Holy Thursday - Once We Were Slaves, but Now We Are Free

 

Homily for Holy Thursday

April 6, 2023

Once We Were Slaves, and Now We Are Free

 

            Every year when our Jewish brethren celebrate Passover, there is a custom for the youngest child in the room to ask a very poignant question: “Why is this night different than all other nights?” The adults then go on to re-tell the story of Passover, and what God did for them thousands of years ago in Egypt. They share the unleavened bread and eat the Passover Lamb, in remembrance of the lamb’s blood that had been put on their forefathers’ doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over them and strike only the Egyptians.

            But when Jesus sat down to this Last Supper, His people were in a much deeper slavery than mere physical bondage in Egypt. Since the ancient curse had fallen upon mankind, we have been slaves to our sin, under the oppression of the Evil One who was the ruler of this present darkness. To embrace an exodus from this darker slavery would take another spotless, unblemished male Lamb – but one that could pay back an ancient debt that had kept us bound. This Lamb of God sat at table with His friends, willing to become the priest and victim – offering Himself in His Body to His Father.

            In the original Passover, the lamb that was sacrificed, whose blood was put upon the Jewish doorposts, was then roasted and eaten, so that the people might partake of the sacrifice. So it is with the New Lamb of God, Whose sacrifice must be received, consumed, and eaten. Hence, He leaves us with the gift of His Body and Blood – that we may apply His Sacrificial death to our souls.

            In fact, the early Church Fathers called the Eucharist the “medicine of immortality.” Just as Adam and Eve’s sin came through eating disobediently, our remedy comes through eating out of obedience – as Our Lord told us to “do this in remembrance of Me.” But this idea of remembrance isn’t just calling to mind a past event. Rather, the word in Greek (anamnesis) means to make present a historical event. Jews to this day believe that they are mystically participating in that first Passover in Egypt every time they celebrate their Passover meal. We, too, believe that every Mass mystically makes present the once and final Sacrifice that saves us – Christ’s death on the Cross. This is why we use an altar, not a table…this is why I’m a priest, not a minister…because what we attend here makes present the sacrifice, in an unbloody way, of Calvary.

            When the Jews celebrate Passover, they drink from the chalice four times, to celebrate the four promises that God makes to the Moses: “I will bring out…I will deliver…I will redeem…I will take.” Jesus chose the third cup to turn into His Blood – the cup that is received with the word, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” This cup was often known as the Cup of Thanksgiving – the word “Thanksgiving” in Greek is “Eucharistia” – and Christ transformed it from symbolizing redemption to actually causing redemption through its link to His death. But, according to Scripture, Jesus then left the Passover meal unfinished, as He left the Upper Room and went to the Mount of Olives for prayer. Why did He leave it unfinished?

            Because the Passover only began in the Upper Room with the Last Supper. It is finished on the Cross. As He hung upon the Cross, He cried out, “I Thirst” and a soldier offered Him some wine in a sponge – the Fourth Cup, which memorializes God’s promise that “I will take you as My People.” Upon receiving this Fourth Cup, Jesus cries out, “It is finished!” Not just His life – but the Passover, and even more, the entirety of the promises and covenants of Israel are finished on the Cross. He then breathes His last, and from His side comes forth the blood and water which symbolize the Eucharist and Baptism – the two Sacraments that constitute His Bride the Church. Truly “He has taken us as His people” by uniting all of humanity in a bond so strong that it can never be broken. That ancient bondage which held us back from union with God has been destroyed, our slavery has ended, and a new hope has dawned in the sacrifice of this perfect Passover Lamb.

            So why is this night different than every other night?

            Because once we were slaves, but now we are free.

Palm Sunday - Hosanna or Crucify Him?

 

Homily for Palm Sunday

April 2, 2023

The King Crucified

 

            As the crowds declared Jesus to be “Son of David,” they were expressing their belief that Jesus was fulfilling a prophesy. David was the greatest of the kings of Israel – it was under him that Israel finally became a kingdom: peaceful, mighty, with no more poverty or oppression. After David, though, successive empires conquered the Holy Land, and Israel was oppressed for centuries.

            And yet they held out hope that a Messiah would come who would conquer the Romans and restore the rightful kingdom to Israel. This Jesus – this miracle worker, wise teacher, leader – certainly appeared to be that Messiah, who would come conquering with mighty victory in his hand. Hosanna to the Son of David!

            But a mere five days later, the crowds were stunned to see this Messiah standing before them, wearing not a crown of gold but a crown of thorns. He wore no royal robes but was stripped and beaten. Instead of being praised, he was spat upon. He sat on no throne but carried a beam of wood on which he would die.

            Those exclamations of praise which they so readily shouted on Palm Sunday would turn into cries to “Crucify Him!” It was easy enough to follow a Messiah who promised that there would be glory and happiness – but one who embraced the Cross and told us to do the same?

            It is my hope that all of us want to get to Heaven, where there will be joy without end. But are we willing to do what it takes to follow Christ there? For His teachings are nothing less than the Cross. He says “Love your enemies…do not exalt yourself but humble yourself instead…live a life of purity, integrity, holiness…embrace your sufferings and offer them to Him…make the sacrifices necessary to come to Mass and have a daily life of prayer…stay faithful to your marriage vows…live counter-culturally, not compromising with the “spirit of the age”…stand up for Christ no matter what, even to the point of laying down your life for Him. We all want the joys of Heaven…but will we embrace the Cross which is necessary to obtain such joy?

            Or are we ready to cry “Hosanna to Jesus” when it’s convenient for us, but “Crucify Him” when it costs us something?

Lent 4 - No More Excuses

 

Homily for Lent 4

March 19, 2023

Excuses and Invitations

 

            When I was chaplain of Trinity High School, often kids would eat lunch in my office. One time a girl was eating lunch and I asked her what she had given up for Lent. She said, “I gave up burritos.” I looked down at her plate…and she was eating a burrito! So I said, “Gabby, what’s that you’re eating, then?” She said, “Oh, it’s not a burrito, it’s a southwest chicken wrap.” Same thing!

            We are at the point in our Lenten journey where we may be tempted to make excuses and cut corners. We think, “Oh, it’s not really dessert because it’s pineapple upside-down cake, which means it has fruit in it, therefore it’s healthy.” Or we say, “I gave up gossip for Lent, but it wasn’t really gossip to speak about so-and-so, because I really needed to vent and share what she did wrong.” Or maybe we committed to praying the Rosary every day, but we get to the end of our day and reason, “Well, I’m just too tired, and God wouldn’t want me falling asleep praying, so I’ll just put it off to tomorrow.” Human beings have a remarkable ability to make excuses – and I am preaching to myself first and foremost, as I am the master of excuses!

            There was once a woman who was getting ready for church, when she saw her husband lounging in the chair, reading the newspaper. She asked him, “Aren’t you going to church with me?” He replied, “Eh, no. I don’t like that new pastor.” She responded, “You don’t like that new bartender, either, but that hasn’t stopped you!” The point was made – and he joined her in church.

            And in today’s Gospel the Pharisees are filled with excuses of why they won’t acknowledge this miracle. “Oh, this man healed on the Sabbath – it couldn’t be a miracle.” “Oh, this man is a sinner – it couldn’t be a miracle.” Notice the damning words of St. John when he writes that “the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged [Jesus] as the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue.” They already made up their minds, and just looked for excuses and reasons to disbelieve this absolutely remarkable miracle that occurred right in front of their eyes. There’s no real reason for this disbelief except for pride – they don’t want to experience what Fr. Mike Schmitz calls “the joy of being wrong.” It’s easier for them to think themselves right and ignore all the evidence plainly before their face, like a blind man regaining his sight.

            But what about us, who may have never seen a remarkable miracle? Perhaps we’re struggling in our faith and we’re saying to ourselves, “Oh, I will follow Jesus more faithfully if I saw a miracle. If He raised the dead. If I saw Him open the eyes of the blind. If I could really see a Eucharistic miracle.”

            But, my friends, isn’t life itself a miracle? We’ve never seen the eyes of a blind man opened, but we opened our eyes this morning – that was a gift! We’ve never seen a dead man rise, but we arose from sleep to a new day of life – which is itself a miracle. We’ve never seen the sun dance in the sky like the 70,000 bystanders saw at Fatima, but we’ve seen the beauty of hundreds of sunsets – is that not miraculous? God has never audibly told us that He loves us, but has He not showed us that He loves us through the love of our family and friends? Often we think these everyday gifts are so insignificant and commonplace that we take them for granted. We can’t say we’ve never seen God’s handiwork, because all of Creation shouts of His glory.

            But one might object, “Yes, but science can explain all of that – sunsets and breathing and the psychology of human love.” True – science can explain a great deal. It can explain how our respiratory system works, but can it explain why life is valuable and a gift from God? It can explain how a sunset is light refracting off of dust particles in the air, but can it explain why we find it beautiful and awe-inspiring? It may be able to explain that love is nothing more than chemicals in our brain, but then why do we have a longing in our hearts for infinite love? Our human experience recognizes that we are more than just a random collection of atoms and molecules – we intuitively know that there is something supernatural going on beneath the material world.

            One may then ask, “Well then, why doesn’t God do more obvious miracles? Why is His action in the world so hidden?” Because He respects human freedom and would never want to force us to love Him. Even after this miracle in the Gospel, Jesus did not force the man to come to faith. In fact, it was a gradual process – notice how he starts off by calling Jesus “a man”…only later did he say that he was “a prophet”…and by the end, he calls him “the Son of God and Lord” and worships Him. Jesus respects the man’s freedom and doesn’t want to force him to worship Him. In the same way, if God was constantly doing great and mind-blowing miracles, we would have no choice but to worship Him. Instead, He wants to offer us a gentle invitation, not an earth-shattering miracle to compel us to love Him.

            This has a practical consequence. In a couple of weeks, religious education at St. Jude’s will wrap up another year. This past year we have required families to attend Mass together – not to make it a hoop to jump through, but to develop the habit of worshipping together weekly as a family. In a couple of weeks, when CCD ends, the hope is that families will accept the invitation to continue worshipping weekly at Mass. We can’t force, and we wouldn’t want to, because love is not forced. Love responds freely to the invitation.

            At the same time, we know that a thousand and one excuses will arise in our hearts for why we can’t come to Mass, why we can’t pray, why we can’t live according to the moral teachings of Christ: we’re too busy…we’ve got sports games…we’re too weak and it’s too hard…it’s just not practical…will people think we’ve become Jesus freaks? What must we do to counteract these excuses? We must keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus Christ. Love doesn’t count the cost or worry about other people’s opinion. Love responds to the invitation that God, Who is love, has already offered us in Jesus Christ.

            To sum up: as we continue our Lenten journey…and our journey through life…we will be tempted with many excuses to abandon the love of God and the practice of our Catholic Faith. But God has shown His love and presence in so many ways – in the amazing things He did in history by dying and rising for us…in sustaining our lives here on earth and filling it with good things…in offering us union with Him in the Eucharist and inviting us to everlasting life. Today, we make resolution to accept God’s lavish invitation, and putting aside every excuse and burden of sin, and pursue a life of a generous YES to Him.

Lent 3 - The Thirst of Jesus

 

Homily for Lent 3

March 12, 2023

The Thirst of Jesus

 

            Mother Teresa’s nuns, the Missionaries of Charity, run hundreds of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters throughout the world. In every facility, they have a chapel which has a unique feature. Right next to the giant crucifix, there are two words written on the wall of the chapel: “I Thirst”.

            Those two words were uttered by Jesus on the Cross – “I Thirst”. Yes, He was thirsting for water after the brutality of His passion. But is that all He is thirsting for?

            Listen to Mother Teresa’s explanation of why she had a devotion to the Thirst of Jesus:  "I thirst" is something much deeper than Jesus just saying "I love you." Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you - you can't begin to know who He wants to be for you. Or who He wants you to be for Him. And St. Faustina, the Polish nun who had the visions of Jesus’ Divine Mercy, said this: During Holy Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus nailed upon the cross amidst great torments. A soft moan issued from His Heart. After some time, He said: I thirst. I thirst for the salvation of souls. Help Me, My daughter, to save souls.

            So when Jesus says to the woman at the well, “Give Me something to drink,” He’s not just thirsty for water. He is thirsting for her love, for her faith. Jesus could create water from nothing, but He is utterly unable to create love, since love must be free – she alone must satisfy Jesus’ deeper thirst for love.

            And we see her progression toward love in the Gospel. First, she calls Him “Sir” – respectful, but detached. But as the conversation goes on, she calls Him “a prophet” – beginning to see who He truly is. Finally, she recognizes Him as “the Messiah, the Christ” and is so convicted of this truth that she rushes into town, bringing others to Christ. He loves her and thirsts for her love in return, even while she is still a sinner (clearly a loose woman who sleeps around) – truly living out what St. Paul says in the second reading, that “God showed His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” He thirsted for her love, and by loving Him, she was transformed from a sinner into a believer.

            But why does Jesus thirst for our love? He certainly doesn’t need us. Last week, I spoke about how our Catholic Faith is full of both/ands – both Scripture and Tradition, both faith and good works…and here we see that Jesus is both human and divine. As God, He needs nothing to be happy. But God has taken on a human heart in Jesus, and that human heart has desires, sorrows, joys, loneliness. The Heart of God, then, yearns and thirsts for our love. And how little His thirst is quenched!

            In 1917 in Fatima, Our Lady appeared several times to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. In the apparitions, Mary seemed sad, explaining that Our Lord’s Heart was wounded and sorrowful because of the sinfulness of humanity, their ingratitude and coldness toward the Lord. One of the young visionaries, St. Francisco Marta, took it to heart. He began spending long hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament in his parish church, seeking to console the Lord. One day, his cousin Lucia who had also seen Our Lady, asked him, “Francisco, which do you like better—to console Our Lord, or to convert sinners?’ He responded, ‘I would rather console Our Lord. Didn’t you notice how sad Our Lady was that last month, when she said that people must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already much forgotten?” He made this his life’s mission – to quench the thirst of Jesus by consoling His lonely, forgotten Heart. Towards the end of his short life (he died at the age of 11 from tuberculosis), his cousin Lucia was complaining about some suffering they had to endure, but he responded, “Don’t mind these trials! If we can console Jesus by these sufferings, how happy we shall be!”

            Indeed, the thirst that Jesus has for our love can only be quenched with three things. First, by repentance. Repent of our coldness toward the Lord, the ways we have ignored Him and disbelieved Him and done our own will instead of His. Second, by prayer – spending time with the Lord is like giving a cold glass of water to quench His thirst. Don’t give Him just a sip of your love, but a gallon, as we spend serious amounts of time in prayer every day. Third, by offering our suffering to Him – whatever suffering we endure throughout the day, we can say, “Lord, I offer this suffering to become an act of love to You. Use it to quench Your burning thirst for souls and for love.”

            Many years ago at a different parish, there was a young boy named Christopher who had an incredibly rich spiritual life, even as a first-grader. He impressed me so much that I let him receive Communion a year early, so deeply did he desire to be united to Him. One day his mother told me an amazing story. She had been telling Christopher the story of St. John Vianney, who was so profoundly holy that one day the devil appeared to him and told him that if there were three people as holy as Fr. Vianney on earth, the devil’s kingdom would be broken. When his mom was telling Christopher this story, the boy began to cry. His mother asked what was wrong, and he said, “I’m just sad that there’s only been one saint that holy. I want to be the second.” What a heart to quench the burning desire of Jesus for souls and for love!

            I can’t help but think that Jesus grows thirstier by the day as our world becomes more and more indifferent to Him. Will you quench His thirst with repentance, prayer, suffering, and love?

Lent 2 - Truly Awesome

 

Homily for Lent 2

March 5, 2023

Totally Awesome

 

            One of the challenges of working with youth is that the lingo changes so much. Many of you remember when good things were groovy or hip, which then became rad or wicked, and now something that’s good is lit or fire. It can be hard to keep up! This past weekend I was speaking with some teen girls who were telling me about their friendship drama. I said to them, “Oh, do spill the tea!”, which means to share more information. One of the girls just gave me a look and said, “Father, come on. That is so 2018.”

            But one word that has kept its power is the word “awesome”. A really good party is awesome, you can have awesome teachers and an awesome movie and an awesome slice of pizza. It’s almost a throwaway word for anything that is really, really good.

            But think of what the word actually means. It means we are full of awe, wonder, and amazement at this thing. This thing is astonishing and breathtaking. Now, I’ve had really good pizza, but I can’t say I’ve ever been full of wonder or amazement at a slice of pizza.

            In today’s Gospel we see something that is truly awesome: the transfigured glory of Jesus Christ. For His entire time on earth, He had hidden His glory, but now for one brief moment the veil drops and He is seen for Who He truly is. And the disciples’ reaction is so telling – they fall on their faces, trembling and afraid. In the presence of the Creator who sculpted the stars and the mighty mountains, the conqueror of death, the Eternal One, the only proper response is awe.

            As Catholics, our faith is often both-and. Both Scripture and Tradition. Both faith and good works. Both fasting and feasting. And here, in the transfigured glory of Jesus Christ, we see another important both-and…Jesus is both our closest friend and our majestic Lord; He desires an intimate relationship with us, and He obliges us to worship Him as God. It’s a both-and.

            So, as we pursue God, we also recognize that our relationship with Him must be one of adoration as well as love. Let’s get practical about three areas where we can show our awe and reverence before the mighty power of the Lord.

            The first is in regards to His Name. It says in Scripture that “at the Name of Jesus, every knee will bow.” The Name of Jesus has the incredible power to bring nations to their knees. At the Name of Jesus, demons flee. A name isn’t just a word, it’s an entire identity and everything wrapped up in it. Think about the various emotions, thoughts, and memories that arise in your heart when you hear the word, “Mom”. Likewise, to use the Name of God is to invoke Him, praise Him, adore Him.

            So how can we be in awe of His Name? An old tradition, which needs to make a comeback, is to bow our heads whenever anyone says the Names of Jesus or Mary. Also, of course, to make sure that we do not use His Name irreverently. Some people struggle with saying, “Oh my…” and it can become a real habit. It that’s the case, the best way to stop it is to say immediately afterward, out loud, “Blessed be His Name.” Not only will that make up for the harm of using His Name in vain, it is also so embarrassing that we will quickly abandon the habit!

            But what do we do if our friends taking God’s Name in vain? Nobody wants to be “that guy” who tells others to quit it. When I was in high school I asked a priest what he recommended, and he told me to try using humor. So if someone says, “Oh my…” we can respond, “It’s nice to hear that you’re finally praying,” or “Hey, don’t talk about my best friend like that!” It makes people think – and hopefully respect His Name!

            A second way to be in awe of the Lord is to trust Him when things don’t go our way. Recently I was praying fervently for someone’s healing. All of us who were praying were confident that God would grant it. But then they went to the doctor and received bad news. I must admit, it shook my faith a bit, and I questioned why God would allow it. But later that day, I opened my Bible and my eyes fell upon the following passage from Isaiah:  My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, So high are my ways above your ways, And my thoughts above your thoughts. As a creature, I am not blessed with the perspective that God has, as He sees all of human history in one glance. So our role is to trust Him, confident that our lives are in His providential, loving Hands.

            A final way to live out awe in the presence of the Lord is in our relationship with the Eucharist. What appears to be ordinary bread is truly, substantially the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Risen Lord. The same reaction that the Apostles had to the radiant glory of Christ should be our reaction when we approach His True Presence.

            One time, St. Dominic Savio, the schoolboy who became a saint at 15 years old, came to see a Eucharistic procession through the town of Turin, Italy. It had just rained and the streets were muddy, but as the priest holding the Eucharist passed by, Dominic fell to his knees, heedless of the mud. Standing next to him was a devout businessman dressed in his finest suit. He was respectfully praying but didn’t want to get muddy. When Dominic noticed this, he pulled out his handkerchief and laid it on the mud, indicating that the man should kneel on it. The businessman was struck by the boy’s reverence, and quickly knelt in the mud, ashamed that he was more concerned about his clothing than about adoring our Eucharistic Lord.

            So what practical ways should we reverence the Eucharist? An old custom that should return is that whenever we pass a Catholic Church while driving on the road, we make the sign of the Cross and mentally greet our Eucharistic Lord Who is reserved within. Certainly we reverence Him by the way we receive Him – if you are physically able, I do encourage you to fall to your knees to receive Him here on the kneeler, and even on the tongue if you’re comfortable doing that. Certainly the way we act and dress in Church shows our reverence to Him – we recognize that we are not in a social hall or a movie theater, but we are at the very doors of Heaven. That’s not just a pious sentiment – it’s an actual, though invisible, reality. Hence, let all mortal flesh be silent, dressed in our “Sunday best”, and prepared to meet Him.

            And of course most importantly is to make sure our souls are clean for such a wondrous Divine Guest. We must make sure that we have no mortal sin on our soul – mortal sins such as drunkenness, intentionally missing Sunday Mass, or sins of impurity – before we receive the Gift of Gifts. If we do have the misfortune of having such a sin on our soul, we must have that sin washed away in Confession – which is being offered after Mass this weekend! If we could see Him in the Eucharist with our eyes, we would fall down and tremble at such majesty…but we see Him with our faith, and thus bring ourselves, believing, into His Eucharistic presence.

            At the end of our lives, we will see Jesus in His transfigured glory. On that day, we will do as Peter, James and John did – we will fall down on our faces, in awe and wonder. If we have not reverenced Him on earth, we will have reason to fear His mighty justice. But if we have loved and adored Him here, then we have hope that He will stand before us as a merciful Savior and Friend.

Ordinary Time 7, 2023 - "Princes In Disguise"

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 7

February 19, 2023

Princes In Disguise

 

            When the Communists took over Russia during the 1917 Revolution, they tragically executed the entire royal family…except for the youngest daughter, Anastasia. Somehow, she reportedly escaped, and for the next seventy years many women came forth and claimed to be Princess Anastasia. One woman, named Anna Anderson, was particularly convincing, and actually brought a lawsuit to a German court to try to prove that she was the missing princess, who had adopted a new name and identity for her safety. The lawsuit dragged on for 32 years before a judge finally declared that she was not the real princess. To this day, it remains an unsolved mystery as to the disappearance of the princess.

            I’ve always found that story interesting, because we seem to have a fascination with royalty-in-disguise. Think of many older Disney movies – Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast. Think of the old fairy tale where the princess has to kiss a frog to turn him back into a prince. Our literature is awash with stories of princes and princesses hidden under common, unassuming disguises.

            Why is that? Could there be a profound truth at the heart of our fascination with hidden royalty? Perhaps we are seeing in these stories a deeper glimpse into our own identity as well?

            What do I mean? Well, what do you see when you look into a mirror? Perhaps someone who’s lonely, someone who has regrets, someone who made a mess out of life, someone who’s tired. Maybe just someone who is pretty ordinary – after all, I don’t think we have too many famous people here at St. Jude’s!

            But St. Paul says three powerful things about our identity in today’s second reading. He says that we are “the temple of God”, that “the Holy Spirit dwells in us” and that “we belong to Christ.” Through grace, this is who we have become: children of the King, which makes us princes and princesses in disguise.

            And if we are princes and princesses, we ought to live out our dignity! Listen to the powerful words of Pope St. Leo the Great: Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your King and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom. Do not drive become again a slave to the devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ.

            Christian, remember your dignity! Remember Whose Blood has washed you clean, remember Whose life was given to purchase yours. Remember Whose son or daughter you are. With such a royal dignity, sin is beneath us – it is common, vulgar, when we are meant to live noble and upright lives. Sin is like playing in the mud when we will someday dwell in the heights of heaven. Just as it would be absurd to see Prince Harry eating from a dumpster, so it is equally absurd to see a Christian wallowing in the filth of sin.

            And it is in this light that we see Jesus’ words to “be perfect” For those of us who struggle with perfectionism, this Gospel can be a real challenge. Be perfect? I thought no one was perfect! Here’s where it’s helpful to go to the original Greek. The word is telos which means more than “perfect”…it also means “fulfilled, achieving its ultimate goal.” So what is the telos, the ultimate goal of a human being? To live out our dignity as sons and daughters of so noble a Father. We speak of people being “chips off the old block” or “she really takes after her father.” Likewise, we are to live the nobility of holiness precisely because we are the children of the all-holy Father, friends of the all-holy Son, and temples of the all-holy Spirit. All the riches of this world are just mud and filth compared to the glory that we are destined to partake of!

            Back in the early 1700s, when America was still being built up, a young aristocrat named Dimitri Gallitzin came to visit our country. He was the son of the Russian ambassador, a young man who came from a very noble background of riches, wealth, and high society. His parents were nominally Christian, but Dimitri had a real hunger for God and for living a better kind of life than that of a socialite. Arriving in America, he was amazed to see how many Catholics who lived in rural communities across the Thirteen Colonies had no access at all to the Sacraments. Moved at their plight, he told his parents that he was entering seminary to become a priest to serve the rural poor Catholics of this fledgling nation of America.

            This caused shock and horror to his family – he was giving up his inheritance? His wealth? His standing in high society? Yet Dimitri had found a higher nobility – the dignity of laying it all down for Christ. He became the first priest ever ordained in the United States of America in 1795, and spent his priesthood traveling through the mountainous regions of western Pennsylvania, bringing the Sacraments to isolated farmers and communities that had not seen a priest in decades. There were so few Catholics that one time he had to travel on horseback over 150 miles just to give someone Last Rites. He would travel for weeks on end to visit isolated families and communities to say Mass for them, often sleeping on bare floors or in barns on his travels. He became known as the “Apostle to the Alleghenies Mountains”, and is now on the path to potentially being named a saint – a man who gave up earthly nobility for the far more noble life of sacrifice for Christ.

            My friends, remember that you have a dignity that far exceeds the finest riches or greatest fame that this earth can offer. No, you are the sons and daughters of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; you were purchased with the Blood of God Himself; you are the inheritors of Heaven itself. Only a noble life of holiness could live up to such a royal destiny.

            Be holy, as your Father is holy.

Ordinary Time 5, 2023 - "Stay Salty, My Friends"

 

Homily for February 5, 2023

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Stay Salty, My Friends

 

            In Jesus’ day, salt wasn’t just a flavoring. More importantly, it was used to preserve food. In the days before refrigerators and freezers, meat and fish would be salted to ensure a long shelf-life and prevent spoiling – almost like making beef jerky, which lasts forever at room temperature.

            And there is an element of this in the life of Christians, too. Christian lives of holiness preserve the world from total corruption. There is an ancient Jewish tradition called the Tzadikim Nistarim, which says that there are 36 hidden people in the world in every generation who sustain the world by their holiness. It is said in the Talmud (an ancient Jewish commentary on the Scriptures) that if the number fell below 36, the world would be destroyed because of its sinfulness. So these 36 holy people, unknown to the world, sustain it in the sight of God (Of course, the number 36 is richly symbolic – 3 persons from each of the Twelve Tribes, 3 persons because of the three-fold praise of “Holy, Holy, Holy”).

            One day, a person asked the early twentieth century Rabbi Abraham Heschel whether he was one of the Tzadikim. In humility, he responded, “Maybe, but what is preventing you from becoming one?”

            A very good question! What is to prevent us from becoming the kind of Christian who brings joy to the Heart of God? The kind of Christian whose life and holiness preserves the world from falling into total self-destruction?

            This Gospel comes in the midst of Jesus’ beautiful and challenging discourse called the Sermon on the Mount. Starting with the Beatitudes last weekend, we will continue reading this Sermon through the next several weeks. This Sermon on the Mount lays out a radical new way of understanding of our life in Jesus Christ. Love your enemies…don’t even look at a woman with lust…blessed are the poor, sorrowful, persecuted…pray and give alms in secret…radically trust God for every need…this is a revolutionary concept of life as a follower of Jesus Christ. One can live it fully, or one can live it half-heartedly. So Jesus leads off this sermon with the exhortation to live it fully – to be salt with full flavor, light with full visibility.

            But here’s the deal – we cannot live this dynamic Sermon on the Mount through our own efforts. This is only possible through Jesus Christ. It’s significant that “Light of the world” is the only title that is applied to both Jesus and us. Today He calls us “the light of the world” and later on, He calls Himself the “light of the world”. It’s much like the moon – it has light, but only reflected from the sun. So we too are light, but only because we are connected to Him, the True Light of the World. We are the candle, He is the bonfire which sets our candles aflame.

            “If you are who you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!” said St. Catherine of Siena. A world of corruption is waiting for disciples who are unafraid to take Jesus at His words! Over the next few weeks, as we hear from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, hear His words – not just with your ears, but with your heart – and put them into practice! His Words are the best and safest way to become a saint – and not just a saint, but salt which preserves a corrupted world, light which shines in the dark fog of modernity.

            Back in the 1200s, the world and the Church was also in great disarray. Immoral clergy, corrupt leaders, apathetic laity…much like the struggles today. In response to such evil, some people wanted to live like that salt and light…but they did it in the wrong way. A group arose, called the Cathars (which means “the Pure”), who began to separate themselves from the Church and the world. They said that the material world, marriage, meat, and any type of fun was absolutely forbidden, and they believed that the Church was so corrupt that it was no longer the Church of Christ, so they set up their own parallel church full of “the pure” only.

            This became a pretty serious crisis in the church, because a lot of people were legitimately fed up with the corruption in the church and the political world. But into this situation came a young man named Francis, from a small Italian town, who gathered a few followers to live a life of total poverty. They then marched to Rome to seek approval from Pope Urban II.

            Pope Urban heard about this upstart group, and worried that this was another one of those Cathar branches who wanted to abandon the Church and the world. He had decided to refuse to even meet with Francis. But one night, he had a striking dream where he saw a giant church, teetering and toppling over. Suddenly, a thin man in a brown robe stepped forth and steadied the church with his hand, preventing it from falling. When the Pope awoke, he realized that it was Francis who had come, not to flee the world and the Church, but to renew and transform it, through his holiness. Pope Urban immediately called for Francis and enthusiastically approved his new order of brothers.

            Francis was the salt that preserved a mixed-up Church from falling into ruin. Rabbi Heschel was the salt in a century of confusion, and he invited others to join him. If you and I put Jesus’ words into practice, we too will be the salt and light in a world so desperate for authentic Christian lives. As St. Peter of Alacantra said, “Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state; but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves, a really good beginning will have been made.”

            Stay salty, my friends.