Advent 2 - Rescue Behind Enemy Lines (Dec 7, 2025)

 

Homily for Advent 2

December 7, 2025

Rescue Behind Enemy Lines

 

            There have been many stories of heroism in the history of the US Army, but very few can top that of Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez. He was already wounded once in Vietnam and doctors told him that he would never walk again, but he forced himself – through excruciating pain – to relearn how to walk so that he could continue to fight for his country. One night in 1968, he heard over the radio that 12 Special Forces were trapped behind enemy lines, about ready to be decimated.

            Without hesitation, Roy boarded a helicopter to try to rescue them. But the chopper couldn’t find a place to land, so he leapt from the helicopter 40 feet above the field where his men were, behind enemy lines, to give them medical aid. For six hours he stayed with them in the midst of a chaotic firefight. At one point a Vietnamese soldier got close enough to stab him – so Roy just ripped the knife out of his side and kept fighting. Roy had to provide cover fire so that his men could board the helicopter and be rescued – he was the last one to be rescued, having suffered 37 separate shrapnel and bullet wounds. In fact, one Army doctor declared him dead before a second doctor noticed he was still breathing! He earned four Purple Hearts and a Medal of Honor, for saving the lives of these men by risking his own behind enemy lines.

            Why do I tell this story? Because this is exactly what Jesus did for us. The human race – not just in general, but you and I – are trapped in enemy-occupied territory. In this fallen world, we have an enemy who wants our destruction: the Evil One, sin, and brokenness. For centuries – and for much of our own lives – we’ve lived in darkness, tossed about by our fleshly desires and the fickle whims and despair of this broken world. We need someone to rescue us. And so, like a soldier descending from a helicopter, Jesus descends into our world at Christmas, sneaking in behind enemy lines, to rescue us. He, too, is wounded in the battle – we see Him with His five wounds behind us, on the Cross – but that was the price paid for our liberation.

            Sound crazy? Extreme? But great theologians throughout the centuries have had this same insight. Listen to the words of CS Lewis: “Enemy-occupied territory---that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

            But some are sitting here this morning thinking, “My life is pretty good – why all this talk about rescuing us from an enemy?” Because brokenness and sin is all around us – and we need rescuing from a lot of things. Have you ever been fearful about the future? Jesus invites us to trust Him wholeheartedly. Have you ever wondered whether there’s any meaning or purpose to your life? Jesus gives us the most magnificent mission: to become saints and bring His Kingdom into the world. Have you made some life choices that you regret? Jesus can reorient our life to our true North Star, Heaven. Perhaps there are some hidden sins that are causing you shame? His mercy in Confession is enough to give us a new heart. Maybe we look at the headlines and are filled with despair – Jesus alone is the hope that God will bring good out of this messy world. Maybe we are tired and weary with all the demands put upon us at work, in our family – Jesus promises us that “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” Maybe we’re afraid of death, because we don’t know what’s on the other side – so we turn to the One Who has already conquered death by rising from the dead.

            So, we all need rescuing. We are all trapped behind enemy lines: the enemy of sin, brokenness, and the Evil One. We all need a Savior!

            You may be familiar with the Japanese art of kinsugi. If a bowl or dish breaks, instead of throwing it away, they fix it with a glue mixed with gold dust – producing a beautiful finished product that shines and shimmers. So it is with the presence of Christ in our life – He is the gold that both fixes and beautifies the brokenness of our lives and our world. He does so by entering into the brokenness, even to enduring loneliness, anguish, and death upon the Cross – defeating our ancient enemies by their own tactics. The Evil One wanted our misery and death; so Christ entered into misery and death on the Cross, transforming it into an act of love and redemption.

            Back in the early 1200s, southern Europe was a crossroads of warring civilizations: the Muslims from North Africa had invaded Spain and Portugal, and the Christians were fighting back in a series of wars and skirmishes. Tragically, over one million Christians from Europe had been captured and enslaved by these Barbary (North African) Muslims. Into this situation came a merchant from Barcelona called Peter Nolasco, who felt so moved by the plight of these Christian slaves that he founded an organization called the Mercedarians – a group of knights, noblemen, and priests who would give their lives to try to ransom these slaves. Those with money would purchase the freedom of these Christian slaves, but sometimes the price was too high. In that case, the Mercedarians would actually ask permission to switch places with the slaves, taking on their slavery and liberating the slaves. Over 70,000 slaves were freed by the Mercedarians, many of whom willingly gave their lives in exchange for others. For this, we now know the founder of the Mercedarians as St. Peter Nolasco, who inspired so many men to give their lives for their brothers.

            And is this not what Jesus did? He found us under the fear of death – so He endured death for our sake. He found us separated from God due to our sin – so Jesus, God Himself, became one of us so humanity would be reunited to God. He found us enslaved under the power of the Evil One, and so He defeated the Evil One with the greatest act of love: the Cross.

            So what now, for us? If you believe all this, then we must make Him the center of our lives. It’s fundamentally a relationship with the living God – He Who loved you into existence, Who takes your brokenness upon Himself, Who gives Himself to us as food in the Eucharist, Who burns with a desire to spend eternity with us in Heaven.

            It’s not hard to have that living relationship with Him. Daily prayer, weekly Mass, repenting and confessing our sins, beginning to conform our lives to His law. Jesus at the center of our lives is not a feeling, but it is a surrender – no more doing life “on our own”, but walking daily in trust of Him, seeking Him and loving Him.

            In a moment I will be seated, and I ask you to choose. If you’re ready, invite Christ to be the center of your life. You could pray a prayer such as, “Lord Jesus, I need You. I invite You into my heart and my life. Be my Savior, and let me experience Your love.” If you’re not ready, that’s okay too – just pray a silent prayer and be honest with God, something like, “Lord, I’m not sure about You yet. I’m not ready to make You the center. So show me who You are and give me the courage to say yes to You.”

            He took the first step, invaded behind enemy lines, to rescue you from sin and death. What will your response be?

Feast of Christ the King - Do As You Will

Homily for Christ the King

November 23, 2025

Not As I Will, But As You Will

 

            You may never have heard the name Aleister Crowley, but he is one of the more influential people in history. He was expelled from Italy, and the British press called him the “wickedest man in the world” in the 1930s. But he wasn’t a murderer or a thief, he was a philosopher – what did he do that was so bad?

            The answer: he founded a religion known as Thelema. It drew on the occult and Eastern mysticism, even bringing in some elements of Satanism. There was only one Commandment of Thelema: “Do what you will.” This was his great imparting gift to Western Civilization: do as you wish.

            One might want to consign Aleister Crowley to a dusty footnote of history, but his influence lives on. His face was featured in the famous montage of the Beatles’ “Seargent Pepper” album…Led Zeppelin wrote his famous commandment into the vinyl of their third album…David Bowie wrote a song about him, as did Ozzy Osbourne…and Timothy Leary, architect of the countercultural hippie movement in the ‘60s, called Crowley the “forerunner” of the cultural revolution that happened during that tumultuous decade.

            And the effect of this commandment, “Do what you will”, continues today. How many times have you heard: “Live your truth…you do you…be true to yourself…follow your heart”? We see this commandment of “do what you will” lived out so much in our culture – spiritual-but-not-religious people who seek God but on their own terms…transgenderism, where you can do what you will to your own body…relationships, priorities, choices about the future – most of our daily lives are lived by “doing what we will,” rather than obeying what God commands.

            “Do what you will” is not atheism. Most people believe in God, but many people want to pick and choose what to believe about God, which is called relativism – or sometimes, more bluntly, called “Cafeteria Catholicism”. Of course, we will only pick those aspects of God that already fit our lives and don’t force us to repent or sacrifice anything.

            Recently I visited a woman who was still very spry but had just been diagnosed with cancer and was very afraid. She insisted she was very devout and was a strong believer in God. So I said, “Well, to give you peace, would you like to go to Confession?” And she said, “No, I don’t believe in that.” “Well, perhaps you should at least go to Mass at your local parish.” “I think I can pray to God just as well at home.” She was wearing a Miraculous Medal, and had the sayings of Confucious on the wall above a Buddha statue. Syncretism – “do what you will” applied to religion.

            The truth is that a King demands obedience. When Pope St. Pius IX in 1925 established the Feast of Christ the King, he wrote the following words: “Jesus Christ was given to man, not only as a redeemer, but as a law-giver, to whom obedience is due.” As King, Christ has the authority to pass laws that must be obeyed. Jesus didn’t come to make us feel good about ourselves; He came with very specific laws we must obey for our own happiness, laws that demand even more than the 10 Commandments required: it’s not enough to avoid murder, now we cannot even harbor anger in our hearts. It’s not enough to avoid adultery, we cannot even look at a woman with lust. It’s not enough to avoid false oaths, we shouldn’t lie at all. And He added new laws: “Do this in remembrance of Me” – the command to worship Him weekly at Mass… “If something in your life causes you to sin, cut it off” – the command to rid our lives of anything that causes sin…and so forth.

            Yes, it is hard to obey these. But there is good news: First, we don’t have to rely on our own strength to obey Jesus Christ as King – He will give us grace to do so. So if we’re having trouble following the Lord, a good prayer might be, “Lord, help me to want to do your will, and give me the grace to carry it out.” Just be honest with Him about the difficulty – He will come to your aid, and use the aids He has already given – Confession, the Scriptures, the Rosary, daily prayer. Second, we must remember that His commands actually lead to happiness! It’s much like when we look at a sweatshirt or a suit-coat and see the tag. “Do not dry clean, wash with warm water, do not use bleach.” All of these instructions were given by the manufacturer so we know how best to care for our clothing, so it will look great for years. Likewise, our “manufacturer” (the Lord) has given us instructions so that we will flourish, both here and in eternity.

            Back in France in the early 1700s, a skilled shopkeeper named Jeanne Delanou was a Catholic – but of her own making. She kept her shop open on Sundays, in part so that she’d have an excuse to skip Mass, but partly just out of greed. She was very vain, and had many superficial friends just so she could be “popular” among the townspeople. She even had the reputation of being quite flirtatious with the young lads! She thought she was a good Catholic, a reputable woman, but in reality she just wanted to do whatever she wanted.

            One day a poor but holy beggar named Francoise stopped by the shop and asked her for shelter for the night. Ordinarily she would refuse, but something told her to offer hospitality. She allowed the holy woman into her home, and Francoise told Jeanne that she needed to consecrate her life to the service of the poor. Jeanne initially dismissed the idea – she had too many responsibilities at the shop! But long after the holy beggar left, the idea plagued her – could she actually stop making excuses and follow what God is asking? She finally asked a priest, who confirmed that this was indeed an inspiration from God – and that she had to leave behind her lukewarm, half-hearted Catholicism and actually get serious about following Him. She began to do just that – dedicate all of her free time to serve the poor and to prayer, eventually inspiring a whole movement of professional French women to do the same. She is now St. Jeanne Delanou, who had to stop “doing as she willed” in order to do as God willed.

            My friends, even many churchgoing Catholics are infected with the religion of Aleister Crowley – “do what you will.” But instead, we ought to take as our inspiration Our Blessed Mother, whose motto leads to Heaven: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

Ordinary Time 33 - Thus Passes the Glory of the World

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 33

November 23, 2025

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

 

            In 1907, a book was released that shook the literary world: the first-ever dystopian novel, entitled “Lord of the World”, written by a Catholic priest named Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson. In the story, it shows a Catholic Church that is persecuted and meets secretly, because the atheistic one-world government rules all. The government is led by a man named Felsenburgh, who is not an evil man but whose motto is “God is man” – seeking to build a post-religious culture (not unlike what we often see today). They hear a false rumor that the Catholic Church is seeking to assassinate Felsenburgh, so the government burns down Rome and seeks to destroy the Pope and remaining Cardinals, who have fled to Nazareth. The Pope, of course, has no armies and no way to defend himself, so all he can do is place the Eucharist in the monstrance and process through the town, singing hymns to the Eucharist as bombers begin to rain down their firebombs. But as their hymn singing grows louder to drown out the bombs, the book suddenly ends with the most evocative words in the history of literature: “Then this world passed away, and all the glory of it.” Christ has come, let everything opposed to Him crumble into nothingness.

            Someday, all that the world values will pass away. Where are all the tyrants who persecuted Christians? Where are all the celebrities in history who, in their ego and vanity, considered themselves above the common horde? Where are those politicians who have grappled and lied and cheated their way to power? Thus passes the glory of the world.

            In the Gospel, Jesus’ disciples were marveling at the fine art that covered the Temple. But within one generation, the Temple itself was completely destroyed by the Romans. The only part still standing is the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall because Jewish men and women travel to the site to weep over the loss of their Temple.

            So will happen to all things that glorify man but not God. In our first reading, Malachi speaks of destruction – but of whom? “All the proud and all evildoers.” God cannot allow evil to triumph over the good forever – there must be a time when all things that do not belong to God are conquered, once and for all.

            We’ve seen glimpses of that throughout history. In 1675, Pope Urban VIII, who was originally from the Barberini family, ordered that the bronze on the Pantheon be dismantled and brought to St. Peter’s Basilica, where it was made into the famous bronze baldacchino (canopy) that covers the main altar. In fact, the removal of that famous pagan temple made the Romans famously exclaim, “What the barbarians didn’t remove, the Barberinis did!” But then the Pope took that ancient temple and re-consecrated it into a Church – instead of a pantheon dedicated to all the pagan gods (pan-theon meaning “all gods”), it became a Church dedicated to Mary and all the Saints. All that does not glorify God will be transformed into something that does.

            So it is good for us to evaluate all things in light of this principle: Thus passes the glory of the world. If it is not of God, it will pass away. All those riches – what do they matter? Our good looks – how quickly they pass! The awards, the sports trophies – nothing will be remembered in a hundred years. I was speaking with a young man in high school this past week and asked what he wanted to do for a career. He told me he wanted to be an entrepreneur, so that his name would be remembered forever. But since the beginning of human history, about 117 billion people have lived on earth…how many of them are household names? A couple hundred, maybe? People who thought they were incredibly important a hundred years ago are now just names on a gravestone, quickly fading into obscurity.

            The only thing that remains is our eternal soul – which will last forever as an eternal glory or an eternal tragedy. We must keep this before our eyes always!

            In the 1400s, crowning a new Pope was quite a show. The Pope would receive a three-tiered gold crown, and sit on a chair carried by four men, to the chants and praises of the assembled throng. But starting in 1409, a new addition entered into the ceremony: a priest would stop the procession of the new Pope three times, carrying a smoldering handful of straw, and proclaim the words, Sic transit gloria mundi – thus passes the glory of the world.

            I sometimes wish we had that phrase plastered on sports stadiums, on concert venues, on the halls of Congress, on the doorway into Sephora. May it always be written on the heart of every Christian: thus passes the glory of the world – that we may live for the One Who ever endures.

November 9, 2025 - Beauty for God's Sake...and For Ours

 

Homily for Dedication of St. John Lateran

November 9, 2025

Beauty, for God’s Sake And Ours

 

            The year was 313 AD. Christianity had just become legalized through the Emperor Constantine, whose mother St. Helen was a Christian. But Constantine himself had no immediate interest in religion – he was interested in power and love. And he happened to fall in love with a noblewoman named Fausta, who lived in a palace on the south side of Rome called the Lateran Palace.

            Marrying Fausta meant that the palace became the Emperor’s, but he didn’t really need it, so he gave it to the Pope to please his saintly mother. The Pope ordered it to be turned into a church – at the time, the largest and grandest in Christianity. It was dedicated as St. John Lateran, and to this day it serves as the Pope’s official Cathedral – that is, the Church where he officially serves as Bishop of Rome and of the whole world. As the inscription above the church reads, “[This is the] Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the World” – pretty doggone important. Today is the day we celebrate its dedication, back in the 324.

            But it begs the question – if God is everywhere, why do we need church buildings? A traveler to the Vatican might be scandalized by the opulence of the churches there – grandiose Baroque buildings filled with gold and silver and precious stones – wasn’t Jesus a poor carpenter from Nazareth? Do such churches disrespect His memory and prevent the Church from its mission to be close to the poor?

            Not at all – we build beautiful churches, to the best of our ability, for two main reasons: one about us, and one about God.

            First, we build it for us. A beautiful Church shows us that we have an immortal soul – we are not just merely bodies taking up space. Have you ever seen Communist architecture? It is very functional, but completely devoid of beauty – their apartment buildings are just square blocks, their statues are often brutal abstract concrete shapes without any meaning. Communist philosophy was ultimately materialistic – believing that human beings had no soul, but were just cogs in an economic machine. But because we have souls, we express ourselves in beauty – and the most spiritual things, such as prayer and worship, deserve the highest beauty.

            But we also build beautiful churches because they visually demonstrate the truths of our Catholic Faith. Gaze upon this Church and see the life of Christ in the stained-glass windows…see the crucifix to viscerally behold God’s love for you…observe how the gold tabernacle reflects our belief that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. In 988, King Vladimir of Russia needed to unite his vast empire which stretched from Ukraine all the way to China, and he knew that having one religion for the whole country would be a powerfully unifying factor. So he sent emissaries to the three surrounding religions: to an Islamic mosque, to a Jewish synagogue, and to Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, which was the largest Christian Church in the world. When the emissaries returned, they said that when they were at the Divine Liturgy in Hagia Sophia, “they didn’t know whether they were in Heaven or on earth.” So the Czar converted to Christianity, and the whole Russian country followed suit – converted because of the beauty of the Faith.

            Which brings us to another reason: beauty in churches makes us long for the infinitely greater beauty of Heaven. One time a priest was assigned to an inner-city church – one of those old-fashioned Gothic marvels with exquisite stained glass and a marble altar and old chalices made of gold. But the city had gone to seed, and the neighborhood was filled with poverty, homeless people, drug dealers. So the priest decided that to win over the hearts of his poor congregation, he would sell the beautiful artwork and chalices in the church and give the money to the poor. So he began to sell off the vestments, the gold and silver, the beautiful paintings on the wall. But to his surprise, instead of making the people grateful, they began to stop coming to church one by one, until there were only a handful of old-timers left. Finally the priest asked one elderly man, “Why didn’t the people appreciate what I did for them? I sold everything in the church so they could have food! Why is no one coming to church?” The old man replied, “Well, father, coming to church was the only time they got to enjoy something beautiful in their poor and miserable lives. You’ve taken that away from them, so they see no reason to go.” Indeed, to step into a beautiful Catholic Church is to step into a foretaste of Heaven, which gives us hope amidst an often-difficult life. Beauty should make us desire God, the All-Beautiful One!

            But we build beautiful churches for God, too. It can be such an act of heartfelt love to give our best to God. St. John Vianney, for example, possessed only two sets of clothes and his shoes would often have holes in them, because whenever someone gave him a little income, he would use it to buy flowers for his church or purchase a new statue of a saint. Or, for example, it took 120 years to build St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which means that most of its craftsmen and artists never even got to see it finished – they did it solely for the glory of God! This building isn’t beautiful just for us, it’s beautiful because we honor God when we give Him our best.

            But it also recognizes Who is here. Unlike Protestant churches, which are really just meeting halls for prayer, a Catholic Church contains God Himself in the Holy Eucharist. In 2004, my home parish church in Maryland burned to the ground in a tragic accident. But as the church was aflame, my pastor ran into the burning building to rescue the Eucharist. He didn’t take out the priceless art or the valuable vessels – no, the only thing worth risking his life for was Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Thankfully, he and the Lord both got out alive. But it was an important lesson to me that the Eucharist is not a sign or symbol but Someone who is worth giving our lives for – and worth any expense to build a beautiful church to house Him.

            My friends, there should be no distinction between building beautiful churches and serving the poor. Both honor the Body of Christ – His Body in the Eucharist, and His Body in the distressing disguise of the poor. St. John Chrysostom gave a famous sermon on this when he said:

            Of what use is it to weigh down Christ’s altar with golden cups, when he himself is dying of hunger? First, fill him when he is hungry; then use the means you have left to adorn his altar. Will you have a golden cup made but not give a cup of water? What is the use of providing the altar with cloths woven of gold thread, and not providing Christ himself with the clothes he needs? Once again, I am not forbidding you to supply these adornments; I am urging you to provide these other things first. No one has ever been accused for not [decorating a church], but for those who neglect their neighbor a hell awaits with an inextinguishable fire and torment in the company of the demons. Do not, therefore, adorn the church and ignore your afflicted brother, for he is the most precious temple of all.

            So, it is a both-and – we honor the Lord when we serve Him in the needy, and we honor the Lord when we build beautiful churches for His glory. Let us not neglect either one.

November 2, 2025 - Purgatory

 

Homily for November 2, 2025

All Souls Day

On Purgatory

 

            One day, St. Padre Pio was passing a quiet snowy evening by the fireplace, when a poor man came in and sat beside him. He was startled, as he thought all the doors were locked. “Who are you, and what do you need?” the saint asked.

            The man responded, “My name is Pietro DiMauro, and I died in this place fifteen years ago. Before it was a monastery, it was a poorhouse, and I fell asleep with a cigar in my mouth and I died in the fire. I am in Purgatory and have come to ask for help.”

            If you know anything about Padre Pio, the mystical was always a part of his life, so he was unfazed at seeing this soul from Purgatory. The saint replied, “I will offer Mass for you tomorrow.” At this, Padre Pio showed the man to the door – the saint noticed that he had to unlock the door, since it was locked. The man stepped out into the snow, and vanished – no footprints, nothing.

            Padre Pio, though, wondered if this was all a dream, so he and one of his fellow Franciscans went to the Town Hall a few days later, and looked at the vital statistics. Lo and behold, a man named Pietro DiMauro really did die from a fire in that exact location! It was no dream – it was a true visitation from Purgatory!

            This Feast of All Souls is a good time to reflect upon Purgatory. It is really a very consoling teaching of our Catholic Faith, one with roots in Scripture and has been taught since the very beginnings of the Church.

            God gives us Purgatory out of His great love for us. If you were to walk outside on a day where fresh snow is on the ground and the sun is shining, you are completely blinded – not because there is no light, but because there’s too much light and your eyes haven’t adjusted. Likewise, if we were to enter into the presence of Almighty God but our spiritual eyes have not yet adjusted to seeing His holiness, we would be struck blind. So Purgatory allows our eyes to adjust to seeing the brightness of God. Or, another example – imagine that you’ve been mowing the lawn with a push-mower – getting sweaty, dirty, smelling like grass and grease. And someone comes up and tells you that the Pope wants to have lunch with you in an hour. Surely we would be embarrassed to show up in our ripped tee-shirt and sweat stains! We would want to take a shower, put on good clothes. Likewise, we would be humiliated to be in the presence of the all-holy God if we had the stains of lust, greed, pride, unforgiveness on our soul. So He allows us a place of cleansing before we enter His presence.

            And that is precisely what Purgatory is: cleansing. Purgatory isn’t a state in-between Heaven and Hell; rather, it’s part of the journey to Heaven. You can’t fail Purgatory – if you’re there, you’re saved! But most of us go there, because if we haven’t achieved perfect union with God here, then we will have to be trained in that union with God in the afterlife.

            But does the Bible teach about Purgatory? Yes! In 2 Maccabees, in the Old Testament. The Jews were battling the Greeks to take back the Holy Land, and they win a major battle, leading to a cleansing of the Temple (which is the root of the holiday of Hannukah). But a few Jewish men died in the battle. So as they were preparing the bodies of the dead to bury them, they found that all the men who had died were wearing, under their cloaks, a magic good-luck charm dedicated to a pagan idol. But rather than despair, the leader of the Jews took up a collection to purchase animals to sacrifice to God as a way of atoning for their sin. In fact, it says in 2 Maccabees, “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead.” Well, the souls in Heaven don’t need prayers, and the souls in Hell can’t use them…voilà, Purgatory. It’s true that the word Purgatory isn’t in the Bible, but the concept is – you can also find it in 1 Corinthians.

            So what happens in Purgatory? It is suffering, but with hope. There are two kinds of suffering: first, when all of us die, we will see Jesus face-to-face, and we will realize that He is the object of all our desire, our greatest happiness. And then, for those destined for Purgatory, He will be taken away – so that they may desire Him more intensely! So the first suffering is not having Jesus, whom you know is your own happiness. Secondly, there is the re-fashioning of Christ in us. Imagine for a moment that your soul has a bronze statue of Jesus in it, shining and brilliant. But over the years, the statue gets dinged, dented, loses its shine, becomes moldy. It’s still the image of Jesus, but it’s obscured. So what would we have to do to make it new again? We have to scrub it, buff it, hammer it out, maybe heat it up and re-cast it. That’s painful work – but necessary work. Purgatory refashions that image of Christ in us by hammering out, scrubbing out those dings and bumps and scratches that obscure Him in us.

            Some of the saints and mystics talk about different levels of Purgatory. One good explanation, from a nun who had visions of the souls in Purgatory in the late 1800s, mentions four levels. The lowest level of Purgatory is for those souls who had mortal sin on their soul, but were saved at the last minute through the prayers of a relative or through an act of repentance right before they die. This requires a great deal of suffering, so much so that souls have said it is almost like the suffering of Hell, but with one key difference – they have hope, so they praise God despite their suffering. One level higher is for those souls who have been lukewarm in their Faith. Maybe they didn’t commit huge sins, but certainly didn’t care about holiness and neglected to develop even a basic prayer life. Higher than this is those souls who did love God and seek Him, but ignored His inspirations for greater holiness. The mystic writing this said that many, many priests and nuns are at this level, as they received great graces from God but ignored some of those graces. Finally, the highest level of Purgatory is for those who love God, avoided sin, and made some progress in the spiritual life, but still loved creatures more than the Creator and were not yet saints.

            Can we help the souls in Purgatory? Absolutely! Pray and have Masses offered for them – you may hear at every Mass, “This Mass is offered for so-and-so” – that is a beautiful and effective way to help your loved ones! There was in Germany in the 1300s two priests who were close friends, one of whom was Bl. Henry Suso. Henry and his friend had made a promise that whoever died first, the other one would offer Mass twice per week for the friend’s soul in Purgatory. Many years passed, and Fr. Henry’s friend died, but Henry had forgotten his promise. He prayed for his friend, but didn’t offer any Masses. One day in prayer, his friend appeared to him and reminded him of his promise – but Fr. Henry objected, saying, “I prayed for you, and even offered sacrifices for you, wasn’t that enough?” The soul of his friend replied, “I need the Blood of Jesus to release me from Purgatory, nothing else is strong enough.” So Fr. Henry began to pray the Mass for his friend’s soul, and in a short while he saw him again, this time radiant and joyful, having been admitted to the company of the saints in Heaven.

            But what about us? Is there anything we can do to avoid Purgatory? Yes – three things. First, pursue holiness. Not mediocrity, not being lukewarm, not making a thousand excuses about how busy we are. No – develop a real prayer life, come to the Sacraments regularly, examine yourself and try to overcome your faults and grow in virtue. Second, respond to all the graces and inspirations God is giving you. How often do we think, “Oh, I should pray…oh, I should do this act of charity for someone else…” but we put it off, we make excuses, we find the NFL and Instagram far more interesting. But these inspirations, these “thoughts from Heaven”, are God’s way of showing us where He is and where we will find Him…don’t miss them! Finally, suffer well. I have a student at Cardinal Kung who loves to pray the Rosary but hates to go to math class. Every time I see him in the hallway before math class, he moans as if he was going to be tortured – “Oh, I can’t stand my teacher! This is dreadful! I hate this class!” Finally one day I said to him, “Offering this class up to God as a sacrifice, joyfully, will make you holier than a thousand Rosaries.” It didn’t stop him from complaining! But it’s true – offering those aches and pains, daily inconveniences, and especially the huge crosses to God, joyfully and without complaint, “make up for” Purgatory time while here on earth.

            My friends, on this All Souls Day, it’s always a fruitful endeavor to reflect upon this often-neglected teaching of the Church – that of Purgatory. Perhaps in a special way we can pray at this Mass for all of our relatives and friends who have died, and ask that God hasten them through any cleansing they may be enduring, that they may go to join the saints in Heaven!

Ordinary Time 29 - Christian Friendship

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 29

October 19, 2025

Christian Friendship

 

            A young college student named Francis ended up being assigned an interesting roommate: an older man, an ex-soldier, named Ignatius, who had just gone through a major conversion to Christ. Francis was a party animal who wanted nothing of Ignatius’ religiosity, but despite their differences, the two became close friends and ended up rooming together for three years. They got along well except for one annoying habit: every single day, Ignatius would say to his friend, “Francis, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?”

            Day after day, Ignatius would say this, and Francis grew rather annoyed. He told him to mind his own business, that he wasn’t all that religious and that this question was really bothersome: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” But Ignatius never stopped – year after year.

            It began to wear down his younger friend. Finally, in the third year of college, Francis broke down and realized that Ignatius was right – it was meaningless to pursue all the parties, the girls, the success without even a thought to his own soul. He finally said, “Ignatius, you’re right. I’ve been wasting my life without Christ. What must I do?” Ignatius told him about a new group he was founding, called the Company of Jesus, and Francis agreed to join. We now know them as St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier, two of the first six Jesuits. It was friendship that led Francis to become a saint!

            All of us need friends – and our readings are all about that. In the first reading, Moses is given a task by God to help Israel win the battle, by raising his hands aloft. But he couldn’t do that without Aaron and Hur to help him when he grew tired. In the second reading, Paul is writing to his friend and protégé Timothy, who is a close collaborator in Paul’s work. Neither Paul nor Moses were a “lone ranger” – they knew that they needed others to accomplish God’s tasks.

            We too need Christian friends, but we are sometimes afraid to admit it. A 2020 study found that 28% of young men say they have zero close friends. So many are turning to technology – a Pew Research Study from 2024 revealed that 67% of young adults have interacted with an AI “companion” (a website where you can have a “conversation” with a computer that responds like a real person) and 23% prefer digital relationships to human relationships. But our hearts yearn for real, authentic, healthy friendships – all of us!

            But what makes a Christian friendship unique? Aristotle identifies three levels of friendship. First is friendship of utility – I’m friends with this person because they can do something for me. Maybe they can help my career, or they’re one of the “cool kids,” or they just take away my loneliness. But fundamentally this is based on using another person, not love. A second type of friendship is friendship of pleasure – I’m friends with this person because we like to do fun stuff together. This would be our fishing buddies, sports teammates, coworkers with whom we like to share a drink. Nothing wrong with these friendships, but they’re pretty shallow and they don’t require a whole lot of commitment. But Aristotle mentions a third, deeper kind of friendship – what he calls friendship of virtue, where we have a common goal of becoming a virtuous, holy person and pursuing Christ together. This is a deep, lasting friendship based on the only enduring bond: the love of Jesus Christ.

            So how do we find those kinds of friendships? A wise priest once gave some profound dating advice that we can apply to friendships: “Start running after Jesus, and once you’ve been running after Him for a while, look around and see who’s running with you. That’s who you should date.” That’s also who you should become friends with – people who are pursuing Christ, who make you a better person. One day I opened a Dove chocolate to find the inside message to be quite profound: “Your vibe attracts your tribe.” If you pursue Christ, you will find Christ-centered friendships.

            But then, of course, we have to actually go out and seek friendships, instead of waiting for them to come to us. My mom had a great saying: “The phone works both ways” – in other words, instead of waiting for someone else to take the initiative in a friendship, maybe I need to go out and get to know fellow Christians – through Walking With Purpose, our men’s groups, Youth Encounters, etc. I know everyone thinks they’re an introvert, but really we’re just all stuck in our middle-school mindset where we’re afraid of rejection. And that’s where Christ can help us – if we realize that we are profoundly, passionately loved by Him, then we can take risks in relationships because we are grounded in our identity in Christ. No matter whether I fit into this group or develop this friendship, my deeper friendship with Christ is unshakeable.

            But there’s the key – our deepest friendship must be with Christ. But let me ask – do you have only a friendship of utility with Him? I often bring food to Cardinal Kung because you win the hearts of teenagers through their stomachs. So I had a plate of cookies one day and this sixth-grader named Kenny asked if he could have one. I gave him one and he replied, “Gee, Fr. Joseph, you’re very easy to manipulate!” Kids say the darndest things…but don’t we often treat God like that, just a Divine Vending Machine? “What do I want today – healing, a job, help on a test…” and we put in our three Hail Mary’s and think that we will get what we want. But apart from asking God from stuff, we don’t ever spend time with Him.

            This is a friendship of utility, and it is not the point of the Gospel! Jesus talks about how God wants to give us good things if we persevere in prayer, but then He says these words which have always haunted me: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” In other words, are we merely using God to get what we want, or will we have a living faith that seeks Him for His sake, loves Him, and trusts that He gives us what we truly need?

            We develop that kind of friendship with Christ in a similar manner as our other friends. We spend time with Him – prayer, the Sacraments. We listen to Him – He speaks through His Word in the Bible. We begin to adopt His values. We try to please Him in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

            So, pursue Christian friendships – we deeply desire them, and they will make us happier and holier. And most fundamentally, pursue a friendship with Christ. Then our faith becomes less about a set of doctrines and rules, and more about a love affair with a God Who calls us “friends”.

Ordinary Time 28 - The Cure Of A Soul

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 28

October 12, 2025

The Cure of the Soul

 

            One of the great conversion stories in Christianity is the conversion of St. Francis of Assisi. He started out his life as a playboy, a party animal, and one who wanted fame and fortune as a knight. But his knightly career came to a halt when he was captured in battle and imprisoned for a year. This got him thinking – what is the purpose of my life? Am I truly happy pursuing the things of this world? What if, instead, I lived for God?

            When he was finally released, he began to pray, make sacrifices, and live in poverty so as to depend on God alone. But there was still one thing he hadn’t given to God – he was repulsed and disgusted at the sight of leprosy, which is a disfiguring disease of the skin where the sufferer begins to look so completely deformed that they look monstrous. Francis would be literally nauseated if he had to pass by one of those poor sufferers – but he knew that these poor souls were Jesus in disguise – and he would not be able to be a saint unless he was able to love Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor.

            So one day on his journeys, Francis came across a beggar who was particularly hideously disfigured from this disease. He knew it was now-or-never – he had to be “all-in” for Christ. So he dismounted his horse, came up to the man who was begging, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Instantly, the man was cured of his disease – but more importantly, St. Francis was cured of his repulsion to the sick. Francis’ first biographer, St. Bonaventure (who knew the saint personally), later wrote of this incident: “I don’t know what I should admire: such a cure, or such a kiss.” A man cured of leprosy, and a saint cured of selfishness – both acts of God!

            Naaman experienced both in the first reading. Naaman was a military general from Syria, which meant he was a pagan – he worshipped the Syrian gods. He had come to the Jewish prophet Elisha because he had heard rumors of his miracles – he came and was healed of his disease. But more importantly, he was healed of his idolatry. Greater than the physical miracle was the spiritual conversion, when he could declare, “Now I know there is no God except the God of Israel!”

            This same conversion happens to the Samaritan in the Gospel. Samaritans were dirty half-breeds, which is why the Jews hated them – they were half-Jewish, half-Babylonians, who didn’t worship God in the Temple in Jerusalem but instead worshipped God on a mountain called Mount Gerazim. They denied most of the Old Testament and only accepted the first five books, called the Torah. Basically, they had a corrupted relationship with God.

            So when the Samaritan receives his physical healing, he was also instantly converted to a right relationship with God when he comes back to worship Jesus Christ. Yes, he has gratitude, but more importantly, he has faith – and that is a more important miracle than a physical healing.

            Consider all the good things He has given us – He gave us life, family and friends, health, gifts and talents, this beautiful natural world. When we had turned our back on him through sin, He so desperately wanted to be with us that He took the punishment for all our sins and died in our stead. And now He passionately wants a personal relationship with us that lasts into eternity. How good is our God!

            And yet all these good things are meant for one thing only: for our holiness, that we may live in union with God. These blessings from God are not ends in themselves, but means to the end of loving God more perfectly. God desires primarily the spiritual health of the soul!

            This is important to remember when we are faced with suffering, too. Let’s be honest – how many of us turn to God more when we’re suffering than when we’re happy? And this is why God often does not answer our prayers for healing, or financial help, or fixing broken relationships – because perhaps those things we want would cause us to forget about God, or we wanted them just for our own ego or comfort. Consider – what would we do with that good health if God gave it to us? Would we use our strength to serve Him and do good to others, or do we want it just so we can be comfortable and resume our usual hobbies? What would we do with that financial success that we so desperately want – would we use it for generosity to others, or for self-indulgent purchases? Would our health or financial security make us think that we were in charge of our destiny, and we’d lose our desperate dependence upon God? God desires our souls to be cured of the disease of selfishness, sin, egoism, addictions…and suffering is often His bitter, but effective, medicine.

            But why? Because we live in a broken world – due to Original Sin, that brokenness that has been passed down from generation to generation. We intuit that there is something wrong with the universe and that we were made for more than this! But despite this mess, God is bringing something beautiful out of it: to make us like Christ. When we endure suffering with patience and joy, we are made more like Christ. When we feed the hungry and shelter the homeless, we are made more like Christ. When we struggle against our own sinful temptations, we are made more like Christ. When we trust God despite our struggles at work, we are made more like Christ. When we are lonely but use that as an opportunity to develop a friendship with God, we are made more like Christ. Every brokenness, illness, loneliness, fear, setback, disappointment, insult, or death can be an opportunity to become more like Christ – even if our problems don’t go away, our souls are made holy through grace.

            A perfect example of this is St. Dymphna, the patron saint of those with mental illness. Dymphna was the daughter of King Damon of Ireland in the 7^th Century. Damon was a loving Christian man, but when his wife died, he began to be so overwhelmed with grief that he started to lose his mind. In his insane grief, he decided to kill his daughter because she reminded him so much of his lost wife. Dymphna, hearing of this, decided to flee the country, so she sailed to Belgium where she settled in a small town called Geel (no relation to me!). Being a princess, she was fabulously wealthy, so once in her new country she founded the first-ever hospital for those with mental illness, in honor of her beloved father who struggled with it. So many people flocked to this hospital that even the townspeople had to welcome patients into their homes – which became a tradition even to this day! Even now, hundreds upon hundreds of people with severe mental illness live with families in the Belgian town of Geel, where they are treated with charity and respect as one of the family, and given the opportunity to live normal and healthy lives. From Dymphna’s mother’s tragic death and her father’s mental illness and her own exile to a new land, God has brought great good to the world…and made her a saint!

            Our readings today feature two great miracles – a physical healing, but more than that, the cure of a soul. When we experience the blessings of this world, they are meant to lead to our holiness as we experience the goodness of God and a foretaste of Heaven. But when we instead encounter suffering, this too is a blessing from God, for it helps us become like Christ and reminds us that we were made for a better world: Heaven!