Ordinary Time 22 - What's In It For Me?

 

Homily for September 3, 2023

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

What’s In It For Me?

 

            St. Theresa of Avila didn’t have an easy calling. As a Carmelite nun she was very frustrated by the laxity and lukewarmness of the convent. Back in those days, many women would join the convent simply because they couldn’t find a husband, so sometimes their motives were less-than-holy. So God called St. Theresa to set about reforming the Carmelite order, urging them to pray and fast and sacrifice and stop gadding about in the world – which gained her quite a few enemies. Reforming an institution is definitely a hard task!

            One day she was traveling from one convent to another, on yet another mission to bring them back to faithfulness to God. The bridge, however, had been wiped away by a flood and she and her companions were forced to try to cross the raging river on stones. She got halfway across and lost her balance, and fell into the mud. In frustration she cried out, “O God, when will you stop putting obstacles in my path?” Jesus actually spoke to her and said, “My daughter, this is how I treat all My friends.” To which St. Theresa responded, “If this is how You treat your friends, it’s no wonder You have so few!”

            CS Lewis once said, “Christianity doesn’t take away suffering, it gives us a reason to endure it.” Misfortunes and hardship are a part of daily life – in fact, it’s the default. We tend to think that life should be easy, comfortable, and convenient, and that if it’s not, something must be wrong. But it’s actually the opposite – life is usually pretty hard, and we are incredibly blessed when it’s not. As Fulton Sheen once said, “Only a nation that recognizes sweat, toil, hardship, and sacrifice are normal aspects of life can save itself.”

            And this is ever true in our relationship with God. To follow Jesus Christ is to embrace the Cross – and this was rather jarring to Simon Peter. Remember, Jesus had just asked His disciples who He was, and Peter gave the correct answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” For this insight of faith, Jesus entrusted the entire Church to Him: “Upon this Rock of your faith I will build My Church, and I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!”

            I bet that made Peter feel like pretty great stuff. Not only did he get the quiz question right of Jesus’ identity, he then gets promoted to the Vicar of Christ, the second-in-command to the Lord of all creation, the one who will be able to lock and unlock the very gates of Heaven! Pretty cool…and then Jesus says, “Oh, and by the way, I’m going to be crucified…and you will be too.”

            Naturally, Peter says, “Hold up a minute!” Yes, he’s concerned about Jesus, but I’m sure he’s also a bit concerned about his own legacy, his newfound authority, those awesome promises Jesus made to him. He wonders, “What’s in it for me?” He was having second thoughts when those awesome promises of power and prestige also involve crucifixion! As it turned out, Peter was crucified…in 64 AD, he was arrested by the Emperor Nero and crucified, but he said that he was unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord, so they crucified him upside-down instead.

            Many Christians have that same attitude towards their daily walk with Jesus: “What’s in it for me?” For example, recently a man complained, “I keep coming to church and praying every day, and my 401K keeps going down. What more do I have to do?” Well, are you praying to preserve your 401K from tanking, or are you praying to get to know Jesus? Are you coming to Mass just so that your cancer will be healed, or to surrender your life to the Lord?

            There is an answer to the question of “What’s in it for me?” – and the answer is Jesus. He doesn’t promise riches or success or good health or popularity…in fact, He promises quite the opposite. He promises the Cross…and He promises that with the Cross comes Himself. He often wants to strip away everything else so that the presence of Jesus is all we need, all we desire.

            I’ve told this story before, but it’s worth retelling…Mother Teresa was once taking care of woman who was dying and in great pain. The great saint was telling the woman that when she was suffering, she was so close to Jesus on the Cross that He could kiss her. The woman replied, “Please tell Jesus to stop kissing me!” But a profound truth – the Cross is where we find Jesus, and He is all we need.

            And the Christian life is nothing less than the Cross. Coming to Mass when you’d rather sleep in is the Cross. Praying when you’d rather watch TV is the Cross. Practicing humility is the Cross. Being faithful to your spouse is the Cross. Being obedient to your parents is the Cross. Standing out from the crowd is the Cross. Patience is the Cross, chastity is the Cross. There’s no escaping it. To be a good Catholic is to embrace the sufferings that come with our faith in Him. After all, we’re following a Lord who chose to reign from the Cross, with thorns as His crown, nails as His royal scepter, spittle as His kingly robes, mocking from evil men as the only accolades He received.

            What’s in it for us? Nothing but the Cross…and with the Cross, the joy of possessing Jesus.

Ordinary Time 19 - Overwhelmed?

 

Homily for August 13, 2023

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Overwhelmed

 

            The poor nun from Chicago just wanted to walk. She had suffered from a myriad of illnesses in her few short years in the convent, but when she slipped on a wet floor and injured her back, the doctors predicted she would never walk again. She turned to the Lord and made a promise: if she could walk again, she would start a convent in the deep South, which was lacking a Catholic presence. Miraculously, although the doctors predicted otherwise, she woke up one day completely cured. But the problem remained: she had no idea how to build a convent.

            Years passed as she began to get approval. She and a few other nuns finally moved to Alabama, where only 2% of the population was Catholic and there was a great deal of anti-Catholic sentiment. In fact, the nuns were shot at by locals, the convent was continually vandalized, but through prayer and love, the convent flourished. But then God called once more.

            This young nun happened to be visiting Chicago again when she stumbled upon a Baptist television station. Immediately, God put a burning desire on her heart to form a Catholic television station. Problem was: she had a mere $200 in the bank, and only had a high school education. Yet if this was God’s will, nothing could stop it. From the convent garage, they began recording Catholic TV programs and in 1981 went live with four hours of TV programs daily. And this is how Mother Angelica, perhaps the most unlikely soul, founded the EWTN Catholic media network, the largest Catholic media empire in the world.

            If God calls us to do something, He will give us the graces to do it, no matter how difficult it may seem. If God invites you to walk on water, you can do it, but only if you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. Peter was overwhelmed when he took his eyes off of Christ, because he was being asked to do something that is only possible with Christ.

            Today I want to mention two things that God is definitely calling you to do, which are hugely overwhelming aspects of the Christian life that we can’t do on our own.

            First, He wants you to live out your own vocation, whether it be marriage or the single life. Think about what these vocations really entail: marriage means that you have the duty to love this person sacrificially, faithfully, and to help them get to Heaven. Having children means that we have a duty to prepare their souls for eternity! Living a single life in the world means that we must live Christ-like in the midst of a culture that doesn’t support holiness, avoiding temptation and growing in virtue. Living your Christian vocation authentically is absolutely overwhelming!

            I once celebrated a wedding where the bride had a panic attack during my homily – she recognized the huge commitment she was making! When I spoke with her husband a couple weeks later, he mentioned, “Yeah, I had my own panic-moment the morning after the wedding when I woke up and realized, what have I done?” It can be overwhelming to be in a challenging marriage, or to raise teenagers, or to deal with newfound grief when we become widowed, or to make sure the single life is lived in a holy manner. Like Peter, we find that our vocations are too much for our strength.

            But with our eyes fixed on Christ, He can empower us to do the impossible. I know people who say, “Oh, I could never have another kid…oh, I can’t live with my spouse any more…oh I could never bring Christ to my workplace and invite my friends to church.” But that’s false! A lie of the Evil One! We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us! Peter couldn’t walk on water, either, but with the power of Jesus, he did. Goodness, I can’t change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord on my own – but with Christ’s power in me, I can! So, whatever vocation God has called you to, He will give you the grace to live it out with radical generosity, in holiness.

            Like Peter, we must look to Jesus Christ. It’s not rocket science – we find Him first and foremost in the Sacraments. If you need help in your marriage or in raising kids, ask Christ for the grace of the Sacrament of Matrimony to be activated in your soul. If you need help overcoming the temptations of the single life and using it wisely, ask Christ for the grace of Confirmation to be reactivated. We can always come to the Eucharist and gain from Him the strength to live our vocations well.

            In addition to the Sacraments, we also keep our eyes on Him in our prayer life. Have you brought your marriage, your kids, your overwhelming job, your loneliness, your struggles, to Christ in prayer? Not just asking Him to bless these things, but truly surrendering them to Him? God, take my marriage…take my kids…take my entire life. Your will be done. Sometimes we need to bring our marriages, our kids, our work to God continually, for years, as we struggle and fight to pursue holiness in our difficult vocations. But with our eyes fixed on Christ, these challenges won’t seem so overwhelming.

            A second call from God is for each one of us to overcome our sins and seek holiness. We can also sometimes feel overwhelmed when we try to overcome our flaws. Maybe we’ve been wrestling with our temper for years, or struggling with lust, or grappling with an uncontrollable tongue, or in the midst of an addiction to alcohol. We sometimes think, “Oh, I’ll never be able to master this.” Again, a lie from the Evil One! It is for freedom that Christ set us free, says St. Paul. You may not be able to master it, but He can. Sometimes we think that if we just try harder or have a different mindset, we can overcome these things. But no – we need Christ to do the work in us.

            But what is the first two of the Twelve Steps in Alcoholics Anonymous? Admitting that we are powerless, and believing that a Higher Power can heal us. And keeping our eyes fixed on Christ, again, requires the Sacraments and prayer. First, regular Confession and Eucharist – we can’t overcome sins without the forgiveness of Confession and the strengthening in the Eucharist. Then, prayer. St. Augustine once wrote, “There is no remedy so powerful against [temptations] as the remembrance of our Savior’s Passion. In all my difficulties I never found anything so efficacious as the wounds of Christ: In them I sleep secure; from them I derive new life.”

            The truth is, the holy Christian life is much like walking on water – humanly impossible, but still what Christ invites us to. And we can all become saints if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.

Feast of the Transfiguration - August 6, 2023

 

Homily for August 6, 2023

Feast of the Transfiguration

The Scandal and Its Remedy

 

            Why does Jesus perform this incredible miracle? For a brief moment, the veil was dropped and His Apostles were able to see Him as He truly is – true God, the perfect reflection of the Father, the Glorious One. But why? It wasn’t just to show off – it was to prepare the Apostles for the trial they were about to undergo.

            In a few short weeks, Jesus would undergo His Passion and death – and the Apostles will be shaken to their core. Who is this Man? We thought He was the Savior, the Redeemer – and here He is, hanging upon a Cross, spat upon, rejected, put to death. The Transfiguration is meant to strengthen their Faith in Him, knowing that it would be shaken at the Cross.

            St. Paul talks about the “scandal of the Cross.” The word scandal comes from the Greek “skandalon” meaning “stumbling block”. The Crucifixion of the Son of God was such a stumbling block to belief in Jesus that the early church didn’t even portray it in art. The first paintings of Jesus were not of Him on the Cross, but of Him as the Good Shepherd. In fact, the very first depiction that connects Jesus to the Cross was a mockery – there is a graffiti carving from around the year 200 which depicts a man worshipping a donkey-headed figure on a Cross, with the inscription beneath it, “Alexamenos worships his god”. It was a common mockery for pagans – they thought Christians were utterly absurd to worship a God who would suffer the ultimate humiliation of the Cross.

            So the Transfiguration was a necessary antidote. Yes, Jesus will suffer the ultimate penalty, but that’s not the end of the story – He really will gloriously triumph. Peter, James, and John – you guys just have to hang on and keep faith in Him until He reveals His glory to the world. During those dark times of the Passion, the memory of Christ’s glory could remind them of Who He really is.

            For us too, the Cross can be a scandal when it hits our own lives. It can be a stumbling block in our relationship with God. When we are hit with some suffering, we can be tempted to say, “Is God really there? Does He really love me?” Whether it be an illness or death, the loss of a job, natural disasters, or just the wear-and-tear of everyday life, suffering has a way of weakening our faith.

            So the key is, like the disciples, to go back and remember God’s blessings. We too have seen many signs of God’s presence and love. The times we have experienced love…the material gifts we have…the times we have experienced goodness or beauty…the blessings of our family and friends…all that the Lord has done for us in our Catholic Faith. When we are suffering, we need to “remember the works of the Lord”, as the Scriptures urge us to do. When we are in the valley, we remember what we experienced on the mountaintop.

            In the 800s there was a young noblewoman named Richardis who entered into an arranged marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles (whose actual name was Charles the Fat…I sure am glad that we don’t name people like that any more!). Richardis was very devout and strong in her faith, going to Mass daily and keeping a solid life of prayer and works of charity.

            After twenty years of marriage, Charles began to wonder if all that time she was going to “church” was really a ruse for an affair. He formally accused her of cheating on him. Of course, she maintained her innocence. So he proposed a challenge – the ordeal of fire. This was a thing they used to do in the middle ages – she would walk through a bonfire, and if she was truly innocent, the flames wouldn’t hurt her. Yikes!

            Her whole world was crumbling – her husband had turned against her, and her very life was in jeopardy. When everything crumbled, would her faith crumble too? Were all those prayers for nothing? Was God even real? I’m sure she wondered these things as she faced the bonfire that would seal her fate. But the God Who was there with her in the chapel was also with her in the fire. She walked through the fire, and according to eyewitnesses, the fire parted to allow her to walk through without harm.

            Unfortunately the end of the story is a little odd, as Charles refused to take her back as his wife, and Richardis lived out the rest of her life in prayer on the grounds of a local convent. But when her faith was tested by the Cross, she remembered the faithfulness of God.

            I close with the powerful words of St. Francis de Sales:

            God has guided you thus far in life, and He will lead you safely through all trial and when you cannot stand it, God will hide you in His arms. Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you then and every day. He will either shield you from suffering, or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

            The scandal of the Cross can be endured if we remember the mighty blessings of the Lord. He Who has blessed you in prosperity will strengthen you in adversity.