Ash Wednesday 2023

 

The God of the Old Testament is some times thought of wrongly as an angry God.  But in light of that, in case there is any doubt in anyone’s mind here today, this Ash Wednesday I would like to go through a list of sins that Saint Paul, Jesus, and Saint John mention in the NEW TESTAMENT that keep one from Heaven.

 

Saint Paul says in First Corinthians chapter 6 that “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”

 

Saint Paul tells the Galatians that “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

 

Saint Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter 5: “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, Nor should there be obscenity…of this you can be sure: No sexually immoral, impure or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

And Saint John relates in Revelation “Outside of Heaven are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

In Matthew, chapter 25 Jesus says “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

 

I, Fr. Hollowell, have done lots of things in those lists.  But here is the thing…I have confessed them all in the Sacrament of Confession, and now God no longer holds them against me.

The ashes you receive on your forehead today are a reminder of your sins.  The ashes can be washed off. But only in the Sacrament of Reconciliation can you actually be cleansed from sexual immorality, adultery, homosexual sex, thievery, drunkenness, slander, impurity, witchcraft, hatred, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, envy, orgies, murder, liars, and those that do not recognize Jesus in the poor.

Jesus looks at you with love today, and asks you to leave your sins behind and sin no more.  Let us heed His call. 

I will be in the confessional until everyone who wants to go to confession today has had that opportunity.

Homily for Saint Peter Damien, 2023

 

Today, the Church honors Saint Peter Damien, who is a doctor of the Church.  As with most saints, he preferred to live a life of prayer and solitude in a monastery, but the Catholic Church had other intentions for him.

 

His most famous work is this book, “The Book of Gomorrah” which is all about the sexual sins of priests against children.  One passage in the book says this “A cleric or monk who persecutes adolescents or children, or who is caught in a kiss or other occasion of indecency, should be publicly beaten and lose his tonsure, and having been disgracefully shaved, his face is to be smeared with spittle, and he is to be bound in iron chains, worn down with six months of imprisonment, and three days every week to fast on barley bread until sundown. After this, spending his time separated in his room for another six months in the custody of a spiritual senior, he should be intent upon the work of his hands and on prayer, subject to vigils and prayers, and he should always walk under the guard of two spiritual brothers, never again soliciting sexual intercourse from youth by perverse speech or counsel.”

 

Another quote from a chapter titled “On rectors of the Church who are soiled with their spiritual children", Saint Peter Damien says this: “O unheard of crime!  O offense to be mourned with a whole fountain of tears!  If they who consent to those who do these things are to be struck with death, what can be conceived of as a worthy punishment for those who commit these evils, which are punishable by eternal damnation, with their spiritual children?”

 

I recently read an article on a fairly traditional Catholic website, and the thesis of the article was that the reforms made in 2002 have largely worked, and the author compared the Catholic abuse numbers to that of the Chicago Public School system.  I can’t even imagine trying to compare the 2 situations.  First of all, does the author not know how much more scandalous it is for a Catholic priest to abuse a child than for a public school teacher?  Also, does the author not know that while school children tend to report abuse pretty quickly, it takes a child raped or molested by a priest on average about 30 years to come to grips with what has happened to them, if they haven’t already killed themselves out of shame?

 

As we hear in our Gospel today, Jesus, “Taking a child, placed the child in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."

 

For this Lent, I will be offering up all of my sufferings for the victims of Catholic Clergy sexual assault, Catholic clergy sexual grooming, and Catholic clergy sexual harassment, that the living will find justice today, and those who are deceased, even by suicide, might one day be allowed into the eternal bless of Heaven.

 

Saint Peter Damien, please pray for all the victims throughout the 2,000 year history of the Catholic Church, and also please pray that any Catholic cleric who has harmed a child or any other person, in any way with regards to human sexuality, would immediately step away from the priesthood, and live a life of profound penance.

"Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect" homily for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023

 

“Be Perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect”

A lot of us hear that and think that Jesus does not REALLY mean we should be perfect…but Jesus does want us to be perfect moving forward…and we stand on the cusp of a great season to help us grow in perfection…

Lent start this Wednesday with Ash Wednesday Masses and Liturgy of the Word services with ashes.  The season of Lent provides three ways we can grow closer to perfection

Prayer.  What are we adding to our prayer life every day this lent?  Maybe it is a daily rosary if you haven’t been praying that, maybe it is the daily Mass readings if you haven’t been doing that.  Also on the topic of prayer just know that one of the most confessed sins is distraction in prayer and distraction at Mass.  Please know that it is NOT a sin to be distracted in prayer/Mass unless you are WILLING and ACTIVELY CHOOSING to be distracted.

 

Fasting is for Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59, excluding anyone who is sick, or suffers from Diabetes, nor are pregnant nor nursing mothers required to fast.  The 2 days of Fasting in the Catholic Church are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  Fasting is one meal and 2 smaller meals that, added together, do not equal a meal.  Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all other Fridays during Lent we should also not eat meat if we are 14 years or older.  All those are the regulations and laws with Fasting, but we should also be fasting throughout Lent from something every day.  Maybe it is desserts and/or TV and/or social media…

 

Which leads into the third way we grow in perfection, and that is through giving alms to the poor.  In America, we are so tremendously blessed with wealth…are we sharing it with those around us???  Also, I think another import aspect to almsgiving is one that Pope Francis has made a central theme of his pontificate – to encounter the poor directly…to not just give them a handout but to have a conversation with them…to honor their human dignity.

 

Let us use this upcoming season of Lent to grow more perfect, day by day, and thus heed Jesus’s call in today’s Gospel to become perfect!

"Envy" a homily for Monday, February 13th, 2023

“The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not.  Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen.”  

Sometimes, the Catechism can provide an entire homily, and so I would like to use the Catechism today, because the Catechism’s section on envy is beautiful, even though it likely disturbs us in some ways.

2538 The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart.

Envy can lead to the worst crimes. (And the footnote here is to this passage from Genesis)

The Catechism continues: "Through the devil's envy death entered the world"

The Catechism here quotes from a sermon by Saint John Chrysostom, whose relic we have on our rerdos here at Saint Paul’s:

Saint John Chrysostom says “We fight one another, and envy arms us against one another. . . . If everyone strives to unsettle the Body of Christ, where shall we end up? We are engaged in making Christ's Body a corpse. . . . We declare ourselves members of one and the same organism, yet we devour one another like beasts."

The Catechism continues, saying “Envy is a capital sin. It refers to the sadness at the sight of another's goods”

Here we can pause and reflect “am I sad at the success of a fellow Catholic?” 

The Catechism continues: “When envy causes a human person to wishes grave harm to a neighbor it is a mortal sin:

Here the Catechism quotes St. Augustine, who saw envy as "the diabolical sin."... "From envy are born hatred, joy caused by the misfortune of a neighbor, and displeasure caused by his prosperity."

2540 Envy represents a form of sadness and therefore a refusal of charity; the baptized person should struggle against it by exercising good will. Envy often comes from pride; the baptized person should train himself to live in humility:

And here the Catechism quotes from another sermon by St. John Chrysostom:

"Would you like to see God glorified by you? Then rejoice in your brother's progress and you will immediately give glory to God. Because his servant could conquer envy by rejoicing in the merits of others, God will be praised."

Let us resolve to affirm the good we see in each other, and in each other's actions, particularly when we feel ourselves being tempted to be envious of them.

"Upping the Bar" - Homily for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 2023

 

“Upping the Bar” – Homily for the 6^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023

In our Gospel today, Jesus says I have come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, and so it is important to understand the various types of laws that we find in the Old Testament.  Some laws in the Old Testament were CULTURAL laws – laws to help the Israelites form a culture of their own…so we find laws like “you shall not eat shell fish” and “garments must be made of one color”…those laws obviously do not apply to us anymore.  The 2^nd type of laws that we find in the Old Testament are LITURGICAL laws… “you shall make the Tabernacle this way” and “here are the specific instructions for the altar” and “here’s how many candles you should have” and all of these liturgical laws are fulfilled in the Catholic Church…our parish Church buildings are laid out very similarly to the Liturgical laws laid down first in the Old Testament. 

 

The third type of law, which Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel, are the MORAL laws of the Old Testament.  These are the laws that Jesus says He has not come to abolish but to actually raise the bar. 

 

The first example from today’s Gospel is when Jesus says "You have heard that it was said You shall not kill; But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment”.  You shall not kill is the 5^th commandment, and so Jesus says not only shall you not kill, but you should forgive your family members.  A lot of us here today do have family members we don’t like (or worse)…Jesus is saying we need to forgive those family members for OUR sake…we don’t necessarily need to let them back into our lives but we need to forgive from our side…

 

A second thing that Jesus says in today’s Gosepl:  "You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.  But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  More and more Catholics are addicted to pornography.  If that is you, there is a website in our bulleting about a free video resource put together by former porn addicts and approved by the Catholic Church.  To buy the videos is about $400, but you can watch them online for free.

 

"It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.  But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.  Civil divorce is not a sin, and separating from a spouse is not a sin.  It is a sin for Catholics who were married in the Catholic Church to separate from a spouse, and, while the former spouse is still living, marry someone else.  I have preached on this recently, and have been blessed to have lots of weddings at both parishes over the last several months, including one this afternoon here at St. Paul’s.  If you have ANY questions about marriages, I am happy to sit down and talk with you.  The Catholic Church bends over backwards to try and help Catholics fit through this window that Jesus talks about in today’s Gospel…if I can help in any way, please schedule a meeting with me.

 

A final instance from today’s Gospel…Jesus said "Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, But I say to you, do not swear at all; Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'  Anything more is from the evil one."  I have also preached on this recently as well.  Do we tell lies?  Some of us may be tempted to think that there are noble lies or white lies, but there is no middle ground.  There is THE Truth, that does not changed based on which culture one finds themselves living in, and there is THE Truth that does not change based on circumstances.

 

All of these instances where Jesus raises the bar of the MORAL laws in the Old Testament Jesus is also giving us the strength, through the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, to clear that higher bar.  Let us resolve to cooperate more freely with the Grace that Christ is pouring out on us to clear that higher bar, finding in that striving not just a future bliss in Heaven, but also greater freedom and joy while still on Earth! 

"No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket" - Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023

 

5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 – “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket”

“No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a bushel basket; but rather it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.”

I originally preached that I was healed in Lourdes to both of my parishes the 2^nd weekend of October of 2022.  But some people still have questions and so I would like to provide a bit more detail.

I received my initial diagnosis up at the Mayo Clinic on February 11^th, 2020 (The Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes) and got to have Mass that night in the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes which is attached to the Mayo Clinic.

Fastforward to March of 2022.  My MRI showed that the tumor was starting to grow back and that there was also now a tumor on my pituitary gland. 

Although I was perfectly happy to die and offer my life up for the victims of clergy abuse, I thought that since I received my diagnosis on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes and had Mass that night in the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes, that I should make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France and if I was healed there, it might bring some fallen away Catholics back to the Catholic Church.

So I went to Lourdes this past June and was healed there.  It took me a while to realize I was healed because there is no pain associated with a brain tumor.  I have been in touch with the medical examiner at Lourdes, and they have a very extensive process that they go through in order to verify miracles.

Although I have been off social media for the past 2 years, I was still receiving emails from victims wondering about my medical progress so I made a video this past Monday to let victims know that I had been healed at Lourdes.

Jesus says in our Gospel today that no one lights a lamp and then places it under a basket, rather it is placed on a stand for all to see.

And here is the major point…we ALL…each one of us…has an infinitely better message than a healing…we have our Catholic Faith, we have the Sacraments of the Church that give us an infinite amount of grace if we are open to it, and the primary Sacrament that sustains the Church and holds the Church together, we have Jesus Christ becoming truly present to us in his Body, Blood, Soul, and in His Divinity at every Mass.

Are we willing to witness to that fact in a charitable and attractive way?  A question that each one of us needs to decide is “do I want to do whatever I can to get the word out that Jesus is alive and well in the Catholic Church”…or are we content to bury our light under a basket?

I pray that each one of us, in our own way, will do whatever we can, in the ways that we feel we are being nudged in prayer to do, to testify to the power of Jesus Christ alive in His Catholic Church today.

60 Minutes Grapples with Miracles at Lourdes

A Film About Lourdes in the USA only on February 8th and 9th

 

"They will speak no lies" - Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023

 

4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – “They will speak no lies”

 

The prophet Zephaniah in our first reading, speaking on behalf of God, says: “But I will leave as a remnant a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD: and this remnant shall speak no lies”

 

Our American society rests on the idea that there is “truth” that does not change based on the culture or circumstances.  Every person who testifies in court promises to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

 

In order for America to flourish, we need to return to believing in a Truth that does not change based on the culture, and a Truth that does not change based on circumstances. 

 

At a sidebar to the trial of Jesus, Jesus claims to be the truth, and Pontius Pilate asks in a scoffing way “what is truth?”  And there really is no middle ground, either there is Truth that transcends cultures and circumstances, or there isn’t.

 

Our schools, our universities and the media feed all of us a lot of lies. May we have the courage to point out to others the lies that are being pushed on all of us.

 

Again, our first reading promises that there will be a remnant who will not tell lies.  Let us all be that remnant who commit to saying only true things, and not speaking anything, nor teaching anything that is a lie.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023

 

Fishers of Men – Homily for the 3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2023

 

In our Gospel today we see Jesus calling 4 fishermen, while they are fishing, to come and follow Him.  They leave their nets immediately and follow him and Jesus promises that from now on they will be fishers of men and women.

 

I would venture to say that in America today, no fallen away Catholic nor non-Catholic would feel comfortable approaching a Catholic priest as their first point of contact with the Catholic Church.  But many fallen away Catholics and non-Catholics do feel comfortable approaching you who are here today.

 

Just a couple of stories to illustrate this

First of all, a parishioner from Annunciation let me know this week that her hair dresser has been asking her questions about the Catholic Church, and the hair dresser asked this parishioner if the parishioner could get her a Catholic Bible.  This parishioner approached me about this, I was able to get the parishioner a Catholic Bible to give to her hair dresser.  The likelihood that the hairdresser would have approached a Catholic Priest for a Catholic Bible is almost zero.

 

Another example is just today I was talking with a Saint Paul’s Parishioner, and she was saying that her physical therapist told her that she has come to a couple of Masses.  The Saint Paul’s Parishioner said if you ever want to come to Mass with me, just let me know, and the physical therapist said thank you.

 

And then one final example, I was listening to Catholic Radio Saturday morning, and this formerly fallen away Catholic was being interviewed, and she shared that she had had divorces and abortions, and felt like God hated her, but someone invited her to Mass, and she heard something at that Mass that totally changed the trajectory of her life, and this person now works at a Catholic parish helping other couples through the annulment process.

 

There are at least 5 people who know that you are Catholic…and it may be up to you to say something to them encouraging that will start the process of them coming home to the Catholic Church.  Let us all pray for those 5 people tonight who we are called to go fish for and bring them home to Jesus and His Church!

The Best March for Life Video I Have Ever Seen!

 

"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" - Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, 2023

 

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Homily for the 2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, 2023

 

In our Gospel today we hear St. John the Baptist say, while pointing to Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  And that is the exact same thing every Catholic priest (or bishop) says at every Mass when they hold up the Host and chalice…”Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…”

 

And so this forces a decision for every Catholic, including myself, and indeed every person around the world… do I really believe that bread and wine, after the priest or bishop prays the words of consecration becomes the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus…do we really believe the priest or bishop when they say “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”

 

There really is not a middle way…The Catholic Church is making a Truth claim…it either IS the Body, Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus or it is not…There is not a half way “Maybe”.

 

And if it is a yes, then I need to orient my entire life around that reality.

But if it is not the Body, Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus than I need to run as far away from the Catholic Church!

 

If we do believe that Jesus becomes present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity at this and every Mass…let us all together orient our entire lives around the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Epiphany 2023 - "purposefuluniverse.com/videos"

 

Epiphany 2023 – “https://www.purposefuluniverse.com/videos”

 

I have never preached on a particular website before…until now…

 

As I have talked about in previous years, the average age a young person makes the decision to leave the Catholic Church is now 13…and the number 1 reason they leave is because of science.

 

I want to invite all parents, grandparents, guardians etc. to visit and bookmark and share with all the children and teens under their influence the following website: https://www.purposefuluniverse.com/videos

 

Today the Church remembers the visit of the Magi, astronomers who were constantly studying the sky and the stars, and that science led them to the Christ child.

 

So it is also the case today.  Catholics do not believe you can prove the existence of God…but Catholics do believe that science ought to lead scientists and everyone to the doorstep of God.

The discovery of the big bang theory was by a Catholic priest.  The person who came up with genetic science was Fr. Gregor Mendel…Fr. Tad Pacholczyk is the director of the National Catholic Bioethics center and has degrees in philosophy, biochemistry, molecular cell biology, and chemistry and a PhD in neuroscience from Yale University…the videos also feature Karin Oberg who is a professor of Astrophysics at Harvard who converted to Catholicism while studying astrophysics…the list could go on and on…

Indeed it is the Catholic world view that is the bedrock of science and the scientific method…the idea that God created the world and that there is an order to the universe comes from the Catholic understanding of God that you don’t find in other religious traditions where gods are finnicky or too aloof from the world to make the world with any sort of order.

The purposefuluniverse.com/videos has so many wonderful videos about the intersection of Catholicism and science…in order to reverse the tide of young people leaving the Catholic Church because of science, show your young people the videos at the https://www.purposefuluniverse.com/videos

 

Science led the Magi to Christ 2,000 years ago and has the ability to lead all of us to Christ today.

A Reflection I gave on the Theology of Pope Benedict

 

Christmas 2022

 

Christmas 2022 Homily

 

There is a saying which I agree with, and the Knights of Columbus even have magnets for cars that say this phrase - “Keep Christ in Christmas”

Again, I agree that we should Christ in Christmas, but it is important to also say “Keep the “Mass” in Christmas.”  The -mas at the end of Christmas means “Mass”  just like we have "Michaelmas", which is a Mass in honor of Saint Michael the Archangel, and “Candlemas” which is a Mass where we process into Church with lit candles in honor of Mary bringing the Christ Child, the true light of the world, into the temple for the first time, so as well we celebrate tonight “Christ’s Mass”.  

The event that we remember and celebrate tonight was Jesus being manifested to the world for the first time 2,000 years ago, and so as well, on this altar, at this “Christ’s Mass”, when a priest says the Words of Consecration over bread and wine, they instantly become Christ once again manifested to the world.  And so it is good to be here with you tonight!

I would like to tell a brief story about Poland, and a Christmas Midnight Mass.

In 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland, which triggered WWII.  The same day that WWII ended in 1945, Poland found itself behind the iron curtain, now under the brutal oppression of the Communists.  So Poland suffered brutally for decades.

I mention all of this to say that in 1959 a young bishop Karol Wojtyla, who would become St. Pope John Paul the Second, started having a Christmas Midnight Mass OUTSIDE in a city that had been built by the Communists, and that Christmas midnight Mass was usually well below zero like it is tonight.

100,000 Poles showed up for that first Christmas midnight Mass, outside…imagine that…100,000 people outside, below freezing temperatures, but they were there for Mass 100,000 strong, and the Polish people showed up at every subsequent Christmas Midnight Mass until the Communists relented and in 1977 the Ark Catholic Church was built, the only time a Communist nation has allowed a Catholic Church to be built.

It is well below zero tonight, but we are here celebrating Mass. 

In our world today Communism and Socialism are once again on the ascendant, but just like Herod, just like Pontius Pilate, and just like the rulers and lords of our day, every ruler who runs up against the Christ Child is doomed. 

The Devil and the Communists and Socialists play the long game, but God’s plan is prior to their plans…Christ’s plan existed before the world was even created!

We rejoice tonight at the birth of our savior Jesus, as He once again appears on our altar tonight.  We gather this night and at every Mass to give thanks for the greatest gift of all time…the gift of Jesus Christ.

"Look what you've done!"

This was a song I heard a couple of months ago that speaks to what the Devil says to us, "Look what you've done" but then the singer, Tasha Layton, turns that around and says to God "Look what you've done" in a positive sense.

I also think this song does a good job of describing what happens in adoration and prayer "standing in your presence, Lord, I can feel you digging all the roots up, I feel you healing all my wounds up"

 

 

3rd Sunday of Advent at Annunciation - Solemn Worship and Glad Rejoicing

 

Rejoicing Sunday and Solemn Worship

 

As I said at the beginning of Mass, this “Rejoicing Sunday” and we also heard in our opening prayer at Mass today “solemn worship”.  But we might ask where is the rejoicing in solemn worship?  And here I will allow a convert to Catholicism from Evangelicalism to explain it way better than I ever could.  He writes this:

 

“It may be worth pressing home a point that often troubles observers of Catholic worship and that certainly rises in the consciousness of Christians coming to the Mass having been nurtured in denominations where hearty fellowship and humming activity are the hallmarks of Sunday morning at church. It can be the case, however, that one comes to Mass from the happy precincts of Evangelicalism, say, and goes away at the end with great sadness. "But I miss the fellowship!" He might say. "I didn't since the eager atmosphere of glad attention and participation I knew in my former church."

This response from a newcomer touches on a matter very near the center of the mystery brooding over Christian worship. When the Roman Catholic "goes to church", he or she sees themselves as joining them self to something that is already going on. He sets aside both the hurly-burly of his domestic or professional situation and any preoccupation he may have with such patently excellent concerns as fellowship or chat or even a certain vitality in the air. He has been summoned to the one necessary thing. He here takes his place, literally, he believes, with angels and archangels and with all the company of Heaven, who laud and magnify the Holy Name of the Most High.”

 

Every Mass is a dramatic intersection of Calvary, Heaven and this Church building, and it is totally unique to Catholicism.  Non-Catholics do not even think they are entering Heaven when they go to their services.  Praise and Worship music actually distracts from Mass because it is not the music of Heaven nor Calvary…at Mass we do not emphasize our own words…the Catholic Mass, as we said in our opening prayer today is both “solemn worship” and a rejoicing that is deeper than the surface level.

 

Like Peter 2,000 years ago, utterly bewildered by a glimpse that the three Apostles had on the mount of Transfiguration of a glorified Christ, we can say today and at every Mass, “Lord, it is good that we are here!”

3rd Sunday of Advent at Saint Paul's

 

“Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged”

 

This weekend is called “rejoicing weekend” in the Church.  Rejoice or “Gaudete” in Latin is the first word of our Mass today.  And that “rejoice” comes from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians which he wrote while in Jail!!!

 

As we think about “rejoicing” this weekend, there are so many places in the New Testament where it says we will condemned if we use our mouth for gossip, slander, complaining, lying

 

And our second reading today from James is no different.  “Do not complain about one another that you may not be judged…”

 

Are we complaining about people?  Do we realize how much that destroys US???

 

One of the reasons I think God cautions so often in the New Testament against using our speech wrongly is because we are all given a certain amount of words to say in our life… God already knows the exact number of words that we will say in our lives.

 

And God wants us to use those number of words to rejoice.  That what this weekend in the Church is called…rejoicing weekend.

 

I have made a commitment over the past few years to use my mouth only to praise and thank God…and I go to confession any time I have fallen short.  Certainly there are times where people need to be corrected for a sin…and that is so hard for us to do face to face, but if we see or hear a brother or sister using their speech wrongly, let us have the courage to say something to that person’s face in charity…and not complain about that person when they leave.

 

Let us once again resolve tonight to not complain about each other…but let us use our words to rejoice in God…

Immaculate Conception 2022

 

"Hail Mary, full of Grace"

 

Why do we have this Gospel passage of the Annunciation, which is the moment that JESUS is conceived, when we celebrate today MARY'S conception?

I would like to point out 2 reasons we have this Gospel today.

First, all Christians (and even a lot of non-Christians and atheists) love the “Ave Maria” sung in Latin. It begins “Ave Maria, gratia plena”

 

Gratia plena translates to "Full of Grace" and there is no other way to translate it other than "Full of Grace".

 

Luke was written in Greek though, so how do we know that “Full of Grace” is the proper translation?

 

St. Jerome, in the 300’s translated the Greek into Latin, and his translation into Latin was known as the vulgate.  Martin Luther would not be born for another 1200 years

Some Protestants, going back to the Greek text, have changed the translation into something like "Hail, favored one."

But I am going to trust St. Jerome's translation as he was doing it in the 300's.

The second reason we likely have this Gospel today is that all the other figures in the Sacred Scriptures who encounter an Archangel are all full of fear, and usually fall down in terror.  But the Archangel Gabriel speaks to Mary with DEFERENCE, saying "HAIL, Mary"... and the mere fact that she is able to ask Gabriel questions and have a conversation with the Archangel shows her profound holiness.

We are right, as Catholics, to say, every day, "Hail Mary FULL of Grace!"

A Helpful Article on Whether Catholics Are Allowed to Attend Invalid Marriages

(Note from Fr. Hollowell: "This article first appeared in the magazine "Homiletic and Pastoral Review" in the February edition from 1988.  It has been republished on this blog with the permission of "Homiletic and Pastoral Review")

Participation in Invalid Marriages

An article from Homiletic & Pastoral Review
February 1988

By Rev. Regis Scanlon

How long has it been since you preached or heard from the pulpit that it is evil for a Catholic to marry in a ceremony not approved by the Church? Perhaps fear of publicly embarrassing someone in the pews and belief that these invalidly married Catholics may be in good conscience has silenced preaching against invalid marriages. This new sympathy toward invalid marriages is not without grave risks. Couples living in invalid marriages could remain blind to the truth that they are really (objectively) living in adultery or fornication and that "these are the sins which provoke God's wrath" (Col. 3:5-6). The ultimate danger here is that invalidly-married Catholics will not heed St. Paul's warning that "God will judge fornicators and adulterers" (Heb. 13:4) and "those who do such things (impurity) will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. 5:19-21). A fact that must not be ignored today is that a number of these Catholics die cut off from the sacraments of the Church because they are still living in an invalid marriage. The impossibility of reconciling a number of these invalid marriages in the Catholic Church, along with the difficulty of abandoning an invalid marriage once a family is formed, argues for a prompt and honest response to these marriages right from the start. Should a Catholic attend such a wedding ceremony? Should he attend only the reception following the ceremony, or just send a gift or card? Or ought he do none of these? This article is an attempt to evaluate certain pastoral answers to these questions recently adopted by both pastors and laity in the United States.

Traditionally, Catholics did not participate in invalid marriage celebrations because it was seen as approval to adultery or fornication. As invalid marriages increased among Catholics, however, moralists began to de-emphasize the danger of scandal from these celebrations. For example, Msgr. Raymond T. Rosier, nationally known during the 1970s for his syndicated column answering moral questions for Catholics, stated that "Attendance at a wedding shower or giving a gift does not today mean approval of marriage."1 Msgr. Bosler implied that this applies to parents attending invalid weddings, since most relatives and friends would understand and sympathize with the parents. Once more, according to Msgr. Bosler, ". . . it is quite possible that more scandal might be given to Protestants by what could appear to be a lack of love and interest in their child were the parents to avoid the wedding."2




Parents must manifest disapproval

More than a decade later Fr. Frank Sheedy offered another version of this new pastoral approach in "Ask Me a Question" of the July 22, 1984 issue of Our Sunday Visitor. When Fr. Frank Sheedy was asked about the possibility of parents being present for their child's invalid wedding, he stated that "some pastors would permit a presence in such a case as long as the child was clearly aware that the parents disapproved of their action."3 According to Fr. Sheedy, attendance is justified on the ground that one should not "irretrievably cut off the relationship with a son or daughter."4 Two years later in the same column of Our Sunday Visitor Fr. Sheedy commented more extensively on the wisdom of attending an invalid marriage of a divorced person in these words: There are three things that have to be considered here. One, we cannot cooperate in the wrong of another. Thus it would be forbidden for a Catholic to take an active part (bridesmaid, best man, etc.) in such a wedding. Second, one cannot give seeming approval to an illicit act. Third is family harmony, which is particularly important for parents and siblings. If the person is fully aware of their disapproval of such a ceremony, I would permit parents and siblings to attend so that family lines of communication may be kept open and the door not closed. Other relatives and friends I would counsel to avoid the ceremony but attend the reception. This way they let the person know that while not approving of his or her actions, they still care for the person and do not want to end the relationship. People who have followed this counsel tell me that it works well. However, there may be a case where an uncle, aunt or godparent might feel obliged to attend the wedding for the sake of family harmony. This would be permitted as long as the Catholic relative was truly aware of personal disapproval.5

This pastoral advice of Fr. Sheedy, which permits Catholics to attend invalid marriages, is similar to the official position of a number of dioceses in the United States. Fr. Charles Bober of the Pittsburgh Diocese, for example, states that: There is a PastoralManual in use within the Diocese of Pittsburgh. It states that "As a rule, Catholics should not attend or participate in marriage ceremonies which are invalid. However, when such attendance cannot be construed as approval and when there are" serious reasons for attendance (such as retention of Christian ties of family or friendship, or the founded hope of contact for future reconciliation) such attendance may be justified."6

The present practice of Catholics attending invalid marriages in the United States goes far beyond any limits set down by recent pastoral moralists and diocesan statutes. If one scans the wedding announcements in the societal section of one's home-town newspaper, he will find Catholic names listed time and again as best men, bridesmaids, formal attendants, and ushers at weddings not approved by the Church. Reports of Catholics being ridiculed by family members for not attending invalid marriages of relatives indicates that a type of reverse legislation has taken root. The unwritten rule now seems to be that the Catholic must attend the invalid wedding of a loved one, and the exception, for which the Catholic will receive much flack, is to avoid these celebrations. Let us evaluate this new pastoral approach permitting parents to attend the invalid marriages of their children by examining the theories of Msgr. Bosler and Fr. Sheedy.




Bible reflects two types of scandal

In order to clearly understand the question about scandal in relation to attending invalid weddings, one must first recall that there are two types of scandal mentioned in Sacred Scripture. There is the scandal arising out of evil mentioned by Jesus Christ in a well-known passage from the Bible: "Scandals will inevitably arise, but woe to him through whom they come. He would be better off thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck than giving scandal to one of these little ones" (Luke 17:1-2). Then, there is the scandal from good actions which comes from Christ himself (Luke 2:34). This second type of scandal involves the truth that, like Christ, all Christians must suffer and die rather than yield to sin to attain eternal life. This is the scandal of the cross (Matt. 16:21-27). About this kind of scandal Jesus says: "Blest is the man who finds no stumbling block in me" (Matt. 11:16). In today's materialistic and permissive society, the only absolute imperative seems to be the avoidance of pain. Following the sexual revolution, too many Catholics in the United States believe that it is wrong to require children to suffer for the sake of chastity and purity. Because parental avoidance of weddings usually involves both parents and children in the pain of misunderstanding and rejection, parental avoidance of weddings is a "cultural heresy."7 Consequently, Msgr. Bosler fears that avoidance of a child's invalid wedding by parents, out of fidelity to Christian Law, will be interpreted by others as a lack of love and interest in their child.

Msgr. Bosler, however, confuses the scandal of the cross with the scandal of evil. For it has never been the Christian philosophy of love to yield to impurity and infidelity in the face of misunderstanding so that others might not feel rejected. If it had been, John the Baptist would have never enraged the feelings of Herodias at the cost of his own life over the matter of her adultery (Mark 6:14-29 and Matt. 14:1-12), nor would Saints Agnes and Maria Goretti have been honored as Christian Martyrs for infuriating their suitors by rejecting their sexual advances. In other words, if the early Christians had compromised Christ's teaching on chastity to spar the feeling of others, Christianity would have never made it to the twentieth century. Scandal arising from following the Law of Christ is not only permitted, it is even desirable! Karl Rahner was correct when he stated that in our pluralistic modem world people should be encouraged to give witness to Christianity "even if their environment is scandalized."8

Msgr. Hosier's theory, that parental attendance at invalid weddings does not mean approval nor cause scandal, hinges entirely upon his claim that even if the parents attend these invalid wedding celebrations, friends and relatives will still understand that the parents disapprove of the invalid marriage. Msgr. Bosler probably thought that the faith of Catholics in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s was so strong that almost all Catholics believed that marrying invalidly was evil. The difficulty with Msgr. Hosier's theory today is that recent parochial studies following the sexual revolution show that many Catholics in the United States no longer believe that marrying invalidly is evil. Consequently, it makes little sense today to claim that relatives and friends of Catholic parents who attend invalid marriages will understand that these parents disapprove of these marriages.9




Some approve invalid marriages

What is even more damaging to Msgr. Hosier's theory is the fact that the change among Catholics from disapproval to approval of invalid marriages surfaces about a decade or so after Msgr. Bosler first began advising Catholics through the public media to attend the invalid marriages of then- loved ones. It is most difficult to believe that this change on the part of Catholics toward approving invalid marriages is not in some way linked to Catholics attending invalid marriages for the past ten years or more. It certainly appears that Msgr. Bosler was wrong when he advised that attending invalid marriages does not mean approval and does not cause scandal. Whatever credibility Msgr. Hosier's theory had decades ago, it certainly has less today! Proof that Msgr. Hosier's (no scandal) theory has lost its appeal is that recent moralists, like Fr. Sheedy, insist that the children be made "clearly aware" that the parents disapprove of the marriage before the parents attend the wedding celebrations. Obviously, the need for clarification implies that scandal will be caused. The explanation to the child by the parents is supposed to cancel or wipe out the scandal from parental attendance at the wedding celebrations. The problem here, however, is that it is impossible for parents to make the child "clearly aware" of parental disapproval of the invalid marriage when the child knows full well that the parents are attending the wedding celebrations.

One should recall St. Anthony of Padua's sound advice about teaching morality when he stated that "actions speak louder than words."10 It may be possible for parents to convince then: son or daughter that they disapprove of the invalid wedding, but these parents will not convince their child that they seriously disapprove. Any high school teacher knows that the only way to inform students that you are serious about anything is to back up words with action. Similarly, the only way for parents to convince their child that they seriously disapprove of the invalid marriage is to avoid the wedding celebrations altogether. If one follows Fr. Sheedy's pastoral advice, however, not only will actions supporting parental disapproval be lacking, but, instead, the parent's actions will contradict their words of disapproval. When words and actions collide, the best that can be hoped for is that the child will be confused, and the worst that can happen is that the child will be more influenced by the actions than by the words. The same must be said for Fr. Sheedy's advice that the friends and relatives might avoid the wedding ceremony, but attend the wedding reception. Recall that Fr. Sheedy required, as a necessary condition for parental attendance of the wedding celebrations, that the child be "fully," "truly," or "clearly aware" of parental disapproval. Inconsistency, whether it be in words or actions, can never be a basis for clarity.




We cannot cooperate in a sin

But there is something more than scandal that is fundamentally wrong with attending an invalid wedding celebration. Fr. Sheedy, himself, stated that, first of all, "we cannot cooperate in the wrong of another." It would be illicit, then, to formally cooperate in the evil act of adultery or fornication by cooperating in an invalid marriage. Thus, as Fr. Sheedy says, "it would be forbidden for a Catholic to take an active part (bridesmaid, best man, etc.) in such a wedding." Fr- Sheedy, however, must be limiting his consideration of the couple's formal act of adultery or fornication just to the formal exchange of invalid marriage vows since he limits formal cooperation in this act of adultery or fornication just to being a formal member of the wedding party. But the formal act of adultery or fornication of an invalidly-marrying couple certainly includes the attempted consummation of these invalid wedding vows in the couple's act of sexual intercourse on the night of the wedding. It is precisely the promise of this act which makes the invalid wedding ceremony evil.

Now, according to sound traditional moral theology, if one "concurs" in the will and attention of another doing an evil act, or, if one's own action "influences" the evil act of another, then, one is formally cooperating in evil. "Consequently, anyone who concurs in the will and intention of an invalidly marrying couple to have sexual intercourse on the night of their wedding, or anyone who influences such an act of sexual intercourse, is formally cooperating in adultery or fornication. It is obvious, however, that: giving away the bride; throwing rice and kisses; giving hugs and handshakes of support; sending congratulatory cards and gifts; and even singing and dancing at the following reception all concur in the will and intention of the couple to complete their wedding vows with the act of sexual intercourse on the night of their wedding. Because these actions all encourage the invalidly-marrying couple to some degree (be it ever so slight) to consummate their invalid marriage on the night of their wedding, they all influence the couple's act of adultery or fornication. All who knowingly do such things, therefore, are formally cooperating in the evil act of adultery or fornication. Some Catholics believe that they are justified in attending an invalid marriage because they intend to support the invalidly-marrying couple, but not the invalid marriage, itself. But these Catholics intend to support the invalidly marrying couple by means of supporting (attending) the invalid marriage. And to do so is to adopt an old pagan theory that the end justifies the means, which was rejected by St. Paul (Rom. 3:8) and by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical, Humanae Vitae, when the Pope stated that "it is not licit, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil so that good may follow therefrom."l2 Against the theory that one can have a good reason to formally cooperate hi evil, Genicot said that "formal cooperation hi sin is always illicit." and Bernard Raring stated that "It is never permitted, directly or indirectly, to cooperate in an act which is in itself evil, even though one anticipates the very greatest good as a result of the act."13



End does not justify means

Sometimes the wrong of formal cooperation in a specific evil act can be more easily seen when it is paralleled with formal cooperation in another act which is more obviously evil - like abortion. What pastor or moral theorist, for example, would advise a disapproving husband or parent to show up at the abortion clinic to hold his wife or daughter's hand and comfort her through the ordeal of abortion to support her (but not the abortion!), or to avoid irretrievably cutting off his relationship with her? Yet, this parallels the pastoral advice to Catholics which states that they should attend the invalid marriage of their loved ones to support them or to avoid irretrievably cutting off their relationship with them.

Influencing, supporting, concurring in, or celebrating the evil act of adultery or fornication by formally cooperating in an invalid marriage out of a so-called motive of love is also inconsistent with the gospel. No one loved sinners more than Jesus Christ, yet he avoided their evil acts entirely. While Jesus Christ did not shun Mary Magdalene, he certainly did shun her sin of impurity, and he ordered her to do the same when he said: "But from now on, avoid this sin" (John 8:11). If a Catholic attends an invalid wedding of a loved one, attends the reception following the ceremony, or just sends a congratulatory card or gift, he cannot claim he is acting out of love, because, as St. Paul states, "Love does not rejoice in what is wrong but with the truth" (1 Cor. 13:6). Love is always honest!

The idea of a Christian cooperating in the evil act of adultery or fornication by attending an invalid marriage seems so contrary to correct reasoning and Sacred Scripture that one wonders why so many Catholics today attempt to justify it. Fr. Sheedy expresses the main reason when he stated that one should not "irretrievably cut off the relationship with a son or daughter." When Catholic parents have to say "no" to their children and break the unity and peace of the family, the Catholic parents often feel that they are the ones who are doing something wrong and un-Christian. It is at these times that the reason must prevail over emotion. Catholics must recall that, while honesty and chastity are absolute moral values for which a Christian may even have to give his life (St. John the Baptist, St. Agnes, St. Maria Goretti, etc.), filial friendship or family unity is not. Our Lord, himself, has said: Do not suppose that my mission on earth is to spread peace. My mission is to spread, not peace, but division. I have come to set a man at odds with his father, a daughter with her mother, daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law: in short, to make a man's enemies those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter, more than me is not worthy of me. he who will not take up his cross and come after me is not worthy of me. (Matt. 10:34-38)

As painful as it is, invalidly-marrying couples must clearly understand that insofar as they reject the moral teaching of Jesus Christ concerning the sixth commandment, it is Christ's will mat they be separated from then- parents, the Christian community, and even Christ himself. In the same way the parents must understand that it is Christ's will that the parents embrace the cross of division rather than lay it down in a false gesture of moral unity. As the primary teachers of their children in the Catholic faith, parents have the solemn responsibility to clearly teach to their children the truth that sin separates one from Christ. So if the invalidly-marrying son or daughter interprets parental avoidance of the wedding celebrations as a sign of her separation from the Christian community of her parents, then this is good - because it is the truth! Again, there is no way to clearly communicate this truth to an invalidly-marrying son or daughter other than by avoiding the wedding celebrations altogether. What must not be overlooked here is that it is the rejection of the gospel by the invalidly-marrying son or daughter that is the primary cause of separation, not Christ or the parents. The claim on the part of pastoral moral theorists, therefore, that parental attendance at invalid weddings is justified on the grounds that the parents should not "irretrievably cut off' their children must be rejected as false and as bad psychology. The notion of parents "irretrievably cutting off' their son or daughter merely by following their own conscience turns out to be a case of inverted logic. Who is cutting off whom? No one is demanding that the parents shun their invalidly-marrying child, but only that they shun the marriage. As long as Mom and Dad keep the lines of communication open from their side, no one is being irretrievably cut off. If a son or daughter, however, refuses to associate with the parents following the wedding, he or she is cutting off the parents, not vice versa. It is downright immoral to make the parents feel guilty for following their consciences, especially when their consciences are formed according to Christ and his Church. It is the children who are out of step with the gospel, not the parents. Let up put the responsibility for the break-up where it belongs. The very justification offered by those who favor the new pastoral approach fosters immaturity in the young by stripping them of responsibility for their own actions.




Adults suffer moral defeatism

Although the new pastoral theorists do not state it, they could be yielding to popular pragmatic parental thinking which goes something like this: "My son (or daughter) is going to marry outside the Church anyway, so we might as well make the best of a bad situation." While this course of action may appear to be a benevolent act of diplomacy and prudence, it presumes that the son or daughter will do evil. This attitude fits so well a culture in which numerous minor seminaries, aspirancy convents, and Catholic schools have close even though these institutions had more students than when they originally opened. The main problem here is not with the young, but with the adults who are suffering from moral defeatism. Contrary to popular opinion, it is possible for a son or daughter to master their sexual desires and heroically follow Christ's teaching on chastity and marriage. It is even possible for a son or daughter to call off a marriage prior to the wedding ceremony, or to reverse it soon after. But this is likely to occur only when parents struggle with their children to get them to do good and avoid evil because they expect their children to succeed. If pastors and moral theorists are to reverse the plague of invalid marriages among Catholics in the United States today, they must avoid a pastoral approach in these matters that "throws in the towel" on the moral life of our children. Rather, the pastors and moral theorists must adopt an approach which encourages adults to hope in the young by giving them the opportunity to be responsible for their own moral actions. But for this to be possible, both parents and children must be made clearly aware of the evil of invalid marriages and the immorality of formal cooperation in these celebrations. This means that pastors must engage in some tough preaching and teaching from the pulpit This will be somewhat unpopular, but part of the pastor's job is preaching the word is "... to stay with the task whether convenient or inconvenient" (2 Tim. 4:2). This is surely part of the burden of the gospel, but the young are worth it!



Footnotes

1 Raymond T. Bosler, What a Modern Catholic Believes About Moral Problems (Chicago: The Thomas More Press, 1971), p. 73.

2 Bosler, p. 71.

3 Fr. Frank Sheedy, "Ask Me a Question," Our Sunday Visitor (July 22, 1984), p. 11.

4 Fr. Frank Sheedy, "Ask Me a Question," Our Sunday Visitor (July 22, 1984), p. 11.

5 Fr. Frank Sheedy, "Ask Me a Question," Our Sunday Visitor (May 11, 1986), p. 18. My underline.

6 Charles Bober, "Questions for Fr. Bober," Pittsburgh Catholic (June 6, 1986), p. 4.

7 Daniel E. Pilarczyk, "On Preaching Heresy," America (February 22, 1986), p. 135.

8 Karl Rahner and Herbert Borgrimler, Theological Dictionary (New York: Crossroads, 1981), p. 465.

9 James S. Young, "The Divorced in the Parish Community Today," New
Catholic World (November/December, 1985), pp. 272-275.

10 St. Anthony of Padua, Sermon, 1,226, in The Liturgy of the Hours, vol. 3 (New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1975), p. 1470.

11 Ed. Genicot, S.I. etlos. Salsmans, S.l.Jnstitutiones Theologiae Moralis, Caput 11 §6,235, Notiones, editio decimaseptima ed. A. Gortebeck, S.I. vol. 1 (Brussels: Uitgeveriz Universum, N.V. 1951), pp. 184-185; Bernard Raring, C.SS.R., The Law of Christ, vol. 1 trans, by Edwin G. Kaiser, C.PP.S. (Westminister, MD: The Newman Press, 1963), p. 293.

12 Pope Paul VI, "On the Regulation of Birth (Humanae Vitae)" No. 14 (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1968), p. 9.

13 Genicot, Asserta. 1, p. 185; Haring p. 293.