Wednesday, September 30, 2015

September 30 - Homily for Today

The gospel passage today, on this feast of St. Jerome, is an interesting one. Jesus tells us that saints and sinners will be found both in the world, and even in the Church, until the time of sorting at the end of the world. He is also telling us that it will be helpful for us if we could tell the difference between saints and sinners; and of course, we ought not be among the latter group (the sinners) if we can possibly avoid it. We have been given what we need to stay on a “straight and narrow path” and we must cling to him, we must cling to Jesus.

St. Jerome was born about the year 342 in a small town near the head of the Adriatic Sea. His father, a Christian, took care that his son was well instructed at home, and then he sent him to Rome, where he received an excellent education, including Latin and Greek. He read the literatures of those languages with great pleasure. His aptitude for oratory was such that he may have considered law as a career. He acquired many worldly ideas, and lived out his pleasure-loving instincts, and lost much of the piety that had been instilled in him at home. Yet, he got in with a Christian crowd of friends and eventually ended up being baptized by Pope Liberius in 360. His intellectual curiosity led him to explore other parts of the world. While in Aquileia, he made friends among the monks of the monastery there. Then it was off to Treves, in Gaul, where he decided to renounce all secular pursuits to dedicate himself wholeheartedly to God. It is interesting how a vocation to one's life work comes about!

The rest as they say is history: Jerome spent a lot of time delving into the study of scripture, both in itself and its commentaries by other writers. Then he himself began to write about his findings. Later, it was found to be beneficial for Jerome to become a priest to serve the needs of the young church. He reluctantly submitted to ordination but wanted to remain a monk and a recluse, which is pretty much what happened. His great work was his translation of the Scriptures from Greek into Latin. But he also wrote endlessly defending the Word of God and for this is considered the greatest of all of the doctors and fathers of the Church. His most often used advices are these: that "ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ;" and that "it was of no use just to read about or study the Word of God (in scripture), one has to act on it!

In the first reading today St. Paul says the same thing to Timothy: all scripture is inspired by God, and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work!

May we become more familiar today with Christ and his word, (and not remain blissfully or purposefully ignorant on certain topics), and then may we act on that familiarity: and be doers of the word and not just hearers! The difference between the saint and the sinner is that the saint listens and tries to act…while the sinner doesn't even really hear at all, and therefore acts aimlessly!


This day, are you more a saint, or a sinner?

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

September 29 - Homily for Today

Today was originally known as the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel (or Michaelmas Day), it was only later in church history that the lesser known feasts of Sts. Gabriel and Raphael were added to the celebration. They were linked together to highlight the activity of a group of powerful spiritual beings, archangels, who directly intervened in the affairs of men – the chosen people of God.

Archangel Michael was the great defender of the people of Israel in the Old Testament, and is connected with the final battle that will take place at the end times: he will be defender and friend of all who tried their hardest to go the narrow way and live the life of Christ.

Archangel Gabriel was God’s messenger and announced the births both of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah: he was therefore a key instrument in the history of salvation.

And Archangel Raphael brings messages and prayers from the people to God, especially prayers for healing – he was instrumental in both physical and spiritual healing in the life of Tobiah in the Book of Tobit.

We rejoice that we have as allies and friends those who are God’s special friends and agents. May we ask for defense against the insidious and cunning forces of evil from Michael, the announcement of good news and new life for us from Gabriel, and healing from physical and spiritual maladies from Raphael – as we make our way today to our heavenly homeland where we will live forever praising God and enjoying the company of all the angels and saints!


Bless the Lord, all you angels, you ministers, who do his will.

Monday, September 28, 2015

September 28 - Homily for Today

Our readings today are very fitting for the first passages read after the Apostolic Visit of Pope France to our United States. The first reading speaks of the return of the people of God to Jerusalem after their exile, and how happy God is to announce that “they shall be his people, and he will be their God” – God delights in being our God – and he so desires us to delight in being his people. The decision though is always ours: will we count ourselves in God’s family or not? It sounds like an almost rhetorical question: but it needs to be asked: will you be a member of God’s people, his family – or not?

This passage is also a prophetic one keeping in mind that at the end of the age all of God’s family will be gathered from the east and west, from the land of the rising of the sun to the land of its setting. There will be a new city of God – and the people – again – any who want to belong by God’s free gift – will be the temple of the city. The interrelatedness of harmony, peace, justice, joy, and love will mark the very stones of this city: and it shall last forever.

The great ones in this kingdom – Jesus tells us in the gospel passage – are those show their greatness by their littleness, - who are like children - who are humble, who are gentle, who are simply loving.

May we today demonstrate to God that we are ready at any moment for his return – because we “get” his message, and we know that it is not just a cozy feel good doctrine – but one that moves us to action in the city streets, outside the doors of our houses and churches, to encounter Christ where he is: everywhere – but especially in the poor and needy – all of whom we will encounter forever in the great Kingdom – where Christ indeed is King – and where we will be a priestly, prophetic, royal part of his Kingdom, his family forever!

The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.


Sunday, September 27, 2015

September 27 - Homily for Today

The “seventy plus two” that were on “the list” to have the spirit that was on Moses bestowed upon them for prophecy – foreshadowed the time many centuries later, when Jesus would send out seventy-two of his disciples to proclaim the message that he (as Messiah) was indeed now present in their midst, God was working special things for them, and that salvation was at hand. What was interesting in the first bestowal was that two of the chosen recipients – two on the list - (Eldad and Medad) were not even present in the tent when the other seventy received the spirit (no doubt by a laying on of hands – the usual way of representing the imbuing of the Spirit). This confirms the fact that God can do what he wants, with those he has selected for special ministry, the way he wants to – he is not bound by institutions and organized ways of doing things.

When there was complaint about the technicality that the two were not commissioned at the same time as the others, Moses answered: Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all! This is a direct inference that in baptism one day all of the members of God’s family, Christ’s Body, would indeed possess the spirit and be not only a prophetic people – called on to speak on behalf of the Lord all the days of their lives – but also a priestly people who offer fitting spiritual sacrifice to God, and a kingly people, sharing the dignity of the royal family of God of which they are now direct heirs.

In the gospel passage Jesus is questioned about some who were performing actions that only he or his selected disciples were theoretically allowed to perform: the driving out of demons in Jesus’ name. Obviously, what they were doing brought about the desired result, but it was not the ordinary means. Jesus responds by saying that sometimes using the right formula does work (again, he is not bound by institution or organization): it is the work worked and the good intention (the good faith) of the worker that brings about the desired result: so don’t stop them he says. For if you notice, they are on our side – maybe in a remote and distant way – but nevertheless a real way! This applies to all good works done in general, and in the name of some higher authority – if done in good faith and for the good of another – and not to get credit – then the doer is “not far from the kingdom” – and affirming their good deed may draw them more readily into the true fold.

The bottom line today is that God’s people are taken care of: negative spirits are driven away, good spirits are encouraged, and God’s people feel nurtured, fed, and cared for! If we contribute to this project, then we are friends of Jesus, true disciples, and cooperators in our own salvation!

May we live our life like we are children of God, for that is what we are; and let us take care of our brothers and sisters out of a true sense of concern, compassion and empathy – and our Father will be pleased – and our many sins will be more easily forgiven!


The precepts of the Lord, give joy to the heart.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

September 24 - Homily for Today

[Today’s readings are very apropos as they come on a day when Pope Francis, the Vicar of Christ and head of the Catholic Church (his Mystical Body) will address a joint session of Congress on his Apostolic Visit to the United States]. It is interesting to note in the gospel passage how civil authority, even the civil authority of the Romans, desires to peer into the mysteries of truth, (whether intentionally or unintentionally), real truth as it is manifested in Jesus Christ. “Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening and was greatly perplexed…and he kept trying to see him.” It is not so unlikely that this should happen. Those in authority are human beings too, with a human being’s curiosity and intellectual bent on getting to the bottom of an issue. Jesus was a mystery to be solved; but he was more than that he was the very “mystery of God” made flesh. This mystery is a mystery rooted in love, in justice, in peace, in human helpfulness. It is when the civil authority goes to the heart of the matter: to love, justice, peace and human helpfulness as they originate and emanate from God that they can right appreciate, understand and use them.

We pray today that civil authority – while on the one hand touts a politically correct, generic form of human interrelations – bases all of these things at the very least on the very real natural law planted in their hearts no matter who they are: a law of love, justice, peace and human helpfulness: which of course is based on the supernatural law from which they come.


I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me; just being a “good generic citizen” is not going to get you to heaven, there must be more to it than that: as God’s children, there is! Be a true child of your Father in heaven, today!

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

September 23 - Homily for Today

In the gospel passage today Jesus tells his disciples how he must endure many sufferings and be crucified; our saint for today, Padre Pio was the first priest to receive the stigmata of the Lord’s Passion: proof positive that Jesus did in fact undergo these things for us and for our salvation. Pio was born in 1887 in Pietrelcina, Benevento (Naples), Italy. As a boy he was a shepherd. At age 15 he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars in Morcone, Italy and joined the order at age 19. He suffered several health problems, and at one point his family thought he had tuberculosis. He was ordained at age 22 on August 10, 1910.

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on September 20, 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. He later became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly he was able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. He founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital which serves 60,000 people a year. In the 1920’s he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

Padre Pio died on September 23, 1968, and was canonized in June 2002 by his own personal friend Pope John Paul II. His canonization miracle involved the cure of the 7 year old son of a doctor at the hospital he founded, who was admitted with fatal meningitis on June 20, 2000. The boy’s mother and some Capuchin friars from Padre Pio’s monastery prayed through the night. In the morning the boy’s condition improved suddenly. When the boy woke from a coma he said that he had seen an elderly man with a white beard and a long, brown habit, who said to him: “Don’t worry, you will soon be cured.” The miracle was approved by the Congregation and Pope John Paul II on December 20, 2001

Whether we bear the marks of Christ’s Passion, visibly or invisibly we are all called upon to bear them one way or another. It is only this way that we can truly understand what Jesus did for us, how much he loved us, and how much he wants us to love and get along with one another. We are God’s family. May we today act as such, as we honor one of our brothers who simply loved God back and tried to spread that love to as many as he could in a very special way.


St. Pio, pray for us!

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

September 22 - Homily for Today

The first reading today celebrates the fact of the completion of the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem after it had been destroyed as prophesied. King Darius oversaw its restoration and made sure the workmen were compensated fully for their help and participation in this worthwhile project. It is always necessary to pay the workmen for his daily produce.

God’s house is now restored and his people can worship there in truth and in dignity, in confidence and in joy! This resembles our own houses of worship – which are places of celebrating God as he is in himself, and as he relates to us.

And how is he related to us: Jesus tells us exactly in the gospel passage: they are his mother, brothers and sisters, who simply do what the Father wants. It is quite uncomplicated. God has the masterplan – and he IS GOD! Therefore, whenever anyone cooperates willingly with him in building the earthly city – then, he is simultaneously building the “New Jerusalem” yet to come – our destination – and our home.


May we rejoice today in the fact that we are a royal people involved in a very special drama – that has our eternal happiness and joy as it ending plot – and “season finale”! Amen.

Monday, September 21, 2015

September 21 - Homily for Today

St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist was the son of Alphaeus (and most likely brother of James the Less)He lived at Capernaum on Lake Genesareth. He was a Roman tax collector by trade, a position equated with “collaboration with the enemy” by those from whom he collected taxes. Tax collectors were also known to keep some of the “take” for themselves, another reason for them being despised by the Jews.

Jesus’ contemporaries were surprised then to see the Christ with a traitor, but Jesus explained that he had come not to call the righteous but sinners. Matthew was also a gospel writer and his gospel is given “pride of place” in the canon of the New Testament, for it was written to convince Jewish readers that their anticipated Messiah had come in the person of Jesus. He preached among the Jews for 15 years; his audiences may have included the Jewish enclave in Ethiopia, and places in the East. Some accounts see him travelling as far away as Ireland to bring the gospel to the heathens. There is question as to his actual martyrdom, but he is given the benefit of the doubt.

Matthew is then an example of one like us, a sinner, called by God to greatness; and he responded generously and lovingly: he left his traitorous job and followed Jesus unreservedly. We can turn from sin and do the same, renewing our resolve each and every day. Jesus doesn’t mind associating with us – who are not perfect by any means; may we never mind associating with him who is the source of our conversion, our holiness and our choice of the correct path to take that will lead to life in his Reign, his Kingdom forever.


We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the glorious company of Apostles praise you.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

September 19 - Homily for Today

Today we celebrate a popular 4th century bishop and martyr.  Januarius was bishop of Benevento (or Naples), Italy during the persecution of Diocletian. He was arrested while visiting imprisoned deacons, and then martyred with them. It is said that he was fed to the lions, but when they would not touch him he was beheaded, this, in 304. His blood was preserved and dried. And since at least 1389, on his feast day, in Naples, and on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, the blood liquefies. Many miracles are attributed to veneration of this wondrous spectacle.

The readings for today fit the feast well: the first reading from the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that the persecution that follows enlightenment is only normal: a great contest of suffering always follows true enlightenment of faith. But we are not to throw away our confidence [lose hope], but we need to endure, do the will of God and receive the eternal life of joy that he has promised.

In the gospel passage Jesus gives those beautiful words of encouragement: unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat: it must fall, it must die, it must begin then to live the fullness of the life it was meant to live: it is on the day of our baptisms that the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies for us, and we are enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit [today, in fact, is my anniversary of baptism 67 years ago]; from then on we can give glory to the Father by doing his will perfectly and completely, and he will honor us and reward us with everlasting life! As St. Januarius lived a full and authentic Christian life, so can we this day!


Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.

Friday, September 18, 2015

September 18 - Homily for Today

The gospel passage today show us Jesus’ regard for the women in his company: indeed, women of many different characteristics and backgrounds. Pope Francis has an equally high regard for women, and women’s roles in the Church, as women have every opportunity to demonstrate the fidelity, obedience and trust in Christ that his own Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, had.

Role distinction is a high priority on the Pope’s daily agenda. The dangerous price of sexual and role blurring and morphing – as is so prevalent in our country – will no doubt be a rightful target in his speeches next week when he visits our country. The pope speaks his mind – and will no doubt tell us what we need to hear – although what many may not like to hear!

In the first reading today St. Paul continues to tell his beloved friend Timothy the value of identifying with the poor – as Christ himself did – “love of money is the root of all evil” – this has always been true. It is so easy to stray from the faith, when one creates a very false sense of eternal security by one’s one means and bought methods. We must compete well for the faith – using the faith. This too will be a message from Pope Francis to Americans. “Stay away from those who have a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes” - “remember the poor” – these are theme that are ever present in his mind – and ought to be in the minds of all real Catholics and Christians everywhere.


Remember them, for they are blessed, and the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

September 17 - Homily for Today

The gospel passage today tells of the great power involved in the act of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the most regenerative dynamic of all – because it reflects what happened on a Friday afternoon on Calvary. In the great act of self-sacrifice, the God-man, brought about the forgiveness that was absolutely necessary so that mankind could be reconciled with God: forgiven and vindicated.

The woman in the passage demonstrates her penitent heart by washing the feet of Jesus with her tears and then anointing them with perfume.

And what happens, she is criticized by unforgiven Pharisees, for being extravagant, showy and wasteful. But Jesus knows her heart, and ends by forgiving her sins – because he is God – and he can do that.

Once again, the Pharisees are put back because Jesus is apparently claiming to either be God, or to have God’s powers. And once again, it is because they do not seek his mercy that he cannot show forgiveness of sin to them – who have many sins of judgmentalism and uncharity to confess.

St. Paul tells Timothy to step up to the plate – even though he is a young newly ordained bishop. He too has been given Christ’s own power to forgive those who ask it, to reconcile men with God. He must use it!

May we not fail to get all the benefits that are coming to us in regard to being freed from what can hold us earth bound – benefits that come from our own acts of penitence and confession to the ears of God – who will forgive, comfort and send us forth refreshed and renewed.


In our labor, let us go to Jesus and he will give us rest!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

September 16 - Homily for Today

These two third century bishops and martyrs were very important in the survival of the Church in the time of the persecutions. Cornelius became reluctant 21st pope during this very dangerous time in church history. He worked very hard to maintain unity of believers in a time of schism and apostasy. He had the support of St. Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage. He welcomed back those who had apostatized during the persecution of Decius. He was exiled in 252 by Roman authorities, and later martyred. [A document from Cornelius, incidentally, shows the size of the Church in Rome in his papacy:  46 priests, 7 deacons, 7 subdeacons and approximately 50,000 Christians].

Cyprian was born to wealthy pagan parents, and had a formal education in his youth, but converted to the faith in 246. He was ordained a priest in 247, and then named Bishop of Carthage in 249. During the persecution of Decius, beginning in 250, he lived in hiding, covertly ministering to his flock (but his enemies condemned his for being a coward and not standing up for his faith). He became a great writer, with influence, and agreed with Pope Cornelius that apostates should be received warmly back into the church when they saw the error of their ways. During the persecution of Valerian he was exiled in 257 and then brought back to Carthage and martyred in 258.


The gospel passage today shows us how Jesus foresaw all of the brave and heroic things his future apostles would endure – and he prays not that they be spared, but that they be given the strength to endure in his Name – to give credibility to the Power of that Name – and the very truths of the faith that we profess. The Mystical Body of Christ is real; it operates on spiritual principles; and it will see us through anything and everything we do for love, for God, and for his people! Amen!

Monday, September 14, 2015

September 14 - Homily for Today

The origin of today’s feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross comes from the 4th century when St. Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ’s life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition has it was built over the Savior’s tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher over the tomb. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman. Immediately the cross became an object of veneration. And this date, the date of the dedication of the Basilica, was designated as its feast day.

Scripturally, using the readings of the feast, we celebrate “the feast of snakes and salvation.” The story from the Book of Numbers today tells us of the cure for being bitten by God’s wrath – seraph snakes: Moses was to make a bronze seraph and mount it on a pole – and then when any of the people who were bitten looked up at the snake on the pole they would live: they would be healed.

This is an obvious reference to the cross of Christ: the one who came down from heaven to save us and give us eternal life would himself be mounted on a cross of wood: and it is true: whenever anyone LOOKS UP AT HIM THERE AND BELIEVES that “this is the Son of God come to save us” – then he will be healed of all his spiritual maladies, and will have eternal life!

The Cross trumps everything! Jesus lived in the shadow of that cross his whole life long: he accepted and embraced it always, and he looked forward eagerly to accomplishing our salvation on it; we too can live in its shadow and have a blanket of protection cast upon our lives and an eternal reward promised at its end. And when we look up and see Jesus – our hearts will be soothed and our bodies energized to live a holy life.

One other thing that this seraph snake image reminds me of is this: because of the Cross of Christ and its subsequent victory, whenever we look up and face the things that we hate, that we are afraid of, that are really destroying our lives whether we are aware of it or not – the victory can be our as well: our hatred can turn to love, our fear to bravery, and self-destruction can dissolve into self-respect and healthy self-improvement.

Yes, the Cross of Christ trumps everything! Look at it! Embrace it! Touch it! Love it! Venerate it! It is our Salvation!

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross, you have redeemed the world.


Sunday, September 13, 2015

September 13 - Homily for Today

Our readings today that have to do with the suffering and Passion of Christ, come only days before the Feasts of both the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, tomorrow on Monday, and of Our Lady of Sorrows, on Tuesday: there is a certain sense of exigency in the air: something really important is being talked about here.

And what could be more important than the price of our salvation, and how it affected the lives of others who were there at the time.

In the gospel passage, Jesus first elicits from St. Peter a declaration that he is in fact the Christ of God: the anointed one, sent to bring the history of Israel to a major turning point! But then, after Jesus tells them all what he has to do as the Christ, to bring about the salvation of all mankind: “be rejected, and killed are rise after three days,” Peter rebukes Jesus and tells him to reconsider this  “unthinkable prospect,” – unthinkable, because he is thinking only in human terms of what will happen: Jesus then adds fuel to the fire of incredulity when he says that not only he must take up a cross and suffer and die, but everyone who wants to be a true and authentic disciple of his must do the same – if they want to share in the third part of Jesus’ original declaration “rise again after three days,”  the disciple will die with Jesus, yes, but as Jesus himself here promises, he will also rise with him!

And so the choice is ours, it is always ours: are we willing to believe that the Cross of Jesus merited newness of life for himself; and that imitation of him will yield the same results for us?

The first reading from the Prophet Isaiah relates the spirit in which Jesus embraced the shame of his Passion: no, it would not be easy at all to “go through with it” – but God would be his help, and he would get through it, and the spiritual lives of a great many would be salvaged.

For us, then, today, while the cause of our salvation rests solely on our belief that Jesus is the Christ – the Divine Son of God – and that he did in fact suffer and die and rose – for the forgiveness of our sins and so that the gates of heaven could be opened for us – let us also remember that this belief must be accompanied by cooperative acts of loving service to others motivated by love of God: for as Saint James tells us in his ever classic way: faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead – and it will not be able to qualify us then for participation in the supernatural life of God!


With our Blessed Mother Mary, who knows about integrating suffering into a life of deep faith and works, may we count on her prayers this day, and on Tuesday her Feast of Sorrows, to aid us in being always pleasing to her Son, and to his Father in heaven. Amen.

Friday, September 11, 2015

September 11 - My Homily for Today

Our readings today are about “seeing” and “perspective.” In the first reading, St. Paul admits to being one with a very faulty perspective – he said that he was a blasphemer, a persecutor and an arrogant man. But then, Jesus himself, looked deep inside his person, into his heart, saw what he liked – enthusiasm and drive – and transformed him into the great Apostle to the Gentiles. He cured his “faulty way of seeing things, his faulty perspective and vision” by the abundance of grace poured out.

In the gospel passage we see Jesus advising those who want to help others “see,” to make sure they are seeing rightly themselves: remove the beam from your own eye first – and then you can help others to see their way to Christ and his Kingdom – this is in fact all there is. It is our only duty!

Today we have the opportunity to apply this lesson directly and immediately on this 14th anniversary of the terror attack on our country. It was the faulty vision of the terrorists that led to the massive destruction and loss of human life in 3 locations in our country. And, all these years later, terrorism still abounds in many other locations of the world – with serious and escalating intent and illness of will.

What St. Paul and Jesus both would recommend – though it may difficult for us to comprehend – from the readings today – is for us first to allow grace to pour into us – either by asking for it – or by just standing there and accepting it when it comes – and then by FORGIVING those who persecute us, praying for them and asking for their CONVERSION: (rather than their removal from the face of the earth). Just think of what an amazing world it would be, if – like St. Paul – the destructive energies for the terrorists – could be literally con-verted “turned-into” something good and useful for all of mankind. Anything at all is possible with God! Anything – even this unlikely turn of events.

The upcoming Year of Mercy, focused as it is on being merciful just like the Father, would be a great springboard for all kinds of “miraculous transformations,” healings, and reconciliations to occur. All it takes is our belief and our asking, our humble prayer, and our trust that all will truly end well for those who love God!


And we shall not be disappointed!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

September 9 - Homily for Today

Our readings today talk about the details of Christian life. St. Luke’s simpler, less-polished version of the “Beatitudes” have as their closing emphasis a series of “woes,” after listing some of what St. Matthew tells his listeners in his mountainside version. The point is that those who live according to the world – especially at the time, the pagan Roman world of excesses and debauchery – would be excluded from the ranks of members of God’s family: the rich, the “filled now” with all kinds of satisfactions and delights, the laughing and the mindless babblings of conscience-less people, the well-spoken of and lauded for earthly prestige – these would be hard-pressed to find entrance into a realm that is anything but earthly;

but those who lived instead (even here below) the rigors of membership in a heavenly Kingdom, guided by supernatural forces would embrace being poor in spirit, hungry for the truth, weeping for sinfulness, and hated for the sake of right-living according to God’s laws: God, the maker of all law and justice.

St. Paul in the first reading contributes to this lesson today of right living for the true Christian: put to death in you those parts which are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed: stop lying to one another: put away anger, fury, malice, slander and obscene language from your mouths. Put on the new self that you received in baptism, the self that is made in the image of the creator – renew your sonship in God. Be a loving and responsible child of God and you will be richly rewarded and have nothing to fear on the Day of Judgment.


Rejoice and leap for joy when you are persecuted for the sake of Christ; your reward will be great in heaven.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

September 8 - Homily for Today

Today we celebrate the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast originating somewhere between the fourth and the seventh centuries. We know next to nothing about the events surrounding this noteworthy event. It is only through the apocryphal Gospel of James that we know something about Sts. Joachim and Anne, her parents and about the fact that they had a girl-child whom they named Mary, whom they presented to the Lord in the Temple, thus dedicating her to God for life. And so even though the details are sketchy, this only adds to the mystique that we have about Mary as a pure, humble, out-of-the-limelight maiden of Nazareth. She is not the key figure in all of human history: her future son would be that: Jesus Christ, who would be Son of God and Son of Man through her own humanity.

The first reading today talks of those who are predestined to experience the fullness of God’s grace: Mary certainly was that, from the first moment of her existence she was full of grace: the grace that was to be reestablished by Christ her son; and so Mary, then, was the first to “resemble Jesus her son” to the point that God delighted in her as a true daughter, in Christ.

We rejoice with Mary on her birthday today and ask her to pray for us constantly so that we may resemble not only Jesus her son (to the delight of God the Father) in his gentle, patient, compassionate nature; but also her, in her humility, poverty and obedience.


Mary, you are the Dawn, and Christ your Son is the Perfect Day!

Monday, September 7, 2015

September 7 - Homily for Today

On the Labor Day we have the reference of work in the gospel passage. Jesus “works” on a Sabbath Day and cures a man with a withered hand. There is no question as to the rightness or wrongness of the deed – and the scribes and Pharisees deep down knew that. But, Jesus uses the scene to ask a much deeper question: is it lawful to do a good deed on the Sabbath or an evil one? The scribes and Pharisees were themselves “working on the Sabbath” in an attempt to trip Jesus up. The answer is obvious here too. It is never Ok on any day to do an evil deed. The scribes and Pharisees lose the argument and a little more of their dignity and standing with the people.

As we consider “Labor Day” – we reflect on the fact that “work” is a God-given right – given from the Day in Paradise when God told Adam to till the land and take care of creation. Every man (and woman) has the inherent right to provide for their family’s needs from the rightful fruit of their labor. And governments must come to treasure and value this inherent “right to work” and provide for its existence in not only this, but all future generations.

We thank all who do labor and have labored to build the Kingdom of God – indirectly – especially in our country – throughout the centuries – and especially the immigrants who came to our shores to find work. We thank then our parents and grandparents among them, who helped make out country strong – by being a nation built on hard-work, intelligent know-how and the desire to ensure what was always better for their families than what they had for themselves.

Let all the ends of the earth sing the glory of God – who loves us and gives us all something to do, for work, in building the Kingdom to come! Amen.


Sunday, September 6, 2015

September 6 - Homily for Today

Our readings today have to do with at least 4 levels of deafness that can be found in our world. First) There is the absence of the ability to hear, using the human ear, that comes as a defect of birth: sometimes the hearing apparatus is not intact or even present at all and so deafness results; Second) in other cases a person is born hearing, but through some disease or accident, or even the natural process of growing older, he loses the ability to hear - slowly or quickly - sometimes temporarily - sometimes permanently. Third) there is also another kind of inability to hear or deafness that can occur as well, and this is a very real case of psychological deafness: people hear only what they want to hear and tune out the rest, quite conveniently and dare I say easily. And finally) the last kind of deafness is what can be called theological or spiritual deafness: things of God and of the spiritual life somehow are accessed by the inner faculties only slightly, or not at all: this is the saddest and worst kind of all the deafnesses: for it can end in personal eternal loss and separation from God.

Jesus came to our world to repair the third and fourth kinds of deafness: the psychological and the theological/spiritual; while at the same time, not being entirely uninterested in the first and second kinds of inability to physically hear what is going on in the world. And to show his power over all of nature, he did open the ears of the deaf so that they could literally hear; but he would do this only if it would not be the end of the story. What comes after any restoration of healing of any of the four deafnesses is very important: which Jesus demonstrated in the healing of the deaf man in the gospel passage. Once hearing is restored, really and fully restored, one can hear the voice of Jesus speaking (in the variety of ways in which he does indeed speak to us during any given day), and then it is up to the healed person to sing out his praises (literally) and to proclaim the glory of his Father, and by his own words and actions to invite others to join him in sharing his newfound joy!

Our first reading tells us that God indeed comes to be our vindication – to make things right – everything about us (even our hearing) – but this is so that all of us, rich and poor alike (as we hear in the second reading) – on a level playing field – can receive God’s healing and blessing and share with all others the good things we have so undeservedly received.

And so, may we who have heard the words of Jesus clearly at this Mass experience a deeper opening of our theological / spiritual ears and thus have even more to sing about, give God the glory about and reason to invite all we meet to become one with us in God’s never-ending praise and worship!


Praise the Lord, my soul!

Friday, September 4, 2015

September 4 - Homily for Today

Our first reading today reminds us that Jesus is the fullness of all creation, and that he is therefore to be held in preeminence: he is the perfect form of creation and the first-born of the dead in the new creation that is to come. We are privileged to count ourselves a part of that transformed creation and among the members of the redeemed, because of what Jesus did on that Friday afternoon in Calvary so long ago.

How we plug ourselves into this is by our faith response to God’s loving initiative: and this faith can present itself in ever new manifestations and depths: this has to do with Jesus’ parable of the patched cloak and the wine-skins. We must be able to adapt ourselves to the newer presentations of faith, while hanging on to the essence of what they looked like in the past. It is possible to do both, or Jesus wouldn’t have told us to do it.

In any event today we are called to follow Jesus the light of the world: so that we may bask in the warmth of his love, be assured of the correctness of the path that we are on, and be able to look forward to the life of heaven that is promised at the end of the path!


Come with joy into the presence of the Lord!

Thursday, September 3, 2015

September 3 - Homily for Today

Gregory the Great born in 540 was son of Gordianus, a Roman officer, and was related to three saints and a Pope who was also a saint. He was educated by the finest teachers in Rome, and then became prefect of Rome for a year, but then he sold his possessions, turned his home into a Benedictine monastery and used his money to build six monasteries in Sicily and one in Rome. He himself became a Benedictine monk. Upon seeing English children being sold in the Roman Forum, he became a missionary to England. On this date, September 3, 590, he became the first monk to be chosen Pope. This was done by unanimous acclamation.

He then sent a monk named Augustine and others to evangelize England; he also sent other missionaries to France, Spain and Africa. He had a love of sacred music and collected the melodies and plain chant so associated with him that they are now known as Gregorian chants. He did extensive writing on the Mass and the Divine Office; he wrote especially about the role of the bishop as a servant; he is the first to use the term for the pope being called “the servant of the servants of God.” He died March 12, 604 at Rome of natural causes. He is one of the four original Doctors of the Latin Church, and the first Pope to be named “Great.”

If you asked Gregory his motivation for all his works he would tell you that it was love of God and of his people; he would tell you that any success he had as preacher, teacher, writer was the work of God and not his own; he would tell you that he was but an “instrument of light,” the light of Christ shining on the world so desperately in need of it. And of course, he would tell you that, just as Jesus came to serve, to be a slave of all for their salvation – so should be our role with one another, but especially those who seek roles of greatness as leaders in the Christian community: success here means, self-abnegating, self-sacrificial service for the sake of God and his kingdom. It is not what the world would consider fashionable; but it is what God would consider praiseworthy – and that which really counts?

Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.


Wednesday, September 2, 2015

September 2 - Homily for Today

In the first reading today we see an interesting dynamic. St. Paul rejoices in the fact that faith in the divinity of Jesus, and in his gospel has both come to the Colossians and it remains there. In fact, it is even remarkable: other people have heard of their great commitment to the Way of Jesus and are interested in it. This is as it should be, for it is the inherent dynamic of the gospel to grow everywhere and to bear fruit abundantly: to strengthen already existing faith, and to spark new faith in unbelievers.

In the gospel passage we see Jesus curing illnesses and disease of every kind (even Peter’s mother-in-law). And of course, everyone, once cured wants Jesus to stay with them, but he insists that he must go on from village to village – not only to work signs and healings, but also to awaken faith. For it is the goal of Jesus that one day everyone hears of him and has faith in him.

May our faith today remain strong; may it be strengthened by the Word we hear at this Mass, and the Eucharistic Food we eat – so that others can say of us: God dwells with them in a very special way, it is wonderful, it is something worth looking into.


The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

September 1 - Homily for Today

There is just something attractive and reassuring when someone speaks with authority. We know this on a secular level: when the “experts” in a given area speak, we tend to sit up and listen. But even these experts leave us wanting a bit – we say to ourselves: “This sounds right, but it is only as up-to-date as today’s date: it may, theoretically, change by tomorrow.”

However, with Jesus, it was different: when people listened to him they got the sense that what he was saying would not change tomorrow, or ever; and what he is saying was true yesterday as well: he spoke the “real deal.” And so they were astonished at his teaching: it was not only intellectually satisfying, but it also moved hearts to a whole change of course of action. It was pretty evident that this man was from God; even the unclean spirits knew and proclaimed this.

One truth that Jesus spoke over and over again is that he will come again as judge of men’s actions, and that we had better be prepared for such a reckoning. For those in line with the truths that he taught and modeled things would go easy; for those who chose rather their own truths and man-made-idols things would not go so well. The time for change, then, is now! We each have promises and vows to keep, loved ones to care for, rules to follow and preaching that must be put into practice – today – so that we will be ready when the time of rendering account comes.


The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?

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...