13th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Friday - God brings good out of evil

 Scripture is full of examples of God bringing Good out of Evil. In the story of the sons of Jacob, for example, Joseph is betrayed by his brothers, thrown in a well, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, only to be put in the position where he is able to save his family from starvation. 

Over and over, we see the people of Israel falling into the evil of sin and depravity, only for God to reveal his Goodness and Mercy by delivering Israel from slavery and exile.

In today’s readings we see two such stories. God is able to bring something good out of the death of Abraham’s wife Sarah. After all those years, Abraham finally comes into possession of the land promised to Him by God which would become the seed bed of his great progeny. And we even get a glimpse of the new life for the line of Abraham, as Abraham’s son, Isaac, is blessed with a wife.

So, too, in the Gospel. The Lord brings about conversion, and a new way of living, out of the sinful life of the tax collector Matthew. Where there was sin and evil and collaboration with the enemies of Israel, God is able to bring new life and goodness and blessing.

And yet for Joseph and Israel and Abraham and Matthew, the goodness God wishes to bring about in our lives often requires giving something up. For Israel to be delivered from slavery, it had to give up its sin. For Abraham to possess the promised land, he had to give up his homeland. For Matthew to possess discipleship and apostleship, he had to give up his old sinful occupation.

The Lord is able to bring good out of the most tragic events, and in the life of the hardened sinner. But more often than not, something must be given up, left behind. Something at odds with the life of God needs to be set aside. 

What do I need to set aside, leave behind, walk away from, in order for God to manifest his goodness in me, to breathe new life into my stagnate ways, new blessing, new intimacy with Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the bishops of the Church will act as true prophets through their faithful teaching, their courageous witness, and their self-sacrificing love. Let us pray to the Lord.

As our nation celebrates independence and freedom this weekend, for the grace to use that freedom to pursue our highest good in every dimension of our civic and national life. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the Church’s missions amongst the poor and unevangelized throughout the world, that the work of Christ may be carried out with truth and love. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those who share in the sufferings of Christ—the sick, the sorrowful, and those who are afflicted or burdened in any way.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. Let us pray to the Lord.

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

2nd Sunday of Lent 2021 - Tests of Faith

 
From the moment we are introduced to the character of Abraham in the book of Genesis, his faith is constantly being tested by God.  

The very first time in Scripture God speaks to Abraham, God gives Abraham a test, and a serious one.  God tells Abraham: Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and your father's house to a land that I will show you. “Leave your home, leave your father and kinsfolk, leave everything you have ever known…trust me, I’ll let you know where you are going when you get there.”

That would test anyone’s faith. But I think it’s a pretty relatable one. Because each one of us are asked by God to go to strange people in unknown places. It’s that feeling or sense we get that there is something we should do that is outside of our comfort zone. My neighbor just lost her husband, should I go and comfort her, should I shovel her driveway, volunteer to get her groceries? Or…for the season of Lent…well I allow God to take me deeper this Lent in prayer? Will I go to stations of the cross? Will I go to confession? Will I go to weekday Mass? Will I open up the bible more often or pickup the rosary beads? 

Authentic spiritual growth always involves a test of faith, trusting God to lead us to unknown places. I know that when I’ve failed to trust God, I’ve always been a little sadder for it.

Another test came when Abraham was traveling through the countryside with his nephew, Lot.  The two men were shepherds. And over time their flocks grew larger and larger.  It became clear that the land could not support both flocks of Abraham and Lot. So, Abraham gave Lot a choice.  The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.

Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley. The whole area was well watered, it was ideal for raising a flock.  So, Lot chose for himself the fertile plans of the Jordan leaving to Abraham the land to the west, the rocky, hard, land of Canaan. Canaan was clearly less desirable, especially since, at the time, it was filled with wicked people who would likely terrorize Abraham and steal his sheep.  

This was a test, too.  Would Abraham trust God, even when it seemed like he was receiving an unfair settlement.  It's hard to trust God normally, even harder when there might be some suffering involved or when we have a temptation to tip the scale in our own favor. 

There are about twelve such tests of Abraham in the book of Genesis—the most popular and most difficult test we heard today.  God had promised Abraham numerous posterity—God said that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, and now he commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.  

Why did God test Abraham’s faith, anyway? Didn’t God know the outcome? Didn’t he know Abraham’s heart? Well, yes, of course. God knows all things. God doesn’t test us to make sure that we really love Him. He tests us because it is by that test, that our faith is fortified and strengthened. God tested Abraham’s faith to increase his faith, that he might become the father of a nation of faithful people.

So, too with us, a Christian who trusts God in small matters—who passes those small tests—is able to be used as God’s instrument in great matters. For example, St. Theresa the Little Flower trusted God in the small obediences of her life—she was obedient to her parents, she was obedient to her religious superiors, she undertook small sufferings and small acts of love for the good of souls, and because of it, she became a doctor of the Church to which millions of people look for guidance in their spiritual lives. 

A good priest friend of mine would often say, “everything prepares us for something else.”  Our little sufferings, those little tests of faith, prepare us, to help others in their trials and sufferings. Again, I think of our Lenten penances. We make these spiritual commitments, we undergo these little spiritual tests, and when we are faithful to them—there is spiritual growth--- something good comes out of our faithfulness to these commitments. We are strengthened in fortitude, we build up our spiritual muscles against the powers of temptation and fear. I am less afraid of suffering for the Gospel because I know what suffering is like, I’ve willingly undergone suffering for the kingdom. 

In the Gospel, we see Peter, James, and John, undergoing a little test of faith—they need to follow the Lord up the mountain. Because they trusted the Lord, they are given this glimpse of the Lord in his transfigured glory. And this prepares them for a bigger test of faith. No?

Soon after witnessing his glorious transfiguration, Peter, James, and John would see Our Lord arrested, beaten, mocked, scourged, crucified, and killed.  They would need to remember the glory of the transfiguration when they witnessed the horror of the cross. 

God uses those transfiguration moments of our lives to prepare us for when His glory is hard to see. St. Ignatius of Loyola called these transfiguration moments, “consolations in the spiritual life.” Hopefully, everyone here has had transfiguration moments in their lives, spiritual consolations: maybe at a beautiful mass, or your wedding, or on a really good retreat or Lenten mission, or kneeling in gratitude after a really good confession, or praying with other prayer warriors: in this powerful moments, like at the transfiguration, God’s goodness is palpable and undeniable. In those mountain top experiences of God, we might even respond like St. Peter today, bursting out “Lord it is good that we are here!”  These powerful experience of God’s closeness, inflame our hearts with love. 

But just like with the apostles, those transfiguration times prepare us for future trials, what St. Ignatius of Loyola called the times of desolation, the desert times, when God’s goodness and presence is hard or impossible to detect. In those times, faith is tested—the crucifixion is encountered—the prospect of suffering—the reality of evil is encountered,  but again, in order that we may grow spiritually and be prepared for God’s work out in the world.

Personally, I think I’m in a mountain top period right now: my Lenten spiritual reading and prayer is nourishing my soul, the burden of my Lenten penances is not particularly onerous, I made a good confession right before lent, I’ve been surprised at how moving praying our stations of the cross has been the last two weeks. 

When we are in the period of consolation, we saver it, we thank God for it—it’s a foretaste of heavenly glory, but always with the knowledge that the consolation is likely going to proceed a period of trial. 

In this trial times—those desolate times—we recall the consolations of the past to give us some strength, we recall that the Lord is testing our faith that it may grow, that we may become more effective instruments of his goodness. 

If you haven’t really gotten serious about Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, it’s not too late to make some good spiritual commitments. For our God is so good that the transfiguration can be experienced even in times, maybe, particularly in times of penance.

If you’ve already found yourself failing in these matters, it’s not to late to recommit to them. And there’s an experience of God’s goodness, too—in his mercy and his patience.

Through our Lenten observances, may the Lord continue to lead us deeper into the Paschal Mystery for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

19th Sunday in OT 2019 - Confident Relationship with God

If there is a common theme in today’s scripture readings, it is certainly “faith”. What is faith? In the old baptism ritual, parents were asked, “why have you brought your child to church?” and they would answer “faith”. Faith is certainly why we are here today. So, what is faith?

We can come up with various definitions. The Catechism says, “by faith we are to completely submit our intellect and will to God.” By faith we seek to know and follow the commandments of God and seek to understand the teachings of the Church. Yet, faith is not simply a set of commandments or doctrines, a set of lists to memorize or recite. Faith involves confidence and trust. In fact, one definition of faith I heard recently, is that faith is a “confident relationship with God.” So, when parents bring their children to the baptismal font, why are they bringing the child? They want their child to have a confident relationship with God that leads to everlasting life.

An example of faith held up for us in the scriptures today, from our second reading, the letter to the Hebrews, is Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, whom the Catechism says, is the Father of All Who believe. And three events in Abraham’s life are mentioned as signs of his faith.

First, God calls Abraham when he was 75 years old. Just when Abraham thought that his life was sorta starting to wind down a bit, God called him to begin something new—to pick up from the place where he had settled down with his wife, Sarah and to move to the promised land…at age 75. Not an easy or enviable task, but because Abraham had a confident relationship with God, he found strength for this task with his wife Sarah, to leave their home, leave their comfort, and journey into the unknown.

What is faith? Faith is a relationship with God, that enables us and empowers us, to travel confidently into the unknown, to begin something new, for God’s sake no matter how old we are, to matter how comfortable we’ve grown. We are never too old, or too set in our ways, to begin a new chapter in our faith life, our prayer life, new modes of charitable service.

The second incident in Abraham’s life mentioned by Hebrews occurs 25 years later: Abraham has arrived at the promised land, and God appears to him in a dream and says that he will become the father of a great nation, his descendants would be more numerous than the stars. Abraham and his wife Sarah are now 100 years old, and God says that he will make them more fruitful than anyone in history. Sarah laughed, but Abraham trusted. “By faith, he received power to generate” Hebrews says. And we know Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Faith transformed barrenness to fruitfulness.
What is faith? Faith is a relationship with God that brings spiritual fruitfulness, again, no matter how old we are. Where there is only self-concern, faith can bring true charity. Where there is despair faith can bring joy. Where there is anxiety or turmoil, faith can bring peace. Where there is impulsiveness, faith can bring self-control. Where there is harshness, faith can make you gentle. If you let it, if you trust.

The third incident, involves Abraham’s relationship to the surrounding culture. People of faith are often tempted to believe and act just like everyone else around us “out there”, to give-up the ways of God and give-in to the ways of the world.

Well, when Abraham and Sarah moved to the promised land, it was still occupied with many pagan peoples. And one of the grizzly practices of those pagan Canaanites was child-sacrifice. The Canaanites would sacrifice their children to the Canaanite gods. And Abraham, likely because he witnessed the surrounding Canaanites willingness to sacrifice their children, began to imagine that God desired the sacrifice of his own son Isaac. So, we know the story, Abraham and Isaac ascend Mount Moriah, God tells Isaac that God would provide the lamb of sacrifice, Abraham binds Isaac, places Isaac on the altar, and raises the knife, but his hand was stopped by the Angel. God, pleased with Abraham’s willingness to offer the thing he most valued, did not desire the grizzly murder of Isaac. In the fullness of time, God would provide the Lamb, his own Son as the sacrifice for the salvation of the world.

What is faith? Faith is the confident relationship with God that sets us apart from the pagan practices of the world, that moves us to offer what we value most, to trust God more than pressures from the surrounding culture.

How does God want to increase your faith at this moment in your life? On what new journey, new endeavor, new ministry does God want to send you? What area of your life does God want to make more fruitful? And what is he calling you to give-up, perhaps something that has made you a little too much like the surrounding culture?

Speaking of faith, Bishop Robert Barren was in the news this week, lamenting the recent Pew Research report that over two-thirds of Catholics have lost their faith, or never had faith, that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist—that bread and wine are truly transformed, not just symbolically, but truly, into the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. If you are one of the two-thirds that do not believe, I invite you, I urge you, to ask the Lord for the gift of faith. For it has been taught from the very beginning that bread and wine are truly transformed at Holy Mass. Pope Francis said recently, “the Eucharist is the spiritual life-blood of the Christian because in receiving it we consume the body of the Lord, whose life transforms us, elevates and empowers us to become like him.”

To provide the opportunity to deepen our faith in the Eucharist, to allow the Eucharist to be a source of blessing and strength for our parish, I am instituting, on the first Friday of each month at 7pm, an hour of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with devotions and benediction beginning the first Friday of September. Come and pray and adore the Lord. Also, on the second Friday of the month, I will be offering faith formation sessions, an opportunity to come together and study our beautiful faith. Come and Renew and study the faith.

For as we see in the example of Abraham, Faith brings us into a relationship with God where miracles can occur, it brings fruitfulness, and Christ-like self-sacrificial love.

Lord, deepen our faith. Through faith, give us courage, fruitfulness, and the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.