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Homily

17th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Kgs. 3:5, 7-12; Ps. 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130; Rom. 8:28-30; Mt. 13:44-52

The kingdom of heaven is not an entitlement we collect by simply claiming “I believe in God”.  The kingdom of God is something we must seek and sacrifice for to be given the understanding of Solomon.  We are to first be conformed to the image of his Son to enter the kingdom of God.  In an age where we value acceptance of “our identity” as we claim it, we lose sight of identifying with the image of God’s son who is “other” than ourselves.  We are “right” in seeking God’s image as our being and “wrong” in claiming our own as an entitlement. 

Wisdom is from God to give an “understanding heart…to distinguish right from wrong” and respond with prudence in doing his will.  In the gospel today, Jesus continues with his parables to the wise and prudent describing the significance of the kingdom of God to humanity as the eternal love and longing of our purpose of life.  The wisdom of Solomon was judging rightly with what to ask for in service to God’s kingdom.  Solomon’s love for God was in being the best he was created to be as the leader of his people.  Our love for God then is in being our best in responding to our calling in life in service to others. 

This is challenging and difficult if not impossible without the grace from God that comes by searching with the heart of understanding God’s will for our personal calling in life.  In the worst of situations and in the best of situations “all things work for good for those who love God.”  God is mercy when we seek our identity in him. 

For some time, it was popular with the youth to carry bracelets with the letters WWJD meaning “what would Jesus do”.  This is seeking out our identity in him, inviting him into our “space” and time which if we claim to belong to Jesus is his rightful space and seeking understanding through the Spirit to respond in his image in this moment of our being. 

Now is the time to recapture that moment of truth “what Jesus will do through his servant of love”.  Such great challenges have been conquered by the saints and souls who surrender to God actively seeking to do his will.  Have we asked him today “what is your will for me this day Lord?” 

Sometimes we compartmentalize life into steps, such as step one is to “pray” and step two is “go forth”, and step three is “action” as a cognitive process like learning to type where all the keys are and consciously thinking of all the keys.  Learning to type is a cognitive process but typing is the unconscious process of being able to “just do it”.  In the same way Christianity is taking all our prayers, devotions, and understanding to “just do it” in charity being the image of God through the Spirit that is with us.  Let us give God the freedom to “just do it” in our being through an act of the will and the mystery of his kingdom will reign in us. 

The evil one is “prowling about the world seeking the ruins of souls” when we see hatred, violence, and destruction justified a “right” and authority, order, and peace shamed as “wrong” in an effort to create a new “kingdom” not of God but of this world.  It is a spiritual battle for the souls of the people fought not only on the streets but in every church and home.  One day I was struggling with making a difficult decision as a child and I asked my mother for guidance in her “understanding”.  I was totally surprised when she responded “you will have to decide”.  In her wisdom the right answer needed to come from me through the Spirit given at baptism.  She understood I would be the one who would live with the consequences of the decision. 

This nation is facing a difficult decision and we each must decide where our Christian values are best represented and supported not simply in our inner being but in our outward expression in the public square.  As Catholics we value the outward expression of our faith in statues, crosses, the arts, and even the sciences together with our right to assembly and worship.  This cannot be governed, shamed, or silenced by an oppressive voice in the public domain.  Today “you will have to decide” to who you surrender power to, either God and the kingdom of heaven or the evil one and the kingdom of hell. Blessed Mother Mary pray for us.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

16th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Wis.12:13, 16-19; Ps. 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16; Rom. 8:26-27; Mt. 13:24-43

Today we kneel for a culture of life to pray always for our victory. St. John Paul II called it a “culture of death” and today the secular culture see it spread under the title “cancel culture” until the children of the “good seed” take action for a culture of life.  The children of “good seed” must kneel in prayer against the children of the “weeds” who stand for a “cancel culture” against authority, tradition, and faith in God.  In “The good seed (of) the children of the kingdom” God “rebuke(s) temerity” and “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.”  God’s “power” governs his children with “leniency” who in turn “must be kind”.  Faith is power, the power to love with justice and kindness.  It is the faith to call on the Spirit “to the aid of our weakness” to intercede for us and to bring about God’s will on our lives and in this world for a culture of life. 

Often, we ask others to pray for us, a good act of uniting others in prayer with us.  We also turn to others when our faith is shaken and doubt weakens our spirit through difficulty or suffering.  Asking for prayer is good, but minimizing our own faith is not.  We are to look to the parable of the mustard seed to recognize the God of mercy is waiting for us to exercise our faith no matter how small we perceive it in order to do his will in our lives.  Pray always with authority not our own but coming through God to rebuke evil and confront the “weeds” seeking to “cancel” the kingdom of God.    

The world is surrounded by the “weeds” of doubt and despair from lack of faith in God.  When tragedy hits the “weeds” of the world don’t want to hear of prayer but a call to justice.  Justice is to be guided by the Spirit through prayer least it become the action of the evil one who sows division and destruction.  The evil one is spreading his hate in our times through this “cancel culture” seeking to destroy what is good, beauty, truth, and unity.  The children of God must unite in prayer and we will overcome this attack from the evil one towards God and his children. It is an attack against God himself.

This year the children of the weeds have spread wildly seeking a “cancel culture” to destroy the symbols of history, tradition, and faith.  It views the past through the filter of oppression not opportunity.  It seeks not to build up with reform but to tear down through structural change.  We must ask, “what is this new identity for structural change?”  Hidden beneath the three robes of justice, equality and inclusion is not the nirvana of peace but a ravaged hunger for power and vengeance with the murder of past traditions, the boycotts of speech labeled “hate”, burning of institutions of authority and takeover of streets against law and order.  Our power is in God to reject the sins of the world and call down for God’s justice and power as in the days of old and God will not disappoint.

We have received the “good seed” of faith in baptism and grown in the fertile soil of the Church sacraments.  The weeds of sin surround us but we must exercise the seed of faith and claim our power of good over evil.  One day St. Alphonsus Liguori was being tested by demons when he made the Sign of the Cross and commanded the demons to adore this sign with the words, “At the name of Jesus ,every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth (Phil. 2:10)”.*  It was enough to cause the demons to flee.  We often forget to call on the gift of the Word, the gift of the Holy Spirit and/or on the angels of God for the Spirit “comes to the aid of our weakness” and intercedes for us. 

Padre Pio called the rosary his weapon.  We are given many weapons to fight the good fight, from Holy Water and other sacramentals, to prayers, devotions, scripture, and “inexpressible groanings”.  Most of all we are given his body and blood in the Eucharist.  “There is no god besides you who have the care of all.”  This is not a time for timidity but for exercise of God’s authority over his dominion.  Pray always and the muscle of prayer will defeat the enemy “prowling about the world seeking the ruin of souls.” Today we kneel against the forces of evil for a culture of life to pray always for our victory.

*Thigpen, Paul, Manual for Spiritual Warfare; Tan Books, 2019; pg. 195. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

15th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is.55:10-11; Ps. 65:10-14; Rom. 8:18-23; Mt. 13:31-23

The Quantum Zeno Effect (QZE) of Christianity is the “seed sown on rich soil”.  What is the QZE of a Christian?  It is the “mental act of focusing attention…on your mental experience, whether a thought, an insight, a picture in your mind’s eye*” of the presence of God despite the distraction of “worldly anxiety” or “the lure of riches” to do the will of God.  Saint John Paul II proclaimed “faith and science are two wings of a bird”, they must work in harmony to fly.  The world focuses on science while church leaders focus on faith but in our times we need a language that freely integrates both to rise in the splendor of God’s creation. 

In QZE is said “attention density shapes identity”.  This “identity” comes from the willingness to deepen our focus and keep our eyes centered on God who is always present in order to “hear and understand”.  It can be said that the density of our focused attention brings us out of darkness into the light of wisdom as evidenced by all the great saints and mystics.  This identity is shaped in the image of God in his creation by the gifts of the Spirit. 

Must we all drape ourselves as monastic hermits seeking to isolate ourselves to benefit from QZE?  No, QZE is a discipline practiced by anyone who exercises faith to be great arts, culture, business, love, and sanctity.  As Mother Angelica often said on her EWTN program “we are all called to be great saints” and QZE is the discipline of faith through prayer to open up our souls and rise to the grace and greatness God is calling us to be. 

QZE is how we approach our daily life with “God First” at the center of our focused attention in the present moment of our experiences.  St. Theresa of Lisieux “The Little Flower” understood this simply as “Remember nothing is small in the eyes of God.  Do all that you do with love”.  It all matters so it is worthy of our focused attention to see God’s work before us and through us.  Today God is working in each of us to be the greatest he created us to be. 

A child is born with focused attention to the wonderment of the world before him, learning with focused attention to speak the language of his parents, to ride a bike and to listen, learn, and understand the gifts that they are blessed with in order to grow in the joy and love of God.  QZE is a natural gift of childhood that is either nurtured or lost by overstimulation, constant media messaging, and a loss of learning skills for problem-solving and synthesis of ideas when we try to serve a child with all the answers “on a silver platter”.  Allow the child to wonder and create on their own their version of “Lego” ideas rather than simply following a pattern of numbered parts to represent the picture-perfect box display is critical thinking QZE best practices.  The is the meaning of “think outside the box”. 

What if we would pray outside the box!  Make a holy hour in adoration before the blessed sacrament with focused attention on Jesus and you begin to pray outside the box.  In an age where every self-help author has their list of seven, ten, or twelve steps to a better “whatever”, we are convinced that it only takes this formula to get to our desired “whatever”.  All answers are personal to our state in life.  For a Christian there is simply the first step of faith which is prayer and let God be God in our lives for what follows.  Prayer is focused attention to God who is the way, the truth, and the life we seek as our center of being.  In God all things are possible as Philippians 4:19 reminds us “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us”, strengthens our focused attention to God’s purpose for our being and the action that must follow. 

The “seed sown on rich soil” is the one who hears, understands, and does the will of God.  Christianity is based on hearing the Word of God, receiving understanding by grace and responding with courage to live the Word despite “worldly anxiety” or the “lure of riches”.  Quantum Zeno Effect is the seed to bear fruit. 

Let us look to our Blessed Mother Mary who kept her eyes on Jesus with focused attention in the density of her loving heart as a great witness of the QZE in her earthly life with the rewards of her ascension into heaven. Today we receive the rich soil of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist with focused attention in the density of the Spirit of God to go out and bear fruit.  As Saint Padre Pio often said, “Pray, hope and don’t worry”.  It is all about God, we are invited to come, take, and learn how to follow. 

* Article (The Neuroscience of Leadership, David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz; Eight Great Ideas Organizations, March 2010)

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Homily The Deacon Joe

14th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Zech. 9:9-10; Ps. 145:1-2, 8-11, 13-14; Rom. 8:9, 11-13; Mt. 11:25-30

Jesus says, “Come to me…Take my yoke and learn from me”.  Come, take, learn is the process of discipleship.  All baptized are called to come, take, and learn as his disciples.  First “come” is an invitation, a choice of the free will to come and believe, come and take the “yoke” of the cross and learn how to follow in his steps.  Jesus provides the way for us to come and follow. 

Coming also means leaving behind what is in the “flesh”.  In the flesh is sin, passion for indulgence, and works for self-gratification.  Coming is coming into the Spirit of truth in the Trinity, meaning “God First”.  Passion is not evil, misdirected passion is sin.  Did not Jesus suffer his own passion for love of the Father in carrying the cross and a redemptive passion for love of humanity?  Passion is ordered to the greater good to be the best we were created to be for God.  Passion for indulgence is toxic to the Spirit and creates debt to the flesh until both body and spirit is dead.

“Take my yoke” is the yoke of obedience to the will of God the Father as Jesus did.  It is accepting the authority given to the Church as an instrument of God’s mercy in our world.  It is the yoke of sacrifice for a purpose of greater good that ourselves.  The yoke is not punishment it unites us to his cross as a witness of our love to bear not as an end to itself but as grace for salvation. 

Learn what we are called to be as sons and daughters of Christ.   Learn what God desires for our greater good in serving him by our daily life.  Learn the meaning of life in Christ.  Learn to follow the path of salvation through faith and works as two sides of the same coin.  Unit our works for the purpose of salvation as an offering to God “and you will find rest for yourselves” and the peace of Christ. 

Come, take, and learn what God desires to reveal to each of us in our pilgrimage through this world.  The works of the Lord are holy and we are to become the work of the Lord, holy in all our being, in the flesh and in the spirit be holy. 

The world speaks of global warming, hurricanes, and viruses that can create fear of crisis and even death.  The tribulations of the world are disruptive and a threat to humanity.  They stand as a reminder of our mortality in the world and question our purpose of existence.  Purpose cannot be found in what the world offers that is transitory.  Purpose is God given and until we turn to God we remain lost wandering in the desert of the soul.  Seek first the kingdom of God and pray for the grace to come, take and learn what God is calling of us. 

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