27th Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Monday - Asking the right questions

 Of all the questions he could have asked Jesus, the scholar in the law from the Gospel today asks Jesus a pretty good one, likely the most important of all religious questions: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

It’s one thing to be focused on worldly prosperity. What must I do to live the American dream? But this expert in the law seems to have his priorities straight. The time we spend in this earthly life is a drop in the ocean compared to eternity. It is very wise to be eternity minded, rather than earthly minded. It profits a man nothing to gain the whole world, if he loses his soul. So, this expert in the law seems to have his priorities straight. He’s turning to Jesus for answers to the ultimate question. Would more of our modern day contemporaries get into that habit, the world would be in a different shape! And perhaps, as people of faith, we would progress in the spiritual life more steadily, if we began asking the Lord the right questions. “What must I do to grow in holiness?” “What must I do to grow in patience?” “What must I do to overcome my habitual sin?”

Now, there are a lot of people who ask Jesus a lot of questions and for a lot of different reasons in the Gospel. The Lord’s disciples ask for clarification on his teachings; Pharisees and Scribes ask Jesus questions to try to trap him or discredit him. But we don’t really know the intentions of this scholar of the law, only that he rightly turns to Jesus for answers. Maybe the scholar of the law is trying to prove himself more learned than this itinerant preacher, but whatever his motives, this encounter ends with the Lord confirming that the greatest commandment is to love God with your whole mind, soul, being and strength and to love our neighbor as ourself, and that our neighbor isn’t just the person that looks like us, acts like us, believes the same thing we believe, our neighbor includes the stranger, the man in need on the side of the street, the one who has fallen victim to unfortunate circumstances, the one that every else is ignoring.

You want eternal life? You must expand your heart to love everyone. You must overcome your tunnel-vision of looking past those in need. You must eliminate the earthly-minded excuses that keep you from exercising mercy. Like the good Samaritan who pays out of his own purse for the lodging and recovery of the poor victim, eternal life will cost us something: our time, our talent, our treasure must be put at the service of our fellow man. 

“Do this and you will live” the Lord says. May we know the divine assistance that makes up for our weaknesses in striving for eternal life, in living out the Gospel mandate of mercy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the grace to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors and enemies and those who persecute us, and to share the truth of the Gospel with all.  

That during the month of October dedicated to the Holy Rosary, we may be strengthened in devotion to Our Lady and trust ever-more in her maternal intercession. 

For the priests of the Diocese of Cleveland gathering this week with the Bishop at their bi-annual Convocation, may the Holy Spirit guide their time and inspire them for their continued ministry. 

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, and those whose lives are upturned by the terrible storms in florida, for victims of war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish and all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our benefit, and for 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.

8th Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Monday - "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

 

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

One of the great concern many priests and probably many of you have is that fewer and fewer people seem to be concerned with this question: young people, our family members, over 80% of Catholics who aren’t even going to Church on Sundays anymore. What happened? What changed?

It’s certainly one of the symptoms of the secularism and materialism of our age: this indifference to eternity. Many ask questions  like, “what must I do to get into Harvard, what must I do to be a famous athlete, what must I do to make my first million by the age of 30?” Maybe, many people do not even have a driving question.

This man in the Gospel today, he had this driving question. So much so, notice, St. Mark tells us, that he runs up to Jesus, he falls to his knees, to ask this question. 

Perhaps so few are asking about eternity because so much information is available at our fingertips now. People figure, well, when the time comes to start asking ultimate questions, I can just look up the answer on the internet. Perhaps, they are so caught up into the trivial, they don’t even think to concern themselves with what comes next.

Or, perhaps, they have thought about eternity, and instead of turning to God for answers, they’ve concluded that, well, eternal life is a guarantee, everybody goes to heaven.

And that would make things everything easier. Rich, poor, religiously devout, religiously neglectful, everyone goes to heaven. I’ve come across this belief among many Catholics. 

But this answer is at odds with what Jesus teaches in the Gospel. There are a lot of things that can keep us from heaven. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” And that’s just one situation. Read through the Gospels, and note how many times Jesus uses the word “unless”. Unless you do this, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. “Unless you become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” “Unless you are born again by water and the holy spirit, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood” and so on.

The young man went away sad in the Gospel, because the Son of God told him that unless he gave up his love of possessions he couldn’t go to heaven. Many refuse to ask that ultimate question, what must I do to inherit eternal life” because they are unwilling to face that “unless”. For some people, it’s just easier to provide their own answer, write their own Gospel—an anti-Gospel—where can have your cake and eat it to, where you can have heaven without having to change anything about yourself on earth. I’m already perfect is the great anti-Gospel of our age. Because why would you need God if you’re already perfect?

In a few days we begin the great season of Lent, a time for us to acknowledge what in us, in our attitudes and behaviors and attachments need to be given up, in order to be perfected by God. The world is confounded by this, those who already believe themselves perfect, can’t imagine why we would do penance. But God work through our penances to bring about a change of heart for those who live the anti-Gospel, that all hearts may come to long and seek the life that can only come from Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For “an immediate end to the hostilities in Ukraine, for a restoration of peace and for the safety of all Ukrainian citizens. And for the Ukrainian community in Northeast Ohio, that their friends and family members in their beloved homeland be kept out of harm’s way.”

That the upcoming season of Lent may be a time of profound renewal for our parish and the Church as we engage in the penitential practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

For the conversion of those who reject the Gospel, for grace to break through to hearts hardened toward God, for the protection of young people from the errors and perversions of our culture.

For those who struggle because of addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, inclement weather, or ongoing trials of any kind.

For the dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Holy mass is offered. 

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith, we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.