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!