1st Week of OT 2021 - Wednesday - "For this purpose have I come"

 “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” Imagine you are peter, james, john or Andrew. You’ve followed Jesus to Capernaum and seen him exorcize a demon and begin to perform these miraculous healings. He’s told you that he’s going to make you fishers of men, but you don’t really know what that means. You don’t quite understand where this whole thing is going yet, and he tells you that we’re not just going to stay here in Capernaum, we are going to proclaim the Gospel to the surrounding villages and all of Galilee—this is the reason I have come, for this purpose, to proclaim this kingdom all throughout this land.

Your first thought might be “come from where”? He speaks with the accent of Galilean, he’s still in Galilee. So where did he come from? The Lord knows that the small band is probably not quite ready for the whole truth, so he hints that he has come from heaven. This little phrase hints at the preexistence of the second person of the Trinity with the Father—it hints at the Lord’s divine nature. He has come. He has arrived. So the reader of the Gospel of Mark, hearing it for the first time, would be asking along with the disciples, “who is this guy?”

The reason why he has come is to “preach” to proclaim—the Greek word is “kérussó”—he has come to herald, to announce, to proclaim, and to drive out demons. To preach the kingdom of god and to release people from the kingdom of darkness. 

The truth of the Gospel is preached to enlighten the minds of the people so that the demons can no longer maintain their hold. Because the devil lurks and takes roots in error and lies. But like his combat with the devil in the desert, the devil’s lies and power are overcome by truth and obedience to God. 

Again, ordinary time means putting this stuff into practice in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. So, we continue to ponder and meditate upon the identity of Jesus with the apostles, we continue to listen to his truth, allowing his truth to weaken and cast out the errors and lies of the enemy which have taken root in our life. Where have we made allowances for sin and selfishness? Where have we allowed worldliness to take priority over pursuing the things of God? Where am I obstructing the flowering of sacramental grace?

For this has he come, to preach the Gospel to us, and to cast out demons in us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the preaching and teachings of the Pope, Bishops, and clergy may be a source of strength and guidance for the Holy Church and deliverance from the evils of the enemy.

That those in civic authority may submit their minds and hearts to the rule of Christ, the Prince of Peace and Hope of the nations.

For the liberation of those bound by evil, those committed to sin an error, those oppressed or possessed by evil spirits, and for the conversion of the hardest hearts.

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.

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.

1st Week of OT 2021 - Tuesday - More than words, words, words

From now until the beginning of Lent on Feb 17, our weekday Gospel readings will be taken from the Gospel of Mark.  

Without skipping any passages we’ll make our way from chapter 1 through chapter 8—beginning with his baptism, which we heard Sunday, up until his feeding of the five thousand, and we’ll then take a break from this chronological reading of Mark’s Gospel until after the easter season, after Pentecost.

But during these short weeks of Ordinary Time before Lent, we will read of healings and exorcisms, parables and teachings and miracles. I love Mark’s Gospel and once memorized and could recite the order of the stories of Mark. 

Mark, being the shortest Gospel, it can be read in a single sitting without too much effort. And often was read in its entirety to the early Church. So if you’ve never read Mark from beginning to end these are good days for such a practice.

St. Mark’s original audience was the ancient Romans who were very much like modern Americans—very practical, pragmatic people who emphasized deeds more than words, action more than theory.  “Words, words, words” complained Polonius to Hamlet who just complained all the time without doing anything. We and the Romans would agree. For the Romans liked to get things done! In fact they conquered the world!

And in mark’s Gospel, Jesus is a man of action—a man who takes on the powers of evil; takes up his cross willingly; he cures diseases and even tames the powers of nature, “all things are subject to Him” as Hebrews stated in our first reading.

In today’s Gospel we see him commanding this demon to be silent. And Shakespeare would have loved the irony here. The Eternal Word made flesh, who is a man of action, exercises his power over evil through a word, and that word is to tell this noisy demon to be silent, and the demon, overwhelmed by the Word’s power, is muzzled, and through the Word, a possessed soul, silenced by the demon, is made free to speak and act again and proclaim God’s praises. 

During Ordinary Time, we seek to imitate the Lord in the ordinary circumstances of our life, and we see from the start of the Gospel, that the Lord is a man of action, who doesn’t just complain about the fallen state of the world, but goes and does battle with evil to bring about the liberation of those captive, oppressed, and confused by evil. 

In order to be effective instruments of the Lord, we must be united with Him in spirit and truth, so we do well to study his word, meditate upon his word, contemplate his word, receive his word in the sacraments, that we may be filled with his goodness, holiness, love, and power for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 - - - - - - - 

That the preaching and teachings of the Pope, Bishops, and clergy may be a source of strength and guidance for the Holy Church.

That those in civic authority may submit their minds and hearts to the rule of Christ, the Prince of Peace and Hope of the nations.

For the liberation of those bound by evil, those committed to sin an error, those oppressed or possessed by evil spirits, and for the conversion of the hardest hearts.

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.

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.

1st Week of OT 2021 - Monday - Beginning of something new

 

When I begin RCIA in the fall, the participants often have had very little exposure to the Gospels—they may have heard some stories about Jesus’ miracles and certainly his death and resurrection on the cross. So one of the first Gospel stories I share with them is todays Gospel, and that’s kind of fitting, for it was peter, james and john’s first encounter with the Lord too.

Here is the call to leave behind the comfortable: our comfortable lives our comfortable habits, perhaps even our livelihoods; everything needs to be set aside that hinders me from following Jesus Christ; everything that keeps me from knowing him and loving him is to be seen as an obstacle—and something to be cast aside like the nets of the fishermen.

It’s no coincidence that we read of this Gospel as we begin, once again, the season of Ordinary Time—the time of the year that we focus on imitating the Lord and putting his teachings into practice in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. Ordering our lives to conform more with his, again, always means setting aside the comfortable—to follow him more closely.

Thomas Aquinas spoke of a sadness that comes from our unwillingness to seek after our greatest good—he called it acedia—a sort of depression that sets in when we aren’t attending to our spiritual lives as we should.

Rather, than acedia, we are to be filled with the excitement Peter, James, Andrew, and John experienced when the Lord said, “Come after me. I will make you fishers of men.” There is an excitement that comes from a willingness to follow the Lord into the unknown, trusting that whatever he has planned is much better than anything than I could come up with. 

This Gospel represents God breaking into our lives to call us to something new, and God is certainly doing that has we enter into this new liturgical season.

It may be a new spiritual devotion, a new way of service, a new way of offering up our sufferings.  But even in these short weeks before the season of Lent begins, the Lord wants to stretch us, change us, transform us, and fill us with the new wine of the spirit.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discover how to follow Christ more deeply today, that he may make you fishers of men for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

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

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

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.

 

Baptism of the Lord 2021 - Most important moment in one's life

 A few years ago, on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Cardinal Dolan of New York was reflecting upon an experience he had the previous week. The Cardinal relayed how the week prior, he was up in Buffalo for the funeral of one of his brother bishops, Bishop Bernard McLaughlin who was born in 1912. Bishop McClaughlin had died at the venerable age of 102, he would have been that year a priest of 80 years and a bishop for 47 years. And as the Cardinal approached the casket of his brother bishop, he thought of all the wonderful things that the Bishop had done and accomplished and seen: the abundant gifts that filled his life, the honors he received, and the good work for the Lord of which the good bishop had been an instrument. But as the Cardinal approached the bishop’s casket, and prepared to sprinkle it with holy water, he thought how nothing, nothing that Bishop McLaughlin did compared to what happened to him, what God did for him, when he was two weeks old, when his mom and dad and grandparents carried him to church to be baptized.

Cardinal Dolan thought of this as he was blessing the casket while utter those beautiful prayer from the funeral ritual “In the waters of baptism Bernard died with Christ and rose with him to new life”. The power, the significance of the sacrament of baptism cannot be overvalued. What happens to us at baptism, what God does for us in baptism, is the most important thing that will ever happen to us.

As we consider the significance of Christian baptism on this feast of the Baptism of the Lord, remember…when the Lord allowed himself to be baptized by John in the Jordan, the Lord didn’t need baptism. Rather, he goes down into the waters of the Jordan to set-up and establish the importance of baptism for his followers—for the Church. Jesus didn’t need baptism in order to share in the life of God, because he is God. But we’re not, so we do. We are the ones born with souls shattered by sin—souls incapable of possessing the sanctifying grace of God. We need the Sacrament of Baptism to restore what was broken, to heal what was rent asunder by sin. So, Baptism is of the utmost importance, for through it, God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves; he restores the life of our souls and sets us upon the road to eternal life. 

Last week, we celebrated the great feast of the Epiphany, in which, the light of the Christmas star and the gifts of the shepherds reveal that the babe born at Bethlehem is no ordinary baby. He is king, priest, and Savior.

Well, the early Church saw today’s feast, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, as a sort of second Epiphany in the life of Our Lord.  

Where in the first Epiphany, Jesus was revealed as king, priest, and savior. Today’s feast reveals him to be God. Much like the Christmas star, and those gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh reveal something of Jesus’ identity, now the Holy Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the father from heaven reveal that Jesus Christ truly is the divine Son of God. He is God.

And when we come forward for baptism, we are testifying, we are proclaiming our belief that Jesus is God, that he gives me new life through these saving waters of baptism.

“Who indeed is the victor over the world” asks John in the second reading, “but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” 

This week, we saw a lot of ugliness in the world—and a lot of irrational rhetoric. But, I did see a wonderful quote that helped put things in perspective for me. Patricia Heaton, one of the rare Catholic Hollywood actresses, from Bay Village, Ohio by the way, said, “ if you’re a common sense person, you probably don’t feel you have a home in this world right now. If you’re a Christian, you know that you were never meant to”. It’s a fitting quote for us today. It’s not saying that we shouldn’t be involved in political life, or we shouldn’t stand up for justice, but it’s a reminder that we must never lose sight of the real reason we are here. We’re not here to transform the world into some sort of utopia through any means, but to prepare our souls for the world to come. To be in the world, but not OF the world, like Our Lord. Sometimes earthly affairs and anxieties cause us to lose sight of our eternal goal. Keeping our eyes on heaven often comes with great difficulty, but the saints show us that this is possible—it is possible to make our souls union with God, our highest priority.

Tomorrow/today at the 11am mass, three souls who have been participating in our parish RCIA program will enter through the Church doors for the Rite of Acceptance. And I will ask them two questions.  I’ll ask them What do you ask of God’s Church?  They answered: Faith. And then I’ll ask “what does Faith offer you” And they’ll answer “Eternal Life.”

What a wonderful amazing thing, that these three people from diverse backgrounds, jobs, and families, will come here, because they believe that through the Church, through the Sacraments of the Church, they will receive eternal life. 

Our very first session of RCIA I asked them, why are you here?  How did the path of your life lead here?  Some said, I want to know more about the Catholic faith.  I want to be Catholic.  I want to share the faith of my family.  I have come to recognize that the Catholic Faith is true.

For many of us: we were baptized as infants and received our religious instruction as children.  But, I think each of us realizes that being Catholic is not just a choice that was made for us, when we were baptized as infants.  It is a choice we make daily--to cooperate with the grace of our baptism daily.  A choice to believe and profess all the Church teaches. A commitment of our lives daily to God’s care.  A choice to avoid the things that are harmful to our souls.  A decision to cooperate with God so that the grace of baptism is not stifled in our lives, but is allowed to unfold and blossom daily.

Again, this ritual that Bruce, Angela, and Amanda will undergo tomorrow is called the Rite of Acceptance. It’s one of the rituals that proceeds their reception of the Sacrament of Baptism and full initiation into the Church. And it’s called the Rite of Acceptance for a number of reasons. One, because they are accepting the teachings, and practice of the Church, they are accepting that the faith of the Church leads to eternal life. Secondly, it’s called the rite of acceptance because the church is accepting them into the order of catechuments; we who are already baptized members of the Church are accepting the responsibility of praying for them, praying for their continual conversion and for their safety as they approach the waters of baptism and sacraments of initiation. Thirdly, it's a sign too, that God accepts them, God accepts them to become his children in the life of grace, He accepts them to receive His very life. So in addition to praying for them at Mass over the next few months, remember them in your personal prayers from time to time; that those preparing for baptism, which will be for them, the most important day of your life, may respond well to God working in their life.

Bruce, Angela and Amanda choose freely to be here tomorrow/today.  But also because God HAS been working in their lives to bring them here.  God has worked through the members of this parish saying yes to our baptismal call, God has been working through the testimony of our faithful parishioners to enkindle in our catechumens the fire of faith.  They are here in answer to our prayers.  So, continue to pray for them as they continue their journey towards full initiation in the Church at Easter.  When you see them at Mass, greet them, let them know that you are praying for them.    

In a few moments we will each personally recite the Profession of Faith.  This is the faith of the Church, this is the faith of the Baptized.  We are proud to profess it.  We look forward to the day that our catechumens will profess it with us as full members of the Church, and that we stand together in the halls of heaven for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Friday after Epiphany 2021 - Whoever possesses the Son has life

 We are situated this week between the last two great feasts of the Christmas season: the feast of the Epiphany, last Sunday, and the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, in just a few days.  

The early Church saw the Baptism of the Lord as a second Epiphany in the life of Our Lord.  

Where in the first Epiphany, Jesus was revealed as the Savior, not just for Israel, but for the entire world.  This Sunday, we will hear how, as Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, much like the Epiphany Star shines upon the babe at bethlehem, now the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove, revealing even more of who Jesus is. He is not just a human Messiah, he is the second person of the Trinity, the son of the Father. 

As we heard in our first reading, the Spirit testifies to who Jesus is. He is the Son of God.

If he were not, he would have no power to make us clean. The water and the blood would have no power, if he were just a man. 

Our Gospel reading also sheds light onto the Lord’s identity. The healing of the leper reveals that God does not recoil from our sins and diseases. Yes, he is the holy one of God, the most high, he is life itself, immaculate holiness and divinity. Yet, Jesus, the Son of God, God incarnate, reaches out and touches the leper. Holiness itself draws close to us who have lost original holiness due to heinous sin in order to make us whole and clean and full of life again and like himself.

The broken jar is able to be fixed, it is not irreparable; we are able to possess the life of God again. So much so, that John, in the first reading, says that “Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.” God does not wish us to lifeless because of sin. He entered the world, in the poverty and cold of Christmas, so that he may enter more deeply into our very lifeless souls to be our life. 

Today, we like the leper in the Gospel, do well to fall prostrate before the Lord, and plead, Lord make me clean, in all ways, in every way, make me clean, restore me to life, fill me with your life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For Pope Francis and all the clergy: that they will draw many to the mystery of baptism and inspire the faithful to live their baptismal promises with great devotion. 

For leaders of nations: that they will govern with virtue and integrity, helping to build society in conformity with the teachings of Christ.  

For non-believers and for those preparing for baptism: that they may be open to the grace of conversion and the joy of the followers of Christ.  

For the sick, suffering, persecuted, and underemployed, and all those facing hardships.  

For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, 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

January 6 2021 - St. Andre Bessette - Abandoned to the Divine Will

Holy Cross Brother Andre Bessette was just canonized in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. Here is a wonderful Saint who shows us that we do not have to do big things in order to become holy, but that we are to make every moment of our life, every act, every deed of our day, an act of love for God. 

 For forty years, Brother Andre was the doorkeeper, the porter, for Notre Dame College in Montreal run by the Community of the Holy cross.  He once joked, “When I joined this community my superiors showed me the door, and I stayed there for forty years.”  In that job he answered the phone and greeted the parents of the young people and all those who visited the college seeking material help.  Brother Andre made time for everyone and treated everyone as if they were the only person in the world, as if they were Jesus. 

 At his canonization, Pope Benedict said, “Brother Andre showed boundless charity and did everything possible to soothe the despair of those who confided in him. With little instruction, he nevertheless understood what was essential to his faith. For him, to believe meant to submit freely and lovingly to Divine Will. Everything existed through the mystery of Jesus, he lived the beatitude of the pure of heart, that of personal rectitude. It is thanks to this simplicity, he showed many God.”

Brother Andre had a deep devotion to St. Joseph, who he saw as an icon of a masculinity, courage, and love for the son of God, of a man deeply surrendered to the Divine Will, as he wished to be. Andre convinced his congregation to have a small chapel built in honor of St. Joseph, and it is there, that over the years, thousands of people would come to venerate St. Joseph and to pray with Brother Andre, through whom there have been countless miraculous healings. Thousands experienced emotional and physical healing at that small chapel to St. Joseph. 

Whatever the trial, Brother Andre urged people to pray with confidence and perseverance while remaining open, like St. Joseph, to God’s will.

 Openness to the will of God is the foundation for any healing, any change, any spiritual growth we should hope to experience. Yes, God hears our prayers for healing. As Brother Andre said, “There is so little distance between heaven and earth that God always hears us. Nothing but a thin veil separates us from God.” Yet, it is often a greater good that God gives us the grace and strength to bear our sufferings with trust and abandon to the Divine Will. 

 “Do not try to have your trials taken away from you”, he said, “rather, ask for the grace to endure them well”.

 Brother allowed himself to be fully present to the sadness of others while always retaining a joyful nature and good humor.  In the words of Pope Benedict,  “For him, everything spoke of God and His presence.”  Through his intercession may we receive the healing God wishes for us and follow his example of prayer and love for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That like St. Andre, Christians may grow in attentiveness to all those in need.

 That during this year of St. Joseph, all those in need of healing may be filled with new hope and strength.

That those dedicated to the care of the sick may be instruments of God’s healing.

In thanksgiving for all healing received through the mercy of God.

That those who suffer may experience the peace of Christ.

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

January 5 2021 - St. John Neumann - Education, Brotherly Love, Increase of the Church

 Although he was born in Bohemia in 1811, in what is now the Czech Republic, John Neumann is celebrated as an American saint.  After studying in Prague, John Neumann came to New York at the age of 25 and was ordained a priest just three weeks later.  After several years of working among German speaking immigrants, often alone, he joined the Redemptorist community, the missionary community founded by St. Alphonsis Ligouri.  As a gifted linguist who spoke 8 languages, he was a popular preacher among the many immigrant communities, in Maryland, Virginia, even here in Ohio.

By age 41 he had become the fourth bishop of Philadelphia where he organized the parochial schools there into a diocesan system.  

Today’s opening prayer refers to three tasks accomplished by Saint John Neumann which we hope to accomplish by the help of his prayers.  1) To foster the Christian education of youth, 2) to strengthen the witness of brotherly love (a reference to Philadelphia--the city of brotherly love), and 3) to constantly increase the family of the Church.

Like Saint John Neumann, all of us are to foster the Christian education of youth.  Almost 50,000 children in this diocese attend Catholic schools, and at least that same number are educated in parish PSR programs.  But the number of children attending weekly Mass is abysmal. Faith is so weak in their families that they are like "sheep without a shepherd", as our Lord says in the Gospel today.  We face a very difficult battle in winning the hearts of these children away from the culture. To feed the multitude with the bread from heaven. But that is the task, and the Lord shows that it is possible. So, if there is a young person in your family not going to Church, each of us should ask ourselves, “what can I do to get them to the table?”

Secondly, we must give “the witness of brotherly love”.  Non-Catholics and weak-faithed Catholics should look at us and say in the words of Tertullian, “look how they love each other”.  The brotherly love we have for each other, the charity, the kindness, the patience we have for each other is to attract others to our way of life—the way of Christ.  

And the third task exemplified by John Neumann to increase the family of the Church.  Again not just the work of priests, not just the work of bishops, but the work of the entire church, to continue to draw souls to Christ.  And that is only possible, when we have truly been drawn to Him, when we have left behind all worldliness, when we have sought him with the entirety of our being. 

May Bishop Neumann, “renowned for his charity and pastoral service” spurn us on to holiness through the service of the Gospel of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

For a deeper devotion to the Eucharist among all Catholics, that our Eucharistic worship might inspire non-believers to seek and find the Lord.

That our Catholic schools and PSR programs may be places where the Lord Jesus is sought out and discovered, where faith is instilled and charity is inspired.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, that many young people may respond generously to the Lord’s call to ordained and consecrated service.

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 our former bishop, Archbishop Nelson Perez and for the Church of Philadelphia, that through the intercession of St. John Neumann, they may be renowned for their charity and pastoral service.

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