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24th Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year B

September 13, 2009

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom,
filled with forests, and farms, and villages.
There lived near one town, a humble farmer.
He was simple, but wise, and loved the Lord.
He worked his small farm, with his wife and son.
They kept fields, a home, and a few livestock.

One day, the farmer’s work-horse, ran away.
“How unfortunate,” said the villagers,
“It will be harder, to plant your crops now.”
The wise farmer replied, “Our God works all things,
for the good, of those, who love Him.”

Two days later, the horse came back.
bringing along two wild-horses with him.
“How lucky you are,” the villagers said,
“you have free horses, walk right to your door!”
The wise farmer replied, “Our God works all things
for the good of those who love Him.”

There after, his son, training the wild horses,
got kicked off of one, and broke both his legs.
“That’s so unlucky,” the villagers said,
“What bad change of luck, for you and your son.”
The wise farmer replied, “Our God works all things
for the good of those who love Him.”

Two weeks later, the son still bedridden,
the king’s army came, to draft men for war.
They took every young man, but left him behind.
“You’re just lucky people,” the villagers said,
“Isn’t that so?”
And the farmer replied, as he did every time,
“Our God works all things for the good of those who love Him.”

In our daily lives, when things don’t go our way, we are confronted with the most ancient temptation. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent, who is Satan, said, “God is withholding this good fruit from you because He doesn’t really want you to be happy.” The temptation, here, is to mistrust and rebellion, the fear, that the Lord, does not really care for us, that we’re left to chance, and left all on our own.

At such moments, we should recognize the temptation and say, “Depart from me, Satan, in the Name of Christ. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Our God sees the outcome of all things, and He will not cause, or allow, anything to happen that would go against our ultimate good.

Jesus knew that His Father willed His happiness that’s why He kept an open ear, did not rebel, and did not turn back. That’s how He could give His back to those who beat Him, and his face to abuse. He could set His face like flint, by remembering that He would not be put to shame in the end. And now, Christ, beyond death and every suffering, alive and supremely happy, says, “See, the Lord God is my help; who will prove me wrong?”

So whether we stub our toe, or show up late, or get short on money, or experience even the greatest of trials, we should turn and pray: “Lord, you know that I don’t like this, but I trust that you will work, even this, to my good. Jesus, I trust in you. You work all things, for the good, of those, who love You.”

Posted in Christian Perfection, Homily, Jesus Christ, Passion, Providence, St. John the Baptist Parish, Sunday Homilies, Trust | Leave a Comment »

Friday, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

September 12, 2009

Jesus says, “No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” And Saint Paul says, “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man…” So this raises the question, who was St. Paul’s teacher?

From the book of Acts we learn that Paul ‘was thoroughly trained in the law at the feet of the Master Teacher Gamaliel, a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin respected by all the people.’ (Acts 22:3, 5:34) In fact, some of Gamaliel’s wisdom even appears in Scripture.

In the early days of the Church, the apostles were arrested and interrogated by the Sanhedrin for the signs and wonders they were doing near the temple. When they spoke out boldly about Christ, some in the council wanted to put them to death, but Gamaliel ordered the apostles to be put outside for a short time.

“Fellow Israelites,” Gamaliel said to the council, “be careful what you are about to do to these men. …If this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.”  The Council was persuaded by him to spare the apostles’ lives. (Notice that Gamaliel’s wisdom was in admitting the possibility that a wooden beam might be lodged in the Sanhedrin’s eyes, obscuring their vision toward the new religious movement.)

By all accounts, both Jewish and Christian, Gamaliel was a good and wise man. Some legends even say that he went on to become a Christian and a saint. So how can it be that St. Paul was “a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man” if he was this good man’s disciple?     The answer must be that St. Paul had not yet been fully trained by Gamaliel, for every disciple when fully trained is like his teacher.

The same could be said for us as the disciples of Christ. How can it be that we commit the acts of arrogance, the offences, and the blasphemies we do if we are Christ’s disciples? The answer must be that we have not yet been fully trained by Christ, for every disciple when fully trained is like his teacher.

So take comfort in the fact that we have not yet exhausted the wisdom which Christ has to teach us. If we do not abandon his training, the Master Teacher Christ will ‘show us the path to life, the fullness of joys in His presence, and happiness at His right hand forever.’

Posted in Christian Perfection, Early Church, Homily, Jesus Christ, St. John the Baptist Parish, Weekday Homilies, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Thursday, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

September 11, 2009

If you are among those who hear, you heard Jesus giving a challenging message today.  But He is only asking us to do as He Himself has done.

Jesus gave to everyone who asked of Him. He loved His enemies and did good to them. For those who struck Him on one cheek, as He carried the cross, He did not unleash upon them the furious fire of God. Jesus offered them His other cheek as well, that they might be saved, not destroyed. Maybe they took His cloak from Him when they arrested Him in the garden, but He never asked for it back. When they arrived at Golgotha, He let them take His tunic as well. Jesus did good to those who hated Him, He blessed those who cursed Him, and prayed for those who mistreated Him. Dying on the cross He said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Jesus did unto others as he would have them do.

Jesus did as He would have you and me do. If we imitate Him we will receive a reward as great as His; a full measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing. But we must do as St. Paul tells us: “As the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.”

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Christian Perfection, Columbus Chapel, Forgiveness, Homily, Jesus Christ, Mercy, Passion, School Homilies, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

September 8 – Nativity of Mary

September 9, 2009

I once heard a man express why he believed that of all the causes for celebration, birthdays were among the stupidest. I don’t remember his arguments word for word, but they went along these lines…

“Why celebrate a birthday? I mean it’s not as if you’ve done anything to reach that ‘special day,’ besides living for another 365 days and riding the earth another lap around the sun. Your mom was the one who actually did something on the day you were born. All you did was show up. How does merely showing up for another year merit a party?”

He had an interesting argument, but he was entirely missing the point when it comes to why we celebrate birthdays.  It’s not that the person has done any one, big, special thing that makes us celebrate that day.  It is for the countless little things, for all the things which make them who they are for us, this is why we rejoice over them just being around for another year of life. The reason we celebrate birthdays is to celebrate the very fact of a person’s existence, to celebrate who they are, in their own unique and unrepeatable goodness, to celebrate the gift of their presence in our lives.

Today, we celebrate Mary’s birthday. We celebrate the fact that God created her and has given her to us. We celebrate who she is, in her own unique and unrepeatable goodness. We celebrate the gift of her presence in our lives. Today we rejoice over Mary, our mother, our sister, and our close friend, and we wish her a very happy birthday, just for being who she is.

Posted in Blessed Virgin Mary, Christian Perfection, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Human Dignity, Nativity of Mary, St. John the Baptist Parish, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

5th Sunday of Easter—Year B

August 23, 2009

This Sunday our country celebrates our mothers—and rightly so.  For the care and love which our mothers have given us cannot be measured or given a price.  Of course, our earthly parents are not perfect. Sometimes they’re quite far from perfect.  But any love we’ve known from them is a likeness of the love God has for us. A religious icon is made of mere wood and paint, but it can be a window to heavenly realities. In the same way, we can see through our parents’ love a glimpse to God himself.

Most of us have more memories about our mothers than we could possibly count, but today I would like to go with you back to a time and place about which you have no clear memories—to the time in your mother’s womb. Just as the Hebrews were 40 years in the desert; just as Jesus prepared 40 days in the wilderness; and just as Christ rested 40 hours until his resurrection from the tomb; so you remained 40 weeks, more or less, within your mother’s womb, being prepared for a new life.

Through your mother’s vine you grew into the mature fruit of her womb. You were nourished and grew within her. You were never far from her heart or mind. You existed in within her, connected to her at the center of your being.      She fed you with her very self. She provided for all your needs. Apart from her, you could do nothing. You remained in her and found rest in her.

At the early stages of our life in the womb, our minds did not comprehend very much, but what if you could have understood everything that your mom was doing for you at the time? Certainly you would have directed your thoughts to her often.  And certainly, from time to time, you would have turned to her with the eyes of your heart to bask in her love for you.

And imagine further what if you could have talked with your mom from the womb? Would you not have taken the opportunity to speak with her every day? Would you not have thanked her daily out of a deep gratitude? Would you not have let her know each day how much you love her? Whoever would refuse or neglect to do so would continue to live, at least functionally or biologically, but the person would not be fully alive without this relationship .

As you and your mother would continue to talk as the days and months of pregnancy passed, she would eventually present you with a most-frightening prospect: She might say, “My child, soon, in a little while, you are going to begin an new stage of life. You will be departing from the life you know, and then you’ll experience a world of people and things you have never known before.” But you would say, “I’m scared, I don’t want to go, not now, not ever!” But she would say, “I realize this concept is scary for you, but trust me when I say that it is better that you go. In fact, someday soon you’ll look back and think it a silly thought to be again as you are now. This transition is going to hurt a little bit… trust me, I know… but when the appointed time comes, I’ll be right here with you. Do not be afraid.”

This morning we reflect on this time in the womb because our life in our mothers is like our life in Christ. As it was with our mothers, so it is, in this life, with Christ. You are nourished and grow within Him. You are never far from His heart or mind. You exist in within Him, connected to Him at the center of your being. He feeds you with His very self. He provides for all your needs. Apart from Him, you can do nothing. You remain in Him and find rest in Him.

Knowing and believing this, shouldn’t we direct our thoughts to Him often? Shouldn’t we, from time to time, turn to Him with the eyes of our hearts to bask in His love for us.

We have the ability to talk with Jesus Christ. Who would not take the opportunity to speak with Him every day? Who would not thank Him daily out of deepest gratitude? And who would not let Him know each day how much we love Him? Whoever would refuse or neglect to talk with Him, that is to pray, would continue to live, at least functionally or biologically, but the person would not be fully alive without this relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to pray every day if we want to remain in Him and to bear much fruit.

None of us want to die and that’s perfectly natural. But Jesus says to us, “Soon, in a little while, you are going to begin a new stage of life. You will be departing from the life you know, and then you’ll experience a world of people and things you have never known before. I realize this concept is scary for you, but trust me when I say that it is better that you go. In fact, someday soon you’ll look back and think it a silly thought to be as you are now again. This transition is going to hurt a little bit… trust me, I know… but when the appointed time comes, I’ll be right there with you. Be not afraid.”

Today, let us thank God for the gift of our mothers and the gift of Jesus Christ.  God bless our mothers, and praised be Jesus Christ.

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Courage, Exodus, Faith, Heaven, Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Things, Love, Motherhood, Prayer, Resurrection, Sunday Homilies, Trust | 1 Comment »

2nd Sunday of Easter—Year B

August 23, 2009

Jesus said to “Doubting” Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and believed.”

This gospel passage has a very fond and special place in my heart, because when I was younger it used to really tick me off. If I had had my choice between either seeing and believing, or not seeing and being blessed, I’d have picked the seeing option every time. But now looking back, I realize  that if Jesus had actually appeared to me in a vision that would have just raised more doubts and questions in me. I once shared my various frustrations about faith and doubt with a priest.  After he had patiently listened, He suggested that perhaps I was going through these kinds of trials so that I could help others through similar trials someday.  At the time, that also ticked me off… but he was right. I hope that six lessons I’ve learned in the years since will be of help for you today. Today the Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday, but on account of Doubting Thomas one might also call it Doubter’s Sunday. I feel a lot of mercy for the doubters out there, and Jesus does too.

Lesson One:  Jesus does not condemn the honest doubter, the sincere questioner, the genuine seeker.

When Jesus appears to doubting Thomas notice that he is not angry with him.  He says, “Peace be with you!”  Then he says, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving but believe.” The Gospel does not say whether Thomas actually took Jesus up on touching his wounds, but Jesus was not patronizing him when he made the offer—it was an sincere invitation that met Thomas where he was at.

Still today, Jesus is not angered by our honest questions.  In fact, it is a compliment to him to ask tough questions of our faith because it shows that we believe there are good answers out there to be found. Honest questions make our faith stronger, not weaker. However, our questioning must be sincere. We must not build a comfortable home upon our doubts, doing nothing to answer or resolve them. This sort of questioning is not sincere, but often self-serving.  Jesus wants to give to those who ask, to reveal to those who seek, to open for those who knock, so that they will not be unbelieving, but believe.  But, when we refuse to ask, or to seek, or  to knock, we frustrate the Lord.  Jesus is pleased, however, by the genuine seeker because the genuine seeker will find him.

Lesson Two:  Having beliefs is unavoidable and our faith is reasonable.

Some people object to faith saying that “reason” or “science” is certain while “belief” is doubtful.  But in reality, all of our knowledge depends upon trusted beliefs. We cannot live, or even reason, without accepting beliefs. Before the scientist calmly walks across the street he assumes a thousand things without certain proof of them. We can learn many valuable things from science, but science itself cannot prove all of its own assumptions. There are even questions that science cannot answer, such as the transcendent goodness, worth, or purpose of things. Our faith answers such questions and our faith is not unreasonable. Our true faith is no more in conflict with reason than the truth could contradict the truth. Not everyone shares our faith, but you cannot live as fully alive without it.

Lesson Three:  If you ever worry about whether you really believe in God, you shouldn’t be worried.

Some people experience real spiritual anxiety when they ask themselves, “Do I really believe in God?” Realize this: people who don’t believe in God, don’t spend time worrying about whether they believe in God. Only a believer would do that. So if you ever worry about your belief in God, you shouldn’t be worried; you’re actually a believer and your mind should be at ease.

Lesson Four:  You already have enough faith to do what Jesus asks of you today.

Some people say, “I believe in Jesus Christ, but I just don’t have enough faith to do what he wants me to do.” These people experience a spiritual paralysis: they’re waiting for faith to show up, before they’ll take the next step in living the Gospel, whatever that might be. They’re actually psyching themselves out. They are like the apostles who once begged the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Jesus told them if they had faith the size of a mustard seed they could uproot trees or mountains with a word and plant them in the sea. At first this might seem like a word of discouragement, but it is actually a word of hope. Your tiny, microscopic speck of faith is already enough for you to accomplish everything Christ asks of you today. Your faith right now may be only a pinhole-sized trust in him, but the God who can fit a camel through the eye of a needle can pour a river through your pinhole-sized faith. You already have enough faith to do what Jesus asks of you today.

Lesson Five:  Faith grows through being exercised.

We often keep very low expectations of God.  Maybe we think that if we don’t expect too much from him he won’t expect too much from us. Or maybe we think we won’t be disappointed by him, if we never get our hopes up. In this way our faith stays small. Our faith, which is our openness to the Gospel and our trust in Jesus Christ, remains small and weak because our faith is so rarely exercised. Do we really want to come to the end of our lives and have to look back and wonder what our lives could have been if we had committed ourselves more completely to Jesus Christ and his Gospel?

Consider this question:  If you had all the faith in the world, how would you pray, what would you pray for, and what would you do? If you want to see you faith grow, if you want to see the power of Jesus Christ active in your life, then try doing these things today.

Now sometimes Christ comes out of nowhere and powerfully reveals himself to those who have never really striven for him, or even looked for him, but it is more often the case with Christ that the more we give him the more we get. Imagine you hold in your hand seeds which symbolize your life; your time, your talents, and your treasure. You received all these seeds from Christ as pure gift. As long as we cling to the seeds in our hand, they will never bear fruit. But once we begin letting Christ plant these seeds, and we see the good fruit they produce, we will eagerly give him more and more. In this way, our faith grows through being exercised.

And finally, the sixth lesson:  Faith is about trusting in Jesus Christ.

Faith is not so much about generating a certain feeling, or a feeling of certainty, about particular facts.  The demons know that Jesus is Lord—and shudder. Faith is more about trust, trusting in a person who is worthy of our trust, Jesus Christ. Living-out such trust requires a personal relationship of knowledge and love with him.

What might be holding us back in the life of faith could be that we have unresolved sins, past and present, impeding our relationship with Christ. This Divine Mercy Sunday we celebrate the infinite mercy God shows toward all those who ask for it. Through the sacrament of reconciliation, we can receive a fresh start, a clean slate, an infusion of grace, a healing of the heart and mind, a full restoration of personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Whenever I go to confession, I encounter Christ through the priest, like Thomas encountered Jesus in the upper room. Jesus enters into the locked inner room of my heart, where I would otherwise hide out of fear on account of my sins. I see his wounds, I admit the ways that I helped to put them there, and I tell him I’m sorry. And his response is always the same: mercy. “Peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven.” Confession gives us pardon and peace, it increases our trust and love for Jesus Christ, and strengthens our faith in him.

This Divine Mercy Sunday, let us pray the prayer that he has given us for our uncertain times: “Jesus, I trust in you.”

Posted in Chrisitian Virtues, Confession, Faith, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Mercy, Peace, Prayer, Resurrection, Science, St. Thomas the Apostle, Sunday Homilies, Trust | Leave a Comment »

August 14 – Vigil of the Assumption of Mary

August 17, 2009

When I was younger, I used to wonder why Mary was such a big deal. It wasn’t that I was against her or anything. I prayed Hail Mary’s to her, and I wasn’t out to deny anything our Church said about her. I just didn’t understand why we, as Catholics, honored her so much.

Some people say that Mary is no big deal, that she’s just another Christian.  They might point to today’s Gospel as evidence, where a woman from the crowd calls out to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breasts at which you nursed.”  And Jesus replies, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” “So you see,” they would say, “it’s nothing special to be the mother of Jesus.” But in this Gospel Jesus is not denying Mary’s greatness, He is rather affirming it.

If Mary had merely been the biological mother of Jesus, delivering Him, and nursing Him, she might have been just another Christian. But Mary is most blessed among the disciples of Christ, of which she is the first, because she heard the word of God and observed it. She heard the word of God from the angel Gabriel and answered,

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.”

The overwhelming evidence for Mary’s exceptional glory, and her unique loveliness, is to be found throughout the Bible. The two Testaments, the Old, together with the New, show us why Mary is worthy of our great admiration and deserving of our special affection.

In the first reading we heard of the ark, the ark of the covenant, which you may remember seeing in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The ark was a wooden box, plated with gold inside and out, with two gold statues of winged angels on its lid.  This box, the ark, was carried about using two long polls, since men would be struck down if they touched the holy ark. The ark bore the presence of the Lord, it was His throne amidst His people.

The Lord had told Moses, who constructed the ark, according to the Lord’s precise specifications, to have some interesting things placed inside of it.  First, the wooden staff of Aaron, which had miraculously grown shoots and blossoms. Second, the two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments which were written by God’s own hand. And third, an urn full of manna, the food which the Lord had given his people to eat during the Exodus.

That was the ark of the Old Testament.
Mary is the ark of the New Testament.

As the ark was a box of wood, plated with precious gold, inside and out, so Mary was a human being, surrounded and filled with divine grace. Like the dead wood of Aaron’s staff, which (naturally speaking) should not have borne life, the Virgin Mary miraculously blossomed life within her. Unlike the written word of God in stone, Mary carried within her the eternal Word of God in flesh. Mary borne within herself the true bread from heaven, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the first reading we heard how David led the ark of God’s presence into Jerusalem.  The ark’s coming to Jerusalem is also commemorated in the psalm we heard.  Jerusalem is sometimes poetically referred to as Zion, since Mt. Zion was the place of the temple in Jerusalem.

Just as the Lord’s presence came into Zion, the presence of the Lord came to dwell in Mary. Nine times out of ten, whatever Scripture says of Zion or Jerusalem, also goes for Mary. Mary is Jerusalem.  She is Zion.

“For the Lord has chosen Zion;”
says the Psalm
He prefers her for his dwelling.
Zion is my resting place forever;
In her will I dwell, for I prefer her.”

And, nine times out of ten, whatever can be said of Mary, also applies to Christ’s Church. Mary is the icon of the Church.

So, as you can see, Mary is a big deal. And none of us is more admirable, praiseworthy, and sweetly loveable than her.

‘Therefore her heart is glad and her soul rejoices,
her body, too, abides in confidence;
because God did not abandon her soul to the netherworld,
nor would He suffer His faithful one to undergo corruption.’

He assumed His beloved into heaven. Thanks be to God, who gave Mary this victory over death, through her Lord and ours, Jesus Christ.

Posted in Assumption of Mary, Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ the King Parish, David, Exodus, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Moses, Movies, Typology | Leave a Comment »

August 15 – The Assumption of Mary

August 17, 2009

When I was younger, I used to wonder why Mary was such a big deal. It wasn’t that I was against her or anything. I prayed Hail Mary’s to her, and I wasn’t out to deny anything our Church said about her. I just didn’t understand why we, as Catholics, honored her so much.

Yet, the overwhelming evidence for Mary’s exceptional glory, and her unique loveliness, is to be found throughout the Bible. The two Testaments, the Old, together with the New, show us why Mary is worthy of our great admiration and deserving of our special affection.

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve.  An angel came to Eve, and tested her trust in God. Eve failed the test, and took the fruit, and gave it to Adam. Together, their actions led to the fall of humanity, and because she was “the mother of all the living,” the sad consequences of their sin propagated down to us and to all of their children. But, as St. Paul teaches, Jesus Christ is the “New Adam,” who, by his obedience, restores what was lost by the Old Adam’s disobedience.

“For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life.”

So Christ is the New Adam, but where is the New Eve? Mary is the New Eve. An angel came to Mary, and her trust in God was tested. Mary answered,

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.”

Mary passed the test with trust and obedience, and she gave the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity a body.  The New Eve gave the New Adam the fruit of her womb. Because Mary said at the Annunciation, “Let it be done to me according to your word,” Jesus could say in the garden, “Lord, not my will, but yours be done.”Together, their actions led to the salvation of humanity.  The happy effects of their faithfulness extend to all of us.  Mary is the new “mother of all the living,” that is, the mother of all Christians. Mary’s motherhood of all Christians, as Eve was the mother of all the living, is reflected in the Book of Revelation.

In Revelation, there is seen a glorious woman, who bears a son destined to rule all nations. (There are multiple senses of meaning here, but this woman and child, must in part represent Jesus and His mother Mary.) There is a dragon, who is the devil, poised to devour the woman’s child, but the Son escapes the Evil One’s grasp.

“Then,” Revelation says, “the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.”

Mary’s offspring are those who keep God’s commands and bear witness to Jesus.

In the Gospel of John we see that Jesus on the cross entrusted Mary to us as our mother, and entrusted us to Mary as her children.

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’”

The “beloved disciple” here stands for each of us as Jesus’ disciples.  Each of us is beloved by Christ and each of us has Mary as a blessed mother.

Mary is indeed, “blessed among women,” as Elizabeth declared in the Gospel. Mary knows that she is most blessed, but she is also the most humble, because she knows the source of all her greatness:

“From this day, all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name.”

Every time we call her the Blessed Virgin Mary, this prophesy is fulfilled for our time.

So, as you can see, Mary is a big deal. And none of us is more admirable, praiseworthy, and sweetly loveable than her.

‘Therefore her heart is glad and her soul rejoices,
her body, too, abides in confidence;
because God did not abandon her soul to the netherworld,
nor would He suffer His faithful one to undergo corruption.’ 

He assumed His beloved into heaven. Thanks be to God, who gave Mary this victory over death, through her Lord and ours, Jesus Christ.

Posted in Assumption of Mary, Blessed Virgin Mary, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, St. John the Baptist Parish, Typology | Leave a Comment »

August 6 – The Transfiguration

August 17, 2009

Today, Peter, James and John see Jesus in a new light. The light they see does not shine on their teacher from another source. This light originates from within the person of Jesus Himself. At the Transfiguration, these apostles come closer to realizing Jesus’ full glory and dignity; that He is more than a teacher, more than a miracle worker, and more than the messiah. He is divine, the Son of the Ancient One.

We are human, not divine, but Christ wants to divinize us. He wants to make us more like God. Coming to appreciate who Jesus really was changed how the apostles related to Him. In the same way, knowing that everyone you meet will someday be transformed should influence how you relate to them.

My closing words come from C.S. Lewis and his book, The Weight of Glory:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.

All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

Posted in C.S. Lewis, Divinization, Feast Day Homilies, Homily, Jesus Christ, Literature, St. John the Baptist Parish, Transfiguration | Leave a Comment »

August 8 – St. John Marie Vianney

August 17, 2009

For many years, around 300 people would travel by train each day to a small town of 230 people. Why did they come? They came because they sought the mercy and counsel of Christ in the confessional of John Marie Vianney. Why did Father John 12 to 17 hours a day sitting in his confessional? He was there because he believed that this sacrament was that important.

Today we often hear people say, “Why do I have to confess my sins to a priest when I can just pray to God directly? It’s like the complaint of Aaron and Miriam in the first reading,  “Is it though Moses alone that the Lord speaks?”

Jesus, in the upper room, breathed on his apostles and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Did Jesus give them this authority and power for no purpose at all?

Jesus gave us the sacrament of reconciliation because we need it. Confession prevents my sins from just being between me and myself. It prevents me from making mountains into molehills, and molehills into mountains. It allows me to know with absolute confidence that this sin of mine is forgiven forever. When we go to confession we acknowledge the Incarnation, that Christ redeemed us in His flesh, not merely by composing a prayer to the Father.

If you are too shy to admit your sins to a priest, who won’t know who you are, and couldn’t tell another soul even if he did, then what makes you think you will have the poise to stand face to face with Christ at the judgment?

When Miriam and Aaron sinned, they turned for mercy to the Lord’s servant, Moses, and their sin was healed. If you have neglected confession, please come. There is mercy, peace, and God’s help awaiting you.

If you already go to confession with some frequency, then please offer a penance today for the conversion of sinners. St. John Vianney did penances for conversions because he was convinced that it made a difference.

In the Gospel we heard that every sick person who came and touched Jesus’ cloak was healed, but those sick people first had to be brought to Jesus. Help carry them.

Posted in Christ the King Parish, Confession, Exodus, Feast Day Homilies, Forgiveness, Homily, Last Judgment, Mercy, Moses, Penance, Saintly People, St. John Vianney | 1 Comment »

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time—Year B

August 17, 2009

We humans are forgetful creatures. Look at the Hebrews, running short on food and patience in the first reading. It’s only one month since they’ve walked freely out of Egypt; after ten miraculous plagues, after the parting of a sea before them, after the total destruction of their enemies behind them. It’s just one month later and they’ve already forgotten God’s desire and creative ability to care for them. They’ve forgotten, and their hope is gone.

In the Gospel there’s more forgetfulness.  The people come to Jesus and they ask Him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?  What can you do?” Have they already forgotten about His recent miraculous sign, how just the other day he multiplied loaves and fish for them?  Recalling that miracle to mind would have strengthened their faith and hope.

We’re forgetful too. I, for example, often have a problem remembering how the responsorial psalm goes.  I hear it, I repeat it, and then it’s gone. We’re forgetful people. For instance, can you remember what I preached about the last Sunday I was here? I wouldn’t expect you to.

I spoke about how we should be hopeful because of Jesus Christ. I also strongly emphasized the importance of each of us to pray every day. This morning I want to teach you how we can be strengthened in faith and hope by recalling in prayer our most grace-filled memories.

Maybe you pray as the first thing when you wake up. Maybe you pray before you go to bed each night. Maybe you pray while you’re driving, perhaps imagining Jesus or Mary in the seat beside you. Maybe you make a daily visit to Jesus here really present in our tabernacle. When and where you pray each day is not as important as the prayers you offer and the connection and consolation that Christ wants to give you.

Anyone who prays frequently will have times when they sometimes seem to wander about in a desert of unfocused thoughts. By an act of will, we can try digging a hole here or there, looking for new, fresh, spiritual water. But there is an easier way to go about things when our prayer time feels hard and dry.

If we search our memories we can find places and times when God was obviously close and active. Perhaps a time when He silently but clearly spoke to you, or a time when He provided for you in answer to your prayers. Perhaps the births of your children or day you got married are moments that perceivably touched the eternal.

These memories can be wellsprings of grace and consolation for you. Just because we have left a well behind in your past doesn’t mean that well is run dry. What was true then, is still true now and you can go back their in your memories and draw graces from it again. Our grace-filled memories can serve as an anchor of hope, our ever-accessible source for faith and hope in prayer.

There is one more thing I on which I want to speak.  Our psalm said today:

“What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, We will declare to the generation to come the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength and the wonders that he wrought.”

This psalm is not only written for the Old Testament Jews, its meant for us as well. And when it mentions “fathers” here, priests like me are not the fathers it has foremost in mind. Fathers, if your children only hear about God from me, your silence will speak a message to them. It is important that you be a spiritual leader for your family and tell the stories of our faith and of your faith.

Parents, have you ever told your children of “the glorious deeds” that the Lord has done for you? If not, why not? Do you feel reluctant to tell? Or do you think that there is nothing to tell? Either way, a change needs to happen.

So remember, whether you are dry at prayer, or raising children for the Lord, remember to remember.

Posted in Christ the King Parish, Exodus, Fatherhood, Homily, Hope, Parenting, Prayer, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Tuesday, 19th Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

August 17, 2009

The disciples ask, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus says, “Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” In fact, Jesus teaches us, becoming humble is essential to entering into His kingdom.

So what is humility?

“Now humility is nothing but truth,” says St. Vincent de Paul, “while pride is nothing but lying.” He says, “The reason why God is so great a lover of humility,  is because he is the great lover of truth.”

Now humility is not about believing we are garbage. It’s a lie to say we’re of little worth. Even the seemingly least person among us is attended to by angels and bears a likeness to the God whom those angels ceaselessly worship. We are of great worth, but to be humble we need to know where our true treasure is.

We must abandon over-confidence in our own faulty and limited powers and trust in our reliable Rock—“how faultless are his deeds, how right all his ways.” In Christ, our Rock, we are secure; and as G.K. Chesterton notes, “It is always the secure who are humble.”

To strip away our illusions and to know our true treasure let’s pray today for the two gifts which it is said God always promptly gives whenever we prayer for them: Humility and Faith.

We can be leery of praying for humility, because when you pray for humility, humility shows up. I myself cannot recall a time when my prayer for humility was not answered by the end of the next day. But let’s have courage, and not allow our entry into Christ’s Kingdom be delayed by our disordered self-love or timidity.

What Moses said before the Israelites on the edge of the Promised Land is just as true for us: “It is the Lord who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you.  So do not fear or be dismayed.”

Posted in Exodus, Faith, G.K. Chesterton, Homily, Humility, Moses, Prayer, Saintly People, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. Vincent de Paul, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Wednesday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

August 17, 2009

St. Therese of Lisieux says, “We obtain from [God] as much as we hope for.” Today’s readings show this to be true.

On the very edge of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Hebrews lose all hope, and thereby they lose the land that the Lord wanted to give them. The Lord wanted to fight along their side, but they became so discouraged that they were unwilling to even go to the battle. They obtained from God as much as they hoped for, and died in the desert. They gave Lord nothing to work with, and there was nothing for the Lord to do but to let others to take their place.

The Canaanite woman in the Gospel is another story. She hopes against hope, and wins from our seemingly reluctant Lord her daughter’s healing. St. John of the Cross says: “The more the soul hopes, the more it attains.”

So let’s be bold.  Let’s hope and strive for bigger things than we do already. And let’s see how much the Lord can do with what we offer Him.

Posted in Exodus, Homily, Hope, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. Therese of Lisieux, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Thursday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

August 17, 2009

In the daytime, the Hebrews saw the cloud of the Lord over the meeting tent. But at night, fire was seen in the cloud. In the daytime, the cloud above the meeting tent seemed to invite communion. But at night, the cloud seemed to threaten.

Was there always fire in the cloud, night and day? I suspect that there was, even though it could only be seen in the night, for God appeared to Moses in the burning bush as fire, and as the letter to the Hebrews says, “our God is a consuming fire.” The cloud itself did not change. The difference was one of perspective, whether you looked at the presence of God from within the light, or in darkness.

The same thing may apply for vastly different experiences of heaven and hell. In the parable about the end of this age, Jesus describes how the good and bad fish will be sorted out, as Wisconsin fishermen separate carp from bass, muskie, & trout. The bad will be separated from the good.  In this way, after the judgment, the wicked will no long be able to cause harm to the saints. The good will be gathered together. The bad will be widely scattered.

For the saints, God’s presence will be as the welcoming, mysterious cloud; but for the condemned, even the outermost reaches of God’s presence will be a fiery furnace. There will be no escaping Him, for nowhere in the universe is there a perfect hiding place from God. Our God is a consuming fire of goodness, truth, justice, and love.

Forever frustrated and angry, the wicked will long to be farther and farther from Him, for this movement away from Him has defined their lives on Earth. But for the saints, the goodness, truth, justice, and love belonging to God will be like home. For in their lives, the saints, like the psalmist, prefer the house of God to dwelling in the tents of the wicked.

So Christian disciples, yearn and pine for the courts of the Lord. Continue to follow the cloud of His presence, and He will lead to your promised home.

Posted in Christ the King Parish, Exodus, Heaven, Hell, Homily, Last Judgment, St. John the Baptist Parish, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

Tuesday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time—Year I

August 16, 2009

The book of Exodus says,

“In the night watch just before dawn the Lord cast upon the Egyptian force through the column of the fiery cloud a glance that threw them into a panic; and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could hardly drive.”

Israel would soon see those Egyptians lying dead on the seashore.

During another night watch, many, many years later, as one Sunday was dawning on a tomb outside the walls of Jerusalem, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven. As the Gospel of Matthew describes it,

“His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards [there] were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men.”

When Pharaoh’s Egyptians saw the glance the Lord cast through the column of the fiery cloud they sounded the retreat before Israel, because the Lord was fighting for them against the Egyptians.

Since the resurrection of Jesus, the spirits of evil have been on a retreat, because the Lord is fighting for us against them. Their uneven retreat continues today, but we shall witness their total defeat. Then, the book of Revelation says, we who followed the Lord shall sing among the angels the “song of Moses,” or something like it.  And, in the presence of God our Father, Christ our brother, Mary our Mother, with the saints and one another as brothers and sisters, with the Holy Spirit as our bond, we will rejoice at the Lord’s victory for us.

Posted in Exodus, Heaven, Homily, Resurrection, St. John the Baptist Parish, Typology, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »

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