Pentecost 2025 - 7 Gifts of the Spirit

 Last week, on the feast of the Ascension, in our scripture readings, we heard Jesus instructing his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father. Well, the waiting is over, we celebrate now the promise fulfilled: the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church 50 days after the Lord’s resurrection 

The Holy Spirit, as we proclaim in our creed each week, is the Lord, the giver of life. Through the power of the Holy Spirit souls are brought to new life in the Sacrament of baptism; they are strengthened in confirmation, healed in the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick, nourished in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and empowered with special graces for unique vocations in the sacraments of marriage and Holy Orders.

The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, helps us to truly live by bestowing upon us special gifts, you may have memorized the list of them as you prepared for your Confirmation. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. The Catechism says, these gifts belong in their fullness to Jesus Christ. Meaning if you wanted to see what wisdom looks like, sounds like, and acts like, look at Jesus. If you want to know the highest form of counsel, piety, and fear of the Lord, look to Jesus. 

So let’s consider each of the gifts. How was Jesus’ life filled with wisdom? Well, what is wisdom? Wisdom seeks what is of the highest importance. To be wise is to recognize that our highest priority in this life  isn’t career or wealth, pleasure or power, but getting our souls to heaven and becoming the person God made us to be: saints.

Jesus taught us not only to be wise, teaching us to “seek first the kingdom of God”,  but his wisdom was evident. He embraced the greatest suffering imaginable the weight of our sins as he hung upon the Cross, in order to achieve the highest good, our salvation. We are fully alive when we, wisely, we embrace the cross with Christ in order to obtain our highest good.

The second gift is understanding. The gift of Understanding enables us to penetrate the mysteries of God and see the deeper meaning of God’s plan. Jesus’ understanding is manifest in his ministry. He explains the deeper meaning of the Scriptures, helping others understand God’s plan of salvation. 

With Understanding comes patience and gratitude. Think of how understanding has changed your experience of Mass. As a young person you may have been restless and impatient for mass to be over, but recognizing what is really going on here, understanding that the Eucharist is truly Jesus Christ, that changes things. That understanding enables us to more fully engage in the Mass and appreciate the great gift Jesus has left us, and to encourage others to join us here.

The third gift of the Spirit is Counsel . Counsel means knowing and choosing what is right in difficult situations. Jesus always chooses the Father’s will, even when he was tempted. In the desert, He rebuffs Satan’s temptations with clarity. We are fully alive when we follow not the counsel of the world or the devil, but the counsel of God. 

Like all the gifts, counsel is for ourselves, but also for others. For example, a friend confides in you that they are considering making a terrible decision, like abortion. The Gift of Counsel enables you to speak with compassion, truth, and hope—encouraging them to choose life and offering concrete support.

The fourth gift is fortitude. Fortitude is the courage and strength to  do good and endure difficulty for the sake of what is right. Jesus endured opposition, rejection, betrayal, scourging, and crucifixion without faltering in His mission. He exhibited courage in confronting hypocrisy and injustice, even when it meant risking His life. In His Passion, He reveals fortitude in its purest form—persevering in love to the end.

Fortitude enables us to work for justice despite opposition, to witness to the faith in the face of mockery or persecution, or to persevere doing what is right despite hardship—like taking care of an elderly parent despite their complaints. To be fully alive is to be full of Courage and Strength for doing what is right when it is hard.

The fifth gift of the Holy Spirit is knowledge – Knowing the things of God and how to remain in right relationship to God. Jesus helps people to know the presence of God in their midst. 

This gift helps us to know what is good or bad for our soul and to discern God’s will. Think of a young person discerning that her social media habits are fueling vanity and envy. So, she chooses to limit her use to protect her spiritual health. Or any of us for that matter, when facing temptation, calling to mind the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of the Church. We are fully alive when we have that ability to rightly discern between good and evil.

The sixth gift is piety--filial reverence and trust in God as a loving Father. Jesus refers to God as Abba, Father, and teaches His disciples to do the same. Jesus is faithful in prayer, obedient to the Father’s will, and models loving trust even amid suffering. His entire life is an offering of reverent love for the Father. We exercise piety when we cultivate heartful devotion for God and the things of God.

For example, a family gathering together once a week to pray the Rosary, not out of obligation but from a desire to honor and love God together. Or coming to church on Saturday to spend time in adoration, simply to spend time in the presence of the Lord manifests piety. We are fully alive when we desire God and what to live lives pleasing to God.

And lastly, fear of the Lord—we are fully alive when we allow the Spirit to teach us to hate sin and to become humble in God’s presence. Jesus, taught us to hate sin, to seek conversion and drive out corruption from our lives. In the Temple, He drives out the money changers, zealous for the holiness of God’s Temple. 

The Holy Spirit helps us to hate gossip and lying, not simply because they are socially rude, but because they offend God. He teaches us to guard ourselves from perverted images on the internet, lest you fall into sin, manifests fear of the Lord. This gift makes us fully alive by hating what is evil, rightly protecting ourselves from what corrupts us and others.

Dear ones, the Holy Spirit was not poured out on the Church merely so we could decorate our altars with red once a year. The Holy Spirit was poured out so that we might become fully alive—with the very life of Christ.

As I quoted last week, St. Irenaeus wrote, "The glory of God is man fully alive." But not just biologically alive. Not just scrolling and surviving and chasing the next comfort or pleasure. Fully alive means burning with the fire of the Spirit—filled with wisdom, courage, purity, purpose, and joy. Fully alive means no longer being ruled by fear, sin, or confusion, but walking in step with the Spirit, living in truth and love.

It should be a common occurrence for us to ask the Holy Spirit: Which gift do I need to grow in most? What part of me is still half-asleep, half-committed, half-alive? And then pray: Come, Holy Spirit. Awaken me. Fill me. Make me fully alive in Christ— for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Easter 2024 - Friday - New Life through Christ's Flesh and Blood

 Early last week, we read of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3, in which the Lord speaks about being born again of the Spirit— the new life that comes from being his disciple. The Church fittingly reads of that conversation about spiritual rebirth and spiritual life during the Easter season—in which we celebrate the risen life of Christ and consider how we are to share in that life—through discipleship and the sacraments and through the life of the Church.

That theme of sharing in Christ’s life continues in John chapter 6—the Bread of Life discourse—in which the Lord teaches that in order to share in his life—and in the life of his Father—on earth and in eternity—we must eat his flesh and drink his blood: “unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life”

Discipleship of Jesus Christ is the path, the only true path to eternal life. That discipleship involves a living relationship with Christ—which includes faith that He is God, acceptance and practice of his moral teachings—including the avoidance of sin and the practice of works of charity, and a true sharing in his very life through the Sacraments of the Church.

We read in the Acts of the Apostles how Paul's sight is restored when he is baptized and given food. New life was given to Paul himself through the Sacraments.

Baptism, in which we are born again by water and the Spirit—begins that life. And eating his flesh and drinking his blood in the Eucharist, sustains that life. Receiving his Body and blood devoutly is part of our Easter proclamation that in Christ is found life—sanctified earthly life that leads to the blessedness of eternal life with God—that there is no other way to eternal life with God than through Christ.

It is a horrific tragedy that so many Catholics who should know better, deprive themselves of the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, choosing to skip Mass, and fill their lives with so much garbage that does not satisfy, that does not give life. 

Part of our Easter mission is to witness to them that the Eucharist is part of the constant spiritual renewal that God wants for his children. 

In one of his last encyclicals, Pope St. John Paul wrote about how the Eucharist is the source of our life. He writes, “In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope”

May we witness to our hope in Jesus Christ by receiving the Eucharist devoutly, allowing it to bear so much fruit in our lives—signs that Christ is alive in us and desires life for the world for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

That the Church will deepen in her devotion to the Eucharistic sacrifice which is the source and summit of our Christian life, and that during this time of intentional Eucharistic Revival, our faith may be deepened, grace may increase, and our mission may be furthered. 

That the outpouring of charity in Christ’s Eucharistic Self-Sacrifice will become manifest in all marriages, in all business relations, in all daily encounters, in our concern for the downtrodden and care for the most vulnerable, among friends, strangers, and enemies.  

For those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction or grief; and for the consolation of all the afflicted. 

That the Eucharist will be for priests the source of their joy and their deeper configuration to Jesus Christ.  

For all those who have died, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], 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.

Easter Octave 2021 - Tuesday - He gave them the water of wisdom to drink

During Easter Week, the Church continues to hold aloft in our prayers the newly initiated—those who became one with the Lord through the Easter Sacraments, and one with us in the communion of grace. In the early church, it was customary for the newly initiated to attend daily mass throughout the Easter Octave and continue to don their white baptismal garments in witness to the new life they received in Christ. Many of the scripture readings and liturgical prayers are partly directed to them.

Consider the entrance antiphon for this Easter Tuesday Mass: “He gave them the water of wisdom to drink: it will be made strong in them and will not be moved; it will raise them up for ever, alleluia.” On several occasions Jesus stated that he was the fountain of living water for all who believed in Him and He invited souls to draw near this spring. “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believeth in Me…within him shall flow rivers of living water.” The newly initiated are invited today to consider how, in the Sacraments, they now have access to that living water, the living fountain now wells up within them, as it does all Christians in a state of grace.

St. John Chrysostom teaches: “When the grace of the Holy Spirit enters a soul and is established there, it gushes forth more powerfully than any other spring; it neither ceases, dries up, nor is exhausted. And the Savior, to signify this inexhaustible gift of grace, calls it a spring and a torrent.” The water of grace propels a soul into God and brings that sweet intimacy and union desired by all men.

And yet for that fountain to remain active and forceful, the soul must apply itself to daily prayer, mortification, and good works. It must dispose itself and live out the wisdom of God. Again as Sirach says, “he gave them the water of wisdom to drink”. In order for wisdom to become strong, we must order our lives according to the wisdom of God. God’s priorities must become our priorities; what God loves, we must love, and despising whatever keeps us from this.

Notice in the Gospel today how Mary Magdalene’s tears are changed from sorrow to joy as she begins to understand that Jesus Christ is truly alive. So too with us, as we grow in wisdom and faith, as we allow the grace of the sacraments to grow within us, sorrow over earthly realities is transformed into joy over heavenly ones.

This Easter Season, may the grace of the sacraments continue to be unleashed in our lives: the wisdom that comes from turning away from the world and turning to the Risen Christ in baptism, the strength and fortitude for resisting temptation and spreading the Gospel that comes from confirmation, and the new life that comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ. 

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

16th Week of OT 2020 - Tuesday - He stretched out his hands

There is a beautiful line in the proper preface for the second Eucharistic prayer that has struck me the last few days. After speaking of the Incarnation of the Lord, the preface states: “Fulfilling your will and gaining for you a holy people, he stretched out his hands as he endured his Passion”. He stretched out his hands. We find that powerful image of the Lord stretching out his hands several times throughout the Gospels.

The Lord stretches out his hands and touches a leper, in order to cleanse him. Remember when Peter, commanded by the Lord to walk on the water, begins to doubt and starts to sink? The Lord stretches out his hand to Peter, to save Peter the rock from sinking.

When Jesus, in the Gospel today, proclaimed “those who do the will of the heavenly Father” to be his “mothers, and sisters and brothers”, did you notice what he did with his hands? He “stretched out his hands”.

Extending the hands is a beautiful gesture depicted often in the scriptures. Psalm 144 asks God to stretch forth his hand from on high to rescue us and save us. While Isaiah speaks of God stretching forth his hand over all the nations to fulfill his plan of salvation.  Moses is even commanded by God to stretch out his hands over the red sea, that the Hebrew slaves might be delivered safely from their Egyptian captors.

Extending a hand, is a gesture of healing, a gesture of saving, and in the sense of today’s Gospel, a gesture of incorporating.

This gesture is used quite often in the most sacred liturgical prayers of the Church.  The priest stretches his hands over the bread and wine, calling down the Holy Spirit over the gifts which have been placed on the altar.  He stretches his hands over the water of the baptismal font and calls down the holy spirit as he blesses water for baptism.  Though you often can’t see it, as the priest prays the prayer of absolution in the sacrament of confession, he stretches out his hand to the penitent. Again, the priest stretches out his hand over the sick and the dying in the sacrament of anointing.

The bishop stretches his hands over those he is about to confirm. And, he does the same at sacred ordination, stretching out his hands over those men he is ordaining deacons or priests.

In a sense, bride and groom stretch out their hands to each other, they join hands as they exchange the vows in which God joins them as one.

This gesture in all seven sacraments show us that God does indeed save us, heal us, unite us.

And really, in God, those three actions, saving, healing, uniting, are one. To the extent that we are united to God, we are saved and healed.  Because Jesus stretched his hands out on the cross, we are able to be saved and incorporated into the very life of God.

We thank God today for stretching out his hands to his, inviting us, blessing us, and healing us, that we may walk as disciples of the Lord and stretch out our hands to those in need, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Christians may be a sign for the world of God’s boundless mercy, by striving to practice Christian virtue in every circumstance.

For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, and that Christians may be attentive to our responsibility of sharing the Gospel with all.

For all those who suffer from violence, war, famine, extreme poverty, addiction, discouragement, loneliness, and those who are alienated from their families.  May they know God’s mercy and be gathered to the eternal kingdom of peace. 

For all those who suffer illness, and those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, that they may be comforted by the healing light of Christ. 

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. 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

July 15 2020 - St. Bonaventure - To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge

Knowledge is a wonderful thing. We are born into this world knowing nothing but our instincts. We know enough to cry when we are hungry, or uncomfortable, or lonely. And there is a joy, when a child begins to learn—how to walk, how to talk. I remember visiting the library as a very young child, but not knowing how to read, the books there were basically useless. But the joy of learning how to read gave me access to the contents of those countless books. Even children who have a rough time with formal education find a joy in grasping new concepts and facts in school.

And of course knowledge helps us to make our way in the world: we learn how to take care of ourselves, how to cook, clean, use money, it enables us to pursue really good things, and can help us alleviate the sufferings of others.

On these feast of the Franciscan Saint Bonaventure, great doctor of the Church, learned in the ways of God, who teaches us so much about God, we have a reading from St. paul’s letter to the ephesians, in which the Apostle speaks of the most important knowledge of all.

Of all the things that we will ever learn or ever know, there is one thing that rises in importance above every other thing: it is the knowledge of Christ and His love.

St. Paul prays that Christians “may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Knowledge of the love of Christ fills us with the fullness of God.

The knowledge of an object or of a science is one thing, but knowledge of a person, the knowledge family members have of each other, the knowledge spouses have of each other. This brings great fulfillment. But higher still is knowledge of the love of Christ. Because it brings us a fulfillment that nothing else in the world can provide.

Knowledge of Christ’s love does not come simply through reading books. It comes experientially, spending time in his presence through prayer, following his example of charity and obedience to the will of the Father, and following in his footsteps by taking up our crosses. It comes sacramentally, for through the Sacraments we encounter Him, his mercy, his love, his strength. The Lord longs to share the knowledge of his love with us, but we must humble ourselves, and seek to love him more than our sins, more than the world, more than our very lives.

Having encountered this love, we seek to bring others who are outside of this knowledge, outside of this experience, into the Church, into relationship with God through Christ, that they may know it, too. For those outside of the Church are deprived of that which makes life worth living.

Bonaventure said, "If you learn everything except Christ, you learn nothing. If you learn nothing except Christ, you learn everything."

May we know the constant assistance of St. Bonaventure and the heavenly court in obtaining and sharing this surpassing knowledge which fills us with the fullness of God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may have a burning love for the Crucified-and-Risen Lord, and that love may be seen in the priorities of their life.

That the work and ministry of all Franciscan organizations and charitable institutions may bear fruit for the spread of the Gospel.

For the purification of our minds and hearts from the errors of the culture and from the lure of worldly attachments.

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, 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

Pentecost 2020 - Gathered in our spiritual home

There is a common saying, “Home is where the heart is”. Home: it’s the place where you feel the warmth and safety of a familiar surrounding, the love of family, the peace of warm memories. Home is the place where you want to be at the end of the day, kick off your shoes, and put your feet up after a hard day’s work. Home is where you can let your guard down, rest, relax, and recharge. Hopefully, it’s the place where your heart is renewed in the presence of loved ones who love you, and understand you, and are patient with you.

Yet, some claim that this little truism, “home is where the heart is” originated from an earlier saying: “home is where the hearth is.” The hearth is the fireplace, especially important in earlier eras. The stone-hearth was where family would gather, especially before electricity, to cook and take their meals, to warm up after a day out in the cold. Children would sit on their parents lap before the hearth. The family bible would be read at the hearth. Stories would be told around the family hearth. The hearth, the fire, was central and indispensable to the family life.

The new proverb, “home is where the heart is” conveys something a little different. Home is not bound to a particular place, it is not tied to a particular assemblage of bricks and mortar. Home is wherever faith, family, and warmth are enjoyed, wherever we can bask in our happy memories, share our foundational stories, and be refreshed in the presence of those who love us—that’s home.

As Catholics, we speak of our parish as our spiritual home. And aren’t we so grateful that after several months of lockdown and quarantine, we are able to gather once again around the hearth of our spiritual home, the tabernacle, the altar. In the presence of a God who loves us, no matter what we’ve been going through, in the presence of fellow Catholics who support us in our call to holiness. We hope that we will never again be kept from gathering in our spiritual home.

St. Ignatius of Antioch has been spiritual home to thousands and thousands of Catholics in her 117 year history. Souls, many who have gone into eternity before us, many who have moved beyond our parish borders, some who have joined us via livestream over the past few weeks. In this place, God has been encountered through sacramental worship, in transcendent art, architecture, music, and ritual. Common bonds have been formed, so much that we refer to members of our parish family.

In this home, souls have progressed from spiritual infancy to various degrees of spiritual maturity—receiving the spiritual new birth of baptism, the spiritual food of the Eucharist, the spiritual medicine of reconciliation—gathering for weddings, funerals, picnics, festivals, graduations, athletic competitions, primary and secondary education, for the feeding and clothing of the poor.  We’ve been inspired, consoled, corrected, emboldened and empowered for the work of the Gospel.

At my installation mass as 10th Pastor of St. Ignatius of Antioch, I quoted the words of the fifth pastor, the great Monsignor Albert Murphy. And I’d like to quote him again, as his words, are so pertinent. Monsignor Murphy wrote “Few things in life are dearer to the heart of a devout Catholic than his parish. Along with home and family, she is the focus of our finest loyalties. From birth on through to death she is our Spiritual Mother—teaching, sustaining, admonishing, safeguarding and consoling—enriching our souls from the treasure house of her changeless love and shaping our days in the pattern of God’s bounteous graces.”

Your love for your spiritual home can be seen in the ways that you’ve continued to support, so generously, its upkeep and mission, through the years and during the lockdown. For, like any physical home, our spiritual home, our parish church requires constant upkeep, maintenance, repair, especially a spiritual home such as ours, which has stood for nearly a hundred years.

This feast of Pentecost is such a fitting feast to regather after months of lockdown in our spiritual home. For Pentecost is always a feast of new beginnings, new chapters. For the apostles, that first Pentecost began something new, a new experience of God, with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. That first Pentecost brought the apostles a new flowering of spiritual gifts, which they would utilize as they burst forth from that upper room into to the streets of Jerusalem, to preach that Christ is risen there and to the corners of the earth.

So, too for us. Whenever we gather in our spiritual home, yes we are gathering in a familiar place, with familiar faces, and familiar rituals—to experience warmth and to be spiritually recharged. But we also gather to be emboldened and commissioned for something new. As our economy and society begins to upon up once again, as individuals and as a parish, we need to consider well, how are we being called to engage society in new ways?  To make use of our resources more diligently. How can we cultivate new spiritual gifts here? Forge new bonds with the members of this neighborhood and welcome new parishioners who do not share our history? How can we love God and neighbor, family and enemy just a little more deeply?

There is a sort of paradox in our Catholic faith, isn’t there? God who is unchanging, calls us to one faith, one church, one Gospel truth which is essentially unchanging. But, at the same time God calls us to always change, semper reformanda, in the latin, to always seek ever-deeper conversion to Christ, to always nurture new spiritual gifts and make use of them in our ever-changing circumstances. Our rituals, our creeds, our doctrines are essentially unchanging, and yet, they prepare us to allow the wind of the Holy Spirit to blow where He pleases, to direct us, not just where I want to go, but where God wants me to go.

We flock back to the spiritual warmth and fire of our rock solid faith and spiritual home. However, that the warmth and that faith needs to be spread out there, in the coldness and chaos of the world. Or else, what are we doing here? We don’t go to church to be lulled to sleep, but to be woken up, to become animated, activated, illuminated, conformed to an itinerant preacher who claimed no place to lay his head; who saw this earth, not so much as a home, but as a temporary dwelling in which to engage in his Father’s work.

May the fire of the Holy Spirit warm us, for it has been so cold and lonely in our lock down. But, may that same fire ignite new spiritual gifts within us, and set us aflame with courage and conviction for spreading the Gospel out in the unfamiliar places of the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

1st Week of Advent 2019 - Wednesday - Fulfillment of Prophecy Past Present and Future

Yesterday, we heard Isaiah’s prophecy of the heir of the Davidic King who will usher in an era of lasting peace. And then in the Gospel, Jesus explained how he was that heir, how the prophets and kings of old longed to see what he was now accomplishing. So, we had a prophecy from Isaiah, and then Jesus explained how he was the fulfillment of that prophecy.

Today, our readings follow the same pattern. In Isaiah we hear of the promises of a mountain upon which God will provide for all peoples, a feast of rich food and choice wines, that on this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, he will destroy death, he will wipe away tears, on that day we will behold our God.

And then in the Gospel, Jesus is fulfilling those promises: Jesus atop a mountain miraculously cures the mute, the lame, the blind, the deformed, and then he feeds this great multitude, miraculously multiplying seven loaves of bread and a few fish, and has an abundance of food left over.

Jesus continues to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah during this age of the Church: in the Sacraments the sick come to him for healing in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, those spiritually sick and even dead in sin, come to him for healing and new life in the Sacrament of Confession, and he feeds us with supersubstantial food, his body and blood in the Eucharist.

And Our Lord heals the sick and feeds the hungry through the charitable work of Church. Hospitals were invented by Christians seeking to be the healing hands of Christ in the world. And the Church continues to be the greatest of charitable institutions in feeding the starving and clothing the naked of the world.

And yet, these readings still point to the future, to the second Advent and coming of Christ at the end of the age, when we will eat and drink at the eternal banquet feast of heaven and be clothed with glory forever, where there will be no more death or disease, and every tear will be wiped away forever.

Advent certainly helps us appreciate the ways in which the prophecies of old were fulfilled in the earthly ministry of Jesus 2000 years ago, how they are fulfilled now in the present, and how they will be fulfilled in eternity. So what needs to change in us, that we may be more perceptive of God at work in our midst, and more participative in God’s work now, and what needs to change that I may ready myself for the ultimate fulfillment of these promises in eternity?

May the light and life of Christ’s Advent shine in us today and forever for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.
That through the witness of the Christian Church, Our Lord will bring hope to the hopeless and joy to the joyless.
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 Christ may heal every disease, drive out hunger, feed every authentic hunger, ward off every affliction, and bring peace to the suffering.
For the deceased of our parish, family and friends, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.
Almighty ever-living God, who bring salvation to all and desire that no one should perish, hear the prayers of your people and grant that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and your Church rejoice in tranquility and devotion. Through Christ our Lord.

23rd Sunday in OT 2018 - Christ's Healing Activity Then and Now

As you may have seen in the bulletin, this month I’ll be hosting a bible study of the Gospel of Mark. Though we hear the Scriptures proclaimed at Holy Mass, to take them time to study them opens us to more deeply understand God’s Word. Like the deaf and the dumb man in the Gospel today, the Lord wishes to open our ears to understand the Word more deeply and loosen our tongues to proclaim the Word with greater courage, conviction, and faithfulness. So consider participating in our upcoming Scripture study on Monday nights in the chapel.

St. Mark’s Gospel is such an interesting Gospel to study. Compared to the Gospels of St. John, St. Luke, and St. Matthew, which relate to us many of the Lord’s sermons and longer teachings, St. Mark’s Gospel is very action-oriented. We see in Mark’s Gospel the Lord’s power, dominating the forces of evil and sickness, his strength of will in accomplishing the mission preordained by his Heavenly Father. St. Mark details how The Savior of the World working: healing the wounds of our sinfulness, casting out demons, opening eyes, ears, lips, minds, and hearts to God’s grace.

This weekend, our Gospel reading contains one of these wonderful detailed accounts from Mark’s Gospel of the Lord healing man who is deaf and dumb. To accomplish this miraculous healing the Lord could have simply willed the man to be healed, he could have snapped his finger or waved his hand and this man would be healed. But instead, we read of this multi-stepped ritual. The Lord first receives this man, then the Lord then takes him aside and he puts his fingers into the deaf man’s ears, and he spits and he rubs his spittle on the deaf man’s ears and tongue.   And then the Lord looks up to heaven, and he groans, and then he yells out, “Ephphatha, be opened.”  Why this ritual?  Why all these gestures, these signs, these actions? 

The Lord of course not only wanted to heal this man, but as usual, to teach us a lesson.  Namely, that he prefers to work through words, and gestures, and touch, and actions, and signs and intermediaries.  That’s how he healed so many during his earthly ministry, back then, and that’s how he wishes to bring healing to us, now, and all the ages of the Church.

This ritual healing, these gestures and signs in the Gospel today, teach us that the Lord heals through the gestures, signs, and rituals of his holy Church, primarily the Seven Sacraments. In washing our bodies in the waters of baptism, he brings cleansing of our sinful nature. In anointing our heads with chrism in the sacrament of confirmation, he brings strength for the work of the Gospel. In feeding us, under the appearance of bread and wine, in the Eucharist, he nourishes our deepest hunger for God, so that we turn less to be satiated by sin. Through the ritual words of absolution in the sacrament of confession, he brings the reconciliation with God that we cannot achieve on our own. In the exchange of vows in holy matrimony, he joins man and woman to become instruments of God’s fruitful love. Through the anointing of the Sick, the Lord gives powerful grace to endure bodily sickness and the final trial of physical death.

In recent years, there has been a real decline in the number of people coming to the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the forgiveness of their grave sins.  One of the reasons one often hears is that, “I don’t need to go to a priest, I just pray to God directly.”  But that’s not Christianity. The Lord works through his ministers, and through the words, gestures, and rituals of the Church. Offering our contrition to God in the privacy of our homes is good, for our sins truly offend God.  And we should offer our sorrow as soon as we recognize our sin.  BUT, God has made known exactly how He desires to forgive sins. We cannot insist that God forgive our sins on our own conditions.   That  forgiveness, that healing of sin, comes through the words and gestures of the sacrament—through the confession of our particular sins to a priest and the penitent’s expression of contrition, and the priest’s prayer of absolution.

The healing power of the Lord is not limited to the Sacraments, of course. He is present, when two or three are gathered in his name. The healing ritual in today’s gospel begins when the deaf man was brought to the Lord by other people. The Lord loves to work through other people, through parents and priests, neighbors and strangers, through support groups and best-friends-forever. He heals through doctors and medicine and nurses and caregivers, people who have dedicated their lives to healing. He helps those with emotional and psychological wounds through therapists and psychologists, by helping people confront wounds accumulated from childhood or trauma.  He teaches through catechists and clergy. Through Christians like you and me, the Lord desires to bring food to the hungry, clothing to the naked, consolation to the grieving, friendship to the lonely. He wants to use us, each and every one of us, to bring the healing the world so desperately needs.

What is the healing each of us needs? The Lord wishes to heal each one of us, to heal our wounded sense of right and wrong, our disordered attractions, to fix our broken moral compasses, to embolden our fear of speaking truth and being generous to the poor. Because of Original Sin we desire too much of what we don’t need and too little of what we do need. We desire too much social media, gossip, shopping, dessert, selfish exaltation, noise and entertainment, and too little prayer, study, charity, self-discipline, penance, fasting, mortification, silence and meditation. We do well to identify those parts of our lives which need healing, and bring them to the Lord.

That so many Catholics have fallen away from the Church in recent years is such a tragedy, because our brothers and sisters have fallen away from the ways that Jesus wants to work miracles in their lives, the ways the Lord wants to bring them healing and wholeness.

In the news these days, we’ve heard a lot about bishops and priests falling short of their sacred duties. It is a true scandal when ordained clerics undermine the spread of the Gospel through their grave sins. And yet, Christ has not abandoned us. He wants to bring healing to our Church now, and he will continue to do that through the Sacraments, through good holy priests and religious and lay faithful committed to the Gospel. Scandal, in a sense, is always a wake up call to the Church, the hierarchy and the lay faithful, and even to non-Catholics, that counterfeit and watered-down Christianity isn’t good for anybody. May we work and pray for the healing needed in the Church, our families, our community, by turning to the Lord in prayer and penance and the works of charity.

The Lord wishes to speak that powerful word, “Ephphatha” in each of our lives, that we might be ever-more open to his light and healing grace, by bringing our wounds to Him, by trusting in Him, by sharing our faith in Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Octave 2018 - Tuesday - Grace-filled encounters with the Risen Christ

Listen again to the words of the Entrance Antiphon for this Tuesday within the Easter Octave: “He gave them the water of wisdom to drink; it will be made strong in them and will not be moved; it will raise them up for ever, alleluia.”  These three beautiful lines remind of us of the three sacraments of initiation which the neophytes receive on the easter vigil. The water of baptism, the strengthening oil of confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist, of which Jesus says, “whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Remember, during these first days of easter, the Church shows special care for the newly initiated. They would attend daily mass often garbed in their baptismal garments, and afterwards, they would meet with their catechists to continue to unpack what they experienced at the Easter Vigil.

And not so much “what" they experienced but, “WHO” they experienced. For the Sacraments are “grace-filled encounters with the Risen Christ.”

Mary Magdalene in the Gospel today serves as a sort of model for all those who encounter Christ--for those who encountered Christ for the first time at Easter, and for all of us.

Firstly, when Mary Magdalene “encounters Christ” in the garden,  at first she does not recognize Him. Often we do not recognize the ways Jesus appears to us. Even in the Sacraments, for the un-initiated, all you see is water, oil, bread, or a grizzled old priest.

But as the Catechism teaches, in the sacraments, it is Christ who baptizes, Christ who confirms, Christ who feeds us with his body and blood, Christ who heals the sick, Christ who absolves our sins, Christ who unites in marriage.

Next, Mary’s tears are changed for sorrow into joy as she begins to understand and believe that Christ is alive. Similarly, as we grow in faith, as we allow the grace of the sacraments to grow within us, sorrow over earthly realities is transformed into joy over heavenly ones.

Finally, Jesus tells Mary “stop holding onto me.” Each of the Sacraments, particularly those of initiation, help us to stop living in the past, as they help us to embrace the present mission Christ gives us. Mary is sent to bring the good news to the rest of the disciples, and so are we.

This Easter Season, may the grace of the sacraments continue to be unleashed in our lives: the wisdom that comes from turning away from the world and turning to the Risen Christ in baptism, the strength and fortitude for resisting temptation and spreading the Gospel that comes from confirmation, and the new life that comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ.

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received.

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

14th Sunday of OT 2017 - "Come to me...and I will give you rest"

Amidst all the burdens, hardships, illnesses, setbacks, and tragedies of life: are there any words in the Scriptures more comforting than those we heard today: “come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest…for I am gentle, and humble of heart.”

This Gospel passage is often chosen for the Catholic funeral rites. Family members often choose this Gospel for the funeral of a loved one who passed after a long illness: in death, earthly suffering comes to an end; and the Christian soul who dies with Christ as their Lord rests as they await the resurrection.

This Gospel is also used for the celebration of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is surely a sacrament of comfort. In serious illness we experience powerlessness, limitation, suffering, and often fear. And through this great Sacrament Jesus, makes his comforting presence known, the divine physician comes to the bedside of his faithful ones, to bring the comforting knowledge of his presence and his grace to help us bear our serious illnesses.

Some of you may remember that before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, this Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick was often called “last rites” or “extreme unction” as the sacrament would be celebrated as close to the time of death as possible. With Vatican II came a renewed understanding: this Sacrament is to be received, not just near death, but any time our health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age. We should really seek this Sacrament at the beginning of a serious illness.

Our Catholic hospitals have a priest chaplain who is able to celebrate this sacrament with you, and arrangements can be made with those hospitals. If you are going to be undergoing serious surgery, we can schedule to celebrate this sacrament a few days prior. If you have a family member who has fallen away from the Church who has taken seriously ill, you should pray for them and encourage them to send for a priest.

Throughout the Gospels, the sick came to Jesus for healing, he sent his apostles to heal the sick, to anoint the sick and lay hands on them. And St. James even writes, “let the sick send for the priests of the Church, and let the priests pray over them, anointing them with oil”

God has brought about miraculous healing through Holy Anointing, but particularly in cases of terminal illness, the Lord certainly brings about spiritual strengthening and comfort through this Sacrament. So, if you or a family are diagnosed with a serious illness, call the priests early on, the Sacraments can be celebrated to bring healing, comfort and peace.

Not just through Holy Anointing, but in all the Sacraments Jesus brings comfort. Through baptism we gain the peace of knowing that we belong to God. Through Eucharist, the peace of knowing that we remain in communion with God, and God loves us and feeds us with what our souls most desperately need. Through Confession we hear some of the most comforting words that can ever be spoken in this life: “Your sins are forgiven”.

We do not have a God who remains distant. The Gospel today is clear, Jesus invites us close to Himself. Every Sacrament is an encounter with Christ who lives, who has conquered sin and death, who loves us, and wants to help us become the people God made us to be.

Whether you haven’t prayed in years, have fallen away from the practice of weekly mass, if you’ve skipped out on your catechism classes, or have committed sins that are gravely embarrassing, if you are Jewish, Muslim, or struggling with Atheism, Jesus makes that invitation to each of us: “Come to me, come to me” He’s not speaking to some else, he’s speaking to you. So many of us, are so exhausted and unhappy because we fail to go to Jesus when we should. We fail to develop the sort of prayer life that truly nourishes because we think we can handle the difficulties of life on our own.

Jesus invites us to turn away from our self-importance and walk to into the embrace of his arms, to turn from our sins and walk toward his mercy, to turn away from our doubts and to walk toward the Truth, to turn away from our fears and to walk toward the source of all courage and strength.

Jesus’ words today are certainly words of comfort and invitation, but they are also words of challenge. To whom do you go for refreshment, to whom do you go peace, where do you really place your trust?

Do you go to the bottle, or do you go to Him? Do you go to your credit cards, or do you go to Him? Do you go to the gossip circle, to the perverted internet sites, or to Him? Do you seek follow to the lame examples of professional athletes and Hollywood elites, or seek to follow Him?

Not all that glitters is gold, not all that promises rest and peace, can actually provide it.

Our secular culture offers a million and one alternatives to Jesus.  But Jesus says, come to ME.  Don’t turn to overindulging in food, in drink, don’t go to sexual perversion, or take out your frustrations and anger against your family or neighbor, don’t turn to those million OTHER things, come to ME, Jesus says.

Sometimes temptation comes in the form of a little voice urging us to seek consolation in one of those million other things, THAT’S NOT THE VOICE OF GOD.  There is an enemy who speaks with a persuasive tongue, who does not want us to turn to Jesus in prayer and obey our True Lord.  It’s the voice that says, you don’t need to pray, what you really need is the pill, the drink, the website, or the entire carton of chocolate ice cream.

Every Christian is engaged in spiritual warfare, and the enemy will use all the means at his disposal, including the goods of the earth, to lead us away from Christ, who desires to keep us from entering in Christ’s eternal rest.

Today, Jesus invites us to come to Him once again, amidst all the competing voices. At this Holy Eucharist let us renew our trust and faith in him, to recommit to the healthy spiritual practices, prayer, fasting, right judgment and discernment, that we may live this week in his peace that we may live with Him in eternally for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Sunday of Easter 2017 - Don't talk to strangers

One of the first lessons parents teach their children is “don’t talk to strangers”, right? Well, I saw a pretty alarming video this week, that proves the importance of that lesson. A gentleman was conducting a sort of social experiment. He would introduce himself to a parent sitting on a bench watching their child play on a playground. He’d point out the camera and tell the parent he was performing this social experiment. He’d ask them “have you taught your children not yyto talk to strangers” and the parent would always say, “of course”. And he would then ask, “so, if I go over to your child, do you think they’d talk to me or run away?” And the parent, very assuredly, would say something like, “I’m pretty sure they’d run away”

The man would then ask the parent’s permission to go and test out the assumption. He’d walk up to the child, welcome them to play with his pet puppy, and then he’d then say something like, “I have more puppies, back at my house, do you want to go see them?” And the parents would be stunned when their children walked off with a complete stranger.

Very frightening. It certainly causes us to make sure that our children know, really know, what it means,  don’t talk to strangers.

And this video shows that sometimes kids don’t heed their parents lesson. Sometimes the stranger looks nice, sometimes he offers candy or puppies. Most kids are pretty wary of strangers who are mean-looking scary in some way. But some strangers go out of their way to look friendly and safe to children. And these are very dangerous.

Jesus uses this image of following strangers in the Gospel today. He says, there will be thieves, there will be robbers who try to take you away from me. And the result of being separated from Jesus has eternal consequences.

Spiritual thieves and robbers will offer the equivalent of candy and puppies: things that look good, that look like they’ll bring us pleasure or make us feel good. Passing on the juicy piece of gossip—it feels good when people notices us, when we’re the ones to appear “in-the-know”. Or of course, sins of the flesh: looking at pornography, over-indulging in alcohol or using drugs, fornication outside of marriage. If these things didn’t feel good, people wouldn’t do them. Stealing, offers a thrill. Snapping back with an insult when someone insult you. These things feel good, but that doesn’t mean they are good. To follow these temptations—the voices of strangers—is to be led away from the Good Shepherd.

There are also thieves and robbers who look friendly, who smile, who make us feel welcome, who claim to know Jesus and claim to be passing on his Gospel. But, who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. The false shepherds who teach false doctrine and heresy about Jesus and his Church. They tell us the Catholic church is outdated, that we don’t need to follow the moral teachings of the Church, we don’t need to make use of the sacrament of confession if we commit serious sin, we don’t need to pray or read the scriptures. To follow the voices of these strangers, again, is to be led away from the Good Shepherd.

How do we ensure that we are not following the voices of strangers? Jesus says in the Gospel that those who follow Him recognize his voice. So how do we accustom our ears, our souls, our wills to the voice of Jesus?

The four pillars of Catholicism keep us united to our Good Shepherd. Do you know the four pillars of Catholicism?

The first is the Creed. We need to know our Creed, know our Catechism, know what the Shepherd teaches us about God, about his Church, so we can distinguish the Shepherd's words of truth from the world's words of error.

The second pillar is the Sacramental system. We follow the Shepherd by being baptized as he taught us, by confessing our sins, as he taught us, by eating his flesh and blood as he taught us, to call for the priests when we are sick and near death, as he taught us.

The third pillar is obeying the commandments. Our culture doesn’t like that word, “obey”. We’re told that obedience makes us into some sort of mindless robot. But the Christian virtue of obedience isn't mindless and irrational. It's the obedience of an elite athlete to an expert coach. It's the obedience of a docile student to a wise teacher. It's the obedience of a sick patient to an experienced and good doctor. It's the obedience of a healthy child to his loving parents.

Christ doesn't want us to be blind robots, but he deoes want obedient sheep. In fact, the word “obedience” comes from the Latin word, to hear, to listen. And if we aren’t obeying the commandments of the bible and the moral teachings of the Church, we aren’t listening to the Shepherd.

Finally, the fourth pillar is prayer. I’m not just talking about rattling off an Our Father once a day if we remember, but following the Lord’s own example of prayer. Jesus himself would withdraw in seclusion, and become absorbed in prayer to His Father. So, if Jesus as the Son of God, engages in that level of communication with His Father, how much more do we need it!

Prayer is coming before God in a position of humble trust. Speaking to Him as we would speak to our most beloved and trusted friend—entrusting our concerns, our hopes, our desires to Him. But like a good conversation, we must not only speak, but listen. God will address our concerns if we become quiet enough to listen; we can hear him telling us not be afraid and to trust Him more deeply.

Again, I encourage praying with Scriptures. Sitting down for 10 minutes a day, with a single passage, reading it, re-reading, thinking about what it means, how God’s word addresses the challenges of life.

The four pillars of Catholicism are like the four legs of a table: remove one, and your faith will topple.

We must accustom our ears to the voice of the Shepherd, so that we can hear him calling us deeper into our faith, and so that we can distinguish his voice from the voice of robbers and thieves who seek to take us away from Him.

Hear Him calling you today to trust Him, to follow Him, to obey Him, to love Him more deeply for the glory of God and salvation of souls.