on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. There he stayed in the home of St. Peter. We read in the early chapters of the Gospels how he worked many miracles there and in surrounding towns, places like Chorazin and Bethsaida.

In the Gospel today, Jesus rebukes these towns for their failure to repent and believe in the Gospel.  Jesus even says, that Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, some of the most wicked cities in history, would have converted in response to the same miracles.

Yesterday, too, we reflected upon the need to choose, the need to respond to Jesus’ invitation to believe. Why did so many people harden their hearts in the face of the undeniable presence of God? The miracles were undeniable. Jesus spoke with an authority and performed works that nobody had ever witnessed.

Jesus condemns spiritual hard-heartedness throughout the Gospels, which seems to be the primary reason the Pharisees and the unrepentant choose to disbelieve and conspire against him. Spiritual hard-heartedness, sklerocardia. Sklerocardia, though it sounds like a physical illness, is really a spiritual illness. It is when we choose over and over again not to listen to anyone but ourselves, not to seek wisdom, not to see the value of humility, it is the attitude of pride which sees oneself as more important even than God.

I believe the Lord gives the hard-hearted every chance he can, to open their hearts to him. Today’s saint was a man who lived many years with hard-heart. At the age of seventeen, Camillus joined a group of mercenary soldiers, and he quickly picked up a lot of the vices of the military camp—swearing, drinking, visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a father and son con artists, swindling their fellow soldiers

They went from war to war when Camillus’ father fell seriously ill.  Giovanni sent his son to fetch a priest, and after Giovanni made a good confession, repenting from all his sins and crimes, he received Holy Communion for the last time and died.

This was a turning point in Camillus’ life. His father, a life time gambler, cutthroat, and conman called for a priest in order to die in a state of grace. And this shattered Camillus’ own hardness. Camillus went on to found a religious order caring for the sick and destitute of Rome.

God is at work, even now, working to shatter the hard hearts of our fallen-away family members and non-believers, and to do that, he often utilizes us, our faithfulness, our repentance, our willingness to undergo sufferings and penances for the conversion of sinners. May the Lord, in his mercy shatter the lasting vestiges of our own hard-heartedness, and may we be faithful in being instruments of that same mercy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops and clergy may be zealous and clear in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel.

For our Holy Father’s prayer intention for the month of July: that our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the merciful closeness of the Lord and the beauty of the Christian life.

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

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

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

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