Last week, The Alliance Review…
carried the story of a “tolerance march”
organized by students of Mount Union College.
The students and professors gathered and marched
in order to peacefully display their disappointment at perceived intolerance
both at the college and in our society.
One student’s poster…
pictured on the font page of The Review…
speaks volumes about popular opinion in our society today.
It was a handmade poster depicting cartoon images
of two men…and two women…holding hands…
and it carried the theme “love everyone.”
Such an ill-informed and indecorous public display
is all the more disturbing when it takes place on a college campus…
a place intended for intellectual pursuit of the truth…
and…in this case…an institution founded on Christian values.
The presumption behind this student’s poster…
and indeed the whole affair…
is the message of a secularized world gone astray from God.
This mantra of society is that:
love means accepting not just “people” for “who they are” but also their sins
truth is the particular construct of each individual
peace is the absence of all conflict and uncomfortable distinction
justice is giving people what makes them content right now
life is disposable and within our power to bestow and take away and control.
In such a warped mindset…
where all is relative and self-centered…
anyone’s definition of love…of life…marriage…even of God…
is just as good as any other.
Anyone’s creative view of sexuality and love must be accepted and tolerated…
the world tells us…
and the new modern ideas are forced upon everyone.
There is a striking irony in the intolerance of people who fight for tolerance…
for in the end they will not rest…
until you have accepted what they believe!
Pope Benedict cracked the proverbial nail on the center of its head…
when he wrote that our society is under the grip of
“a dictatorship of relativism.”
Truly one could apply the adjectives tyrannical and dictatorial…
to our modern insistence upon “letting anything go.”
In the modern world’s way of understanding reality…
Catholic Christianity is simply another among many religions…
and every conceivable exploration into sexuality
and the manipulation of human life…
is viewed an acceptable “loving” lifestyle.
[PAUSE]
In stark contrast to the modern empire of relativism
stands the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Christ achieved His victory not with warfare and politics
but on a Cross…on Calvary’s hill.
He did not conquer with battle cries…
but in crying out:
“Father, forgive them… Why have you abandoned me?
Into your hands I commend my spirit.”
In His death on the Cross, Christ conquered not a worldly enemy but death itself…
and won for us the bright promise of eternal life.
The kingdom of Jesus Christ is a kingdom of eternal life…
of real, lasting peace…of authentic, unchanging truth…
and of abiding, unconditional love.
The kingship of Christ is not simply our religious belief.
It is the truth…and the fundamental reality that is meant to shape our lives.
On this feast we have no hesitation about proclaiming Christ in His fullness:
Jesus Christ is king!
His Word…in Scripture and the Tradition of the Church…is truth!
(And that doesn’t depend on anyone’s definition of what “is” is!)
[PAUSE]
While Christ reigns even now from His heavenly throne…
and while His kingdom is present even now in His Church…
His kingdom will only be fulfilled
when He comes again in glory at the end of the world.
As we await the fulfillment of Christ's kingdom…
it is the great calling of all the baptized
to make the kingship of Christ present in the hearts of all people.
In our work…our relationships…in raising children…indeed in our whole lives…
we have a mission from Christ to proclaim the truth of His kingdom…
not the false values of worldly empires
to love people enough to tell them the whole truth…
rather than “tolerating” their sins
and to help others to find peace not in and eliminating differences…
but by living in Christ.
It is no simple task to which we are called.
It is in fact a life-long labor of faith and love.
We give thanks with grateful hearts
that Christ our King nourishes us with holy food for our spiritual journey.
Indeed His very Body and Blood are our strength.
Today’s Gospel recounts the final moments of Jesus’ earthly life…
and the story of the repentant thief.
Notice that when the thief begs…
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus does not respond “I will remember you.”
but “…today you will be with me in Paradise.”
In this Mass… as we “remember” Christ's Last Supper and Passion…
we share in the sacrifice He made on Calvary
and in the victory He won on the Cross.
What is more, Jesus is with us and we are with Him!
More than remembering us…Christ our King is truly present with us.
He desires to be the king of our lives and our hearts…
and calls us all to be heralds of His kingship with every breath we take.
May Christ be our king forever…
and may our lives find fulfillment at His holy table in His heavenly kingdom!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Homily Thirty-Second Sunday of the Year 11 November 2007
“I believe in Christianity…”
wrote C. S. Lewis…
“…as I believe that the sun has risen:
not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ…
and members of His Mystical Body the Church…
we are caught up in something even more remarkable
than the cycle of the rising and setting sun.
We who have…by God’s grace…
received the gifts of faith and Baptism into the Church…
through the hands of loving parents…fellow Christians…
and through the ministry of the Church’s priests and deacons…
have been marked on our souls with the seal of Christ
and have been drawn deeply into relationship with God.
God has called us to be His own…
His beloved sons and daughters…
and to live with our hearts and souls always united closely to Him.
Jesus Christ has personally entered into our lives…
and has invited us into His own divine life…
that we might in Him find deeper meaning and purpose to our life on earth.
As the sun rises each day to give light to the world…
so our faith is with us as we rise each morning from sleep…
to give light to our days and to illumine the path to God’s peace.
As the sun sets each night…
so each night our bedside prayers close the day
and we fall asleep having given thanks to God for life’s blessings…
trusting that with morning will come new light from on high.
As the sun sheds its light on all mankind and on all creation…
so the light of faith we have received
radiates through us
and helps us see the whole of life…
by the brilliant light of Christ’s Gospel message.
Faith allows us to see life in a richer and more meaningful way…
to see that life is not simply circumstance and coincidence…
but is truly a plan of grace designed by God our loving Father…
and a journey in which every relationship and event…
even the apparently mundane…
is of eternal significance.
Catholic Christianity is not just about what we do…
it is more significantly about who we are.
Being a faithful Christian means allowing the faith we have received
to captivate us and to transform our lives.
Life for us is not about the fleeting pleasures and passing thrills of earth…
it is about living in Christ and with Christ.
If we live in Christ…
life is not about grasping at whatever feeds our base desires…
nor is it about dishonest and irresponsible behavior…
nor is it about using and mis-treating fellow men and women.
Life in Christ is about the unique human vocation to love…
to live in the image of God who is Love itself
to live deeply and permanently rooted in Christ’s love
and to share His love with others without exception.
Life in Christ has a unique trajectory…
one that draws us ever nearer to the Lord…
one that aims straight for heaven.
We who dare to call Jesus Christ our brother
live in great hope because of His resurrection
and in hope that we shall live with Him forever.
Fidelity to Christ finds fulfillment, reward, and peace in the glory of Heaven.
Our Lord “is not God of the dead, but of the living,” the Scriptures today tell us.
He is the God of us who live in Him even here and now…
and we shall be entirely His in joy and peace…
if we pass from this life having served Him faithfully.
As another liturgical cycle draws to a close…
and as the glorious Feast of Christ the King approaches…
the Liturgy and the Scriptures turn our minds to our last days.
As darkness increases…and a Church year ends…
we are reminded that our mortal existence will have an end.
We are reminded that we shall all appear before Christ
and shall have to answer for the way spent our days on earth.
The way we treated one another…
the time and talents we gave or did not give to the Church…
the time we spent or did not spend in prayer…
the way in which we received or rejected the teachings of the Church…
the way we entered into our relationships…
shall all have eternal consequences.
As the Preface of the Funeral Mass declares…
“For the faithful Christian, life is changed, not ended.”
Truly…for the faithful Christian…
the transition from a life on earth lived in Christ to eternal life with Him…
is a blessed change!
And the more united to Christ we have been…
the smoother the transition from life…through death…to eternal life shall be!
A “smooth transition” is our aim in the whole of the Christian life:
so we live for Heaven…
that when our time comes we may be taken swiftly into glory.
Though death brings with it sorrow for those left behind…
for the Christian it has a truly positive dimension:
without death we cannot enjoy eternal life!
Not only death, but the whole of life, is transformed and given a positive meaning
because of our relationship to Jesus Christ.
Death is not the end.
Suffering will not be forever.
All that we do is done in love…for we live in Christ!
All that we are is caught up in loving Christ and each other
and in allowing the light of the Gospel to transform us
into the people He desires us to be!
May the Lord encourage and strengthen each one of us…
that through His grace our every word shall give Him glory..
that our every deed shall be found pleasing in His sight…
and that out hearts be directed ever more to His love.
May the faith of Christ be a sun that never sets in our lives and hearts…
until the King of the whole world shall raise us up to live with Him forever!
wrote C. S. Lewis…
“…as I believe that the sun has risen:
not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ…
and members of His Mystical Body the Church…
we are caught up in something even more remarkable
than the cycle of the rising and setting sun.
We who have…by God’s grace…
received the gifts of faith and Baptism into the Church…
through the hands of loving parents…fellow Christians…
and through the ministry of the Church’s priests and deacons…
have been marked on our souls with the seal of Christ
and have been drawn deeply into relationship with God.
God has called us to be His own…
His beloved sons and daughters…
and to live with our hearts and souls always united closely to Him.
Jesus Christ has personally entered into our lives…
and has invited us into His own divine life…
that we might in Him find deeper meaning and purpose to our life on earth.
As the sun rises each day to give light to the world…
so our faith is with us as we rise each morning from sleep…
to give light to our days and to illumine the path to God’s peace.
As the sun sets each night…
so each night our bedside prayers close the day
and we fall asleep having given thanks to God for life’s blessings…
trusting that with morning will come new light from on high.
As the sun sheds its light on all mankind and on all creation…
so the light of faith we have received
radiates through us
and helps us see the whole of life…
by the brilliant light of Christ’s Gospel message.
Faith allows us to see life in a richer and more meaningful way…
to see that life is not simply circumstance and coincidence…
but is truly a plan of grace designed by God our loving Father…
and a journey in which every relationship and event…
even the apparently mundane…
is of eternal significance.
Catholic Christianity is not just about what we do…
it is more significantly about who we are.
Being a faithful Christian means allowing the faith we have received
to captivate us and to transform our lives.
Life for us is not about the fleeting pleasures and passing thrills of earth…
it is about living in Christ and with Christ.
If we live in Christ…
life is not about grasping at whatever feeds our base desires…
nor is it about dishonest and irresponsible behavior…
nor is it about using and mis-treating fellow men and women.
Life in Christ is about the unique human vocation to love…
to live in the image of God who is Love itself
to live deeply and permanently rooted in Christ’s love
and to share His love with others without exception.
Life in Christ has a unique trajectory…
one that draws us ever nearer to the Lord…
one that aims straight for heaven.
We who dare to call Jesus Christ our brother
live in great hope because of His resurrection
and in hope that we shall live with Him forever.
Fidelity to Christ finds fulfillment, reward, and peace in the glory of Heaven.
Our Lord “is not God of the dead, but of the living,” the Scriptures today tell us.
He is the God of us who live in Him even here and now…
and we shall be entirely His in joy and peace…
if we pass from this life having served Him faithfully.
As another liturgical cycle draws to a close…
and as the glorious Feast of Christ the King approaches…
the Liturgy and the Scriptures turn our minds to our last days.
As darkness increases…and a Church year ends…
we are reminded that our mortal existence will have an end.
We are reminded that we shall all appear before Christ
and shall have to answer for the way spent our days on earth.
The way we treated one another…
the time and talents we gave or did not give to the Church…
the time we spent or did not spend in prayer…
the way in which we received or rejected the teachings of the Church…
the way we entered into our relationships…
shall all have eternal consequences.
As the Preface of the Funeral Mass declares…
“For the faithful Christian, life is changed, not ended.”
Truly…for the faithful Christian…
the transition from a life on earth lived in Christ to eternal life with Him…
is a blessed change!
And the more united to Christ we have been…
the smoother the transition from life…through death…to eternal life shall be!
A “smooth transition” is our aim in the whole of the Christian life:
so we live for Heaven…
that when our time comes we may be taken swiftly into glory.
Though death brings with it sorrow for those left behind…
for the Christian it has a truly positive dimension:
without death we cannot enjoy eternal life!
Not only death, but the whole of life, is transformed and given a positive meaning
because of our relationship to Jesus Christ.
Death is not the end.
Suffering will not be forever.
All that we do is done in love…for we live in Christ!
All that we are is caught up in loving Christ and each other
and in allowing the light of the Gospel to transform us
into the people He desires us to be!
May the Lord encourage and strengthen each one of us…
that through His grace our every word shall give Him glory..
that our every deed shall be found pleasing in His sight…
and that out hearts be directed ever more to His love.
May the faith of Christ be a sun that never sets in our lives and hearts…
until the King of the whole world shall raise us up to live with Him forever!
Father Matthew's Mass Schedule
November 10th 4:00 pm
November 11th 7:15 am
November 18th 12:15 & 5:30 pm
November 24th 4:00 pm
November 25th 8:45 & 10:30 am
November 11th 7:15 am
November 18th 12:15 & 5:30 pm
November 24th 4:00 pm
November 25th 8:45 & 10:30 am
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Homily Saturday of the Thirtieth Week of the Year 3 November 2007
It is fitting…even providential…that…
as we gather to begin this special day for sponsor couples…
the Gospel reading chosen by the Church for today
speaks of a wedding.
In offering this parable of the wedding banquet…
Jesus has a particular lesson in mind.
He wishes to teach them about the importance of humility in the Christian life.
In Jesus’ Gospel vision…
the Christian takes a lowly place rather than promoting himself…
the Christian does not seek places of honor and high visibility
for his own sake.
It is God whom we are called to glorify by our thoughts, words, and actions…
not ourselves…
and not our own ideas and agendas.
This disposition of humility is the attitude we are called to have before our God…
and also before our mother, the Church.
We are called to be open and receptive to the teachings of Christ and the Church.
As Catholic Christian people,
we do not take the high place of our own sop box…
promoting what we create.
Instead we take the lowly place as servants of Jesus Christ and of His Church…
handing on to others the Word of God…
which is revealed to us in Scripture
and in the Tradition and teachings of the Church.
As sponsor couples…
you have a critical role in the life of our parish
and share in the mission of the whole Church to spread the Gospel.
Marriage and family life is a priority for the Church in our day…
for the world in which we live offers a serious challenge to the truth of Christ
for married people and families.
You have been called to help the Church proclaim with love
the truth about God’s plan for marriage and family life.
In your meetings with engaged couples,
you will have the opportunity to share with them
the wisdom of your own experience as husbands and wives
and the perfect wisdom of God’s plan for joyful and holy marriages.
What you gain from today’s reflections you will pass on to our engaged couples…
so that they have the foundation for living as Christ calls them.
As we begin this day with the celebration of Holy Mass…
we come to the banquet of the Lamb of God…
where Heaven is wedded to earth
and where Jesus comes to share His Body and Blood
and so become “one flesh” with us.
In receiving Christ into your bodies and souls…
you are strengthened in your vocation to live the truth of married love
and to share that truth…in humility…in love…with others.
My Christ the bridegroom…
who gave His life for the sake of his bride, the Church…
draw you ever closer to Himself…
until at last you are united to Him forever
in the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb in Heaven!
as we gather to begin this special day for sponsor couples…
the Gospel reading chosen by the Church for today
speaks of a wedding.
In offering this parable of the wedding banquet…
Jesus has a particular lesson in mind.
He wishes to teach them about the importance of humility in the Christian life.
In Jesus’ Gospel vision…
the Christian takes a lowly place rather than promoting himself…
the Christian does not seek places of honor and high visibility
for his own sake.
It is God whom we are called to glorify by our thoughts, words, and actions…
not ourselves…
and not our own ideas and agendas.
This disposition of humility is the attitude we are called to have before our God…
and also before our mother, the Church.
We are called to be open and receptive to the teachings of Christ and the Church.
As Catholic Christian people,
we do not take the high place of our own sop box…
promoting what we create.
Instead we take the lowly place as servants of Jesus Christ and of His Church…
handing on to others the Word of God…
which is revealed to us in Scripture
and in the Tradition and teachings of the Church.
As sponsor couples…
you have a critical role in the life of our parish
and share in the mission of the whole Church to spread the Gospel.
Marriage and family life is a priority for the Church in our day…
for the world in which we live offers a serious challenge to the truth of Christ
for married people and families.
You have been called to help the Church proclaim with love
the truth about God’s plan for marriage and family life.
In your meetings with engaged couples,
you will have the opportunity to share with them
the wisdom of your own experience as husbands and wives
and the perfect wisdom of God’s plan for joyful and holy marriages.
What you gain from today’s reflections you will pass on to our engaged couples…
so that they have the foundation for living as Christ calls them.
As we begin this day with the celebration of Holy Mass…
we come to the banquet of the Lamb of God…
where Heaven is wedded to earth
and where Jesus comes to share His Body and Blood
and so become “one flesh” with us.
In receiving Christ into your bodies and souls…
you are strengthened in your vocation to live the truth of married love
and to share that truth…in humility…in love…with others.
My Christ the bridegroom…
who gave His life for the sake of his bride, the Church…
draw you ever closer to Himself…
until at last you are united to Him forever
in the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb in Heaven!
Homily Thirty-First Sunday of the Year 4 November 2007
Keith Green is the author of the song Until That Final Day…
My flesh is tired of seeking God,
But on my knees I'll stay.
I want to be a pleasing child,
Until that final day.
My mind is full of many thoughts
That clutter and confuse.
But standing firm, I will prevail,
In faith that I'll be used.
I wrestle not with flesh and blood,
My fight is with the one,
Who lost the keys of hell and death,
To God's most precious son.
One sleepless night of anguished prayer,
I triumphed over sin.
One battle in the Holy war,
God's promised me to win.
My flesh is tired of seeking God,
But on my knees I'll stay.
I want to be a pleasing child,
Until that final day.
These words capture the struggle of our Christian spiritual life.
Our hearts burn with a desire to seek God and to live a life that pleases Him…
and yet our bodies…our flesh…grows tired in the fight against sin.
We are tempted by the devil
and by the sinful pleasures with which the world tries to bait us.
We would rather give up and give in.
And yet we go on.
When we fall we pick ourselves up and drag our weak flesh along…
as Christ once picked Himself up three times under the weight of the Cross.
In anguished prayer on tired knees…
in confusing thoughts
in seemingly endless battles
we wrestle with ourselves and with evil…
striving and struggling to please God and love one another.
Sometimes the push and pull of the crowd
can be a formidable obstacle to overcome in our struggle to live a holy life.
The spiritual life is the struggle to rise above sin and the temptations of the world
in order to behold the face of God.
In today’s Gospel…
the tax collector Zacchaeus…a man short in stature we are told…
climbs a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus as He passes below.
Helping us see the deeper message in this well-known story…
Cyril of Alexandria comments that Zacchaeus is not only physically short…
but short in stature spiritually.
Spiritually speaking…
it is not the multitude of people that keeps him from seeing Jesus
but the multitude of his sins.
Spiritually speaking…
it is not simply that he needs to be physically raised up from the ground
but that he needs to rise above the earth and its temptations and vices
in order to see Jesus.
Each of us…in our own struggle to live holy lives…
needs to climb above the earth and its sinful temptations…
above our own fleshly uncleanness and our multitude of sins…
in order to behold Jesus Christ face to face…in purity of heart.
In every step of this long, hard journey…
Jesus is walking next to us…
supporting us in our weakness
and carrying us when we can no longer walk the road alone.
The modern world brings with it ever more vicious struggles for people today.
Today is the end of White Ribbon Week…
a week dedicated to raising awareness about a certain kind of modern vice.
This is a vice that comes to us through books and magazines…
through television…movies…even the telephone…and especially the internet.
A vice that threatens to destroy marriages.
A vice that mocks and undermines God’s plan for human sexuality.
A vice that exploits women.
A vice that warps young minds and lures young souls away from God and family.
A vice that consumes 12% of all internet sites and in a multi-million dollar industry.
A vice which is among the most commonly confessed sins in the Sacr. of Penance.
Out of sensitivity to innocent ears, I shall spare further details.
Suffice it to say…
pornography is an epidemic in our world today…
one that threatens the moral fabric of western civilization.
This White Ribbon Week we all have a role to play in stemming this tide of evil.
If this vice threatens you or your family…
seek the help you need to break the addiction.
Some families choose not to have the internet or television in their homes.
Others monitor it carefully to protect their children…and themselves.
You can stand up for the truth of your Christian values and virtues…
and declare by where you spend your money
that you will not support an industry of deviancy and immorality.
You can call your congressmen and encourage them to support anti-obscenity laws.
complain to city hall about undesirable businesses in your neighborhood
and write letters to the editors of the local papers defending moral positions.
Most of all…
we can all pray very hard that those caught up in sin and its effects
find freedom and peace in the truth and love of Jesus Christ.
The love and mercy of God is powerful enough to conquer every evil.
In that mercy and love we place our trust…
as we climb…not a sycamore tree…but the tree of life…the Cross.
We embrace the Cross of Christ and the crosses each of us bears daily in life…
and we strain…and struggle…and climb…
until we behold the face of Jesus…
who gazes into our eyes and asks to come stay in our house.
And so we receive Him with joy…
Body and Blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist…
into the dwelling of our souls.
Intimately united to Jesus…
we struggle on to praise His name and glorify Him forever!
My flesh is tired of seeking God,
But on my knees I'll stay.
I want to be a pleasing child,
Until that final day.
My mind is full of many thoughts
That clutter and confuse.
But standing firm, I will prevail,
In faith that I'll be used.
I wrestle not with flesh and blood,
My fight is with the one,
Who lost the keys of hell and death,
To God's most precious son.
One sleepless night of anguished prayer,
I triumphed over sin.
One battle in the Holy war,
God's promised me to win.
My flesh is tired of seeking God,
But on my knees I'll stay.
I want to be a pleasing child,
Until that final day.
These words capture the struggle of our Christian spiritual life.
Our hearts burn with a desire to seek God and to live a life that pleases Him…
and yet our bodies…our flesh…grows tired in the fight against sin.
We are tempted by the devil
and by the sinful pleasures with which the world tries to bait us.
We would rather give up and give in.
And yet we go on.
When we fall we pick ourselves up and drag our weak flesh along…
as Christ once picked Himself up three times under the weight of the Cross.
In anguished prayer on tired knees…
in confusing thoughts
in seemingly endless battles
we wrestle with ourselves and with evil…
striving and struggling to please God and love one another.
Sometimes the push and pull of the crowd
can be a formidable obstacle to overcome in our struggle to live a holy life.
The spiritual life is the struggle to rise above sin and the temptations of the world
in order to behold the face of God.
In today’s Gospel…
the tax collector Zacchaeus…a man short in stature we are told…
climbs a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus as He passes below.
Helping us see the deeper message in this well-known story…
Cyril of Alexandria comments that Zacchaeus is not only physically short…
but short in stature spiritually.
Spiritually speaking…
it is not the multitude of people that keeps him from seeing Jesus
but the multitude of his sins.
Spiritually speaking…
it is not simply that he needs to be physically raised up from the ground
but that he needs to rise above the earth and its temptations and vices
in order to see Jesus.
Each of us…in our own struggle to live holy lives…
needs to climb above the earth and its sinful temptations…
above our own fleshly uncleanness and our multitude of sins…
in order to behold Jesus Christ face to face…in purity of heart.
In every step of this long, hard journey…
Jesus is walking next to us…
supporting us in our weakness
and carrying us when we can no longer walk the road alone.
The modern world brings with it ever more vicious struggles for people today.
Today is the end of White Ribbon Week…
a week dedicated to raising awareness about a certain kind of modern vice.
This is a vice that comes to us through books and magazines…
through television…movies…even the telephone…and especially the internet.
A vice that threatens to destroy marriages.
A vice that mocks and undermines God’s plan for human sexuality.
A vice that exploits women.
A vice that warps young minds and lures young souls away from God and family.
A vice that consumes 12% of all internet sites and in a multi-million dollar industry.
A vice which is among the most commonly confessed sins in the Sacr. of Penance.
Out of sensitivity to innocent ears, I shall spare further details.
Suffice it to say…
pornography is an epidemic in our world today…
one that threatens the moral fabric of western civilization.
This White Ribbon Week we all have a role to play in stemming this tide of evil.
If this vice threatens you or your family…
seek the help you need to break the addiction.
Some families choose not to have the internet or television in their homes.
Others monitor it carefully to protect their children…and themselves.
You can stand up for the truth of your Christian values and virtues…
and declare by where you spend your money
that you will not support an industry of deviancy and immorality.
You can call your congressmen and encourage them to support anti-obscenity laws.
complain to city hall about undesirable businesses in your neighborhood
and write letters to the editors of the local papers defending moral positions.
Most of all…
we can all pray very hard that those caught up in sin and its effects
find freedom and peace in the truth and love of Jesus Christ.
The love and mercy of God is powerful enough to conquer every evil.
In that mercy and love we place our trust…
as we climb…not a sycamore tree…but the tree of life…the Cross.
We embrace the Cross of Christ and the crosses each of us bears daily in life…
and we strain…and struggle…and climb…
until we behold the face of Jesus…
who gazes into our eyes and asks to come stay in our house.
And so we receive Him with joy…
Body and Blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist…
into the dwelling of our souls.
Intimately united to Jesus…
we struggle on to praise His name and glorify Him forever!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Homily All Souls Day 2007
The millennia-old wisdom of Holy Mother Church
arranges certain feasts of the liturgical calendar
to help us understand more deeply…and celebrate more fully…
the mysteries of our faith.
The feasts of All Saints and All Souls are celebrated on successive days…
and together these celebrations lift our minds and souls
to contemplate the mystery of the Communion of Saints.
Yesterday we rejoiced in the men and women of every time and place
who stand as living examples of the faith and life to which God calls us
and who intercede on our behalf before the throne of God.
Today we discover the active role which we have to play in the family of faith…
in the great brotherhood of prayer and mutual spiritual support…
which we call the Communion of Saints.
In our earthly journey of faith…
none of us is perfect…and sin touches us all.
We give thanks to God that, in the Sacrament of Penance, Jesus forgives our sins.
Even though one’s sins have been forgiven by Jesus…
through the sacramental ministry of the Church…
there remains the residue which our sins leave behind.
We know from our human experiences that…
even sometimes when we forgive one another for wrongdoings…
physical injury, emotional scars, and the negative effects of sin remain.
So it is in the spiritual life.
Even though our sins be forgiven…
even though we have done our penance in order to make up for sins…
the punishment due to sin is not entirely satisfied.
There is need for souls who have died in God’s favor…
but who are entirely perfected…
to endure purification and purifying suffering.
This we call purgatory…from the word “purgation”…which means a cleansing.
Souls are cleansed and thus achieve the holiness necessary…
to enter the joy of heaven
and join the saints around the throne of God.
For our part, we must pray for these…the “poor souls”…in purgatory.
This is why we offer Masses for the dead…
offer sacrifices, and penances, and prayers at their tombs …
that the souls of those who have gone before us
may reach the glory of Heaven.
This prayer and sacrifice for the dead is a great act of charity.
It is a valuable and essential part of our spiritual life…
and a work of charity which we ought to embrace with great love.
In the Communion of Saints, the three states of the Church are united…
we are blessed by the favor of the prayer of the saints: the Church Triumphant
and we – the Church Militant – offer our own prayers
for the poor souls in purgatory – the Church Suffering.
What an extraordinary fountain of grace this family of faith is for the whole Church!
Today let us commend the souls of our deceased loved ones…and all the dead…
into the merciful arms of the Lord…
and commit ourselves to praying and sacrificing for their sake…
that together with them we may join in adoration
around the throne of God!
arranges certain feasts of the liturgical calendar
to help us understand more deeply…and celebrate more fully…
the mysteries of our faith.
The feasts of All Saints and All Souls are celebrated on successive days…
and together these celebrations lift our minds and souls
to contemplate the mystery of the Communion of Saints.
Yesterday we rejoiced in the men and women of every time and place
who stand as living examples of the faith and life to which God calls us
and who intercede on our behalf before the throne of God.
Today we discover the active role which we have to play in the family of faith…
in the great brotherhood of prayer and mutual spiritual support…
which we call the Communion of Saints.
In our earthly journey of faith…
none of us is perfect…and sin touches us all.
We give thanks to God that, in the Sacrament of Penance, Jesus forgives our sins.
Even though one’s sins have been forgiven by Jesus…
through the sacramental ministry of the Church…
there remains the residue which our sins leave behind.
We know from our human experiences that…
even sometimes when we forgive one another for wrongdoings…
physical injury, emotional scars, and the negative effects of sin remain.
So it is in the spiritual life.
Even though our sins be forgiven…
even though we have done our penance in order to make up for sins…
the punishment due to sin is not entirely satisfied.
There is need for souls who have died in God’s favor…
but who are entirely perfected…
to endure purification and purifying suffering.
This we call purgatory…from the word “purgation”…which means a cleansing.
Souls are cleansed and thus achieve the holiness necessary…
to enter the joy of heaven
and join the saints around the throne of God.
For our part, we must pray for these…the “poor souls”…in purgatory.
This is why we offer Masses for the dead…
offer sacrifices, and penances, and prayers at their tombs …
that the souls of those who have gone before us
may reach the glory of Heaven.
This prayer and sacrifice for the dead is a great act of charity.
It is a valuable and essential part of our spiritual life…
and a work of charity which we ought to embrace with great love.
In the Communion of Saints, the three states of the Church are united…
we are blessed by the favor of the prayer of the saints: the Church Triumphant
and we – the Church Militant – offer our own prayers
for the poor souls in purgatory – the Church Suffering.
What an extraordinary fountain of grace this family of faith is for the whole Church!
Today let us commend the souls of our deceased loved ones…and all the dead…
into the merciful arms of the Lord…
and commit ourselves to praying and sacrificing for their sake…
that together with them we may join in adoration
around the throne of God!
Homily All Saints Day 2007
One of the most common questions asked of priests…
either by Catholic folks who are confused about their faith
or by non-Catholics who have been mis-informed…
is… “Why do Catholics worship statues of saints?”
It is a good question.
It is a question that touches on one of the most significant and visible aspects
of our Catholic Christian life.
Significant because praying in the communion of saints sustains our spiritual lives.
Visible because our sacred images are recognized by people throughout the world,
people of every time and place.
People who are not Catholic…even those who are not Christian…
can recognize images of famous saints and of the Virgin Mary.
The question “Why do Catholics worship statues of saints?”
is one that is worth answering…
For not only is it the key that opens the door to understanding
why we focus attention on the saints…
but reflecting on this question also helps us understand
the deeper meaning of our uniquely Catholic prayer.
Confused Catholics and mis-guided non-Catholics
who come upon a faithful Catholic kneeling before an image of Mary
or of one of the saints…
and reciting the Rosary or other prayers…
also perhaps lighting a votive candle…
perceive that the person is on their knees worshiping the image
or making gods out of Mary and the Saints.
The truth is that Catholics do not worship the images of Mary and the saints…
or the persons they represent.
We have images of Mary and the saints in our churches and our homes
for much the same reason that we have pictures of beloved relatives
and statues of war heroes and famous statesmen.
We honor and cherish the memory of our family members who have inspired us
and have gone before us marked with the sign of faith…
and their photos in our homes keep their memory alive.
We honor those who have sacrificed for the sake of others
and dedicated their lives to serving God and our country
and their memorials help us to remember their sacrifice.
Our faith is especially important to us…
and so we honor the saints…the holy men and women
who have lived the faith we cherish with zeal and love.
The saints are the “heroes” of our Church…
priests, bishops, religious sisters and brothers, lay men, women, and children
who have been intimately united to Jesus Christ
have lived their own unique vocation in truth and love.
The statues, paintings, and icons of Mary and the saints that we display
remind us of their virtue and courage
and inspire us as we reflect on their holiness.
Sacred images teach us the story of the life of the Church…
and keep that story alive in our minds and hearts.
The saints are “friends of God” and they our “friends” too.
Our friendship with the saints is a two-fold blessing.
First, the saints stand as living examples of precisely what we are called to be.
When living a good, holy, Christian life seems to be more than we can handle…
we turn to the lives of the saints for direction and inspiration.
When following Christ amidst the temptations of this world seems overwhelming…
we find hope in knowing that the martyrs endured much worse…
even torture and death
and still kept the faith and remained pure.
In the trials of life, we Catholics do not despair.
Instead we show gratitude that we have friends
who have walked the journey of faith before us…and can show us the way.
As a lantern carried along a dark path through a dense forest…
the saints light the way along the dark path of our earthly journey
illuminating the way through the dense forest of temptation and trial.
Second, the saints actively give us the best help we can ask for in this life.
Their prayer of intercession before the throne of God
is powerful in obtaining the graces we need to live as God calls us
and to respond to life’s challenges.
The saints, who have been rewarded with heavenly glory for their holiness of life,
now stand before God and beg Him on our behalf for the grace we need.
Our constant prayer is that Mary and the saints will pray with us to God…
for our intentions and those of our loved ones.
We pray not to the saints…but with them to God…
who alone is the object of our worship and adoration.
In the Communion of Saints…
those who have lived lives of virtue and now live in Heaven
and we who strive to please God on earth
share in a brotherhood of prayer… a great family of faith!
Thanks be to God for the abundance of grace that is poured into our hearts
through the communion of the saints!
There is a saint for everyone…a spiritual companion for each one of us.
In striving to fulfill my priestly vocation, I turn to Saint John Vianney…
a parish priest from Ars, France who lived in the late 18th Century.
John Vianney was a shining example of holiness in a dark and time and place.
He is a model for priests of what is important in priestly life:
hearing confessions…which he did for 15 hours a day
teaching the truth of the faith
spending his time and resources on the church rather than on himself
taking time for prayer with Jesus.
John Vianney is a saint…but he is also my brother priest.
Though his holiness surpasses any I could ever hope to achieve…
he is with me…close to me always…to inspire me and to intercede for me.
For each of you…there is a saint who waits to be your spiritual friend.
Saint Therese of Lisieux has much to teach us all
about “doing little things with great love.”
Saint Gianna Molla…
a young mother who suffered serious illness during pregnancy
which threatened the life of her child…
and who sacrificed her life so that her unborn daughter could live…
is an inspiration for mothers and the pro-life work of the whole Church.
Saint Joseph…who cared for his beloved Mary and her Son Jesus…
is the model husband and father.
Wherever you find yourself in life…
whatever vocation or profession…
there is a saint to whom you can turn in the joys and sorrows of life.
As people of faith we need to read the lives of the saints…
to beg them for their prayers of intercession before God…
and with them to journey forward on the path to holiness.
Blessed shall you be if you hunger and thirst for righteousness
with the saints as your companions.
Your reward shall be great in Heaven!
either by Catholic folks who are confused about their faith
or by non-Catholics who have been mis-informed…
is… “Why do Catholics worship statues of saints?”
It is a good question.
It is a question that touches on one of the most significant and visible aspects
of our Catholic Christian life.
Significant because praying in the communion of saints sustains our spiritual lives.
Visible because our sacred images are recognized by people throughout the world,
people of every time and place.
People who are not Catholic…even those who are not Christian…
can recognize images of famous saints and of the Virgin Mary.
The question “Why do Catholics worship statues of saints?”
is one that is worth answering…
For not only is it the key that opens the door to understanding
why we focus attention on the saints…
but reflecting on this question also helps us understand
the deeper meaning of our uniquely Catholic prayer.
Confused Catholics and mis-guided non-Catholics
who come upon a faithful Catholic kneeling before an image of Mary
or of one of the saints…
and reciting the Rosary or other prayers…
also perhaps lighting a votive candle…
perceive that the person is on their knees worshiping the image
or making gods out of Mary and the Saints.
The truth is that Catholics do not worship the images of Mary and the saints…
or the persons they represent.
We have images of Mary and the saints in our churches and our homes
for much the same reason that we have pictures of beloved relatives
and statues of war heroes and famous statesmen.
We honor and cherish the memory of our family members who have inspired us
and have gone before us marked with the sign of faith…
and their photos in our homes keep their memory alive.
We honor those who have sacrificed for the sake of others
and dedicated their lives to serving God and our country
and their memorials help us to remember their sacrifice.
Our faith is especially important to us…
and so we honor the saints…the holy men and women
who have lived the faith we cherish with zeal and love.
The saints are the “heroes” of our Church…
priests, bishops, religious sisters and brothers, lay men, women, and children
who have been intimately united to Jesus Christ
have lived their own unique vocation in truth and love.
The statues, paintings, and icons of Mary and the saints that we display
remind us of their virtue and courage
and inspire us as we reflect on their holiness.
Sacred images teach us the story of the life of the Church…
and keep that story alive in our minds and hearts.
The saints are “friends of God” and they our “friends” too.
Our friendship with the saints is a two-fold blessing.
First, the saints stand as living examples of precisely what we are called to be.
When living a good, holy, Christian life seems to be more than we can handle…
we turn to the lives of the saints for direction and inspiration.
When following Christ amidst the temptations of this world seems overwhelming…
we find hope in knowing that the martyrs endured much worse…
even torture and death
and still kept the faith and remained pure.
In the trials of life, we Catholics do not despair.
Instead we show gratitude that we have friends
who have walked the journey of faith before us…and can show us the way.
As a lantern carried along a dark path through a dense forest…
the saints light the way along the dark path of our earthly journey
illuminating the way through the dense forest of temptation and trial.
Second, the saints actively give us the best help we can ask for in this life.
Their prayer of intercession before the throne of God
is powerful in obtaining the graces we need to live as God calls us
and to respond to life’s challenges.
The saints, who have been rewarded with heavenly glory for their holiness of life,
now stand before God and beg Him on our behalf for the grace we need.
Our constant prayer is that Mary and the saints will pray with us to God…
for our intentions and those of our loved ones.
We pray not to the saints…but with them to God…
who alone is the object of our worship and adoration.
In the Communion of Saints…
those who have lived lives of virtue and now live in Heaven
and we who strive to please God on earth
share in a brotherhood of prayer… a great family of faith!
Thanks be to God for the abundance of grace that is poured into our hearts
through the communion of the saints!
There is a saint for everyone…a spiritual companion for each one of us.
In striving to fulfill my priestly vocation, I turn to Saint John Vianney…
a parish priest from Ars, France who lived in the late 18th Century.
John Vianney was a shining example of holiness in a dark and time and place.
He is a model for priests of what is important in priestly life:
hearing confessions…which he did for 15 hours a day
teaching the truth of the faith
spending his time and resources on the church rather than on himself
taking time for prayer with Jesus.
John Vianney is a saint…but he is also my brother priest.
Though his holiness surpasses any I could ever hope to achieve…
he is with me…close to me always…to inspire me and to intercede for me.
For each of you…there is a saint who waits to be your spiritual friend.
Saint Therese of Lisieux has much to teach us all
about “doing little things with great love.”
Saint Gianna Molla…
a young mother who suffered serious illness during pregnancy
which threatened the life of her child…
and who sacrificed her life so that her unborn daughter could live…
is an inspiration for mothers and the pro-life work of the whole Church.
Saint Joseph…who cared for his beloved Mary and her Son Jesus…
is the model husband and father.
Wherever you find yourself in life…
whatever vocation or profession…
there is a saint to whom you can turn in the joys and sorrows of life.
As people of faith we need to read the lives of the saints…
to beg them for their prayers of intercession before God…
and with them to journey forward on the path to holiness.
Blessed shall you be if you hunger and thirst for righteousness
with the saints as your companions.
Your reward shall be great in Heaven!
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