Homily for Ordinary Time 21 - Discipline to Discipleship

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 21

August 24, 2025

Discipline to Discipleship

 

            The word “discipline” gets a bad rap. Sometimes we associate it with punishment, or we imagine rigorous asceticism like a thousand push-ups or sleeping on the floor. But discipline comes from discipulus, meaning “follower, pupil, student” – from which we also get disciple. And the two ideas are closely connected: if we wish to be a disciple (a follower) of Jesus Christ, then we must engage in the disciplines that make us one. The Christian life here is training for Heaven!

            Before Original Sin, all of us were naturally inclined to Heaven. Our first parents enjoyed prayer. They loved to make sacrifices. It was easy for them to resist temptation. But one of the most far-reaching results of original sin is called concupiscence – the weakness of will by which our desires are disordered. So now we love watching TV more than prayer, even though intellectually we understand that prayer is better for us. Now we love donuts more than broccoli, we love getting our own way more than sacrificing for others, we love ourselves more than God.

            So, with God’s grace, we must use discipline to bring our unruly desires back into their proper order. Since it is no longer natural for us to love God, we must learn to do so: by prayer. We no longer automatically choose God over physical pleasure – we have to practice fasting and sacrifice. We are often drawn to fame and fortune over God, so we must retrain ourselves by almsgiving and generosity to the poor.

            All of this training is difficult – as it would be to learn any skill that did not come naturally, such as piano playing or lacrosse. This is why the second reading speaks of God disciplining us through suffering. Sometimes we think that we suffer because God rejects us, but Scripture makes it clear that we suffer because God loves us and desires, not our comfort, but our holiness. He is training us! Consider those great training scenes in those movies we love so much: how Mr. Miyagi treats the Karate Kid, or how Yoda treats Luke Skywalker. They are often tough with them, challenging them, looking none too loving. But it is loving to help them to become the best they could be. We, too, must be trained in the art of loving God – it does not come naturally to us.

            And what is the fruit of discipline? Our second reading makes clear: peace and holiness. It was said of St. John of the Desert, an early church hermit, that when he would go out to spend time with others, he would return home with his mind so full of chaotic thoughts that he would spend an hour of prayer to calm his mind and put his thoughts in their proper order. Don’t you ever feel that way – like our mind or spirit is just disquieted? If so, then the disciplines of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and accepting the suffering God sends can restore peace and holiness to our souls.

            But not everyone wants to overcome concupiscence through discipline, which is why Our Lord says that it is a narrow gate, and that few are saved. Many like the idea of Heaven but not actually what Heaven is. It’s not clouds and harps and an endless party – it’s union with the One Who created us and loves us and gives us life. Such a mind-blowing gift – to be united to God – requires that we be prepared for it.

            A job that I very much admire, but couldn’t do, is being one of the linemen to fix power lines. Five hundred thousand volts coursing through those lines – I am very glad those men are well-trained on how to handle it! Something that powerful can do great damage if they do not practice the proper disciplines. They have to train for years. Likewise, being in the presence of the Living God would completely overwhelm us unless we have “trained” here on earth for years – prayer, fasting and sacrifice, almsgiving and generosity, giving our lives to the Lord. Increase your capacity for Him here and you will be prepared to receive Him in His fullness in Heaven.

            Our Lord’s injunction about the number of people saved is meant to help us avoid two dangerous extremes: presumption and despair. Despair is the belief that our sins are too big for God’s mercy, that we could never be saved. This, of course, is an error – no sin is bigger than the mercy of God. But the opposite is far more common these days: presumption, the belief that we’re going to Heaven no matter what. I hear that all the time at funerals: “Oh, we know Aunt Sally is in Heaven.” Actually, we don’t know that, and it is spiritually dangerous to think that way, for two reasons. First, if we assume our loved ones are in Heaven, then we don’t pray for them – and if they are in Purgatory (which is where most people probably go when they die), they need our prayers! Second, we will tend to overlook their sins. We no longer allow eulogies in the Church (I could tell horror stories) but one family really wanted to do one at the graveyard. So I allowed it, and he told a story about how his grandfather used to take him out to restaurants and tell the waitress that he was only twelve to get the child discount when he was really fourteen. And the man telling the story was saying, “Oh wasn’t Grandpa just so much fun!” Uh, that’s a lie and a sin – we should not admire that side of grandpa – and we should not assume that God will overlook those small sins!

            So what’s the middle ground between presumption and despair? Hope. Hope is the firm confidence that God alone can make us holy and save our souls. Not our own efforts, not just “being a good person”, but by His grace and mercy alone. But we receive that grace through those disciplines: prayer, sacrifice, generosity.

            One of my favorite saints – who lived a wild life – demonstrated this so well. His name was St. Moses the Black, and he was a gang leader from Ethiopia in the 400s. He led a gang of 75 men across the countryside, murdering, pillaging, burning down villages. After a while, the authorities were after him, so he decided to hide out at a local monastery of Catholic monks. He went up and banged on the door, preparing to break it down, when the abbot opened the door and did something surprising…he welcomed him in. Moses was shocked, and saw in the abbot’s face a joy and peace and love that he had never before experienced. He went in to speak with the abbot and came out two hours later, and dismissed his men, saying that he had decided to become a monk.

            But old habits die hard. He struggled mightily with lust and a terrible temper. It got so bad that he made up his mind to leave. But the wise abbot one morning took Moses to the roof of the monastery just as the sun was cresting the horizon and said, “See how the sky does not light up all at once, but only gradually. Thus it is with your soul – through persevering in discipline, the light of Christ will begin to dawn.” It took many more years of persevering in prayer, self-sacrifice, and charity, but he eventually experienced the freedom and peace of a well-ordered life. He became a priest and founded his own monastery with 75 men, figuring that since he led 75 men into sin, he must now lead 75 men into Heaven.

            Discipline is not something to be feared – it is a training in the ways of the Lord. Those whose souls have been prepared by the disciplines of daily prayer and frequent reception of the Sacraments, who are freed from slavery to physical pleasures through fasting and sacrifice, and who are not attached to material goods through generosity to the poor will be able to contain the fullness of God in Heaven.

            Let us be like those great, disciplined souls!

Homily for Ordinary Time 20 - Fire, Baptism, Contradiction

 

Ordinary Time 20

August 18, 2025

Fire, Baptism, Division

 

            Jesus shares with us three important elements of the Christian life, through three symbols: fire, baptism, and division. Let’s look at what He means.

            Fire has a way of making everything else into fire. If a fire touches a log, then the log becomes fire, even though it doesn’t stop being a log. Likewise, the goal of the Christian life is to be like Jesus. When we draw close to Him, we become like Him, even though we don’t stop being ourselves. I’ve often quoted the words of St. Gregory of Nyssa: “A Christian is another Christ.” This is the goal of the Christian life: as St. Athanasius put it, “God became man so that man may become God.”

            We do this through grace. Just like a piece of wood can’t light itself on fire, so we can’t become holy without God doing it in us. Grace is God’s fire lighting our soul on fire; we desire to burn for Him. Grace is given through the Sacraments, especially Confession and a worthy reception of Communion, and through our daily prayer. The closer we get to a fire, the more likely we will be set ablaze – the more time we spend with God through the Sacraments and daily prayer, the more likely we will “catch fire” with love for Him.

            Jesus then speaks about baptism – which is about cleansing and purification. Spiritual writers have identified three main stages in the spiritual life. The first stage is called the Purgative Way – that is, the goal of this stage is to eliminate sin. Certainly all mortal sin, which destroy the life of grace in our soul (sins such as intentionally missing Mass, drunkenness or drugs, dabbling in the occult, or any sexual activity outside of marriage), but even deliberate venial sin (a lesser kind of sin such as small lies, petty thefts, unkind words, impatience, saying God’s Name irreverently) and even accidental venial sins. Most Christians get stuck on this first stage of the spiritual life and don’t realize that they are called to full union with God! But to be like Jesus means to give up anything in your life that is not like Jesus.

            In pagan Roman times, it was customary for a father of a family to place a special amulet around the neck of their newborn children – a gold or metal one with the image of a pagan god on it for the boys, a gold one in the shape of a crescent moon for the girls. But when many of these pagans began converting to Christianity, they were instructed to throw them away. Even St. Gregory of Nazianzen wrote, “You have no need of amulets... with which the Evil One makes his way into the minds of simpler folks, stealing for himself the honor that belongs to God.” If they were unwilling to throw away the amulets, they were unworthy of the grace of baptism.

            Likewise, this baptism that Jesus refers to is not just the Sacrament that babies receive – He is referring to the complete cleansing of our souls from sin. We must be willing to throw away our “pagan amulets” – whatever sins we are clinging to, whatever bad habits we’ve developed – so that we are purged and purified for the grace of salvation.

            Finally, Jesus mentions that the consequence is division. Or rather, more broadly, that Christians are called to be a sign of contradiction. Jesus says in the Gospels that “the ruler of this world” is actually Satan – for two thousand years, it’s never been the “popular” thing to be a Christian, even sometimes within one’s own family. Thus could St. Francis stand in the town square and strip off all of his clothes, throwing them at his father and declaring that he would have no other Father than God. Thus could St. Thomas More declare, right before his martyrdom, that he was “the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” Thus could St. Edith Stein convert from Judaism to Catholicism, despite the fact that it meant her family would never speak with her again. Thus could St. Pier Giorgio Frassati continue to use his family’s wealth to serve the poor, while his family thought he was just a delusional religious fanatic. If we’re not a sign of contradiction, we’re not on-fire with the love of Jesus Christ!

            But all this is hard – to repent of sin, to pursue virtue, to cooperate with grace, to be a sign of contradiction. So our second reading gives us the strength: keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. He is worth it. He has endured it first. He has entered into Heaven and invites us to join Him. In fact, this reading is so jam-packed with strength that I want to quote it again: “[Let us keep] our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him

he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.” Notice we see all three elements: the fire of divine love (keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and what He did for us on the Cross). The baptism (we must struggle against sin). The contradiction (He already endured such opposition). And also – the hope (it was for the sake of the joy that lie before Him that He did all this).

            So – have you drawn near to the fire or do you need to make the Sacraments and daily prayer a more central part of your life? What sins are preventing you from the purification God desires to do in you? And do you need more courage to stand apart from this world for the sake of God?

            It’s all worth it. Jesus is worth it, and the hope found in Him is worth it. He’s offering us a better way to live – with fire, with purpose, cleansed from sin, made holy and righteous through His grace.

Ordinary Time 19 - Beggars With Empty Hands

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 19

August 10, 2025

Empty Hands

 

            Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the British General who founded the Boy Scouts, chose as the organization’s motto: “Be Prepared.” One time he was asked, “Be prepared? For what?” And he responded, “Why, for any old thing!” And I must admit that Boy Scouting did prepare me – for camping, first-aid, swimming, and learning how to play poker (a critical life-skill!).

            But when Jesus tells us to prepare, it’s not like we’re preparing for a disaster. Rather, it’s that we’re preparing to receive a gift. If a friend came to you and said, “I work for a Ferrari dealership and we have an overstock of some vehicles, I’m giving one to you.” After the initial excitement, the first thing we’d do is clean out our garage – a gift so valuable requires that we make the proper space, rather than leaving it out in the driveway!

            Likewise, what is the gift? Eternal life. Jesus says that He is preparing to give us a Kingdom. But then He says that if we want the Kingdom, we should sell what we have – in other words, we have to prepare by emptying our lives of anything that would hinder the Kingdom.

            In the deep South, there is a creative way in which people catch racoons. They drill a small hole into a log, and put something shiny in there – maybe a shard of a mirror, or a piece of tin foil. Then they put a couple nails into the hole. A raccoon will see the shiny thing, reach in and grab it, and once the racoon’s fist is balled up by grabbing it, he won’t be able to retract his hand because of the nails. It would be so easy to get his hand out – he would just have to let go of the shiny object. But he is so intent on gripping the worthless shiny object that he stays trapped, allowing people to capture the raccoon. Apparently this does work – I’ve heard from people who have successfully tried it.

            And how frequently we find ourselves trapped, too, with things that prevent our hands from being open to receive the gift of eternal life!

            For example, many of us are trapped by our reliance on the digital world. A couple weeks ago I visited Lancaster, PA to tour the Amish country. I must admit that I was a bit envious of how simple their life was. They were so close to God because their whole life was imbued with the rhythm of the seasons: planting and harvesting, the rain and the sun. They literally needed God for their daily bread. Plus, they’re committed to love one community. They have a rule that they cannot ride on bicycles but only scooters. And at first that seems like a silly, arbitrary rule but upon further inquiry, I discovered it was because on a scooter they could only ride about 15 miles per day, while on a bike they could ride 60 miles per day. This was meant to keep them physically – and spiritually - close to the people around them.

            How different that is from us! How often do we not notice God’s glory in creation because we’re on our cell phone or watching TikTok! How often have we gone out to dinner and seen an entire family lost in their own digital worlds, completely oblivious to those people sitting three feet from them? If the Kingdom is an intimate union with God and a loving union with one another, then we must limit our digital world to desire the Heavenly world.

            Many of us have our hands full with our sports and extracurriculars. Sports are great – but how much time and effort and money are given away to…a game? I played baseball in college and our coach had a great line: “Nothing in sports is eternal.” How many times do I hear parents tell me, “Oh, we couldn’t make it to Mass because of a sports game.” God wants to give us His very divine life in the Eucharist – and we prefer a soccer game? Ask your child in one year what the score of the game was – I’d bet they won’t remember. But the graces we receive from one Mass are literally infinite!

            Some of us are too preoccupied with our daily self-indulgences and pleasures to think much about the Kingdom. I remember speaking with a retiree one time and I asked him how he spent his days. His response surprised me: “About seventy-five percent of my waking hours are filled with food preparation and clean-up.” Isn’t there more to life than eating and pleasure? Yet we’re consumed with striving, striving, striving for a little more indulgence, as if that can give our life meaning!

            Some of us are clinging to unholy relationships. Maybe we’re living with someone that we’re not sacramentally married to, or are in a relationship where we are constantly led into sin. This relationship might be preventing us from radically abandoning ourselves to Christ – but Jesus was being real when He said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off…if a relationship leads us into sin, walk away!”

            Sometimes our hands aren’t open to receive the gift of eternal life because they are filled with the desire for possessions. We spend our waking moments thinking about that new car, that second home, and we’ve got no space in our life for true riches, for the grace of God. It’s no coincidence that poor countries tend to have a much higher level of faith than rich countries – who needs God when we have a steady income and food on the table? We forget the Giver when our lives are focused on the gifts.

            Sometimes we’re trapped by our own plans. How many of God’s gifts come about when our plans have failed! A young man named Louis Martin failed out of seminary, and was pretty despondent and saddened. At the same time, a young woman named Zelie Guerin had tried to become a nun but her bad health caused her to be dismissed. Both were pretty lost and floundering when they happened to be walking across a bridge from opposite directions, and at the exact moment when they passed each other, they heard the voice of God saying to each one separately, “This is the one I have prepared for you.” They began dating, got married to each other, and had five daughters, all of whom became nuns, and one of whom became a saint, St. Therese of Lisieux. And St. Louis and Zelie Martin were also recently canonized – when they abandoned their plans, even their good plans of trying to serve God as a priest and nun, they discovered God’s real plan for their life – and what a gift that was!

            Finally, we’ve got our sins that prevent us from embracing His gifts. Every sin is, at its heart, a rebellion – it is often said that Satan’s motto is “Non Serviam” – I will not serve. So we cannot accept the gift of eternal life from a God Whom we have turned against.

            So we must give up all these things if we are to prepare for His gift of eternal life, grace, love, meaning and purpose. Our Lord wants us to come to Him as beggars with empty hands – only then can He bestow on us the gift of His Divine Life here and for eternity. He is pleased to give us a Kingdom – but do we even want it?

Homily for Ordinary Time 18 - The Financial Lessons of St. Homobonus

 

Ordinary Time 18

August 3, 2025

Financial Lessons from St. Homobonus

 

            Can a Christian desire to be rich? Certainly many people dream about hitting it big – whether having a career that pays in the seven figures, winning the lottery, or investing right. But can a Christian pursue riches?

            Let’s turn to a saint to show us how we ought to deal with money. St. Homobonus (whose name literally means “good man”) lived in Italy in the 1100s. He was a married man with kids – and he was doubly blessed, as he inherited a tremendous fortune from his father, and his own clothing business was extremely prosperous. But he believed that all of this was a gift from God, not given to him for his own benefit, but so that he may help the poor. How did he do this?

            First, he was scrupulously honest in his business dealings – he knew that wealth which came from deceit could not honor God. Second, in a time period where society was very stratified and the rich lived quite differently from the poor, he and his family dressed and lived simply, without flaunting their wealth or living luxuriously. Finally, he gave away most of his earnings to various charities and individuals – he had a particular emphasis on buying graves for those who died without the money to buy a plot in the cemetery.

            The old saying goes that “God is never outdone in generosity” – and Homobonus experienced that! Despite giving away so much, his business kept exponentially increasing – which only motivated him to give away more! One time on a journey he shared his food and drink with a beggar. When he went on and found a stream, he re-filled his water jug, only to find that God had miraculously turned the water in the jug to wine – a sign that God was blessing his generosity!

            His life answers the question – can a Christian desire to be rich? The answer is: only if these riches are used to do good, to give away to the needy, not to be self-indulgent or miserly.

            As Tolstoy said, “I am a participant in a crime if I have extra food and another has none.” Yes, provide for your family. Yes, live a comfortable life – go on vacation, eat at Prime 111 every now and then, save for retirement. But when it comes to desiring to become rich for our own sake, it would indeed be the sin of greed to try to increase our income or our possessions just so we can have more luxuries that we don’t really need.

            After all, doesn’t St. Paul tell us in the second reading to “seek the things above”? When someone wants fancy cars or second homes or just a bigger bank account, doesn’t that consume our thoughts and take a great deal of time? And so, in our pursuit of riches, we have little time for prayer or good works; so we have little opportunity to think of God.

            Let us follow the example of St. Homobonus regarding riches. First, we ought to only earn them with honesty – no shady business dealings. Second, we ought to not flaunt our wealth. I have a friend who is a multimillionaire – and his kids don’t know it, because he drives a beat-up minivan and wears Walmart clothes. That’s how we ought to live if we have been blessed with wealth – with great humility. And finally, we ought to give away what we do not truly need, and maybe some things that we do need – as Mother Teresa said, “I have found the paradox, that when we love until it hurts, there is no more hurt, but only more love.”

            So I ask you – do you desire to be richer – and if so, why? To glorify God with it, to give it away, or to live a more self-indulgent lifestyle, as if that could make us happier? All of our riches will end with our last breath – but the good works we do with our money will reverberate into eternity.