Christmas Homily 2022 - Love Made Visible

 

Christmas Homily

December 25, 2022

Love Incarnate

 

            It was St. Francis of Assisi who created the first-ever creche scene, like the one we have up front in church – except his was alive! It was in 1223 that Francis was visiting an Italian town called Grecio where he was to celebrate Christmas. He knew that the people of that town had lost much of their love for God, and were very lukewarm Christians. So, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he found a small cave near to the town square and brought in hay, donkeys, sheep, and had a man and woman play Jesus and Mary with an empty manger. Then, before the Midnight Mass, Francis called together the townspeople to visit the manger, as he began to preach to them about the Incarnation of God taking flesh.

            St. Bonaventure, a contemporary of St. Francis, tells us that as he began to preach, a marvelous thing happened – several people noticed that there was a beautiful baby boy in the manger, even though Francis had not arranged for a child to be brought there. Clearly this was a child of heavenly origin! When the preaching concluded and people filed into the church, the babe was nowhere to be seen, but the people gathered up the hay and kept it as relics – finding that those who touched the hay were miraculously cured of their diseases. But more importantly, the people of Grecio were cured of their hardness and coldness of heart when they beheld, in the flesh, God upon the earth.

            I have a very heavyset friend who likes to say, “Food is God’s love made edible!” Sometimes I want to tell him, “Mike, you need a little less of God’s love in your life!” But I like the sentiment, and I would say that the Christ Child is God’s love made visible. If you want to know how God feels about the human race, look at the child in the manger.

            Consider some aspects of love. First, love desires to be close to the beloved. When two people love each other, they find ways to be together: going on dates, doing fun things together, just hanging out. For His part, God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to dwell with us. For some reason He enjoys our company!

            Second, love desires to give to the beloved. You may recall the famous Christmas story “The Gift of the Magi” by American author O. Henry. It features a young husband and wife, penniless, who wanted to get each other a gift for Christmas. The wife goes to a hairdresser to sell her hair to make money to buy a chain for her husband’s pocket watch. When the husband comes home from work, he gives her the gift of ivory hair combs, having sold his watch to purchase the gift! Despite not being able to use either gift, their love was confirmed and deepened by the giving. So, as God loved the world, He wished to give that which was most precious to Him – His only beloved Son, Who took flesh to give His life for us on the Cross.

            But here’s the thing – love that only goes one way isn’t love, it’s infatuation. It must be reciprocated to truly bring about the completion of love, which is the union of two-into-one. There is another beautiful story of St. Francis, who one time went missing. His religious brothers couldn’t find him for several days, and they began to be very concerned. Finally, one brother stumbled upon the saint in a clearing in the forest, crying out over and over again, “Love is not loved! Love is not loved!” His heart was broken that the depths of God’s love would go unanswered, unloved.

            It is significant that Jesus was born in a manger, with no room left in the inn. Sometimes our lives are so full that we run out of time for Him. We’re exhausted at the end of the day and we collapse into bed without a moment of prayer…we schedule our weekends so packed that there is no time for Mass…we make our life’s plans and don’t turn to Him to see what His beautiful will is for us.

            Christmas demands a response. God has taken the lead, extended His hand, offered an invitation. His love should move us, as it moved the people of Grecio, to begin to love Him in return. He came to dwell with us – will we spend the time in prayer to dwell with Him, and allow Him to dwell in us physically in the Holy Eucharist? He came to give Himself to us – will we give Him our lives, that He may make us holy like Himself?

            Behold, in the manger, God’s love made visible. Now welcome that Divine Love into your soul. Will you return love for love?

Homily for Advent 4 - December 18, 2022

 

Homily for Advent 4

December 18, 2022

God Is With Us

 

            Who is this King Ahaz in the first reading? We pick up a small snippet of a much bigger story. Ahaz was the King of Judah, which was the southern kingdom (at this point in Israel’s history, the kingdom was split into two – Israel in the north and Judah in the south). His land was being attacked by the Assyrian Kingdom, who had already attacked the north and decimated it. So Ahaz decided to do what any reasonable king would do – he wanted to form an alliance with Egypt, to defend his kingdom from the Assyrians.

            But Isaiah the prophet warns against it. He says, “No! Don’t you trust the Lord? He has been with you all along! He will fight for you!”

            This is where we pick up the story – Isaiah even offers Ahaz that God will do a “sign” (a miracle) to prove that God will fight for him. But Ahaz declines – not out of humility, but because he has already decided that he will disobey the Lord and doesn’t want to be dissuaded out of it! So Isaiah says, “Well, despite your hardness of heart, God will give you a sign, even if you don’t want it – the sign that a virgin will conceive and name the baby boy Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.”

            How many times have we been like King Ahaz? We think to ourselves, “Well, God might be up in Heaven, but He doesn’t have anything to do with my everyday life, so it’s up to me to figure it out and make my life what I want it to be.” When in reality, God isn’t just “up there” – He is also right here. Emmanuel: God-with-us.

            This past week we remembered one of the most tragic events in recent memory – ten years since the school shootings at Sandy Hook. During that time, a lot of people were asking that question, “Where are you, God? How could you let this happen?” I must admit, those questions crossed my mind quite a bit on December 14, 2012. I was in my first assignment at St. Mary’s in Bethel, a mere seven miles from Sandy Hook. All day long, I was watching the news and texting Fr. Luke, who was at St. Rose in Newtown. We kept asking if there was anything we could do to help, and he just told us to keep praying.

            Finally, at 10pm that night, he texted me and asked if I could gather the other priests and head down to the firehouse in Sandy Hook. We all headed down there, and joined the crowd of other clergy and police officers. The police chief decided to form teams of three people: an officer, a psychologist, and a clergy member, and each team had to drive to the home of the family of the slain and give them the official declaration of death.

            I’ll never forget the utter terror I felt as we drove to the home of Jack Pinto, one of the six-year-olds who had been killed. What can you say? How can you bring God’s presence into the worst shooting America had ever seen? When we got to the house, we heard cries of utter anguish from inside. We knocked on the door, and the parents cried out, “We know he’s dead! We know he’s dead!” Still, we had to officially deliver the news, so we let ourselves in and told them what we knew about their son.

            After that, we sat in the living room with the family. They didn’t want to talk, and we had no words. They wept, we wept. We couldn’t do anything to take away the pain, but we could walk with them through it. I realized – perhaps because it was Advent, and in ten days we would be celebrating the feast of Emmanuel – that God was there, in the pain. Why was He allowing it? I don’t know. I do know that we will know in eternity why He allowed it. But I also know that He was Emmanuel – God-with-us. In the midst of this tragedy, in the midst of the darkest day I have ever experienced, He was there, walking with us. God didn’t need to say anything – He didn’t need to do a miracle. We didn’t feel His presence, we heard no consoling words from the Lord. But our faith told us that He was there. It was a cold act of faith, to be sure. But I believe that He was present in that school, in that living room, in every single person’s life in this church today, no matter where they’re at.

            In three days we will observe the shortest day of the year. The pagan Romans had a custom of celebrating, on December 21, the festival of Sol Invictus – the feast of the Unconquered Sun. These pagans had an inkling of what we as Christians know with certainty – that in the face of what seems to be gathering darkness, there is an unconquered Son Who brings the light into the blackest night the evil of man could ever create. When faced with the enormity of sin and evil – like that night, ten years ago – it can feel like darkness is winning.

            Christmas tells us otherwise.

            Because in those dark nights, we have the light of Emmanuel.

            Remember – He promised. He is with us.

Homily for Advent 3 - December 11, 2022

 

Homily for Advent 3

December 11, 2022

Waiting On the Lord

 

            We often hear that Advent is a time of waiting. Okay…waiting for what? I mean, Jesus already came two thousand years ago, so what are we waiting for?

            It’s very simple. Jesus came to begin the healing – but it isn’t completed yet. We still see sin, division, addictions, wars, oppression. We still experience depression and anxiety, sickness, and death. We talk about the victory, but we’re still fighting the battle.

            So we are waiting for the completion. We’re waiting for everything promised in the First Reading: for the desert to bloom, for the deaf to hear and the blind to see, for the joy that was promised by Christ to reach its full completion. Yes, we experience it in bits-and-pieces here (as St. Paul says, “the down payment”), while awaiting the rest of the riches of Christ.

            So, we wait for it. Our second reading urges us to be patient. Remember, James was writing to a church that was expecting Christ to come again in their own lifetime. When the years dragged on and the persecution intensified, when they saw Peter and Paul and the other Apostles killed for their Faith, they began to wonder – has God forgotten about us? Are His promises ever going to come true? James says, “Yes, they will…but we must be patient.”

            How can we be patient? Because we know that God is faithful. He made over 500 promises in the Old Testament that He has already fulfilled in Jesus Christ – will He not also fulfill His promises for the future, as well?

            On December 7, 1988, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck Armenia, killing more than 25,000 people. In the aftermath of the earthquake, one father dug for 38 hours in the rubble of his son’s elementary school, which had completely collapsed. Miraculously, he found his son and 13 other classmates alive. Eyewitnesses said that when the children were unearthed, all of the youngsters were calm and peaceful, and the son turned to his classmates and said, “See? Didn’t I tell you that my father would come for us?”

            That is patience, born of a firm confidence that God Who fulfilled His promises two thousand years ago will fulfill the promises that are yet to be fulfilled!

            So what do we do while waiting? Well, in English, waiting has a different meaning – someone who is a waiter or waitress will “wait on” customers. That means being attentive to their every need and desire. So as we wait for the Lord, we should also wait on the Lord – looking to Him for direction for every aspect of our lives.

            For example, we all know of the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the priest who was a martyr in Auschwitz when he gave up his life to save another man. But before that heroic act, he spent a couple years as a missionary in Japan. Upon arriving in Japan, he didn’t know the language very well, and was praying for guidance about how he could best minister in this very foreign culture. He felt like God was asking him to start a printing press to put out Catholic literature in the Japanese language. Although excited about the prospect, he asked God where he should build it, and he felt like God was asking him to put it on the far side of a mountain, far away from the town where they lived. Fr. Kolbe was initially incredulous, “Really, Lord? You want us to build it miles away from the city, on the other side of the mountain? How are we going to haul the ink and paper and materials up there?” But out of faith, he built the printing press and began a very successful ministry of publishing Catholic books and pamphlets.

            Fast-forward two years. Fr. Kolbe was now back in Poland, but the printing press he built was still doing good work, despite the fact that Japan was embroiled in World War II. In 1945, that town of Nagasaki was hit with the atomic bomb, destroying most of the city – but the printing press was saved because of its location, protected by the mountain. Maximillian Kolbe knew to “wait upon the Lord” – look for His guidance, wait for His leading, do His will.

            Recently a dear friend (Gonzalo Martinez) was telling me about waiting on the Lord. He was driving up to pick up his daughter for Thanksgiving from college in upstate Massachusetts, and had gotten his car filled up with gas for the trip. As he was coming back, he noticed his gas gauge reading empty. He thought this was very strange – there should have been enough gas to get him there and back with plenty to spare. He wondered if the Lord was up to something…so he prayed, “Lord, whatever this is, lead me.” He stopped to get gas and noticed a woman sitting in a car off to the side of the service station wiping her eyes. For some reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Finally after getting his gas he went up to the car saw she had been crying. He knocked on the window, asking, “Are you all right?” She told him that she was completely without gas and far from home, without a cell phone or money. My friend then knew exactly why he was called to be right there, right then – and helped her fill up her car, let her make a phone call, and got her on her way.

            But that’s a life of “waiting on the Lord”. We look to Him for our decisions each day. Certainly in the big ones: we ask the Lord what job to take, what college to attend, how to lead our family. But also the smaller ones: we say, “Lord, today, how do You want to use me? How can I best please You?”

            Advent, and indeed the whole Christian life, is a time of waiting – waiting for the final victory of Jesus Christ over sin and death and evil. So while we wait, we wait upon the Lord, as servants anxious to do His will.

Homily for Advent 2 - December 4, 2022

 

Homily for Advent 2

December 4, 2022

God and Sinners Reconciled

 

            In the early 1900s in a small town in Italy, there was a very, very poor family: the Goretti family. They were so poor that they continually had to move to smaller and smaller homes as their crops failed, the father became ill and died, and eventually they had to move in with another family, the Serenellis, and share a house with them

            The eldest girl was a very devout young lady named Maria Goretti. She loved to attend daily Mass and pray during her daily duties. Though uneducated, she knew that she loved the Lord and always wanted to please Him.

            The Serenellis had a nineteen-year-old boy named Alessandro. Unfortunately he had started looking at dirty magazines, and began to have unholy lustful desires towards twelve-year-old Maria. He would try to get her alone, but she would always insist, “I will never sin with you! I will never displease the Lord!”

            Finally, one day when everyone was out in the fields and Maria was home mending clothes, Alessandro insisted one last time that she sin with him. She refused, saying, “It is a sin!” Enraged at her constant refusals, Alessandro picked up a knife and stabbed the innocent girl fourteen times before fleeing.

            Her family heard her cries from the house and immediately tried to take her to the hospital, but it was too late to save her. As she was dying, she said, “I forgive Alessandro,” before passing on to the Lord.

            The police, of course, quickly found Alessandro and a judge gave him thirty years in prison. For the first many years, he was angry and hateful, refusing any visits from priests. He was feared for his surly manner, and his heart was rock-hard. But one night, he had a dream in which he saw Maria in glory, holding out fourteen lilies in her hand, assuring him that she had forgiven him before he died.

            Alessandro awoke a changed man. He made a good Confession and lived out the rest of his sentence in prayer and penance. When he was finally released, he went first to Maria’s mother and begged for her forgiveness. Maria’s mother was able to say with a smile, “If Maria could forgive you, how can I do any less?” The very next day, the two of them went to Mass and received Holy Communion together, and they were side-by-side in Rome when Pope Pius XII made St. Maria Goretti a saint. Alessandro lived the rest of his life in a monastery and died a holy death in 1970.

            How could these two people – Alessandro and Maria’s mother - who should have been mortal enemies, be reconciled to each other? How could they have formed a friendship: the murderer and the victim’s mother? Only in Christ does such reconciliation take place.

            Today’s first reading gives a beautiful view of mortal enemies becoming friends: the lion and the lamb, the bear and the goat, the baby and the viper. What a great vision of the Kingdom of God…but not one that we see in the world. Here, we see Russia versus Ukraine…Palestine versus Israel…Republican versus Democrat…and even division and hatred in our own families. How many of us have family members that we’re not talking to any more? I’ve got at least one in my own family…

            So where is this reconciliation that we hear promised by Isaiah? The key is the Gospel – repent. Unless we are at peace with God, we can never be at peace with one another. Christ is the great reconciler – don’t we sing in that beautiful Christmas carol, “God and sinners reconciled”?

            At every Mass when we mingle the water and wine, the priest or deacon prays silently a very beautiful prayer: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” Just like we can’t take the water out of the wine once it’s been mingled, we can no longer separate the divinity from the humanity in Jesus Christ – which means that He’s in it for good. He has wedded our frail, weak humanity to the unconquerable power of God. This is the true meaning of Christmas – that God has united, in the Person of Jesus, the Creator and the creature, fallen flesh with pure divinity, a man like us with the All-Holy One.

            And those who are in Christ – who repent of their sins and believe in Him – have the joy of knowing the peace of God. And we can’t have “peace on earth” until we are first at peace with God.

            So – what is holding you back from peace with God? If He stood before you now, would you embrace Him, or would you go and hide? I ask you to do two things this Advent to get to peace with God – first, consider what hidden sins are in your life that prevent you from living and breathing for Christ and in Christ. What secret sins are we hiding that we need to repent of? And secondly, get to Confession. If we accuse ourselves of sin in Confession, Jesus will not accuse us of sin when we meet Him as our Judge.

            Let’s make Isaiah’s vision a reality – peace among men of good will. This starts by making our peace with God.

Christ the King Sunday - November 20, 2022

Homily for Christ the King Sunday

November 20, 2022

Christ the King Sunday

 

            In 410, the city of Rome was sacked by a barbarian tribe known as the Visigoths. This was the first time in 800 years that Rome had been under control of a foreign power, and most historians consider it to be the collapse of Western Civilization.

            Naturally, when such a seismic and disastrous event happens, people try to assign blame. And at the time, many people blamed this tragedy on Christianity. Only thirty years prior, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire – but was this disaster a result of this new faith dividing the Empire? Should Christians return to the ancient Roman gods if they want to see the Roman Empire thrive again?

            To counter this, St. Augustine wrote a famous book called “City of God”. His premise was that the Kingdom of Christ is not an earthly, political kingdom – but one that stands in stark contrast to the worldly kingdoms of man. What are the characteristics of each kingdom – and in which one are we living?

            The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of life over death. It’s amazing to see the run-down and abandoned buildings of Detroit or Bridgeport start teeming with life as plants overtake the decrepit structures – God loves life. His first command to human beings was, “Be fruitful and multiply.” He declares that all human life is sacred and holy, from conception until natural death. In fact, it was St. Irenaeus who said, “The glory of God is man fully alive” – not just physically, but alive in our mind, our relationships, our gifts and talents – and most importantly, our soul. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of life!

            The Kingdom of God is also one of light and truth, against the darkness and lies of the world. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like it’s harder and harder to find a news source or authority that isn’t biased, fake news, half-truths – which is why we don’t build our lives on current events, but the clarity of what God has revealed in the Bible and the teachings of the Church. God has spoken clearly about life, eternity, morality, relationships, who He is and who we are. This clarity is refreshing – as GK Chesterton once wrote, “The devil’s favorite color is gray,” meaning that the Evil One loves for us to be confused about everything, from gender to suffering to life after death. Thankfully God has revealed the truth to us – and, dwelling in His Kingdom, we too enjoy the clarity of light and truth.

            Finally, the City of God is one of love. John Paul II had an interesting insight that the opposite of love isn’t hate…it’s using. Treating another person as disposable. Seeing them for only what they can produce. Associating with people only because they’re wealthy or good looking or can give us some advantage in our career. Unfortunately, treating people as disposable objects to be used and then discarded is all too common – for example, did you know that in the Nordic Countries like Denmark, about 95% of babies diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome are aborted? Pope Francis recently decried what he called a “throwaway culture” where, as he put it, “Human life, the person, are no longer seen as a primary value to be respected and safeguarded.” But those who dwell in the Kingdom of God see each person as a soul worthy of love, no matter what they look like, or their abilities, or their bank account.

            With such greatness in the Kingdom of God – life, love, the light of truth – why wouldn’t the world be drawn to it? Because our King reigns from a Cross. Instead of a crown of gold, He wears a crown of thorns. Here on this earth, to be in the Kingdom of God is to embrace the Cross – it isn’t easy, and it costs a great deal.

            A perfect example of this is St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Aloysius was born to one of the wealthiest families in Italy, a noble family with lands and titles and all the trappings of nobility. As the oldest son, he would inherit everything and be considered a duke…but found the lifestyle to be hollow and empty. He spent his younger years in and out of fancy boarding schools, and touring the courts of European gentry, but he found all the politics and intrigue, the pleasures and frivolity to be completely purposeless. In reaction, he made a private vow consecrating his life to the Lord when he was only nine years old, and would practice hidden acts of prayer and self-denial – sneaking away from a party to visit the Eucharist, or denying himself some of the desserts or rich foods that were offered at the many parties he was forced to attend.

            Finally, in his late teens, he told his parents that he was called to be a priest. His parents offered to pay money for him to become a bishop instead, so at least he would have some power and nobility! But Aloysius refused. Instead, he joined the Jesuits and sought to live a life of poverty, humility, and prayer. In 1531 a plague broke out in Rome, and he received permission to minister to plague victims. Through his tireless efforts to bring them medicine and relief, he caught the plague himself, and died at the young age of 24. He could have had all the pleasures, the titles, the riches that the Kingdom of the world offered him…but instead he chose the sacrifices of the Kingdom of God.

            There are indeed two kingdoms that seek our allegiance. One kingdom promises all the pleasures the world has to offer. The other kingdom promises the Cross…and the Resurrection. Which King commands your loyalty?

Homily for Ordinary Time 33 - November 13, 2022

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 33

November 12, 2022

Work At It

 

            The American West frequently sees annual forest fires, but the 1949 Mann Gulch fire in Montana was surprisingly severe. Thirteen firefighters died fighting the blaze. Why was it so deadly? This is what author Norman Maclean wanted to find out. He felt moved, at the age of seventy-four, to begin researching and writing about the story of this fire, why it was so deadly, and how to prevent them in the future.

            His peers thought he was crazy. After all, they were retiring and living the good life in Florida – why would Norman need to research and write about this well into his eighties? His research required thousands of hours of interviews, scientific studies, and even hikes into the brutal and desolate wilderness of Mann Gulch – why bother doing this when he could be golfing or playing shuffleboard?

            He wrote about his drive to research and write about this fire, even in his eighties with poor health: “I sat in my study, making clear to myself, my homespun anti-shuffleboard philosophy of what to do when I was old enough to be scripturally dead. I wanted this extension of life to be as hard as before, but also something new that I haven’t done before, like writing stories.” His book “Young Men and Fire”, published posthumously, was not only a work of art (the New York Times calling it “a magnificent drama of writing”) but also an important advancement of fire science, hopefully leading to safer ways to fight forest fires.

            Norman Maclean understood the true value of work! It wasn’t just a way to pass the time or earn a paycheck, it was much, much more than that: a chance to do something good for humanity and to develop his talents, finding meaning in a life lived in self-giving.

            St. Paul instructs us about work in today’s second reading, and since most of us spend eight hours a day doing it, it’s worth reflecting on the Christian value of work.

            Our modern culture sees work according to two extremes. On one hand, many people become workaholics and see their entire identity wrapped up in their work – working seventy, ninety hours a week, and seeing themselves (and others) only in terms of what they can produce. On the other hand, some see work as just a means to an end – a drudgery that we need to get through so that we can get a paycheck and enjoy the weekend.

            But, as Aristotle taught, virtue is in the middle. As Christians we see work as a necessary part of our dignity as human beings – even Jesus spent 30 years of His life as a common laborer. Work helps us to develop ourselves as persons, to grow in virtue and self-dignity, and to serve the needs of the community. Let’s pull that apart and see what it means.

            First, work develops us as human beings. If I am a scientist or a lawyer, a teacher or a stay-at-home parent, whatever work we do challenges us daily to learn new things, to grow, to hone our skills, and to do it to the best of our ability. Work, then, ennobles us and helps us to become “the best version of ourselves” by developing our talents.

            But we don’t just develop our talents, we develop virtue. If we run a shop, we have to be patient with customers who can be frustrating. We practice teamwork in our collaboration, perseverance when we work on a difficult project, humility when we are praised…or when we fail. Pope St. John Paul II, in 1981, wrote an entire encyclical letter about work called Laborem Exercens. In it, he wrote this awesome line: “Work is a good thing for man, because through work, man not only transforms nature, but he also transforms himself.”

            Finally, work is always about serving others. When we cook dinner for our kids, it is as if we are serving Christ Himself. When we answer the phone at our job, we must realize that the person on the other end of the line is a soul that Christ died to save. So, in a sense, labor always puts love into action.

            So with all of this dignity that we receive from work, it can be detrimental to the human person to merely give someone a handout, either from a charity or from the government. Some have suggested that governments should provide a “Universal Basic Income” while others advocate for an expansion of welfare. While that might solve short-term problems, it prevents people from benefitting from a good day’s work, and it prevents society from benefitting from the gifts and talents of the laborer.

            Now, with all that said, work is not an end in itself. I studied in Italy for a year and it was utterly maddening to find that all of the shops closed between 1-4pm as they took their siesta! I thought it was no way to run a successful business! But they had the right idea – they worked to live, they didn’t live to work. Even God rested on the seventh day, to show us that if we wish to be Godly, we need to take times of recreation.

            Finally, even if we are retired or unable to work, we still have “work” to do! We are called to pray, to volunteer at the parish or at a charity, and to show generous service to our spouse and kids and grandkids. We all have a mission in life – and the mission isn’t seeing how comfortable we can make our own lives, but how much we can give.

            Is there a patron saint of work? There are many saints who had to labor, but perhaps none more than St. Isidore the Farmer. From Spain in the 1100s, Isidore and his wife were tenant farmers who were well-known for their piety and generosity. Their landlord once complained that Isidore was praying too much, so he went to go check on him in the field to see if he was praying or plowing – and much to his surprise he didn’t see Isidore (who was at Mass) but rather saw a team of angels plowing the ground in his place! Isidore and his wife would share the fruits of their labor with the hungry of the town – one time, Isidore brought home a large crowd of homeless people. His wife tried to serve all of them but completely emptied out the pot of stew. Isidore told her to go and check one more time, and to her surprise the pot had miraculously filled up again! By uniting his prayer with his labor, Isidore became a great saint…by the sweat of his brow!        

            Whatever your work, do it for the Lord, and it will make you holy.

Homily for Ordinary Time 32 - November 6, 2022

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 32

November 6, 2022

Created Things Point to Heaven

 

            What is up with these Saduccees, who don’t believe in the Resurrection? The Sadducees were a group of Jews who only acknowledged the Torah – the first five books of the Bible – as inspired Scriptures. And these first books of the Bible do not explicitly reveal a belief in Heaven, so they reject it.

            How does Jesus respond? By using the Torah itself – he quotes Exodus 3, when Moses had a vision of God in the burning bush, and the Lord introduced Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus uses the Torah itself to prove that there is a Heaven!

            But this begs the question – how do we know anything about Heaven? I’ve never been there, nor have you. But Jesus Christ came from Heaven, and so He reveals to us what Heaven is like.

            Imagine that a person was born in a prison. His whole life he lived in prison; he didn’t know anything else. Just gray walls, prison food, drab clothing, and boredom. But then, a man comes in from the outside world, and tries to encourage him to leave the prison – after all, he is innocent, he can leave whenever he wants. The man from outside tries to describe trees and music, pizza and football…but how can you describe it to someone who hasn’t experienced it? It takes a lot of courage to leave the only prison you’ve ever known…but if you trust the outside visitor, you’ll listen to his description and perhaps follow him to the real world outside.

            In the same way, we only know the rather drab world of this earth. But an outsider – Jesus Christ – has come to reveal what eternal life is like. We have a hard time trying to conceptualize what it’s all about, but if we trust Him, we will believe what He has revealed.

            So what HAS He revealed about Heaven? Let’s take a look at a few things from this Gospel.

            First, Jesus reveals that there will be no marriage in Heaven. Woah, wait a minute…some of you are thinking this is terrible, while a few others might be breathing a sigh of relief. I am certain that you will still have a close relationship with your spouse in eternity, but marriage itself was given to us on earth for two purposes. First, for the procreation and education of children, and second, to sanctify you and your spouse, to help you grow in virtue and get to Heaven. But once we are in everlasting life, we will have no need to have children, and we won’t need to grow in virtue – so marriage as we know it will not be present in Heaven.

            Here on earth, we only get to know God through intermediaries. We observe the beauty of creation, and we recognize that God is good and beautiful and life-giving. We experience the love of family and friends, and we get to know that God loves us. We read the Bible, and we learn about sin and grace and redemption. But in Heaven, we will know God directly – and we will know everything else through God. It’s as if God is a prism – we look into the prism, and we see a wide variety of colors…when we gaze upon God Himself in eternity, we will see the rest of the created universe in Him.

            In fact, the Scriptures reveal that the whole reason we have good things on earth is to be a foretaste of Heaven, to remind us of Who God Is. People often ask me, “Will I have pizza in Heaven? Will we have football in Heaven?” But pizza and football and friendships and art are given to us, not as an end in themselves, but to remind us of the goodness and love of God. Once while in college, I went hiking with a very faith-filled friend, he looked up at the sky and said, “The sky reminds me of the Blessed Mother – it is blue like her cloak, it stretches from end to end like Mary’s queenly reign, and it allows the sun to shine through, as Mary lets Jesus shine through her.” At the time I thought, “Wow, that’s super corny,” but now I realize that he was right – every good gift ought to remind us of eternity, rather than being an end in itself. When I enjoy a good meal, it reminds me of the Banquet Feast of Heaven. When I enjoy time spent with family, I remember that I have a truer family awaiting me among the angels and saints. When I am in awe of the beauty or majesty of a starry night sky or a beach scene, it reminds me of the all-powerful, all-beautiful One. Even when we suffer, it helps us to keep our eye on eternity – the aches and pains of growing older helps us to remember that our bodily life is temporary… financial hardships drive home the point that our lives should not be built on money.

            Remember, Jesus says that in Heaven “we will be like the angels.” What do the angels do for eternity? They adore and worship the Lord. They don’t spend time worrying about anything, because they know that God takes care of their every need. There is no more sorrow or tears, no more emptiness or longing.

            Many of the great saints and mystics had visions of Heaven. For example, Saint Dominic Savio was a young man of great holiness, who lived in a school run by another saint, St. John Bosco. Dominic died at the age of 15 after a life of intense love for God, saying on his deathbed, “Oh, what beautiful things I see!” A while later, his spiritual mentor, St. John Bosco, had a mystical dream where he visited Heaven. He describes it as a place of profound natural beauty and music. In this dream, he saw a number of people he knew who had passed on, all of whom had luminous smiles. Much to his delight, he saw young Dominic Savio come up to him and begin to converse with him. Fr. Bosco was speechless, and didn’t know what to say. But Dominic reassured him, “You had treated me with such love while on earth, so I wish to share some of the blessings of Heaven!” They conversed for a while, before Fr. Bosco asked, “Please, could I see just a small glimpse of the glory of God?” Dominic replied, “No one can see God until they is pure, as God is pure.” And here the mystical dream ended – but it kindled in the holy priest an even greater desire to become a saint!

            My friends, every day we get a foretaste of Heaven in the good things that God has given us. But these are only tiny crumbs from the Banquet Feast of the Lamb. Let these crumbs stir you to a greater hunger to possess the joys of Heaven!

Homily for All Saints Day, 2022

 

Homily for All Saints Day

November 1, 2022

You’re In the Bible!

 

            Did you know that you’re in the Bible? Yes, you! Despite the fact that it was written two thousand years ago, YOU might have made an appearance in today’s first reading. St. John is having these beautiful visions of the end of the world, and he sees “a great multitude which no one can count from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” – in other words, he is seeing all of those who are forever rejoicing in Heaven! And if you and I have the privilege of getting there, then St. John could have looked out and seen our faces…and then written about them in the book of Revelation!

            Many scholars believe that there are somewhere around 10,000 officially canonized saints – men and women whom the Church declares are a saint (we don’t have an official count, since the early Church often declared people saints without much research – for example, there is a legend about St. Guinefort, who was a thirteenth-century…greyhound dog, that locals declared a saint after the dog sacrificed its life to save a newborn baby from a viper attack). But above the officially-canonized saints, there are millions upon millions of saints whose names we’ll never know – men and women, boys and girls, just like you and I, whom Christ has won for Himself.

            And so what do we do in Heaven? Sometimes we get a bad impression of Heaven, as if we’re just sitting on clouds and playing harps – that sounds rather dull. Instead, we are surrounded by the most awesome people, all worshipping God. Does that mean an endless Church service? Well, consider: have you ever been to a really awesome concert? Or a sports game in a packed stadium? Everyone there is united in a single purpose, sharing an amazing experience, celebrating the achievements of really talented artists or athletes. No one is bored at a good concert or a good football game – rather, we are passionately cheering and part of something greater than ourselves.

            In the same way, these saints in John’s vision do NOT seem bored – they are singing, processing, and falling down in awe and wonder. In a word, they are worshipping God.

            Worship is the most ennobling thing we can do as human beings. Most of our lives deal with created things – making money, buying food, taking care of our health. But when we worship, we bring our attention to the Creator of these things. We trade the earth for Heaven when we enter into worship – whether it be at Mass, Adoration, or just during our daily prayer.

            So, if we wish to join the saints in Heaven, we do so by practicing worship on earth. How did they get those white robes, which are the necessary ticket into Heaven? Was it their good deeds on earth, their righteousness? No – those robes were washed “in the Blood of the Lamb.” It was Jesus who made them holy, it was Jesus who made them saints. We can’t do it on our own – it’s rather that our intimate union with Him makes us like Him.

            I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of taking on the characteristics of those around us. Maybe we started saying a phrase or doing a TikTok dance because everyone around us was doing it. So we will become holy if we spend time with the Holy One; we will be saints if we spend time with the King of Saints.

            And that description of the saints in the First Reading sounds pretty doggone awesome. That’s one party I don’t want to miss! I hope that St. John had a vision of my face among the souls in Heaven – and I hope to see you there, too!

Homily for Ordinary Time 31 - October 30, 2022

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 31

October 30, 2022

He Sees You

 

            16670. It was the number tattooed on his arm when he entered Auschwitz concentration camp. But we know him better as St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who gave up his life in exchange for a prisoner who had been sentenced to die.

            One of the common practices of all of the totalitarian governments – and everyday bureaucracies - in the twentieth century was to reduce people to solely a number. Prisoner number, citizen number, form number, account number, social security number. The modern world has a way of quantifying everything – we’re defined by our college application, our resume, the number of likes and followers and what we can produce.

            But our hearts cry out to be known and loved as individuals. We don’t want to be a number – we want to have a name. The recently-elected President of Italy, Georgia Meloni, had

a really powerful speech about this when she said, “When I am only a number, when I no longer have an identity or roots, then I will be the perfect slave at the mercy of financial speculators. The perfect consumer. That’s why [Christianity] inspires so much fear. Because we do not want to be numbers. We will defend the value of the human being.”

            And thus we come to today’s Gospel. A couple of things strike me – first, Zacchaeus could have been a part of the crowd. Certainly mobs of people surrounded Jesus at all times. But he didn’t want to be a nameless face in the crowd – he wanted to be known and acknowledged as an individual. And then Jesus, passing by, calls him by name. Jesus and Zacchaeus had never met, but the Lord already knew him – not as Person 342, but as Zacchaeus, a man with a past but also one with great potential for holiness in the future.

            So what does this show us about the Heart of God? Three things.

            First, God knows us and loves us as individuals, and He calls us by name. I know sometimes we all wonder if God actually knows us. I mean, yes, He loves humanity, but does He love YOU or ME, in our own specific circumstances, in all of the messiness of our daily life? This Gospel shows us that He does know us by name – and loves us! He knows us, both our good points and our messy points, and still chooses to call us by name. A couple weeks ago we held a retreat for our high school freshmen where I teach. We all went to a retreat house run by these diminutive Indian and Philippino nuns. At a certain point, I couldn’t find one of our students, Jason. Jason is the kind of kid who always gets into trouble unwittingly – he’s not malicious, but trouble seems to find him, so I was worried when he went missing. After a few minutes of searching, I found him in a small alcove of the convent, speaking with one of the nuns. I told him it was time to go, and the nun said, “Thank you for this time with Jason. He’s one of the Lord’s chosen ones.” I thought, “Yeah, right. Do you know how many detentions he’s got this year, Sister?” So the retreat continued, and toward the end of the day once again Jason was lost. He finally wandered into the group room, explaining, “I’m sorry I’m late, I wanted to speak with the sister again. We had another long conversation, she’s really helping me.” It was interesting that when Jason felt loved, valued, and seen as an individual – he began to believe in his own dignity – and that it was possible to live up to his dignity. Do you know that God sees you? Do you know how God sees you? Why not ask Him – “Lord, show me Your Heart, show me who I am in Your sight.”

            Second, He calls us even while we are still sinners. Jesus didn’t wait until Zacchaeus changed his life to call him down from the tree. No, the Lord calls him first, even as a corrupt agent of the hated Roman empire. Now we have to be careful here, because some people like to believe Jesus spends time with sinners because He’s tolerant and open-minded. But that’s not why He eats with them. Rather, Jesus spends time with sinners because He sees them as future saints and wants to invite them to a life of holiness. As the old saying goes, “Ever saint has got a past, and every sinner’s got a future.” Jesus doesn’t wait until we are holy to seek us; rather, He seeks us in our sinfulness so that we might become holy.

            Finally, it is only through our encounter with Him that our lives are changed. St. Augustine describes this life-changing encounter with the Lord in his autobiography, The Confessions: “Late have I loved you, beauty ever ancient, ever new: late have I loved you. You called and shouted and shattered my deafness. You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness.” After a life of sin, Augustine was so miserable and hungry for some peace that when he read the Scriptures for the first time, he encountered Jesus there – and Jesus spoke to his sinful heart through the words on the page: an encounter that would change the sinful Augustine into a saint.

            We are more than numbers, more than anonymous faces in a crowd. Our modern world often tries to quantify us, when our hearts yearn to be known and loved as persons made in the image of God. Thanks be to the Lord that He knows us and calls us by name – and invites us to follow Him into eternal life!

Homily for the Feast of St. Jude 2022

 

Homily for the Feast of St. Jude

October 28, 2022

We Need Each Other

 

            When you look at the Animal Kingdom, it’s amazing to see how animal babies grow up so fast. Giraffes literally fall out of the womb and start walking. Birds fly as early as 10 days after hatching. Dogs can have puppies of their own when they are only six months old. Lion cubs start to hunt when they’re only six weeks old, and at sixteen months they’re completely independent.

            And then there’s humans. It takes us eighteen years to be ready to leave the home! We can’t even walk until we’re a year old. Why would God make us, the smartest of all the animals, so totally helpless for such a large part of our lives?

            Because, unlike the animals, we were made to need each other. We weren’t meant to do life on our own. That’s why He didn’t just have us spawn from seeds – we were meant to be brought up in a family, a community of life and love. We are not supposed to do life on our own.

            In all of our excitement over St. Jude and his feast day, it’s easy to forget that he shares his feast day with another saint: St. Simon. We don’t know much about St. Simon – the Bible calls him a Zealot, which means he had been involved in armed rebellion to try to expel the Romans from ruling the Holy Land. The Bible also calls him a Canaanite, meaning that his family has roots all the way back in the Holy Land even before the coming of the Israelites. That’s about all we know for sure – many other legends surround him, but a significant tradition makes him the close coworker of St. Jude, as both of them traveled to Persia and preached the Gospel to the pagans in that land. St. Jude was martyred by being beaten by clubs, while St. Simon was sawed in half.

            We often think of the Apostles as these lone-rangers, traveling to far-off lands as courageous warriors bringing truth and love to godless nations all by themselves. But it’s consoling to know that Jesus commanded His followers to go out “two-by-two”. It can be a lonely mission to spread the Gospel by yourself – in times of discouragement and suffering, even the Apostles needed a brother to offer them encouragement.

            And this is true not only of the Apostles, but of us. On this feast day we not only celebrate our namesake, we also, in a sense, celebrate our parish as well – because we cannot even follow Jesus, let alone become saints, without the help of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We don’t believe in a “me-and-Jesus” spirituality – we need shepherds in the Church to guide us on the right path; we need our spiritual family to nurture the saint-in-the-making within us.

            So I ask you two questions. Who is helping you draw close to Jesus? Perhaps a family member or a friend is an inspiration to you; perhaps you have a brother or sister in Christ who encourages you to strive for greater holiness. If you find yourself isolated, get involved in our parish and get to know others who are seeking the Lord.

            And the second question is: who are you drawing closer to Jesus? We have to be intentional here – we don’t just accidentally fall into the role of spiritual friend. Perhaps consider a person in your life – a sibling, or a friend – whom the Lord has put on your heart to accompany towards the Lord.

            St. Jude couldn’t do it without St. Simon, and neither can we. But together, as one Mystical Body of Christ, we can become saints, along with our great patron!

Homily for Ordinary Time 29 - October 16, 2022

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 29

October 16, 2022

Spiritual Warfare

 

            If you’ve ever read the Old Testament, you may wonder why it’s so doggone bloody. The Israelites are always involved in a war – and today’s first reading is a perfect example, as Moses and Joshua fight and win a battle against the Amalekites. Non-Christians often use this as a reason for disbelieving in the Bible – how could God allow so many wars in the Old Testament when He preaches love and forgiveness in the New Testament?

            But there are two reasons for this. First, there is a principle in reading the Bible called the Law of Progressive Revelation. This means that God doesn’t reveal the fullness of His plan all at once, but only gradually. When I was in second grade, I took the bus with middle schoolers, and one eighth grader showed me her math book. I was appalled – how could anyone do math with letters? Algebra didn’t make sense! But of course – you can’t teach algebra to a second-grader. Likewise, in 1500BC (when this war takes place), God is still trying to convince the Israelites that there is only one God – they are not yet ready for His teachings about mercy and forgiveness. Back then, the entire Middle East was filled with warring tribes – to tell the Israelites not to fight would mean they would be destroyed by these other nations. So God is willing to overlook such violence because He was trying to first teach them that He is real, that He is the only God, and that He is going to be on their side forever.

            But the other reason why the Old Testament has so many battles is because what the Israelites go through in the physical realm, Christians go through in the spiritual realm. Israel is led out of slavery in Egypt by passing through the Red Sea – Christians are led out of the slavery of sin through the waters of Baptism. A man named Jeshuah – Joshua – leads the Chosen People into the Promised Land. A new Jeshuah (Jesus of Nazareth) leads His new Chosen People, the Church, into the Promised Land of Heaven. So these physical battles that Israel fights are foreshadowing the spiritual battle Christians engage in. When Israel prays, “Lord, deliver us from our enemies,” we can pray that too: “Lord, deliver us from our spiritual enemies – not of flesh and blood, but the powers and principalities of evil.”

            Our world is no less a battle now than it was during the time of Moses. We believe that the devil and his minions are very real – and I have helped with an exorcism, I can tell you that Satan is not a myth. This battle is not fought primarily in politics or in culture, but within every human soul. God created your soul for eternal bliss with Him, but Satan, out of his hatred for God, desires to own your soul as well, through sin and faithlessness. But it’s up to you to decide who will win this battle.

            So how do we fight this spiritual war for our own souls? We see two powerful tools in our other readings today. Our second reading speaks about the power of the Word of God. Before heading into a battle, any soldier needs to check in with their commanding officer to see what the plan is, what the advance scouts have found out, where the traps are, what kind of enemy they’re facing. “One mile up on the right is a big tank, and to the left are land mines, and you’re going to need this certain type of weapon…” These are the instructions we receive from the Word of God – they are our battlefield map, our armory, our check-in with the Commander. Read it daily and prepare for the battle.

            Our Gospel gives us another powerful tool – prayer without ceasing. I wish we knew the power and absolutely desperate need we have for prayer! My brother was in the Navy, and as part of his basic training, he had to walk into a room with tear gas and take off his gas mask, breathing in the toxic fumes. He said it was pure torture for several minutes until he was able to put back it back on and breathe clean air.

            That’s how desperately we need God – He is our breath of fresh air in the midst of toxic culture. Prayer can’t be a five-minute afterthought, but the very motivating factor of our life. Because Satan is wiley with his temptations – anger one minute, arrogance the next, lust here, greed there. We cannot avoid the temptations, but we can keep our eyes fixed on the One we are living for. The only thing stronger than our temptations is our love – if we love God more than we love sin, we will be free of sin. If we cling to God, then our sins will not cling to us.

            Even the great saints were severely tempted, but through perseverance in prayer they triumphed. St. Anthony the Abbot was one of the first of the “desert fathers” – men who sought God as secluded hermits in the deserts of Egypt. He lived in a cave, fasted rigorously, and prayed unceasingly. But he was still tempted greatly. It is recorded in his biography, written by a saint who was a contemporary of his (St. Athanasius), that at times he had so many impure temptations that he felt like he was in the midst of a swarm of bees. Once as he traveled further into the desert, out of nowhere Satan gave him a mirage of a pile of gold coins in the path, with the suggestion to take some with him – who knows when he would need to use them? But he recognized that this was an attempt to get him to abandon his radical poverty. At every moment, Anthony covered himself in prayer, though. Finally, the Evil One appeared to him as fierce beasts, trying to cause him to abandon his vocation through fear. During one particularly severe temptation, St. Anthony cried out to the Lord, “Where have You been, O Jesus? Why did you not come to rescue me?” Jesus responded, “I was here, but I hid myself to see your struggle. And as you have not yielded to the temptation, I will be your helper forever.”

            Of course, there are so many other weapons against Satan that we have. The Vatican’s top exorcist, Fr. Gabriel Amorth, who did over 10,000 exorcisms in his lifetime, said that the two most powerful weapons against the devil are…Confession and the Eucharist. Last week we spoke about the Rosary being a powerful spiritual weapon. There are many others too, but if you start with daily prayer and the Scriptures, you’ll be on the right path.

            My friends, do you want to win the battle against evil? Do you want Christ’s Kingdom to come in your life and in your circle of influence? Turn to the Scriptures, and turn to daily, passionate prayer to arm yourself for the battle. Christ has won the war, but the battle for your soul is still undecided – until you decide to fight it with God at your right hand.

Homily for Ordinary Time 27 - October 2, 2022

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 27

October 2, 2022

The Incarnational Aspect of Faith

 

            Once when leading a bible study for middle schoolers, we were discussing a part of John’s Gospel where Jesus says, “It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh is of no avail.” I asked the kids what they thought it meant. One boy raised his hand and said, “I think it means that it doesn’t matter what you do with your body, as long as you believe in Jesus in your heart.” The boy next to him turned to him, incredulous, and said, “So it doesn’t matter if I punch you in the face?”

            We all had a good laugh, but it made an important point – what we do with our bodies matters. It is in and through our bodies that we do good works or commit sin; it is in and through our bodies that we grow in virtue or descend into vice.

            Our faith is essentially incarnational. God took flesh and was born in a human body, and this sanctified and elevated all of our bodies too. We believe that, as Christians, our bodies are “temples of the Holy Spirit” and thus we should glorify God in every aspect of our physical flesh. St. Paul even urges us to “make our bodies a living sacrifice” – that is, to offer our aches and pains, our recreation and our labor, to the Father as a sacrifice. God doesn’t need sacrifices of goats and calves; rather, He wants us to become a living sacrifice in the flesh. At the end of time, our bodies will rise again in a glorified form, to join in the reward of Heaven or the punishment of Hell.

            The Sacraments show us most clearly the connection between body and soul. Every Sacrament has a physical element – water for baptism, bread and wine which become the Body and Blood of Christ, the oil of chrism on our foreheads for Confirmation. Today’s second reading recounts how Paul ordained Timothy a priest – it was through the “laying on of hands” – it wasn’t just a prayer, but a physical action that sanctified him and actually changed his soul so that he became a priest.

            Even outside of the Sacraments, we have a very tangible faith, filled with things we can see and touch. We call these things sacramentals – objects that remind us of the invisible love of God. Crucifixes, Rosaries, holy water, statues, images, stained-glass windows, scapulars – all of these very physical items are reminders of God’s presence and what He has done for us. We need them in our lives and in our homes. After all, if something is out-of-sight it is often out-of-mind, so we constantly need reminders of who God is, who we are, and what we believe.

            Thus, we come to the Gospel – and we hear the Apostles cry out, “Lord, increase our faith!” Perhaps that’s the cry of your soul, too, if your faith is wavering or unsure. There are many ways to increase our faith (reading and studying the Word of God, more time for daily prayer, reading the Lives of the Saints, coming to the Sacraments more frequently) but one easy way is to fill our lives with concrete reminders of God’s endless presence and love. For too many people, we go Sunday to Sunday without thinking of God in-between…because we have nothing to remind us of Him. But if we have a crucifix in our living room, we remember His presence every time we look at it. If we wear a cross around our neck or a Miraculous Medal (a medal dedicated to Our Lady), then getting dressed in the morning is a reminder that He is with us always. If we carry a Rosary in our pocket, we are reminded to pray every time we reach for our cell phone or car keys. All of a sudden God becomes a part of our daily lives, because we have included physical sacramentals in our daily life. Our soul is shaped by what we put into our five senses.

            You may notice that we have some new furniture in our church – kneelers up front here. Starting this weekend, we have the opportunity to kneel to receive Holy Communion. Kneeling is completely optional – you are still welcome to stand for Communion – but for those who wish, this is a concrete, physical way of showing that we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. The Church as a whole – and certainly here at St. Jude’s – is in need of a Eucharistic revival, where we truly believe with our whole hearts and souls that this is not just a sign or symbol but is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. What better way to strengthen our faith in His Real Presence than to receive Him on our knees, recognizing that it is God Himself that we receive into our bodies. Our physical bodies should express our personal faith in His Real Presence.

            A non-Catholic was once asking a Catholic what he believed about the Eucharist. The Catholic responded that he believed it was truly Jesus Christ Himself – not a sign or symbol, but God hidden under the form of bread. The non-Catholic responded, “If I believed that God physically dwelt in my church, I would crawl into the church on my knees!” A poignant reminder that if we believe He is here, then our physical posture will reflect that reality.

            So, I encourage us, if our knees are good and healthy, to consider receiving Him kneeling. We can receive Him on the tongue, which is the ancient traditional way (another sign of reverence for such an incredible gift), or on the hand. Our faith is expressed through bodily actions, and the most fitting response to the true presence of God is to fall down on our knees and worship Him.

Homily for Ordinary Time 25 - September 18, 2022

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 25

September 18, 2022

No More Plastic Man

 

            St. John Cansius was a Polish priest who was a college professor in the 1400s. Along with his incredible intellect, he was a profoundly simple and humble man. One day, he was making a journey on-foot to another town when he encountered several robbers who beat him and stole his knapsack. They brutally asked him if he had anything else, but finally left when he insisted when he had no more money.

            He had walked another mile when he remembered that he had a few coins in a hidden pocket inside of his clothes. Quickly he ran after the robbers and told them that he did indeed have more money, and offered it to them. The robbers were so struck by his honesty that they quickly returned everything they had stolen, and departed with their heads hanging in shame.

            Honesty and integrity should be the hallmark of every Christian. Honesty means being truthful in words; integrity means being truthful in our life. Lies are always from the Evil One, whom Scripture calls the “Father of Lies” – but by contrast, Jesus calls Himself the Truth. Those who follow Him must speak and live Truth.

            So…is Jesus then complimenting this dishonest steward? I have heard many interpretations of this parable, but the one that makes the most sense to me is that both the steward and the master were dishonest, by overcharging these debtors. When the servant is let go, he decides to right the wrong that he helped perpetrate, by bringing down the debts to their rightful amount…which also had the added benefit of ingratiating him to the debtors, guaranteeing a job once he was let go. The master admired the stewards’ shrewdness – the steward may have gained less money from this plan, but he gained something much more valuable: the respect of his peers and hope for the future. In context, this is what Jesus is praising – the steward being willing to make a sacrifice of money for a greater good – as Jesus wants us to be willing to use the things of this world in such a way that we actually pursue the greatest good of eternal life.

            The virtue of integrity, then, orders our entire life to pursue the highest good. That means that we are a Christian in every aspect of our life: our work life is done for Christ; our romantic life is in accords with God’s beautiful plan; our recreation gives Him glory; our school life is done for His praise; even our internet presence is infused with God. Integrity means that we’re the same person on Monday morning and Friday nights as we are on Sunday morning; that we’re the same person with our grandmother that we are with our football buddies.

            It might be easiest to see integrity as contrasted to its opposite, which is being two-faced or duplicitous. But it becomes impossible to wear two faces for long – as the American author Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote, “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true one.” Much wisdom there!

            An older friend of mine used to have a saying whenever he encountered someone duplicitous: “I can see right through you, Plastic-Man.” The idea is that until Christ penetrates every aspect of our life, then our faith is only skin-deep. If our souls are truly transformed by grace, it will necessarily radiate to every aspect, not just our Sunday morning activities.

            My vocation was sparked by a priest who had incredible integrity. His name was Fr. Michael Sliney, and he used to run retreats for high school boys. He was an incredible athlete with a passion for soccer, and he was so much better than all of us high-schoolers. And he wouldn’t go easy on us, either – he would run circles around us with a cutthroat desire to win!

            But one day we were on our monthly retreat, and all the boys were playing soccer. Fr. Michael was standing off the side of the field, with a look of conquest in his eyes. I could tell that he was absolutely chomping the bit to get in. But instead, he did a surprising thing. He turned away, pulled out his Rosary, and began walking down the path praying the Rosary. He thought no one saw him, but I saw him, and I thought to myself – that man loves Jesus more than soccer, more than anything in this world. I want to be like that man. Integrity is being a Christian when no one’s looking.

            Jesus says something interesting at the end of today’s Gospel. He says that if we are trustworthy, we will be entrusted with true wealth. He can only give His greatest spiritual gifts – like intimacy in prayer, overcoming of sin, the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and so much more – to those who are men and women of integrity, who seek to allow Him to penetrate the depths of their being and who don’t live shadow-lives. St. John Vianney once told the story of a saint who had a vision of Jesus during Mass. As Communion was being distributed, the saint saw Jesus standing before the altar with His arms full of amazing gifts of grace, looking for souls to distribute them to – but He could only give them to a soul who was trustworthy, that is, a soul living in integrity.

            This morning, my challenge is to consider how well we live this virtue. Are there times, places, or situations in our lives where Christ is not yet welcome? And how can we better invite Christ into these places?

            No more plastic men. Let’s be men and women of integrity – Christian, not just in name, but in reality, through and through.

Homily for Ordinary Time 24 - September 11, 2022

 

Homily for September 11, 2022

Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Confession: The Road to Healing

 

            St. John Climacus was a seventh-century Egyptian Catholic monk whose famous book “The Ladder of Divine Ascent” tells many edifying stories of his life in the monastery. He recounts that on one occasion, a notorious thief presented himself to the abbot, hoping to join the monastery. The abbot warned him that, because of his former sinful way of life, he would have to confess his sins publicly if he wished to enter the monastery. The thief, truly desiring repentance, declared that he’d be willing to confess his sins in the marketplace of Alexandria if that meant God would forgive him.

            So, the thief was admitted to the monastery on a trial basis. When Sunday came, the abbot gathered the entire monastery in the church for Sunday Mass, but he interrupted the Mass in the middle of it and called the thief to the center of the church. Strong monks grabbed this former sinner and threw him on the ground before the altar. The abbot struck fear in the heart of all when he cried out, “You are not worthy to enter here! What evil have you done?” Through tears of sorrow the man confessed the most horrible sins – lust, greed, even poisoning others. This public confession went on for some time, with loud wails and tears. When he had finished his public confession, the abbot instructed the monks to raise him up and clothe him with the religious habit (garment).

            Afterward, St. John Climacus asked the wise abbot why he made him make such a public show of his repentance. The abbot replied, “It was for two reasons. First, now that he has suffered the shame of confessing, he will never again suffer future shame for his sins. And second, because some of the brothers in the monastery also have hidden sins, and this will encourage them to confess them openly and honestly, thereby leading to freedom.” St. John replied, “Ah yes, I see your wisdom. And as the penitent man confessed the sins, I beheld an angel holding a scroll of the man’s sins. When each one was confessed, the angel crossed out the sin, until the scroll was completely clean.”

            Thus is the power of Confession! We should be grateful that our Confessions can be private – many confessions in the early church were public confessions, especially if the sin was known in public. It wasn’t until the seventh or eighth century that all Confessions became private – in large part because of the Irish people. When missionaries brought Christianity to Ireland, they found that the Irish were rather unruly people, and they would refuse to confess if it had to be done in public. So the missionaries made all confessions private from that time on, and it became the custom of the Church – for which we are immensely grateful!

            It was Jesus’ will to pour out His mercy and to reconcile sinners to Himself through the Sacrament of Confession. These beautiful parables of the Lord’s mercy show how lavish this mercy seeks sinners – of which we all are. But that Sacrament has fallen out of favor in recent decades – so here are six awesome reasons to go to Confession!

            First, because we need to hear those words “I absolve you.” Imagine that we have hurt a friend. We may feel really bad about it, and regret it, but we’re not reconciled until we hear the friend say, “I forgive you.” In the same way, we may feel bad about our sins and regret them, but we are truly reconciled when we hear those words, “I absolve you” – it is Jesus, through the priest, welcoming us back into His arms!

            Second, because we gain free advice! A Jewish psychologist was once chatting with Cardinal Dolan from New York, and the psychologist said, “If your confession thing really catches on, I’ll be out of a job!” He went on to explain, “I listen to people’s troubles all day long, most of which are caused by bad choices. I give them advice, but charge $200 an hour, and can’t even forgive them at the end of the day!” If I really want to grow in virtue, it is critical to have a spiritual guide to give advice on how to overcome our sins – hence, the role of the priest in Confession, as a spiritual doctor giving advice to the soul!

            Third, to help us grow in humility. The root of all sin is pride, so the antidote is humility. And there is nothing that humbles us like having to confess our failings to another fallen human being. Humility is knowing who we are before God, and who we are is sinners redeemed by the lavish, freeing mercy of God.

            Fourth, we confess so that we become honest with ourselves. We all have a tendency to rationalize away our sins. We say, “I’m sorry I cut that person off in traffic…but they deserved it!” Or we say, “Oh, it’s not a big deal if I miss Mass on Sunday.” But when we honestly confess our sins, we can’t rationalize it away – we have to honestly confront that what we did really mattered – and that we are sorry, and God can forgive it. There is a joke in the church that every Hispanic woman’s confession starts the same way: “Oh Padre, tengo problemas con me esposo!” (Oh, Father, I have many problems with my husband!) And then the wife blames all her sins on her bad husband! But confessions helps us to stop doing that – the problem isn’t with this person or that person, it is with me – and this is the first step toward true freedom.

            Fifth, so that we are reconciled back to the Church. Sin doesn’t just hurt the sinner – it wounds the entire Body of Christ. Certainly many sins directly harm others – perhaps insulting a person, or stealing…but even sins that seem to be harmless, like thinking an uncharitable or impure thought, bring down others because it makes us not as holy as we should be, which makes the Church not as holy as it should be! Taking a bucket of water out of a lake may not seem to make much of a difference, but if a thousand people took a bucket, the water level would drop significantly. Likewise, if we are all saints, the holiness level of the whole church will rise and shine forth…but if we are all sinners, we taint the Church’s holiness. Hence, we need to be reconciled, not just to Jesus, but to the whole Church…which is why we confess to the Church’s minister in the priest!

            Sixth, because Jesus said so! On the night He rose from the dead – Easter Sunday evening – He appeared to His Apostles, and what did He give them? Words of wisdom? A miracle? No, He gave them the power to forgive sins. He said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven.” He gave the Sacrament of Confession to the Apostles, who were the first bishops, who then passed it down through the Church until now.

            Some of us say, “Oh, well, I’m a good person, I don’t need to go to Confession.” But have you ever had a window that you thought was clean, but once the sun started shining directly on it we notice smudges and streaks? In the same way, when we approach the Light of Christ, He reveals the ways that we have fallen short – not to condemn us, but to cleanse us deeper!

            As we begin this new school year, Confession is a great way to make a new start. Before and after every Mass this weekend, Confessions are being offered. If it’s been a while, come to Confession. If you missed Sunday Mass this summer, come to Confession (even before coming to Communion). If you want to grow in holiness, come to Confession. It’s a Sacrament for everyone – because we are all the lost sheep, the lost coin, the Prodigal Son – we are all the one that Christ is seeking.