3rd Week of Easter 2025 - Tuesday - "What sign can you do that we might believe?"

 

What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?

In today’s Gospel the people were asking for a sign so they could believe that Jesus was really sent by God.

And Jesus said, I’ll give you a sign: bread. But not just any bread. Bread that is my flesh. Bread that is my body and blood and soul and divinity.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote about the Eucharist that “The Eucharist means God has answered:  The Eucharist is God as an answer, as an answering presence.”

In the Eucharist, God answers our prayers to know that He is with us in our challenges, crosses, temptations, doubts, and disappointments. He is with us in our struggle to love our enemies, forgive those who hurt us, give to those who ask of us. The Eucharist is God’s answer to man’s question “where can I find God, now, and believe in him”. 

In the Eucharist, the Word become flesh has made his dwelling among us, and we can see his glory. In the Eucharist, the Lord’s teaching is fulfilled that, “behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age”. In the Eucharist, we come to understand how Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us.

The Church’s use of John Chapter six during this easter season is so fitting, therefore, because it answers how the risen Christ, who appeared to the disciples, can now be glimpsed and approached and adored and received by us, by all people.

So many of our contemporaries are starving for God; they go from one unsatisfying pursuit to another, searching for God—even to the point of self-destruction in some cases. All the while, God is here, present on the altar, present in the tabernacle, able to be received by those who believe in Him. God has given the sign for all those able and willing to see.

During the Easter season we certainly pray for a deeper appreciation and gratitude for God’s answer to humanity’s longing, which is now such a source of strength and joy for the Church. But we also  consider how our Easter mission is to lead souls here—how God’s grace impels us into the world, to help souls find Christ in the Eucharist—so they like us can find the answer to desires and longing for God, for wholeness, and peace, and joy, and the promise of eternal life, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Trusting in Christ’s true presence among us in the Eucharist, we present our prayers and petitions to our Heavenly Father.

That the Church around the world may be a visible sign of the light of the Risen Lord calling all people to new life and communion with Him, and for the Holy Spirit’s guidance for the college of Cardinals as they prepare for the conclave and the papal election.

For leaders of nations, that they may be guided by the wisdom and love revealed in Christ’s Eucharistic sacrifice, promoting justice, peace, and dignity for all people.

For priests and those preparing for priestly ministry, that their hearts may be strengthened and their lives continually transformed by the Eucharist, the source of their joy and priestly identity, and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.

For married couples and families, that the self-giving love of Christ made present in the Eucharist may inspire and sustain their love and fidelity to one another.

For those experiencing spiritual hunger, loneliness, or despair, that they may encounter Christ, finding in him nourishment, peace, and fulfillment for their souls.

For those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, that they may draw comfort and strength from Christ’s presence in the Eucharist and from the charitable giving of the Body of Christ.

For our beloved dead, especially Pope Francis, that they may share in that eternal life promised to those who ate and drank the body and blood of Christ.

Gracious Father, hear our prayers. Nourish us continually with your Son’s presence in the Eucharist, and grant us the grace to lead others to this divine source of eternal life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

December 14 2020 - St. John of the Cross - The Secret Stairway to God

 

St. John of the Cross was born in Spain in 1542 and became a Carmelite friar at the age of 21 and ordained at 25.  He was thoroughly trained in theology especially the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas.  John dedicated himself to reforming his religious order which had grown lax in its observance of Gospel simplicity.  He was met with misunderstanding and opposition—a group of his Carmelite brothers imprisoned him in a small, stifling room, six feet by ten feet, letting him out only to make him kneel in the refectory during meals, where he would be subjected to beatings by his brothers.  

Yet, while holed up in his tiny prison cell, John began to compose verses of poetry in his mind, for he had neither pen nor paper.  And these poems constitute not only some of the gems of Spanish literature but some of the most eloquent articulations of the Catholic spiritual tradition— expressing in his prison- the ecstasy of mystical union with God.

While in this experience of captivity, John came to understand that the things of the world, of which he was deprived, are in the end, inadequate for the soul’s deepest longing for union with God.  

Like St. Augustine, John of the Cross understood that the human soul, like a great cavern, is infinitely deep—and can only be satisfied by the infinite one. And we are restlessly dissatisfied in this world when we seek to fill the infinitely deep cavern of our souls merely with the finite goods and pleasures of the world. 

His captivity, was not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, he came to discover it as a blessing, because it helped him to focus his life, like a beam of light being focused into a laser, to pursue and experience God. With the clutter of the world of things removed from his life, his soul was drawn to God like a magnet. In fact, he called, this way of deprivation of things and distractions from his life, "the secret stairway" or "secret ladder" to God.

What a wonderful Advent Saint. For all Christians, like John, are meant to make good use of the Advent season, by removing the clutter of worldliness in order to pursue Christ in prayer and good works. For some of us, it’s difficult at first, turning away from the worldly habits, but when we do in fact, willingly enter into the silence, we find our soul freely running toward God, being drawn by God into union. “in the dark night of the soul”, he write, “bright flows the river of God”. 

Through the example and heavenly intercession of St. John of the Cross, as we await the Advent of Christ, may we be stripped of all that keeps us from the union and sanctification God desires for each one of us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

 

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

That through self-denial and embrace of the cross the Christian people may experience ever-deeper union with Christ and a more faithful proclamation of the Gospel.

For the members of the Carmelite Order, that their life of prayer and penance will be for the Church a source of renewal and strength.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life and a strengthening of all marriages in holiness.

That Christ may banish disease, drive out hunger, ward off every affliction, and strengthen all who suffer persecution for the sake of the Gospel.

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.

29th Week in OT - Tuesday - Christ is our peace

 

“Christ is our peace”. What a simple yet powerful teaching in our first reading today. Peace is not just the absence of war, nor a sense of calm when all of your day’s work is done. Christ is our peace. In order to have true peace, we must have Christ. 

You can’t have peace in the world unless Christ dwells there, and you can’t have peace in your heart unless Christ dwells there.

This morning, I saw headlines that two beautiful Churches in the Archdiocese of Santiago Chile, were torched and burned as part of anti-government protests. Don’t these protestors know that the peace, the justice, and the love they long for is found inside those churches? They cut themselves off from the very peace they long for. There is always something demonic behind the burning of churches: a demonic lie that peace can be discovered or obtained through purely human means without God. 

And sadly, the burning of these Chilean Churches are not isolated. There appears to be a real demonic campaign to stir up anger and violence. And as a nation falls farther and farther away from God, as God is divorced from life, anger and violence will increase. 

Which is why what we do here matters. To pray for peace, to receive Christ in the Eucharist who is peace itself. But also, we are to be bearers in peace. 

At the end of Mass, when the priest says, Go in peace. He doesn’t just mean leave the church quietly. It is an instruction to bring the peace of Christ into the world: to introduce souls out there—in the world—to the peace of Christ—to Christ who is peace. We are tasked with going out into the world—to help souls be reconciled to God through Christ—souls who are lost, souls who are searching, souls who believe that the answer to the worlds problems lies simply in politics, power, or money. Souls who believe happiness can be found at the bottom of a liquor bottle or in promiscuous sex. 

Souls out there long for peace, and we must bear peace, bring peace, to them. It’s not someone else’s job, it’s our job. The Lord says blessed are those servants who are prepared for his return. Well, we are prepared only when his peace already fills our hearts and our lives and we are busy with the work with which we have been tasked—to bring Christ’s peace to souls and souls to Christ’s peace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That those who are far off from God may come to know reconciliation and peace through the Church’s evangelization work.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

For the transformation of all attitudes which lead to war, violence, racial hatred, and religious persecution.

That, during this month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, many Christians will discover new and deep devotion to Our Lady’s powerful intercession and maternal care for the Church

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and peace to all the suffering. 

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for the repose of the souls of all those who made our reception of the faith possible. 

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.

1st Sunday of Lent 2020 - "We want God"

Just a few weeks after being elected Pope, Saint John Paul II, a proud son of Poland and former bishop of Krakow, returned to his native land, and stayed for 10 days, June 1 to June 10, 1979. There is a documentary on his visit called “10 Days which changed the World”. Henry Kissinger said that during those 10 days,  John Paul II did for the people of Poland what Winston Churchill did for the people of England during the darkness of the second world war.

World War II essentially began with Poland being conquered by Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union. After the defeat of the Nazi’s, the Communists ruled Poland ruthlessly. Poles were shipped to Gulags, enemies of the Communist Party were arrested and killed. The Atheistic Communist Police State restricted many freedoms, the Church was forced underground, seminaries were closed, priests were killed.

So imagine, the new Polish Pope, who himself was ordained during this period of religious oppression, returns home and begins to speak about God, publicly, openly. Crowds for his masses grew and grew, for the first time in decades, the Poles began to raise their heads and look around. They began to recognize the great strength that comes from culture, tradition, national unity and their Catholic faith. Seeds of hope were planted on that trip, which eventually saw the fall of the Iron Curtain due to the great Polish Solidarity movement that formed after the Pope’s visit.

Well, on the last day of the Pope’s visit, two million Poles gathered in victory square in warsaw. And something happened that day which changed history. As the saintly Pope preached, a few people from one corner of the gathering began to chant three words. And those three words began to spread throughout the crowd, to the point where two million began were those three words in unison. What did they chant? “Russia go home”, “Down with Communism?” No. Nor did they even chant “Long live the Pope”. The people of Poland, two million strong, began to chant “We want God”, “We want God”. Two million people, it went on for 30 seconds, a minute, two minutes. An advisor approached the Pope and suggested that he calm down the crowd, and he said, no way, this is why I’m here. “We want God” for Seventeen minutes, two million people chanting “We want God”

When the iron curtain fell, and the archives of the KGB were opened, a telegram from the Commandant of Warsaw was discovered giving an account of that day. And it ended with the phrase “It’s all over”. The people of Poland had openly and publicly confessed they wanted God, not a totalitarian regime who acted as if they were.

“We want God”, “I want God” is the most ancient, embedded desire in the depths of our souls. We were made by God, we were made for God, we long for God. And yet, rivaling that most profound longing is a counterfeit proposal: “I don’t need God”.

This rivalry, this battle within our souls goes all the way back to the garden of eden, as we heard in our first reading, the ancient temptation which our first parents faced and caved to. Adam and Eve, will you obey God or turn your eyes and face from Him? Will you kneel before the divine will of heaven or put yourselves on the throne? Are you going to let God be God or are you going to play act and pretend that you are God? We know the result, and every human sin in history has been that same choice played over and over.

In today’s Gospel, we hear of Jesus, too, facing temptation, during his Lent, his 40 days in the desert. Jesus, will you follow and obey the will of your Heavenly Father or not? Will you, Son of God, be subject to the Father’s will or seek to supplant it?

One of the characteristics not just of communist Russia, but the growing secularism within our own current culture is the claim that we can build a society without God, we can get along just fine without God, we can create through purely human efforts a utopian state without reference or relationship to God.

But, this error, is the same lie told to Adam and Eve, “you don’t need God, you won’t die.” But godlessness, the failure to recognize the dignity of each human person created in the divine image, only leads to doom.

Now, most americans claim to believe in god or a higher power, still, about 80%... down from near unanimous belief in God not too many years ago. And yet, the first reading and the gospel highlight that believing in God is not the same as obeying Him. The perennial, ancient temptation is to refashion God in our own image, according to our own wants and desires. Yes 80% of Americans claim to believe in God, but for many, that’s a god of their fashioning, a god who doesn’t care if you go to church, doesn’t care if you cheat in business or on your spouse or who you sleep with, doesn’t care if you commit infanticide or kill the baby in the mother’s womb o kill your body and mind with excessive alcohol or illegal drugs. The voice that claims that Christian morality is a relic to be discarded is not the voice of God.

And that voice, the voice of the rebel, fallen angel, the voice of the serpent, speaks to all of us, tempts all of us, “you don’t need God” to be happy, “you don’t need to pray”, “you don’t need to obey”.
But, the Lord Jesus show us that we must and can stand firm against temptations, and shows us how. In each of the temptations, in the Gospel today, we see the Lord resisting the temptations of the devil by recalling the words of the Holy Scriptures.

The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” And so on. After 40 days of fasting bread looked good, just like the fruit of that forbidden tree. In the face of temptation, the Lord recalled the scriptures, and applied them to his situation.

In the second temptation, we see that the devil knows the scriptures, too. He’ll quote them out of context for his vile purposes. So, we need to know them better, always reading the scriptures with the mind of the church

This is why we should know our scriptures well, that when we are faced with temptations and moral dilemmas, we may recall the word of God, and allow that word, not the voice of temptation to guide us. To recognize we need God in order to live, and to live well, to live righteously. We need God, to guide us and give us strength.

During Lent we confront our sins and our temptations. We look at the sins into which we’ve fallen over the past year, we repent of them, and seek God’s word to strengthen us against future sin. We read and ponder the word of God. We do well to meditate upon the readings from daily Mass, and the passion narratives from the Gospels to come to appreciate the great victory Christ won for us through his suffering and death.

As we engage in the Lenten works of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we are united with Catholics around the world, and Catholics of all ages, who in the face of the oppressive powers of darkness and the temptations of the flesh, cry out to heaven, “we want God” …for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

December 3 2019 - St. Francis Xavier - What prophets and kings longed to see

At the time of Isaiah’s writing, the house of David was in shambles. Though God had promised David that his heir would be the king of kings, the Davidic line appeared more like a rotting stump than a flourishing royal tree. But Isaiah prophesied that from this stump shall arise a shoot; the line will continue, the Messiah will come, and usher in an era of unimaginable peace: the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, there shall be no harm or ruin on all God’s holy mountain.

When Jesus turned to his disciples, as we heard in our Gospel today, and said “Blessed are your eyes, because they see what many prophets and kings longed to see” he is speaking of the fulfillment of God’s promises. They were blessed to be able to see God’s promises being fulfilled in their midst. Jesus, the Messiah, was ushering in that promised kingdom of peace.

Our hearts long for this peace, peace that comes through union with God through Christ, Lord and Savior, peace that comes through being heirs of the eternal kingdom.

St. Francis Xavier, the Jesuit missionary, is one of history’s eminent ambassadors of God’s kingdom of peace. Known for his great zeal and learning, he was sent by the Christian King of Portugal to evangelize India. .  In India he preached, taught the catechism and worked in hospitals.  He also traveled to the many islands around India, and as far as Japan and the Philippines.  We have many Filipino Catholics here in the Diocese of Cleveland, who would be able to trace their faith back to Francis Xavier himself.

In his missionary work in these pagan lands, he brought the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to peoples who had longed to see, longed to hear, longed to know that God was at work to save their souls. Just as Jesus accomplished many miracles beyond human capabilities as evidence of God’s kingdom, so too St. Francis Xavier was given the spiritual gift to perform miracles: he preached in tongues he had never studied, cured terrible afflictions and illnesses, and even raised the dead.

It is fitting that we honor a Saint like Francis Xavier during the Advent season each year.  For He is a reminder and example, that we are called to bring the Gospel to eyes that long to see Christ and ears that long to hear the Good News that Messiah brings salvation.  In this Holy season of preparation for Christ, we prepare our hearts to spread the message of Christ and the peace of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For Pope Francis, Bishop Perez, and all ordained ministers, that their ministry may be effective in leading the Church in spreading Christ’s saving Gospel.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That our young people will turn away from the evils of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, for the Jesuit Order’s faithfulness to the mission of Christ, and through the intercession of St. Francis Xavier, for the sanctity and safety of all missionaries.

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

For the deceased of our parish, family and friends, 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.

September 21, 2017 - St. Matthew - Our longing for conversion

Conversion stories are powerful. To hear of a great sinner, turning his life over to God, always moves us and resonates with us. In conversion stories, we humbly acknowledge how our lives would have been different had God not been searching us out, we recognize in them the movement of grace that stirs in our own lives and changes them forever, we get a sense of that two-fold yearning: man’s yearning for God, and God’s yearning for man.

St. Matthew was trapped in a cycle of sin. The tax collector extorted his own kind, cheating the people he collected from. For this reason, tax-collectors like Matthew were despised, and grouped together by their contemporaries in the same breath as the murderers, assassins, thieves, robbers, criminals, and prostitutes. No good Jew would even marry someone who had a tax-collector in their extended family!

But while sitting at a custom’s post, Matthew saw a man who would not only change his life, but the history of the world, forever. He followed the Christ, and invited him into his home.
Matthew, of course, would be chosen by the Lord as one of the Twelve, and would carry the Gospel after the Lord’s death and resurrection throughout Persia and as far as Ethiopia, where he was martyred on order of the king.

Matthew responded, not to the orders of a military leader, but to the invitation of the Savior. The Lord desired for Matthew so-much-more-than the old sinful life, as he does for all of us. Jesus called Matthew from sins which alienated him from God and his neighbor, to the new communion of the Church, and to a life of freedom and grace.

The liberation and happiness the Lord brought to Matthew’s life is available to us if we but trust the Lord, and leave behind selfishness, fear, and ego-centrism.

Jesus dined in the homes of tax collectors and sinners in order to satisfy their deepest hungers—to reveal to them the truth for which they longed in their deepest being. As the Lord feeds us at the Eucharistic table today, may we recognize in Him our hearts deepest longings, and trust him as he sends us out on the mission of spreading the Gospel according to our own ability, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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That all Christians may have the courage to confess their sins and to courageously follow the Lord’s call to spread the Gospel.

For all those trapped in cycles of sin or addiction, that they may heed the Lord’s invitation to mercy and freedom.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of September: “That our parishes, animated by a missionary spirit, may be places where faith is communicated and charity is seen.”

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering.

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

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