Your Light - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2017

The phrase “your light” appears a few times in our scripture readings today. The words imply possession ("your") and a source (light emanates from somewhere).

As Christian disciples, we know we are not the source, and we are not the proprietors of this light. The light is “ours” only by way of a pure gift. We did not discover it or stake a claim on it for the light we have is Jesus Christ himself, as the Gospel of John chapter 1 declares: In him was life, and the life was the light of men. John the Baptist came for Testimony... He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.

Like John, we are witnesses to the light and we bear an even greater responsibility than John, for by virtue of the sacramental life, Jesus, the very light of the world is in our souls. God has chosen to share his light with us so that by cooperation and adoption in some sense the light becomes “yours” but it is also ours collectively, yet only God possesses it fully and essentially, and we are not manufacturers of any part of it even if he choses to manifest that light through us.

As witnesses, we are commissioned to let the light shine so fully that Christ is seen, not us,  Christ is heard, not us; however, in weakness or fear, we are tempted to filter the light in part or in whole. In pride, we are tempted to taint the light with human wisdom or our own embellishments as if we could perfect it or as if we had some claim in creating it.

Saint Paul speaks about such matters in his 1st letter to the Corinthians (Ch. 2):
I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ....
I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling…
not with persuasive words of wisdom...so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom, but on the power of God.

Paul knows the light is not of human origin. It is not a light to which he can add anything; rather, it is divine, and his commission to live and preach that gospel, that light, is also divine.
Note that Saint Paul's fear and weakness were on account of the sacredness of the light and the Divine gravity his commission, but today many Christians, even bishops, avoid speaking the truth and worse avoid living it either because of the consequences which we might suffer, or because they value the adulation of the world and the rewards of compromising what the church teaches.

There is a certain appeal that comes from making it seem as though the Church doesn’t really believe what it teaches. In most cases, it’s easier to practice the corporal works of mercy mentioned in our first reading without also sharing what we believe on issues of faith and morals. If we operate in such a way, the light is not fully revealed and we fail to complete the mission entrusted to us.

On the other hand, there is a rashness among some Christians - a boldness that seems to be growing due to recent events. These Christians know they are called to be a lamp, and emboldened by another, misguided manifestation of pride, they burn others with the light instead of prudently lifting and judiciously administering the light for the needs of the individual or circumstance. We need to prudently regulate our light out of love, but we should never hide it our of fear.

Christ is the Light and we are His chosen lamps. Of course, he does not absolutely need us, but part of our dignity comes from the fact that He has chosen to employ us in this sacred task; therefore,

• if we are afraid, let us not fear the world, but let us revere the sacredness of our task,
• if we are weak let it not be from cowardice, but in knowing and embracing our limitations and dependence on God,
• if we are bold, let it not be in rash flurries of righteousness and vindication, but in the confidence that God can and will reveal his power and glory through us as he promised.

Together, with our words and actions, let us show forth the light without filters or embellishments so that others will know and give glory to our heavenly Father.

Leading with Compassion - 17th Sunday OT (B)

In last week’s gospel reading Mark tells us that the people in the crowd that followed Jesus “were like sheep without a shepherd.”  I can imagine that there were all kinds of people in this multitude.  Rich and poor, wise and foolish, saint and sinner. Who wouldn’t want to get a glimpse of this prophet who was healing the sick and the lame?

Mark also tells us that Jesus is tired, he was looking to rest with his disciples, they were taking some time off. Yet, when Jesus looks up and sees the multitude, what is His first response? Compassion! A genuine act of loving concern that moves Him to do two things.  First, as Mark tells us, He teaches them many things.  Then, as we see in both Mark and John, he seeks to feed them by way of a miracle.

I believe there is an important principle here for all of us who would seek to share the good news with our lost world. That principle is compassion. Compassion must precede and accompany any encounter we have with another when sharing the gospel, because, if we do not sincerely love this crowd as Jesus did, they will know it, they will sense it in our expressions in our words and in our body language, and they will not really care for what we have to say.

Saint Paul describes aspects of the love and compassion we ought to be practicing inside the church in today’s second reading.  He tells the Ephesians to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace”.  How? “with all humility and gentleness, with patience.”  These same virtues must extend to those outside our walls.

Once they know we genuinely care, our teaching, our sharing of the gospel, and even some of it’s most difficult truths can follow; however, we cannot stop at that; we must meet their needs.  The miracle Jesus performs gives validity to his teaching and demonstrates to the crowd that Jesus is more than words. And that he is truly that great prophet promised in the OT akin to Elijah.

At the end of the miracle, Jesus has them collect all the leftover fragments and there are 12 baskets full.  I propose that these represent a foreshadowing of the commission he will give his apostles at the Last Supper.  They are primarily responsible for continuing this work, to meet the crowds with compassion, to teach them, to meet their needs.  They are to be the shepherds for the shepherdless.

We can still find contemporary examples of this apostolic leadership.  I have seen it is many of our bishops, our most recent popes, and especially Pope Francis. In fact, Pope Francis has lead with so much compassion that some wonder if he agrees with Church teaching or not, but I encourage you not to read the reports and to read his actual words. Pope Francis is teaching and living the Church’s social doctrine quite beautifully. In order to appreciate what he has been doing, I had to extract myself from our highly politicized society, full of intrigue and opinion, and see that his example follows our current series of gospel readings.

The pope is leading with compassion, he is teaching “with all humility, gentleness, and patience, and he is specifically teaching about the “crowd”, the crowd is not just the American believers, or the Western Church, but includes the entire breadth and depth of humanity rich or poor, wise and foolish, saint and sinner.  We must all follow the lead of Christ, and of our pope, in realizing how our privileged lives affect the underprivileged especially now in a global economy. Having seen the effects of the wealthier nations on other regions, the pope is calling all Christians to be leaders in recognizing the communal nature of our actions. Preaching the gospel and being good stewards of the Earth’s resources are bound together. What good is it if we offer gospel truth without compassion and sacrificial action, without recognizing that sometimes what we take for granted has a negative effect on others in the world.

I want to be careful to avoid any notion that confuses compassion with compromise. Compassion is a cultivation tool. Compassion softens the soil of another person’s heart and prepares them for the seed we hope to sow; therefore, we lead with compassion, but eventually, we must seek to reach the crowds with Jesus message, and we ought not compromise the truths He entrusted to the Church.

Next week, you will hear how this crowd follows Jesus again, and he continues his teaching.  He will claim to be the bread of life. He will tell them that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life.  He will emphasise the fact that he has the power to give himself to us in this mysterious way, and many of his disciples will leave because he does not water down the meaning of his words. Yes, Jesus has compassion, he taught them many things that they were willing to accept, but eventually there is the one teaching they cannot accept no matter how lovingly and compassionately he communicates it. He does not compromise and peacefully he lets them walk away.  

Likewise, we cannot be afraid to teach Catholic Truth nor should we try to accommodate the crowd by trying to make it sound as something it is not.  Eventually, the truth will be clearly stated by the Church and they may walk away anyhow.  As faithful Christians, we must not be among those who walk away. Christ has given us shepherds, they hold the baskets. You and I have the responsibility of joining and assisting them in their work of leading with compassion.  Softening the soil, so that the truth can take root once it is proclaimed.

How Do I Become a Saint?

Today (October 1st) is the feast day of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux who declared "I want to be a saint".  With these words she gives us a hint to answer our opening question.  Unless you want to be holy, you will not be holy.  Unless you want to please God, you will not please God.  To be a saint, you must will it.

Being a saint isn't as complicated as one may think, for all who are in the Lord Jesus Christ are saints ("holy ones").  The Apostle Paul often addressed the Christians in his letters as saints.  These were baptized men and women who expressed faith in Christ and lived it out in love.  If that describes you, then you qualify as a saint!  You may not be a capital-S canonized Saint proclaimed by the Church, but you are a saint, nonetheless.

As Thérèse discovered, wanting to be a saint begins in the soul allowing the love of God to penetrate our hearts, turning from a disordered love of self to the love of God and neighbor.  As Saint Thérèse described,

On the day of my conversion Charity entered into my heart and with it a yearning to forget self always; thenceforward I was happy.  

Subsequently, she decided that her way to heaven was in becoming little.  

I applied myself above all to practice quite hidden little acts of virtue; thus I liked to fold the mantles forgotten by the Sisters, and sought a thousand opportunities of rendering them service.

Though simple, we know that remaining a saint isn't always easy.  Being holy is an ongoing process and requires a daily surrender of our will to God.  The good news is that God is always ready to give us the grace we need to be and remain holy - through faith, prayer, the Sacraments, and through one another as the Church.

If you haven't done so already, begin today by declaring out loud, "I want to be a saint!" and join Saint Thérèse in her "little way" through faith and action.

How does God Think?

Imagine you have only one thought.  Choose a thought (make it a good one), close your eyes and focus on just the one thought....It seems like an odd exercise, but probably difficult to focus.  I realize how limited one thought for us is and how limited I am.

How does God think?

God’s thought is not sequential, it is eternal.  We could say that the thought of God is singular.  Imagine that! ONE THOUGHT; but unlike our thought, this one thought of God is HUGE, with an infinite number of levels and facets and dimensions.  It includes every thing, every one, every time, and every place.  There is nothing that he has not already considered and accounted for in His one thought.  I dare to add that God’s thought has a certain priority:  the highest of which is His love for and the salvation of His people.  It may surprise us, but God’s highest priority in our life is not our academic success, it’s not our financial stability, it’s not our health, our love life, or anything else UNLESS it is directly connected to our salvation.

How do I know this is his highest priority?  Because of the conversation Jesus has with Simon (Peter) and the disciples.  He explains that “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”  At the heart of suffering is love.  And Jesus Christ is the fullest expression of the love of God.  In this way, he won forgiveness for sin and restored the relationship of the human race with God.

In our lives and especially when we are suffering, our thoughts can be many and limited.  They are temporal and earthly; and Jesus basically says here, that our thoughts are vastly different than God’s.  Unless God reveals himself to us.  And this is why God sent us prophets like Jeremiah, and his only Son, so that our minds might be renewed by participation in the eternal thought, the eternal love of God, who has for our destiny, a heaven worth far much more than anything on earth.

Jeremiah
Today, our first example is Jeremiah, who prophesied the defeat of Judah by the Babylonians because they had abandoned God, committed idolatry, and forsaken morality.  His reward, as we heard, was derision ridicule and reproach.

In this context, he says he was duped by the Lord.  Being a prophet, telling the truth, proclaiming and living the word of God, did not bring him glory in this life, but suffering.  In his trials, he says that he will speak of God no longer, but alas, he cannot hold it in.

I want to impress upon you how Jeremiah’s knowledge of God is not primarily academic in nature, but relational.  Jeremiah did not study to be a prophet; God called him.  Together they had a relationship and from that relationship, Jeremiah’s knowledge and experience of God grew.  Because of this relationship he was open to God’s understanding of events even in these moments of trial.  If we read a little further in Jeremiah’s lament, we hear how he is renewed in his thinking:
“But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not prevail.”

We, like Jeremiah are called to know and proclaim the Word of God.  Each of us, baptized into the Body of Christ, share in the prophetic role of Christ in word and deed.  Perhaps your entire experience of God has been more academic (religious education classes) than relational, and you long for something more.  The good news is that God has already made the first move for you.

He sent His Son from Eternity into time so that everyone could be a prophet.  In baptism, each of us has received the Word made Flesh into our very souls.  Faithful to His promises, the eternal Triune God came to dwell in each of us.  Jeremiah received the word of God and could not hold it in.  Have you ever experienced the joy of that kind of relationship with God?  One in which you cannot contain the words or feelings or knowledge welling up within you?  Perhaps there is something holding us back.
How?

Epistle
I his letter to the Romans, St Paul states: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  His language implies that we have an active choice in allowing God to transform us.  He will not impose his will on us without his consent.

Such a transformation would be daunting if we had to rely on our human strength, but, again, God has already made the first move.  He has promised and delivered the grace we need to begin this renewal with an act of faith, of simple trust in God to accomplish His work in you.

Therefore, the renewal of our minds is not something we do blindly.
It is not devoid of reason,
does not eradicate prior knowledge,
does not deny previous experience;
rather God’s grace builds on our past and actually redeems it because all that we are and what we have experienced is of value to God.

In addition, renewal of the mind is
objective:  the goal is our salvation, (His highest priority), and
it is personal: each person experiences renewal in a manner particular to themselves for the good of all in the Body of Christ.
Moreover, Paul says, God’s will is “good, pleasing, and perfect”, which means that anything he has allowed us to experience, positive or negative, is part of His plan.

It is important to note that for God, His will and his thought are the same.  His eternal thought is his eternal will.  With this in mind, we come to the gospel passage where Jesus is confronted by Peter.

Gospel
Perhaps Simon Peter was feeling duped.  As we heard last week, he had just proclaimed Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God”, and now, Jesus is telling them he has to suffer and die.  Peter cannot accept this path for his Christ.   In his mind, Christ is to conquer the enemies of Israel and establish a kingdom on Earth.  Peter needed a renewal in his thinking; therefore, Christ rebuked him harshly and even tells him so.  “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

The words he spoke before were from the heavenly Father, but these words are contrary to God’s plan.  See how Jesus does not change to meet Simon’s expectations, but goes on to emphasize his point and call all his disciples to carry the cross.

Do we not feed duped from time to time, like Jeremiah or Simon Peter as we struggle to understand why God allows both good and evil to occur in our lives?  Some would have us believe that we are promised happiness in this life if we did all the right things, or did only what we wanted, or simply had enough faith in Jesus; but when we meditate on the cross, we realize the first thing we need is His grace to help us and sustain us every step of the way.  Grace to properly understand not just the sufferings of life, but even why we should have joy and success while others suffer.  Ultimately, we will not have an adequate understanding of our place in God’s eternal plan if we do not have a relationship with Him and through His Son.

Today, in your relationship with God, I encourage you to memorize the words of today's Psalm (63) and let them be your words:

O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
You are my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.

Homily for the Funeral of Joseph Hilkert

There are a good number of jokes involving Saint Peter and the pearly gates of heaven; and, as far as I am aware, Joe Hilkert knew them all.  Perhaps he told you one of them (two or three times).  Joe knew how to laugh, and it was hard not to laugh when Joe was laughing.  Joe also knew tears - tears of joy, of sorrow, of repentance, and tears of deep gratitude.  More importantly, Joe understood what we heard in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah:

On this mountain the Lord...will destroy the veil that veils all people.
The web that is woven over all nations. He will destroy death forever.
The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove…

This mountain was Mount Zion, where the Jewish people worshipped in Jerusalem at the temple, and the veil refers to the curtain that separated the people from the holiest place on earth, the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God was among his people.  This veil separated the people because sin separated them from God.  By extension, the veil reminds us that our sin brought the shadow of death which has been the reproach of all humankind everywhere on earth throughout time.
Joe knew that Jesus Christ was the Son of God sent to remove the reproach of sin and destroy the veil of death by living and suffering and dying in the flesh.  But Jesus, though fully human, was fully God.  He did not sin nor did he remain in the grave.  Rising on the third day, Jesus Christ brought power and redemption to the human experience and to every person who would call on God faithfully.

For the Jews who had become followers of Christ, Mount Zion was no longer a hill in Jerusalem, but the Church, the city of God with Jesus Christ as its founder and head.  Baptized into the Body of Christ, Joe came to know and love God here at St. Joseph’s.  He also learned to love the Church, that is, his brothers and sisters in Christ, beginning with his parents and siblings, friends and classmates, and the sisters who taught at St Joseph School.  His cherished bride, Pat and their four children, their spouses and his 13 grandchildren.  Did he love you perfectly?  No, but he did love you, and I expect he did what he could to share what he learned by example.

It was evident that Joe loved Christ and His Church, and was especially fond of the first disciple, the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We know he was not unduly outspoken about his Catholic Faith in public, yet it was hard to miss the large crucifix he wore about his neck and that one well-known sign in his shop which read, “Eternity: Smoking or non-smoking?”  Indeed, this was in character with Joe’s penchant for jokes, yet in a small way, Joe was asking a very important question of his customers - a question he was asking himself.
As St. Paul told the Romans:

We shall all stand before the judgement seat of God; [and] each of us shall give an account of himself to God.

There are many who have not given this reality enough consideration.  In this post-Christian age, it’s not fashionable to speak in absolutes.  Joe understood, however, that whether they were fashionable or not, God had loved us enough to reach out to us and tell us his absolutes; and so, Joe lived his life accordingly.  He knew nobody was perfect, including himself, yet he did not use that as an excuse.  He was not too proud to acknowledge his sins and confess them, turning to God for forgiveness and the grace to do better.

He knew that preparing himself for the moment of judgment was not something that we can knowingly put off.  Baptized into Christ, he had an obligation to live out his relationship with God on a daily basis.  The most important way in which Joe prepared himself centered around this altar which presented to Joe the grace to strengthen his faith and to be more like Christ.
In the Gospel from the Apostle John.  Jesus makes an amazing declaration and and promise:  “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day.”  With these words, Jesus makes clear that he has come to save not just our souls, but our bodies as well - that God loves all of who we are and that our bodies have a role in his plan of salvation.

When he made his claim even more emphatic and literal by saying “my flesh is true food and my blood true drink,” many of his disciples walked away and he let them go.  Even though they believed he might be the Son of God, they could not bring themselves to believe that he could do as he promised in this dialogue.

Eventually, at his last supper, on the night before he died, Jesus fulfilled his promise from the Gospel of John.  Taking bread in his hands, he said, “this is my body” and taking a cup of wine, he said, “this is my blood.” Miraculously and mysteriously, Jesus held himself in his own hands and offered himself as food and drink to his followers for the first time, then commissioned his apostles, and therefore, His Church, to do the same in memory of Him.

That which was too confounding for the early disciples did not trouble Joe Hilkert, who gazed upon the bread and wine offered on this altar week after week.  He knew that in this sacrificial meal was the true presence of Jesus Christ whom who could do as He promised; and so, Joe looked forward to being raised up body and soul on the last day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a few occasions, Joe enumerated to me all the blessings he was grateful for.  From here, I can see many of them. (Especially you, Pat.) He also wondered why he was so blessed, while others weren’t.  Given the same circumstances, however, not everyone would be as grateful as Joe was.  Ultimately, it is a matter of perspective and grace; for, when faced with heart bypass surgery, and finally leukemia, he allowed both of these events to transform him into the man God wanted him to be.  He was not bitter; rather, open to the eternal plan of God, he embraced them and learned to embrace God more because of them.
Joe could do this because he trusted God to be faithful to His promises - promises like the ones we read from Isaiah, Saint Paul, and Saint John; therefore, Joe knew the consolation of a God who wiped away his tears and who sent Jesus Christ to remove the reproach of sin and destroy the veil of death by living and suffering and dying in the flesh.  And Joe was deeply grateful.
He knew that Jesus, though fully human, was fully God, who rose on the third day in order to bring power and redemption to every human experience and to every person who would believe in Him.  And Joe was deeply grateful.
Knowing that Jesus had the power to give us His flesh to eat and His blood to drink, Joe faithfully sat in the pew wearing a dapper suit or stood here to help serve the body and blood of Christ to his brothers and sisters. And he was deeply grateful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the end, some turn to God in fear, begging forgiveness, hoping it’s not too late to repent.  Some turn to God in anger, because things didn’t turn out the way they wanted or imagined them to be.  Still others, like Joe, knowing that God can raise them up on the last day, turn to God in love and trust, and say,  “I am deeply grateful.”

What Characterizes us as Catholics?

When people see me, what do they think about Catholics? Can they testify that Catholics are people of faith, prayer, and justice or do they think of common stereotypes? We have heard much about faith and prayer over the past month, so today let’s focus on Justice.

Justice is the most important of the cardinal virtues. It helps us make right moral decisions and to give to others what belongs to them. We may be inclined to think justice is mostly about civil law and order, but it is much broader. In the OT reading from Sirach, the author teaches that “God is a God of justice who knows no favorites.” He is “not unduly partial to the weak”, yet he hears the oppressed, the orphan, and the widow. These people are lowly due to their circumstances and are apt to rely on God more than on themselves or others. There are also those who make themselves lowly, as Sirach puts it “who serve God willingly.”

These are the people whom God hears, but are they prepared for the answer: which could be YES, NO, or WAIT. If we are unhappy with God’s reply, our problem could be one of two things: We are either demanding a limited, earthly justice from God, or we think of ourselves as the willing and lowly servant when in actuality, we are still far from it. When faced with such feelings, we should question ourselves our motives and what we truly desire: “How lowly am I? How willing am I to be a servant of God? Do I really need what I am asking for? Do I really trust God’s eternal perspective?”

Saint Paul, the great missionary apostle, is a good example of this perspective. In today’s letter to Saint Timothy he says that God is “the just Judge” and that he, Paul, is certain to receive “the crown of righteousness” in heaven. He knows this not because he is proud or conceited, but because he had made himself God’s lowly servant. As he told the Philippians, “I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him”.

More importantly, Paul knows that justice is based first and foremost on the fact that we were created for heaven and that being there is our primary goal in life. For Paul, the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ is an act of “primary justice” because it gives to all who hear what is their most basic need - the grace and knowledge of God leading to salvation. Everything else is secondary to that.

If our fundamental understanding of justice is earthly justice, then no fair accounting will ever be made to our satisfaction. Just look at how politcally tangled up we are as a society in striving for earthly fairness, equality, sameness which always fall short of the goal.

Even God does not implement an entirely earthly accounting of justice, for as Jesus says in Matthew’s gospel, “The poor you will always have with you.” He could have granted pure equality and sameness to all if the Father willed it, but this was not the primary goal. The revelation of God the Father, the Kingdom of Heaven, the knowledge of faith - these were his primary objectives, and they became Saint Paul’s as well. And even though Paul tells Timothy, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat,” he is still beheaded as a martyr. Does this mean a failure of justice on God’s part? Does God abandon his willing servants? Only look to the rest of Paul’s statement: “[The Lord] will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.” Ultimately, God’s justice is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ for “all who have longed for His appearance” for in heaven they receive all they could have longed for on earth.

In the gospel, Luke also takes up the theme of lowliness. Notice how the pharisee does good things (fasting, prayers, sacrifice), but he lacks perspective on his position before God - that he is really as dependent on the grace and mercy of God as the sinful tax collector. His attitude is actually a lack of justice toward God! We are not giving God what is due to him if we act as though He actually benefits from us or if we act as though his good gifts to us are unimportant or uninteresting.

Why does the tax collector go to the temple to seek mercy? because there is something different there - God meets his people in the temple. God meets us in this place - most perfectly in the Eucharist. This experience is meant to be different than the secular for a reason. Coming to church is a call to transformation, a turning of our hearts toward justice. Everything we do here matters. When we come here we symbolically wash off the negative influences of the world we experience outside. We bless ourselves with holy water, we confess our sin in the penitential act and we realize that we have brought some things into the mass that do not belong here. We cast them aside as Saint Paul did because our actions here should not be mechanical or empty repetitions and gestures. Here we come to do justice - primary justice - to give God the worship that belongs to him and to receive the grace he promised to the lowly and to help us be lowly.

Therefore, when people think of Catholics, the image ought to be more like the tax collector but also like Saint Paul whose primary objective was primary justice: revealing the good news by a humble life of service and meeting that primary need in others.

We have a few bus drivers in the parish who make it their primary objective to help others meet theirs. Bringing people to mass who cannot drive themselves. THIS is primary justice!

Children and adults who bless this mass by serving as greeters make it their primary objective to introduce people to this parish with a warm welcome and to provide assistance. If this mass is someone’s first experience of Christianity, what a difference a greeter can make. THIS is primary justice.

Choir members young and old bless this congregation with music to heighten our understanding of truth beauty and goodness during the liturgy. Sunday School Catechists, who outside of mass help parents communicate the same truth beauty and goodness to their children. THIS is primary justice.

I would be unjust if I did not tell you that we need more parishioners to stand up and go beyond the stereotypes and to perform acts of primary justice. I ask you to consider being bus drivers, greeters, choir members, and catechists for these are our areas of greatest need right now.

Today, we have washed off the injustice of the world. We have confessed our sins and turned toward God and rightly proclaimed his glory. Soon we will receive his Body and Blood in the Eucharistic Sacrifice and declare how right and just it is to give him thanks. As lowly and willing servants, let us once again resolve to take up the task of primary justice so that we can say with Saint Paul:

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen."

No Slave is Greater than His Master

How much do I really want to be like my master? How far am I really willing to go with him? To be like him? Tonight, we encounter our Lord in the greatest of his human actions, his passion and his death, and we ponder anew what his suffering means for us.

Looking back through Lent, Jesus says many things to challenge us. Perhaps you have taken some of them to heart, and are now wrestling with what he is saying to you. Faced with the challenges, you wonder if you can even meet them successfully. Maybe you began Lent with great resolve to overcome your sins and weaknesses, to dig deeper than you did in previous years, but as each week went by, you lost a little more of your strength and commitment. Do not give up and do not be discouraged.

From all eternity, knowing what we would do to damage the relationship we had with him, God in his wisdom planned to provide the ultimate remedy for us, for every form of injustice, every form of poverty, every sin and weakness, every manner of suffering, and, having fully prepared the human race through long ages, he planted that remedy at the epicenter of history as the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

So great and vast is it's power that God has woven this single event into the fabric of human experience, such that there is no moment or any fraction of a moment which does not contain its thread or feel the shockwave of its grace pouring forth from the earth of Calvary into which it was thrust.

As we read in Hebrews: "Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered, and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." This suffering is not limited to his passion, but applies to everything he surrendered to become human. The obedience he learned and the perfection he gained must be understood in relation to his human nature, for in his divine nature, there would no need to learn obedience or gain perfection.

The entire human experience of Christ, and especially what he endured on this day, was a satisfactory offering to God the Father, not solely because God willed, but because Jesus in his human nature also willed to redeem that human nature for the sake of each and every human person, so that no one can say with any veracity, or truth, "God does not love me." - "I am unworthy of love." - "I am unlovable." or "I cannot love."

Last night, Father explained this great gift of the Eucharist, Christ’s Real Presence among us, the actual re-presentation of his sacrifice on the cross for all time. Dare we doubt the love and power of God in the face of so great a life as his and so great a mystery as the one presented to us on this altar, one by which we share in the divine life of God?

And if we share His divine life and we truly possess His love, then do we allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking that we cannot keep His commands, that we are without His help, that we cannot become like Him? We deceive ourselves if we partake of the sacraments believing that we cannot carry our own crosses to the point of losing our entire lives, even our entire selves to Him and that we would not be better off if we do; for the power and love flowing from His cross, the grace of perseverance, the grace each of us needs to imitate our master is available to us without doubt!

Yes, we can always do better. We can give up more, not just for Lent, but every day. For example, some may be surprised to hear that we, as Catholics, are obliged to observe every Friday as a day of penance. Every Friday in memory of this Friday is meant to be a day on which we either abstain from meat or perform some other acts of penance and charity. Beyond our Friday obligations, we can offer more of our prayers, joys, triumphs, sufferings, and thanksgivings to God every day of the year. After all, Lent, although a season, is not meant to have a temporary effect. After this weekend, we ought not think that we are to return to our old ways. Will we continue to be slaves to our appetites, consuming all that we want while our neighbors do not have even their most basic needs? If we can fast today, can we choose to fast once a month or once a week?
For, if God the Son would not stand by and watch us remain in our miserable state, but every day of his human life surrendered all to which he had claim for the sake of our greatest needs, then will we continue to fill our lives with what we do not need and stand by as our brothers and sisters throughout the world suffer poverty, hunger, nakedness, war, imprisonment, loneliness, mistreatment, and infirmity?

In our culture, we may be deceived into thinking that the way of the cross leads only to sadness and pain. In reality, it leads to freedom and joy. We must remember that the crucifixion of the body was only the beginning, but a necessary beginning. Without this death, there could not be resurrection and ultimate freedom from sin and death for all of us. In the same way, we too must first embrace the crucifixion of our own flesh through self-control, self-denial, and self-sacrifice. Only by being stripped of all that hinders us will we clearly see how much we need the Lord and how much we can offer others, especially our most needy brothers and sisters. Stripped of our own opinions and prideful ideals, we are able to receive His truth and know the full joy, freedom, and happiness that He experiences in the resurrection as we overcome sin and weakness. When we bring our souls to the point of being naked at the foot of the cross, our truest self remains open to the scrutiny of Christ, our master and teacher, who was also stripped of everything. He is then most able to fill us and clothe us with His righteousness and use us to accomplish His will.

As we heard two Sundays ago, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” Tonight, Christ lost his life for our sake. Do we really believe we can bear fruit without dying to our own disordered desires? Do we bury our lives under all the cares of this materialistic and entertainment-bound society instead of planting our hearts in the pierced heart of Christ? Do we suffocate the new life of baptism with a life of vanity? Have we been buried by the worldly ideals of bigger homes, fancier cars, more mobile devices, more fashionable clothes, the desire for popularity and celebrity? Do we value our degrees over our lives of faith? Do we value our TV shows, movies, and novels over and against a moral, modest, and chaste lifestyle? Do we do all these things and still call Christ our master and teacher? These are the very kinds of things he rejected and forsook so that we might live free and abundant lives of real and lasting joy and peace.

Do not be like the young lawyer who was so attached to his possessions that he could not follow Christ when he was asked to give them up. As we heard last night at the mass of the Lord’s Supper, “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” And in the next passage we read, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.” Are we greater than he that we should live more opulent lives? Are we greater to the extent that we cannot endure patiently the wounds inflicted by those who hurt us and then forgive them? Are we greater to the extent that our own opinions matter more than his teachings handed on to us by the hand of His Bride, His Holy Church?

Let us not jeopardize our opportunity for eternal life by being so unnaturally wedded to the the temporal and fleeting pleasures of this life. Tonight, take hold of the power of this cross, receive his love and resolve to join Him in his passion and death. Claim his grace and offer everything you lay claim to, everything he has handed to you, in an act of love for the salvation of the whole world.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - A

Lately, I have taken an interest in one of the masterworks of the famous and prolific English writer and Catholic convert, G.K. Chesterton: a book entitled, The Everlasting Man. Another well-known, English writer, C. S. Lewis credited The Everlasting Man with "baptising" his intellect, calling it "the [very] best popular defence of the full Christian position I know”. Lewis also cited it in a list of 10 books that "most shaped his vocational attitude and philosophy of life". In this book, Chesterton states: “The world owes God to the Jews.” The uniqueness of the declaration made me pause. “The world owes God to the Jews.” I continued reading and realized how evident and accurate this conclusion was; how profound and simple it was at the same time.

Popular theories on the development of worship would have us believe that monotheism, or belief in one true God, was a late development in humanity only after centuries of the worship of many Gods, known as polytheism. To the contrary, we believe that the human understanding of God was originally monotheistic and that from the beginning, we were created in a relationship with the One True God. Over time, and as a consequence of our fallen human nature, faith in this God was abandoned for the worship of created things. From this disordered type of worship, elaborate forms of polytheism grew and prevailed throughout human civilization everywhere, except in one place and among one people: in Israel, among the Jews.

Yet, Faith in the One True God did not originate with the Jews. Beginning with Abraham, God chose a people to be His People in order to preserve what was once lost among a mass of confused mythology. The Jews were given the Laws of God at the hand of the prophet Moses. By these laws, God charged His people to stand out among the other nations. To be holy and set apart for him alone and not to profane their religion by mingling their faith with the pagan practices of their neighbors; so that, through their obedience, the other nations would come to know who God was. And, though you and I might think parts of the Mosaic law are strict and strange, we can see that, at the very least, these laws set them apart from the polytheistic cultures that surrounded them. They served to remind the Jews that they were to be a sign, an emblem, a contrast that was significant enough to preserve the Faith in the One God, creator of heaven and earth in a world that had long ago abandoned it.

They would obey this law even to the point of death, because of the obedience of faith to which God called them. And so, for centuries, the Jews carried Faith in One God amidst the threats of polytheism, leading Chesterton to the conclusion that “the world owes God to the Jews.”

Turning to today’s Gospel reading from chapter 15 of Matthew, we meet Jesus at a particular time of in the history of the Jewish religion. As usual, we see Jesus challenging the understanding of the Jews of Jesus’ day; for the Jews had developed their religion to the point of hating their non-Jewish neighbors, whom they called “Gentiles”. Today, Jesus reminds the Jews that their separation from the Gentiles was not to develop into hatred and that the law was never meant to lead to the mistreatment of the stranger; that their obedience to the law was intended to lead the Gentiles to know God and to desire a relationship with God.

In the account of the Canaanite woman, Jesus is also testing the faith of the Canaanite woman. I would even say he is eager to play the role of the typical Jew so that his disciples can see how great a hunger the Gentiles have to know the one True God and to demonstrate how great a Gentile’s faith can be in contrast to many Jews. Why else would he have led them into the Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon? It would be absurd to conclude that he was simply offending a Canaanite woman.

Jesus is telling the truth when he says that “[He] was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” At least, this was his first and primary mission, because this is what God promised the Jews, but Jesus is always listening to the Father, who also promised to the Gentiles what we read from Isaiah:

The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, becoming his servants-
all who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant,
them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer;
a house of prayer for all peoples.

In context, the purpose of the Father becomes clear: At the end of this chapter, we read about the feeding of the 4000 IN GENTILE Territory. Just one chapter before this, Jesus was feeding 5000 in Jewish territory. Clearly, Matthew marks a turning point and a teaching point in Jesus ministry.

Saint Paul attempts to capture the significance of Jesus actions in our second reading from the book of Romans, chapter 11. He speaks of the disobedience of the Jews which allowed the Gentiles to be united to the believing Jews, through faith in Jesus Christ, into one body, the Church. In some verses of this chapter which we did not read, he explains that “some of the branches were broken off [meaning the disobedient Jews], and you, a wild olive shoot [the Gentiles], were grafted in their place and have come to share in the rich root of the olive tree [Israel]…. They were broken off because of unbelief, but you are there because of faith.”

The teachings of the apostle are clear: The Church is the new Israel, and we have an obligation to continue what God began with the Israelites. In our modern times, we face something not unlike the situation of the ancient Jews, but instead of polytheism, the new Israel is threatened by any number of competing philosophies demanding equal validity with the gospel of our Lord.

Our modern culture suffers from the delusion that all philosophies (worldviews, beliefs) are equally valid because every person is of equal dignity. Now, although we can agree that every human person has equal dignity, we cannot agree that all philosophies are of equal worth, nor can we conclude that they are equally correct, especially if they are contradictory. Doing so would be contrary to reason.

Others may argue that we are all equally fallen in regard to our human nature, and so we can only conclude that all human philosophies are equally invalid, meaning that no one has any claim on the truth. This conclusion is equally unreasonable and ultimately leads to despair.

The only hopeful answer is the one we started with: that God chose to reveal Divine Truth to his people despite their sinful, fallen nature, in order that all may know Him and have a foundation for determining what is right and wrong, what will bring ultimate fulfillment and happiness. All of God’s people, having been baptized into Jesus Christ, have an obligation to live in the obedience of faith, just as the Jews did, so that all might come into a relationship with God leading to eternal salvation. Therefore, just as the Old Testament Faith did not originate with the Jews, the New Testament Faith does not originate with us.

We were baptized into Christ, not ourselves, and not unto ourselves, but unto God to be more conformed to his likeness in how we think and what we desire. For our sake, the Lord gave the keys to the kingdom to Saint Peter and his Successors in Rome, NOT to any of US. For centuries it has been their duty to protect the gospel and determine what teachings were essential to it.
When confronted with a behavior, practice, belief or philosophy in our modern world which contradicts the Gospel, we cannot treat the Faith as one opinion among equals. God has appointed the Church to guide us in these matters. We must pursue God like the Canaanite woman pursued Christ. We must also persevere in Faith like the Jews. As they were to reject the influence of the cultures around them, rejecting any other gods, so we must reject the erroneous thinking prevalent in our age. We should not profane the teachings of the Church by mingling them with teaching contrary to the Gospel entrusted to our leaders.

In this way all nations will come to know the one True God, through you and me – through our obedience of faith – a heritage entrusted to us by the Lord himself. Today, if you are a Jewish Catholic, rejoice that you are of the original olive tree. I you are a Gentile Catholic, rejoice that you have been grafted in, but let us together be on guard lest we once again be cut off.

We like to reduce things to signs and symbols. It’s convenient. Symbols simplify communication and are useful in teaching. The message behind the sign is usually much greater or deeper than the sign itself. For example, what does this sign mean? (I love you.) (Touchdown – Ben Roethlisberger to Hines Ward.) (Peace/Sign of Peace at mass.) (Blessed Trinity/Two natures of Jesus Christ.)

Our Creed is a symbol, it contains within it the most central and highest mystery of our faith, the Blessed Trinity. I believe in God, the Father…in Jesus Christ…the Holy Spirit…, but these are not a bare minimum for our faith. They represent much more.

It is correct to say that “the faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity.” It is the mystery of God in himself and is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith". We cannot arrive at this knowledge by human reason alone. Before the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, even Israel did not understand God as Trinity even though he left traces of his Trinitarian work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the OT.

What is the Trinity? The Trinity is an eternal dialogue of love. Not a selfish love. God is one, but he is not alone. Father + Son + Holy Spirit = an eternal community of love. Through the revelation of the Trinity, we know that love is generative, it gives of itself, it produces fruit, it seeks the other, it goes outside of itself. The love of God is the primary cause of our existence. We exist because God loves us and willed us to exist. He did not need us – we add nothing to him nor does anything we do detract from who or what God is.

Which brings us to the second most fundamental and essential teaching of our faith, the incarnation of the Son of God. In the fullness of time, God chose to complete the revelation of himself to Israel and all who would believe, through His only-begotten Son. A human person who was also divine in nature. We call this the “hypostatic union”. (Show the hand sign.) In Christ, the divine nature of the Son remained undiminished by his human nature and his human nature remained complete and unabsorbed by his greater divine nature. There was not a new third nature created in Jesus. Rather, it is a union, like marriage, in which the two remain distinct as individuals, but are now bound to one another in one person.

Through the Incarnation, we learn that God refused to abandon his creation even though it had fallen into sin. From all eternity, he chose to bind himself to our human nature in time and restore to us our original dignity and reveal our purpose to live in a communion of love with him forever in heaven,

We know God by his actions. One of Jesus primary missions was to reveal the Father. To show us who and what the Father is. That is why today’s Gospel is so important to Trinity Sunday and our understanding of God.

God so loved…that he gave. (We know God by his actions.) This is perhaps one of the most famous passages of scripture. John 3:16. Love is generative. It gives of itself. It seeks the other. John 3:16 is often used as a symbol representing the entire gospel. Unfortunately, this too is often misused as a bare minimum for faith, and worse, for excluding others from the possibility of being saved.

God knows us by our actions, also. Through the Son of God, we know what is required of us when we say that “we believe”. Belief goes beyond simple assent. The Son does not simply receive the love of the Father, he acts on it. He does what the Father tells him. HE ALSO GIVES. The Father gave the Son, the Son give us himself in obedience to the Father, and the Son gives himself back the father through obedience. Love is not a feeling – love is an action and requires a response. If we do not receive and respond, the love bears no fruit.

As symbols, the Creed and John 3:16 are not intended to be the bare minimums of faith for us. They are meant to be symbols of all that we believe to be revealed by God through His Church. Now more than ever we are without excuse if we are ignorant of the faith and if we don’t know why the Church teaches what it teaches to be part of that revelation. Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, having the benefit of an education, we have every obligation to respond to the love God has freely poured into our hearts. We must use human reason and everything he gave us through the Catholic Church: Scripture, Tradition, the Sacraments – to act in obedience and return the love we have in the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, to the Father. In order to this, I pray in the words of Saint Paul: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

God's Greatest Creation

Imagine with me all of God's great creations, close your eyes if you wish, and recall some of the most beautiful, amazing, and majestic creations of God:
> the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the galaxies and nebulae of space
> the blue whale, thoroughbred horses, the Serengeti Plains filled with lions, zebra, elephants, and beasts of various kinds
> Mount Everest, the Rocky Mountains, the most magnificent coral reefs
* Whatever you can imagine
* Close your eyes, remember them think on them for a moment

Now, realize this truth:
> None of them are as beautiful, amazing, and majestic as you
* You are a human person, a human body, endowed with a rational, personal soul, the highpoint of God's creation
* and NO OTHER CREATION is greater than you or me, because our body - the human body - is the only one capable of communion with the Creator, and NO OTHER CREATION is destined for eternity with Him

God desired this communion and created us for communion from the beginning
> But as the book of Revelation reminds us this weekend, Satan is at war
* He attacked the woman and her offspring in the Garden of Eden and succeeded in deceiving Adam and Eve
* Yet, even at the moment of original sin, which ruptured that original relationship, His plan of redemption was already in place
* In Genesis Chapter 3, he promises that the woman and her offspring would crush the head of Satan
> He eventually called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob seeking to establish a people who were uniquely his own, a people who would be the cause of salvation for the entire human race
> Then he called Moses who oversaw the development of worship after he lead the Israelites out of Egypt
* Central to their worship was "The Ark of the Covenant"
* a wooden chest made, covered with gold and adorned with angels
* In this ark, the Israelites placed the Stone Tablets containing the word of God, The Staff of Aaron who was their first high priest, and Manna "The bread from heaven" which God provided to sustain them in the desert of Sinai before they reached the Promised Land
* This ark was a sign of God's presence and their communion because the Lord would descend upon in the form of a cloud and speak to Moses as a friend

But these Old Testament artifacts, were only shadows of what was to come
> they could never completely satisfy the desire for communion because they were for the most part, external to the human person
* They served to point to something greater in God's plan of salvation
> Only God Himself could bring satisfaction
* You see: Jesus had to become the Word of God made Flesh
* He had to be the Great High Priest, ministering in a heavenly tabernacle, a heavenly temple, not an earthly one
* And he had to be the True Bread from Heaven by which His people could have more than a merely nutritional supplement for their bodies, but one by which he nourished their very souls
> This being the case, to whom would God entrust His Son? Into what Ark could he place himself for the salvation of the human race?

At the fullness of time, God prepared a woman to bear His Son and together they would fulfill what God promised so long ago
> Our catechism states:
* 721 "Mary... is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time."
* 722 "...by sheer grace, [Mary was] conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty."
* By welcoming the conception of the Lord in her womb, Mary became the "Ark of the New Covenant" holding within herself the Word of God, the Great High Priest, and the Bread of Life
* She also crushed the head of Satan and became the Mother of God, the first disciple, the model and prototype of the Church, and the cause of our salvation
> Many people have wondered where the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant is today
* Some Archaeologists have gone to great lengths to find it
* And despite what we see in Raiders of the Lost Ark, no one really knows what happened to it after the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C.
> There is no question as to where the Ark of the New Covenant is today
* Revelation chapter 12 makes it clear that as the New Ark, Mary, the woman, is already in the heavenly temple body and soul, clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet, and crowned with 12 stars
* She is the first among Christians to be granted that great victory over death in her body spoken of by Saint Paul
* As prototype of the Church, she is what we will be
* Truly, because of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, we too have hope of complete redemption of our bodies and souls
> In the face of every pain and suffering we declare with the Great Apostle:
* WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY?
* WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?

But we must never take our victory over death for granted
> The Gospel tells us that one of the primary reasons Mary was blessed is because she heard the word of God, believed it, and obeyed it
* One of the biggest errors Christians can make today is to think that faith is comprised only of those matters they can understand or matters that are in line with their own opinions
* Even the truth of Mary's Assumption into heaven is called into question and has been made a matter of opinion by some
> So, let us be clear a to what faith is:
* Although faith must involve reason, faith is not believing only in what we can already accept and understand
* As Mary demonstrates, faith is saying yes to God even when we are afraid of the circumstances and even when we cannot completely understand His ways

Revelation Chapter 12 also makes clear that the last thing Satan wants is for us to become like Our Lady
> With an irrational hatred and jealously he continues to make war on the woman and her offspring
* Satan's primary strategy is to rupture our communion with God by promoting offenses against the human body:
* like murder, human trafficking, physical abuse, substance abuse, gluttony, laziness, adultery, sodomy, abortion, euthanasia, contraception, cohabitation, and modern technology which attacks the embryo for research or exploits it for in vitro purposes
> Accepting Church teaching on some of these matters can be difficult
* We are roundly mocked for our teachings and considered backward because of our beliefs about such things
* but the Church is obligated to bring both faith and reason to bear even on our modern circumstances
* Because if we are to join Our Lady where she is, we need to make every effort to thwart the attacks of Satan with the Truths of the Catholic Faith and make every effort to be more like her for the glory of Her Son and the salvation of all

Today we have received the Word of God - we heard it proclaimed from this Ambo and with our own lips praised and thanked God for it
> Very soon, we will be offered a true communion with Jesus, our Great High Priest, we will receive Him as the Bread of Life and the Cup of Eternal Salvation and take Him into our own bodies
> Thus each of us becomes, in an way, an ark of the new covenant and in our bodies we realize this communion is what we were created for
> And we look forward to a new day when like our Blessed Mother, we are carried into the heavenly Jerusalem, into eternal communion with God and all the saints with a new and glorified body

Mary and Martha Revisited

1) Today’s readings lead me to ask three questions as a disciple
   a) Do we recognize whom we are serving?
   b) Why do we serve?
   c) What is our first priority as disciples?
2) In our culture, technology allows us to screen the various encounters we may have during a day.
   a) With the aid of caller id, answering machines, receptionists, and security cameras, we can make judgments about an encounter and choose whether or not we want to have it.
   b) Understandably, we assume we know what an encounter may bring based on previous experience
      i) Making such judgments is not necessarily a bad thing, but we must be careful that we do not therefore miss an opportunity to bless someone by being present to them when they need us
      ii) Abraham did not have luxury of screening his encounters as we do today, but perhaps that was a blessing in his case.
   c) When his mysterious guests arrived, Abraham was sitting in the entrance to his tent (perhaps enjoying a breeze in the shade on a hot day)
      i) he put aside his own comfort and “he waited on them”
      ii) great effort in serving the strangers, a meal made with “fine flour”, a “tender, choice steer”, and “curds and milk”
      iii) Even at this point in the passage it is not apparent to us or to Abraham who these strangers are
      iv) Context is always important. From the second part of this chapter which you can read in Chapter 18 of Genesis, we know that one of visitors is the Lord, and the others are angels who enact judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.
   d) Let us couple Abraham’s example with the teachings of our Lord and the Apostle Paul:
      i) Matthew 25: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
      ii) Colossians 3: “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others”
   e) In the light of Christian revelation, the answer to the question, “Do we know whom we are serving?” is clear:
      i) regardless of whom we encounter we are serving the LORD;
      ii) therefore, every encounter is an opportunity to receive the Lord as our guest and an opportunity to present the Lord to another and be Christ for another
3) Why do we serve?
   a) Turning back to our second reading from Colossians, we find the very reason we seek to serve and suffer anything on behalf of or for the sake of anyone in the name of Christ
      i) The Apostle Paul states: “in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, the church, to bring to completion for you the word of God”
   b) With Saint Paul, we rejoice in our suffering because we know and believe that the Christian revelation is the Truth, not just one truth among many equally valid truths
   c) we desire to see more and more people enter the Church because we know and believe that Christ is not just any man
      i) The son promised to Abraham in today’s first reading was just the beginning of the plan of salvation, a foreshadowing
      ii) Jesus is the true SON, the completion of that promise for the salvation of the whole human race, not just the people of Israel
   d) as Paul says, that which was hidden is now revealed for us.
      i) It is a mystery that is revealed not only FOR us and TO us, but by our participation in the Church and the sacraments, that salvation, our Lord and God, now dwells IN us!
   e) And that indwelling is our hope of glory!
      i) A hope which compelled Saint Paul and compels us to “proclaim Him, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present EVERYONE perfect in Christ” (NOT just ourselves)
      ii) WHAT A MOTIVATION we have!
4) Proper motivation and enthusiasm come from the regular practice of our first and foremost priority as disciples of Christ
5) So, THIRDLY, What is that priority?
   a) In today’s Gospel, we first meet Martha, who welcomed Jesus into her home and began serving, preparing a meal and waiting at table
   b) Then we are introduced to her sister Mary “who (taking the posture of a disciple) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak”
   c) It appears that Martha, as a good Jewish woman, is doing exactly what her Father Abraham had done in our first reading; and strangely, the Lord rebukes her.
   d) Jesus’ gentle rebuke to Martha reminds us of two things:
      i) that our service must first be formed with the proper motivations
      ii) that we risk missing the divine in the everyday demands of life
   e) If we contrast Martha’s behavior to that of Abraham we will notice that while Abraham is concerned only for the well-being of his guests, Martha speaks only of herself: “Tell her to help me,” she says
      i) I want to avoid reading too much into Martha’s motivations, but as we ought to do when reading scripture, I allowed it to provoke a question within me: What might my motivations be in the same situation?
         (1) Desire for notoriety, of having a famous prophet in my home?
         (2) Pride of being an excellent host a good chef, of being complimented for my service?
      ii) In my meditation I also wondered, “How many of us have embarked upon a project without fully estimating the cost and then sought to be bailed out like Martha?” Crying to God and demanding help.
   f) How often do our days and weeks go by with school, with work, with family, housework, and activities and we wonder, “Where did that day go? Where did that week go?”
      i) We find ourselves at Church on Sunday and we may discover it is the only hour of the week we spend in the presence of God.
         (1) Even while we are here our minds may be anxious about many things
         (2) With all that is going on, it’s not difficult to be distracted at mass – I have found myself planning the day, preparing for an event, thinking about work; and I have to bring myself back to what I am to be doing here, sitting at the feet of Jesus
      ii) At times like these we must listen to the words of Jesus again, but let us substitute our own names for Martha’s name:
         (1) “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
         (2) (Pause)
         (3) “GREGORY, GREGORY, you are anxious and worried about many things.
         (4) There is need of only one thing.”
   g) When Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better part (portion) he is telling all of us, that the first and best priority in our lives is a real and intimate relationship with God.
      i) Jesus is the really the host in Martha’s house – recall how in Matthew 20 he tells us that he came “not to be served, but to serve"
      ii) Remember our first question: DO WE RECOGNIZE WHOM WE ARE SERVING? WHO IS IN OUR PRESENCE?
         (1) Ultimately, to be a disciple we must be both Mary and Martha, but in the right order
         (2) First, with Mary, we sit at the feet our Lord, the Master Servant
         (3) We listen, learn, worship, and prepare
         (4) Properly prepared, we then serve in His presence with the proper motivations, so that others may take their turn at his feet
      iii) Martha has an opportunity here: Her service allows Mary to rest at the feet of Jesus.
      iv) When we serve, do we see that same opportunity?
         (1) When we agree to be greeters at mass, or lectors, cantors, and extraordinary ministers; when children become altar servers and when parents volunteer to work with Children’s Liturgy;
         (2) when we cook a meal for someone, or care for the needs of other,
         (3) we do so because we have spent time at the feet of Christ and we desire to allow and enable others to sit His feet, that they may have rest and fellowship with God and others.
6) Christians!
   a) Let us recognize whom we serve
   b) Remember why we serve
   c) And may we always choose the better part

Who Then Is This?

At least once a year, at Christmas or Easter, it seems like some new article or news program attempts to define for us who Jesus really was in contrast to what the Church teaches. And though we can fault them for any biases they inject into their productions, we cannot fault them for asking the question "Who is Jesus?", because it is a perennial question. Since returning to the Catholic faith, I have not tired of asking this question, and I would suggest that, whether we know it or not, we all have asked ourselves this question to some degree or another at multiple points in our life.

Like the disciples in today's gospel, we are challenged in our understanding of who Jesus is in the midst of trials, tribulation, or suffering; and, depending on what kind of relationship we have with him, we may come to different answers. For example, the disciples had clearly been formulating an opinion about Jesus from the miracles he performed during the days, weeks or months preceding this day when they crossed to the other side of the sea of Galilee. I am sure that, by this time, they had pretty high hopes for this Jesus whom they were following. After all, a voice from heaven declared that he was "my Beloved Son" and even the demons which he cast out called him "the Holy One of God"!

Then comes the storm. Now, sudden storms like this are not uncommon on the Sea of Galilee, so it may not have been a surprise to the disciples, but what made this storm different in their minds was who they had in the boat with them. We need to consider that in the ancient near east in the time and place of the disciples, storms were depicted as manifestations of evil and chaos. In addition, we are familiar with the ancient misconception that an unfortunate death implied that you were a sinner or cursed and forsaken by God. Taken altogether, is it any wonder why the disciples asked Jesus, "Do you not care that we are perishing?" I can hear the unspoken questions they asked themselves. "What will the world think of us if we perish this way? We thought he could be the messiah! Doesn't he care?! His reputation is on the line. Our reputation is on the line! Is he not who we thought he was?" This storm then posed more than a physical threat, it was an attack on their hope, on their concept of who Jesus was; and they were afraid.

How many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, have questioned God in this manner? Haven't we wondered or cried out in the midst of our suffering or some other crisis: "Where are you? Don't you care? Do you even exist?" How many of us have asked. "What have I done to deserve this?" or "ls this how you treat those who love you?" These are fair questions and they are not new. They proceed from every human life and they demand an adequate answer; but, continuing to be honest with ourselves, under what conditions do we ask these questions? Are we in a regular daily conversation with God, or is this the first time in months that we sought his attention? Do we really have a relationship with the Lord, or do we only turn to him in our distress, and then only to be angry with him? Am I faithfully visiting him at Sunday Mass and adoring hini in the Blessed Sacrament? Do I go to penance regularly? Do I pray to him daily?

If my answer to these questions is "no", then it is my faith that is asleep in the storm, not the Lord. But, what if I have been doing all those things and I still cry? Am I wrong? In such circumstances, I would say that I was like Job. Job was a very righteous and holy man who suffered without cause simply because Satan desired it. God permitted Job to suffer greatly and Job basically asked "Where are you? Don't you care? Do you even exist?" Job wanted to be vindicated. He wanted to know why he was suffering when he had done nothing wrong. He didn't believe God would
allow such a thing to occur. He had an idea of who God was, but his image of God was incomplete. Yet, an amazing thing happened in the midst of Job's suffering. God revealed himself to Job! Job thought he knew God, but his concept of God was challenged when tragedy struck. Thus confronted, he had to come to terms with Who God really was. At the end of his suffering, Job saw that God's ways were far beyond his human understanding and was humbled, but more importantly he was moved toward a clearer understanding of Who God is.

The same opportunity can be found in the midst of our tragedies; thus when we are finished asking our questions, the Lord rightfully asks us like he asked the disciples: "Why are you so terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" Beyond a mere chastisement, Jesus' response prompts us to evaluate the status of our ordinary everyday faith in God. Jesus demonstrates the type of faith we ought to have. He is asleep in the boat while everyone else was panicking. It is the kind of faith called "Abandonment to Divine Providence", in a book of the same name by Jean Pierre de Cassaud. A compelling title. It clearly reflects what we see in Jesus' behavior during the storm.

Jesus can sleep because has an eternal perspective. He knows that whatever happens to us has already been known to the Father and whatever the outcome may be, God has accounted for it and has a plan to redeem it even when we do not understand it. We very often speak as if God is only seeing the events of our lives as they happen to us, and that he does not or cannot take action until we are in the midst of them. We must remind ourselves that God is eternal and outside of time. He is totally timeless and time is just another of his creatures. Knowing this enabled Jesus to keep his human will completely disposed to the will of the Father. As he says in John 5:30 "I can do nothing on my own authority...I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

We, too, must strive to develop this attitude of abandonment in which we realize that no tragedy that befalls us has to be a cause for fear or doubt, but for absolute trust in God who from all eternity has seen and known and provided an answer for us in the Person of Jesus. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1009 states:

"Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free submission to his Father's will. The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing."

And so, "Who is this then that even the wind and the waves obey him?" He is an eternal Answer to the question posed by each and every human life.

Reflection on Hospital Ministry

     Reflecting upon my assignment, I am reminded of Saint Paul’s words in Philippians 3:10-11, “…that I may know [Christ] and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” These verses highlight the desire I had for my visits at Holy Spirit Hospital to be more than anecdotal and my hope that I would come to know Christ through the patients and that they might also know Christ through me. Although I cannot speak for the patients, I can say that I saw the mystery of Christ’s union with humanity come to light in a way that I had not anticipated.
     To be honest, many visits were brief and somewhat awkward. Beginning a visit could be difficult and I first had to fight off the urge to cut short the possibility of ministering simply because of my feelings or negative first impressions. Then I had to resist the urge to manufacture something meaningful of an encounter in order to settle my own conscience. Pushing through my personal inhibitions, I discovered that my most successful encounters were sometimes those which were the most difficult to begin and, each time I went, I felt called to remain with at least one or two people in particular.
     Over the weeks, I was moved to meditate on the meaning of a human life, the significance of a human person as a historical/temporal being, and how s/he is formed by experiences, especially the one of which I had become a part at Holy Spirit. As I entered a room, I saw myself entering a person’s history and pondered the depth of the notion and the potential each entrance contained. If permitted, it would be my privilege to enter into the experiences of another, adding to the totality of who s/he was and what God intended for him/her.
     But, who was I and what did I really have to offer anybody? I had no cure and no particular agenda. I knew nothing about the person except his/her name and that s/he was a patient at HSH. Thus impoverished, I could only offer myself and my presence and I developed a sense of openness and receptivity that paid tribute to each patient’s dignity as a person created in the image of God. I saw that patients were susceptible to losing their sense of dignity because of their sufferings. After all, how dignified can you feel with a tube up your nose or in your neck, or when wearing one of those hospital gowns? Nonetheless, I could see some were coming to terms with their sufferings while others had already come to accept them and were bearing them with great grace. In each case, I believe that before me was an encounter with Christ Himself, whether or not it was immediately discernable to me, and that he was not just asking me to offer myself to the person, but to God, and that somehow He was offering Himself to me.
     I was especially blessed by the older patients who shared their stories with me, because they were inviting me inside their hearts to share in who they were. In those periods of protracted listening, I received a glimmer of what “becoming like him in his death” might mean and I experienced a type of communion with them as each of us became part of the other’s history, leaving a memory that would not soon be forgotten. While many encounters and experiences in my life may go by almost without another thought, these minutes were long, deep, and substantial.
     The most uncomfortable situations were the ones in which the patient was unable to communicate with me. At times like these, words would have been gratuitous and a sympathetic glance followed by a prayer seemed to be appropriate. Such patient visits were always easier if the family was around. Regardless of these encounters, I did not find my assignments too difficult to face or too much to bear, and I ultimately found that the hardest part of being in the pastoral ministry program at Holy Spirit Hospital was leaving.

Homily on Luke 1:39-45

     The Catholic Church has stated her position on life in the womb with these words from the Universal Catechism: “’Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involvesthe creative action of God…who is its sole end…. [N]o one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.’” (Paragraph 2258) Despite the historicity of this teaching, some Catholics claim that the Church has not always defended the sanctity of human life in the womb. Today we find that a silent Jesus has something to say to the very people who want to bear His name and, at the same time, deny that human life within the womb has the right to be born.
     Turning to the gospel we read, “Mary set out in those days….” What days? This passage immediately follows the Annunciation, when Mary said “Yes” to God. Now, were you to ask Mary on the day of the Annunciation if she planned on becoming pregnant that day or if she wanted to become pregnant that day, the answer would have been, “No.” Yet, regardless of what she planned or what she may have wanted, Mary accepted the Word of the Lord and welcomed the conception of that Word in her womb. Granted, the circumstances of her pregnancy were entirely unlike those many women find themselves in today; nonetheless, Mary demonstrates the appropriate response to an “unplanned” pregnancy: Regardless of how they come to us, children are not objects to be wanted or unwanted; rather, they are gifts of God, to be received as willingly as he receives us.
     Continuing, we discover that Mary set out “in haste” to see Elizabeth. This would mean that Jesus would have been anywhere from a few days to a few weeks old in Mary’s womb at the time of her visit. What does Elizabeth, “filled with the Holy Spirit”, declare about this “blob of cells” in Mary’s womb? She proclaims him “Lord!” What is more, Elizabeth declares Mary a “mother”. If Christ were merely a soulless mass of cells and not a human life, how could Mary rightly be called a mother? By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then, Saint Luke and Saint Elizabeth declare the personhood of the child in the womb from the earliest stages of pregnancy.
     Still people object, saying that women will face poverty and other burdens if they must give birth to an unwanted child. This objection is not without some merit. If we are pro-life, we cannot be pro-fetus only. Both mother and child are human persons who must be afforded the rights of human dignity. Here, again, Mary serves as a model.
     Elizabeth was already beyond the age of bearing children when she miraculously became fertile. We can imagine what a toll such a pregnancy might have on her at her age, especially in those days. Mary knew this, too, and wasted no time in offering her loving service to Elizabeth until Saint John was born. She shows us that we must respond “in haste” when we encounter a person who is experiencing difficulties as a result of pregnancy.
     Young or old, planned or unplanned, wanted or unwanted, like the Blessed Mother, Christians must be the first to provide what may be lacking in order to help struggling mothers bring their babies to term. We must focus on establishing a quality of life for both a mother and her child before and after she gives birth. We have an obligation to establish, promote, and proclaim a system of justice to which frightened and vulnerable mothers can turn in their time of need. They already know that they can get abortions, and in the absence of a known alternative that communicates real peace and hope, the likelihood that a mother will choose to abort her child can only increase.
     Ultimately, we must avoid being misguided and lopsided in our approach to human rights. On the one hand, those who support the rights of the mother, her freedom of conscience, and her right to privacy at the expense of the child in her womb, promote the violation of the most fundamental of all rights, the right to life, which is akin to murder. As we read in the Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching, “The first right…is the right to life, from conception to its natural end, which is the condition for the exercise of all other rights and…implies the illicitness of every form of procured abortion….” (Paragraph 155)
     On the other hand, those who raise their voices, join marches, and vote pro-life in an effort to promote the right to life of the unborn, lose credibility and will lose the battle if they fail to provide an adequate alternative that considers the dignity of both persons. Make haste, therefore, and follow Mary’s example. Words alone will not change hearts and minds. Make haste, for in this age, and in these United States, with so much at our disposal, can we be held guiltless for failing to help establish real alternatives to abortion and bring about its extinction?

Conscience is not God

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14336

Father Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest who participated in the attempted ordination of a woman to the priesthood, has been told by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to renounce his support for women’s ordination or be excommunicated. The priest has affirmed he will make no such renunciation.

“At the same time, I cannot not do what I am doing. I must follow my God I must follow my conscience.

“I do believe that good will come from this.”

Father B's malformed conscience is his god. No calling is confirmed simply by a person's feelings, even among men who believe they are called. We are not autonomous if we are in Christ. A calling is discerned with, and not apart from the Church (which is inseparable from Christ, the head of the body). Yes, good will come, but in a form contrary to the thinking of Fr. B. The consistent truth and teaching of the Church will be more clearly defined and upheld. As Saint Paul said, "...there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." (1Co 11:19)

What about Babel?

     Despite its brevity, the story of the Tower of Babel stands as a noteworthy bridge between pre-history and history. At first glance, we might conclude that the author of this story was simply trying to provide a rudimentary explanation as to why there is a multiplicity of languages. Though that may be true, such a superficial survey from a modern mindset does not do justice to this passage, which God, in His eternal wisdom, placed in the Bible for our benefit.
     As with any passage of Scripture, context is one key to a deeper understanding. In relation to what precedes it, Babel is the last episode of biblical prehistory characterized by mankind’s futile attempts to reach heaven and divinity by its own efforts. In relation to what follows, it provides a concluding contrast which makes what seems to be another boring genealogy even more interesting and significant. In relation to the time it was written, Babel is a final counter-cultural criticism of the reigning empire at that time in Israel’s history -- Babylon.
     Context also helps us to determine what the author, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is trying to reveal to us. Discovering that intention requires that we know what type of literature we are reading. In this case, we are reading a religious narrative that expresses religious truth and history in a symbolic and figurative manner.
     In the first 11 chapters of Genesis we journey through hundreds of years, from the Creation to the call of Abraham. With the Fall of Man in Genesis 3, a cycle of sin, punishment, and mercy demonstrating the wickedness of mankind begins. The narrative of Babel continues in that cycle. Man, created good by God, but deceived by the serpent, listened to his own desires and reached out to become like God in his own way, not according to God’s design. God justly punishes Adam and Eve, but is merciful. Then Cain kills his brother, Abel, and though God punishes Cain, God spares his life. There is also the Flood account, describing how man had become so wicked that God opts for a re-creation of the earth and a new beginning for mankind. Again, God punishes justly, but is merciful to the righteous Noah and his family.
     This short review brings us to the Tower of Babel. First, the story shows us that even after the flood, man is still sinful and full of pride. Once more, man is reaching out for divinity. This time a great number of people work as one to build a tower that will reach to the heavens. They think this is a great and mighty work, but the author exposes exactly how insignificant it is to the eternal God, who has to come down from the heavens just to take a look at it. Note the satire: man is laboring so hard just to reach heaven, and the Lord simply “came down” to man without any effort at all. Upon seeing the tower God wonders if there can be any end to their pride and sinfulness.
     So, what’s a good God to do with all these people who just keep sinning? There is a clue in this passage to help answer this question: Their purpose for building the tower was to make a name for themselves. In Hebrew, the word for name is shem, so let’s say that they were trying to make a shem for themselves. Looking ahead to the genealogy that follows, we read that Abraham was a descendent of Shem, the son of Noah, and God says to Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name [shem] great.” Here we have crossed the bridge and we are standing at the beginning of “salvation history”, the history of our salvation wrought by a loving God.
     The final twist in this passage is that Babel refers to the Babylonians. During the author’s time, Babylon was the strongest kingdom of the world and the foremost oppressor of Israel. He portrays the Babylonians as arrogant, self-important, and ignorant heathens who trust in themselves and make plans without a thought of the Lord God. The just punishment for such a people is confusion and dispersion. Their great name and great kingdom passes away and will be forgotten.
     Many people today are still caught up with being important. They want to be noticed, to leave a legacy, to “make a name for themselves”. They do not care about God plans. They have agendas of their own. Sadly, even in the Church people are eager to establish a reputation for themselves and to bring their own ideas to fruition.
     The Babel account offers an enlightening contrast. In his pride, man will try to make a great name for himself and fail over and over again, but only in his humility before his God and in submission to God’s divine plan will man’s name be made great. What is more, it is GOD alone who can make a great name for man. As we know, he went so far as to truly descend from heaven and be the One Man, Jesus Christ, who could ascend to heaven and make our own ascent possible.
     Where are you in relation to the Tower of Babel? Are you still trying to build a name for yourself or are you truly allowing God to make a name for you? Men and women will pass away and so will their greatness. If we wish our human efforts to be of any eternal value, they must be acts done for God, in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. His legacy is our legacy if we follow His plan in faith as our father Abraham did at the beginning of salvation history.