Friday, March 28, 2025
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Homily on Pornography and "Covenant Eyes"
Pornography and the temptations of Jesus
The Devil
tempts Jesus in the desert, and we first of all need to understand that Jesus
was in fact TEMPTED.
It can be a
temptation for us to think of Jesus as a robot, or that Jesus is God pretending
to be a human being, but he is a human being like us. In the book of Hebrews, we find in chapter 4
that Christ was tempted in every way we are, but did not sin.
And so I
would like to briefly preach about one of the greatest temptations to sin that
our world has ever known. And that is
the temptation to view explicit material, particularly on our phones and
computers.
When I
was 7, despite being homeschooled, I was exposed to explicit material at a
friend’s house when my friend found his dad’s magazines. It is not a matter of IF your child or
teen will be exposed to explicit material, but WHEN.
“The use of
pornography by anyone in the home deprives the home of its role as a safe
haven and has negative effects throughout the family’s life and across
generations”
“Create in me a clean heart” a pastoral response to
Pornography” by the USCCB (2015)
Pope Francis
also questioned social media for the first time in 2015…why 2015 for both the
USCCB and Pope Francis…because 2015 was the first time the majority of U.S. teens
had a smart phone.
A recent
study found that 82% of teens and 72% of preteens sleep with their phone
in the bedroom
This places kids at greater risk to
exposure to explicit content, encourages isolation, and makes it more difficult
to have accountability
I also
counsel every person who struggles with viewing explicit material that the
pornography industry is the greatest human trafficker of children and
vulnerable adults in the world so even if the video or image you click on does
not involve a child the pornography industry gets money from that view and so
any time you view any explicit material you are helping to fund human
trafficking. NO one here wants to see
their child or a niece or nephew or friend or relative human trafficked.
The 4
parishes of Dearborn County have been asked by the Archdiocese to pilot a
totally free program called “Covenant Eyes”.
It works! My parents have used it
for 20 years.
As you leave
Mass today, there is an ebook on how to create a safe environment for your
family
Jesus was
tempted, and you and your family certainly face graves temptations and
guaranteed exposure to explicit material.
Please take advantage of the resources we are offering as you leave Mass
this morning!
Many of our
homes have glass TV screens that we stare at, glass smart phone screens that we
stare at, glass tablet screens that we stare at, and glass laptop screens that
we stare at… but at the end of this Mass we have a few minutes to stare at the
only glass screen that will bring us any lasting peace. At the end of this Mass we will have a few
minutes to stare at the glass screen of a monstrance with Jesus’ Real Presence
right behind it. Let us gaze on Him, and
allow Him to heal all our ills and grant us His peace!
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Monday, March 3, 2025
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Does Jesus Contradict Himself?
What does Jesus mean by “Whoever
is not against us is for us”?
Jesus says in Mark 9: 39-40: “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us."
But we
have to weigh this quote from Jesus with this other quotation of His that we
find in Luke’s Gospel (11:23) “Whoever
is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
Saint Augustine actually
demonstrates how both of these statements of Jesus are in harmony.
“A person who
worked miracles in the name of Christ, and yet did not join himself to the body
of his disciples, [the Catholic Church], in so far as this person worked
miracles in the name of Christ, that person is with them. But the Disciples should have tried to
persuade this person of the unity of the Church”
“The Catholic
Church does disprove the sacraments that heretics share in common with the
Catholic Church, but the Catholic Church blames them for their division and
opinions of theirs, for in this they are against us.”
So what St. Augustine was teaching
1700 years ago is STILL what the Catholic Church teaches. How?
We consider the Orthodox, who are not in full Communion with us, the
Catholic Church says the Orthodox still have a valid priesthood and thus also a
valid Eucharist. We recognize their baptisms
and confirmations as well.
The non-Catholic Christians
(“protestants”), if they baptize “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit”, the Catholic Church recognizes their baptisms as valid. We consider their weddings to be a
Sacramental marriage. They have most of
the Bible…
But again, as St. Augustine
says, we have to do EVERYTHING we can to help non-Catholics become Catholic.
Monday, February 24, 2025
What is "Christian Forgivenss"???
Forgive
and you will be forgiven
Dietrich von Hildebrand was a German theologian who
was a great friend of Pope Benedict. I
read a book by Dietrich von Hildebrand several years ago, and what he wrote
about forgiveness brought me great clarity about what forgiveness is, and also
clarity about what forgiveness is not.
He wrote that we must forgive everyone interiorly, and
so he first points out obstacles to us forgiving a person interiorly. Those 2 things are 1) Hatred for the offender
(which most Americans recognize as not being forgiveness). But the 2nd obstacle to interior
forgiveness is something that most Americans do NOT recognize, and about this obstacle
Von Hildebrand writes: “Another attitude opposed to a Christian spirit of
forgiveness is ignoring the wrong inflicted upon us as though nothing has
happened.” Von Hildebrand says “Not
saying something harms the offender” and “Pointing it out to the
offender is necessary for their own good.”
He makes a further distinction that is necessary when
a person is a CLOSE friend, a family member; part of our “inner circle”. He says for those who are close to us “it
is essential that the person recognize and repent of the wrong not just for
their own good but the sake of the relationship between us.”
And Von Hildebrand also gives suggestions for how best
to let the person close to us know that they have committed a serious breach of
our friendship…he writes: “we must detach ourselves from the situation of
the moment and answer all gestures of irritation and all moral blows with
kindness and charity only.” But he
continues: “Yet here we can on no account content ourselves with an act of INWARD
forgiveness. At the proper moment we
must in love draw our friend’s attention to their wrong and maintain our desire
for the friend to redress the wrong. We
also cannot do this unless we have first inwardly forgiven our friend.”
Why do we first need to INWARDLY forgive our
friend? If we do not INWARDLY forgive
our friend, it haunts us…resentment just continues to build and we become
bitter….we must INWARDLY forgive any person who harms us in any way so that WE
can have PEACE!
Von Hildebrand continues: “It remains true that the
full harmony implied by the relationship is not reestablished before our friend
has understood and admitted their wrong against us, and asked our pardon for
it”
Some examples where Jesus clearly points this out:
Luke 17:3 and 4 If your brother [here “brother” means someone in our “inner circle”] sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”
Matthew
18:15 “If your brother sins
against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens
to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others
along with you and if he still does not listen bring it to the Church.”
Jesus,
who is desires to forgive us with all of His heart, and who, if we let Him,
is our BEST and closest friend, still requires that we say we are sorry before He
can forgive us. When any person goes to
the Sacrament of Confession, after saying one’s sins, it is necessary, before
the priest prays the words of absolution over you, that you say an Act of
Contrition, and contrition means SORROW…a priest cannot pray the words of Absolution
over you unless you first tell Jesus “I am sorry!”
If
you have a friend who has wronged you, a spouse that has wronged you, etc.
don’t do the American thing and bury it…let this person know that the
relationship can’t be fully restored until the person asks you to forgive him
or her.
And
what do we do in the mean time? Jesus
tells us at the beginning of this morning’s Gospel – “pray for those who
mistreat you”. We can pray that the
person who has wronged us in a serious way asks us to forgive him or her. And the Mass is the greatest prayer.
And
so I invite each of us here this morning to ask a question: “who is it that is
close to me and still has not asked me to forgive them of something serious?” Let us pray for them during this Mass and
pray for them often. May they one day ask us to forgive them, and until that
day, may we never tire of praying for them.
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Monday, December 30, 2024
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Sunday, October 27, 2024
"The preeminent issue is abortion..."
A homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2024
Our opening
prayer at Mass this morning just a few minutes ago was “Lord, make us love what you command”
Why do we pray that? Because all of God's commands to us are for our own good right now, right here...but we are always being tempted by Satan, so we need to ALWAYS be praying that we grow deeper in love with God asks of us.
On February 3, 1994 now SAINT Mother
Teresa of Calcutta was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast
with President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary in attendance.
She said, in her remarks “The
greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the
child, a direct killing of the innocent child by the mother herself. And if we
accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people
not to kill one another? the greatest
destroyer of love and peace is abortion…We cannot solve all the problems in the
world, but let us never tell people to practice contraception and abortion.”
Already in the Old Testament God tells
the Israelites wandering in the desert that God is going to allow the Israelite
people to conquer the current inhabitants because the current inhabitants were sacrifice
their new-born children to a demon God by throwing their children into a fire
and watching them burn to death.
In the Old Testament, God also says “Before
I formed you in the womb, I knew you!”
Some here at this Mass may have had an
abortion or helped someone obtain an abortion…God wants to forgive you if you
have not already confessed it…God loves you!!!
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the
Catholic Church in the United States is the number one advocate in the country
helping women who have had an abortion heal from it, offering the Sacrament of
Confession and retreats for women who have had an abortion.
The Catholic Church and the crisis
pregnancy centers around the country are also the number one organization in
the country helping mothers of unplanned pregnancies take care of their
children, offering classes, diapers, formula, cribs, clothing, financial
assistance…whatever moms need we help them…and guess what would happen if you
went to an abortion facility and tried to get any of that assistance?
Some in the Catholic Church have put
forward “The seamless garment of life theory” that all issues of life are the
same, but the Catholic Church has NEVER taught that all issues of life
are the same weight.
The US Bishops at their annual meeting in Baltimore have
overwhelmingly voted every year, including the document they put out for
Catholic voting this year, that the threat of abortion should be
every Catholic’s number one priority in the voting booth.
As St. Teresa of Calcutta reminded the United States
30 years ago, the GREATEST destroyer of peace is abortion.
On the issue of abortion, God commands
us to love every human life. As we
prayed at the beginning of Mass “Lord, make us love what you command!”