21st Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Tuesday - Have I been Pharisaical?

 

In the style of the Old Testament prophets like Amos, Isaiah, and Micah, the Lord Jesus, in the Gospel today has launched into a full-scale public denunciation of the religious leaders of Jerusalem for their hypocrisy and failures in religious leadership. He literally calls them “hypocrites” and “blind guides”. 

How do we read through these types of passages? How do we read any passage of Scripture?

What lesson is there, in the Lord’s criticism and condemnation of the Pharisees, for my growth of soul? The Lord’s indictment of the Pharisees should lead us, especially those involved in Christian leadership, to a sober examination of conscience. Where have I acted like a Pharisee?

In Chapter 23 of Matthew’s Gospel, the Lord issues 7 of these criticism—7 “woes”. “Woe to you” for doing THIS---this action—this hypocritical behavior.

And so if we are reading through these criticisms looking for a spiritual lesson for ourselves, then these 7 woes are like 7 questions for self-examination.

Do I practice what I preach? Do I perform ‘religious actions’ to impress others or to truly honor God? 

In today’s passage we hear of two criticisms. First, the Lord says,  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity.” The Mosaic law ordered tithing of the produce of the land, and the scribes taught that such tithing extended even to the smallest herbs of your garden.

The Lord here is criticizing the preoccupation with matters of little importance while neglecting justice, mercy, and fidelity. 

Have I neglected mercy because I was too caught up with a minor detail? The Christian life is to be filled with acts of justice and mercy. Have I become preoccupied with the trivial and neglected what matters most in the Christian life?

The second criticism in today’s passage: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence” has to do with what? The Pharisees we know were obsessive about ritual purity, while neglecting the more important matter of interior, moral purity. Purity of the heart. 

Am I really doing the hard work of seeking interior conversion of my faults and vices? How much of my time and effort is dedicated to self-indulgence? We can become very very skilled at justifying self-indulgence if we aren’t careful: I deserve those three hours on the couch every day. I can tell you, self-indulgent consumerism is keeping a lot of Christians from the simplicity and works of charity God wants us to be engaging in.

I encourage you to go back and read through Matthew 23. Those seven woes, are very helpful in identifying the sorts of faults all of us Christians can develop. If you can’t deal honestly with these questions…you’re in trouble. There is some resistance to grace. But the good news is, spiritual growth is possible—through prayer, regular confession, honesty and humility. May we seek the life and spiritual growth God wants for each of us wholeheartedly, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the flourishing of spiritual gifts in the Church and in our parish; and for the grace during this month of August to practice the virtue of humility in all of our relationships and interactions. 

For our young people preparing to return to school, and for their teachers: that the Word of God might be cherished, studied, and practiced in every classroom and home. 

That politicians and government officials may protect religious freedom, promote virtue, and look to the law of Christ to guide their work for the good of nations and all peoples. 

For those beset with any sort of trial, illness, or burden: that the Lord will build up his strength within them and assist them in their needs. 

That those who have died may share in the joy of life-everlasting with the Risen Lord, especially the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the souls in purgatory…

O God, who 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.

13th Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Monday - Follow Him Wherever, However, Whenever

 The Gospel this morning should sound familiar. Our Gospel reading yesterday, for the 13th Sunday in ordinary time contained St. Luke’s account of a few of responses to follow Him after the Lord resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem

This morning we heard St. Matthew’s account of a few of these responses.

For Luke, the half-hearted, misguided responses to the invitation to discipleship were in reaction to setting his face toward the cross. “I will follow you wherever you go” would have to include the cross. 

In Matthew’s version, this morning, the responses were in reaction to the Lord preparing to get in a boat and crossing to the other side of the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And this is significant. He was not setting his face to Jerusalem so much as he was setting his face to the Decapolis, a largely Gentile settlement. This crossing of the sea here would separate the boys from the men, in a sense, dividing the only nominally interested crowd from the true disciples who were willing to leave their homes and follow Jesus into foreign lands. 

This incident is certainly a foreshadowing of the Great Commission in which the Lord sends his apostles to the all the ends of the earth to preach and teach and baptize. True disciples will have to go much farther into Gentile territory than just the other side of the sea of Galilee!

In today’s passage two men express their desire to go with Jesus, but one exhibits naïve enthusiasm and the other procrastination.

The first says he will follow the Lord wherever he goes, but Jesus warns that true discipleship entails a radical change in lifestyle. To follow the master is to imitate his total willingness to go wherever his Father sends—and so the disciple may be called to an austere itinerate ministry just like Jesus. Are you willing to truly go wherever you are sent by God? The answer must be yes.

The second man in response to the invitation to discipleship offers an excuse—he points to his familial obligations—a son’s responsibility at home to care for his aging father, the son’s duty in the Jewish burial custom of reburying his father’s bones one year after his father’s death. But the Lord says, “let the dead bury the dead”—true discipleship transcends familial obligations. Discipleship is the higher priority. Don’t put off discipleship because of attachments or earthly responsibilities—even good ones like family. 

This Gospel certainly causes us to examine our priorities, our attachments, and our excuses. Am I open and willing to follow the Lord wherever, whenever, however, he may call me? Out of my comfort zone? Am I willing to have my priorities readjusted by God? May the Holy Spirit continue to shape and form us in our Christian Discipleship for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the flourishing of spiritual gifts in the universal Church and our parish, for the sanctification of our parishioners, the conversion of the faithless, and the grace to be instruments of unwavering hope, mercy, love and compassion for all people. {Cantor will sing}

May Immaculate Mary, Mother of the Church, graciously help us to build a culture of life and a civilization of love, together with all people of good will, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and Lover of Life. {Cantor will sing}

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, for a strengthening of all marriages, and for single Catholics’ devotion to good works for the kingdom of God. {Cantor will sing}

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. {Cantor will sing}

That those who have died may share the eternal life that Jesus promised to those who believe in Him; for the deceased members of our family and friends, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for…

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - Discipleship lessons from Blind Bartimaeus

The 10th Chapter of Mark is a long chapter, the longest in the entire Gospel until we get to the Passion narrative in chapter 14. We’ve hearing from chapter 10 all month. It began, you might remember with Jesus’ teaching on marriage and divorce, then we heard of the rich young man who goes away sad when challenged by the Lord to leave his possessions and follow Him; had we not celebrated our patronal feast last weekend, we would have heard the story of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, vying for a high position in the Lord’s kingdom. This week we conclude chapter 10 with a beloved story, the healing of blind Bartimaeus. This is the very last healing miracle in Mark’s Gospel, and a very significant one, at that.

In this miracle story, we get a lot of details leading up to the miracle: Mark includes where Bartimaeus was standing, what he was doing when the Lord made his way out of Jericho, how he got the Lord’s attention, the annoyance of the other members of the crowd, the exuberance with which Bartimaeus leaped up, shedding his cloak so that nothing may hinder, the tender dialogue between Jesus and the blind man, and then Bartimaeus’ response of gratitude. All this in six verses!

Consider this story in light of the other stories in this chapter. Where the Pharisees harden their hearts against the teachings of Jesus and his identity as Messiah at the beginning of the chapter, Bartimaeus acknowledges Jesus as the Son of David and recognizes that Jesus has the power of God within him. Where James and John seek a position of power to lord over others, Bartimaeus approaches Jesus as a beggar, seeking nothing but healing. Where the rich young man refuses to follow Jesus and goes away sad, Bartimaeus joyfully follows the Lord on the way.

Bartimaeus is a model of the true discipleship that seems to elude just about everybody else in Mark’s Gospel, including Peter and the Apostles. Since he is a model of discipleship, what do we have to learn from him?

Firstly, we must recognize that like him, before meeting the Lord Jesus we are blind. Without Jesus, we are standing on the side of the road, not knowing which way is which, blind and not going anywhere. We might not be physically blind, but without Jesus, something is missing, we are without the light that is meant to guide our earthly lives. St Paul writes to the Corinthians: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel.”

Through sin, Satan has placed a blindfold on the eyes of the world. And even among the baptized, he is always trying to get us to put the blindfold back on, so that without the light of the Gospel, we walk not toward heaven, but toward hell. Sadly, there are members of the baptized who have let him, or perhaps have blindfolds because their parents had them baptized but never raised them to see Jesus and follow Jesus. But there are people in the world, in our neighborhood, in our workplaces, who like Bartimaeus, are blind, but want to see. So we need to ensure that the light of Christ is shining brightly in our lives. 

Secondly, Bartimaeus models for us what it means to prioritize faith. He makes looking for Jesus his highest priority. And he does so with a sort of courageous recklessness. On the side of the road, he starts making a commotion. He doesn’t care what people think of him, he wants to get Jesus’ attention, he wants to encounter Jesus, and he pursues Jesus with a praiseworthy singlemindedness. When people tell him to quiet down, he cries out all the more for Jesus. He might have been labeled as a fanatic, or a zealot, or obnoxious; he doesn’t care. He cries out and keeps crying out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” with perseverance, intensity, and passion. Bartimaeus recognized that searching for Jesus must be our highest priority. And so must we. As Christians, are days and our weeks are to be structured around Jesus. Seeking him in prayer, engaging in the works he commands. Sunday Mass without compromise. Daily prayer without excuse.

Thirdly, Bartimaeus shows us that we must throw off our cloaks to approach Jesus. The thick, heavy cloak of the people of Israel was among their most prized possessions. It was protection against the rapid and frequent temperature changes, insulation against the harsh Judean winds, and at night it doubled as a blanket, especially for the poorer residents of the Holy Land, like Bartimaeus.

For these reasons, the Fathers of the Church have seen in this cloak a symbol of self- sufficiency, a symbol of our deep-seated tendency to think that we are capable of solving all of our problems on our own.

The cloak symbolizes all those things that we wrongly depend on for happiness, that we tend to idolize: good looks, intelligence, athletic ability, money, good education, success, popularity. You’ll never regret giving up television in order to pray and engage in charity, like taking part in our parish St. Vincent de Paul group. Don’t be afraid to rearrange things, to make prayer and charitable service a more deliberate part of your life.

Fourthly, notice how Bartimaeus is specific in his prayer. I want to see. Daily, we need to make specific petitions to the Lord. Bring to prayer that sick family member, pray by name for that clueless politician, for the return of lapsed Catholics, and like Bartimaeus, don’t give up and enunciate your petitions clearly: Master I want my son to be saved from addiction. Master, I want peace in my family. Master, I want healing for my friend. Master, I want a good job. 

Lastly, having persisted in crying out to the Lord, throwing off his cloak, clearly enunciating his request to the Lord, he is healed, and then in gratitude, he abandons all that he has to follow Jesus.

There are a lot of people who cry out to God, they pray for healing, for peace, but when the prayer is answered, they go their own way. They are like the nine lepers, who healed by Jesus, fail to recognize and show gratitude to Jesus. Or the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. He received healing then went on to a life of sin. There are those who pray in desperate moments and then when the crisis is passed they return to their virtually faithless lifestyle.

But, not Bartimaeus. “Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.” His physical blindness was healed, but more importantly the eyes of his heart were enlightened. Bartimaeus is the only recipient of a healing whose name is recorded by St. Mark, certainly suggesting that Bartimaeus continued to follow the Lord after his healing, and was a disciple known to the early Church. 

I recommend some time this week, opening your bibles back to chapter 10 of Mark’s Gospel, reading through this story again, and asking the Lord to help you identify your blindnesses, how you can better seek Him in your life, what cloak, what safety blanket, you need to throw off, in order to follow the Lord with greater trust, and shine with the light of the Lord for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

15th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Monday - Family ties

 Chapter 10 of Matthew’s Gospel is a pivotal one. It began, as we heard last week, with the Lord tasking the 12 apostles with going out into the surrounding areas with the good news of the Gospel and the Lord granting authority to them to heal the sick and cast out demons.

Up until that point in the Gospel, the Lord has been the one preaching; he has been the one healing the sick and casting out demons. And now the authority and power that he has wielded, the work of the Father that he is doing, is now to be shared with ordinary fisherman.

Before the 12 depart to fulfill their mission, the Lord began to give what is called his missionary sermon—a teaching to his new missionaries, those being sent out. And this sermon is full of warnings.  

There are some towns that are going to welcome you, some towns are going to reject you. I’m sending you out as sheep amidst the wolves—a cheery thought. Everyone is going to hate you because of my Gospel. You are going to be persecuted, and from time to time, you’ll even need to flee from your persecutors. Where do I sign up?

Today’s Gospel passage concludes his sermon, but it includes what may be the starkest of warnings. His Gospel will even cause division in those closest of human relationships—family. This is a difficult teaching for many people. Family is so very dear to us. It’s a source of stability, support, and compassion. 

And yet, the Lord is clear today, that his Gospel might upset that for some families. When some family members accept the Gospel, and so do not, this will cause division. And this, the Lord acknowledges, is a heavy cross, a heavy price to pay. But family cannot give eternal life. Only he can. Which makes Him and His Gospel the highest priority.

Catechism # 2232 explains this teaching. It says, “Family ties are important but not absolute.  Parents and children must be convinced that the first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus.”

How blessed the family who supports each other in the Gospel. But not every family, especially these days, believes this. This is teaching is particularly challenging in an age where many family members are choosing lifestyles which are incompatible with the Gospel. 

The Lord understands how difficult this teaching is. And promises blessing to those who adhere to it. Blessed is the one who sets good example for his family members, who witnesses to the priority of the Gospel, the priority of eternal life.

This Gospel certainly elicits a choice, doesn’t it? To have conviction, to have principles, to love Christ above all else, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops and clergy may be zealous and clear in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel and for the continued recovery of Holy Father Pope Francis following his recent surgery, may the Lord’s comfort, healing, and peace sustain him.

That our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors of our culture, and that their families may be places where the faith is practiced and cherished.

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

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. Through Christ our Lord.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The priority of the spiritual over the physical

 

Imagine, with you, that you are peter, james, john or Andrew in the Gospel today. Now mind you, this passage is very early on in the Gospel of Mark. You’ve known Jesus for less then a week. You may have heard something about him being called the Lamb of God by out preacher out in the desert, but you aren’t really sure what that means. He’s told you that he’s going to make you a fisher of men, but you don’t really know what THAT means. He’s indicated he needs a place to stay, so you’ve invited him to come to Capernaum, your home town, and just this morning, he did the most amazing thing you ever saw: he walked into the town synagogue, and a demon began hissing and cursing at him, and called him the Holy One of God. He then commanded the demon to be silent, and cast it out, amazing everyone present.

Leaving the synagogue you go to Peter’s house, and Jesus does something else you’ve never seen. He heals Peter’s sick bed-ridden mother-in-law. Then at sunset, his fame having spread throughout the region because of the exorcism, droves of sick people come to him, and he heals them too and drives out even more demons. Who is this person?

I bet it was quite difficult for Peter, James, Andrew, and John to sleep that first night: replaying the scenes of the preceding day, the anguished haunted faces of the demon possessed becoming serene, the deathly ill suddenly regaining health. Questions bouncing around in their head, possibilities for the future. What’s going on here? What does he want from us? Is there a limit to his ability to heal? What’s tomorrow going to bring?

You finally drift up to sleep, and upon waking, He’s gone. Where is he? Where’s the miracle man. Everyone goes out to look for him. He has a lot to answer for, and there will be, no doubt, more people demanding healing. 

And then he says something surprising: he says, let’s get out of here. No more healings today. Because that’s not why I’ve come. I’ve come to preach.

Your first thought might be “come from where?” He’s from Galilee, we’re in Galilee. He speaks with the accent of Galilean. Again, what is he talking about. And what does he mean? Where has he come from? And how is preaching more important than casting out demons and healing the sick? What could be more important than that?

If the first great question in the Gospel of Mark is “who is this person?” The second, is certainly, “how is preaching more important than healing the sick?” How is preaching a greater priority than curing people who are dying? If he has the power to do that, why doesn’t he do that?

Here the Lord intimates the priority of the spiritual over the physical. Preaching the truth of the Gospel is more important, it is the reason he has come. To “preach” in St. Mark’s original Greek is the Greek word “kérussó”—to preach, to proclaim, to herald, to announce, to establish through his Word—the kingdom of heaven. This is the priority: to preach and establish the kingdom of God for the conversion of those held sway by the kingdom of darkness. And in the end, that is everybody. To preach and invite all people of all places and all times to conversion—to faith and new spiritual life though him. 

All those healing miracles, while yes, they show us the love that God has for all the physically sick, they indicate God’s love for the spiritually sick, all of us. Moreover, all those physical healings symbolize on the physical level what Jesus has come to do on the spiritual level. The healing miracles—the healing of the mute, the blind, the deaf, and the leper—are physical analogues of what he’s come to do spiritually. He has come to heal the spiritually mute—those unable to speak the Word of God due to ignorance or fear; he’s come to heal the blind—those who do not see God at work in the world, and those who do not see the dignity of the human person; he has come to heal the spiritually deaf—those who turn a deaf ear to the truth of God and the call of the poor; and he has come to heal the spiritual leper—those who have contracted the deadly spiritual malady of sin that has separated us from God.

Why is there a priority of the spiritual over the physical? Because the spiritually dead will be separated from God for ever. While those who are reborn by grace, those alive in the spirit—they will remain united to God forever, even though they may experience physical death, they will live forever.

Hence the importance of maintaining and nourishing our spiritual lives. Repenting of sin and confessing our sins. Receiving the bread of life, the Eucharist. Engaging in prayer and good works and spreading the Gospel even when there is a physical price to pay for these things. For the spiritual takes priority over the physical.

In less than two weeks, we will begin again the holy and penitential season of Lent, the time of the Church year for identifying those habits, attitudes, behaviors, and attachments that keep us from living for Christ. We identify the physical pleasures and comforts that, however good, we fast from and abstain from, to remember that in this earthly life, I am not meant to live for the physical and the earthly, but to pursue the spiritual and the heavenly. 

I think it is so important for us to be immersed in the history of the apostles and saints and martyrs, because we encounter, in the holy ones, men and women, of every race and age, who have recognized the need to live for God. The apostles imprisonment and  torture to preach the Gospel, and counted it a joy to persecuted for the sake of the name of Jesus. The martyrs of the early Church, like St. Ignatius who when offered the opportunity to save his physical life by offering a tribute to a pagan god refused, as it would violate the first commandment? Would you die for the first commandment. What does it profit a man to preserve his earthly life, or gain the whole world, but lose his soul?

In the martyrs and the saints, the Lord takes very weak and very ordinary people and transforms them into heroes of our faith, again to show us, the importance, the priority of the spiritual over the physical. So much so that Paul, as we heard in the second reading today, counts all things as loss—woe to me, if I do not prioritize the preaching of the Gospel over all else…for if I don’t preach it, I don’t have a share in it. If I don’t preach it, I don’t have a share in it. That line should cause us to do some serious reflection on our priorities, no? If I don’t preach the Gospel, I don’t have share in it. Does my life, do my words, do my actions, does my lifestyle, speak of—does it preach—the Gospel of Christ? Does the way I act in public and private stem from and point to the Gospel?

Paul hints at the radical nature of Christianity. Radical, not meaning not crazy or irrationally zealous, like it’s sometimes used, but radical coming from the word radix which means, root. Christianity requires reorientation to God all the way down to the root of our human nature. Again, this is why Paul, imprisoned, sentenced to die, having spent his remaining days preaching the Gospel, so transformed by grace, is able to say, it is no longer me, but Christ, who lives in me. 

When faith is prioritized over all else, it shapes and changes and transforms all else, into the work of Christ—preaching and establishing the kingdom—just as he did 2000 years ago, he continues this work, through us for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

January 22 2021 - Legal protection of the Unborn - Priorities

 

While the Church has deep concerns about the "many threats to human life and dignity in our society," including euthanasia, the death penalty, immigration policy, racism, poverty, care for the environment, criminal justice reform, economic development and international peace, the protection of innocent life in the womb is, as Pope Francis rightly explains, “the preeminent priority”. 

Archbishop Gomez, President of the USCCB, on Wednesday, again basically quoting Pope Francis, wrote that the Church cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being case aside in our country year after year through abortion. 

This is "a matter of social justice.” Archbishop Gomez said,  “We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities, and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities”

Catholics throughout our nation today, engage in prayer for the restored legal protection of the unborn, and renew our commitment to improving those social factors which often lead to abortion. For Catholics this is not an either/or, but a both/and. Both protect the unborn and work to alleviate social and economic factors which lead to abortion. 

Vatican II declared, “God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.”

Isaiah, in today’s reading Laments that it is as if he has been toiling in vain, that it seems like he has spent his strength on nothing. But he immediately recalls that the Lord does reward all our efforts in his service. In working for the legal protection of the unborn, with the ever changing political scene in this country, it seems like every time there is a step forward, there are two steps back. But our labors are not in vain. Hearts are being changed. Babies are being saved in answer to our prayers and efforts.

So, we continue to pray that the truth of the Gospel of Life will take root in the hearts of every member of the human family and that we may be found diligent in praying and working for the safeguarding of life for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the leaders and members of the Church may fulfill with joy their calling to proclaim, celebrate, and serve the Gospel of Life, we pray to the Lord…

That God will give our new president, and all of us, the grace to seek the protection of innocent life in the womb and the common good with all sincerity. 

That Court decisions which permit the destruction of innocent life may be resisted and reversed, we pray to the Lord…

That God may protect all unborn babies, and keep them safe from the scourge of abortion, we pray to the Lord...

That all women facing difficult or unplanned pregnancies may receive compassionate care and the support they need, let us pray to the Lord.

That all medical professionals involved in the practices of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia, may experience conversion of mind and heart and cease these activities, we pray to the Lord…

For all women who have had abortions, that they may seek out and experience God’s tender mercy, we pray to the Lord.

In thanksgiving for the many children who have been saved from abortion through the efforts of the pro-life movement, we pray to the Lord…

For all the dead, for all the souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and for X, for whom this Holy 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

November 15 2020 - St. Albert the Great - Joining Wisdom to Divine Faith

As we near the end of Ordinary Time, our readings from the Gospel of Luke near Jesus’ arrival to Jerusalem, the end and culmination of his earthly ministry. The Lord’s teachings grow more and more dire, urging his disciples to prepare their souls for the end of their own lives.

In today’s passage, the Lord warns us to be ever vigilant against becoming too focused over earthly pursuits.  Eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building aren’t bad in themselves, of course, in fact, they are necessary for maintaining earthly life. However, if we become too overly focused on them, and forget that our ultimate purpose is to serve God and to seek the kingdom of God, then Our Lord says that the consequences will be as dire for us as they were for the people of Noah’s time who perished in the flood or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were destroyed by fire and brimstone.

Of course, our Lord is alluding to the eternal punishment of hell for those who live only for this world and neglect the call to holiness through faith.

Similarly, the passage from the book of Wisdom speaks of how it is foolishness to become enamored by the things of creation, as beautiful as they are, while neglecting the author of creation, who is the source of their beauty. The foolish become distracted, wisdom says, by earthly things while neglecting the most important thing, their relationship with God. That which distracts us puts our souls in danger, and yet, we foolishly return over and over again to the distraction.

Rather than foolishness, we are to live wisely, putting things in their proper order, seeking first the kingdom of God, seeing distractions for what they are, engaging in the works of the earth only as a means to achieving our ultimate purpose, life with God.

Today, we honor one of the great saints of the middle ages, Saint Albert the Great, who was the teacher of the greatest theologian of the time, St. Thomas Aquinas. The Collect for his feast speaks of how God made Albert great through his joining of wisdom and divine faith.

What made Albert Great? He wisely put his life in order, he had his priorities straight. He put God first, he put his tremendous intellectual gifts at the service of the kingdom. He sought to love and serve the Lord with his whole mind, heart, soul, and strength. May we do the same, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Pope Francis and all bishops and clergy will help defend the Church against error, and lead her members always in the pathways of truth, righteousness, and charity.

For the conversion of all those who perpetuate error or set bad Christian example for young people and those of weak faith.

That Christians may be fortified against the distractions and temptations of the world and work diligently for the spread of the Gospel.

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, 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 all who have died, for those whose names are written in our parish necrology and all the deceased members of our parish, for deceased clergy and religious, and for all the poor souls in purgatory for whom we pray in a special way during the month of November, 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

21st Sunday in OT 2019 - Strive to enter through the narrow gate

In the course of his public ministry, Jesus is asked a lot of questions. After all, he is a teacher; he has disciples who call him “rabbi”. Sometimes people ask questions about his motives, he is asked, “why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?”; sometimes he is asked about his identity, “who are you? Are you the one who the scriptures foretold? Are you the messiah?”, other times Our Lord is asked to give commentary on the moral law, or the law of moses, “is it lawful to divorce and remarry?”

And quite typically, one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ teaching is that he often does not answer questions directly. He often redirects the question to consider matters of greater importance.

When asked in today’s Gospel, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?", the Lord doesn’t answer with a yes or no, as the question would dictate. Rather, he seems to indicate that the question “how many people will be saved” isn’t nearly as important as the question “HOW will we be saved?” The number of the saved isn’t nearly as important as the manner by which we are saved. The Lord leads the questioner to consider what is of greater importance.

In a similar incident, when asked when the world was going to end, he didn’t answer the question directly, there either; rather he urged the questioners to “prepare themselves.” For knowing the day or the hour isn’t as important as the need to prepare your soul through repentance.

Again, the Lord reorients the questioner to consider what is of greater importance. That shifting, that reorienting is at the essence of the Christian life, isn’t it? Christianity reorients us, from focusing on what is of lesser importance to what is of greater importance. What is of greater importance, the earthly or the heavenly? What is of greater importance, the size of your house, the neighborhood in which you live, or if you make your home a Christian home where the love of God is practiced? What is of greater importance, seeking wealth, fame, and power, or holiness, humility, and service?

Now the worldly soul might say, well does it matter? What does it matter if my life is focused on the worldly? What does it matter if my life is focused on non-essentials? Why do we need to be reoriented?

Part of it has to do with joy. In the end the earthly does not give us true joy. And the Lord say, “I have come that you might have joy, and your joy might be complete.” You might think that the biggest house on the block will bring you joy, but what actually gives joy is that the house is filled with people who you love and who love God, that your home is filled with the peace that the world cannot give. You might think that wealth, fame, and power bring your joy, but we know that pursuing these things alone leads to exhaustion. You might think that the million-and-one non-essentials will bring you joy, but our hearts are restless until they rest in God.

And the deeper reason we need conversion, the heart of the matter, isn’t just that these million-and-one non-essentials leave us exhausted and joyless in this life, but rather, that there are eternal consequences at stake. What we do in this life echoes into eternity. And in the end there are only two possibilities for our eternal souls, which the Lord describes in today’s Gospel, one way that leads to the “wailing and grinding of teeth” and the other “to reclining at table” at the eternal banquet in the kingdom of God. As the ancient Christians put it: there is one way that leads to life, and another that leads to death, and there is a great chasm between the two.

So, how can we be saved? What is the way that leads to everlasting life, “how can we come to that place at God’s eternal table?

““Strive to enter through the narrow gate”. Heaven cannot be taken for granted. We must strive for it, we must make every effort to reach it. The Greek word, translated as strive, in the Gospel today, is the word “agonizomai” from which we derive the word Agony. Agonize, make the supreme effort. The greeks used this word to describe the effort of the Athlete who seeks to win the Olympic games and to survive hand-to-hand combat with your mortal enemy. Do you want to be saved? Are you doing everything you can to be saved?

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus’ passion begins with the “agony” in the garden, where he agonizes over abandoning his will to the will of the father. He sweats blood over it?
Notice Jesus doesn’t say today, stand at the gate and complain about how narrow it looks.  Some Christians look at the commandments of God and teachings of the Church and reject them, claiming that they are too narrow, too rigid, outdated.  They seek to refashion the gate, and make it wider.  But that’s not what Jesus commands here.

Rather, Entering the narrow gate requires us to change.  It requires that we conform ourselves to its narrowness, to deflate our egos if our egos are too big, to let go of the attitudes which are not of christ, to drop the selfish clinging to worldly pleasures, grudges, and fears if they are keeping us from following Jesus in the way of love and self-sacrifice.

This all seems very hard, very difficult, and perhaps unpleasant. But, that’s where our Second Reading reassures us, that to those who allow themselves to be disciplined by God, for those who strengthen their drooping hands and weak knees, for those who allow themselves to be corrected and converted, they will know peace, they will know the peaceful fruits of righteousness, they will know themselves as children of a good God who seeks what is best for them, who desires that we become our best selves, who we seeks our salvation from all those self-destructive vices and attitudes.

It is a tough gospel, a tough lesson. But in the end it’s the message of the cross, it’s the essence of Christianity: let those who wish to follow me, deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me,” says the Lord. And we know that the cross, and the cross alone is the royal road to heaven, it’s the secret to true joy, and eternal life for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Ascension Sunday 2018 - The divine stamp of gaurentee

Years ago, a Catholic missionary was preaching in the open square of a village in North India.
As he finished, a Muslim man approached him and said: "You must admit: we Muslims have one thing you Christians have not, and it is better than anything you have." The missionary smiled and said, "I should be pleased to hear what it is." The Muslim went on, "You know, that when Muslims make pilgrimage to Mecca, to the burial place of Muhammed, we have our founder’s coffin, his body to venerate to embolden us. But when you Christians go to Jerusalem, your Mecca, you find nothing but an empty grave."

The Missionary replied, "Ah ha! But that's just it, and it makes all the difference. Mohammad, the founder of Islam, is dead, and he is in his coffin. But our Leader has risen from the dead and returned to heaven."

As Christians, we don't just believe in a philosophy or a theology, we believe in a person, a Savior, a God who is alive and who has brought our own human nature into heaven.

There is however an ancient monument on the Mount of Olives. When Christ Ascended into heaven, he left his footprints in the rock of Mount Olivet. You can visit this spot, or see an image of Christ’s footprints on the internet. Our faith isn’t based on wishful thinking, but on real events which we have received from the apostolic tradition.

The reconciliation of humanity and divinity was pleaded for and longed for in ancient Israel. From the Old Testament we know of an ancient Jewish practice which foreshadowed the Ascension.  Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple. He would pass through a huge, thick, ancient curtain into the Holy of Holies symbolizing the throne of God in heaven. There the High Priest would offer the sacrifice of atonement, pleading to God to forgive the sins of humanity which separates man from God.

In his Ascension, Christ goes to the true eternal Holy of Holies, the inner chamber of the universe, heaven itself. Christ, who is both the atoning sacrifice and the priest, He has brought fallen, and now, redeemed humanity to heaven.

The Ascension is the stamp of guarantee that humanity is redeemed, and has a place in heaven. And no other religion makes that claim. And this is why we are bold as we go out into the world to proclaim the Gospel. The Gospel isn’t based in wishful thinking. It isn’t based in fairy tales.
Christianity isn’t man’s best attempt at religion. It isn’t man’s word about God, it’s God’s word about man. God Himself offers the Divine Guarantee, that following Christ leads to everlasting life.
And so bearing witness to Christ, to his message and the power of his goodness: this is our primary mission on earth. Before he ascended, Jesus didn't say, “Enjoy yourselves. And if you have time, go to church once and a while.”  No! He said, "Go be my witnesses to all the nations."

We are each called to witness in different ways. God calls some to witness as priests. He calls some to consecrate their lives as full-time missionaries. Others are called to be leaven in the world, transforming culture from within, either as humble workers or as great leaders. But each of us God tasks to bear witness to Him by allowing the Christian faith to permeate every dimension of our life, ever relationship. And, until this mission becomes our highest priority in life, until it becomes more important than sports, than bank accounts and stock markets, more important that receiving the adulation of our neighbors for a fine-kept lawn or a new car, until the Gospel is our highest priority we will experience an interior restlessness that nothing will cure.

For, we were created to live in friendship with God, and that means sharing in God's projects. And his project in this fallen world is "that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in Jesus’ name to all the nations". May we grow in our faithfulness to this mission.

On this Ascension Sunday we also honor our mothers on this Mother’s Day. We thank our Mothers for all of their sacrifices, with flowers and chocolates, cards and kind words, praises and prayers. But we acknowledge that the best way of honoring them is by becoming the people God made us to be; for they bore us in their wombs, that we may become bearers of God’s Word to all nations, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.