27th Week of OT 2020 - Friday - Seven demons worse than the first

The Gospels contain many instances of Jesus performing exorcisms—casting out evil spirits. These many instances of exorcism indicate that a primary aspect of Jesus’ ministry is to deliver us from bondage to evil. Why? Because evil dehumanizes us—it defaces our human dignity. The human mind and heart were not made to be dominated by forces like Lust, Pride, Envy, Greed, Wrath, Addiction. 

This is why we often see in the gospels the demon possessed displaying inhuman characteristics. Think of the Garasene demoniac bound in chains like an animal, screaming and gashing himself with stones. Or the possessed boy unable to speak—speech being one of the human faculties which differentiates us from the beasts.

The Lord Jesus, over and over in the Gospels, casts out evil spirits which dehumanize us; He has come to liberate us from the powers of sin and evil which keep us from living in the freedom of the children of God.

Yet, today’s Gospel provides a lesson of paramount importance regarding our liberation through Christ. What do we do once we have been freed from evil. What do we do once we’ve encountered Christ? Once we’ve been baptized? Once we’ve been liberated by Christ in the Sacrament of Confession?

The Lord teaches about a certain danger inherent in the spiritual life. If you do nothing, following your deliverance, it is likely you will be worse off than before your deliverance. It’s like a gardener who pulls up all the weeds from his garden, but then doesn't plant any crops. The weeds grow right back and in great numbers. 

This is why we see so many fallen away Catholics engaging in terrible behavior. Yes, they were freed from evil through baptism. They might have even gone to Catholic School for a while. But falling away from the faith, falling away from the Sacraments, their hearts turn hostile to God, and the begin to justify one sin after another. They stop hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and end up settling for so much less. Even priests, bishops, consecrated religious, can end up in terrible spiritual states because they begin to justify sin. It's usually through the cracks of pride--that these new demons enter our lives.

Rather, we need to always be pressing forward in the spiritual life—seeking growth, cultivating and making use of the spiritual gifts, as St. Peter writes, growing in grace and the knowledge of Our Lord. There are no plateau’s in the spiritual life, we are either pushing forward, climbing the mountain, growing in holiness, or we are falling back into old sinful habits or forming new ones. And those new ones might be worse than the old ones. 

The Lord wishes to produce abundant life in us, to perfect his love in us, to complete his joy in us. But we must cooperate daily, repent daily, humble ourselves daily, exert effort daily to grow in grace for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

 

That the clergy and the lay faithful may be vigilant against the tactics of the enemy to corrupt and destroy the Church, for a purification from all corruption within the Body of Christ. Let us pray to the Lord.

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 may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the evils of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For all whose lives are marked by suffering may come to know the healing and peace of Christ.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy 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.

14th Week in OT 2020 - Tuesday - Casting-out spirit of muteness

There are about twenty miracles in Matthew’s Gospel, most of them are healing miracles, though Matthew, like the other evangelists records miracles such as the feeding of the five thousand, the calming of the storm, and walking on water.

Of the healing miracles, there is subset of healings which are coupled with exorcisms—the casting out of demons which was either the cause of the physical malady or at least connected to the debilitation.  In today’s Gospel, a demon possessed man who could not speak was brought to Jesus, and when the demon was cast out the man was then able to speak.

Whenever we are attached to evil, or evil is attached to us, we are always less than we should be. Evil debilitates us. It keeps us from seeing as we should, hearing as we should, speaking as we should, walking as we should. It keeps us from understanding as we should, listening as we should, proclaiming good news as we should, and building the kingdom as we should.

These miracle stories are meant to teach us how the Lord wishes to restore what was corrupted through sin and put it into service of the Gospel.

The healing of muteness is particularly important. We are made in the image of God who speaks creation into existence, the second person of the Trinity is the Word who becomes flesh to save us. And attachments to evil and fear which keep us from speaking rightly mars the image of God in us.
But by healing muteness, casting out the evil which keeps us from proclaiming truth, speaking righteously, we are restored to be the people we were made to be. Through grace, we are freed from the evil attachments which keep us from developing well-trained tongues.

All of us are tongue-tied in some way. Perhaps we refrain from speaking truth to a loved one who is making all the wrong choices because we fear being rejected by them. Or maybe we hesitate sharing our faith with non-believers because we fear being judged by them in some way.  Yes, speaking truth will always have some consequence, some possibility of condemnation. But we were not made to be afraid of speaking truth, or so attached to evil habits that we never learn our faith enough to share it.

Rather, the journey of faith must involve allowing the Lord to loosen our tongues for the spread of the Gospel. So we do well to identify any spiritually unhealthy or unhelpful habits which keep us from learning our faith, or any fears that we have not handed over to the Lord which keep us from speaking what is true, good, and effective for the building up of the kingdom for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Holy Spirit may guide the selection of a new bishop for the diocese of Cleveland, that he may be a man of courage, competency, and conviction for the Gospel.

That all of our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors and vices of our time and be kept in close friendship with the Lord Jesus through the faith of their families, daily prayer, attendance at Mass, and the practice of the virtues.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, for victims of abuse, especially children, 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 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

June 24 2020 - Nativity of St. John the Baptist - From muteness to proclamation

John has always had a place of very high esteem, his birthday was celebrated liturgically already in the 4th century. The Baptist therefore has the unique honor of being the only saint in heaven whose birthday is celebrated liturgically alongside of Our Lord and Our Lady. In fact, in the eastern church, his conception is celebrated as well, nine months prior to today, on September 24.

John was praised by the Lord himself, when he said, “I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John”. 

Here at St. Ignatius, the statue of the baptist stands above the entrance to the old baptistry on the east wall of the church. He is dressed on the camel’s hair of the prophet, as he dressed during his ministry of preparing repentant souls for the advent of Christ.

In the Gospel for his feast, we hear today of his birth and circumcision and also his mysterious naming. His father Zechariah had been struck dumb for not believing the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement that he and his wife in their old age would conceive this child that would be especially consecrated to God. Zechariah’s tongue is loosened about verifying that the child’s name was John.

Today, we are to identify with this crowd of people huddled around Zechariah who were amazed and took these events to heart, contemplating just happened. The mute man, who was unbelieving, was able to speak again, in a sense, because he learned his listen, he finally allowed the good news to sink in. He verified the Gospel in his heart and with his life, and that changed him, it healed him.

So too with us, our muteness in preaching the Gospel, our fear of witnessing, can be healed, if we let it, if we seek to grow in faith. In a sense, to grow in faith is to grow in one’s willingness to witness to the working of God in one’s life.

Why is John the Baptist great? Because unlike his father, John bursts on to the scene preaching God’s word. He’s leaping for joy in his mother’s womb in response to Jesus. And that joy and conviction over the priority of faith is not hindered by fear of what others think of him. He’s willing to don camel’s hair and eat locusts in order to get people’s attention. He understands the importance of decreasing his ego, that Christ may increase in his life and in the world.

May the glorious events of the birth of John, loosen our lips, instill our hearts with joy, increase our faith and our willingness, like him, to preach the saving message of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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That the Holy Spirit may guide the selection of a new bishop for Cleveland, that he may be a man of  wisdom, of deep Christian faith, hope, and love.

For the protection of the unborn, and that people of goodwill will work together to enshrine the protection of the unborn in law and in the hearts of all.

That our fears of witnessing to the Gospel may be replaced with conviction and Christian joy.
For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for victims of natural disaster,  those who suffer from war, violence, and terrorism, all victims of abuse, especially children, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families.

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, for the repose of the soul of Dennis Dentzer, 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.

Homily: Thursday - 3rd Week of Lent 2017 - Deliverance from demons of the tongue

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ many healing miracles were not simply of a physical nature, but of a spiritual nature as well. Jesus heals physical blindness to point to the greater spiritual blindnesses that he came to heal. He cures our spiritual blindness that we may see the truth of God, that we may look beyond our own selfish desires to the needs of the poor, that we may in eternity come to behold the glory of the Lord in heaven. Jesus heals our deafness, that we may listen once again to the promptings of the Holy Spirit instead of our own egos and selfish desires. Jesus heals us when we are lame, that we might walk once again in the ways of righteousness and peace. Jesus heals our muteness that our tongues might proclaim the Gospel, to use our tongues for God’s purposes.

We are all in need of this spiritual healing, aren’t we? Spiritual blindness, spiritual deafness, spiritual lameness, spiritual muteness. Our Lenten observances are so important because they expose us to healing. Prayer exposes us to the healing presence of God, almsgiving exposes us to the healing that comes through service, through charity. Fasting, the healing that comes through self-restraint, the healing of our unrestrained passions which are meant to be placed under the dominion of God and the use of our reason.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus cures one afflicted with a demon of muteness. Again, all of us are tongued-tied in a way, we fail to proclaim the Gospel as we should. We particularly find it difficult to utter words like “I’m sorry”, or “Here, let me help you.”

St. James says that our tongue is a small part of our body with great power. “Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze,” he says. A small fire, a small word, can cause great destruction. “The tongue is also a fire… It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison”

On one hand, we are tongue tied; on the other hand, our tongues so often are used to spread evil: gossip, detraction, calumny, bullying, blasphemy, ludeness and perversion, cursing instead of blessing, foolishness instead of wisdom, discord instead of harmony.

We are more than half way through Lent now, how well have you been using your tongue this Lent? To bless? To pray? To encourage? To uplift? To instruct?

St. Peter says, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.”

Through our Lenten observances may the Lord deliver us from all spiritual muteness and misuse of our lips and tongues, for the spread of the Gospel, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For greater devotion in our Lenten prayer, greater self-restraint in our Lenten fasting, and greater selflessness in our Lenten almsgiving.

That civil leaders will use their authority to protect the dignity of human life and the well-being of the poor, especially the unborn.  We pray to the Lord.

For deliverance from demons of drug abuse, addiction, insanity, occultism, sexual perversion, greed, and any spiritual evils which degrade the human person.

For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter, that these weeks of Lent may bring them purification and enlightenment in the ways of Christ.  We pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness: that the tenderness of the Father’s love will comfort them.  We pray to the Lord.