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Homily

First Sunday of Advent

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Happy New Year!  The Church celebrates Advent, the beginning of a new year by recognizing at the end of the year Christ the King has come to bring us his kingdom.  The King is with us, he is Emmanuel, God with us.

Advent is the recognition of a second coming at the end of “time”.  Christ is the change agent of our lives who is outside of time so his coming is ever present in the “now” of life.  Jesus comes to make all things new.  When we turn to Christ and claim him as our Lord and savior we receive victory even over death into everlasting life.  Advent is our time, our gift from God to receive him daily and remain in him in the moment and to pray “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”.

In today’s times we are conditioned to an automated living, creating routines and going through the motions of life more than being in the moment the best God created us to be.  Automation allows for vehicles to operate in cruise control and it is expected by 2020 to roll out self-driving vehicles with taxis being the first on the road.  The more automated the more time we have to ourselves.  What do we do with our time?  We find ways to be distracted.  Distracted is without attraction.  Without more attraction to God we fill our time without awareness of God in creation, in others, and in our lives.  The God of the present comes and we ask “when did we see you?’  We are distracted by all the noise around us and all the noise in our heads.

Generally people do not like silence, being alone, or being still.  It is one reason we don’t know how to pray well.  Prayer allows for time alone with God in silence and in the quiet and stillness of life to be moved in the spirit of Truth, God’s will for us.  We are to be engaged in the kingdom of God, not in autopilot.  Each day God gives us signs of his presence but we are distracted from him without a navigation system of life in the kingdom.  It is not a kingdom of “good luck” or “lucky stars” for our eyes to gaze on.  The angel at the ascension of Jesus asks “why are you looking up?”  He comes in prayer, in the Word, in the Eucharist, in spirit and in our neighbor.  In the mystery of the Trinity he comes in the Holy Spirit and remains with us through our baptism to grow in holiness.  Where can we go that he is not there?  We are to see with the eyes of faith, with the heart of love, and with a will to serve in his kingdom.  Jesus does not seek followers who are on autopilot along for the ride.  He seeks follower who will carry the cross and believe in its fruits for a greater good.

The kingdom has come in mystery to be fully revealed in faith, hope, and love.  These we call our theological virtues.  To love is to praise and give glory to God in service.  A doxology by definition means “doxa”-glory and “logia”-oral or written expression thus a doxology is an oral or written expression of glory and praise to God.  At the end of my personal prayers I offer a doxology I created for God in the stillness of my heart.  I say:

God IS good and deserving of all my love thus I am good.

I give praise for all he has given me, much has he given me.

Glory to the Holy One who calls me to perfect holiness

I will persevere to the end and bear my cross.

I believe, I trust, I pray, and I go forth.

God IS good, the I AM, thus I am created in his image in goodness.  As we remind our youth God did not create trash, we created the trash of sin in our lives.  We praise Him for all his blessings and gifts of life our very breath to be creative for a greater good.  We give Him glory and seek holiness, a purity of body, soul, and spirit.  To persevere is to carry our cross and offer it to fulfill God’s purpose in our lives.  How many times has suffering not been the cause to bring about new solutions, new medications, inventions, creativity, and/or unity in times of war and death?  We believe and live by our creed, we trust in Him who is love and mercy, we pray for his coming into our lives to know him, love him and serve him and we are called to go forth into the world with courage till the day of his coming.

As we prepare for this holiday season let us remember we want Christmas, “Christ-mas” more of him in our lives.  Happy Advent and a new year of blessings.

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Homily

31st Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Mal.1: 14b-2: 2b, 8-10; 1 Thes. 2:7b-0, 13; Mt. 23: 1-12

This week we had the celebration of the saints, the church triumphant in heaven and a Holy Day of Obligation.  We also celebrated “All Souls Day” reminding us of the church suffering in purgatory as souls in need of purification.  This Sunday we address the church militant, ourselves in battle with sin and the powers of evil.  We are all called to be saints by our baptism but we must recognize the enemy and be willing to battle for our sanctity.  The gift of freedom is won in battle whether we speak of spiritual battle, battling to protect our relationships, or battling to defend our society, our beliefs and values.  It is a battle not to be our own god but to serve the God of creation and this requires the power of love. 

“I Am” says the Lord.  Am I then also and am I at peace with the Lord?  My peace rests on the Lord “like a weaned child on its mother’s lap”.  Do you recall your earliest memory of life?  It probably is not as a nursing infant but at an age when you become aware of being a “self” apart from your mother.  Until then your oneness with a mother is at peace.  My first memory of life was riding in a Volkswagen Beatle standing on the floor board looking at the road. My stepsister was taking me to her apartment.  I recall barely able to climb the stairs holding on to her hand.  As soon as we got inside I was ready to go home.  She had to call my mother on the phone so I could hear her voice.  I suddenly became aware of myself as a being separate and apart and my peace was shaken.  “In you Lord I have found my peace.”  To be one with the Lord is to be at peace otherwise our hearts are restless until we rest in Him says St. Augustine. 

The Gospel is an admonition, a warning of the dangers of not seeing beyond the human to the divine where we find our peace.  The question I have been asked by non-Catholics is “why do Catholics call a priest father?” if the bible says to not call anyone on earth your father and they use this gospel “line” to challenge us.  The immediate response I have is to question, “Is it not right to call your earthly father as ‘father’?”  Usually the response to my question is “Yes it is ok but that is different.”  Then the scripture meaning is not a literal meaning since “no one” would include your natural parent also.  Scripture is interpreted in the context of the whole or we can lose its full meaning.  That is the beauty of the Catholic Church that over centuries has gathered the books of the bible, provided original meaning from the Early Church Fathers, and continued the traditions that represent that meaning to our current day. 

Jesus reminds us to look beyond the human to the divine.  The Rabbi wanted the place of honor, elevated above the people.  By “widening their phylacteries” the box worn on the head that hold the Hebrew law they made themselves lawgivers that burdened the people.  They made themselves “Masters” to govern over the people not for the people.  Jesus is reminding us whether priest, prophet, mother, father, teacher, or world leader we are all servants of the people, their brothers and sisters in his one body.  Priests are Fathers because they serve the Father in heaven in “persona Christi” in the person of Christ when they administer the sacraments.  Priests don’t forgive sins, Christ forgives through his servants.  Priests consecrate the host but it is Christ who offers himself as the sacrifice in the Eucharist.  We are to look beyond the human to the divine behind the veil.  The visible is a sign of the unseen work of God in our lives.  We recognize God because he is already with us but we come to receive Him in peace that we may be strengthened in his love and peace. 

There are start-up churches that preach the word of God from the bible with only the pastor as head or in our times also by a couple each as pastors.  Many respond to their message and find the message or the music or the fellowship to be more meaningful.  They leave the church governed by the magisterium that provided the bible that others preach from because of the leader.  The leader is still a sinner and when their sin is revealed they lose faith and move on seeking another church, another leader.  The Catholic Church moves its priests often to meet the needs of a greater community in the diocese.  Priests are servants of the universal church.  While we may call a priest “Father” we recognize his calling, his humanity, and we see beyond the person to the divine life which he serves and in which we serve together.  One of the goals of Vatican II was to send a clear message we are in it together.  In the one body we all share in being priest, prophet and king to each other. 

History has demonstrated the importance of the gospel warning.  When people make their leaders their gods, evil enters into the fold.  Then they declare war on others and bring chaos.  The secular society likes to point out all the religious wars in the name of God.  The secular world has its history of wars led by leaders and the people who obeyed them.  It is part of our fallen nature to seek a “king” who will govern us and to fight for that king.  If we fail to see the true king of heaven then our earthly “kings” who govern us have and will lay a heavy burden and lead us on a sinful path.  Consider how virile government elections have become and when one side’s candidate loses we see the anger and uprising in protest and this is not just in this country but all around the world.  Democracy is under attack with the desire to crown a person “king” not servant of the people.  This is also part of the warning in revelations that in the end times one will rise who will be the cause for many to falter and because we have not established a strong relationship with the one true king we will lose our way, God’s way. 

God is at work in us that we may receive “not a human word but as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe”.  This we celebrate in receiving the word of God we receive Christ the King.  This is the purpose of the second reading to remind us of our roles as servants of God regardless of the titles we hold as mother, father, grandparents, teachers, principals, governors, presidents, or priests, we all are called to proclaim the gospel by our example as servants of the people who toil at our calling and state in life for the greater good. 

“Have we not all the one father?  Has not the one God created us?”  The church through the work of the Holy Spirit seams to bring together scripture from the Old Testament, the responsorial, our second reading and the Gospel message as a whole to give light to the truth of our humanity and how we are to live our lives as servants to our heavenly Father and King.  This we manifest in our relationships with each other.  When Malachi says, “O priests, this commandment is for you: if you do not listen, if you do not lay it to heart to give glory to my name” Jesus is reminding the people how this prophesy has come true “the scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses bringing about the “curse” from the “blessing” and become “contemptible”.  They do not keep God’s ways. 

The early church was first known by the title “The Way”.  It was the way back to the Father for those who “have turned aside from the way and have caused many to falter…and break faith with one another”.  We have all one father and God who created us, Christ the King. 

We have heard the expression, “through the mouth of babes”.  A child from the womb recognizes its mother’s voice.  A child by nature listens to that voice and learns to speak by being attentive to the voice of its parents.  It also recognizes in their voice an authority and to the child that voice of authority as parents is the image of God to them.  We could say it is also the first struggle with God himself when they reach the “terrible two” stage and as teens well let’s just say we are all born with a will of our own and we test it all through life.  A child however placed in the temporary care of another authority is known to challenge that authority by saying, “you’re not the boss of me”.  Their faith and understanding does not recognize an outside authority.  We dare to ask then, “Who’s the boss of us?” 

Where are our attention, time, energy, and love going?   We shall love our God with all our hearts and all our lives and our neighbors as ourselves.  To love God is to recognize our one true king and to love our neighbor is to share ourselves in the one true way.  He is the way, the one waiting behind the veil for us to recognize and we will rest in peace all the days of our life.  I am for the Lord. 

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Homily

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 1 Is 25:6-10a; 2Phil:4:12-14, 19-20; Mt. 22:1-14
You may wonder why I have been MIA the past few weeks. I would not call it missing in action but more like growing spiritual wings. For the past few weeks we have been on a pilgrimage to Spain, France, and Portugal in a bus load of pilgrims going from one spiritual mountain to another. When the Lord says today that he “will provide a feast of rich food and choice wines and destroy the veil that veils all people” we were blessed to be in the King’s banquet celebrating the wedding feast of heaven and earth. Your senses become filled with the awareness of divine life you can taste, see, touch, smell, listen and feel God’s presence. From the simple “humble circumstances” of the Fatima children’s home to the “abundance” of magnificent cathedrals but so much more to be fed and to hunger for.
The pilgrimage was sponsored by EWTN and we found out that they had considered canceling the trip because not many had signed up. Then suddenly they had more requests than they planned on taking and did a novena to consider adding to the number. You would think it being EWTN “no problem” and yet we see in today’s gospel how our natural tendency is to “miss out” on the invitation we receive every day to come to the banquet of the Lord in Mass, in taking time to open the Bible, to pray, to gather together in fellowship, to join in on the spiritual “fast lane” that lives each moment in the presence of the King, on the mountain where he “wipes away the tears from every face” bringing us his comforter, the Holy Spirit, his own body and blood in the Eucharist, “the feast is ready”.
Do you recall the story of the butterfly that learns to fly by breaking out of its cocoon? If you release it before it won’t fly because it has not gained the strength in its wings to fly. It is in the struggle of life where our spiritual muscle prepares itself for the banquet. Life is a pilgrimage. Sometimes we simply adapt to life in the cocoon and forget there is a greater feast waiting if we will work our spiritual muscle to break out. A pilgrimage is an invitation to place aside all the concerns of life’s demands and build our spiritual muscle. The first step of a pilgrimage is to believe and accept in faith the word spoken today, “My God will fully supply whatever you need in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”. About a month before departure my health started to decline having severe headaches, UGI problems, and a choking incident to add to the history of health concerns already on my medication list. Spiritually I felt attacked and tested as in the story of Job where God allows his servant to undergo a series of trials and the devil took advantage of the opportunity. You question the unknown but you also surrender in trust to God’s providence and make an offering of all of it to God for his purpose.
On the human level you must humble yourself to journey with a group of often strangers in more tight quarters like a bus hoping everyone remembered their deodorant. You use muscles that had been sheltered for years and now have to walk for miles a day with water and backpacks. You prepare prayerfully but also sacrificially because the hour has come for the banquet and you want to live it fully. The following is just to share a taste of it with you.
We arrived in Barcelona to see and experience the Sagrada Familia Basilica, a work of faith started by one man, Antonio Gaudi, an architect 135 years ago not expected to be completed until 2026. He knew he would not live to finish it but built his architectural genius of models for others to follow and to celebrate mass within this G-enormous beauty was a blessing.
We found ourselves also at a Benedictine Monastery in Monserrat among mountains so high it takes a cable car to get to the top surrounded by rock formations and in awe of how faith leads souls to worship so high you are looking down at the clouds below you. There in prayer before our Lady of Montserrat which tradition says St. Luke carved the statue of the virgin around 50 A.D. Next to descend and follow the footsteps of St. Bernadette and to enter the waters of Lourdes. On a cold rainy day you strip down and are wrapped by a thick plastic colder than ice and you have not even stepped into the water yet. There immersed in the healing waters in our nakedness before the G-enormous power from above. While I was in my humanity all wrapped up in my clothes and jacket I wondered about the shivering or getting sick only to experience the healing warmth, freedom, and peace of grace that came from the spiritual immersion. In this moment I lived the words we hear today, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me”. In the past I have walked barefoot on hot coals, and have walked on shattered glass barefoot but those were only human experiences of the gift of the mind over matter. The gift of faith, hope, and love is far beyond any power of our own. It is the gift of holiness even as a sinner we are invited into the banquet of saints. To be among the thousands who come in candlelight procession in Exposition of Eucharistic worship is another feast juicy, rich and pure.
The pilgrimage was to mark the 100th Anniversary of Fatima and it greeted us with the G-enormous Rosary lighted up at night. In the concelebration of the mass I was the only deacon so I was honored to assist at the altar. These shepherd children lived in humble circumstances yet our Lady called them to be visible signs of God’ desire for prayer and a chapel to be built. Today that prayer of the rosary surrounds the world and the little chapel is a major site of worship. Jacinta and Francisco are already among the youngest children declared saints and in God’s divine providence before the 100th anniversary he called Lucia to heaven at the age of 97. It was said she was not ill but picked up a cold that was going around the convent and at the moment of death she declared “it is time for us to go”. She looked around the room to all who were spiritually there the take her, not “time for me to go” but for “us to go”. I can only imagine the joy of Jacinta, Francisco, her guardian angel, and even our Lady opening the doors of heaven.
This was a long banquet and more servings to come. We visited the Cathedral of St. James and his crypt and relics. This time we had a concelebration of the Mass at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela with the local Bishop. I was again given the honor to assist at the Mass both in proclaiming the Word and assisting at the altar. Here they have this G-enormous thurible known as the famous Botafumeiro a censor that weighs 53 kg and is 1.5 meters wide hanging from 20 meters and taking eight men to swing it from pulleys.
We visited the Carmelite Monastery where St. Teresa of Avila died in 1582 and is buried. This first woman Doctor of the Church and witnessed her incorruptible heart and arm that are made visible through glass containers. While the banquet had more servings I have left off the one main serving. Each day we celebrated Mass and had an opportunity for adoration hour.
We were also given the opportunity to visit the Shrine of the Most Holy Miracle of Santarem. In 1247, a poor woman living in Santarem consulted a sorceress who asked her to bring her a consecrated host. The woman received the host in her mouth and carefully took it out and wrapped it in her veil. As she left the church drops of blood began to drip from her veil. In fear she ran home, hid the Holy Sacrament and spent the night in prayer with her husband. The next day she informed the parish priest and it was taken in procession to the Church of St. Stephen, placed in the tabernacle in a small case of wax. Later when the Tabernacle was opened another miracle happened, the wax case was found broken and the Holy Sacrament encased in a beautiful crystal pyx. This pyx is now visible is a gold-plated silver monstrance to be seen daily. In 1997, the Church of St. Stephen was consecrated as the Most Holy Miracle of Church of Santarem. The miracle of the body and blood of Jesus is inviting us daily to receive him and we don’t have to go to Santarem to witness it. Today we receive him. The God-enormous reality lives with us and in us but we must be open to the faith and live this day as our pilgrim day, our miracle day.
Now for desert, well I must admit I gained six pounds but I also lost an inch on my belt from all the walking. There was food we have never tasted before and cannot truly give it justice to describe. Each day was a feast, a true banquet only a King can serve and we were blessed to be invited to the table.
Some may say you don’t need to go on a pilgrimage. God is here present always for us. The second part of the statement I agree with. God is present and most present in the Eucharist. Life also is a daily pilgrimage on our journey and call to heaven. The G-enormous life in Christ is open to us for healing, love, and peace. I am also reminded of scripture where the man with leprosy was tested to go in search of healing and accept the challenge of washing in the waters seven times and his skin became like that of a child. God is pleased by our acts of faith, our sacrifices, and our desire to trust him to follow the path he is opening for us to go forth where he leads us. The miracle of the sun lives today but it is the miracle of the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God. Our Lady invites us to pray daily the rosary in reparation for sins. The hearts of three children and many others called to follow lives of sanctity includes everyone here present. We are all invited to the banquet to witness our faith in action and follow in the footsteps which we were born to live.
Let us all share in the table before us. G-enormous is God with us and how awesome is that.

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Homily

29th Week Ordinary Time Wednesday 25th

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Rom 6: 12-18; Lk 12:39-48
The first reading reminds me of the mind and heart of a small child. They know so well that their parents are an authority to be obedient and listen to. They also know so well that if some other adult tries to give commands they are quick to point out, “you are not the boss of me”. The idea that ultimately we will choose to be “obedient slaves” to either sin or righteousness, slaves none the less but there is a difference. The person who is a slave to sin becomes powerless in their free will and without free will become puppets to the passions of sin. There is a personality change and they will often say, “It wasn’t I anymore.” Thoughts, emotions, interests and behaviors become slaves to the sin and the person becomes dead to themselves. In contrast the person who is a slave to righteousness discovers their true identity through obedience but they must be the drivers of their free will. In sin you figuratively speaking “turn over the wheel” to be driven to death. In righteousness you discover greater responsibility and need to be vigilant. It also build’s our spiritual muscle because we invest all of ourselves, our senses both corporal and spiritual as we overcome life’s challenges and dangers. We gain the power of virtues through grace and experience the freedom of our true nature, our calling, our life in Christ.
The gospel lets us know that as slaves of righteousness our concern is not the hour or day when the Master will come. We are already doing the work of heaven. We welcome his coming because greater will be our freedom. Padre Pio and many other saints recognized their limitations as servants of God on earth and looked forward to the day of departure from this world because they would be able to do more from heaven. Death was a homecoming celebration. In contrast the person who is slave to sin is being warned that even a greater punishment is ahead after death of the flesh. Here the gospel draws a distinction between the sinner who know his Master’s will and the sinner who was “ignorant of his Master’s will, but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating”. Who are those in each of these groups? I am reminded of St. Paul. As Saul, he earned in ignorance a “severe beating” in persecuting the early Christians. In his conversion Paul still suffered a “beating” as the one persecuted and more was expected of him. In obedience to righteousness more was also given to him. Paul is recognized for the spread of the early church more than any of the other Apostles and he shares his hardships in his writings. The question to ask ourselves is “where am I in the Saul to Paul conversion?” What are my blind spots to the will of God in my life? Am I living under assumptions that as a good person I am obedience enough or is God asking more of me and I am resisting him. It can be said that in the life of the saints many resisted God’s call. They had to overcome their doubts, put aside their own thinking, listen to the will of God and even then tried God’s patience when there were clear signs and visions of God’s will. Truly if they found it difficult to say “yes” we too have much to overcome to know, love, and serve God. Our comfort is in the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to enlighten our spirit, to open the path to God’s mercy and to strengthen us in our resolve to make this day, God’s day in our life. For yesterday we pray for mercy, for today we pray for the strength to say “yes Lord”, and for tomorrow we seek the knowledge, and confirmation of being a servant of God. This we recognize in the fruits of God’s love and blessings we receive. In this we recognize our inheritance, a kingdom made for heaven ready to receive him at the moment of his coming. “Who is the boss of you?”

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Homily

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Sir. 27:30-28:7; 2 Rom. 14:7-9; Mt. 18:21-35

Think twice!  I love dogs.  All our dogs have a special place in my heart but I am not one to kiss a dog.  Some people do but I pass on that.  Now if you said kissing a dog brought me freedom well I might think twice.  I also love jalapenos but I would not want to eat 100 of them.  If I was told eating 100 would bring me the grand prize then I might think twice.  This Sunday’s message continues the Lord’s call for forgiveness.  If you recall I started last week with the basic principle that God is a God of order.  In the order of salvation history Jesus presents an analogy of God’s love and mercy in forgiveness of our sin in the form of a debt.  We love to hear that.  The order of forgiveness also has a mandate to forgive others and that his mercy also requires justice.  We are not as eager to hear that justice requires something of us.  It requires equal justice of our neighbor.  His mercy depends on our acts of forgiveness for equal justice in the order of salvation to be perfected in salvation history.  In short sin has consequences and forgiveness expectations.

The gospel reminds us of the consequence of sin but with hope.  How many of us have hoped for purgatory?  I suspect not many but think twice.  We want to be forgiven with a straight ticket to heaven and no conditions.   The hope of today’s gospel is that when we fail to be forgiving there is still the hope of settling the debt without eternal damnation.  Purgatory is our hope.  We don’t speak of purgatory or preach of purgatory very much, it makes people uncomfortable.  It is like asking someone to kiss their dog.  Why go there?  For many our sins call for justice and purgatory is an assurance of heaven but not yet.  What is purgatory?

The Catechism titles it “The Final Purification”.  All our baptismal life we have been called to holiness, to be the light of Christ and to be sanctified by our faithfulness to God, Church, and God’s people.  Sometimes the weakness of our human condition makes it difficult.  Sometimes our readiness to respond is uncommitted.  We desire to be holy but not yet.  Heaven however requires holiness.

1st Corinthians 3: 10-15 speaks of a building upon a foundation that is given to us, “namely Jesus Christ” but to be careful how we build upon this with our lives “because the work of each will come to light for the Day will disclose it.  What day, Judgment Day.  “It will be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work.  If the work stands…it will receive a wage.  But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.”  Purgatory is the cleansing fire.  Many of our separated brothers like to ask the question, “Have you been saved?”  The theology is that once your saved heaven is the next destination on some “jet” wings.  We don’t hear the question, “Are you a saint, holy and purified?  The assumption is that baptism took care of that for all eternity.  The problem with the argument is that scripture speaks to the “elect” about correcting their sins and the consequence of the cleansing fire for our sins “for the Day will disclose it”.

Dante describes purgatory as a “place where we go to wash our baptismal robles” of those sins.  It is a cleansing by fire.  The white garment received at baptism is a sign of purity but life brings about the stain of sin.  The stain is cleansed in confession.  It is also cleansed in suffering, to carry the cross, to fight the good fight of faith, hope, and love.  Cleansing does not need to wait for purgatory.  The invitation is here and now every day of our lives. In contrast wrath is one of the capital sins found in Dante’s circles of hell.

I was listening to Catholic radio and they were speaking of death.  The host mentioned the days when churches had their own cemetery on the same grounds as the church.  It was a reminder of those who have died in Christ, to pray for them, and to celebrate life in the body and blood of Christ who conquered death and brings us new life.  It was also a reminder of our mortality and to prepared by our receiving each day as a gift from above and making an offering up to God our good works and sacrifices.

We pray for the dead and offer up Masses to assist the “dead” in their purification through the sacrifice offering at the altar in atonement for their sins.  The Catechism (1032) quotes St. John Chrysostom saying, “If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation?  Let us not hesitate to help those who have died to offer our prayers for them.”

There are many stories in the lives of the saints where they have experience apparitions of a person who has died asking for prayer or an offering of a Mass.  These include priests or religious who claim to suffer in purgatory waiting for freedom from the fire of purification.  The soul is alive waiting the day it too will be reunited to a glorified body but not yet.  The final beatific vision has not arrived.

Jesus raises the bars of justice when he says “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, “you shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.  But I say to you whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…liable to fiery Gehenna (Mt. 5:21-22).  Gehenna is the “unquenchable fire…reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body are lost” (CCC:1033).  Thus we have in the first reading the admonition speaking that “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.”  So let us just clarify.  The emotion of anger of itself is not a sin.  It is how we respond to this emotion.  The thoughts that feed it to wrath and vengefulness leads to sin.  It is the holding on to these emotions that becomes an act of the will for sin is an act of the free will.  “Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay and cease from sin!” says scripture today.

Mercy requires a merciful heart for healing of sin.  “Pay back what you owe” is not from a vengeful God who was patient with us all our lives waiting for the good works of mercy from us and then strikes us dead.  It is a consequence of the choices we made by our free will.  It is like the old commercial from Midas, “pay me now or pay me later”. Purgatory is later.  Mercy demands justice and justice demands acts of mercy.  What we are to give is small compared to what we are being offered without comparison.  The good news of today is that God is waiting for us to take that first step of mercy and he will take the ninety-nine steps to bring us he love and mercy.  Dare we be so proud as to hold onto the anger and wrath or do we fulfill this day the commandment of “love one another as I have loved you.”  Choose wisely but remember that heaven requires holiness and holiness is a process of purification and purification is something we can start this day in the celebration of the Mass.  Purification begins with a confession of our sinfulness and an act of atonement that is accomplished by our good works of mercy and love for one another.

We had someone come and speak to our community here at St. Francis Xavier of her vision of heaven and hell after a death experience.  Those are transformational events that bring life, death, and eternity into reality.  We are to live each day as if it is our first, our last, our only day to live as a gift from above to love to forgive and to be the best God created us to be.

The lifespan of a dog is perhaps 10 -13 years but in human years is 60-74.  Do we want to extend our time in purgatory in dog years or human years?  The kiss of death is sin but for a kiss of freedom think twice the grand prize is waiting.

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Homily

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Memorial to Our Lady of Sorrows

1 Tm 1:1-2, 12-14; Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2:33-35

Our Memorial to Our Lady of Sorrow brings to mind the Stations of the Cross we pray here at St. Francis Xavier parish.  They focus on Christ crucified through the eyes of Mary, her acceptance in a sorrowful heart for she “knew it had to be.” 

There is a connection from last Sunday’s readings and this Sunday’s readings on forgiveness and Mary is at the center as a witness of a forgiving sorrowful heart At the moment of her greatest grief to see her son’s passion and death and before Jesus takes his last breath he calls to his mother to accept the disciple a sinner as a son.  He calls the disciple a sinner and with him all of us disciples in faith to be sons and daughters of Mary.  In the first reading we see the power of forgiveness in Paul.  Paul testifies to his great sin and God’s great mercy.  Paul a leader in the persecution of Jesus is transformed into a warrior for Christ and as an Apostle for the Church.  The power of forgiveness is transforming and brings perfection of holiness.  Want to be a saint, start with forgiving everyone and every evil in the name of Christ crucified and in Mary’s sorrow and we will not be far from the kingdom. 

The two optional gospel readings make us aware that the Memorial to Our Lady of Sorrows represents her whole journey of motherhood beginning with Simeon’s prophetic voice, “you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thought of many hearts may be revealed”.  That prophecy can be seen at the crucifixion when Jesus is pierced by the sword to confirm his death and Simeon’s prophecy of Mary’s sorrow.  Her sorrow begins to take on a mission and purpose and continues to the foot of the cross.  It does not stop there, it remains today as Mother of sinners whose sins pierce her heart and scourge her Son.  She too must bear her own cross.  What is revealed in the hearts of many?  It is our sinfulness.  It lays bare for the final purification.  It lays bare so that we may come to the cross and seek forgiveness and reconciliation.  It lays bare so we can achieve eternal glory. 

The sorrows of life can begin to weigh heavy on our minds and souls.  They can challenge our faith.  Without God they can become despair and depression.  We can also unite them to the cross and to Mary’s sorrowful heart.  They can be signs of a deeper call to prayer, to pray always and to be in the reals presence of our Lord in the silence of our hearts.  It is an invitation to surrender ourselves knowing we can’t bear our sorrows alone.  Here we find grace waiting to manifest in our lives.  Grace heals and strengthens us not simply to bear the cross but to receive sanctification, to enter into holiness.  Our sorrow purifies for it is in our weakness that we too can be transformed.  It does not end there.  It is a new beginning as disciples called to go forth, to share the mission of mercy to “love one another as I have loved you.”  

In suffering there is not only purification but the manifestation of virtues.  Faith, hope and love blossom.  Prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude become our foundation.  Who we are and why we are here becomes our light and our salvation.  As a song says, “We live, we love, we forgive and we never give up cause the days we are given are gifts from above and today we remember to live and to love” (Chorus by Super Chicks) 

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Reflection

Mary Queen of Heaven

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Recently I had the opportunity to go to Lebh Shomea with my wife.  It is east of a small Texas town named Sarita towards the coast.  It is a silent retreat house donated by Sarita Kennedy to the Oblate Order.  It is a wonderful place to rest in the Lord.  One of its many treasures is the library filled with religious books and other resources.  You can spend days and years immersed in the wisdom captured within these walls.  I checked out three books but spent most of my reading time on one, a book titled, A Theology of Mary (Vollert, Cyril 1965).  In it is presented the many theological and philosophical arguments that have been made of the Blessed Mother over the centuries. 

It begins with the argument that the first principle of God is that God is a God of order.  Thus everything in the universe is ordered.  Mary’s place in the universal history of salvation is also ordered for God’s glory and unity.  Theologians work is to dig deep into the mystery of Mary and identify Mary’s first principle in the order of salvation.  Since it is a mystery they seem to not be able to settle the question with each argument having a counter argument. 

They argue Mary is the new Eve as mother of mankind associated with Christ the new Adam in the order of reparation as Eve was associated with Adam in the order of ruin but then is the first principle of Mary that of “bridal motherhood”?  The concern as a first principle is that she is not the bride of humanity, she is our Mother as the new Eve of humanity. 

They argue Mary as co-redemptoris as Mother of the Redeemer in her role in the order of salvation history.  She participated through her fiat in the birth of our Redeemer, but it is Jesus who saves.  They argue for Mary as a co-mediatrix for she intercedes for us as a Mother who interceded as the wedding of Cana whey they ran out of wine.  The concern is that “no one comes to the Father except through Jesus the one mediator.  Still it is argued we go to Jesus through Mary but as a first principle it also falls short in that we also go to God in the Holy Spirit through the Son to the Father.  A “conciliatory opinion” is that Mary is an “associate” of the mediator but nobody like the compromise view. 

Another argument is that Mary is the prototype of the church.  She is “the church in germ” meaning she is the incarnation of the church as seen in Revelations, the woman clothed with the sun, the universal church and the perfect realization of what it is to be church.  In God’s salvific plan she is the “arc-type” of the Church.  It is also argued that the Church is the mystical body of Christ but “the Church is not Christ and Christ is not the Church”; neither is Mary the Church or the Church Mary.  “The Church is a visible society founded by Christ”. 

There are other arguments like Mary is the “new Paradise” but what is not argued is that Mary is “full of grace, Mother of God”.  That is the declared dogma of the Church and thus infallible in its proclamation.  It is the fundamental principle of who she is in the order of salvation.  Mary’s birth is the perfect sanctification through grace without sin to bring Jesus Christ into the world.  It is the mystery of human salvation, the mystery of the union between God and humanity to unite our human nature to God in the Son.  God becomes fully human that we may be divinized by our participation in Christ.  Mary is a channel for grace in her smallness she is assumed and crowned our Queen of Heaven. 

It is good to be small and humble.  Pope Francis says on the Nativity of Mary that we have a tendency to believe “bigger is better”.  If you are from a small town we seek to go to the “big City” as a better place to be.  Children see a big gift wrapped present and believe it is better than a small gift.  In scripture we see God’s preference for the “small and insignificant”.  Jesus comes from Bethlehem, Mary from Nazareth.  What can these small insignificant towns offer compared to the big city of Jerusalem?  They offered us the savior of the world and Queen of Heaven.  What is insignificant in the eyes of the world is not insignificant to God.  God cares about the smallest things in our lives.  He is not in the thunder but in the whisper. 

Let us not fear God in hurricanes, earthquakes and disasters when they arrive in force to bring destruction.  Let us search for him from within, in who he created us to be in Him.  If he resides in the smallness of our being as he came into the womb of Mary then we are sanctified and give glory and praise for is God is with us, who can be against us. 

God called Mary through a particular family lineage to give birth to Jesus in a particular small town at a set time in history to take her place for the world’s salvation.  He calls us also in our smallness in our time to share in the divine mystery.  What is my response to Him today? 

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Storytime

Stay Awake!!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Stay Awake!  This is the alarm of our time.  Life has a way of seducing us into the world concerned with itself and able to see beyond.  I recall our travels to the Holy Land and entering the Garden of Gethsemane.  It was quiet time for reflection.  I grabbed a chair and sat to pray.  Soon my eyes got heavy and I started to doze off.  Like the disciples who Jesus admonished, “can’t you stay awake” one hour with me?  My spirit was willing but my flesh was weak.

To be awake is not about sleep but our readiness to respond.  People are already comparing the response in Texas to hurricane Harvey with the response to hurricane Katrina.  Katrina had two disasters, the hurricane was the first but the lack of readiness to respond was the second.  Texas has had equal if not greater devastation than Katrina but the response has been tremendous so far.  We cannot control nature but we can prepare even for the unimaginable.  We must pray not only for the lives lost and those who must begin the long journey of recovery, but also for those first responders many who are volunteers prepared to respond who have kept their candle burning to give the light of hope.

The gospel of Mathew on the ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13) is often used for Quincianeras (15th birthday celebration).  An analogy can be made of this gospel in our readiness to respond.  First there are 10 virgins and ten is a sign of totality.  The Lord wants all to be saved and we are all created for Him.  Only five are ready for the bridegroom five were foolish.  To be asleep is to be unprepared.  Jesus calls us to be the light of the world, to reflect his image that he may recognize in us his love.  Our lamp is our soul that shines with the love of joy, peace, kindness, generosity, and many other graces.  The bridegroom is Jesus, the way the truth, and the life we all seek.  If the lamp is our soul then what is the oil?   Oil is a source of fuel for cooking, it nourishes the body.  Oil is also used in church for anointing, a visible sign of salvation.  The oil in our lamps needed to give light is our good works.  The foolish virgin had no oil of good works to offer Jesus as a visible sign of their faith, hope, and love.  The wise virgins were prepared their good works were a light for Jesus to recognize.  We have ten Commandments not to pick the five we want to obey but all of them reflect good works.  The New Testament in James 2:26 says, “just as the body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”  Thus the law, faith and works all go together.  “What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  Can faith save him?  If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?  So also faith of itself, if it does not have works is dead.” (Jam. 2:14-17)

In one week a healthy man who had given years of volunteer work at a hospital went home and choked on something and died.  He was always ready to help and give of himself He was recognized for his works of charity, God recognized his faith.  Then in the same week a woman in her 60s in the hospital is being taken off life support. Then there is a request for a memorial service for a 94 year old who passed away.  It begs to ask the question we all need to ask.  “Am I ready?”  Death does not make appointments.  Someone made the comment, “If you are not ready to die, then you have not been ready to live.”  We are to live each day as if it is our first, our last, our only day to offer up to God.

Recently this all became very real to me personally.  With the recent eclipse I began having severe headaches for two days the on the third day I was having lunch with my wife and a friend.  I began to choke could not breath and my face started to change color (they tell me).  Our friend started to do the Heimlich maneuver on me.  Each of those experiences begged the question, “Am I ready?”  Death is like a thief at night.  It is a reminder to be the best that God created us to be.  To live each day with passion as if it is the first, the last, the only day we have.  That day may be this day and we want to be ready to be an offering of ourselves.  Some things we cannot control but what we can we are to work to be perfect as God calls us to be and they will know that he is with us and we are in Him.

Little Jacinto, Saint Jacinto now was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  He said “I want to die and go to heaven.”  We can say he was born ready, but the Blessed Mother said he had to do many rosaries.  Let us pray for readiness each moment of life.

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Homily

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Today’s principle message is of reconciliation.  To arrive at reconciliation we need to take a step back to the 1st principle of God.  God is a God of order.  In God we have a need for order and unity.  It can be said that if God is a God of order and science is the study of an ordered universe then science is the study of God revealed in his order.  Science is however subordinate to the highest order of truth, a lower order of truth.  What does all this philosophy have to do with reconciliation? 

To be in unity with God we must be reconciled with each other.  We must restore order to our relationships.  In contrast disunity is the poison of disorder.  We must begin with ourselves.  “if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”  Our hearts must be open to reconciliation to be in unity of mind, body, and spirit.  Perhaps our struggle of relationships is a deeper struggle of self.  Our own restlessness and disunity promotes disorder in our relationships. 

The first reading is God’s call to reconciliation with Him, to hear his voice and be in right relationship with the God of love while the second mandate is to be in reconciliation with our neighbor.  With God we have a sacrament of reconciliation to renew the bond of love.  With neighbor we have a calling to dialogue but dialogue requires the desire for unity and free will cannot force unity in a hardened heart.  Thus as the gospel reading makes clear our obligation is limited by the heart of the other.  We can directly seek reconciliation and extend peace, we can seek unity through others and we can turn to the church as a voice of truth.  We then must let go and let God in God’s time work in the hearts of others. 

The order of unity is love where two or three agree on anything through prayer it shall be granted for the greater good.  In the first reading God testifies that we are to proclaim the Word of God when we hear him speak.  God speaks in scripture all the time but there are those moments in time when it speaks directly to us.  It is when the person in the pew feels “that is coming towards me”.  It enters our soul to awaken us to his truth in our particular situation and to reconcile us in our relationships. 

The Word also takes flesh in our flesh when we witness evil, sin, injustice, abuse, and neglect to awaken our duty to respond to the danger of eternal death.  There is a cultural paradigm shift going on in our society to silence speech whether by so called “safe zones” or by outright inflammatory speech and violence.  Billy Graham started his ministry on a street corner preaching the Word of God’s love, mercy and call for reconciliation.  Today, I fear he would be stoned to death, persecuted or injured for offending a group of people in the pubic square. 

God seeks to reconcile the world to himself and we are called to be the voice of dialogue beginning at home, in our communities, and in our engagement on world issues.  The consequence of sin is death.  How many souls remain resentful and unforgiving?  Malachy McCourt states, “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”  Many souls are dying with resentful hearts.  They feel justified in their resentment.  They see forgiving as a sign of weakness, giving into the other person or giving up their cause  The cause is never given up if it seeks truth, not my truth or your truth but God’s truth. 

What are we to do?  Rev. Dr. William Mitchell says, “Forgiving is a gift given in the face of a moral wrong, without denying the wrong itself.”  Give the gift don’t dney the harm that can eat us up alive inside.  We give the gift and let God take care of the rest.  This comes from a heart of love greater than the wrong done.  It is a voluntary decision to give up the desire for revenge and release a person from any interpersonal debt incurred by wronging you.  This comes from a mind that is willing to make an act of forgiveness, perhaps by going to confession to invite God to help us release the pain and receive his grace.  Forgiveness is a process both emotional in dealing with the anger, hurt, and disappointment and of the mind in understanding the behavior, the person, and having empathy. 

What are we not to do?  We don’t minimize the reality of what happened.  We don’t forget or repress the memory we learn to let it go.  Sometimes memory has its own sense of humor.  We stop talking to someone for years and we don’t remember why but we remember the anger.  Forgiving is not making excuses for the other or oneself.  Forgiving is not tolerating negative behavior that only keeps us angry.  Forgiving is not something we do after we “get even”, two wrong don’t make it right.  I remember a woman who came in for counseling for depression and anger management.  She was very remorseful for hitting her husband with a 2X4 piece of stud saying, “he made me mad”.  Anger is not a sin it is what we do with our anger that becomes a poison. 

Forgiveness, reconciliation, mercy is seeing Jesus on the cross and accepting his love is open to all sinners and we can be an instrument of his love.  The world is in need of more and more reconciliation.  The path to destruction begins with the silencing of the voice of the other leading to disunity, then disorder and finally destruction.  Even if we disagree we need to be at least willing to agree to disagree in dialogue.  God works where two or three are gathered in his name.

Who is our model for forgiveness and reconciliation?  The one called “full of grace”, Blessed Mother Mary a model of humility.  The Mother who stood at the cross of her Son’s persecution remained in perfect love and did not sin.    Did she feel all the human emotions of anger, grief, pain and suffering?  Yes, she did.  She overcame them with love.  In Jesus, God became more like man to bring us to reconciliation.  In Mary humanity became more like God to be perfect as God is perfect.  God entrusts in us the message of reconciliation to be more like Christ.  This too takes great courage. 

Literature speaks of four great themes of life.  There is a “comedy” where anything that can go wrong does go wrong but in the end all ends well.  There is a “romance” where life has its passion and challenges that seek a higher unity of life.  There is a “tragedy” with a sad ending, a sense of loss and emptiness.  There is also an “irony” where we are left with no understanding and confusion.  So how does this play out with reconciliation?

“Comedy”: Why did it take so long to make up?  I don’t know but you started it.  You also held onto it for so long but now together we end it. 

“Romance”:  I was so angry because I love you so much.  I wish it had never happened but we are much closer now and understanding of each other.

“Tragedy”:  What happened cannot be undone and letting go is not easy.  I still love you but life goes on without you now and I can accept it. 

“Irony”: Though I will never completely understand I trust in God and accept his will for my life. 

In each of these themes of life we can find God’s peace and reconciliation.  Let us harden not our hearts to his voice calling us back to his love and mercy.  Forgiving all injuries is a spiritual work of mercy.  “Love one another” and we will receive God’s peace of heart. 

Let us pray an act of love and reconciliation.  “O my God, I love you above all things with my whole heart and soul, because you are all-good and worthy of all my love.  I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you.  I forgive all who have injured me, and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured.  Amen.” (Handbook for Catholics, Loyola Press 1995, pg. 8)

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Homily

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Kgs 3: 5, 7-12; Rom. 8: 28-30; Mt. 13: 44-52

How many lives do you impact?  We seldom stop to recognize the impact we are making in the world.  The lives that we encounter daily at home raising a family, at work serving a purpose, in our gatherings of celebration expressing our joy, in funerals expressing our compassion, and in the streets with the stranger, the store clerk, server, child, or elderly.  We impact many lives and make a difference in this world. 

Solomon was a youth who understood the impact his life would have on thousands of lives and he wanted to serve with an understanding heart to judge, distinguish right from wrong.  We too participate in the kingdom of God making an impact on many lives in the seen and unseen.  Until heaven will it be revealed to us completely.  We journey in the ordinary of life faithful to our state.  The ordinary does not imply insignificance.  To the contrary, if God is with us everything is significant.  We are here to make a difference in the history of salvation.   We must remain open to the work of the Spirit. 

One of the sad statistics of today is the rising suicide rates among the general population but especially among youth where it has doubled and even tripled in some areas in the last ten years.  One testimony of a father whose son named Will a talented boy, good grades, played sports, wrote lyrics for a band, successful in every aspect of his life, dead at 15 from suicide. Like Solomon this boy felt all the pressure to be perfect.  He took serious his responsibilities.  He also knew that if he made a mistake everyone would know about it by lunch time with all the social media at the fingertips of everyone’s phone.  Solomon desired to judge rightly.  Will feared being judged wrongly.  Will’s dad was thinking “everything is great!”  Today his message to youth is “Wow, this is really hard.”  The challenges of this world require faith, hope, and love, they require God in our lives.

There is a desert experience we must all pass through.  There is also a promised land.  The Old Testament daily readings this week have been from Exodus.  Moses leading the people through the desert and each hardship is a test of faith.  Our focus is on the Promised Land.  The Kingdom, the Promised land starts here in the present, in the ordinary, in Mass, in his body and blood, and in our struggles blessed to carry the cross. 

Even when there is a shared struggle in life like the loss of a loved one each experiences their own unique grief.  “Wow, this is really hard.  No kidding!”  Are we prepared to face the desert experience when it comes?  Solomon’s prayer to God is a servant’s prayer.  He understood who he was serving in all he would be called to do.  His prayer was for what he needed to be a good servant, not to grow rich or rule with power.  His desire was to build a kingdom for God, a treasure buried in a field unseen to others but discovered in his heart; a kingdom of fine pearls of wisdom, and a net that catches souls of every kind. 

“We know all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”  Do we walk in the steps we are predestined responding to the call, justified by conforming to the image of Jesus, glorified by the love of God?  How do we know?  When we walk in his steps says St. Paul in Galatians we gain the fruits of the Spirit.  We have and share our “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  (Gal. 5:22-23).  That is nine gifts which we can recall as, in the power of the Spirit he strengthens our faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to become the image of the Son in patience, kindness, and generosity and arrive at the Father’s love with joy and peace in our hearts.   

Fidelity to the word made flesh nurtures us into the gentleness of a child of faith to be obedient in self-control. Patience is also self-restraint with kindness giving of ourselves in generosity.  The heart of understanding comes to know the will of the Father and celebrates the truth of knowledge with joy and peace resting in the Father’s heart. 

All this lead us to an extraordinary life in the ordinary of life.  Here we are called to be the best we can be in his image.  Who shared in our humanity a fidelity to the ordinary and was called to the extraordinary?  It was our Blessed Mother Mary.  Until the angel appears Mary was faithful to her ordinary daily life. It is from this faithfulness that God sees the fruit of the Spirit and called her and many other Saints to an extraordinary life of greater sanctity. 

Today we have the “new and the old”, the completion of the Word in the Old Testament and the New Testament, in the law of obedience and in the law of the Spirit of fidelity, our love in action.  Each life leaves it legacy for generations to come.  It is the legacy of love that endures. 

Come to the Promise Land.  The invitation requires no RSVP, No Regrets, only Mary’s fiat, “let it be done according to your will” Lord. 

 

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