October 14 2024 - St. Callistus and Christopher Columbus - God chooses the weak and makes them strong

 Often times, the Collect Prayers for the saints reflect something of their lives.  Today’s collect contained a prayer asking God to rescue us from the “slavery of corruption.” This is a reference to the fact that Pope Callistus, honored by the Church today, was once a slave.

Pope Callistus was originally born a slave in Rome in the late 2nd century.  Seeing natural intelligence in him, his slave-master appointed him to oversee a bank, but after a while the bank failed. Callistus, fearing that he would be killed due to the bank’s failure, fled Rome.  He was caught and sentenced to hard labor in the mines of Sardinia. But, as providence would have it, Callistus wasn’t in Sardinia long, thanks to the Pope, who bargained with the emperor to free many of the prisoners.

After his release, Callistus studied theology and became a deacon.  10 years later, Pope Zephyrinus summoned Callistus, to serve as his theological advisor. Callistus proved himself to be reliable and competent, and was himself elected Pope in 217. In 223, an anti-Christian riot swept through Rome, and Pope Callistus was martyred.

From slave to Pope; God works in mysterious ways. As St. Paul says, “God chooses the weak and makes them strong in bearing witness to Christ.”

We do not get to choose the details of our birth and status, but we do get to choose what we do with the gifts God has given us—our intellectual gifts, our creativity, the spiritual gifts we receive in our baptism. 

Our nation today celebrates Columbus Day. Columbus, a Catholic, utilized his genius, his curiosity and energy, to bravely venture into the unknown to explore this world. He was not motivated by greed or violence, but the desire for knowledge and to spread the Gospel. 

Christopher Columbus was not racist or imperialist or sexist or genocidal for wishing to spread Christianity to an unknown land and foreign people. And neither are we. For Christianity professes our belief in the fundamental value of every human life and a commitment to human flourishing by utilizing our God given gifts.  

We pray that the Lord may raise up countless Pope Callistus's and Christopher Columbus's, men and women of great faith, who are committed to using their gifts for the good of others, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That Catholics around the world will be ever more zealous in their preaching of the Gospel and manifesting the mercy of Christ for others.

For wisdom and mercy to guide the life of the Church, the decisions of government leaders, and the ordering of our personal lives.

That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

During this month of October, dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, may Catholics take up this devotion with renewed vigor and trust in Our Lady’s never-failing intercession.

For the Knights of Columbus and all who look to the inspiration of Christopher Columbus, may they continue in good works and be examples of virtue and faith.

For all victims of war, for hurricane victims and for all affected by flooding and severe weather conditions, and for those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: that they may know God’s sustaining grace.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy 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.

January 21 2022 - Virgin Martyr St. Agnes - The weak to shame the strong

 “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong, those who are nothing to reduce those who are something.” On this feast of one of the great child martyrs of our faith, St. Agnes, we have this profound, paradoxical reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

By human standards, the Church of Corinth was not comprised of the worldly wise, powerful, wealthy, and influential members of society. While the Gospel appealed to some members of the nobility and aristocracy, the early church was poor and powerless, at least according to the measure of the world. 

This reminds us of how at Christmas, God took flesh and became a member of a poor unknown family from of the poor virtually unknown town of Nazareth. The Lord was born not in a palace but a stable. In the temple, the Christ child confounded the learned scribes and teachers. While certainly calling all men to believe in him, the Lord chose as his apostles not the mighty in society, but poor fisherman. And on the cross, he conquered not with a powerful army, but through the death of a slave, with arms outstretched on the cross. 

So too, we see this wonderful paradox in saints like dear St. Agnes honored today: a thirteen year old girl, considered foolish, poor, and powerless in the eyes of the world, who possesses more wisdom, riches, and power in the eyes of God than most men would ever possess. She possessed the pearl of great price, for she possessed the courage to die for Christ. 

We, like Agnes, are not to rely on worldly riches or political power to work for the mission of the Gospel. God has raised up the lowly in each one of us. We poor sinners are given the great dignity of baptism and the great mission of spreading the Gospel. We shouldn’t be waiting around for someone more wealthy or worldly powerful to lead us in the world of the Gospel. St. Agnes and the host of martyrs, that we the lowly are God’s chosen instruments. Perhaps, these weak ones shame us, a little too, for not relying on God's grace as we should. They certainly teach and remind us of the need, more than anything else to possess holiness, virtue, detachment from worldly goods in order to embrace Christ with conviction, to witness to him with courage to the elite, strong, and powerful of the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her, care for her, and give her strength and courage in her mission.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may preserve harmony among us.

That the March for Life in Washington D.C. today will help to transform our culture and inspire many to adhere to the Gospel of Life.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may grant them relief and move Christians to come to the aid of the suffering.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

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

  

30th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Friday - The Lord feeds, heals, and quenches

 All four Gospels contain accounts of the Lord eating and dining. All four record the last supper, for example. But Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the Lord’s supper in the house of the tax collector Levi and St. John is the only to record the Lord’s attendance at the wedding feast at Cana.

St. Luke is the only evangelist to record the meal in today’s Gospel passage in which the Lord heals the man with dropsy in the house of a pharisee on the sabbath.

This story is not the first time that the Lord has healed someone on the sabbath, but it is the first time he heals someone at a meal. He combines healing and eating. It’s also interesting who he heals. He heals a man with dropsy. Dropsy is a condition in which there is a build-up of fluid in a persons tissues, and so because of this imbalance with fluid, the person with dropsy is always thirsty—they are perpetually thirsty. And so here the Lord combines healing and eating and satisfying unending thirst.

What does that makes you think of? I don’t know about you, but this certainly makes me think of what we’re doing right now. In the celebration of Mass, the Lord feeds, the Lord quenches thirst, and the Lord heals

In the Eucharist, the Lord feeds us with his body and blood, giving us spiritual nourishment for the work of the Gospel and the pilgrimage to heaven. In the Eucharist, the Lord heals us of sinfulness, pride, grief, loneliness, division, and estrangement from God. And in the Eucharist the Lord quenches our thirst for the infinite God—like a dry weary desert our souls thirst for Him, and here that thirst is quenched.

Commenting particularly on the healing properties of the Eucharist, Pope Francis, said a few years ago, that the Eucharist is “powerful medicine for the weak”. We have many weaknesses: fear in preaching the Gospel, timidity in doing the work of the Lord, weaknesses of the flesh, the lack of willingness to suffer for Christ, temptations to sin, concupiscence. And the Eucharist is medicine for these weaknesses. And those who deprive themselves of the Eucharist, refusing to go to mass, deprive themselves of real medicine the Lord wishes to apply to their souls.

The Eucharist is also medicine for the greatest of our weaknesses: mortality. 

St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the Ephesians said that the Eucharist is the “medicine of immortality…and the antidote  which  wards  off  death.” It “yields continuous life  in union with Jesus Christ.”

May we dispose our souls as often as possible to this food from heaven, the food that heals, the food that quenches for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For those who are deprived of the Eucharist, for lapsed Catholics, for the unbelieving, for those who doubt the Lord’s real presence, for those who have hardened their hearts toward God, and for a deeper appreciation of the great gift of the Eucharist among all God’s people. Let us pray to the Lord.

That young people will be blessed with good Christian example from their parents and fellow Christians, and that the word of God might be cherished, studied, and practiced in every Christian home. 

During and following this month of October, dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, Catholics may take up this devotion with renewed vigor and trust in Our Lady’s never-failing intercession. 

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 repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for deceased clergy and religious, for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

3rd Week of Advent 2020 - Wednesday - God chooses the unlikely

 Throughout the Scriptures, God is constantly choosing unexpected people to guide and lead and shepherd and deliver his people. God chose Moses despite the fact that Moses was reluctant and also a murderer. God chose Gideon, a fear-driven wimp, to lead his army. God chose Rahab, a prostitute, to bring about a victory. God chose David, a little shepherd boy, to slay the mighty Goliath. 

Our first reading today is part of a prophecy in which Isaiah is explaining how God is going to use Cyrus, a pagan king, to deliver Israel from its Babylonian captivity. Cyrus is certainly an unlikely character to be chosen as God’s anointed—after all, he wasn’t even Jewish. 

And in the reading today Isaiah is kind of explaining why exactly God often uses these unlikely, strange, weak people to do his will. Namely, because “I am the LORD, there is no other”. To show his might, God chooses the weak and the unexpected. He doesn’t even need to choose a member of the chosen people to do his will. He’s God, and can choose anyone as his instrument.

Hence in the Gospel, even John the Baptist, just wants to make sure that Jesus truly is the One. After all, John knows, that Jesus comes from a pretty unassuming background. He probably knows that he was born in a stable, and raised in the tiny village of Nazareth, by a humble carpenter. He’s so unlikely. And we encounter many people in the Gospels who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah precisely because he is so unlikely. 

And so when approached by John’s disciples, the Lord says, do you want to know who I am? Look at my works-- the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised…the prophecies of old are being fulfilled in your midst, God is at work, the signs speak for themselves.

Up until now, a lot of our Advent readings have been about the need to prepare our souls for the Lord’s coming through prayer and penance and good works. But, we’ve arrive at that point in Advent where our readings are starting to focus on the identity of the Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is fully God and fully Man. He is the Messiah. And we are presented with a choice, the world is presented with a choice: will you believe in Him or not. Will you believe that God could become Man, born in a stable, to a virgin, in the piercing cold at midnight, or not?

And making that choice, we come to discover that God also continues to choose the unlikely, strange, weak people of the earth to do his will….us. He wishes to use us, to make his glory known, to make the name of Jesus resound throughout the earth. May we be faithful to this calling, trusting that God knows what he is doing, in calling us to do his will, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Holy Father, all bishops and priests, religious and laity may shine with the Light of Christ’s love for the lost and despairing.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

For those who have fallen away from the Church, who have become separated from God through error and sin, for those who reject the teachings of Christ, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

That our young people will turn away from the evils of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or illness: may they experience the healing graces of Christ. 

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

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.

Priesthood Sunday 2018 - Master, I want to See

In my nine and a half years of priesthood, I’ve had the honor of living and serving with almost a dozen priests. One was a former Certified Public Accountant, one was called to the priesthood later in life after having children and being left a widower; one had taken a year off of seminary to work to support his mother after the death of his father, another liked to begin every homily with a joke. One priest was among our diocese’s most talented organists, another likes hunting wild boar; one liked to dine on fine white tablecloths, another has visited more hospitalized, sick, and dying Catholics than the rest combined.

I’ve been inspired by my brother priests, frustrated by my brother priests, have laughed with and cried with my brother priests, played video games, and attended opera, gone on pilgrimage and debated theology into the night with my brother priests.

Since 2003, in the United States, the last Sunday of October for us Catholics is known as Priesthood Sunday.

On this priesthood Sunday, we pray for priests. Because we need priests. Priests to baptize, priests to absolve our sins, priests to celebrate the Eucharist, priests to help hardened sinners return to Christ, priests to help families live the Gospel faithfully.  We will need priests until the end of time, to carry out the ordained ministry according to Christ’s plan for his Church.

A parish like this has many young men with so much potential. Men who could be doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, men who could have a pretty successful college sports career.  Young men who could be successful in the world of business or politics, and we hope many will be.  Because we need men of strong faith in the world. And we need men who will be strong leaders of faith in their families, strong faithful catholic husbands and fathers.

But the Church also needs men who will visit the dying, who will go where the bishop sends them to celebrate the sacraments, who will listen to sins of God’s people and tell them that they are forgiven. We need priests who will shepherd parishes with the heart of Christ the Good Shepherd and remind parishes that they are part of something bigger, a church that is led by bishops and popes, some of them saints, all of them sinners. We need priests to teach us that we are part of something ancient, a tradition where latin and Greek were spoken in catacombs, where Christians prepared for martyrdom at the hands of hostile governments. We need priests to help those doctors and lawyers and professionals to practice their professions in a manner consistent with the Gospel of Christ, and to assist, in fresh, new ways, our younger generations to encounter Christ--priests to help us see the goodness of God and the goodness in ourselves.


There are over 90 men in this diocese currently studying at our seminary here in Cleveland.  Men, who, like blind Bartimaeus in the Gospel today, have cried out to the Lord Jesus, “Master, I want to see.” I want to see how you are calling me to serve you. I want to see the places where you will lead me. I want to see how the priesthood can transform the world.

No doubt, each of us does well to make that same request to the Lord: “Master, I want to see” I want to see how you are at work in my life. I want to see how, even in the tragedies of life and the chaos of the world, you are there, bringing peace and order and justice. I want to see your light pierce through my darkness. Master, I want to see what I can do to follow you more faithfully, as a parent, as a single person, as a priest or religious.

[Holy Angels: In light of Fr. Ruggeri’s leave of absence and Fr. Bang’s reassignment, there’s need, isn’t there to the Lord to bring light to this particular period of darkness. “Master, I want to see” how you are preparing this parish for the next stage of its mission. I encourage you to pray for each other every day, to lift up each other’s needs to the Lord and to pray for Fr. Ruggeri, Fr. Bang, and for the bishop, that the Lord’s healing power may visit this place. For if the Lord can heal an old blind man, he can certainly bring healing to this place which is so full of life.]

We are reminded by our second reading from the letter to the Hebrews that priests aren’t perfect, they aren’t chosen from some special group of spiritual supermen. The Letter to the Hebrews says, the “priest is taken from among men” and made a representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness.” The Lord calls ordinary men to do extraordinary things. Ordinary men who are beset with weakness and temptation like any of us..

Now, certainly the holier the priest is the better. A priest dedicated to prayer, serving the Lord in humility and gentleness and patience and courage is to be preferred to a priest who doesn’t pray, who is arrogant and harsh and morally compromised. Yet, we commit to praying for all priests, that the Lord may use them, despite their weaknesses, to build up the Church, with patience, gentleness, humility, and courage.

May each of us do our part in fostering healthy, holy priestly vocations. We pray that our young men may have the courage to answer that call with generous hearts, that all of us will be generous in our support for such young men—and that all priests might be renewed and strengthened in holiness for the carrying out and preaching of the Gospel—that the good work God has begun in them, might be brought to fulfillment—for the glory of God and salvation of souls.