30th Week in Ordinary Time 2024 - Tuesday - Mustard seeds can change the world

The parable of the Mustard Seed reminds us how tiny acts of faith can bring about tremendous goods. An act of kindness, an act of goodness, an act of charity appears so small and insignificant, but it can transform the world. 

Consider the Church herself: A small group of uneducated Galilean fishermen and a small group of itinerant missionaries like Paul and Timothy have changed the world. She started off small, imperceptible on a global scale. Now, she has grown and reached nearly every corner of the globe. 

The Church has been foundational in the creation of educational systems. Monasteries, cathedral schools, and later, universities—like the University of Paris, Oxford, and Bologna—were established by the Church. The monasteries kept knowledge and learning alive in the dark ages. The monks applying their learning to practical problems, advanced agricultural techniques and metallurgy. They practically enabled science to emerge as a method of addressing everyday human needs.

Catholic patronage has inspired the world’s greatest art, architecture, music, and literature. The Church invented hospitals. Church Canon law laid the foundation for many principles seen in modern legal systems. Catholic thinkers, especially during the Scholastic period, have shaped Western philosophy.

The lives which have been touched by the charity of the members of the Church is beyond measure. Missionaries established schools, hospitals, farms in the poorest most undeveloped areas, uplifting local economies and advancing health and education in diverse cultures.

The positive impact of the Church in history and in human lives is incalculable. But again, we started as a mustard seed. 

But the mustard seed principle is not just for the church as a whole, it is the way of life for the individual Christian. We take small acts of charity very seriously because it is clear that this is how God wants to spread his kingdom: through small acts with great love, as st. therese the little flower would say, whom we celebrated at the beginning of the month.

We must not discount or underestimate the power of those little acts of kindness: of giving a coat to a shivering stranger, a hot meal, a listening ear, a comforting message, a prayer card, a helpful reference to a bible verse that touches upon a doubt or concern. 

The Christian who is quietly trying to bring relief to the suffering, the sick, and the lonely, is a mustard seed that God uses to transform the world. May we be faithful in this great vocation of being mustard seeds…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the mission of the Church in all corners of the world, that her charitable work in schools, hospitals, and communities may uplift the poor, advance health, bring the love of Christ to the underserved, and the Gospel to all people.

For all victims of war, for peace in the Holy Land, an end to the violence and the consolation of the suffering. May God come to the assistance of the communities and families devastated by terrorism and war; and may world leaders work together for peace. 

For a greater respect for human life in our laws and institutions: that we may cherish, defend, and protect the most vulnerable

That all Christians may embrace their calling to bring hope, comfort, and relief to those in need. For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: that they may know God’s consolation, healing, and grace. 

For the souls of the departed, that through the mercy of God, they may experience the fullness of eternal life in His Kingdom.

Loving Father, you reveal your Kingdom in the smallest acts of charity and faith. Hear these prayers we bring before you, and grant us what we need to be faithful in bringing your love to the world. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

4th Week in Ordinary Time 2024 (School Mass)- Unbinding through education

 The image in the Gospel is a powerful one. A man possessed by a demon had been bound, shackled, and chained because that demon caused him to thrash about and cause harm to himself and others. Because of that demon, that evil spirit within him, he could not control his body, he could not control his words, he could not control his actions. 

And then Jesus draws close to the demon possessed man. And through his divine authority as God in the flesh, Jesus commands the demon to depart from him. And free from the demon, he regained used of mind, his body, his words, and his actions. The chains could come off and he could return to his family—to pursue the goodness for which he was created.

Again, what a powerful story: Jesus offers freedom from the spirits and ideas and behaviors which cause us harm. Jesus offers us freedom from evil, those sorts of evil which take root in our minds and hearts, which can lead us to harm the people we love, and even ourselves. The sort of evil that causes us to act more like wild animals than children of God. Evil that keeps us from peace and joy and goodness.

What a powerful story. One that contains a promise. Draw near to Jesus. Allow Jesus to draw near to you. Be willing to allow Jesus to free you from all the forms of evil that shackle and chain and cause self-harm and harm to others.

A powerful story for any day of the year for us to consider, but also one that is absolutely perfect for the beginning of Catholic Schools Week.

Why do Catholic Schools exist? Education. What is education? The word education comes from the latin – educare – to lead a person out of something. To lead a person out of something. Out of what? Out of ignorance. The sort of ignorance that can cause harm to ourselves and to others. An uneducated mind can cause real harm in this world. And so education leads us out of ignorance. Out of Ignorance, but also it leads us into, the higher realm of Truth and Life and Goodness. And that is where happiness lies. 

When we are young we put training wheels on bicycles so we do not harm ourselves or others. But through the training and practice education offers, those training wheels can come off and we can ride further and faster and freer and happier.

Students, let your teachers teach you. Because in a Catholic School, Jesus is at work through them to lead you out of ignorance.

But teachers, your responsibility is great, to allow the Truth and Goodness of Jesus to animate your vocation. Education is not simply accomplished through words, words, words. But how you conduct yourselves, your prayerfulness and patience and gentleness and generosity and faith. 

The evil spirits and errors of our world are legion, they are many. But the goodness of Christ can free all those who want to be free. And children need examples of those who live in the freedom of Christ. 

May this Catholic Schools Week help us to recommit to the learning and teaching Jesus wants for us, that we may live in the freedom befitting the children of God for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

January 5 2022 - St. John Neumann - Christian education, brotherly love, evangelization

 We celebrate another wonderful Christmastide Saint today, St. John Neumann

Although he was born in Bohemia in 1811, in what is now the Czech Republic, John Neumann is celebrated as an American saint.  After studying in Prague, John Neumann came to New York at the age of 25 and was ordained a priest just three weeks later.  After several years of working among German speaking immigrants, he joined the Redemptorist community, the missionary community founded by St. Alphonsis Ligouri.  As a gifted linguist who spoke 8 languages, he was a popular preacher among the many immigrant communities, in Maryland, Virginia, even here in Ohio.

By age 41 he had become the fourth bishop of Philadelphia where he organized the parochial schools there into a diocesan system.  

Today’s opening prayer refers to three tasks accomplished by Saint John Neumann which we hope to accomplish by the help of his prayers.  1) To foster the Christian education of youth, 2) to strengthen the witness of brotherly love, and 3) to constantly increase the family of the Church.

Like Saint John Neumann, all of us are to foster the Christian education of youth.  Almost 50,000 children in this diocese attend Catholic schools, and at least that same number are educated in parish PSR programs.  But the number of children attending weekly Mass is abysmal.  We face a very difficult battle in winning the hearts of these children away from the culture, and that is the task of every Catholic. If there is a young person in one’s family not going to Church, each of us should ask ourselves, “what can I do to get them to the altar?”

Secondly, we must give “the witness of brotherly love” (the phrase brotherly love is a reference to Philadelphia, by the way, Phila-delphia, which means brotherly love in Greek). Catholics are to witness “brotherly love”.  Non-Catholics and weak-faithed Catholics should look at us and say in the words of Tertullian, “look how they love each other”.  The brotherly love we have for each other, the charity, the kindness, the patience we have for each other is to attract others to our way of life—the way of Christ.  

And the third task exemplified by John Neumann to increase the family of the Church.  Again not just the work of priests, not just the work of bishops, but the work of the entire church, to continue to draw souls to Christ.  And that is only possible, when WE have truly been drawn to Him, when we have allowed Christ to transform us by his grace, when the fruits of the Spirit are evidenced in our lives, when we are diligent about the spiritual welfare of others. 

May Bishop Neumann, “renowned for his charity and pastoral service” spurn us on to holiness through the service of the Gospel of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That all Christians may grow in charitable attentiveness to the needs of the poor in our midst.

For the lukewarm and for all who are searching and longing for Christ, may they find him through the holy witness of His Church.

Through the intercession of St. John Neumann, for the success of our Catholic schools, that young Catholic families may be centered on Christ, and that all Catholics may be diligent in our evangelizing mission.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all widows and widowers, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

January 5 2021 - St. John Neumann - Education, Brotherly Love, Increase of the Church

 Although he was born in Bohemia in 1811, in what is now the Czech Republic, John Neumann is celebrated as an American saint.  After studying in Prague, John Neumann came to New York at the age of 25 and was ordained a priest just three weeks later.  After several years of working among German speaking immigrants, often alone, he joined the Redemptorist community, the missionary community founded by St. Alphonsis Ligouri.  As a gifted linguist who spoke 8 languages, he was a popular preacher among the many immigrant communities, in Maryland, Virginia, even here in Ohio.

By age 41 he had become the fourth bishop of Philadelphia where he organized the parochial schools there into a diocesan system.  

Today’s opening prayer refers to three tasks accomplished by Saint John Neumann which we hope to accomplish by the help of his prayers.  1) To foster the Christian education of youth, 2) to strengthen the witness of brotherly love (a reference to Philadelphia--the city of brotherly love), and 3) to constantly increase the family of the Church.

Like Saint John Neumann, all of us are to foster the Christian education of youth.  Almost 50,000 children in this diocese attend Catholic schools, and at least that same number are educated in parish PSR programs.  But the number of children attending weekly Mass is abysmal. Faith is so weak in their families that they are like "sheep without a shepherd", as our Lord says in the Gospel today.  We face a very difficult battle in winning the hearts of these children away from the culture. To feed the multitude with the bread from heaven. But that is the task, and the Lord shows that it is possible. So, if there is a young person in your family not going to Church, each of us should ask ourselves, “what can I do to get them to the table?”

Secondly, we must give “the witness of brotherly love”.  Non-Catholics and weak-faithed Catholics should look at us and say in the words of Tertullian, “look how they love each other”.  The brotherly love we have for each other, the charity, the kindness, the patience we have for each other is to attract others to our way of life—the way of Christ.  

And the third task exemplified by John Neumann to increase the family of the Church.  Again not just the work of priests, not just the work of bishops, but the work of the entire church, to continue to draw souls to Christ.  And that is only possible, when we have truly been drawn to Him, when we have left behind all worldliness, when we have sought him with the entirety of our being. 

May Bishop Neumann, “renowned for his charity and pastoral service” spurn us on to holiness through the service of the Gospel of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

For a deeper devotion to the Eucharist among all Catholics, that our Eucharistic worship might inspire non-believers to seek and find the Lord.

That our Catholic schools and PSR programs may be places where the Lord Jesus is sought out and discovered, where faith is instilled and charity is inspired.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, that many young people may respond generously to the Lord’s call to ordained and consecrated service.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, 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 our former bishop, Archbishop Nelson Perez and for the Church of Philadelphia, that through the intercession of St. John Neumann, they may be renowned for their charity and pastoral service.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

January 27 2020 - St. Angela Merici - Catholic Schools Week

We begin Catholic Schools Week this year celebrating the feast day of one of the great Patron Saints of Catholic education, St. Angela Merici. St. Angela lived about 500 years ago. Out of love for Jesus, she consecrated her life to him from a very young age—promising never to get married and to live a life of prayer and service and she convinced her sisters to do the same.

Around the age of 10, Angela’s parents and one of her sisters died. So she moved to a nearby town to live with her uncle. One day, she was out in a field, when she had a vision of heaven. She saw angels and young women coming toward her singing and surrounded by light.  One of the young girls was Angela’s sister who had died, and she told Angela that God wanted her to form a group of women consecrated to the Lord for doing God’s work.

After her vision, she became deeply concerned for the religious education of the children in her native town. She was saddened because they did not love the Lord Jesus as they should, so she took it upon herself to give regular religious instruction to the children. She was soon joined by other women from the neighborhood who shared a similar calling.

Together with these women, St. Angela formed the Order of Ursulines, the first religious order of religious sisters in Church history dedicated primarily to teaching. St. Angela and the Ursulines dedicated their lives to teaching children about Jesus. St. Angela’s Ursulines spread throughout Italy and France and eventually throughout all of Europe and they were the very first Catholic nuns in the United States.

When Catholics spread to Cleveland, our first Bishop, Bishop Amadeus Rappe knew that establishing Catholics schools was a top priority. He invited the Ursulines to Cleveland to start the Catholic school system here in northeast Ohio. St. Angela’s Ursulines have been a blessing to the Church of Cleveland for over 170 years.

St. Angela knew the importance of helping people to know, love, and follow Jesus which is the primary mission of Catholic Schools. She was a woman of action whose efforts changed world history. When she saw the ignorance of the children in her neighborhood, she didn’t just wring her hands or complain, she went out and taught them.

She is a wonderful saint to celebrate and imitate during this Catholic Schools Week.  Now she prays for all Catholic school children from her place near God in heaven and for all of us, that we may learn everything we can about Jesus, that we may love him and follow him and spread that faith to others, for the glory of god and salvation of souls.

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As we begin Catholic Schools Week, we pray for all students, that the Spirit of God may grant them the gifts of wisdom and understanding, and that teachers may share their knowledge with gentleness, patience, and competence.

For parents, the first teachers of their children, that by their faith and love, they may be blessings to their families, and for a strengthening of all families in faith.

In Thanksgiving for the Ursuline Order, for their efforts to instill faith in our Diocese over the decades.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, 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 all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord