January 31 2025 - St. John Bosco - Breaking cycles of sin through purpose and faith

 

“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”

St. John Bosco was a parish priest who was deeply concerned with the youth of his parish. Many were being arrested for juvenile delinquency, and once in prison, they learned more about crime and would be back in jail soon after their release. So, he worked tirelessly with the young boys in his neighborhood, providing for them a solid education and formation in the faith with the heart of a true shepherd.

 He recognized the dangers young people faced—how they were being drawn into cycles of crime and despair—and sought to break that cycle by providing them with something far greater: hope, purpose, and faith. He understood that juvenile delinquency often stemmed from a lack of guidance, support, and opportunity, and he dedicated his life to filling that void.

 “There are three things to stay on the path to Heaven, he would tell them, “Go to confession regularly, receive Communion often, and choose a regular confessor to whom you can unburden your heart.”  This is good guidance for all of us. Confession allows us to experience God’s mercy and begin anew. Frequent Communion nourishes the soul, strengthening us to resist temptation and grow in virtue. Having a regular confessor ensures a spiritual guide who knows us well and can help us navigate the complexities of life with wisdom and compassion.

John Bosco knew that his work was not only about keeping youth out of trouble but about leading them to heaven. This is a powerful reminder for us today: our efforts with the next generation should not only focus on worldly success but on their eternal destiny. And like those youth, taught and guided by John Bosco, cycles of selfishness and sin in our own life are broken by discovering our purpose in the Lord and seeking it.

May St. John Bosco help us to break those cycles of selfishness in our lives and to be devoted to Godly service, that like him, we may set aflame with the fire of love that impels us to seek out souls in service to Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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During this Catholic Schools week, for all young people, for their teachers and catechists and parents who are the first teachers of the faith, and that the truth of the faith may be learned, cherished, and practiced in every Catholic school and Christian home.

For all young people who have fallen into delinquency, through their patron’s intercession, may they turn away from sin and crime, and develop a deep love for the ways of Christ.

For all those in prison, for those who struggle with addiction and mental distress, that the healing of Christ may bring them wholeness and the promises of Christ may bring them hope.

That the fire of charity may impel all Christians to work for the salvation of souls, for a spread of the Gospel, and the building of God’s kingdom of peace.

For the sick and suffering among us, for those who care for them, and for all of our beloved dead, especially X, for whom this mass is offered, and for the victim of the airline crash Wednesday evening and the comfort of their families.

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

July 22 2024 - St. Mary Magdalene - Delivered for a purpose

 It can be argued, that Mary Magdalene is the second-most important woman in the New Testament. Throughout the four Gospels, she is named 14 times, more than most of the apostles.  Yet, there is a lot of confusion about some of Mary Magdalene’s biographical information.

Movies like The Last Temptation of Christ and Jesus Christ Superstar portray Mary of Magdala as young, beautiful and as having a romantic interest in Jesus. We won’t even go into what Dan Brown, author of The Davinci Code has to say about her.  

There is no scriptural evidence that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.  Nor is she the woman to have washed the feet of Jesus, that was Mary of Bethany in John’s Gospel; St. Mark and Luke do tell us that the Lord had cast out of her “seven demons”. St. Luke also tells us that she helped provide for the needs of Jesus and His apostles out of her resources (Lk 8:3). And, unlike the majority of the apostles, she followed the Lord all the way to Calvary and stood at the foot of his cross with Jesus (Jn 19:25). 

On Easter Sunday, sent went to the tomb to weep for the Lord, but she soon encountered the Risen Lord. Faith and Love then impelled her to bring the news of the resurrection to the apostles.

Saints and theologians from St. Thomas Aquinas to the modern popes have referred to St. Mary Magdalene as the Apostle to the Apostles.

She wasn’t one of the twelve apostles, and she is not regarded as a bishop at any point by the Church, but she is called Apostle to the Apostles because she is the first to encounter the risen Christ, and she is sent by the risen Jesus to bring news of his resurrection to the other disciples. As the Opening Prayer stated: “Christ “first entrusted to Mary Magdalene the joyful news of his resurrection.” 

And that is the apostolic task of every member of the Church: to spread the good news about Jesus.

Whatever her past—prior to becoming a disciples of Jesus—she became a woman transformed by faith, hope, and love. Even the demon possessed can become saints and effective missionaries. She was delivered for a purpose, and so are we.

St. Anselm has a beautiful reflection on St. Mary Magdalene, in which he writes: St Mary Magdalene, you came with springing tears to the spring of mercy, Christ; from him your burning thirst was abundantly refreshed; through him your sins were forgiven; by him your bitter sorrow was consoled. My dearest lady, well you know by your own life how a sinful soul can be reconciled with its creator, what counsel a soul in misery needs, what medicine will restore the sick to health… Draw me to him where I may wash away my sins; bring me to him who can slake my thirst; pour over me those waters that will make my dry places fresh.”

May we, with the help of the Magdalene’s prayers and example, be made worthy, like her, of the promises of Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

That all Christians may seek to imitate the examples of the saints and grow in the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

For the demon-possessed and those hardened in sin, that they, through the intercession of St. Mary Magdalene, may know true deliverance; and that young people may be preserved from evil, and discover the great joy of loving and being loved by Christ.

That Christians may imitate the generosity of Mary Magdalene in providing for the needs of the mission of the Church.

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 human trafficking, natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for the unborn, 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.

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Mary Magdalene, free us from all that keeps us from the love of Christ. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2024 - Life is worth living

Have you ever been deeply brokenhearted and felt you couldn’t go on? Have you ever felt that life is just one series of miserable occurrences after the next? Have you ever had an existential crisis, a moment in your life where you wonder “what is the point of it all?”

Such experiences are not uncommon. Job in our first reading this weekend is at a real low point in his life. He says to himself, “Is not man's life on earth a drudgery? Isn’t life just endless servitude where you are just waiting to die? Kind of dark. But also reassuring that scripture is honest about the miseries we face. That sometimes you begin to question, what is up with all this suffering?

And this is an important question. There is a whole branch of philosophy called existentialism which grapples and wrestles with the universal human experience of figuring out the meaning of life and enduring suffering with purpose. The existential philosopher Albert Camus claimed, that “Deciding whether or not life is worth living” is “the fundamental question in philosophy. All other questions follow from that.”

Now, Albert Camus was pretty critical of religion most of the time, but he’s certainly on to something. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen launched a radio show back in the 1950s and television show, called “Life is Worth Living.” And that television show was on primetime, on a major network, and had the highest rating of any show at the time. 

Now Job really grappled with this question. And Job really knew what it meant to suffer. Job, initially, was a wealthy man with a large family, significant livestock, and many servants. In a series of calamities, he lost his possessions and wealth, including his livestock and property. Tragically, Job suffered the loss of his ten children when a great wind collapsed the house where they were gathered, leading to their deaths. Job experienced a debilitating illness: painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. His physical suffering was intense. Job faced additional hardships in the form of isolation and rejection. His friends, who came to comfort him, suggested that his suffering was his own fault. 

But Job was a man of deep faith, and ultimately concludes that the man of faith is called to trust in God always: “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” And that life is worth living even when we suffer tragedy. 

The book of Job, read the whole thing some time. It’ll help you grow in spiritual maturity. 

“Life is worth living”. How can we say that?

When Christians say that life is worth living, this belief is grounded in scripture, theology and reason.

Scripture in its earliest pages reveals that humans are created in the image of God. God is good, therefore human life is good. Human life is good and sacred, therefore every human life has dignity and worth, and our dignity is not dependent on external factors such as achievements, status, wealth or abilities but is intrinsic to being a human being. 

Life is worth living because every life has a purpose. Often people begin to question whether their life is worth living because they see no purpose to their life. This is why deep mature faith in God is so important to the human experience, for living a life aligned with divine principles and guided by faith helps us experience the purpose for which we were made—to know our purpose even as we suffer. With faith, Our challenges and sufferings, even our setbacks and sins, become opportunities for growth and transformation, the cultivation of virtue and the sanctification of our eternal souls.

Life is worth living because the time we have been given in this earthly life is for the purpose of preparing for eternity. 

Now, again, most of us, at some point, have moments, even perhaps long periods of life, where we feel like Job in our first reading. And so it is important to fight these negative feelings with Truth. We must remind ourselves of our worth as human beings. We have a responsibility to preserve and nurture life and that includes our own physical, mental, and spiritual health. We need to eat right and avoid activities and substances that bring us depression and meaninglessness, and strengthen our faith when it is wavering.

I can’t remember who said it, but it’s great advice. Whenever you are feeling down or lost, look at the crucifix. Remind yourself, that the one nailed to the cross embraced that cross for you out of love for you. No matter your sins, no matter your past. He loves you. Your life is worth living because God loves you. He loved you into existence, knowing what your sins would be, knowing the suffering you would have to endure. And he gives you the knowledge that he loves you so that you do not despair. 

In today’s Gospel, people came from throughout capernaum to be healed by Jesus—to be delivered from their earthly miseries and bodily pains and their demons. And the Lord certainly, certainly wishes to bring us wholeness and peace and healing, just like he did for the citizens of Capernaum. But you must go to him with the desire to be healed. When you come to mass, have you identified what needs healing? Have you identified the broken parts of your life that need wholeness? The stagnate part of your lives that could use transformation.

To those who say, I don’t need to come to church, I can approach God at own home. How’s that working out ? We don’t have a lot of Gospel stories of people being healed just by sitting at home. Even with the case of Peter’s mother-in-law, Jesus is welcomed and brought into the home, by the sons of Zebedee and Alphaeus, and the healing comes through the actual encounter.

We need to come to mass, sometimes more than just once a week, when we are downtrodden. You know every week we have holy hour, when the Eucharist is placed in the monstrance for you to come and kneel and pray. Every first Friday as well. Jesus waits for us to visit him in the monstrances and tabernacles and confessionals. 

We can be pretty foolish about the spiritual life, sometimes, thinking that our problems will just go away in time, without any real effort on our part, without putting in the work, and bringing our sufferings to Jesus with persistence. And the unwillingness to do the work, the unwillingness to confess our sins is the cause of immeasurable misery. Faith involves doing the work, approaching Jesus, laying our life bare to him for healing.

Job suffered, but in the end, he kept the faith. And doing so resulted in a powerful experience of God. Keeping the faith, in the end, will result in the eternal experience of God’s goodness in heaven. So when our crosses grow heavy, we must go to Jesus, and learn to rely on Jesus to be our strength. If you haven’t received the strength you need, you need to keep going back to Jesus. 

May the Lord sustain us in our works and in our sufferings, reveal to us our purpose, and deliver us from our sins for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

First Friday Holy Hour - January 2024 - Discerning our purpose

This morning, I shared a quote from Bishop John Nepomocene Neumann, the one and only American bishop canonized by the church, whose liturgical feast is today. 

In a sermon on the work God has for us, bishop Neumann said, “Everyone who breathes, high and low, educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman, has a mission, has a work. We are not sent into this world for nothing; we are not born at random; we are not here, that we may go to bed at night, and get up in the morning, toil for our bread, eat and drink, laugh and joke, sin when we have a mind, and reform when we are tired of sinning, rear a family and die. God sees every one of us; He creates every soul, . . . for a purpose. He needs, He deigns to need, every one of us. He has an end for each of us; we are all equal in His sight, and we are placed in our different ranks and stations, not to get what we can out of them for ourselves, but to labor in them for Him. As Christ has His work, we too have ours; as He rejoiced to do His work, we must rejoice in ours also.”  

Each one of us is created by God with a purpose. What an important reminder! And yet, where do we discover that purpose? How do we discern it among the many confusing choices we have in life?

Here. Right here. Kneeling in front of God incarnate, made present in the Holy Eucharist. This is the place the saints have gone for clarity, guidance, and strength. To the Eucharistic presence of Christ.

Here is the silence we need in order to hear him speaking. Here we assume the posture of kneeling—which is at both a posture of humility, and readiness for service. Here we separate ourselves from all the things we could be doing, in order to focus on the one thing, the unum necessarium, the one thing necessary, the will of God.

Lord show us your will for us—your will for us to serve you by cultivating our interior life, which is your presence in our souls, through prayerful adoration. Help us to rejoice in the work you have for us—to not seek selfish gain, but that which profits the mission of the Gospel. What are the gifts, what are the talents you are urging us to cultivate? What are the comfort zones you are urging us to leave? Who are the strangers you are urging us to speak to? What vices are you urging me to give up? What unknown roads are your urging me to walk? What modes of service are you urging me to take up? Give us strength in our trials, and a sincere hope of attaining eternal reward through obedience to your Holy Will, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

January 5 2024 - St. John Nepomucene Neumann - You have been created for a purpose

Although he was born in Bohemia in 1811, in what is now the Czech Republic, John Nepomucene Neumann is celebrated as an American saint.  After studying in Prague, John Neumann came to New York at the age of 25 and was ordained a priest. He used his gifts to learn 8 languages so he could hear confessions for the different immigrant groups.

After several years of working among German speaking immigrants, he joined the Redemptorist community, the missionary community founded by St. Alphonsus Ligouri. While a novice for the Redemptorists, he served at St. Alphonsus Church in Peru Township in Huron County, Ohio, just a little over an hour West of Cleveland. 

At age 41 he was named bishop of Philadelphia where he was particularly committed to providing educational opportunities to immigrant children. He organized the parochial schools into a diocesan system and invited religious institutes to establish new houses within the diocese to provide necessary social services.

In 1854, Bishop Neumann traveled to Rome and was present at St. Peter's Basilica on December 8, when Pius IX solemnly defined, ex cathedra, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

While doing errands on Thursday, January 5, 1860, Bishop Neumann collapsed and died on a Philadelphia street. He was 48 years old. He was beatified by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council on October 13, 1963, and was canonized by that same pope on June 19, 1977. He is the only canonized American bishop.

In a sermon on the work God has for us, bishop Neumann said, “Everyone who breathes, high and low, educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman, has a mission, has a work. We are not sent into this world for nothing; we are not born at random; we are not here, that we may go to bed at night, and get up in the morning, toil for our bread, eat and drink, laugh and joke, sin when we have a mind, and reform when we are tired of sinning, rear a family and die. God sees every one of us; He creates every soul, . . . for a purpose. He needs, He deigns to need, every one of us. He has an end for each of us; we are all equal in His sight, and we are placed in our different ranks and stations, not to get what we can out of them for ourselves, but to labor in them for Him. As Christ has His work, we too have ours; as He rejoiced to do His work, we must rejoice in ours also.”  

Bishop Neumann was faithful to the work God had for him, may we do the same, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

That all Christians may grow in charitable attentiveness to the needs of the poor in our midst.

For the lukewarm and for all who are searching and longing for Christ, may they find him through the holy witness of His Church.

Through the intercession of St. John Neumann, for the success of our Catholic schools, that young Catholic families may be centered on Christ, and that all Catholics may be diligent in our evangelizing mission.

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 widows and widowers, 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

November 1 2019 - All Saints (School Mass) - The person God made me to be

As a student at St. Ignatius of Antioch School, or in your youth, you may have been asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” If I were to ask the young students in our congregation here today, I’d bet I’d come up with a whole host of answers: a professional athlete or a teacher, a doctor or nurse or veterinarian, an actor or musician or artist, perhaps a soldier or police officer or fire fighter. At different times in my life I wanted to be an archaeologist and uncover ancient cities, and it wasn’t until I was a little older, in college, that I thought God was calling me to be a priest.
Well, no matter the profession, I bet every single one of us could answer that question, “when I grow up, I want to be happy. I want to do something that makes me happy. That helps the world.” No one wants to grow up to be unhappy or bored.

Well, what if I told you that being happy in life, being fulfilled, is not simply the result of your job or profession, it’s not based on the amount of money you make, the amount of power or responsibility, it’s not based on how popular or famous you become. The French poet Leon Bloy, rightly said, There is really only one sadness in life, not to be a saint.” For each of us has been made by god to become holy, to be a saint. And the only real sadness in life, is to not become the person God made us to be, happy with him in this life that we may be happy with him in eternity.

So if you had to choose between all of the material wealth, power, and fame the world could give you, if you choose any of those things over being a saint…you chose wrong.

For the saints, Saints like Francis and Clare, Ignatius and Joan of Arc, Agnes and John Vianney, they show us what it means to be truly alive. Life is not meant to be all about the pursuit of material things and earthly things, but spiritual things and heavenly things.

In the Gospel today, did Jesus say blessed are you when you win trophies for your athletic accomplishments? No. Did he say, blessed are you when you are well-known in your professional field? No. Did he say, blessed are you if you have more friends, more money than other people? No.
What did he say? Blessed are you when you are merciful, blessed are you when you are pure of heart. The beatitudes, the teachings of Jesus Christ, are the key to unlocking the blessedness for which we are made.

And today we celebrate those individuals who followed God’s plan for their life, who followed the teachings of Jesus instead of the errors and empty promises of the world.

In the end, the question “What do I want to be when I grow up?” isn’t nearly as important as the question, “God, what do you want from me? God, what is your will for me? God, how can I become the person you made me to be?”

Most of the time, we spend our efforts pursuing trivial things, which do not bring us the happiness, the joy that God offers us in the life of holiness. It might even be something the world considers very important, like becoming a famous basketball player. But if you become famous, but do not become a saint, you chose wrong.

What does it mean to become a saint? To become a saint means to become a true friend of Jesus Christ—allowing Jesus Christ to live his life in you. To be a saint is to invite Jesus into every dimension of your life, and allow him to reign. To put on the mind of Christ, to put on the attitude of Christ, to put on the heart of Christ in all things. And the saints are celebrated for doing just that.
Each of the saints has an interesting story. It is interesting to hear how Saint Francis would preach to the animals, or how Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, or how the Devil would appear to St. John Vianney trying to scare him, or how St. Sebastian was shot with arrows and still survived, or how St. Theresa of Avila would levitate when she prayed. But behind every saint is that great desire to know Jesus and to love him with their whole heart. And that’s what we need to emulate.

Don’t get swept up with all of the distractions are world gives us. Being a saint means saying “no” to a lot of things—things which seek to ruin our friendship with Jesus, things that seek to corrupt our minds, sour our hearts. But we say “no” to the things of the world, because of our great desire to say “yes” to God with all of our being.

Today, on this feast of Saints, we recognize our own call to become saints, we ask the saints of heaven to help us become like them, to love Jesus more than anyone or anything. We look to their example, and seek their prayers, that we may become the saints that God made us to be for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Ash Wednesday 2017 - Why Ashes?

Today we begin the penitential season in the life of the Church known as Lent.  We bless ashes, have them imposed on our foreheads, and hear the words “remember, you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

Why Ashes? What do Ashes have to do with the Christian life? And why begin this Holy Season with this strange ritual?

For one, Ashes remind us of our humble beginnings. The first man, Adam, was fashioned by God from the dust—the dirt—of the ground. So, Ashes remind us not only that we were made by God, by why we were made by God: to know, love, and serve God. God made us to be faithful, to be full of life, to be full of love. So Ashes help us to reconnect to our beginnings and also our sacred purpose on this earth.

Ashes also remind us of that sad events which soon followed the creation of Adam and Eve—how Adam and Eve used their God given free will to act against their purpose. They were meant to be full of faith, full of life, full of love, but by eating the forbidden fruit, they poisoned their souls and the souls of all of their progeny. Disobeying God, they sought happiness not in God’s will, but in the empty promises of the devil. Because of original sin “to dust do we return”.

So Ashes remind us that we were made by God, but also how the poison of sin brings death. Sin always is a falling short of the people God made us to be.

So as a sign of humility and a sign of repentance, at the beginning of this Holy Season, we mark ourselves with ashes as sinners in need of a savior, sinners in need of mercy.

As the ashes are blessed today, listen very closely to the prayer of blessing. The prayer will recall how God does not desire the death of sinners, but their conversion, and how this act of imposing ashes on our foreheads is sign of our desire for the pardon of our sins and newness of life through Christ.

As you come forward for this beautiful and ancient sacramental, ask God to bring you to repentance for all of your sins, ask God to help you seek conversion, and to help you this Lent to remain steadfast in your Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, that you may be filled with the new life of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.