June 13 2023 - St. Anthony of Padua - Priest, Doctor of the Church - Man of Beatitude

 For the next three weeks, thereabout, our weekday mass Gospel readings will be taken from the Lord’s great Sermon on the Mount.  It is clear from the very beginning of the Sermon, with the Lord’s delivery of the beatitudes, that Christians are to live differently from others in the world—with a righteousness even surpassing that of the Jewish scribes and Pharisees, as the Lord teaches. In short, the Lord teaches that we must seek to be like Him, to be like his Father, to be holy.

St. Anthony desired the radical holiness preached by Jesus.  He entered the Augustinian Order as a young man as a way of turning away from the temptations of the world in order to seek the perfection of his soul.  One could say that he followed the call to religious life as a way of pursuing that purity of heart to which the Lord calls us in the beatitudes.  The pure of heart are those who love God with undivided allegiance.  They pursue God’s Holy Will single-heartedly, without mixed motives.  This is what Anthony desired.

Though he had dedicated his life to study, prayer, and learning, immersing himself in Sacred Scripture, it was a rather strange event which caused St. Anthony to become a Franciscan.  It was when he heard news that Franciscans had been put to death for preaching the Gospel in Morocco, that he felt called to join the order.  Where most of us run away from suffering, St. Anthony ran toward the opportunity to practice the final two beatitudes: blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, and blessed are those who are persecuted for Christ’s sake.  

St. Anthony, through his practice of the beatitudes, through his desire to totally belong to Christ through the vows of his religious profession, became a radiant beacon of the light of Christ, to whom we look to imitate 800 years later.

In the face of the many problems in the world—violence, materialism, poverty, moral relativism, Jesus calls us each of us to radiate the holiness of God by putting on His mind and heart—seeking to be holy as He is holy—suffering for the Gospel, as he suffered.  Christians are called to beatitude—and the world will be impacted for better or for worse by the way Christians live our lives.  Through the example and heavenly intercession of St. Anthony of Padua, may we be faithful to this call of holiness today and all days—for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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

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

That the members of the Franciscan Order and all those consecrated religious may inspire us to strive for greater holiness.

For the priests of the diocese who begin a new parish assignment today, especially for the newly ordained, that they may be faithful to Christ in every dimension of their ministry. 

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, especially for the sick and victims of war and terror and natural disaster.

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

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.

June 03 2022 - St. Charles Lwanga - Love of Chastity

 o many of us, the name of the Ugandan Martyr St. Charles Lwanga is unfamiliar.  But, he is well-known and revered in much of tropical Africa and is honored throughout the universal Church as a patron saint of young people and chastity. 

Evangelization of Uganda only began in the mid-1800s by the Society of Missionaries of Africa (known as the White Fathers because of the white cassock they wore). At that time Uganda had a very vicious, lustful king named Mwanga who forced himself on the young boys and young men of his court.  Charles Lwanga, who had become a Catechist for the Christian community, encouraged the young boys to preserve their chastity. For opposing the King’s lusts, Charles was arrested and burned to death on June 3.

St. Charles Lwanga’s witness reminds us that chastity is part of God’s plan for all people, but the culture is not always receptive to that message. Especially as “National Pride Month” is celebrated by many in our land, Christ’s call to chastity needs to joyfully resound in his Church.

Chastity involves self-mastery, self-control, self-knowledge, developing the virtue of temperance, and learning to rely on God’s grace in times of temptation. Chastity brings freedom from our baser, fallen, and disordered impulses, and the joy of bringing one’s life more under the dominion of the Holy Spirit. Chastity is largely a personal journey, though Christian parents certainly have a pivotal role in protecting the innocence of their children from the perversions of the culture. Indeed, the Church has a role in promoting chastity in the larger culture. 

The proliferation of pornography, the confused gender ideologies which are pushed in public schools and in the media, the cultural-acceptance of sex before marriage, are certainly signs that we have a lot of work to do in this area. 

In the Gospel for today’s feast of St. Charles we heard the Lord’s beatitudes, in which he proclaims, “blessed are the pure of heart.” The “pure of heart,” according to the Catechism, “refers to those who have attuned their intellects and wills to the demands of God’s holiness, chiefly in three areas: charity; chastity or sexual rectitude; love of truth and orthodoxy of faith."

Through the intercession of St. Charles Lwanga and his martyred companions, may we seek that purity of intellect and will, that chastity, and the love of the truth that St. Charles lived and died for, 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…

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.

5th Week of Ordinary Time 2022 - Wednesday - Purification from what defiles us

 He fed five thousand people with a handful of bread, he walked on water, he performed countless healings, but the Pharisees and scribes choose to focus on how the Lord and his disciples ate without the ceremonial purifications that weren’t even prescribed by the law.

Sure, the Law of Moses prescribed ceremonial washing for the priests serving at the altar in the Temple, but the Pharisees extended these rules to everyone, and then condemned people for not observing them.

The Pharisees were perverting the Law of Moses and missing its purpose entirely—they were like the mean kids from grammar school that bullied you for breaking rules you didn’t even know about. And now they are all grown up, and have political sway, but they are still on the same toxic power trip.

In response to the Pharisees criticism, our Gospel begins today with the Lord summoning a crowd to address this unjust Pharisaical standard and their misapplication of the Law of Moses—their fake news, so to speak. 

“Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters a person from outside can defile that person,” rather what defiles are the moral evils that fester in the human heart: unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, and so on.

You want to know what defiles a person? Human sin, evil conduct. 

The Lord exposes the Pharisees for being more concerned with outward appearances than true inner moral goodness. They were a bunch of fakers, religious fakers. And the Lord, speaking with authority, sets the true standard for his followers. We must seek authentic conversion from all sin, including inner purification from sinful desires and ruminations. 

For Catholics, we’ve come up with some pretty practical ways of conforming to this teaching. We are to make a daily examination considering if our actions and attitudes over the course of the day have been unclean, and if they were, to repent of them. 

We are to make frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are to reflect upon God Word daily, to help us examine and conform our lives. We are to avoid using dirty language and fixating on dirty images. We are to seek freedom from all unforgiveness, ingratitude, selfishness, greed and gluttony. 

Jesus makes a very powerful promise to the pure of heart. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” The Pharisees were unable to see that Jesus was God because they may have been ritually pure on the outside, but inside, they were full of corruption and defilement. 

So too in our culture: so many have lost touch with God precisely because they have allowed themselves to be defiled and refuse to repent and seek that purification that can only come from Him.

Lord, cleanse us, make our hearts new, purify us that we may see your face, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the Holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her, and bring cleansing to all the impurity which afflicts her members and leaders.

For the conversion of all those who have fallen into serious sin, for a return of fallen away Catholics to the Sacraments, and that all young people may be protected from the perversions of our culture.

For healing for all those suffering disease, especially diseases without known cures, for the people of China and all people afflicted by the Coronavirus, and all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For the dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Holy mass is offered. 

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

June 9 2021 - St. Ephrem the Syrian - "Blessed are the Pure of Heart"

 

In popular devotion, the deacon St. Ephrem is not as well-known as St. Francis or St. Anthony or St. Patrick, yet Ephrem is a wonderful saint for us.  He was so steeped in God’s word, so in love with God.  Earlier this week, we heard the beatitudes from the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Well, St. Ephrem embodied that beatitude “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God”. He was enraptured with God. He composed poetry and hymns to God and to the Blessed Mother. 

His poetry and hymns also served another purpose. He used them to catechize and defend the faith against the false doctrines and heresies rampant in his time, particularly the Arian heresy which denied the full divinity of Jesus.

Love of God impelled him to defend the faith, and lead others sweetly to the faith. When your love for God is great, you want others to know that love.  It is said that St. Ephrem had such an acute vision of the goodness of God and man’s need for God, that he was often “dissolved in tears.”  He is was in this constant state of weeping because of his insight into God’s love for us.  

He is known as St. Ephrem the Deacon because he was ordained a deacon by St. Basil the Great, but never a priest.  In fact, the people wanted him to be a bishop, but he is said to have avoided episcopal consecration by pretending to be insane. Smart man! He died in 373 while caring for those infected by the plague.  

There are many people today who do not know that Jesus is God. They do not know God’s love for them, nor will they acknowledge their need for God. Saints like Ephrem point us to the one true God by the goodness of their life, by their labors, by their concern for souls. They remind us to be wary of the glamours and errors of the world, and call us to that purity of heart in which we contemplate the truth, goodness, and beauty of the one, true, God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

May St. Ephrem help us in remaining free from all that keeps us from contemplating God’s goodness, truth, and beauty this day for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the whole Christian people, that the beatitudes of Christ may animate our lives. Let us pray to the Lord. 

For our President and all elected government representatives, may the Holy Spirit grant them wisdom and guide them to promote authentic and lasting peace in the world, an end to terrorism, respect for religious freedom, and a greater reverence for the sanctity of Human Life. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our young people beginning summer vacation, that they may be kept close to the truth and heart of Jesus, that young people may live in faith-filled homes where the Gospel is cherished, studied, and lived-out. Let us pray to the lord.

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

Octave of Easter 2019 - Friday - Recognizing the Risen Lord

The post-resurrection accounts of the disciples’ encounters with the Risen Jesus often contain an interesting detail. The disciples often do not recognize Jesus after his resurrection. Mary Magdalene thought that Jesus was the gardener. She did not recognize it was the Lord until he spoke her name. The disciples on the road to Emmaus walked, talked, and ate with Jesus but did not recognize him until he broke the bread.

In today’s Gospel, though Jesus was standing on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, the disciples did not realize it was Jesus. It was not until they brought in this miraculous catch of fish that St. John, the beloved disciple recognized that it was Jesus.

Why this failure to recognize Jesus? Scripture isn’t exactly clear. Jesus truly had a material body after the resurrection: he truly stood on earthly ground, he sat and ate food. And it was the same body that was crucified: in the upper room, he bore the scars of crucifixion. But there was also something different. Where our earthly bodies decay, and age, and are bound by earthly limits: Jesus’ glorified body was something that no one had ever seen before. Heaven—eternity—now infused his earthly body.

One Scripture commentator ponders todays passage. He writes: you will ask how was it that John was the first to recognize Christ I reply that while Peter was occupied in drawing up the net full of great fishes John more carefully looked at Jesus and Jesus first presented his appearance to st. John because he most chiefly loved him and because he was most pure. “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”

Among the Apostles, John had never married, and he also had a special purity about him, and a special Love for the Lord. John reclined at the breast of Jesus at the last supper. The more familiar and intimate anyone is with God—the more we truly contemplate, adore, and love God—through prayer and service, the more we will recognize the attributes of God when we come across them.
The same commentator explains that a pure heart means “first, a chaste mind free from all lust and carnal concupiscence. Second, a pure conscience, cleansed from every stain of sin, from evil thoughts and desires…evil intentions, especially duplicity and hypocrisy.”

St. John, likely recognized Jesus, because he loved Jesus above all things. He alone among the Apostles followed Jesus all the way to Calvary. May St. John, the patron of our diocese, help us to cultivate that purity of heart, that love of Jesus above all things, that we may recognize the Lord more easily in the circumstances of life, and come to behold his face in eternity, 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 the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.
For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ. And for the victims of the terrorist bombings in Sri Lanka and their families, for consolation in their grief, and assistance in their needs.
For our parish, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received.
For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.
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.

Homily: 2nd Sunday of Lent 2017 - Seek His Face

Upon Mt. Tabor, Peter, James, and John were honored to see in time what we all long to see in eternity: the face of Christ shining like the sun.

Scripture speaks often of man’s deep desire to gaze upon the face of God. Psalm 27 expresses this desire: “Your face, Lord, do I seek. Hide not your face from me.”

Way back in the book of numbers the Lord instructed Moses how Aaron and the Levites were to bless the people of Israel: by invoking the promise of the holy face. “May the LORD bless you and keep you! May the LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! May the LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”

First Chronicles instructs us: “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.”

And first Corinthians speaks of our eternal destiny: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

The very last prayer a soul might hear from the last rites of the Church speak of the Lord’s face: “Go forth Christian soul from this life…May you return to your Creator who formed you from the dust of the earth. May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints come to meet you as you go forth from this life. . . May you see your Redeemer face to face.”

Everlasting life consists of beholding God face to face, what we call the beatific vision. In the beatific vision, all of our longings are fulfilled in God, all of the tears of our life are wiped away.
And upon Mt. Tabor, Peter, James, and John, if but just for a moment, saw Christ’s divine visage revealed.

Why do we read the Transfiguration story every year during Lent? For one, the Gospel of the Transfiguration reminds us Lenten pilgrims, that all of our Lenten sacrifices, our Lenten penances, our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, help us to be free from all that keeps us from beholding the face of God.

One of the Lenten practices which helps us contemplate the face of Christ is of course the Stations of the Cross. This week I brought several classes from the school over here to the Church and we simply walked to each station, and talked about each one—we contemplated the face of Christ in each station: what is going on here, as Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate in the first Station; why is he being stripped of his garments the 10th station; why does he fall three times as he carries his cross in the third, seventh, and ninth stations.

To gaze upon the face of Christ in the stations is to see the face of a real man, a man who does not run away from his vocation, a man who does not flee his suffering in fear, a man filled with faith and love for God and mankind. If you want to know what courage looks like: pray the stations of the cross. If you want to know what faith, patience, and forgiveness of one’s persecutors looks like, pray the stations of the cross. If you want to know what God’s love and God’s mercy for us looks like, pray the stations of the cross.

Pope Benedict XVI said, “Jesus willingly gave himself up to death so that we might be saved and pass from death to life.  Mercy has a name, mercy has a face, mercy has a heart.” Jesus is “mercy incarnate” as Pope Francis said.

As Jesus made the via crucis, the way of the cross, many people gazed upon his suffering face—some looked upon him with pity, some in sorrow, some with faith, some seeking a way to comfort him.  One woman in particular was St. Veronica, who, seeing his great suffering, risked the threat of punishment by the Roman Soldiers, and wiped the face of Jesus with her veil. What a beautiful act to console the suffering Christ.

Veronica wiping the face of Jesus with her veil is depicted in the sixth station. And if you’ve never looked at the station closely, I recommend you take a closer look. You will see, on her veil, the image of the face of Christ, which miraculously appeared as she wiped his face. The blessed veil is now kept at St. Peter’s in Rome, and pilgrims there are blessed with it on the 5th Sunday of Lent after evening vespers. She was blessed to see his holy face, and through an act of charity, became an instrument for the church of all ages to behold his earthly countenance.

Pope Benedict XVI said, “Veronica”—whose name comes from the Greek ‘Bernice’—“embodies the universal yearning of the devout men and woman of the Old Testament, the yearning of all believers to see the face of God. On Jesus’ Way of the Cross, she at first did nothing more than perform an act of womanly kindness: she held out a facecloth to Jesus. She did not let herself be deterred by the brutality of the soldiers or the fear that gripped the disciples. She is the image of that good woman, who amid turmoil and dismay, shows the courage born of goodness and does not allow her heart to be bewildered…At first, Veronica saw only a buffeted and pain-filled face. Yet her act of love impressed the true image of Jesus on her heart. On his human face, bloodied and bruised, she saw the face of God and his goodness, which accompanies us even in our deepest sorrows. Only with the heart can we see Jesus. Only love purifies us and gives us the ability to see. Only love enables us to recognize the God who is love itself.”

What a beautiful and powerful reflection from the Holy Father!

Each of us has the desire to see the face of Jesus. And that can happen when like Veronica’s our hearts are filled with the Love of Christ, when we seek him through prayer and service.

Have you seen the face of Christ this Lent? If not, I encourage you to persevere or deepen your Lenten observances. Pray the Stations of the Cross. Read through the Passion. Extend a hand in mercy to someone in need.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus promised “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” May our Lenten observances help us to be purified from earthly attachments and earthly fears and anxieties, that we may love God with a pure heart, serve our neighbor with pure charity, and thereby come to see God face to face in eternity…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.