Lent 2 - February 25, 2018

Homily for Second Sunday of Lent

February 25, 2018

Faith

            In Connecticut we have lots of official state “things”. Our state flower is the Mountain Laurel, our state mineral is the Garnet (who knew we could have an official state mineral!), the official state cookie is the snickerdoodle. I kid you not – these things are officially named, by our state legislature, as our state symbols. We also have an official state hero: Nathan Hale. You may have heard of him in your studies of state history!

            Nathan Hale, a Connecticut native, was an American spy during the Revolutionary War sent to gather information about the British forces in New York. He was captured in his work and sentenced to death by hanging, but it was on the gallows that he uttered his famous line: “I have only one regret: that I have but one life to give for my country.” He was proud to die for what he believed in. He had faith in the cause, and so for him it was a privilege to lay down his life.

            But we live in a culture nowadays that lacks faith – in anything. Our wider culture certainly does not have faith in God, many people have lost their faith in their country or in other human beings…but what is life without faith? Don’t we need something that we can trust, something we can build our lives on, something bigger than ourselves that we can live for?

            I look at Abraham, who is the model of faith in the first reading. He has already believed God once, when God promised him some unlikely things – that he and his wife would have a son despite their old age. God came though on that promise, but now He ups the ante – “Ok, Abraham, you trusted Me once and I gave you a son. Now, will you trust Me again and give your son back to Me?” Abraham is forced to confront some really tough questions – is God real? Are His promises trustworthy? Or is all this just my own imagination talking to me? He steps out in faith, says a radical “yes” to the Lord, and the Lord blesses him abundantly for such radical faith.

            My friends, all of us have to face that same decision: is God real, or is He just a myth? Is the Catholic Faith true, or just one option among many? Are Heaven and Hell real, or is it just wishful thinking? Is the Eucharist really the Body and Blood of Jesus, or is it just a symbol? The reason why many people no longer attend Mass, no longer identify as Catholic, and no longer cling to organized religion is that many people see all of this as just a fairy tale, a myth, an old legend that makes us feel good but doesn’t really have real answers to life’s tough questions.

            What a far cry from true faith! Look, for example, at the faith of the martyrs, who were so convinced that this Catholic Faith was true that they shed their blood for it. One of my favorites is St. Margaret Clitherow. (Her story can be found here: http://www.ewtn.com/library/Mary/Clither.HTM ). These martyrs believed wholeheartedly that this Catholic Faith is true!

            Please don’t misunderstand me – faith is not some blind belief. Faith seeks to be illuminated, and our faith is the most logical and rational of all faiths. We ought to understand reasons for our faith – there are ways in which we can know that God exists, that Jesus rose from the dead, that the Eucharist is truly His Body and Blood. But we know these things from evidence, not from proof. The difference is that proof is scientific knowledge – we know things because we can examine them in a laboratory. We cannot scientifically prove the teachings of our Faith. But we also can’t prove the existence of Julius Caesar. We have testimony about him, but we can’t scientifically prove that he existed, in the sense that we could perform a laboratory experiment on him. We only have historical evidence – which is pretty convincing that he was a real person! I also cannot prove that my mother loves me. There is no biological test to measure for love. But I have received her love on many occasions – her kind words, her gifts, her thoughtful gestures, her hugs. All of this says that I can experience her love, even though I cannot scientifically prove it.

            Likewise, even though we cannot scientifically prove our Faith, we believe it because we have historical testimony (the Apostles who saw the miracles, who walked with Jesus, who touched the Resurrected Lord, the other miracles throughout the centuries, etc), and we also have had personal experiences of the Lord (ways in which God has worked in our life, times of beauty or love or goodness where we have experienced Him). These two types of knowledge – historical testimony and personal experience – are enough evidence to make me say that this Catholic Faith is absolutely true, worth living and dying for!

            My friends, I want to speak the truth. The truth is that God exists. The truth is that Jesus Christ is God-made-man. The truth is that He really died and really rose from the dead. He really established His Church and the Sacraments for us to follow. He really left us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. He really invites us into eternity with Him in Heaven. These aren’t myths; they aren’t fairy tales. These are truths that we can build our lives on through faith.

            If you believe these truths as well, let us profess our faith.

Homily for Lent 1 - February 18, 2018

Homily for Lent 1

February 18, 2018

All Is Grace

            A young boy was trying to move a large rock that was in the middle of his backyard. He strained and pulled but was unable to budge it. His father saw him struggling and came over to him. The dad asked, “Son, have you done everything you could to move this stone?” The son replied in frustration, “Yes! I’ve tried everything!” The father replied, “No, you haven’t done everything…you haven’t asked me to do it for you.” With that, the father picked up the stone easily and moved it out of the way.

            There are some things in life we can’t do on our own. When we’re kids, we’re dependent on our parents for everything: food, clothing, shelter. Even as adults who like to think we’re so independent, we need each other for friendship, support when we’re suffering, and so many other things. We were made to depend on others, and there are some things we just can’t do…like save our souls.

            A lot of times in Lent we make it all about what we are doing for God. I’m giving up chocolate, I’m praying more. All of that is great, but let’s start at the beginning…what God has already done for us! All that we do is only a response to His free gift of grace.

            And what a grace it is! Today’s first reading features God swearing a holy covenant with Noah. Covenants established family bonds, so God is inviting Noah to enter into His family. But lest that family be only for the Jewish people as the descendants of Noah, our second reading speaks of the covenant being opened to all mankind through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Just as the human race was cleansed and purified through Noah’s flood, so the human race is now cleansed and purified from sin through the waters of baptism, which first flowed from the side of Christ as He hung on the Cross.

            We hear that word “covenant” a lot in Mass, especially as we consecrate the wine into the Precious Blood. It is the “blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant” – Jesus’ blood did for us what we could not do for ourselves – we could not forgive our own sins, we could not belong to God as His beloved Sons and Daughters on our own, we could not enter Heaven by our own efforts. It was this New Covenant that Jesus Himself established that allows us to do so!

            We Catholics like to believe that if we do enough, we get to Heaven. That’s actually completely false – and a heresy (Pelagianism, which was condemned in the 500s!). We do not get ourselves to Heaven, only Jesus Christ can do that! I always cringe when I hear people say at funerals, “They were a good person, so they’re in Heaven.” We don’t get to Heaven by being good people – we inherit Heaven solely through the free gift of Jesus Christ. Of course, if we are followers of Jesus, we will want to walk in His footsteps and live a life of holiness. Our faith in Him cannot remain only on the surface if it doesn’t permeate our entire lives. But it is precisely that – faith in Him – which saves us!

            St. Thomas Aquinas had an experience like that. He was one of the greatest writers the Church has ever known, and one of the most profound thinkers in history. He wrote over one hundred volumes about Christ, the Bible, the Catholic Faith…it was said that he could literally write six books at one time with six different scribes in the same room! But towards his later years, he stopped writing his masterpiece, the Summa Theologica. People asked him why he stopped writing, and he told them that he had seen a vision of Jesus on the Cross. St. Thomas said that when looking at the Cross, he realized that all he had written and all he had done “was like straw” – it meant very little compared to the grace of the Cross.

            All of our good works are like straw compared to the good work Christ has already accomplished – that of reconciling us to God through the Cross.

            So this Lent, as we begin our fasting, our prayer, and our generosity to the poor, let us not do them in the hopes of “earning” Heaven. We don’t earn it. We receive it as a gift – the gift of grace, which is freely given to those who have a faith in Jesus Christ. 

Ordinary Time 6 - February 11, 2018

Homily for Ordinary Time 6

February 11, 2018

Imitators of Christ

            “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and then walk out the door and get on with their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

            That quote from the author Brennan Manning is striking – almost as striking as the words of St. Paul today when he tells the Corinthians, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Could you say that? Could you tell others, “Imitate me, because I live like Christ.” Or would we rather say, “Do as I say and not as I do.” Perhaps it is somewhere in-between!

            It is essential for Christians to set a good example. If our life does not match our beliefs, then our beliefs themselves are undermined. There was a great painting by Norman Rockwell called “Sunday Morning” where a mother and her three children are walking crisply out the door. They are wearing their Sunday best and clutching their prayerbooks, obviously heading to church, but the father is slumped down in an easy chair, reading the newspaper and dressed in his bathrobe, clearly not going anywhere. The mother and the two daughters are looking straight ahead, out the door, but as the son walks out, following the women, he is staring directly at his father. The implication is that the father is preaching powerfully by his non-attendance – he is saying that he doesn’t need Jesus, that a man does not need to go to church. And that example is being understood, loud and clear, by his son.

            Gandhi once said to Christians, “I like your Christ; I do not like you Christians. Christians are so unlike your Christ.” While that might be a bit harsh, it is important – we Christians must be a good example in the world, because people will follow our example.

            The example that we must follow is Jesus Christ Himself. And what a wonderful example He sets! Today’s Gospel shows His immense kindness and compassion. Not only does He heal a leper – He does so in a way that is so loving and tender – he reaches out and touches this man who has probably not been touched by another human being since he developed this deadly. There has never been anyone more kind, more loving, more patient, more pure, more sacrificial, more holy than Jesus Christ – so He is the example that we must follow. We find His example by studying the Scriptures – once Mother Teresa was asked, “What is your favorite book for spiritual reading?” And she responded without hesitation, “The Four Gospels”. Read the Bible – and you will know how you are to live.

            But there are many people in today’s world who will never read the Bible. There is a wonderful quote, “Your life may be the only Gospel some people ever read” – in other words, many people will only get to know about Jesus because of your example.

            There is a term used in convents of nuns and monks throughout the world: “Living Rule”. A Living Rule refers to an older monk or nun whose conduct is so exemplary that if all of the written rules of the congregation were destroyed somehow, they would be able to rewrite their rules by observing the life of these holy older monks or nuns. Likewise, Catholics should be a “Living Gospel” – if all the Bibles in the world were destroyed, people would still be able to know what they said by observing the faith and life of Christians like you and I!

            A boy in London, England was walking through a dense evening fog, carrying a lantern. He was approached by a man who said, “If you show me the way to my hotel, I will give you a shilling.” The boy proceeded to lead the man through the streets, his lantern lighting the way. When he arrived at the hotel, he held up the lantern to find that not one but four men had been following him! They had all been lost and saw the light as their one way to find safety!

            Likewise, in today’s murky world, people are looking for a way to live and to love, and they are willing to follow anyone who lives according to the Light of Christ. So take as your example the example of Jesus Christ. Live like Him, so that others can see Him in us. I want to be able to say with St. Paul, “Be imitators of me, as I am an imitator of Christ.”

Homily for Ordinary Time 5 - February 4, 2018

Homily for Ordinary Time 5

February 4, 2018

The Great Value of Sickness

            It is providential that this Gospel occurs during one of our worst flu seasons ever, since it features Jesus performing numerous healing miracles. We all get sick – it’s just a part of life. But have you ever wondered why it is a part of life? If God is all-powerful and can heal us (as we see Jesus doing), why does He allow us to get ill?

            First of all, we have to understand that sickness was not part of God’s original plan. It came about as a result of original sin – it is part of the fallen nature that we all share as human beings. But please understand – sickness is not a punishment for sin, it is a remedy for sin. We take medicines that are bitter and taste disgusting to get well – likewise, if we approach sickness with a Christian view, it has the power to spiritually heal us.

            After all, Jesus, being fully human and fully divine, Himself got sick. We don’t have a record of that in the Bible per se, but the Gospels do say that Jesus got tired, hungry, thirsty – and of course suffered physically in His crucifixion. Since we believe that Jesus Christ is like us in all things but sin, I think it’s safe to assume that Jesus also got colds and flus, that He scraped His knees as a boy, that He probably had indigestion and banged His thumb with a hammer and all sorts of other physical ailments.

            So Jesus can show us the proper way to face sickness and suffering. Two things I would like to point out: first, Jesus shows us that we are never alone in our suffering. Second, Jesus shows us how to redeem our suffering and use it to make us holy.

            First of all, we are never alone in our suffering. It’s a frightening thing to face a cancer diagnosis, or to watch your child come down with the flu. Our first reaction might be, “God, where are You in all this? Don’t You care? Can’t You do something?” This is the reaction we see in Job from today’s first reading – he says, basically, “God, my life is misery! Where are You?”

            When I look at the Cross, I see the answer. I see a God Who is not afraid to enter into the mystery of human suffering and be with us. The prophet Isaiah says, “He bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” There was once a man of deep faith who was paralyzed from the neck down due to a car crash, unable to speak. His wife and a team of nurses took care of him, and every week the parish priest would visit him to pray with him. One week the priest came in, but the man looked restless – he was constantly moving his eyes, trying to communicate something to the priest. The priest didn’t know what he was trying to say, though, so he turned to the wife and asked, “What is he trying to tell me?” The wife answered, “Oh, Father, he’s asking you to move. He always likes to look at the crucifix, and you’re standing right in the way.” When we look at Christ on the Cross, we are reminded that we are never alone in sickness or suffering.

            Second, Jesus shows us how to redeem our suffering. Blessed Chiara Luce Badano was an ordinary teen girl who lived in Italy in the 1990s. She enjoyed the good things of life – playing guitar and tennis, hanging out with friends, watching movies. But she also had a deep faith in Jesus Christ through her parish youth group. When she was playing tennis one day when she was sixteen, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder that wouldn’t go away. After many tests, it was determined that she had bone cancer. When told of her diagnosis, she said, “This is all for You, Jesus – if You want it, then so do I.”

            The chemotherapy and radiation was always painful, but she refused morphine, saying that she wanted to be fully conscious to offer her suffering to the Lord. When clumps of her hair would fall out, she would hold them up and say, “For You, Jesus.” She would take walks to brighten the day of another patient who was suffering from depression, even though it caused Chiara greater suffering to try to walk. In this suffering and sickness, she began to grow immensely in her love for God and neighbor; so much so that when she was visited by a bishop from Rome, the Bishop remarked, “The light in your eyes is amazing – where does it come from?” She replied, “I simply try to love Jesus as much as I can.”

            She died at the age of 18 but is now a Blessed in the Church. Her suffering was a critical part of her sanctification. By offering her suffering to the Lord, she was purified, much like gold and silver are refined by heating them up in fire. She grew in the virtues of kindness, patience, humility, and love.

            And this is where our faith sheds light on the mystery of suffering. God’s desire for you is not an easy life – God desires you to be holy – to be like Him. Recently in confirmation class, we were speaking about Padre Pio, who had the gift of the stigmata – the wounds of Christ. The kids were asking, “Why do you call it a gift? It would hurt to have the wounds of Jesus!” Yes, it hurts – but because Padre Pio wanted to become like Jesus Christ in everything, he knew that suffering with patience and uniting it to Christ’s suffering on the Cross would make him holy.

            My friends, with faith, we do not need to fear sickness, weakness, illness, and death. We are comforted by the fact that God does not abandon us in our sickness, and that He can use even our sicknesses to make us holy if we offer it to the Lord. So the next time you get a cold or flu, don’t waste that suffering – allow it to make you a saint! 

Ordinary Time 4 - January 28, 2018

Ordinary Time 4

January 28, 2018

Gift of Celibacy

            Many years ago, a young nun was assigned to teach first grade at a Catholic school. She found it difficult, though, because she was questioning her own vocation. She felt like she was wasting her life because she wasn’t married and wasn’t doing anything the world typically considers “successful”.

            One day, one of the six-year-olds, who the nun knew came from a broken home, said to her, “Sister, are you married?”

            The nun once again felt the sorrow and loneliness of her vocation. “No,” she replied sadly.

            “Do you have any kids?” the young girl asked.

            “No,” she replied.

            The little girl then smiled, relieved, and said, “Oh good, ‘cause now you belong to all of us.”

            And this is precisely the gift of celibacy – that is, the gift of remaining unmarried for the sake of Christ. Priests, nuns, and many laypeople are called to celibacy (remaining unmarried), but this is one of the most misunderstood parts of Church life today.

            St. Paul knew it would be controversial too. In the second reading today, he speaks about how celibacy is a great gift because it allows someone to focus themselves entirely on the Lord. This was one of the aspects of Christianity that Jews and Greeks both had a hard time with – it was very foreign in Greek or Jewish culture to remain celibate by choice. But Paul really exalts celibacy – it is a great gift, so that a person can focus completely on the Lord.

            Priests and nuns are not the only ones called to celibacy – I know a number of laypeople who have sensed a call to give up marriage for the sake of the Kingdom. My friend Paul, for example, who works for a church in Maryland. He is not a priest but has felt called to dedicate his life completely to Christ and for the salvation of souls, and he has done that so powerfully by renouncing marriage.

            So, why celibacy? Why, in today’s world, would someone willingly and freely give up marriage? I think there are three reasons why celibacy is a great gift:

            First, celibacy allows a person to belong completely to Jesus and completely to others. Mother Teresa said, “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.” A lot of times celibacy is seen as a denial of something – giving up marriage. But primarily it is an embracing of Someone – of Jesus Christ, and through Him, to embrace His people. As a celibate priest, I am so blessed to belong to Christ totally, and through Him, to belong to my parishioners. This past Christmas I was able to go over parishioners’ houses to celebrate Christmas day – that’s something I could never do if I had a wife or kids!

            Second, just as marriage results in physical fruitfulness, celibacy lived well results in spiritual fruitfulness. Everything that an earthly father does for his children, a priest does for his children. A father gives life to his children; a priest gives spiritual life to his children through baptism. A father teaches his kids how to walk and talk; a priest teaches them how to walk with the Lord and talk to Him in prayer. A father provides food for his family; a priest provides the Eucharist, our spiritual food. A father cleans up after his kids’ messes; a priest cleans his parishioners’ souls through Confession.

            In my former parish there was a kid named David who went from being a totally apathetic teenager to being someone who walked himself to Mass every Sunday. I asked him why he suddenly started caring about his faith, and he told me, “I believe in Jesus because you’re not married.” I was surprised and asked him what he meant. He told me, “I figured the Catholic Faith couldn’t be a lie if you were willing to give up a wife for it. No one would sacrifice so much for a lie.” Wow!

            People often talk about the sacrifice of celibacy. A wise preacher one said, “Is celibacy crazy? Yes, about as crazy as a soldier jumping on a live grenade to save his buddies.” In other words, yes, it’s a sacrifice, but where there is love, sacrifice is easy. Ask any parent – there are thousands upon thousands of sacrifices parents must make, but they do it (usually) gladly out of love.

            Finally, celibacy is an eschatological sign. That’s a theologically technical way of saying that celibacy is a reminder of Heaven. In Heaven we won’t have marriage in the same way we do here – yes, we will still love our spouses, but we will love Christ with an all-consuming love…much like someone who has renounced marriage for the sake of the Lord.

            People are surprised to find that my Facebook status says I am married – because I am married – to the Church! That final union between Christ and His Church is foreshadowed in those who have given themselves totally to uniting their lives to Him.

            And this is precisely why the world hates, questions, and reviles celibacy – because it is a reminder that Heaven is real and that it’s worth it to live radically for Jesus Christ. In a world that says we can’t find happiness unless we indulge every desire and every pleasure, celibacy stands as a witness that sacrifice and love and the Lord are the only ways to true happiness.

            I would like to encourage the young people here this morning to consider – is God calling you to a life of celibacy, as a priest, a nun, or a consecrated layperson in the world? Many young men and women are called to give up marriage for the sake of Christ – do not be afraid! It is a joyful life of radical self-gift. For the rest of us, especially those who are married, let us pray that many more people may embrace that call to celibacy. St. Paul recognizes it is a great gift to belong totally to the Lord; I pray we may recognize that gift as well.

Homily for Ordinary Time 3 - January 21, 2018

Homily for January 21, 2018

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

Sin & Repentance

            Some people tell me that the Church talks way too much about sin. But it seems to me that sin is the greatest cause of unhappiness in the world. And the church wants people to be happy with that deep joy that comes from God alone!

            Saying the Church talks too much about sin is like saying, “I don’t go to my doctor anymore because he just kept talking about my high cholesterol. That’s all he ever talked about – cholesterol this, heart attack that. I wish he would talk about the good things instead of such negativity!” Well, why would someone’s doctor constantly be talking about cholesterol? Maybe because he knows you need to focus on fixing it in order to be in good health!

            Likewise, our relationship with God isn’t healthy if we persist in unrepentant sin. And that’s precisely what sin is – it’s wounding a relationship, not breaking a rule. All relationships have unwritten rules about them. For example, if you’re married, it’s an unwritten rule that you have to remember your anniversary. Imagine if a man (sorry guys, it’s usually the husband) forgot his anniversary, and his wife got mad about it. The man might try to say, “What’s the big deal? You know I love you. It’s a silly rule that I have to remember our anniversary anyway.” To which the woman might respond, “It’s not a silly rule! It shows that you love me and you value our marriage!” And then he has to sleep on the couch for the night.

            That’s why Jesus’ first words are “Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Repent – turn away from your sins, those selfish and harmful actions and thoughts which destroy our peace and our relationships. The Kingdom of God is at hand – we turn our thoughts, words, and actions over to Christ’s dominion, finding freedom in obedience to His commands and seeking to live for His glory.

            Jesus Christ came specifically to conquer sin. It was because of our sin that He died; it is to conquer sin that He rose. It’s no surprise that on Easter Sunday night, the very first time He appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection, the first gift He gave them was the ability to forgive sins! He knew that sin was an obstacle blocking His grace from flowing into the souls of men and women, so for His victory to take root in their lives they needed to confess and repent of their sin!

            We sin because we think sin will make us happier. St. Augustine tells a great story in his autobiography Confessions. When Augustine was a young man, he was walking with some companions by a pear orchard. He saw a tree that was loaded with pears, and a sinful desire began to take root in his heart. He thought about the pears and how delicious it would be to steal one. He jumped the fence and quickly stole a pear from the tree. But when he bit into it, he found it to be terribly hard and underripe! Later reflecting on the experience, he realized that he savored the thought of the pear, but when he actually did it, it ended up being very empty.

            And isn’t that how it is with us? We sin when we pursue counterfeit goods, instead of the true Good – God Himself. One time when I was a young seminarian, I accompanied our eighth-graders on a trip to New York (we were all from Baltimore, so New York was quite a treat). One of the kids, a boy named Alex, went shopping in Battery Park from one of those hucksters who sells cheap knock-off stuff illegally. Afterward, on the bus ride home, he was showing me his fake Rolex watch. He was so happy that he got it for only ten dollars! I kept telling him, “That’s not a real Rolex! Don’t you know it’s a fake?” But he kept insisting that it was a real one, after all, “The guy who sold it to me said it was real!” Yeah, right. About ten minutes later, he came back to me and showed me the watch. “It’s not ticking anymore. It doesn’t seem to be working!” he lamented. Of course not, Alex. He sold you fake goods.

            Same way with sin. Sin tempts us with pleasure – don’t you want to say that unkind word? Won’t it be fun to tell that dirty joke? Just this once, it’s no big deal if you cheat on the test. But when push comes to shove, that happiness is as fake as a Rolex from Battery Park. It lasts just a moment, and leaves us with emptiness.

            So what is the remedy? Exactly what Jesus tells us to do – repent, and put our lives under His Kingship. I am amazed, in the Gospel, at how quickly Peter, Andrew, James, and John leave everything behind to follow Jesus. Perhaps they tried out a life of sin and found it miserable. Perhaps they were looking for a deeper happiness, and they only found it in Christ. I do know that we should be equally as quick to leave behind our sin, get to Confession, and follow Jesus Christ by putting our entire lives under His Kingship.

            I leave you with two questions: what do you need to repent of? And what part of your life is God inviting you to submit to His Kingship?

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time - January 14, 2018

Homily for January 14, 2018

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

Purchased At A Price

            St. Josephine Bakhita went from being a slave of man to being a slave of Christ. She grew up in Sudan in the 1800s in a happy childhood that was sadly cut short when her village was raided by Muslim slave traders who captured her and sold her into slavery. At eight years old, she was forced to walk 600 miles to a slave market, where she was purchased by a wealthy Muslim. The trauma of the capture, march, and purchase was so much that she actually forgot her name, so her new owner named her “Bakhita” – meaning lucky or fortunate. This is ironic considering her life…at first, her owner treated her kindly, but pretty soon he began to beat her cruelly. She was bought and sold to different owners twelve times – sometimes being so tortured that her flesh was permanently scarred.

            Finally, she was purchased by a kind Italian general who was working in Africa. When the Italian general returned home, he brought Bakhita with him, and she served him in peace for a while. When the Italian general was forced to make another journey, he left all of his female slaves – including Bakhita – in the care of some nuns.

            There, in the convent, for the first time Bakhita learned about God. Immediately she accepted the Catholic Faith and loved to spend time in Mass and with the joyful sisters who treated her with so much respect and love. When her master returned and tried to take her back, she refused to go, and the superior of the convent actually sued the general to allow Bakhita to remain with the nuns. The judge ruled in Bakhita’s favor, so she was allowed to remain and become a nun. She was baptized, taking the name Josephine, and for the next forty years lived a humble, simple life of a nun. She had traded her slavery to man for the freedom that Christ had won for her! She was so free of spirit, in fact, that she said if she ever met the people who captured her, she would kiss their hands, because it was only through them that she met Jesus. This woman was freed from hatred and revenge, with the freedom that had been purchased at a great price!

            St. Josephine Bakhita knew that she had been purchased, and that she did not belong to herself. At first, she was purchased by evil and cruel slave traders, being forced into slavery, but then she realized she had been purchased by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, which made her desire to serve Him with her entire life.

            St. Paul makes it clear in our second reading that we do not belong to ourselves, and our bodies do not belong to us. We do not have the right to do whatever we want with our bodies. We have been purchased at a tremendous price – the price of Christ’s death – so we owe it to Him to glorify Him in our bodies.

            There is an error that I hear all the time in modern society. Many people believe that they can do whatever they want with their bodies as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else. When I was in college, one of the employees at the college had a bumper sticker that read, “My body isn’t a temple; it’s an amusement park!” That would be a very anti-Christian attitude! Your body is sacred, because it was your body that was covered in water in Baptism; it is your body that receives Christ’s body in the Eucharist; it is your body that will someday rise again at Jesus’ Second Coming. Thus, we must treat our bodies as servants of Christ.

            The second reading that we heard today is a hugely sanitized translation. It said, “Flee immorality” and speaks of “immorality” as if it were a vague sinfulness. But the Greek word that Paul used is “pornea” which is where we get the word “pornography” – pornea specifically means sexual sins. One of the ways in which we must respect our bodies is for us to live a pure life and respect God’s design for human sexuality. Frequent confession, having a solid prayer life, and practicing custody of the eyes can be huge helps if someone struggles with purity. We live in a very over-sexualized culture – we need to take practical steps to guard our purity if we hope to obtain mastery over our bodies. This is so critical – Our Lady said at Fatima that “more souls go to Hell through sins of the flesh (sexual sins) than for any other reason” so striving for purity is critical for holiness. Even if we have to confess our sins weekly and give up technology entirely, purity is worth even that sacrifice!

            Respecting our bodies also involves treating it with respect. We shouldn’t consider our physical health more important than our spiritual health (for example, when people work out for three hours a day but can’t find time to pray). But at the same time, we ought to respect our bodies through healthy living. Not overeating, never abusing alcohol or drugs, making sure we get enough rest and exercise are important to both our physical and spiritual health. We only have one body and one life – we have to use it well in service to the Lord.

            My friends, our bodies do not belong to us – they belong to Christ, because they have been purchased at the cost of His Precious Blood on the Cross. Because of this, we need to keep our bodies pure and holy, realizing that someday our flesh will participate in either the joys of Heaven or the sufferings of Hell. I pray that we may use our bodies well – for the glory of God – so they may participate in His eternal reward.