4th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2022 - Murderous Intent or Rejoicing with Truth

 How did the people of Nazareth, in the Gospel today, go from amazement and hope in Jesus’ announcement that he was the Messiah, to murderous fury? That’s certainly the big question, isn’t it? What happened? Was it something that Jesus said? Hope do you explain hope and amazement transforming into doubt and then hatred?

I thought to myself, is there anything that I could say, that could elicit such a response? If I told a bad joke, there would likely be a few groans. Like, how much does a pirate pay for corn? A buccaneer. If I gave my prediction about who will win the superbowl, there might be a few scoffs, but you wouldn’t run me out of Church. If, instead of preaching on a theological topic, I simply talked about my favorite movies from the last year and sit down, you might stare at me quizzically, but you wouldn’t come at me with murderous intent.

Things might get a little bit more heated if I, say, spent the homily sharing my incredibly niche and polarizing political opinions. I don’t know how this parish reacted, but I remember in my first assignment, when the bishop had us read his statement on the HHS mandate which was to force Catholic institutions to pay for medical procedures contrary to Church teaching, we had a few mass goers walk out during the bishop’s message.

I came across a very telling article this week, that sited a study regarding the relationship between people’s political and religious beliefs. It claimed, that for a majority people, their political opinions take a higher priority than their religious ones, and that the Church they attend coincides more with their political beliefs than if that Church is purporting to preach the truth. 

So, again, if during the homily, I got too political, well, that might elicit a response of sorts.

But what if I started preaching heresy? I starting making claims about the Nature of God, the efficacy of the Sacraments that were contrary to the ancient tradition of the Church. What if I belittled beloved devotions. Well, you should get angry, shouldn’t you. That should elicit jeers, letters to the bishop, calls for my removal as pastor. You don’t come to church to be lied to, to have the faith demeaned and disparaged. I should be removed, if I did that. 

But it wasn’t a lie that caused the people of Nazareth to drive him to the edge of town to murder him. He wasn’t simply offering a bad joke or a divisive political opinion, though some may have interpreted his words in that way. Jesus was stating the truth. He was the Messiah. 

And when his townsmen began to contemplate the implications of that truth, amazement turned to doubt and doubt turned to murderous hatred.

When we are presented with truth, truth about God, truth about ourselves, we have some choices to make, don’t we? For example, if I’m in the habit of stealing from supermarkets, and I am confronted with the truth that stealing is evil, as taught by our faith, I have a choice to make. Reject the truth outright, that I know better than the Church, I try to rationalize my sin, saying it’s not really stealing if I want it really bad, or quit stealing and confess my sin to God.

Another example, if I was under the impression that Eucharist was only a symbol of the Lord’s Body and Blood, but then I’m confronted with the unchanging truth about the Eucharist rooted in scriptures and evident in the church fathers including our own St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, I have a choice to make. Reject the truth, thinking I know better than 2000 years of consistent church teaching, I try to minimize the importance of the doctrine, saying to myself, it doesn’t really matter, does God really care if believe this or not?” Or, recognize I was wrong, the Church was right, Lord, help my unbelief, in the words of the man in Mark’s Gospel, wanting to believe that Jesus could cast the demon out of his possessed son.

There are a lot of reaction to Jesus in the Gospels. And those reactions are the consequences of choices, choices to believe in the truth about who Jesus says he is, or not. 

The townsfolk of Nazareth, they discredit Jesus’ claim. He’s just the son of a carpenter. He can’t be the Messiah. They allowed their personal prejudices to hinder their ability to believe. 

Then, when Jesus explains how their choice to discredit him was akin to the hardness of heart and lack of faith described in the old testament stories about Elijah and Elisha. Well, they had another choice. Recognize the pattern of their unbelief and the veracity of Jesus’ claim, or, silence him, drive him out, murder him. Rejection of the truth leads to violence. 

Why is our culture so polarized, so ready to erupt into violence? In many places, in many homes, even in many so-called Christian communities, it is no longer rooted in the Truth. But Truth leads to love and peace. “Augustine says, nothing conquers but truth, and the victory of the truth is love.”

When we are rooted in truth, we are able to truly love. Love that is patient, kind, not jealous, not pompous, not inflated, not rude, not seeking its own interests, not quick-tempered, not brooding over injury, not rejoicing over wrongdoing but rejoicing with the truth., as St. Paul explains in our second reading today. 

The townsfolk of Nazareth certainly did not rejoice with the truth, but Christians, we must. For, truth is the only firm foundation for culture. We understand this. We hate fake news because it’s the dissemination of lies. Pope Francis, this week spoke about how spreading “disinformation” about COVID-19 is a violation of human rights. He said access to accurate information, based on scientific data, is a human right that must be especially guaranteed for those who are less equipped to separate out the morass of misinformation and commentary masquerading as fact that is available online.

At the same time, Francis asked for a merciful, missionary approach to those who fall prey to such distortions so they are helped to understand the truth.

"Fake news has to be refuted, but individual persons must always be respected, for they believe it often without full awareness or responsibility," he said. "Reality is always more complex than we think and we must respect the doubts, the concerns and the questions that people raise, seeking to accompany them without ever dismissing them."

The Holy Father’s approach is consistent quite enlightened compared to the anger and vitriol you see from people on “both sides of the issue” . Seek the truth, don’t lie to people, don’t minimize people’s concerns, but also don’t overinflate your claims, don’t violate people’s consciences, but patiently help people identify misinformation. 

Not one person in Nazareth stopped and said, “let’s listen to what he has to say, let’s entertain this possibility. If he is in error or a madman or a charlatan, the truth will be revealed.” No one was calm, rational, careful, or discerning. They jumped to discredit, and when they were challenged, they defended their prejudices with murderous intent. 

May the Lord deliver us from our prejudices, those which keep us from loving God, loving our neighbor, loving the stranger, and loving ourselves, those which keep us from rejoicing always with the truth, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

27th Week in OT 2020 - Monday - Unconditional love of Jesus Christ

 The parable of the Good Samaritan is usually interpreted in one of two ways.  The first is to read it literally as Jesus’ answer to what mercy, compassion, and neighborliness looks like.  The scholar of the law asks Jesus, “who is my neighbor?” And Jesus answers: even the person that you would normally overlook, even the person that the rest of the world considers unclean, that’s your neighbor, and you need to pick him up when he has fallen, you need to see past your preconceived notions and stereotypes and prejudices, and you need to treat him with mercy and compassion and tenderness.

The second way of interpreting the Good Samaritan parable is to see in this allegory a description of what God has done for each one of us in Christ Jesus.  God has raised us up when we fell upon robbers and have been “half dead” because of sin.  We’ve been raised up, tended, cared for, restored to life because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. 

Jesus is the Good Samaritan. And as each one of us has been treated with compassion by God, we must extend that compassion to others. The entire Christian life is essentially a response to what God has done for us through Christ. For us love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable for in Christ love of God and love of neighbor were inseparable.

So the answer to the scholar’s question, who is my neighbor? The answer is “everybody” because everyone is treated as “neighbor” by God—without condition. Jesus gives his life for all, he loves all, and so must we.

No one must be excluded from our charity. There’s not anything anyone has to do in order to become “deserving” of our charity, just as there was nothing that we had to do in order to deserve that Jesus laid down his life for us—he did not die for the righteous, but for the unrighteous. 

Just as the priest and the levite thought they had pretty good reasons for stepping over the man, we often develop reasons for holding back our charity. But this parable of Jesus really calls us to love without condition, to go the extra-mile, not just for those who can pay us back, but especially for those who can’t. 

But when we do, we love in a Christ-like, godly way, and make the goodness of God known, and present, and palpable. This is a love that transforms the world, may we be free from all that keeps us from the unconditional love of Jesus, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the grace to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors and enemies and those who persecute us, and to share the truth of the Gospel with all.  We pray to the Lord.

That during this election season, civility may prevail, and that those with differing political views may work together for a good, just, and righteous society. Let us pray to the Lord.

That during the month of October dedicated to the Holy Rosary, we may be strengthened in devotion to Our Lady and trust ever-more in her maternal intercession. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, 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 the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish and all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our benefit, and for N. 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.

3rd Week of Lent 2019 - Friday - Love God with your WHOLE heart

So many of the Lenten themes run throughout our reading from the prophet Hosea this morning: returning to God, pleading God’s mercy, God’s healing, God humbling the proud, leading the wise, and causing the sinner to stumble.

Yet, all of those Lenten themes can be summed up in the word’s offered by the Lord in the Gospel this morning: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Put simply: Lent exists so that we can experience God’s love for us and we can love others better.
God so desires the transformation of our hearts so we can experience all of the love he has for us, so that our hearts can in turn be free to love others with that same sort of love. To paraphrase Hosea again, God wants to heal the defects in our hearts, so that we can be loved more freely—more deeply, more fully.

Our sins have made us afraid of God’s love.  “Well, if I let him in, he might see all of me, he might see my secret sins, he might see the resentment I hold on to, some of the grief I’m not ready to let go of, some of the hurt that I’m not ready to be healed of.”  We are afraid to be encompassed in the consuming fire of God’s love, for we know that God’s consuming fire will change us.  We are afraid to trade anger for forgiveness, lust for purity, selfishness for selflessness. We are afraid to change, but we need to remember that the change God wants for us is always for the better, He has our best interests in mind, and he always provides the grace and help and aid for doing what he asks of us.

The Lord desires so much to heal from our sinful defections, and disordered desires and attachments, addictions, vices, and bad habits.  He so wants to transform our hearts so we can experience all of the love he has for us, so that our hearts can in turn be free to love others with that same sort of love.
At this point in Lent some of us begin to pull away from the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to which we’ve committed. Yet, God wants to heal our hearts through those Lenten penances, again, to trade the love of things, of power, of wealth and fame, for the love of the Divine, love of service and penance, and self-forgetfulness for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That love of God and neighbor may mark the life of every Christian.

That all families will recommit themselves to fervent prayer this Lent so as to grow in greater love and holiness.  We pray to the Lord.

That this Lent we will be faithful to fasting and to all the ways that the Lord sanctifies us.  We pray to the Lord.

For generous giving for the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, victims of natural disaster, terrorism, war, and violence, the grieving and those most in need.  We pray to the Lord.

For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], for whom this Mass is offered.  We pray to the Lord.

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

3rd Week of Lent 2018 - Friday - Everyday Evangelization

As many of you know, I post my homilies on facebook and on an internet blog. And I do this for several reasons. One, several years ago, Pope Benedict encouraged Catholics to “take back the internet.” Where the internet is often host to a lot of filth, error, anger and gossip, it can also be used as a powerful means of evangelization and catechesis. I chose to post my homilies specifically on Facebook, because on Facebook, when you post an article or a picture, it will appear on the screens of everyone in your network.

So a homily on forgiveness, or belief in God, or the importance of confession, will appear not just on the screens of those who are looking for these topics, but on the screens of the atheists, fallen away catholics, cafeteria catholics, pious souls, seekers, and the anti-religious that make up my network.My prayer is, even if they don’t read the homily, but simply glance at it, they but for a brief moment, consider the call to believe more deeply in God and seek his truth.

Pope Francis spoke about the importance of evangelization in his encyclical Evanglii Gaudium. He writes, “there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbors or complete strangers. This is the informal preaching, which takes place in the middle of a conversation… Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.”

Jesus, of course, calls us to love God and love neighbor. And, I think Pope Francis, highlights the important connection between these two loves. Love of neighbor is the embodiment of our love of God. Love of God is not simply something I hold in the secret of my heart, it is to be evident and physically manifested. My thoughts, words, and actions are to flow from my love of God, and point others to the love of God.

The kindness shown to a stranger at the supermarket, or at the coffee shop, or the kind word of encouragement to a discouraged spouse or family member, these can be powerful avenues for the love of God to become manifest. And perhaps, for a moment, the former Catholic who renounced his faith, might miss God, miss the Church which fosters the love of God, might even come to a renewed faith; the seeker, raised without religion, as more and more of our fellow citizen are these days, might come to discover, the God who loves them

May our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, open our lives to sharing the love of God in our everyday encounters, that the love of God and neighbor which is manifested most fully in the heart of Christ on the cross, may manifest in our own lives as well, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That those preparing for baptism and full Christian initiation at Easter may be strengthened in Faith, Hope, and Love through the Church’s prayer and witness.

For the whole world, that in lasting tranquility and peace our days may truly become the acceptable time of grace and salvation.

For sinners and those who neglect right religion, that in this time of reconciliation they may return wholeheartedly to Christ.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence.

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

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy.