Homily for Ordinary Time 22 - August 28, 2022

 

Homily for August 28, 2022

Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

Hidden Giver

 

            Some of you may know the story, but it’s worth retelling how St. Nicholas became associated with the gift-giving Santa Claus. St. Nicholas was a real-life bishop of Myra, Turkey back in the fourth century, and he was known to be concerned with both the spiritual and the material needs of his flock. One day he heard of a man with three daughters who could not afford to marry them off. Back in those days, a father needed to pay a “dowry” to give his daughters in marriage, but this man was so poor that they had no ability to pay.

            So, according to the story, Bishop Nicholas came to the man’s house at night and threw a bag of gold down his chimney. This was enough for the first daughter to be married. Then, a few years later, he tossed another bag of gold for the second daughter, then another bag for the third. In this way, St. Nicholas became known as a man of vast generosity, leading to his connection to another man who brings gifts down chimneys.

            St. Nicholas – and Jesus – show us the proper way to give: without expecting anything in return, anonymously if possible. This shows that we are motivated by love for God, and not for human praise.

            But this can be challenging! Sometimes in marriage, the temptation is to do an act of service to our spouse…so that we can get something from them. “Honey, I did the dishes for a week, so you should let me go on my hunting trip…dear, I did this or that for you, so I should be allowed a new pair of shoes.” Kids can sometimes do that to their parents – “I’ll do the chores for you as long as you drive me to the mall or get me that new toy.”

            This falls short of the beautiful but challenging ideal of the Gospel. Do we really believe that our hidden acts of service to others do not go unnoticed by God? Do we really believe that He will repay us? So many times we do acts of service or give generous gifts only hoping for an earthly return. But true charity is motivated solely out of love – I love God, and this person is made in His image, so it is worth it to do the dishes for them even if they don’t thank me, or reward me, or even acknowledge that I did anything.

            After all, this is exactly how God acted with us. The Blessed Trinity was completely happy by themselves – they didn’t need anyone or anything, as their joy and delight was complete. But out of absolute generosity, the Father decided to create us – not because He got anything out of it, but simply out of love. He continues to shower so many blessings anonymously – the blessings of food, water, our very life – and so often does not get recognized as the Giver of all these good gifts. And even when He sent His Son to die for us, Jesus did not receive any greater happiness or glory because of His death. Rather, He did it solely to benefit us, with no thought of any benefit for Himself.

            So my challenge to you this week is to find ways to bless others anonymously, without seeking any recognition or thanks – and have the faith to believe that God sees it, delights in it, and will reward us. As St. Augustine put it so succinctly, “Give of your earthly gifts, and receive eternal ones…give earth and receive Heaven!”

Homily for Ordinary Time 21 - August 21, 2022 - Who Can Be Saved?

 

Ordinary Time 21

August 21, 2022

Who Can Be Saved?

 

            St. John Bosco was a priest in Turin, Italy during the mid-1800s. While he was still a seminarian, he befriended another seminarian named Louis Comollo, who was a great example of holiness. The two of them used to read lives of the saints together and speak about the joys of Heaven.

            One day, after a conversation about Heaven, they decided to make an interesting agreement. They swore to each other that the first one of them to die would, if God allowed it, let the other one know whether the deceased one was saved. They even wrote this promise down as a contract, signed it, and told others about it.

            Tragically, Louis fell ill and died at only 22 years of age. The evening after his funeral, St. John Bosco was getting ready for bed when he and his fellow seminarians heard – and felt – a loud rumble like the sound of thunder from out in the hall. It shook the building so strongly that several seminarians actually fell out of bed. They huddled together in terror as the roar got closer and closer. From out of the roar came a voice, which declared, “Bosco, I am saved!” Three times this phrase was said, and then the noise faded away. Everyone was so afraid that even St. John Bosco almost passed out. Later on, Bosco would say that it was the most terrifying moment of his life, and he discouraged anyone else from making such a promise!

            What a joy it would be to be saved! Not only a joy for us, but a joy for the Heart of God, for He is a good Father, and as St. Paul writes, “God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.” He invites every human being to spend eternity with Him, and the Church officially teaches that everyone receives enough grace to be saved.

            But is it guaranteed that all will be saved? Not at all. We can always reject that invitation, spurn His grace. In fact, Jesus speaks more about Hell than anyone else in the Bible. It is a reality, and it’s not empty.

            Sometimes as Americans, we believe in an idea called “Universalism” – the false belief that all will be saved. Universalism is the idea that God’s love is so great that at the end of time, even the worst sinner will go to Heaven. But this has been condemned as a heresy since the sixth century.

            So some people believe in quasi-universalism, or as I like to call it, “Not-Hitlerism” – the belief that everyone goes to Heaven unless you’re basically Hitler. But this, too, is not the teaching of the Church. The Church teaches that one unrepentant mortal sin is enough for a soul to lose its salvation.

            Also, the testimony of the Church acknowledges that salvation is not universal – there are souls in Hell. For example, Our Lady appeared to four children in Garabandal, Spain, in the 1960s and the children asked Our Lady where most souls go upon death. She revealed that the majority of people go to Purgatory, a good number go to Hell, and the fewest go directly to Heaven. In the apparitions of Fatima, the three shepherd children saw a vision of a Hell that was quite populated. Saints like St. Faustina, St. John Bosco, St. Theresa of Avila, and many more have had visions of this terrible place of torment.

            So we have to ask the question – why would God send anyone there? He doesn’t. We choose it freely. Love requires freedom. If God were to force us to love Him, it wouldn’t be love. Think of when you were a child and your mom told you to go give Aunt Gertrude a kiss. We would roll our eyes, sigh, and go over and give her a kiss. Is that love? Does it mean a whole lot? No, because it’s not done in freedom. Love requires freedom to be authentic.

            So Our Lord gives us the freedom to accept or reject His love, to accept or reject His grace, to accept or reject His offer of everlasting life. The choice is up to us. Why would anyone choose to reject such a grace? Because it’s costly. It’s the “narrow way” of prayer, sacrifice, self-denial, love…when the “broad way” of the pleasures of the flesh, the arrogance of pride, and the glories of this world are, frankly, more easy and attractive.

            When I was growing up and would go on a Boy Scout campout, my dad was great about making sure I got to Mass. Truthfully I liked going to Mass, and it sometimes helped that I got to skip cleaning up dirty pots and pans to go there. On one campout, my dad picked me up at a certain place, took me to Mass, and drove me back to the campsite, which meant I got to miss a brutal four-mile hike up a torturous mountain. When I arrived back, a fellow scout named Chris asked me, “Where have you been?” I told him I went to Mass. He shot back, “You missed the hike because of Mass?” I nodded, and he added, “I would rather hike forty miles than go to Mass.” I was floored – he would rather do anything than be in the presence of a loving God and to receive His Body and Blood? Sadly yes, and there are many who would rather do anything else than be with God. Some would rather scroll their phones for hours on end than spend a few minutes with God in prayer; many who would rather stay addicted to lust instead of take the steps necessary to be pure; many who would rather buy a Maserati than give a bit of money to the poor. The broad road is easy; the narrow road is hard.

            Now, why do I speak about all this? Because this life matters, as it determines where we will spend the rest of eternity. Don’t indulge these eighty or ninety years on earth and miss out on an eternity with God, our true Happiness!

            But the good news of all this is that God desperately wants us to be saved! He wants it so badly that He died for us to be with Him! And He has given us every tool necessary to be saved. He has given us the Sacraments, especially monthly Confession and frequent devout reception of Holy Communion; He has given us the Bible and the Church to teach us the way to holiness; He has given us the riches of prayer like the Rosary and Adoration; He has given us the examples of the saints; He has encouraged us to sacrifice and deny ourselves for others; He has given us the poor for whom we can do works of mercy.

            All we need to do is use these tools, seek holiness, and stay close to Jesus Christ – and we have nothing to worry about. He will obtain our salvation for us, if we cling to Him. But we must not let these tools sit idle, because the “broad way” of destruction is pretty tempting…but it’s the “narrow way” that leads to life.

Homily for Ordinary Time 20 - August 14, 2022

 

Homily for Ordinary Time Twenty

August 14, 2022

Standing for Truth

 

            Many years ago I was at a Confirmation ceremony with Cardinal Edwin O’Brien from Baltimore. As part of the ceremony, the pastor asks all the kids to be confirmed to stand. They stood up, everyone applauded appreciatively, and then Cardinal O’Brien asked them to remain standing. The cardinal came to the center of the sanctuary and stood there, just looking at them in silence. The seconds stretched into minutes as the kids stood silently, the cardinal stood silently, and things started to get awkward.

            Finally, Cardinal O’Brien said, “Tonight you are standing for something. Never forget Who you are standing for. Please be seated.”

            It was a moment I’ve never forgotten. They were standing, in public, declaring that they believe in Jesus Christ. He is certainly worth standing for.

            As the old saying goes, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Unfortunately many people don’t have much more to stand for than for a comfortable life for themselves.

            But Jesus offers us a stark warning: to stand for Him means often to stand alone, against family and friends and society as a whole. After all, we are following a King Who Himself was rejected by His closest friends. Truth is controversial in a world of lies, and so Jesus Who is Truth Itself finds Himself in opposition to the world.

            I love that powerful scene from Jesus’ trial when He stands before Pilate, and Pilate asks Him, “So You are a King?” Jesus responds, “For this I have come, to bear witness to the Truth.” And Pilate asks the age-old question: “What is Truth?”

            Here we have two views of the world: Jesus, claiming to be King and Lord, and Pilate, rejecting that claim. These are still the fundamental visions of the world: either Jesus is Lord, or we are. Either a God-centered worldview, or a secular worldview. Either God established the world and its laws, and we must humbly obey those laws; or we are the ones who define life and marriage and gender and meaning and purpose. Either we submit to the Lord’s loving Kingship, or we rebel against it and do whatever we want. All of our choices and thoughts fall into one of these two categories – either a universe based on God, or a universe with us at the center.

            When there are conflicting visions of the world, we get di-vision – division. Jesus is only warning us that division is going to happen. And many of us have already suffered division because we hold to Jesus as Lord. I have a friend who was peacefully praying a Rosary for an end to abortion at a rally, and a man came up and spit on her. I know a friend who has been open to life and generous with their family size, and they often get snide remarks like, “Are those all yours? You’re done, right? Save some resources for the rest of humanity!” When I told my family I was becoming a priest, my brother (an atheist) commented, “You’re wasting your life!” There will be division because there are competing visions of what the world is.

            But it’s worth it to live for the Truth. In the mid-1900s, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was one of the few people who spoke out against Communism in Russia. He wrote “Live Not By Lies,” an essay that said it was better to suffer for the Truth than to live by lies – he paid for that essay which criticized Stalin with eight years in the Communist Gulag labor-camp, followed by exile. But is it not better to suffer for truth than to live comfortably in lies?

            The people who lived this best were the martyrs. The word “martyr”, in Greek, means “witness” – the more-than-50-million martyrs for Christ witnessed, by the shedding of their blood, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that Heaven is real. These men, women, and children stood – and died – for Truth. And now they are living in a world where there are no more illusions, no more lies.

            One of my favorite martyrs is St. Thomas More. His death took place in merry old England, under the reign of King Henry VIII. The King hadn’t produced a son with his wife Catherine, so he divorced her and sought to marry his mistress Anne Boleyn. The Pope told him that it was wrong to be divorced and remarried, for in the eyes of God, he was still married to Catherine – a civil divorce doesn’t dissolve a sacramental marriage. In anger, King Henry VIII declared that he would be the head of the Church in England, and required all of his nobles to sign an oath of loyalty, declaring that the King, not the Pope, was the head of the Church.

            All of his nobles cared only about their own political futures and comfort and happiness, and the peer pressure was so strong, that only one solitary man refused to sign the oath – the King’s chancellor, Sir Thomas More. Thomas had a lot to lose – he was the second-in-command in the Kingdom, wealthy, married with four children.

            The King prevailed upon Sir Thomas, begging him to sign the oath due to their long friendship. He promised him wealth, riches, and greater favors. But Thomas knew that the Pope was the spiritual head of the Church, not the King, and he could not violate what he knew to be the Truth. So the King tried to persuade him with torture, locking him up in the Tower of London. The King sent in his wife and daughter, to try to convince him to sign the oath. Imagine how difficult it was for Sir Thomas to see his wife and daughter, whom he loved dearly, and have to choose to stay faithful to Truth. Yet his heart and soul was made up – it was worth it to lose everything to stand for Christ.

            And lose everything, he did. He was eventually beheaded for his steadfast faith, and his final words were, “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”

            He knew that Jesus Christ was King of the World, the founder of the Church, the promiser of everlasting life – and thus, worth dying for. King Henry thought that he, the adulterous king, was the center of the universe.

            My friends, there will be division if we stand for Truth, because we live in a world of competing visions – a vision where Jesus is Lord of all, and a false vision where man is the center of everything. But despite what it may cost, it’s worth it to stand for Christ, to live for Christ, even to die for Christ.