A Sheep In American Clothing

Bulletin Column for May 3, 2020

            Today is often called “Good Shepherd Sunday”, for the Gospel reflects Jesus’ pastoral title of Good Shepherd. But if Jesus is the Shepherd, that means we are the sheep…and what exactly does that entail?

            Generally, calling people “sheep” is not a compliment. Such a moniker implies that a person or group is unable to fend for themselves, easily persuaded, or unthinking in slavish obedience. As Americans we prize independence – how can we be thought of as sheep? I want to look at it in two ways.

            First, regarding our Catholic Faith. Our faith is not a blind faith – the Scholastics (saints and scholars from medieval Christian universities) had a wonderful saying: Fides quaerens intellectum – “faith seeking understanding”. We believe the Faith, so that we might understand the Faith. We are not told to believe blindly, but in our believing, we are encouraged to seek out the solid, logical reasons for the Truth. So although we are sheep, we are not dumb animals when it comes to the Faith – we must continue to deepen our own understanding of the Gospel.

            Yet as we seek the Truth, we must do so from a place of humility. There is a vast difference between “I don’t believe” and “I don’t understand” – the former comes from a place of pride, while the latter comes from a place of humility. I cannot say that I completely understand why the Church teaches everything She does, or why Jesus did and said everything in the Gospels, but I accept and believe them simply because I know that Jesus does not lie, and that He established His Church as the infallible bulwark of Truth on this earth. So in this sense, I must be a sheep insofar as I must follow the Lord in humility, recognizing that I do not possess knowledge of all mysteries which are too deep for my limited mind to understand.

            A second sense of being a sheep is in regards to the leaders of our Catholic Faith – the priests, bishops, and Holy Father. What should our attitude be towards them, as our Shepherds? The 1983 Code of Canon Law (the official laws of the Catholic Church) are very clear on this issue, in Canon 212: “Conscious of their own responsibility, the Christian faithful are bound to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church.”

            The canon goes on to say: “The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.”

            That sounds quite technical, but it’s actually a pretty clear understanding of how we are to be sheep in the Flock of the Lord. We are bound to be obedient to the Shepherds that God has placed over us, insofar as they are teachers of the Lord and authentically hand on the Catholic Faith. At the same time, we are not blindly following our Shepherds, since we have the right and the duty to speak up regarding our spiritual needs – but always with respect and humility.

            In the past many years, there have been a number of lay-run internet websites that have spoken very critically of the Pope and Bishops. While they may have some valid points, one must question whether these websites have been motivated by genuine charity, or by a misplaced scandal-mongering. It seems that some websites revel in the failings of bishops and love to publish damning articles and videos, which serve only to gain more popularity for the websites themselves without effecting any real change.

To me, this is quite antithetical to the love and respect that we owe our Shepherds. Yes, there have been moral, pastoral, and theological failures among the hierarchy – without a doubt. But while we have the duty to prudently speak up about those failures, we also have a duty to love them, pray for them, and work for unity among the Flock of the Lord. Any author, blogger, or website that makes a profit solely from spreading scandal is acting not like a sheep but like a wolf, who wants to scatter, divide, and devour the sheep by taking down the shepherds. There are times when speech is necessary – but then there are many more times when silence, prayer, and fasting are far more effective.

In sum, take pride in being a sheep! It is good to be taught; it is good to be led. We pray that the Church and its leaders may always teach us the Truth, and that they may always lead us to holiness. A true member of the Flock of the Lord will love the Church, sacrifice for Her, and work for Her constant purification – the purification that begins in our own souls through our repentance and cooperation with grace!

Homily for Easter 3

Homily for Easter 3

April 26, 2020

Never Give Up Faith

            One of the great mystics of the Church, St. John of the Cross, used to keep a prayer journal where he would write down insights, wisdom, and inspirations of the Holy Spirit. He was faithful to long hours of prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament every day. But for many years, he would write down just one word in his journal each day: “Nada.” Nothing.

            This great saint and mystic would go years without a single inspiration, without a single experience of God. Day in and day out, he prayed and prayed. He wanted to love God, but he was going through the “Dark Night of the Soul” where it felt like God was distant, abandoning him. And so he waited…and waited…and waited. Every day he would sit in silence before the Lord, without speaking (for he had long since exhausted his words) and would wait for Him.

            And after many years, he finally had an experience of God’s love, which propelled him on to the final stage of the spiritual life, which is total union with God.

            Perseverance is the key to the spiritual life. We cannot attain holiness if we would give up at the first sign of difficulty!

            It is precisely this virtue of perseverance that these disciples did not have. Why were they leaving Jerusalem? Because they gave up. Jesus had died, so they thought the story was over. They were going back to their regular life. Now, these were intimate friends of Jesus’ – one of them, the one named Cleopas, his wife (or daughter) was actually at the foot of the Cross! In fact, there is an ancient tradition that said that Cleopas was the brother of St. Joseph, which would have made him Jesus’ uncle. But despite this familial closeness to Our Lord, they gave up – they walked away from Jerusalem.

            Perhaps the saddest phrase in Scripture is the one that Cleopas utters: “We had hoped…” We had hoped that Jesus would be the Messiah, but He let us all down. They gave up hope because they gave up faith – they did not believe Jesus to be who He said He was. And thus they were walking away.

            At times, all of us are tempted to give up. Perhaps we’ve been struggling with a particular sin for many years, or even decades. Perhaps we try to be faithful in our prayer but it seems dry. Perhaps we love our faith but haven’t had a deep experience of God. Perhaps we have tried to be faithful but all we receive is suffering.

            My friends, Easter should teach us that God works best when it seems like all hope is lost. If you are struggling, perhaps going through your own Good Friday, or when God seems silent like on Holy Saturday, we must keep our eyes on Easter. As St. Augustine said, “We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!”

            Look at how Jesus responds to their lack of hope. He reminds them that there was a much larger plan for the salvation of the world. He goes through the Scriptures to show them that all along, the suffering and death of the Messiah was prophesied and necessary for our salvation.

            When we are tempted to give up, we must remember the same – our lives are part of a bigger plan. But God’s plan is not mysterious: He has made it clear that everything works for our sanctification and salvation. If you have to wonder, “God, what are You up to in my life, in my suffering, in my frustration” – the answer is simple: the redemption of the human race, and the salvation of your soul. Boom – that’s the plan!

            So we persevere. We keep praying, even when it seems fruitless; we keep trying to avoid that sin, even though we’ve fallen a thousand times; we keep loving our neighbor even when it seems like they are not loving us in return. As the Protestant pastor Charles Spurgeon said, “The saints persevere in holiness because God perseveres in grace.”

            And there is one more important place to persevere – we keep faithful to our Catholic Church even when the Church seems flawed, imperfect, out-of-touch. A recent Pew survey from 2015 found that 52% of American adults raised Catholics left the Church at some point (and only 11% return!). In a special way I want to urge our young people – do not abandon the Church! Although she may seem flawed and imperfect, it is here that we find Christ most fully in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist! The Catholic Church is the surest path to salvation, as she is the one Church founded by Jesus Christ on the faith of Simon Peter – persevere in her! I have always prayed, since I was young, that I would live and die as a Catholic. May God help you to persevere as a faithful Catholic until the day of your death.

            So don’t be like Cleopas. Persevere in hope, because God is faithful.

"God Did Not Do This"

Bulletin Column for April 26, 2020

            You may have caught some of the news conferences from Governor Andrew Cuomo, who serves in our next-door-neighbor state of New York. Recently he made a comment about the better-than-expected results from the quarantine, and here are his exact words: “God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that . . . That’s how it works. It’s math.”

            My friends, this is one of the greatest errors in the world today – the belief that science and God are somehow mutually opposed. If I pray for someone to get better but they also take medicine and recover, who can we attribute that recovery to? God, or medicine? The answer: both.

            Everything – literally everything – that we have is a gift from God. The insights of science, the power of medicine, the good decisions of government leaders – all of this comes as a free grace from God. Yes, we cooperate with that grace when doctors use their knowledge to heal, or when scientists develop a new medication. But without God we are not even granted another breath. All of our talents, gifts, money, health, community – all is a gift from God, and we are stewards – not owners - of these gifts.

            Our modern world often tries to “control” everything, from birth to death – but life isn’t about control but cooperation with God, His plan, and His grace.

            All of us – including Mr. Cuomo - would do well to remember that.

Easter Sunday, 2020

Easter Sunday Homily

April 12, 2020

The Strife Is O’Er

            Maybe it’s a guy thing, but if someone makes a boast about something, guys just have to challenge them. If someone says, “Oh, I can do forty pushups”, the next guy says, “Oh, that’s great. Just this morning I did a hundred and fifty before breakfast.” If someone starts boasting about how strong they are, I challenge them to an arm-wrestling competition…and I usually lose.

            Competitions tell us a lot about who we are. Who’s the best athlete? The winners of the Olympics. Who’s the best speller? We’ve got a Spelling Bee to determine that. Who’s the most beautiful? We have beauty pageants. Who’s the smartest? We watch Jeopardy to find out.

            But sometimes competitions have higher stakes. For example, when two nations both have something to prove, they begin a war – and the result is devastating.

            The highest stakes possible, then, are not “who’s the smartest” or even “who’s going to control the oil fields in the Middle East.” The highest possible stakes, the greatest commodity, the most valuable thing in the universe is the eternal destiny of human souls. And we have two factions who both want our souls – Satan desperately wants our souls for eternity. And God wants our souls for eternity.

            So this great drama of the Paschal Mystery – of Jesus’ Passion, death, and Resurrection – is the great battle, the war, the competition between God and Satan; between the Source of Life and eternal death, between Pure Holiness and sin and evil. Satan’s great weapon is disobedience, which leads to death.

            But Jesus Christ, the God-man, became obedient unto death. He willingly allowed Himself to be destroyed by the weapon of the Enemy, and on Good Friday it looked like Satan had won, that death had triumphed. It seemed, to the eyes of the world, that sin and death had won the competition. As God died upon the Cross, it seemed as if He were powerless to defeat His mortal enemy.

            And yet…

            Yet…

            Three days later Jesus Christ showed us who was stronger. God is stronger, Life is stronger, Love is stronger than evil, sin, and death.

            All of us love a good comeback story, right? Think of Rocky Balboa, or the Miracle on Ice. Things look bleak, the good guys are down for the count, but all of a sudden the good guys come from behind and win. Why do such stories and movies stir our hearts? Perhaps because we know they are hints of the greatest comeback of all time, the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

            And it is precisely that which we celebrate this morning. If Jesus had remained in the tomb, sin would have won. If the Resurrection had not happened, then death would be victorious. Our Evil Foe would have been stronger than God.

            But the tomb is empty, the curse of death has been revoked. The gates of death could not close Him in, the powers of Hell could not vanquish the love which led God to the Cross.

            And for those of us who are in Christ – baptized into His death and Resurrection, remaining in the state of grace – we share in that victory! We can say to the Evil One, “You have been conquered! You have been destroyed! My hope is in Christ, Who showed His power by His Resurrection!”

            My friends, the war has been fought; the battle has been won. Christ and Satan fought to the death – and One emerged victorious from the tomb.

Good Friday Homily

Homily for Good Friday, 2020

April 10, 2020

He Has Borne Our Transgressions

            Imagine, for a moment, that you were suffering from this terrible disease which has so ravaged our world. Suffering, perhaps, to the point of death – in the ICU, on a ventilator, an inch from death. Then, standing by your bedside, came a perfectly healthy person who said, “Can I take that disease from you?” He touches your hand and you feel filled with life, and then you exchange places – this healthy man is hooked up to the ventilator, as you walk out of the hospital, completely cured.

            We all suffer from a disease worse than death. The disease of sin is far, far worse than coronavirus – for it will not just lead to the temporary death of the body, but the eternal death of the soul.

Consider – when we turn our back on God through sin, we turn our back on He Who is the Source of all life. Imagine an oasis in the desert – a little spring surrounded by palm trees and shade and life. As long as you stay close to the spring, the source of water, you will never be thirsty. But imagine someone saying, “Oh, I’m going to go find my own water, thank you very much – I don’t need this spring, I want to do it myself!” And they wander away, off into the desert…until they die of thirst. In the same way, when we sin, we say, “God, I know that You are the very source of every breath I take, that You are my Creator and the sustainer of my life, but I want to find my own life, apart from You.” And so we wander…and, finding no life in the things of this world or the desires of the flesh, we have embraced a living death.

Because of our sins, we all owed a debt of death. In offending the Lord and choosing against Him, we stood justly condemned to an eternity away from Him. We chose to go our own way, and say, “God, I don’t need You.” And this is the state of all of us – not a single one of us listening today is without sin. Not a single one of us is freed from the curse of death and separation from God that is the natural consequence of choosing our own way, apart from Him.

But God proves His love for us in this: that while we were still His enemies, while we were His rebellious children, while we stood condemned to eternal death, He chose to die in our place. He would take the penalty for our sins. He would pay back that debt of death that we owed but could not pay.

And through His death, we can now be reconciled to God. The river of life is now opened to us, through the pierced Heart of the Savior. We who were on spiritual life-support have now been restored to full health, by Him who took our deadly illness upon Himself.

Look at the Cross – if you have one at home, in your room, gaze upon it – and see the price paid for your salvation. Through His death, He has brought us back to life – in this world, and in the life to come.

I close with the beautiful prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori – “I love You, beloved Jesus;

I love You more than I love myself. With all my heart I repent of ever having offended You.

Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will.”