Saturday, November 26, 2016

First Sunday of Advent - Nov. 27, 2016


Homily for Advent 1

November 27, 2016

About Time

 

            Recently I’ve been reading a great spiritual classic by St. Alphonsus Liguori called, “Preparation For Death”. Not exactly light reading, one might say! But a sobering thought and reminder for all of us.

            One point that he draws out quite a bit is that at the end of our lives, if we have lived life poorly, we will be begging for more time. If the point of this life is to become transformed into Christ through faith and grace, and we have yet to learn to love like Him, then we will be begging God for more time! Our greatest regret at the end of our life will be all the time we have wasted on unimportant things, while we should have been seeking Him instead.

            Our Scriptures are filled with urgency today. “Now is the time! Our salvation is close at hand!” Compared with eternity, our lives are so short, just like a blip on a radar screen…so we must use our lives well to prepare for eternity.

            And yet we waste so much time! Consider the amount of time we spend surfing the internet or watching TV compared to the amount of time we spend praying or reading Scripture. Instead of spending time talking to members of our own families, we waste it playing games on our iPhones. I ask teens in the high school if they pray, and they tell me they say an Our Father and a Hail Mary before they go to bed. That takes all of 20 seconds – yet they think nothing of spending 2 hours playing Call of Duty!

            Time is the one gift of God that He has given to all equally. All men may have different talents and abilities, different bank accounts and jobs – but everyone has 24 hours in the day, and it is up to decide how we wish to fill those hours. Every day is a blank slate – will we use this day to become more like Christ, or will we waste it away on frivolous things?

            Back in 1985, Neil Postman wrote a famous book called “Amusing Ourselves to Death” – making the case that our world had become so obsessed with entertainment that we lost the ability to have rational discourse. I can only imagine what he would say if he wrote it in 2016! We might want to rename the book, “Amusing Ourselves to Spiritual Death” because wasting time on frivolous amusements prevents us from spiritual growth. One might even say that wasting time is sinful, since it is a waste of one of God’s most precious gifts, a gift given to us so that we can become holy.

            Of course, we are allowed to enjoy recreation and down-time – not every waking moment needs to be filled with work. But recreation is precisely that: re-creation, becoming refreshed so that we can grow even deeper in our faith and in our love for our neighbor. That is a far cry from the vast amounts of time-wasting activities we engage in, such as overconsumption of TV or internet.

            The fact is, we will have to give an account to the Lord of how we have used our time. Perhaps He wanted to make us a saint, but we frittered our lives away with “The Walking Dead”. Perhaps He wanted to do great works through us, but we were too busy on Facebook.

            Already when I look back at my life, my greatest grief is all of the time I wasted while I could have been loving God and my neighbor, being a friend and a good son and brother, finding ways to bless and serve others. I pray that I may make better use of my time, because there is an urgency to our life – TODAY is the day to start seeking the Lord! NOW is the time to turn our lives over to Him! Do not procrastinate or waste time, for the days we waste, we will never get back. “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed – the night is far gone, the day draw nears!” as St. Paul reminds us.

            We only have today – let us begin.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - November 13, 2016


Ordinary Time 33

November 13, 2016

Fear of the Lord

 

            My first year here at St. Mary’s/St. Benedict’s we ran a Vacation Bible Camp for over 60 kids. I was helping with music, which was fun but by Thursday I had run out of ideas of how to keep them interested. So, I decided to do an in-depth church tour where we got to see the sacristy where the priest gets ready, and to see up-close the vessels we use for Mass, and to explore the sanctuary. The climax of the tour was when I opened the tabernacle for the kids to see inside. There was utter silence when we opened the tabernacle, and after a moment, one of the older boys whispered, “This is the first time I’ve been in awe!”

            He was experiencing what is known as fear of the Lord – being in awe in the presence of God, filled with wonder, trembling at the presence of the Almighty. This is a good virtue to cultivate frequently.

            Fear of the Lord requires us to recognize that God is God and we are not God. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-just…and we are weak, frail, ignorant of so much. God created the world with only a word…and we cannot even guarantee that we will take another breath. Fear of the Lord is closely related to humility – we recognize how great God is, and how small we are.

            The first reading makes it clear that only those who have fear of the Lord will be saved. Not the arrogant, not those who think they can “do life” without God, not the prideful or boastful or those who think they’re “all that” because of their bank accounts or their good looks or their PhDs or their talents.

            Scripture says that “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” since humility and fear of the Lord is nothing more than recognizing the truth about who we are in the sight of God. We gain wisdom when we live according to the truth!

            Now, some may say, “Why should we fear God? I thought we were supposed to love Him!” Of course we are, and St. John says that “perfect love casts out fear”, so in Heaven we will not need Fear of the Lord – just like in Heaven we won’t need courage, since there will be no obstacles to overcome, and we won’t need patience, since there won’t be anything to annoy us…all virtues, except for love, are solely for this-world alone. But none of us here have perfect love – thus, we need Fear of the Lord.

            When my dad went away on a business trip, we kids at home used to take advantage of mom so much! We knew that mom wouldn’t punish us as much as dad, so we pushed the limits, we misbehaved, we acted up. Of course we loved our mom – but we didn’t love her perfectly! Our love was mixed with childish mischief – and so we needed “Fear of Dad” to keep us in line! I knew – and still know – that my dad loved me very much, but I needed to respect his power and authority…otherwise, I’d be tempted to abuse that love!

            In the same way, because we do not love God perfectly, we do still need to grow in the virtue of fear of the Lord. We trust that He loves us very much…and because He is the King of the Universe, we must obey Him. We want to get to the point where we love Him so much that we would never want to offend Him…but until that happens, we should obey Him out of awe and wonder at His power and justice.

            How do we grow in this virtue? Honestly, for me, I experience awe at God’s majesty mostly through nature. This past summer our youth group was having one of our Tuesday night bible studies, and right after the bible study ended, we went outside in time to see one of the most magnificent lightning storms I had ever seen. There was no rain, and the clouds were far away, but we could see these incredible bolts of lightning dancing around in the clouds, sometimes stretching down to the ground, and illuminating the dark evening sky. All of us were amazing! It was breathtaking, it was magnificent…and it made all of us recognize the power of God. We were in awe!

            In the Gospel, Jesus describes some natural phenomena that will accompany the end times: earthquakes, famines, plagues, signs in the sky. All of this is God’s way of showing us our place in the cosmos – we are profoundly loved by Him, but we are also not God. Our response to this ought to be wonder, awe, and fear of the Lord!

            In addition to nature, we can grow in this virtue through beautiful liturgy. I remember a powerful moment in my own life was when I was a high school teen and went on a weekend retreat with thousands of other teens in Steubenville, Ohio. The Mass had reached the point of the distribution of Communion, and there were about twenty-five priests on the altar preparing to distribute the Lord to the huge congregation. As they began to march off the altar in pairs, holding Jesus in their hands, the music swelled, and all of a sudden I was struck with awe at the priesthood – here were these 25 soldiers for Christ, men who have laid down their lives for Jesus, bringing Jesus to a broken world through the Eucharist. The whole dignity and beauty of it all moved me to tears.

            Ultimately, fear of the Lord should lead us to love of the Lord, because the Lord’s power is always used for our benefit. We marvel at His power – the power that is used to redeem us. If God is so powerful as to be able to destroy the world, then His power can also destroy my sin. If God can create the world with a word, then He can create a new heart in me. If He is so powerful that He can break open the tomb and rise again on the third day, then He can break open Heaven’s gates to let me in. It’s good to be the beloved son of a mighty Lord! Because He is so powerful and loving, I can trust myself to Him completely. As our first reading says, “For those who fear the Lord, the son of justice will arise with its healing rays.”

Thursday, November 3, 2016

November 6, 2016 - Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily for November 6, 2016
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Choose Our King Carefully

            Today’s first reading picks up in the middle of a much larger story, one that sheds a great deal of light on our own situation as a nation. The book of Maccabees tells the story of what happened in the Holy Land around the year 160BC. The Jewish people had been living in their own land for four centuries, but always under some other nation’s rule. First it was the Persians, who were pretty tolerant of the Jewish customs and way of life. But the Persians were soon conquered by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. When Alexander died, his empire was divided up, and the area of the Holy Land fell under the wicked ruler King Antiochus Epiphanes.
            Antiochus had the goal of Hellenizing the entire world (in other words, make it all Greek). He wanted to unite the known world under one language, with one religion, one set of customs. While this was a good ideal, he enforced this unity through bloodshed and oppression. When he came to the Jewish people, he forced them to sacrifice to pagan gods, he demolished the Temple and set up a false idol in its place, and he put to death anyone who observed the ancient Jewish traditions.
            Today’s first reading details the deaths of seven brothers, all of whom were killed because of their faithfulness to God’s law. They kept their faith despite political and social pressure to cave in, and paid for it with their lives. In the end, there was a major Jewish revolt which eventually overthrew the power of Antiochus Epiphanes, cleansed the Temple, and restored freedom of worship – but not before many, many Jews died as religious martyrs.
            Our first reading demonstrates some of the painful consequences of living under an evil ruler. We are blessed, in America, that we have the duty to elect our rulers – but that also lays a heavy burden and challenge upon us.
            We stand, as a nation, at a crossroads. In two short days, we will have the duty to choose our next President. But this election is about more than just two people. In a sense, it’s about the soul of a nation – who are we, and who do we choose to become?
            I’ve seen a lot of debate over the past few months about whether or not America is a Christian nation. Interestingly enough, the Supreme Court already solved that question – in 1892, in the court case Church of the Holy Trinity vs. US, the Supreme Court unanimously declared, “this is a Christian nation.” In an earlier 1844 Supreme Court ruling in the Vidal vs. Gerard’s Executors case, the Supreme Court unanimously declared that it is beneficial for the public schools to “both read and be taught as divine revelation” the Bible. Moving to Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee report in 1853 declared, “We are a Christian people…not because the law demands it, not to gain exclusive benefits, but from choice and education. And in a land thus universally Christian, what is to be expected, what desired, but that we pay due regard to Christianity?” Even our Founding Fathers agreed – Washington once said, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
            One might argue, then, that times have changed. Perhaps they have – we are far more pluralistic of a society now than before. But have they changed for the better? As we have lost our Christianity, have we as a society and a nation become more just, more kind, more loving, more upright, more hard-working? I would hazard that we have lost much of our virtue that made us great. America is only the best nation on earth if its citizens are virtuous – without virtue, there is no greatness. And it is very difficult to be truly virtuous apart from Christ.
            And thus we come to the crisis that is this upcoming election. I don’t think we’ve ever had a perfect candidate, but this election proves to be a difficult choice because both candidates are profoundly flawed individuals.
            Yet some flaws are more grievous than others. There are certain non-negotiable issues that we, as believers in God, must agree with. Some things are grave moral evils that cannot be tolerated or advocated for. Prime among these are abortion, the redefinition of marriage, and the erosion of religious freedom.
            This is not to say that the other issues are unimportant. They certainly are – but people of good will may have different ways of tackling the issues. For example, all candidates want to eliminate poverty – no one in their right mind would advocate for increasing poverty! But we can disagree about how to do that – do we increase welfare? Provide better jobs? Encourage small businesses through tax breaks? Increase tax breaks for families that stay together? We are allowed to disagree about how to fix these problems in society. Or, for another example, there is an issue with the need to balance immigration with national security – here, too, we can disagree on how best to welcome newcomers while still enforcing the laws of our nation. Both must be held in balance, but there can be different plans on how to do that.
            With the grave moral evils, however, there cannot be any compromise. People of good will cannot be in favor of abortion – it is an “intrinsic evil,” which means that there is no possible reason why that could be a good thing, no matter what positive consequences might result, because it is a taking of a human life.
Please don’t misunderstand me – God is immensely merciful, and if there is any woman here who has suffered the trauma of abortion, the Lord is always ready and willing to forgive. There are many reasons why women go through with an abortion – fear, pressure, lack of knowledge – and the Lord knows your regret, and comes to heal you. But abortion itself is something that a society ought never to allow.
Unfortunately, we have many candidates for public office who support such intrinsic evils like abortion – and when a candidate supports the right to murder an unborn child for all nine months of pregnancy, can they be trusted with our nation? If a candidate had come out in support of the Holocaust, we would have dismissed them immediately as unfit for office. But many candidates support an even greater holocaust – the holocaust of abortion, which has claimed the lives of over fifty million children – five times more than the Nazi Holocaust!
            We might say, “well yes, but they have other good qualities.” Can any amount of good qualities wash blood off the hands of those who support such a barbaric practice? What good qualities can there be that can answer for the death of the innocent?
            In moral theology, we make a distinction between material and formal cooperation in evil. Material cooperation in evil means that we do not intend the evil that is committed – for example, a kitchenware salesman may sell someone a knife, and that person may end up committing murder with it. But the kitchen salesman is not guilty for participating in the crime – he is only “materially cooperating” with evil. On the other side we have formal cooperation, which means that we intend the evil action as well – like the person who drives the getaway car in a bank robbery is still guilty of participating in the crime. In the middle, however, we have proximate material cooperation – that is, we cooperate with evil by assisting it, even if we don’t intend it. For example, if the kitchenware salesman knew with certainty that the man buying the knife was planning to murder someone, then he has the moral obligation not to sell the man the knife.
            I apologize if that distinction is confusing, but it is critically important. We are faced with the choice of voting for a candidate who supports intrinsic moral evils such as abortion and the redefinition of marriage. To vote for them would be considered proximate material cooperation – in other words, even if we ourselves are pro-life, to vote for a certain pro-choice candidate would be cooperating in their evil – it would be enabling someone who has already publicly and consistently proclaimed that they would do everything in their power to allow the merciless destruction of human life. In such a case, we ourselves would be morally guilty for participating in their deaths. To put it far more bluntly – if a person thinks they have a good reason for voting for a pro-choice candidate, I hope they are able to explain that reason to all of the babies who will suffer because of our choice!

            This has been a particularly contentious election – and it is necessary to choose our leaders carefully. Those candidates who do not respect the dignity of human life, who try to eliminate religious freedom, and who support intrinsic moral evils cannot be voted for. This election is about the soul of our nation – we must pray and fast, that we may be under good leaders, leaders who have the heart of God. Let us return to our Christian roots – let us develop virtue once again as a nation – let us raise up good and holy leaders to lead us in the path of peace.