21st Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Tuesday - Seeking Holiness - (Opening School Mass)

 

Welcome, everyone to our first school mass of the new school year. 

One of the most important things that we can do together as a Catholic school is to gather for Mass.

At Mass, we listen to the sacred scripture—readings from the bible—the Word of God—in which God speaks to us. And we celebrate the Eucharist—the sacrament of the altar—in which bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. 

In the first Scripture reading today, St. Paul talks about the great effort he has undergone to bring the Gospel to a place called Thessalonica. St. Paul had undergone a journey of thousands of miles to travel to Thessalonica. Remember, St. Paul began his journey in Jerusalem, where Jesus died and rose again. And he desired with all his heart to bring the good news of Jesus’ saving death and resurrection to people all over the world. So he journeyed on foot and by sea, through mountains, through country filled with bandits and murders, areas plagued with disease, to places that he had never been before, to share the Christian faith with the world. He nearly died, many times on this journey. He was arrested. He was beaten. He angered people who did not want to believe in Jesus. But he did so because he believed the spreading the Gospel was the most important thing he could do with his life.

And why did he believe that? Because he had met Jesus. And he understood that believing in Jesus, and following Jesus, and learning from Jesus, and changing our lives to become like Jesus by becoming holy like Jesus, was the most important thing any of us can do. 

This is why we have a Catholic school. This is why we have a beautiful catholic church. Because believing in Jesus and following Jesus and changing our lives to become like Jesus by becoming holy like Jesus is the most important thing any of us can do. 

In the Gospel passage today, Jesus himself talks about becoming holy. Jesus was talking to a group of Pharisees—a group of people who thought they knew all about becoming holy. They thought that you become holy if you dress like a holy person dresses. And Jesus says, no, being holy isn’t just a game of dress-up. Holiness is not play acting. You don’t becoming holy by what you wear on the outside, but by what you change on the inside.

Jesus said, if you only wash the outside of the cup, but ignore the inside, you still have a dirty cup. It’s the same thing with people. Catholics believe that we must allow Jesus every day to clean our minds, and clean our hearts, and clean our choices—to change our selfishness into generosity, our pride into humility, our fear into courage, our hate into love.

Throughout the school year you will be coming to mass every week, you will be learning about the message of Jesus during your school days. Really listen to Jesus’ message and consider each day how that message is meant to change your minds and your hearts and your attitudes and the way that you treat people. And as you take Jesus’ message to heart, you will find him dwelling there---for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - -  

Please respond to each of these petitions, “Lord hear our prayer”

As we begin a new school year, we pray that God may bestow gifts of wisdom and understanding upon our students, and that teachers may share their knowledge with gentleness, diligence, and patience.

May the message of Jesus be taken to heart, may it transform us, and guide us in the ways of true peace.

We pray for our families, that the peace of God may dwell in them—for parents who struggle with many challenges—that God may give them strength.

We pray for our nation—that God’s word may guide our government leaders—and help them to work for true and lasting justice and peace.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: may they know God’s strength and peace and the assistance of the Christian people. 

For the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, and all of the souls in purgatory: may they share in the joy of life-everlasting with the Risen Lord. 

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.

2nd Sunday of Lent 2024 - Two Mountains, Two Parts of the Mass

 The celebration of the mass is divided into two main parts, the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. 

The Liturgy of the Word is a key part of the Mass where the Scriptures are proclaimed and reflected upon. The Gospel, is of course, the high point of the Liturgy of the Word, containing the words and teachings of Our Blessed Lord. As a sign of respect and attentiveness during the Gospel reading, we stand for the Gospel.

But the first reading, psalm, and second reading, are also very important. And the first reading, usually taken from the Old Testament is selected to complement and provide context for the Gospel. And it helps us to understand the history, prophecies, and wisdom in those centuries and millennia leading up to Christ. 

St. Augustine has a famous saying, that “The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed.” In other words, St. Augustine, and so many of the early church fathers, were highly attuned to the ways that the Old and New Testaments interrelated with each other, and believed that key to understanding the New Testament in its fullest sense, we need to be attentive to the Old. So if we want to understand our Gospel readings each week, it is important to pay attention to the first reading.

Our First reading of the sacrifice of Isaac and the Gospel of the transfiguration this weekend for the 2nd Sunday of Lent have numerous parallels. 

Both events take place on a mountain. The sacrifice of Isaac occurs on Mount Moriah, and the transfiguration takes place on a high mountain, traditionally believed to be Mount Tabor. 

In both stories, there is a direct manifestation of the divine. In the sacrifice of Isaac, God intervenes to provide a ram as a substitute for Isaac, and in the transfiguration, a voice from heaven declares Jesus as the beloved Son of God.

Abraham's willingness to obey God's command to sacrifice his son Isaac is mirrored in Jesus' submission to the Father's will. Both stories highlight the importance of obedience to God, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Isaac was the promised son of Abraham—remember God had promised a son to Abraham from whom his descendants would become as numerous as the stars. And Jesus is the promised Son of the Father, promised through so many of the prophets—and the members of the Church are numerous to say the least.

The sacrifice of Isaac is a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The willingness of Abraham to offer his son in sacrifice, prefigures the heavenly Father’s willingness to offer his son in sacrifice for all of humanity. In a similar vein, in the sacrifice of Isaac, God provided a ram as a substitute for Isaac, sparing his life. And in the case of Jesus, Our Lord took upon himself all of the punishments of sin of all mankind, the ultimate victim for humanity’s sins, sparing us the eternal punishments that we deserved. 

Now there are many great lessons in both stories for us to ponder—our faith and obedience and trust need to mirror abraham’s and Jesus’. Abraham's willingness to obey God, to sacrifice something he loved deeply to achieve a greater good, serves as a model for us to trust in God's guidance and follow God’s will. The transfiguration completes the story—that when we trust and obey God as Jesus did—even going to the cross and undertaking unspeakable suffering—the cross leads to the glory of the resurrection. And the Christian life is one of gratitude to Jesus for taking our sins to the cross. 

During Lent, we do well to keep these scriptures in mind. As we engage in our Lenten sacrifices, self-discipline, self-denial, and acts of charity which involve sacrifice on our behalf, we do so, with the willingness of Abraham, and the willingness of Jesus, trusting that through them God brings about a great good—our spiritual flourishing and our a strengthening in our ability to unite our sacrifices with Jesus for our sanctification and the sanctification of the world. We willingly undergo and undertake our Lenten sacrifices—our prayers and fasting and self-giving— trusting that they bring about good in us and good in the church.

Very important lessons as we consider the connection of this week’s first reading and Gospel. But now, here is bit more food for thought. Just as the first reading of the liturgy of the word foreshadows, and gives context, and helps us to appreciate and understand the Gospel, so too the liturgy of the word as a whole prepares us for what comes next in the mass, the liturgy of the Eucharist. 

The Liturgy of the Word proclaims what God has done in the past, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist enables us to recognize and encounter God in the present. The Scriptures of the Liturgy of the Word serve as spiritual nourishment and instruction, to an extent, but in the Liturgy of the Eucharist we are able to encounter and receive the Bread of Life—He who IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Scriptures and the Homily, the Creed, and the General Intercessions of the Liturgy of the Word prepare us—they cultivate spiritual readiness to not only encounter and receive Jesus—but they foster a spiritual readiness for all that receiving Jesus in the Eucharist means.

Consider how our scripture readings this weekend prepare us to celebrate and receive the Eucharist. We are to celebrate and receive the Eucharist with the willingness of Abraham to obey the will of God and all dimensions of our life. We are to receive the Eucharist with the exuberant jubilation of Peter in the Gospel who says, “it is good that we are here”. We are to receive the Eucharist with the openness commanded by the Father in the Gospel, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him”. And we are to leave Mass, like the disciples descending from the Mountain, pondering the mystery of what they just experienced. The Christian life involves a pondering throughout the week…how does the Eucharist I celebrate each Sunday effect the rest of my life? How does the encounter with Jesus, the reception of Jesus in Holy Communion effect the way I am to treat people, the way I am to pray throughout the week, the way I am to give of myself in humble service. 

We go out into the world—and we face tests like Abraham—trusting God is hard—and the Eucharist strengthens us to trust God when our trials are most difficult and our crosses are heaviest.

May we draw great strength, and increase in faith, hope, and love every time we celebrate Mass—because it is here that God speaks, and feeds, and enlivens us,  like nowhere else, 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.

- - - - - - -  

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.