Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Homily – March 31, 2009 – Fifth Week of Lent - Tuesday

We have a rare occurrence here in our gospel passage today: Jesus speaks, and his listeners actually come to believe in him. There were in fact many who did come to believe, but the greater majority did not! It was a though their eyes were blinded – even though they were looking right at him; and their ears were stopped up – even though they apparently knew words were coming from his mouth! It takes FAITH to believe in what Jesus has to say: those exercising a free gift of faith – "came to believe in him."

What he told them today, what they "came to believe" was that "when he is lifted up from the earth" – when the Cross on which he will be nailed is lifted up from the earth – and when it is looked at for all it is worth – then people will realize who he is – that he is truly God's Son, and God truly is his Father – and all this is taking place because both of them love their people so much that they would willingly undergo the enormous torments, pain, suffering and death involved – for us and our salvation! God the Father was very much in anguish too on the Good Friday afternoon when he saw what the Sin of Adam was doing to his only-begotten Son!

In our first reading today from the Book of Numbers we see a prophetic foreshadowing of the raising up of Jesus on the Cross – which preceded the raising up of Jesus from the dead! When the people of God looked up and saw the bronze seraph snake – representing the seraph snakes that had bitten them and killed many of them – they were healed. It was in the looking up at death transformed that saved them. It is in looking up at the Cross of Christ transformed into Easter Morning that will help to heal and save us!

Thank you Jesus for falling to the ground, like the grain of wheat, for being raised up on the Cross; and for rising from the dead, so that your life would be ours forever!

Look up! and LIVE!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Homily – March 30 - Fifth Week of Lent - Monday

Our readings today have to do with conviction and vindication! To be convicted of something is one thing; to be vindicated is another. If what a person is convicted of is a true conviction, then the vindication is on the side of the "law" that enforces justice; but if what a person is convicted of is not true – as in the case of Susanna in the first reading – then the vindication comes from one that God sends to defends the person – in this case a young boy named Daniel. Daniel easily convicted the accusers of perjury – as they were uninformed as to some pertinent details in the case: the type of tree involved!

In the gospel passage Jesus does not convict the woman caught in adultery as those who brought her to him wanted; and he himself vindicated her by giving permission to any one of them who had no sin to cast the first stone at her. They could not cast a stone – as everyone has or has had sin in his life. It is up to God to forgive and vindicate us – which he freely does – when we freely, humbly and trustingly come to him seeking his mercy!

May we this day seek our vindication from God; may we not judge one another, or cast stones, we who live in glass houses; and may we trust in the mercy of God to deliver us all to the joys of Easter that will surely come, after the darkness of Holy Week and Good Friday

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Homily – March 29, 2009 – Fifth Sunday of Lent

"Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit (in Jesus' case it produced the forgiveness of our sins, and the possibility of everlasting life with him in heaven)" – this is from the gospel passage. "I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more," – this from the first reading. "Create a clean heart in me, O God,"- this is from the responsorial psalm.

Five years ago I bought the car that I now drive. It was a bit out of my league when I bought it, I am more of a Pontiac-Man myself – but the opportunity arose for me to buy this car – by paying cash for it – and so I took the opportunity. One of the selling points was the built-in GPS navigation system with a large screen, that "talks to me" while I am on a trip; and it has a rear-view camera to help backing up; and it has adequate cargo space for larger objects that I could envision myself transporting – such as crucifixes, and Christmas trees, and keyboards and amps. It even has side mirrors that tilt down when in reverse, which is great for parallel parking; it can even wash my headlights while I am driving, if they get dirty! Oh, and it has heated seats – which came in very handy this past winter!

Now all of these things would be absolutely useless if the car just sat there and never moved; if the car just sat there and never moved because I did not take care of it; if it just sat there because I never checked the air-pressure in the tires; if I never changed the oil; if I never had whatever minor problems like brakes and transmission and power steering taken care of early-on; and windshield wipers, windshield washer fluid, new tires; if I ignored the "check-engine" light: that infernal check-engine light! Sooner or later – it would all catch up to me – and the car would become next to useless – because I just didn't bother to take care of it: to service it when it was recommended by those who know about cars.

You know where I am driving to with this analogy today, don't you?: our immortal souls are very much like our automobiles: if we service them properly, in the way recommended by the manufacturer (God), and do what needs to be done at the appointed times: then our souls will help us to cruise through life pretty much safe and sound and going in the right direction on a newly paved section of Interstate! He gave us a wonderful GPS system – it is called: conscience. It lets us know when we have gotten off the path we agreed to be on (the Catholic Christian path of life) and – if it's like my auto GPS – it won't stop yelling at me until I get back on the right path!

Tonight at St. Mary's Church we will have a combined Communal Penance Service with St. Mary's Parish. It is a "scheduled "tune-up" /maintenance event" recommended by the manufacturer. I take my Lexus all the way to Portland twice a year – to have everything checked out – and to fix what needs to be fixed. The Church recommends at least twice a year as well – at its Advent and Lenten Penance Services – to make the astounding service of the concrete, actual, verbal, direct forgiveness of our sins available: (this is our direct contact with the "fallen grain of wheat which produced amazing fruit": the very forgiveness of our sins!

Dear friends in Christ – I exhort you – to consider coming tonight – especially if you have never been to such a service as this. Everything about what you are to do will be fully explained once you get there. Do not be afraid! Even if you don't have grave or mortal sins, a regular rhythm of confession of even less serious sins will tune-up your whole life like you can't even imagine! It is almost like "detailing" a car – where the whole vehicle is made to look brand new again! this, however, is an "inner-detailing" – it makes every working part of our spiritual lives as new as the day on which we were baptized! It really is an exhilarating event – which you ought not to miss!

One day my Lexus will eventually sit in a junk yard as a pile of rusted out, twisted steel and shattered fiber-glass. That is the destiny of automobiles. But, one day, our immortal souls will end up living somewhere after our death – and after Jesus comes again as he promises! The way in which we care for and service our spiritual lives now will determine where we will be spending that eternity. Will it be in a heavenly place that is already prepared for us – or, will it be in another kind of place that is prepared for those who choose it: where there is no God, no light, no happiness, no hope, and no spiritual mechanic in sight – forever?

Why not begin a regular semiannual spiritual service regimen tonight at St. Mary's at 6:30pm? And, of course, I am always available any time you see me for Confession – before or after Mass – just think of me as you own personal "spiritual mechanic!"

God bless you!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Homily – March 28, 2009 – Fourth Week of Lent - Saturday

The gospel passage today tells of the confusion that is arising around the last weeks of Jesus' earthly life. Many are trying to conspire against him – many are trying to make a case for sending him to the slaughter like a sheep (reading I) – many are trying to justify their illicit actions by resorting to the scriptures. But apparently Jesus is more than just the Scriptures. Jesus speaks with authority all his own! Jesus IS the Scriptures, plus so much more: he is Son of God, he is Son of Man. And now, as Son of Man he will be led to a shameful death – in order to fulfill the scriptures!

One thing the people always said about him from the day he read the passage of Isaiah in his hometown synagogue which announced him as Savior, Liberator, Healer, Redeemer – is that he always SPOKE WITH AN AMAZING CLARITY AND CONFIDENCE – that could only have been gotten by his intimate --if not self-identifying, association with God!

And it is true today – when we, in our day and age – need to hear LOUDLY, CLEARLY AND CONFIDENTLY – the Word of God – to steer us through the immoral minefield that we traverse everyday – LET US LISTEN TO THE WORD OF GOD; LET US LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE; LET US LISTEN TO JESUS!

And we shall have victory – the same victory as he did – after, perhaps, being also led to a new kind slaughter, but for the same values, the same eternal principles – that will prove our devotion to God and our worthiness to share the joys of everlasting life!

O Lord, be our refuge and our strength, this day and always!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Homily – March 27, 2009 – Fourth Week of Lent - Friday

Good Friday is two weeks from today, and so our scripture readings will show now an ever mounting tension building against Jesus – which will lead to his final week of life – Holy Week!

Today we read that Jesus traveled around now only in Galilee and not Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him; but because of the feast of Tabernacles Jesus and his disciples did go to Jerusalem, secretly. And while there Jesus took the opportunity to teach openly in a very convincing way the words of his Father – words of healing and peace and right. Jesus rebuked his listeners for not believing in him, or his Father who sent him. The result was that they tried to arrest him. Who does he think he is calling God his Father, and teaching the people a whole new spiritual way of thinking!

The first reading today is all about the prophecy (from the Book of Wisdom) that Jesus would be completely misunderstood, plotted against and condemned to a shameful death. But these accusers erred greatly in thinking that they could simply eradicate the Lord of life! His voluntary death would be the cause of his glorious vindication and physical resurrection – and then everything will have been turned upside down – and the curse of Adam will have been mortally wounded! They were sadly mistaken!

May we be among those faithful today who are NOT sadly mistaken!

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted! The Lord redeems the lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Homily – March 26, 2009 – Fourth Week of Lent - Thursday

Our readings today have to do with the formation of conscience: an indispensible life-long project for all of us human beings subject to the ever-present resultant weaknesses of original sin.

Conscience is actually the inborn GPS (Global Positioning System) that God freely gives to each one of us so that we can navigate successfully through life and end up where we would like to be: in heaven, with him and the entire family of brothers and sisters.

The first reading today tells us one of the major mentalities that ought to trigger an "off the track" signal on our conscience-GPS: that is, idolatry: making anything at all into a god, or placing anything at all above God.

In our day and age – given the overall secularist mentality – and because very few actually turn on their spiritual GPS systems - mostly everything is easily turned into a god, and most anything can be placed above God; this happens across the board, from the man on the street, the woman in the pew; to those sitting in Executive Office Suites in all levels of government, and even Presidential Office Suites of prestigious Catholic universities.

The gospel passage today offers the remedy: the words of Godas spoken by the preaching, teaching and life of Jesus Christ; which were foreshadowed by the Law of Moses and the writings of the Prophets. In all of these sources GOD COMES FIRST! GOD AS AUTHOR AND GIVER OF LIFE COMES FIRST! GOD AS PROTECTOR, DEFENDER AND NURTURER OF LIFE COMES FIRST! Anything else can very easily digress into idolatry and disobedience of the commandments with very little conscience involved at all, by just switching off that "annoying spiritual GPS" – that was given to us for our own spiritual good.

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believe in him might have eternal life; but eternal life begins with absolute regard, respect and defense of life in the here and now – life in all of its ages and stages of development.

Yesterday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation – when the life of Jesus Christ, in the womb of the Virgin of Nazareth named Mary, began nine months before his birth. Jesus was truly there – all of him – with the overshadowing of the Most High. The moment of conception is the moment when human life begins for all humans – including Jesus.

Even as we speak the student body of Notre Dame University is putting into action their response of rightly formed conscience by organizing opposition to the invitation, by their own President, Fr. John Jenkins, of President of the United States to speak at this spring's commencement exercises and to receive an honorary law degree. President Obama has shown himself to be the enemy of human life at its origins by funding oversees abortion clinics, signing an Executive Order allowing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, appointing pro-abortion members of his cabinet, and promising to enact FOCA which would set back Pro-Life progress to its beginnings 35 years ago. And he would be awarded an honorary law degree to boot! This is an unconscionable act on the part of Fr. Jenkins, which directly opposes all that the Church is doing in defense of human life!

May we always respond courageously to the call of our conscience to love, protect and defend human life in every moment of its existence! (If you go to the Notre Dame Web Site nd.edu you can email Fr. Jenkins about your concern as an informed Catholic layman, and ask him to change his mind).

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Homily – March 25, 2009 – Solemnity of the Annunciation

Today we celebrate this extraordinarily timely Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord! Today we celebrate the beginning of the life of Jesus Christ on earth. Today we celebrate the beginning of the Church. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God!" Jesus' extraordinary conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary is all about the FIRST STREAKS OF REAL DAWN appearing after ages and ages of nearly total darkness.

Jesus would become the Great Light of the World – for all those who want to see by his Light! He would become the beacon of Truth and Hope for all ages! He would guide us to an unimagined Life in an eternity that we can only begin to barely grasp in the here and now!

And it all happened because the lowly virgin, named Mary, of Nazareth trusted God enough to "let it be done to her according to his word." She declared herself the handmaid of the Lord – proclaiming her perpetual heartfelt desire to do the will of God!

And so, Jesus began to live as a real live human person in the womb of Mary from that moment of overshadowing by the Holy Spirit.
This is a fact; and the Church has always embraced the reality that human life begins at this moment of fertilization and conception!

For everyone else – at that moment THREE things merge – 1) the loving gift of self-donation of the father; 2) the loving gift of self-donation of the mother; and not ever to be forgotten the most loving gift of self-donation from God the Father: his image, his likeness: human personhood, human dignity, human being! Human life is SACRED BEGINNING HERE – at the very beginning!

Why this feast today is so timely is because of the Notre Dame Scandal that is very much in the forefront of "Church News!" Fr. John Jenkins, the President of Notre Dame (as you heard Sunday) has invited the President of the United States to be principal speaker at this year's graduation and to be presented with an honorary law degree. Yesterday, Bishop John D'Arcy of the Diocese of South-Bend made this statement regarding the invitation: 'President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred. While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life. This will be the 25th Notre Dame graduation during my time as bishop. After much prayer, I have decided not to attend the graduation. I wish no disrespect to our president; I pray for him and wish him well. I have always revered the Office of the Presidency. But a bishop must teach the Catholic faith "in season and out of season," and he teaches not only by his words—but by his actions.

Later in the statement he says that "I have in mind also the statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2004 which says: "the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." Indeed, the measure of any Catholic institution is not only what it stands for, but also what it will not stand for. … As a Catholic University, Notre Dame must ask itself, if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth.

He ends by saying that, on this Feast of the Annunciation today, when we as Catholics celebrate the moment when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, became a child in the womb of his most holy mother, let us ask Our Lady to intercede for the university named in her honor, that it may recommit itself to the primacy of truth over prestige.

I congratulate Bishop D'Arcy on his courageous words and action; and it is not too late for you to use the form enclosed in this week's bulletin and contact Fr. Jenkins and persuade him to change his mind – your prayerfully chosen words can be as courageous as the bishop's – and really help the cause!

God bless you!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Homily – March 24, 2009 – Fourth Week of Lent - Tuesday

"Create a clean heart for me, O God; give me back the joy of your salvation!" Our readings for this day of Lent would have us consider the amazing restorative and cleansing power of WATER! In the first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel we read how it was WATER flowing from the very temple of the heavenly throne of God (that was a deep as a river that one would have to swim to cross) that was the source of blessing, healing, food and life – and not only for the body, but for the soul!

In the gospel passage the man sitting beside the pool of Bethesda at the Sheep Gate of the Temple knew of the curative powers of the WATER of the pool – and I would imagine that he sensed there was not only an external healing available but also an internal one – a cleansing of the mind and heart!

We too have the opportunity to be washed clean not only with the curative, but also the redemptive WATER flowing from the side of Christ as he hung on the Cross for us and our salvation! The WATER flowing from the temple, the WATER of the pool of Bethesda were but types of this truly regenerating WATER! The entire sacramental life of the Church flows from Jesus and the WATER flowing from his most Sacred Heart as he is raised up above the earth to draw all men to himself.

There are two ways for us (who are baptized in the Easter waters of life) to "stay wet" with the refreshing, renewing and revitalizing WATER OF LIFE: one is by coming to Mass and receiving the Lord Jesus, our Most Beloved Friend, in Holy Communion; and also, by participating on a regular basis (at least twice a year) in the great sacrament of reconciliation, the sacrament of peace, the sacrament of cleansing and purification: the sacrament of confession, the sacrament of Penance!

You can always ask a priest anywhere, anytime you see him to hear your confession, but there will be an opportunity to come together as a group to celebrate a Communal Penance Service (here) at St. John's next Tuesday night at 7pm. The Marist Fathers will be there, as well as other priests, including myself to celebrate forgiveness and reconciliation with you – so that your heart can be as clean as it can be to enter into the Easter Mysteries! I encourage you to attend this Service next Tuesday and to bring others with you. It is the best preparation that there is for Holy Week and Easter!

A clean heart create for me, O God; give me back the joy of your salvation!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Homily – March 23, 2009 – Fourth Week of Lent - Monday

On this day of Lent we reflect on God's heartfelt desire to make all things new for us; to give us a new and better place to live; to make a new and lasting relationship of friendship with us! The first reading refers to the reestablishment of God's people after the Babylonian Captivity; and also the beginning of the new creation at the end of the world when this new place and this new relationship would reach their fulfillment – but it also has to do with the fact that each and every day – today – can be new, and the relationship of friendship that we have with God and with others for God's sake, can be mutually beneficial and even redemptive.

Today we praise the Lord who has rescued us all. The only qualification for inclusion in the new heavens and earth; the new relationship of friendship with God is that we seek after it. They will not be given to those who do not want them!

The royal official sought after the blessings and healing that could come from Jesus with belief. Jesus did cure his son – and the whole family thereafter became believers in Jesus and his offer of Divine Friendship and newness of life!

May we rejoice that sacramentally Jesus comes to us each day to renew our lives, to nurture that precious Friendship that he wants to have with us – so that we can better love and serve our neighbors as caring and Divine Friends!

Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you. Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Homily – March 22, 2009 – FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

In our first reading today we heard about the selection and anointing of David, the shepherd boy, as King of Israel. The Lord knew who he wanted to be anointed, and he was anointed with oil as king! The same Lord truly selected each one of us and anointed us first at our Baptism – as a sign of our membership in the priestly, kingly, prophetic People of God.

The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David to help him carry out his duties. The same Spirit of the Lord rushed upon us on the day of our Confirmation – empowering us for active life as a Catholic Christian.

On the day of his anointing, no doubt King David saw the light of God's glory! On the day of our baptism we are presented with a lighted candle to represent the spiritual light of Christ that is now within us.

Today's gospel passage is about Jesus' curing of the blind man. This is a very important thing to consider on this 4th Sunday of Lent. To be able to "see the spiritual realities as they unfold once again from Palm Sunday, through Holy Thursday, Good Friday into Easter Sunday;" TO REALLY SEE what is going on and to understand it – sometimes we need to be touched by God's special grace – so that we can get fully into it; so that we can see the light! We too, along with the blind man of the gospel passage – need to see the reality of God's amazing love and forgiveness for what they really are – as exemplified when Jesus hung on the Cross for our salvation!

We read earlier in Lent that Jesus demonstrated equal power over sin and sickness (he cured the paralytic and forgave his sins at the same time). It was just as easy for him to cure illness and to forgive sin. Next Sunday we will concentrate on the second part of this: as we get ready for our Lenten Penance Service. Today, however, we wish to concentrate on the first part: Jesus' power and intention to heal all those who come to him with faith, with hope, with charity in their hearts – the desire to help all brothers and sisters in need! God the Father always hears the prayers of Jesus his Son. God always hears the prayers of those who selflessly pray in faith. God always answers our prayers in varying degrees of immediacy! We will get the fullness of the answer in the way, and the time, that God knows is truly best for us and for everyone else involved in the healing.

Jesus asked the man AFTER he healed him…"Do you believe that I am the Son of Man?" The man said: "Yes, Lord, I do believe!

And so now I ask you BEFORE your anointing – you who are to be anointed – do you believe in the Son of God, Jesus: Savior, Healer?
DO YOU BELIEVE?


 


 

We will now have the Anointing Service using the Oil of Sick that was blessed by the bishop at last year's Chrism Mass during Holy Week.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Homily – March 21, 2009 – Third Week of Lent - Saturday

It seems to be an ironic bit of information – but it is actually a divine principle, because Jesus said it – and he came to tell us what is what so we would have reliable and correct information with which to live our lives both individually and as a group: everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

And Jesus suggests that the best and easiest route to humility is to see ourselves primarily as we really are: sinners, in need of God's mercy (like the man in the Gospel passage)! We all sin to some degree – even daily – for we are still in this world and not yet "completely safe and free from harm" in the realm of peace and light that awaits us!

In the first reading we are reminded that true humility will make us want to see God as one who alone can truly give us mercy and bring us healing; for the scattered people of God of whom Hosea is referring needed mercy and healing; it was through their own willfulness and sinfulness that they were displaced and crushed in spirit. But – God told them through Hosea that he would bind up their wounds, and would revive them after three days (referring to the share in the promise of the resurrection of Jesus of which they would participate). And he tells them that what is most pleasing to him is loving care and concern for all their brothers and sisters and not sacrifice, knowledge of who God really is and what he is all about rather than burnt offerings.

Let us this day please God by seeking knowledge of him as he truly is, knowledge of his ways as they really are and not what we might want them to be, and by loving all of our brothers and sisters in the human family the best we possibly can!

Today, today if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Homily – March 20, 2009 – Third Week of Lent - Friday

This homily was easy: when asked what the first of all the commandments was, Jesus replied: The first is to love God with all you've got, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. The scribe then said to him: well said, teacher, these things are worth more than burnt offerings and sacrifices.

What we have here is revelation and recognition of the revelation; God speaking and mankind responding because it touches a core place in men's hearts! We have the manifestation and operation of conscience.

It is written in men's hearts the content of the first and second commandments; but when men and women break the first commandment, when they break the second commandment – and all of the other commandments of the Lord – as men and women are wont to do – no matter how many times they stumble and fall because of it – God will always take them back – he will always forgive their iniquity, if they are repentant and sincere. He will make men blossom like the lily once again! But not without a price! And the price was the death of Jesus on the Cross for our salvation!

Three weeks from today is Good Friday – we still have time during this Season of Lent to turn completely away from sin and to become more faithful to the Gospel than we have ever been. Let us not look at the work of our hands and say: "our god;" but let us rather look at the hands of the Crucified Christ and say: Lord God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them; straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble and fall!
Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Homily – March 19, 2009 – St. Joseph

Everyone knows who St. Joseph is – but there is always a shroud of mystery that surrounds him. He appears briefly in Scripture to fulfill his very special calling by God to be the foster-father of Jesus – God's own true and real Son. Joseph took his job very seriously – and as any foster-father can tell you, he loved Jesus as though he was his very own. Both God and Joseph were Jesus' fathers – each in their own unique ways!

Can you even imagine what it must have been like for an almost insignificant descendant of King David to become the foster-father of the long awaited Messiah? A simple man named Joseph of the House of David received messages from angels sent by God to help him fulfill his tasks – as father to Jesus who would be the Christ; husband of Mary, the mother of the child (yet remaining always chaste, pure and selflessly charitable). He was a hardworking carpenter who always provided for his new family; and a teacher of Jesus, not only in the family carpentry business, but also in the matters of his Jewish religious faith! Joseph, along with Mary was the first teacher of the child Jesus in matters of faith and prayer! What a joy it must have been to teach Jesus how to pray!

Little is known about Joseph after the finding of Jesus in the temple at age twelve; but a strong legend has to do with the beauty and joy and peace associated with his death: and this because both Jesus and Mary were present with him at the moment of his transition. This is a particularly important image for French Canadian Catholics. There is a very beautiful stained glass window at St. John's Church in Brunswick depicting this scene. I would recommend stopping in sometime to see it, if you haven't already done so.

St. Joseph began to be honored in his own right in the 5th century in the Eastern Church; but devotion quickly spread to the west. It increased gradually but steadily. Many great saints of the Church were known to have great devotion to St. Joseph including Vincent Ferrer, Bridget of Sweeden, Bernardine of Siena, Theresa of Avila, Francis de Sales and Ignatius of Loyola. Pope Pius IX, at the end of the first Vatican Council declared him patron of the Universal Church. He is also patron of a happy death.

The most impressive monument to St. Joseph is the basilica dedicated to him in Montreal, Canada: St. Joseph Oratory: inspired and built, single-handedly, by the efforts of Blessed Brother Andre Bessette. In 1962 Blessed Pope John XXIII added St. Joseph's name to the list of saints in the Roman Canon adjacent to that of his beloved spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary!

St. Joseph was ever listening for God's will to the spoken to him – and when he heard it – he always did it, without hesitation and without question! May we imitate St. Joseph in his way of life, and may we be assisted by him in our death so that we can join him in our Father's house – where even now he is busy constructing and building and preparing rooms for each and every one of us – and all of our brothers and sisters in the human family who choose to spend eternity with him – and his beloved son – Jesus Christ!

St. Joseph, pure and chaste; St. Joseph, humble and mild, pray for us!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Homily – March 18, 2009 – St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Our readings on this feast of St. Cyril of Jerusalem have to do with belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and that remaining in the faith, that belief, remaining in the action that follows that belief: love: will keep us united not only with God, but with one another in a great and comforting unity.

Jesus calls it the vine and the branches. He says that we are all united as vine and branches; with the same life flowing through us: the life of grace and mercy and peace; the life of loving service to our brothers and sisters. St. John tells us in the first reading that we prove our love for God and manifest our faith in him by loving others – all others – for better or for worse.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem was one in the early Church who defended belief in Jesus as the Son of God; and proclaimed that loving others was the best witness to that belief. Cyril was born of Christian parents in 315. He succeeded Maximus as bishop of Jerusalem in 348. He was involved in the dispute over Arianism (which said that Jesus was God's most excellent creation, but not divine) and was more that once punished with exile. His writing called Catechesis, in which he explained to the newly baptized Christians at Easter-time the true teachings of the faith and of Scripture and also the traditions of the Church, reveal his pastoral zeal. He died in 386. In 1882 he was proclaimed Doctor of the Church for the excellence, clarity and orthodoxy of his writings and teachings.

In this day and age – with so much that is surfacing in the world that daily challenges our values and morals - we are exhorted daily to clarify our belief in Jesus as Son of God – true Man and true God; and from that faith we are called upon to exercise our call to charity (resulting from that belief); our call to truly love one another – to look after the needs of one another – especially for the poor, the downtrodden, the voiceless and defenseless. If we won't defend and help them, who will? We are like branches that emanate from the vine which is Christ! Let us be good and vibrant and healthy branches – and not like those dead and withered branches that will be removed and thrown into the fire at harvest time!

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, pray for us!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Homily – March 17, 2009 – St. Patrick

St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain around the year 385. As a young man he was captured by Irish pirates and sold as a slave in Ireland where he had to tend sheep. Having escaped from slavery, he chose to enter the priesthood, even though he was not well educated, and never became such; but he tirelessly preached the Gospel to the people of Ireland where he converted many to the faith and established the Church firmly there. He died at Down in 461.

Even if much of what we associate with St. Patrick is legend – the driving of snakes out of Ireland, explaining the Most Blessed Trinity using the shamrock, single-handedly converting all of Ireland – the fact remains that Patrick of Ireland considered himself but a lowly instrument in the hands of God – and anything that was accomplished by him was all God's doing rather than his own. God truly exalts the lowly: Patrick is one of the most beloved and popular saints of the Church – and on this day – his day – everyone in the world claims to be Irish – to get in on the blessings that still emanate from him!

It sounds a bit ironic but on this day of "green beer" and merry-making the first reading tells us to "be serious and sober-minded, so that you will be able to pray; and, above all let your love for one another be intense because love covers a multitude of sins, be hospitable to one another without complaining, as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace." This sounds like good old Irish good-heartedness – which no doubt has St. Patrick to thank for its existence!

The faith of Patrick is much like that of Peter in the gospel passage today. Peter said to the Lord: I have tried to catch fish – but am not doing well right now. But I will do as you say and lower the nets again. Patrick knew that he was a weak and sinful man – but he kept lowering the nets of his ministry, at Jesus' and the Spirit's bidding, to the people of Ireland – and God kept filling them up with new and enthusiastic Catholics! May we have the "faith of the Irish today;" a faith based on personal, first-hand experience of "going fishing with Jesus" – our Lord, our Brother and our Friend!

I would like to conclude by reading from the Confession of Saint Patrick (as found in today's Office of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours):

How did I get this wisdom that was not mine before? I did not know the number of my days, or have knowledge of God. How did so great and salutary a gift come to me, the gift of knowing and loving God, though at the cost of homeland and family? I came to the Irish peoples to preach the Gospel and endure the taunts of unbelievers, putting up with reproaches about my earthly pilgrimage, suffering many persecutions, even bondage, and losing my birthright of freedom, for the benefit of others.

If I am worthy, I am ready also to give up my life, without hesitation and most willingly, for his name. I want to spend myself in that country, even in death, if the Lord should grant me this favor. I am deeply in his debt, for he gave me the great grace that through me many people should be reborn in God, and then made perfect by confirmation and everywhere among them clergy ordained for a people so recently coming to believe, one people gathered by the Lord from the ends of the earth… It is among them that I want to wait for the promise made by him, who assuredly never tells a lie. He makes this promise in the Gospel: They shall come from the east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is our faith: believers are to come from the whole world!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Homily – Third Week of Lent - Monday

These readings for Lent today are remarkable in that they relate to us that things usually turn out the way God wants them to happen and not us (sooner or later), in the way God wants them to happen and not us, and for the purpose that God intends and not ours.

The remarkable part of the first reading is that Naaman, the army commander's servant, presented himself to the King of Israel to be cured of leprosy. The King of Israel declared himself unqualified for the job: do I have power over life and death that I can do this thing? So, Elisha, the man of God, communicated with the king of Israel and told him to send Naaman to him. Then Elisha – a prophet of God – told Naaman to do something as simple as plunging in the Jordan River seven times – to obtain a cure. Naaman thought this a silly thing to do – but he did it – and he was cured of his leprosy. And he became a believer in the God who cares for and heals anyone – for he, himself, was not even one of God's special people – an Israelite.

In the gospel passage Jesus is telling the people in the synagogue at Nazareth that they had better listen to what he had to say – for other people, the non-Israelites, the non-Jews were being showed the favor of God in big ways and blessed with miracles, while they were not. Faith, to some degree, was the necessary ingredient. The faith-level of his own people was so slight that Jesus could really do very little for them. In fact their reaction to him was that they wanted to take him and throw him over a cliff!

May we this day – who claim to be God's people – God's people of the New Dispensation, the New Covenant, the New Law – invite Jesus closer to us, rather than try to drive him away, and have faith enough to allow him to bless us, and heal us and transform us anyway that we need to be.

Athirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Homily – March 15, 2009 – Third Sunday of Lent

Did you ever see the commercial on TV where an employer is interviewing a prospective employee but does not really hear a word the young man is saying, in answer to his questions: it all comes out garbled: because there is a stain on the prospect's shirt that occupies all the employer's attention and it seems that the stain is doing all the talking rather than the man?

This is a wonderful analogy to use for the readings of this Mass in Lent. The "Jews" in the gospel passage – most likely the "holier than thou" sect of them, comprised mostly of scribes and Pharisees – those who should have known better – are looking at Jesus, but see only the "stain of sin" that he voluntarily takes upon himself (because he has no personal sin of his own) in order to transform sin into forgiveness, and life! They look at him and see the stain talking: the stain of their own original sin, the stain of their own personal sins, the stain of their own corporate sins as the disobedient "people of God."

What gets garbled the most is the idea that this Jesus, this Messiah – and Jesus is the true Messiah – insists on being a lowly homeless man, who associates with sinners, and speaks of a spiritual kingdom of which he is King – rather than speaking of the political overthrow of the Roman government in their city and in their lands. This, after all, they have mistakenly come to believe – in their own garbled mentality – is what the Messiah is all about: political freedom and social reform. Jesus on the other hand keeps speaking about the fact that real freedom comes from surrender to God's will in a spiritual kingdom – which could involve, especially in his case, the loss of one's life for the good of others! These "Jews" – and among them, most of Jesus' own disciples – even Peter – could not accept the fact that their Messiah would have to suffer greatly at the hands of his own people and then be put to death on the Cross! This was absurdity! How could the all powerful God reduce himself to such a state of helplessness and seeming defeat?

He could reduce himself and did because therein lay the secret of true, real, authentic, genuine and lasting power, life and joy: through willing destruction of an earthly temple (Jesus tells us in the gospel passage) -one's own willfulness and even one's life – can come an entire newness of life, a new temple a new power, a new joy. Because Jesus experienced them first: for every "Good Friday" we endure, there will always be an "Easter Sunday!"

[By the way, in this passage, Jesus was not angry that animals fit for sacrifice were being sold in the vicinity of the temple: people had to buy what they may not have been able to bring with them to offer as sacrifice: Jesus was angry because those who were doing the selling were unfairly gouging the poor people who came to them to do business! These merchants were simply thieves and Jesus simply could not tolerate them – so he threw them out of the temple! From this we ought to take the lesson that Jesus can still throw his weight around when all kinds of illegal and immoral things happen, especially the victimization of anyone, but especially the poor, the downtrodden and the most vulnerable.

Yes, there is an objective standard by which we are to conduct our lives. Right and wrong is not simply what we think it is, or what we want it to be. In the Book of Exodus today we read of the giving of the Law – the moral / ethical law! This law was given so that the people could know exactly where they stood with God. They welcomed it. They lived it – although over and over again they fell short of practicing it, and over and over again God showed his mercy by forgiving them their sins. This process was only natural, though, due to the sluggishness of mind and heart that are the result of original sin. But these words of God, and other words of God – spoken through the Prophets throughout the ages – and confirmed and fulfilled to the limit in Jesus: Word of God made Flesh – all point to and will lead us to everlasting life. And we will have everlasting life IF we don't, like the scribes and Pharisees – begin hearing only the lure of the "stain of sin" as it emanates more and more freely from a great many people's "shirts" day by day! Then we will not be able to hear the Word and words of God clearly anymore – and we will be in very deep trouble – deep, sinful trouble!

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.


Let us believe in him – and – let us put our belief into action. I exhorted you last week to BE CATHOLIC – the best Catholic you can be during this Lent and Easter Season and beyond. But – be a Catholic with grace and wisdom and common sense. The events this past week concerning the Church (Diocese) of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where an errant, short-lived, bill was introduced into the state legislature "to overtake the structural operation of the Diocese and parishes of Bridgeport – was actually allegedly instigated by an overly zealous "devout Catholic" of the diocese, not using common sense – in order to save the diocese from what he considered to be unbearable decline. Be Catholic yes, defend the Church, yes – but within the boundaries of the Church and its working structure!

But, on the other hand - with the signing by the President of the United States of an Executive Order which not only encourages, but federally funds the evil act of creating and destroying human embryos (human person) for scientific use and then killing them and discarding them when finished with them – (even if for the absolute best intention in the world: the curing of all disease known to mankind) - concerned courageous Catholics need to make their voices heard at the state and national levels. A good result may never be obtained from an intrinsically disordered (evil) act, or means. On the back of the bulletin each week there will be a list of all of the current topics of concern, and names, addresses and web sites of our President and elected state representatives. Contact them – in a rational, faith-filled sort of way – after praying about it! IT WILL HELP THE CAUSE – and you will be making an outstanding witness to our faith! 4000 Catholics from across Connecticut went to Hartford on Wednesday to make their presence and voice heard. While the bill was already pulled – for now - it made a clear statement that the Church is alive and alert and ready to call people to task when they step outside (or, in this case, inside) unconstitutional lines! Our voice and our presence wherever necessary can help too! BE NOT AFRAID!

If we keep our eyes fixed on the Cross of Christ we will not see it as a stumbling block, a stain on a clean white shirt – but as a rallying point for concerned, courageous, Catholic action – as courageous as the Catholic action of the one hanging on it! And his victory is, and shall continue to be ours.

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Homily – March 14, 2009 – Second Week of Lent - Saturday

Our readings on this Saturday of Lent remind us quite emphatically what the Holy Season is all about: what it is all leading up to: the celebration of the events that made the forgiveness of our sins possible! God is our persistently attentive, compassionate and merciful Father. In this life, he will always be there offering forgiveness and the fruits of redemption to any who simply "come to their senses and return home to him." And this, fortunately enough, for us who can plug into this grace not only by baptism, but also by means of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of Penance, the Sacrament of Confession.

God wants to cast our sins into the sea – but he needs us to own up to them – state them audibly to his own representative, the priest – and receive a flood of peace and joy that comes from having the complete weight of the sin removed, and the right to consider oneself fully integrated once again with the rest of the Church whom we also offend by our sin: if we are one body, when one member suffers or sins we all suffer and feel the effects!

This is the time of the year when Confession is recommended, and Communal Penance Services are available. What better way to ready oneself for the great events of Holy Week than to have our spiritual receptors, our spiritual channels wiped clean and made completely open and operational – by means of the Sacrament of Peace. Easter joy cannot flow freely into a dirty container, and make any difference at all! Our Father – who loves, who cares, who forgives – wants to throw a party for us – with a fatted calf, rings and robes – but he can't do that unless we "come to our senses and make the journey back home to him!"

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts…The Lord is kind and merciful!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Homily – March 13, 2009 – Second Week of Lent - Friday

Our readings for Mass on this Friday of Lent reflect in greater detail what we will be remembering a few weeks hence (on a Thursday and Friday) when we see Jesus betrayed and handed over to the police for thirty pieces of silver; and we see Jesus plotted against, tortured and killed. These are seen in the first reading from Genesis which tells of the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver; and in the gospel passage where the landowner's son, in the parable, is taken out of the vineyard, tortured and killed!

In both cases, however, the one rejected became a very influential person to a great many persons: Joseph later became a source of blessing for his own brothers and their families when they were starving and in need of assistance; Jesus became a source of blessing, mercy and indeed eternal salvation to those who tortured and killed him: he became the stone rejected by the builders which became the cornerstone!

Let us today remember the marvels the Lord has done: how he insisted that life and light and love be given even to those who rejected, betrayed, tortured and killed him! Let us resolve this day of Lent to be less offensive to Jesus (and to other people, in whom he is found), and more grateful for his amazing mercy, forgiveness and providential care!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Homily – March 12, 2009 – Second Week of Lent - Thursday

We are very familiar with this story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. And we know that the lesson of the story is both the reward of living a life of "having not" and the punishment that might come from "having too much!"

We all want to be on "the side of the reward," but we are not always so content to see that with it, sometimes comes, being treated like a dog! We must remember, however, that eventually, even Jesus was treated like a dog – a dog, however, that turned out to be "Super Wonder Dog" as the newness of resurrected life came as a result of his suffering and death on a Cross.

On the side of "the rich and famous" on the other hand we recognize that there truly is a chasm between the mercifully comforted and the rightly punished; and that it is very difficult for these "purple-clad" aristocrats to stay out of the flames prepared for them! Not even should one rise from the dead to tell them to mend their errant ways would they seriously consider doing so, is Jesus' message in the gospel today. The "purple-clad" have a rhyme and reason, a logic all their own – and are virtually incapable of sound reasoning and right judgment. But it is not impossible; using the Law and the Prophets: using the message and words of Jesus himself – these self-righteous can turn away from their sin and embrace the Gospel of the Kingdom. [And is this not our Lenten theme!]

Our first reading today from the Prophet Jeremiah defines for us who these "purple-clads" are: they are the cursed who trust in human beings, who seek strength in flesh, whose heart easily turns away from the Lord to their own agendas and constructs of reality; those poor and lowly "resting in the bosom of Abraham" on the other hand are those who consistently, simply and wonderfully TRUST IN THE LORD at all times, whose HOPE IS THE
LORD, come what may – in spite of all of that is going on around them in the world. These will always have everything they spiritually need to get through anything and everything that might befall them!

More tortuous that all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? Who can understand why some actually choose – with all they know to the contrary – to be "purple-clads," to be "arrogantly rich and famous and far from the compassionate heart of God" Yet some do choose it.

But the Lord reminds us that he probes the mind and tests the heart,
and will reward each person according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds. May we be counted among the poor, the humble, those who are even treated like dogs at times (as was Jesus himself) – so that our reward will surely be life forever – in the bosom of Abraham, in the heart of God our Father and the Lord Jesus, his Son and our Redeemer!

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest though perseverance.


 

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Homily – March 11, 2009 – Second Week of Lent - Wednesday

This is the second day in a row that the gospel passage has emphasized the role of service as an integral part of greatness. Yesterday we heard that God exalts the lowly: those who act as servants of their brothers and sisters. Today Jesus is telling us that the first among us will be the slave of the rest! Something within us knows that this is both a desirable and an undesirable thing! But then again – we know that if Jesus said it, it must really be worth doing – and it must be able to be done!

The further context of this idea is found in the earlier part of the passage where Jesus is talking about sharing in his suffering and death! Those who want a share in the Kingdom that is coming must also be willing to pay the entrance fee that Jesus himself makes valid and operational: personal suffering in imitation of him and his! When we freely and lovingly embrace our sufferings: "drinking of his chalice" – then we will be admitted to the glory that lies beyond the Cross: the newness of life of healing, joy and resurrection!

Jeremiah (of the first reading) was a prophet who spoke the truth from God to those who would not listen. His suffering was his negative reception! They regarded him as an enemy to their evil ways. And they wanted to persecute him and do away with him! But Jeremiah prayed to the Lord for help: "must the good that I am doing be repaid with evil that they should dig a pit to take my life?" And the Lord answered and helped Jeremiah withstand that persecution that was simply part of his vocation as prophet!

We are called to be disciples like James and John, we are called to be prophets like Jeremiah – we are called to be affect change in the world by our participation in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We are called to withstand those who plot against us! The Church in America has entered into a new era of persecution. The personal irrational view that the President of the United States has on what constitutes freedom ought to be quite disturbing to us, as Catholics. Freedom does not mean divorcing politics from everything else: from reason, from ethics, from morals, from objective reality. As the opposing side of secular perversion organizes and mobilizes its godless ways of thinking and resulting plans and programs, so the Church is seen as a primary formidable obstacle that needs to be taken down. Events like the attempted siege of the Church of Bridgeport by the State of Connecticut (that is occurring even as we speak) – which involves that State taking over the structuring and operation of the Diocese of Bridgeport – thus separating the Bishop from his Diocese, and the pastors from their parishes - are only the tip of the iceberg of what will be happening on a greater and grander scale throughout our country.

It is a time – once again in Church history – for the Church to be Church – to coolly, calmly and confidently be the Light of all Nations, beginning with our own! Concerned, courageous Catholics must unite and do three things: 1) pray for God's will; 2) believe that these are very critical times in our country's history; 3) make our Catholic voices heard by contacting elected officials to let them know what we think and how we feel!

I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Homily – March 10, 2009 – Second Week of Lent - Tuesday

The message for today's readings of Lent is that God the Father wants very much to exalt us, to raise us high up, to give us blessings and protection always. He also tells us today that the one who is best qualified to be exalted is the one who makes himself/herself humble and lowly: like a servant! I often think that the wait-staff of a restaurant actually have the best jobs of all! They are literally servants of the people! God must look so favorably upon them.

This, in a sense, tells us that no work is too menial, no tasks are too above other tasks, no duty is not worth doing no matter how it compares with other peoples' duties, tasks and work!

In the first reading today we see that one of our tasks in life ought to be to stop thinking, saying and doing what the law of God written in our hearts, and on the tablets of stone (the 10 commandments) and the law of Jesus: love one another completely – tells us is not right! There is object wrong, there is objective sin, there is accountability for our thoughts and words and actions. But as the reading tells us that God is so very willing to forgive us our sins the very minute we have a conversion of heart and turn to him! Our sins may be like scarlet, but they may become white as snow – by God's grace, mercy and favor!

This Lent, let us continue to cast away from us all of our sins and make for ourselves a new heart and a new spirit! All we have to do is to ask God's help and we shall have it! Ask especially right after receiving Jesus in Holy Communion – he is closest to us then – he hears our hearts then, because he is actually there then!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Homily – March 9, 2009 – Second Week of Lent - Monday

Last Saturday we heard in the gospel passage: Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect: go the extra step, go the extra mile, go the extra bit of understanding: and you will be rewarded greatly. Today we read: Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging, stop condemning, forgive and give – so that you might have favorable judgment on yourself, so that you might not be condemned, so that you might be forgiven, so that you might receive what you need when you need it – even in good measure.

Just keep in mind, says the Lord, the measure with which you measure will be the exact and same measure by which you will receive! As it says in another place treat others as you would have them treat you! Or again, show mercy and you will receive mercy! And who would not want a merciful judgment on any day, but in particular on that Last Day of final judgment!

For those who keep the commandments and foster the spirit of the commandments – the spirit of the commandments will foster them one day; but for those who disregard the commandments and ignore the spirit of the commandments – the spirit of the commandments will one day disregard and ignore them – and they will have chosen to reside in a place without light, warmth, peace, God or companionship forever!

We know all these things to be so because they come from the words of God – the words of Jesus - that are Spirit and life – Spirit and life for here and hereafter. We affirm them with an act of faith and belief this day; and ask the Lord not to deal with us according to our sins. Have mercy on us, Lord; and we will have mercy on others!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Homily – March 8, 2009 – Second Sunday of Lent

I suppose that it is human nature to want the good without the bad; the joy without the sorrow; the rainbow without the rain. But it is really not possible to have the one without the other, not since human nature took a tumble in the Garden so very long ago! It was Jesus' job – that he took upon himself freely – to gather into himself all of the negative (the bad, the sorrowful, the rain) – including all of sin – all of original sin and all the personal sins that people would ever commit – and transform it by his Death on a Cross into something unimaginably positive (the good, the joyful, a perpetual rainbow)a brand new kind of living that would erase death forever!

And as I said last week, he would have done that if there were only one of us to be saved! But, there are actually more to be saved, a great many more. And again here is an amazing point: while the possibility of redemption will be won for all: not all will end up being saved: it will only be those who want to be saved: who want to be plugged into redemption; who want to be a part of the Church to one degree or another.

There was a time when the Church proclaimed that: "outside of the Church (the Catholic Church, albeit the Roman Catholic Church) – there is no salvation!" It has taken many centuries to correct that faulty phraseology: and thanks to the Second Vatican Council of our own day in age the idea has been reformulated to say that: "Christ came to save all people, and that the Church touches all of those people, it is more than the Body of Christ as we know it, that there are true and legitimate degrees of communion with the Church, with Christ, that extend from our closest cousins in religion all the way to the atheist! The Holy Spirit of God can work through any and all of us to bring about the fullness of the Kingdom! One day we will see how it all fits together! Now we say simply that by the favor and grace of God, the Catholic Church contains the fullness of Christ and his presence on earth as the Way, the Truth and the Life; but others have a sure and certain, though to some degree incomplete, participation in the totality of Jesus: the Way and Truth and Life. Everyone is searching for God, for God's love, for God's friendship, for eternal life with brothers and sisters – even the atheist!

On the mountain of the transfiguration – as we read in the gospel passage today – Jesus – who is preparing his disciples for his imminent death and resurrection – is in this instance emphasizing the resurrection! It would be by his acceptance of death (on the Cross) that resurrection and newness of life would be possible. And by doing this everything that came before him including the Law of Moses and the Prophecies about him would find fulfillment. They would converge in him as he hangs on the Cross and there he would become the New Law, the Final Prophet, and his blood would be the blood of the new and everlasting covenant shed for the forgiveness of sins!

This Jesus would do for all of mankind – Catholics, non-Catholics, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, believers and non-believers alike. What Jesus tried to tell us all is that those subsisting in his own Church would have the benefit of having an amazing depth of his presence with them all the days of their lives – the life of resurrection, the life of heaven could begin for them even on this earth! And if they believed this with all their hearts and souls and truly lived like it – then people of others religions and faith persuasions might want to take part in the fullness they successfully live out in this Church.

The brilliant white light of the transfiguration is the Light that is Christ – the Light we welcomed to earth at Christmas, the Light that shone on Jesus baptism in the Jordan, the Light that shines now in the darkness of these times – and the same voice of God the Father is heard saying: THIS IS MY BELOVED SON! LISTEN TO HIM! Listen to him! He has the words of life – words for life here and for hereafter! He will put his words into action and win your salvation! Listen to him! Follow him! Love him! Befriend him! Trust him as much as Abraham your father in faith trusted me by being willing to sacrifice his own son – and you will not be disappointed, as Abraham was not disappointed! You are children of Abraham, so BELIEVE!

The disciples would remember this scene after Jesus was taken from the Cross and placed in the tomb – and then declared as "Risen" on Easter Morning. And with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost they would actually feel the presence of the Risen Christ in a way that was amazing – and they would begin to transfer it sacramentally to all places and times – right down to here and now – so that we, with them, can BELIEVE and TRUST and COMMIT OURSELVES TO LIVING as true members of the Catholic Church: living the presence of Christ in its fullness, right here, right now!

If the world as we find it today is ever to really be rescued from all that it needs to be rescued from, it can begin by Catholics being willing to be all that are meant to and are capable of being: witnesses to the
fullness of Christ's presence on earth! This is what it means to be Catholic! LET US, THEN, BE CATHOLIC TODAY and every day this week, this Lent, this Easter and from now on! And amazing, even miraculous things will happen – how could they not!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Homily – First Week of Lent - Saturday

Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect: go the extra step, go the extra mile, go the extra bit of understanding: and you will be rewarded greatly.

For the people of the Old Testament it was not simply OK, but it was praiseworthy for them "to just strictly observe the commandments of God" – literally, the 10 commandments and other prescriptions – to the letter. If they did that – we read in the Book of the Deuteronomy then the covenant between them and God would be valid and operable: they would be his people, he would be their God: it would be a unique and wonderful relationship.

But Jesus in the gospel passage is telling the disciples that the time has come for the covenanted people to do more than just the letter of the law. With the power and strength that he would give and confirm by the Holy Spirit – they would be able to truly live the spirit behind the commandments: to not just love your neighbors, but also now love you enemies; pray not only for yourselves and your families, pray for your enemies too. If you love and pray for only those who are good to you there is nothing meritorious about that: even pagans and tax collectors do that: no, you must go above and beyond what you have been taught. "It is time for the New Covenant, the New Testament that will be sealed with my own blood, shed for the forgiveness of your sins. It is in the power of this blood that you will be able to go out of your comfort zone and do what you really know you ought to be doing – be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect!"

Not many can do this flawlessly, but we can do it more consistently – on a day to day basis. That is why, especially in Lent we are encouraged to fast and to pray more and to give alms – so that will be more inclined to be a fully functional participant in the New Dispensation! And we have the amazing power and strength that comes from the Eucharist we celebrate and receive at this Mass each day. All the spiritual resources we need for our day can be gotten right here, right now! Let us open ourselves fully to this great and magnificent resource – and we can be more perfect today than we were yesterday!

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord.

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Homily – March 6, 2009 – First Week of Lent - Friday

Our readings on this day of Lent are for a newness of heart and spirit: a newness based on wholehearted commitment to right thought and just action. Jesus tells his disciples that their sense of what is right must surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees: or they will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Minimal observance of some laws is not the same as totally buying into the spirit behind the laws: which are actually summarized in a new law: of loving service to our neighbor – the people we see every day – and people far from us as well.

What was important for Jesus is that we all get along as family – as brothers and sisters – who really care about each other. And when things are not right between us – it is important to make things right – before expecting our prayers to God to be heard and answered. This is not an unreasonable demand.

The first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel tells us that God certainly does not derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked person! He would much rather have a person who is content doing that which is unvirtuous turn and begin to do what is truly virtuous, good, right and holy! And when the unvirtuous turn in this way to God: God is more than happy to forgive their iniquities and restore them to life in the family!

On this day of Lent, let us cast away from us all the crimes we have committed, and make for ourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Homily – March 5, 2009 – First Week of Lent - Thursday

It all seems too easy: ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. God promises to do these things for you if you simply make the request! But before we even consider this aspect of the gospel passage we must go on to the last phrase of the passage: Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets. This is the key to understanding the first part of the passage: the asking, seeking, knocking part.

If we truly respect, regard and treat others as we ought to respect, regard and treat ourselves – and desire to do for and to them what we would have done to us: then we can ask for, seek after and knock on doors that will open good things to be given to these other people: our brothers and sisters of the human family!

Then, we will simply know how to pray: with the Holy Spirit praying through us, we will know what to ask for, what to seek after, what doors to knock on – for the welfare of others: seeking all the while GOD'S WILL IN EACH AND EVERY INSTANCE.

Yes, it is true – God will always give, provide and open – if we ask, seek and knock properly: in the Spirit, and according to his will and way!

Queen Esther in the first reading found this to be true. She had heard about God in her own childhood and now she turned to him in prayer – asking, seeking, knocking on the door for help against her enemies – who would destroy her people and herself. And God answered her prayer and protected and defended her people and turned their mourning into gladness and their sorrows into wholeness. He can do the same for us! This day of Lent, when we call on him for help with our Lenten disciplines and practices – he will help us – especially if our Lenten discipline involves helping other people as instruments of love and peace and comfort!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Homily – First Week of Lent - Wednesday

Our gospel passage today tells us that for those who truly appreciate who Jesus is, there is no need for any further "sign from God" – to encourage faith and belief. In fact, it is the exercise of faith and belief that makes further signs unnecessary!

Jesus called his generation an evil one because it always needed more proof of God's favor and kindness, but he tells the disciples in the passage : no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah : the sign of the preaching done to bring about a conversion of heart. Such preaching indeed brought about conversion – and in the nick of time! God did not destroy the great city of Nineveh, at the preaching of Jonah – a true sign of God's presence and activity for life! And the fact that the Ninevites were not even of God's people is itself a sign as well – a sign that salvation will be for all people everywhere – even Gentiles – anyone who wants to turn to him and live!

Another already present sign in the passage is that of the one who is greater than Solomon. God's people knew how wise Solomon was – but they seemed to be missing the point that one with wisdom far superior to Solomon was in their midst: Jesus – who is the very Wisdom of God made Flesh! Some sensed his true greatness – but not many – at that time!

The point of the entire gospel passage is that – especially this Lent – we need go no farther than our own hearts to find the great healer, the great reconciler, the great wisdom of God! He is there by reason of our baptism and confirmation – he is Jesus, he is Spirit, he is Father! We are so fortunate to have such vibrant and visible signs emanating from deep within us!

The first reading today tells of Jonah preaching repentance to the Ninevites! God was very angry with this people and he wanted to give them just punishment! But Jonah persuaded the people to repent, to fast and to pray: and God relented in the punishment he had in mind. In our own day in age God has every reason to be angry with a lot that is going on in our world, in our country, even in our own parishes and families! He uses me as a preacher, and he can use you as teachers of his ways to persuade family members, parishes, country, the world to repent, if they need to; to change their minds and hearts about a host of issues, if they need to; to turn more fully to the will and ways of God, in order to find a fullness, a holiness and happiness of life – and thus avoid just punishment from God.

It makes no sense to believe that God will completely ignore the way in which his laws are being violated. All he wants is for us – all of us – to return to him with our whole hearts – for he is gracious and merciful – he wants to lavish the richness of countless blessings on us, rather than a heap of burning coals!

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. Teach us this day of Lent to be more contrite of heart and humbled than ever! Amen!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Homily – March 3, 2009 – First Week of Lent - Tuesday

Our readings for Mass today tell us of the great secrets of holiness and happiness of life. They are both centered on God's will – and not ours! It's as simple as that! Holy people seek after God's will; happy people are those who do God's will. And this actually saves a lot of time! For, God's will cannot not be done! As the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah tells us: the word going forth from the mouth of God will not return void but shall do his will, achieving the end for which he sent it. We need to relax a bit more often and remember that God is indeed in charge, and it will all happen as he intends!

Jesus himself makes this an integral part of the most perfect prayer there is: his own prayer: The Our Father: thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven! When we seek and ask for God's will – our prayer will be heard! It cannot not be heard!

So many times though we think we know better than God; we actually think that our way of seeing and doing things is better than his, more in touch with reality, more up-to-date with modern times. (God is very old; he may be taking a few naps!) This is where we err! And this is where we can complicate everything for everyone: as God's will will have to take the long-way-around because of this faulty perspective!

Because God also see "the big picture" – he can even moreso be counted on to guide each of us along right paths that actually complement one another and support each others' assigned duties in life! God knows what he wants each of us to do to build up one another and to contribute to fashioning a family (a society) of caring brothers and sisters who will one day live forever in their Father's house – or in another place, if they so choose!

While God has to be patient with us and forgiving for the times we constantly interrupt his will and plans with our own; so too, he tells us in this prayer: we must also be willing to forgive one another for the way we are sometimes caught up in agendas that are not helpful to anyone at all, and in fact can be very hurtful. In fact, he makes this a prerequisite for having our own sins forgiven: we must forgive those who sin against us!

When we keep our eyes fixed on God; fixed on his loveliness; fixed on his holiness; fixed on his will – then will the Lord God answer our prayers and deliver us from all our fears. When we cry out to him, he will hear us, when we are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit, he will be close to us! When we give him glory by a spiritual life well lived, he will protect us and raise us up!

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!


 

Monday, March 2, 2009

Homily – March 2, 2009 – First Week of Lent - Monday

The readings today are a bit long and complex but their message is short and simple: it is summarized in the first reading from the Book of Leviticus: The Lord said to Moses, Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them, Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy!

This command of God involves three things: it involves the fact that our holiness already exists because we are created in the image of God who is holiness itself; it involves the fact too that the power to do holy things is already wired into us and therefore all it takes is our cooperation in using the power of the Spirit to liven the wires of holy thoughts, words and actions in us; it also involves divine justice: our brothers and sisters of the human as well as religious family ought to be able to count on us and our holiness to be secure in their own just and right and gentle way of life.

God further spells it out in Leviticus: in dealing with one another: do not steal, speak falsely of one another, nor swear falsely by God's name; do not defraud your neighbor, and cause him unnecessary difficulty or disturbance; do not act dishonestly in rendering judgment, nor spread slander among yourselves, nor standby idly while your neighbor's life is at stake; do not bear hatred for your brother in your heart, take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countryman, you shall love your neighbor as yourself! I am the Lord!

Jesus summarizes it a little differently in the gospel passage: the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount: treat everyone as you would treat me: and you will be holy, and you will have nothing to fear on the Day of Judgment that is surely coming. It is surely coming because everyone will be accountable for how he used the precious gift of free-will that was given to them when their life began! So, whatever you did to the least of my brothers and sisters: by giving me food and drink, welcoming me as a stranger, clothing me when I was naked, visiting me when I was ill or in prison: you did for me! By this very statement Jesus identifies himself with the poor and the weak and the marginalized: and when you do things for anyone, but especially these beloved ones of mine: you do, or don't do them for me – and for this you will certainly be judged!

This Lenten Season is an excellent time to sharpen our understanding of the wonderful holiness to which we are all called, and of which we are all asked to demonstrate on a daily basis by ordinary and even extraordinary acts of loving kindness and service to our fellow men and women!

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Homily – March 1, 2009 – First Sunday of Lent

This year – this cycle of readings – year B of St. Mark – we have the very simple accounting of Jesus' temptation in the desert. Mark simply says that the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained there for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. The Spirit stayed and was with him, the angels ministered to him, but they did not influence the outcome of the tempting: Jesus, all on his own, did not divert his attention away from his mission in life: he consciously chose to die on the Cross for us and for our salvation!

This is what the temptation was all about: Satan offered Jesus three ways to be the center of attraction but without the use of the Cross. Jesus ends up by simply telling him to "go away!" "NO! I will not be diverted from my Father's will!" "YES! I will resolutely go for the Cross!" "The Cross has always been a part of my life since the moment of my birth – and it will remain so until my last breath while on it!"

Thank you Jesus for your purity of heart and intention – and your willingness to embrace defeat in order to gain victory!

The first two readings today simply give more information about the process of our redemption and the way in which we participate in it. We are a part of the people that God promised never to destroy again – as he promised Noah and his family – after the flood. We are baptized into Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins – and as a participation in the new and everlasting covenant! The waters of the flood are likened to the waters of baptism that make an end of sin and a new beginning of life and grace and mercy!

This first week of Lent let us reflect daily on the resoluteness of Jesus to keep focused on his task in life: our redemption! Let us thank him for not giving into the temptation to be steered away from it! Let us be so very grateful for our baptismal connection and life in him by which we participate in the effects of his suffering and Cross!

Three practical things that you can do to observe Lent this year – as was mentioned at the Ash Wednesday Mass – are:

Pray – Spend quiet time in silent prayer reflecting on Jesus' amazing love for you! He would have done it all – went through his entire Passion and Death – if it were only you to be saved! Prayerfully thank him, and listen in the depths of your heart to what he has to say to you directly about the whole thing! You are very special and very much loved by him!

Fast – "Giving up something to get something better later" – just makes sense. But, when it involves giving up something for the spiritual purpose of purifying mind and heart and motivation so that you can receive an overabundance of spiritual gifts at a later time: it makes even more sense! Give up the candy, give up the cokes, give up the donuts – but for a spiritual purpose and what you will get on Easter Sunday will be amazing!

Give Alms – Not only "giving up" but "giving tosomeone in need" - is an ancient and highly favored practice in the Church. At one time giving alms was almost equivalent to having your sins forgiven! The secret of it though is to give from your surplus to those with a deficit, who actually have a right to some of your surplus! This is a theological principle of divine charity! It is not like a "handout" – it is sharing with those who do not have, who at a later time can "pay it back – forward" – by the same act of giving alms to someone else! We have such a program – newly resurrected – right here at St. Ambrose: Friends Helping Friends – Help Thy Neighbor. Monies placed in (this) container each week – will be available immediately for the needs of parishioners who need assistance in buying food, fuel oil, clothing, medicine etc. Angela and I are in charge of collecting the monies and distributing them. Please – if you have a need – you or your immediate family members – see Angela or myself. This is how divine charity works! Then when you are able return the monies: pay it back (forward) by placing the amount into the alms-pot!

Jesus went into Galilee after his temptation proclaiming the gospel of God: the Kingdom of God is at hand: Repent and believe in the gospel! We can put our repenting and believing into action this Lent, by PRAYING, FASTING and GIVING ALMS!

Happy New Year 202

  A Happy New Year to you all! I hope and pray I am able to keep this blog up to date now that we are entering into the New Year! I would li...