Ordinary Time 21 - Divine Institution of the Church

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 21

August 22, 2026

The Divine Institution of the Church

 

            In 1939, Pope Pius XI was growing older. Knowing that he would soon pass away and he wanted his tomb to be in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, workmen began digging out a new niche in the crypt when a pickaxe struck something unexpected – air. The space behind the crypt of the world-famous Basilica was empty! Upon Pius XI’s passing, the next pope Pius XII authorized a secret excavation of the area beneath St. Peter’s.

            Archeologists found second-century houses, tombs, and streets, and then something unexpected: a small marble monument over a marble box. The inscription on the monument read, in Greek: “Peter is within”!

            They began to excavate fervently, and found the box to contain human skeletons – one of which was wrapped in purple and gold cloth, containing the remains of a large man who died in his 60s or 70s. The results were sent to several non-Catholic scholars, who all verified that these were indeed the remains of Simon Peter – found about two stories beneath the high altar in his Basilica. Indeed, the Church has been built upon the Rock of St. Peter – even his bones!

            But it was not Peter or the other Apostles who themselves built the Catholic Church. It was Christ alone who built the Church, which He makes clear in two ways in the Scriptures. When Peter makes his famous profession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God”, Jesus tells him that it is not flesh and blood that revealed it to him, but the Heavenly Father. He’s saying that what Peter is articulating – and all the teachings His Church will teach throughout the ages – are ultimately not from man, but from God.

            Jesus then says, “I will build My Church.” Not, “Peter, you have to gather a bunch of like-minded individuals to come and follow me” or “Ya know, it’d be a lot easier to be a disciple if you all just incorporated yourselves into a 501-c3 and planned weekly get-togethers.” No – this is Christ’s Church, not Peter’s Church or Pope Leo’s Church or Fr. Joseph’s church. That means the Church must be faithful to Christ, not the whims of this passing world.

            It’s odd, the mailing lists that Catholic priests sometimes end up on. Every now and then I’ll get a spam email or a mailing about “Church planting”. Church planting is a Protestant idea about going into a certain area and starting a church – usually starting out as a bible study in someone’s house, planning some sort of worship service, then renting a theater or storefront to hold that service, and finally building a worship center. I’m sure that some of our Catholic parishes started in a similar manner, but we’d never call it “planting a church” – because our church isn’t started by a man, but by God Himself!

            But not only do we have a divine institution of the Catholic Church, we will see the divine culmination, too. Jesus says to Simon, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church (petros in Greek means “rock”).” But Simon is quite anything but a solid rock at this point in his life – the very next scene in the Gospel, which we will read next weekend, is Peter telling Jesus, “No! Don’t go to the Cross!” And we know the story – he denies Christ three times in that most critical moment during His Passion.

            But we also know the end of the story – with the infusion of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter becomes that rock – the first Pope, the bold evangelist, the proud leader of this misfit band. Likewise, when Christ sets up this Church, He makes a promise that He will make it His glorious and perfect Bride – but we don’t see that yet. We see the Church full of imperfect people, sinful priests, scandals and lousy homilies. Fine – but don’t forget what the Church will become, because Christ promised that He would never abandon It, but that He would cleanse Her by His Precious Blood and present Her without spot or wrinkle at the end of time.

            So – I am Catholic because this is the Church that Christ founded. But you may ask – how do we know which Church is the true one? We know because we remain connected to the Rock of Simon Peter – the Papacy.

            I have a dear friend who is a devout Baptist. About two weeks before my ordination to the priesthood, he invited me to go hiking. I can’t turn down a hiking trip – ever – so I agreed, and we got up to beautiful view and sat down for a snack, when he pulled out his bible and said to me, “I think you’re making a terrible mistake by becoming a priest.” I thought to myself, “Oh geez, here it goes…” and I briefly entertained the thought of pushing him off the cliff (just kidding). He tried to explain, “The Baptist Church is the true church because it traces its lineage back to John the Baptist, and we just went underground for fifteen centuries before we resurfaced.” Factually that’s not true – the Baptists were an offshoot of the Anglicans – but it brings up core issue: we can’t trace the True Church back to Christ unless we go through the line of Peter. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and Apostolic Church – the visible sign of oneness of the Church is whether or not you’re visibly united to the Pope.

            We’ve recently been seeing the problems of churches separated from the divine institution of the papacy. For example, in the last month, the Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church just published a document calling Russia’s war against Ukraine to be a “holy war” and saying that Russians have an obligation to fight. Well, when you don’t have the guarantee that the gates of Hell will protect your Church from teaching error, you get all kinds of mistaken notions about Christianity. Kirill may be the most egregious example, but just look at any Protestant Youtube channel and you’ll see every teaching under the sun. Tens of thousands of different Protestant denominations, all claiming the same Bible but with different interpretations – how can this be the will of God? Error and division are from Satan, but Christ promised that Satan would not prevail against His Church.

            Hence, He has safeguarded His Church by giving us the Pope, and providing the Holy Spirit to protect the Pope from leading us astray. This Church was founded by Christ, and will be brought to fulfillment by Christ in beauty and majesty in Heaven. At the end of the day, the Church built on the Rock of Peter is Christ’s Church – the one I want to belong to until my last breath.

Ordinary Time 19 - Desolation

 

Ordinary Time 19

August 9, 2026

Faith In Desolation

 

            In the last century, a woman once wrote to her spiritual advisor, “In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss—of God not wanting me—of God not being God—of God not really existing.” Who was this woman? An unbeliever? A skeptic? No – it was Mother Teresa, perhaps the holiest woman of the twentieth century. When these words to her spiritual director were published after her death, many people came forward and said, “See! She was a hypocrite! She didn’t even believe in God!” But on the contrary, it showed the depths of her holiness, because she continued to love God with the darkest, coldest, most raw faith.

            There are times in our spiritual lives where we feel close to God. Maybe it is the birth of a child, admiring a beautiful work of art, the peace we feel in Adoration, the beauty of nature. Spiritual writers call this consolation – the feeling of God’s presence. I hope all of you have experienced consolation in your spiritual lives – they are favors from the goodness of God.

            But most of us do not live our lives in constant consolation – rather, spiritual writers such as St. Ignatius of Loyola speak about desolation as well – a feeling of being distant from God, empty, bored, lacking motivation to pray. Have you ever felt that as well? I certainly have. And it’s not a bad thing at all – but we have to understand how to keep our faith in desolation.

            Elijah certainly faced this in our first reading. We have to understand the context of this small passage. Elijah was the only prophet faithful to the Lord in all of Israel when most of the nation had begun to worship the false god of Ba’al. The evil King threatened to kill Elijah for being faithful, so Elijah fled to Mount Sinai – the very place of the Covenant which Israel had been so unfaithful to. But Elijah was in dire straits – right before this scene, Elijah actually prays for death, when he says, “Lord, I’m alone, I’m being hunted down, and no one is converting at my preaching. Please take my life.” And God tells him to go up Mount Sinai (also known as Mount Horeb, as in today’s reading) and wait for the Lord to show up. And He shows up…in a tiny whispering sound, and basically tells Elijah to get back to work!

             It may have been disappointing for Elijah, who wanted some consolation, something to make himself feel better. Maybe God could have showed up in the fire, the earthquake, to show the prophet He was with him. But God didn’t do that. He showed up in silence, didn’t console him, and told him to be faithful to his task.

            And that’s often how God works – we turn to Him for comfort, and feel only emptiness. We want relief from our difficult task of caring for our kids or our parents, but it seems like the burdens keep piling up. We find it a struggle to pray, as if we’re just going through the motions.

            Is He absent in times of desolation? Not at all. He allows it so that we grow in holiness, in perseverance, in humility. God wants us to seek Him, and not just seek good feelings and comfort. Faith is not feelings – even if you don’t feel close to God, by choosing to remain faithful to Him purifies and strengthens our faith. It becomes something we choose. Likewise, when we don’t feel like we want to pray, to do it anyway makes our love costly…and real. A true friend of Christ is friends with Him when He gives consolation, but is no less faithful when He chooses to hide Himself.

            No saint is ever made without desolation. Listen to the words of St. Faustina: “A darkness began to invade my soul, growing thicker and thicker... I found no consolation in prayer ... Often during the entire Mass, I did nothing but struggle with [distractions].” A lack of faith? Nope – an opportunity to purify and strengthen her love for Christ, for now she is loving Him without receiving anything in return.

            In times of desolation we must do as Peter did – keep his eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. There was a very priest from Naples who was a contemporary with Padre Pio named Servant of God Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo who wrote a famous novena (nine days of prayer) called the Surrender Novena. Daily, he would repeat the prayer, “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!” It sums up the perfect attitude in times of desolation: complete trust and surrender. And Fr. Dolindo had to live out that trust – he wrote several books that his superiors criticized unjustly, and for decades they forbade him from writing and preaching. He was misunderstood, crippled by arthritis and a stroke. It would have been natural for him to ask God for a sense of His presence and love. But he continually surrendered everything to God, even a natural desire for God’s consolation. This complete surrender made his good friend St. Padre Pio say, “The whole of paradise is in his soul.”

            So when we are tempted to say, in the midst of the storm, “God, are You with us or not?” – this is the time to persevere. That may mean walking in blind trust. Our faith is not the same as feelings. God hides His consolation so that we seek Him with greater fervor, whether we feel close to Him or not. So keep your eyes fixed on Christ, choose to stay faithful to your prayer life and striving for virtue even when our motivation is lost. Because the darker your spiritual life seems here, the brighter will be the vision of God for eternity.

Ordinary Time 18 - More Than Conquerors

 

Ordinary Time 18

August 2, 2026

More Than Conquerors

 

            No matter how bad your life gets, just remember – you’re not Blessed Margaret of Castello. Born blind, lame, hunchback, and with dwarfism, her high-society parents were ashamed to show her in public, so they kept her locked in a room in their castle, attended by a kindly maid. When she was twenty years old, they took her to a shrine in a distant city to pray for a cure, but when the cure didn’t happen, the parents abandoned the girl there – but thankfully the townspeople took her in and began to care for her. For her part, she spent her days in prayer and good works – visiting prisoners, taking care of the dying, teaching children their catechism.

            She died at the young age of 33, and the whole town came to her funeral. They begged the priest to have her buried inside the church itself, because they believed her to be a saint. But the priest refused, until a sick girl came up and touched Margaret’s coffin during the funeral and was instantly cured. So she was buried in the church, and she has the gift of incorruptibility – her body has not decayed, even though she died over seven hundred years ago.

            So, as bad as life may be, just remember – you’re not Blessed Margaret of Castello, who was disabled, ended up poor and abandoned by her own family, died young.

            But was it such a tragedy? Wasn’t God glorified by making this poor disabled child into a saint? Did He not do miracles through her, and lead many other souls to God simply by her humility and prayerfulness? Is she not rejoicing with Him forever in Heaven? What man views as a tragedy, God sees as a heroic triumph.

            St. Paul offers us one of the most powerful words in Scripture, that I wish to see engraved upon all of your hearts: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Trial or distress, hunger or danger? No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly – not because we’re strong, but because of Him Who loved us.

            I suppose it matters what we expect “conquering” to look like. There has been a theme in American Christianity often called “the Prosperity Gospel” which means that God wants us to have the good things of earth – health, wealth, success – and that we just have to have enough faith to claim those good things.

            I don’t recall Jesus ever making anyone rich, or promising anyone that all our dreams will come true. So that can’t be what Paul means when he says that we conquer overwhelmingly. Rather, Jesus often blesses His friends with crosses, sicknesses, deprivation. But from an eternal perspective, we can laugh at the misfortunes that befall us, and use it all for our profit.

            I love how St. John Chrysostom puts it: “What are we to fear? Death? 'Life to me means Christ, and death is gain.' Exile? 'The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord.' Confiscation of goods? We brought nothing into this world, and we shall surely take nothing from it. I have only contempt for the world's threats, I find its blessings laughable. I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death nor do I long to live, except for your good.” And he knew what it was to be weak – he was exiled twice by the Empress for calling out corruption in the court, suffered poor health, and lost many friends over it.

            But can’t Christ redeem it all? Of course – and this is what makes us conquerors. For example, is our health poor? What a gift – to participate in the Cross, to offer it all up and use it as a precious gift to save souls. Christ conquers even our poor health by turning it into a spiritual benefit.

            Do we have financial troubles? Good! God is using this to detach our soul from these passing earthly realities, so we trust in Him alone. Have we had trauma in our life? God has brought us through so we have a powerful witness and testimony, and so we could develop compassion for others.

            We are not just “survivors” of our circumstances, but rather victors over this life because we have already inherited a better kingdom. Our journey is just to go home to claim that Kingdom. And Paul says that nothing can take away that Kingdom – nothing, of course, except sin, which is our decision not to claim the kingdom we’ve been promised. But no other circumstance – can take away such a gift.

            One day two fellow Christians greeted each other on the street. One said, “How are you doing?” The other one responded, “Not bad, under the circumstances.” To which the other one rebuked, “And what is a Christian doing under the circumstances?”

            Engrave that Bible verse on your heart: Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ, because in all things we conquer overwhelmingly because of Him Who loved us.

Ordinary Time 17 - Risky Business

 

Ordinary Time 17

July 26, 2027

Risky Business

 

            Back in 2010, computer programmer Laszlo Hanyecz used a new currency to pay for two pizzas – 10,000 Bitcoin, a new cryptocurrency that was slowly catching on. Although those pizzas were delicious, if he had kept those Bitcoin instead of spending them on pizza, they’d be worth $1.1 Billion today!

            The key to good investing is to know when to spend and when to save, and what types of things we should invest in. Anyone remember the Beanie Baby craze of the late 1990s, when people bought those trendy little stuffed animals in the hopes that they would make millions in resale? They’re all sitting at the backs of closets right now, gathering dust, worth only pennies.

            There is a similar risk in Jesus’ investment strategy outlined in today’s Gospel. What if the man sold everything he had to buy the pearl, but it turned out to be a fake? What if the man sold everything to buy the field, but it turns out that the treasure buried within was counterfeit? Investors will tell you never to put all your eggs in one basket, but that diversification is the key to financial success. And unfortunately a lot of Christians take that advice to heart, when it comes to their pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

            In these parables, the Kingdom of God means two things – really, two sides of the same coin. It means that we allow Christ to be king of every aspect of our life – our thoughts, our words, or internet browsing, our private thoughts, our goals and dreams, our relationships, the jokes we laugh at, the media we consume. We allow Christ to be King of every aspect of our life. But while we imperfectly acknowledge Christ as King here, the idea of the Kingdom also points to Heaven, where Christ will be perfectly the King over our lives and our eternity.

            But many Christians want to play it safe. Yes, they want to acknowledge Christ as King and pursue Heaven, but they also think, “Well, Heaven isn’t a sure thing. I’ve never seen it; I’ve never been there. So I will try to pursue happiness here, and make Christ only a part of my life, and not the center.”

            I do admit that it is hard to live for a Heaven that we cannot see. It is risky – what if it’s not true? What if, after death, there is nothing? Yet I believe that there are two reasons why we can believe in Heaven – which should make us want to live for Heaven.

            First, because our hearts desire it. CS Lewis once said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” Have you ever experienced what I call “Christmas Afternoon Syndrome”? When we were younger, for twenty-five days we were all excited to get that new thing – the iPad, the bike, the Beanie Baby. And then Christmas morning comes, and we get it – yes! But then Christmas afternoon comes, and we feel – “Ugh, I thought that would have made me happier.”

            No matter how much happiness we experience on this earth, it’s temporary, while our hearts yearn for permanent. I remember reading an interview with the baseball great Cal Ripken Jr., who is a Hall-of-Famer and has a World Series ring. The reporter was asking him, “How does it feel to be retired?” He replied, “I hate it. Every year since I was five years old, I had a next season to look forward to. Now there are no more next seasons. I don’t know what to do with my life.” If our happiness is only based on the things of this world, we will feel this “what now?” moment when the pleasure wears off, the friends go home, and we’re left with ourselves.

            But we also believe in Heaven because Jesus revealed it to us. It says in Scripture that “no eye can see, no ear can hear, nor has the mind of man ever understood” what God has prepared for those who love Him. I’ve never been to Heaven, but I know the Man Who came down from Heaven, and when He says “follow Me”, I know that He is leading me back to where He came from – to that place where we belong.

            The asking price to invest in everlasting life is nothing short of everything. If we hope to live in the Kingdom where God is all-in-all, we train ourselves by living for Him here and now. We can’t hedge our bets and say, “Well, I’ve given God an hour a week. That’s enough.” A few dollars weren’t enough to purchase the pearl or the treasure in the field – it took every bit of a man’s fortune, but the payoff was so much greater. An hour a week isn’t enough to learn how to live in the Kingdom – only our entire lives will do.

            So here is my challenge. What aspect of your life have you not surrendered to Christ’s Kingship? Do we recreate for His glory? Do we use our phones in a manner that pleases Him? Are our friendships, our work, our marriage lived for Him? Today, let’s make the commitment to give that aspect of our life to His Kingship, that we may find ourselves living for Him now so we can live with Him for eternity.

            Back in the early 500s in Persia, a Christian nobleman named James Intercisius served as a military officer for the non-Christian Zoroastrian king of Persia. The king was quite tolerant with the Christians and allowed them to build churches and bury their dead, which was forbidden in Zoroastrianism. But soon the Christians became bold against the king and started tearing down the pagan temples, sometimes even celebrating Masses on the formerly-pagan altars. This turned the King against the Christians, and he began a severe persecution of them.

            His military leader James, to save his skin, sided with the king and abandoned his faith, often carrying out the King’s commands to capture and torture Christians. But when the King died and another was named, James’ family begged him to return to the faith of his fathers and believe in Christ. This intervention woke James up – how could he prefer his position and his riches to the everlasting joys of Christ in Heaven? He returned to his faith – just in time to be arrested by the new king for his Christian faith. He ended up being tortured, while his family watched – but that was too much for his family to bear, and they begged him now to abandon his faith to save his life. This time, James held firm, preferring to die for Christ than to live with all the riches of the kingdom. He is now St. James Intercisius, who lived for a Kingdom he could not see.

            Investors may say that we shouldn’t take risks with our money, but Christ says that Heaven is worth the risk. Do we really believe that living forever with Christ is greater than all the passing pleasures this world can offer us?

Ordinary Time 16 - Weeding the Soul

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 16

July 19, 2026

Weeding the Soul

 

            If you have a garden, weeding is a necessary but unpleasant task. If you have a soul, weeding out our vices is another necessary but difficult task. And there are a good number of similarities between weeding your garden and weeding your soul.

            First, what are the weeds? It can be understood on several levels: first, Jesus is making the point that the Church will be full of both saints and sinners until the end of time. In this understanding, it’s Jesus Who does the weeding. As St. Augustine said, “The church is not a hotel for saints, but a hospital for sinners” – which is good, because we are all sinners, so we are welcome here – not to remain sinners, but to be healed to become saints!

            But there is another interpretation – these weeds are also our vices. All of us have both virtues and vices in our soul. Virtues are those good character traits that make us like Christ, and vices are those habitual sins which make us quite unlike him. In this case, we cooperate with Christ in rooting out these vices!

            Our Catholic tradition gives us seven main vices, often called the Seven Deadly Sins. They are: Pride, Wrath (which is unjustified and uncontrollable anger), Greed, Envy, Sloth (which is laziness, particularly laziness in the spiritual life), Gluttony, and Lust. All of our other sinful habits fall under these categories. These are the weeds which choke out the good fruit of virtue in our soul. So how do we root them out? The same way we weed a garden.

            First, we focus on the big ones first, but without neglecting the little ones which can grow into big ones. We have a weed called mugwort which grows in every nice patch of flowers around here, but also gets to be six feet tall! It’s my crusade to rid this campus of this noxious weed. Likewise with the soul, examine your heart to see which is the most prevalent of your vices. Some people have a temper; others are tempted to lust; others struggle with pride. Last month, a young teen came to me in great distress and exclaimed, “Father, today was the worst day of my life!” I asked him why and he said, “Because I got braces!” Yeah, you and every other teenager in history – it was a struggle with the sin of vanity! Let us focus on the biggest one that we see in our life – as Thomas a Kempis said in the famous book, Imitation of Christ, “If you eliminate one vice every year, in short order you will be perfect!”

            But it’s far easier to root out a weed when it is small, when the roots are shallow. So it is with us – we must make sure not to overlook our small sins, lest they take root and become much harder to overcome. It is truly dangerous in the spiritual life to say, “Oh, it’s not a big deal that I gossiped once…that I indulged an impure thought…that I took something small from the store.” Every weed was once a seed…and every addiction, bad habit, or vice was once a seemingly-small and insignificant deed. Cut it off as soon as you see it cropping up in your life!

            Weeds can be frustrating, though. We have a weed called bittersweet on our campus and it’s utterly tenacious. I will cut the vine right down the ground – and it will put up four new shoots for every one that I cut. I have to be diligent and cut it continuously before it dies. Likewise, we must be persistent in overcoming vices. It’s not enough to come to Confession just once; we must come frequently. It’s not enough to overcome temptation once; we must fight it until we die. A young seminarian once asked a Bishop, “When will I be free of temptations of the flesh?” The wise bishop responded, “About five minutes after you’re dead!” All the saints know that they were still capable of sin – one time a person said to St. John Vianney, “You’re so good at hearing Confessions!” And the holy priest replied, “If I am a good Confessor, it is because I am first a great sinner.”

            One thing I’ve noticed when I’ve weeded is that the hole in the dirt left by the weed is actually perfect for more weeds to grow, unless we fill it with something good. As the old saying goes, “Nature abhors a vacuum” – and so does the soul. St. Paul tells us that “we reap what we sow” – if we fill our life with good things, prayer, sacramentals, uplifting thoughts, good deeds, we will have a much easier time to become saints. I love how St. Padre Pio would always, I mean always, carry around a Rosary with him, even sleeping with it. He would call it “his weapon” – the best thing to fight against the Evil One and his own vices. One day a man came to him and boasted, “Padre Pio, I prayed four Rosaries today!” The holy priest responded, “That’s wonderful! I have prayed 32!” His life was so filled with a love for Our Lady and Our Lord that there was no space for vices to take root.

            Finally, weeding is easier when we enlist help! My dad used to pay us a dollar if we filled up a bucket with weeds – it went quickly when all five kids were helping! Likewise, we can quickly eliminate the bad habits and sins in the garden of our soul if we enlist the help of the saints, Our Lady, and Jesus Himself. This isn’t something we just grit our teeth and try hard, but rather, we simply allow Jesus to do the work Himself. It’s not by accident that Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection as a gardener – it is He Who can take out the weeds of our vices and replace them with the fruits of holiness!

            I challenge you, today, to consider what vices you need to work on – and to commit yourself to using the tools Christ has given us to root them out of your life. No matter who you are, we all have vices we need to root out – even the saints. I think, for example, of St. Fortunatus. He worked for the kings and queens of what is now modern-day France back in the 500s, but his job was somewhat unique – he was the official court flatterer. He wrote poems and songs to praise the nobles, using his tongue to butter up and flatter the king. But after a while, he realized that, although it paid the bills, it’s not what his gifts of music and song was meant to be for – it was only his pride and greed that made him such a fawning sycophant. He left the court and became a bishop, and started writing poems and hymns about the Lord – many of which are still sung in the Church today. In order to become a saint, he had to overcome his vice of pride and greed – and, in giving that up, found the treasure of Heaven!

            All of us have the weeds of vices in our soul. But with the Lord’s help, and diligent effort, we can make genuine progress in the garden of holiness, that we may bear the fruit of virtue for the Lord!

Ordinary Time 15 - The Fruits of Virtue

 

Ordinary Time 15

July 12, 2026

The Cardinal and Theological Fruits

 

            Jesus gives this beautiful parable about the sower who is sowing grains of wheat. But obviously in such a parable, everything is a symbol of something else, as Jesus Himself explains it: the sower are the Apostles, the seed is the Word of God, the four locations of sowing seed are the four different types of souls who receive the Word of God…but there is one element of the parable that Jesus does not explain – what is the fruit that a good person bears thirty or sixty or a hundredfold?

            The fruit is virtue. Virtues are the good moral habits that make us like Christ (or, as the Catechism puts it, “The habitual disposition to do good”). It’s not just an individual action – anybody can be generous once. Rather, a virtue is so ingrained in us that it becomes part of our character, and it becomes even easy to do good, even when it takes sacrifice. This takes both prayer and practice. God can infuse virtue in is when we pray for it, but usually He gives us opportunities to practice virtue when we are challenged in patience, courage, purity, etc.

            But what kind of virtues ought we strive for? Tradition gives us seven main virtues – three that deal with God (the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity) and four that deal with our relationships in this world (the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude). Let’s look briefly at each one.

            First, at our Baptism, each one of us has received faith, hope, and charity. Faith allows us to believe that God exists, to trust Him, and to believe everything He has revealed in Scripture and Tradition. Hope gives us firm assurance that He will be faithful to His promises, especially the promise of everlasting life. Charity means that we love God above all things and that we love others for the sake of God.

            But the cardinal virtues are a little more confusing, so let’s break these down. First, temperance. This virtue teaches us to love God’s gifts rightly – to enjoy them in their proper place. I am reminded of the story of St. Charles Borromeo, the sixteenth-century Italian bishop, who had a great fondness for shooting pool. One day he was playing, when a friend asked him, “What would you do if you knew you were going to die in an hour? Would you run to the chapel, or find a priest for Confession?” He replied, “I would continue playing pool. I began this game with the intention of glorifying God, so why should I stop, even if I enjoy it?”

            There was a heresy in the early middle ages called Albigensianism which believed that all pleasure was evil – that to be a saint, we have to deny ourselves every kind of pleasure. Nope – not at all. Jesus’ first miracle was to make wine at a feast – clearly, God created good things, and we ought to enjoy them! But there is also a mirror-image error called Hedonism which believes that pleasure is the highest good. Also an error. The midpoint is the virtue of temperance – we enjoy God’s gifts rightly, in the way He intended, in balance. So we ought to feast on Thanksgiving and fast during Lent. We ought to enjoy alcohol in moderation – after all, St. Thomas Aquinas once said, “Drink to the point of hilarity, but no further” – in other words, enjoy a drink which can loosen us up and make us laugh, but not so much that we lose our reason. We ought to enjoy rest and recreation, but must not shirk our duties out of laziness. We ought to enjoy sexual pleasure, but only within marriage and open to life. We can all acknowledge that when we misuse God’s gifts, we are harmed – overeating leads to a stomachache, overindulgence in alcohol leads to a hangover, or sexual relations outside of marriage leads to unplanned pregnancy, broken hearts, and addictions. Hence, temperance is necessary for us to experience freedom!

            The next virtue is justice, which means that we give everyone what we owe them. We owe our parents respect and care (and if you’re under 18, you owe them obedience), we owe our country our loyalty, we owe God worship, we owe our neighbor the basic necessities of life. A lot of things we think we’re doing because we’re kind, but it’s actually just plain justice.

            For example, in years past I’ve spoken about the need to dress well for Mass, as we recognize we’re not going to the beach but the very presence of Almighty God. Inevitably someone says, “Oh but Father, we’re just lucky that they’re coming to Mass,” as if we’re doing a favor to God. My friend, our attendance at Mass is actually an act of justice – it is what we owe our Creator as His creatures. God is not “lucky” that we’re here – rather, we owe Him worship, and in His benevolence He is kind to give us so many graces and blessings in the Eucharist and in the Scripture readings. Or we can be that way to our fellow people, too. How many of us have held the door open for others and then had a kind of smug, “Yeah, I’m a good person” feeling? Eh, we’re only doing what we ought to do, since we owe it to our neighbors to treat them with respect. Jesus has a pithy quote in one of the Gospels for this attitude, when He says, “These servants ought to say, ‘We are unprofitable servants, we have only done what was required of us.’”

            Of course, we also ought to exceed justice by practicing mercy. Mercy is giving people what they are not due. Back in 2021, a Rhode Island woman named Lisa Hull awoke to phone ringing to give her the news that no mother wanted to hear: her son had been killed in a tragic automobile accident. Devastated, she was tempted to anger at the other driver, but as a woman of deep faith, brought it to prayer. The Lord opened her heart to realize that the other driver must’ve been suffering from extreme guilt and shame – and she alone had the power to release him from that by publicly forgiving him. But could she do that? She went back and forth, but finally decided to call him and tell him that she forgave him – it was truly an accident, he wasn’t drunk or anything – and this call brought so much mercy into his life. He attended the funeral and burial, and he found peace because of the mercy shown from the mother. So, while justice is critical, we are called to go above it through practicing mercy.

            The third cardinal virtue is fortitude – the courage to do what’s right despite difficulty. Aquinas distinguishes between two types of good things we desire: what he calls concupiscible goods and irascible goods. Big words, I know – but simple concepts. Concupiscible goods are things which are good and easy. So, at the end of a long day, we desire sleep – that is good for us, and it’s easy to do – just lay down on a comfortable bed. But some good things take effort – working out, for example, or having a prayer life, or standing up for a kid who’s bullied in school. These “irascible goods” are those which take fortitude – the strength to pursue the good despite difficulty. These are good things, but they are difficult.

            One of the most devout Catholic athletes is Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza. But his road to stardom was one that required great fortitude. He was drafted in the 62^nd round, and only because his father was friends with the Dodgers’ coach. No one expected him to make the majors. But he knew that God had given him the talent – so he needed the fortitude to persevere, work hard – and not just for his own ego, but to glorify God and to give him a platform to speak about Christ to the public. In fact, when he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2016, he said in his speech, “My Catholic faith [is] the greatest gift, which has had a profound impact on my career and has given me patience, compassion and hope. Pope Benedict the XVI said, ‘One who has hope, lives differently.’” It wasn’t so he could be rich and famous, but so that Christ’s Name could be praised in this professional athlete, that Piazza had to tap into that virtue of fortitude in order to overcome the odds and make the majors. And look at his witness to Christ now!

            Finally, the last of the cardinal virtues is prudence, which Aquinas calls the “charioteer of the virtues” because it drives the rest of them. Prudence is knowing what virtue to exercise in each given situation. For example, let’s say you want to make a small sacrifice for God by giving up dessert for a week. But a friend invites you to his birthday and offers you some cake. Is it more virtuous to take the cake, or keep the fast? Prudence helps you decide. I need to rely on prudence all the time – for example, I often have kids at my school tell me, “Father, can you talk to Johnny, he’s picked up vaping and we’re concerned about him.” I have to discern whether or not to talk to him, when to do it, and what words to say. That’s the virtue of prudence – discovering when and how to live out the other virtues.

            This beautiful parable of the sower and the seed is incomplete without considering what this fruit is that a healthy Christian can expect – the fruit is a life overflowing with virtues. Aristotle said that “virtue is excellence in being human.” One might say that it is the excellence of the Christian life, as well – replete with the human virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, as well as the divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

Ordinary Time 12 - Don't Fear the Haters

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 12

June 21, 2026

Don’t Worry About the Haters

 

            I don’t care how old you are or what season of life you’re in, peer pressure can be a real struggle. Maybe it’s just bad memories from our middle school days, but we’re all hardwired to follow the herd, go along, fit in. We are social creatures, and no one wants to be ostracized.

            But what do we do when the peer pressure is harmful? When it goes against truth? When it goes against love?

            St. Thomas More was the chancellor of England under King Henry VIII during the 1500s – the second-in-command in the entire empire, and the King’s good friend. The King wanted to get divorced and remarried, but knew this was impossible in the Catholic Faith. So in anger, the King declared himself to be the head of the Church of England, starting the Anglican Church (in America they’re known as Episcopalians, like St. Peter’s Church on the Green). He forced every nobleman and clergyman in his realm to swear an oath acknowledging the King, not the Pope, as the leader of the Church, and most had no problem signing. But Sir Thomas More refused, knowing he could never abandon the Church that Christ founded.

            In the fantastic play “Man for All Seasons” about More’s life, we see the Duke of Norfolk trying to argue with Thomas More about this issue. The Duke says, “Oh confound all this. I'm not a scholar, I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not, but Thomas, look at these names! Why can't you do as I did and [sign this oath], for fellowship!”

            And Thomas responds, "And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?"

            Throughout history, we’ve had lots of saints who stood up to the status quo. I think of St. Oscar Romero, the heroic bishop of El Salvador, who preached boldly against the government’s oppression of the poor and human rights abuses – and ended up assassinated for his boldness. I think of St. Maria of Paris, who hid Jews in her tiny apartment during the Nazi regime and lost her life for such charity. We’ve had literally millions of heroic saints stand up against the zeitgeist (the “spirit of the age”) to live boldly for Christ, no matter what the personal cost or how many people are against them.

            And we’d like to think we’d do the same, right? But do we really? I’d just like to mention one opportunity we have today to stand up for truth and authentic love against the mistaken notions of the world.

            June is, of course, “Pride Month”. We see it everywhere, including on the rainbow flag flying over Monroe’s Town Hall. While we ought to be respectful and kind to all people, including our brothers and sisters who struggle with same-sex attraction, the Pride movement is about more than just respect – it’s about approval of a lifestyle that is gravely immoral. Our Lord has taught, in both the Old and the New Testaments, and through His Church, that the only proper use of sexuality is between a man and a woman in a sacramental marriage and open to life. Thus, those who identify as LGBT are encouraged to live lives of chastity, prayer, and friendship. In fact, there is a wonderful Catholic outreach to those of same-sex attraction called Courage – the international director happens to be the pastor of St. Theresa’s Church in Trumbull, Fr. Brian Gannon. This outreach gives support to those who want to live pure and holy lives while struggling with the cross of same-sex attraction.

            But this whole idea of chastity is opposed to the Pride movement, which is an ideology of accepting an objectively disordered view of marriage and sexual relations. This is why no good Catholic can fly the Pride flag or otherwise support the Pride movement. I know in many companies and at schools, people are encouraged and even pressured to support the Pride movement – otherwise they become labeled as a bigot or a hater.

            But it is not bigotry to accept what God has revealed about the nature of marriage. It is not hatred to desire that someone avoid grave mortal sin. In fact, nothing could be more loving than to help our brothers and sisters become saints, even if they carry the very challenging cross of same-sex attraction.

            So – are we bold enough to stand up for truth and love on this issue? Are we willing to lose friends, have family members shun us, or suffer consequences at our job? In today’s Scripture readings, Christ is bluntly clear that to follow Him means that we will be hated. He was rejected; so will we be. And this issue of celebrating Pride may be one of the clearest ways in which Christ’s words are ringing true in today’s society.

            But do not be afraid. You and God equal a majority. People often say, “Oh, I want to be on the right side of history.” But truthfully, as a Christian, we should prefer to be on the right side of eternity – because this LGBT ideology, like the thousands of false ideologies before it, will end up on the trash heap of history. The Word of the Lord alone will endure forever.

            So don’t be afraid to stand alone if you stand with Christ on His Word.

Ordinary Time 11 - Chosen: Vocation and Mission

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 11

June 14, 2026

Chosen: Vocation and Mission

 

            When we were all growing up, one of the most tense moments of school was picking teams on the playground. I don’t care what sport it was – kickball, basketball, whatever – I was usually picked last – maybe you have a similar story!

            We all want to be chosen, included, welcomed onto the team for our valuable contributions. Young people have a syndrome they call FOMO – “Fear of missing out” – when they’re not invited to be a part of something exciting. And this certainly would have been the case with these Twelve Apostles.

            The process of following a rabbi was quite different in first-century Judaism. Every young boy would receive schooling until he was thirteen, but then only the best and brightest would go on to train with a rabbi. The rabbi wouldn’t seek out the boy; it was the other way around. An intellectually sharp and devout boy would ask a rabbi, “May I follow you?” The rabbi, then, would examine the boy to see if he is worthy of investing the time to train him. If he liked what he saw, the rabbi would respond, “Come, follow me.”

            Jesus does things backwards – He seeks out His disciples. He chooses those who are clearly not the best and the brightest – these guys were in their twenties or older, clearly washed-up day laborers. Why does He seek them? Not because they are worthy – but because He has a specific mission for them, and He wants to make clear that it is His power in them, not their own efforts that are doing these miracles and preaching this saving message.

            These Apostles were chosen – and so are you. You, too, have an irreplaceable role to play in this grand epic of what God is doing in history to bring about His Kingdom and save souls. And you can know what this mission is in two ways: your vocation, and your charisms.

            First, your vocation. We know that we are supposed to love God and love our neighbor, but that’s kinda vague – who are the ones we are called to love? The poor in Africa? The homeless in Bridgeport? Maybe – but our vocation gives us a clear direction to love. If you are called to marriage, then your primary responsibility is to love your spouse and children to Heaven. Those called to the priesthood are called to love their parish to become saints. Those called to the single life in the world are called to love their families, their neighbors, and to find a ministry wherein they can love others through authentic self-gift.

            Those of you who are young – how do we know our vocation? There are three steps to discernment. First, look at your holy desires – what desires do you have that you could foresee leading to holiness? A desire to become rich and famous is not a holy desire – a desire to serve the poor is a holy desire. God often puts our vocation on our hearts through our holy desires. Last summer at Camp Veritas, one of our young parishioners had a powerful encounter where he actually saw the face of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist – a true miracle, just for him. It changed his life and afterward we were talking and he sighed, “Well, I guess I have to be a priest now.” I said, “Do you want to be a priest?” “No, not really.” “Then it’s probably not your vocation – and that’s fine! The Church needs holy married men, as well!”

            Second, look at the doors God is opening. I was working with a young man in his 20s who was passionate about the Faith. I asked him if he had considered the priesthood, and he said no, he was going to marry Sarah. I said, “That’s wonderful! I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.” He replied, “Oh, I don’t. Sarah broke up with me a month ago and told me she would never date me again. But I know it’s God’s will that we marry.” Uh, sorry buddy. It’s not God’s will. Pay attention to the doors He opens, and we can see His will.

            Finally, do we have peace when we think about our future vocation? Peace is usually a sign that we are on the path God has set out for us.

            Now, discernment about our vocation is only for those who have not yet made a commitment. Once we have made vows for marriage, priesthood, or religious life, that part of discernment is done – we now have a direction for our love. But our discernment isn’t finished yet – we still must discern our charisms – the unique gifts of the Holy Spirit given so we can live out His mission here on earth.

            St. Paul sets out a list of charisms in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Some seem mundane, such as the charism of leadership or administration or generosity. Some seem more extraordinary: charism of healing, prophesy, miracles. A charism is not just an ordinary talent – it is a passion and gift that serious disciples have for the building up of the Kingdom. It’s not just something we train for, but something that goes to the depths of who we are. It’s not for us and our enjoyment, but for God to work through us for others.

            A friend of mine is a tremendous singer who uses her gifts for the glory of God. One day, a Franciscan brother prayed over her (it was Br. Damien, who you may have seen if you came to our Heart-to-Heart Adoration this year). He has the charism of prophesy, whereby God speaks through him, and he said to her, “Your voice will be used to bring many people to Confession.” Kind of an interesting charism, right? Well, the next time she was leading songs during Adoration, she was amazed – the Confession lines stretched all the way around the church! And it happens to her every time she sings during Adoration. A true charism indeed!

            I know a woman with the charism of hospitality. She used to host gatherings for priests and Protestant ministers at her homes, and over dinner and coffee, we forged friendships and organized ecumenical events that brought many Christians together with a shared passion for the Lord. It may seem mundane, but she was never happier than when she saw people connecting with fellow Christians over pasta and tiramisu.

            Some have the charism of teaching, or writing, or working with the poor. Some have the charism of intercessory prayer – they love to pray for others, and feel a real passion for doing so. Some have the charism of evangelization – they get in conversations with their Uber driver and strangers in airports about Jesus. Some have the charism of working with youth – one of the most effective youth ministers in our diocese is a grandmother in New Canaan who runs an absolutely vibrant youth ministry at St. Aloysius.

            If you are a serious disciple, you have a charism. You have to discern what it is and where to use it, but a disciple must use it for Christ to live and work in them. I would encourage you to read more about charisms from Catholic websites or a fantastic book called “Fruitful Discipleship”. Discern what your charism is, try it out, and see how God will work through you.

            Both your vocation – which is your mission territory – and your charisms – which are your tools to work that territory and bear fruit – are gifts from God. The reason why God chose these ordinary Apostles is so that the glory will go to Him and not to them. Throughout history, He has chosen saints from the most common folk and allowed them to do tremendous works.

            For example, St. John Vianney was not the smartest priest ever. He was so behind in his schoolwork that when he was in his twenties, he was sent back to class with twelve-year-olds to learn basic Latin. Even when he became a priest, his fellow priests thought he was too uneducated to be a pastor, so they circulated a petition to have him removed. When Vianney heard about this petition, he asked to see it – and he signed his own name to it! But because he was so humble, God could use him.

            He had founded an orphanage for poor girls, but one day finances were tough and they ran out of flour. The woman in charge ran to Fr. Vianney, who told her, “You cannot make many loaves of bread? Then just make one.” The woman ran home and poured out the meager flour from the bag, and when she had mixed it with water and yeast, it began to rise…and rise…and rise so much that it became a lump of dough so large that they had to make it into several smaller loaves, which fed the entire house. When she came back to thank the priest, he said humbly, “I do not work miracles! I am only a poor ignorant man who once tended sheep. I just turned to the saints and they helped you.” He tried to deflect the praise even when he did the miracle!

            My friends, God called these leftover-men to become the cornerstone of His Church. God has likewise chosen you for a mission: one that unfolds through your vocation, and through the specific charisms God has given you. Our weakness is not an obstacle to His working in and through us, if we are willing instruments in His hands!

Corpus Christi Sunday - June 7, 2026

Corpus Christi Homily

June 7, 2026

The Enemies of Grace

 

           During the Roman persecution of Christians, a priest wanted to bring Holy Communion to those Christians who were in prison for their Faith, but the Christian community refused to let the priest risk his life, for without the priest there would be no Eucharist. So one of his altar boys, a young teen named Tarcissius, volunteered to take the Eucharist himself. No one would ever suspect someone so young for being a clandestine Christian!

            He was going along the road, clutching the Eucharist in a cloth bag around his neck. As he passed by a field, he saw some of his classmates who were playing a game. They invited Tarcissius to join them, but the boy declined, hurrying along. They began to insist, “Tarcissius, come play with us!” But he continued to refuse. They started to gather around him, pushing and shoving, curious as to what was in the cloth bag. But Tarcissius knew he could never allow them to see the Eucharist, because they were pagans. They began to grow angry with him, and soon their pushing and shoving became punching and kicking. They imagined that Tarcissius was keeping some huge secret from them in the bag – perhaps gold or food – and they were going to get it, one way or another. They threw him to the ground and one peer threw a heavy rock, which struck his head. He was knocked unconscious, which made the other boys run away, fearful of consequences for their violence. He was later found in that field by some Christians, who brought him home, but he died of his injuries – St. Tarcissius, a teenage martyr for the Eucharist.

            The enemies of the Lord have always had a special hatred for the Eucharist. The first thing that most of the tyrants of the twentieth century did was to abolish the Mass – from Communist Russia to the Spanish Revolution to the anti-clerical laws of Mexico in the 1920s. Pope Benedict had to make a rule that he would only distribute Holy Communion on the tongue, because people would take the Eucharist from him to keep as a souvenir, or worse, to desecrate it. We sadly had someone steal the Blessed Sacrament here on Good Friday a few years back, which broke my heart.

            But in some sideways way, this actually underscores the truth of Christ’s Real Presence here. Why would the Evil One and his army fight against something that’s just a symbol? You don’t see anyone stealing the Communion bread from a Protestant Church, since everyone knows it’s ordinary bread. But here in the tabernacle is Jesus!

            Today, however, the Evil One has a much more insidious method of attacking the Eucharist, and I bet it’s never occurred to most of us. The Evil One wants to separate us from the Eucharist, so he uses Sunday sports and activities.

            There. I said it.

            Think about it, though. There was a time when Sunday morning was sacrosanct. But now good Catholics are torn, because they want to worship God at Mass, but they spend a ton of money to get their kids into sports or dance or robotics or whatever, and they think they’re committed to this, too. I absolutely believe it’s a subtle ploy of the Evil One to try to separate people from the Eucharist. I’m not saying that these activities are evil in themselves, but the Evil One uses them to convince people that the Eucharist is a “nice extra” to squeeze into a weekend that’s already jam-packed with stuff going on. Then when people get back to Mass after missing a few weekends, the Evil One convinces them to receive Communion without Confession, as if that was fine and dandy, rather than an unworthy reception of the Lord due to the mortal sin of missing Mass. Can we not see this as a diabolical ploy to separate people from the Lord? Satan will never tempt you to worship a golden calf – he will tempt you to think that the meaningless soccer game is more important than Jesus Christ.

            So, let’s just consider the consequence of our belief that Jesus Christ is truly here, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. If we really believe that here He is, the Lover of our soul, our Creator, our Destiny, our Peace…we would make this everything! Barring sickness or other legitimate emergency, we would make sure that we were here in the presence our Eucharistic Lord every Sunday.

            There is, in Fairfield County, a Jewish baseball league. It was founded so that no games would occur on their Sabbath day. Why do we not insist on this for Catholics, who make up 45% of the population of Fairfield County? It is nothing but cowardice for Catholics to stay quiet when their sacred time is invaded with sports and activities. We don’t live for sports and robotics and gymnastics – we live for Christ, and everything else is just extra.

            There was a saint one time who structured her week around the Eucharist. She would receive Jesus on Sunday, and then spend the next three days in thanksgiving. The following three days of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday would be spent spiritually preparing for her next Eucharistic union. What a happy life!

            I close with the powerful words of St. John Bosco, who said: “Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him [in the Eucharist] often. Do you want Him to grant you only a few? Visit Him but seldom. Do you want the devil to attack you? Rarely visit the Blessed Sacrament. Do you want him to flee from you? Visit Jesus often!”

            The Evil One knows that as soon as someone abandons the Eucharist, their soul belongs to him. The devil is much wiser these days, and does not close churches or attack the Eucharist directly. Rather, he distracts with a thousand activities that take us away from the True Presence of the Lord. It’s time we Catholics said, “I’m sorry, Coach, but we’ve got an appointment we can’t miss, and it’s with the God of the universe Who has loved us enough to give us His Body and Blood as food for everlasting life.”

Trinity Sunday - In the Name of the Father - May 31, 2026

 

Homily for Trinity Sunday

May 31, 2026

The Fatherhood of God

 

            We spend a great deal of the year speaking about Jesus Christ, and last week’s Feast of Pentecost highlighted the Holy Spirit. Today, however, I’d like to speak about God the Father, the Creator and Ancient of Days.

            First, why do we call God “Father”? God has no gender, right? Correct – God is pure spirit. But we refer to God as “Father” because in all of creation, there is a profound archetypical difference between male and female. The masculine is the giver, the feminine is the receiver. By calling God “Father”, we are recognizing that God is the source of everything there is, and that He does not need to receive anything at all.

            But how beautiful it is that we can call God by the intimate familial name “Father!” Jesus – and St. Paul – took it a step further and called Him “Abba”, which means Daddy. Every earthly father is given three fundamental tasks: to protect, to provide, and to lead. Let’s look at that in terms of God the Father’s relationship with us.

            First, a father protects. God certainly protects us. When the Israelites left Egypt to pursue a land of freedom, the Egyptians began to pursue them, all the way to the Red Sea. This so frightened the Israelites that they made plans to return to Egypt so that they wouldn’t be slaughtered in the desert. But Moses encouraged them, “Do not be afraid – you will see God fighting for you this very day!” And He did just that, in a surprising way – God appeared as a giant column of cloud and fire stood between the Israelite camp and the Egyptians. It was so terrifying that the Egyptians exclaimed, “Let us retreat! The Lord is fighting for Israel!” And they retreated, only to be thrown into the Red Sea. God would not allow His chosen people any harm as they made their way to the Promised Land!

            And we are the new Chosen People, even more beloved than Israel, since we are a people purchased by the Blood of His Son. Would God abandon us? Not at all! He protects us on our journey to the Promised Land of Heaven. Satan would literally destroy us in an instant if his malice wasn’t checked by the hand of God.

            St. John Bosco was known for having prophetic dreams. In one famous dream, he saw a giant ship on a storm-tossed ocean. This ship was being attacked by dozens of other, smaller boats, with cannonballs destroying masts and blowing holes in the big ship. On the prow of the large ship stood the Pope, and the saint realized this dream was about the Church having to fight many enemies throughout its history. The Pope was trying to guide the ship to a safe harbor, but the fighting and the storm was fierce, and it looked as if it was going to capsize. But then, out of the sea rose two giant columns – atop one was a statue of Our Lady, and on the other was the Eucharist. The ship limped between the two columns, and found that the sea grew calm and the enemy ships sank and disappeared. When St. John Bosco awoke, he wrote down this dream with the interpretation: there would be many storms from within and enemies from without trying to destroy the Church, but if it remained tethered to the Eucharist and Mary and led by the Pope, it would never be destroyed.

            Hence, our good Father in Heaven has left us many great protections – not from disease or war or high gas prices, but from sin and futility and eternal destruction in Hell, which our Enemy is working tirelessly to accomplish. The great protections of our King are things like our guardian angels, the Rosary, the Sacraments, the teachings of our Catholic Faith. These things seem ordinary, but they are immensely powerful. Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the Vatican’s top exorcist who did over 10,000 exorcisms in his lifetime, said that a good Confession is better than a hundred exorcisms – it’s that powerful. So we never need to fear any enemies, either physical enemies or spiritual threats to our soul, if we use the protections our good Father has given us.

            But a father also provides. Has God not provided everything we need for a rich life here on this earth? Listen to the great words of St. Augustine, “Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Note it. Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that? Why, heaven and earth shout to you: ‘God has made me!’” Looking at the beauty, intricacy, and richness of nature convinces us that we have a good Father who loves us. He has made it so that cows produce extra milk for humans; He made such a wide variety of food and drink; He made the mountains tremendous, the lakeside relaxing, the flowers so delicate but beautiful.

            But more than providing for the needs of the body, He has provided for the needs of the soul. Who could ever have thought that God would give His own Body for food? Or that God would make it so incredibly easy to be reconciled to Him in Confession? He has tried to convince us by so many signs that He is truly in love with us. Everything we need for our spiritual well-being has been provided for by our good Father!

            Finally, a father leads. And does not God the Father lead us? As Americans we chafe at the idea of laws, but laws order human society and point us to fulfillment. And so God did not abandon us to chaos, but gave us His laws – first the Ten Commandments, and then Christ’s new Law of love – to teach us how to live a peaceful, happy life. And He continues to lead us through the Church He established. The problem is we’re often too prideful to allow ourselves to be led and taught, thinking we know better…but isn’t this the same fatal flaw as our first parents?

            In sum, God fulfills all three roles of a good father: He is a protector, a provider, and a leader. And this has two major takeaways for our own lives.

            First, many of us have not had good fathers in our lives. Maybe we painfully acknowledge how much our dads failed at protecting, providing, or leading. If this is the case, realize that our Heavenly Father is meant to be everything your earthly father wasn’t. The desire for a father runs deep within our hearts. Turn to your Heavenly Father and ask Him to fill that hole in your life. Even those with wonderful fathers must realize that our earthly fathers can’t be everything to us – they can only lead us so far, and then we must take the hand of our Heavenly Father, Who has promised to protect, provide, and lead us to Heaven.

            But the second takeaway is for men – pattern your life on the Heavenly Father! Every man is called to be a father, either a physical father who begets children or a spiritual father begetting saints. Take up that mantle and that role! Protect your family from both physical and moral evil – do not let sin into your home or your children’s minds! Provide for your family – not just by putting food on the table, but by bringing your kids to the Sacraments and leading your family in daily prayer. Lead your family – set an example as a man of integrity, and teach your children how to follow the Lord in daily life. Men, we cannot abdicate this responsibility to others – it is your responsibility to be the image of the Heavenly Father in your home!

            What a beautiful thing it is to call God “Our Father”. Can there be any more intimate name for God? And whether we’ve had good parents or lousy ones; whether we’ve had our own flaws as fathers and mothers, we look to God the Father as our model and our true Abba.

Graduation Homily 2026 - Love One Another

 

Baccalaureate Homily 2026

Love One Another

 

            It was an average Sunday morning outside of Harvest Bible Chapel, an Illinois Protestant megachurch, except one thing was awry: there was a homeless man sitting, begging on the steps leading up to the church.

            Some Church members gave him food or drink or money, some stopped to chat, and some walked right by. Many tried to avoid eye contact, unsure of his mental state or any drug problems that might launch him into bizarre behavior. He certainly looked disheveled – long scraggly beard, unkempt hair, filthy clothes, shopping cart overflowing with the detritus of his existence.

            But when the time came for the service, the congregants were surprised to see the homeless man wheeling his shopping cart down the main aisle of the church. The homeless man stepped into the sanctuary, took off his hat and filthy coat…and then took off his hair and beard. Gasps arose from the congregation as they saw that homeless man transform into their pastor, James MacDonald. He then began to preach the message: “If we are going to love like our Father in Heaven loves, we don't get to play favorites. By favorites I mean, so often we love the people when there is some benefit in it for us. It’s hardest to love when the people are least known.”

            My friends, we have taught you a great deal of things in your tenure at CKA – some of you have been here for six years. But if we have not taught you to love, then we have utterly failed in our mission. Not just to love those who are in our same political party, or who have the same skin color, or the same religion, or the same intelligence level, or the same abilities, or the same sexual orientation. I don’t recall Jesus’ command to “love one another” to have exceptions – it includes those people you don’t like, or sinners, or those who are different. Because Christ died for them too.

            Over the past couple weeks, based on events at CKA, I have been thinking a lot about love. Unfortunately our world has co-opted that word to mean “tolerance” (no, not the same thing as love) or “warm-fuzzy emotion” (also not love). We don’t have to feel anything toward our neighbor to love them. We don’t have to approve of their lifestyle, their choices, their hairstyle. We don’t have to become best friends with them. But we do have to treat them with respect, meet their needs, and even die for them. Remember, you were pretty unlovable when Christ died for you.

            Is this appropriate for a graduation homily? I think it’s most appropriate. Because I don’t give a whit whether you were accepted to Yale or UConn or Hillsdale. I don’t care if you become a CEO or win the Nobel Peace Prize or make All-American in soccer. I don’t care about any of that, and I don’t think Christ does, either. As St. John of the Cross once said, “In the evening of life we will be judged on love alone.”

            Tomorrow morning, I have the incredible blessing of helping at a retreat at the Sisters of Life in Stamford for young people with Downs’ Syndrome and their parents. I can tell you that there will be some truly great souls there – men and women who have accepted their Crosses and still radiate joy. Some of them will be far closer to sanctity than you and me. The world says hide them away, exterminate them, for they remind mankind of our fundamental weakness…and because they demand authentic, self-sacrificing love, which the world recoils from.

            But this virtue of charity is precisely what sets Christians – and hopefully CKA graduates – apart from the world. The early Church suffered three centuries of persecutions of the most gruesome kind. Thrown to the lions, crucified upside-down, skinned alive. But the Christian movement continued to grow. Why? Because Christians loved those whom everyone else rejected. They rescued abandoned and disabled babies. They gave dignity to the poor and to women. When the plague struck the city of Rome, the aristocrats left town, while the Christians remained to care for the victims. Although many of them caught the plague themselves and died, so many others were inspired by their example that they rushed to join this maligned movement. Love was rare in the world back then; it is perhaps even more rare in the world now.

            Imagine how many students our school would have if we loved one another! Imagine the force we would be for good! It’s not too late – and with God’s grace, our lives going forward can be transformed into love.

            I close with the famous story of St. John the Apostle. Exiled on the island of Patmos, he would gather the nascent Christian community every Sunday for Mass and preaching. All would draw near to hear the trembling voice of the Apostle. Sunday after Sunday, he would repeat the same words, “Little children, love one another! Love one another!”

            Finally he was asked, “Why do you repeat this phrase so much?”

            John replied, “Because the Master said it so much.”

            My friends, we cannot love the God we cannot see unless we first love the brother whom we do see. It’s not too late to become students and scholars where love is united to truth. Without love, all our life’s successes are completely empty and vapid. But even the failures and sorrows, crosses and struggles of the future will be turned into joy if they become an act of love towards God and neighbor.

Pentecost - Eager Expectation - May 24, 2026

 

Homily for Pentecost

May 24, 2026

Eager Expectation

 

            What did the Apostles do during those ten days between the Ascension and Pentecost? The Bible said that they devoted themselves to prayer – Christ promised that the Spirit would come, so they were waiting with eager expectation.

            Much of the Christian life is waiting for God with eager expectation. He’s made a ton of promises that He’s fulfilled in Christ (over 500, as a matter of fact), but there are still many that we’re waiting on. Not just abstract promises, but some that are extremely personal. I want to mention three things we need to eagerly expect in our daily walk with Christ.

            First, we should live in eager expectation that God actually hears our prayers. Can we not all look back at our life and see how God has answered prayers in surprising ways? One of our altar servers was telling me that before he served the Easter Vigil Mass this year, he was praying that he could experience God in a new way. The Easter Vigil begins in complete darkness, and at a certain point the organ blares the Gloria and the lights come on. He said that at that moment, he felt a wind – where could that come from, except the Holy Spirit? – and from that time on, there was a new passion in his heart for Christ. A beautiful answer to prayer!

            But to be clear – God only answers our prayer if it is for His glory and our salvation. If we pray for riches or worldly success or health, this may not be best for our soul. As a good Father, He gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. He will always give us grace – He may give us earthly things if they are truly good for our soul. Back in the sixth century, a young monk named Romanos was embarrassed every time he would join his brother monks for prayer, because his terrible singing voice and lack of musical training made him the object of their ridicule and mockery. So for weeks, he prayed fervently to Our Lady for a better voice. One night, he dreamt that he saw Her, and she offered him a scroll and told him to eat it, which he did. The following day was his turn to lead the singing, and much to everyone’s surprise his voice was clear and resonant, and his pitch was perfect. He ended up writing over a thousand hymns in his lifetime, and in thanksgiving to Our Lady, he mentioned her in every one. He is now St. Romanos the Melodist – clearly God heard his prayer, and it was for His glory and the sanctification of this great saint!

            So, as we pray, we do so with eager expectation – the same fervor with which the Apostles awaited the Holy Spirit!

            Second, we should have the eager expectation that God will make us holy, in His own time. Sometimes we become frustrated by our own lack of progress in the spiritual life. We still struggle with the same sins, still fall back into the old patterns of behavior. Perhaps we want to be holy, we want to start a prayer life, we want to overcome a sin, and we feel as if we’re running in mud. It can get discouraging.

            So we must live in the firm confidence that God can and will make us holy, in His time, if we desire it, too, and take the steps to let Him in (the Sacraments, daily prayer, Scripture, avoiding temptation). We do our part – and then have the eager expectation that He will carry us the rest of the way there. Isn’t this what happened to the Apostles at Pentecost? They struggled with their faithlessness, with their cowardice – and God, in one moment, transformed them into the courageous preachers who would give their lives for Christ.

            Besides, there have been saints who really struggled. St. Augustine struggled so much with lust that one day he prayed, “Lord, give me chastity…but not yet!” And his rival St. Jerome had a wicked – and wickedly funny – temper. Once, he wrote to a rival, “Show no nose upon your face and keep your mouth shut. Maybe then you will be both handsome and eloquent.” About another person, he wrote, “It is useless to play the harp for a donkey” – in other words, you’re not worth speaking with! But he fought his temper – he would often carry around a large rock and beat his chest in repentance (one Pope, upon seeing a painting of Jerome with the rock, quipped, “Ah, without the rock, there would be no sainthood for you!”). It was precisely the struggle and the battle that made him holy. And likewise with us – our firm confidence is that God can and will help us overcome our faults and flaws, if we persevere with eager expectation.

            Finally, as Christians we are called to eagerly expect Christ’s Second Coming. The early Church always prayed, “Maranatha” which means “Come, Lord Jesus!” It was an urgent desire, a burning plea. With all the insanity in the world today, we need to resurrect that plea in the hearts of believers – “Come, Lord Jesus!” For those who love Him, His coming will be the end of the reign of sin, bringing order out of the messiness of this world, finally vindicating all those who have suffered for their Faith. When He comes again, He will wipe away every tear, destroy Satan’s oppression, and lead His people to glory. He will come, not as a baby, but as a King in glory, for all to see.

            We don’t know when He will come, but there are some hints in Scripture and in the Catechism that prepare the way. We know that there will be a great apostasy (an abandonment of the Faith) – have we, perhaps, seen that over the past fifty years? Scripture speaks of the coming of the Antichrist, a man who will set himself up as a “savior” of the human race. He will not do evil things – on the contrary, he will be a great humanitarian and man of wisdom and peace – but he will do so without Christ, saying that humanity can save itself without God. We have not yet seen him, although many Catholic and Orthodox mystics have said that he is alive today. Finally, we know from Scripture that before Christ comes again, there will appear a Cross in the sky, visible to the entire world. All of this probably won’t happen in my lifetime, but it’s quite possible that it might happen in some of yours. But again – this is something to look forward to with eager expectation, because it will be the final victory of Christ!

            My friends, much of the Christian life is lived in eager expectation. I suppose another word for that is “hope” – we hope and expect that, as God fulfilled for the Apostles the promise to send the Holy Spirit, He will accomplish those promises still yet to be fulfilled. For our part, we wait in hope, in eager expectation, confident that God isn’t finished with us yet.