Friday, July 30, 2010

Homily – July 30, 2010 – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Friday

+ It is so very true that "familiarity breeds contempt!" Even Jesus had his problem with this dynamic. Another way to say it is: being unable to see the "forest" because of the" trees." Sometimes we can be looking directly at something, and think we know exactly what it is – but are unable to know it at all – or to actually see what we are looking at.

Today it is easy for us to point a kind of judgmental finger at the folks in Jesus' hometown and say: he was right there in front of you, that little boy who grew up into a man is the real Messiah – why can't you see it? why can't you see him? why didn't you pay attention to him more closely after he left home?

Well, it is just as easy today to point fingers at one another and say: did you not see him? he is right here in our midst - we have looked right at him when we see the poor and the needy, the challenged and the lonely, the sick and the imprisoned – but we too fail to see him.

Among the very important things that Jesus asked us to remember about him it is that he himself is present "in the least of the brothers and sisters" – and unless we see him there, sense his presence there and help him there – then our own eternal salvation is in jeopardy. And this is a fact!

May we today see Jesus truly present here in his Word, in his Sacrament and in our actions of loving and serving others (the least of his brothers and sisters) in his Name.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Homily – July 29, 2010 – St. Martha

+ Today we celebrate the feast of St. Martha who was sister both to Mary and Lazarus. We recently heard in a gospel passage how Mary "chose the better part" when Jesus came to visit their home – "better part" being her close attentiveness to Jesus at his feet. But, this does not preclude Martha's attentiveness to him in a similar way "from the kitchen" – where she was preparing a wonderful meal for them to eat together. What woman in the kitchen does not know exactly what is going on in the rest of the house?

But today, we remember Martha for another reason as well – a distinction that Mary did not share in. It is Martha, we hear in the gospel passage who proclaims her belief in "resurrection from the dead" for those who die in faith, at which time Jesus uses the opportunity to proclaim that he, himself, is the resurrection and the life – and that whoever lives and believes in him will never die. This is one of the central statements that Jesus made – all at the prompting of Saint Martha, at the occasion of the death of her brother Lazarus.

Jesus raised her brother Lazarus from the dead as a sign of what he said about being the resurrection and the life; to show his true power over death. For a short while anyway the family was reunited until they all died their natural deaths again! And now they, like all of us – wait for the general resurrection when we will rise from our graves and receive our just deserts from God – if we have been good and faithful to the end: life with God on high; if we have not, a place reserved for us as well, where God is not.

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

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Homily – July 28, 2010 – Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time - Wednesday

+ Our gospel passage today is about "finding" and "selling" - finding something really valuable, and selling all in order to be able to buy it.

The most valuable thing there is in the whole world is our life in God. Nothing can surpass this treasure, this pearl of great price. It is one of the greatest discoveries in the world that anyone could make: I LIVE IN GOD, GOD LIVES IN ME! not near me, nor beside me, nor behind me nor even over me: but IN ME, deep in my soul; and I live not near him, beside him, or behind him or under him: but DEEP IN HIS HEART!

Now if this "life" is the most valuable, then the price has to be great as well: "life in God" is a big-ticketed item. But some great news is that God himself has already paid for most of it for us! By the Death and Resurrection of his Son, Jesus, that life in God can really and truly be ours. However, the balance needs to be paid for by us: we have to cooperate in our attainment of this life in God:
we have to sell what we have, and buy the field, buy the pearl, by ridding ourselves of everything
that might be contrary to that life, or the cause of its eradication from within us. We do this by setting our heart on God, his will, his way and then offering him fitting service and praise all day long. It's both as easy and difficult as that: setting our heart on God and then doing things his way, all the while offering him loving service and praise.

O God, my strength, your praise will I sing; for you are my stronghold, my merciful God! I will praise you today; and I will help you in any way I can to do your work of healing and transforming the world – let it begin with me!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Homily – July 26, 2010 – Sts. Joachim and Ann

+ Today we celebrate the feasts of Sts. Joachim and Ann, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandparents of Jesus. Ann bore Mary when she was on in years. It is said that when Joachim was away on a trip an angel appeared to both he and Ann separately announcing the fact that they would be parents of a very special girl. When Mary was three years old, Joachim and Ann presented Mary in the temple for the Lord's service. Devotion to Ann began very early in the Eastern Church, but it was not until the 16th century did it spread to the West and shrine began to be built to her. The traditional statue of Ann seated, speaking with the child Mary, standing by her side is well known throughout the world now!

The first reading today speaks well of the godly couple: Joachim and Ann: godly persons whose virtues have not been forgotten; their wealth remaining in their families, their heritage with their descendants; at gatherings their wisdom is retold, and the assembly proclaims their praise. The alleluia verse takes up the theme: They yearned for the comforting of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested on them. Their grandchild would be the one true and lasting comfort of not only Israel but of the whole world. And the gospel passage certainly refers to these holy persons who saw and heard what many prophets and righteous people long to see and hear but did not!

May we be among the one who both see and hear their grandson, Jesus Christ, today – beginning right at this Mass – and then allow that to make a real difference in the way we live our day, as he travels with us along our paths living deep in our souls!

God will give him the throne of David his father!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Homily – July 25, 2010 – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

+ Today we have very instructive and powerful readings. They teach us a lot about the inner life and workings of God – which is one of the main reasons we come here on Sundays: to learn about God, so we can love him and serve him better!

The first reading is a dramatic rendition of how much God wants to accept repentance for sins when it is made, and to withhold his justified anger in not reducing to ashes the sinner! Even in a society as bad as that of Sodom and Gomorrah, the reading tells us that if even ten innocent people can be found, he would save the whole region for the sake of the ten. That is some pretty powerful language. And it speaks so very well of what is actually going on in our own society – and on the world stage in which we live – which is in so many ways even worse than Sodom and Gomorrah: it is the good, holy, decent, justified lives of a relatively few people that is actually withholding God's justifiably angry hand from wiping out the entire planet: holy lives of hopefully groups of fully practicing Catholic persons like ourselves (and others), we are the ones doing this! O yes! What we do when we come here is very, very important to the spiritual well-being not only of ourselves and our families and our parish – but the entire Church – and the world at large.

And what is it that we tune in to when we come here week after week? It is the very life of Christ that we share in by our baptisms and confirmations. In baptism, as St. Paul tells us, in the second reading, we are truly buried in the ground with Jesus, as he was on Good Friday Night; and we are also raised to newness of life with him as was such for him on Easter Morning. By doing these things Jesus freed us from our sins, our transgressions, the things that could separate us from God forever after we die. And if this is so, and we stir up this reality within us each time we come to Mass, and each time we pray at home, or wherever we are – then we are among those courageous, holy few who are holding the world together – so that it can achieve the end for which it was created: fullness of itself as a Kingdom ruled by Jesus as King forever! This is not just rhetoric, or pie-in-the-sky, or a fantasy – this is the reality of what the world is headed for whether it knows it, or likes it, or not!

Finally, dear brothers as sisters, I return to a theme that actually should be part of every Mass – a reminder that God pardons us, and forgives us and is willing to transform our world into a glorious place for us to live because he is our FATHER! It is only by means of the Holy Spirit working in us that we can even say that! God is our adoptive Father! Only Jesus is his Son by nature – he cannot be otherwise. We are true sons and daughters
by adoption (through baptism) – it cannot be otherwise. The gospel passage today tells us that God is FATHER. Jesus taught his disciples to pray using that term and it was a definitive prayer, and a definitive term: which means it cannot be debated or otherwise interpreted. Jesus is the eternal Son; the Father (his Father) is the eternal Father: and now Jesus tells us we can call his Father "ours!" What an astounding privilege! We must never tamper with the theology behind that term, that name, that Person, that prayer. God delights to have us call him Father! May we delight him thusly many times a day!

Thank you Father, our Father, for loving us so very much as to reveal yourself to us fully by means of Christ, our Lord, but also our older Brother and our dearest Friend. Through him, show us the way that leads directly to your house and the room that you have prepared for each of us in it! God bless you!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Homily – July 23, 2010 – Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Friday

+ I could not possibly give a better homily than Jesus himself gives in the gospel passage today! May we be among the ones who hear the word of God, understand it and then allow it to make a very big difference in the way we treat other people, beginning with those in our own surroundings, then emanating out from there to wherever God would have us extend his love!

Blessed are they who have kept the word of God with a generous heart and yield a harvest, through perseverance. (hmmm that was the same complete homily that I gave last Saturday afternoon when it was so hot!)

Keep the word of God alive by giving it away!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Homily – July 22, 2010 – St. Mary Magdalene

+ We have very little solid information about Saint Mary Magdalene, and both scholars and Eastern / Western traditions differ on what we do know. I have the sense that she was all of the following: a friend and follower of Jesus, filled with sorrow over her sin (could it have been adultery?), the one who anointed the feet of Jesus with her tears and dried them with her hair, the one that Jesus cast seven devils from, one of those present at the Crucifixion of Jesus and finally the first one to see the Risen Christ.

The three things that are most important are the fact that she is the repentant sinner and was in need of a good spiritual house-cleaning. The driving out of the seven devils represent the dismissal of the seven deadly sins that we are all prone to commit to one degree or another: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride. We, of course today, have much more benign and politically correct terms for these things. But, in actuality they are what they are. And Jesus then filled her with the seven opposite powers for good (virtues) of chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, humility. We can sense these traits in a person such as we know the Magdalene to be – we can even envision ourselves being such personages – with God's grace and help.

Next, it was important for Mary Magdalene to be present at the Crucifixion because being the repentant sinner, it only makes sense for her to be immediately present to the event that would make real and lasting forgiveness available for everyone: the moment of Christ's death on the Cross.

Lastly it was of extreme importance for her, as repentant, forgiven sinner – already filled with the powers of right-living - to be the first seen by the Risen Christ. Jesus entire mission was to die for our salvation – which means the forgiveness of our sins. Mary represented all of us who now have the opportunity to be forgiven and reconciled with the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, if we ask for it in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of Confession for major or mortal sins committed, and at Mass for venial or minor ones committed.

For these reasons – it is reasonable to conclude that Mary Magdalene is the compilation of possibly three different persons in Church history. Or just one whose identity just never got clearly defined at the beginning.

In any event, we ask her to pray for us today – so that we can be freed from grievous sin, filled with wonderful virtuous powers, and witnesses in our own right to the Resurrection of Jesus – because we sense his resurrected presence deep within our hearts as we try to live the life of beatitude that he prescribed for us!

Tell us, Mary, what did you see on the way? I saw the glory of the risen Christ, I saw his empty tomb.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Homily – July 21, 2010 – St. Lawrence Brindisi

+ St. Lawrence of Brindisi was an Italian Franciscan who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Orphaned early in life he joined the Capuchin Friars in Verona at age sixteen, taking the name Lawrence. He developed a reputation as a scholar at the University of Padua, and was particularly adept at languages, ancient and modern alike. After ordination in 1582 he became a renowned and respected preacher in Padua, Verona and other Northern Italian towns. He was elected provincial of Tuscany and then of Venice. He was called to Rome by Pope Clement VIII to take special responsibility for the conversion of the Jews. He also spent considerable time and energy combating Protestantism at its inception. He had a deep devotion for the Eucharist and would spend sometimes three hours celebrating Mass.

Lawrence saw the need to clearly and concisely present the word of God for consideration, for contemplation, and for imitation. The word, he believed, comes first as a tiny seed, that we must cooperate with in the growing process or it will die in our minds and hearts. The fruit of the seed is everlasting life with God in heaven. This fruit is essential for all to produce. With God's own grace and strength we can be a fertile ground for the seed to sprout and flower, and we ourselves can be planters of the same seeds of contemplation in the minds and hearts of others, as was Lawrence of Brindisi.

Especially in our day and age we must continue to be willing to plant the seed of God's word and wisdom, for the world is more and more a pagan, godless, generic arena of smoke and illusion every day. Our faith, and our love and our willingness to pray for its conversion and then work for its accomplishment is very pleasing in God's sight – and wins the help and support of holy men and women in heaven who are praying for us, holy men such as St. Lawrence of Brindisi. The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live forever!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Homily – July 20, 2010 – Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Tuesday

+ We have a tremendous first reading today from the Prophet Micah. He is one of the last few prophets of the Old Testament. There is gathering momentum for the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah, who would be the fulfillment of the whole Law and the Prophets that came before him! But all of this has as its theme the faithfulness that God has to his promise of mercy that he made to Abraham, our Father in faith, and all his descendants, which includes us. He will shepherd his people with his staff, he will feed them as in days of old. Who is like you God who removes guilt and pardons sins from the remnant of your people? You do not persist in your anger, but delight rather in clemency. You will again have compassion on your people and "cast into the depths of the sea all our sins!" What amazing imagery, power, passion and truth that is being told here.

Our God is now here to save us, to heal us and to forgive us of all our sins – if we turn to him and his ways – as Jesus refers to in the gospel passage – and ask for his help and his mercy!

Whoever loves me will hear my words of promises made, promises kept, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and dwell in his heart - both now and forever!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Homily – July 19, 2010 – Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Monday

+ Our readings today are short but powerful. The first reading begins "God's case against his errant people" who will just not pay attention to the urgings of their consciences, the voice of God speaking directly to their hearts – 'O my people, what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you? Answer me! I brought you up from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery I released you, I sent you Moses and Aaron to lead you into a brand new life of protection and prosperity. But you turned away from my ways, and thought you animal sacrifices could assuage me, but they do not! This is what I ask of you: only to do what is right, to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God.'

The gospel passage is equally moving: Jesus, the very fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets: the fulfillment of the entire Jewish religion walks among his own people as the great "sign of signs" – as the visible manifestation of God's clear message of mercy, forgiveness and love – yet these people are still looking for "signs and wonders" as credentials from him. Jesus is not pleased and says that because they fail to respond to the grace given them to see him for who he really is, it will go easier for those who also did not see him, but had more of an excuse because he himself, the truth of all truths, was not standing right there before them.

Jesus stands not only before us today, but, by our hearing of his Word, and supping at his table, he resides deep within us. This is the truth of all truths – and he is our Friend – and he asks us to walk humbly with him right inside our hearts all day long – and to allow this presence to make an absolute difference in how we treat everyone we will run across today beginning with those in our very own households!

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Homily – July 18, 2010 – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

+ Today's gospel passage needs to be carefully and clearly understood. BOTH listening to, and then serving, the Lord are necessary and important; welcoming him into our presence, and then allowing his presence to make a big difference in the way we treat people afterwards; sitting at the Lord's feet; and then being his hands and feet and arms to embrace all who need his compassionate care!

If Jesus was reprimanding Martha today, perhaps it was just to emphasize the point that service must always be preceded by prayer and listening
to God
for his will. Otherwise, our service, our work, what we do for others could be aimless and less than it could be. But what he is not saying is that one is more important than the other in the total picture! BOTH ARE NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT! It is possible to be both attentive to Jesus ("the better portion") and to attend to the needs of others (Martha's portion) at the same time. Perhaps this is the real lesson here.

What is also to be understood clearly from this passage is that not only men are called to be disciples of Jesus, but also women. Women too are equal to men insofar as they can be hearers and doers of God's will and ways – each in the design and way that God has in mind.

In the first reading today we have a holy man and a holy woman
welcoming God into their lives. Some say that the three visitors represent the Holy Trinity itself. And that our Father in Faith, Abraham, and his wife Sarah in being so hospitable to them – serving their needs – were rewarded by the announcement that Sarah – even in her old age – would in one year's time be the mother of a son – Isaac.

When we welcome Jesus into our lives, we also welcome the other persons of the Trinity as well: Father and Spirit. It cannot be otherwise! And it is their dynamic, effusive, ever-expanding life of giving and service within us that motivates us and moves us to live not only like them, but to be them, for our brothers and sisters.

This love, this service, is not always an easy thing – as our second reading tells us. And we must, by our willing self-sacrifice make up for what is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ: in the now physical manifestation of his Body, the Church, which is still in so many ways imperfect. May we gladly offer our own crosses and sufferings* so that the Church will become purified and perfect – and become the spotless Bride of Christ that it is intended to be in heaven; and that the world may be transformed into the glorious Kingdom of God with Jesus reigning as King forever!

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

Friday, July 16, 2010

Homily – July 16, 2010 – Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

+ Today we celebrate a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mount Carmel is located about three miles south of Haifa in present-day Israel. It is here that the Carmelite Order began around the year 1200, when a group of lay hermits formed a community on its western slope. Between 1206 and 1214 they received a "formula of life" from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, encouraging them to daily Eucharist, continual prayer (especially the psalms – The Divine Office) with silence otherwise, manual labor, and other traditional forms of spiritual asceticism. It was to be a life of both solitude and community, with a physical structure of individual cells surrounding an oratory (a communal place for prayer). The order received formal papal approval in 1298. From the very beginning the Carmelites identified themselves with the Blessed Virgin Mary. The oratory was dedicated to her, and the Carmelites became known as the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel whom they saw as their patroness. Noteworthy Carmelites in the history of the Order have been: Sts. Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Therese of Lisieux. The Order is still going very strong today with about 2000 members worldwide.

Our first reading today speaks wonderfully of the desire of God to dwell among his people, not only in tents and tabernacles but also in their hearts and minds. It is in silence that the full effect of this magnificent presence can be experienced; but then it is only in action that it can be sustained – the action of loving service – labor of love! This is the will of the heavenly Father spoken of in the gospel passage: doing all to help build up the Kingdom of God – a spiritual superstructure of living stones – is the duty of any and all disciple of Christ, and member of any religious community. Any who listen for, hear and then observe the Father's will – are very pleasing in his sight! May we be so today!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Homily – July 15, 2010 – St. Bonaventure

+ Today we recall the life and holiness of the great Franciscan Theologian and Doctor of the Church: St. Bonaventure of Tuscany, Italy; Bonaventure being his religious name given him when he entered the Order of Friars Minor, the Franciscans, in 1243 at the age of 22. It is said that Bonaventure was healed from a childhood disease through the prayers of St. Francis of Assisi. After joining the order, Bonaventure studied theology and philosophy in Paris, where he became a friend of St. Thomas Aquinas, and King St. Louis IX of France. He became General of the Franciscan Order at age 35, then Bishop of Albano, Italy and then Cardinal. He spoke at the Council of Lyons, which sought ways to heal the division between the Eastern and Western factions of the Church. He was a writer on theological themes, a biographer of St. Francis, and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588. He is known as the "Seraphic" or "Devout" Doctor.

In his writings, Bonaventure emphasized not the acquisition of knowledge of facts as a way to get to know God, but rather seeking to experience him and know him through love! He also is the one who described the spiritual life as a process that begins with "purification" (a turning away from sin), moves on to "illumination" (based on imitation of Christ and experiencing the 'splendor of truth') and finally leads to "union" with God (the sweetness of love).

Our readings today speak of the spirit of St. Bonaventure's life and works: the first reading reminds us that God is our Father, and that our goal is to unite with him in the Spirit that he gives us for that very purpose, so that we can imitate Jesus fully and thus host the fullness of God within our very selves. The gospel passage situates us as humble children of a loving Father. When we have this perspective – we know who is in charge and where our responsibilities lie and the measure of authority that we possess in carrying out our God-given duties. St. Bonaventure, pray for us to keep things straight!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Homily – July 14, 2010 – Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

+ Today we recall the life and holiness of one who is well on her way to sainthood in the Catholic Church: Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, who was a daughter of a Christian Algonquin Indian, captured by the Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief in New York State. She was orphaned during a smallpox epidemic which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. She was converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary from France. Kateri was shunned and abused by her relatives for her faith. She escaped from them and went across the border into Canada to the Christian Native American village of Sault-Sainte-Marie. There she took a vow of chastity in 1679. She was known for her spirituality and austere lifestyle. She was a miracle worker. Her grave became a pilgrimage site and place of miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. Her cause for canonization was started in 1884 under Pope Leo XIII. And in June of 1980, Pope John Paul II declared her blessed. Her canonization is now pending.

Known as the "Lily of the Mohawks" – Kateri Tekakwitha considered herself to be like one espoused to God forever, espoused in right and in justice, in love and in mercy and in fidelity – as we read in the first reading today from the Prophet Hosea. And she did all the she possibly could to protect and nurture her espousement, her intimate relationship with God – who first came to her and invited her to companionship!

In the gospel passage we see Jesus himself tell us that the mysteries of the kingdom will simply be given to the childlike – to those like Kateri Tekakwitha who are chosen by Jesus to be the recipients of such amazing knowledge.

We pray that we today may be childlike enough to receive and understand the simple truth and reality that we are God's adopted children, he loves us so very dearly, and that we therefore will always have all we need to sustain both our supernatural as well as our natural lives – why wouldn't we, with GOD as our Father!

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Homily – July 13, 2010 – Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Tuesday

+ Today we see an example of how Jesus became impatient with, and critical of those who heard him bring Good News to them of God's wonderful Kingdom, and saw him perform great deeds of care and concern for the people's needs but failed to respond by repenting of their truly self-centered, evil rooted ways in order to turn to him wholeheartedly and be safe forever!

We often think of Jesus as the most patient one, but on many occasions he also showed himself to be the most exasperated one. No doubt in prayer he chatted with his Father and said: "Father, this is not an easy thing I am doing! These people are so stubborn and thick-headed! Give me patience!"

The first reading today is about the ancestors of the people of the gospel passage who likewise were hell-bent on doing their own thing hell-bent being the operative term! God promises destruction to those who refuse to mend their ways, but he also promises good things to those whose faith is strong, and who change their ways to those favored by him.

May our faith be strong today, may we find our safety in God today, and may we be among the repentant children of God today who constantly need to turn to him, so that we do not lose sight of him or his graces or his blessings!

If today you hear the voice of God speaking to you, harden not your hearts!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Homily – July 12, 2010 – Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Monday

+ There is no need to add much to Jesus' own preaching today by means of a homily. His intentions are quite clear, quite disturbing and quite challenging. Combined with the intent of the first reading: to encourage the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah away from their dissolute way of life so that God can give them the richness of his blessings – we have today a message from the word of God that encourages us seek God where he may be found: in the living out of seeming contrary gospel values: finding life, by losing it; picking up a cross and carrying it in order to be free; giving a cup of cold water to the poor and those you would rather not.

We must realize that it is by standing firm in the truth of the gospel that our spiritual lives will be saved – no matter what family members, or friends or the world-at-large has to say about it. May we receive our eternal reward for being faithful to the end!

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Homly – July 11, 2010 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time / Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia

+ Our gospel passage for today is a compelling one. It asks very pointedly and directly: "Who is my neighbor?" It seems that the scholars of the law were in agreement as to the theory of loving God first, and loving neighbor as self, after that, – but they split the hair by asking Jesus "just who then is this 'neighbor'?" What they were implying is: "just how far-reaching does your definition go, Jesus?"

In reply, Jesus told them a story about an unfortunate person who was beat up by robbers. They did quite a job on him and left him half-dead. Three people passed by the wounded man – a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. Two of them ran across the street and passed on the opposite side: the priest and the Levite. But the Samaritan, the one you would least expect (coming from a hybrid form of Judaism) came to him immediately, poured oil and wine over the wounds and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own beast and took him to an inn and cared for him. Asking which of the three was "neighbor" – the scholar was forced to admit that it was the one who treated the man with mercy! Then Jesus told the scholar – he tells us all – go and do the same! Your neighbor is anyone at all who needs compassion, mercy and forgiveness – go and bring God's healing love to all who need it!

Today the Church also remembers the Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia – a sixth century monk and founder of Western monasticism- who chose to serve his neighbor in a special way. The Spirit of God led Benedict to Monte Cassino to organize a way of life that would offer the possibility of spending a more concentrated time, in an environment of quiet and peace for the pursuit of holy wisdom, gotten from the law of God in written form (the Scriptures) and discovering, as the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy tell us, that the mysteries and secrets to a holy and perfect life are not too remote or far away; they are actually fact already written in our hearts – and all we have to do is to be still, listen and then carry out by word and deed what we thus experience. This, for the monk, and for the lay-person: everyone is called to be a monk or a nun for at least an hour or two a day!

Today we, the Joyful Servants of the Cross, acknowledge with gratitude the contributions that St. Benedict, composer of the Rule of Life that we follow, made to the Church. The Cross of Christ was very important to St. Benedict – and his own Crucifix is still held in highest esteem in the Church as a focal point for our meditation of God's love for his people, and as a source of defense and protection against the snares and wiles of the evil one – who though mortally wounded – is still trying to take down with him into hell as many as he can!

We, on the other hand, exist to pray and work for the purification and perfection of the Church on earth as it makes its way to heaven to be the Bride of Christ in her fullness, and the spiritual transformation of the world into the glorious Kingdom of God – that is its destiny – whether it even knows or cares about it or not!

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life. May we attend to your word at every minute of the day – in one way or another; and may it lead us to acts of kindness and true supernatural charity to any "neighbor in need!" This is our Christian vocation – this is our Monastic vocation – this is our Holy Catholic Life! Amen!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Homily – July 9, 2010 – Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Friday

+ Our gospel passage today continues St. Matthew's accounting of what we heard St. Luke report about last Sunday: Jesus sending out the disciples (and Apostles) to proclaim that "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand." Again, these disciples are sent as sheep in the midst of wolves; they are to be as shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. They are to beware of men who will mistreat them and hand them over to courts to defend their seeming antagonistic religious ways. But they are not to worry about their defense, because the Holy Spirit will speak the truth through them. Because of the name of Jesus all will hate them – even their own family members. They are to flee from town to town – spreading the true gospel – and not being afraid. They will not run out of towns before the Son of Man comes in glory!

May we today be willing to be used by the Holy Spirit to speak the truth of the gospel in our own day in age – which is in many ways even more pagan than the world of the Roman Empire. We will not be popular for doing so, maybe even hated by some, but then we are in good company, popularity is not the reason to be a follower of Christ. We must take up our Cross and follow him who carried his own for us and for our salvation!

May we always declare God's praises – who rewards those who are faithful to him, come what may!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Homily – July 8, 2010 – Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Thursday

+ Our gospel passage today is St. Matthew's accounting of what we heard St. Luke report about last Sunday: Jesus sending out the disciples (and Apostles) to proclaim that "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand." Again, these disciples are encouraged to travel lightly, to give what they themselves received without cost, using peace wish as a testing of the environmental climate: if a peaceful person receives your greeting it will go well with them, if not, then it will go easier for Sodom and Gommorrah on the day of judgment than for those consciously belligerent people. Sodom and Gommorrah only stood in the light of the promise of redemption: but the announcement that the Kingdom is at hand means that JESUS HIMSELF IS THE KINGDOM and it is indeed right then and there. Those who consciously deny that fact or make light of it are literally playing with fire and their own eternal destruction!

On the other hand, we hear in the first reading today, from the Prophet Hosea, that God wants very much to turn his blazing wrath away from his erring people, as a child he loved the people of Israel, he does not want to destroy them for their sins; he promises that if any even has the slightest bit of remorse and faith in him, he will not let the flames consume them!

May we today, as every day, continue to consider our lives, our spiritual lives, and continue to turn away from what is sinful and deserving of eternal punishment, and turn to the Life and Light and Love of the Gospel: the Life and Light and Love of God our Father, our Brother and our Friend!

The Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Homily – July 7, 2010 – Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Wednesday

+ At this point in his ministry Jesus is concerned about "going after the lost sheep of the house of Israel." He is primarily concerned at the outset with redeeming his own hereditary family, the one that his Father provided for him to be born into. We know that many of them did, finally, at Pentecost, come to believe in him at the preaching of St. Peter – but many never did, and for the purposes that only God has in mind, still don't.

Later, of course, Jesus will initiate a world-wide sweep for converts by means of the teaching and preaching of St. Paul. And that is where we come in. We are members of that "Gentile contingency" that was included in God's will and plan of salvation.

Today we are reminded that – because of the merits of the Passion of Christ - "The Kingdom of God is still at hand!" It is here! It is now! It is in us! It is in this Liturgy! It is in everything we say and do – especially in our acts of divine charity, if we consciously make it so! May we make it so today!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Homily – July 4, 2010 – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

+ Our gospel passage today is a continuation from last week. Jesus is still resolutely making his way to Jerusalem. He is still determined to embrace the Cross of Calvary that will save so very many people, including you and me, from eternal separation from God and punishment. He loves us so very much!

While on the way there, today Jesus sends out into towns where he intends to visit on the trip, seventy-two pairs of helpers – whom he asked to courageously go among all kinds of people and announce that the Kingdom of God is at hand for them. These helpers (these disciples) were to travel very lightly. They were to keep as their main focus their job, the task that Jesus gave them to do. They were to test the waters of their visitations by announcing peace. When peace is offered to someone – it pretty much speaks for itself. If a peaceful man hears the offer, he will accept it gladly and offer it back to you. If not, there will be a lot of mumbling and even cursing and the offer of peace will be thrown right back into the face of the giver.

Jesus is actually calling us to do as these disciples: follow him to Jerusalem, where we will have the privilege of witnessing God's tremendous love for his people – by an unprecedented act of forgiveness, reconciliation and setting free – by means of the Cross. Later he would have us boast of the Cross of Christ as the sure hope of salvation for all in the world, but also he would have us carry our own crosses, boasting of them as well; for if we do not carry and boast about our own crosses – then we shall not share in the glory of the resurrection, the grace of forgiveness, the fullness of freedom, the fullness of peace forever!

God wants our hearts to rejoice because we feel so very much loved by him – even as a mother loves her children (I - Isaiah). We are his children – by baptism – and this is huge – this is our access point to so very many gifts, the greatest being faith and charity: belief in Jesus and the ability to love as he did with a love that emanates from the heart of God the Father himself.

Our greatest joy, our greatest freedom, then, is the freedom of the children of God! It is only as free children of God – operating on the supernatural level of faith and charity that we can even begin to understand how human life both individually and in community, the secular society, ought to be lived. In this we can see clearly how all natural law is based on and derivative of supernatural law. It cannot be otherwise. It is very difficult for a real Christian to live in the world – but no one ever said that it would be anything other than that. Jesus himself said it quite plainly: the world will hate you and persecute you if you believe in me and live by my brand of charity! In fact unless the world does look askance at us, perhaps we are not as Christian as we ought to be.

And on this fourth day of July, may we remember that the independence that this country was founded upon sprung from a desire for religious liberty – which was so very welcomed back then. Today it seems however to be so much the opposite case: exercising the legal right of religious freedom – especially by Church members - can get one labeled an enemy of progress and of the state.

It's time for freedom – true freedom – freedom of the children of God – to ring out throughout the land; whatever other kinds of freedom there are out there can only be valid if they participate in this fundamental God-given freedom – paid for by the Death of Christ Jesus on the Cross! It's time for the lamb to lie down with the wolf – in peace, peace that can only come from God alone!

Let the peace of Christ control your hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in you richly! Be transformed by the renewal of your minds!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Homily – July 2, 2010 – Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Friday

+ Yesterday we saw how Amos became a reluctant prophet of the Lord. He made it clear that it was not his idea to become a prophet. He neither was a member of a prophet's family, nor did he attend a prophet's school. He was a shepherd who God handpicked to go and warn the people of Israel that sure punishment and exile from their nativeland would be their lot unless they changed their hearts and minds and turned once again completely to God and his will and ways. As we see in our reading this morning the people still did not repent, and in fact they became worse than ever. They lied to and they cheated their own fellows. They extorted money and caused all kinds of ill things to happen among themselves. And the Lord did begin his punishment by sending causing all kind of disasters to befall them, bringing famine upon the land, and a draught. They shall then search for the word of God's encouragement and not find it; and finally they shall be exiled from their own land! But as we heard yesterday, so it applies today: the judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just: God gives fair warning before he does anything drastic or far reaching, but then he follows through with it!

The gospel passage shows Jesus associating with sinners and tax collectors, many of whom were notorious for the very things we heard about in the first reading from Amos. They cheated people and extorted money; they dealt unkindly with one another and were not worthy of God's favor – but the difference here is that Jesus sees this crowd now as teachable, malleable, redeemable. He sees them as ignorant and errant potential children of God his Father and he treats them with mercy. Mercy is the great manifestation of the reality of God and the expression of his divine heart! God would much rather show compassion and grant forgiveness than show a father's hand in discipline and dole out just punishment. It is when we acknowledge ourselves as teachable, malleable, redeemable sinners that God can shower us with the grace of mercy and forgiveness. We are all sick in the eyes of God and in need of the healing ministrations of Jesus the Divine Physician. May we accept the treatment that Jesus prescribes today: a little dose of mercy, followed by a day of loving service to our fellows because we all exist in the heart of God! This will make us different from the hard-hearted people of the time of Amos the Prophet!

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened; and I will give you rest, says the Lord!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Homily – July 1, 2010 – Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Thursday

+ In our first reading today Amos, the reluctant prophet of the Lord, makes it clear that it was not his idea to become a prophet. He neither was a member of a prophet's family, nor did he attend a prophet's school. He was a shepherd who God handpicked to go and warn the people of Israel that sure punishment and exile from their nativeland would be their lot unless they changed their hearts and minds and turned once again completely to God and his will and ways. This he did! And the people still did not repent and they were indeed expelled from their land! But in all this: the judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just: God gives fair warning before he does anything drastic or far reaching.

The gospel passage shows Jesus healing a paralytic, and at the same time forgiving his sins. This shows Jesus' power of nature and sin. In so many ways people are still exiled from their spiritual homeland – and they become paralyzed spiritually, and crippled in so many other ways because of their sins, because of their willfulness, because they insist on having things their own way! Simple faith in Jesus, Son of God, Son of Man, can bring forgiveness and wholeness into one's life.

May we today, just a little bit more than yesterday, let go of our willfulness, confess our sinfulness, profess our faith in Christ Jesus and receive the blessings and health that he has to offer us.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation!

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...