Ash Wednesday 2025 - Pope Francis' Message & The Lenten Journey

 At the beginning of February, prior to his hospitalization for his serious illness, Pope Francis offered a message to the world for the season of Lent which we begin today.

He wrote: “Dear brothers and sisters, We begin our annual pilgrimage of Lent in faith and hope with the penitential rite of the imposition of ashes. The Church, our mother and teacher, invites us to open our hearts to God’s grace, so that we can celebrate with great joy the paschal victory of Christ the Lord over sin and death, which led Saint Paul to exclaim: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”. Indeed, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is the heart of our faith and the pledge of our hope in the Father’s great promise, already fulfilled in his beloved Son: life eternal.”

So in that opening passage, the Holy Father calls our attention to several themes of the Lenten season: that Lent is a pilgrimage meant to open our hearts to God’s grace which deepens our hope in God’s promise of eternal life.

He then went on to explain how Lent is a journey. He said, the idea that we are pilgrims on a journey “evokes the lengthy journey of the people of Israel to the Promised Land, as recounted in the Book of Exodus. This arduous path from slavery to freedom was willed and guided by the Lord, who loves his people and remains ever faithful to them. “

You know this story right? The people of Israel had become enslaved in Egypt, and God led them out of slavery over a period of 40 years, much like the 40 days of Lent, through the desert to the promised Land. Through those 40 years, God sought to strengthen their faith and purify his people from the sins that they had adopted in Egypt, sins which were a sort of spiritual slavery.

When we allow selfishness and cruelty and faithlessness and self-centeredness and perversion and disobedience to God and disordered attachment to the things of the world—when we allow these things to rule our life—we are in a sort of slavery. But God made us to be free from these things that degrade our human nature.

And the season of Lent is part of the journey we must all take if we wish to be free. We fast, we pray, we give of ourselves because we want to be free. We have ashes placed on our foreheads today because we want to be free to live as disciples of Jesus, free even from the fear of death. Which is why the Holy Father quoted that line from St. Paul, “death where is your sting” meaning, that the Christian is so free, that the fear of death has no control over us.

But fearlessness and freedom are only obtained when we take the journey with the Lord Jesus—the journey into the Lenten desert—the desert journey in which we are strengthened in faith, purified from sin, where we learn to fast and pray and give with generous open hearts for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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As we begin our Lenten journey, we bring our needs before the Lord, trusting in His desire to free us from sin and lead us to the joy of the Resurrection.

For the Church: That all Christians may embrace this Lenten season as a pilgrimage of faith and hope, opening their hearts to God’s grace and growing in holiness.

For Pope Francis: that during this time of serious illness, the Holy Father might know the merciful presence of the Lord and give us all an example of patience and faith.

For those who feel enslaved by sin or hopelessness: That they may discover in Jesus Christ the path to true freedom, finding courage in prayer, fasting, and self-giving to break every chain that oppresses the human heart,

For all in positions of authority and responsibility: That they may promote justice, peace, and the dignity of every person.

For those who are sick, suffering, or near death: That they may be freed from fear and know the consoling presence of Christ crucified and risen, who conquers even the sting of death.

For our beloved dead: That, having completed their earthly pilgrimage, they may enter into eternal life with Christ, sharing in the full victory over sin and death,

Merciful Father, as we mark ourselves with ashes, lead us on the desert road of Lent to freedom in Your Son. Hear our prayers, and grant us all we need to walk confidently toward the Easter victory. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

1st Week of Advent 2023 - Monday - Advent Journey of Faith

 On this first weekday of Advent, our scripture readings teaching us that Advent is a journey of faith to God.

In the reading from Isaiah we hear how nations will stream toward the Lord’s house established on a high mountain. During Advent, all people, of all places, of all time are invited to make their way to the one True God, shedding their false beliefs and immoral ways in order to walk in the light of God’s truth, goodness, and beauty. 

This journey of faith is a joyful journey, as our psalm proclaimed: “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord”. The journey toward the house of God is a joyful one because we are journeying to meet the One who is our hearts deepest longing. Shedding error to live in God’s truth brings joy, shedding immorality in order to live in God’s goodness brings joy. Shedding violence—allowing our swords to be turned into plowshares—in order to live in God’s peace brings joy. 

Advent can be filled with joy when we turn away from the things that deprive of us joy and fail to satisfy our longing for the infinite. For real joy is experienced when we turn away from darkness and turn more resolutely to seek the face of God. 

In the Gospel, the centurion recognizes that Jesus Christ is God—the God who can bring healing to his household—to his servant who is paralyzed and suffering dreadfully. Faith in Jesus Christ brings healing, wholeness, deliverance, freedom from all the different types of paralysis that afflict us.

Faith in Christ is both the way by which we reach the destination of the journey of faith and the destination of the journey itself. Advent helps us to deepen that conviction and also opens us to the healing and wholeness that can only come by deepening our faith in Him. 

May all people of all nations come to a deepening of faith in Christ Jesus this Advent, and come to rejoice in the peace of Our Father’s house for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

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As we await with longing the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, we raise up our prayers of petitions.

That Christ may visit his holy Church and always find her repentant of sin and watchful in prayer.

That Christ may fill the Pope, our Bishop, and all the clergy with spiritual gifts and graces.

That Christ may guide the minds of those who govern us to promote the common good according to His Holy Will.

That Christ may banish disease, drive out hunger, and ward off every affliction.

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

Almighty ever-living God, who bring salvation to all and desire that no one should perish, hear the prayers of your people and grant that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and your Church rejoice in tranquility and devotion. Through Christ our Lord.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2022 - The journey of Dante and Jesus

 This summer I have begun a bit of a journey—a literary journey. I’m taking a journey with the Poet Dante Alighieri—through his Divina Commedia---his Divine Comedy. I took the journey once before, back in undergrad, through the three books of La Commedia—Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso—Dante’s Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.

My guide through Dante that first time around was John Carrol professor, Dr. Thomas Nevin, who could brilliantly lecture to the very small group of us as if he were addressing a full auditorium. Dr. Nevin was also my latin professor who taught us the ancient language with great love and excitement.

This time through Dante’s Commedia, I have a small set of companion books, titled “Spiritual Direction from Dante” written by the Oratorian Priest Father Paul Pearson. And I’m really finding his commentary quite insightful and helpful. For the journey through the Commedia is complex, and steep, and confusing, and sometimes a bit horrific…just like life.

And that’s how the poem opens: with Dante, himself the main character in his epic poem, lost in a dark, bewildering forest. Life is sometimes like a dark, bewildering forest. And, it’s not always clear how we become lost or overwhelmed by life, is it? For Dante it was unclear to him if it was because he was having a midlife crisis, or that he had strayed off the path that God had wanted for him. And that can happen to any of us, you stray a little bit off God’s path; maybe you stop saying your daily prayers, stop coming to mass every week, maybe you allow a bad habit to get out of control, and you find yourself in a place that is wholly unfamiliar and confusing. 

So there is Dante, in the middle of his life, in this dark forest, and for a moment, he thinks he can find his way back on his own, so he makes his confused way through the forest, but soon comes across a pack of wild beasts—symbolizing the sins of his life—blocking his way. His struggle with his sins and his guilt keep him from finding his way.

But right when Dante sees this wolf of lust ready to pounce upon him, he detects someone in the distance, and desperately calls out for help: “Miserere di me…Mercy upon me, mercy”. 

With him in the dark woods was one of the poets of old, the Roman poet Virgil, who he had studied in his youth. Sometimes we need to remember the lessons of our youth, don’t we? Come to discover, Virgil had been sent to help Dante by the Blessed Virgin Mary. And Virgil was tasked with leading Dante on a journey:  a journey that would take him through the bowels of hell to witness the punishment of the damned, up the steep mountain of purgatory to witness the purification of the poor souls, and through the celestial realm of heaven to witness the reward of the saints basking in the glory of God. 

For Dante had become complacent about his sins. And so he needed to make the journey into hell to finally come to the understanding of the destructive power of sin. And to witness the glory of the blessed that he would forsake, if he allowed himself to be consumed by his sins. He needed to see how sin wounds the human mind, the human heart, and the human soul. We, too, often minimize the effects of sin. We say, “Sin isn’t that bad. It doesn’t hurt anybody.” False. We need to see sin from God’s perspective. Allowing sin to take root in one’s life leads to the sort of terrifying places dante will visit in the first stage of his journey. 

I bring up Dante’s journey, again, partially to tell you a bit about my summer spiritual reading, feel free to join me by the way, but also because of the opening line of today’s Gospel, on this 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time: “When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem”

This line from late in Luke chapter 9 is the spiritual midpoint of St. Luke’s Gospel. Up until this point, Luke has told us of the miraculous events leading up to our Lord’s infancy, his glorious birth, and the infancy of his public ministry, the calling of the first apostles, his early teachings about holiness and discipleship, parables about the kingdom of God, and miraculous healings, like that of the Gerasene Demoniac. 

But today’s Gospel is the turning point in which the Lord “resolutely determines to journey to Jerusalem”. And the Lord is very well aware of what that journey will entail, the hostility he will face from his enemies—and how that journey will end—with betrayal, suffering, and death.

The reason Dante resolves to make the journey through Hell and Purgatory is not unlike the reason Our Lord resolves to make his journey to the cross. It is God’s will. And it will bring about salvation. Dante makes his journey to face and overcome the sins in his own life, that he may come to the reward of the Blessed. The Lord makes his journey, not for his own sake, but for ours: Jesus journeys to the cross to die for our sins and to win for us that grace to help us overcome the attachments to sin remaining in us which seek to reclaim us.

The english translation of today’s gospel says that the Lord “resolutely determines to journey to jerusalem”, though literally St. Luke’s Greek says, “he set his face to jerusalem” recalling the verse from the servant song of Isaiah that we hear on Ash Wednesday every year, “I have set my face like flint, that I shall not be put to shame.” Jesus, God’s chosen servant, made the conscious decision to make the uncomfortable journey---a  journey that would require courage, fortitude, perseverance, and longsuffering, fruits of the spirit that are to fill our lives as well.

Are you resolutely determined to journey to God? Is your set face like flint against the many resistances Christians inevitably face in the spiritual life? Will you do what you need  to do in order to make the journey? Will you have the courage to face your own sins honestly? to overcome the sins God wants you to overcome? Will you leave what is comfortable to obtain the sanctification God wants for you?

Dante was overwhelmed by that question. He almost fled in fear back into the forest and allowed himself to be devoured by the wild beasts. So Virgil, his guide, reasons with him, helping him to trust that God wants him to make the journey, that he needs to trust God, he needs to trust the Blessed Virgin who knows the state of Dante’s soul, his doubts, his confusion, and his longings.

You see, Dante had forgotten that God and the Blessed Virgin and the saints are on our side. They desire our salvation more than we do. They are on our side before we are, like the shepherd in search of the lost sheep before the sheep either knows it is lost or wants to be found. They want to help us face our sins, and to allow God to deliver us from them. 

“Follow me” the Lord beckons to each of us, as he did in the Gospel. Make the journey. For freedom’s sake, allow Christ to set you free, as St. Paul says in our second reading, free from our secret fears and our sins which keep us from being the people God made us to be, free to be zealous in doing good works and spreading the Gospel.

Guided by the Spirit, may we live by the Spirit, confident that God desires what is best for us, and through Mother Church teaches us to live by his commands and by his grace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - Food for the journey

 

The Prophet Elijah is certainly one of the tenacious, courageous heroes of the Old Testament. Immediately preceding today’s first reading, Elijah had been led by God to confront the wicked King Ahab and Jezebel his Queen for forsaking the One True God of Israel and worshiping the Canaanite idol, Baal.

To prove the superiority of the one true God, Elijah challenges the priests of Baal to a sort of test. You know the story. Two altars were constructed: one for Baal, and one for the one true God of Israel. The prophet whose God consumed the sacrifices would be proved to be the true God. 

So the 450 prophets of Baal, begin to wail to the skies, crying out to their idol for hours, but to no avail. They then gashed themselves with swords and spears to invoke their God, but nothing happened, the altar remained. “Why don’t you scream louder” Elijah says, mocking them, “maybe Baal can’t hear you. Maybe he’s away on a trip. Maybe he’s asleep and can’t get up.” Sweating, bloody, and exhausted, the prophets of Baal, gave up, doubting that Elijah could do better.

So then it was Elijah’s turn. God’s prophet began by drenching his altar with water. And then he prayed. God wishing that his glory be made known sent fire from heaven and incinerated the sacrifice. The audience cheered and proclaimed the God of Elijah as the True God. 

Queen Jezebel, however, rather than accepting Israel’s God became furious, and vowed to kill Elijah. So Elijah flees into the desert, where we find him at the beginning of today’s first reading. The desert, symbolic of Elijah’s situation. Success had turned to apparent failure—victory into defeat. Alone in the desert, distraught, hunted, abandoned. Elijah feels so forsaken, as we heard, he even prayed for death. In his despair, he cries out to God, and even though he found himself in the middle of this barren desert: God hears his plea and sends an angel, twice, to feed him.

Notice, Elijah is fed, not so that he can stay in the desert and wallow in his misery. Elijah is fed, so that he can begin a new journey. God had more work for him to do. And this journey was not going to be easy. It’s going to take him 40 days and 40 nights. But God would provide him food to strengthen Elijah for this journey. And Elijah walked 40 days and 40 nights to the mountain of God, Mt. Horeb, also called Sinai, where God gave moses the 10 commandments. And there on Horeb, you know this story too, Elijah looks for God in the wind, but God was not in the wind. Elijah looks for God in the earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Elijah looks for God in the fire, but God was not in the fire. Finally, Elijah hears a small whispering sound, and it is in that whisper for Elijah finds God.

What a roller coaster of a story. Elijah, is given a task by God in which he is largely successful. But then that task has serious consequences for Elijah and he encounters a real low place in his life. He prays to God, and God hears his prayer, and feeds him for a difficult journey. Finally, Elijah comes to his destination, and encounters God in a way he did not expect.

This story is so powerful because it’s our story. Our lives are filled with successes and failures. Times when we seem to be bringing about great victories for God’s kingdom, times when we are experience real consequences for our faith, and then times when we feel utterly useless. Times when God’s ways are not easy to understand, when he leads us on some mysterious journey,  even climbing uphill, with terrible forces set against us. And times when we are looking for God and he’s not where we expect to find him.

But in the middle of it all, in our Catholic life, is food, food for the journey. Like the angel who feeds Elijah with physical food, to build up his strength, the Lord feeds us with food from heaven, the Eucharist, to help us face all those tasks, all those challenges, all those low moments, all those uphill climbs, with strength that comes from Him.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Christians recognize in the Lord’s self-description as bread, God’s desire to feed us with the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist throughout our lives. 

Whatever we are feeling, whatever we are going through, our first reaction should always be to come to the Eucharist to be fed by God. In our great successes, like Elijah against the prophets of Baal, we come to give thanks and share the food of victory.. When we are chased into the desert by God’s enemies like Elijah and God is no where to be found, we must search him out here, where he has made his presence known under the appearance of bread and wine. And when he calls us on the mysterious journey, to enter into the unknown, to climb a steep mount, we must come here to be fed with the food for the journey.

It is an invaluable practice, when you come to Church, before Mass begins, to kneel down in your pews, facing the tabernacle and to make a little examination of conscience. This is important preparation for Mass. And kneeling there to ask yourself: why am I here?? What am I struggling with, at this very moment in my life? What are the blessings for which I’ve returned to this altar to give thanks? 

Am I at a low point in which God cannot be detected in your life? God help me to see you in the strange, mysterious events of my life? 

Kneeling before mass we do well to identify these things? What am I joyful about? What am I sad about? Angry about? Fearful about? It is important to get to mass early, to express these things to God. And to recognize that in the Eucharist we are about to celebrate is the answer to your prayers. The strength we need, the grace we need to remain faithful to God amidst all the challenges of life is given, in the Eucharist.

Also, praying before mass, we do well to identify those people, those closest to us, who have fallen away from God, who do not know, or have forgotten, that Jesus is here waiting for them. Before Mass call them to mind, bring to God their woundedness, their suffering, their confusion, their addictions. Ask God, through this Eucharist, to help you be the instrument of leading them home, here, to the family table, to Jesus who loves them and wants to feed them with the supersubstantial bread that will enable them to survive this earthly journey with our souls intact. 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

May the Eucharist we celebrate and share today help us to remain faithful to God throughout all of our challenges, to know God’s presence with us throughout those challenges, and be led through them, to eternal life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Octave 2021 - Wednesday - Emmaus Word and Sacrament

 

As I mentioned yesterday, in ancient days the newly initiated would attend daily mass throughout the easter octave. The homilies would have a catechetical tone to help the newly initiated understand the mysterious meaning of easter, the sacraments they received, and apply the scriptures to their new way of life.

And isn’t that exactly what the Lord does in the Gospel today: shrouded in mystery, he meets a small group of confused disciples, he breaks bread with them in which they recognize his real presence, and he explains the scriptures to them—how what occurred on Good Friday and Easter Sunday was in fulfillment of his Father’s plan of salvation foretold in the Old Testament.

The whole Christian life is like a journey beginning at baptism, in which we encounter the risen Lord, and then subsequently grow in our understanding of discipleship as we walk the Way of Life.

And then like the disciples—hearing the word and breaking the bread—every time we attend Mass, we are encountering the Risen Lord—in the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Word we encounter the Lord challenging us, inspiring us, enlightening us, correcting us, healing us, deepening our understanding, inviting us, equipping us, and sending us out into the world, like Peter in the first reading, to bring the Lord’s good news and spiritual healing to others. Some people zone out during the liturgy of the word, but this dimension of the mass is of vital importance, and we do well having come to mass already having read a bit and reflecting on the scriptures, so that when they are proclaimed during Mass, we are ready for and receptive to the Lord’s life giving word.

And then as the disciples recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread, we recognize the real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist—bread and wine changed into his very body and blood. In all of the other sacraments Jesus gives us His grace, says St. Thomas Aquinas, while in the Eucharist, the “sacrament of sacraments,” He gives us His whole self, His divinity and His humanity.

Something happens within us when we encounter Christ in the Mass.  Our hearts do burn within us, as the Emmaus disciples—they are enflamed with love, enlightened with understanding, purified of selfishness, warmed and consoled, and tempered for the work of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ. 

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

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

Epiphany 2019 - See, Set Out, Bring Gifts

I’d like to share this evening some thoughts from Our Holy Father Pope Francis. Last year, on the feast of the epiphany, preaching in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Father noted: “Three actions of the Magi guide our journey towards the Lord, who today is revealed as light and salvation for all peoples. The Magi see the star, they set out and they bring gifts.”

These three actions of the Magi contain three wonderful lessons for us. First, they see the star. Not everyone saw the star. St. Matthew tells us that Herod and the people in Jerusalem were troubled at the news of this star. They had missed it. There concern was not for heavenly things, but for earthly things.

“We often make do” the Holy Father notes, “with looking at the ground”…we tell ourselves, “it’s enough to have our health, a little money and a bit of entertainment.” Many of our contemporaries have settled for the earthly while ignoring the heavenly, and their lives are sadder for it. Francis asks, “ I wonder if we still know how to look up at the sky. Do we know how to dream, to long for God, to expect the newness he brings, or do we let ourselves be swept along by life, like dry branches before the wind? The Magi were not content with just getting by, with keeping afloat. They understood that to truly live, we need a lofty goal and we need to keep looking up.”

That’s our first invitation for this new year: to have our eyes raised to heaven, to look for signs that God is working in our lives. To look for God in the Sacraments, to look for God in the Scriptures, in our private prayer, to look for Him in the opportunities he gives us to serve.

The second thing the Magi do, once they see the star, St. matthew tells us they “set out.” Regardless of how difficult the journey may be, they set out to find Jesus. The Holy Father notes, “His star demands a decision to take up the journey and to advance tirelessly on our way. It demands that we free ourselves from useless burdens and unnecessary extras that only prove a hindrance, and accept unforeseen obstacles along the map of life. Jesus allows himself to be found by those who seek him, but to find him we need to get up and go, not sit around but take risks, not stand still, but set out.”

“Jesus makes demands: he tells those who seek him to leave behind the armchair of worldly comforts and the reassuring warmth of hearth and home. Following Jesus is not a polite etiquette to be observed, but a journey to be undertaken.” Here the Holy Father is talking about Christian discipleship. Being a disciple is not just about observing, as he says, “polite etiquette”. It’s about setting out on a risky journey. Finding Jesus involves taking risks: the risk of going out of the comfort zone to allow yourself to be changed by Christ.

Not everyone did set out to meet him, as we heard in Matthew’s story. Herod stayed at home. He stayed in the comfort of his palace, and sent other people to do the hard work of setting out and searching for Jesus. The people of Jerusalem too, were afraid, that God could be doing something new in their lives. They wanted everything to remain just as it was, but that is rarely the way things are with God.

So there is our second invitation for this new year: not to be afraid to set out on a new adventure, to engage in acts of charity you may never have engaged in before, to reflect on Christian truths you may have shied away from, to practice devotions that have been set aside by the worldly minded.
The third thing the Magi do is they bring Gifts, they offer to the Christ Child their costly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Holy Father says, “The Gospel becomes real when the journey of life ends in giving. To give freely, for the Lord’s sake, without expecting anything in return: this is the sure sign that we have found Jesus. For he says: “The gift you have received, give freely as a gift” (Mt 10:8). To do good without counting the cost, even when unasked, even when you gain nothing thereby, even if it is unpleasant. That is what God wants.”

Jesus comes to give the greatest gift of life for our salvation, and we are called to give of ourselves freely, which opens us open ever more deeply to receive the gift of His divine life.

So there is our third invitation for this new year, to give with the generosity of Jesus himself. To give of our time, talent, and treasure, as I hear you are used to hearing around these parts. To be attentive to the ways the Holy Spirit is urging us to give of ourselves for the spread of the Gospel, to set our gaze upon the things of God, to set out to obtain them no matter the difficulty, and to give of ourselves generously, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Epiphany 2018 - The Wise still seek Him

On this beautiful Feast of the Epiphany, we reflect on the journey of the wise men—the magi—as they journey to the newborn king in Bethlehem.  The journey of the Magi stands for the journey that all of us must make to come to know Christ. 

But, who were the Magi anyway? To the east of Israel was Persia, Babylon, a periodic oppressor of the Jewish People. In the book of the prophet Daniel, we hear how the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar employed a host of magi as advisers to the throne. The magi engaged in the interpretation of omens and dreams and in astrology—making predictions about the future based on the movement and positions of the moon, stars, and planets.

It’s sort of surprising to even meet these characters in our Sacred Scriptures, as Astrology is expressly forbidden in the Old Testament. Jews and Christians are forbidden from consulting horoscopes, fortune tellers, and palm readers and the like, most of them being charlatans anyway.

It is also extremely strange that these Persian Astrologers had read the Old Testament Prophecies about a star heralding the birth of a Messiah. It must have been the Holy Spirit who inspired the Magi to look outside of their Pagan religion to the Jewish Prophets.

Throughout the Advent season we spoke of the great longing and anticipation of the Jewish people for the coming of the Messiah. But the Magi show us that this longing didn’t simply belong to the Jews. I’d venture to say that this longing for a Savior, for God to reveal himself in a human face is a universal human longing. So the Magi stand for all people of all time longing, searching, gazing upwards, waiting for God.

God built us, designed us, created us to look for Him. So this story of these non-Jewish astrologers from the east, teach us that God is working in the hearts and minds of the people on the outside: the family members not going to Church this weekend, the young people with their noses glued to the screens of their idevices. all those people who have grown up without religion, without faith, without spirituality, people worldwide who engage in false religions: this story reminds us that deep down they long for Christ. And we have a job of revealing Christ to them through the living of the one true faith, our charity, our conviction for the Gospel.

Many people refuse to believe that Jesus is found in the confines of the Catholic Church, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking. Most of them are looking for him in all the wrong places, but there is something inside of them, urging them to seek out and truth and goodness and beauty which is found most fully in Jesus Christ. That very same impulse found in the hearts of the magi, can be found in your next door neighbors.

What made the Magi of the Gospel wiser than most, is that realized the importance of this quest. They left their homes, they left their comfort, they left homeland to go searching.

One definition of wisdom I like very much is that wisdom is the ability to put your priorities in order. The wise man values what is truly valuable and eschews what is foolish. The Magi of the Gospel can rightly be called wise, in that they realize that the quest for finding Jesus Christ is the most important thing ever. Political gain, academic status, earthly wealth, fleshly pleasure, economic stability, all these desirable things are nothing if you do not find Jesus Christ and kneel down to adore Him.

Another lesson I’d like to focus upon today from the Magi was the opposition they faced in their journey. Following the Christmas star they make their way to Jerusalem and encounter King Herod. Likely, here too, the Holy Spirit assisted the Magi to detect Herod’s murderous intentions when he asked the Magi to tell him the location of the Christ Child.

The lesson here is that in the spiritual journey, in the spiritual life, we do well to expect opposition. Finding Jesus isn’t always easy, practicing Christianity isn’t always easy. Finding God’s presence in the midst of grief, in the midst of suffering, and in the midst of temptation isn’t always easy. But the Holy Spirit comes to our aid in the midst of difficulty.

A bacon double cheeseburger always sounds best on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. There’s always going to be a family member or neighbor who is going to test your patience. Persevering in a particular spiritual practice like daily meditation is going to be hard sometimes. Practicing chastity and purity and limitless forgiveness and boundless mercy is going to be difficult. But resistance isn’t proof that it isn’t the right path; in fact, quite the opposite: it’s often the path of least resistance that leads to damnation. “Broad is the way and wide is the gate that leadeth to perdition.”

Now, Herod’s opposition was subtle, and so we should expect that too. Sometimes temptation and evil even sound like good ideas. So we have to be wise, clever, knowledgeable of our faith, aware of the ruses and tricks of the enemy, to ensure our faithfulness.

The next lesson from the Magi is that upon leaving King Herod’s palace, the Magi follow the star, they come to Bethlehem, they see Mary and the King, what do they do?  They prostrate themselves, and then they bring him gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Gold for the king, frankincense because he is God, and Myrrh because he will die for our sins.  They bring the finest things they can find, gifts worthy of a king. 

And here’s the next spiritual lesson.  When you’ve discerned the presence and the will of God, you’ve overcome hardship and resistance and now you’ve come to Christ, what should you do?  You give him your best.  The great danger in the spiritual life is to just give God the leftovers. We do well to begin the day on our knees, to begin every undertaking with the intention of glorifying God, and giving Him our best.

Finally, having come to Christ, giving him their gifts, they return to their home country, by a different route, having been warned to avoid Herod’s treachery. 

Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “of course they go back a different route, you never come to Christ and go back the same way you came.”  The encounter with Christ changes you…if weren’t changed you didn’t truly encounter him.

Coming to Mass, offering God the best we have in worship, encountering him and receiving him in Holy Communion, should change us.  We are to go from this mass differently from when we came in.  I hope everyone here comes to Mass wanting, hoping, and expecting to be changed, to be sanctified, to see another dimension of Christ’s beautiful face.

Help us Lord to seek you, to find you, to give you our best, and to be changed by you, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.