1st Week of Lent 2025 - Monday - Almsgiving and our Eternal Judgment

 

At the election of a new Pope, the Cardinals of the Church gather in the Sistine Chapel whose walls and ceilings are adorned with some of the most beautiful frescos in the world—painted by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo in the late 1530s.  After serious prayer, the Cardinals walk towards the altar to cast their vote for the new Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Church of God. Above that altar is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity, the scene we just heard in the Gospel, “The Last Judgment”.

The Cardinals are reminded by that great biblical scene that their vote must not be motivated by selfishness or ambition, for they will face Christ as Judge on that final day, and will have to answer for the choices they made.

Holy Mother Church presents us with this scene on this Monday of the first full week of Lent, as we just read the Lord’s own teaching on our judgment. And he does not simply announce the fact that we will be judged by God, he is clear about the criteria: when I was hungry you fed me, when I was naked you clothed me.

Lent is a time for examining our conduct, our lifestyle, and our motivations. And the criteria for that examination must include the criteria set by the Lord himself. How do you treat people? How do you treat the poor?

We prayed in our collect prayer this morning, “convert us, O God our savior.” A vital dimension of the conversion the Lord wants for us is for each of us to seek to serve God more faithfully by serving those in need.

We are to seek conversion from avarice and greed that clings to possessions and wealth in order to share our goods more freely. Sometimes we hesitate to give because we worry we won’t have enough for ourselves, but we are to seek conversion from this form of anxiety and fear. We are certainly to seek conversion from any indifference which blinds us to the real needs and sufferings of others. We are to seek conversion from our pride which views ourselves as more deserving of material goods than others.

And with the Gospel in mind, we are to seek conversion from those attitudes and vices because they are detrimental to our immortal souls. Unwillingness to give alms, to participate in the works of mercy speaks volumes about the state of one’s soul.

So may we cultivate the generosity and concern for the poor praised by Christ Our Lord and Judge for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Confident in God’s desire to dispense mercy, let us offer our prayers and petitions for the Church and for the world.

 

That all Christians may dedicate themselves this Lent to deeper prayer and practical works of mercy, so that our witness may bring hope and compassion to those who suffer.

For Genuine Conversion of Heart for all people: That we may turn from the vices of greed, indifference, and pride, and instead cultivate generosity, trust in God’s providence, and heartfelt concern for our brothers and sisters in need.

For the Poor and Vulnerable That those who are hungry, homeless, or struggling in any way may find compassionate assistance among the faithful, and that they may experience the love of Christ through our concrete acts of mercy.

That all who have died, trusting in God’s mercy, may come to behold the face of Christ the Eternal Judge and receive the reward of eternal life, especially N…

Merciful God, You call us to ongoing conversion and to recognize Christ in the poor and needy. Hear our prayers, and grant that, guided by Your Spirit, we may grow in compassion and generosity, so that on the day of judgment, we may be found among those who have loved and served Him in our brothers and sisters.

Easter Sunday 2024 - The end of the eclipse

 On Good Friday, the world was darkened by an eclipse of the sun, much like the one that we will experience here in Northeast Ohio, a week from tomorrow. 

That eclipse of the sun, causing darkness to fall over the land, was certainly fitting, in response to the mourning and sorrow experienced by Jesus’ disciples, especially his Mother, who stood at the foot of the cross. The eclipse was also a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, such as Amos 8:9, which speaks of the sun going down at noon and the earth being darkened on a clear day. It appeared, for a moment that darkness had triumphed—that the violence of man overcame the goodness of God. The extent to which man would go to secure his power, his comfort, his ego. He would lie, conspire, manipulate. He would torture and slaughter the innocent lamb of God. 

Yes, there for a time, it appeared that Good Friday was a victory, not for God, but for evil. It appeared that the eclipse that began with original sin in the Garden of Eden would last forever. 

But, the eclipse has ended. The stone rolled in front of the tomb, has been rolled back to reveal that the tomb is empty. And easter celebrates a morning when light was so bright it blinded roman soldiers and burnt an image into a burial cloth—a morning when life triumphed over death, where truth trumped falsehood, when hope was victorious over despair, when faith championed doubt, when God put Satan in his place. Jesus Christ is risen today! 

And the Easter proclamation is not a mere historical recollection but a living reality that continues to reverberate through the centuries. The resurrection of Christ offers new life, transformation, renewal, conversion, spiritual resurrection, to all who profess Him.

Old ways, which we have sought to cast aside during the season of Lent, make way for new beginnings. Easter means, “I will not let selfishness keep me from the generosity God wants from me. I will not let fear keep me from the courage God wants from me. I will not laziness keep me from the life giving endeavors God wants for me.” Pride and Envy, Lust and Sloth no more. It is time to live for purity, generosity, goodness, and peace.

For, the extraordinary news of Easter morning is that not only did Jesus Christ conquer death for himself. The good news is that he shares that victory over death and sin and despair and darkness and sin and evil with us. His victory is ours. He invites us to share in his triumph. If that is not extraordinarily Good News, I don’t know what is. 

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure everybody in this Church could raise their hands in agreement, that there are periods in life that seem more like Good Friday than Easter Sunday. Periods of life filled with death and darkness. Periods of life when we wonder about life’s meaning, when we struggle with sickness or the death of someone near to us, periods of life when we seem stuck on a cross, or overwhelmed, like life has buried us in a tomb, when we struggle to find God amidst all the chaos and violence and evil in the world.

But, the message of Easter is that Good Friday does not get the last word. Easter Sunday does. Our faith in Jesus Christ allows us to be confident that evil and death do not get the last word, that there is truly nothing that can keep us from the love and life God wants for us. That his mercy endures forever and that God will always have the last word over Satan. So, if there is a part of your life, that still seems to be stuck in Good Friday, I invite you to ask Jesus very sincerely today, to enter that part of your life, to transform it. Ask him to come into that Good Friday broken relationship, that Good Friday doubt or confusion, that Good Friday sense of defeat. And to allow him to bring Easter Victory to your Good Friday sufferings.

The Easter Gospel also speaks to our experience of obstacles. In John’s Gospel this morning we hear how Mary of Magdala had come to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Mark’s Gospel includes the detail that as she and the other women made her way to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, she wondered  “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” After all, the stone was heavy. It was large. It was truly a foreboding obstacle. It took several people to roll it into place. 

What beautiful fervor, that Mary and the holy women, despite the obstacle, go to fulfill the duty of charity anyway. They could have stayed home. They could have dwelt on the enormity of this obstacle and stayed home. But they go anyway. 

And they find the stone already moved, the obstacle has already been removed by God. The power of the resurrection was already at work. 

And then, Mary ran. Mary ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them of the empty tomb. Talk about overcoming obstacles in order to do the work of God! In first-century Jewish society, women were often marginalized and their testimony was considered less reliable than that of men. In many cases, their testimony was considered inadmissible. And yet she goes, and testifies. The power of the resurrection already animating her mind and heart and will.

The power of Christ’s resurrection is unleashed when we refuse to allow fear to keep us from doing God’s will. 

Good Friday was not an obstacle for God’s will to be done, nor was the stone of the garden tomb. Nor were the social and cultural norms of his day. 

Now there are certainly some social and cultural norms in our own day which want to keep the Church from spreading and continuing the saving mission of Christ. 

Emphasis on personal autonomy over the sanctity of life, romantic permissiveness and the normalizing of perversion, relativism and moral subjectivism which denies the existence of truth—moral, philosophical, or theological. 

And like Mary of Magdala, we cannot allow these dark forces to keep us from spreading the saving Gospel of Christ. God desires our freedom from spiritual, intellectual, and emotional bondage. 

The fact that you are here today is a sign that God wants you to respond to an invitation to believe, and like Mary of Magdala, to become instruments of the Gospel. Unlike so many these days, you are here, which means God has already begun to move away some stones in your lives. The eclipse has already begun to wane. 

So continue to allow the power of Christ’s resurrection to animate your lives every day. Don’t go back into the tomb and roll the stone in front of the light of God. Say yes to God every day. And every week. 

The Early Christians celebrated every Sunday as a “little Easter”. They knew that without this little Easter every week, they’d be allowing those forces which conspired against Christ on Good Friday to have power over them; they were allowing excuses and fears to keep them from serving the Lord. So every Sunday for them was an opportunity open their lives to the Easter victory of Christ, to all Easter to resonate in their lives. And it is meant to be for us as well.

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

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

5th Week of Easter 2022 - Tuesday - Facing fears for the kingdom

In second Corinthians, Paul says: “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked”. The events in the acts of the apostles reading today, being stoned—almost to death-- while preaching in Lystra, is probably the stoning he was referring to. 

How easily we give up when we face resistance. We give up on a prayer commitment because we find ourselves more tired than we expected. We give in to temptation because it's just easier to give in than to fight it. Sometimes we don't get involved in a church endeavor because of the sacrifice it entails.

But, slander, rejection, physical assault, the threat of death did not stop the apostles. After being stoned almost to death, you might expect Paul to relax his mission. But Paul gets up, brushes himself off, and goes to preach in the next town. 

And then, amazingly, heroically, after preaching in Derbe, Paul returned to Lyrstra, probably still bruised and aching from the stoning—maybe with a broken rib, a split lip, not to mention the memory of the anger and hatred spewed at him. 

We avoid talking about our faith because it might create an awkward silence, Paul faced death over and over again for the Gospel.  

“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” Some of us won’t bear a single hardship, let alone many. Lord have mercy on us.

Sorry Lord, too much work. I gotta watch my summer baseball. Lies, we tell ourselves to avoid hardships. But our lives our sadder for those lies, less joyful, because they keep us from the meaningful work God desires for us. 

What are the hardships I avoid? What are the lies I tell myself to avoid those hardships? What are the secret fears that I have failed to bring to the Lord which leads me to justify those lies?

“Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid,” the Lord says in the Gospel. Why is the Lord so concerned about our anxiety and fear? Because they keep us from life, they keep us from carrying our crosses and facing those hardships for the work God wants for us, and thus deprive us of the sanctity and joy God has in store for us. 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid,” means doing our part to face those fears, to overcome those anxieties, and allowing grace to do the rest.

We place our hands confidently in the hands of the Lord today, trusting him to help us face our fears, to shed light upon our self-deceits, to give us courage and fortitude for the work of the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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God the Father was glorified in the death and resurrection of his Son. Let us pray to him with confidence.

God the Father bathed the world in splendor when Christ rose again in glory, may our minds be filled with the light of faith.

Through the resurrection of His Son, the Father opened for us the way to eternal life, may we be sustained today in our work with the hope of glory.

Through His risen Son, the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world, may our hearts be set on fire with spiritual love.

May Jesus Christ, who was crucified to set us free, be the salvation of all those who suffer, particularly those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction, and grief.

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.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - Active in Bringing Christ to the World

On Saturday I had the great honor of presiding over the diocesan celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Legion of Mary down at the Cathedral. We celebrated Mass and processed with the Eucharist throughout downtown.

For those of you not familiar with the purpose of the Legion of Mary, it is a lay apostolate founded by a Mr. Frank Duff in 1921 in Dublin Ireland. Members engage in works such as door-to-door evangelization, visitation of shut-ins and the homebound, prison ministry, distribution of Catholic literature and sacramentals in parishes and county fairs, encouraging fallen away Catholics to return to the Sacraments, driving the homebound to Mass and parish events, leading rosaries with the grieving at funeral parlors and cemeteries, organizing novenas. 

At my home parish, Legion of Mary members visited by grandmother as she lay dying, praying the rosary with her, and bringing her much consolation.

During COVID, Legionaries adapted to the difficult situation by hosting Virtual Events, continued contact with the sick and isolated, writing letters and sending cards. Auxiliary members, not able to engage in the active work, support the apostolate through their daily prayers and penances.

I recommend joining in this wonderful group of apostolic work which looks to the holy example and intercession and guidance of Our Lady for spreading the reign of Christ through Mary.

I bring up the Legion of Mary, not just because the events downtown today, but because they are a wonderful example of some of the lessons from our Scripture readings this weekend.

In the first reading, we hear of God telling Isaiah to proclaim to those whose hearts are frightened:  Be strong, fear not!

A lot of those works of the Legion—visiting the imprisoned, encouraging the fallen away to return to the Sacraments, praying with the dying, these are thing that intimidate many people. I remember in seminary the first time visiting the Cuyahoga county jail, it’s scary. Walking into the room of a dying person, brings you face to face with death. And so Isaiah, in a sense, is speaking to all of us facing fear, especially when doing the work of God—the works of charity. We are not to be afraid of doing good, good works, going to those intimidating place to bring God’s presence there.

The nice things about belonging to a group like the Legion of Mary, intentionally created for these works, is that having fellow legionaries at your side engaging in these intimidating activities, can embolden you. Again, this is why I encourage membership in this group, because membership can help you have the courage to do things you wouldn’t normally do on your own. The Lord sent his disciples out two by two, because doing these things alone can be intimidating, and so part of being a member of the Church is knowing that there are people who support you, you will walk with you into the darkness, so to speak, in order to bring the light of God. 

After telling them not to be afraid, Isaiah announces to the people that God is drawing near, God is going to be with His people in a way that he never was before, and that is source of our courage. When was I most afraid in my ministry? In my first assignment, I got a phone call, that a young boy had drowned in the swimming pool of his aunt and uncle. A terrible thing, only 3 or 4 years old. And I was asked to be there, as the parents were going to see their dead child for the first time. 

I wanted to run away, but I recalled that this was one of the reasons I had been ordained, to be at the side of the grieving. There was going to be terrible terrible grief in that hospital room, and I knew that I had to overcome my fear, and recall that I needed to bring Jesus into that room. If just by the presence of priest, standing quietly, offering words and prayers of consolation. It was fearful, but those times when the Lord had come close to me, in the confessional, forgiving my sins, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, in my ordination, I knew that he was giving me the courage I needed for ministry.

Isaiah foretells of the time when God will open the eyes of the blind, and clear the ears of the deaf enable the lame to leap and the mute to speak. And that time is now. God accomplishes these things through the Church.

The eyes of the blind are opened when Christians help non-believers are the lukewarm to understand the truths of our faith. The ears of the deaf are cleared when Christians patiently explain our faith to those who are resistant to the Gospel, who have stuffed the errors of the world into their ears.

The lame are able to leap when we help sinners develop virtue in their lives, but also when we help those crippled by grief and addiction and depression and unemployment, to get on their feat again. The mute are given the gift of speech, when Christian parents and catechists teach young people, the next generation of Christians, to boldly proclaim and explain the faith out in the world. 

One of the things I love about the Legion of Mary, is that its members recognize that the amazing works that they are called to engage in are only possible when there is a vibrant interior life and love and devotion of the Blessed Virgin. You want the courage to be the healing hands of Christ, you best draw near to Him and His mother in prayer. And Legion of Mary members know that when you are consecrated to Our Lady, when she is your mother, when you have recourse to her in all your works, she will help you do the works of her Son like no one else.

And that true for all Christians. Our Lady wants to help each of us spread the reign of her Son. She wants to draw Christians together in small groups like the Legion, or small groups of Christian families, or groups of widows, mothers, or small groups of men, to help us discern and make us of those diverse and varying gifts, to work together for the building up of the kingdom and spread of the Gospel in our neighborhood and families.

The Church surely isn’t built up, nor is the Gospel spread, by us doing nothing. 

In a few moments, the Lord will fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah in yet another way. He will become present under what appears to be simple bread and wine, but underneath those appearances will be our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who comes to do all those things Isaiah promised he would do. 

He comes to us to heal our blindness to his goodness, our deafness to his word, our lameness to walking in virtue, and our muteness in preaching the Gospel. He comes once again to declare Ephphatha to each of us, that we may be opened once again to his divine life in our souls, in order to carry his presence out into the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

3rd Week of Easter 2021 - Monday - Working for that which endures

 “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life”  The word used for “work” in this passage is the Greek word, ergon, a word that denotes hard labor and physical exertion.  Here Jesus is saying that belief in him, and following him, is no easy matter; belief requires more than merely emotional or intellectual assent.  Daily we are called to the ergon—the hard work—of turning away from our sins and embracing Jesus' commands.  Daily, we are called to the hard work of bringing our hearts, which so love independence and self-reliance, before the throne of God to submit to his will.

Jesus speaks these words here in chapter 6 of John's Gospel as a sort of prelude to his Bread of Life Discourse, his teaching on the Eucharist.  The newly initiated are taught that it will be hard work to come to the altar week after week, every Sunday, to come to receive the Bread of Life, but it must be done. It will be hard work to preserve the state of grace which allows us to receive the Eucharist worthily. But it must be done: for the sake of our souls. 

Even though Jesus has done the hardest work of all, carrying our sins to the cross for our eternal salvation, we must engage in the hard work of following him in everything.  But of all the things and distractions vying for our attention in our busy secular world—He alone is worthy of our lives.  We often work so hard for things that will not bring us eternal life, let alone real, deep satisfaction in this life.  We settle for so much less than for the greatness for which we've been created. Why? Often fear.  

We often shy away from work—even work for God—because we fear becoming exhausted and unhappy. But I’ve never regretted working for God? Have you? Fear is often a trick of the devil: a mental image of sore muscles, of sadness from missing out on satisfying our earthly appetites. But again, it’s just a trick the enemy uses to tempt us away from working for God. For, working with all of our hearts to serve God does not bring exhaustion and unhappiness, rather it brings new life and joy. Want proof? Look at the saints! In pouring themselves out in God’s service, they do not die of exhaustion, rather they radiate with life. They are more vibrant than a spring garden!

May we work today for that which endures, and come to receive the eternal fruits of laboring for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Church will deepen in her devotion to the Eucharistic sacrifice which is the source and summit of our Christian life.  Let us pray to the Lord.

That the redemptive power of Christ’s Eucharistic sacrifice will extend to the hearts and minds of all those who govern peoples and nations.  Let us pray to the Lord.

That the Eucharist will be for priests the source of their joy and their deeper configuration to Jesus Christ.  Let us pray to the Lord.

That the goodness of the Lord will be experienced in all marriages, in all business relations, in all daily encounters, and in our friendships.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who live in want: that Jesus the Bread of Life will be their sustenance, and that Christians will work for justice and mercy for all those in need.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those who have died, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all who have fought and died for our freedom, and for [intention below], 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.

November 24 2020 (School Mass) - St. Andrew Dung-Lac - Faith or Fear

 From one perspective, Jesus’ warning in the Gospel today could be kind of frightening. Standing on the foot of the beloved Jerusalem Temple the Lord shouts out, “everything you see here, all these costly stones and votive offerings will be destroyed. And not only that, there are going to be wars and violence and earthquakes and floods and famines and persecutions and plagues”. Kind of frightening, no?

And yet, Jesus isn’t trying to be frightening, rather, he’s trying to be comforting. All these terrible events he says are going to happen. Do not be terrified, he says. Do not be terrified, by these things. For the past few months, we’ve been living through one of these plagues Jesus was talking about. A plague, is a disease that sweeps through the population. 

And over the past few months I’ve met two types of people. People who are full of fear and people who take Jesus at his word here, who allow their love for Jesus Christ to cast out fear that is repeated over and over on the 24-hour news cycle and on the internet. Two types of people: the fearful and the faithful. 

The fearful are full of sadness, and they feel like prisoners, and they have been led to violent riots and vehement anger toward their fellow man. Their fear leads to anger, their anger leads to hate.

And the faithful are full of peace, and they are working to make the world brighter for others. During this plague, the faithful, take reasonable precautions not to get anybody sick, but they are not allowing fear to keep them from pursuing what is most important in life. Goodness, holiness, and peace.

Today the Church celebrates a group of Christian martyrs who experienced some of the most terrible and gruesome tortures in the whole history of the world. They were hated by their government, persecuted by their own people because of their faith in Jesus. Despite the persecution and the torture, they radiated peace and forgiveness and trust in God. And because of their courageous faith, Christianity is flourishing in Vietnam. Where there was once fear and hatred, now their faith and peace.

When we choose faith over fear God does amazing things—he performs miracles. Put your faith in Jesus throughout all the terrible events of life. And you will know a freedom and a peace that the fearful cannot even imagine. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself. 

To all of our school families and teachers and staff, please know of my prayers, that your thanksgiving gatherings may be filled with the peace that comes through faith in Jesus Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

For the sanctification of the Church, that bishops and priests be granted courage to preach the Gospel in its fullness.

For the sanctification of families, that the Word of Jesus may be studied, cherished and practiced in every home.

For all who have fallen away from the sacraments, may they repent of their sins and desire the life that can only come from you.

For peace and refreshment to all who prepare to gather for the Thanksgiving Holiday, bring safety to travelers, and protection from all disease.

For comfort to the sick and suffering, charity and care to the destitute and down-trodden, and courage to the fearful. 

That the Lord welcome into his kingdom all the faithful departed, those whose names are written in our parish necrology, all clergy and religious, and N. for whom this mass is offered.

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.

33rd Sunday in OT 2020 - The gift of holy fear

 For the past few weeks, I’ve been conducting RCIA classes for adults who are seeking full initiation into the Catholic Church. The last two years we didn’t have anyone in RCIA, here at St. Ignatius, which was quite concerning, but this year we’re happy to have three adults preparing for the Sacraments. The first two months of RCIA consist of covering the basics, the elements of the Creed: what it means that Catholics believe in God, that God is the Creator of all things visible and invisible, and that Jesus Christ is True God and True Man, and we begin to look at the parts of the Bible.  On Monday, this week,  we will begin our discussion of the Holy Spirit, and we’ll talk a bit about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord.

Like the talents in the Gospel, these gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to each of us, to be utilized in the master’s service. We are to use the gift of wisdom to order our life according to the priorities of God. We are to use the gift of understanding to clearly explain our faith to others—to help them grow in faith. The gift of piety helps us to be mindful of God throughout our day and to set good Christian example for others.   

Our psalm today speaks about that last spiritual gift—last, but not least, and maybe even the most important gift: the fear of the Lord. “Blessed are those who fear the Lord.” Our first reading, too, speaks of the fear of the Lord. Proverbs says, “the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised”.  

I say fear of the lord may be the most important of the gifts of the Spirit, because it seems to be a prerequisite for the other six. Elsewhere in the book of Proverbs, we find the well-known verse that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom”. 

What do we mean by fear of the Lord? Fear of the Lord, of course, is completely different from the fear of spiders or fear of suffering. Fear can be good and fear can be bad, it can be healthy and it can be unhealthy. For example, Founding Father and third President, Thomas Jefferson, said "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When governments fear the people, there is liberty.”  

There is a type of fear which is inconsistent with the Christian life. Over and over Jesus says, “do not be afraid”. “Don’t be afraid, to leave behind your old life” he says to peter, james, and john, “for you will be become fishers of men.” “Don’t be afraid” he says If you suffer for righteousness sake, or If they bring you before rulers and kings because of me…don’t be afraid, I am with you, don’t be afraid, for the holy spirit will give you what you are to say”. “Have no fear of those who kill the body…BUT…have fear of those who can destroy the soul and body in hell” In that last one, the Lord speaks of the type of fear that is good and holy. Just like when you are carrying something precious like a crystal vase, or a delicate baby, you should be afraid, to drop them. So, too with our souls. We should be afraid to expose our souls to evil through sin. So we need to care for our soul  to protect it from sin, lest it be destroyed in hell forever. 

The biblical Greek word for fear of the Lord is theosebeia. When that word, theosebeia, is used in scripture , it typically means having a special reverence for God, a consciousness that the eye of God is watching us always, and that there are consequences in our relationship with God if we violate his commands and fail to repent.  

Hence the woman in the book of proverbs: she is to be praised for her fear of the Lord, because she seeks to live rightly in the sight of God. She seeks to bring good to her husband and to her family. She reaches out her hands in generosity to the poor; she seeks to live obediently to the commands of God. She is a model for all of us for living out the gift of holy fear. For, the fear of the Lord is a spiritual gift not just given to a select few of us, but to each of us at baptism. It’s like a seed, that if watered and nurtured through prayer and right conduct, it blossoms. It will also fail to blossom if you neglect it. 

Each of the Saints, in their own way, display this spiritual gift. You can see it in the great care they take to avoid sin which is displeasing to God. St. Francis of Assisi writes “Where there is the fear of the Lord to guard the house the enemy cannot find a way to enter.” In other words, fear of the Lord motivates us to guard our soul against sin. To take special effort to avoid…gossip, if that’s a habitual sin for us. Or To take special effort to avoid impurity, or impatience, or immoderate intoxication.  

Healthy fear of the Lord motivates us to not only avoid sin, but also to seek God’s mercy when we do sin. It motivates us to go to Confession if we commit mortal sin, lest we appear before the judgment seat of God with unrepented mortal sin.

Again, there is healthy fear and there is unhealthy fear. In Scripture, one of the first instances of unhealthy fear is right after original sin in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, having sinfully eaten from the forbidden tree, run and try to hide from God. Their unhealthy fear is kind of silly, if you think about it. Trying to hide from the omniscient God…they knew they were guilty, but their unhealthy fear caused them to have this distorted image of God as some sort of cruel tyrant. The wicked useless servant in the Gospel too, was filled with unhealthy fear, we are told, unhealthy fear of his master which caused him to bury his talent. 

With Adam and Eve, their unhealthy fear then led them to lie to God, as if he couldn’t see through it. Instead of coming clean with the loving God who made them, they start blaming each other for their sin. 

If there is a sin that you are ashamed of that you have not brought to the sacrament of confession, please, stop running away from God. He loves you and he is ready to forgive you. But he will also respect your decision to run away from him forever if you fail to repent. 

Again, holy fear of the Lord is a spiritual gift, like the talents in the Gospel, given to us to be cultivated, grown, multiplied, and utilized in service of the master. And we cultivate the gift of holy fear by praying repeatedly and continuously throughout the day, remembering that we live in the sight of God and are beholden to his commands. 

The lazy wicked servant shows that he values the talent given to him so little, that he does nothing with it, and is consequently cast into the outer darkness. 

But when we do use this talent wisely, our lives become wisely and rightly ordered. We begin to understand the ways of God, and grow in knowledge of the things of God. We become sources of good counsel for troubled souls, and sources of strength and courage for weak souls. We grow in piety, becoming examples of holiness for others, instruments the Lord uses to draw searching souls to himself.  Having used the gift of holy fear in the Lord’s service, may we come to hear those beautiful words at the end of life, “well done, my good and faithful servant”, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

July 3 2019 - St. Thomas the Apostle - Freedom from doubt

On this eve of our nation’s Independence Day, we celebrate the feast of the apostle Thomas. Thomas in a sense is a model for freedom, ultimate freedom. For where doubt once dominated, faith granted freedom.

What was it that allowed Thomas to become free from his doubts? The encounter with the risen Jesus Christ.

Earlier in the Gospel, Thomas expressed his willingness to follow the Lord unto death. When Jesus heard of the death of Lazarus, he exhorted his apostles to follow him to Bethany, which would bring them dangerously close to Jerusalem.  On that occasion Thomas said to his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Yet, where was he when the Lord climbed the hill of Calvary? The cross certainly filled Thomas with doubt. The news of Jesus’ death caused doubt to dominate. But that encounter with the risen Christ brought Thomas a new freedom and a new faith. As he touched the nail marks of the risen Christ he was freed.

Accounts from the 3rd century tell of Thomas’ apostolic and missionary works in hat is modern day Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and of course his missionary activity led him to India where he was martyred when he crossed the Indian King.

Freedom, discovered through the divine encounter, impelled him to preach the Gospel that all men might be free.

Thomas is a model for us, to endeavor to open our minds and hearts to the divine encounter, in prayer and in the sacraments. And having encounter Christ in our prayer, in our reception of his body and blood in the eucharist, in the mercy of the confessional, we are freed from our own fears and doubts to go and proclaim the Gospel in our words and deeds.

May all those who lack faith, through the prayerful intercession of the Apostle Thomas come to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and may he help us all to be free from all that keeps us from witnessing to Christ with zeal for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Since we will not have Mass tomorrow, you will use today the beautiful petitions composed for the inauguration of President George Washington by Archbishop John Carroll, First Roman Catholic bishop in our country whose brother Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. We pray to the Lord.
Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty. We pray to the Lord.

We pray for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they maybe enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability. We pray to the Lord.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. We pray to the Lord.
And we pray especially for all of our countrymen who have gone before us in faith, for all those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, for all the of the deceased members of our family and friends, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.  We pray to the Lord.

Wednesday after Epiphany 2019 - Take Courage, I AM

Throughout Epiphany Week, the Gospel readings seem to emphasize the special identity of the Christ Child born at Christmas and adored by the magi at the Epiphany.  Monday we heard of him healing the sick, the paralyzed, the possessed.  Yesterday, we heard of him feeding five thousand with loaves and fishes.  Today, we hear of his mastery over the very powers of nature, the powers of creation—he walks on water.  He does what no man has ever done before.

At the sight of Jesus walking on the water, they thought it was a ghost, a phantasma, in the Greek. Why’d they think this? Living people typically don’t walk on water. St. Mark says, they were terrified at the sight, in fact, the Greek word there is anekraxan—they let out shrieks of terror.

But, their terror is transformed into complete astonishment when Jesus utters the words no good Jew would ever use to describe himself, in the Greek “Ego Eimi” I AM. Take Courage, I AM…Where in scripture do we find those holy words? At the burning Bush, when God revealed his divine name: I AM!  The Lord’s words here echo the divine words of consolation in the prophet Isaiah: “Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed, I am your God”

The child born at Christmas is identified with the mighty God of the universe who is greater than our deepest fears. In the Gospel of Mark, it takes a while for the disciples to fully grasp who Jesus is, for them to allow Him to transform their fear into courage. Even at the end of this passage, Mark tells us, they didn’t understand his words, and even hardened their hearts.

It is not until Jesus’ great love is fully manifested upon the cross, in Mark’s Gospel, that terror, astonishment, misunderstanding, and fear, are fully transformed into courage for the spread of the Gospel. This is echoed in our first reading, when St. John tells us that “perfect love casts out fear.”
Christmas time, in which we are still engaged, urges us to reflect upon how the incarnation is part of the story of God’s great love for us, how God entered into a terrifying world, a world that hates him and is hostile toward him, in order to save us from hate, and fear, and sin, and death, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That our Holy Father and all the clergy may be filled with courage in preaching the full Gospel, especially in the face of opposition.
That Christians may know the presence and love of God when faced with fear and suffering for the sake of the Gospel.
That those who despair of God’s love for them, might discover the great love that casts out all fear.
For all who have fallen away from the Church, for those in mortal sin, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts to Christ.
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

33rd Week in OT 2018 - Tuesday - Seven Messages for Seven Churches

For the next two weeks, until the end of the liturgical year, the daily readings will be taken from the book of Revelation. St. John, the author of Revelation, relates a series of apocalyptic visions given to him by God, in which God reveals how He is bringing earthly history to its conclusion. The sacrifice of the Lamb of God has set into motion the final age of earthly history, in which Christians will be persecuted and tempted to fall away from the True Faith.

Revelation begins with a series of seven visions and messages John is to give to seven Churches in Asia Minor. Yesterday’s reading ended, actually, with a message to the Christians at Ephesus, the place where John to the Blessed Mother to live with her before her Assumption into heaven. And today we heard the messages to the Church in Sardis and the Church in Laodicea, the fifth and seventh churches to be addressed. The messages share many similarities, the primary one being that Jesus Christ is aware of the situation in their communities, and that he offers them words both of comfort and challenge.

 As we heard, the situation in Sardis was pitiful. The Christians were on the verge of losing their faith entirely. Jesus said, “I know your works, you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” There couldn’t be a stronger rebuke. Could you image? Jesus himself saying to the Church at York Rd, “You claim to be Christian, you claim to be faithful, but your faith is dead because your works are incomplete in my sight.”

Jesus urges all the Catholics-in-name-only of the Church of Sardis, here, but it is a message to all Christians of all time. He says, fan into flame what little faith you actually have, or else you will be caught unaware on the day of judgment. In other words, you don’t want to be a Catholic-in-name-only on the day of judgment. Each of us has a responsibility to increase, strengthen, preserve our own faith.

Jesus’ message to Laodicea is nearly just as correctional: he says, the Christians there are neither hot nor cold for the faith, simply lukewarm, and it makes him want to spit them out of his mouth. The Christians had become complacent, and had begun to place more trust in money and politics than in the teaching of the Church.

Rather, we are to be like Zacchaeus in the Gospel today, who hears that Jesus is coming and takes drastic measures to see him: he climbs a tree, he recognizes his short stature and he does what he needs to do, in order to see Jesus. And when Jesus does come to him with a word of challenge, Zacchaeus flings open to the doors of his home to the Lord.

"'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” Often the doors of our hearts are closed to Jesus out of fear: fear of what Jesus might be calling us to, fear of what worldly behaviors and attitudes he is calling us to give up, fear of appearing as a devout follower of His before our neighbors and family.

But when we open the door to him, he enters our homes and dines with us, we get to experience the joy of an intimate friendship with Him.

May we respond generously to the Lord who calls us to fan our faith into flame, to open wide the doors of our lives, that we may come to experience more deeply the joy of his friendship for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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We bring to God our prayers of petition
That our Holy Father and all bishops and priests may lead the Church in absolute faithfulness to the Gospel.
For our families and friends and our loved ones, that we may be ever more united in the bonds of faith and charity.

That all teachers of the faith, and teachers of young people, may be servants of goodness and truth.
That our President and all civic leaders may govern in the spirit of righteousness, justice, and peace.
For the weak, the poor and afflicted, the sick and the suffering, and the dying, that they may be consoled by the healing light of Christ.
And that our beloved dead may come to enter the gates of heaven, for all of the poor souls for whom we pray in a special way this month of November, and N., for whom this mass is offered.
For the grace to trust the Lord in all things.
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.

19th Sunday in OT 2017 - God's Whispered Call

Last Sunday, I was away from the parish because I was attending a very special celebration. A young lady from my first parish assignment, along with another young woman, made her profession of vows as a Franciscan Sister down in the diocese of Steubenville. Her religious order’s full name is the Franciscan Sisters, Third Order Regular of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother. Now, with a name like that, you’d think, that’s a spirituality from another age, that’s a way of life that is mostly unappealing in the modern day, here in the western world, or it’s a way of life that no one in their right mind would freely embrace. And yet, dozens of happy, healthy, and holy young women over the last few years have joined this religious order.

And I have to tell you, it was a truly joyful event, when these two young women took their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience: Sister Chiara Joan, named after our own Saint Clare and Saint Joan of Arc, two very heroic women, and Sister Mary Michelina, named after Our Blessed Mother and the Warrior Prince Archangel Michael of God’s Celestial Army.

There is a beautiful moment in the profession ceremony where the newly professed sister is given the Franciscan habit, the plain grey, somewhat uncomfortable looking garb. They then go off to dress into their new habit. And coming back into the chapel, walking down the aisle, these two religious, embracing a life of simplicity, poverty, and penance beamed with more joy than I’ve seen most brides exhibit on their wedding day, and I’ve seen a lot of brides.

There is also a point where the sisters are presented with a crucifix which they will wear over their habit. The Reverend Mother Superior holds the crucifix before the sister and says: “Behold him to whom you are espoused”. And as they each gazed upon that crucifix there was such a sweet love for the Lord, that you could tell, had been cultivated over years through prayer, penance, and charitable service to Christ’s poor. And it’s rather enviable, in a good way, a good reminder of what could be, if I took the prayer life a little bit more seriously. A reminder that the greatest joy in life comes from belonging entirely to Christ.

Friday, August 11, was the Feast Day of our Parish Patron Saint, St. Clare, who herself entered the convent in order to fall in love with Christ.

Clare was from an aristocratic family, and at 15, a common age to marry in those days, she refused a number of suitors, particularly one, very wealthy fellow.  Instead, she was drawn to the dynamic preaching of local holy man, named Francesco of Assisi. He dressed in rags, probably didn’t smell too good, but preached the Gospel of Christ, with a conviction Clare had never witnessed. Francis and Clare became lifelong friends, and like a true friend, Francis encouraged Clare to seek that which makes us truly happy: radical love of Jesus Christ.

Clare discerned to dedicate her life to God by entering the convent. On Palm Sunday in the year 1212, she traded her rich clothing for the rough brown woolen habit of the Franciscans; she exchanged her jeweled belt for a common rope with three knots to symbolize her poverty, chastity, and obedience, and caught off her long golden tresses.  Thus she became espoused to Christ.  Her sister Agnes, 14 years old, soon joined her, as did several other women, in the following weeks.
The idea of entering a monastery in order to pursue a life of prayer and joyful communion with the Lord, like St. Clare, is not even on the radar of many of our young people.  Our modern culture tells our young girls, particularly, that they cannot be happy unless they, like a Disney princess, marry prince charming and live in a castle filled with all the luxuries money can buy, or acquire the sort of job where she can buy her own castle and live life according to her own whims and fancies.
But, St. Clare, and the rest of the saints, teach us a different way.

St. Clare lived a very quiet life, and yet, she was full of joy. She learned to listen, to attune her heart to the voice of God. She like Elijah learned that God is not necessarily in the big booming spectacles of the world, but in the quiet whisper of the silent chapel.

Many of us are like the apostles in the Gospel today. We hear the Lord calling, but are too afraid to get out of the boat. Or perhaps we even have moments, where like St. Peter, we begin to walk on water towards the Lord, we trust him, but also like Peter, we let the fears and anxieties and opinions of our culture replace that trust, and we begin to sink. How often have you made a commitment to pray daily, or read the scripture daily, with such fervor, you know it’s the right thing to do…and then the distractions take us away from that holy conviction, we begin to sink.

Thanks be to God we have a loving Savior who raises us up when we begin to sink. Particularly in the Sacrament of Confession, the Lord forgives us those times when we reject Him. But the Lord also wants to teach us to walk on water, to do things with his help that we couldn’t do on our own, things we would be too afraid to do, like St. Clare: to turn away from your family’s wealth and protection, when all the other girls are getting married. To choose a different way is terrifying. But we don’t know the names of those other girls. But we know the name of Clare, of Joan, of Magdalene, of Theresa of Calcutta, because they trusted the Lord and did amazing things for Him, they walked on water, in their own way, and became the people God made them to be, Saints.

The Lord calls out to each of us: Get out of the boat, get out of the familiar routine of spiritual mediocrity. He calls us to walk on water through a faith life of radical trust, prayer and charity.
Mothers, fathers, single people, teens, widows and children can become saints, when we quiet down our lives to listen to the whisper of God, who calls ordinary people to extraordinary sanctity. What is he calling you to, what is he calling you to give, what is he calling you to give up, so that you can walk on water? If you think the answer is “nothing”, you are listening to wrong voice.

May we learn to trust the Lord enough to follow his whispered call, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Thursday 2017: He opened their minds to understand

Even though the disciples had the testimony of Mary, the testimony of Peter and John, the testimony of the disciples who had met the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus, even though their very topic of conversation had been the resurrection, when the risen Jesus appears in the Gospel today, the disciples are panicked, fear-stricken, and confused.

Why? Because they did not understand. So, Jesus offers them peace, he meets them in their ignorance, and then helps them understand what has happened by opening the scriptures for them.
Here is a perfect model for evangelization. We are to go out into the very confused world, a world which denies Christ, which is really afraid of embracing Christ, offering peace to them, and helping them to understand.

It is one of the Act of Mercy to instruct the ignorant. Not only are we to proclaim THAT Jesus rose from the dead, but we must help them understand it, help them realize how that changes everything.
Instructing the ignorant is listed as first among the spiritual acts of mercy. We see Jesus instructing his disciples throughout the Gospels, and he even commands the apostles very clearly: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

While much of the world has heard about Jesus Christ, most are ignorant of what Jesus actually taught, the truths which are passed on faithfully and taught clearly by the Holy Catholic Church.
To Communicate the truth of our faith is certainly more than memorizing a lecture and entries from the catechism. We are to witness to the resurrection in our way of life: what we buy, when and where we work, how we talk, how we dress, why types of entertainment we engage in, are engagement in politics and volunteer work, all this must point to the our belief that Jesus is risen.

But still, to be able to communicate clearly the Catholic faith, to be able to open the scriptures and help people understand, we must prepare ourselves for this work through study—the constant “renewal of our minds” as St. Paul says. To not only explain what we believe but why we believe it.
Many people know that the Church teaches that abortion, contraception, homosexual activity, IVF, are sinful, but not really why she teaches these things—the biblical foundations and also the natural law and the science behind them.

The Spiritual gift of understanding is given to every Catholic in their baptism—He’s “opened our minds to understand” and we are to cultivate that gift to the best of our ability, through prayer and study, that we may give ever clearer and faithful witness to the resurrection of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with paschal joy, let us pray more earnestly to God that he, who graciously listened to the prayers and supplications of his beloved Son, may now be pleased to look upon us in our lowliness.
1. For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely, the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.
2. For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace given by Christ.
3. For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness which no one can take from them.
4. For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.
O God, who 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.

Easter Monday 2017 - Fearlessly sharing the good news

“Do not be afraid!” Easier said than done! The women left the tomb, half overjoyed, half fearful. They had come face to face with the angel of the Lord and experienced a violent earthquake. Anyone in their right mind WOULD be afraid. The romans had crucified their Lord, the Jewish leaders couldn’t be trusted, capable of insidious plotting and conspiracy. The only way you wouldn’t be, if you were commanded by God…as they were, and as have we.

“Do not be afraid!” the Lord commands us. His Word strikes down our fears when we trust Him.
This Easter week is all about preaching, preaching the good news of the resurrection, spreading it among non-believers, those who have still not allowed the Gospel to take root in their hearts. We are not to allow fear to keep us from this mission, the divine mandate: to preach, to proclaim, to spread.
The two Mary’s in today’s Gospel are tasked with bringing the good news to the apostles, those who should have known better. Sadness, fear, depression had begun to grow in them, their lives seemed ruined, they were crushed—their leader, their master and teacher arrested and killed. Even after the Lord had told them repeatedly he would rise, they just couldn’t see past their sorrow.

So the two Mary’s are sent to them: to rekindle hope, to deliver the message of good news.

Likely, there are people in our own lives: neighbors and family who suffer from similar sadness, fear, depression, those who think they are trapped in a cycle of bad luck, or face illness or unemployment. Perhaps the Lord wants to send us on a mission: to go to them to say, “the Lord will give you strength because he is risen…when life gets me down I find it important to go to the blessed Sacrament chapel…or a particular passage of scripture…or I pray a rosary every day in order to bring my troubles to God…or I make sure I gather together with other Christian families to know that I’m not alone”

Christ is alive, he is risen, and we can receive his life, his peace, his strength, his wisdom, when we unite ourselves to him and trust him.

May we be free from fear and faithful in proclaiming the good news this day and all days for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with paschal joy, let us pray more earnestly to God that he, who graciously listened to the prayers and supplications of his beloved Son, may now be pleased to look upon us in our lowliness.
1. For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely, the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.
2. For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace given by Christ.
3. For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness which no one can take from them.
4. For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.
O God, who 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.