27th Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - Friday - The day of the Lord is coming

 We read today from the very short book of the prophet Joel.  The Book of Joel is only four chapters long and can easily be read in a single sitting, yet his message is profound, and as relevant as ever.

Joel prophesied in Judah, in Jerusalem, around the year 500, after the return from the Babylonian exiles.

Though they had just returned from exile, Joel tells the people, don’t get too comfortable; getting too comfortable, too complacent, too familiar with worldly ways is how we got in trouble in the first place.  So, Joel calls for fasting and penance and all-night prayer vigils—to gather in the house of the Lord, with the elders: sound the alarm; blow the trumpets…why? Because the day of judgment is coming.

Joel goes on to described the calamities and natural disasters which are only a foreshadowing of the eternal suffering that awaits those who fail to repent—those who exclude God from their lives.

You got to love these prophets. They keep us rooted in reality—the reality that we must maintain the priority of faith. That more important than any of our earthly endeavors is the orienting ourselves to God, preparing for eternity, being vigilant against worldly distractions. Why? Because there are eternal consequences if we don’t. 

“The Lord will judge the world with justice” we sang in our Psalm. 

Again, some relevant ideas there. The nations are sinking into the pit they have made for themselves—including our own nation—sinking fast. And God sits ready to judge with justice. But amidst that, the Psalm explains how the faithful soul is still found giving thanks to God, declaring his wondrous deeds, rejoicing and exalting in God, and singing his praise.

The faithful soul is not prone to discouragement. We know the world is falling apart, and we are not discouraged, because that’s the way of things. How do you know if you’re soul is prepared? The world falling apart doesn’t bother you that much. You’ve confessed your sins, your heart is oriented toward God, and that gives the faithful soul an immense freedom from fear. As things fall apart we can still sing God’s glories, and thank God for his blessings. 

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste” the Lord says. Of all the kingdoms of the world, there is only one that will survive: the kingdom of God. Though the mountains may fall, and nations crumble, the Lord promises peace and eternal life to his faithful ones.  Confident and trusting in the Lord amidst all the chaos of our lives, may we be found faithful today in his service for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That hearing the call to repentance preached by the Church, all men may turn away from their sins to the mercy of Christ.

For peace in the Holy Land, an end to the violence and suffering, and healing for those whose lives have been tragically disrupted. May God’s peace the communities and families devastated by the horrors of terrorism and war.

That our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the evils of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For all whose lives are marked by suffering, may they come to know the healing and peace of Christ.

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

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

Easter Octave 2023 - Wednesday - Emmaus and the Risen Lord's Nearness

 A few years ago, Holy Father Pope Francis reflected upon this morning’s Gospel. He speaks of how Emmaus story contains two journeys. The downhill journey of the disciples leaving Jerusalem in sadness, and then the uphill journey of the disciples having encountered Jesus, back toward Jerusalem, now filled with Joy and enthusiasm. 

“In the first journey, the Lord is walking beside them, but they do not recognize him; in the second one they do not see him anymore, but they feel him near them. In the first they are discouraged and hopeless; in the second they run to bring the good news of the encounter with the Risen Jesus to the others.”

He says sometimes we are like the disciples on the first part of the journey: we allow ourselves to be discouraged by life’s disappointments and proceed sadly. It is important, the Holy Father says, “to stop orbiting around one’s self; [focusing on] the disappointments of the past, the unrealised ideals, the many bad things that have happened in our life. Very often we tend to keep going around and around…” (in our minds…and get nowhere because of it). 

And in those moments we need to leave those disappointments and “go forward looking at the greatest and truest reality of life: Jesus lives, Jesus loves me…This is the turning point”, the Holy Father says to go from thoughts about I to the reality of my God.

A little bit of self-reflectiveness can be helpful. But when we recognize that we are ideating about the same problem, the same hurt, the same sour argument, the same insult, or whatever, we need to go to Jesus—to lift our thoughts, hearts and souls to God. 

The two disciples of Emmaus first open their hearts to Jesus by listening to him explain the Scriptures. This should be a habit and way of life for Christians. When you are feeling lost, disappointed, discouraged, or confused OPEN THE BIBLE. Read a Gospel story or from the Wisdom Books: Wisdom, Proverbs, or Psalms. You might think that the Bible has nothing to say to you, read it anyway. And keep reading until you hear God speaking, with you, in your trials, urging you to open your heart more deeply to Him, allowing Him to set your heart on fire.

In the times of discouragement, be aware that the voice telling you, you don’t need the Bible, you need a drink, a pill, a Netflix binge, a shopping spree, a quart of icecream and a nap, that’s not Jesus. That’s the one that wants to turn your soul away from Jesus. That One doesn’t want you to seek the Wisdom of God, but wants you to rely only on yourself, and wants you to medicate your sorrows with worldly vices. 

Easter helps us grow in the conviction that the Lord offers us another way, of nearness to us throughout all of life, a nearness where the Lord is always longing to speak with us and break bread with us, and set our hearts alite with divine fire, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

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. 

For our own community, 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.

 

2nd Week in Ordinary Time - Tuesday - The Remedy for Discouragement

In my Sunday homily, I reflected a bit about discouragement. Discouragement, that feeling that my hard work is wasted, that the forces of evil are too great, can be paralyzing.  Injustice, the injustice experienced by those who love God and wish to serve God, and are hated for it, and persecuted for it, can be a terrible source of discouragement. 

The opening line from our reading from the letter to the Hebrews today offers an important remedy for discouragement. “God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones.”

The author of the Hebrews epistle is writing to a group of converts from Judaism who have already begun to experience some serious resistance in their living our the Christian faith; and yet, for now, their faith has endured, they’ve resisted faithfully writes the author, “to the point of shedding their blood” for the Gospel. But knowing that the long, drawn-out hostility from the world, can wear on the strongest Christian soul, so he writes this letter to embolden, and encourage.

And he writes today, God does not overlook your work, your sufferings, your labors. God sees it, and will reward it. Likely, not in this life. But certainly in eternity, we merit a greater share in heavenly reward, through our service to God. The soul that suffers much and endures much and serves much and demonstrated much love shall be rewarded much in heaven.

In times of discouragement, the promise of heavenly reward, helps to fend off the sluggishness and inactivity that can begin to creep in when we face resistance.

Sometimes the forces that oppose us are so great, it is like we are being tossed about like a small ship on the waves of a terrible sea, and so the Hebrews author evokes that powerful symbol of the anchor. “This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil.” The anchor are the promises of God. And his promises are not empty. He is no liar. His promise of life and glory is validated by the resurrection of Jesus. He is risen, just as he said he would. 

So, another remedy for discouragement, and really the only remedy, is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Through prayer and service and penance with our eyes and hearts fixed on Him. For, He is the light that shines in the darkness. He is the promiser and the fulfillment of the promise. He is the one who suffers with us and the reward for those who suffer. He is the source of justice, the distributor of justice, he is justice itself. 

May the hope of eternity with Him banish our discouragement and spurn us on to persevere in our holy labors for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For a deeper openness to God’s will, readiness for service, attentiveness to those in need, and peace in our world and our hearts.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For a new springtime of justice: that all people of good will may work together against the increasing threats to civility, religious liberty and human life.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who struggle because of addiction, discouragement, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind:  that the new wine of God’s grace through Christ will bring them consolation and peace.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, For the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for the souls in purgatory and for…N. 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.

2nd Sunday in OT 2021 - "What to do with the time that is given us"

 A few months ago, I was named by the bishop as spiritual director for the Legion of Mary for the West Side of Cleveland. And last night was our monthly meeting for the officers of the different Legion of Mary groups in the west side parishes. And, I have to be honest, it wasn’t a great meeting. We’ve been using conference calling for a few months, as we cannot meet in person. And we got about 20 minutes into the meeting when we realized that the new conference calling service had limited the number of participants and about half the people weren’t there. We then decided to go back to our old service, which we stopped using because of this terrible static that would cause the meeting to stop. 

At each meeting, we read from the Legion of Mary Handbook, and as spiritual director, I give an allocution on the reading, a short reflection on how the legion of mary principles apply to our current situation. And with all the problems we were having with this conference call, and with all the political turmoil, and COVID and everything, the holy spirit provided the perfect reading. 

The reading from the Legion of Mary Handbook dealt with discouragement. How sometimes in the work of the Legion of Mary, and the work of the Church in general, meets with resistance, as if the entire world were against us, not to mention the powers of hell. It certainly seemed that way last night. There’s also discouragement, isn’t there, when our most devoted labors bear little fruit. You begin to wonder if all the effort is worth it.

Then the reading went on to describe how, the chief danger of discouragement, isn’t from the fact that all these forces are against us. The real danger is that we forget that the chief source of discouragement is often ourselves…we forget that we do not get to choose the time or the circumstances in which we are tasked with laboring for God. We forget that God has chosen us, to labor for him, now, in 2021, with all of 2021’s challenges and problems.

The founder of the Legion of Mary and the author of our Handbook was a layman named Frank Duff. A devout Irish Catholic, whose cause for canonization is underway. And in last night’s reading, Servant of God Frank Duff quoted a religious sister, named Janet Erskine Stuart, whom I had never heard of before. Janet Erskine Stuart was a convert to Catholicism, she converted around the age of 21 from the Church of England, her father in fact, was an Anglican minister. Janet Erskine Stuart certainly faced and overcame discouragement. She knew that her conversion would cost her—family and friends—but she could not deny her call to conversion. 

Three years after her conversion to Catholicism she joined the Society of the Sacred Heart, a religious congregation for women, having communities here in Europe and later here in the US. Janet Erskine Stuart would go on to serve as the fourth Mother Superior of her order. 

Again, here’s a woman who faced some serious challenges in her life: the pressure of family to not follow where Christ was leading her, the challenges of governing a burgeoning religious order as it began to grow internationally. 

And so Frank Duff the founder of the Legion of Mary, so aptly quotes Mother Janet Erskine Stuart in overcoming the danger of discouragement, when she writes “If you look to Sacred History, Church History, and even to your own experience which each year must add to, you will see that God’s work is never done in ideal conditions, never as we should have imagined or chosen.” In other words, the difficult conditions of our work, and the challenges of the age in which we live, should not be a cause for discouragement. 

We Catholics in 2021, would never have imagined, and we never would have chosen, to be Catholic in the age of COVID-19 and the political corruption and turmoil that surrounds us. Who would choose this? Not to mention the growing secularism and scandal which has caused so many Catholics over the past 50 years simply to leave the Church, which causes us still such difficulty in evangelizing non-believers.

And yet, the Legion of Mary Handbook makes this vital point. It says “For it is ever God’s pleasure to show his power by extracting success from unpromising conditions and by accomplishing his greatest projects with inadequate instruments.” We live in what we would call unideal conditions. But God is so great that he can extract great success in these times, and he chooses to use us, we imperfect instruments, for the vital work of the Church, now in 2021.

J.R.R. Tolkien makes a similar point, which immediately sprang to mind. In his Lord of the Rings, his main character Frodo, speaking about the evil of his age, the evil rising in Mordor, and this pressing need to undertake the terrible journey to bring the ring of power to the cracks of Mount Doom, Frodo says “I wish it need not have happened in MY time. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

This lesson is even evident in our Gospel today. There is John the Baptist, standing with two of his disciples, and as Jesus walks by, he proclaims, he evangelizes,  “Behold, the Lamb of God.” In the original greek of the Gospel, the text reads, “Ide o amnos tu theu.”  Behold the Lamb of God. The Lamb, the ‘amnos’—was a very special type of lamb, one that would be used in sacrificial offering. And John is telling his disciples that Jesus is the lamb who will be sacrificed for the sins of the world.  Following him, would have consequences. It wouldn’t be easy. With that in mind, they follow him anyway. 

And John’s disciples, which included Andrew, the brother of peter, could have said, “uh, no thanks. I’m looking for truth, but, not enough to suffer for it. Let’s just keep doing what we’ve been doing.” Had he done that, overwhelmed by the fear of suffering, discouragement would certainly have set in. 

But Andrew, whose name, Andreas, means manliness, virtuousness, does something that should be emulated by every one of us. When the Lamb of God comes into your life, you follow him. And you tell others about him. That changed his life. That changed the life of Mother Janet Erskine Stuart. Following Jesus, despite the difficulties, despite the potential challenges, despite the risk, in this unideal moment of history changes those who choose Him over the thousand and one other things that arise .

And this lesson is applicable to our prayer life, passing on the faith to the young, spreading the faith to non-believers, engaging in the acts of charity. If we wait for what we think are ideal circumstances to do the work of God, then we will sit and wait for something that will never come. If you are waiting for some ideal condition to get serious about your prayer life or to study the bible or begin a new charitable endeavor, to enter the convent or seminary, or to develop a new skill for the service of others…it's not tomorrow, when we hope the conditions will be right, it’s now! “Speak, for your servant is listening” in the words of Samuel…this is the prayer of a heart open to doing the will of God no matter what the circumstances. 

Let us dare to utter those same words, with that same openness, trust that God knew what he was doing when he chose us for the work of the Gospel in 2021, and this is the only time that we’ve been given for the glory of God and salvation of souls.