Pentecost 2022 - Unity

 

On Friday, the Holy Father, met with a delegation of young priests and monks from the Eastern Orthodox Churches—so the Greek Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and so on. And that is quite the feat, as the Orthodox Churches, historically have not always had the most cordial of relationships with Rome nor with each other. So to get everyone in a room together, in Rome, is already a Pentecost miracle. But then the Holy Father took the opportunity to speak to this disparate group, about one of the important themes of Pentecost: unity. “Strive to preserve the unity of the spirit” St. Paul writes to the Ephesians. The Lord himself prayed for the church’s unity at the Last supper, “I pray Father, that they may be one, as you and I are one.”

The Holy Father offered four insights about what Pentecost teaches us about unity. 

Firstly, the Holy Father said unity is a “gift…a fire from on high”. Unity is a gift from God. With all of our divisions in the human family and even in the Church, the Holy Father says, yes, we need to take great efforts to work for unity: prayer, dialogue, disposing ourselves to what God wants for us, but unity, says Pope Francis, is primarily “not a fruit of earth, but of heaven. It is not primarily the result of our commitment, OUR efforts and OUR agreements,” he says, “but of the working of the Holy Spirit, to whom we need to open our hearts in trust, so that he can guide us along the path to full communion. Unity is a grace, a gift.”

So, yes, we need to do our part, but in the end, all human efforts fail, they are insufficient, for the unification of divided humanity is ultimately the work of God. Jesus came to reconcile us to one another and to the Father, something that we could not and cannot do on our own. No amount of secular human progress will create unity. We need God if we hope to live in unity.

A second lesson that Pentecost teaches us is that unity God wants for us is not necessarily uniformity,” he said, “much less the fruit of compromise or fragile diplomatic balances of power. Unity is harmony in the diversity of the charisms bestowed by the Spirit. For the Holy Spirit loves to awaken both multiplicity and unity, as at Pentecost, where different languages were not reduced to one alone, but were taken up in all their variety. Harmony is the way of the Spirit, for, as Saint Basil the Great says, the Spirit is harmony.”

One of the things I love about St. Ignatius is our harmonious  and diverse unity. On any given Sunday we have folks from the neighborhood, folks who’ve moved away, life-long parishioners, and neophytes, catholics from various ethnic backgrounds, economic strata, and professions. Parishioners with so many different gifts. And we offer two forms of the holy mass, the ordinary form in English, and the old rite, both in harmony, hopefully mutually enriching each other, teaching each other, both bringing about a diversity of charisms from the Holy Spirit. 

A third lesson of Pentecost, the Holy Father explains,  is that unity is a journey. “Unity is attained along the way” he says, “it grows by sharing each step of the journey, by facing its joys and struggles, and experiencing its unexpected surprises. As Saint Paul told the Galatians, we are called to walk by the Spirit. In the words of Saint Irenaeus, whom the Holy Father named as the Doctor of Unity, the Church is tõn adelphõn synodía, in the Greek, “a caravan of brothers”. In this caravan, unity grows and matures: a unity that – in God’s quiet way – does not suddenly appear as an overwhelming miracle, but quietly emerges in the patient and persevering progress of a journey made together.” What a beautiful image. A caravan wherein each of the members are seeking growth in our unique virtues, but growing in holiness, together.

Are we here at St. Ignatius, or in the Diocese of Cleveland, “perfectly one”, as the Lord, prayed for at the Last Supper? Not quite. Are we “of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing” as St. Paul taught the Philippians. Not quite. But Paul said, strive to be of the same mind, meaning, it is an effort, a journey, as the Holy Father says.. As I preached about last week, our unity comes from our personal assent to the truths, the dogmas of the faith, and our worship of the one true God. But we have some ways to go, don’t we.

Lastly, the Holy Father explains that unity “is closely tied to the fruitfulness of the Christian proclamation: unity is for mission.  Jesus prayed for his disciples that they “may all be one… so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). At Pentecost, the Church was born as a missionary Church. Today too, the world is waiting…to hear the Gospel message of charity, freedom and peace. It is a message that we are called to bear witness to with one another, not against one another or apart from one another.”

Unity is for mission. St. Ignatius of Antioch has a mission to the neighborhood, to the fallen away Catholics, and angry or hurt Catholics, the unchurched, the drug-addled, the freemasons, the protestants, the muslims. It’s not just my mission folks. It’s our mission. Our communal mission from God. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to send us insight into how to fulfill that mission, and strength for that mission. 

Please pray for your parish throughout the week. If you cannot come to daily mass throughout the week, make sure you lift your parish up to God, and your pastor. These are complex times aren’t they? Confusing times. But God chose us to be here now, in 2022, for the work of the Gospel. May we be one in our mission.

The Holy Father concluded his thoughts, “Dear brothers, may the cross of Christ be the compass that directs us on our journey towards full unity. For on that cross Christ, our peace, reconciled us and gathered us into one people” 

May we draw close to the cross of Christ every day, to be set alight with spiritual fire, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

23rd Week in Ordinary Time 2021 (First School Mass) - Abundant Graces through Christ

Happy New School Year everybody. For our new students, I am Father Estabrook, the pastor of St. Ignatius. I’ve been pastor here since December of 2018. This may be the first time some of you have been inside the church building. So, I’d like to say a word about this magnificent edifice. 

In the early 1900s, Catholics who lived downtown were moving out of the city out to this area, which was a cornfield at the time. Looking northward from this property, you could see all the way to Lake Erie. In 1902 there were just about 250 Catholic families in this neighborhood. And so they planned and built a school and a church building, along Lorain ave. Over the next 20 years, that number of Catholics grew and grew and grew that they needed to build a new school building, the boulevard building, and they started construction on this building, modeling its architecture after some of the beautiful basilicas of Rome.

They wanted a church building that inspired people, that helped them to remember that they were connected to the Church in Rome, and were they could gather with their families week after week to worship God. They poured their love of God into building this place, and it still stands 100 years later. Everyone that contributed to the building of this place is dead, though their great great great grandchildren are still in this neighborhood. But they built this place to last, to endure the changing of times and seasons, in order to have a timeless place, where you could feel and kneel down in the presence of God.

In the first reading we hear two names, Paul and Timothy. Paul tells the story how he came to believe that Jesus was the Son of God who died for our sins. He didn’t initially believe this. In fact, he was a persecutor of Christians. He hated Christians. But he had a change of heart and change of believe when Jesus appeared to him, and since then, he’s been trying to spread belief in Jesus and build up the church. 

And he is writing to Timothy today because Timothy was the new bishop and pastor of a community of Christians, much like St. Ignatius. Paul wants Timothy to trust in the abundant graces that comes from following, believing in, and loving Jesus. When Christians are faithful to Jesus, when they work together, when they root out sins from their lives, when the make Jesus the most important part of their life, they can do amazing things. They can build churches like this, they can work miracles, they can endure with amazing strength all of life’s difficulties. And most importantly they will be granted life after death and live forever with God.

Paul wants Timothy to help his community truly believe this, truly live out the Christian faith, much as my bishop, Bishop Ed Malesic has sent me, here to this parish, to do the same, to help the Catholics of this place to be faithful, and to help others come to make Jesus the most important person in their lives.

That’s my prayer for all of you as we begin this school year, and that’s my prayer for you always, that you, like St. Paul, and so many Catholics throughout the centuries, may know the abundant graces that comes through faith in Christ, that you may come to do amazing things through him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

February 23 2021 - St. Polycarp and the many fruits of Prayer

 

We have many great saints whose feasts days fall within the Lenten season.  Today is the feast day of saint who was born just about 40 years after the death of Jesus. His name was Polycarp, and he was the bishop of a place called Smyrna, which is in the modern-day country of Turkey, not too far from Ephesus, where St. John took Mary to live after Jesus’ death and resurrection. In fact, Polycarp was a student of one of the apostles, of St. John.

In the middle column of stained glass windows here in the eastern narthex is a series of scenes from the life of our Patron St. Ignatius of Antioch. And In the top window, there he is with St. Polycarp kneeling at the feet of St. John the Apostle, as he reads his Gospel. Polycarp and Ignatius were ordained bishops by St. John—and each sent to their respective dioceses—Ignatius to Antioch and Polycarp to Smyrna.

Ignatius and Polycarp continued to correspond after their ordination.

Ignatius begins his epistle to the bishop of Smyrna praising Polycarp’s rock-like faith, the blamelessness of his life, and then encourages him to press forward in the race of the Christian life and to work for the salvation of all people. “In all circumstances be “wise as a serpent,” and perpetually “harmless as a dove”, Ignatius tells Polycarp, quoting our Lord in explaining to his disciples how they must deal with the worldly.

Then Ignatius tells Polycarp, give yourself to unceasing prayer, asking for more wisdom than you already have. A bishop must be a man of unceasing prayer and wisdom. While a bishop must certainly be out in the streets preaching the Gospel, administering his diocese, setting good example for his flock, a bishop must be a man of unceasing prayer seeking God’s wisdom always. 

This is good advice for all of us, too. Our Lord in the Gospel today, tells us that we must be people of prayer, who go to our inner rooms, shutting the door to the distractions of the world, and praying to the Father in secret. It is in that secret prayer that we will derive much strength and wisdom in dealing with all the challenges of our vocations. And in prayer, the word of God, as we heard in the first reading, waters our soul like the gentle rain, bearing fruit. In fact, Polycarp's name means "many fruit", no doubt, fruit cultivated through prayer.

St. Polycarp, like our patron, Ignatius, would go on to be martyred for the faith--the greatest of the fruits cultivated in his spiritual life--the courage to give that ultimate witness--becoming a fruit that nourished the church and continues to nourish us to this day. While he was bishop, at the age of 86, a violent persecution broke out in Smyrna against the Christians. Christians were being forced to give up their faith or face death. Because he was a bishop, Polycarp was arrested.  He was led directly to the roman judge, who ordered him make sacrifice to a pagan God and commit blasphemy. 

Some of his Christian friends had urged him to make the sacrifice in order to save his life.  But, Polycarp responded, “for 86 years I have served Jesus Christ, and he has never abandoned me.  How could I curse my blessed king and savior.” So refusing to give up his faith, Polycarp was sentenced to be burned alive.

No doubt, it was through his prayer, that made his love for Jesus stronger than the flames of his martyrdom. In fact, descriptions of his martyrdom claim that, as Polycarp prayed during his execution, the fire created a sort of dome around him, and instead of his flesh burning, his body was like bread baking in an oven, like gold a silver in a furnace, he began to radiate the light of God. And a sweet fragrance like burning incense filled the place.

May we like Polycarp, cultivate a love for the Lord through prayer that is stronger than any earthly flame, a prayer life that sustains us in all of our challenges and duties, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance and bring to all people purification of sin and selfishness.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that they may continue to conform themselves to Christ through fervent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence. And for all victims of the coronavirus and their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Adore, Bow Down, and Kneel before the Lord

 Many of you know that our beautiful church of St. Ignatius of Antioch was not the first church building built on this property. In 1903 a brick structure was built which was a combination church and school. Within a decade it was evident that the church wasn’t going to be big enough for the quickly growing parish. The population of the neighborhood was growing due to urban flight from the city for a number of reasons. For one, your great grandparents generation came out here as the city began filling up due to new immigrants coming to Cleveland, some from Europe and some from the American South. Secondly, due to new factories, the big industrialized steel cities didn’t smell to good, and to move out to West Blvd. was a break from crowded smelly city life. Thirdly, a new church needed to be built because the family was growing, bigger families needed more pews. But also, the catholic family was growing because the Catholics were successful in sharing their faith with their non-Catholic neighbors.

So, ground was broken for the new church of St. Ignatius on April 4, 1925, with a lower church and upper church—big enough to house this booming Catholic population. Some of you may remember when mass was celebrated downstairs in the lower church and busses would pick up parishioners from around the neighborhood, as the parking lot never could quite accommodate all the Sunday worshippers in those days. 

I wish I could take you on a tour of the lower church, but’s it just not safe enough to be wandering around down there. Maybe one day, we’ll be able to afford a renovation to make the lower level usable at least for a gathering and meeting area. The lower level was accessed by the outside stairwells, and entering the church, you’d first be probably be struck at first by the pillars topped with these beautiful carved capitals depicting the four evangelists. 

And then kneeling down at your pew, you’d see, written in latin above the sanctuary, the words of our responsorial psalm today, the sixth verse of Psalm 95: Venite, adoremus et procidamus et genua flectamus ante Dominum. Come, let us adore and bow down and bend the knee before the Lord. 

Every time you’d come to church, you’d see this reminder, of what made this building different from the skyscrapers downtown and even the family home. It is here that God is worshiped. It is here that we show our faith and our love for God, by bending the knee, by kneeling before him and adoring him in the Blessed Sacrament.

Parish council shared with me that there was once an attempt to remove the kneelers from church, and and I’m so glad there was some resistance by the parishioners, because kneeling before God in God’s house, is a constitutive part of Catholic worship, a posture of humility we see already practiced by our Jewish ancestors. 

This is why kneeling at the Communion rail—kneeling for Communion—was custom for Roman Catholics, for well over a thousand years, closer to two thousand, than one. As an acknowledgement that you were kneeling down before the Lord himself present in the Sacrament.

As many of you know I’ve begun to offer on a weekly basis, on Monday evenings,  the Latin Mass, for the Mass which fed and nourished the souls of your grandparents is being rediscovered by new generations of Catholics. This Monday night, in particular, I will be celebrating the Solemn High Mass for the Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch, which is February 1st on the old calendar. If it’s been a few decades or you’ve never experienced Solemn High Mass, come check it out on Monday evening. You might not understand everything that’s going on…but that’s okay, do we ever? But you can come and adore and bow down and kneel and pray. 

Friday night, I assisted at a solemn high mass, at St. Paul’s Parish down in Akron, at the conclusion of their week of Eucharistic devotions. The pastor, Father Matt Pfeiffer, my good friend and classmate, shared a story during the homily, Friday night, a story from our seminary days. The seminarians make a winter retreat before the beginning of the spring semester every year, and we were at a retreat house down in Columbus. There’s a saying amongst seminarians that God doesn’t call the perfect, he perfects the called, and this little aphorism was on full display on this retreat. There was a pair of seminarians who just didn’t get along—huge personality differences—they just couldn’t see eye-to-eye. They argued, often. And on the last day of the retreat, in a moment of real vulnerability, one of these seminarians opened up, and shared with the group, he said, it’s no secret that this other seminarian and I don’t get along, but last night, I went to the chapel, to kneel down and pray before the blessed sacrament, and I was there for some time, and when I looked over across the chapel, there, kneeling in adoration, was, Michael. And I realized, that despite our differences, both of us loved the Lord, in faith and adoration we were united.

And that’s what being Catholic is all about, isn’t it? Despite our difference, we adore, we bow down, and we kneel in the unity of faith. Despite our differences, we set them aside when we walk through these doors. White, black, rich, poor, conservative or progressive. This place has always been that way, where the very diverse people from the neighborhood, could come and kneel and worship. 

There’s been a lot of talk about unity these days. But any unity that is not based on living under God, or rather, kneeling before him, is artificial, and will never last. Honestly, I don’t think it’s a coincidence, that the civil unrest that we are experiencing in this country at this moment in history comes at a time when mass attendance amongst Catholics, church attendance in general, is at an all time low. For how can we have unity, if we do not rightly acknowledge and come to kneel before the source of that unity. 

Any national revival of civility, neighborly trust, or honesty in business, will only come as a result of spiritual and moral revival. And that is not something the government can mandate or enforce or fabricate. For without God, man can only impose an unholy uniformity through force and coercion, a counterfeit imposter of the sacred and charitable bonds of unity through Christ. 

You want to trust your neighbor again, kneel beside him in the eucharist. You want civility to reign even among people you disagree with politically? Kneel beside them. You want peace in your families, ensure you are kneeling together, and adoring the Lord together. 

To kneel before the Eucharist is to submit your life to Him, to renounce everything that does not come from him, anything unclean, as we heard in the Gospel, is to exorcized and expelled from our lives, any belief contrary to His teaching and the teaching of His holy church.

Those words, “Come, let us adore, and bow down, and worship” are an invitation that the Word of God makes to us, that we may know his peace and unity in this life as a foretaste of heaven. And yet, it is also a command, to carry that invitation to those we meet out in the world, to the unbeliever, to those who kneel before the false gods of the world, or only worship their own ego. We are sent by the Word of God into their lives, that, with God, we may be one, and know his peace and rest in his presence for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Sunday of Advent 2020 - Advent Angelus

One of the most striking features of our beautiful church of St. Ignatius of Antioch is our magnificent bell tower. It is the tallest church bell tower in the diocese of Cleveland, 240 feet tall. You can see the tower from miles away; you can hear it ringing from miles away as well. 

Every day, as you might have noticed the Church bells ring at 12noon and at 6pm. In the old days, they would ring at 6am as well: 6, noon, and six, to mark the day’s beginning, middle, and end. For many centuries throughout the Catholic world, it has been tradition to stop what you are doing, when you hear the Church bells at those hours, and to pray. A nice way to keep the day directed to the glory of God. The bells ringing at 6, noon, and 6, in fact, are known as the Angelus Bells, because of the particular prayer, known as the Angelus, which is offered at those hours. 

If you don’t know the Angelus, it’s very easy to learn. It consists of three little antiphons each followed by a Hail Mary, and then it concludes with a short prayer that is used on this 4th Sunday of Advent, the Collect Prayer that preceded the liturgy of the word. This 4th Sunday of Advent could be called Angelus Sunday, because our readings and liturgical prayers are the inspiration for the Angelus Prayer.

The Angelus Prayer begins Angelus Domini, Nuntiavit Mariae, The Angel of the Lord announced to Mary, and she conceived by of the holy spirit.  And  like I said, the Hail Mary, is then prayed. Then Ecce Ancilla Domini, Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy Word. And then another Hail Mary. And finally, Et Verbum Caro factum est. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And then the third Hail Mary. 

I’ve been praying the Angelus Prayer every day for many, many years, since seminary. I usually wake up a few minutes before 6am, and so I pray it first thing in the morning. Even when I sleep in a little bit, it’s the first prayer I offer each day. 

The Angelus is a very important prayer because it calls to mind one of the most important events of human history. It was an event that God had been planning for thousands and thousands of years—a collaboration between angels, humans and the Three Persons of the Trinity. The Angelus reminds us of this amazing plan of God to save humanity from sin and death. And it reminds us that we are respond to God like Mary did, saying to God, “may it be done to me according to your Word…may God’s will be done in my life…may I respond to God with faith, always, daily, many times a day.” And the Angelus reminds us who Jesus is. He is God—The Word made flesh. He’s not just an ordinary baby, he’s not just another worldly teacher, he’s God, and we owe him our love, our devotion, our worship.

Praying the Angelus opens our mind and soul to this most important event, for one, to give God honor, and two, so we don’t begin to forget, and take it for great it for granted. So we’ll continue to ring those Angelus bells, to announce to the neighborhood our belief in the incarnation of Christ, as long as we’re here, for those bells pierce through the secular noise, don’t they, and at least for a moment, remind the religious and non-religious alike, of the world of faith.

One of the most repeated requests I received upon being made pastor of St. Ignatius was to reintroduce the ringing of the bells during Mass. We ring them, these days, when we are fortunate enough to have an altar server or someone to ring them. 

The ringing of the bells during Mass is tied to the Angelus. The first time the bells are rung at Mass, is during the epiclesis, when the priest calls down the Holy Spirit over the gifts, just like that first line of the Angelus taken from our Gospel today, when the Holy Spirit descends upon the Blessed Mother. The second and the third time they ring, they call our attention to the fact that the Word who took flesh in womb of the Blessed Virgin, is now present in our midst, when bread and wine are really and truly transformed into the body and blood of Jesus.

So, the ringing of the bells during mass, is not just for aesthetical reasons or that we want mass to be noiser or more musical. Rather, they are part of the rich tapestry of our faith, that helps us to respond to what God has done for our salvation, and what God continues to do, for us. 

And that’s what Advent is all about, no? What Christmas is all about: being mindful and grateful and celebrating what God has done, and what he continues to do, and responding accordingly.

Pope Benedict reflected upon this sentiment, wroting, “Though it is God who takes the initiative of coming to dwell in the midst of men, and he is always the main architect of this plan, it is also true that he does not will to carry it out without our active cooperation. Therefore, to prepare for Christmas means to commit oneself to build 'God's dwelling with men.' 

That’s why the Christian people takes such pride in building such beautiful churches with church bells and bell towers, to signal God’s dwelling with humanity. 

Every Sunday, at noon, the Pope gives a short little Angelus lesson. And last year, on this 4th Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis urged us to emulate Mary in this task and mission of cooperating with God’s plan and ask her help. Pope Francis said, “we admire our Mother for her response to God’s call to mission, we ask her to help each of us to welcome God’s plan into our lives with sincere humility and brave generosity.”

Every Christian essentially has the vocation of Mary—how we see Mary responding to God in the Gospel today—to respond to God with total faith, total surrender, that we may become a dwelling place for God. 

I can’t recommend strongly enough to pray the Angelus, at least once a day, if not thrice a day. If you don’t live within earshot of a church, you might consider setting alarms on your phone to remind you to pray at 6 noon and 6. For it will certainly help your life to be more deeply infused with grace. Who of us couldn’t use a little bit more mindfulness of the angels, our lady, and the Holy Trinity?

There’s the famous movie line that “every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings”. It’s really not theologically accurate. There isn’t a room of wingless angels waiting on us to ring our church bells. Rather, every time a bell rings, we are being reminded in a beautiful, angelic manner, to respond to God with the surrender and trust and faith of Blessed Virgin, the Queen of Angels, and Mother of Our Lord. We are being reminded to become, like her, Arks for God, tabernacles for God, dwelling places for God—to stop whatever we’re doing for a moment to make sure that we are building God’s dwelling and following God’s plan.

May the final days of Advent take on the profound characteristics of the Angelus—openness to visitation from the angels, profound trust and humility and surrender to the will of God, and for greater openness to the Lord Jesus taking flesh in our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

1st Week of Advent 2020 - Tuesday - A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse

 

When giving tours of our magnificent church, I’ll often ask people to try to figure out what is being depicted on the ceiling. And often times, they’ll look at the figure depicted right at the base of the sanctuary, and think that it’s Jesus, maybe coming out of the tomb after the resurrection. And I always say, “no, it’s not Jesus, but he bears a certain family resemblance”.

At the base of the sanctuary, of course, is Jesse, who we hear about in our first reading today from the prophet Isaiah. And I say that he bears a certainty family resemblance because, he is a progenitor of the family tree of Jesus. And so our ceiling depicts the family tree of Our Lord, in fact, there he is all the way near the entrance of the church, blessing us as we come in from the world and blessing us as we go out into the world to proclaim the good news.

So, the stem that sprouts from the stump of Jesse is beautifully depicted on our ceiling, one of the most unique ceilings in the world. I’ve never seen another like it. It is certainly reminiscent of the Jesse tree stained glass window of Chartres Cathedral which is also the inspiration for the stained glass windows which adorn our Cathedral of West Boulevard.

The Jesse Tree certainly connects us with Isaiah’s prophecy, and reminds us that Israel was waiting and longing for this prophecy to be fulfilled, waiting for the tree to bloom, ushering in the age of the Messiah—who would bring peace and justice and reconciliation with God.

Also, consider the context in which Isaiah gave this prophecy. Remember, Israel was in exile. It was the darkest point in Israel’s history. It appeared that the royal line had been severed. To anyone who was paying attention, God’s promise of a flourishing tree of Justice and Peace looked more like a dead stump in the ground. And yet, Isaiah offers this prophecy of hope. That no, the tree is not dead. God’s promise remains intact. Justice will come. Peace will come. Be patient. Have faith.

So, too with us. Every Advent is an opportunity to renew our patience, our faith and our hope. No matter how devastated the world appears. God is still at work. There will be justice for the oppressed. There will be peace. There Lord came 2000 years ago. The age of the Messiah has begun, and it will come to fulfillment when he returns in glory, so we ready our hearts, we ready our souls, we contemplate the truths that the Lord has revealed to the childlike, those who trust in God with childlike wonder, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.

That through the courageous 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, 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.

Keep us alert, we pray, O Lord our God, as we await the advent of Christ your son, so that, when he comes and knocks, he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in  his praise. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

 

November 9 2020 - 90th Anniversary of the Dedication of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Cleveland

90 years ago today, Bishop Joseph Schrembs, the fifth bishop of the diocese of Cleveland, celebrated the dedication of this parish church of St. Ignatius of Antioch.

After processing into the new church, he prayed to God that this place be dedicated to the Lord. He anointed the alter with sacred Chrism, making the altar a symbol of Christ, the Anointed One , our High Priest, who through the altar of his own body offered the sacrifice of his life for our salvation.

Bishop Schrembs then proceeded to anoint the walls of the church: twelve anointings, symbolic of the twelve apostles, the twelve anointed stones upon which Christ constructed his Church and the twelve gates of the heavenly Jerusalem.

Incense was then burned on the marble of the altar to signify Christ’s sacrifice, for again, from the altar Christ’s sacrifice ascends to God as an odor of sweetness along with our prayers to the throne of God. You can still see the scorch marks on the altar where the incense was lit.

The altar was then covered with a cloth, signifying that the altar is also the supper table of Lord, at which God’s people joyously gather to be refreshed with the heavenly food of Christ’s body and blood.

The candles of the altar, then the candles of the Church were lit for the first time, reminding us that the brightness of Christ is to shine throughout the Church, and that all nations are enlightened by Him.

Following the dedication, Bishop Schrembs celebrated a Pontifical High Mass, at which the Dominican historian Father Thomas Schweriner preached the dedication sermon.

The date for the dedication was no doubt chosen to coincide with today’s feast on the liturgical calendar, the feast of the dedication of one of the most important churches in Christendom, the Church of John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome, which was certainly an architectural inspiration for this magnificent place.

We thank God for this building, so magnificently constructed to the honor of God. We thank the Lord, for the founding families of this parish who made its construction possible, and to those faithful parishioners and benefactors who have supported this parish through two world wars, 10 popes, and such tremendous cultural, technological, and societal change. 

May the Lord continue to bless us and continue to form us into the living stones of his Church, dedicated to the evangelization of the nations, to the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the purification of Holy Church, and for all Bishops and clergy, that they may always lead us in fidelity to the saving Gospel of Christ.

That the Christian faithful may continue to nurture and discover their spiritual gifts for the building up of the Church.

For those who have left the Church, for those who have grown lukewarm, for those in mortal sin, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for whom we pray in a special way during this month of november, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

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

17th Sunday in OT 2020 - King Solomon and the Virtue of Prudence

Here at St. Ignatius, we have what is probably the most unique ceiling in the diocese, depicting the tree of Jesse. “A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. So, at the edge of the sanctuary, you see Jesse, on his side, with a shoot coming forth from his side. And we can trace that shoot, through the generations of Jesse’s descendants, all the way to Our Lord, who blesses us as we come into and exit out of the Church. From Jesse to Jesus was about 1000 years, so we don’t have all of the direct descendants of Jesse, in fact someone pretty important is missing right near the beginning.

Well, immediately after Jesse, we see depicted his son, King David, holding the harp, a reference to the psalms which he composed, the songs of praise and lament and joy and petition to Almighty God, that we still sing, 3000 years later. But, after David, our ceiling skips a generation for some reason, skipping one of the most intriguing characters from the scriptures, who we hear about in our first reading today, the son of David and Bathsheba, King Solomon.

It was under Solomon's rule that ancient Israel reached its pinnacle of prosperity, influence, and geographical size; the great Temple of Jerusalem was constructed by Solomon. And Solomon became quite renowned for his wisdom. In the Gospels, the Lord himself extols Solomon’s wisdom, speaking about how the Queen of the South traveled from the edges of the known world just to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

Most of us know the story of Solomon and the two prostitutes, that story is depicted in one of our magnificent stained glass windows, see if you can find it after Mass. From the first book of Kings we read of the two prostitutes who had each given birth to a baby, and during the night, one of the infants was smothered and died. The woman whose baby had died switched her dead baby with the baby of the other woman as she slept. She then claimed the living child to be her own.

The women came to Solomon to make a judgment about this case. And Solomon devised a very clever method of determining the truth. “Bring me a sword”, he said, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” In response, the first woman cried out, “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” While the other woman said, But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”

Solomon then gave his wise judgment: give the baby to the first; for the true mother would never consent to the killing of her child.”

I was always impressed by Solomon’s cleverness, and I always wondered how many other wise solutions did Solomon came up with.

Well, in our first reading today, we hear that not only was Solomon wise according to human standards, but considered wise by God. Early on, after taking the throne of Israel, God promised Solomon that he would give him anything he prayed for. So Solomon prayed to God for what he needed in order to govern Israel effectively. And he did not pray for a long life, or riches, or the heads of his enemies, or any of the other material thing that people often value.

Rather, Solomon believed that the most important thing he could possibly ask from God, was wisdom—prudence—to know what is right and how to pursue it. Solomon, in the words of his Father David, as we heard in the Psalm today, counted the law of God as more precious than silver or gold.

Of all the virtues, prudence, the ability to make right and sound judgments, according to the ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, and later by Christian theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas, was considered to be the most important of all the virtues. Prudence enables us to identify what is best, what is right, what is good, what is true and to order our lives accordingly.

Prudence says seek what is most essential before pursuing the non-essential. Should we blow all of our savings on a luxurious vacation, or should we make sure we can pay our bills, living within our means. Should I stay up all night playing video games the night before a big test, or should I study and get a good nights sleep? Should I spend all day watching television and social media, or should I go for walk, get some exercise, say my prayers? Should I gorge myself on junk food all day, or save my appetite for a good healthy dinner?

Prudence helps us to judge rightly. Who is the real mother? Who is lying and who is telling the truth?
The Lord extols prudence in the Gospel today, saying, do you wish to inherit the kingdom of heaven, become like the merchant who finds the pearl of great price, and does everything he can to obtain it. The merchant prudently identifies that this pearl is worth more than everything he owns, and he does what it takes to obtain it.

Prudence means using our intellect the best we can to discover the best thing to do with the time available. It enables us to discern among many possibilities which is best.

Again, in the Gospel, the man who found the treasure in the field had a lot of options: He could have told all his friends about the treasure before digging it up. He could have dug up the treasure at once, brought it home, told his wife and kids and neighbors. But he discerned among the many possibilities the best thing to do was to sell everything he had and buy the field. So, no one could accuse him of stealing it from someone else.

Prudence isn’t just about knowing what is right, but using our free will to do it. Having used his intellect, considering his many possibilities, the man in the Gospel made a choice, he took action. Prudence requires action. The man sold his worldly possessions, he bought the field, so, he got the treasure. He took action.

The virtue of prudence is important for Christians. It helps us to avoid sin and pursue what is good. It enables us to know what to do when faced with a moral decision: should I live with my fiancé before marriage, should I cheat on my taxes, should I spend all day in front of the television?

For every day we have a great many choices before us: but so many of them boil down to the choice Solomon made in the first reading today—do I pursue what is passing and superficial—riches, revenge—entertainment and pleasure—or do I pursue the one things that really lasts—friendship with God. Do I seek first the empty promises of the world—or do I seek first the kingdom of God?
Why is prudence so important? Every sin, essentially is failure to exercise prudence, to think before we act, to consider what is God’s will, to act according to what is true and good. And often we keep falling in to the same sins over and over because we fail to prudently avoid the near occasion of sin.
So much of the disorder, violence, division, and suffering in the world is the result of being cut off from prudence.  How much suffering in our families could be avoided if we thought before we spoke!

Without prudence we will never be truly free. Because prudence grants liberation from being ruled by our emotions or passions, not to mention by popular opinion, which is often at great odds with the wisdom of God.

Prudence, it’s a matter of freedom and a matter of salvation. For prudence enables us to identify the those non-essentials which keep us from pursuing the pearl of great price, the life God wants for us. What are the non-essentials the Lord is inviting me to leave behind, in order to pursue the holiness is wants for me?

May the Lord grant us prudence, that we may build our houses, not on the shifting sands of worldly opinion, but on the solid foundation of what truly lasts. Lord grants us prudence, that our children may live. Grant us prudence to become truly wise in your sight, dealing judiciously with the things of the world, and pursuing above all the kingdom of God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

14th Sunday in OT 2020 - An end and a beginning (for Sister Dianne)

When we reopened the Church for public masses on the Feast of Pentecost, 5 weeks ago already, I reflected upon how Pentecost meant a new beginning for Jesus’ disciples. The fire of the Holy Spirit descended upon this group, who had just begun to really comprehend the implications of the Lord’s resurrection—what that meant for their future. But they were timid and remained huddled behind locked doors. It was not until the Holy Spirit’s descent upon them that they burst forth from the upper room preaching and performing mighty deeds as signs of Jesus’ victory over sin and death.

Pentecost was a new beginning. And celebrating Pentecost is always meant to be a new beginning for us, of allowing God to embolden us and commission us for some new work for the building up of the kingdom.

Well, 5 weeks ago, I had no idea about the new beginning God had in store for us as a parish. As you may have seen on Facebook, on our website, the E-Newsletter I sent out to parishioners, or in the bulletin, Sr. Dianne Piunno this week retired from her position as Pastoral Associate of St. Ignatius of Antioch parish, and her last day was this last Tuesday, the 30th of June.

Sister’s retirement ends a 30 year era. An era in which this very devoted Sister of Notre Dame, poured herself out in so many ways—in pastoral care to families and distraught individuals, offering preparation for the sacraments, assisting the pastors in administration, fundraising, assisting with liturgical celebrations, welcoming alumni back to the parish of their youth, looking after the capital needs of the physical plant of the parish, and so many hidden things and acts of charity and devotion that will only be revealed in eternity. The pastors of this parish relied on Sister for keeping this place going, the parish relied on her, especially in her role in keeping the parish open when it was slated to close 11 years ago.

In the letter of resignation she wrote to me, she said It has been a blessing to minister to the people of the parish and our beloved alumni over the past 30 years. They have given me the privilege of supporting them in joyous and challenging times.” The people and alumni always the focus of her life, even of her letter of resignation.

How can it be a mere coincidence, that as we announce sister’s retirement, our weekend Gospel contains such a powerful promise to those who have labored for the Gospel. “Come to me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest.” We pray that in her retirement, Sister will receive the rest she deserves, the joy of knowing how many lives she touched, and how her service here will echo into eternity.

Sister’s retirement is an end of an era, but also, a new beginning for the parish. Sister held us by the hand as we learned to walk, and now we have to walk, we must take up the yoke. As I mentioned, the pastors relied on sister to keep this place going. Now, your current pastor and this parish need you, the  parishioners, to take up the yoke. We’ll need volunteers to assist with liturgical matters, we certainly need new lectors and extraordinary ministers of holy communion, we’ll need volunteers for fundraising efforts, for the gala committee, the golf outing, the clambash, we’ll need help with maintaining relationships with the alumni, we’ll need volunteers to assist with preparing our young people for the sacraments.

If you are willing to help in one or any of these ways, or if you have an idea for some form of ministry that you’d like to take up, please send me a message, write me an email or letter. I have a wonderful staff, but we can’t do it on our own, there is a big hole in the parish that needs to be filled, but I believe that you, the good parishioners of the parish have the time, talent, and treasure to pick up the yoke, to learn from Sister’s good example, and to learn ultimately from the Lord, who says in the Gospel, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.

Now, my first thought upon receiving sister’s letter was, how in this pandemic are we going to be able to honor her for her service. So, I asked her personally. Could honor her at Mass, and she said, no, in fact, she wanted this announcement to be made after her retirement as she did not want to become the focus of the mass...woops. I then asked if we could do some sort of outdoor reception in the parking lot, and she said no, now is not the right time. We have the parish picnic planned in August, and she said, no, she’s not going to be available for that either. We’ve rescheduled the Gala for next March, and she said no to that too, as she’s already been honored at two Galas. So…we are currently brainstorming how and when we can honor this sweet devoted woman. Please know that it’s coming, hopefully, soon. Again, if you have any ideas let me know.

Lastly, I think we put in the bulletin a PO Box number to which you can send Sister cards if you wish. You can also place them in the parish offertory over the upcoming weeks and we’ll make sure to get them to her.

The end of an era, but the beginning of new one. May the Lord help us to utilize those spiritual gifts he has been cultivating within us. For taking up the yoke, for putting those gifts into practice, is the only way this parish will continue.

You are in our prayers sister, please pray for us, that the good work the Lord has begun in us, good work through which you have been instrumental, may be brought to completion, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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.

December 20 2019 - Angelus Bells and Remembering the Incarnation

One of my favorite features of St. Ignatius of Antioch church is our large bell tower. It is the tallest catholic church bell tower in the diocese of Cleveland, 240 feet tall. You can see the tower from miles
away, and you can hear it ringing from miles away as well.

Every day, as you might have noticed the Church bells ring at 12 noon and at 6pm. In the old days, they would ring at 6am as well. 6, noon, and six, to mark the day’s beginning, middle, and end, but they are also rung for a religious significance, for they are known as the Angelus bells. Angelus is the word in the latin language for Angel.

There is also a prayer that goes along with the ringing of those angelus bells, called, The Angelus Prayer, which calls to mind one of the most important events in human history, again, the event we just read about in today’s Gospel.

The Angel of the Lord announced unto Mary, and she conceived a child by the power of the holy spirit.

Why is this important? Well, it had never happened before and it will never happen again. It was an event that Isaiah had foretold, as we heard in our first reading, that a virgin would conceive a child through the intervention of God, and that the child’s name would be Emmanuel, which means “God is with us”. It was something God had been planning for thousands and thousands of years—His plan to save us from our sins.

I’ve been praying the Angelus Prayer every day for many, many years, and I believe it is a very important prayer for us Christians. For Christians need reminders of who God is, what God has done, and what God calls us to. And the Angelus does just that. It reminds us that God has done this amazing thing for us and for our salvation. And it reminds us that we are respond to God like Mary did, saying to God, “may it be done to me according to your Word…may God’s will be done in my life…may I respond to God with faith, always, daily, many times a day.” And the Angelus reminds us who Jesus is. He is God made flesh. He’s not just an ordinary baby, he’s not just another worldly teacher, he’s God, and we owe him our love, our devotion, our worship.

[Morning Mass] In the O Antiphon Today, Christ is called the Clavis David, the Key of David who frees us from prison and from the shadow of death. By calling to mind what our great Lord has done for us, may our minds and hearts be freed from selfishness and fear, that we may glorify the Lord in all we say and do today, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

[School Mass] You will notice something different at Mass today, we will be ringing bells during mass. The bells at Mass are very similar to the Angelus bells. The first time they ring, they are a sign of the holy spirit descending upon the altar, just like the holy spirit descended upon mary. And the second and the third time they ring, they call our attention to the fact that Jesus is now present in our midst, bread and wine have really and truly become transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, our Lord.

As you prepare for Christmas break, remember the reason for Christmas, that mary said yes to God, and that God became human to save us from our sins. May you and your families be blessed this Christmas with profound faith, hope, love and the peace of the Christ-Child, 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 the witness of the Church may help all nations come to believe in the Lordship of Jesus.

That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for the dignity of every human life.  We pray to the Lord.

That Christ may banish disease, drive out hunger, ward off every affliction, and strengthen all who suffer persecution for the sake of the Gospel.

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.