26th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - The turning point

Today’s short Gospel passage is the turning point in the Gospel of Luke, literally. In the first half of Luke's Gospel, the Lord engages in his public ministry throughout Galilee. In today’s passage, Luke tells us that Jesus “resolutely determined” to go to Jerusalem. That’s kind of a watered down translation of the original Greek, which says, Jesus steadfastly fixed his face to Jerusalem. He sets his face, he directs his face, to journey to his suffering and death in Jerusalem.

So for the rest of the Gospel, much of what Jesus says will in be reference the meaning and importance of his Passion and Death.

The next part of the passage is a bit confusing, which says the Samaritans did not welcome him because his face was set to Jerusalem. Remember, Samaritans held that the proper place to worship God was on Mount Gerizim, whereas Jews insisted that it was in the Jerusalem Temple. Thus, for Samaritans, Galilean Jews on the way to Jerusalem, were Israelite heretics. 

James and John wanted to call down fire to punish these Samaritans, but the Lord stops them. The days are coming when God won’t be worshipped only on Mount Zion in the Jerusalem Temple, after all. After the Lord’s Passion and Death and Resurrection, worship of the One True God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will not be limited to one geographical location. 

In fulfillment of the prophecy in our first reading: men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, will be able to gather in the New Jerusalem, the New Zion, the Church, which will spread to every corner of the world to worship God in spirit and in truth.

We don’t have to go to Jerusalem to meet God. Catholics know that we are able to fix our faces resolutely toward God whenever and wherever we celebrate the Eucharist, when the Eucharist is lifted up, when it is exposed in the monstrance, in the moment we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion.

Every Catholic is to steadfastly fix their faith in the direction of the Eucharist, at least every Sunday. For the Eucharist is meant to be the turning point in our lives, each week: turning to the Lord for strength and peace and mercy. For the Lord gives us the Eucharist as the memorial of his suffering and death, that we may be faithful in carrying our crosses, pouring out our lives in service to God with that same love and self-donation as He, that the same determined resolution to do the will of the Father will fill our hearts for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - 

That the members of the Church may seek every deeper union with the Lord and surrender to the Divine Will through humble prayer and works of charity. Let us pray to the Lord.

For an end to indifference to God and human dignity in our government and educational institutions, businesses, and personal attitudes.

During this month of September, dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, we pray for all those who grieve, and that we may grieve sufficiently for our sins.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering.

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, and for deceased Bishop Anthony Michael Pilla, who will be buried today. We pray.

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.

Homily: Jan 1 2017 - Mary, Mother of God - A good year or bad year?

So. Was 2016 a good year or a bad year? Well, that certainly depends on who you ask, doesn’t it? It was an election year, so we all suffered through an endless barrage of political commercials. Famous and beloved celebrities like David Bowie, Gene Wilder, Muhammed Ali, Florence Henderson, Carrie Fisher, and Debbie Reynolds, passed from this life. Tragedy struck many parts of our nation and world: over 600 people were killed and 1700 people injured in Mass shootings on American soil. In fact, 90,000 Christians died for the faith in 2016.

Tragedy aside, a lot of interesting things happened too. NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter, 483 million miles from earth. Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch met and signed an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting since the year 1054, nearly a thousand years ago. The first proven vaccine against the Ebola virus was found effective. And I think there was some basketball thing that happened here in Cleveland.

Two poignant events much nearer and dearer to our hearts: Our beloved Father Wendelken passed this year, and as you may have heard, Bishop Lennon the 10th bishop of the diocese of Cleveland retired this week. A temporary Apostolic Administrator was named by Pope Francis, Bishop Daniel Thomas, Bishop of Toledo will administer the diocese until a new bishop is named.

Was 2016 a good year or bad year? Well, what’s the criteria for such a judgment? The number of celebrities that passed away, technological breakthroughs, sportsball trophies?

A year, a day, a lifetime, should not be judged by the loss of celebrities or who won or lost various political elections. Rather, a year is judged by how well you treated others, whether or not you are holier at the end of 2016 than you were at its beginning.

How did you do? Did you develop and maintain new habits of prayer, service, and catechetical study? Have you properly repented for sins? Are you more patient, generous, joyful than you were a year ago?

If 2016 wasn’t as spiritually fruitful as it should have been, the turning of the year provides a wonderful opportunity to examine your life and to resolve to make the changes you need, the changes God is calling you to make. There is wisdom in making a New Year resolution, and I strongly urge you to consider a spiritual resolution.

Today we celebrate the great Feast of Mary, Mother of God. What resolutions, what changes do we need to make in our life? We but only have to compare ourselves to her. She is our model for what faithfulness and authentic humanity looks like: her prayer life, her openness to the will of God, her willingness to suffer for Him and to embrace the unknown, her charity toward family and neighbor. Look at her and listen to her. Like a good Jewish mother, she will tell you about the changes you need to make in your life. So, how will your 2017 be better than your 2016: if you become more like her. That’s it. It’s that simple.

We could spend the next year exploring what it means to become more like Mary. As St. Bernard said, there’s always more to say about Mary. There’s always more about her faith, her trust, her charity, her wisdom, to explore, to understand, and to emulate.

So let’s just examine one part of her faith today. What do we see Mary doing in the Gospel today? After the unique and profound experience of giving birth to the Savior of Humanity, after shepherds come to worship, and angels come to sing, we find “her keeping these things and reflecting on them in her heart.” She sat in silence and reflected.

How thoroughly unmodern of her! I call it unmodern because what is our modern tendency? To go from one thing to another without reflection: a new iphone app, a new Netflix show to binge watch, a new sale at Kohl’s, a new video game, a new flavor of frappacinno, a new fad, a new selfie. We are obsessed with novelty. And we go from thing to thing with so little reflection upon what matters most in life.

You want a New Year’s Resolution? 10 minutes before bed: turn off the tv, turn off the iphone, turn off your anxious thoughts about what will happen tomorrow, and reflect, like Mary, upon what God is doing in your life. Where is God calling you to grow? What is God wanting you to learn? What are the virtues God wishes to strengthen in you? What are the inspirations God wants you to follow? If you have a hard time beginning your reflection, read a line from the scriptures of the day, or a paragraph from one of the great spiritual masterpieces, like Thomas Kempis’ Imitation of Christ.
To live more reflectively in 2017 will help sanctify our year, it will help us remain centered on Christ, it will help us discover the presence of God in our life, that he is with us in good times and in bad, molding us and shaping us in this crucible of time, to become the people, his sons and daughters, as he made us to be.

Pope Francis, this morning from Rome, said: “Let us pause before the manger to contemplate how God has been present throughout this year and to remind ourselves that every age, every moment is the bearer of graces and blessings.”

May the Great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy, this year, this day, to become the people God made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.