Sunday, July 31, 2016

Jul 31 - Homily for Today

+ The second reading today brings us our point of focus: if you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. And in the gospel passage Jesus tells a parable with the same punch line: don’t store up treasure for yourselves here below – but be rich in what matters to God – and store up heavenly treasures that will always be there for you.

Regarding the first: Paul is telling the Colossians that if they really, truly and honestly call themselves Christians and believe that when they were plunged into the baptismal waters, they died, and then coming up out of them, rose with him – then from that point on they should be seeing everything differently: beyond, over and above, super-naturally! This is how Christians are meant to see and hear, think and speak and act from that moment on. So he tells them to put to death the parts of them that are earthly – immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed that is idolatry. You have put on a new self – Christ’s self – so for the sake of God – live like it!

Then Jesus again in the gospel parable tells people to stop looking below, gathering and hoarding, and storing and hiding their goods and their possessions: you cannot take it with you: and what you hoard will be distributed in any number of ways that you most likely would not approve of: so stop building bigger barns, and go straight for the sky: consider your spiritual gifts and possessions as the most important: and keep your eyes of faith focused on them in heaven! It is really not that difficult: all it takes is the initial turning away from the vanity of thinking that there is always something more to get, purchase, buy, and negotiate for: then stop worrying – all things will work out in the end – so long as you tune in to the voice of the Lord, and the Spirit – and DO WHAT THEY TELL YOU – trying to live a supernatural life in a natural world!


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

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Jul 30 - Homily for Today

+ Our first reading today is a hopeful account of someone defending young Jeremiah the Prophet. A reluctant prophet in the first place, Jeremiah always seemed to be at odds with the administrators of the land – but at least this must mean that they were paying attention to what he had to say!  And his message was this: GOD IS NOT PLEASED WITH YOU, SO SHAPE UP! or he will punish you severely. Once again they want to “kill the messenger” – these are God’s words – not Jeremiah’s – but some one of them steps up to the plate and speaks up for him and thus saves his life. A good day for the lad who never wanted to be a prophet.

In the gospel passage, John, the cousin of Jesus, never wanted to end up in prison, and of course was not expecting such a gruesome death – but in his case he was very willing to do whatever he could to further the cause of his relative and friend. And this he did – because he loved God, and he loved and honored his Son, Jesus, his companion and friend.

May we today play out the roles God has marked out for us – willingly and cheerfully – no matter how they will eventually end up. For if we trust God – it will all end up well, very well indeed.


Friday, July 29, 2016

Jul 29 - Homily for Today

+ St. Martha entertained Christ in her home, along with her sister Mary, at a dinner that might have been a celebration for the Lord’s returning their brother Lazarus back to life after he had died: this being done at Martha’s request. Martha served the Lord by cooking the dinner; Jesus could identify with that: he came to be a servant: not a cook, but a slave of all and redeemer of mankind. Martha served Jesus after receiving him: so many of his own people did not receive Jesus, but she, and her sister did. Good St. Martha, blessed are you for attending the Lord’s bodily needs, for you are now being attended by him at his heavenly banquet table – and rightly so, o favored daughter, and child of God.

But we must not forget that, in addition to being hospitable to her Lord and friend, Martha also was the one who made a great act of faith and belief in the resurrection of the dead – when she asked Jesus to raise her departed brother Lazarus. May she be remembered for this, rather than for being argumentative with her sister Mary about helping out at the dinner party.

May we today, as we make our way to that same celestial table, lovingly serve the needs of the same Christ wherever we may see him, especially in the poor and the needy. Let us be hospitable to them and serve them calmly, gently, lovingly because we actually see him in them: for he is really and truly there! And let us keep our sights firmly on our own resurrection from the dead.

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord


Thursday, July 28, 2016

Jul 28 - Homily for Today

+ The first reading today from the Prophet Jeremiah introduces the classic theme of “the potter and his clay.” In more ways than one we are like clay in the hands of the Divine Potter – God our Father (Abba); and in fact we not only are like clay, we are clay, it is the essence of our substance. And just as God fashioned and molded each of us into the physical persons that we are, our reading infers that he also fashions our spiritual lives as well; and if they end up being less than he would have them be (not due to his work, but rather to the “willful work” of the clay itself) God is ever ready to refashion and remold them so to make them beautiful vessels that will bear the image of his own Son.

The gospel passage talks about good fish and bad fish that are hauled ashore – but we know that these fish represent the “thinking fish” called human beings who can take what is good in themselves and turn it into something bad – in this way they are like the bad artifacts that a potter inadvertently makes when the clay “has its own way.”

May we today be good clay and good fish – so that at final reckoning time we will all have something treasured and of great value to present to the Lord, so that he can very easily categorize us and transfer us to a place of safety and honor – in the Kingdom prepared for us – before there ever was clay or fish!

Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.


Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Jul 27 - Homily for Today

+ The Kingdom of heaven is indeed something of great value – worth all of the sacrificing that might be entailed to possess it. But the closer we get to this kingdom, the easier and lighter the venture becomes – and God himself helps those who want to reach him!

The questions remain – does the man dig the treasure up again? does the new owner of the pearl actually wear it?

Good questions. But really, a very unusual perspective on them might be this: since “the best way to keep something is to give it away” – then the treasure and the pearl must be given away to someone else who needs them – now that they have been imbued with the special power of grace.

When we help others from the heart: we share the treasure and the pearl; when we give of our resources to those in need: we share the treasure and the pearl: when we give someone our time and just listen to them: we share the treasure and the pearl of great price.

This is the way the Kingdom operates: everyone looking out for the needs of the other. Yes, we must find this understanding first (that is the great treasure and the pearl) but then we must give it away to strengthen it and multiply it – so that it can eventually fill the whole world with love!

How much of the treasure and the pearl do you possess today? How much are you willing to give away?


I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me.


Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Jul 26 - Homily for Today

+ Sts Joachim and Anne were the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandparents of Jesus. They were probably well off. Tradition says that Anne was quite elderly when Mary wars born, and that she was their only child. Both Joachim and Anne agreed that Mary would be given to the service of the temple when she was three years old – an ancient and honored tradition of the Jewish religion. Devotion especially to Anne has been popular in the East from the very early days of the Church; widespread devotion in the West began in the 16th century. There are many shrines devoted to St. Anne throughout the world.

The name Anne means “grace.” This corresponds well with the intensity of the devotion that many have for her – she is a quintessential maternal figure – and a grandmotherly one too. She is a great intercessor to her grandson, Jesus, who could hardly refuse anything she might request on our behalf.

St. Joachim thought himself to be punished by God for being childless with his wife Anne, until God granted him this great and awesome privilege late in his life to be the father of the Mother of the Creator! It was his prayers too that proved him to be an outstanding intercessor on behalf of any who need something very special and worthwhile.

St. Anne, St. Joachim, pray for us to be true to the image of Christ your grandson who is being formed within us each day by all the experiences of our lives, joyful and sorrowful as they might be!


They yearned for the comforting of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested upon them.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Jul 25 - Homily for Today

+ Among the twelve Apostles, three were chosen as the familiar companions of Jesus, and of these James was one. He alone, with Peter and John (the Evangelist, his brother), was admitted to the house of Jarius when the dead maiden was raised to life. They alone were taken up to the high mountain apart, and saw the face of Jesus shining as the sun, and His garments white as snow; and these three alone witnessed the fearful agony in Gethsemane.

What was it that won James a place among the favorite three? It was faith: burning, impetuous, and outspoken, but which needed purifying before the "Son of Thunder" could proclaim the gospel of peace. It was James who demanded fire from heaven to consume the inhospitable Samaritans, and who sought the place of honor by Christ in His Kingdom. Yet Our Lord, in rebuking his presumption, prophesied his faithfulness to death.

When St. James was brought before King Herod Agrippa, his fearless confession of Jesus crucified so moved the public prosecutor that he declared himself a Christian on the spot. And so accused and accuser were hurried off together to execution, and on the road the latter begged pardon of the Saint. The apostle had long since forgiven him, but hesitated for a moment whether publicly to accept as a brother one still unbaptized. God quickly recalled to him the Church's belief that the blood of martyrdom supplies for every sacrament, and he embraced him with the words, "Peace be with you!" Together then they knelt for the sword, and together received the crown.

Remembering that we carry the work of Christ and his Church in us as very human, earthly and fragile vessels of our broken selves – we rely with St. James, and all the Apostles and countless numbers of Christians since the very beginning that God will supply our lack and our want and work through us – and that in the end we will receive the exact reward that befits our humble, loyal and loving service to the King of heaven and earth!


Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Jul 24 - Homily for Tdoay

+ Today we have very instructive and powerful readings. They teach us a lot about the inner life and workings of God – they are helpful in learning 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? It is the very life of Christ that we share in by our baptisms and confirmations [and ordinations]. 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, 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!  


You have received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry: Abba, Father!

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Jul 23 - Homily for Today

+ The parable of the weeds and the wheat is a fair explanation for the existence of evil in the world. Anyone who gardens knows that there will always be weeds, and we do what we can to rid ourselves of them with what limited resources we have; but the great harvest will be the time for the purification of the crop, the gathering into the barn of those who coexisted with the weeds and were not affected by them. May we be such crops today as we await the grand and final harvest time. We can already exist in God’s barn by our worship of him, our devotion to him and our works of loving human helpfulness in his name.

As the first reading exhorts us to cooperate in our purification, let us reform our ways and deeds and stop the foolish reasoning that God cannot see us or understand what is going on in our minds and hearts: of course he can see us, he is God! And we are not fooling him, by praying in his temple, without any inclination to change our misguided and shady ways!

Let us humbly welcome the word of God that has been planted in us and is able to save our souls – if we are willing to cooperate with what it is telling us!


Friday, July 22, 2016

Jul 22 - Homily for Today

+ Today we have magnificent feast of St. Mary Magdalene, "The Penitent." She was given the name "Magdalene" because though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdala in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner and had seven devils removed from her. She was present at Our Lord's Crucifixion, and with other women, was present at Jesus' empty tomb three days later. She was the first to whom Jesus revealed himself after his resurrection from the dead. The reason this was so is because Jesus' death and resurrection was all about the forgiveness of sin! It was only fitting that one of the most notorious sinners of the times was the first to receive the grace of his presence after his spiritually life-saving death and resurrection.

What qualified her for this however was not just that she was a classic sinner, but rather because Jesus read her heart beforehand, he knew her, especially from the event just preceding his death, when she washed his feet with her tears, and dried them with her hair. Jesus must have planned right at that very moment for her to be the first to experience his glory after he rose from the dead – and she would be the one to carry the news of his resurrection to Peter and the other Apostles. The truly penitent heart stands in right and merciful relationship with God who lavishes his forgiveness, healing and blessings upon it abundantly!

Our readings today are all about Mary's deep and persistent search for Jesus as her One, True, Lover. The passage from the Song of Songs is about the deep longing that she, and any soul has (wittingly or unwittingly) to be in the presence of the One who is love itself – and God sent his love in the form of a human person (Jesus) so that the object of our longing could be found.

The gospel passage is about Mary's desire and ours as well, to cling to Jesus once we recognize him as Risen Lord, Beloved Savior and True Teacher of the Way to Eternal Life. The way he desires, however, rather than clinging to him, is to by means of the power of the Holy Spirit, whom he would and has sent to us his Church, is for us to proclaim his life, his words, his deeds and demonstrate the effectiveness of them by a life dedicated to serving the needs of brothers and sisters everywhere. The more we do this, the more Jesus and the Spirit cling to us, fill us and empower us to do the Father's Holy Will, to proclaim the Gospel and give it credibility by the way we "love one another, from the heart."

In doing all of this it will feel as though our souls are clinging fast to God, we will feel his right hand upholding us; under the shadow of his wings he will be our constant help and we will have reason to shout for joy day in and day out!
Amen.


Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Jul 20 - Homily for Today

+ This is a very familiar gospel passage.  Whenever we hear it we always are led to think of the seed sown rather than the one who is doing the sowing. The seed may fall in a variety of ground samples, but the sower himself is also worth considering. Who is it that is sowing? And what is it that he is trying to plant.

We look to our first reading today for possible answers here. A prophet is a sower of seed, he is a distributer of the word of God to any ears that will hear, to any person who will hear. Prophets have a daunting task, but are usually the most ordinary of people. We see here Jeremiah being called by God to speak to God’s people. He is but a mere lad and tries to get out of it but arguing that he is just plain too young – he is afraid at the prospect of going up against “nations and kingdoms to root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant.”

What becomes clear then, is that God enters into a special relationship with his spokespersons, his sowers of information, justice, and peace. And that everything indeed works out the way it is supposed to. Some of the prophets are mistreated because of their unsavory task, but all of them enjoy God’s comfort and protection.

May we be good sowers today – instruments of God’s sowing that is – to all we meet – and remember that so long as we do our part, the rest will be up to God’s grace – whether it takes root or not. But we pray that it does – so much happiness and peace is at stake.

We will sing Lord, of your salvation: announced by the prophets!


Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Jul 19 - Homily for Today

+ The first reading today relates the depths of the compassion of God, as he is so willing to “tread underfoot the guilt” of his people who have sinned against him, and to “cast into the depths of the sea all their sins.” He is a God who will show his faithfulness to his people, the descendants of Abraham and Jacob, as he promised them that he would do. We count on the Lord to show us his compassion and mercy as well, as we too come to recognize our folly and how we have wandered away from his good pleasure.

The gospel passage tells us who may count themselves a part of God’s family, and true relatives of Jesus: whoever does the will of God the Father in heaven! It is they – members of God’s very household - who must remain doing his will, which is to love, in a countless variety of circumstances – and it is to them that the Father and the Son will come to dwell within to be their strength and their joy!

Give us life, Lord; let us rejoice in you! Show us your kindness, and grant us your salvation!


Monday, July 18, 2016

Jul 18 - Homily for Today

+ The first reading today tells us very plainly, very simply, what God expects of us: to do the right thing and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with God. This may sound simple but it is a very difficult thing to do given our propensity to interpret for ourselves what is good and right, and to make gods of ourselves. However, when we go that rebellious route, and it is a rebellious route, God does and has every right to correct us, bring us up short and redirect our steps. It is at that point that we can choose to be even more rebellious or to surrender to his ever-loving designs and plans for us. Our free-wills have been given us so that we might cooperate and not dominate; to love freely and not with subjugation. May we use them as such!

The gospel passage coincidentally tells of those who use their free-wills incorrectly, end up lost and are searching high and low for “signs” of God’s favor, signposts along a way that leads to prosperity. Jesus says the only sign you will have is the sign prophesied by Jonah being swallowed by the whale, which indicates my being “swallowed up in death and laid in a tomb” – a dastardly act that is coming – but which is the greatest sign of all because I will overcome even death itself – for I am the way (the path), the truth and the life that you are all searching for and seeking signs about! I invite you, then, to spend your time actually looking at me, listening to me, and following me – and you will have all the signs you want (especially the greatest sign of them all: the Blessed Eucharist of my Body and Blood that you will share in each Mass): and then BELIEVE; simply believe in me to be the Divine Son of God, and you will share in a prosperous and useful life here on earth and then the peaceful eternal life of the Kingdom prepared for you!

To the upright I will show the saving power of God!


Sunday, July 17, 2016

Jul 17 - Homily for Today

+ Our gospel today is about making the most out of a visit from Jesus, when he decides to come to call. The operative phrase here is “when he decides to come!” These are not the planned out times when we almost demand to see him, or summon him, or at least strongly request his presence, or even gently so! These are the moments when he himself takes the initiative to visit us, when he thinks we need it – imagine that – and has something important to tell us.

These encounters can be very brief, indeed, or lengthier. Sometimes when we are just standing in line at the grocery store, or stopped at a red light, or gazing out the window at home, or any number of other things: all of a sudden we get the real impression that Jesus is there and he wants our attention for as long as it takes – but usually it will be only one brief shining moment. He will offer us a bit of insight, a bit of consolation, a bit of courage, a bit of knowledge, a bit of healing, a bit of forgiveness, a bit of cheer – so that we can go on our way a little more focused, hopeful and with something valuable to share with others.

Now if these times can indeed be lengthened into a few minutes, or even half-hours or hours – like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus – we will have an even more complete and deeper experience of Jesus’ friendship and hear more clearly what he has to say to us, and we will have a longer time to share with him what we have to say.

In the first reading today the three strangers came to Abraham and he gave them hospitality because he felt God moving him to do so, he felt God encountering him and instructing him as to what to say to them, and what to do for them: provide them with a rather lavish meal, before they could pass by him. And he was rewarded with a very direct message from God which told him that within a year he would have a son by his wife Sarah, his promised son, Isaac. Our encounters with God can be productive as well, in ways both great and small.

It was to Paul, we see in the second reading, that the very mysteries of God were revealed in his prayer encounters and that they were meant to be given to all, Jews and Gentiles as a hope for overcoming suffering and oppression. 

May we be encouraged by the initiatives that God takes in trying to get in touch with us – when he wants to – and let us respond by giving him our immediate attention - listening and then acting with all charity as we look out for the needs of all our brothers and sisters in imitation of him!


Blessed are those who keep the word of God with a generous heart, and yield a harvest through perseverance.   

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Jul 16 - Homily for Today

+ It is amazing, but we have such timely readings in the light of what is going on in the world as a result of spineless, cowardly terrorism. The first reading from the Prophet Micah proclaims woe to those who plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches: in the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power. This is a chilling reminder of what premeditated murder looks like up-close.

In the gospel passage, on the other hand, Jesus himself is the object of killing counsel plotted by the Pharisees. And even on his way to live out his final Passion (a very slow kind of execution), Jesus cured people and showed compassion and he asked that at this point news about him not be spread: so that as was prophesied by Isaiah may be fulfilled: the servant of the Lord will have my Spirit placed on him to help him in his trials, and he himself shall be as gentle as can be: he will not cry out so as to disturb anyone, his presence will not even be enough to break a bruised reed, nor extinguish a smoldering wick – BUT HE WILL BRING JUSTICE TO VICTORY! and in his name the Gentiles will hope!

This means that we must leave all avenging and revenging (and our desire for it) up to the One alone who is most qualified to accomplish true and definitive JUSTICE, and to turn all iniquity into VICTORY by means of his Cross of Suffering!

We pray today for the victims of terror attacks, we pray for their families and we pray for the one who actually are the perpetrators: but even they will have the benefit of crying out for God’s mercy and forgiveness, if only in the secret recess of their own hearts, and it will up to God and to God alone to conduct that court of appeal!

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


Friday, July 15, 2016

Jul 15 - Homily for Today

+ Saint Bonaventure, born in 1221 in Tuscany, Italy is also known as the Seraphic Doctor and is one of the greatest theologians in the Church. A Franciscan, he is sometimes referred to as the second founder of the order. His intellectual gifts were quickly recognized and he was sent to Paris to study. There he became a friend of St. Thomas Aquinas who was a classmate. In the intellectual world, Bonaventure emphasized the affective over the rational approach to the study of divine mysteries: for Bonaventure, the purpose of human knowledge, including theology, is not to speculate, but to love. He graduated from the University, being awarded a Doctorate of Theology.

Among his friends was King Saint Louis IX of France, with whom he often dined. Soon his order tapped Bonaventure to become their General; this occurred when he was just 35 years old. But, his pastoral zeal and continued writings of not only academic theology but also a biography of St. Francis, and works on spiritual theology led to his being nominated as archbishop-cardinal of Albano – an invitation by Pope Gregory X he could not refuse. He then took a leading part in the Second Council of Lyons which tried to reconcile the differences between the Churches of the East and West. Bonaventure died in Lyons before the end of the Council on July 15, 1274.

Our readings today are specially chosen for the feast: Bonaventure knew that knowledge of Christ was of supreme importance only if it reached the heart and filled us with deep desire to love God and love others the way we have been loved by him by the sending of his Son to redeem us of our sins!

In all of his work for the Church, Bonaventure was a truly humble servant not only to his Franciscan brothers, but also to all the members of God’s flock whose lives his touched. And now he is exalted and praised not for being great in himself, but for being an outstanding vessel of God’s grace, and knowledge and love!

May we imitate St. Bonaventure today and be lovers, true honest and authentic lovers of God – and one another – with Christ’s own love emanating from us!



Thursday, July 14, 2016

Jul 14 - Homily for Today

+ We celebrate today the feast of one who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012.  Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (born 1656 – died 1680 at the age of 24).  She is the first Native American to have been canonized. She is known as the “Lily of the Mohawks.” Born Tekakwitha, Kateri or Catherine was her Christian name; she was daughter of a Christian Algonquin mother and a pagan Mohawk chief in Auriesville, New York. She was orphaned at age four. A bout of smallpox left her disfigured and partially blind. At a very young age, Catherine made a vow not to marry, which ran counter to the culture of her people and created great personal difficulty for her.

In 1667 she met Christian missionaries for the first time, but did not seek baptism at that time; it was only eight years later when she met Fr. Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit, that she was baptized on Easter Sunday, 1676. Finding life in her village stressful, she walked two hundred miles to settle in a Christian mission in Sault St. Louis, near Montreal, where she made her First Holy Communion in October 1677. For the next three years Kateri led a devout Catholic life, attending Mass twice a day, fasting on Wednesdays and Saturdays, teaching children and caring for the sick and the aged. She died on April 17, 1680. A number of miracles and appearances were reported after her death and were attested to by the Jesuit missionaries. The Council of Baltimore in 1884 petitioned the Holy See to begin Kateri’s beatification process which bore fruit only in 1980. In October of 2012, this “Lily of the Mohawks” was canonized at the same time as another saintly personage from Central New York State: Mother Mary Anne Cope, OSF who was both an educator and a worker with lepers with Fr. Damien on the Island of Molokai, Hawaii.

These beloved daughters of the church were true Brides of Christ who were led into the desert by the Lord so that he could speak his love to their hearts, so that he could espouse them to himself forever in right and in justice, in love and mercy and fidelity: so that they should know their Lord.

Let us respond to the same Lord who invites us this very day into an intimate relationship with him, so that having our lives saturated with his grace and his power, (as was Kateri Tekakwitha’s), we can witness to all we meet each day of the magnificence and splendor of the Christ-grounded life that we are all called to participate in.

Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord.


Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Jul 13 - Homily for Today

+ We have a treasure in the gospel passage today! Jesus first makes it quite clear that everything that he is trying to get across to people is most easily accessible by the lowly and the childlike, and not the wise and the learned (unless, of course, they make every effort to become like children in their sense of awe, wonder, inquisitiveness, open-mindedness and sense of fairness).

And then Jesus says something quite startling: he says that everything that he is giving us is actually gotten by him from his Father. And then he says some amazing things: (sometimes we quickly gloss over these things, but today, let’s go a bit more slowly): Jesus says: “no one knows the Son except the Father” – this in our day and age after 2000 years of hearing the gospels, and having them preached to us, and having read academic discourses on them, we might think that we “have the market pretty well cornered” as far as this Jesus of Nazareth goes. We know him! We know him very well! 

But even St. Thomas Aquinas who wrote volumes and volumes on him, at the end, put down his pen and said: “after all this: I really don’t know anything about you, Jesus, more that the fact that you are really there (in the tabernacle)! No, only God the Father knows God the Son, knows Jesus – completely, no one else possibly could – but it is our passion to want each day delve deeper and deeper into the marvelous mystery of who he really is, and to know him by experiencing his presence, because as we do this we get brighter and brighter, lighter and lighter and smarter and smarter: and this is a good thing, especially facing the world that comes at us with such great force every day.

And then, in our gospel passage, Jesus goes on and says really conversely and spiritually logically that the only one who could possibly know God the Father is he himself – this is no surprise; but what is surprising is when he adds: “and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” This is great news; and is frankly, quite shocking! Anyone, anyone at all is potentially eligible to delve into the very heart of God the Father, and to know him as his own beloved Son does (and what is unique here is that we each will one day know God completely [as the Son does] in the Beatific Vision); the most potentially eligible for this now are the ones who really want to do this, and try all throughout each day to conform their lives to the life of Christ, so to make it easier for God the Father recognize them and see their eligibility: those who most resemble God the Son, will see and be with God the Father forever and ever!

This has always been the divine plan! This is the mystery that even children understand. God wants to give his children an amazing family relationship and life with him and all our brothers and sisters that is never-ending!

May we be open to love and to mysteries and to amazing childlike experiences of God’s making this very day! Amen!


Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Jul 12 - Homily for Today

+ Our readings today speak about the absolute necessity of “the firmness of our faith:” it is only when our response to God’s favor and mercy is to turn towards him and to live as he desires, that we live productive and happy lives both naturally and supernaturally. In the first reading today the Prophet Isaiah warns that the people who were God’s nation would be crushed because of the lack of firmness of their faith – a wavering and lukewarm disposition is abhorrent to God; for He gives himself entirely to us, and expects the same in return.

In the gospel passage, this same theme is seen as Jesus himself decries what lack of faith; and weak, soggy faith can do; not only are the people of his day as guilty as those of Isaiah’s time, but even worse, because they have the very image of God’s faithfulness right there in their midst, in the flesh; they have Jesus as God’s promise of redemption and salvation right there in front of them, and they do not recognize him, they are not moved by him, and they shall pay dearly for their unwillingness to be told or shown otherwise.

In our own day, we have the same fallen human nature present in us, that has been around for thousands of years, that would incline us to a wavering, weak, lukewarm, soggy faith-response to God who still pours out his love upon us without measure; but we have the same opportunity as those who lived in Jesus’ day, to rise above all that, see Jesus as he is: our Lord, our Savior and our Friend; and live a daily life that is radically different than those who don’t see Jesus that way: we can spread joy, hope and peace – the very peace of Christ himself to all we meet – because we BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL DIMENSION OF IT ALL, and we want to put our belief into action!

Our God is great and wholly to be praised in the city of our God, and in the recesses of our hearts


Monday, July 11, 2016

Jul 11 - Homily for Today

+ St. Benedict was born at Nursia, in central Italy in 480. He studied in Rome, but was soon disgusted with the rampant immorality that he saw there, and so he “headed for the hills:” he went up Mount Subiaco and lived in a cave there as a hermit for a year. Others found him, however, and asked to join him in his monastic observance: and so he set up 12 deaneries with 10 monks each. Soon though he left the region and went to Monte Cassino, near Naples, where he finished his Rule borrowing inspiration from Sts. Basil, John Cassian, and Augustine and other “monastic writers” of the times.

His Rule emphasized authority and obedience (modeled after the Incarnation and Crucifixion of Jesus), and stability and community life (the only way to progress in spiritual life is the given tension of life-together that is lasting, not just temporary and fleeting). The duties of the monk are to pray the Office and read complementary readings and texts; and manual labor. The flexibility of the Rule allowed it to be instrumental in shaping centers of scholarship, agriculture, medicine and hospitality.

 Benedict stayed at Monte Cassino for the rest of his life. Though never becoming a priest and not intending to even found a religious order, St. Benedict soon became known as the Father of Western Monasticism: sometimes your destiny has your name written all over it. St. Benedict is one of the most widely known saints in Church history, along with his sister St. Scholastica, who founded an order of nuns who followed his Rule. His patronage is of monks, of course, but also against the forces of evil and Pope Paul VI named him a patron saint of all of Europe. He died in 550 and was buried near his sister! In the year 2000 there were 8,000 Benedictine monks, and 7,000 Benedictine nuns and 10,000 active Benedictine Sisters.

The purpose and goal of the monastic life is to seek and find God, using the tools of poverty, humility and obedience – and then to do his holy will. The Benedictine way is a sure-fired way to do that – not only in a formal way by joining the Order proper, but there are thousands who belong in the Professed Oblate Program – and there are many other organizations and groupings that adhere to the chief tenets of the grand and glorious, tried, tested and true Rule of St. Benedict! [We are such an association – and we are thankful to Benedict, and for his Rule.]

Just as Jesus assures Peter (in the gospel passage) that he will receive a great deal for his sacrifice, the Lord assures us the same; and Peter received his reward because he did all for love of Jesus; may we do the same – armed by the mighty and ancient Holy Rule of the Saintly Patriarch of Nursia!

The key to advancement along the Benedictine way is to begin in silent listening, any day, any project, any undertaking: thus many statues of St. Benedict have him placing a finger on his lips to encourage stillness and quiet as a starting point: BE STILL AND KNOW GOD; BE STILL AND BE INSPIRED; BE STILL SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE MUCH TO SAY AND DO, AND MUCH ENERGY TO SAY IT AND DO IT!

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.


Sunday, July 10, 2016

Jul 10 - Homily for Today

+ Today we have magnificent summer readings. Jesus tells us quite plainly that we must treat others, especially the lowly, the poor and the sick with as much care and compassion that we can – giving from our want if necessary. What matters is people! What matters is our brothers and sister in the family of God that we belong to. What matters is loving concern.

When we hear this exhortation we just know that it is true; there is a little bell that it rings that only grows louder and louder, the more we try to ignore it. The people of Israel, in the time of Moses, had a difficult time with heavenly-attention-span, as much as this generation – and they kept on “searching high and low” for something that was not only “right in front of their noses,” but deep down inside their beings, in their hearts. GOD WROTE THE MESSAGE OF LOVE AND COMPASSION ON EVERYONE’S HEART so we would be sure to find it. The only problem is that he gave us free will and we can tell him “no thanks” – “leave me alone” - “I’d rather keep searching – at least I might have some kind of excuse for not being informed, if I just keep searching the skies, or looking across the seas (for what will never be found looking there.)”

Well, fortunately for those who were happy to have God’s law written in their hearts and tried to live out what they read there – God sent an example, a friend and redeemer THE PERFECT HUMAN BEING, who would TRANSFORM HUMANITY INTO DIVINITY – all for the price of death on a Cross for him and then resurrection; this DIVINE FRIEND is Jesus Christ, and belief and living a life of loving obedience and compassion after his example will win a place in heaven with him forever!

We have our choice today – use that free will – that precious gift given in order for us to lovingly and without constraint to seek and find God, and serve him with all our heart, being and strength – and others because of him – all others, whether we like them or not, whether they are of our clan or country-club set or not – we must be Good Samaritans – if we are to truly reflect the image of Christ to others! - or we will not reflect his image and we will bring disaster upon ourselves.

Where we will spend eternity depends on our answer!

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;

you have the words of everlasting life.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Jul 9 - Homily for Today

+ We have two powerful readings for Mass again today. The first reading is the dramatic and magnificent calling of Isaiah to be Prophet of the Most High God. Having first seeing a vision of the very heavenly throne of God – with the Seraphim rank of angels with 6 wings each ministering to God and crying to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” We can see how we get the Preface Acclamation for Mass, and we can also see the enthusiasm and drama with which it ought to be proclaimed!

Isaiah can see clearly his unworthiness to even be seeing such a scene – as finding ourselves truly in God’s presence always points out clearly our lowliness and our extreme sinfulness! But God has made his choice: he wants Isaiah to be his spokesman and so he does a very dramatic thing of having a seraphim take a burning ember with tongs from the altar and placing it on the tongue of Isaiah – thus burning away his sins, and preparing his speech mechanism for all ages to be a great and didactic weapon against paganism – one of the greatest of all times.

Then God says: Whom shall I send? Who will go for us – to announce the Good News of Salvation? And then purified Isaiah finds himself saying: “Here I am Lord, send me!” Here I am Lord, send me! and God sends him and the story of salvation takes on a depth of content and presentation that the world had not yet known!

Indeed, Isaiah was sent – but so too are we sent – on the day of our baptism, confirmation and ordinations. We are sent to make a difference in the world – to be Light and Truth and Peace!

The gospel passage shows us Jesus instructing a group of disciples that he sends out “in the midst of the wolves” of worldly madness! Don’t be afraid! I am sending you! Therefore, I am not only with you, but I am intimately within you! I am your strength! I am your rock of safety! I am your inspiration and your motivation! Each of you is very important and special to me! As you acknowledge me before the world – so I will acknowledge you before my Father – and He will be pleased – and you will be secure and protected in all your endeavors! So, do not be afraid of anything or anyone!

Let the Spirit speak and act through you – and all will be well!

Friday, July 8, 2016

Jul 8 - Homily for Today

+ We have two powerful readings today for this Mass. The first reading continues the story of Israel’s repentance and the Lord’s willingness to take them back into the bosom of his heart. Ours is a healing God, and he delights in every opportunity to forgive iniquity and restore lost ground. The language of the Prophet Hosea is amazingly sensitive and tender: After the people realize that they are not God, he says: “I will heal their defection, I will love them freely; my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; he shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots. Then all will know that straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.”

The gospel passage shows again the results of the sending of the Apostles and disciples into a hostile and contrary world: for the sake of the Kingdom, your experience will be like that of sheep in the midst of wolves: you will be brought up before earthly kings and courts, you will be led to governors for my sake: but don’t worry about what you are to say: it will be given to you at that moment: for it will be the Spirit speaking through you. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. And when they do persecute you, flee to another town; you will not have covered them all before the Son of Man comes to judge the entire world and reveal the thoughts and hearts of all men.

May our mouths never cease declaring your praises, O Lord; may we welcome opportunities to sacrifice for you today!


Thursday, July 7, 2016

Jul 7 - Homily for Today

+ In this, the “fullness of time,” the Son of God himself comes to dwell among his creatures as one of them, to announce the arrival of an amazing Kingdom to which all are invited to become citizens of. And so Jesus tells his helper Apostles to go, likewise, and announce the arrival of that kingdom, and to give credibility to the announcement by giving them miraculous power over nature, sickness and disease. They were to simply make the announcement, offer God’s peace and then move on to another town! It would be up to the individuals in the towns and villages to either respond to the “grace of the moment” or not! Many did, many did not! It seems to be similar today: the same kingdom is being announced, with the same invitation, but now, at least in our culture, less accept such a kingdom as a reality (in fact far less), but the smaller amount that do accept it know they have something very special and something to defend from enemies.

The first reading from Hosea (I) prophesys God’s willingness to take back errant children, for he loves them so very much; his heart, the very heart of God, is overwhelmed with pity, and the flames of his justice he will withhold so that they do not consume.

May we today revel in the fact that as baptized Christian persons, we live in the heart of God more and more deeply, the more and more we surrender ourselves to his love, give up our own self-destructive wills, and choose to enter into the ever-giving dynamic of real love: the love of the Trinity itself. If we can share this message with just one other person today, then we also have fulfilled out baptismal, apostolic calling! May we not be the reason why someone right here and now does not hear the Good News announced to them!

The Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel.


Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Jul 6 - Homily for Today

+ Today we celebrate the feast of a well-known Italian girl, Maria Goretti. Maria was a beautiful, pious farm girl, one of six children. Soon after her father died of malaria the family was forced to move onto the Serenelli farm to survive. In 1902 at age twelve, Maria was attacked by 19-year-old farmhand Alessandro Serenelli. He tried to rape her but she fought and yelled to him that it was a sin, and that he would go to hell. He tried to choke her into submission, then stabbed her fourteen times. She survived in the hospital for two days, where she forgave her attacker, asked God’s forgiveness of him, and died holding a crucifix and a medal of Our Lady. She is counted as a martyr.

While in prison for his crime, Alessandro had a vision of Maria. He saw a garden where a young girl dressed in white, gathered lilies. She smiled, came near him, and encouraged him to accept an armful of lilies. As he took them, each lily transformed into a still white flame; Maria then disappeared. This vision of Maria led to Alessandro’s conversion and he later testified at her cause for beatification.

Maria was beatified in 1947 by Pope Pius XII, and then canonized by him in 1950. The ceremony was attended by 250,000 including her mother (the only time a parent has witnessed her child’s canonization) and by her attacker Alessandro Serenelli, who knelt in St Peter’s Square as her name was announced among the saints in heaven.

Young people today are so much in need of a role model, especially in the area of sexual behavior and relationships in general. Maria Goretti will always stand out as such a model. Her priorities were in order – she must have had a great family environment to learn such Christian values from an early age, and at only age 12 she was willing to lay it all on the line for God, for Jesus, her friend, her role-model and her Lord.

Bless the children today Lord, and somehow convince them that the proper use of all of their instinctual powers and abilities will save them a lifetime of heartache, trouble and even death!

The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord – for our bodies are members of Christ – temples of the Holy Spirit – and instruments in the glorification of God!

All praise and glory to God, both now and forever! Amen!


Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Jul 5 - Homily for Today

+ In the first reading today we have the prophet Hosea reminding the people of Israel to distinguish between false gods and the real God who is not pleased with their short-sightedness and easy distraction from rightful and due devotion to him who has done so much for them for centuries.

He says he will punish them for their “crimes” – and he means it.

In the gospel passage we see example of one who has been in a sense “punished by God” – the demoniac – one possessed by an evil spirit – freed from his malady and restored to health. Jesus is all about freeing people from their illnesses, maladies and diseases – both physical and spiritual. May we rely on this wonderful ability and characteristic of Jesus the Son of God, the Son of Man.

He is our Lord, our God and our Brother – he is our shepherd too: he sees us likes sheep without a shepherd – and will always send someone to help us at just the right time. He will also send us to help others – to be there for them – at just the right time.

Let us pray today that we all cooperate with Jesus who has a grand plan for healing ills – if only we simply let him.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.


Monday, July 4, 2016

Jul 4 - Homily for Today

+ One of the chief characteristic of Jesus’ personality was his compassion, and willingness to help wherever he could.  As divine Son of God he had a lot of resources that other people in helping professions did not have; as Son of Man he had familiarity with the human condition and was able to know in a precise way what was truly important to people and what wasn’t. Today we see him in two health related issues: the first a woman whose faith was able to release Jesus’ healing power in an indirect way: she merely said to herself “If I can only touch the tassel of his cloak I will be cured of my condition” and because she said this as a result of faith and trust in him, Jesus did not take the healing back, as it was already accomplished, but he reassured her that she was in fact healed by him, and that it was her faith that was the cause! Our faith can release Jesus’ healing power too – we can spiritually but really touch the tassel of his cloak anytime we want – by prayer, by meditation, by an act of faith and trust!

The raising of the dead girl is also a manifestation of what Jesus can do! He has supreme power over nature. Perhaps the child was not really dead but rather in a deep coma; but maybe she really was dead; in any case Jesus once again demonstrates the power of God to make itself known in the realm of nature! What is more important for us is the raising of spiritual death that can come upon us: through our own sinfulness. This physical healing can also reflect Jesus power over spiritual healing! May we be thus healed today of any spiritual illness that we have – so that we can sing God’s praises and give him glory by the works of charity and human helpfulness that we accomplish with his help!

Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.


Saturday, July 2, 2016

Jul 3 - Homily for Today

+ 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, if we want it, 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, thirty-six 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. “He’s coming! Get ready!” 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 were called: 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.


Let the peace of Christ, then, control our hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in us richly! And may we be transformed by the renewal of our minds!

Jul 2 - Homily for Today

+ Jesus tells us today in the gospel passage that we must use our good sense in dealing with new things. If we put something new into an old container, there is a chance that there might not be a suitable fit. New things would be better put into new containers. What Jesus is saying here is that the new information that he is giving them regarding the Kingdom that he is announcing ought to be put into a mind that is clean, clear and open; dusted, washed and thoroughly receptive: with the wisdom of past experiences, but not the prejudices! In this way the new experience can be had to the fullest – and the Kingdom will be that more real!

He also talks about fasting and not fasting. The disciples of John fasted because they were waiting for “The Messiah” to come – this is a reasonable posture; the disciples of Jesus do not “fast” in this particular way because Jesus, who is the Messiah, is with them in person; but when Jesus is taken from them (for his Passion and Death), then they will fast, they will be thrown into confusion, they will be in darkness (for a while)!

But this is all for the good: for the reestablishment of God’s kingdom on earth and in heaven; all of the rebelliousness and sinfulness of the world will be taken up by Jesus, nailed to his cross with him, and produce in the Resurrection a harvest of reconciliation, peace and joy! And then everything that was taken away by God, as punishment, will be restored. (I) “I will re-plant them upon their own ground, never again shall they be plucked from the land I have given them, says the Lord, your God.”


May we today, who have Jesus the Lord, God, Messiah as our Friend, rejoice and be glad, sing his praise and announce his favor to all we meet! It is our duty, it is our joy!  The Lord speaks of peace to his people!

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...