3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, January 22nd and 23rd

 "Adoptionism" and other Heresies

Adoptionism is a heresy that says Jesus Christ was adopted by God the Father at His Baptism.  But this cannot be true for many reasons. 

 

1) We have the Christmas story and the Angel says to the shepherds “Today a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.”

 

2) and the Magi visiting asking where the newborn King of the Jews can be found. 

 

3) We have the story of Jesus’ presentation in the temple where Simeon sees the newborn Christ and the Bible says “Simeon took him into his arms and said “my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples”

 

4) We have the story of a teenage Jesus teaching the Scribes and Scholars, and Jesus’ response to His parents, “did you not know that I would be in my Father’s house?”

So even though most heresies are defeated by Scripture, most heresies are designed to spread among those who do not know the Scriptures. 

At His Baptism, we do have the Spirit descending upon Jesus, but the Church Fathers all saw that as a sign for other people, not that Jesus was, at the moment, being adopted into the Trinity.

So when we hear in our Gospel today that “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit” it does not mean that at Jesus’ baptism in the previous chapter that Jesus received, for the first time, the Holy Spirit, but instead Saint Cyril points out that Christ did not perform miracles as did the saints, but Jesus Christ, being by nature the Son of God, Jesus exercises by His own power that grace which is of the Holy Spirit. 

And this is one of the many reasons Jesus gave us the Catholic Church – to sort out what is true and false teaching.  It isn’t just “me and Jesus”… “me and Jesus” has resulted in about 60,000 different denominations of Christians…we need to always be checking what we are hearing in our hearts and consciences with what the Catholic Church teaches about Jesus.

Lots of heresies have found temporary footholds in the hearts of Catholics throughout 2,000 years, but the Catholic Church has never ceased to point them out and, ultimately, defeat them.  When there are genuine disagreements on how to interpret a particular passage of Scripture, the Church is Christ’s appointed referee in the dispute.

May we always be seeking to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ in accord with the teachings of the Catholic Church and Her saints.

Homily on Evangelization, January 16th 2022

 

Our Psalm today is “Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations” and “Announce His salvation day after day”

I want to ask us all to think about a question: “Are we proclaiming God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations?”  and are you announcing His salvation day after day?

 

If we are not yet announcing God’s salvation day after day, what might that look like?  I think a good place to start might be a line that we pray at every Mass, and that line is when we ask God to “order our days in His peace.”

 

I have found that to be the case, over time, as I have turned my life over to Christ, slowly and with fits and starts, He has ordered my life in His peace

 

What do I mean by ordered?  I mean that whereas when I was younger, I felt a lot of times like my life and the world around me were chaotic and I didn’t know which way was up, Christ has, over time, grounded my feet, because it is a sickening feeling to not know where the ground is.  As a priest, I have found an order in the rhythm of the day, daily Mass, a daily rosary, the Liturgy of the Hours that all priests promise to pray several times throughout each day, there is a comfort to that order which also still allows us also to be open to the new things, the intrusions of the spiritually poor and or physically poor.

 

In fact, I would say ordering our days according to God’s plan LEADS PRECISELY to our ability to spot the needs of our neighbors better.

 

And secondly, there is that word at the end – peace.  Christ, through His Church, offers each person peace…and in a world that seems to be attacking that Peace that Christ offers, a world that is attacking that Peace more and more each day…woe to us if we do not share what we have found in the Catholic Church, woe to us if we sit on this Good News and keep it for ourselves.

 

May each of us proclaim Christ’s marvelous deeds to all the nations and announce His salvation day after day.

The Chosen

 I cannot recommend "The Chosen" enough.  Click HERE to watch the first episode

https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen/watch?vid=S1:E1&ap=true

The Baptism of the Lord 2022

"He shall bring forth Justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street”

 

We are all here because we desire, on some level, to Hear Christ speak to us.  And the main way that we reach out to God is through prayer.

 

But if you are like me, you want to see and hear from Jesus Himself

 

And so I think it is important to remind ourselves of several things

1) When we hear the words of the Mass and participate in the Mass with a full, active, and conscious participation, Christ IS speaking to us!

 

Secondly, when we enter into private prayer, know that Christ, as the Prophet Isaiah reminds us in the first reading, Jesus Christ does not cry out, He does not shout, He does not make his voice heard in the street.”

The implication of that fact for us is that Jesus, at least 99.99999% of the time, refuses to shout above the noise of our world, but rather he speaks softly to us.

That puts the onus on us to remove ourselves from the Dictatorship of Noise and find silence in our lives and I think we need to do that at least 30 minutes a day.

Christ does not make himself heard above the buzz of Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/Youtube/Netflix/Disney+/smartphones/emails etc. Christ IS calling us away to a quiet place to be alone with Him so that we can increase our chances of hearing His voice.

 

He Himself also sought out quiet places away from the crowd, often early in the morning, to be alone in prayer with the Father and the Holy Spirit

 

May we follow His lead and seek Him where He promised to be found, notably in the words and actions of the Mass, and in the silence, away from the noise of the world.

Epiphany 2022

 I had been trying all week to come up with a homily for the Epiphany, but for some reason, nothing came to mind.  And then, on New Year’s Eve, I caught the last 5 minutes of the Foo Fighters front man being interviewed on NPR.  He said some really fascinating things, and although he probably didn’t realize it, some of the things he said speak to our celebration of the appearance of the Magi.  Immediately when I got back home, I searched for the interview and found some fascinating excerpts from his interview:

 

1) “When I went to my first punk rock show, there was this real sense of community and that tribe of those like-minded kids that maybe all felt the same.

That was one of the things I loved so much was the people coming together.”

And 2) “This was where everyone could come; these were the misfits; these were the weirdos these were the freaks; but this is where they found their tribe and their community, and I felt like them, and when we get together there’s some comfort and some reassurance in that.  “Oh, this is where we belong.”

 

What Dave Grohl, the lead singer of Foo Fighters was getting it is there was a comfort in belonging to a tribe, and I think we all know what he means.  Even the Jews had 12 TRIBES, and those 12 tribes didn’t always get along.

But what we celebrate today with the arrival of the non-Jews from the East is the end of tribal divisions… or at least the possibility that now exists to end tribalism. 

All have the option of joining the one tribe of the Catholic Church.  And that is good news, particularly for the poor, the misfits, the freaks, the drug addicts, the abused, the broken, all are now invited to join the ultimate tribe of the Catholic Church.

Imagine whatever you think is the worst sin – anyone who has committed that sin is still welcome here in the Catholic Church. Of course, for the non-Catholic and the fallen-away Catholic, there are some simple rites of initiation or reconciliation if you want to participate fully and take advantage of all that the Church offers, but we need to let everyone in our community know that they are welcome to come in, and even to attend Mass.

We have signs in front of our Church saying that all welcome to come inside, and yet still I got a call a few months ago from a person who said he sat out in the parking lot at Annunciation for a half hour trying to work up the courage to come in, and he finally did and he was so glad, and he just called to thank us for leaving our Church open.

How many people out there are in that exact same position?  How many people don’t think they’re welcome in our Churches?  The Devil of course desires to sift us all like sand, each our own individual grain, each ultimately our own tribe, but God desires to draw everyone together into the one tribe of the Catholic Church.

Let us go out and invite people to just come in.  Because only here will they find the end of tribalism.

January 1st: Mary the Mother of God 2022

 

“Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

 

I want to issue a challenge to all men: pray the rosary every day

 

And if you have a family, LEAD them in the rosary every night

 

Pray the rosary and also bring your family to Mass.

 

A study found that if a father does not go to church, only one child in 50 will become a regular worshipper. If a father does go regularly, three-quarters of their children will become churchgoers.

 

Fathers need to take their family to Church every Sunday and Holy Day (unless you are sick or caring for someone who is sick), but also, as a way to make the transition easier, I also want to challenge in a particular way families, but everyone, to pray the Rosary daily.

 

Mass can seem unintelligible to both young and old, and so, in addition to the Mass, the rosary can provide a wonderful supplement for a couple of reasons.

 

1) While at Mass it is true that everyone is participating, the priest is the presider, while at the family rosary, the Father can take the lead.

 

Secondly, what we hear in our Gospel today, about how Mary kept all these things and ponder them in Her heart, Mary was an eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry, and so the rosary is a great way to tap into those fruits of Mary’s ponderings!

 

I challenge all men in the parish to make Catholicism their top priority, and if you have a family, to bring your family to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day (unless sick or caring for someone who is sick), and to lead your family in a nightly rosary.  It will transform your family and our parish!

Christmas 2021

 

“She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger”

 

Saint John Chrysostom said about Christ’s birth, that Christ could have come forth moving the Heavens and making the Earth shake, and shooting forth His thunderbolts – but his goal was to trample human pride from the very beginning of his birth, choosing to be born poor, settling for a manger where there could have been a cradle.

 

And in being placed in the manger, lots of early saints saw this as a reference to Christ’s desire to nourish us with his flesh and blood, we who so often refuse to capitalize on the gift of our intellect, and instead prefer lawlessness which makes us into little better than the animals in Nativity scenes, Christ comes forth not with thunderbolts but as food for us that slowly, over time, turns us more and more into Himself, as Saint Augustine famously notes in his conversion story.  The Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus, over time make us more and more into Jesus, while still maintaining our own identity.

 

And we know from our human experience, the birth of a child changes everything.  I am the firstborn in my family, and My Mom tells the story about how my Dad, when I was born, ran out and got new tires on the car and how he had forgotten to change his contact lenses and so his eyes were totally red but he didn’t even realize it!

 

How often we see children being born and totally changing the course of a family!  I have seen it in my brothers’ and sisters’ lives and in my friends’ lives, and I have seen it in my life as well.  I have shared before, but on my drive out to Brazil, when I was first made a pastor, I almost threw up from nervousness.  There is no course in the seminary you can take to prepare you to become a Father of souls.  Annunciation was my first born child, and it totally rocked my world in a good way!

 

The Catholic Church says I am a father to all my parishioners, and indeed to all those living in my parish boundaries.  People have said, “Father, I hope you get to spend some time with your family over the holidays.”  I know what they mean, but I do get to spend time with my family – I am doing that right now at this Mass!”  You all are my family and you call me “Father”…it is not a metaphor!

 

So if the birth of a child can change the course of an entire family, how much more the birth of God as a human person, how much more does that change the course of our entire human family!

 

As we prepare to celebrate the Eucharistic prayer where my words will change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, who once was resting in a manger, we will sing, along with the Angels in Heaven “Holy Holy Holy, Lord God of Hosts!  Heaven and earth are full of your glory, Hosanna in the highest!”

The Metaverse: 4th Sunday of Advent 2021

 

4^th Sunday of Advent December 18^th and 19^th 2021

 

Mark Zuckerberg recently announced plans to merge Facebook, Instagram and all other Facebook properties into what he is calling the metaverse, or meta.  Metaverse means a more comprehensive universe and an improvement on the universe.

Universe, on the other hand, means the unity of all created things – a oneness if you will.

So God created the universe   

And Mark Zuckerburg has created the metaverse, a supposed improvement on God’s creation

We ought to pay REAL close attention when someone claims to have an improvement on God’s creation.

 

In our Gospel today, we read that Mary set out and traveled to the hill country to visit her relative Elizabeth, a hike of more than 80 miles.

 

And here is the thing, it had to be a difficult journey – you can’t walk 80 miles without struggle and dust and pain, but at least it is reality.  As a person who has spent his life hiking I can relate that hiking is both painful but also tremendously refreshing!

 

What we celebrate next weekend is our Lord entering into the universe from beyond the universe – his taking on human flesh, and Jesus did not offer a world free of pain… He took the road precisely that led to pain…Jesus chose reality.  And Jesus taught that in some mysterious way, known only to those who choose suffering as He did, that suffering leads to our happiness both now and also in the life to come in Heaven.

Hell is for those who choose comfort as their top priority and choose to run from the suffering. The atheist John Paul Sartre wrote a play in which one of the characters said that Hell is other people.  The metaverse offers a way out of interacting with other real people in reality.  Last week took me to 4 different airports as I was traveling for my retreat.  Everyone was either scrolling on the phone or eating or both.  The Metaverse did not just spring up, we have been slowly moving closer to it; death by 1,000 cuts if you will.

I, for my part, choose to live in the real world of reality, with all of its death and pain and harshness and suffering, awaiting the Return of the King at the end of time.

There is an improvement coming to the universe, but it will only be accomplished by God the Father.  The book of Revelations says “I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth coming down out of the clouds for the first earth and the first Heaven had passed away.”  We who strive to be followers of Jesus await that improvement of the universe, and will not settle for any false upgrades.

2021 Gaudete Sunday Homily

 Gaudete Sunday, December 11^th and 12^th, 2021

 

Saint Paul urges the Philippians in our 2^nd reading today to “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I shall say it again:  rejoice!”

 

Saint Paul, in this passage, is not asking us to have joy.  We are told, (and even to some extent commanded) to rejoice, which of course is a verb.  It is an action to rejoice.  

 

As Saint Paul continues in his letter to the Philippians, “Have no anxiety at all”  Anxiety and Rejoicing are mutually exclusive – as in you cannot be rejoicing while being anxious.

 

At this point, I would like to introduce a powerful saintly intercessor for people suffering from anxiety or any other mental illness.  Of course I am not saying that if you ask for this saint’s intercession, you do not need any other medical intervention nor counseling, but if I could share my own testimony briefly, over the last year and a half, I had 2 awful bouts of anxiety, both side effects of different drugs I was taking related to surgeries and chemo.  Panic attacks were the most common manifestation, particularly at night when trying to fall asleep, and I would almost always sweat so much that I would soak my clothes.

And it is at this point I turned to the intercession of St. Dymphna, an Irish saint from the 600’s who is the patron saint of people afflicted with mental illnesses.  Every time I reached out to her asking her intercession, whether it was to help me fall asleep, or to calm down, I almost instantly felt better.  Not cured but better.

We live in the most anxious time in the history of humanity.  Social media, normal media, fears about the coronavirus, fear and anxiety are almost inevitable…but we are commanded to rejoice…and I think in some ways that is the best way to evangelize our community…to be people who rejoice IN THE MIDST of fear!

Psalm 23 encourages us telling us even though we walk through the valley of death we shall fear no evil, and the Bible mentions 365 times, including our first reading tonight, to not be afraid.

 

As Christmas approaches, let us be people who make the decision to rejoice, and may that rejoicing transform both us and the culture around us.  St. Dymphna, patron Saint of all those suffering from mental distress, anxiety, depression, mental illness, etc. please intercede and pray for us!

Immaculate Conception 2021

 Immaculate Conception 2021

 

6 chapters of the book of Exodus are dedicated to the details of the construction of the tent of worship, including the minutest details about how to build and construct the Tabernacle, the inner sanctuary where the high priest would enter once a year.  Instructions for the Tabernacle included the use of gold and precious metals, exact measurements, and only the best of the material was to be used.  Here is just one excerpt from the 26^th chapter of Exodus:

“The tabernacle itself you shall make out of ten sheets woven of fine linen twined and of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim embroidered on them. The length of each shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width four cubits;  Then make fifty clasps of gold and join the two sets of sheets, so that the tabernacle forms one whole.”

Another chapter says in part “These are the contributions you shall accept from them: gold, silver, and bronze; violet, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen, acacia wood; oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; onyx stones and other gems for mounting on the ephod and the breast plate for the high priest.  They are to make a sanctuary for me, that I may dwell in their midst.”

Any engineer or construction people – you need to read these chapters and see that your mind and God’s mind function in a similar way!  Literally every detail is specified and it is almost 20% of the book of Exodus!

 

When the Israelites finally make it to the Promised Land, there are particular instructions very similar to the tent that are handed on from David to his son Solomon of the same detail, precious metals, exact measurements, gold, the Tabernacle has a very specific veil…

 

So when we see how much care God asks for the Tent and Temple Tabernacles, we should not be surprised that God would prepare a pure vessel for his Son!

 

Today we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Mary’s being conceived without the stain of original sin. 

 

In today’s Gospel where the Archangel Gabriel visits Mary, when He promises that she will conceive through the Holy Spirit, the same word “Overshadow” is the word that is also used for the tent Tabernacle and later the Temple Tabernacle.  What we celebrate today, then, is God giving the same care and attention to the crafting of Mary who would be a Tabernacle of her pre-born Son.  Nothing but the best of Human material – and so that is why she was conceived without the stain of original sin.

 

In conclusion, all of us are imperfect, but through our reception of the Eucharist, we become walking living breathing Tabernacles for the Lord as well.

 

May we see the care and devotion God required in crafting His Tabernacle in the desert, His Tabernacle in the Temple and His Perfect Tabernacle the Blessed Virgin Mary, and thus seek to make ourselves the best Tabernacle we can be, cooperating fully with the Grace of God.

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent

 

Homily for the 2^nd Sunday of Advent, December 4^th and 5^th, 2021

 

Our first reading today is from the Prophet Baruch, and he notes that “God has commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground”

 

Saint John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, mentions in today’s Gospel quoting the Prophet Isaiah that “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low”

 

The Catholic Church teaches that every biblical passage has both a literal sense – an application to the current situation.  The literal sense of both the prophets Baruch and Isaiah prophesying that every mountain will be knocked down and every valley filled in are trying to encourage both those who remained in Jerusalem and those who were in exile.

 

But the Catholic Church also says that every passage in the Bible has a spiritual sense in addition to the literal sense.  And so what about the spiritual sense of this passage predicting that every mountain will be knocked down and every valley filled in? 

There are lots of Church Fathers that interpret the mountains being knocked down and valleys filled in as being a positive thing, and there are also lots of Church Fathers who see mountains being knocked down and valleys filled in as being a negative thing, spiritually, and they are both right!

One of the early Church Fathers sees the mountains and valleys being our sins.  So often we put obstacles in the way of Christ.  Sometimes we attempt to build mountains of pride, lust, gluttony and lots of other sins, and sometimes we sink into valleys of fear, sadness, loneliness, and 1,000 other things.

John the Baptist is encouraging us to make straight the path of the Lord

What should be clear is that Jesus desires a relationship with every single person today, right now, and that we should remove the obstacles that we are placing in His way.  He can overcome anything, but he will not come into our souls unless invited.

This Advent, as we focus on preparing the way of the Lord, let us roll out the red carpet for Jesus in our hearts, allow him in, make straight Jesus’ path, and continue to knock down the mountains and fill in the valleys through the Sacrament of Confession and Reconciliation.  We do not have an Advent Penance Service, but there are approximately 10 hours of confession offered between now and Christmas, in addition to my being available for appointments.  Do not hesitate to reach out if you have sins you want absolved so as to make straight the road of Christ into your soul.

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, November 27th and 28th, 2021

 

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, November 27^th/28^th 2021

 

I have a young nephew who has been really getting into the solar system.  Last week he asked my Dad “Grandpa, how hot is the core of the sun?” and was surprised that my Dad knew the answer – 27 million degrees!

 

Jesus says in today’s Gospel “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

 

Sometimes and maybe, indeed, most of the time, we think we can hide from God – what Adam and Eve tried to do in the Garden when they had committed their first sin.  Mostly we believe we can hide from God because when we pray, we usually only experience darkness.

 

But St. John of the Cross described that darkness as being not a lack of God, but an inability on the part of humanity to comprehend the overwhelming nature of God’s presence – in a sense God is so bright that because the eyes of our souls are so weak, we are not able to perceive His presence – so most of the time prayer is akin to our groping in a dark cave for God.

 

But nonetheless, what we perceive as darkness and blindness is actually a reminder that God is everywhere and that God is existence itself, and we so often need to be content in the blindness and darkness of our prayers because prayer, although so often ineffectual from our vantage point in the moment, when we look back on our prayer, we realize that God was working beneath the surface, drawing us closer to himself, and we realize that although we perceived it as darkness, we were and are actually standing in the metaphorical center of the sun – like Gold tested in fire as Saint Peter and some of the old testament prophets put it so eloquently.

As our Nicene Creed puts the relationship of Father and Son, “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.  God from God, Light from Light”  So an all-consuming fire and a blinding light are two of the best ways for our human intellect to understand the Father and the Son’s relationship both to each other and to each of us.

Advent is a special season of preparation and prayer.  Let us trust that our prayer is never without effect, may we in fact “Be vigilant at all times and pray that we have the strength to stand, at our particular judgment, before the Son of Man.”

Homily for Christ the King 2021

 

Christ the King Homily, 2021

Jesus says “I came into the world to testify to the truth”

 

I typically have taken the approach in my preaching to try to list all the ways that Jesus and His Church are the Truth.  And a lot of times it seems, at least with young people, that I am trying to push a 1,000 boulder up hill.  I can typically see a lot of the young adults youth and so forth roll their eyes.

 

Instead, today I would like to take it from the other direction.  Instead of trying to point and say “There is the Truth!”  I would like to ask a question: “are there any lies anymore?”

 

Sure, I know that you can lie about your homework being done, but I am talking, as a society, are there any lies anymore?

 

I think it is an important question to ponder.  Because as I look around, I see lies everywhere.  Do you see them?  From my perspective, I see a culture that is soaked in lies – and I am more and more convinced that the only way to salvage the Truth is for us as small communities to announce the Kingship of Jesus Christ.  We have to do it boldly and with conviction. 

 

Again in today’s Gospel Jesus says he came into the world to testify to the Truth.  Are you trying to hear the voice of Jesus point you to the Truth, or are you too busy and too distracted to be concerned about what is true?

 

May our communities, our states, our country and our world miraculously forsake all the lies that we have been spreading, and return on bended knee to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Homily for the 33rd Sunday in ordinary time, November 13/14th 2021

 

Homily for the 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, November 13/14 2021

 

“Those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever." 

 

we hear about the end of the world in both our first reading and our Gospel.  And we hear that eternal punishment is an option – we always have the option to ignore God’s proscriptions and teachings and rules about how we should live our lives,

We can ignore the operating instructions from the God who made us and knows how we best operate

we always have the option to rebel and become, as the Prophet Daniel describes it, an everlasting horror and disgrace.

 

But Eternal bliss is awaiting all who enter Heaven, and that, to me, having had just one real glimpse of that, inspires me to move forward and to continue to press on.  As I have shared many times, in the year after college, I had an experience that changed me forever where I received just a momentary glimpse of the bliss that awaits us in Heaven.

Also, a lot of times, not in the moment but looking back, I can see how the efforts I have made to cooperate with God’s Amazing Grace have affected my life for better right now, here on earth.

 

And so I am striving for Heaven.  And the quote from Daniel encourages us not just to focus on ourselves getting to Heaven but also, at the same time, trying to lead others to Heaven as well.  Again, it says “those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”

 

May we first of all set our heart, mind, body and soul, everything we are and have on getting into the Heaven, and then begin the work of also trying to lead and help others get there with us.

Jesus saw that he answered with understanding

 

“Jesus saw that he answered with understanding”

 

I’d like to recommend this set of books on the 4 Gospels called “Catena Aurea” and is published by Baronius Press.  If you are going to buy it, don’t buy it from Amazon, go to baroniuspress.com

The Pope at the time asked St. Thomas Aquinas to take each VERSE of the Gospels, and include the most relevant writings of the early Church Fathers on that verse, and so we see St. Thomas Aquinas pulling together quotes from St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, Venerable Beed and many others.

 

In preparation for the homily a couple of weeks ago, a lined jumped out at me that I did not end up preaching on.  The line was Jesus asking a man “why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone.” Which is a line from Jesus that has always puzzled me.

Why does Jesus seem to suggest He is not God?

And so I was reading in the Catena Aurea and St. Augustine had a marvelous answer.  He said Jesus did not identify himself as God to this particular person because that particular person would not have been able to process it.

So in today’s Gospel, we have a different person asking questions, and our Gospel says that Jesus SAW that the man answered with understanding. 

2 different persons, one is known to be early on the path, the other person further along the path, but again the important thing is that Jesus is able to perfectly read souls because He is God.  Nothing is hidden from God.

Sometimes we think there is a part of us that we try to hide from God…maybe we also try to hide it from ourselves.  But although we may be able to fool ourselves, there is no fooling Jesus.  When Jesus first encountered the Apostle Nathanael, Jesus “here is a man with no duplicity.”

May Jesus say the same thing to us when, at the final judgment, we come face to face with the Lord.  Like the man in today’s Gospel may it be said of us that we are not far from the Kingdom of God

Catholics Should "Be Silent"?

Homily for the 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 23^rd and 24^th of 2021

 

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.  But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me!”

 

Our world is telling Catholics to be silent.  In the United States, for now, Catholics are pressured through a mostly silent campaign to encourage self-censoring, and to discourage speaking the Truth in Love.

 

In other areas of the world, people are being martyred and tortured for their Catholic Faith and that is a much more literal instance of the world telling Catholics to be silent.

 

But we know that in some ways, the softer encouragement to self-censor is MORE effective than killing and torturing Catholics because when it gets down to martyrdom and torture, Catholics wake up and start to take their faith seriously.  Those who see fellow Catholics being killed for their Catholic Faith never forget that.

 

But when it is a soft, subtle campaign to make every Catholic self-censor, it is much easier to just cut little corners, to rationalize our decisions telling ourselves “after all, it is just a pinch of incense to Caesar, what harm can that do?”

 

But then one day, hopefully, we wake up after cutting corners and keeping silent and giving our tacit approval to lies, and we hopefully have the experience of recognizing we are far from the path, and we are able to cry out with a full-throated “Son of David, have pity on me!”

 

But the hour is late, and none of us is guaranteed the next minute. 

 

Before we see fellow Catholics being jailed, tortured and martyred for their Catholic Faith, may we stand up now and say “I will not give my tacit approval to lies anymore.  I am a Catholic first and foremost, and I march under the banner of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is Truth.  No matter what else you throw at me, I will never waver.”

How to be great

Homily for the 29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, October 16 and 17, 2021

 

“Those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt.  But it shall not be so among you.  Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.”

The Apostles desire greatness and Jesus says the key is a willingness to serve.

10 days ago, our youth groups were reflecting on the virtue of Magnanimity, which just means a striving for a greatness of soul.  We watched a video put out by the Knights of Columbus on this virtue.  It talked about this very Gospel passage, and what it means to be a great leader: SERVICE

You can strive to be the best janitor, the best husband the best wife, the best parent, the best student the best plumber you can be…wherever you find yourself you can strive for becoming great, and that will be attained in proportion to how well you serve those under you. 

I find great value in getting down among the trenches with you all, setting up tables and chairs for dinners or Oktoberfest, setting up stuff for the youth group, helping clean up after events, and not leaving until the cleaning is done.  Trying to help fix things when I can, going out once a month to the sick and shut ins, helping set up for Mass – I truly feel that there is no job in the parish that I am above.

And I think, because of that approach, I think I am a better leader. 

On your sports teams, if you are a star or a senior, do you lord it over those under you or do you help carry out the bag of balls to practice even though it is not expected?

At work, do you help those under you with their tasks, even though you could tell them to do it themselves?

At the parish, do you help out even though it is not required nor expected?

In your family, do you lord it over your siblings or help them accomplish their task?

 

“Those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt.  But it shall not be so among you.  Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.”

The Apostles wanted to be APPOINTED to leadership positions, but Jesus was a very practical guy.  He encourages servant leadership precisely for the reason that it is MORE EFFECTIVE than a simple appointment to a position!  May we trust in Jesus, may we seek to be great not by simply being put in a position of authority, but by earning the trust of those who we have been asked to lead. 

Prudence, Contraception, Abortion, Conscience, etc.

We hear in our first reading today from the book of Wisdom: “I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.  I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her.”

A lot of times, people reach out to me and asking what they should do in a specific situation.  And in so many of those instances I have to say “I don’t know.  You are the only one, in conversation with God, who will know what the best decision is.”

The Catholic Church is thought of as telling everyone how to act in every situation, and that just is not the case.  Of course on every topic that seems to dominate our national conversation at the moment, the Church does have very black and white answers: it is never okay to kill a child in the womb, sexual activity is only proper in a marriage, marriage is only between one man and one woman, contraception is never justified, there are only 2 sexes, it is never good to look at pornography… and so the Church, in saying these eternal truths, is viewed from both the outside (and sometimes the inside) as being dictatorial.

But the vast majority of the thousands of decisions we make each day do NOT involve any of the above, and so the Church encourages us to use prudence.  And prudence is the ability to discern the best path forward in a situation.

It was even acknowledged as a virtue in pre-christian civilizations such as the Greeks.  Obviously, through Christ, all the virtues take on an even greater depth and prudence is considered to be the charioteer of all the other virtues.

It has the power to help us decide among not just good and evil, but also when we have lots of good things we could do, it helps us choose the best of all the good options.

Again, most of the thousands of decisions we make each day do NOT involve any objectively evil options.

In all of our decisions, big and small, may we act with prudence, using our past experiences and the Church’s teachings as a guide, to become a better decision maker each day. 

 

A Marriage Morning of Reflection

 

27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, October 2^nd-3^rd   A Marriage Morning of Reflection

We have reflected a lot on the centrality of Marriage to a civilization.

 

Leo XIII, in his encyclical titled “On Socialism” states that the foundation of a society rests first of all in the indissoluble union of man and wife.  We can also see the centrality of marriage looking at the teaching of those who hate the notion of marriage and have made it their project to tear marriage apart.

 

Kate Millet was the author of “Sexual Politics”, published in 1970.  There she decried the patriarchy of the monogamous nuclear family.  Her sister Mallory recounts attending a meeting with Kate Millet and her communist apparatchiks. 

“We gathered at a large table as the chairperson opened the meeting with a back and forth recitation, like a litany, a type of prayer done in the Catholic Church.  But now it was Marxism, the Church of the Left, mimicking religious practice:

“Why are we here today?” Kate asked.  “To make revolution” they answered.  “What kind of revolution?” Kate replied.  “The cultural revolution,” they chanted.  “And how do we make Cultural Revolution?” Kate demanded.  “By destroying the American family!” they answered.  “How do we destroy the family?” Kate came back.  “By destroying the American Patriarch” they cried exuberantly.  “And how do we destroy the American Patriarch?” she replied.  “By taking away his power!” they said.  “How do we do that?” Kate asked.  “By destroying monogamy!” they shouted.  “How do we destroy monogamy?”  Kate asked.  “By promoting promiscuity, eroticism, prostitution and homosexual acts!” they resounded” (The Devil and Karl Marx, by Paul Kengor, pg. 366)

 

But instead of railing against the evils of divorce, I would like to actually do something about strengthening marriages.  Besides, if you are here, you are likely not the people that need to hear about the importance of marriage and family.

 

When I first came to Annunciation, but before I was assigned to Saint Paul’s, I brought out a friend Dr. Eric Gudan to give a morning of reflection on marriage.  It was offered to single people, people preparing for marriage, and also to married couples.  I am doing that again.  I have been communicating with Dr. Gudan, and he has committed to coming sometime in November or early December.  I will get that date out to you as soon as it is nailed down.  Everyone who attended his talks and exercises 8 years ago found them extremely entertaining and revitalizing.

 

I am also offering a $200 gift to card to St. Elmo’s to one lucky couple or single person who attends.  Breakfast from Panera will be provided at St. Paul starting at 8:30 am.  Again, marriage is under attack, and we all probably already know that.  Let’s work on our marriage, or make ourselves a better spouse even before we get married.  What God has joined together, may no man break asunder.

The Great Apostasy

 

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

Harsh words from our Lord today.  But the Gospels never relay Jesus telling a joke.  We need to take Him at His Word.

 

There are 80 million Catholics in the United States.  A recent study found that 5% of the 80 million US Catholics

1) Come to Mass every weekend unless they are sick or caring for someone who is sick

2) And confess their sins at least once a year

 

Apostasy is defined as an abandonment of one’s faith, and I can’t imagine an Apostasy getting much worse than this one.  Again, 95% of US Catholics are not practicing at the most fundamental level.  Saint Paul tells the Thessalonians there will be a great apostasy as a direct precursor to the coming of the Antichrist.  It is hard to imagine this apostasy getting any worse.

The Catechism makes it clear “Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the "first heralds" for their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church.”

And elsewhere “Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith.”   And elsewhere “Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children.”

Today our American and larger western culture is the most toxic culture in the history of the world; as we hear in our 2^nd reading today, the rich will be consumed by fire.  And our culture is saturated in $.  God does not hate money, but He acknowledges that it starts to corrupt us if we are not careful. 

We will be recognizing all of our volunteer catechists and mentors who help provide the support here for what is first and foremost the duty of parents.  It is a partnership between the parish and the parents, but the children can’t come unless the parents bring them, and they won’t get anything out of it when they come if they don’t see it lived at home.

I spoke at a home school conference in one of the first years of my priesthood.  I said something that I got a lot of positive feedback on, I said “you have to regularly tell your children WHY you are bringing them to Mass, and catechizing them, you have to regularly remind them that is because Jesus Christ has a plan for their life, and that plan iw beyond amazing – you have to do the hard work of raising them in the Faith but also remind them why you are doing it on a regular basis.  It will not instantly produce perfect little cherubs who rejoice at getting up to come to Mass, but they will remember it down the road.

I will end with one final quote from the Catechism which makes total sense to me: “By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them”  I think that is such good advice.   If you have failed in any way, don’t be afraid to acknowledge that to your children as well.

There is a mass exodus that has been going on for generations.  If we are to see it turn around, the turnaround will need to start in the family.