Culture | Parishable Items

Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category

3rd Sunday of Advent—Year C

December 14, 2009

Advent is a season for penance and conversion, for the confession of sins and the changing of lives, but this Sunday of Advent reminds us that it is also time for joy. Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, a name which comes from the Latin command “rejoice!” This command is heard from St. Paul in today’s second reading:

“Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!”

But is it that why do we need to be reminded, even commanded, to rejoice? Why are we not a people of constant joy and peace, even though we have great reason to be? I think it is because our hearts and minds give in to fear.

God is near, but when we give in to fear we do not trust that He really cares about us and really provides for us. In fear we become anxious about our future. In our fear we feel too stressed-out to be thankful. And in fear we forget or refuse to pray. St. Paul seems to have realized all this, that may be why he followed his command to rejoice with these words, words that it would do a lifetime of good to know by heart:

“The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all,
but in everything,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God
that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Today I would like to share with you a true story about two friends of mine who had every seeming reason to afraid, but who kept God’s peace. Let’s call them Andrew and Christi. I have changed their names to conceal their identities, but I know they wouldn’t mind me sharing with you their story because it can teach us all a lot.

To say my friends had a difficult first year of marriage would be to understate it. Andrew, a hard-working man with rough hands and a good heart, became afraid that marrying Christi had been a mistake and he seriously considered getting a divorce. Christi, a beautiful woman inside and out, prayed fervently to God, for both Andrew and herself. She honestly did not know how God would provide for her, but God gave her a peace that surpassed her limited understanding of His plans. Then, as Andrew tells it, God intervened, giving him a sign that this marriage was indeed His will and that Andrew should not be afraid. This divine reassurance strengthened Andrew and he resolved to remain faithfully at Christi’s side no matter what.

A few months later, forces beyond their control forced Andrew and Christi to leave their hometown, away from all their family and friends, and to move down south to a town where Andrew had some distant relatives. But, once they got down there, all of these relatives proved to be too distant or too busy to care enough to lend this vulnerable couple a hand. Their first Advent season together, Andrew and Christi were jobless, homeless, and with child.

It would have been so easy for them to give in to despair that first Christmas Eve, for Andrew to feel like he had failed his wife as a husband, or for Christi to feel anxious and afraid about their future as a family. Yet, Andrew and Christi trusted that the Lord was near. They would pray together as a couple, and gain courage and strength, peace and even joy through their prayers.

Indeed the Lord was near them, through it all, and their first Christmas together turned out to be was the brightest and the most joyful that they, or the world, had ever seen. As I said, this is the true story of two friends of mine, but they’re also friends of yours and you knew their story even before I told it to you today. For Andrew’s real name is St. Joseph and Christi’s real name is St. Mary.

Today we rightly call them saints, not because they lived in a world free from difficulties, an imaginary world different from our own. Joseph and Mary are saints because they knew and practiced how to live in this world well; with joy, kindness, prayer, thanksgiving, and peace. And so brothers and sisters:

Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all,
but in everything,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God
that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Posted in Blessed Virgin Mary, Culture, Homily, Joy, Marriage and Family, Nativity, Peace, Prayer, Providence, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. Joseph, Sunday Homilies, Supernatural Phenomena, Trust | 1 Comment »

2nd Sunday of Advent—Year C

December 10, 2009

In the first year of the presidency of Barack Obama,
when Jim Doyle was governor of Wisconsin,
and Kohl and Feingold were its senators,
and Obey was the seventh district congressman,
and Favre was the quarterback in Minnesota,
when Benedict was pontiff and Jerome was bishop,
the word of God came here,
to Christ the King parish in Spencer:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

It isn’t a new word… It was the message of John the Baptist, and Isaiah wrote it long before that. Yet the word of God is not old in the sense that it has passed some kind of expiration date. When the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of these words, their human author who put the pen to parchment did not know the great audience and the impact they were to have. But the Holy Spirit saw us here and had these words written to us and for as well. These words were not meant only for Old Testament peoples, or for the time when Christ walked on the earth. These words are proclaimed to us, and meant for us, here today. Remember this every time you encounter the Scriptures, here at church or in your private prayer.

So what is God’s word saying to us today? In the Gospel, did you notice that of all the rulers and governors and leaders at that time, the word of God did not come to any one of them? “The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.” The lesson is that God prefers to lead souls to salvation by working through common people. People who think that they have no power.

What politicians do is important, since good laws can help people and bad laws can hurt them, but what saves souls rarely comes through them. And though our Holy Father and our bishop strive to do important work for Christ, there is only so much they can do. The way of the Lord is prepared by the daily efforts of ordinary Christians, who sometimes have children and sometimes work jobs. Your family, friends, and co-workers probably don’t read papal encyclicals, but they always witness your words and example. And so, Jesus depends upon you to prepare His way for others, to make winding and rough roads straight and smooth, and so that all people see the salvation of God.

This is the Christian’s calling and important mission, yet we cannot share what we do not have. If were are going to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight his paths for others we must first fill the valleys and level the mountains for Christ within ourselves. To this end, I urge you to make the most of two gifts God gives us: the sacrament of confession and daily prayer. There is simply nothing that more quickly and effectively strengthens the average Catholic’s moral and spiritual life than frequent and regular confession. And daily prayer is indispensible for growing in relationship with Christ and for living a wonderful life.

Each year, many of our homes are visited a familiar and beloved character whom we associate with Christmas… I speak George Bailey from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This film, despite its flawed angelology, teaches the truth about how much difference one person can make for others. George Bailey’s an ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life without even realizing himself. By the end of the film, we see the impact for good that his life has had and we see George surrounded by his family and his many friends who all love and admire him.

Why does George Bailey live such a wonderful life? Sure, he’s a nice guy, but he’s more than a nice guy. Time and again, he sacrifices what he wants to do what’s loving and best for the people God has placed in his life. I hope we can all see a little bit of George Bailey in ourselves. Because we can see a great deal of Christ in George Bailey.

This Advent season, let us prepare the way of the Lord within us, so that through us, all people may see the salvation of God. This is the calling, the mission, and the privilege of the Christian. In this or any age, it’s a wonderful life.

Posted in Christ the King Parish, Christian Perfection, Confession, Culture, Homily, Movies, Penance, Politics, Prayer, Sunday Homilies, Witness | Leave a Comment »

1st Sunday of Advent—Year C

December 1, 2009

Each year, people search for the perfect Christmas gifts for the most important people in their lives. We rack our brains and brave the mobs so that we may give our spouses, children, parents and siblings something extra special. But, in all our years, have we ever given Jesus Christ a special gift for Christmas? I encourage you to join with me in putting Him on the top of your Christmas list this year. But what can you get the God-man who has everything? There’s one thing that He cannot receive from anyone else but you—that is the perfect gift of yourself.

How do you make a perfect gift of yourself? First ask yourself this… If this day, death should take you by surprise and you find yourself standing before the Son of Man, as you looked at yourself, what part of your soul would remain unfinished? What would you wish you had another month’s time to set right in your life?

Jesus said, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life…” Is your life mixed-up with addictions to lust, to intoxicants, or to other empty pleasures? Are you oppressed the daily worries which come from a lack of trust in God? Or maybe it is something else which is not quite right in your life. Whatever it is, identify where your life needs conversion the most, resolve to begin taking the path of life, and choose to make a gift of yourself for Christ this Christmas.

If you want to make a gift of yourself for Christ this Christmas there is something else you must do. You must set time aside to pray each day. If you neglect this, you will not go far in your conversion or holiness. But, if you lift up your soul to the Lord each day, telling Him about your needs and gratitude, and opening yourself to receive His gifts, then this could be the greatest Christmas of your life. St. Alphonsus Liguori says this about the importance of prayer:

“Whoever prays is certainly saved. He who does not is certainly damned. All the blessed (except infants) have been saved by prayer. All the damned have been lost through not praying. If they had prayed they would not have been lost. And this is, and will be their greatest torment in hell: to think how easily they might have been saved, just by asking God for His grace, but [for] that now it is too late – their time of prayer is gone.”

There are twenty-five days ‘til Christmas. Make the most of this opportunity and give Jesus Christ the gift He’s asking for this year.

Posted in Christ the King Parish, Culture, Homily, Prayer, Repentance, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Friday, 33rd Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

November 23, 2009

In the year 167 before Christ, the empire dominating the Jews, in attempt to unify their peoples, forbid the Jewish sacrifices, banned observance of the Sabbath and feasts, and outlawed circumcision. Altars to Zeus and other Greek gods were set up in the temple, and unclean animals, like pigs, were sacrificed upon them. In response, Mattathias Maccabeus and his sons led a Jewish revolt against their oppressors. Two years later, they had crushed their enemies and went up to purify the temple and to rededicate it for proper worship.

Two hundred years later, another zealous lover of God’s law went up to the temple to cleanse it and rededicate for true worship. Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.”

After the Maccabees had rededicated the temple they celebrated for eight days. When they relit the seven wicks of the menorah in the sanctuary they only had enough olive oil on hand to keep it burning for one day. But, by a miracle, it is said that the lamp kept burning for eight days, long enough to press, prepare and consecrate more fresh oil. The rededication of the temple and this miracle are still commemorated in our time as a Jewish holy day. From the Hebrew word for “dedication” or “consecration”, the Jews call this celebration “Hanukkah.”

Christ has dedicated and consecrated us as the new temple and house of God. How are we to keep our temple lamps lit? How are we to obtain oil for our souls? We are not to do it by grasping, by stealing things from the world, in a vain effort to fill ourselves. The Lord’s house is not to be a den of thieves. Instead, we must pray, asking for the grace we need to remain burning brightly. As Jesus said, “My house shall be a house of prayer.”

Posted in Culture, Homily, Prayer, St. John the Baptist Parish, Supernatural Phenomena, Temple Cleansing, The Maccabees, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Tuesday, 33rd Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

November 17, 2009

Imagine if the United States of America, with all its freedoms and rights, were not the United States of America, and on your way to school today, you were stopped along roadside by the secret police. They ask you for your name. You cooperate give it. Then they order you to put your hands on the hood of the squad car. They handcuff you and place you under arrest.

You ask them, “What’s going on? What have I done?” They reply, “You’re under arrest for the charge that you are a believing Catholic Christian.” You didn’t realize it, but the police have had you under intense surveillance for the past several weeks, wire-tapping your phone, monitoring your computer, searching your personal belongs, and watching all your movements and activities.

Imagine yourself in this situation. This is the question I pose to you: At your trial, when all of the evidence they have gathered is presented against you, will there be enough to convict you? Would there be sufficient evidence to find you guilty of being a believing Catholic Christian? What would they have on you?

Would they have testimony from informants that you observe every Friday as a day of penance, that you keep every Sunday as a special, day of rest, and faithfully go to Mass and frequent the sacrament of reconciliation? Could anyone testify against you that they heard you saying positive things about Jesus Christ, or that you spoke up for the Catholic faith when it was mocked or criticized in your presence? Could they put into evidence a rosary, or a Bible, or some other Catholic book, marked with fresh traces of DNA from your fingertips? Would they have hidden camera footage of you praying before meals at school or at restaurants? Would they have grainy night-vision footage of you praying before going to bed, or praying the first thing in the morning, making the tell-tale sign of the cross.

A few hours after your arrest you find yourself in a courtroom (because the “people’s” authoritarian government believes in speedy trials.) The intimidating judge looks down at you from the bench, “It says here that you were picked up on your way to the Columbus school. We have evidence of illegal Christian propaganda being taught there and we also have reliable reports that various Catholic rituals are done there, superstitions which are offensive to reason and the spirit of our times. Now I imagine that you went to that school because that’s where your parents sent you. And I’m sure that your parents would be shocked to discover that such repugnant activities as these are happening at your school.”

The judge continues, “The punishment for being found guilty of being a believing Catholic Christian is a grave one. But… if you were simply mixed-up in these activities, unthinkingly, by accident—if you were just doing them because that’s what everyone else around you was doing—well then that would be a different story. Spies and traders may come to our government rallies, but that doesn’t make them loyal citizens now does it? So just going through the motions doesn’t make you a believing Catholic at all, am I right?”

“So I can completely understand how this regretable misunderstanding has occurred. You didn’t really understand what you were doing did you? Now if you would simply formally renounce any and all belief in these silly superstitions, you may go on your way. Just sign your name here on this piece of paper testifying to that effect, and you’re free to go.”

What would you do? What do you wish you would have the courage to do? Would we have the courage to refuse to sign, just as Eleazar refused to eat? The eating of a little meat, like the movement of a pen, is a small act, but Eleazar refused and accepted an unjust death because to do otherwise would mean a rejection of the Lord, the one true God, the King of all other kings.

Now it is very unlikely that you or I will ever have to lay down our lives as red, or bloody martyrs for our faith in Christ. But, like Zacchaeus, there will be certainly times when we will have to go out on a limb for Christ. The crowd laughed to see the rich man Zacchaeus up in that tree, but what did Zacchaeus care about? His focus was totally fixed upon his connection with Jesus Christ.

Be like Eleazar, and don’t swallow whatever the world sets before you, because a lot of it is not good and can alienate you from God. Be like Zacchaeus, with the courage to go out on a limb regardless of what other people might think or say, for the sake of your relationship with Christ.

[The images for this post come from the movie Sophie Scholl–The Final Days. If you liked A Man for All Seasons, you’ll like this one too (but I’ll warn you up front that it ends the same way.)]

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Christian Perfection, Courage, Culture, Eleazar, Faith, Homily, Our Lady of Peace Parish, Politics, Sacrifice, Saintly People, School Homilies, St. John the Baptist Parish, Weekday Homilies, Witness, Zacchaeus | Leave a Comment »

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year B

November 15, 2009

Should we ask challenging questions about our faith? Is asking tough questions about what we believe a sign of doubt and mistrust toward God? No, it shows just the opposite. Sincerely searching out for the answers to challenging questions is a sign of faith for it shows our confidence that there are good answers out there just waiting to be found.

If we Catholics decide to plug their ears and close-tight their eyes when challenging questions arise, our faith will never grow. Our faith will never develop, in sophistication or strength, beyond what we knew when they were kids. We should ask tough questions about our faith because if we sincerely seek we will find, and our faith will be made all the stronger because of it.

Today’s readings raise two challenging questions. The first came up in the second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews. It describes how the Old Testament priests once offered sacrifices, day-after-day, in an attempt to take away sins. But Jesus Christ, our new high-priest, has offered a single sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. This raises a challenging question: Why do we have the sacrifice of the Mass, Sunday after Sunday? Sometimes people ask us, “Why do you Catholics do that? We are you trying to sacrifice Jesus over and over again? Are you saying that Jesus’ one sacrifice wasn’t enough?” No, that’s not what we believe.

At the Mass, the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not repeated, it is presented again, in its full reality, for us. If the Mass actually repeated Christ’s sacrifice, then Jesus would be dying over and over again. No, rather the Mass re—presents His sacrifice. The Mass really brings to us, the one passion, death, resurrection, and ascension into glory of our savior.

Jesus’ sacrifice was accomplished once, but it is applied many times. Jesus’ sacrifice was accomplished only once in history, two thousand years ago and half a world away, but the graces of that sacrifice have been applied many places and many times. How do these graces come from His cross to us today? They come to us through the sacraments which Jesus gave to His one bride, His Church, to wash her, to nourish her, to make her perfectly beautiful, and to make her one with Himself. Jesus’ sacrifice was accomplished once, but its graces are applied to us many times, most especially here in the Eucharist.

The second challenging question from today’s readings comes out of the Gospel. Here’s the context for the scene we heard in the Gospel:

As Jesus was making his way out of the temple area one of his disciples said to him, “Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings!” Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple area, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to come to an end?”

Jesus then proceeds to prophesize about the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world, when He says (as we heard,) “Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.”

Well, the generation of the apostles is long gone and we’re still here, so the world hasn’t ended. This raises the challenging question: are Jesus and the Gospel wrong? Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.”

Notice how the apostles asked two questions. First, “when will this happen,” and “what sign will there be when all these things are about to come to an end?” The first question is a local one, about when the stones of the temple and Jerusalem will be thrown down. The second is a cosmic one, about the end of the world. The apostles witnessed the first—the fall of Jerusalem—historically, but they experienced the second—mystically—in their own time.

Let me share you something written by present-day the Catholic author, Mark Shea. (The internet is, by the way, a great place to discover good Catholic answers to tough Catholic questions.) Mr. Shea writes, “The prophecies of Jesus concerning the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD and his prophecies concerning his coming at the end of time are almost seamlessly intermingled (something that has caused endless puzzlement for Bible students as well as guaranteeing job security for biblical scholars all over the world.) Why do the gospel writers mix these prophecies together? Because, in a very real sense, the gospel writers see them as referring to nearly the same thing. This does not mean the gospel writers fancy that the world came to an end in 70 AD with the sack of Jerusalem. Rather, it means that the ‘death’ Jerusalem suffered when the Temple was destroyed is an image of the death Jesus suffered in the temple of his body, and an image of the death the Body of Christ [the Church] will one day undergo in the final climactic battle between light and darkness before the return of Christ.”

I would add that when Jesus says in the Gospel that ‘this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place’ He is not just speaking to the apostles Peter, John, James and Andrew for their time. He is speaking to us and to every Christian generation. From the fall of Jerusalem to the Second Coming, every Christian shares in the trials of the Church against the mystery of evil.

Again, from Mark Shea, “Disciples of Christ suffer and even die for Christ all over the world to this day. And, in our daily lives, all Christians experience various trials and tribulations ranging from illness to divorce to family difficulties to the inevitable death that we all must sooner or later endure. However, what some people are starting to forget is that what is true of Christ and of his individual followers is also true of the Church as a whole. Some people dream of a happy earthly destiny for the Church of Christ. They hope that, as the Church spreads out across the world, then perhaps little by little and bit by bit, every day in every way, the world will get better until the Kingdom of Heaven comes in the Great Rosy Dawn. Others, most notably in [the last] century, have tried to tinker together a man-made heavenly kingdom and have given it names like National Socialism, [Soviet] Communism, Maoism, Hedonism, Materialism, the Playboy Philosophy, the Triumph of Reason, etc. All these schemes share in the common hope of achieving the happiness of the resurrection without having to go to the trouble of dying. Several of the more energetic forms have, however, taken great trouble to kill on a massive scale. This “counterfeit messianism” is precisely what the Church warns us against. Indeed, the unbroken tradition of the Church holds precisely that [as the catechism says] “before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, the pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh” (CCC #675). The Church as a whole, like her members and like her Lord, will not get to take a shortcut. She too must pass through death to resurrection.”

Again, I would add to this that the great deception and trial are not limited to the final generation of Christians, these confront every age, including our own. This is partly why Pope Pius XI established the feast of Christ the King in 1925, which you will celebrate in a special way next Sunday. Christ is our king, and His is our Way. We will not accept pretenders to the thrown, for only by Christ’s reign will we be saved.

He, the Lord, is our inheritance!
He will show us the path to life,
the fullness of joys in His presence,
the delights at His right hand forever,
now, here at the sacrifice of the Mass
and later, forever in heaven.

Posted in Christ the King Parish, Culture, Homily, Last Things, Mass, Politics, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

November 11 – Veterans Day

November 11, 2009

In the Gospel today, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven as being like a treasure buried in a dirt field, or like a ridiculously underpriced pearl in a market place. These are valuable things that take great personal sacrifice to obtain. Jesus’ lesson in this for us is that a wise person should be willing to trade away everything else they have, and do it joyfully, because of the desirability of what’s before them. So it is with the Kingdom of God.

But these parables are not only about us, and how we should go after God’s kingdom. They also tell about how God has sought after for us for His kingdom. The Lord saw us as the treasure buried in a field, the field being the world. He was like the pearl merchant, who saw us as a precious pearl whose great worth was unrealized by others. And out of love for us one could say that He joyfully sold everything that He had to possess us.

“For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose again,” ‘giving us a new birth to a living hope through His resurrection.’ Through Christ’s poverty, He made us rich, giving us “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for [us].”

Whenever something is truly valuable, it is worth one’s great personal sacrifice to possess it and to protect it. Today we are honoring those men and women who have done just that; who have made great personal sacrifices to serve our country in the military. Today is Veterans’ Day. While we would be mistaken to identify our country as being the kingdom of God, it would also be a mistake to dismiss the good our country and its veterans have done around the world.

We can we be so proud of our country’s veterans because they are true soldiers. As G.K. Chesterton said, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” This is reflected in how we have treated those we have defeated. We forgive them, rebuild them, and let them have their freedom. We may need to fight some enemies, now and in the future, but we have no need to hate them. Our power is not in our hatred, but our love. In this we follow our model, Jesus Christ, who loved the world so much that sacrificed everything He had for it. And let us remember that He conquered the whole world for us without firing a single shot.

Posted in Culture, Feast Day Homilies, G.K. Chesterton, Hidden Treasure, Homily, Jesus Christ, Love, Our Lady of Peace Parish, Parables, Peace, Politics, School Homilies, Valuable Pearl | Leave a Comment »

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year B

November 9, 2009

Widow's Mite

Imagine if you took two pennies and put them into a savings account, at 1.5 percent interest annually, and left it there for 2000 years. How much money would there be at the end? (2 cents, 2000 years, at 1.5% interest.) One hundred dollars? No, higher. A thousand dollars? Still higher. Ten thousand dollars? Not even close. There would be one-hundred, seventy-one billion dollars.

[$0.02 * (1.015)^2000 = $171,046,619,000]

First of all, this reveals to us the power and the fury of compound interest. But second, and relevant to today’s gospel, this shows us that small things can be more powerful and valuable than we would expect.

One day, almost two thousand years ago, a poor widow climbed the temple mount in Jerusalem and walked among the crowds in the temple courts to the treasury where she gave two small coins for the support of the temple. Many rich people where there, were pouring much larger gifts into the treasury with great fanfare. Though her gift was tiny compared to theirs, that doesn’t mean that what she did was an easy thing to do. Being poor, it was hard for her, a real sacrifice. She had to trust in the God of Israel; the God said to provide for the needs of orphans and widows like her. She could have dropped in just one coin, or given nothing at all, but she gave both coins, everything she had. She wasn’t trying to be seen, but the Lord was watching.

Jesus, sitting across from the treasury, called His disciples to Himself to draw their attention to her. “Look at what this poor widow has done. Take this, all of you, as an image of myself. Just as she has given everything as a gift of herself to God (even though it was hard and took great trust) so will I give myself up for you.”

The poor widow’s two coins, worth just a few cents, landed in the treasury with a quiet “tink, tink,” but her act has echoed through the centuries. Everywhere this gospel has been preached, the throughout the centuries and around the world, what she did has been remembered. How many consciences have been pricked and how many hearts have been inspired to invest more completely into the kingdom of God? If the good her small deed has done throughout the ages could be quantified, it would far surpass one hundred, seventy-one billion dollars.

When we rise from the dead, at the general resurrection, I suspect that this poor widow will stand out. She will be more glorious and enchantingly beautiful than most, and (even though the gospel does not give her name) everyone will know who see is and she will enjoy the love and gratitude of vast multitudes.

When we die, we will all die penniless, and when we rise we will all rise penniless, but some of us will be richer than others. The richest in heaven are those who receive and can give the greatest love, and this will depend upon how much we have invested ourselves into the kingdom of heaven.

You are already giving to your spouses and your children, your friends and your family, at home, at work, and at church, but we should ask ourselves from time to time how much we are giving from our surplus wealth and how much was are making a total gift of ourselves. Such giving is hard, it takes trust in God, and it conforms us to Jesus Christ. When we give ourselves in this way, in the likeness of Jesus Christ, our gifts yields the greatest returns, here on earth and forever in heaven.

Now you have heard me put in my two cents. I pray that it may result in great profit for your souls.

Posted in Heaven, Homily, Money, Sacrifice, St. John the Baptist Parish, Stewardship, Sunday Homilies, The Poor Widow, Trust | Leave a Comment »

Thursday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

October 28, 2009

G.K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton, the British Catholic writer, lived one hundred years ago, but his writings are still witty, insightful, and relevant today. Once he wrote in answer to the question, “Why I am a Catholic.” Chesterton explained, “The difficulty of explaining ‘why I am a Catholic’ is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true. I could fill all my space with separate sentences each beginning with the words, ‘It is the only thing that…’” One of the examples of this he gave was that Catholicism “is the only thing that frees a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age.”

Why is it that after so many centuries we remain divided, three against two and two against three, on so many important matters? We may be far more technologically advanced than they were in Jesus’ time, but every generation seems to repeat falling into the same, or slightly differing, forms of foolishness. While science and technology is cumulative, part of every generation thinks they have to rediscover wisdom from scratch. That’s why we still have ethical debates about questions that Jesus has settled.

Can we do evil in the hopes that good will come of it? [This is Ethics 101. St. Paul teaches about this to the Romans, “And why not say—as we are accused and as some claim we say—that we should do evil that good may come of it? Their penalty is what they deserve.”] What if we’re [almost] certain that really good things will come from the evil we do? [Even if the evil does result in some good, what does freely-choosing evil make us?] Should we let the progress of science be bogged down by questions of morality? Should morality and private conscience have a place in politics and public life? [If not, then what will science, public life and policy be guided by beyond base desires and power?] Is it really always wrong to intentionally kill the innocent? What if intentionally killing 100,000 civilians will end a war?

If this is how things are when the wood is green in our country, then what will it be like when the wood is brown, dry, and dead, as it may well be in years ahead? What is the Christian to do? Remain closely rooted to Christ, the source of our wisdom and waters of life. To borrow the words from the psalmist today:

The Christian “is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.”

Even if he is martyred, whatever the faithful Christian does prospers; for he is not a child and a slave of his age, but a child of the age to come.

Posted in Culture, G.K. Chesterton, Homily, Politics, Science, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. Paul, Weekday Homilies, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Monday, 30th Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

October 26, 2009

Remember Jesus’ story about the two men who went up to the temple area to pray, the self-righteous Pharisee and the repentant tax-collector? “The tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven…”

In today’s gospel, at the synagogue where Jesus is teaching, there is a hunched-over woman who has not raised her eyes to heaven for a very long time. Jesus calls her, lays His hands on her, and at once, she stands erect, for the first time eighteen years. I have to imagine that her very first act was to raise her eyes and hands up to heaven, to speak praises and to glorify God. Imagine how she must have felt to be deprived of such worship for so long, and then, how she must have felt for it to be so suddenly and wonderfully restored to her.

Seeing this, the authorities, the Pharisees, object that Jesus should not do healings during the Sabbath rest. But Jesus rebukes them, to their great humiliation. Who are they to say that this woman should not be free to worship God this day? Her freedom to worship comes from God Himself.

We, this morning, are free to gather here, free to raise our eyes up to heaven and offer worship. We are free from fears that authorities or angry crowds will storm through those doors and drag us off to our imprisonment or death. In the past, not all Christians have been so privileged. Still today, around the world, not all Christians are so privileged.

Let us celebrate this Mass, and every Mass, with a deeper reverence and gratitude, for the freedom we have to raise our eyes to heaven and to offer our worship to God. Let us pray for persecuted Christians around the world and celebrate this Mass, and every Mass, as if it were our first, our last and our only.

Posted in Culture, Gratitude, Homily, Mass, Politics, Prayer, Social Justice, St. John the Baptist Parish, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year B

October 25, 2009

Return of Vampire. 1944.

Next Saturday, as the children here may know, is Halloween, the evening celebration involving crazy costumes, yummy candy, and scary stuff. But this evening was formerly popularly known as All Hollows’ Eve, for it is the vigil of All Saints Day, November 1, the Solemnity of God’s hallowed ones. oday, I would like to talk to you about vampires, that’s right, vampires. Now vampires are not real, but we can learn a lot from their mythology and bad example, for vampires are embodiments of the anti-Gospel.

For example, Christians are children of the light and of life, but vampires are creatures of the night, of darkness and of death. Vampires fear the daytime and they sleep in coffins. Vampires tempt, seduce, and exploit others. They manipulate persons as things to be used. Vampires steal others’ blood and take their lives. This is the opposite of Christ, who tempts, seduces, and exploits no one. Rather, Jesus calls, invites, persuades, and challenges with the truth, with goodness, and with love. He treats everyone as a person to be loved. Rather than taking, Jesus gives us His blood and His life, His entire living person in the Eucharist, so that we can share His life.

How do you defeat an otherwise immortal vampire? Traditionally, there are two ways: either drag him into the sunlight, or put a wooden steak through the heart. Why do these tactics work against them? These things work because vampires are personified evil, and evil cannot overcome either the light of Christ or the wood of His cross.

There’s one more element of vampire mythology with something to teach us. Vampires can only enter a house, if they are invited inside by the people who live there. In vampire stories, the peasants don’t realize that the attractive, charming, intriguing person at their door is really a vampire, so they invite him in without realizing the threat he poses, or their own vulnerability.

Now comes the scary part of the homily, where we apply the lesson to ourselves. What have we unguardedly welcomed into the heart of our homes? What in our lives most resembles the vampire? It is, I suggest, the television and the internet.

Now granted, television and the internet are not digitized evil, like the vampires are personified evil. There is real good to be gained through these forms of technology, but we are kidding ourselves if we think that they can’t seduce us. More often than not, it seems that television and the internet suck our lives out of us. They are up to our necks, but we are too infatuated with, or hypnotized by, them to realize that something is wrong.

Ask yourself, when was the last time that you watched TV and came away thinking, “Wow, that was great. You know, I really think watching television made me a better person”? Now consider this question: when was the last time you watched TV and came away from it feeling unmoved and unsatisfied? That dissatisfaction should tell us something. Television sucks our life from us, and the internet can be just as bad, or even worse. Not only do these forms of media tend to disappoint us, numb us, and give near occasions to sin, they can harm our families too.

TV Children

Imagine if there was going to be a public execution in Marshfield tonight and your son wanted to go and watch, would you let him go? Yet how much death, simulated and real, is there to be seen on TV? Would you allow a complete stranger into your daughter’s bedroom unsupervised? Yet how many of our children have a TV or the internet right in their rooms? If TV or the internet were a person, would you welcome that person into your home?

Again, I am not saying that everything on television or the internet is evil, or that every good Catholic should discontinue their cable and internet subscriptions. But I am convinced that we need to be more careful and discerning about their roles in our lives, and that our habits with them probably need to change.

It could be that the single greatest thing you could do today to strengthen your family life and to improve your life of prayer would be to simply unplug. Imagine how much more opportunity and motivation you would have every day for family bonding and quiet times with God, if you put all your TVs in the basement and hid the internet cables along with them. Why not try it for a week? Or, if you’re really serious, why not make this your Advent penance and see how much your life is changed?

Like the psalmist said,

‘Although you may go forth weeping,
you’ll be carrying the seed to be sown,
And you shall come back at the end rejoicing,
carrying the sheaves you’ve harvested.’

After your unplugged period is over, you can bring the TV and the internet back if you want, but you will be freed from any addictions to them and they will be less likely to seduce you in the future, into the life of the living dead.

In the Gospel, the blind man, Bartimaeus, threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and ran to Jesus. Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied, “Master, I want to see.”

Like vampires, change in our lives can be scary, but we should have the courage to see how much our lives could be better by following Christ in this way.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Culture, Homily, Internet, Marriage and Family, Parenting, St. John the Baptist Parish, Sunday Homilies, Television | Leave a Comment »

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year B

October 18, 2009

The Three Crosses by Rembrandt. 1653

Today, the Apostles James and John make their big pitch in order to move up the ladder in Jesus’ organization. “[Jesus,] grant that in your glory we may sit, one at your right, and the other at your left.” Jesus says to them, “You do not know what you are asking.”

They jump at the chance to drink of Jesus’ cup and to be baptized in His baptism, whatever that means, because they have no idea that these are allusions to Christ’s suffering. Jesus tells them, ‘You will drink my cup and experience my baptism, but to sit at my right and my left is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ Where are the seats beside Christ in His glory? The Gospel of Mark later tells us: “With [Jesus] they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left.” Indeed, James and John don’t know what they’re really asking.

They want spots beside Jesus’ throne because they think this will put their lives on Easy Street. They think that being enthroned at Christ’s side in glory means they will be served by everyone, and that they will never have to serve anyone else, ever again, besides Jesus of course. James and John want to live like as princes, like the billionaires, the bosses, and the big shots in the world. But true greatness is very different.

Whoever wishes to be great, Jesus says, must be a servant. And whoever wishes to be the greatest of all, must be the servant to everyone. But we might ask why anyone would want this sort of greatness? Who wants to be a slave or to be crucified with Christ? And yet, Jesus offers such self-offering as the only greatness truly worth seeking? Why? Because true love equals self-gift, and in heaven love lasts forever.

In the world out there, there is a hierarchy according to wealth and power. For the Church on earth, Christ establishes a hierarchy according to orders. But for the Church in heaven, the hierarchy is established according to love. There is no money to be had in heaven. Greatness there is measured according to the love you can give and the love you receive from others.

Consider, who is more beloved on earth, Blessed Mother Teresa or the richest person in the world? And who is more likely to have a higher place in heaven? When Mother Teresa died a million people turned out for her funeral. She, like all the saints, is rich in love.

If you desire true and lasting greatness, imitate Christ on earth, who became a slave for us. Jesus did not come to be served but to serve. And through His trials and self-sacrifice, He offered his life as a ransom for us and won our hearts for Himself.

Though it is worthwhile, it isn’t easy to follow Christ. If we serve Him, we should expect temptations, trials and sufferings, too, just like Him. Trials are normal for the Christian life and we should expect them.

As Saint Peter writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

Temptations are normal for the Christian life, too. Jesus Himself was tempted in the desert and in the garden. As the second reading says, “…We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” Understand and remember that human weakness and temptations are not the same thing as sin. It is not a sin to be tempted. Jesus was weak and tempted like us, but he never sinned. We only sin when we give in to temptation, when heart says “yes” to them.

Catherine of Siena by Giovanni[1]

Believe it or not, the saints know more about fierce temptation than unrepentant sinners do. The saints do battle against strong temptations, with the sacraments and prayer, with penance and self-disciple. Many hardened sinners, on the other hand, don’t even know they are being tempted. One time, St. Catherine of Sienna, after she had made great progress in holiness, was subjected to the most violent temptations. Impure images filled her imagination and darkness attacked her heart. She called on God but He seemed to be absent. After these temptations had ceased, Jesus visited her, filling her with heavenly consolation. “Ah, my Divine Spouse,” she cried out, “where were you when I laid in such an abandoned and frightful condition?” “I was in your heart,” he replied, “fortifying you by grace.” “What, in the midst of the filthy abominations with which my soul was filled?” “Yes,” Jesus said, “for these temptations were most displeasing and painful to you. By fighting against them, you have gained immense merit, and the victory was because of my presence.”

When Jesus asked James and John if they could drink His cup and be baptized in His baptism, they eagerly responded, “We can!” Did they entirely know what this meant? No. Do we entirely know what it will mean for us to give our yes to Christ and to follow in His footsteps? No. But with that little seed from James and John, Jesus was able to grow them into great saints.

Jesus Christ is the greatest person who has ever lived. No one has been greater and no one has done greater things. No one has loved better and no one is better loved. Let’s follow in his footsteps, even if that means the cross, for to be remade in His image means sharing in His greatness, His glory and His joy.

Posted in Christian Perfection, Culture, Heaven, Homily, Jesus Christ, Sacrifice, Service, Spiritual Warfare, St. Catherine of Siena, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. Mother Teresa, Sts. James and John, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

October 17 — St. Margret Mary Alacoque

October 18, 2009

Sacred Heart by Margherita. Vatican

Today we celebrate St. Margret Mary Alacoque of France who lived in the latter half of the 1600’s. Throughout her life, Jesus would appear to her and converse with her, but this did not surprise Margret or seem strange to her. She assumed that other people experienced the same sort of things all the time. After she become a nun, Jesus gave her a mission: to establish devotion to His Sacred Heart.

You’ve seen images of the Sacred Heart before; a red heart, crowned with thorns, pierced along its side, with a cross and flames emerging from its top. If this devotion seems strange to us, its because we do not understand what it means.

Sacred Heart of Jesus

When I was in seminary I heard a story about the Sacred Heart that I not been able to confirm with the internet, but I share it with you as a great illustration, even if it might only be a legend. The story goes that after St. Margret Mary Alacoque died, devotion to Jesus’ Sacred Heart was spread by the Jesuits, a Catholic religious order, in their missionary work. In one mission territory (it might have been Papua New Guinea) the priests introduced this devotion to the people, but it wasn’t resonating with them. The people just didn’t seem to get it. As they missionaries learned more about the native culture, they learned that these people did not look at the heart as the organ that symbolizes love and emotion. For them, some other abdominal organ, the liver I think, was the seat of human love and emotions. In response, these missionaries replaced the Sacred Heart devotion with another, a devotion to the Sacred Liver. The natives people got it, and responded enthusiastically.

When we consider the Sacred Heart today, we can be a lot like the natives in this (possibly fictional) story. We today tend to be a people of science, materiality, and literal interpretations, who look at a heart and see an organ for pumping blood. But the Church in the 1600’s saw the world differently, in a much more poetic way—they saw the Sacred Heart and understood its message.

Jesus’ Heart is aflame with fire, because His love for you is intense and passionate. His Heart is pierced, crowned with thorns, and holding up a cross, because Jesus suffered for you out of love. Jesus presents this devotion to us, because He wants us to remember that He is a human being like us and that He loves us with a human heart. The Sacred Heart is a symbol of His love for us, that He loves us deeply, with a human heart.

Since modern-day Catholics understand and resonate with the Sacred Heart less easily than we used to, Jesus seems to have given the Catholic Church another sacred image to convey very similar message. In the 1930’s, Jesus appeared to another nun and gave a mission to promote a new devotional image. That nun was St. Faustina Kowalska of Poland, and the devotion she was to spread was the Divine Mercy. The two devotions are very much alike. For example, both devotions emphasize Jesus’ humanity. Both are accompanied by popular prayers devotions. And both show that Jesus’ abundant loves and mercy for all. The question is not which devotion is better, the question is which devotion resonates or connects with you in communicating Jesus’ love for you.

Sacred Heart Painting Divine Mercy

And now I come to my final, and most important point. I’m sure all of you know the right answer to the questions, “Does God love everyone,” and “Does Jesus love you?” None of you would get these wrong on a test. But I suspect that for most of you the concept that God loves you remains just an idea. Have you experienced this truth as a reality? Do you know that Jesus Christ likes you, that He enjoys you, that He is pleased with you? If you’re uncertain about this, then you have not yet experienced His love for you as profoundly as He desires. Personally knowing Christ’s love for you, rather than just knowing about it, makes all the difference in the world.

So here is your assignment… Ask Jesus Christ to reveal to you today, or in the very near future, some palpable sign of how, and how much, He loves you. Then, keep your eyes open. Jesus is clever and powerful, and knows how to reach you. He doesn’t want His love for you to be a secret.

Posted in Culture, Devotions, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Love, Mercy, Our Lady of Peace Parish, School Homilies, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year B

October 4, 2009

At my old seminary in Ohio, where I was formed for the priesthood, there’s a great professor named Dr. Perry Cahall. Dr. Cahall taught us not only through his lectures but also by his personal example, as a husband, a father, and a good Catholic man. One of the courses taught us was early Church history, a class that covered the controversies and councils of that era about Jesus Christ and the Trinity. Now a person might easily overlook the importance of those councils, but Dr. Cahall presented us with a revealing thought experiment. He would have us imagine how things would be different if the heretics had won the day. For example, he would say, “Imagine a world in which Arius was right.” (Arius claimed in the 4^th century that Jesus was neither God nor man, but rather the highest creature God had made.) What if the bishops at the council of Nicaea would have spurned the Holy Spirit, and the apostolic tradition, to make Arius’ theology the creed we say each Sunday? When you sit down to consider the consequences Arius’ belief would have for our morality, our worship, and our world, you realize that everything was at stake at Council of Nicaea.

Important ideas have consequences. If some Christian belief does not influence your life, then you have either not accepted it, or you have not really grasped what it means. Dr. Cahall liked to say, “If you get into pulpit as a priest on Trinity Sunday and preach to your people that, ‘The Trinity is a mystery, so there’s really nothing we can say about it,’ I will hunt you down like the dogs you are. (We think he was kidding.) He said this because the Trinity and Incarnation are the two most central beliefs of our faith and they are full of implications for our lives. Important ideas have important consequences and our beliefs should shape our lives.

Dr. Cahall also taught our seminary course on marriage and family, and he had a meditation about marriage, family, and the Last Judgment that I hope to never forget and always remember. He would say, “At the Last Judgment, every person who has reached adulthood will stand before the Lord’s throne and Christ will ask them two things: First, ‘Were you faithful to your spouse?’ And second, ‘Show me your children.’” Now he said this to a room full of seminarians on their way to becoming celibate priests, but what he said is valid for everyone. We are all called to marriage, be it spiritual or natural. And we are all called to be mothers or fathers, either spiritually or naturally.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. That is why a man… clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.”

The fulfillment of our humanity is achieved, in Christ, through marriage and having children. Priests and religious who live chaste, celibate lives are no exception. That’s because celibacy is really about fruitful, spousal relationship, to one spouse, bearing many children. It is not without meaning that tradition calls nuns and consecrated virgins the “brides of Christ,” for they really are. All people are called to marriage; to fidelity in marriage, to permanence in marriage, and to fruitfulness in marriage. This is our Christian belief, but many people today have either not accepted it, or not really grasped what it means.

Consider the meaning of fruitfulness for marriage. The psalmist today considered having a large family to be a blessing (‘may your children be like olive plants around your table’) and Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them.” But many people today act as if having more than two children were a curse, and prevent more children from coming. Now there can be serious and legitimate reasons for naturally regulating and limiting births, but I fear that many people, when it comes down to it, are resisting Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever receives a child such as this in my name receives me.” So what does it mean if someone refuses to receive a child in His name?

Couples are afraid; they’re afraid that having four children will be twice as hard as having two. But if you ask most Catholic couples with large families (with numbers of kids that were commonplace fifty years ago) they’ll say that the burden is less with each additional child, while the love and blessings within the family are multiplied. We should not be afraid to give ourselves fully to fruitfulness in marriage.

We are also called to permanence in marriage. Marriage in Christ is “until death do us part.” But in America today, one in every two marriages end in divorce. God says in the Old Testament, “I hate divorce,” and I suspect that the children of divorced parents share in His sentiment. Cases of abuse, serious addition, or unrepentant infidelity may require a couple’s separation, perhaps indefinitely, or may even require a divorce in the eyes of the state, but a consummated sacramental marriage can never be divorced in God’s eyes. As Jesus said:

“What God has joined together, no human being must separate. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

That is why a divorced person cannot be remarried in the Church without a determination by the Church that something essential was lacking in the first marriage, from its very beginning, which prevented that marriage from being sacramental. So no one should say that annulments are “Catholic divorces.” Annulments are judgments by the Church that a marriage was never sacramental. But in a valid, sacramental marriage, the mission of the husband and wife is to lead each other to heaven, no matter what, and to raise up children, natural or spiritual, for God.

If you want you children to feel safe and secure, tell them what my parents told me and my sisters when we were kids. Tell them, “Even, though Mom and Dad may argue sometimes, we want you to know that we will never, ever, get divorced.” Tell them this, and mean it. They’ll really appreciate it. And I’m sure your spouse would like hearing you say it, too.

Most people would still agree that a married couple should be faithful to each other, exclusively. But I would not be surprised if we began to see the open dismantling of this third pillar of marriage as well. The institution of marriage has been under assault for many years. It’s not that people have been out to destroy marriage per se; but steps to redefine what marriage means weaken marriage all the same.

Now a person might easily overlook the importance that traditional beliefs about marriage have for our society; but, like Arius’ heresy, when you sit down to consider the consequences of negating fruitfulness, permanence, and fidelity in marriage, then you realize that everything is at stake when it comes to marriage. You can’t remove or seriously weaken all the pillars from a house and expect the roof to remain hovering in the air. When we redefine marriage to mean what it is not, the house we live in comes crashing down upon us. That goes for one marriage or an entire society’s marriages.

So what are we to do? First, we must pray. Pray for your marriage. Pray together as a couple, because you need this. Pray together with your children, because they need this. And pray for our country, because it needs this. And then, empowered through your sacrament of marriage, which makes the love between Christ and His Church really present between the two of you, live out what Christian marriage really is as an example for all to see. Be fruitful, be faithful, be loving and joyful, as long as you both shall live.

Posted in Christ the King Parish, Culture, Homily, Last Judgment, Marriage and Family, Parenting, Sunday Homilies | 1 Comment »

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year B

September 27, 2009

There are many things wrong with our society and the world, but how are we to go about changing them? One approach was presented by a fellow named Saul Alinsky. He, and his highly-influential 1971 book entitled Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals, have been popping up a lot lately. Reading his list of 11 rules you can see how they are widely used in politics & culture today.

The dedication of the book reads like this: “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins — or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer.”

I doubt Alinsky believed in the devil at all. He probably wrote that because it was a clever and effective attention-grabber for his book. But the book’s dedication was truer than he realized. The book recalls the first rebel’s rejection of the kingdom of God and then goes on to explicate rules which often reject the approaches embodied and advocated by Christ, whose approaches the world often considers too impotent to defeat evil in the world.

The tactics this book advocates are often the same used by demons in spiritual warfare against us—a war fought on the battlefields of our hearts and minds, for the defense or the capture our souls.

Consider, for example, “Rules for Radicals #1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.” And, “Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself.” Demons fight us most effectively when they deceive us into imagining they are more powerful than they are. In fact, the only real weapon they have against us is to play on our fears, for we protected against demons in Christ.

Rules for Radicals # 4: “Make opponents live up to their own book of rules.” Alinsky writes, “You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.” In following this rule, one follows the example of the Great accuser, the devil, who (as the book of Revelation says) night and day accuses us before God for sins. Alinsky’s charge against Christians, that the Christian Church cannot live up to Christianity, blends the truth and lies, just like the words of the demons when they speak to our thoughts.

The truth is that we are God’s servants, that we care deeply about Christ’s teachings, and that all of us commit sins, sins that we would say we truly oppose. But, like the psalmist, we pray for God to cleanse us from even our unknown faults. And from wanton sin especially, we sincerely ask the Lord to restrain us; to not let it rule us, so that we may be blameless and innocent of serious sin. Even though we do not yet follow Christ perfectly, we are truly made better people, more Christ-like, through our relationship with Him.

Yet demons want us to convince us we’re all hypocrites. They want to make us silent, out of shame for our sins, about what is right and what is wrong. They would even cause us to give up on trying to live-out lives of perfect love. Though we are sinners, we trust in God’s mercy and love. Jesus was always merciful toward sinners who acknowledged their guilt and He enabled them to become more perfect through a relationship with Himself.

Rules for Radicals #11: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.” Alinsky writes, “One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other.” You’ve seen this polarizing tactic employed through the media, and you see it all the time. It’s called the politics of personal destruction.

It is the demonizing of individuals who we don’t agree with. Christians must not be indifferent to wrongs wherever they are committed, but when it comes to persons, what Christians seek and pray for is the conversion of sinners, not their destruction. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

Do tactics like those which Saul Alinsky laid out actually work at effecting change? The answer is both Yes and No. Lots of influential people use them because they make lots of noise and heat and angry waves; they can end people’s careers, and they can extort institutions into making concessions. The power of these tactics makes them a strong temptation. But temptations they remain, for they do not have the power to bring about the kingdom of God.

Is the Church interested in social change? The Church is very much interested in social change, just like Jesus was, but we follow the way of His example. Allow me to present another influential writer of the 20th century, as an example, someone who was interested in radical social change of the Christian sort: Pope John Paul the Great. He is rightly called “the Great” for he must be counted among the greatest men of the last century.

Consider how he opposed the great evils and injustices of the communist empire. John Paul did not deal in deceptions. He spoke the truth, because he believed that the truth is powerful enough to set us free. He cared deeply and passionately about the grave injustices being committed, but he never seemed hateful because he was driven by true Christian love. He taught that some actions are wrong, even unspeakably wrong, but that all persons are worthy of love, and he radiated this love of God for all to see through his smile. His focus was not in personal attacks, but in speaking the truth to the human consciences. He insisted that all people should be given the recognition of the dignity and the rights they have from God: to live, and live freely, to speak the truth, and live the truth.

This is what he did, and the communist dictators literally trembled before him. When the communist leader of Poland welcomed the pope to his homeland in a speech at the airport broadcast on state-controlled TV, the dictator’s voice, and the paper he held in his hand, both quivered. The pope was so powerful against them, simply with the message and example of Christ, that the communists tried to kill him in St. Peter’s square, but the Pope miraculously survived the bullets, and forgave his would-be assassin.

By the mercy and the power of God, and in no small part through the words, deeds, and prayers of Pope John Paul the Great, the Soviet empire, which did so many evils for the sake of a utopia that never came to be, that empire ended; not with the fire of a thousand nuclear blasts, but with a harmless dying gasp. It was miracle, a peaceful victory for Christ and the Kingdom of God.

There are many things wrong with our society and the world, but how are we to go about changing them? Pope Paul VI said, “If you want peace, work for justice.” It’s good to work for justice, and we must work for justice, but we must remember this: true justice comes through the way of peace, the way embodied by our Lord, Jesus Christ. So whose example will we be dedicated to as we work for change in the world; that of Lucifer or that of Jesus Christ?

Posted in Culture, Homily, Human Dignity, Jesus Christ, Politics, Pope John Paul the Great, Repentance, Spiritual Warfare, St. John the Baptist Parish, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Parishable Items