The PadreCast - Faithful Catholic Homilies: Recent Episodes
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Friends this past Wednesday I traveled to Greensboro for the funeral Mass of Msgr. Anthony Marcaccio. He was for a time the priest secretary for Bishop Curlin (the bishop prior to Bishop Jugis and now Bishop Martin), and then he served for 24 years as pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Greensboro. Not long before passing away from cancer this past July, Monsignor wrote a heartfelt message to his parishioners, his last words to them, in which he expressed His trust in God’s plan and His desire to seek God’s glory in all things, even in the midst of cancer treatment.
Even in that moment when his body began to fail, he placed his faith and trust in Christ.
The readings and prayers for this Mass confront us within ourselves a similar question. Are our hearts truly set on seeking out Christ? Or does He simply offer us some sort of benefit to our lives? Is He second or third place?
Study have been done on those who practice a religion finding that those who practice it devoutly, have happier lives, less experience of depression or risk of suicide, and economically at least in the middle to upper classes even if they did not begin there. In other words, there is a natural benefit, to practicing a religion, you will have a happier more prosperous life.
But that is not faith and would make us no different then the crowd which goes searching for Jesus in the Gospel.
They are interested in the Lord. They have just seen with their eyes His miracle and sign of multiplying the loaves and the fish. Feeding thousands. They acknowledge that it is was miraculous because they respond: “Truly a prophet has arisen in Israel and God has visited His people.”
They seek the next day, crossing the sea of Galilee not because they believe in Him but solely for the purpose of having their physical needs met.
They are Hungry.
Our Lord tells them: “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”
He knows they are hungry, He Himself felt it. But then He elevates their minds to what should occupy them in the first place: the state of their soul. The eternal life which can be theirs. Which only Jesus Christ can give.
Us: WE Are among that crowd.
The 2nd reading from the Letter to the Ephesians states that we must be renewed in the spirit of our minds.”
Renewed through learning the truth of Jesus, who He is, what He has done, and who He can be for you.
That knowledge, that encounter with His person, Also, a corresponding way of life that is not corrupted through deceitful desires.
One of my favorite books is from Tan Books, “Manual for Conquering Deadly Sin.” Which describes the 7 Capital Vices (PLACES - G) (all of our sins are in there somewhere) in detail along with the corresponding virtue and quotes from the saint. Saint after saint claims that the first of the vices (think a sin practiced so frequently that it becomes habitual), the first vice that we must conquer in our spiritual life is the vice of gluttony.
The vice of an excessive desire for the pleasure of eating and drinking:
It is the vice of the crowd in the Gospel. St. Thomas gives us 5 general ways to commit this sin:
- Eating or drinking too rapidly or at an inappropriate time
- “ “ rich or expensive delicacies (St. Thomas)
- Too much
- Greedily: eating or drinking too greedily and refusing to share
- Daintily
This sin of Gluttony can deaden our minds and hearts from seeking out God. It keeps the crowd away from receiving Jesus’ teaching about the Blessed Eucharist in the Gospel
It also causes the grumbling of the Israelite community in our first reading from Exodus.
They Grumble against Moses and Aaron saying, “Would that we had died at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!”
They would prefer to return to slavery. They would rather die in the various plagues sent by God upon Egypt. All of that, just to satisfy their hunger.
Find yourself and your journey towards God in that story.
Exodus is both the historical journey of the Jewish people from slavery to Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. The land promised by God to Abraham and His descendants.
But that journey is also a symbol for the Christian journey from slavery to sin and the enslavement to the passions of the body to freedom in Christ.
A mind which Knows Him, A Heart which Loves Him, and a body and will that can then Follow Him.
That is the begin of heaven on this earth.
Especially as we enter the Mass. The Eucharistic Fast is meant to prepare us for it.
In the Eucharistic fast, prior to Mass, at a minimum 1 hour fast from food and liquids with the exception of water and medicine, 1 hour before receiving Holy Communion. If you wish to do more, consider the modified fast under Pope Pius XII which was a three hour fast, or prior to that reform of Pope Pius XII in 1953, Fast from Midnight the night before.
It is a way of training our desires. Recognizing, yes, I am hungry, but first I need to focus on that which is more important, that relationship with the Lord, the eternal life that He can give me.
Tragically, The Crowd in the Gospel ultimately did not want Jesus or His preaching or the life He offers. Just as in our time, many do not desire Him and they even openly mock Him as was shamefully done in the opening ceremony to the Olympics. He is mocked every time He is received unworthily in Holy Communion.
Even in that He reveals His desire for the salvation of your soul.
I had the blessing of speaking recently with your former pastor Fr. Miller, who reminded me,
"To the Lord Jesus, none of that matters as long as He can save a soul. His priority and His interest is in the salvation of a soul even if it means going to the cross and being crucified, even if it means He is publicly mocked again in our time, or His body in the Eucharist is received unworthily incurring that sacrilege.”
His priority is always the salvation of your soul.
IS THAT ALSO YOUR PRIORITY?
The First question He asks in the Gospel according to ST. John,
“What are you looking for?”
If we wish to find Him AND THE LIFE HE OFFERS, it is in this word and in the Blessed Eucharist that HE WAITS FOR YOU.
Have a few announcements this morning. The Catholic Kids Camp was a success with 104 kids in attendance. Thank you to all the teen and adult volunteers for all of their hard work, and a special thank you to the donors for your contributions to make that happen. The confirmation entrance exam is Saturday, August 3rd at 10 a.m. in the Social Hall. Please make sure your children eat before coming to take the test, and they can bring any snacks to have during the test. There will not be a makeup test. Registration for Faith formation will begin on Sunday, August 4th. In between the masses, the atrium spots are limited. It will be a first come, first serve basis. All volunteers, ushers, lectures and ministry leaders need to be up to date on their safe environment training. Please contact the office if you have any questions. Thank you.
For the last few weeks and bearing with me with the liturgy. It has been a little bit schizophrenic, and it's been an adjustment for me as well and I like to put or attempt to put an end to that so that we're united in our act of worship of God, particularly in the language that we're using the documents sacrosanct and Concilium from that Second Vatican Council. It spoke about the use of Latin in the liturgy, and it promoted it. I first explained that Latin is to be preserved in the Latin rites, so we are to use it, but it also states that it is good also to use the mother tongue, English or Spanish in our case, so that the people can actively participate. Also says we do want to incorporate Latin, especially in the ordinary of the mass. Think of the In nómine Patriset Filiiet Spíritus Sancti. Think of the act of contrition, or rather the confetti or think of the glory of the Creed that those often should be in Latin, but the people should be informed and should know how to respond so that you can actively participate. So, what I'm planning to do, following in your former pastor Father Miller's footsteps, created such a beautiful liturgy, is to maintain the use of Latin during the mass, but for ordinary time, which we're in right now, all English except for the Gloria. But then moving into those seasons of Advent and Lent, I like to do that sign of the cross, the greeting, the confetti, or in Latin, as well as the patroness order as a way to separate that season. And then when we reach Christmas and Easter, those glorious seasons of celebration. I'd like to mark that by adding, additionally, the Creed and the essay on your stay. Behold the Lamb of God in Latin as a way of celebrating even more of that sacred season using a particular language, the language of the church, Latin. But for now, English and when we get to there, we'll practice and prepare for that. And our only Luna verse for this mass chanted so beautifully here by our choir, we have the response of the crowd to what our Lord does. And they say, indeed, a prophet has arisen, and God has visited his people. In the next four Sundays, we're taking a break from that gospel of Mark and listening to the chapter of John, and he's going to focus on chapter six, where our Lord is going to reveal to the crowd and to us this teaching of the sacred Eucharist, the teaching of his body, blood, soul and Divinity, given to us in the sacrament for our life.
This summer, for the first time in over 80 years, we had this National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. And that was not a coincidence. It's been over 80 years in our great nation, but the bishops decided it is time that we must renew our devotion to our Lord in this sacrament. Who waits here for you a few years ago.
You may remember during Covid at least, maybe even up to 60% of Catholics in the pews. Either they don't know the teaching, or they don't believe in. What a tragedy that our Lord is here for us. So many people come in and out of those doors and don't recognize them here, when all the time he's here for you. He's a prisoner in that tabernacle for you. He waits for your prayers. If we're among that number, if some of us are somewhere in there, the Wednesday Hall, the hour of exposition is for you. Our capital campaign. Campaign to build that adoration chapel. To adore the Lord 24 hours a day. That is for you. That is, to stimulate your faith and help you to recognize the Lord who is present here for you. How can we come about to Eucharistic believe? Because it's something that's going to have to go far beyond our senses and far beyond our ability to perceive. So, belief is impossible, or at least is going to be very difficult if we don't understand something about God. And most certainly if we don't understand something about His Son Jesus Christ, and who he is and what he's capable of doing and the Creed. After the homily, we say, I believe in God the Father, the Almighty. We proclaim that God, who is all powerful, who made all things out of nothing. That book, first book Genesis, says, God makes the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. So, we proclaim to believe this God who can create all things out of nothing, something much more impressive and requiring much greater power than to make something new out of something already existing, such as taking bread, taking wine, and creating out of those two things.
Something new this Sunday prepares us to believe that by first showing us, revealing to us a bit more who is Jesus Christ? Because these stories in the Gospels, they give evidence that he has that same power that God has in Genesis. He has this same power to create. So, a man is sick, a man is lame on the ground, and he has to be healed. The Lord says, I do will stand up and rise, rather rise. Stand up and he does it, or the girl has a fever and she's in the bed. Our Lord rebukes that fever and lifts her up. He raises her up. A woman with a flow of blood just touches his cloak and she's healed. Says power goes out from his body and she's healed. He's giving evidence that he has this same power that God has in Genesis to create. Today's reading is going to pray, and some bread, and some fish are multiplied to feed thousands. Once again giving evidence of that. Don't miss the difference between that first reading and the gospel, because the first reading can seem very similar. The prophet Elisha, he has these 1220 lo set before the hundred man. So, as I said before them, and they eat, and there's something left over. But no, when he says, he says, Yahweh has told me, God has told me to set this before you, and there will be some left over. So, the prophet prays, or the prophet invokes God, and then God works the miracle, not the difference between what our Lord does.
Our Lord does not pray or ask that a miracle happen. He simply blesses. He breaks and he distributes, and they multiply. He does it through his divine power. That's truly the Son of God. And that's a little bit that's something like what happens in the mass. Because what we claim in this mass, when that bread and wine is changed into that precious blood of our Lord, that precious body of the Lord, we see that that that's done by the priest who's acting in that person of Christ, so that in virtue of my ordination, I act in that person of Christ at very particular moments, so very particular moments I act in our Lord's within the same person to connect the Eucharist, to make the sacraments happen. And especially in the case of the Eucharist, the effect of that sacrament is meant to be union with God, and it's also meant to be unity with each other. During that consecration, I'll lift up our Lord in the Sacred host, and we'll actually all be gathered. Finally, in that moment of unity, maybe it won't seem like it, but all of our eyes should be turned towards the Lord. So, our Lord should be drawing us into unity focused upon him. Saint John Paul the Second wrote in a closer the Eucharist, that is, the Eucharist that forms the church. So, you, because that makes it and brings us into unity. And that's something that cannot stop your friends. Of course, I'm new here. You're not. But that unity cannot stop here at this altar, real and most certainly can't stop when we go outside of those doors.
We don't have to be the best of friends, but we must treat each other with the charity of the Lord, with the dignity and charity of Christ. One virtue to consider this week that I'm going to be practicing trying to be that virtue of discretion. So, in our conversations, saying those good things, those good things we need to say, but maybe leaving out those things that would blacken someone's name, leaving out those things that might harm somebody's reputation, all of those things, all of those virtues are assisted in a wholly worthy that is, in a state of grace reception of Holy Communion.
It elevates and gives us all of those virtues and graces to lead us into union with God, and also unity with each other.
Our Lord. In this gospel, he instructs his apostles who have been working to come and spend some time away, to come and spend some time just with the Lord alone and in his presence. And there's one more privileged moment where we see the interior life of the Son of God. What is the Son of God think about? How does he behave? One more moment. In Mark's gospel, the Lord's into your life is moved with pity. He sees the need of the crowd and he's moved with pity. God is moved with pity for them. So, he goes. And he teaches them many, many things.
The next four Sundays we'll be speaking on the Eucharist. The Lord will give the crowd the teaching on that most precious gift that he gives us his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist. But today he prepares them to receive it. One early Christian writer wrote. The Lord placed before them first the food of the Word of God. And then after that he gave them the multitude food for their bodies. Leading up to his teaching on the Eucharist, our Lord provides for our every need. He is the good Shepherd in contrast to those in our first reading. Jeremiah calls out all of the prophets and the leaders who had led the people astray that led them not to God, but they led them to their selves and away from the Lord. But even in that God the Father has this plan where he says, he'll raise up this righteous shoot from the house of David. And he raises up this righteous shoot in our Lord.
Who is that good shepherd who always is looking after our souls? Let's call to mind a bit what he has done. The magnificence of what he has done. And our second reading from Ephesians, Saint Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes, and Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, have become near by the blood of Christ. He broke down that dividing wall of enmity. Before our Lord's incarnation, we were separated by God by this wall of enmity. Due to our sins. After that first sin of Adam and Eve, there's this unbridgeable gap between God and man. We have no access to God and to the father, and our Lord changes all that. There's a dramatic way where that's represented in our worship and the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
There is this place of pardon in the innermost sanctuary of the temple called the Holy of Holies, separated by this large curtain which represented the infinite holiness of God separate from the sins of the people and our sinfulness. And then there's that curtain that's torn in two from top to bottom at the end of Matthew's gospel. As soon as our Lord expires on the cross, that curtain is torn in two. We relive that. We don't just replay it, we relive that. And every single mass, when that priest or a decan lifts up that chalice veil. Once again, we're calling to mind when that curtain is torn from top to bottom. Why do we do it? We do it because God's about to come present on the altar. God's about to give himself to you.
In Christ, he has destroyed that dividing line between God and man. And now he wants to share with you his very life, his eternal life. To be ready for that. We must be purified. Psalm 24 asks the question, who may ascend that mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.
We need to be purified. And there are three beautiful moments in the liturgy that purify us. One started before mass. When you come in, we should genuflect or about to our Lord's presence in the Eucharist. But then you probably blessed yourself with holy water. Venial sins gone. If you're aware of that venial sins cleansed, then the consider I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, when the priest gives that absolution, may Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Venial sins God venial sins purified from mortal. We need confession, but for venial. Purified. There's one more most powerful moment. The most important thing we will ever do in our lives. The most important thing we'll do this morning is that reception of our Lord and Holy Communion. You receive the Lord in a state of grace. All of those sins, venial sins.
All of those faults are cleansed. Every single virtue. Faith, hope. Charity. Justice. Fortitude. Prudence. All of those are elevated because God's sharing is very self is very life with you. There's one last thing I want to speak about to help prepare us in this mass, to receive the Lord and to listen to what he wants us to do. And that is this interior silence, this interior silence. There's this book recently written by the Dominican, pardon me, by the Benedictine Father, Father Boniface Six, that I've been reading through. What is this? Interior silence. We all know that silence can take many forms. You might have an exterior silence, but you're into your life. Might be very busy. It might be very loud on the inside. In contrast, you might be in the city. You might be in Charlotte. So much busyness around you. And then you have a moment where the Lord touch your heart. This moment of silence, where the Lord really touches you and moves you. This moment of clarity and purity on the inside. How do we have that sort of a silence when we're in the mass? What can we do? Try to create this space inside you. Father Boniface Hicks calls it an esthetic silence. This space inside you. An emptiness that's waiting to be filled. So, your interior gaze is focused upon the Lord. It's focus upon the Lord waiting for his presence. And you were, in a sense, just waiting for him. And in that stance, in that spiritual stance, what then have the reading said to you? What are the gestures of the mass saying to you? What is the homily? The prayers? What is God saying to you through those? How is he touching your heart? I had one example from my prayer. Hopefully it's not too silly, but it is meaningful for me. When I was driving on my day off in the country and I knew I had probably mentioned this because I found this book so powerful, this interior silence.
So, I said, well, I must practice that, and I'm going to preach as the Lord has asked us to do. And so, I tried to simply be quiet for a little bit, create the space on the inside, and really listen for the Lord as absolutely, marvelously beautiful day as I create this space. Those words from the Psalm come to mind after a time. Those words of the Psalm come to mind from the rising of the sun to its setting. May the name of the Lord be praised. And I was nearly laughing in my vehicle and just smiling. I could not stop smiling. And there's the Psalm. Continue going in my heart from the rising, the sun to its setting. May the name of the Lord be praised. There's just a moment where the Lord touched my heart. Friends let's attempt to. Let's create just a little bit of space as we're moving into this liturgy of the Eucharist. Create a little bit of that space so that the Lord himself can fill it.
Brothers and sisters in Christ. It is very good to be with you. I have been pastor just since Tuesday and feel like I have already lived a lifetime in just these past few days. That has been busy, but very good and I look forward to getting to know you better as I focus on what I've been asked to do of preaching the gospel and sanctifying you through the sacraments. I also look forward to what we're going to do as a parish to focus on this mission of preaching the gospel, which Christ invites us to do. Something a bit strange happens in this gospel, but at first it seems very simple, so we might not miss it. Our Lord Jesus has been preaching in the surrounding towns. He's been healing the sick. He's been casting out the demons, and he's been raising them up. But today he sends out the apostles. Two by two. He sends out the apostles. Why does the Lord send them out as he not the Son of God? He certainly is, as his own preaching not sufficient. It absolutely is. So why does he send them out? He could have saved the entire world just by one will.
One desire of his heart. One choice as being God. But he sends these two out. Something different is going on here. That great Marian saint, Saint Louis de Montfort. He said that Christ brought more glory to God the Father through being obedient for 30 years to the Blessed Virgin Mary than if he had converted the entire world. God sees things a bit differently than we does. He sends them out because God wants us to actively participate in his work of salvation. He wants us to also have the glory and honor of participating with him in the salvation of souls. We come to mass and the other sacraments to be sanctified, to hear God's Word, to be edified, and to know how we need to keep aligning our lives to what God has asked of us. But then after that, that sanctification as not just for our own good, that sanctification is for others as well, especially for those who've been entrusted to our care. The document agents from the Second Vatican Council. It calls the church the sacrament of salvation. So, a sacrament is something that is visible, something that can be experienced and touched. The church is meant to be that within the world. And if you're baptized, you're part of the church. So, people come in contact with salvation through coming into contact first with you. What I hope the Parish of Saint Dorothy is already is, but it's going to be even more as a sacramental and a spiritual oasis, a place to encounter the living God, and then to be refreshed and to have everything you need to live out your vocation in a holy manner.
Or for our young people are so blessed with so many kids to prepare them for their vocation. It was God, the Holy Spirit. We believe in faith who chose Pope Francis our Pope because he is only one man. He has ordained Bishop Michael Martin and sent him to Charlotte to watch over every soul within the Diocese of Charlotte, but also because Bishop Michael is just one man. He sent me here to watch over every single soul that's in the parish of Saint Dorothy's, in all of our territory. He's sent me to do that. But I too, am just one man. If you don't know that already, you'll find it out. I am only one man. That means I need you and doesn't just sound good. I need you, and that's what the church expects. I need your prayers. I need your penances. But I also need your preaching and your witness to the gospel. What does that preaching mean? Only I or a deacon can preach the homily at mass because it's so united to the Holy Sacrifice. So only we can do that. But that's not the totality of what it means to preach. Any time you act in accord with God's will, you're preaching. Any time you call somebody back to the truth, you're preaching. And at times it will not be a popular message. Our Lord sends him out to preach a message of repentance. And Amos, in this first reading, he is reprimanded by another prophet because he's preaching a tough message. He's preaching the message of God. What does it mean when we need to preach that message of repentance? What does that actually mean? It's not condemnation. That's repent. It's to think again as to reconsider your life. First of all, with those priorities we need to have where God is number one for taught us, taking from the Old Testament. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength. As God absolutely number one in our hearts and in our minds, that's what we need to call others to as well. Saint Augustine wrote that we must first preach. That's first by hearing that message of salvation, that the whole world then will begin to believe. Then by believing they will have hope, and then by hoping they will have love. When you were baptized, deep in your heart was placed this love. That love of charity. That love which is shared between God the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit. That love which means to will the good of somebody else. So, friends in baptism were given this love, which should be a burning fire for the salvation of souls.
That shouldn't be an absolute furnace and a fire to save those around us. Not just ourself. But love is always diffusive, desiring the good of the other. That's what it should be with us. And that's where the sacrifice of the mass prepares us for. I want to leave you with one thought in one beautiful image before coming over. You know, it's maybe about a bit towards the altar. And I was saying a prayer. I was asking God to cleanse my heart and my lips before proclaiming his holy word. That comes from the book of Isaiah. So, Isaiah is first cleansed by a coal taken from the altar, by a seraphim by an angel, which cleanses his lips, and then sends him out on a mission to God.
God first draws near to us and cleanses us of our sins before sending us out. That coal taken from the fire as an early image and a symbol of the Holy Eucharist. Christ living presence, the resurrected Christ present to us, who draws near to us, to cleanse us and free us, and then sends us out as well to actively work for his plan of salvation.
At 12:00 today, I became your pastor. I'm Father Michael Carlson at Saint Mark this morning. And now here as your pastor, and I am. I'm here for you. I am here for you to lead you as best I can to Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel and through the sacraments. And I will do my utmost and ask especially for your prayers, because I need. I need those. This afternoon we're celebrating these Chinese martyrs, Augustine, Zhao and his companions, about 120 from seven years old, all the way up to about 70 years old. And these martyrs to become a martyr and to give your life for Christ that requires such grace. It requires really supernaturally giving up your life, offering that greatest gift of your life to God and for God, and for that we need the sacraments. For that we need a priest. That's why Saint Augustine that was so loved in this gospel reading, we have this beautiful moment. It's one of those privileged moments in the gospel. We actually get to see the interior life of Jesus Christ. You get a little glimpse of the interior life of the Son of God, and that interior life is moved with pity, is moved with pity for that crowd, because they don't have a shepherd.
They're lost and wandering around, and they need a direction. And of course, Christ is that good shepherd. But here's the beautiful thing. That heart that love you has that Sacred Heart. He wants that to continue in every time and in every place. So that's why he raises up a priest. And every time and in every place. The Lord loves you so much he raises and calls a priest. I did not call myself or any other priest could say the same thing. He raises up a priest so that you have the sacraments. He raises up a priest so that you can have the Eucharist and have that personal contact with the living, risen Jesus. And that is what we want to preach to others. And it's not just my preaching.
It's yours as well. That is our mission.
Homily begins at 9:13
In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Seeking Our Lady's intercession, let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Good morning, brothers and sisters. Long time no see, thoughts since weekend and this, of course sadly, my last weekend as your pastor. And make the effort to come and preach. And of course, greet you and say goodbye to you after mass. today. it's very apropos that we have this second reading, for me, from Saint Paul to the Corinthians. He says that I might not become elated because of the abundance of the revelations. A thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this that it might leave me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
You know, when I first got sick Ash Wednesday evening, for the next few days, I was complaining to the Lord a bit because if you know anything about Catholic priests, lent is the busiest season of the year for us. We have the most to do, whether it's confessions and sacraments and spiritual direction and all of those things. And I told the Lord, I said, you know, I don't mind being sick, but really lent, like, what are you thinking? What's going on? You know, please just give me better quick so I can get back to the people. That obviously didn't happen. And you know, I, I've never had a problem struggling with illness or such and know the Lord has taught me over the years that even such things are gifts to us. And I knew this was as well. I just couldn't understand his reasoning. And as I began to pray and complain to the Lord a bit, over the following weeks and months one of the things that did occur to me and helped me find peace is that. And this is something I've tried to teach you so often, how we have to trust in God's will, right? We have to trust in his divine providence, meaning that he governs all things well and all things work out for the good for those who love God and are called according to his plan. So, I knew this would work out to the good, but I wasn't exactly sure how. Now, I've said to you in the past that if it were up to me, I would be happy to remain your pastor till I retire. Maybe beyond that, if that were possible. Like, that was my goal, so to speak, if I ever had one had no desire to do anything else as a priest or be anywhere else. I've never been more happy in my life than as your pastor can imagine. I didn't want to give that up, but that wasn't God's will. And I think on some level, my sickness is a great mercy, actually, of God for two primary reasons. Something I've reflected on because I don't think I would have willingly given up pastor Ship of Saint Dorothy's if I didn't have to. And I think this was God's gentle way of kind of forcing me into that position. and on the other end, I think it was on some level, more merciful and gentle way. God was able to get many of you ready for me to leave. I can imagine over the last several months you thought, what if he doesn't come back, right? What if he doesn't get well enough? And so on some level, I see this as certainly a mercy. It's clear that the Lord is calling me to move on, to go do something else. Right now. It's just be sick and get better. But I wouldn't have been. I mean, if the Lord had made it known to me, I would have consented, but it wouldn't have been my idea. Let's just say it wouldn't have been something I sought out or chose on my own. I choose to step down as pastor at this time because I can't function anymore. And you need a functioning pastor. So, I think, again, it was a mercy. The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, desired me to step down and Father Carlson to step up, to become your pastor. And I think this time of trial for all of us again, is a way that God, so to speak, got me ready to step away and got you ready to see me step away and it's important to look at it from that perspective. It's the same thing any father or mother would do for their children.
When a difficult change has to happen in their life. You know, the parents always try to prepare those children the best that they can. There's still going to be suffering and difficulties and challenges, but you want to make that changes smooth as easy as possible. And honestly, I think that's exactly what this is. I see it as a mercy and a kindness, so I I'm at peace. surprisingly enough, thanks be to the grace of God.
I said to you in a video, when I announced that Father Michael Carlson would be your upcoming pastor. And it's important that you remember this. If the bishop had asked me. Father Miller, who do you want to replace you if you cannot be pastor of Saint Dorothy's now, he didn't say that. Bishops don't ask those kind of questions right. I didn't he didn't ask for my opinion, my views or what I wanted. You know, that's between him and his team and the Lord. So. But if he had put it to me, choose anyone you want, I would have chosen Father Carlson. I thought to myself. If I could not be pastor of Saint Dorothy's, that's the priest I would want to replace me. And it's sad and it should be, if you think about it, imagine you is as parents, fathers and mothers. If you had to give up your children for whatever reason it was required of you and someone else had to be chosen to take your place, this woman would now have to be the mother of your children, or this father would have to be the father of your children. You would choose very carefully one. It would break your heart to do so. And I'm assuming most of the kids wouldn't be happy about it. The teenagers would be like, yay, new parents, you know? But you know, that's a phase that passes. But for me, it's also such a consolation that the Lord shows that the bishop chose Father Carlson. And I know you'll be incredibly happy with him. I don't think you'll forget me, but within a few months, you'll realize, hey, this isn't that bad. In fact, right after Father Carlson was chosen. But before I could announce it to you, I was talking with him on the phone. And if you've seen him recently, you know he has a shaved head, like mine. And I said, you know, it's good that you have a shaved head, because I do as well. You just need to grow out a beard. And he goes, actually, I started growing out a beard a week ago, so, this is great. You're hardly going to notice any changes. What's. He's just a couple of inches taller. That's it. Basically, it's just Father Miller 2.0. I again, I see all of this as flowering of the will of God in our lives. And yes, it's through so much suffering physical, spiritual, emotional, all of these things, so many crosses that the Lord is asking us to bear. but again, the beauty of God's plan and it's not always easy to recognize, right? In hindsight, as they say, it's 2020, but while you're going through it, it feels so painful, and all change is difficult. I mean, look, we just got a new bishop now. He's wonderful, by the way, if you haven't gotten to know him yet, he's absolutely wonderful. And I'm excited for all of us. but last week he called me up and he said, do you mind if I come out? I want to spend some time with you. And he came out and he spent an hour with me just talking. Just seeing how I was doing if I needed anything. He's. He's so wonderful. Just wants to really care for not only his priests, but of course, all of all of you, his, his children. So, yes, these are changes, but they cannot be bad. They're always within the will of God. And that's the most important thing I want you to remember. If I leave a final message is trust in the divine providence. Trust in the will of God for your lives. You know, if you think about it for just a moment, everything in the life of Christ Jesus His son was already ordained.
Everything. Everything from the movement of the stars in the heaven that revealed his birth to all of the interactions and events that took place in his life. Everything was ordained by the father. God did by his hand for the sake of His Son in the salvation of souls. And you might be tempted to think, yes, but that's the Son of God. Of course that's going to happen. Yes. What? What do you think you are, your sons in the son. You are baptized into the body of Christ. This is Christ. You think his will in your lives is any less than that of his son? You think he loves you any less than he loves his own son. When you are identified with him, the will of God is just as clear and powerful and perfect.
But as with the life of Christ, there were ups and downs, joys and sorrows, crucifixions and resurrections. So, there will be in our lives. That's not a bad thing. It's all part of the plan. And so, remember that trust in that, you know, and if those moments of darkness come and you're having a hard time holding on to that faith, to that belief, you just cry out to the Blessed Mother for help. Keep me close to Jesus as well. Hold me. Don't let me slip. And in every prayer as we're supposed to, with the words of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, not my will thine be done.
Now there's one more message I would want to leave you with as a final homily. And that's not just, of course, trust in his divine providence and his will for our lives, for your lives, but also trust in his mercy. Often preached on that mercy and the mercy that we receive through all of the sacraments, but especially through the sacrament of Confession or reconciliation, we have been given the greatest gifts possible in these graces of Jesus Christ that is left to us in His church, and that we have not only the ability, but even the right to go to confession, to have our sins washed away so that we can stand before the face of God without fear, because we've made but we've been made clean of sin through the blood of his Son. How could we not take regular advantage of that mercy? If you remember the image that Jesus gave to Saint Faustina, Faustina was called the Apostle of Divine Mercy, or it is called the Apostle of Divine Mercy and Jesus. To try to explain his mercy, he said to us her ultimately to all of us, if you were to take all of the sins of all of mankind from all of time and put them all together, they would not equal one drop of water in comparison to the ocean. That is my mercy. All of the sins of all of mankind from all of time, wouldn't even equal a single drop of water compared to the ocean of his mercy. So, imagine you go out in a boat into the middle of some ocean. You take a little, you know, eye dropper, and you just drop one drop of water into the ocean. Could you ever find that drop again? No. It's gone. It could be oil. It could be blood. It could be sugar. It doesn't matter what you drop in there, it is now completely gone. That is the image that Christ left us through Saint Faustina. That is the font of mercy unending. And you're worried about your sin, which is not even a drop in the drop of water. Is sin terrible? Of course it is. Of course it is. Should you feel guilty about it? Of course you should. Should you hate sin, God does so. Of course you should. But should you fear for your salvation because of sin? No, it's the whole point of what Christ has done for us and the graces he has left us in His church. And it is difficult to go to confession. It takes a certain degree of humility. No one usually wants to go to another dude and tell him all the bad stuff. You wouldn't even tell your best friend. I'll remind you of something. One of my priest teachers in seminary said when he was teaching us about the sacrament of confession, he said, every human has, in a sense, three, three sides to themselves. There's they're public side. They're public face. This priest always called it their Facebook face. Right. It's what you want the rest of the world to see you as. It's not real. It's totally decorative and false, but it's what you want. People to think about you with. So, you know, you take these pictures, you say these things that you think everybody's going to love and like you for. So that's your public image. It's not real, but everybody has one. Then there's your private self, your private image. Usually only 1 or 2 people, the closest of friends, know the true you on that level. And he paused for a moment. He said, then there is your secret image, your secret self. And no one knows about that except your confessor. Those are the things you don't even share with your best of friends. You only bring them up for the sake of forgiveness. And he said this to us. He said, because you need to remember, when a soul comes to you to be forgiven of sin, it is the most vulnerable moment in the life of a Christian. And if you don't help them, gently care for them. They'll never come back to confession. This priest understood the vulnerability. It is for us to reveal our sins even to the minister of Christ. And yet, without that trust in our Lord, without that willingness to humble yourself and become vulnerable, you can't receive his mercy. You don't even want to do that for yourself. If you don't want to become that humble of that vulnerable for your own benefit, do it for Christ who became so vulnerable for you, so vulnerable that he could even suffer and die. Just do it for the love of him, even if you don't love yourself enough. Because imagine how much it would break his heart when he's gone so far to forgive you of your sins. And yet you do not accept his mercy. You know what this is like when you love someone so much and they won't let you love them, that's devastating. When they turn away from your love for whatever reason, it's the last thing that you want. And the thing that would make you happiest is if they just let you love them. And that's all. Christ. Once he wants to love you, but you have to be humble enough to let him love you. And that's it. If you ever remember anything from Father Miller, your pastor, trust in his will. Trust in his mercy.
Now, before I go, it's very important that I give a public thank you to father, in a way. And to Deacon Angelo, who served you so faithfully, when I could not. Father. And always been so generous and even adapting himself, to the style of Saint Dorothy's. And we're all very appreciative of that. When he started celebrating mass at Oriental, I was just giddy, like a schoolgirl. So, it's very happy. Thank you, father. Thank you. Take this with you wherever you may go. he's done a great job, and he's really given so much of his time. And I think it's difficult sometimes to understand how much a priest can sacrifice to serve the people. And he has done that. So, we all thank you, father. And, of course, Deacon Angelo, before I got sick, very graciously said to me one day, although he probably regrets it now. Hey, father, you know, if you need anything, just ask. So, we I have taken advantage of that. And thank you. And as meager as our thanks can be for both of you, in the end, it's the Lord who rewards. Because you've done this for him, right? This has all been done for our Lord, for the love of him. And remember that they didn't do this because they love you. I mean, hopefully they love you, but we don't do this because we love you. That's just and hopefully an afterthought. We do this for Christ. We do this for Christ.
And that's why you're here as well. You're not here for Father Miller. Father Nohe, Father Carlson, whoever you're here for Christ because he is your true shepherd. He is your true pastor. That never changes. And that's the beauty of the priesthood, is that no matter how many pastors you may have in your life and how many of us come and go, whether you like this one more or someone else, those are all okay things, but they don't really matter because in the end, it's all about Jesus Christ and the graces he gives you through the sacraments. That's the beauty that any priest can give you. Christ. Any priest can hear your confessions, consecrate the Eucharist. Any priest can do that. And thanks be to God for such a grace. And hopefully there is sorrow in parting, right? I mean, if you don't feel bad that I'm leaving, obviously you didn't like me very much and that's okay. I'm sorry for any faults on my part, for any sins and failings. I do apologize, but grief hopefully is a sign of our love as well of a good relationship that was formed that that isn't ending, of course. It's just changing. And ultimately, all of us have to have that everlasting hope of heaven that we'll all be there together for eternity in peace and good health. The hope that keeps us going. Now, this won't be too difficult for you, but as an unwritten rule, this is something Father Buettner, the previous pastor of Saint Dorothy, has taught me. And even Bishop Michael reminded me of last week when we spoke. It's an unwritten church rule that for the first year, a retired pastor does not return to his parish for at least a year. The father, Buettner you know, has come and celebrated sacraments here at Saint Dorothy's. But he didn't do it the first year he left, and I became your pastor. The reason this is an unwritten rule is because you have to accept the fact that I'm not your pastor. Well, starting Tuesday at 11, I know it's sad that I'm leaving. Sweetie, I'm so sorry. So, the only one of you who expresses ours. Thank you, sweetheart, I was I was getting upset, actually. So. So, yes, this unwritten rule and the reason that a pastor is not supposed to return for at least a year. It'll be easier because I'm sick. Yeah, I have a good excuse. But even if I get better, I won't return for a year. Even if I'm invited. Because you have to let go of the man who was your old pastor and embrace the new one. And if the old pastor keeps sticking around, that doesn't make it easy on you or on him. I will follow this unwritten rule of the church. Not being here at Saint Dorothy doesn't mean I'll never visit your houses or come for a special parish parties or things like that now and then. But sacramentally spiritually speaking, those kinds of things are out of my hands starting at 12 noon on Tuesday. Literally, my resignation letter said I resign at 11:59 this Tuesday. I that precise I had to let them know. And he will be your pastor at 12 noon. And I believe he'll celebrate the 12:10 mass on Tuesday will be first master's your pastor.
But again, you will find such peace and joy and happiness in him. the Lord has made such a good choice. in choosing Father Carlson and, you know, remember, don't compare him to me too much. And don't compare me to him too much. just be patient with him. Keep him in your prayers. As I know many of you have been doing. Pray those rosaries for him and continue, of course, to add me. And at the end of your prayers, you know, and it's a change for all of us. But change isn't bad. Difficult, yes, but because we know this is the will of God, we can be at peace knowing that whatever will happen and will come ultimately will be for our good.
Now, if father, in a way will permit me, I would like to give you a blessing. I know it's not kind of normal, but a blessing. before, as the end of the homily today, and I will be greeting you after mass, in the vestibule to make sure and say goodbye to all of you. Don't stand.
The Lord be with you. And may Almighty God bless you. May you turn his face toward you. May he give you peace. He who is father, son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace. Thanks be to God.
Homily begins at 9:52
The gospel today shows Jesus power over sickness and death. The story of the woman with hemorrhages demonstrates great faith because she tried every remedy without success. The story of Jairus and his daughter demonstrate also great faith on the part of a religious leader. Most religious leaders oppose Jesus, but Jairus comes as a believer. The story shows Jesus dealing with people of different social standing. Jairus is well-to-do and influential. The woman is financially impoverished, but Jesus does not favor one over the other. In both stories, competent authorities have proven that no remedy is possible. For 12 years, the woman spent all her money on physicians and their best remedies failed. Both Jairus and the woman show considerable faith in Jesus. Upon meeting Jesus Jairus, a prominent member of the Jewish religious community, the gospel tells us, fell at the feet of Jesus.
He pleaded saying, my daughter is near death. Please come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live as a man of authority. Jairus must be concerned for his image, but to seek help for his daughter. He must set aside all pride. Jesus went with Jairus and on the way, the woman with hemorrhages came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his cloak because she believed if she just touched his clothes, she would be cured. The gospel tells us immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt she was healed of her affliction. Jesus felt power go out from him and asked, who touched my clothes? The woman confessed and Jesus said to her, daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction. Note the relationship of faith and healing.
The power by which Jesus heals is God's power. The faith of the individual is important in receiving the blessing of the healing. But always remember, faith must be present. What? The miracle does not occur. People from Jairus, his home arrived and said, your daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher any longer? Jesus saw people weeping and crying. Alerting the community to the death and signifying grief. But Jesus said to Jairus. Do not be afraid. Just have faith. Jesus told the people, the child is not dead, but asleep. And as the gospel tells us, they ridiculed Jesus. Jesus took Peter, James, and John. The child's mother and father and entered a room where the child was. Jesus took the child by the hand, and he said “Talitha Koum” in Aramaic, meaning little girl I say to you, arise again.
Mark is very emphatic. He says. Immediately she arose and walked. Jesus gave orders that no one should know this. Remember what Jesus had said at one time. He only reveals to crowds what they are prepared to understand. A leper Jesus had healed at one time proclaimed openly that Jesus had healed him, and people overwhelmed him from everywhere.
It appears here that Jesus were looking to make a very silent exit. But the story of Jairus, his daughter, is more than a healing. It is a resurrection.
Homily begins at 20.47
Jesus had ministered to the people all day long along the shore of Galilee, but in his humanity. Now he needed rest. The boat that he entered into, he goes to the stern of the boat, and as it says, he falls asleep on a cushion. Then the gospel says, suddenly a violent squall came and threatened to capsize the boat. The disciples woke him and said, teacher, do you not care how we are perishing? The gospel continues. He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, quiet, be still. The wind ceased, and there was quiet, calm. Then he asked them, why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith? In the midst of the storm. The disciples felt that Jesus did not care about them.
They were in fear of death. Both doubt and fear come from a lack of faith. The disciples were shocked when the wind and the waves of nature obey Jesus. Jesus rebuked the disciples because they lack faith. Their lack of faith was expressed in two ways through fear and powerlessness. There was nothing they felt they could do, but Jesus wanted them to be men of faith, overcoming fear. Jesus wanted them to experience the power of faith. Satan uses fear to enslave people and keep them from coming to God. The question is, how can we overcome fear? Jesus wants us to overcome fear by having faith in God in any situation. Jesus wants us to believe in the love of God. Absolutely. God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and self-control.
Faith means not only to believe in God, but to trust in God. God allows storms in our lives to draw us closer to him, to teach us lessons and strengthen our faith. God's love and power always prevail. The gospel closes with the disciples expressing their wonder and awe of Jesus when they say, who then is this whom even when and see, obey? They now begin to realize Jesus is more than man. This led them to eventually confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God. I have one other element which I will present concerning this homily for this simple reason. Jesus is upset when he knows they should be at the forefront, not be afraid. He chastises them because of their lack of faith.
After a day of Jesus preaching the good news, the crowd of people still sought to be with Jesus. Why? His words were captivating. They were inspirational. They gave hope. The people felt loved in his presence as his words fed and nourished their soul, especially the miracles he worked because of the depth of his compassion for those in need. My question is, what did the disciples not understand? They observed all these things when they were with the Lord, when he was doing his work, serving the people and their needs, the people that Jesus served on, that sure, they got it right, but the disciples just didn't get it yet.
I have two announcements to make. Our first registration continues this weekend for our Summer Catholic Kids Camp tracking Mary. The fee is $10 per child for five nights of fun and catechesis as they travel to countries that have been blessed with a Marian apparition. Donations are always welcome to bring this program to the children of the parish. Also, as we prepare for a summer CKC Catholic Kids camp entitled Tracking Mary. Our Knights of Columbus Council is hosting summer nights at the movies.
The children in our summer program will be visiting the countries where approved apparition of Our Lady have taken place. They will visit such places as Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal, and Guadalupe in Mexico. With this in mind, the nights will sponsor three family nights at the movies. Admission is free and popcorn and drinks will be available. Viewing will take place in the Holy Family Hall.
It is suggested you bring comfy chairs or blankets to sit on.
Thanks.
In today's gospel, Mark emphasizes two parables concerning the kingdom of God. The question is, since Jesus emphasized so much about the parables, what are parables? They are short stories with a purpose. They teach moral and spiritual lessons through comparison or analogy. Jesus used everyday situations and characters to reveal the kingdom of God. They can help us reflect on our own lives, values, and choices and inspire us to seek wisdom and compassion.
In the first parable of the growing seed, the scattered seed is the Word of God, and the fruit is bears of its own accord. Well, only time will show how a person's faith will grow and develop. The quiet beginnings of the kingdom does not make the kingdom happen by force of will, the parable explains. It is a teacher's responsibility to teach.
That is, to scatter the seed. The teacher cannot force people to accept the message. It is a matter of choice. The Kingdom of God, initiated by Jesus, is proclaiming the word develops quietly and yet powerfully until it's fully established by him. The parable shows that the kingdom of God will continue to grow and spread until the end of time.
The second parable. The mustard seed. In this parable, Jesus teaches that although the kingdom of God started small with Jesus and his disciples, it would grow and spread across the world to one limited number of followers. The gospel tells us when the mustard seed is sown in the ground, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants. What it is saying to us, the kingdom of God will overtake all earthly kingdoms.
The mustard seed is a symbol in the Bible that represents faith, growth, and dependance. The mustard seed symbolizes the growth that can happen and can happen in people's lives. Through faith in Jesus Christ, with even the smallest amount of faith. A mustard seed serves as a reminder of the incredible growth that can occur as one embraces faith and believes in it.
To question why is heaven like a mustard seed? A tiny mustard seed is capable of transforming the world. That is, we who have faith and believe are capable of transforming the world. Because God's kingdom is not one of power and might, but of a reign of love. God is love, and love is forever because God is forever. Today being Father's Day, I would just like to make a few positive comments on fathers.
Being a father, myself and a grandfather from the book of Ciroc in the Old Testament, a father was the head of the family, for the Lord sets a father in honor of his children. He who honors his father is gladdened by children, and when he prays, he is heard. He who reveres his father will live a long life.
Kindness to a father will not be forgotten. It will take lasting root. Therefore, in word and deed, honor your father. As fathers, our spiritual vocation by word and example is to bring God into the lives of our families. As Saint Paul says, husbands, love your wives and pray for them. As parents, we can only continue what we do here every Sunday.
Take your children to mass. Teach your children to pray. Say grace at mealtime. Say prayers with your young children at the bed. Don't be afraid to get on your hands and knees. They learn by example. And thank God for the day that he has given us. I will conclude with the statement from Sarah here, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching.
That is why God's fourth commandment says, honor thy father and thy mother. At the conclusion of mass today, before father gives the final blessing, he will give a blessing to all the fathers, grandfathers, those who will become fathers, a blessing. So don't go anywhere. The best is yet to come.
Homily begins at 23:27
Last week we discussed one of the great mysteries of the church, the Holy Trinity. That there are three divine persons in one God. This week we encounter another great mystery the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, also known as Corpus Christi. Both mysteries, though not proceed by our senses, are revealed to us through God's wonderful theological gift to us.
It is called faith. We first received his virtue at baptism. The first half of today's gospel are Jesus instructions for preparing for the Passover, or what we call the Last Supper, which takes place on Holy Thursday. Let us focus when Jesus institutes the Holy Eucharist. The gospel says he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, take it. This is my body. The word. This does not refer to the act of the breaking of the bread, but to that which Jesus gives his disciples. That is something which looked like bread, and which was no longer bread, but the body of Christ. This is my body. That is to say, what I am giving you now and what you are taking is my body. The bread becomes his very body. The Lord has said, the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. What does this mean? The Lord maintains the appearances of the bread and wine but changes their substance into the reality of his flesh and blood. The words of consecration of the chalice. This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Clearly shows the Eucharist is a sacrifice. The blood of Christ is poured out, sealing the new and definitive covenant of God with men. This covenant remained sealed forever by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, in which Jesus is both priest and victim. Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, body and blood, soul and divinity. Under the appearance of bread and wine. After the words of consecration are said by the priest, the substance has been changed into Jesus. The church calls this transubstantiation. The mass looks like a meal, but the mass is also a sacrifice upon the cross. Jesus offered himself in suffering and sacrifice. In the mass, he offers himself under the appearance of bread and wine. But this is the same Jesus.
Saint Paul says the Eucharist is a reliving of the sacrifice of the cross. Therefore, in faith we know we are receiving Jesus. As the gospel concludes. Jesus says, I shall not drink again. The fruit of the vine. Until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom. He promises the day will come when he will meet with them again. When the kingdom of God will have come in all its fullness. He's referring to the beatific life in heaven so often compared to a banquet.
Homily begins at 31.06
Today is Trinity Sunday. One of the mysteries. Great mysteries of the church, a Holy Mother. The church has taught us that there are three Divine persons and one God. We cannot fathom it. We cannot understand it. And no human capacity is even the story that goes back to Saint Augustine when he was walking along the seashore. And a young boy approaches him, and he said to him, Augustine, I know you trying to contemplate how you get 3 in 1. He says, but you shall not really know until you see him face to face and then the boy disappeared. As I said, it's the mystery of the church.
In last week's gospel, we saw the action, interaction and cooperation of the Holy Trinity. That is God the Father, the first person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, and God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity. What did they do? They interacted to create and establish one holy church and assist the disciples. Jesus divinely founded the church when Jesus would leave. The Holy Spirit will inspire and guide the church until the end of time, which has been the case for the last 2000 years, until the end of time. And it was all at the direction of God the Father.
Today's gospel, you might say, is Jesus farewell until his second coming. The gospel tells us when they saw him, they worshiped, meaning they bowed down to him. It also tells us. But they doubted. Why would they doubt? They know Jesus died, that he was executed and buried. They were hesitant to believe. But now they see Jesus alive again, confirming beyond all doubt that he is the Messiah. Their teacher is Lord of life. Exercising power even over death. Jesus understood their doubt, but he speaks to their faith. He calls them to carry on his work. As time goes by, the disciples will grow into the role that Jesus gives them. They will sow seeds that will take root and multiply. When Jesus says, all power in heaven and on earth has been given to me, we think of the Book of David. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship that all peoples, nations, languages should serve him. His kingship shall never be destroyed. Our Lord's kingship and authority extends over all the earth and into heaven. Jesus can command obedience from his disciples and his ability to empower them. He further tells us, go, therefore make disciples of all nations. The disciples must go, baptize, and teach the followers of these disciples.
There are people who are willing to learn. They're like students. A person committed to learning what a teacher has to teach. You must not only learn, but live what you are taught. As Jesus says, teaching them all I have commanded you. At first the disciples worked among the Jews because Jesus told them. My father said, first go to the house of Israel. But we knew what happened mostly fell on deaf ears. But now the command is to go out into the whole world. The Gentiles are to be included. Jesus instructed them, baptized in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Yet there is no record of the 11 themselves being baptized. In the very early church. Baptism was done in the name of Jesus. As reflected in this gospel, we see the threefold formula that was later adopted. Being baptized in the name of indicates a new relationship, a rebirth and adoption. The new relationship involves all three divine persons of the Holy Trinity in our spiritual life. As the gospel concludes, Jesus says, all that I have commanded you, Jesus does not permit us to pick and choose what we will believe or obey. Jesus teachings are authoritative. Our opinions are not. When he says at the very end that he will be with us to the end of the age, he is promising to be with us. Now and in the future, and in the timeless state of eternity.
Homily Begins at 18:32
In today's gospel, Jesus talks about the coming of the advocate who is the spirit of truth. Jesus knew the disciples did not have the courage or confidence to continue what Jesus began. In order to console them, he promises to send them the advocate who proceeds from the father. Jesus says, the Spirit will testify on my behalf, and you shall also testify.
That is, bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. Jesus says, I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. Jesus told them, The Son of Man must suffer. But the disciples were not able to see this. Why? The disciples expected a warrior king to defeat the enemies of Israel, especially the Romans.
They sought glory. They had seen the miracles that Jesus had worked, and yet they could not imagine a suffering servant. The advocate in this gospel is a teacher, a witness to Jesus. He will assume the responsibility for the disciple’s enlightenment. Jesus tells us he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but what he hears. And he will declare to you the things that are coming. Every generation of Christians faces new challenges to its faith and to its practice. The spirit of truth keeps God's word. He keeps it alive through every changing circumstance. The faithfulness of Jesus and the spirit in what they heard guarantees the truth of what they proclaim. Jesus continues by saying, he will glorify me.
He will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything the father has is mine. Earlier, Jesus had declared that his teaching was not his own but was from the one who sent him. This is how Jesus can say, when the spirit of truth comes, he will speak what he hears and not speak on his own.
Jesus has been faithful in glorifying the father, and the spirit will be faithful and glorifying the son. Therefore, we can conclude that God the Father is the master architect of what was preached and taught by Jesus Christ. And then continued by the Spirit of truth. Jesus divinely founded his church, and the Spirit of truth will guide it until the end of time. Our holy Church is run by fallible human beings. If it strays from its course, the power of the Holy Spirit will bring it back on course. We ourselves first receive the Holy Spirit in baptism and confirmation. He endows us with seven magnificent gifts. Spiritually, we are set for the rest of our adult lives. Obedience to God's commandments and the use of confession and Holy Communion keep us in God's love and grace.
They assist us in achieving our goal. That goal is our salvation.
Homily begins at 24:30
In today's gospel, Jesus commissions the 11 notices, says the 11. Because of what happened to Judas, they had not yet chosen. Matthias says the 12th. He says, go into the world and evangelize, preach, and teach all that I have taught you to all creation. He says, the man who believes in it and accepts baptism will be saved. The man who refuses to believe will be condemned. Therefore, after hearing the word of God, it is our choice to accept it or to deny it. Our Lord uses a rather harsh word when he says condemnation, but he means exactly what he's saying. Come with me and you'll have eternal life. As we move on in the gospel, Jesus proclaims signs like these will accompany those who have professed their faith, but they must use my name to expel the demons, speak the new languages, drink deadly things that would cause harm, and the sick upon whom they lay their hands, will recover.
Notice what our Lord had said, since he had also told us, The Jews seek science, and the Greeks seek wisdom. But signs to the Jews meant miraculous things that they had seen with their own eyes. Wondrous deeds. The perfect example of what our Lord set down concerning the signs and using my name in the acts of the apostles, Saint Peter was called before the religious leaders in the temple. He's, along with another apostle. They admonishing the religious leaders that the Jews had said, didn't we tell you not to use that man's name anymore? They didn't really know what to do with him till they let him go out. But they told him again. They admonished him. Remember, don't talk in that man's name. And what happens as he's leaving the city by the gates? A lot of people who were ill, crippled, blind, they would seek alms at the city gates. And there was one such man there. And he's asking for alms from Peter. And Peter says to him, silver, and gold, I have none but the name of Jesus Christ. Arise in war. And the gospel tells us, the man rose, and he walked in the name of Jesus Christ.
The gospel goes further and tells us that Jesus rises to heaven, is exalted by his heavenly father to the right hand. That's another significant thing for the Jewish people. They sit at the right side. That's the most honorable position. So, in the celestial court, Jesus is the most honored. As the gospel ends. It tells us the 11 preached everywhere to confirm the message and the signs that accompanied them. Jesus was with them even from heaven. Our Lord was in their presence.
I want to say congratulations and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers that are here. And we may have 1 or 2 expectant mothers. We congratulate you. It's not an easy thing for a man to define motherhood. But when I sat down and I thought about it, you'd be surprised what God gives you. While we respect our fathers as the patriarch and head of the family, we love our mothers. As the matriarch who runs the family. And a good man knows a mother is the centerpiece of the family. Each mother has a spiritual bond. She can have five children, ten children, a spiritual bond with each child. Something a man cannot experience. A mother tries to instill a moral accomplice as to the good things in life that begin with God for their children. A woman's vocation and sacrifice as a mother is the greatest dedication in humanity, and a mother's love for the physical, emotional, and spiritual upbringing of their children. Is without equal. And for each mother here. Grandmother. Maybe somebody is a great grandmother. I say this to you. May your children and your children's children call you blessed all the days of your life. When father is near the end of the mass today, near the conclusion, he will give a blessing to all mothers at that time. Thank you.
Homily begins at 20:06
The gospel that I have just read. Jesus connects love, obedience, and joy. Jesus says he Himself found joy and fulfilling the will of His Father even in the face of adversity. That adversity was nothing less than laying down his life for his friends. By his sacrifice on the cross, this is how he can say there is no greater love than this to lay down one's life for his friends. Jesus says, you will live in my love if you keep my commandments. Even as I kept my father's commands and I live in his love, when motivated, obedience by love becomes a source of joy. Jesus said, it was not you who chose me. It was I who chose you. Though you live in this world. You must not be of this world.
I chose you to go forth and bear fruit. Your fruit must endure. It takes courage to follow Jesus. Christian discipleship is demanding. Saint Augustine and Saint Paul both taught. We are not citizens of this world. We are on a journey. Were pilgrims going through the world until we get to our promised land, which is heaven? Christians seek to experience the things that are above, not what is here on earth. To choose the city of man means to choose oneself over God and neighbor. To choose the city of God. Beings who love God and total trust and obedience. The question is, can the values of our culture be reconciled with the truth of Christ? It is in this church on this very altar, that the kingdom of God and the city of man meet.
It is here that we receive Jesus in the Eucharist. It is here we have learned, as Jesus asks, to learn how to love one another.
Homily begins at 20:21
My name is Father Noe Torres, I am the Vicar at Immaculate Conception in Hendersonville and at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville and now I am here at St. Dorothy, three churches!
I will be with you celebrating the Holy mass and sacraments. If God asks us if you have done 7 works of charity before you enter heaven you will begin to remember that you only helped two or three, but you had in your life the commandments and sacraments. God invites us to fulfill and bear fruit and love, love your wife, love your children, and love your neighbor; lets celebrate with Christ the passion.
God blesses you always and don’t forget to pray the rosary every day to the Blessed Virgin Mary, I need families to pray together.
No more internet, well a little internet, but I need families to pray together.
I invite St. Dorothy to pray everyday in the home and at church with your heart.
Amen.
Homily begins at 22.30
We continue to pray for Father Miller as he attempts to recover from illness. And I know it's somewhat difficult for you because you never know who you're going to get. On a given weekend, we have reached the bottom of the barrel. My name is Father Matthew Kauth, and for those of you I don't know. I work at the seminary in the rectory of Saint Joseph College Seminary and it's a pleasure to be here with you. I have been here a million times, but in many years gone by as well. So, it's good to be back.
In the sixth chapter of John's gospel, which we commonly call the Bread of Life discourse, it begins with our Lord feeding the 5000. And Saint John makes an interesting comment on that, because when Jesus has the people recline and he's about to feed them. Saint John mentions in his gospel there was a lot of green grass there. It seems like a throwaway line. Why would he bother with so few pages of a gospel and so few things to recount in space and time of all that our Lord did as he himself says, if I recounted everything that all the books in the world would contain it, why waste one line to say a lot of green grass? It is what the scholars call a memory hook. Imagine Saint John, years after our Lord has ascended into heaven and the island of Patmos exiled, recalling those moments of the one that he loves as the beloved Disciple himself. And he finally sees what happens. So often in John's Gospel, as you've noticed, no doubt that our Lord says one thing, and everyone understands something else.
They keep missing each other, as for example, with Nicodemus when he says, unless you be born from above again, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And Nicodemus, rightly scratching his temples, thinks to himself, how in the world am I going to fit inside my mom again? And if his mother was there, she'd be saying, no way, right? But doesn't get it. In other words, speaking about something different, they constantly miss each other. But in this case, no doubt John mentions it because he sees the fulfillment of the good Shepherd. Why mention green grass? Because here's the shepherd about to feed them, and in this case, not with grass. He has them recline on the grass, and he feeds them with bread and with fish. All in anticipation of feeding them with himself and so, when you hear perhaps that favorite psalm of most Psalm 23, when you when you hear Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want fresh and verdant green, or the pastures where he gives me repose. John remembered the green grass, and he understood now with the light of the Holy Spirit, he knew why our Lord did what he did in fulfillment of that song and yet there's more to that Psalm than just the green grass and the feeding. And it's an aspect that you and I perhaps don't want to see. I would rather stop at the green grass and wanting for nothing. But the psalm goes on. Though I walk in the midst of darkness, I will not fear, because you are with me the question that is begged here is, why in the world would a good shepherd lead you into a dark valley? Wouldn't a good shepherd keep you in the sun? Wouldn't he make sure that you fed and frolicked on the hillsides as opposed to a dark and barren valley? And yet the psalm goes on. You have set a banquet for me in the sight of my foes. Why would the shepherd feed them with foes all around them? He is the good shepherd. But that doesn't make it easy. He takes you where he is going to go. Once there was a man by the name of Solzhenitsyn. You probably know who he is. A great Russian author. And in the time of the Soviet communism, he was one of the agents and because the only moral principle of the Soviets was whatever's best for the party, they typically betrayed each other because there is no morality. I remember this line that he said when he himself was betrayed and lying in a Russian gulag before he exposed it later on, and all the terrors and atrocities of Russia, he said, as he's lying in prison on a bed of rotting straw.
I thought my whole life wrongly about prosperity. Praise you, prison, for if you had not grabbed me, I would not have found my lord. How strange is that? He's lying on a bed of rotting grass, and it is the very place in which he encountered Christ. Remember, after our Lord feeds the 5000. They come after him, and he turns around and says, you're not following me because you've heard my word, or because you've seen signs, much less that the fact that you think that I'm God, you're only following me because I fed you bread is the lowest possible gift I could give you. It's the prosperity gospel. But life, as Solzhenitsyn says in that passage, is not about prosperity in the human sense. It is about the education of the soul. I want to learn to feed on Jesus Christ, on His word, on his presence. I want to know him. And if that's the case, then nothing can actually hurt me. I can walk through a dark valley, not by myself, none of the darkness of sin away from him, isolated and alone and frightened. But I walk next to him, and I will go where he goes. It's like the beautiful line from Ruth I will go where you go. I will lie down. Where you lie down, I will eat what you eat, and I will die where you die. All with the knowledge that that's not the end of the story. And the beautiful thing about Easter is those who have walked through the dark valley with him get to see the sunrise.
There's a beautiful line in Saint Paul's letter to the Corinthians, which you hear every time you go to a wedding, perhaps. Right. Love is patient, love is kind. And everyone's been married for 25 years. I know about that. And but at the end, he says Caritas know it. It's a beautiful line. But charity does not go away. It doesn't die, it doesn't leave. That is to say, friendship with Christ if you know him. But you got to ask yourself that question. Do you know his voice? Does he know yours? If you know him, if you are friends with him, then the very last beat of your heart on this earth is the first beat of your heart in eternity. That charity doesn't go away. Friendship with Christ does not go away, though everything else does. We conquer overwhelmingly. Saint Paul says, because of him who has loved us. And that is worth and Alleluia!
In the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begins at 26:51
In our gospel reading today, Luke underscores the fact that Jesus is truly alive. Now, this might strike you as a very basic truth of all Christians believe but let me add a bit more to that sentence that makes it even more striking. He is very much alive in the Eucharist that is consecrated in every Catholic Mass that is offered throughout the world, every day until the end of time. This is a basic truth that many Christians do not believe, and it is this that I want to focus on today. Let's zero in on the first sentence. Zero in on the first sentence of our gospel reading, Luke begins this passage with two disciples who had met Jesus on the road to Emmaus, telling the apostles that Jesus was alive.
Here's the part that gets overlooked. And they recognized him only when he broke that bread with them. What an interesting thing to say. They walked and talked with him for quite a while, and they did not recognize him until he blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to them. That sounds suspiciously like Holy Communion, doesn't it? And speaking of Holy Communion, we know from the very earliest times that this belief that Jesus is alive and physically present Body, Blonds Soul and Divinity.
After the consecration of the bread and wine was clearly believed. In fact, it is this very belief that caused the pagans to accuse the early Christians of cannibalism. From a letter dating in the to the year 176. We read of an early Christian by the name of Athens, who wrote to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Addressing this charge, he argued that Christians are not cannibals because cannibal is and requires that the flesh of the victim be dead.
He simply observed, Christians are not cannibals because the flesh of Christ which is consumed is not dead flesh. The resurrected and fully live flesh of Christ glorified body. Our faith teaches us that with the sacrament of the Eucharist, we are invited to a profound encounter with the living Christ. It's not merely a symbolic gesture, a remembrance of past events.
Rather, it is a sacramental reality where the divine intersects with the human. In other words, at the time of consecration, the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross is made present to us in this Holy Mass. The sacrifice on Calvary reaches through time and touches us with grace and power. For while the crucifixion occurred at a point in historical time, it transcends time.
I find it to be so very sad that not only do Protestants not believe that Jesus is truly alive in the sacrament, but many Catholics do not believe this either. Polls show us that those who profess to be Catholic, 69%, believe that Jesus is present only symbolically in the Eucharist. Of those who attend mass every Sunday, the statistics are a bit better, but still not good.
63% believe that Christ is fully present. Body, Blond, Soul, and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. That still means that fully one third of mass going Catholics do not believe this. You might ask, how can we witness to those who do not believe that Jesus is alive and among us today in the Blessed Sacrament? Well, my friends, I would say that actions generally speak louder than words.
As Catholics, if we truly believe that the kingdom of heaven is on earth with us now, here in this church, we must act like a king is present. We must always enter a Catholic church with great respect and solemnity. We must dress with proper dignity that is befitting an audience with the King. We must honor him with reverence, without oration, and with a profound and holy fear.
As this year has been proclaimed to be the year of Eucharistic Revival. Let me conclude with a quote from the great Curia of ours, Saint John VNA. “We know that Jesus is there in the Tabernacle. Let us open our hearts to him. Let us rejoice in his sacred presence”. That is the best prayer.
Amen.
The Sunday is so rich, there's so much to be, to be shared and to be to reflect on. First, it's the first Sunday after Easter. The resurrection. The big deal. Resurrection is everything for us. And today we are celebrating that divine mercy that amazing sign of God's love. When he revealed to Saint Faustina, revealed to her, explain to her how much he cares about us, how much he loves us, pointing to his heart, telling us through her that his mercy is so great, and we are so oblivious. We have no clue how much God loves us. We have no idea how much, how patient He is, how forgiving he is, how many chances he gave us over and over. You see, my brothers and sisters, if we understand God's forgiveness, God's mercy, if we see our imperfect person or understand our whole attitude to life changes. Because you see, if you're aware that you're not perfect, that you make me, you are sinner and God is forgiving you at humbles you. Your nose is no longer up in the sky. You know, you feel like I'm a sinner. I'm grateful that God been patient with me. You know, you live in this humble attitude and the beautiful thing is you become more understanding to those who are imperfect. You become more patient for those who are weak, who make mistakes because you are yourself imperfect and when you see someone in imperfect, you tell them, Hey, welcome to the club. We all are sinners. We all are weak. It's like kids playing in the swimming pool. All these kids are in the water and splashing. And one kid got up and the point finger at the others. Hey, you are all wet. You're all wet. They all look at him. You're stupid. You are wet too. We all wet. We are no water, you know. That's how human nature. By being in the water or by being in the flesh. We are weak. We are sinners. Of course. We all fall short before the mercy of God. That's why the more we understand God's mercy, the more we become merciful to each other. So, this is. And what does it mean? Mercy. It means that's the sign of love. When you love somebody, you go easy on them. When you love someone, you don't hold every mistake over their head and beat them and say, look at you what you did, you know? If you love someone, you go easy on them. Them. All right let's get up.
Let's try to do better. Let's try to recover from this. Don't stay down. We help each other get back on our feet and do better. That's the whole idea. So, we did. We do need to appreciate God's love. And that's why we dedicated the whole Sunday to honor God's mercy toward us. Not God doesn't need it for us. It's for us to be aware that God that we've been we've been loved so much, we've been forgiven so much, not only number one, but to do the same to each other. Be merciful, forgiving, and kind to each other. That's. That's why Jesus today spoke about forgiveness. Forgive. You know, He gave us the power to be fit to represent him on Earth.
To the church, of course, to the to the consecrated priests and bishops, etc. So, what do we learn today, brothers and sisters? We have an awesome, loving God, and he love to see us live in harmony with each other patient and kind with each other. You want to break his heart, fight with each other, hurt each other. That's the worst thing you can do. If you love God, you make peace. Be the instrument of his peace everywhere you go and you, to achieve peace, it will involve sacrifice. It involves lying to yourself. That's why Jesus says blessed are the peacemakers. He didn't say. He wouldn't say that if it was easy. You don't give somebody a big reward ever. Something easy to achieve. Everybody could do it. There would be no reward. All right. Hey, you know, I know he could tell us. So today, my brothers and sisters, I don't want to go on and on. Repeat the same message. Simple. You love Jesus. Go easy on each other. You love Jesus. Prove it. Show it. Don't talk about it.
Be a man. A woman of God. God. Man and woman of mercy. Man of women. Of peace. When people see you from a distance, let them feel happy, joyful, not run for their life. Or here comes trouble. Run for your life. Because some people, when they come in, forget about it. Forget about it. They know. All they do is criticize. They pick on you. Pick on this and gossip. Run their mouths about everything. They're a nightmare. You know, That's not us. Don't ever be careful. Don't ever be that because it's very easy. We could all do it. Don't do that. Be a man and a woman of God. Whenever. Wherever you go, bring that gentle presence of Jesus that people feel when they see you. Like I said, from a distance, their heart and elated and happy and joyful for seeing you. Bring Jesus with you. Bring his gentle presence. So, yes, Lord of Heaven and Earth, we are so grateful for you, for your amazing mercy, for being patient with us over and over. We make stupid mistakes. We say stupid things all the time, and many times we hate ourselves for the things we do or mainly for the things we failed to do that we could be doing in our life. Thank you for being going easy on us and patiently walking with us. Help us do the same. Help us be great. Show you our gratitude by being kind to each other, forgiving to each other, merciful on each other. And we pray, especially for our brothers in the world who have no hearts, who are so cruel, mean, and hurtful that they may come back to their senses and repent and stop hurting their brothers and sisters so we can truly all honor you, Lord Jesus, and make you proud all the days of our lives.
Amen
Homily begins at 22:18
The name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What image comes to mind when you think of motherhood? Well, perhaps the most common image is or pictures of motherhood is that some form of image of Madonna and child that really takes center stage around Christmas time. However, this image of a mother holding her child presupposes another moment, because every birth is preceded by a conception. The mystery of our Lord's Nativity is preceded by the mystery of the Annunciation. And recalling that first joyful mystery, the Angel Gabriel delivers the divine invitation that Mary is chosen to be the mother of God's son. Our Lady is given a free choice to accept or to reject the gift of the son and to accept or reject the invitation to motherhood and so you see that the first movement of the vocation of motherhood and fatherhood occurs the moment that mothers and fathers are open to life and invitation that is sadly rejected all too often in this modern world. The Blessed Virgin Mary personifies what it means to be open to life, to receive the gift of new life. Motherhood requires a fundamental trust in the love of the Heavenly Father, and this trust in the Heavenly Father bear’s fruit.
Our Lady's Yes. Or we say oftentimes in Latin Fiat, the word meaning let it be her willing acceptance to the gift of her son is the first movement of motherhood. This first joyful mystery of the annunciation moves then to the third joyful mystery in which she gives birth to the son of God. She receives her divine Son accepts him, and then she wraps him in swaddling clothes and lays him in a manger. The son is newborn. He is full of life, Hope, expectation. This familiar image of mother and son projects the tenderness, the tranquility of the vocation of motherhood. However, this image only communicates the first part of the mystery of motherhood. Because as soon as we are born, we begin a pilgrimage towards death and it's precisely there at death that we encounter a second image of motherhood, seeing the life of Jesus and Mary.
The third joyful mystery 33 years later becomes the sixth and the seventh sorrow of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the sixth sorrow of our Lady occurs when she receives her son after his crucifixion and death on the cross. This time when she receives his body, it is lifeless, drained of expectation. The seventh sorrow of our lady occurs when she once again wraps his body in swaddling clothes. Only this time she lays him not in a manger, but in the tomb. The tears of joy that were shed at his birth have become the bitter tears of sorrow shed at his death. And yet, we might say there's a sort of a faint echo of the mother's words that can still be heard through her pain and sorrow. Fiat, let it be done to me, according to your word. Our lady continues to bear witness, even at death, to the lesson of motherhood. The fundamental receptivity to the will of God. This is foundational for motherhood. In his will is our peace. And like that serene image of the Madonna and child, the ties that's been called the mother holding her adult son lifeless body also radiates the tenderness and tranquility of motherhood. It is actually a very peaceful image. Our Lady, or rather our Lord, is comforted by our lady in both scenes, in both moments at his birth and at his death. And so we discover that motherhood begins with receiving the gift of a child. But motherhood doesn't end there. After receiving and caring for that child, every mother must give that child back to God.
Back to the Heavenly Father. The sixth and the seventh star of Our Lady completes the mystery of motherhood.
Now, this is a lesson that seems rather abstract, but it's something that I encountered firsthand a number of years ago. That's when I first learned this lesson. Many of you know my brother Mark. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer five years ago. Now, many of you prayed for him, prayed for his family and my family during his battle on behalf of Mark and his family, were very grateful for your prayers and for your sacrifices these five years. My brother Mark died in November, just days before Thanksgiving, and I had the privilege of offering his funeral mass. But 12 years ago, my sister-in-law, Pamela and Mark, Mark's wife, was pregnant with their fourth child, Elizabeth Marie. The day came for Pamela to deliver the child. However, when she arrived at the hospital, they discovered that their daughter died that day before she was born. Mark and Pamela, of course, were devastated. They began the day expecting to greet their daughter. Instead, they had to say goodbye. The joy and hope of birth was immediately transformed into sorrow and grief. In other words, Pamela expected to experience the third joyful mystery birth, but instead found herself confronting the sorrow of our lady death. As you know, this is every parent's nightmare. You see, life and death, as we know, are certainly connected. But life and death are not supposed to be so close together. Why did God permit Elizabeth to die so young without even experiencing a life out of the womb? Why did God choose Mark and Pamela to experience this grief, this sorrow, and this pain? What purpose did they serve? There were many unanswered questions, and many questions linger to this day. Now, some parents here can identify with Mark and Pamela. Some of you had have had to bury a child. Some of you will one day, unfortunately, bury a child. And the universal response of every parent who experiences the injustice of an untimely death is the same. Parents shouldn't have to bury their children. I hear this over and over again. 12 years ago, I had the privilege of offering Elizabeth Marie's funeral mass. And when my brother Mark came in carrying the tiny cast a casket in procession and into the church for the funeral up to the altar, the mysterious vocation of motherhood and fatherhood became clear. Receiving the gift of a child is only the first part of the vocation of motherhood and fatherhood. Giving the gift of the child back to the Heavenly Father is what completes the vocation. In other words, all persons belong first to God, not to us. Parents are rather stewards of the gifts that ultimately belong first to the Heavenly Father.
So therefore, the vocation of motherhood and fatherhood is beautifully defined by our Lady. Our lady demonstrates that fundamental receptivity to the will of God produces joy. The joy of receiving a gift. Gift of a child. But she also reminds us that the receptivity to the will of God can also include sorrow, the sorrow of having to detach from the child and giving the gift back to the father. So now we see that the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary remind us that God allowed our Lady to experience more grief, more sorrow, more pain, more agony than we could ever imagine that any of us could ever experience. And the father loved this daughter, the mother of God, more than any other human person. Our lady was not spared this grief, nor should we be expected to be spared of the sorrowful mysteries of life. So, as we enter into Passion high this week and into Holy week next week, we're reminded that motherhood is not merely captured in that sweet image of Madonna and child, but also includes the mother holding her son's lifeless body before she talked him into the womb, the womb of the tomb. But as we know, this is not the end of the story. In a fallen world, the joyful mysteries of life become the sorrowful mysteries. But you see, these only set the stage for the glorious mysteries yet to come.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Homily begins at 19:42
Third Sunday of Lent
March 3, 2024
Good morning to all of you. I am Father Brian Becker. I got a call from Father Miller earlier in the week. I know you keep him in your prayers, but please continue to do. He is having a difficult weekend with his illness, and he was asking for some assistance with the masses this weekend and he gave me a call. I'm here to be with you from Saint Joseph's College Seminary. It's my current assignment and it is one of those assignments in the dioceses, which we refer to as a full contact ministry. That's the reason that I'm up here before you with a broken wing. I was playing Ultimate Frisbee with our seminarians a couple of weeks ago, broke my collarbone and now I have this great thing that I get to offer for Lent happened. If the doctor’s prognosis is correct, I should be out of this thing by about Easter. This is what happens when you're when you're late about choosing what you're going to do for Lent. God gives you a gift. Here we are now for Lent.
Father Miller said he has been preaching to you in a series of homilies on the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. He very gently suggested to me that, you know, if I could find a good angle, I could go ahead and continue that. And I thought that was a great idea. He told me, you’re up to the fourth sorrow that our lady meets her son on the way of the cross. Now, this is this sorrow in particular is one that that lines up very nicely with our Lenten devotions, because this actually maps directly on the fourth sorrow to the fourth station of the cross, where our lady met her son Jesus, on his way of the cross and considering this mystery, I want to share with you one of the considerations from a popular form of the stations, not sure which form you guys use in your parish devotions, but one that I have been formed in from my time in seminary was the one that was composed by Saint Alphonsus Liguori.
Saint Alphonsus has this meditation on this station and therefore also on the sorrow of our lady. He says, consider how the son met his mother on his way to Calvary. Jesus and Mary gazed at each other, and their looks became as so many arrows to wound those hearts which loved each other so tenderly. This is a beautiful image. We have several writers in the spiritual life that have a poetry about the way that they write. We've seen this in in many images. You can look at your own stations and you can see a beautiful depiction of that gaze that shared between Christ and his mother. But this is a beautiful exploration of what passed between them in those moments when they looked at each other and it's a very interesting image that Saint Alphonsus uses to describe this, that their looks became as so many arrows to wound those hearts which loved each other so much. Why this image, then? Why is this a wounding that passed between them? Well, part of what Christ and our Lady are showing us here is the true nature of charity, the true nature of the love that they shared for each other. Both of them were engaging in the way of the cross, in the way that was proper to each one of them. Christ supremely bearing all the sufferings of the sins of the world, in addition to his bodily torments, was going up to the mounts to give his life for us. And our lady, being the perfect disciple, was joining him on this journey. She, more perfectly than any human, joined with her son on his way of the cross, she united her heart to his and in a sense, she died her own death there at the foot of the cross in union with her son. And in doing this, each of them was showing perfect charity. Christ, as the author of Charity himself and Our Lady, as the one who most perfectly possessed it among men and it's a mark of that charity to be so concerned with the one that you love, that they're suffering wounds you more than the suffering that you're going through yourself. Christ bearing the weight of the sins of the world when he sees his afflicted mother, the movement in his human nature is to weep for her to be wounded, in turn by the fact that she has to suffer. This along with him and our lady following her son most perfectly does the same thing. In turn, she weeps. Not so much for the fact that she has to do this with her son and fulfillment of the Divine Plan. But she weeps because the one whom she loves so much is suffering. We have this interchange, this gaze that they share, this gaze that is full of love, and yet is one that wounds. So, meditating then on this image, we have a couple of lessons for the way that we approach Lent. One of them is the nature of our own sufferings. We're all going to have moments in our practice of Lent when the things that we take on are going to become quite a burden for us and we are going to be wrapped up in the fact that I am miserable. I didn't really think this all the way through. Maybe I wasn't quite as prudent as I should have been, and now I'm regretting what I took on. In the middle of your penance, you might find yourself wallowing in self-pity and dreaming of the day when Easter comes, and you can release yourself from whatever strictures that you've been under.
What's the remedy for this? When we find ourselves wrapped up in ourselves in this way. We have to recall the reason that we are doing these things. We are not engaging in our practices of Lent primarily for the purposes of self-fulfillment. We are not fasting for the sake of losing weight. We are doing these practices out of a desire to do as our Lady did, to unite ourselves with our Savior out of love for Him to participate as fully as we can in His way of the cross. We are uniting ourselves with Christ, journeying with Him to Jerusalem there to go up and to die with him. When we are chafed by the things that we have visited upon ourselves or that God has given to us, what are we to do in those moments? We are to very intentionally make a gift of these things to our savior in honor of our Lady. Christ is suffering so much for us on account of the sins that we have committed. What we do in Lent is we seek to make some small return, some small participation in that suffering that we may be redeemed from our sins and that we may merit by the sufferings of our Savior to share in the joy of his resurrection. We give these things as a gift to our Lord. And the second lesson that we take in our practice of Lent is from the nature of this charity that is demonstrated to us by our Lord and Lady. Another thing that we can do with our sufferings is that we can give them not only to our Lord, but we can also give them to others.
In a sense. In addition to making this gift of the things that you are offering up for Lent to our Lord in your prayers, also explicitly call to mind those persons for whom you are offering these tendencies. This is another great way to exercise charity by what it is that we are giving up by what it is that we are suffering. In your prayers list out these people that are in your lives, perhaps those who are suffering worse than you, those who have suffered some tragedy, some illness going through a very difficult time in their life by the gift of the Holy Spirit and the operation of God's grace. This is one of the other great things that we are privileged to share in the order of charity that offering these things to God, we can also offer them for the good of our brothers and sisters here on Earth.
This is another way to keep us from getting wrapped up in ourselves, in our self-pity. And we can give these things not only to our savior, but also to our brothers and our sisters and our friends. Remember this. This is the point in Lent when things tend to start getting a little bit difficult. The initial fervor has worn off. We're into the long slog and we need something at this point to renew our devotion to what it is that we are offering to Christ. When you find yourself flagging in your disciplines, make these movements anteriorly. Make an offering of these things to your Savior. Name those people for whom you will suffer these things. And in the order of this grace of Christ, there will be a very fruitful return on these sufferings that we ourselves and those for whom we are praying will be given great graces to enter into Christ suffering so as to merit a share in His resurrection.
Homily begins at 21:08
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of Grace.
The Lord is with thee,
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of her death.
Amen
Good morning, brothers, and sisters. Today, I'll be speaking to you about the third of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The third sorrow is when she and Joseph lost Jesus for three days and then eventually found him in the temple. This is, of course, the fifth joyful mystery of the rosary. I'll just read it, and this is again, it's in your bulletin. The beautiful picture on the front is of this sorrow and then there's a section, of course, to give you some direction on the specific devotion and this comes, of course, from the Gospel of Luke.
Now, his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up, according to custom and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it. But supposing him to be in the company? They went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinfolk and acquaintances. And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously, he said to them, how is it that you saw me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? They did not understand the saying which he spoke to them, as with specifically the mysteries of the rosary. You know, we meditate on them so, so often we can become kind of a little used to them. And we don't always go deeper. We don't always really pray and try to seek the deeper mysteries that are always present. Of course, anything in regards to the word of God, there's always more to seek, always more to find, because it's not. These aren't mere human words. These are the words of God, God's Word. And since God is infinite, the truth is infinite. And so, we can always seek more of it. In this mystery, the sorrow of the Blessed Mother.
Obviously, we know the story. Jesus stuck around in Jerusalem. He didn't tell Mom and Dad. They took off and went with family in the company back to Nazareth. They go a whole day's journey and they're looking for him. They just figure, you know, Jesus is a socialite, right? He likes to go out and be with the people. He's clearly very extroverted from what they can tell so they're looking for him. They can't find him. They've been traveling the whole day. Obviously, he's not with their group. He's not with the group. He's probably still in Jerusalem. They turn around and walk another day back to Jerusalem as two days. And then on the third day, they're searching for him and eventually they discover him in the temple.
I like to think that Mary and Joseph were probably talking on the road back to Jerusalem saying, okay, where will he be if he's in the city? They probably in his mind, he was in one of two places. He was either with the poor caring for them in some way or he's in the temple because that's the house of God in prayer. I figured he had to be in one or the other. And eventually they go to the temple and there he is, sitting down perfectly fine, sitting amongst the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions. Now, as a slight aside, sometimes people will call this mystery. When Jesus taught in the temple, that is absolutely not true at all. Don't call it that. Jesus didn't teach in the temple, at least not at the age of 12. Why? Because he's 12. He was sitting among the teachers. He was listening to them and asking them questions. Now, could he have taught? Of course he could. He's the son of God. No doubt. But he's just a 12-year-old boy. That would be very presumptuous of a child to try to teach adults, even if there are children who know more than adults. You know, is it really going to go well for you if you go up to them and say, let me tell you how this is? Jesus isn't teaching now, are they learning from him? Probably because he's that wise right in He's wisdom itself, but he's sitting there listening to them. Then Mary and Joseph come up to me like, Son, what's going on? Why have you done this to us? Don't you know that your father and I have been anxiously searching for you? Now, that is, I think, a completely natural thing to say to a child that has just disappeared. Some of you have lost a child here and there at times. I remember one time we were going on some family vacation and, you know, there are 12 kids, so it's a lot of us. And we stopped, you know, use the bathroom, get some snacks. We got in the car and drove off and we go a couple of miles down the road and left one of the boys back. Mom was like counting heads. no, we're missing someone. So. Right. So, you know, as parents, when you lose a child, when they're you don't know where they are, so to speak, it's very traumatizing Immediately. What comes to your mind is all the worst possible things. And most of all, you're afraid that they are suffering, and you want to save them. You want to protect them from that. You run and you start searching for them. And naturally you would feel a tremendous amount of anxiety until you see your child, until you know they're okay. That anxiety is perfectly normal that happened. So here are Mary and Joseph. They can't find Jesus. no. Now, what do they think was probably happening to him? One of the fathers of the church said they believed that his passion had begun. They thought that's what they were anxious about. You see, Mary and Joseph, 12 years earlier, the last the second sorrow of the Blessed Mother had already heard the prophecy that this boy, this baby at the time is going to suffer. They knew that Jesus was going to suffer. They just didn't know how and when, so they knew was going to suffer. This father said that Mary and Joseph were thinking, no, maybe his passion has begun. You can imagine the fear and the anxiety that that would provoke, and they hurry back to Jerusalem, and when they find him perfectly fine, they're upset with him. If you found a child that was just didn't come home for a couple of days, and then you come up to them and they're just having fun. They're just, you know, having a good time, Everything's fine. Why don't you do this? Don't you know how worried I've been? That's what you would say to them. And how does Jesus respond? I'm so sorry. I didn't know it would worry you. No, no. Here is the son of God saying to them Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I'd be in my father's house? Jesus has no idea why Mary and Joseph are anxious and worried about him. No idea. Now, that's hard to understand if you don't really know Jesus. Why? Because you think as the Son of God, he knows everything, right? This is where you're wrong. Jesus has to intellect. He has a divine intellect, which knows everything. Which knew that Mary and Joseph would have been anxiously searching for him. But he's got a human intellect that doesn't know everything, which is weird, because that means Jesus doesn't tell himself everything.
He doesn't. His divine intellect does not tell his human intellect everything, which means his divine intellect allowed Jesus to not understand it, allow Jesus to not understand Marian Joseph's anxiety and worry for him. And what does he say? He's basically saying, Mom, Dad, didn't you know, this is where I'd be. He again, he doesn't understand their fear and their concern for him and, you know, that is kind of normal for children in general, isn't it? Mom and dad are freaking out because of X, Y, and Z, and you're like, Mom, dad, what's the big deal? I'm fine. Jesus is experiencing this exact thing. Now, Mary and Joseph are still not comprehending what's going on here. They don't understand. Now, in this mystery, one of the things we must pay close attention to is the anxiety that Mary and Joseph felt. You see, there are different kinds of anxiety and there are different reasons. There are different reasons for being anxious. I can be anxious because I'm going to suffer. I can be anxious because someone I love is going to suffer. It usually follows one of those two. Either I'm going to suffer or if someone I love is going to suffer.
Now, one of the things we notice from the Saints is that they're never anxious when they are going to suffer. Never. They trust in the will of God. They've learned to bear their crosses patiently. Whether they are suffering or know beforehand that they are going to suffer, they don't feel any anxiety. That's because they have a profound faith and trust in the Lord. Now, if you saw one of your children suffer that would cause you pain, wouldn't it? It would cause you pain. It would make you suffer. But again, this is a very important distinction. You're allowed to feel anxious for the suffering of your children or the suffering of others. But Jesus doesn't want you to be anxious about your own suffering. But what is the nature of the anxiety that Mary injuries have had? Remember, this is the immaculate mother of God, sinless and perfect, and always. Saint Joseph, great. Second greatest saint of the church. Right. Clearly profound faith in God, amazingly virtuous and holy man. Their anxiety is not sinful at all in this context, which means it had nothing to do with their suffering. They were anxious because they were concerned about Jesus's suffering. Now, what was the nature of that concern? Was it? I don't want Jesus to suffer because that's often what we think with the ones that we love, especially our children. I don't want him or her to suffer this or that. No. Again, a saint wouldn't think that a saint would not actually want their children to suffer. That's not where their anxiety comes from. Their anxiety comes from the fact that they want to be with them when they suffer. They want to be by their side. Now, we know this because Mary always perfectly conformed to the will of God would never resist or go against the father's will for her son. We know that God wants Jesus to suffer. He wants him to suffer and to die to redeem all of us. We know that is the will of God. Mary knew that was the will of God, and so she would have never prevented Jesus's sufferings. Never. The Saints say that the reason she and Joseph were anxious and rushed back to Jerusalem to find him was not because they wanted to stop his passion, because they wanted to support him, to stand by him in his passion. They didn't want him to suffer alone. This is a very important point, and this is one of the ways in which so many young people become self-centered egotists because their parents don't let them suffer. You don't punish when they do wrong, whenever they do wrong, and they could get in serious trouble. You bail them out. Now, you might think that that's a loving act. That I'm saving my child from suffering. No, that is a completely and utterly self-centered act and is never pleasing to God. I'm not saying you don't help your kids and you can get them out of what trouble you can in reasonable circumstances. But the idea that they're not supposed to suffer is un-Christian. I'm sorry if the Son of God is supposed to suffer, you think your children are any better? Any different? You think the will of God for your children is going to be different than his will for his own son? No, you've got it wrong. All of us need to suffer because of sin. All of us. And you can say, what about the little ones that are innocent? No one is innocent. Everyone has original sin, you know, besides Mary and Jesus, All of us.
Everybody has original sin. They might not have personal sin. Fine. I understand. But they are a part of this collective, sinful humanity. And if Jesus, who was innocent, had to suffer, then your little babies who are innocent must suffer too. And we need to learn to stop complaining or getting upset or angry with God because of the suffering of the people that we love. That's just a temptation of the evil one to reject the will of God. Suffering is an intrinsic part of salvation. You separate suffering. You don't have salvation, the suffering of Christ and our suffering. It's not only his suffering. It's our suffering in unity with him. And what is the greatest suffering for any parent? It's the suffering of your children. It's not your own suffering. It's the suffering of your children. Which is why that is always the greatest test that God gives to a Christian. He will take one or more of your children and he will make them suffer in this or that way. And then they'll say, do you support me? Wasn't that the test we heard in our first reading? Isn't that how God tested Abraham? The reason Abraham received the promise that he would be the father of many nations is because he was willing to sacrifice his only son. His only son because God asked of him. Imagine just for a moment, your Abraham, your old, you don't have any kids. And then, miraculously, by the grace of God, your wife gets pregnant, and you have this boy and now you have an heir, you can hand everything over to him.
Your name will be passed down. It's very exciting. You're very happy. Abraham loved this boy more than anything else, even more than himself. And when this boy was a young man, we think like a young teenager. Something like that. God says, by the way, Abraham, you know that miraculous boy I gave you. I now want you to offer him in a Holocaust.
I want you to kill him and burn him on an altar for me, for my honor. And Abraham doesn't hesitate. He doesn't say, Are you sure? God, this is what you want. I mean, you're the one who gave him to me. He doesn't tell Sarah. I don't know how that would have gone. He just takes. His kid gets the wood, the fire, the knife says, come on, son, we're going to go pray to God. And they go up the mountain. He ties them up. He's prayer ready? No hesitation. He's about to literally cut his throat. And God's like, Whoa, whoa. Okay, Abraham. Okay, just stop. Stop. You passed. You pass the test, and then he sees the ram, and he offers that instead. The reason Abraham received the greatest promise that God had given to anyone at that time in history is because Abraham was more like God than any other man on Earth.
We know it because of his willingness to sacrifice his only son, because that is the greatest act of God, the Father. When God, the father is looking down on us and he's saying, Who down there on that little blue planet is like me. But there's only one test. Take the one you love even more than yourself and sacrifice them for me.
That's the test. And our lady, she passed. We know she was there at the foot of the cross. She never resisted the passion of her son. In fact, the Saints teach us that if the Roman soldiers had stopped crucifying him, she would have gone up and finished. That is the faith of Abraham. That is the love of God. Now, for some of you, I know that there are times in which you would have no problem sacrificing this or that child. So again, but generally, I'm just speaking. Generally, you won't do that, right? There's always that one at that time, right. Lord, please, I'm willing to sacrifice this one for you now, you know? But it's still the greatest test that he's going to give each one of us in one form or another. Yes. It might not be the actual death of the child, but how many times do either we or someone in our lives know someone who lost a child? That's the worst pain for anyone. And sadly, how many times do these Christians lose their faith in God at the loss of that child when in fact it should enhance their faith? It should draw them closer to God, the Father. Because who can understand their pain better than God? Who understands better the price that has to be paid because of sin in this mystery, you have Mary and Joseph. They were not resistant at all to Jesus's passion. Their desire was to go and be with him in his cross, not to take it from him. And that is one of the most important things you can do as parents for those that you love is stand by them when they're suffering. You can suffer with them, but don't necessarily take that pain away. They need it. It's sanctifying. So as you continue to pray and meditate on these sorrows of the Blessed Mother, you'll see as we go through all of them, how our Lady in such a unique way is able to not only help us experience and understand the passion of Jesus, but to respond to that passion in the most perfect way in those situations in your life in which you are anxious and afraid for your own suffering or you want to stop the suffering of your children, I want you really to pray about this. Are that what God wants? You to do? What is he asking of you? And the one that you love? Is he asking this cross, this suffering? If it is the father's will, are you going to go against it? You can always ask God for anything that you want. But you know, when we end our prayers, we in the same way Jesus taught us, not my will thine be done. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begins at 15:00
First Sunday of Lent
February 18, 2024 •
The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking our Lady's Intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace.
the Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Good morning, brothers and sisters. So, thank you for your prayers. Thought I'd give everybody an update on my health. My doctors think it's a problem with my gallbladder. They're probably going to recommend surgery, but it's, they say a minor surgery, so it's not that big a deal. They think I have gallstones and that's why I've been sick the last couple of weeks. Just keep it in your prayers and I'll keep all of you posted. I appreciate that.
For those who weren't able to make it on Ash Wednesday, this image that I have displayed on the altar, you can go on our website and listen to that. The beginning of that homily, I explain the image. It's very beautiful and we're consecrating and blessing the image by leaving it out on the altar will do that during Lent and probably during the Easter season as well. Over the next several weeks, I'll be preaching to you about the seven Sorrows of Mary. Last week we spoke about the first of her sorrows, which is when she and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple and the Prophet Simeon prophesied that not only would our Lord suffer, but our lady would suffer along with him.
Today, in meditating on the second sorrow of the Blessed Mother, we remember her and Joseph's flight into Egypt. If you remember when Jesus was still very young, after the wise men had come to Jerusalem seeking the new King of Israel, they went to Herod and asked him where the king was. They figured the King of Israel wouldn't know where the new king is. And Herod was a little surprised by this. And he got the wise men that the scholars of the law and they told him he was to be born in Bethlehem. He sent the wise men to Bethlehem and they found Jesus and gave him gifts. But Herod wanted to know who this Jesus was so he could have him killed. So obviously the Lord told the three wise men, the Magi and Mary Joseph, that Herod was going to try to have the child killed. And they got ready and they fled into Egypt and then Herod had all of the young boys, two years and younger, massacred in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas, just in case he thought he would have definitely be able to kill this newborn king. This song in particular is fairly obvious because here we have the prophecy of Simeon being fulfilled. Early on in the life of Christ, he's just been born.
He's still a baby and already someone is seeking to kill him. Mary sees at the very outset of the life of Christ this, this fulfillment. And she, as you can imagine, must have grieved very greatly that anyone would want to harm not only her baby boy, right, but the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior, and Christ. We can obviously see that kind of grief and sorrow out of her love for not only God, but also her own child who just happened to be the same thing. But there was another sorrow that we don't often consider. And I want you to imagine the grief that Mary experienced when she heard about all the dozens, if not hundreds of young boys that were slaughtered because of her son. It's one thing to suffer over your child. That's in danger of suffering or death. But imagine how all these other families must have endured such agony, all because Christ was born in Bethlehem, all for that reason. Imagine the test that must have been to Mary's faith. You know, why would God allow this? Obviously, God told Joseph and Joseph got Mary and Jesus out of there. Why didn't God do that for the rest of the families with little kids? Now, Mary, having perfect faith, obviously trusted in the Lord's plan, whether she understood it or not. Now, to understand the reasons for why these things had to happen, they had to happen. They weren't optional. They had to happen to Christ. To understand this, you have to understand the entire history of God's people. Because for any true Jew, one of the greatest events in their history, both tragic and wonderful, is when in Egypt, Pharaoh had all of the sons, all of the little boys who were born of the Israelites slaughtered, he had them slaughtered because he was worried that the Israelites would rise up against him. You could let the women live, he said, but kill all the young men. Of course, that led to Moses being cast in a basket on the waters saved by Pharaoh's daughter, raised in the palace, and eventually delivering God's people through these great signs and wonders, and then bringing them through the desert to the promised land. This is the most significant event in the life of the Israelites, where God deliver them from slavery and Egypt.
Now, since the death of all these young children happened to the Israelites long ago, since they had to go into Egypt, they had to flee from Egypt. Our Lord Jesus had to experience those exact same things. This is one of the mysteries of our faith that people don't meditate upon enough. Everything that happened to the Israelite people of old had to happen to Christ, and everything that happened to Christ has to happen in one form or another to every future Christian in redeeming us. Jesus Christ conformed himself to our nature and not just to our nature as human beings, but to the very experiences that we have in our own lives. The only way the Israelites could truly accept him is that if that he himself endured everything they endured, and even more so, our Lord chose to live this life as a mirrored image of the life of His people.
To show, See, I'm one of you. I know everything that you know. I've experienced everything that you've experienced and more. And yet this same truth applies after the fact to everyone who is supposed to be conformed to the life of Christ. If you and I are to be conformed to the life of Christ, that means we're conformed to the life of Israel old because Christ was conformed to their life. This is one of the essential aspects of salvation. We see this in the lives of the saints. The greater the saint, the more perfectly their life in one way or another reflects the life of our Lord. That's why these seven Sorrows of Our Lady, which are the stars of Christ himself, are so important to us. That's why our meditations upon them are so necessary because they enable us to understand our own life. Why is this happening to me? And that's the question we ask whenever we're suffering, right? Why is this happening to me? What did I do? Well, I mean, sometimes we know what we did. We send. But sometimes you might not have done anything wrong in that situation and you're still suffering. If we are truly to be one with Christ. And that's. That's the goal here. That's the whole point of the church. And there are teachings in the sacraments that we must be conformed to every aspect of his life. There will be times in your lives, like the first start in which you'll be told that you have future suffering ahead of you. There's a cross you have to learn to bear patiently. You can do that best with our lady. She understood this well. There'll be times in your life in which your children, in one form or another, will be threatened or in danger. You have to flee from your own land, your own home job, family situation, whatever it is, in order to protect them, suffer because of that. We saw that in the life of our Lady in Christ. There'll be times in your life when your children are the cause of great suffering for others, like the loss of all of these poor children in Bethlehem. And you'll have to endure that as well. You'll see as we go through all of the seven sorrows in some form or another, how your own life will conform to them and the more you meditate upon these great mysteries, more you keep them in mind. It's not going to lessen your suffering at all. Not one iota, not one bit. You will continue to suffer just as much, but you will see that you are not alone. You'll see that this has already been done before. In the Old Testament, it was done perfectly in the life of Christ don't ever be surprised that it's in your life as well. And you won't despair. You'll have faith, you'll have hope, and you'll be able to endure whatever comes, knowing that it will pass away in the end. Ultimately, as you know, as will go through the seven sorrows, clearly death is the end of all suffering. Final thing that we must all endure at one point in this life. No one can avoid that. And yet our Lord doesn't want us to fear any suffering. That doesn't mean we run after it, you know, go out and seek suffering. That's a psychological illness. You know, you can get treatment if you have that, but it means whenever it comes to us, we should not assume that this is not part of God's plan.
That should be the assumption. God has a plan for me. And the more I can keep my mind and heart focused on our Lady and Christ and their suffering, the easier I will be to allow that grace of the Holy Spirit to strengthen me, to endure these crosses that always come during Lent. I want us to practice the creed in Latin, so we'll be reciting it during the season of Lent, hopefully. Maybe during Easter, we could start singing it. But do we have the page number for the Creed? Page 26 In the Blue Book in the St Michael Hymnals we'll do the creed in Latin, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Homily begins at
Meditating on the four last things. Of course, we started with death. It's inevitable for all of us. Last night I spoke about judgment again, inevitable for all of us. And for tonight. And tomorrow I'll do hell. And then heaven. And this is where the divide comes in regards to our own personal experiences. Everybody is going to experience one or the other, heaven or hell.It all depends on the judgment. But tonight we're going to address hell. I thought it would be more appropriate to address heaven tomorrow for the feast of or the solemnity of our patron saint, Dorothy. So there are some very clear teachings that our Lord gives about shale or the place of the dead, the damned hell, Hades. Right. Whatever you want to call it.
I'm just going to go through and read a few of them. But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved murderer is the young, chaste sorcerers, idle worshipers and deceivers of every sort. Their lot is the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Of course, there is referring to hell. The devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were There. They would be tormented day and night forever and ever there in hell. They would be tormented day and night, forever and ever. Then the Lord will say to those on his left, depart from you are cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, the eternal fire. Jesus also says, If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gahanna, into the unquenchable fire. And lastly, thus, it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. There are, of course, many other passages, but one of the things that is very consistent in our Lord's teaching about hell is an unquenchable fire that consumes you, body, and soul for all of eternity. And that's why we often picture the devil with flames right around him dressed in red or something of that sort. So, fire, of course, is an essential element. We know. And the idea that Christ is presenting what we call or what they called shale, right. It comes from a very actual place just outside the city of Jerusalem. I don't know how many people actually know this. You can imagine for large cities or towns, they usually over the years and decades and centuries, collect a lot of trash and so one of the things that the ancient world used to do was they would have these large trash piles and they would burn them because it was the easiest way to get rid of a lot of human waste and filth and refuse whatever it was, you know, broken pottery that they couldn't use anymore. So outside of the city of Jerusalem, there was a small valley on one part, and that was the trash heap for however many hundreds of years the Jews had been living there and it was always on fire because new rubbish was always daily being thrown into it. Any time of day or night you would walk by that area. It was always on fire. There were always red-hot coals, always stench again, human waste and everything was thrown there just to consume it so it wouldn't grow too large. This was called shale, and this is the imagery that our Lord is evoking and teaching about hell, where the refuge goes to burn. That's why he's using this imagery. Now, are there physical flames in hell? We don't know. But whatever it is, it is like standing in a fire. Body and soul. Forever. Forever. Just as heaven is forever.
Hell is forever. It's one of the heresies among Christians that God in his mercy is going to eventually either let everybody out of hell or just blink them out of existence so they don't have to suffer for eternity. No, it's doctrine. It's the teaching of Christ that hell is forever. The demons that are assigned there, the humans that will go there will suffer forever and ever and as I think is appropriate, that should scare the hell out of you. Obviously, nobody wants that right? Nobody wants to go to a place of torment. You know, a lot of people don't realize that when somebody is either tempted or seeking or accomplishes suicide, you think they want to end their life. They want to cease to exist.
This is actually not true psychologically. They want to end their suffering. They don't want to stop existing. It is impossible for anyone to want to cease to exist. It's actually psychologically impossible. If you do, then there's something mentally wrong with you. We know the statement of Satan when he was cast out of heaven. I would rather reign in hell than serve in heaven. He didn't want to stop existing. He would rather suffer for the rest of eternity and still do what he wanted to do than to live peacefully, forever doing the will of God. In essence, that's why anyone goes to hell. Its following that same mindset. My will over the will of God. I once heard years ago a great phrase that in the end, when you're judged only one thing will be said.
Only one thing will be said. Either God will say it, or you will say it, and that will determine where you'll go. If you say thy will, be done to the Lord, he'll be able to save you. But if he says Thy will be done to you, you are lost forever. That's really the determining factor. Are we striving to conform our will to Christ, to the Lord, or do we want His will and others around us to conform them to ourselves? This eternal punishment, I've spent years and years reading, studying and meditating on this and trying to ask the Lord to understand it. Because one of the things I've struggled with the most personally is a very simple question. If God is as good and loving this merciful as He claims to be, as we believe Him to be, how could well be a good.
You have to understand everything that God makes is good. Everything that God does is good. Even when He dams a soul to hell, it is good. That's just theologically true. How could it be good? How could an eternity of suffering in hell be good? And for years I struggled with this because I knew there had to be an answer. Not that I had to understand it, but I wanted to. And I don't know if this was an inspiration of God or if this is just me trying to figure it out on my own. But I want to share with you how I understand it. God doesn't need us. Never has, never will. We know fundamentally, He made us for our own benefit just out of his largesse, his, his love, his goodness angels, humans. He doesn't need any of us. He just wanted to create something so that it could share in his life and holiness. Pure gift. God doesn't lose anything when anyone goes to hell. This is also an important point. God doesn't suffer when anyone goes to hell. Why? Because he's not happier when anyone goes to heaven either. God is perfect and unchanging.
How could his happiness increase when it's already perfect? How could he suffer when he's perfectly happy? He can't. How can God? Who teaches us? Who reveals himself to us as true goodness and love and compassion not suffer over the damned? How is that possible? It's because hell is good. You can picture over the gates of hell. This place was created out of love.
Now, why might it say that over the gates of hell. And this is what I think the Lord showed me. Because for God to force any of the demons or any human who is going to be damned to go to heaven, that would be a worse hell for them. It would be more agonizing for Satan to be forced to go to heaven than to reign in a place of eternal torment. It would be worse for any human being to enter into heavenly glory than to go to hell. If that was ultimately God's judgment. Because there's only one will in heaven. There is only one will in heaven, and that is the will of God. But I want you to think in your life how many times you have encountered somebody else who had a different will than yours, and you disagreed with them because you wanted it your way and you didn't care whether they were right or wrong. We do this all the time. You didn't care whether they were right or wrong. It's just not what I want. You can see this oftentimes with children, they do something wrong. They get caught. Mom and dad say all you have to do is say you're sorry and you can have your dessert. No, they could get dessert. They could get everything they want. All of their suffering would end. All they have to do is say that they're sorry, and yet they refuse. They're willing to suffer more just so that they can do what they want. Do you think those children are any different than us as adults? Do you think we've really changed that much just after a few decades in this world? We do it all the time. How many times do I make a choice knowing it's going to cause me pain and suffering, whether it's sinful or not, just because I want it?
You know, I've had a problem with caffeine my whole life. It's like an allergy. And so whenever I would eat anything with caffeine or drink anything with caffeine, I'd get sick. The problem is chocolate exists. And growing up, I did not always have the strength of will to stay away from it. And I knew exactly what's going to happen when I eat it. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I didn't care. I wanted that chocolate. I was willing to take the suffering to get what I wanted and that's a small thing. You know, there was no sin in that necessarily. It didn't cause any real damage or harm to my body. It just gave me a lot of pain and made me sick. And that's just a small way in which we do this every time a creature angelic. We're not the angels and the demons are already their decision is or have already been made. But any time a human, any time they make a decision, you always have to weigh the pros and cons. Is is this worth it to me? And that's what it comes down to. It doesn't matter if it's worth it to anybody else. Is it worth it to me? And how many times have I? Have you made a decision knowing it was wrong and knowing you would suffer more because of it?
That is hell. That's all hell is. Did you know God did not make hell to be a place of torment. He didn't designed hell to be a place where the people that go there are the demons, and the humans will suffer just because of how he. He set it up right. God is the one who lit it on fire.
No. All hell is, is a place where the will of God doesn't exist. That's it. Everybody in hell gets exactly what their will wants. Why do you think it's a place of torment? Because most of the time, when we get what we want, we suffer. And so does everybody else. I don't think for a moment God created hell to be a place of torment. He simply gave to his creation what they wanted. A place to exist for eternity without him. We know that broke the heart of Christ. But if God the Father had a heart, it would have broken as well. But that's part of the beauty of God. He loves us so much, even after he made us and offers himself to us. All we have to do is what he made us for and what we're told. It's not that big a deal. He will reward us for the eternity. And even when we refuse again, justice demands will. You know there are consequences. But he's not going to go out of his way to. To make your life wretched or miserable. Do you really think it makes God happy when anyone goes to hell? No, because it also doesn't make him sad. God is unmoved by such things. This is a very important theological truth. God is unmoved. Nothing you and I could ever do could move God. Because if he's perfect and infinite, how can perfect infinite nature be moved in any direction? It's all worked already, everywhere. So this place that he made, it's just a place without him, without goodness and whoever goes there seeks and obtains whatever they want. Now, there are plenty of people who say, hey, that doesn't sound too bad, right? I mean, there are plenty of simple things I like, and if I can get that for the rest of eternity, I'd be okay with that. Sure. Okay. Send me to hell. But there's a very simple, obvious problem. When you ever you look at a person, especially in regards to addiction, who is getting exactly what they want, it's ruining their life. Not only do they love the thing that they're addicted to, but they hate it at the same time. Not only do they love with that thing does for them, but they also hate all of the consequences of using it or having it.
Whenever you study addiction, the majority of time, especially if it's a chemical addiction of any level, they say it takes the person to finally hit as they hit rock bottom before they can make the choice to begin to turn away from it. They have to lose everything, and it's devastating to see. I can't tell you how many lives I have seen go through that and yet even that is a mercy, because on some level our Lord is allowing them to taste damnation so that they can reject it and be saved every time we choose what we want, regardless of the consequences, suffering to us or suffering to others, that is hell. That's all healers and the demons and the damned humans that go their torment themselves and torment each other. There is a fascinating idea for the triad. Rebecca believes that one of the one of the qualities of Satan's damnation is that his personality was split into three squares. Personal theory. No teaching on this. But he's probably right. He believes that Satan has three personalities, basically all fractured, none of them whole. One is Satan, one is Lucifer, one is Beelzebub. They're all the same person. And the reason that this is the perfect hell for him, the perfect suffering, is because it's exactly what he wanted. He wanted to be God. I'm sorry, Satan. God is three persons. You can't do that by yourself. He didn't care. I want to be God in the justice of his torment with this fractured personality. He is exactly what he wanted to be. That's the beauty of it. God gives us exactly what we want. But if we want him above all things, then that's what we get. But if we choose ourselves before him or before others, if we don't love our neighbor as ourselves as we're taught, then we get that I truly believe the damned get everything they want and they hate it. I'll end with this. It's it’s a very interesting analogy for the difference between heaven and hell. Hell is like a great banquet with all the richest food you could ever want or imagine. Unending. The problem is, all of the forks and knives and spoons are ten feet long, and so you can't ever reach your mouth. Heaven is actually the same place.
A giant banquet table. All the richest foods you could ever imagine. Forks, spoons, knives, ten feet long. But everybody's serving everyone else what they want. Everybody gets what they want. In the end, that is the goodness of God. And how could a single damned soul resent God for getting what they wanted all along? They do. That's the disordered nature of evil, because when it comes right down to it, damnation is when you love and hate the same thing. But that is intrinsically contrary to God. God never loves and hates the same thing. He loves certain things, and he hates other things that are contrary to the things that he loves. Looking to your own heart, think about the ways in which you make decisions. The choices you make in this life that in essence are are small acts of damnation might not go to hell for them. They're not gravely immoral, but it's still a taint of imperfection within us. My will. I must have my will, no matter the cost. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begin at 15:33
Earlier today and last night, I spoke to you about the first of the four last things death, the first experience that all of us will share whenever the end of our life comes, whether it's the end of time itself, when Christ comes again and glory, or if it's just most likely our particular death that that individual day and the church teaches correctly, as our Lord has revealed, that there are two judgments and that's the tonight's topic. Judgment after death, every one will be judged by the king. And there are two judgments. The one that we hear today in the gospel is called the universal judgment. This is after Christ comes again in glory when he he will gather all the nations for him of all of time, and he will judge them all in the presence of all. That will be the final judgment. But we also have a particular judgment that belongs to each individual. That means when I die, when you die as an individual, you will have to go before that same judgment seat, before the king, before the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and your life. My individual life will be judged and I will receive a sentence. Now, what our Lord is telling us in this gospel is a begin a particular explanation of the final judgment or the universal judgment. But this also applies to anyone's particular judgment. It's not like our Lord is going to maybe change some of His decisions in the final judgment. There will be many souls who are already in heaven or already in hell because their particular judgment has taken place, but they will still all be gathered again at the end of time so that everyone will be judged in the sight of all. But we can still learn from this that the nature of what we would call our particular, our individual judgments. This is why being ready for death is so important, right? We need to always be ready because the moment my soul separates from my body, I will be taken before the judgment seat of God. The moment that happens, do not pass. Do not collect 200. Right. You're there and if God has anything against you at that moment, at that final moment, it will be brought forward. I thought I would begin by telling you a story.
Some of you may have heard this before, but I'd say I think it was maybe the second year I was ordained. I got called to the hospital and a man was dying and so I go there, I don't know this man. I just get called. I go. and when I when I get to the floor and I'm heading towards the room, there is a police officer standing outside the room. I'm like, That’s a little strange. That's a new one for me. I go inside the room and the gentleman, probably in his thirties, was handcuffed to his bed and I thought, that's another new one. Okay. So, what I realized was he was a prisoner who was in jail, but he was dying and so they had rushed him to the hospital, and he had called for a priest. And so, of course, he was handcuffed to the bed because they didn't want him trying to escape. The moment I walked into this room again, I was a little unsettled by the police guard and the handcuffs and everything. But I'm a priest. I'm here to give them the sacraments. From the moment I walked into that room and looked into this man's eyes, I could see that he was going to hell. It was obvious there was such a darkness and despair in his eyes that if he had died at that moment without the sacraments, he would have been damned. Just like that. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit. I don't know. But it was so clear to me he hadn't even said anything. All I had to do was look into his eyes. So I sat down beside him. And of course, I'm praying Hail Mary’s to myself in my head. Blessed Mother, tell me what to say. This is a strange situation. This is new for me. And he proceeds to tell me, you know, he's dying and he knows he'll be lost. He knows he'll be damned because of the evil things he's done in his life. And he's never repented of it. He's never gone to confession for it. And he's terrified. He is absolutely terrified. And I will tell you, that was an appropriate terror.
He should have been afraid and he was right. But I could see there was something deeper. There was something more, because he kept kind of furtively looking around the room. It was just the two of us. Right? The police officer was outside. There were no nurses or doctors in there. I asked him, what do you see? Then he looked quickly back at me. You could tell by his expression he was surprised that I noticed he says, there are these three dark figures like living shadows, pacing around this room I know they're waiting for me to die. That, again, was a new one for me. Never experienced that before. Still praying. Hail Marys in my own head. Blessed Mother. What do I say? I had an inspiration, and in that moment, I realized it must have been the Holy Spirit who these three demons were. I just knew and I said to him, I'm assuming that you would need to confess this, this and this pointed out the three demons connected with three specific grave sins that he must have committed in his life again, you should have seen the surprise in his face. How did you know? I don't know how the Holy Spirit must have told me, but it's just obvious to me. And he hung his head, and he was like, I don't I don't deserve to be forgiven. So of course, you don't deserve to be forgiven. Nobody does. But if at this moment right now, when God has provided to you a priest before your death, he's offering you forgiveness. Our Lord didn't have to let me be here. He could have let you die in sin. But I'm here. And he wants me to prepare you for your judgment. And I can fix this as a priest if you tell me your sins. And if you are sorry, I can absolve you and these demons will leave. And you could see the hope in his eyes. He wanted to believe me. But again, he was scared. He was very scared. I began to help him through a confession. It wasn't a short confession. You know, he's born and raised Catholic, but a very young age as a teenager, clearly taken a bad turn in his life drugs, alcohol, all that stuff, and turned to crime and had done many, many serious evils in his life. Obviously, three in particular, those three demons that were waiting for him. And the moment I gave him absolution, that darkness that I could see in his eyes just disappeared. This peace came over him and he said, they’re gone. The demons aren't here anymore. I proceeded to again anoint him, give him the holy anointing. I gave him Holy Communion, which he hadn't received in decades and then I gave him the apostolic pardon, which is the removal of all temporal punishment due to send. Basically get out of purgatory free card. He was perfectly ready to die at that moment and go to heaven. We talked a little more. I encouraged him to pray, gave him a rosary, and then I left. Now, at the end of our life again, when it's time for our death, when your soul separates from your body, there will be people waiting for you to take you before the judgment seat of God.
Who these people are is dependent upon what your final judgment is going to be. For most Catholics and Christians that I've been with at their deathbed, they will often see not all the time, but most of the time they will see deceased relatives present in the room with them. Basically, our Lord, what he does is to help you pass from this life to the next. He sends your loved ones who are already with him in heaven. He sends them back to you so that when you pass, you're comfortable. You don't have to be afraid. Because I'm with family. These people know me. I remember this one woman who was dying, and she kept talking to her grandfather, who had died when she was very young. But he was very old, and she kept saying, wow, you look so young. I've never I don't remember you ever looking so young. Now, some of the family just thought she was crazy and hallucinating. But I told them, no, he's probably here right now because our Lord is preparing her for this crossing. He's showing her. You don't have to be afraid. Come to me. I will judge you mercifully. But this criminal, when he was on his deathbed, who was there waiting for him? The demons that he had served in his life. And do you know what they would have done if he had died at that moment? They would have grabbed his soul and carried it to the throne of God and say he deserves to be with us. We own him. And they would lay out all the reasons why, and then our Lord would pronounce judgment. And if that soul was worthy of damnation, he would hand them over to these demons and they would drag him to hell for the rest of eternity. It's a terrifying truth, but because of the love and mercy of God, this young man no longer had to fear his judgment. But it will come to each one of us. Now, our Lord tells us very clearly in the Gospels that the ultimate way in which He is going to judge us worthy or unworthy of salvation is not. Which are you Catholic? Are you Christian? Are you a Muslim or Buddhist? Right. Which church or denomination or religious belief system do you belong to now? How did you treat the least of my brothers and sisters? That is the final arbiter of where we end up Heaven or hell. How do you value the weakest and most lowly of persons? How have you treated them? The ostracized those that the rest of the world places no value in. Do you see their value? Have you treated them the way you would want to be treated if you were in their place? That is the final judgment for each one of us. Yes, believing in Jesus Christ is important and necessary, but our church teaches very clearly that that our judgment, if through no fault of your own, you never came to believe in Jesus Christ. But if in God's mind you had learned about Jesus, you would have been baptized. He can save you.
Our Lord knows everything when he judges. Again, that's an important phrase. If through no fault of your own, you are not baptized. Our Lord will do everything in His power to save you. But He will still judge you based on these parameters, as he said, separating the sheep from the goats. The goats? Where do they go? As Matthew records our Lord, saying to eternal hellfire, eternal punishment. We'll talk a little more about hell tomorrow night. But the sheep to everlasting life, to peace, joy and happiness in God's presence. All of us have sin. And unless we die right after receiving the last rites and the apostolic pardon, we're probably going to have some sins that come up during our judgment. Our Lord is merciful. He wants to forgive our sins. Look at how much he was willing to do in order to bring about that forgiveness. What would he not do to save you from the eternal punishment? But he needs to see some effort on your part. He needs to see that, at least on some level, each one of us is trying to love and not just love anybody or any way to love the way God loves. The reason our Lord judges us based on how we treat the least of the people around us is because of a very simple theological reason. Our Lord has created human beings in His image and likeness. So how you treat human beings reflects on your belief in God and your belief about human dignity. If you treat them poorly, then you clearly don't think highly of God in whose image these creatures were made of. You treat them well. You do that obviously, out of respect for God, not because they deserve it themselves. I mean, if somebody is in prison for a good reason, they should be in prison. But our Lord says, visit them, visit them. Imagine always imagine yourself in their shoes. If I was in their shoes, what would I want you to do for me? Do unto others as we're taught, as you would have them do unto you. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. The degree to which you love and show mercy and kindness is the degree to which you will receive the love and mercy and kindness of God Himself. This is what you have to know about God. He is always just. Even when he's merciful, he's always just. He says, look, I will show you all the mercy you need so that in your judgment, you need not worry. However, since he's just he demands that you then show that same mercy to others who don't deserve it. That's fair. It's a simple rule. I try to remind you all the time. You don't love your neighbor. You don't show mercy to your neighbor because they deserve it. You do it because God deserves it. He shows you love and mercy when you didn't deserve it. You have an obligation. Which means when I show mercy and love to you, it's not actually an act of mercy and love. It's an act of justice. That's one of the beautiful things about our Lord. Everything he does is just. And everything he does is merciful. It doesn't always look that way to us, but it's true. And the more we're conformed to Christ, you'll begin to see that in your own lives when you do the right thing. Because it's the right thing. Because it's just. You'll learn that that was the most loving and merciful thing you could have done. I want to read you one more passage from the Scriptures. This is an important one in regard to our judgment. Saint Paul. In his letter to the Corinthians, he tells us, quote, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw, the work of each will come to light for the day and the day is capitalized. The day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire. And the fire itself will test the quality of each one's work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person 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, but only as through fire. Whatever Saint Paul uses the word day or the day. He's always talking about the day of judgment, basically the day of death. Whether that's your own particular death and particular judgment or the final judgment, the final death of the world itself. So on the day of judgment, that's what he's saying. Again, Christians in the early world just said the day everybody knew what they meant. On the day your deeds as a follower of Christ will be judged and how will they be judged by fire? He says. Now, whether he's speaking literally in some type of mystical sense, or this is just figurative language, we don't know. But he says, our deeds will be judged by fire and the quality of your deeds, the quality of the actions you performed in the name of Jesus Christ throughout your life will be determined by what survives the flames and what gets burned up. Whenever Saint Paul talks about building, right, he's always talking about building the body of Christ because we are the living stones, he says. And as living stones, the things we do in our life either build up the body of Christ, the Temple of God, the church, or they tear it down. But if you know anything about this language and how Paul describes it, there are different kinds of building materials, right? I mean, if you're going to build a house, especially one for God, you want to use the best materials. Now, if I was going to tell you that I was going to test the construction of your house by burning it, what kind of materials would you use? You're going to use wood, straw? No way. And I huff and puff and I blow that house down and so Paul is telling you, what do you what do you aim for in the Christian life? What are the best materials that you could build a house worthy of God that would survive fire itself? He tells us gold, silver, precious stones. If you know anything about how fire works with gold, silver, and precious stones, it is it purifies them more. It makes them more precious. The longer and the hotter the flame. That's how they purify these precious metals, as we call them. You put them in the fire, in the crucible, right? That's an actual physical object that you use to put metal in and heat up until it melts. This this time of fire after death corresponds to the judgment. Now, I have a personal theory, but don't know if this is true or not, but on some level, this is what seems to be, at least in my eyes, what purgatory is like. This place of fire in the traditional imagery of the church. After you've been judged and you are worthy to go to heaven, your deeds will then be tested. Now, why is that most likely the interpretation? Well, Paul tells us, but if someone's work is burned up, meaning its wood, its straw, It doesn't pass through the fire intact, one will suffer loss. Let's say all the good things you tried to do were just tainted by selfishness and self-centeredness and complaining and a lack of virtue. Well, there may be a tiny little bit of gold and silver that will get through, but there's a lot of wood and straw there that's going to burn up. Does he say you're going to go to hell for that? No. He says that person will be saved. They will be saved, which means they have followed the Lord. They have either been baptized, striven to to to be a sheep in his flock, but only as through fire he's not talking about the damned. This fire is not going to test the deeds of those who were judged to go to hell. They don't need the fire. They're unworthy. So they're just sent down with the demons to hell. But those who are worthy by the first judgment, which is, Are you a sheep or a goat? The cheaper than going to be tested by fire. This is, in a sense, still part of your judgment. Now you've been judged as saved, so you're going to be saved. You don't have to worry about that. But there's a further judgment, so to speak. There's a further point that we have to consider. That's why I like to view this as purgatory. Basically. I've got to pass through the flame.
Now, I personally like to think of this fire as purgatory itself, but also as the gate of heaven. You know, traditionally we say that Saint Peter is there with the keys of the kingdom, Right? And he opens the gate of heaven and lets you in or says, No, you're not allowed and locks it on you. I like to believe that this gate is not made of precious stones or silver or gold or metal. I think it's made of fire. It's the fire of God's love. And you are worthy to enter into God's presence. But your love has to be tested. Is it pure love or is are there impurities? So you have to walk through this wall of fire. Now, anything in us, even after we've been judged worthy of salvation that is not worthy to enter heaven has to get burned up. You can't take that with you. It's not pure and holy enough in the presence of God. And so this firewall that you're going through, I like that technology example to this firewall that you're going through is going to purify, polish you up, so to speak. So that you're shiny and perfect for the Lord. If there's a lot of wood and a lot of straw in my building process, it's clearly going to take longer to burn, isn't it? The more wood or straw you have, the longer the burning process, the less you have, the faster it burns. So when the church talks about length of time in purgatory, I believe that corresponds simply to that fact. This fire, if you've got a lot of wooden straw, which you can't take with you, it's going to take a while. Church says the average length of time in purgatory is 40 Earth years. That's a long time. 40 Earth years. So that means 40 years after you've died and been judged, the average Catholic is going to need 40 years to get through purgatory. That's why we pray for the poor souls in purgatory, to get them out as quick as possible. Nobody wants to be stuck there, but the Saints even have to pass through this fire. In essence, on some level they have to pass through, at least if my interpretation is correct, purgatory. But if their deeds have already been purified to a perfect degree in this life, they don't even feel the flames, Right. They just walk right through. Not affected at all. Not slow down at all. You go right into heaven. They're good to go. Purgatory is, in fact, part of the judgment. It's important that we consider this because it's not just about going to heaven or hell. Yes, that's the big question. Am I going to be a sheep or goat? That's far more pressing than the purgatory question. Definitely. But for those of us who do strive to follow Christ, to follow his teachings, to love as he has taught us, to love right, to receive his sacramental grace, to pray, we have a greater surety that we are going to be judged as sheep. We shouldn't presume upon it. We have more surety. Now, you have to ask yourself, What kind of sheep am I going to be? Am I going to be a glorious one? Great, because I've built so much out of love for God in this world throughout my life and the things that I've done, I've done them with the mind and heart of Christ, truly selflessly enduring every cross patiently without complaint. Offering all things to God through Christ our Lord. I mean, that's a tall order, but that's the goal for us.
Once you've answered the question of saved or not saved in regard to your judgment, you do have to ask What will my degree be in heaven? Now, most of us will say, rightly so, that, hey, look, as long as I get there, I don't care. Right. Isn't that really the point, though? You know, if I get through the gates, eventually I'm going to be happy. That's 100% true. Definitely no doubt whatsoever. Yeah. So that's okay. However, you have to ask yourself this question when you're aiming at a target, depending upon the point at which you aim, you're probably going to miss the target a little bit at least, right? It's possible. But if you're aiming at the wrong point, what if you miss that? You miss the target altogether. And that's why the church has always used the word sin to refer to things done that are not pleasing to God. Go against nature, go against his laws and his teachings. So the word sin, as you should remember, is actually an archery term. It's an archery term. It's an ancient archery term, thousands of years old, archery. You know, bow and arrow was the first real weapon along with spears. If you want to be good at using a bow and arrow, you have to practice. They would set up a target and they'd put a middle, you know, like a dot in the middle of the target. Call that the bull's eye, right? And the goal was you aim at the bull's eye. Now, depending on how good you are, you know, you may get close, you may hit somewhere around the outside of the bull's eye. But let's say if you're not even aiming at the center, at the bull's eye, let's just say you're aiming for the edge of the target. I'm just trying to get the edge of the target, just on the target at all. Well, what if you miss there's actually a greater percentage that you're going to miss the target altogether. And guess what? Fail. You know, if if our focus if our goal if the thing we're aiming at in our lives of faith is just scraping by, just trying to just make it into heaven, you might miss the mark. You might sin with that kind of goal. then you actually don't even get judged as a sheep. You're found to be a goat and cast out. The fire is then meaningless to you in regard to purgatory. You go to the eternal fire. There's a reason that our Lord Jesus Christ sets up for us in the church. This is why the church encourages us to what?
To achieve or to strive for sanctity, holiness of life. Not. I'm just going to make it, you know, mediocre as long as I can skirt by the skin of my teeth. No, the higher I aim, the higher my goal in my life of faith, the more likely I'm going to not only achieve greater holiness, a greater position in heaven, but just getting into heaven. It's just the prudent judgment that each one of us should make. If just getting into heaven was the job, then Jesus wouldn't have given us all of these high expectations, like the Beatitudes, Saint John Paul, the second used to speak of this so frequently. He used to encourage us to strive for greatness, not just, okay, nice, decent, nice, barely minimal mess, but greatness. Calling us. You should want to be sick. You should strive to be a saint, even if you never get declared a saint in this world. That's okay. That is the only goal we should strive for. That's why Purgatory matters. That's why, in the end, don't just set that minimal goal in your life because, you know, you're probably not even going to hit that. It's unlikely I'm going to hit the bull's eye, but that's okay. That's the goal because that's the goal that Christ set for me. He says, Don't just strive to be saved. Strive to be a perfect saint. And that's important because on the day of your judgment, when our Lord judges you, he is not going to take you and compare you to the rest of the people you knew in your life your parents, siblings, coworkers, that that person who sits beside you at church that costs so much and irritates you. Our Lord is not going to take you and say, okay, well, you're not bad as her or you're not as bad as him. So clearly, you're okay. No. On the day of your judgment, there is only one person to which you will be compared, and that is Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father will look down on you on the day of judgment and He will look at his son. He will look at you. And then he will determine, based on how much you imitate, how much you look like, how much you have striven to conform to his perfect boy. What parent would do differently? You know, as parents, if you had a perfect child, you judge the rest of your children by that person, even if you tried not to. If you had a perfect child, you would judge all other children by this child. What else do you expect other father to do? He's got a perfect kid. So he's going to compare us to Christ himself. Every single one of us falls short in regards to that judgment. So if I'm going through life saying, well, at least I'm not as bad as him, or at least I'm not as self-centered as her, what does that matter? That's irrelevant. God doesn't care. God only cares. How do you compare to his son? And that is a weighty judgment. Because even the blessed mother herself, who was perfectly conformed to the image of her son, is certainly not equal to him. But there is something important that she shows us in her perfect conformity to Christ that in regards to degree, no one can be like the Son of God, not in regards to quantity or degree, but qualitatively.
She is equal to his son. Why? Because Jesus gave all of himself in love. Now that all was divine, as well as human, so infinite. Mary gave all of herself in love, comparatively small in comparison to Jesus, but it was still all of herself. Qualitatively, it was the same amount. Jesus teaches us this when he calls his apostles over one day in the temple and he says, do you see all these wealthy people putting large sums of money into the Treasury, into the Temple Treasury? You know, you can imagine the wealthy people walking up these big bags of gold and silver shaking them everybody here is dropping them loudly into these containers. Everybody see, look how virtuous they are. Look at the large amount of money they gave. And she says, no, no, don't pay attention to them. You see that old lady? You see how she walks up so humbly and drops two small coins. Smallest coins. They were like half a penny, like two small coins. Nobody even noticed her. And Jesus says she has given more than all of the others combined. How is that possible? I mean, I'm sorry. Jesus. Don't you know math? Right. Have you ever, you know, worked with money before? Lord, clearly more is better, right? That's not how God judges. God doesn't judge based on amounts is the amount that I loved. The same amount that you loved. That's irrelevant. It's qualitative, meaning these rich people that gave hundreds, thousands of dollars at a time were so wealthy that amount of money was meaningless to them is what chump change? I think they call it chump change, right? There's no big deal. This was the only money this poor old woman had, and she gave it all for those wealthy people to qualitatively equal her gift. They would have had to sell their homes, all their property and possessions, give all of it to the temple. That's the nature of judgment for God.
We don't have to worry about the quantity. God doesn't care. Don't compare yourself to anyone else in your family, at work, at church. None of those matters. It's the quality of the gift that matters based on your particular life, your circumstances, what God is asking of you, only in comparison with his only son. That is the judgment we're preparing for and I can, by the grace of God, through prayer and the sacraments, get to a point at which I can learn to give all of myself in love to God and my neighbor the way Christ does, the way Mary does. My gift may be much smaller in comparison to them, but God doesn't care as long as it's all of me.
When you reflect and we should do this often upon your particular judgment, whenever that may come, keep in mind the, shall we say, parameters of judgment. You need to keep in mind how you will be judged, to whom you will be compared, and what exactly Christ is looking for when he judges you. Because if you can keep that in mind each day, you're going to find it much easier to motivate yourself to love the way Christ loves.
Now, I wanted to wrap up tonight with a beautiful quote. Took me a little while to find it online. I didn't have time to go get it from my my own books. So many of you should know of C.S. Lewis. Not Catholic, sadly, but amazing Christian writer. If you don't know him, I'm sorry, but he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia and tons of other awesome things as well if you're familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and that's the first one and the rest of them in the last book called The Final Battle, it's a long story. I'm not going to go into it. The main characters die, and they go, don’t worry, I'm not rooting for you. And they go to Aslan's country now. Aslan in Narnia is a giant lion that can talk. He's a real person, but he's a lion. He is the embodiment, according to see us, Lewis's explanation of Jesus Christ himself. So just think. Aslan. Jesus Christ. Okay, so that means Aslan's country is heaven. The good main characters have gotten into Aslan's country, right? They were good. Aslan blessed them and rewarded them, so they get to go to heaven. All of a sudden, this soldier goes through the gates of heaven and is amazed by this beauty and glory. Now, this soldier, very importantly, is called a tell Marine soldier. Now, tell me there was another nation in Narnia, but they were the baddies. Okay, Tell Marines where were the baddies? They worship to God named Tash. He was basically humanoid with a with a with an animal head, like a bird head. And he was not good. He was a demon, but he did not inspire virtue and holiness and people. This Marine soldier had striven to follow Tash his whole life, but here he is walking into heaven and suddenly he encounters Aslan, who is Christ for all intents and purposes.
And this is the encounter, as C.S. Lewis describes it. And one of the most beautiful things about this imagery, this language that he uses, and this particular text helps us to see how Christ judges, especially those who do not know him by name, especially those who do not know him by name. So again, this is from the The Last of the Chronicles of Narnia, the Last Battle. This is the Marine soldier speaking. Then I fell at his feet and thought, Surely this is the hour of death for the lion who is worthy of all honor, will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the lion and die than to be tis rock of the world and live and not have seen him. But the glorious one bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, Son, thou art welcome. But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash, He answered Child, all the service thou have done to Tash, thy account as service done to me. Then, by reason of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the glorious one and said, Lord, is it then true, as the ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The lion growled, so that the earth shook, but his wrath was not against me and said It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites.
I take to me the service which thou have done to him, for I and he are of such different kinds that no service, which is vile, can be done to me and none which is not vile, can be done to him. Therefore, if any man swears by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not and it is I who reward him. And if any man does a cruelty in my name, then though he says the name of Arslan, it is Tash, whom he serves, and by Tash, his deed is accepted dust. Well, understand child, I said, Lord, thou knowest how much I understand. But I said also for the truth constrained me. Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days, Beloved, said the glorious one, unless thy desire had not been for me, I would not have sought so long and so truly for all, find what they truly seek.
There will be many people you meet and know in your life that seem to serve demons because of their ignorance of Christ the Lord. Don't be afraid for them. Just pray for them. In the end, our Lord himself will judge. And that's not our job. We should be concerned only with our own individual judgment. Even the judgment of our spouses and our children is not within our power. Ours alone is our worry and concern. The rest of the world, even the ones that you love and trust them to the merciful judgment of God. As you hear C.S. Lewis put it so clearly, as long as they seek the truth, even if they never find it in this life, as long as they continue to persevere in following to the best of their knowledge, the Lord, even in their misguided on his true name, you don't need to worry for them. Our Lord desires the salvation of every one of His creatures. He desires no one to be lost. Why should I worry about your salvation when God loves you more than I ever could? Never underestimate, know, never overestimate your importance in the salvation of others. Trust me, you're far less necessary than you realize. They only need the Lord. They don't need you, your spouse, your children, your friends, your siblings, your pastor, your parishioners. They don't need you. They need Christ alone. But if us as individuals are humbly seeking our own salvation, humbly trying to follow Christ, then what you'll find is our Lord will be able to use you more effectively for their salvation. Put that in his hands. Strive for holiness yourself and the rest will be taken care of by the Lord.
The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking our Lady's Intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of Grace.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters. As you know, this Tuesday is the solemnity of our patron saint, Dorothy. We'll have a special mass Tuesday evening in her honor. And we're having adoration. Of course, we started Friday night and it's going to go until Tuesday evening. And normally, of course, we do 40 hours, but this year we're doing over 80 hours because it's our 80th year of being an official parish and more in regard to adoration is usually better. So, I just want to begin by thanking those of you who signed up to spend time with the Lord so that we could accomplish this, but also those of you. And there are many of you who sign up for multiple holy hours. So again, thank you all very much. I was a little concerned that I was going to have to spend a lot of time in adoration over the next few days if we didn't fill up all those hours. So not that that's a bad thing. But so, because of the way in which we're preparing ourselves for our solemnity, I've decided to preach on four topics over the next few days. These are what the Catholic Church calls the four last things. Like, you should all know what this is the four last things death, judgment, heaven, and hell. These are always called the four last things, because all of us are going to experience death and judgment, and some of us will experience heaven and some will experience hell.
That's why the church kind of has this saying, and that's why they're often preached together. So, at the Sunday masses that I started last night, and for the two masses this morning, I'll be preaching on death. It's always the first of the four tonight, if you want to come back to church. During adoration at 6:00, I'm going to preach on judgment. Monday night we'll have masses six. I will preach on hell. And then Tuesday night for the solemnity of Saint Dorothy's, I will preach on heaven. I thought we'll save heaven to last, since that's Dorothy's feast. I don't want to preach on hell, on solemnity. So, but today I'm going to be preaching about death. And, you know, in my sermons, I often talk about death because it's something that all of us are going to experience. I can say with some confidence that I'm 99% certain in 100 years from today, all of us will be dead again. It's very possible that some of the babies may live over 100 years, but it's highly unlikely in a hundred years from today, none of us will exist in this world. That's a very important and sobering thought.
Now, last night at Mass and, you know, a lot of times the older parishioners will go to the vigil mass. I had to curtail that and say in the next 30 years. But, you know, they understood for the most part, I can honestly say in 100 years, all of us have will have experienced death and ultimately judgment. It is coming and on a natural level that should concern us. You know, people who are afraid of death or are afraid of suffering have a reason to be afraid of these things. Why? Because when God created human nature, when he created Adam and Eve, they were immortal, not just in their souls, but in their bodies. They could not get sick, and they could not die. Sickness and death are a direct consequence of sin. We were never meant to experience these things. They weren't made for us and so it's obviously painful and difficult to experience that sickness and death. They always go hand in hand. However, even though on a natural level, it's understandable that we don't like these things and we can even fear these things on a supernatural level. It is irrational for a Catholic, a Christian, to be afraid of sickness or death. It is irrational. I find it to be one of the most scandalizing things when someone claims to be Christian, and yet they're terrified of death. You know why that scandalizing is? Because Jesus already conquered it. What are you afraid of? It's. This is the main message of the Christian faith. This is the gospel. Christ has conquered not only sin, but death itself and those of us who come to Christ and seek to live within his life, in his church, we share in those graces already. We know that, yes, we will die one day. But we don't have to be afraid of that because it's just temporary. Now, the main reason for a Christian to fear death is they're fearing their judgment. We'll talk about that tonight at six. But there's a very simple reason why you shouldn't fear your judgment. The sacraments. Have you heard of the sacraments? Baptism forgives all Sin removes original sin. If you commit sin after being baptized, confession or reconciliation, that removes to. What are you afraid of? Our Lord has won the grace to forgive all sins for as long as you exist in this world.
I often tell people, especially in confession, that there are two paths to heaven, two paths to holiness and salvation. The first is this. This is the ideal way. Never, ever, ever sin again and always do what God tells you to do. So, if you do that, you're assured of salvation. If that was the only path to heaven, give up and go home. You know that there's. There's no hope for us. That's why we have the second path. And it's not really a separate path. It's just, so to speak, the other side of the coin. And that is if you fail in the first way, repent. That's it. If you fail in the first way, meaning you sin and you don't always do what God tells you, then repent. If you can't be perfectly virtuous and following Christ with His grace, at least be perfectly repentant and he can still save you. Again, we know this, we know this, but we don't act on it. We don't respond in this correct way. We have such weak faith that sickness and death still causes us fear and anxiety. And it's not just our own sickness and death. This even happens when we're afraid of the sickness and death of our loved ones. No, Christian has the right to be afraid of these things. Death is not our enemy. Death for us is a blessing because it is the gateway through which we go to live in heaven with God. We should be looking forward to death. We should often think about death. Remember death not only so that you're ready for it when it comes, because that's really important. But keep in mind the glory, the life that is offered to us in heaven with the Lord. When you have that on your mind, you can't. You can't fear these things.
Some of you know, probably many of you know I'm a huge science fiction geek, nerd. I don't know what the right term is. I love science fiction. Loved it my whole life. Science fiction, books, movies, whatever it is. Right. Love them all. You must be careful. They're not all good or moral. So, you know, be careful when you choose them. But I love Star Trek. Huge Trekkie. Okay, I'm not like the cosplay Trekkie where I get the pointed ears and go around and, you know, 99 or whatever it is but I still love just the science fiction of it. Now, in the original Trek universe, there is a race of warriors called the Klingons. Everyone loves the Klingons. They are warriors to the core. All they dream about is conquest and honor in battle. And for them, the greatest death is a death in battle. And they prepare their children from a very young age to have this goal in mind.
If you want real glory, lasting glory, you must die in battle. It's a shame for a Klingon to die of old age in later Trekkie universes. There was also another race in another galaxy, and they were called the Vashti. If you really know them, I'm impressed. Don't worry if you don't. Really liked them because they had a lot in common as a totally different race of aliens. But again, they were very battle oriented. They were all about war and conquest. And they had a tradition that every night with their children while going to bed, they would help their children come up with a new way that they could die in battle. That's the kind of bedtime stories they had with their kids. You could get your head chopped off. Imagine that. You know, somebody swinging a sword, or you could get shot with a laser gun, right? Whatever it is each night you're putting your children to bed with the idea of thinking about their death, keeping their death in mind so that they could never fear it. Because that's an important thing about being a soldier, right? If you're afraid of death, you're not going to be a good soldier because a soldier has to approach death in regard to their occupational responsibilities. Now, I'm not saying we should necessarily follow this trend with our own children. It's not necessarily the perfect way to do it, especially when they're little. However, there's something important about that. One thing that we see in so many of the great saints is their desire for martyrdom. They don't just want to die. They want to die for Christ. One of my favorites is Saint Francis of Assisi. He always wanted to be martyred. He wasn't, but he really wanted to be martyred he got permission to go to the Middle East and to find the sultan, the head of the Muslim empire, and to preach Christ to him, to preach Christ to him, because he knew he would probably be killed for it. and that's what he wanted. So, he goes there, and he gets an audience with the sultan. He's telling them, you’re all pagans and you need to convert and come to Jesus Christ, you know, and be baptized and so he's hoping he's going to get martyred, but the sultan's not ready to martyr him, Francis says, I'll make you a deal. You build This is a true story. You build the biggest fire you can, and you choose some of your most faithful and holy imams, or like priestly leaders among the Muslims. And we will all walk into the fire together and whoever comes out alive has the true God. He actually said this, and the sultan was like, okay, I'd like to see this. We had this giant fire built. Francis was standing there waiting to walk in, but the imams that were chosen were so terrified that they ran away, they wouldn't walk into the fire and Francis turn to the Sultan. He goes, That's okay. I'll do it by myself. And he turns around and begins to walk into this this giant bonfire and the sultan sends his soldiers to tackle Francis and to drag him away. And then he has his soldiers send him away from that land. And Francis was like, why just let me walk into the fire? He goes, no, because if you come out alive, I'll have to convert. But that was the zeal that Francis had. He had he was fearless in regard to suffering and death. I'm not saying you have to be that fearless. Okay. Right. You don't have to kind of go after martyrdom the way we see some of the saints do. However, you need to be ready for it. We should always be ready. Christ, who has given his life for me, deserves at the very least that I be willing to give my life for him. I can't even think about that if I'm afraid of death. You are going to die, and many of you are going to die far sooner than you think. And for those who aren't in Christ trying to prepare themselves for death, Jesus tells you what's going to happen. You call yourself a Christian. You're not ready for death. You're not ready for your judgment. You know what's going to happen. I'm going to come to you. You will die when you least expect it. We have no excuse for not being ready to die at any moment. Jesus has warned us if we're not always trying to get ourselves ready through prayer, right through confession, then he's going to come when we're not ready. But if I'm striving to stay in the state of grace. Going to confession, praying, especially my rosary. If I'm doing these things, he won't surprise us. We will be ready and even if something happens where it seems like, you know, we can't get sacraments like the last rites before we die, our Lord will find a way. Like he wants to save everybody. If you're trying to stay in his good graces and pray and be ready for this inevitability, he's not going to surprise you. That's why I always love this story. A priest told when I was at seminary in Philadelphia. There was a huge snow snowstorm in Philly one winter, 30, 40 years ago. And the priest, who was the chaplain of the local hospital in downtown Philadelphia, could not get to the hospital because the snow drifts between the buildings were like 20, 30 feet high. It was impossible. Nobody could even leave their homes. He gets a call in the middle of the night is a Catholic who's dying. They need last rites. He can't even get out of his door. And he's devastated. As a priest, you want to be there, but he can't be there. And he says, I'm sorry. There's just no way for me to even get the few blocks. I can't even walk. And he just goes to the chapel and starts praying that God, you know, provide a priest. This person is dying in the hospital. Obviously, there's a lot of commotion with nurses and doctors coming in and out. And the man in the next room, an elderly man who was bedridden, he couldn't sit up even was woken up because of all of the noise and he calls to one of the nurses coming by and he says. What's going on? And the nurse said, Mr. So-and-so, you're Mr. Smith from the next room is dying. And because of the snowstorm, the priest can't come and give him last rites. And this old man, bedridden old man, says, That's okay. I'm a priest, and I always keep my oils and my stoles with me. But the nurses didn't even know he was a priest. Now he couldn't walk into the other room, so they unhooked his bed and wheeled his bed into the other room. They lined up the bed beside the dying man, and he was so frail and elderly, this priest that he couldn't even, like, reach over or sit up himself. So, the nurses had to, like, tip him over so he was close enough to anoint him. He gives them the sacraments that all of the sick, the apostolic pardon, his forgiveness sins, and within a short time that man dies. God knew the hour of death, and he knew it would happen at a time when the normal priest and chaplain could not get to the hospital. So, you know what? He arranged that a sick old priest would be assigned to the room right next door so that when the time came, this child of his that he loved would have the graces that Christ had won for him. This is one of the reasons why, as Catholics, we pray the Hail Mary prayer because what do we say at the end of the prayer? Right. Pray for us now and at the hour of our death. It's that last hour that's so precious and important. Yes, I need grace throughout all my life. But that last hour is the most important because it's that moment that determines ultimately how I will be judged. That's why praying to our lady is so important and to any of the saints and angels that they not only help us always be ready for death and judgment, but in the end that we know that Christ will be there with his his loving hand in his mercy. So, again, death is imminent, and it will be challenging for most of us in one way or another. But at the very least, Christ doesn't want you to fear it. Don't underestimate his love for you. Don't underestimate his desire to save you. But don't wait on his mercy. Seek it today. Today may be the last day. The last day of your life. In the name of the Father and of the Son. And of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begins at 18:46
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of the womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters. This past Thursday, as you know, we usually have a holy hour from 6 to 7, and once a year we choose one particular holy hour. And we did it this past Thursday to be our holy hour for life, where we come, and we spend time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We pray especially for, you know, the conversion of the people of this country and of the world for a greater love and respect for human life, the dignity of human life, right from conception to natural death. And it was really a great turnout. I was very happy to see all the families and kids here Thursday evening. And then afterwards everyone went into the hall, and they had a bunch of activities and some food, you know, for them to share so they could continue the message. But one of the nice things was this year, for the first time, we had a mobile pregnancy care ultrasound unit come. It's just, you know, huge truck thing with generators and an ultrasound equipment in it. And they came and they volunteered to do this to come. And they did free ultrasounds for any pregnant mothers here at the parish. And there were a number of ladies who got to see these ultrasounds and the kids, and the rest of the family got to see these living children in their mother's womb through the power of this this technology. It's a very special event. And it was going very well initially. And then you might have heard, but all of a sudden, the hope, all the power at Saint Dorothy's flashed off just like everything's shut down and then turned back on shut down and turn back on it, shut down and turned back on. And then it shut down and didn't turn back on. There was no power anywhere. Now, luckily, the ultrasound unit had its own power source. Right? It's, it's, it's mobile. It took care of that. There are no lights anywhere, no electricity. Like everything was shut down and I didn't think much of it, but we found out that one of the main transfer, former blue. So, some of the parishioners had seen it started sparking and then basically just kind of exploded. And obviously we you know, called the fire department and called they called the electrical company, whoever's in charge of that. And they tried to come over to fix it. But for the rest of the time that we were in the hall and that this event was going on, there was just no power at St Dorothy's. So, at some point, of course, the electrical company got here and put a new transformer in and when Meg Barrett was closing the hall after everybody had left and gone home, no one is here. Meg locks the door, and the power comes back on. So now if you know anything, Catholics don't believe in coincidence, right? We don't believe that. that's interesting. Or that was strange, how did that happen? Why did that happen? Right. We believe in Providence or what I like sometimes people say is instead of coincidence, we believe in God incidents. So why would this have happened at such an event? You know, why didn't this happen some other time during the day or night when we weren't using the church? You know, what was going on here? And it makes sense. And I'll explain why that it was probably some type of demonic entity that didn't like what we were doing right this this beautiful night in support of the dignity of life and encouraging the love of life, especially in the womb to the young children of this parish. So, they were trying to shut it down. Now, that should lead you to ask the question, how could a demon affect a transformer? Right. How does that work? You know, demons are spiritual beings. Transformers are metal and glass and electricity. What's the connection here? Well, something that The Exorcist have taught us for the last 60, 80, 100 years is that demons have a great proclivity for technology.
For some reason, demons have a great ability to manipulate, to work in and through all technology. Anything that runs on electricity, whether it's, you know, radio, television, Internet, doesn't matter what it is. They have this unique ability now that doesn't mean there's something intrinsically dangerous about technology. Demons can technically work through any physical thing in this world. Now, we don't. We know that demons can't possess things. Demons can't possess things. They possess people, right? They can possess people. But the word that Catholics use that the church uses is demons, can infest physical things, meaning dwell in and work through. So, it's not like they're controlling your TV or your computer or the, you know, transformer out by the road, but they can infest an effect and alter it and this is something that it's important for us to be aware of and that's why I'm sure many of you have heard before that. Now, I recently heard it was Saint Catholic and Seton who initially prophesied this in the 19th century. But also, I've heard that our Lady of Fatima prophesied this in 1917 to the children of Fatima that in the future Satan would have put a black box in every home through what went through which he would speak to the people.
Now, this was, if not a century, certainly decades before the television or the computer was invented. There was not even an idea of this black box and its usefulness. They didn't even know what it meant. But clearly, our Lord, through Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, through the Blessed Mother herself, was trying to get us ready for this. I think we can assume that that would include televisions and computers because typically they're black and they're shaped like a box you know, it seems the most logical interpretation. Now, again, this doesn't mean that television, the Internet, computers are intrinsically bad. They're just tools. That's all that they are. But because of the great evil that's done with them and through them at times, the lies and distortions, the power the demons have to work through them is actually strengthened.
Now, how does this work? Okay. When you look at Genesis, one of the things that God said to Adam very clearly is that I give to you dominion over the earth. Dominion simply means the power to rule and govern. Mankind was given by God the power to rule everything in this world, literally the whole world. But when Adam and Eve sinned, they surrendered that dominion to Satan. This is something that the fathers teach very clearly. Basically, they hand it over to Satan by doing his will instead of God's will, their power and authority over the world. And so ever since then, for however long we've been on this planet, Satan and the demons have been in charge of the physical world. And because of their dominion that they took from us, that we gave to them. They're able to rule and affect it in a very powerful way. Obviously, that was true then. It's still true now, but it's also true when a specific individual uses an object in a in a way that is not pleasing to God, you know, against the commandments and his teachings, they are actually increasing the demonic power over the thing that they're using. Like, we know that the number one thing that the Internet is used for is pornography. That is the number one thing. We also know that if pornography wasn't used on the Internet, you probably couldn't afford Internet in your home. That's what's paying for your Internet. Now, if that's the number one tool that the Internet and radio waves and television waves and all this is being used for, it's very demonic, right and so it's not surprising that demons have a great power over things like the Internet, like computers, like televisions and so we have to be on guard and careful about these things. Again, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with having one, but how you protect yourself and your family, how you use them is very important because they're easily accessed by demonic powers. One of the things that the church teaches us to do is say certain prayers in rejection of any demonic temptation or influence that could be coming upon us or our family. And we call them cattery prayers. It's just an old Latin word. It means to avert. Either to avert, to cast out, to get rid of evil, evil spirits in particular.
Now, every baptized Christian has the power and the authority to pray to prefatory prayers, you don't have to be a deacon, you don't have to be a priest, you don't have to be a bishop. You can pray these prayers any time throughout the day in your life for yourself and for those over whom you have authority. So, spouses, children, your own property. You can pray these prayers all the time. If you think, there's some type of demonic spirit or influence trying to affect you or your family or your home. And these prayers that you can go online for the repercussions. Got a great book on these prayers for laypeople. There's lots of ways you can get these prayers. But the simple way of saying a predatory prayer is this in the name of Jesus Christ, I reject and then you name the thing that you reject. It could be the demon of pornography. It could be the demon of lust or the temptation of murder. You know, you could choose any sin or any name of a demon. I'm not saying research the names of demons, but, you know, if you happen to know them, you know, you can use that prayer and if you are in the state of grace, since you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you not only have the power, but also the authority to do that and the demons must flee. They have to flee. Now, what happens if you're not in the state of grace? Well, it's the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of Christ within us, through the grace of Christ that enables us to overcome the demonic attacks in these situations. So, if I'm not in the state of grace, it's not going to work. Now, this is a problem. That's why when I fall from the state of grace, I need to rush back to confession as soon as possible and get back in the state of grace so that I can protect and defend myself and my loved ones against these attacks of the enemy. Many people often think, well, if I'm not in a state of grace, what's the point of praying at all? Right. It's not going to benefit me spiritually. I'm not getting grace for it because I've lost the Holy Spirit. So, so many people, when they're coming to me, say, you know, I keep falling to the sand and then I just what's the point of praying at that point? and this is where you make a grave mistake. You should still be praying, and you even should be using the prefatory prayers, even if you know they're not going to work. And why is this why being it so important that we do this? The church teaches us that there's a very important aspect of how the power and grace of God works in our lives, and it always works according to our nature. Our nature. Thomas Aquinas said it this way. He says, Grace builds on nature. Depending on the nature of the thing that is receiving grace or the person that is receiving grace, the grace will work in conjunction with that nature. Now we have not only sinful, sinful nature, right? Can composable nature, but because of that it's weak and it's frail. The graces that we receive oftentimes don't seem like they're working. Because you say, I pray every day, Father. You know, I've got a confession in mass, but I keep falling into sin. Well, that's not the grace is fault. That's your fault. That's our fault. And it means I need to learn to discipline my nature master and control my nature so that the grace can be more efficacious. So, the way you improve your nature is good habits and self-discipline. And the number one good habit that every believer should have been daily and frequent prayer. You see, even if I'm not in a state of grace and therefore don't receive grace in my prayers, if I'm keeping up with my prayers every day, I'm actually building a good habit in my nature and this habit of prayer makes it much easier to receive grace. Once I go to confession because I've got the habit I built up, the habit where I pray every day, whether I sin or not, I just keep praying. And prayer is so important. That's why the church says those who pray are certainly saved and those who do not pray are certainly damned. That's how important daily prayer is. If you're praying God can save you, if you're not, there is no hope for you. So, consistency, creating a habit of prayer in your daily life, whether that's the rosary, the act of contrition, whatever prayers you like, or predatory prayers, that is a very good and noble habit to have in your nature. So, when you are faithful to that and you build that up, that when you get back into the state of grace, the grace is going to work even more powerfully through you. But there's another rule to understand about prayer in general, especially directory prayers. So, the prefatory prayers are like a weapon you're using to fight off and defend yourself from the attacks of the enemy.
Just imagine for a moment, Let's say I gave you a sword. You've never wielded a sword before, but I've given you the sword and the shield. So, you've got these weapons of war, and your enemy is coming to attack you. But he has been wielding his sword and shield for thousands and thousands of years. He's probably better than you, isn't he? I would assume. So, you've now got these powerful weapons sharpers than his, stronger than his that you could defeat him with. The problem is you really don't know what you're doing. You just flailing around and, you know, terrified as he's coming at you. Your sword is ten times as big as his, but he's just better at it than you are. The deprecatory prayers are very powerful. They work because of the Holy Spirit dwelling within you in the state of grace. And yet if you are weak in spirit or weak in faith and not well practiced in using those prayers and trusting in the name of Jesus Christ, then guess what happens? You seem to still falter and fail. The enemy still seems to win. You fall back into sin. You can't blame the weapons that you're using. You're just not skilled in using them yet. And the adage is very true here, practice makes perfect. So just keep praying them. Keep using these prayers, keep praying all your prayers, even if they don't seem to you to be working because the more you use them, the more you pray them, the better you get at it right. Practice makes perfect and you'll get to a point in your life in which, hey, it's working now. the prayers just suddenly started working. No, they've always worked. You have just finally mastered them in a way that they're able to work through your nature even better than before. This is why these habits of prayer are so essential in the spiritual life, regardless of the state of grace, regardless of whether in mortal sin or not.
That doesn't matter. Pray your prayers. Always say these prayers. Now, in the Gospel today we have this account in which Jesus easily casts out this demon. He performs an exorcism and of course, the people who are hearing him speak are already amazed by the way he speaks. Whenever you hear in the Gospels that Jesus speaks as one who has authority and not as the scribes, what this means is that when Jesus speaks, he doesn't quote Moses all the time, or Abraham or Elijah. He simply says, I tell you, I say to you, So Jesus is speaking on his own authority with the scribes in the Pharisees would usually say, Moses teaches you right, they would quote other people. So, Moses is authority. They invoke not their own. But Jesus speaks as if he himself has authority to tell us what to do. I'm telling you; it doesn't matter what Moses said. I'm telling you to do this. Do it because I have said so. And then he proves his authority by casting out a demon. Right. That's always something concrete. You need to see that the authority is real. So, he cast out this demon in. Everybody's amazed. Like, not only does he speak with authority, but he also actually has the power and authority to do it. Now, you, as lay men and women, even I as a priest, do not have the authority to perform an exorcism that's casting out a demon, that's possessing a person. We don't have the authority to do that. But did you know you have the power to do it? Every baptized Christian who's in the state of grace has the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, which means they can cast out demons.
They could technically perform exorcisms, but we're not allowed to do it. I'm not even allowed to do it because I don't have the permission. Basically, I need the Pope and the bishop's permission to do that. So, I've got the power, but not the authority if I attempted to cast out a demon from a person to perform an exorcism without Bishop Julius giving me permission, the demon can laugh at me. You can't hurt me. You can't do anything. You have no authority here. Your power is useless. So that's why we should never attempt to do exorcisms. Whether we have the power or not is irrelevant. You also need the authority. But one of the things I do every week here at Saint Dorothy's on every Friday is I do the exorcism prayers from Pope Saint Leo.
Pope Saint Leo wrote the most recent version of the Prayers of Exorcism and the prayers that I say again once a week as pastor of Saint Dorothy's and the whole parish and all the land and people and families and homes and everything that belonged to it is I pray these prayers which are exorcism prayers not for people, because I'm not allowed to do that, but for every other thing. I am weekly exercising to the furthest extent of my authority, every object within the parish, every object in your home, every object that you own, and everything within the geographic area that encompasses our parish. I always include not only, you know, fit, you know, clearly physical objects, the land, the water, cars, buildings, clothing, gasoline, you know, whatever it is, physical stuff. But I also include electricity, internet, radio waves. I include all of them because they're all physical. And again, demons they don't possess, but they can infest these things very easily and each week I do this just as a kind of a weekly cleaning of all your property and possessions in Saint Dorothy's parish. Just kind of making it a little easier doesn't mean they don't keep coming back in. Any time a human does some grave evil or sin, they're inviting the demon back in and I got to go and clean house every week, and that's okay. I'm happy to do that. But even in your own homes, you have the right and authority in your homes and with your own property. It's very important that you pray these two deprecatory prayers.
Parents should be doing this over their children. If you see one of your children struggling with anything, not just a sin, it could be something like depression or anxiety. In the name of Jesus Christ, I reject. I cast out the demon of anxiety from my child. You can do this again. You might not be great at it when you start, but you just have to keep practicing it and as you grow, the power begins to flow more easily through you, and you'll see the effect in your family and in your homes. That's why I like to bless or exercise bells and candles, salt, and water. Because when you use those in your home again, they cast out demons when you use them with your children. It's an old tradition that if you ever find that there's a lot of kind of angst and resentment building in the house and people are starting to get on edge and fight, you bring the exercise bell and then the demon that's associated with those evils and temptations must leave. You must leave. That's why those things are so powerful. So, it’s not just the objects that we can exercise and use, but these prayers that we should learn and always have in our tool belt ready to help defend ourselves against the constant, the daily attacks of the enemy. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begins at 15:08
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen
Good morning, brothers, and sisters. As Catholics, all of us should know the words virtue and vice, virtue having to do with good thoughts and good actions that are in right order with our nature and with God's plan and design vices or bad thoughts and bad actions that go against God's plan and design and our nature. So obviously, sin is a vice, right? Whatever way we sin, that's vicious behavior. That's where the word comes from, from the word for vice. So in our first reading from the prophet Jonah, we hear as we know, the story of Jonah, he gets swallowed by the whale, gets spat up on shore, and then he has to go throughout Nineveh preaching that 40 days more and God will destroy you because of your vice, because of your sin, So because of your vicious way of living, you're not in conformity with God.
God has decided to destroy you and this city. And again, it takes them three days to walk through the city. But even at the end of the first day, everybody in Nineveh is ready to repent. They put on sackcloth, they sit in the ashes and they fast. They don't eat food and don't drink. And when God sees their change of heart, he repents of his intention to destroy them. Right? This is what it says when God saw by their actions and by their actions how they turned from their evil way He repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them. He did not carry it out. And this this is one of the essential Christian messages that it's not enough to have faith in Christ. It's not enough just to have faith. We have to act on that faith. That faith has to be put into practice in our lives by how we think and what we choose to do. And so, the life of Christ, as the church explains it to us, is a life of what we call virtue. There are many different virtues. We have to work on all of them and grow. Some people are better, and one virtue as opposed to another. And yet some of us are weaker in one virtue or another. And so, we have to strive harder in that virtue. It doesn't matter what the virtue is. I'm not going to go into all of them today. There's too many. So, but it's actions, right? It's actions that God is looking for from us, his people, because it's our nature. God created us with these bodies through which we live and interact. And so, if my faith, if my trust in Jesus Christ is only a matter of my mind and heart, and it doesn't do anything to change my way of life, then clearly, it's hollow, it's empty. But we live in a culture that no longer encourages virtue in its people. Right. You can call it the woke culture. You can call it the victim culture, whatever you want to call it. Instead of holding up what we call virtuous actions as the goal that all people of our society should strive for, right? Even just natural virtue, let alone the supernatural virtues. Instead of doing that, it's lauded and praised. When somebody claims that they a victim, they see that as a mark of pride. I'm oppressed, I'm broken. That's not a mark of pride. There's nothing good in that. It doesn't mean we condemn them for their brokenness. Right? Christ teaches us we love all especially the poor and the weak and the vulnerable the most.
But we don't praise them for their vulnerability and weakness and vice. There's nothing good in that It needs to be repented of. And then that person needs to strive for virtue. But we don't get that culturally anymore. And so, our culture, our country, just like Nineveh, is, is on the path to destruction. Hopefully we get a little more than 40 days, you know, but in the end, you know, if we can't turn things around, then destruction is the inevitability, because Vice always requires, in the end a response from God. He has to stop it when it's so far spread throughout a country. So how do we as individuals affect the national problems that we have in this country and throughout the world? Well, that's the key. We simply do it as an individual. You just work with yourself trying to grow in virtue and with those closest to you, trying to help them grow in virtue. And ultimately, it begins at home. Right. All of you know, all of you parents in particular, how you act, how you speak at home is how you are raising your children. They absorb everything, even if you don't realize you're teaching it simply by the way you talk and act you are. And so, we as parents have a responsibility to live lives of virtue, especially in our homes. And yet that's one of the hardest places to do it, right. The people you live with usually fight with the most or most resentful of hateful towards at times disobedient to where's the virtue If you can't change your own heart with the grace of God and help to change your family, then there is no hope for this culture. Absolutely no hope. And for how long have each of us individually striven to try to grow in holiness and virtue. And yet we fail? Time and time again, it's because we can't really do it as individuals. Like we need each other to help grow in virtue. That's why Christ, in instituting his church, made sure it was a community gathered together, working together, praying together to help all of us not only repent of our sins and believe in Christ, but then, by His grace, grow in virtue.
So one of the things we are doing at Saint Dorothy's in union with Saint Aloysius is we're starting up a group called Fraternus . There's another group called Fidelis that I'd like to start up to, but we don't have enough female volunteers. So, the whole point of this group called Fraternus, or the one we'll eventually start called Fidelis, is to help men and women grow in virtue. That's it. And it's not done in any academic like setting. It's not like catechesis, right? We have to sit down, like at school and learn stuff that we know it's far more natural and practicing and conversational. They play games, they eat food together. They have a meal together, right? It's a very good environment. It's not a class, but for fitness. It's where fathers and sons work together in this program, it's a great Catholic program to help them grow in virtue. Now, we fathers clearly need to grow in more virtue, but if we grow in virtue, we can help our sons grow in virtue, vice versa with Fidelis, which is for mothers and daughters, for women, again, it's to help them grow in virtue. Because, you know, young ladies, you're going to learn to be a woman based on the life of your mother, how she lives and acts. Young men. You're to learn to be a father based on his actions and his words. We as parents have a great responsibility to strive for virtue, but we need other men to help us. Lives need other women to help them. And that's what these groups are designed to do. You don't have to do it on your own. You're not supposed to do it on your own. We're supposed to work collectively together. So like I said, we're starting later this month for attorneys. We're not going to be able to start Fidelis right away. We again, ladies, you got to volunteer. We need you to step up and volunteer because it's run by you, the people. Right. So the men run fraternus. The women run Fidelis. But later this month, on the 29th, on Monday, the 29th, it's going to start up at Saint Louis, just in Hickory. They have a great hall with lots of extra rooms underneath the church. If you're not familiar, just drive up there. You'll find it's easy. It's my home parish. And so for the first four meetings of fraternities is for the men and the young men. It's just basically a come and see experience. There's no commitment required. You don't have to. There's no cost. They'll feed you while you're there. It's from 6:30pm to 8:30pm on Monday nights, starting every week on January 29th and again for four weeks, or just come and check us out and see what you think. I really strongly encourage you men, either with your sons or even without your sons, right to go in and try this. I think you'll be impressed by the program, and it'll help you personally grow in virtue and lead your sons to grow in virtue again. Ladies, I need to encourage you to step up so we can start Fidelis for the ladies as well. Some of our parishioners have already been doing this at other parishes. They've been driving out to other parishes just to have their kids in these programs. And not only the parents, but the kids, them, the kids, I shouldn't say the young men and women, they rave about it. They absolutely love it. It's really fantastic. So, again, I would just strongly encourage you to consider this because how often have we failed in our lives of virtue trying to do it on our own? The whole point of this program is you don't have to do it on your own anymore. You're going to have the support of other men and young men, other women, and young women. And it's us working together to help all of us collectively grow. So again, please just pray about that. Consider it after mass today, some men will be out in the foyer to answer any questions you have about fitness.
I'm sure you can ask about Fidelis because they're similar programs. But please, you know, take a moment, stop talk with them, at least be open to the idea. Now, there is a cost in the end to pay for the program if you're joining it permanently. But if there are some of you who aren't interested in getting involved and maybe don't have any kids that you could bring, you can still come in and help out. That's not a problem. But, you know, if you want to give a financial donation to help families and young men and women attend these things without, you know, having the burden of the cost, I don't remember what the prices are. You can talk to them about it. There's kind of one set price yearly for the program and then you just break that down between the members.
But again, please consider this. It's really a phenomenal program ultimately for ourselves. It's going to take sacrifice, as we know, to grow in virtue sacrifice like the nine invites wearing sackcloth. If you know anything about sackcloth, it is very uncomfortable. You don't want to wear sackcloth sitting in the ashes. I'd rather sit on the couch. So, sitting in ashes is penitential, right? Not eating food, not drinking. That's certainly very painful to the body, you know, and lifting up my mind and heart to God in prayer. You know, it's these actions where we sacrifice things in our lives, where we actually choose to suffer the loss of good things so as to show God, we are repentant, and we do want to change our ways. So, yes, these kinds of events will be sacrificial. Even getting up for mass on a Sunday morning, the sacrificial, you know, I mean, I'd like to sleep in too, so but when we are willing to give things up for the Lord, not only does it please him because he sees our desire, but it enables us to receive all of the graces to grow in virtue that he pours out upon us, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Jon 3:1-5,10; Ps 25: 4-5,5-7,8-9; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20
Homily begins at 17:49
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking a lady's intercession, let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters and Merry Christmas. Remember, we celebrate Christmas for the entire octave, and then we continue with the season of Christmas. So tomorrow I will end the octave of Christmas with the solemnity of our lady. But today the Church gives us the Feast of the Holy Family. This is the day we celebrate this particular feast. Why in particular? Because this isn't just the Holy family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in the sense that they're the holiest family, obviously their holiest family. So, you know, you've got the son of God, you've got the immaculate Virgin, you've got his foster father, Saint Joseph, that these are like the three these are the three best people ever. Clearly, their family is always perfect and holy and they're the model for each one of our families. If we really want to be holy ourselves and have a holy family, then this is this is our model. But there's a deeper theology here, a deeper mystery that's important that we contemplate. And we need to ask the question why, when Christ came into the world did, he choose to come into the world through a family? I mean, he could have done it any other way. He's the Lord, right? He could have simply created a new body for himself, like he did with Adam. We might take some dirt, some dust, some clay from the earth, form a new body, give it a soul, and then become incarnate with it. He could have done that, but he didn't.
Everything the Lord does, everything he does, has an important meaning for us. If we can meditate and if we can learn to see it. There is a very important reason why Christ the Savior came into the world in a family. And it's for one simple reason because individual humans don't exist. We should think about that for a minute. Individual humans, persons, they don't exist in the sense that individually, separate from all others, all human nature, all human nature designed by God, is communal, is technically familial or a family. Right? When Adam was first created and he was the only human on earth, he was lonely. He wasn't complete, he was missing something, and he didn't know what it was. Of course, he should have been lonely and incomplete because no individual can stand on their own. They weren't created to, and God made him Eve. Now he wasn't as lonely anymore. But that still didn't complete the image because the very first command God gave to Adam and Eve was fruitful and multiply. Make a family. The family, the three essential members of the family, the father, the mother, and the child. You can have more than one child, but ultimately, it's that three basic paradigms of persons. They embody God himself. They embody that's an important word embodied in their bodies. They reveal God himself. And since we know through Revelation that God is a Trinity, a trinity of persons, He's not a solitude, he's not an individual, he's a trinity of persons.
Saint John Paul the second said very rightly, that God, in the depths of his mystery, is a family. He is a family because it contains within himself fatherhood, sonship, and the essence of the family, which is love. That's what Saint John Paul, the second said. Since God is eternally Trinitarian multiple persons, then when He created us individual persons, he had to do so in a Trinitarian way because he's a trinity and so he designed the family. He designed the father to embody his fatherhood. He and he designed children to embody his son. And he designed woman to embody the Holy Spirit, the love of the Father and the Son. This is the model, the model for each one of our families and in this embodiment of that Trinitarian dynamic, that Trinitarian reality, we have God revealing Himself to us. God does not just reveal himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Yes, he does that, but the person of Jesus Christ never comes alone, right? Either He comes with his mother and his father, or he in the person of his father is the bridegroom of the church. And the church is the mother, and the people are her children. It's always trinitarian. It must be because everything in creation was designed by the Trinity himself. And you know, if you're going to make something, you're going to make it like yourself, right? If you're perfect, if you're completely perfect, then anything you would create would reflect to some degree that perfection. All persons, all persons, all human persons must embody the Trinitarian image and we can't do it alone. We can only do it as a family. That's why in every relationship we ever find ourselves, you will always fit into one of those three roles. You will either be a father, a mother, or a child. It doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't matter whether it's spiritually or physically. And every relationship, you're going to embody one of these three roles because those are the only roles any human could ever be, because that's who God is. The Father obviously is the origin of fatherhood. The son is the origin of being a child, and the Holy Spirit is the origin of what we call maternity or love. This is why whenever Satan wants to attack humans, he always attacks the family. Because if you can break down the family, then you can break down the image of God in his people and once the image of God no longer exists, then you can recreate it into anything that you want. You can pervert it and twist it. I recently heard and I agree completely that you can tell the health of a culture by how they treat the family, by whether they protect the essential nature and roles of the family as created by God, or whether they perverted and twisted.
We are so perverted as a culture that not only is the family twisted, unrecognizable from God's creation, but individuals themselves can decide which gender they're going to be. I mean, if anything is demonic, that is demonic because now creation has no meaning, embodiment has no meaning. My body doesn't mean anything because I can be a woman if I want to be. That's insane. That's insane. We are what our bodies manifest, right? Little boys grow up to be men, fathers, little girls grow up to be women mothers. There is no choice in this. Why? Because I didn't make this body. I don't get a decision and my feelings are irrelevant. I follow my creation; my creation comes from the creator. Again, you attack this most fundamental nature of human existence. The family itself. You attack the Trinity, the image of God. And this is why conformity to our nature and to the teachings of Christ in this regard is so essential to save the culture. The only way to turn this society around is to save the family. The only way and the only way most of you can save the family is if you individuals that you are fulfill your roles in the family the way Christ intends, and this is ultimately what Saint Paul is saying to us in our second reading from Colossians. He says something. He says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. The word of Christ, the teachings of Christ is the word. But let this word dwell in you richly. When you think of the word rich, think of abundantly overflowing, right? When we think of wealth or riches, that's what we think. It's not a little money. No, we're tons of money, overflowing money, wealth. This is the word of Christ. He says, let it fill you and overflow and you are richly. Why? Because the word teaches us how fathers are supposed to act, how mothers are supposed to act, and how children are supposed to act. The word is very clear. It doesn't confuse at all what we are supposed to be doing as Christians. And if this word fills me and overflows in me, then I will be trying to live that out in my life, in my family life. And if I'm following these teachings, this word in my individual life, then it will begin to positively affect the people in my family. If I'm a father, it'll affect positively my wife and my children. If I'm a mother, it'll positively affect my husband and my children. If I'm a child, it will positively affect my mother and my father. Either way, it will benefit and bear fruit in your life and the lives of that immediate family around you. And once your family becomes a holy family, then that family can go out. Once those children grow and make more holy families, then their kids can make more holy families. And then what happens over time? Couple of generations. Society is then corrected. Until the family is renewed in the image of the Holy Family, in the image of the Trinity, there is no hope for this culture. None. You should put no hope in it. But this is true throughout history, not only in Old Testament times, but even over the last 2000 years in the history of the church. Whenever society has become so perverted that it perverts the individuals that make up the family, there is no saving that society. Usually, God can do anything. But what God must do is destroy the society and then start over. I don't mean start over like he did with the flood. You know, he promised not to do that again. But whatever good people survive, the Lord recreates Holy families again and they then rebuild a new culture based again, hopefully on our Lord's design. But when Saint Paul tells us to have the Word of Christ well, as dwell in is richly, we need to study. We need to meditate on this word. Otherwise, we're going to forget in the moment our role in the family. And Saint Paul has great teachings on this in the New Testament, in particular Old Testament as well. But there are very clear teachings on how fathers should behave, how mothers should behave, and how children should behave. And he summarizes it here in Colossians quite well as Chapter three cautions Go read it. You can just memorize this stuff and then you're good to go. This is a good summary of everything God tells you to do. That's it. Okay. This is this is the summary, brothers, and sisters. We are speaking, all of us put on as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, be compassionate kindness, be kind, humility, be humble, gentleness and patience. Be gentle, be patient with one another, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. That means putting up with the people you live with, putting up with them, you know, being patient with them and forgiving them their offenses. When they offend you or sinned against you, always be ready to forgive. That's a good summary of the entire Christian life. But he goes on as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do so? Why do I forgive my spouse? Why do I forgive my children and my parents? Because God has forgiven me, not because they deserve it, not because I want to. It has nothing to do with my desires or my feelings because Christ has forgiven me.
That is why I am compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient and forgiving with them, because Christ is that way with me. And over all these put-on loves, Paul says. That is the bond of perfection. You do these things and ultimately that will be loving. You will put love upon your life in your way of acting and let the peace of Christ control your hearts. This is probably one of the keys to following the Word of God to following the commands of God is the peace of Christ. He says, let that control your hearts. Why? Most of us, when we sin, most of us, especially in our relationships, is because our feelings get hurt, our emotions get stirred up and we react instead of thinking and acting. But if my heart is always at peace, if the peace of Christ is always controlling it, then I never lose control. I'm always making the right decision in the right moment because I can think clearly and peacefully. But if the peace of Christ isn't controlling my heart, what happens? It gets fearful and afraid and upset and hurt. And then it inclines me to act in an imperfect and unloving way. How is it that the peace of Christ controls my heart? Ultimately, the peace of Christ is given through the forgiveness of sin, and that comes primarily through the sacraments, baptism, and confession. You want the peace of Christ to grow up in your heart and your home. Go to confession. That's where the peace comes from. When you know that you're forgiving of all your sins, you'll be at peace when you're not at peace, probably because you've got some sins that you need forgiven to go to confession and get forgiven. Then he again goes on to say, the word of Christ may dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom. You teach and admonish one another, saying psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Again, a very good point there. The singing of songs. What kind of music do you listen to? What kind of songs do you sing in your spare time? Not just on Sunday or during Mass? Obviously. Make sure we have good music here, you know, good songs, but are you singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs Throughout the day? The word of God tells you to. Are you doing this? no. I just turn on the radio. yes, because that's great music. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Do everything for Jesus in the name of Jesus giving thanks to God and then Paul summarizes his teaching on the family again. It's explained in more detail in other passages. Ephesians five is one. But he says Wives. What is the role of the wife? The mother in the home to be subordinate to her husband, as is proper in the Lord subordinate under the ordination or authority of another place. Both Peter and Paul say wives obey your husbands because your husband represents Christ who is head of the church the husband is the head of the home, the head of the family. Next, he says, husbands love your wives and avoid any bitterness toward them. You know, this is really the surprising line here in the Scriptures that husbands should love their wives and avoid any bitterness towards them because in the entire history of the church and throughout the known world, even to this day, everyone has always recognized that the husband is the head of the family. It's always been known. But what hasn't always been known is that this headship should be one of love and service and not lording it over those over whom he has authority.
That's what Christ teaches us. There's never been a different teaching in any culture, in any religion. The husband is always head of the family, the home he always is. When Paul reminds wives to be subordinate to their husbands, they would have been, yeah, okay, fine. Yeah. That's what's expected of us. No surprise there. But the husband should love his wife and avoid any bitterness towards her that would have shocked them in another place. He explains. Love your wives as Christ loved the church. That's what that looks like. He's saying Husbands be willing to die for your wives. How many husbands throughout every religion and culture would be willing to do that? That's the surprise. Children are told to obey their parents in everything and everything. Not in some things or in most things’ children and so as long as you are under their authority, so presumably. Well, because of the laws of this country, that means if you are under their authority or even if you're 18 years old or 19 years old and they're still paying your bills or for your college, you're under their authority until you get out from under them, pay your own bills and lead your own life. Obey them in everything and everything. Absolutely everything they say. And then lastly, he ends with another teaching for us fathers. Fathers do not provoke your children. Do not provoke your children, so they may not become discus urged. We have this ability as fathers because of our sometimes-unrealistic expectations to provoke our children and cause them discouragement. We're commanded not to do this or commanded not to do this. Basically, fathers be kind, be gentle, be humble, be patient. Now, again, this is the let's call it quick and dirty summary of the Holy Family. One of the reasons we don't understand this design and why this is the only and correct way to live in the world in any type of family life is because we don't understand God. I'll just kind of try to tie it up with one more reflection based on this, why men and women are so different and why our roles in society and in the family are so different. God created men to embody again in their physical bodies to manifest his power and his authority. That's what masculinity was designed for, to represent God's power and authority. That's why men within God's design of the family, they're the ones with the greatest power and the greatest authority. And even biologically, clearly, they have more power. Anyone who has power has authority, they go together. Whatever anybody tells you, there is an intrinsic difference between biological men and biological women. Women were designed and created by God to embody God's love and God's humility. Now, from what we know about the Lord, what is more important to him? Power and authority or love and humility in God's own mind and teachings? Does God say I'm the God of power, I'm the God of authority? No, He doesn't identify with those attributes. He says, I'm the God of love. I am love. Which means if you had to choose between men and women who embodies God's nature and its highest perfection, it's the ladies. It's the women, not the men. So why would God put men in charge of the family when they don't embody his love in the same way that women embody it? You see, our Lord intentionally made a distinction in these two expressions. Does that mean mean that men don't have to be humble in love because they don't embody it? No, of course they must. It's part of being like God. Does that mean women don't have authority and power because they're women? No, of course they do. We're told that they have authority and power over their children, but that's not what they embody or express within their bodies, in their roles in the family. Our Lord intentionally separated these two attributes between masculine and the feminine because there is an order to reality. In order to reality, well, you get a little more theological for just a moment. Try to follow in God in the eternal God, who is the first person? It's the father. In the name of the father, he's always the first person. And the father. Surprise, surprise. With that name, right. The father of the Trinity embodies, if you will, the power and the authority of God. Now, the son, which is the second person, is the image and likeness of the father. On some level he reflects that power and that authority as well. But the third person, the last person of the Trinity, so to speak, is the Holy Spirit. He is the love between the Father and the Son in God himself. The third person of the Trinity is the person that embodies the whole Trinity in its most perfect way. Since God is Love and the Holy Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son. That means the last person of the Trinity, again, so to speak, is the one who manifests or embodies what God sees as his greatest attributes, his love. Since that is what we know to be the truth about God. Then when He created human beings in his image and likeness, he had to embody in them the same truth and it doesn't mean that we're not all called to love. Of course, we are. That's the highest of goods. But that doesn't mean that's each of our roles. We all embody a different role, and together we complete the Trinitarian image in being a family. This is what we are defending as Catholics by our very lives. It's the truth of the trinity of our God. This is something worthy to die for, to die for Christ. Clearly, the highest of deaths, but to die for any of the truths of Christ is just as noble. For whatever sacrifice God asks of us regarding living out this truth, we need to pray for the grace to be willing to offer it. And most of the time God is not going to ask you to physically die, to embody this truth, to be a father the way God expects you to be a father, to be a mother, the way God expects you to.
To be a mother, to be a child, the way God expects you to be a child. But you must die to yourself, to your pride, to your way of wanting to do things. You have to die to that. That's the only way. And again, if you want to save this country, this culture, this is the way you sacrifice yourself by allowing the Word of God to dwell in you richly, to fill you up and overflow from you so that everything you do each day within your relationships is an imperfect conformity to the teachings of Christ.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begins at 22:26
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of the womb, Jesus,
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen
Merry Christmas, brothers, and sisters. In this great day in which we celebrate our salvation, our savior coming into the world, it's very important that we take time and consider the manner in which he came. Now we all know the story. Like the back of our hand, right? Jesus was born in Bethlehem, even though Mary and Joseph were living in Nazareth. The reason is because Caesar had declared a census in the Roman Empire, in order to count all of the people to accumulate the census, it was required that you had to go back to your family, your tribe's original city, and be counted there. There was a lot of traveling throughout the Roman Empire at this time, especially in Judea and since Joseph was of the House of David and David's original city is Bethlehem, here is Mary nine months pregnant, and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. And imagine it was a, a several days journey already. And it made it even more challenging that Mary is ready to pop, as we say. They get there, and they have to be getting there probably later than the rest of the people returning to Bethlehem. It's not surprising that all of the ends, all of the spare rooms were full. Now, I just want you to imagine that your Joseph, your responsibility is to take care of the mother of God and Jesus Christ. The Son of God. Like your one job is to get them a nice, warm room where he can be born and you fail miserably, right? I like to picture him literally going from house to house. Just please. Please. My wife is ready to give birth. I just. We just need a place. Just any little corner of a room up sorrowful. Try the next house down. Right. And probably 4 hours he went on searching until finally, clearly, there's no room left some Good Samaritan soul says, well, I've got a barn in a cave out back. You know, besides the animals, nobody else is in it if you'd like. Joseph, of course, realizes this must be the place. Clearly wasn't his plan. Right. He had no intention of the mother of God giving birth to the son of God amongst animals in the stable. It wasn't his plan. He failed at his one job and he brings them to this stable. I can only imagine the apologetic look on his face to Mary. Sorry, but you have to know something about Saint Joseph and the Blessed Mother, because they, among all believers, understood the Divine Providence. They understood that the will of God is not our always our will. That God has plans, greater plans than we can imagine. I know I absolutely know for certain that he and the Blessed Mother accepted this as the will of the Father. Clearly, they both did everything they could to find some room or house, and they failed. It's not like they failed because of some lack of effort on their part. They didn't even try. Their failure was part of God's plan so that his son would have to be born in a stable and laid in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. It was always the divine plan. And this is a such an important lesson for us as believers as well to learn. Most of the time we don't even do our best in life.
But even when we do so often, we fail, and we're tempted to think God has abandoned me. Where is the Lord? He clearly can't be found here in this stable. That couldn't have been his plan. Don't underestimate God's plans and don't underestimate his providence. We who share in the life of Jesus Christ in his body, the church share in that same divine providence.
There are no mistakes in our lives. Not with a God like ours. We have to remember this. Knowing that helps us rejoice that even in circumstances where it seems that we've failed, we can trust that the will of God has been accomplished. In hindsight, it's obvious why God wanted His son to be born in this stable and laid in a manger. All you have to do is known a few things. What does Bethlehem mean? House of Bread. That's the name of the city. The house of bread. And what is a manger? It's a feeding trough where animals eat. And who was laid in that manger? The bread of life. All of this was planned. All of it was arranged beforehand. Our Lord wanted to show us his humility, how much he was willing to humble himself to draw near to us. In essence, his birth in Bethlehem is a precursor to his gift of to us in the Eucharist. He becomes the bread of us mere animals. He gives us his body and his blood. And he begins to reveal this mystery from the moment of his birth. All of this arranged by his divine providence. And if we can learn to recognize the power of the divine providence in our own lives, especially in things that we can't control, we will begin to see the works of God more clearly and understand his will for us. But it takes tremendous faith, as Mary and Joseph had. Don't worry about succeeding or failing in anything that you attempt. Consecrate everything to our Lord and allow His will to govern, whatever happens. And from that he will bring good. Because he said to us very clearly, all things work out to the good for those who love God in our called according to His plan.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begins at 39:40
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters.
Usually on this fourth Sunday, this last Sunday of Advent, because Christmas is rapidly approaching, especially this year. It's just a few hours away. You know, we preach about, you know, this advent preparation, that the preparation has worked. We're about there and all that kind of decent and appropriate messaging at this time of year. But out of, I think, more necessity. I have to change the topic of the homily today, because of all of the fear and hoopla and controversy surrounding the Holy Father's new encyclical, Fiducia Supplicans comes. We had all been following any of the supposed news or media on this topic. A lot of people have been worried and up in arms. You've even heard bishops and priests talk out against it and all of these things. And I'm here to tell you there is nothing wrong with the document. It's completely and totally orthodox. And I have been doing what it says for years. More often than not, whenever you watch the news or you know, somebody who's proposing to offer the news officially or unofficially, especially on church matters, one, you can almost never trust the title of the article or the title of the YouTube or the title of the podcast to You always have to be skeptical whenever you listen to them comment on something that the Pope has said or done or written. There is nothing wrong with this document. It is completely orthodox. All you have to do is read it. Now, Monsignor Winslow, our judicial vicar, wrote a great article for our Catholic News Herald. You can get it online as well. It's just called Fiduciary Supplications. What is all the chatter about? And he gives a very short and clear explanation, quoting the document itself about its fundamental teachings. And this is what the document says. It says that there are two different types of blessings that the church can give, one type of blessing, the sacramental. The other type of blessing is pastoral. Sacramental blessings can only be given to those things that are either intrinsically good or, you know, natural and therefore can be blessed and made even better. For example, you bring a rosary to me, you know, basically it's some string, maybe some metal and some beads of different, you know, plastic or wood or something. And you ask me to bless it. Now it's just made of normal natural materials. There's nothing intrinsically holy or virtuous about it, but humans have created this to be a tool to help them pray the rosary, since it's a tool for that purpose and the rosary is a good thing, I can give it a sacramental blessing now. It's not a sacrament. It's a sacramental meaning. It's an extension of the blessings of the sacraments. So sacramental blessings do include sacraments, for example, marriage is a sacramental blessing, right? When a man and a woman come to the church seeking God's blessing on their marriage, they get married in the church right? They receive the sacramental blessing when a blessed rosary to sacramental blessing, where the blessing candles or bells or salt or water, sacramental blessings, because those things are either made by God or they're naturally ordered towards holy things, pastoral blessings are far more liberal by nature. They don't follow the same type of strict regulation. What that means is if somebody comes up to me, regardless of their state of sin or not, whether they are perfectly following Christ or not, even if they're not even Catholic and they ask for a blessing, I can give them a blessing because it's pastoral. It's an act of love. This is someone who is searching for God, who is asking for grace and intercession. How many times did Jesus Christ himself reach out to those that are morally far from him? Right. He was accused during his day, rightly so, of eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. These are people who are clearly not following God's law and covenant, and yet Jesus associated with them out of pastoral love. Why? To condone their sin? No, to call them to repentance. This is all the Holy Father is talking about when he says it's okay to bless homosexual couples because he makes a clear distinction. You can't bring them into the church and bless their rings and wear vestments when you bless them Of course you can't do that. That's sacramental. That's wrong. That's forbidden. It's always been forbidden. But if they come to me and they're struggling, trying to grow in their relationship with Christ, maybe striving to be more chaste and to follow the gospel, and they ask me for a blessing. And it's a private little moment, maybe in the sacristy or in public. as if it's some type of ritual, you know, asking God's blessing on their sinful relationship. I can bless them. I always have. It's just an act of charity. Are they perfectly conformed to Christ? No, you're not. I mean, do you really want me to bless you? Only when you're perfectly conformed to Christ because that means at the end of mass, when I bless all of you, some of you, I'm not blessing. One of the things that so many in the church have constantly criticized our Holy Father about is this clearly pastoral love and zeal he has for those who are not yet following Christ faithfully and yes, he doesn't always right or speak with the clearest language. And yes, people misinterpret this all the time and use it to justify the heretical or their sinful behavior. Yes, there are bishops and priests in the world blessing homosexual marriages because of this document, but that's not what the document says. They're heretics, but heretics always use whatever they hear to justify their behavior. Whether it says that or not, don't listen to a single bishop, priest or layperson who is claiming that there's anything wrong with any of the official teachings of Pope Francis. He has never taught heresy. And you know why? Because he's the pope. He can't. It's one of the essential aspects of the church, the gift of infallibility. To help you understand this a little better,
I'm going to tell you a true story. After I receive the sacrament of confirmation as a young man in the church, St Louis and Hickory continue to offer faith formation classes, kind of continuing education classes for those of us who wanted to continue to go. And I, of course, elected, you know, I wanted to continue to go and study more. The Lord and his church and her teachings and our teacher, a good man. I still know and love him very well. He asked us one day just it was only like five or six of us. He said, what would you do if the Holy Father came out and officially declared some heretical teaching as Catholic Church teaching? What would you do? And he kind of went around the room and asked each of us our opinions and views, and I was just waiting for him to come to me. I knew exactly what I would do. He got to everybody else. He comes to me last. He says, David, David, what would you do? And I said, well, I thought a lot about this. I would probably commit every hedonistic sin and desire that my heart could come up with rob banks, rape, pillage, and murder. And then if I ever got caught and arrested, I blow my brains out. Now, that, of course, put him and the rest of our little class in shock that they were a little confused why I would go to such a wild extreme. And I said, because if infallibility isn't real, then the Catholic Church is not the Church of Christ. And if the Catholic Church is not the Church of Christ, then Jesus Christ is not the Son of God and of Jesus Christ is not the Son of God, then there is no God, there is no morality, there is nothing good, there is nothing evil. There's no heaven or hell. And who cares what I do? What does it matter? We're all just apes now. They were all surprised. But you must understand something about the most essential teachings of our faith. Something like infallible. If it's not real, then nothing else is real because it's an essential aspect. Even the words of the angel to the Blessed Mother in the Gospel today speak very clearly, in essence of this fact. He says that your son, who will reign right on the throne of his father, David, his kingdom will have no end. Christ Kingdom is his church. It will have no end. Every human endeavor ultimately dies and falls apart. All purely earthly governments eventually fall apart and are replaced. This always happens because of sin, because of Cupid. Since the only way Christ Church, Christ kingdom cannot fall is if Christ is maintaining it with His power and one of the ways He does that is the power of infallibility. Let me explain how this works. Infallibility doesn't make the Pope say the right thing because the Pope can say whatever he wants, whenever he wants to write whatever he wants. But when he speaks officially as the pontiff on issues of faith and morals like and in this cyclical, he cannot that's infallibility. He cannot teach anything wrong, anything that goes against the church's tradition or Christ teachings. He is unable to do. He doesn't have the freedom to do so. In essence, by becoming pope, he has surrendered part of his will. And even if he tried to do it, God can find a way around that. When you look at the history, I'm sure there have been popes that had sudden and surprising deaths, you know, massive heart attack or stroke. Why? Because they were going to publish something the next day that was wrong. He's the God of life and death. He's like, okay, it's time for you to come home. Come on, come on. You know, I got to stop this before it starts. Is Christ really the king of this church or is he not? If he is, then why are you worried? What are you afraid of? The Pope can't go against him. He cannot. It's an essential teaching of Christ. And one of those passages that so many people always misinterpret is something Jesus himself said, that the gates of hell should not prevail against you. Now, 99.9% of Christians and Catholics misinterpret this passion. They have no idea what it means because they think that means when hell attacks the church or attacks Christ or Christians, they won't prevail. Where are the gates of hell? Are they surrounding the church? If you have a fence and a gate around your house, it's around your house. The gates of hell or around hell. They're erected to keep everybody in hell in hell. What our Lord is saying that those gates can't even stand against you, meaning you'll be able to break down those gates and, in essence, steal people from damnation. I don't mean pull them out of hell. Literally, that's not possible. But those who basically at this moment, if they died, would go to hell. His church will be able to save them before death by his power, by his teachings, by her sacraments, by her love, steal them from the very clutches of Satan himself. You see, evil can have no power over the Church of Christ, Satan, and the demons they try to infiltrate, and they do on various levels. And throughout history there have been a handful of very terrible popes. Francis is a saint compared to the bad popes, a saint. Now, he may be a saint for all I know. I don't know. But compared to them, he's a saint. Now, some people will say to me, yes, but is he the real pope? Right? I mean, come on. I mean, what if he wasn't elected rightly? I mean, what if he's not the real pope? We're all set of a contest because there is no pope. The seat is empty. They'll say, Father Miller, don't you remember reading about the conclave and how that bunch of the bad liberal cardinals got together and decided to elect him because they knew he was immoral and they kind of influenced everybody else, which is against church teaching, as if for some reason, Christ couldn't have foreseen that and the Holy Spirit couldn't have worked with that. Again, it's such a lack of faith for anyone who calls themselves Catholic to think that God is so weak, the Holy Spirit so foolish that He can't use sinful men to bring about His will. And if you had any knowledge of church history, you could only go back a few more decades and remember how John Paul the second got elected. Because if you know anything at that time, we had plenty of liberal bishops and cardinals and the reason they all voted for him when his name came up is because they thought he was liberal, too. They thought Cardinal Voight was liberal. You know why? Because he's one of those liberal bishops who celebrates mass outside and goes on hikes and ski trips with the youth. He's got to be liberal. They thought he was liberal. Now, the conservative bishops knew he was conservative, and so they voted for him. And he got in. That's how the Holy Spirit works. And it wasn't different for John Paul than Francis. God doesn't make mistakes, not with his church, because without his church firmly established on Earth, there is no salvation for us or for anyone. We have to stop giving in to these sensational clickbait titles for articles or YouTube videos or whatever. You know, before the invention of the printing press, laypeople never got into media because the only media that really existed was books as the only media that existed before that. And the only books that existed were handwritten. Most people couldn't read and write, and almost all 99.99% of theological text were written by the Catholic Church, by her priests and by her bishops. That was it, because they were all trying to read and write, and they were all trade theology and philosophy. And they would write the theology books, they would write the scripture commentaries, they would write these things. There weren't a lot of them, but they would do it. And the nice thing about that is whenever there was a pope, whenever there was a bishop, a priest who wrote something that was heretical or wrong, since they always had somebody above them in the hierarchy of the church, they would just suppress it. You're not allowed to copy that. You must burn it. It's heretical, it's not true. And heresy was very difficult and getting spread throughout the church during those times. But once the printing press was invented, guess what? Common laypeople realized they could make a career of this. You know, I can. I can now write books and get them published cheaply compared to handwritten ones and possibly make a living at doing this. And ever since then and this media has developed, we have now, you know, audio and visual media and all of these things, theologians, lay theologians, lay theology or scriptural, common terrorists have been trying to make a living doing this. There is a problem because when you're trying to make a living in anything in that regard, you know, books, movies, art, whatever it is, the one thing that often gets the most attention is something that's new, something that's a little different than the same old, you know, we call it clickbait nowadays. You have to find some sensational title or angle in order to get your stuff sold. And ever since then, this happened with the printing press. More and more heresies have been spread throughout the world because it's easy to do so, and because the church doesn't have as much control over the laity who write or publish as her bishops and priests. You can't trust most of what you see, read or hear, especially if people are doing it because they need to make a living. That's one of the nice things I get paid, whether I preach the truth or not, so it doesn't hurt me. We be so careful about this. The devil is always trying to divide the church between the extremes. Of course, what we would call liberal Catholics or conservative Catholics. You can think of that in the same sense. Politically, the demons are always seeking to divide us. If you if you hear any commentary on something the pope has said or done or written, and it doesn't bring peace to your heart and you feel resistance and that kind of intrinsic division, don't ever go back to that news site again, especially if it's Catholic. Don't ever go back again because it's not truly Catholic. They're not truly Orthodox because no saint in history would ever recommend that a single Catholic ever speak bad about the Holy Father or think bad about the Holy Father. They would always tell you, just obey him. Don't worry, God will judge him. You obey him. That's what they would say.
If anybody else says you says otherwise. They are not one of Christ's sheep. They are not a member of his flock. They're wolves in sheep's clothing. That's what they are. I don't care how traditional Catholic they claim to be, because Jesus Christ is very clear on this point. My sheep know me. They hear my voice, and they follow me. If you cannot hear the voice of Christ through his minister, his shepherd, the Pope, then you are not one of his sheep. And you should worry about that. Our Lord will always, always speak to us through the Holy Father. We just have to learn to understand Him, right? To not judge him, and to try to look at the real underlying message, which for Pope Francis is caring for the most marginalized, the most sinful, the most broken. His heart goes out to them. And he wants us as a church to find every way to show them love and kindness so that we can call them to repentance. Again, if a homosexual, a couple would come to me asking for a blessing, I would say, well, when was the last time you went to confession? Have you thought about confessing and, you know, praying and trying to work on keeping this relationship chaste? Have you thought about separating one of you moving out? I talked to them about that, but I'd still give them a blessing if they ask for one. Nothing formal, of course, condoning their sinful actions. That would be inappropriate. The document says you can't do that. But to extend some hand of charity and love for them as Christ did, that's what we're all called to. But there's so much fear and insecurity in so many of your hearts. And Jesus says to you the same thing He said to his own apostles, of little faith. In the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begins at 23.22
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters.
One of the things that you hear from parents all the time is that becoming a parent changed them, right? That the moment they realized that this little life had depended upon them, it placed upon them this great responsibility, and it changed them as a person. Now the change is different, or at least it happens a little differently for the mother as opposed to the father.
So, for example, I'm reminded of a story slash joke that a comedian once told about becoming a father, and he said, I wasn't really prepared for it. Like, what happens to you when you hold your child for the first time? And he goes, I'll never forget the day my first child, my son, was born. And there in the hospital I held him, and he goes, For the first time in my life, I thought to myself, I would die for him because I never would have died for anybody else before that moment. But having this little boy, it changed me. And he goes, I never thought I could change more than that. He goes, something happened when I had my second child, something I did not expect. It was a little girl. And he said that first time I held her in my arms. He goes, I realized I was a changed man because I thought to myself, I would kill for her. He's like, I became a murderer. You know, I'd go to jail for you. So having children in this way changes you now, for a man, for the typical father, he must really see that child and hold that child to really be transformed in that way. But for a mother, it happens before birth, right? The moment the mother can really experience the child growing in her womb, she is changed by it. She's altered in her perception of self and responsibilities. And she changes her whole way of thinking. Now, the man, when he the reason he can't make that change when his wife is pregnant is because he can't see the baby. He can't experience the baby. It just looks like his wife is getting a little fatter right. So, you know, he knows there's a baby in there, but he has to have that visual connection to really affect that change in his way of thinking. But mom, she experiences the child in her body in a way that no man can, can experience, can comprehend. And because of that concrete experience, she changes as well. The way she thinks. Now, this change comes because, again, it's an alteration of perception, the way you see life, your life, your responsibilities has changed you. Now, this is important because according to the church, the greatest form of prayer is meditation. Why? Because meditation changes the way you think. It alters your perception of reality, and it can do it for the good or the bad. If you constantly meditate upon sad, depressing, and fearful things, guess what? You're going to become a sad and depressed and fearful person. If you meditate upon good and holy and virtuous things, guess what? You're going to become a better, holier, and more virtuous person.
Now, what does any of this have to do with Christmas and Advent? Well, advent as a season is all about preparing for the coming of the Christ child. Right. And in essence, this this month that we spend in preparation is like our ladies nine months of pregnancy. Once she conceived our Lord in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit, you can imagine that became a profound change in her because she went from being a woman to being a mother. And she realized that even though it was God incarnate who she had in her womb, he was going to be born a baby and dependent upon her for so many of his needs. For those nine months, you can only imagine what our lady would have been thinking about. You know how you mothers are. You like all the things you have to get ready for the baby because its baby's coming, right? All the changes you must make to the home, all of the things you have to buy and purchase and prepare for. And our lady must have been going through these things in her mind. Now you can say to yourself, Well, yeah, but I. I'm not the mother of God. Yeah, fair enough. And, you know, I can't meditate on that the way she did. And this is where. Yes, on one level, you're right. But on another level, you're wrong. And I offer it to you this way. After our Lord gave us the Holy Mass at the Last Supper and after His resurrection, when our Lady began to receive Holy Communion, I want you to think about this. Imagine her meditation every time she received Holy Communion. It must have reminded her of Jesus being in her womb for nine months. Now, if you if you do the math, that's a lot of holy communions, like nine months of pregnancy. I don't know how many it is, but just say on average, our Lord Sacramental stays within you for about 10 to 15 minutes. So 10 to 15 minutes divided by nine months, that's a lot of Holy Communion. But for us, we have this opportunity, like our lady, to reflect in that same way. Now, again, this is easier for you mothers because you've been through this. You've experienced it. You can make that connection. But for those who have no children, or especially for men in general who can't get pregnant, I know this is a debated topic culturally right now. Let me just clarify this for all of you. Men can't get pregnant. Okay. So. Okay, good. That's over. So, you know, for those of us who can't experience that on a natural level, on some level, we need to go to our lady after we receive Holy Communion and try to meditate as she did. Now, yes. We don't have to care for Jesus in the same way that a mother or father would as Joseph and Mary did. Right. Because Jesus was actually a little baby then, and he really needed to be changed and fed and burped and all of those things. Okay. I'm sure he was a perfect baby, but still, he needed to be cared for. And you might think, well, Father, Jesus doesn't need me. Right. He's the glorious risen one. He's already conquered sin and death. He doesn't need me in those ways. And this is where you would be wrong. Because one of the things Jesus says very clearly to his disciples is what you do to the least of these you do to me. The way we treat others, especially the weakest, the poorest, the frailest, the sick, the imprisoned, all of these, the way we treat them is how we are caring for Christ. Because in their weakness and vulnerability, they need help. Just like a baby, just like a baby would. And so that's why this kind of meditation is important for us. And it's not just an advent meditation. We should be meditating like our lady every time we receive communion, because the reason Christ is giving himself to you, Eucharistic Lee, is so that you can bear fruit in your life just like the mother bears fruit by giving birth to her child. That new life that's the fruit of love. And that same fruit is supposed to be born in each of our lives as disciples of Christ. In essence, all of us are called to be like the mother of God. We won't be the mother of God, but we'll be like her in this. And it all comes about through Holy Communion. And so what do you think about after receiving communion? When you go back to your pew, kneel down, fold your hands, what do you meditate on? Again, meditation, the highest form of prayer. Because it alters you. It changes you, ideally, supposedly for the better, but it only changes you for the better if you're meditating rightly on good and holy things.
Thinking like our lady with our lady, just imagine men and women alike. Imagine as any mother would, you have this life dwelling in you. I recently heard another comedian say, you know, that women get weird when they get pregnant for the first time. And she said that this one woman came up to her, and when she found out she was pregnant, she started whispering all the time.
And she's like, why are you whispering? She goes Because I have a living being inside of me. And she goes, what did you eat them like, what are you talking about? You know? She is it just seemed odd. But again, that idea of it changing you, because for us, we do eat them, and we do have a living being inside of us. Whispering kind of seems appropriate on some level. Just the quietness that helps you to really think about what's happening, what's going on at that sacred moment. And for us, it only lasts for a few minutes at a time. So yes, we don't have the nine months of meditation the Blessed Mother did. But in the lifetime of a Catholic, it's very possible you would exceed nine months of all the communions that you could possibly have. And in that sense, again, we are being conformed as the perfect disciple of our Lord. And that perfect disciple has always been the Blessed Mother. She is the model for each one of us, men, and women alike. So please, in this communion today and in your future communions, I want you to really go to the pews. Kneel, close your eyes, fold your hands, and just imagine the Blessed Mother with Jesus growing in her womb. And in that sense, again, we are being conformed as the perfect disciple of our Lord. And that perfect disciple has always been the Blessed Mother. She is the model for each one of us, men, and women alike. So please, in this communion today and in your future communions, I want you to really go to the pews. Kneel, close your eyes, fold your hands, and just imagine the Blessed Mother with Jesus growing in her womb.
Imagine this life, and in this case, this divine life of the Lord within you, at least for the few minutes that you have Him in this sacramental way. Just meditate. Just think on that and you'll notice over time it will change you. It will simply help you to be more patient, more loving, more generous with those in need, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Homily begins at 20:29
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of Grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters. Today we celebrate the great solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the universe. It's really a beautiful title, King of the universe. And we know he is the king because he said to the apostles before he ascended into heaven, he said, you know, I go to my father and your father, and I will sit on a throne at his right hand as God is clearly king and ruler of all things. Jesus Christ has obviously, as God has, that role, that kingship. But even as a man has been anointed and established as king over the universe, now his kingdom is established. It's done. His kingdom reigns in the hearts of those who follow him. So, it's in the church and it's in the hearts of those who follow Christ. In a sense, it's in the hearts of the people he describes in the Gospel today. Those who care for the least of these the sick and imprisoned, the hungry, the naked, the homeless, those who take care of these kind of people, Jesus calls them his brothers. Then that means the Kingdom of Heaven is in your heart and you will have a share in his kingdom when he comes in glory. That's what it means, of course, to go to heaven. But at the end of time, when Jesus Christ comes, we know that He will judge the heavens and the earth. And the best parallel to this, that Jesus gave us in his own words was when he talked about himself as a king. He said there was this king. And, you know, he had some servants and he told them to do some stuff. Then he went off to take authority because he wanted to reign over another place as well. So he goes, Any wars on this other nation? As a king, he wants to rule over all things. He wants to rule over all hearts. And in the end, he will. The nature of his kingdom, though, is that initially, even though he's king and can dictate to you the rules, he doesn't. Then he went off to take authority because he wanted to reign over another place as well. So he goes, Any wars on this other nation? As a king, he wants to rule over all things. He wants to rule over all hearts. The nature of his kingdom, though, is that initially, even though he's king and can dictate to you the rules, he doesn't. He asks. He shows you how much he loves you. He dies on the cross for you. He's like, what more could I have done for you? Please obey me. And if we freely, by his grace, submit to his kingship, if we make him our king, then he will judge us and mercy. And we will go to live and be joyous and happy in his kingdom.
If we don't, then what does he say he will do? Right. In the Gospels, he says very clearly, those rebellious people, I will go and crush and kill. That's what I will do to those who refuse my kingship. Again, we easily fall into this mistaken assumption about our Lord is that he's always so gentle and merciful. Everybody's going to go to heaven, or he's very vengeful.
And, you know, it's black and white with God. You know, most people are going to be damned to hell. He's both. He's not one or the other. He is both in perfect measure. He's perfectly just always going to condemn everybody who deserves to be condemned. He's going to punish everybody who deserves to be punished. He's going to damned to hell anyone who refuses his kingship. Of course, he's going to do that. But he's also perfectly loving and merciful, which is why he gives us time, which is why he lovingly invites us to obedience as opposed to command it. You know, Saint Paul has an interesting thing. He says to one of the communities to whom he was writing one of the letters in the in the New Testament. He says to them, basically, as an apostle, as your bishop, I have the right to command you to obey me. But I would rather beg you. I would rather plead with you. Please obey me. Please. I don't want to have to command. And that's the nature of Christ's kingship. He pleads with us. He does everything in his power to convince us that he is good. And he does love us. And he'll do anything necessary to redeem us just so that we will obey him. Right. What did he say? You are. You are my disciples. If you keep my commandments, if you obey me, if you obey me. Obedience is necessary to be a friend of God to share in his rule and His kingdom. Now we can struggle with the idea of a kingship in a kingdom, especially as Americans. Right. Because we have this idea of governance that is very different from traditional, traditional, especially biblical governance. But we like this idea of like a democracy or a democratic republic. We get to vote, we get to elect, you know, we have different branches of government and this nice division of powers. We think that is the best because that's what we've been taught. That is the best form of government. United States has the best form of government. That's how we were raised, which is, of course, as a Christian, completely ludicrous because you would think that Jesus Christ, God would have established in his kingdom the best form of government. You just assume his governing form would be the best and you'd be right. But does he call his church a democracy, a republic? No, it's a dictatorship. That's what you must remember. A kingship is all the power and authority of the government is in a single man, one head. Now, he will have advisors if he's wise and other people, to help him administer the kingdom, administrate the kingdom?
Right. That's what Jesus did. That's why he appointed the pope and the bishops. That's why they're there. And that's why the bishops appointed the priests. They help them administer the kingdom. But you must understand the governance of God is a dictatorship. That's what a kingdom is. And that is the perfect form of governance, because that's what God would have chosen. Now, the reason we especially don't like dictators is because they're not always as loving and virtuous and good as Jesus, because they don't always ask you to follow the rules. They simply throw you into jail and control your lives. We have a distaste for the idea of a kingdom or a kingship who has a dictator, a single ruler who governs over all things in the kingdom. But that distaste is wrong. It's not Christian. It's not virtuous or holy. Jesus Christ is our dictator. He's the best kind. But first and foremost, he's the king. He's the ruler. Yes. The ideal of kingship that Christ shows us is one who sees himself as a servant to the people. Right. That's the idea of authority. I come among you as one who serves.
That's what he taught the Apostles. That's what the Pope and the bishops and the priests are supposed to be. They're supposed to be kingly servants. But we're still kings. Like St Dorothy's is not a democracy. You don't get a vote. Like I'm the king of this little castle. Now, I'm not the high king. The bishop Jugis is the king of the little castle of the Diocese of Charlotte. But he's not the High King. If there's a high king in this world, it's the Pope. The Pope is the high king. Now Christ is the high king of the church. In the end, he governs all things. But the Pope is his right-hand man who uses his power and an authority to rule over his kingdom on earth. Again, this is a dictatorship now, a good king imitating Christ would do so gently and lovingly. At first, they would begin with gentleness and love and compassion and mercy. But if that didn't work, then they would use all their power and authority to crush their opponents. You know how in the news, you know, we talk about Putin and in the Russian government and supposedly he's elected and he's an elected president or official now. He's a dictator. Right. He's the king. That's what he is. And we get up in arms when we hear that he does things like crush his political opponents. How undemocratic. I'm sorry. And how many tens of thousands of years of human society have the king crushed their opponents? It's called rebellion. It's called, you know, refusal to be obedient to the authority.
I mean, the U.S. government does that. Right. What do you think happens in every country throughout the world? You question those who govern, you get squashed. I'm not saying you can't try to rebel, but don't complain when you get crushed. It's the same with Christ. When we rebelled against him. In the end, he will crush us and cast us into the outer darkness, or there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Now, why is all of this so important? Now, a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to preach on it. Last week I wasn't here, but it worked out better this weekend. Right. A couple of weeks ago. I don't know how many of you keep up. I'd rather you not, because honestly, it just breeds confusion and people get frustrated.
The Holy Father removed the bishop of Tyler, Texas, and this was like a big controversy in the church. no. This holy and conservative bishop has been removed by this liberal and sinful pope. Scandal. Terrible. We need to riot. We need to, if not, write, protest. Go out and march. Prayer. Rosaries. God, give us a good Holy Father. That's so foolish. It's so ignorant. Anyone who would think that way has no idea who Jesus Christ is and what his church really is. Again, it's a dictatorship. Our Holy Father doesn't need a good reason to remove anyone. He's the Pope. He can just decide. I don't like your haircut. You're no longer Bishop of Charlotte, and there's no one in the church that can stop him. Now, you may say he doesn't have a good reason to remove the bishop of Tyler, Texas. Well, how do you know? Did the Holy Father tell you, his reasons? No, he did not make public his reasons. But you don't have a right to the reasons. I'm not saying it would be wrong to share them with you, but it's the same in your in your household.
You know, when parents tell their children to do this or that, they don't have to give a reason. It's nice if you do, but let's say you do give a reason. None of the ten times your child is going to say, I disagree with you. That reason does not follow in my head, which is why it doesn't matter whether you have a reason, because children are to obey, because you're the king of the castle.
It's a dictatorship, kids. The family is a dictatorship. Ultimately, Dad is the high king. Mom shares in that kingship. And that's the way it goes. Now, yes, God wants them to be a loving king. A loving dictator, but they don't have to be. When they spank that little bottom, you deserve it. What's the old military phrase? Thank you, sir. May I have another? All right. That's what they want from you. When they say jump, you say how high. The nature of authority, the nature of authority is very important. If we don't understand this, it's very easy for us to go against Jesus Christ himself. And so, I'm going to tell you this. Jesus Christ, the king of the church, one of the bishop of Tyler, Texas, removed. He wanted it. Why does he want it? I don't know. I'm not Jesus. He didn't tell me. I have some theories, some ideas, but. But it's speculation until the king lets me know. All I know is that he wanted it. You know. I know you wanted it because the Pope wanted it. Why did the Pope want? I don't know. He wanted it. Why does he want it? I don't know. I'm not Jesus. He didn't tell me. I have some theories, some ideas, but. But it's speculation until the king lets me know. All I know is that he wanted it. You know. I know you wanted it because the Pope wanted it. Why did the Pope want? I don't know. He wanted it. Why does he want it? I don't know. I'm not Jesus. He didn't tell me. I have some theories, some ideas, but. But it's speculation until the king lets me know. All I know is that he wanted it. You know. I know you wanted it because the Pope wanted it. Why did the Pope want? I don't know.
We can speculate. I will tell you this and I only point this out after doing my research, is that that Bishop had been disobedient to the Holy Father directly disobedient on several occasions before he was removed. And you could say, well, he was justified. The Holy Father was wrong in trying to get him to do that thing or that thing. I'm sorry. What? How do you know the Holy Father was wrong? Well, because in my mind, that's not what Jesus wants. You're the sheep. You're the child trying to tell the shepherd how to govern the flock. How many times do your own children make that same mistake against you and think they don't have to obey?
And yet God's going to punish those disobedient children just as much is going to punish you because you disobeyed. You went against the lawful authority that he has established in his kingdom, in his church, and that Bishop disobeyed the Holy Father directly even after he had been commanded to do something. If I was the Pope, I would remove him now? Yes. Are there other bishops in the world that we would like to see removed more than that, Bishop? Sure. Do I think it would be wonderful if the Holy Father removed all of them? Absolutely. But I'm not the Pope. I don't make those rules. You can't be more Catholic than the Holy Father.
You just can't be more Catholic than him. Now, before the pope formally removed this bishop, he sent him a formal letter. And in this formal letter, he kindly requested that he resign his office as bishop of Tyler, Texas. The Holy Father made this request. Now, those of you who understand authority. Was he asking him to step down? Was he saying, would you please consider this when somebody who has authority asks you to make your bed, are they just asking, like if you want you know, if you feel up to it, you know, please do the dishes. Well, I mean, you said please, but I just don't feel like it. No. When your parents, when your priest, when your bishop, when the pope asks you to do something, it's a polite command. It's what Saint Paul did. I could command you. I'd rather ask you. I'd rather beg you to obey. The Holy Father was giving the Bishop of Tyler, Texas, a way to bow out gracefully without losing any of his respect.
That's what he was doing. That was a good thing. This is what Bishop Julius does. Our new whenever we have new seminarians, it's always at least one of them that makes this mistake. They'll get a letter from the bishop saying, I kindly request your presence at this event, and then one or two of the seminarians won't come for me to recall them. Why weren't you there? I didn't think I had to be there. Why did you not think you had to be there? Well, because the bishop just said, I request your presence. You didn't say I require your presence. Okay. Don't do that again. When your bishop kindly requests your presence. That's a command. It's just a polite way of doing it. Why? Because he's the dictator. He's the king. You don't refuse the king. You don't refuse the king anything. If you can help it. That's the same with the Pope. Honestly, I'd like to even say that's the same with your pastor. But again, supposed to be a kindly king. I request I don't command. I could not go to, you know, let God judge you in the end.
I'll just, you know, suffer the consequences. When the Holy Father asked him to step down, he was giving him a polite and gentle way of saving face. But he refused his commander. He refused his king, the representative of Christ on Earth. And what did the king have to do? What did the pope have to do? He had to formally remove him. Right. What other recourse did he have? I didn't want to do it this way. I tried to do it the nice way. You refuse the nice way. Now I'm going to crush you. And yet, is this Bishop humbly accepting this removal? No. He's still in public media, and he's still causing discord and disharmony and disunity in the body of Christ.
And he's doing it with all the most polite and gentle words justifying his behavior for this reason for that reason. Just like any child would do to justify their disobedience. And I would generally never correct a bishop. However, he has made this public, right? I must correct it because remind you, my people, that we are faithful to the Holy Father, whether I understand him or not. Why? Because we are faithful to Christ, whether I understand him or not. Why? Because he is the king. That's why he is the dictator. And we must submit to him in all things. We always have to be careful with this. Never allow this American political philosophy to cloud our understanding of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Yes, he is good and loving and merciful, but he is a king. And if you don't submit to that love and that mercy the way he has asked you to, he will cast you into the outer darkness. He will separate the sheep from the goats and only the sheep will share in his kingdom. The goats will suffer for the rest of eternity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Homily begins at 20.27
Have you ever wondered why we do what we do during Mass? Is it tradition or Church law?We invite you to listen to Fr. Miller's homily on the Mass Etiquette.You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:21
The reading for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time call to love. And in the Gospel Jesus give us The Great Commandment that will be used for our judgment. He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and wht all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
Ex 22, 20-26; Ps.18:2-3, 3-4,47,51; 1 Thes 1:5c-10; Mt 22:34-40
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:51
Making the Rosary an Intentional HabitIf you’re looking to grow your spiritual self, one of the best things you can do is to make praying the Rosary an intentional, purposeful part of your everyday life. Part of that is finding a rosary you can easily bring with you, no matter where you go. https://catholicwoodworker.com/blogs/older-posts/why-the-holy-rosary-is-important
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of Grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters. The Holy Father has asked all the bishops of the world to ask all the priests of their dioceses to preach about the synod that is going to start this week. Right. If you remember the title, it's called the Synod-on-Synod, which I think is a terrible title, but it is what it is, right. Starts this week, I believe it's on Tuesday. We of course, need to keep that in our prayers. But what is a Senate and ultimately what does it mean? A synod is a gathering of bishops usually called by the pope to assist him through advice and direction in his governance of the universal church. That's what a Senate is, an official synod. A gathering of bishops. So that's what's happening in Rome this week. There's this great gathering of bishops called by the Holy Father, and they're going to be discussing synods. Synod is the concept, the idea that you gather a group of people together to seek their advice and wisdom so that you can make the best decisions. Now, you know, there's been a lot of fear and in controversy, if you keep up with, you know, conservative Catholic news. Everybody's terrified of the church is going to fall apart and it's all ludicrous. You got to worry about that kind of stuff. What is a synod and why is senility important? And therefore, why is the Holy Father having the synod on this at all? You must understand something about the Church of Jesus Christ. It's not a democracy. It's a dictatorship. We call it a kingdom. Meaning there is one head who rules over all with absolute power over life and death. Now his number one emissary in the world is the Pope. The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church. He does not need any advice from any bishop anywhere to make his decisions. He's got all the authority resting first and foremost with him. But is that the way that Christ taught the apostles to lead? No, of course not. What did he do at the Last Supper when he ordained them? He showed them by washing their feet. If I've come among you as one who serves, you do likewise. And so even though all the authority of Christ is centered in the Holy Father, the Popes have always led by calling synods or councils. This is where they can get advice and direction from their bishops to hopefully make the best decision for the church with of course, and then through the mind of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's just a very humble and appropriate thing to do. I mean, can one man, the pope, know everything about the church throughout the whole world? Of course not. There’re just too many things going on. His bishops are his best advisors. But if you think about it logically, can every bishop know what's going on in all his diocese? No, of course not. Of course, he can't. He's just one bishop.
What does he have to do? He must call a synod of priests.
He gets his pastors, his priests from all over the diocese and he brings them together and he says, okay, what's going on? What do you think we need to be working on here and there? But can every priest or pastor of a parish know what's going on in all his parish? I can tell you personally he cannot. And so, what does he do? He calls a synod of his parishioners together to advise him on different areas. You can call it a parish council or a finance council or whatever you want. But ultimately, all they are synods. It's a calling together of advisers so that the King St Dorothy's and the King. I mean, Christ may be the king of kings, but Bishop Dugas is the king of Charlotte. Pope Francis the King of the world. Christ the King of heaven and earth. Does a king need adviser? If he's a smart king. He would recognize that. But does he need advisers to make decisions for the kingdom? No, he doesn't, because the authority in power rests with him. You see, the pope doesn't have to listen to any of the bishops. There have been heresies in the church that were so prevalent that when the bishop called a synod, most of the bishops were heretics. Study your church history. But in all this instances, was the church led astray? No. The Holy Father called them all back to repentance. You don't have to worry about any negative influence on the Holy Father.
You must understand this as Pope. He doesn't have the power to go against God. He doesn't. He can't. He cannot. When he took upon himself, when he I should say, when he accepted the role of the papacy after he was elected, he could have refused it after he accepted it. He basically divested himself of some of his own free will. You don't realize this about authority. The greater the authority an individual has, the less free will they have, at least on a certain level. The Bible is clear on this. It says that God directs the hearts of the powerful and he leads them wherever he wants them to go. God does this. When you think of the heart of a person, you think of their desires, those inner movements, the things that they want, and on some level, their intentions.
How many times throughout the Old Testament when God was going to punish his people for their sin, did he inspire a foreign king to say, oh, look, Israel, they've got a lot of wealth and gold and we could make a lot of good slaves, Let's go fight them. Do you think that foreign King knew that the Holy Spirit was inspiring him to do that? No. He thought it was a good idea. Or maybe some of his counselors recommended it. But in the end, when they went and enslaved the people of Israel, that was God's will. All they did was accomplish what God had inspired their leaders to do. And this is a concept that, especially in this first world country, we don't understand.
We think because of this perverted philosophy that we have in this country, that authority is given from below. Meaning I decide who's my president, my senator, my congressman, or we decide, at least as a group, we elect, and we empower. No, that is according to Catholic tradition and teaching heresy. It's just heresy. It's outright heresy. Why? Because the Bible is clear. All authority comes from God above. No authority comes from below. That's like giving your children a vote. And what mom and dad decide to do on behalf of them. Is that really a smart idea? I mean, is that what you want, parents? Because if that's the philosophy of our governing, of our government in this country and we're trying to spread that philosophy to the rest of the world, why do you think the world is going to hell in a handbasket, as we like to say?
Yeah. Give children a vote and see how things go in your family. What is the point of solidarity if those in power, in authority don't need the advice and direction? Again, there are two things. Either a wise or holy leader would know they can't know everything. And so, he seeks advice and direction and counsel from everybody and then makes his decision. That's the first. And the second is this. And this may be more important than many of you realize. People need to be heard. I very recently heard a quote from Martin Luther King, and he said that is it Martin Luther King Jr Junior. Yeah, I know. Was missing something. So, Martin Luther King Jr. and he said that rebellion or revolution is the reaction to a people who are not listened to. Now, why does that happen? I want you to think of it in regard to your own personal life, just you individually. Saint Paul talks about this struggle that we have within each of us. He calls it the flesh warring against the spirit. And in one place, he says, I do the things I don't want to do, and I don't do the things I want to do, like my mind, which is centered up here in my brain, which is on the top of my body called my head is supposed to make decisions for the rest of the body.
I'm supposed to know what is good and true and the right thing and then do it. But how often is that not the case? How often do I know what I should do? But I don't want it. And I do something different. Maybe wrong. The heart is not always in line with the head. There's not good communication.
We even talk about that psychologically. The idea that your heart and your head need to learn to communicate better. But something that you might not know about the heart is this. If the head is constantly trying to control the heart without listening to it, the heart rebels. I'll give you a simple example. I'm sure all of you, for the most part, have experienced at some point in your life during Lent, where you took on a penance that was stronger or harder than you could handle. And within a week you just completely gave up. And it doesn't have to be a penance during Lenten, it could be any task. You thought, I'm going to do this, I'm going to make myself do this, and then you just pushed yourself to do it as hard as you could, and you fell apart and completely abandoned it. That is the head trying to force the heart when the heart isn't ready.
You think that's just a sign of weakness? No, that's a state of being. It's a reality. The heart is not supposed to be forced. It's supposed to be encouraged. Yes. You must discipline it sometimes. Punish it. Yes. But ultimately, you invite, you draw out. Saint Paul says this constantly in his letters when he's writing to a specific town, he says, Look like a command to you. I could command you to obey me. I've got the authority. I'm the apostle. But I would rather encourage you and invite you. It's the same with our God. He doesn't need your opinion when he makes decisions for your life. He's God. But how often are we taught by the Saints that He wants to know what's on your mind and heart? Not because he's going to agree with you. Because it's important that you be heard. Ultimately, that's the secondary level of Senate. As you know, in the last year, year and a half, the Holy Father has asked us as parishes to have these little meetings of the minds where you get to reveal to me all the things on your mind and heart.
And then I share those things with the bishop, and the bishop shares those things with the Pope and so on. Sometimes that's all you need to do to feel better is just speak your mind, somebody to listen to you. It's not always going to solve your problems, but honestly, it usually makes you feel better, and it calms your spirit. If we're not humble enough to listen to one another, then eventually that simply leads to rebellion. I'm certain that this Synod is the will of God inspired by the Holy Spirit. You know why? Because Pope Francis decided on it. And he's the Pope. And if he decided on it, then it's the will of God for us. That means there's something in this, some lesson that the whole church needs to learn. You don't have to be afraid of the heretics. You don't have to be afraid of them. Do you really think for a moment that the Church of Jesus Christ is going to fall apart? I mean, after 2000 years, you really think it's suddenly going to happen now. Our Lord has promised us it won't happen. It can't happen until he comes again in glory. At that point, it's too late, so who cares? There's no reason to worry or be afraid. Yes, there are heretical bishops. Of course, there are. There always have been in the church. Surprise, surprise. The Holy Spirit is not going to allow Pope Francis to make any decision for the body of Christ that goes against the will of the King.
On some level, that's the power of infallibility. It prevents the Holy Father from speaking error in official capacity. And there are many of you who can say, But Father, what about that one time when Pope Francis said this? What about that one time when Pope Francis didn't do that? Was he speaking definitively on some issue of faith and morals? Was he changing church? Church teaching was giving a private opinion. I mean, you can disagree with his private opinions. That's perfectly fine. Isn't everyone entitled to their private opinions? No, I don't necessarily agree with everyone's opinions, and they can share as they want. And yes, it can have certain effects in our lives. But I don't worry about those things. I don't focus on them. They're not my concern. In fact, it's usually best if you have a weak faith in this area to stay away from that kind of news, because obviously it just disturbs your faith, causes you to have worry and anxiety. If your faith is not strong enough that Jesus Christ will not let his church go astray, you need to not watch the news, read the news. Just stay away from it. As parents, you keep your children away from certain news because you don't think they're mature enough for it. Have you ever thought that maybe you're not mature enough for certain news? But, Father Miller, I'm an adult. Yes. That's the same argument your children use. I'm not a baby, but it doesn't mean you're mature and doesn't mean you're wise. All I know is that Christ will not fail me and that his church will always be here to guide me. And all I must do is stay faithful to her by my fidelity to our Pope. That's it. I do that even if I make some mistakes along the way. God, in his mercy, will bring me back in. The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:56
The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking our Lady's Intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace.
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters. I actually feel much better than I sound. I you know, I was sick for several days. I do apologize that I was unable to celebrate the sacraments for you, but I feel fine. I just kind of lost my voice this morning. Our Lord's words to Saint Peter and the Gospel today are quite profound and we must remember that he speaks to them not only to Peter, but to each one of us. He says, get behind me, Satan, you are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do. Now, if you recall in the Gospel of Matthew, right before this gospel event, Jesus had just renamed Simon Peter and given him the keys of the Kingdom and established him as the first head of the church.
The Pope, all the other apostles were present. Everybody witnessed. Jesus just changed his name from Simon to Peter, made him the head and then the first thing he does after this is call him Satan first. He's the rock. Now he's the tempter. That's what Satan means. We call him Satan because it means to tempt the tempter, the one who tempts Jesus says, You're an obstacle to me. Now I just made you the first Pope and now you're not even following me. You're an obstacle. You're trying to lead me away from God's plan, not towards it. Now, if the first Pope can do that, anybody can do that. And if you can imagine, if you're there at that moment, along with the apostles and Jesus turns his back on Peter and says, get behind me, imagine how painful that must have been for Peter. I mean, we use that expression, right? You turn your back on someone. The idea that you've rejected them turned away from them. It seems very devastating, only because you have no idea what Jesus is really doing here. He's not rejecting Peter. He's still the first Pope. He went on to continue to do so and became a saint. The reason Jesus turned his back on him was he was reminding Peter; I lead you follow the same reason I have my back turn to you. When I celebrate mass, it's because I'm leading you to Jesus. We're all following Jesus. We all are facing. Jesus is back. He's the shepherd, right? We're the sheep. We follow him. This wasn't a rejection of Peter. This was a reminder. I am the one you follow. Wherever I lead, you go. And then Jesus says so clearly. Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me and our second reading, Saint Paul, gives us a beautiful reflection on on this specific teaching of our Lord Paul's theology. Of course, the theology of Christ is very clear about the relationship between a disciple and the Lord and their suffering.
Saint Paul says, I urge you, brothers, and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice wholly and pleasing to God your spiritual worship. He is telling us that the way we worship God is by offering our bodies as a living sacrifice. He says, do not conform yourselves to this age or any age in which you live, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. The way you think needs to change. If you speak the way that humans speak, that's because you think the way that humans think. This is why, Peter, why Jesus reprimands Peter and the apostles. He says, you must discern what is the will of God, what is good, pleasing, and perfect. And Jesus clearly gives us direction again when he says Whoever wishes to come after me must first deny himself, then take up his cross, and only then can he follow me. You want to follow Jesus, right? Ultimately, our goal is to follow Jesus to heaven. That's where we want to get Jesus not only opened the way to heaven, but He is also the way so conformity with and through him is the only pathway to heaven. We've got to follow him and be conformed to his life. He says, you want to follow me? Fine. First, deny yourself. What does that mean? At the heart of self-denial is penance, meaning giving things up that you desire, that you want self-denial as opposed to self-fulfillment. I want this so I achieve it or obtain it. If I'm not willing to do penance, mortification in my life, give up things that I want, then I am not following Jesus Christ, period. Because you haven't even begun. Remember, self-denial is just the first step. This is why the church gives us a whole season called Lent, in which we practice self-denial. Why every Friday of the year, barring feast days and celebrities, we're supposed to be fasting from something meaning denying ourselves something that we want food, drink, sleep, warm showers, whatever it is true, Christians live a life of self-denial. It's not like every second and every moment there are days and solemnity and reasons to celebrate. But self-denial is a natural thing for us. Or at least it should be. In fact, it must be for anyone who claims to follow Christ. But that's the first step. You're not following Jesus unless you practice self-denial. After you've gotten at least consistent about self-denial. Then there's one more step before you're following Jesus. He say, first deny yourself, then take up your cross. What does that mean? Obviously, Jesus is referring to his own cross that he is going to be taking up very soon. And what is his cross? Every cross that comes from God, I don't think the devil wants me to talk about this. I'm losing my voice. So, every cross that comes from God is built on the cross of Christ. And there are two sides to that cross in our Lord and our Lady revealed to us kind of the fullness of the ways in which we are going to be asked to suffer by God. All of them are unjust. That's the first rule. The first rule of a cross is that it's not fair. It's not just you shouldn't have to suffer it. If you should have to suffer it, then it's a punishment. It's not a cross. You deserve it, right? I mean, when I do something wrong and I get punished for it, that's not a cross. I was supposed to get punished. The whole point of the cross is that I didn't deserve this. I did nothing wrong. I was in the right and I'm still suffering. So first, it's unjust and it can be unjust in one of two ways. It can be unjust because you, the individual, are suffering unjustly or someone you love is suffering unjustly, right? Jesus. And enduring His cross was innocent, and yet he willingly endured it and carried it. He took it up himself, knowing it was the will of the father to save us from sin. But Mary, her cross, along with her son, was very similar. It was unjust and yet it was different. You see, she would have happily died on the cross in place of her son. When you love someone that much, you'd gladly suffer if it would alleviate their suffering.
But if she had taken away the cross from her son, we would all go to hell. You see, if Jesus had not accepted this unjust suffering, we'd be damned. And if Mary did not accept that her beloved son had to endure this unjust suffering, we would all be damned. No souls would be saved. Both the son and the mother had to accept the cross as it was within the plan of God,
in your own life again, look at these crosses that God asks you to bear. Are you taking them up or do you fight against them? Did you know you can always reject a cross? I mean, you might not be able to stop yourself from physically suffering it, but you can deny and reject it in your heart so that it does no good for you or anyone. It bears. No fruit provides no special graces. People waste suffering all the time. I mean, you can offer up any suffering, even the things that you deserve, but most especially those crosses that we don't deserve, those are the best. And if I were to give this homily to just any Joe Schmo and secular society, they think I was insane. This way of thinking doesn't make sense to them. Why? Because this is the way God thinks. That's what our Lord is telling us. Whereas the rest of the world thought the way Peter thought. God forbid that you should have to suffer and die. God forbid. Not only Satan thinks that way, and yet that's the way of the world. In fact, for many of us, right. That's the way we often think, isn't it? God forbid that I should have to suffer this that Satan, God forbid that you should have to suffer this, that Satan. That's not the way the Lord thinks. Saint Paul is right. We have to be renewed in our minds. And this isn't an easy thing. It takes time, takes the sacraments and grace and prayer. But ultimately it comes down to these three things. If you really want to follow our Lord, you begin with self-denial. Practice penance and self-denial, giving things up even each day. It could be something small. Somebody in your family wants to do something. You don't want to do it, so you deny yourself and you do it with them, or vice versa. That last piece of cake or pie in the fridge, you know, nobody's around. And if you ate it, nobody would know. Do you leave it there for somebody else? You walk away self-denial. There are so many little ways in which we can practice that without self-denial, we'll never get to a point in which we can take up our crosses daily again. That's the second stage. It's learning to suffer unjustly that we Christ and the Blessed Mother did. Then lastly, we do all this following Jesus. So, if you want to know if you're following Jesus, these are the two things you need to work on. If you want to know if somebody else is following Jesus, then you will see them doing these two things,
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:02
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus,
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death, Amen
Good morning, brothers, and sisters.
Oh, I don't know how many of you read in the news that, uh, this coming Saturday evening at our local civic center here in Lincolnton, they're putting on a drag show. And if you don't know what a drag show is, I'm very pleased. But sadly, I'm going to have to give you some idea. Otherwise, the rest of the homily won't make much sense.
So, a drag show is when men dress up like women or women dress up like men and perform lewd acts and dances and songs on stage that people pay to go see. That's what a drag show is. It's disgusting from beginning to end. Uh, and I want to let you know that next Saturday, uh, right after the vigil mass, so around 6:00, I'm going to expose the Blessed Sacrament. We'll have adoration from 6 to 9. Anyone who can come and make it, we'll just be praying, interceding for our town and our nation and all these issues that we see in the world today. There is some talk of some people gathering down by the civic center and just like praying a rosary quietly outside. I'll send out a connect the dots and let you know either way if that's going to happen.
A little while ago, they tried to do this in Hickory, and there was such an uproar they had to cancel it. I hope we have still another seven days. Maybe we could cancel it altogether. But this is just a good opportunity to talk about the church's teaching on sexuality and why, in particular homosexuality, transgenderism and all of these topics. These issues are wrong, right? Why they're not in line with God's plan. And the simple reason is the teaching that we have. And if you look up the catechism of the Catholic Church on the Sixth Commandment, it tells us very clear that in the beginning God made them male and female, and he told them to be fruitful and multiply. The differences between our genders, male and female and our complementarity allows for the reproducing of more human beings, more children made in God's image and likeness. That's why the family and marriage relations are based on this distinction. What happens in people and in the society, in a culture where there is homosexuality, at least if it's promoted or at this point in our country, transgenderism and all these things, the first thing you need to know is this is nothing new.
Like, it's not negligible. I'm not saying it's a huge percentage, but it's significant enough to be a problem and to have always been a problem since and entered the world. We can't just shrug it off as if it's not that big a deal. It is a big deal. But the church's teaching on it is very clear and distinct.
If you're not sure, just get your catechism. If you don't have a catechism, get a catechism right in the back. There's an index. You can look up any topic that you want. And in this topic on the Sixth Commandment, it gives us very specific teachings, beginning with paragraph two, three, three, one. I don't expect you to remember that, but church documents are always numbered by paragraph, not pages. And in this section, it deals with our Lord's teaching on proper sexuality and relationships between husbands and wives and men and women, chastity holiness and sends against chastity. And we know from the Sixth Commandment there are many different sins against chastity, right? Adultery is a sin against marriage in the family and chastity. Right? Fornication is a sin. Lust, pornography, these kinds of things are all sins against chastity, and therefore they are disordered, and this is an important way to remember or certain word to use to remember what sin is. Sin is a disorder, meaning God has ordered creation and us to act in a certain way, to perform deeds in a certain way. And when we sin, we're performing deeds or actions or words or thoughts in the wrong way. Therefore, it's disorders. But there is also a subcategory of sin that is. Yes. And so therefore disordered. However, it's also unnatural. And homosexuality, transgenderism. And all this falls in that subcategory. Yes, it's disordered, but it's even unnatural. Sadly, when somebody commits adultery, it's a grave sin, right? you could go to hell for that if you die. Unrepentant. But in the end, that's at least natural. It's between a man and a woman. But when it's two men or two women, you've crossed the lines of nature. And those sins are particularly problematic in a culture. This is precisely why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, where we get the word Sodom Sodomites. You can see plenty of sins of adultery. As evil as it is in any culture throughout time.
God doesn't destroy a nation for that. But when a culture has gotten to a point at which it has promoted unnatural, sinful acts, not just allowed or condoned, promoted, unnatural, sinful acts, eventually God must step in. And if that culture can't change, he destroys it. It's the same thing he's done for the last 10,000 years. You can study history. These problems have existed in all cultures, and when the culture supports it, the culture collapses, implodes on itself. Usually uses some type of war or natural disaster. So yeah, get ready for that. I really don't have to worry about it too much because, you know, whenever these things happen, they always attack the Catholic priests first. I'm going to be martyred long before any of you will be attacked. You know, I've got it a much quicker out. I'm just saying. But we as a people, we as disciples of Christ, we must follow the church and the teachings in this regard. But we can't shirk our responsibility. Now, I'm not saying we need to go out and picket. I'm not a big fan of that kind of stuff.
Quiet prayer outside of a place. Good adoration before a lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Very powerful. Don't underestimate that. You know, I don't think he's the bishop there anymore. He may have retired, but in Nebraska, when I was in seminary, a lot of their seminarians were in the same class with me. And whenever an abortion clinic would open up and again, that's an unnatural sin, you know, to kill your own child. Whenever an abortion clinic would open up in this bishop's diocese, he would get donors and they would either buy or rent a room in the building above the building or across the street from the abortion clinic and set up perpetual adoration. And within one week that abortion clinic would close. That's all they had to do. There were no abortion clinics in his dioceses because every time they tried to open one, they would just somehow miraculously close it down in a week.
So don't underestimate the power of prayer, especially in regard to adoration. That's why we're going to have adoration next Saturday. As Catholics, we obviously have to stand against these sins as we have to do with any sin, right? The church's teaching is very clear. And remember, it matters what the church teaches, what the pope and the bishops have taught for the last 2000 years, because as we heard in the gospel, Christ gave to Peter and the apostles the keys to his kingdom, and he said, what you bind on Earth is bound in heaven. That's a very important point. The church has clearly handed on this teaching, which comes from Christ directly to us. It has been maintained and unchanged for 2000 years and thousands of years in the Israelite religion before that. This this teaching will never change, and we can't yield on this point. However, we must have compassion on these men and women who struggle with these issues.
We must have compassion. The church is very clear on that because they are our brothers and sisters, because they also are made in God's image and likeness and that God wants to save them and heal them as He does each one of us. And when it comes right down to it, I'm no better than them, right? You're no better than them. We might not fall into those same types of sins, but we're all sinners in need of redemption. But something I do want to share with you, kind of like as an end to this homily today, the church says she doesn't know why men and women struggle with these issues because we don't know why 100%. You read that in the catechism. We don't know why. We just know it's disordered. It's unnatural. It's not in line with Christ plan. We need to, in a wholly and virtuous way, oppose it. But we don't know the reason why people struggle. And if you talk to them, many of them will tell you it's not a choice. I've always been this way. Now I'm going to give you Father Miller's personal opinion, and I think this opinion carries some weight because I've been working with homosexuals for over 20 years.
I've known a lot of them personally and my family, friends, parishioners, just it's long time. And I've noticed certain consistencies about their struggles and I'm going to give you my theory as to why men and women struggle with these things, even transgenderism nowadays. A lot of it is just very popular, especially transgenderism. So that's a kind of a separate topic. It's kind of more of a father in many respects. But that aside, how can someone become confused about their sexuality? Well, we know it's not genetically designed, right? God genetically designed us to be heterosexual. Why? Because that's natural. It's the way nature itself works. But that doesn't mean disorder can't enter into nature. Right? When God made Adam and Eve, they had perfect eyesight. I was born with bad eyesight. So, what happened? Well, that's genetics, right? Over the millennia of human existence, because of sin disorder has gone not just into our thoughts and words and actions. It's gotten into our very DNA. These disorders create bodily disorders. So bad eyesight, you know, we can get corrective lenses, but even anxiety and depression, we know has some type of a genetic connection. That doesn't mean your body is going to make you anxious and depressed. But some people are more inclined towards anxiety and depression because of a genetic predisposition. And if the circumstantial circumstances of their life are right, then they fall into that very easily and struggle with it throughout their lives. Now, we shouldn't go around and say, oh yes, being having bad eyesight is perfectly normal and healthy.
No, you fix it or being anxious and depressed is perfectly normal and healthy. No, you fix it. You have to recognize what is healthy and what is unhealthy. Whether there is some genetic predisposition towards these kinds of sexual disorders, it doesn't mean it makes that person into that way. So, what are the factors that I'm aware of in regard to how men and women struggle with this issue? Well, I'm going to separate them because they're very different. How men struggle and how women struggle with temptations of homosexuality and transgenderism and the issue comes primarily sorry, gentlemen, on the fathers. When young men first we're just going to deal with them. When young men are growing up between the ages of one and ten is, give or take, they are genetically designed by God to want to be like their daddies. It's just based programing, right? Even ma'am, all mammals have that same programing. Human beings are just a bit more complicated because we have these spiritual souls. This little boy wants more than anything in the world to be like his dad, to grow up, to be the kind of man his dad is. Now, if that's a good man, then wonderful. If it's a bad man, well, it doesn't matter. He's still going to grow up to try to be like his dad one way or another. But when a dad has either no relationship with his son during those formative years or a very bad relationship where he's putting down his son during those formative years, this creates a psychological wound in the young man, because subconsciously he believes he doesn't measure up as a man and fathers, I'll tell you the best thing you can say to any of your sons, regardless of their age, is, well done. I'm proud of you. That's the way I would have done it, because those little boys can say, oh, Dad agrees with me. Your dad thinks I did a good job and that means I'm like, Dad, the most important. But when he doesn't get that again, this wound is very deep in him because he wants to be a man. He wants to grow up to be a man like his dad. If dad doesn't communicate that that is possible, then he must question his very being. But does that desire to be a man ever go away? Nothing psychologically that a young boy needs. He's program said to desire that. But if he's never thought that it was possible and it's not his fault, then by the time he hits puberty, guess what happens? Suddenly this surge of hormones and sexual desire gets muddled and confused with this wound. And instead of desiring to be a man, he desires to be with a man. And this is true across the board and I'll tell you, out of all of the men I've known and worked with in this area who struggle with homosexuality, they would rather be with heterosexual men than homosexual men. And that tells me that, again, it's because it's a disorder based on their desire to be manly, but it's not their fault. It's not a choice that they made. Most of them truly are deeply wounded. And if it's anybody's fault, it's their parents’ fault. It's more their father's fault than their mother's. But mothers, you can assist in this as well. When a mother puts down the father, the husband in front of the children, especially the son consistently when she disrespects him in front of the children, this is very dangerous when she keeps them from their father, very dangerous as well.
Now, again, yes, issues are far more complicated than I can explain in one simple homily. My point is, especially with men, you have to remember that this is a deep wound and it's not a simple option that they made most likely from the moment they went through purging up purgatory. Puberty does feel like purgatory, doesn't it? From the first moment they went through puberty, they have felt attracted to men. But on a subconscious level, they've always been attracted to men in the sense that they want to be a man. But because of the brokenness that they receive from their fathers and their mothers, this has become confused. Now, can it be healed? Yes. Can they find grace and chastity? Yes, of course. Now, when women struggle with homosexuality, it's a very different it's a completely different scenario. However, it still has to do with us fathers. It's still the father's fault, primarily. Interesting. I'm not saying mothers you don't contribute. Of course, you do. You're a part of that. But it's far more the father's fault than the mothers. In both cases. You see, women are designed very different from men in the fact that they're far more relational. They need relationships more than anything. They must have them. And again, being natural, they're inclined to seek a man in their life like their father. That's the normal thing to do. The way they see their mom and dad interact during those formative years, 1 to 10 years old, is how they think men and women are supposed to interact. Whether that's a good example or not, that's their perception. But when their father presents to them either fear or disrespect, if the father puts them down and doesn't cherish them, doesn't teach them how much they are loved a lot of times, and because of various other wounds, they cannot entrust their heart to a man. But they must entrust their heart to somebody, and the only ones left to them are women. Logically, they both make clear sense. But again, in both cases, I've seen it time and time again. I have never encountered a homosexual man or woman who hasn't fallen into these categories. There still may be things I don't know about it, but what I do know is that you and I have to be compassionate with them. We must see that it's not a simple choice that they made. Do they need to strive for chastity? Of course, they do, just like you and I do. We all need to follow Christ and his teachings. Of course, we do. I can't condone those sins in that lifestyle, but I'm not going to condemn those people it's this struggle that we have here. We have to stand against all sin, but especially unnatural sin, even if we're persecuted because of it. But we need to pray for the healing and the grace that's needed. And these poor men and women and even those who support them. I'm sure that many of these crazy politicians and parents and families and everything who are supporting these lifestyles and even transgenderism in children, I mean, God forbid you cross a line when you go there, but I'm sure that many of them have good intentions. As crazy as they are, they actually want to do what's best. Now, again, good intentions aren't enough. You need good actions. You need the truth. Jesus says it's the truth that sets us free. But the truth is that this needs to be stopped and we need to stand against it. And we have to be compassionate and understand and patient and merciful with everyone who struggles with these topics in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
I've spoken so long, and we have to have my brothers and my sacrifice to be acceptable to God. Your life, the sacrifice, O Lord, gain for yourself of people by adoption. The one sacrifice offered once for all these so graciously on us, we've grown to have some unity and peace in your eyes, to our little boy or little more and be with you all that you are. Thanks to all our God is truly our duty and our always and everywhere you find Lord, Holy Father Almighty. And due to the law, the rules will produce star rule for school mystery left to the law of the city, by which he has freed us from sin. And the glorious glory of being all those entering a royal for the nation of people, for your own laws that has gone blue for all claim everywhere your own lives. You were born. You have called us out of the darkness into your all. And so with the angels and darkening you with the drones and all the and with all the rules and the followers and all that, these singing examine all of your eyes without waking up and your song and all you there for the most merciful father would make humble prayer and petition through Jesus Christ your son that you accept his offer to be offered universally for the Holy Please to grant to throughout the whole world, together with your servant, Francis Peter, our little holding on the Catholic Apostolic faith. And for that we offer you the sacrifice of when they offer it for themselves and all for the redemption of their souls. The local council in Rome to the eternal God, living union with those for this matter, and any manner, especially the glorious and the Virgin and Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed Joseph. First about the Blessed hospitals and Peter and Paul and yours. We ask that through their merits and prayers in all this, we may be depending on your protection and therefore Lord, in our service and your appeals delivered from the eternal damnation of different life. And those practices are pleased with this offer in every respect it spiritual and accepting that it may be coming for us. The body of your most beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, on the day before, be blessed to suffer because the grandest quality is venerable and with eyes. Your God is when if knew facts. You said the blessed growth and David, his disciples said, take this on and this is my Lord, this will be given to you in a similar way. When the supper was and he took this precious chalice, this and once more giving you thanks, you send the blessed and gave the chalice to his disciples.
Take this all and this is the challenge of my love before you and for the forgiveness and memory of his story of their world order. As we celebrate the more blessed, the resurrection from the dead and the glorious of your son, your servants and offer to your glorious Majesty from the gifts that you have given this cure with this belief in this spotless brand of internal and pleased to look upon these offerings with a serene and to accept as once you are pleased to accept the gifts of your servant, able to justify the sacrifice of Abraham, our father, and we all sacrifice and humble you, Almighty God gives be borne by the hands of the Holy angels in your offer on the site of all of us, in this participation that we all received in this building body. Love your soul and be filled with every grace and heavenly blessed are also, Lord your servant members of the House, the family who have gone before us with the sign of faith and best in this grand final word and all the sleep in a place of refreshment for Christ. Our who was also your servant to those opposed to us. Some share the Holy Apostles and Stephen Matthias, Barnabas and the owners and see whether they're going on there with Christ. You continue to make all these little you sacrifice less than in the stone through him and with and Oh God Almighty fallen in the unity of the whole. You all know, Lord, I'm goanna ask you all for the run of the Saviors come and then go on to we dare to say our other and to and from the US, from the Lord. You are doing that by the help of university, you may be always free from sensation, from all this strife. As we await the blessings of the coming of our Savior, Jesus, brought by us.
Oh, Lord Jesus Christ. Who said, You? He saw what He saw. Give you love not in our sins, but on the faith of your care and your world, who live in rain forever and never. The piece of the Lord be with you all the way. Oh, God takes away the sins of the world. Blessed call for the suffering of the light on our street and on your body, on my hands.
In the name of the Father,
And of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 23:44
The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Normally I do announcements at the end of mass, but this week I've got a lot of announcements to make. I promise you just going to do the announcements now, give you a very short homily, promise very short, so you don't have to worry. We'll just going to go through the elements because there's a lot of them.
Obviously, we have faith formation, registration today. It'll be after the mass in the parish hall. Please go to the ladies at the left. When you go into the hall from the church, they'll be signing up, all your children for faith formation this year. And I'm going to introduce our new DRE, who'll be replacing Meg Barrett, who served us for many, many years. Dyann Maldonado, you can meet her. She'll be there helping take registration if you want to get to know her.
This Tuesday is a holy day of obligation. It's the solemnity of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. Mass this Tuesday will be at 7 p.m. in the evening to make it easier for you to fulfill your obligation and I'll have confessions from 5 p.m. to 6:45 p.m before mass. So, again, holy day of obligation this Tuesday. If you can't get here at Saint Dorothy's, just look for masses at other parishes. The office here will be closed on Tuesday for the solemnity.
We are having a planned giving meeting with the dioceses on Wednesday. That's August 16th, 7 p.m. in the hall. Anyone who would like to either head up or be on the committee please attend. This is basically how to help, you know, make sure we're have good funds coming in to take care of ourselves as a parish.
Our return to God group is meeting this Saturday, August the 19th at noon, at the Old Court Square downtown. Again, once a month they meet outside, and they pray the rosary and some other songs and devotions for our country. It's really a great group. It's a great witness to the local community. I encourage you to attend.
My email address for those who need it is on the monitor slides in the foyer. It's on our website and if you ever wanted to ask me any counselor counseling or spiritual direction questions, you can email me there and nobody else is going to read it. Don't worry about it.
Our altar guild needs at least two more people to help. Normally the altar guild is composed of ladies, but if some of you guys really like to iron and se w and do this kind of things, you're welcome to join. We just need two more people to help with the altar guild If you please pray about that. If you're interested or able, please see Yvonne Toro or Wanda Kaczmarek for more information and to sign up.
I'm also in need of money counters. I have some, but I need more. Usually, they meet on Mondays. It usually takes about an hour and a half, give, or take. And since we have different teams, you don't have to do it every week, but it just helps us. It's very important. I obviously prefer not to handle any of the money myself. I can never be accused of anything. I don't touch it. I just sign the checks. That's what I do. Just sign the checks. But if you're able to volunteer, please call the office and contact Alison. We will. Now, this is a special one.
We are now offering the second level of the catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. This is for ages 7 to 9. If you're familiar, the room back there, what used to be the old cry room is where we have the catechesis of the Good Shepherd program and it's up to the age of six by far.
It is the best catechesis in the world. It's the best way to teach the faith to children of various ages. But we've only had the opportunity to have the first level. I think there are three, so that's up to the age of six. So now we're going to be starting seven through nine. It's the second level. It's really special. If you have a 7- to 9-year-old and you want them signed up, please do so as soon as possible. It's kind of first come, first serve because we can only handle so many in a class. So again, this is very special. You definitely want to have your children involved. It'll meet Sundays between the masses, as is typical for these programs.
And please grab a bulletin and read it on your way out. I'm calling it a book ten this week because it’s not tiny. It's huge. It's like packed with a lot of information. So, there's a lot of there in there to read and to catch up on, especially if you have children and faith formation.
Now, I put something in the bulletin myself, a little letter that I wrote to you, and that's why the homily can be short today, because you can just read the letter and it's going to explain everything that I'm going to summarize in the homily. So, it's always a sensitive issue to talk about loud children at mass and crying babies. Right. It's always a sensitive issue. You know, you either fall in the camp of, you know, these babies should not be in the church because they're disrupting everybody, or God doesn't care if they're screaming. He would rather than be in his house. So usually, as is true, that, you know, the path is in the middle somewhere, you know, yes if your baby is screaming, if your children are talking, please take them out, calm them down, bring them back. Okay. But I would rather than be in here making noise than not at church at all. Now, I'd rather than be in here quiet, but I'd rather them make noise than not be at church. You know, it's so important. It's so necessary. The children from the earliest ages just be used to worshiping with the whole community to be a part of the body. One of the reasons I hate cry rooms and why I was happy to get rid of ours many years ago is because you're basically ostracized, ostracizing families and these children to the cry room. And yes, it makes it a little more peaceful in the body of the church. But that's not good. We need to be more patient. We need to be more understanding with the babies’ making noises and the little ones fidgeting and talking now and then. Now, yes, parents need to discipline them and correct them and calm them down and do what is necessary. Right. You don't want your children or your babies to disrupt everyone else's prayer. But I want you to think of the gospel today where Jesus again walking on the water, this profound miracle, and Peter at our Lord's Command, steps out of the boat and starts walking on the water towards Jesus. He is doing something that is impossible. He's walking on water. Jesus can do it. Makes sense. He's God. Peter's not God. He is doing something impossible by the power of God. So, what is he start to sink. Jesus says it's because his weakness of faith. Why did you doubt Peter? Why did you doubt? But what led Peter to doubt? It says while he was going towards Jesus, he was looking at Jesus.
But then he turned his gaze. He. He looked at the waves in the wind. And that must have caused some consternation, some fear, some concern. And so, he doubted. He thought, oh, my goodness, I'm just a man. I can't do this. And he's right. He's just a man. But that's not the point. The point is, with your mind focused on Christ, you can do the impossible.
So yes, at Mass when babies are screaming, and children are fidgeting right, Yes, it's naturally impossible to focus naturally. But if you're doing your best to keep your eyes on Christ, it's not going to be much of a problem for you. So don't blame the babies. Don't blame the children. Obviously, they're babies and children. They're culpable. But don't even necessarily blame the parents of those children for your distraction. Focus harder, keep your eyes on Christ, and you can do the impossible despite the distractions. Close your eyes. Honestly, celebrating mass order in time is really nice because I don't have to look at you most of the time. So, we're doing all kinds of stuff. That's why I always recommend for people you want to sit close up in the church. Fewer distractions. You should fight for the front pews, not the back ones. But that's another story now. Clearly, we have to do a better job of focusing on our Lord when we pray, when we worship, despite the distractions, we can't use those as an excuse and then get upset at other people.
However, we have our first reading today, which is the Prophet Isaiah going to encounter God. And we know the story well. There's this great storm, there's fire, there's an earthquake, and God is not found in any of those cacophony. He is found in the tiny, quiet voice. This is why you need to teach your children to be quiet. That's why it's so important you practice with them not just at church but at home. How to sit still and quietly. Because if they cannot quiet their bodies, and if they cannot quiet their minds, they will not be able to hear the voice of God because God does not yell, not like me. Sometimes he whispers. And you parents, it's your responsibility to teach your children to discipline your children. To do this. And it's not easy, obviously, when they're baby babies, you know, you just do what you can. If they're screaming, take them out, calm them down, bring them back. But by the time they begin to speak, or at least have words, at that point, you can start disciplining. And that may be a difficult concept for some of you.
Just read a couple of books on parenting. You know, talk to grandparents who done it before you and learn some lessons. And if it's just too hard to spank that little bottom, you know, because they're just so beautiful and you love them so much, just wait till you have a few more kids. You'll be spanking bottoms every day.
Okay? You know now, yes, we need to be patient and understanding. You know, consider this. If you see a Catholic parent here, especially with more than one child and the other spouse is not here for whatever reason, and they've got a crying baby or a talking child, instead of like giving them the evil stare, you know, which is completely uncalled for, turn around to say, hey, can I help? Is there anything you need? We want to make sure that no child feels unwelcome in God's house and no parent of those children feels unwelcome. It doesn't mean they don't need to discipline a little better. Again, that's between them and the Lord. But we don't want, especially by our judgment, that's our own sin. But even by any expression or word of ours, to push them away again, I would rather a crying, screaming baby be here than not here, but I would rather than be here quiet. It's just for us learning to be both patient on our end and as parents disciplining and correctly correcting and taking care of the noisy children that God has given us on our end. For more details, you can read the letter in the bulletin, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube Channel. Homily begins at 20:11
The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Seeking our Lady's Intercession. Let US pray. Hail Mary full of Grace. The Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of the womb. Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Good morning, brothers, and sisters.
Earlier in this week, I was reading a book entitled The Rights and the Obligations of a Pastor. It's something the church put out just to help us pastors remind be reminded of not only what we're supposed to do as pastors, but even our rights as pastors, things that we can expect for ourselves and our ministry.
And one of the things that really stood out to me and during the rest of the week, the Holy Spirit continued to emphasize, was the importance of a pastor to educate his people on proper use of the media. I think it's a topic I probably don't preach on enough, but it's something most everybody struggles with to a certain extent in this day and age. And I had forgotten that this Sunday was the Transfiguration. So, I was kind of preparing this homily in my mind. And when I realized it was the transfiguration, I realized it was going to work quite perfectly. And let me explain why. So, the media has this unique ability and whatever form you use it, whether you're watching movies, television, listening to the radio, Facebook, Twitter, what's the short video on Instagram? TickTok, tick tock. Right. Whatever you're doing, it engages you so powerfully. It's so many of your senses all at once. But that's exactly what happened at the Transfiguration like these apostles have. There was no Twitter back then. No, no cell phones, nothing. They have no idea of digital media and what it can do for you. It on radio is nothing like that.
And our Lord takes Peter, James and John up this high mountain and completely wows them. Right. He's lifted from the earth. So, he's. They're levitating. His face is transformed. He begins to radiate like the sun, and his clothes even become light as light. And, you know, then, miraculously, two dead people appear beside him in glory. Start conversing with him. This technology that we have has a similar ability. Obviously, it's nothing compared to the spiritual reality. We're thinking about today. But in a sense, that's exactly what's happening. When you can just turn on your phone and spend hours going through TikTok videos. I mean, you could spend the rest of your life just reviewing TikTok videos. I mean, there's a lot of videos out there and people are making more every day. And why is it so tempting? Why is it so easy for us to fall back on media, especially in movies, TV, radio, the Internet, Google, YouTube, all that stuff? Why is it so easy for us to fall back on that? It's because it's incredibly engaging to all our senses and faculties, so much so that we literally need to put no effort into it. It takes less brain cells to watch a video than to do almost anything else because it's an entirely passive act. The video is doing all the work for you. You don't even have to use your imagination. It's giving you the images. So, we often use this to relax. We don't have to do anything. Again, like I said, it's a very passive act and it's very engaging. It stimulates our senses, and it can give up, you know, a type of euphoria, type of high. Now, this is not sinful in and of itself, right? Take, for example, alcohol. The Bible is very clear on alcohol. If you're sick, have a little wine for your stomach. If you're depressed, have a little wine, it'll pick up your spirits a little. You know, it's not saying go get drunk. But, you know, these things are meant to lift us up when we're down, when we're struggling. So, it's okay that we use the media to a certain extent for this reason. You know, you know how if you watch a happy movie, you feel happy at the end? Well, if you're sad, that's a great opportunity to watch a happy movie. It'll pick you up, you know, don't watch Old Yeller if you can remember that one, you know, cried every time at the end. That's not a happy movie. So beautiful movies, just not a happy movie. So, but it's not a bad thing that we have this beautiful technology and invention and art in a certain sense. Music, movies, videos that can pick up our spirits when we're down. But if it becomes a crock, a crutch, if it becomes a crutch for us, that we can't get through difficult times without it, that we can't handle the everyday problems of life without it, that is just unhealthy. That's just unhealthy. But it's not surprising we prefer it. Think about what Peter said on the mountain today, right? He's experiencing this with James and John, this amazing glory, and he says what all of us are thinking, Lord, it is good that we are here. Yes, this is good. And then he says, Can I make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah? Why? Because he doesn't want to ever come down from the mountain. If he can convince Jesus and Moses and Elijah to stay up there, then they can stay in this beatific vision and this glory forever. That's what he wants. He wants this taste of heaven forever. Well, that's the same temptation we have with this media. It's so easy to ingest and it oftentimes can make us feel good. So, we just fall back on it and it becomes a crutch for us. And then we never grow in the ability to handle the real problems of life. You know, like I said, it's one thing to watch a happy movie because you're in a bad place and that can help. It's another thing where you never deal with your problems. You just watch movies or listen to music or watch Tik Tok, whatever it is. If that's your go to for helping you resolve the emotional and mental problems of your life, you're in great danger because it weakens you. Peter, James and John would have all been happy to stay on this mountaintop, but our Lord takes them back down into the valley of life. He says, Nope, we're not going to stay up here. This is a taste of heaven. This is what you'll get in heaven. But life is hard. Life is difficulty, you know, and you have to learn to deal with the problems of life. It's believed that our Lord gave them this vision of His glory to prepare them for his suffering. They already believed him to be the Son of God, but to actually see that glory revealed in Him strengthened their faith so that when they were there at his suffering and death, it would help them maintain faith and get through this dark night, this rough time in their life. Ideally, it's Christ in our faith in him that's supposed to get us through the challenges of life. But if I'm using all of these tools, this technology to be my support, then I'm not leaning on Christ. Then I'm never going to grow in strength. All it's going to do is continue to weaken me and make me ultimately dependent upon it, somewhat enslaved to it. How often do you experience the fact that you're like, you can't go a day without checking your Facebook or watching YouTube or listening to music, whatever it may be? Again, these things are not necessarily they're not evil in and of themselves. Human invention, naturally. They're just kind of neutral. You don't need them in life, but they do make life a lot easier and to a certain extent, a lot better. I mean, you can have like thousands of songs, you know, right there at the tip of your fingers.
Now, obviously, I do have to speak for a few minutes at least about the fact that there are many things in this technology and in the media that are just intrinsically evil, right, that we have nothing to do with. We need to always repent of and avoid at all costs. You know, the big one is pornography of any form, right? Whether it's visual, whether it's audio, just music, and it's the words in the lyrics, you know, those kinds of things are just very clearly intrinsically evil. But I would say there's an even more dangerous intrinsic evil in any of this social media because it's more subtle. I mean, the big obvious stuff, I mean, pretty much everybody admits unless there's something really, really, wrong with you, but it's the more subtle evil. And it makes me think of something that the Blessed Mother said to the children of Fadiman 1917. So, 1917. This is what Mary said. In the future, Satan will put a black box in everyone's home through which he will speak to them a black box. So, nobody knew in 1917 what that could mean. And not too long after that, the television was invented and from the television it just got shrunk down smaller and smaller. So, a phone, a cell phone is pretty much just a tiny TV with absolute access to all the information. We have still the same thing Now. Prophecy given by our lady wasn't because it's just going to be used for really obvious stuff. Satan is far more intelligent than you and I on a natural level, and subtle evil is far more dangerous than the obvious kind. And so, it's just the small falsehoods and heresies, the tiny imperfections in stories and songs and ideas and movies that ultimately begin to influence us. Little by little. This is even more dangerous when you allow your children access to these things without parental control or oversight. Obviously, one of the basic things we need to do with our children is not give them a cell phone necessarily. You know, again, as long as it's guarded every now and then, you can do that, not turn on a movie or the TV. That shouldn't be the normal thing that we do, exceptions to the rule. That's fine. I mean, honestly, as a child, I somewhat resented my parents growing up because they wouldn't let us do all that kind of stuff. You know, most of the time we could only watch television on Sundays as a family, usually an hour or two of Disney. When Disney was still family. Yeah, so whole another homily, the occasional movie now and then that we would rent that they were very careful, uh, you know, about the rating and make sure they already knew what was in the movie. We weren't allowed to have video games at home. I was so envious of my friends. Justin, I know, but I was very envious. And the normal thing mom and Dad would say is, go outside. It's nice, stay in play or go read a book. I don't want to read a book. I don't want to go outside. Right. Why? Because multimedia is easy. It's so easy to relax, too, and to find enjoyment. And it takes no work on our part. But that's the danger in it. It's too easy to use regularly. It can't be our go to for relaxation because then it becomes a crutch, and we are never able to grow. When we look at the number one problem of our culture and all, first world cultures, right now in the world, predominantly it's this incredible access to the media.
24/7 and we wonder why the younger generations are growing up to have so many problems with self-discipline and self-control and conviction, how they want everything handed to them, because that's what the media does. It hands you everything you want. Your senses don't have to work at all. They just absorb. It becomes a philosophy that begins to govern the minds of these young people. Why do you think socialism and communism is on the rise again? It's not a surprise. Makes perfect sense. It all ties back to the easy access from an early age. Parents, we have a serious responsibility with our children. I forgot to preach on this last night, but there weren't as many young parents. They were mostly grandparents last night, so it's not as big a deal. But as a rule, parents, this is what I'm telling you. If if you give your children a cell phone, that's a big if. I'm not recommending it. I'm just saying if you do, let's just say at 5:00 every evening, you take it away and lock it away in a drawer somewhere. That's it. They don't need it for the rest of the night. Usually bad things happen when the sun goes down. And if you don't have very careful controls, that child should never have it. And I don't care whether you trust your child or not. You know why? Because you shouldn't trust them. They're children. You say, Well, I'm a teenager, I'm a little older father. You should be trusted even less. Think about all the trouble you get into. I trust your five-year-old sibling better than I trust you. Not because I don't want to trust you. I wouldn't trust myself at that age. I don't even trust myself. Now, why should I trust any of you? I trust the Lord. That's about it. It's about as far as it goes. Most of us don't have the capacity to parent ourselves. That's why we need parents. But what happens when I'm grown up and I have my own house? Who's going to parent me? Well, that's the challenge when you don't have a parent to restrict your access to these things and to force you to make better choices, and when you do just out of weakness and habit, fall back into these bad habits, well, that's where you do need help. You can't do it on your own. So, God willing, you can get some help from your spouse, from a sibling, a friend. You know, let's create a support group. One of you can invent in a media anonymous, you know, you know, you're just addicts, and you can't control it. And you meet together in groups and help each other. Help support each other. Hey, it's not a bad idea. Maybe there's something already out there. Ultimately, we're not meant to do these things alone. Anyway, Life is hard enough. We're supposed to support one another in these things, but no child should ever be given free access to the Internet, ever. And if they're ever on a computer that has the Internet, the parents should be sitting there watching the computer with them at every moment. It's as simple as that. There's too much danger out there. And so, I think, in my opinion, two of the greatest inventions of the last hundred years is the splitting of the atom and technology. And do you know which one I think is more dangerous? It's not the atom. Technology is far more insidious, and its use is far more subtle and damaging. If kept unchecked. It's not bad in and of itself. Just like nuclear energy, it's how you use it that matters. So, we need to be very careful in our own lives with our own children. Obviously, we need to avoid the this clearly evil content, but we have to be even more aware of the subtle lies and deceptions that begin to creep into our mind because of the movies we watch or the music we listen to. Don't underestimate its power. And I'll remind you of something in the early church. I think if I'm correct in this, I mean, even in the Old Testament, it was believed that Lucifer, Satan, the enemy, one of his gifts from God when he was still an angel, one of his responsibilities as the Seraphim was to direct music. And oftentimes he would be pictured with wings made of pipe organ pipes. So, when he flew through the air, the air would pass through the pipes, and it would make sound. Now God gave him this power so that singing could be used to glorify God. But when he turned from God, he now uses this power of music to not praise God, of course, but to turn others from God and mind and heart. So, it's not surprising that music has regularly been a tool used to draw people away from the truth. And the reason it is whether it's in a movie, a video or just a song itself, you're listening to. I mean, think about it. When was the last time you watched a video that didn't have some soundtrack in the background? Do you know why they do that? Because it works. Music has an ability to weave through all your intellectual defenses and penetrate more deeply into your mind and heart. That's why we love it so much. It moves us. And when you add a message, even a subtle one, along with the music, the message is basically implanted in you. And if you're not paying close attention to the words, then even though you say, oh, Father, it doesn't really affect me, right? I mean, I just listen to it because it’s good music is good tempo and beat. It makes me feel good. If you honestly believe that you are ignorant, you know nothing about human psychology and it's okay to be ignorant, but it's not okay to stay ignorant. Don't underestimate the power of music in any form. We have to be very careful with all of these things. Otherwise, without realizing that the devil may be planting subtle seeds within us. His seeds, not those of the Lord. And whenever the Lord speaks of seeds, He's speaking of truth. Well, the devil doesn't plant truth. He plants lies. There was a philosopher. I can't remember his name, but he wrote over a hundred years ago. But he said, if you can give me all of the control of the music in a culture, I can completely form the next generation. This is all I have to do is have complete control over what music they listen to. And then I can make of them almost whatever I want. That's the power of music. So, in all of these ways, we need to learn far more discipline. We need to restrict our own use of these tools, and that's what they are tools. We shouldn't necessarily remove them completely from our lives because it's a part of life right now. But we need to be far more prudent, far more careful, and not allow them, even in subtle ways, to draw us away from the law.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy .
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube Channel. Homily begins at 20:10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKiW-j308Ek&t=1249s
The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray. Hail Mary full of Grace. The Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy wound. Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Good morning, brothers and sisters. Something that's been on my mind, uh, quite a bit recently. Uh, a topic on which to preach has to do with proper Catholic guilt. It's something that especially we older Catholics know about. You know, Catholics have that good Catholic guilt when you commit a sin, right? You feel shame and and you know, you regret what you've done. So as Catholics, we're raised with all of the teachings of Christ and the church. Right. We know what sin and what's not sin. And when we break those commands of God, when we sit in that way, then that that feeling of shame and guilt comes up in us. Right? And this should be, we think, a good thing, right? You know. Well, I don't know how many of you notice, but I was using a few different words there, and you might not realize that they don't all go together. I certainly talked about Catholic guilt, sorrow for sin, but I use the word shame. Most people, who are trying to be holy and good think that they should feel ashamed after they fall into a sin. When you're in sin, you should feel ashamed. And yet this is completely false. That has nothing to do with Catholic guilt or sorrow for sin. In fact, that kind of shame that we feel after we sin is it’s a sin ultimately in and of itself, not necessarily a deadly one, but it's based on pride. And the best way to understand it is, is how we see it in children. Right? When you catch a child doing something they know they're not supposed to do. Right. And you've told them many times not to do what's there. Normal response. Don't look at me. Right. That's shame. The idea is I've done something wrong and I'm embarrassed. I'm ashamed. And I want to hide from that shame. I don't want you to see me. That's what shame does.
Many of us may have even been raised. Or maybe you've said this to your own children. After they've done something wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself.This is a terrible, terrible thing to say. None of us should ever feel shame after we sin. And I can prove it to you very easily when I am in sin. What does God want of me? He wants me to admit that I've done wrong. Repent of my sin and make up for it by doing some type of penance.
Right. That's what the Lord wants. That's what Catholic guilt or Catholic sorrow for sin is supposed to be. But when I feel ashamed, the last thing I want to do is go to confession and admit I did wrong because I'm embarrassed. I want to hide. I want to run away. I don't want anybody to see it. Our Lord would never want you to feel shame after you've fallen into a sin, because that shame actually keeps you away from his mercy and forgiveness.
I mean, he died in the cross 2000 years ago to forgive you. He wants you to bring your son to him, to ask for forgiveness and to receive his mercy. That's why he went through everything. And yet, when we feel shame, we're disinclined to do that, because that's what shame does. By its very nature, this feeling that we get. It makes us want to hide and stay away from anyone that could see our reason for shame. Now, that's the opposite of repentance, right? That's the opposite of repentance. Because if I'm feeling ashamed, I don't want to admit to you I did wrong. I don't want to admit to God I did wrong. I don't want to go to confession. I don't want anybody to know. I don't even want to know about it. And that's exactly why our Lord would never want his children to feel ashamed. What he wants you to do is feel sorrow for your sins and guilt or remorse. The nice thing about sorrow for sin and guilt and remorse is that actually draws you to repentance. You want to fix what you just did. You want to go to confession and make it right, and you want to do some type of penance. That's the purpose of guilt and sorrow. It actually draws us towards reconciliation, whereas shame pushes us away. Now the world again is the one. The world, the flesh and the devil are the ones who tell us that we should be ashamed when we sin. Do you really think God is surprised by your sin? Oh. Oh, my goodness. Look what he did. Look what she did. I never even thought they could do something like that. Do you think the priest is surprised by the sins that you confess? Oh, no one has ever confessed that before. I mean, this is what we do for a living, right? We hear confessions most of the time. There is. I've said this before. The only thing you can say that I've never heard before is cannibalism. But honestly, if I heard that, I wouldn't be surprised. I know that's kind of sad, but, you know, that's human sinfulness that you can't surprise a priest if he's been a priest more than three months.
You're not going to surprise him. The only thing keeping us from this reconciliation with God is this inappropriate sense of shame. It does nothing. In fact, it keeps us from his mercy and his peace, which is why he rejects it, why he doesn't want you to feel it. Do you know what the real purpose of shame was? Why God created it? Shame was supposed to be felt before you send when you're tempted. If shame inclines you to hide or push away from something, then if I'm tempted to a sin and I feel shame, I'm going to hide from the temptation. I'm going to leave. I'm going to push away from it. Right. That's actually the proper use of shame. But once I fall into a sense that it's useless, in fact, it gets in the way. You have to learn to reject that temptation. And that's what I'm calling it, a temptation to be ashamed after you've sent. I mean, you did it right? It is what it is. It's already done. How do we fix it? That's what matters. And that's what proper Catholic guilt and sorrow for sin is meant to do, is to draw us to repentance, reconciliation so that we can be at peace with God and He can be at peace with us. That's what he wants. And so, a meditation, a good meditation that can help you remember not to give in to this temptation of shame after you've fallen into a sin. Is this 2000 years ago when Jesus was dying on the cross, He thought of you. He thought of you by name. Now, in his human nature, with his human intellect, he couldn't have done that. There are too many of us throughout space and time. But remember is God also. And so, in his divine intellect there on the cross for those hours, he thought of every human being who would be in need of his forgiveness. And by name, he thought of you, and he said to his Heavenly Father, I die for him. I die for her. Every sin you've ever committed up to this point and the ones you will commit in the future, he's already died for. He wants to forgive you If your shame gets in the way of that and you need to get rid of it. It doesn't help you at all. It doesn't help him. Ultimately, this love of Christ is the pearl of great price that we hear about in the Gospel. It's the treasure buried in the field. When you find this kind of love, you'll give up anything for it. That's what the merchant did, right? He sold all his possessions just to own this pearl. This great love that our Lord has for us. Anything that gets in the way of you receiving that love, it needs to be cast aside and needs to be removed from your mind and heart. So, I encourage you all to meditate upon this. Love that when he was dying on the cross for you, he thought of you by name.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:55
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray. Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with the blessed heart among women, and blessed is the fruit of Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Good morning, brothers and sisters. In our first reading today from the prophet of Isaiah, there's a very important phrase that helps us understand the nature of grace and the will of God in the world. It's the final line of that. The Lord is speaking through Isaiah to us. He says, my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will achieving the end for which I sent it.
The church teaches that when God wants something to happen on Earth, He provides all the graces necessary for it. He rains these graces down upon the earth and it is accomplished. His will is accomplished. Why? Because nobody can thwart the will of God. Whenever God wants something that happens when your will is omnipotent, all powerful, then who can stop you?
One of your own creation? Certainly not. No human, no demon, no angel could force the will of God when he wants something to happen. Now, how does this work? However, when God wants to use us, and we may be resistant to His will? Well, what the church says is God's grace flows down upon a land of people because he wants something to happen.And if the people to whom he sends the grace initially reject the grace, it simply flows like a stream to somebody else who's open and willing. If for some reason the ground is rocky and hard, then that water is going to flow elsewhere to fertile soil. Right? And then the fruit will be born in that fertile soil. This is one of the reasons why we have saints. You know, if everybody was a saint, there wouldn't be any saints. What do I mean by that? Because the saints stand out from the crowd. They're almost extremists in grace and in holiness. But you wouldn't need anyone to be that extreme if everybody was as holy as they were supposed to be. If everybody were receiving the grace that God poured out upon the earth. You wouldn't have these exceptionally virtuous and holy people. They were created because the rest of us didn't accept the grace since they were opened. All of the excess grace simply flowed into them, and God's will was still accomplished. He just did it through one person instead of many. Now, knowing this, we can be and should be to a certain extent, a little concerned, because that. Does that mean I'm losing grace? Well, it's certainly possible. Right. God is constantly pouring out. His grace is upon us. And if I'm not open, if I'm not fertile soil, then the grace simply runs off or it doesn't bear the fruit in me that it was supposed to bear, and they bear to someone else. The saints talk about the graces that the Blessed Mother distributes.
They said that in heaven, oftentimes when she's appeared, she has ten shining rings on her fingers and each ring is a separate grace. And when people ask her, obviously, it's all from her son. But when people ask her for intercession, she pours out, you know, these rays of grace upon them. Now, if people don't receive this grace, then other people can scoop it up and there have been saints who say to the Blessed Mother, I want all of the graces that other people reject. I'll take them. Give them to me. I'll use them. Please don't let them be wasted. Send them my way. It's something that you need to consider praying for. But again, if you're not that fertile soil, are you going to be using those graces? Just because you asked for grace. Doesn't mean you absorb the grace. The church teaches that grace builds on nature. Grace builds on nature in a simple way. To understand that is obviously, you know, I will never have the grace to fly like an eagle. Sorry, I don't have wings. It's not my nature. It's not natural to me. But if my nature, which is human, is tainted or corrupted because of sin or vice in various ways, again, grace is prevented from working. Not because grace isn't powerful. Isn't God because I'm blocking it. That's why conversion is so necessary. That's why the ground that Jesus describes in the Gospel today needs to be renewed right there. Roxanne, you need to get those big rocks of sin out. If there are thorns in it, you need to uproot those weeds, Get rid of those, too.
Right. If it's if you're really packed down soil like a pathway that need to, you know, what's it called till, till very go till the soil. Right. Loosen up the dirt so that the grace can penetrate and bear fruit. That's our response. We want to be open to as much of the grace as that God is pouring out upon us each and every day and yet so many things, primarily our sins. But it doesn't even have to be sin. It could just be some area of ignorance, something you need to learn, or some lie you're believing that you need to reject that's blocking the life of God from flowing within you. Now there is a consolation to a certain extent, because Isaiah clearly tells us that God's grace is is like water right at the beginning of the passage. He says, Justice from the heavens. The rain and snow come down, the rain and snow. It's not just rain. That is the analogy for God's grace. It's snow, too. You may say, Well, okay, fine, it's frozen rain. What's the big deal? This is a very important distinction that if you're not a farmer, you might not appreciate. So when I was in seminary, some of the guys were from Nebraska and a lot of farmland out there and they would tell me that if they didn't get a good snowfall that winter, then their crops would not grow as well in the summer. The reason is because as the rain is falling and the air is so cold, it's crystallizing. When it becomes a crystal, it actually traps nitrogen inside the crystal framework. And then when you have, you know, 30 feet of snow piled up on these fields as it's been snowing all winter long, when the spring comes in, that snow begins to melt. All that nitrogen that was trapped in the crystals is now saturating the soil. And plants need nitrogen. They need a lot of it. And so what these farmers have to do when there's not a good snowfall is they have to buy nitrogen and soak their land in it, which is very expensive. So snow has a purpose even in bearing fruit. But there's something fascinating about snow, which makes it quite distinct from rain, is that snow can't run off. Snow stays where it falls until it melts. Oftentimes when we're praying and asking grace is for ourselves or asking grace is for someone else. You know, we might worry, well, if God's pouring out the grace and they're not open to it, maybe it's just flowing off to somebody else and my prayers are wasted. I shouldn't have been praying for them. Well, God can send grace like snow to somebody who has a cold heart, so to speak. And when that grace falls upon him, it simply waits. It sits there and it piles up like the snow and winter. And the moment the thaw comes, and that person begins to open their heart to God's grace, suddenly what happens? Boom. Just this rush of of life flows into them. So, you don't have to worry when you are uncertain whether a person is receiving the grace or open to the grace. That's that's not within our power to know necessarily. But either way, God gives grace as rain or as snow. Right. Ultimately, the desire is to bring about holiness in our lives.
Now, again, as Jesus says in the gospel, we're the ground that needs to receive the rain and the snow. That's that's what we are. But there are many things in our lives that prevent us from bearing fruit, from allowing that rain to really transform us and nourish the seeds that Christ has planted. So, the main way that we remove those problematic areas of our soil is kind of summed up in part in what Saint Paul is saying in the second reading. You know, he begins by saying that I consider the sufferings of this present time or as nothing compared to the glory to be revealed in us. If you know anything about Saint Paul, you know, he brags about the suffering he goes through for Christ and the kingdom. He glories in it. It's his share in the cross of Christ and it was through his suffering that God brought about His conversion and His Holiness, Paul realizes that suffering is the key to transformation, right? Christ suffering can transform us from sinners to saints. Our suffering is also part of that sense we share in the life of Christ. That doesn't mean we only get the good stuff from Jesus. No, we get all the stuff.
Yes. The greatness and the glory, the divinity, but also the broken humanity and the cross. All that suffering is the key that God will use in your life to help make you richer soil. But if you constantly run away from the cross and run away from the suffering, it's never going to work, right? If you're the path on which the seed cannot penetrate, the rain simply flows off. To break up that soil is going to, in a sense, harm the soil, at least its current state of being. One of the problems in the spiritual life for somebody who's open to grace is the fact that a person who's that open more easily suffers. Somebody who's hard hearted doesn't suffer as much. That's why a lot of times we like to be hard hearted. We actually do it to ourselves because we have suffered, and we reject it and we can't handle it. So, in our hearts, problem is a hard heart can't receive the word, can receive the seed. They understand what I'm talking about. It's not easy, by the way. Always think that that's what all of our adult prayers sound like to God. It really doesn't matter how you say it. He just hears a little child crying and screaming. So, but that hardness of heart. Right. We do that because we don't want to suffer because we're afraid. Because we know if we soften our hearts, you can wound again. But without a soft heart, there is no salvation. Right. Jesus Christ became in fleshed so that he could suffer and die. We need that same courage. We have to be open and willing to suffer. It doesn't mean we rush to the cross. If you know anything about Saint Francis of Assisi, I always love him. A lot of people don't realize this, but he really wanted to be a martyr. Obviously, he wasn't. But he really, really, really wanted to be a martyr.
So, he got permission from the pope to go to the Middle East. Again, this was like, you know, 15th century to go to the Middle East because he wanted to try to convert the Muslim sultan, basically the king of Islam at the time. So, Pope gave him permission. He goes there and he finally gets an audience with the sultan, which is quite impressive.
Some Catholic monk from another country has come to talk to him about Jesus. You know, he's not convinced. And Francis says, look, I can prove to you that my God is the true God, but yours isn't so, and says, okay, how? He goes, I want you to build a giant bonfire and I want you to choose a representative from your highest priestly class and both of us will walk into the fire and whoever walks out alive, their God is the true God. And the Sultan was like, okay, sounds like a good plan. Let's do it. So, he got his, you know, a priestly class together, and they built a giant bonfire. And, you know, everybody was gathered around, and Francis was standing there ready to walk in, and none of the sultan's imams would go in.
They were all so terrified. They refused. The sultan even threatened them, but they wouldn't go in. And so Francis said, Don't worry, Sultan, I'll just go in by myself. My God, I'll still prove himself. And he starts walking into the fire, and the Sultan sends his soldiers to tackle him. So, they tackle Francis. And don't let him walk into the fire.
Francis says, why are you stopping me? He goes, because what will happen if you walk out is I'll have to become Christian. And he sent him back home out of the country. The point with somebody like that is they weren't afraid of suffering or death. They weren't afraid of anything. If it brought them closer to the Lord, if it served the kingdom of Heaven. No. Yes. Saint Francis kind of ran towards suffering God doesn't ask that of you. Okay. It's okay. But he does say you should not run from suffering. You know, when you have a toothache, go to the dentist. But until you can get that Novocain. Offer it up. Offer it up. Right When you're struggling with a problem at home or at work in society and you're doing everything you can to fix it, that's fine. But until then, offer it up and ask the Lord to use this suffering to make you fertile soil. We don't have to be afraid of suffering, not with the grace of God to strengthen us and to heal us regardless of the thing we must endure. And so, lastly, I'll end by sharing another story from Saint John Vianney. He's the patron saint of parish priest, the French priest. Hundreds of years ago, he would often have the devil, like certain other saints, appear to him and physically beat him up. Don't worry, God doesn't normally let this happen to people usually have to be really, holy to get this. You're not going to get it. I'm not going to get it.
Don't worry about it. So. So the devil would appear to him and beat him up. You know, and he would offer up that suffering and the devil would do this because John Vianney was such a great saint. He was bringing so many souls to Christ, and the devil just wouldn't go into a rage and, like, physically beat him up.
But obviously God was letting the devil do this. The devil couldn't do it if God didn't allow it. John Vianney knew this, and so he would offer up all the suffering that he was getting directly from the hands of the enemy. But he gave a name to the devil. And whenever the devil would appear, he'd call him the grape and he's like, oh, you've come the grape and now you might not know what that word is. I don't know if they even use it in French anymore, but are you familiar with that three-tooth prong you use for gardening? Right. To break up the soil if you're pulling up weeds or anything. Right. You know, you've seen those little handled things with three prongs on it and French. That was a grappling Do you see John Vianney would call the devil this because he says you're just making me fertile soil, soil for the grace of God. All the suffering you're giving me is just sanctifying me. Thank you. He was grateful to the devil for doing this. Now, you might not be there yet, right? You might not be ready to be grateful for the sufferings that you endure. But you should be. If they are doing that much good in our lives, not only should we be grateful for them, but we should also ask for them now, in zeal. Sometimes people ask for suffering, but it's imprudent because they're not ready. So I usually don't recommend you just ask for suffering because God will give it to you and you probably don't know what you're asking for. So, you always want to go through the Blessed Mother. So Blessed Mother. I know I'm going to have to bear some cross to receive this grace for virtue, whatever it may be, or grow in holiness. In this way, I put it in your hands. You talk to Jesus between the two of you, you decide how this is going to happen. She always does a better job of praying on our behalf than we do on our own. But if the devil himself, as John Vianney teaches us, can be a tool in the hand of God for sanctifying me, then why should I be afraid of any suffering? But it takes profound faith, profound trust in the Lord to accept that and to see in and through the suffering the hand of God sanctifying me and opening me up to even more life and grace in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:54
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray. Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of the womb. Jesus, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Those of you who don't know Deacon Martin is one of the deacons of the diocese. He and his family are visiting today. So we're very to have you served with us at the altar. So you can tell my voice is not exactly all present. This is kind of normal after such a good retreat. So the retreat just went so well on so many levels.
A lot of spiritual healing for a lot of families and couples. And so normally, this is the price I have to pay for it. So gets sick afterward. I'm not feeling great, but I'll be fine in a couple of days. I just won't be chanting today and this retreat in particular, even though I got so much from it, was what we call a domestic church retreat.
You've heard me speak of them before. It's a lay group where couples meet in what they call circles, usually five, six, seven couples in a group. They follow this program to help them grow in the relationship with God and the relationship with one another. Again, it's just to help improve their marriage and therefore their family and ultimately all of society through that.
It's really a great, great group. And one of their obligations is to do a weeklong retreat each year with their whole family. So there were a dozen or more families at this retreat of all different sizes, and they were all there just again, trying to continue to grow in holiness and to get to know the Lord and his will in their lives better.
And I was the priest on the retreat again, very beautiful retreat and a lot of graces for myself and for all of the couples and kids who were present. I thought it was appropriate then to talk about something that's been on my mind recently. A Catholic, but from this parish had been sharing with me a program that they had learned that was going on in the diocese in Texas.
This program is made for couples, engaged couples who are getting ready to receive the sacrament of matrimony. Usually here at Saint Dorothy's, obviously when a couple comes forward saying, Hey, we're engaged, we'd like to get married, I just do all of the meetings with them, you know, all of the preparation work. And they fill out paperwork and all of that stuff has to be done.
But this is a slightly different model that's been used in that diocese and to great success and instead of the priest or the deacon or whomever doing all of their classes, the couple chooses a married couple as their sponsor, basically their mentors. And then we give them the material, write the books and whatever they need. And this married couple helps guide them and prepare them for matrimony.
I still meet with them, but, you know, the couple does a lot of the work with the engaged couple. And one of the beautiful things about this is when young people are engaged to get married, they always have a couple that they admire. It's kind of like this image of perfect marriage in their mind. And it honestly might not be their mom and dad's marriage.
Sadly, ladies and gentlemen, you know, that's the case. So, I mean, maybe it is fantastic, but if it's not, they still have kind of a quote unquote, model marriage in their mind. They can think of a married couple that they want to emulate. And so wouldn't that be a great benefit if that married couple, God willing, were open to helping mentor them, to share with them what they've learned in their own married life and in a sense, what's helped them succeed.
So I really want to implement this here at Saint Dorothy, and obviously I can't do it if you're not willing. So, you know, I want each of you couples to really pray and think about this. You know, if a engaged couple approached you and said, you know, I would really like you to be our mentor through our marriage preparation, obviously that would be a great honor.
But it's a responsibility to you know, you have to have quite a few meetings with them and go through the material. And my hopes is not just that will benefit this newly engaged couple in their married life and family life, but I think it will benefit you because honestly, even if we have a good marriage, at least externally, it looks like we have a good marriage, Right.
Going over these church teachings and going over these things with young couples is going to help renew your relationship as husband and wife. It's actually going to benefit you greatly. Now, some of you may think, well, I just don't have time for that. You know, work, kids, school, sports, church, everything. Fair enough. I completely understand. But there's an easy way to do this without really overly burdening yourself with all of the responsibilities you already have as a married couple with family and that's having the engaged couple simply come to your home, have dinner with you and your kids.
You don't even have to clean the house because this is life. They need to know that this is reality. You know, whatever you're feeding the kids hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, they get to eat, too, right? Because you want to dispel this idealized version of marriage and family life. They usually have. Oh, yeah, It's going to be, you know, roses all, you know, for the rest of your life.
That's just ludicrous. Everyone knows who's been married for any length of time. That marriage is a battle. It's a war, basically. Sadly, sometimes it's a war between husband and wife. That's not what it should be, right? It should be husband and wife against the evil one with the help of God. The battle is this. So Satan does everything in his power to try to separate husband and wife.
Why? Because unity, true unity is the hallmark of our God. Because he is a perfect trinity, a perfect unity of multiple persons. So anything that reflects unity is of God. So when a husband and a wife and children and parents are close, when they have good relationships, the devil and the demons hate that and do everything in their power to break up that unity.
So the war should be between the devil and his minions and each couple and family. Sadly, he convinces us that the war is between husband and wife or parents and kids or children and siblings, you know. So being able to witness to this not only for your own benefit, but for these couples who are preparing for this holy sacrament in this holy life is going to be good for everybody.
And even, God willing, not just in anticipation of their vows, their wedding, but even after their wedding, having meetings with them, you know, every couple of months. Invite them over. How you guys doing? You know, have you had your first fight yet? How did it go? You know, just continuing to share with them. Now, I wasn't really planning this, but it occurred to me this morning there is a couple that I'm going to point out in our parish today that is really a great model and could potentially be a mentor.
And I normally never do this in homilies, but this is an exceptional one. And they're going to be gone next weekend when they celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. And that's the color voters. Georgian roads. Calaveras, 60 years. I'm sure they've never fought once. And if they have, George was always wrong. But obviously they're doing something right. They're doing something right. And we can all learn from them. One of the beautiful things that George himself takes great pride on and as he should, is that all of his children and grandchildren are still practicing Catholics. Sadly, in this day and age, that's amazing. You want to make sure your kids stay Catholic? I'm sure George and Rose can give you some pointers there and may have them give you a talk one day just for the parish.
But there are other couples here, many of them. You might not be married 60 plus years yet, but you have things to share. You have your experiences. And again, it's not just for the benefit of these potentially engaged couples, but it's for your benefit. As spouses, you get to go over and renew the very things that brought you together as husband and wife.
Sadly, so often after many years of marriage, just because of the chaos of life and kids and everything, you forget why you married that person. Now there is one added benefit that honestly is not the reason I would like to implement this program at Saint Dorothy's. I just think it's kind of an icing on the cake. And that's if you the couples are really helping and participating in so much of this marriage prep for these engaged couples.
I don't have to do it anymore. Makes my job much easier. In some way, this is an extension of that group, the domestic church, because the idea is that couples helping couples, you see, it's all about unity and working together. Sadly, we live in a culture, predominant culture, in regards to first world countries in general, where we become so fixated on our own little families and our own little lives that we really don't have good unity or relationships with other families, which means we have to go out of our way to make it happen.
Another desire of the demonic is to give us so much to do in our lives. We don't have time to have good relationships. That's evil. If you study church history, well, you'll find over the last 500 years or more that every time there's a new invention that makes life easier. I remember reading the paper Papal Bull when the train was first invented, you know, a couple of hundred years ago, out of the wind.
And the Pope said at the time, this invention, the steam locomotive that can transport people and goods across countries in such a quick amount of time is obviously going to be a blessing for the culture, but it's going to transform how we live our lives. And we need to be very careful how we use it. Every time a new technology, regardless of its benefits, is created, it speeds up our lives and that's not a good thing.
That's not a good thing. It's okay to have these technologies and to use them, but that just means we have to willfully slow ourselves down. How difficult is it for us to put down our phones and turn off the TV and the radio and just sit outside and watch the sunrise? We struggle with prayer so much in our own lives, let alone in our families again, because of that frenetic nature of life.
This is not of God. Do you know why? When you pray, it takes forever for God to answer. He moves slowly for a reason. He's trying to teach us. Take your time. Slow down. You get frustrated parents with your children when they want a response right away. But I need it, whatever it is. And you're like, No, you don't. You don't need it yet. You'll survive. Do you think your prayers are any different to God? You're I need it now. God, it has to change now. God, Really? Last time you thought that it didn't happen. Why should it be different this time? God has blessed us here at Saint Dorothy's. Really? Has in so many ways, an important, I'd say responsibility we have is to do our best than to tear those blessings with others.
And it's one thing to go out and serve others outside of our parish. That's fine. That's good. We should be doing that. But it's always more important to take care of our own first. That's our primary responsibility and then go out and help those in need for yourselves. You need to feed your children before you go out and feed the poor.
Find where you can thrive in community with your brothers and sisters in Christ and support one another. There's only one of me. I can't do it all. And so again, I just ask you couples to pray and consider this. If a couple and engaged couple approached you and said, Would you guys mentor us? Be open. Invite them to your home.
Just let them see family life. Talk to them again. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. I'll give you a book that'll kind of guide you through all of the talks you're supposed to give. And ultimately more conversation than anything. Helping prepare them for. Yes, the struggles, but also the rewards of marriage. In the name of the Father and of the Son. And of the Holy Spirit.
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:04
John's words should ultimately become our own. In what ways can I decrease, so that Christ can increase in me? Saint Paul got to a place in his life in which this had totally taken place. Saint Paul said very beautifully: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me." Paul had decreased to such an extent that there was very little of Paul left. It was just Jesus. One of the fears that we have in the spiritual life is if I really die to myself in this way then what am I? Who am I? I lose myself. Psychologically, this causes people angst and they don't want to let go of that self-identity. "This is who I am! How could God ask me to give this up?" Most people have no idea what human nature is all about. Let alone, true identity. They don't realize that one of the basic designs God has placed in the whole world is that through death, comes life. The perfect example of this has always been the seed. A seed is a very specific thing. But in order for it to become what it was meant to be, you have to bury it in the ground (that's interesting, we do that with dead things) and it has to die to being a seed. Once it starts to grow, it's no longer a seed anymore. It's a plant. It's what it was meant to be, but it has transformed. It had to give up its current mode of existence and become what it was ultimately designed to be. For each of us, there's no difference. We get confused about what it means to be human, to be alive, and be an individual. We don't realize until we die to these obsessions we have in regards to our own identity and personality, and start to live for Christ, then we'll never find ourselves truly. Just consider for a moment five saints you know about. All of them sought total death to self and conformity to Jesus Christ. And yet all of them are so unique. No two are alike. Yes in virtue they're alike, but in personality they are all so very different. You don't lose yourself when you decrease in this way as John tells us. In fact you begin to find your true self in Christ. Pray for the grace to die to yourself. Start in just small ways. Usually when we think about the things we could give up our initial reaction is: "Uh, but. . . it's mine!! But. . . I like it!" See how easily we find this attachment to something so physical and truly unnecessary. If I can't detach from earthly things, then how am I going to be ready to die when the Lord asks me to detach from life itself?This is why so many Christians, sadly, struggle with death. At the end of their life, there they are. They're grasping. Grasping onto life. They don't want to let go. I'm not saying you should throw your life away. But what are you afraid of? Do you believe that Christ is the resurrection and the life? What are you afraid of?I'm afraid because I have not yet died to myself. Because I have not yet decreased in the right way. . . . In our own lives, certainly there are things we are aware of that we are attached to. But, trust me. there is so much more that we can't even perceive it. Now, our Lord is not going to ask every person to give up every last little thing. But are you willing to give it up if He asks for it? That's the question. Jer 20:10-13; Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35; Rom 5:12-15; Mt 10:26-33 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:03
Tithing to the church - do you know what it has to do with theologically and according to the Scriptures? It has to do with your keeping 90%.The Bible says if you do not tithe to the Lord, the 90% He lets you keep will not be enough to meet your needs. The imagery the Bible uses, is that you carry your coins around in a purse, a little drawstring bag. The Lords says, "If you do not give my tithe to Me, to the temple of God, the house of God, then it's like walking around with a hole in your purse." You're going to lose the coins you thought you were protecting. So you won't have 90% to take care of your needs. You'll have much less and therefore, you're going to struggle. Basically, our Lord is saying, "If you give me 10% - since everything you have is Mine - I'm letting you keep 90. You give Me My 10% and I will make sure that the 90% I let you keep takes care of everything you need. You don't give Me My tithe, and I give you no promises. You're on your own." This is a challenge in faith for each one of us. Do I trust the Lord enough to give Him 10% ? . . . We need to entrust our financial status to the Lord. The way we do that is by following his financial recommendation.... What's interesting about all this teaching is that in the New Testament there are no teachings about tithing, about how much you should give. In the New Testament, the expectation is you're going to give most of your money. Now, there's no command on this, there's no teaching on this. But that's the expectation. God has just given you everything - salvation! - you owe Him your very lives. . . . So, test God's Word. Work towards giving that tithe, that 10%. If you can give more, fine, give more. If you can't give 10%, fine, just give what you can give. But put God to the test and see whether His Word is proved true. That when you strive to do His will, to follow His commands and teachings, see if He doesn't reward and bless you and help take care of all your needs. Ex 19:2-6a; Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5; Rom 5:6-11; Mt 9:36—10:8 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:37
The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. Of course "source and summit" means our faith flows from the Eucharist - from the Body of Christ - and it goes back to the Body of Christ. It begins and ends with Jesus. . . .Since the Eucharist is His real presence, and Jesus is the source and the summit, then the Eucharist is the source and the summit. All other Sacraments lead from the Eucharist and to the Eucharist because it is the Real Presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We know this to be true because this is what He taught. The Church gives us a small segment of this teaching from the Gospel of John today. If you want to focus on that, read chapter six where Jesus clearly lays out His Real Presence. The fact that we - if we're going to be His disciples - we need to eat His Body and drink His Blood. Many Christians think He's just speaking metaphorically. Or analogously. Or symbolically. "Jesus didn't literally mean eat My Body and Blood!"The problem is, the language of the text in its earliest sources, the word Jesus uses to these Jews is mastacare which means to physically chew and swallow. Jesus was telling the Jews: you have to physically eat My Body and Blood if you want to have life in you. That's why at the end of this passage, many of the Jews, and many of His disciples, turn their back on Him. Jesus turned to Peter and the other eleven and said, "Are you going to leave Me too?Peter put up his hands and said: "Lord, where else can we go? Only You have the words of everlasting life." Meaning: I don't really know what You're talking about, but I trust You. The Apostles themselves did not understand this teaching until the Last Supper, when Jesus took the bread, and He took the wine, and with His power as God He said: "This is My Body. This is My Blood." The first consecration. Now, if Jesus wasn't God, then that's just symbolic. But since He's God, every good Jew knows that when He says something, it happens. When He created the universe, He simply spoke, and it came into being. He is the creative force. So if He takes bread and says, "This is My Body", guess what? It's not bread anymore. If He takes wine and says, "This is My Blood", it's not wine. It has been transformed. Or transubstantiated as we say. The substance has changed. That's why we as Christians have always believed in the real presence of Jesus in the holy Eucharist. The scriptures are clear on this and the tradition has always maintained it. But Jesus says very clearly in the gospel, "If you don't eat My Body and drink My Blood, then you don't have any life in you." Why is this so essential for our lives? . . . There are probably many, many people throughout the world who never receive holy communion, and they're still alive, right? They're not dropping dead like flies. What is Jesus talking about? He was obviously not talking about physical life which is maintained by merely physical food. Jesus is talking about the divine life He has given you in baptism. That divine life, that spark of divinity, that now lives in you - the Holy Spirit - will die in you if you don't feed it. And the only food that nourishes that divine life is His Body and Blood. . . . Our fidelity to the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament makes or breaks someone's faith. The Lord says to you, "If you're not eating My Body and drinking My Blood, you have no life in you. You will spiritually die because you'll spiritually starve." That's why this teaching is so important. The Eucharist is our life. Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a; Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:21
This weekend, we welcome Fr. William Lesak, USN (Ret); State Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus So there are the three. Those are the things you and I must do everything we make the sign of the cross. To see Thee more clearly Lord in the world in which I live. To love Thee more dearly in all the things that are broken out there in the world. And to follow Thee more nearly as Your disciple walking together in solidarity with others. That's what you do. That's what I do.So when someone asks you why you do the sign of the cross? Now you know. Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9; (Ps) Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56; 2 Cor 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begns at 15:52
Bread. It's the easiest way to understand these mysteries of salvation. Today - Pentecost - the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the Virgin Mary and appeared as tongues of fire. So, why is bread the perfect analogy, the perfect example that God has given us to understand all of these great mysteries?It's because Jesus chose bread to be the main symbol to be used in the Eucharist, which is His Body, His Real Presence among us. Jesus is the One Who chose bread to be used at the Last Supper, and that we've used ever since. But remember, He's God, which means He designed bread. He knew that once He created humans, they'd harvest wheat and grind it up, mix it with some water, and bake it. And voila: this great substance that everybody all over the world has eaten since the beginning of time. This most basic form of nourishment was the main tool He wanted to use in nourishing of His Body, and in making Himself present for the rest of time. There's a basic rule about Eucharistic bread - and it comes from the Last Supper: there can only be two ingredients to this bread. Flour and water. It's forbidden to use any other elements. Because at the Last Supper, that's what Jesus used. Unleavened bread. This is the same bread the Israelites used at Passover right before their Exodus from Egypt - they had to flee quickly and didn't have time to let their bread rise. They didn't use yeast, they just baked it and ran. Now, this isn't an accident, it's not a coincidence. Our Lord designs these things. . . . There's got to be a reason why He wanted this very simple form of bread to be used in His Real Presence. It's because of what each of the elements of bread symbolizes. There are three main elements to this bread, even though there are only two ingredients. The first element of course is the grain. But it's not just grain - you don't take the grain, mix with water and bake. You have to grind up the grain first, that's an essential aspect. Grind it into flour. The Fathers of the Church tell us that Our Lord, knowing - designing - the way to make bread this way, did so because He was going to use bread to symbolize His presence (I mean "symbol" in the sense that it looks like bread but it's actually His Body). And His Body was ground up in His Passion, was it not? The grinding of the grain was to symbolize the death that our Lord would have to endure to redeem us. Not just grain picked off the ear. It has to be crushed into powder. Like His own Body. This new flour symbolizes for us our Lord's redeeming act. What He endured in order to nourish us and give us everlasting life. But grinding the flour, that's just the first part of making bread isn't it? You need water. If you don't have water, I'm sorry, you can bake that flour as much as you want. It's not going to turn into bread. So you mix in water. . . . Why would our Lord have designed it that way? Because for us to share in the Passion of Christ Who wants to redeem us, what do we need? We need to be baptized. What's the main element in baptism? It's water! That's not a coincidence! That's not an accident. These aren't just interesting connections, our Lord designed it to be the way. So, His saving act: the grinding of the wheat into flour. Our participation in that act - the water that washes away our sin and unites us with the Body of Christ. But again, flour and water doesn't make bread. There's still one essential element that is required. And that's fire. . . . . You see the last gift given - the Spirit - to complete the work of Christ and to form the Church in the world, was fire. Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 25:33
So many people nowadays think they can just talk to God on their own and He's gong to listen? None of us - none of us - deserves to be heard by the Father. Yes, He hears everything because He's God. But do you think for a moment He's going to grant any favor that you've asked? What have you done for Him? How many times have you failed Him? And suddenly, because you're in need now, you want something. Why would He listen to you? That's what today's feast is all about. Because we have and Advocate Who sits before Him interceding on our behalf. Every day. Not just the Advocate Who was sent, that's the Holy Spirit. But Christ Himself - our Mediator. He stands before his Father - in His human nature - pleading on our behalf. And the sacrifice, the sweet smelling oblation He offers, is His own Body. He's the unblemished Lamb that was slain. He is the High Priest of the New Covenant. Now forever before the throne of His Father, interceding.If I pray on my own, my prayers are not heard. But if I pray with, in, and through the Body of Christ then they must be heard. Because: where is Jesus? He's at the right hand of the Father. I have no fear, no concern at all. I know my prayers are heard by the Father because Christ is praying on my behalf. That's the beauty of the nature of Christ's Body. We know that the Church is His Body. We all, members of that same Body. . . . as long as I'm connected with that Body, when I pray, the Head prays. If the Head prays - the head is with the Father, and the Father hears the prayer. Not because of any merit of my own. The Father hears the prayers because the Head merited the grace for me. The Head was worthy. The rest of us body, well, we deserve what we get. As long as I am praying with, in, and through the Body of Christ, I have no doubt, no fear, no concerns that my prayers are not heard and favorably answered. Jesus says: Whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you. Not on a whim, but in union with Me. Meaning if you have the mind and heart of Christ and you ask the Father for anything, He's going to grant it. This is why our Lord had to ascend. He's never left us. He's still here in the Eucharist. But He's also at the right hand of the Father constantly interceding for us. When we pray as a body, it is the prayer of Christ. When I offer this Holy Sacrifice, it is the sacrifice of Christ. The Father looks down on His Son's Body and He grants Her this grace, these blessings, this mercy that She asks for. Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 25:41
Without faith you cannot believe. Without faith you cannot hope. There is no hope without faith and belief: in Christ, in what He has done for us, in the gifts He has given us.Without faith and hope, you can't love. You'll be so filled with anxieties and stresses and the problems of the world.It is precisely faith and hope that empower Christian love to manifest in the world.As St Peter says in our second reading today: Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.What does he mean by this? He mans that we who are filled with God, with the Holy Spirit, should stand out from the rest of society to such a degree that people will approach us and say, "Hey, you're a little different, what's going on? Where is this hope coming from?" Some might walk away, but some will be curious. They'll think: "I want what you have. Where did you get it? How can I get it too?"You need to be prepared to explain to them where this hope comes from.Yet many Christians don't have hope. How is that possible? Why aren't you constantly, at least by your life, testifying to this hope? You look around; friends, family, coworkers, where ever you happen to be; you look around and there isn't much hope. This is a problem. Hope is an essential Christian virtue. . . . why doesn't it shine out in the world?This world is in darkness compared to what we are offered as disciples of the Lord. Yet it doesn't seem to contrast that greatly when we are out amongst others in society.Yes, we have hope in Christ. But we don't have enough hope in Christ. Not yet. . . .The test to know whether all of your hope is in Christ, or only some of it, is: can you ever lose hope?Everything will fail you in this world at some point. Everything. Your gifts, attributes, possessions, skills, relationships. Everything will fail you in this world at some point. If your hope in in those people, those relationships, or those things, when it fails, you will lose it. You'll lose hope.But if my hope is in Christ, nothing effects that hope. If God is actually living in me, in reality living in me, then how can any of these worldly problems affect me? . . . The moment hope is lost, you begin to doubt faith. . . . the reason you lose hope when you fall back into sin - even after leaving the confessional is this: your hope wasn't in Christ, it was in you.If your hope is in Jesus Christ you can't lose it. No one can take that from you. No one. If my hope is solidly rooted in Christ, His love for me, and His Church and her Sacraments, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, then the loss of anything in this world cannot take that hope from me. And that hope will manifest anytime someone sees me. It'll be even stronger light in the darkness when they know you are suffering. When something tragic or bad is happening, and you still have a smile on your face. . . . Peter tells us all: Be ready to give an explanation for this hope. Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20; 1 Pt 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:56
The word "deacon" means servant. That's their job. They are there to serve. To serve the needs of the Bishops and the priests. And there to serve the needs of the faithful. Deacons are ordained to "Christ the Servant". Priests and Bishops are ordained to "Christ the Head". A deacon's role first and foremost is to serve in those areas of the Church where the Bishops and the priests just don't have the time and energy. . . . So what does the Church look for when we interview candidates for the diaconate formation? We look for someone who is* reputable / respectable * wise / holy * filled with the Spirit and faith * already serving his local community in some way, has a service-minded heart * has raised his children well
The primary role of the deacon is to proclaim the Gospel - he has that right. Because of that he can also preach with the permission of the priest celebrant. If Holy Eucharist is being distributed under the form of the Precious Blood, that is also his by right according to a deacon's role in the liturgy.Deacons also teach; faith formation, catechism, they help prepare couples for marriage and their child's baptism. There are any number of things they do. For any men discerning the diaconate, if you get accepted to the program, there are many years of formation - intellectual and spiritual. You want to make sure you're properly formed and prepared to be ordained to minister in the name of Christ. There is another thing any man getting ordained to the diaconate must promise when he gets ordained. That is: if he is married, and his spouse dies, he is forbidden from ever remarrying. If he is not married when he becomes a permanent deacon, he takes a vow of celibacy like a priest and he's never allowed to get married.Another thing to consider is that a man cannot be ordained to the diaconate - even if the Bishop wants him, even if he wants it - without his wife's permission. She must consent to it. One of the things expected of the wives in the diaconate formation program is that they - in so far as they are able - participate in their husband's formation. The role of the deacon's wife - though it is not liturgical - because of the husband's elevation in this official capacity in the Church, is elevated in the eyes of the people. What we find is that because of this, other women and people in the parish seek them for advice and direction. So we want to see that the wives of the candidate not only encourage and support their husband's calling, but are willing and able to accept the responsibilities of being the wife of a deacon. Because the formation is so time-consuming, generally we're looking for someone who has already raised his children. If he has kids, for the most part they are out of the home, or almost. We wouldn't want him to be take away from his primary vocation which is his family. The scriptures attest to this. If a man is called, one of the signs you look for is: has he raised his children well? The role of deacons in the Church is apostolic. Christ did not Himself create deacons. The Apostles did. The early Church created this ministry. They recognized a need and were guided by the Holy Spirit in doing this. If any of you men have considered or may potentially consider this vocation one day, think about it, pray about it. And what you'll do as a community, if you see a man who could serve the Lord in this capacity, certainly pray for them. Maybe ask if them: Have you ever thought about being a deacon?Pray for our deacons in the Diocese, for their wives and families. For them men and their families who are in formation. And pray for a deacon for our parish too. Acts 6:1-7; Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19; 1 Pt 2:4-9; Jn 14:1-12 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:03
Spiritual beings have no power to create anything spiritual at all. That power only exists in the physical universe by what we believe as God's design. Why is this important?Because it helps us to understand in our attempts to create AI (artificial intelligence) something simple should be clear: it will never become self-aware. That's impossible. Dogs aren't self-aware. Trees aren't self-aware. Only human beings are self-aware. Now, in the rejection of Judeo-Christian philosophy and theology, there is this heresy of "materialism" that believes that everything in the universe is the only thing that actually exists, and that human beings are just evolved monkeys. This is the lie.But you have to understand something about human beings - something we know by revelation, but even philosophically, it makes perfect sense - that human beings can't create new persons. Did you know that? You mothers and fathers? You've never created a new person. . . . You have to understand how you participate in creation. You see, since humans beings are not just animals, like dogs and whales, you're not just creating a material copy. That's all matter can do.As mothers and fathers all you're doing is participating in the natural order according to material beings in the physical universe, to recreate a body. That's what the egg and the sperm do. They recreate a human body. But they can't make a soul, right? No spiritual being has the power to recreate spirits. God reserves that to Himself alone. Even the angels can't do this. . . . That's why to create another human being you need three beings. A mother, a father, and God. God steps in at the moment the egg and sperm come together . . . and creates - out of nothing - a new soul and infuses it into that new body. Now there's a person. But God made the person. You helped Him by making the body. Let's assume for argument's sake, that we have the ability to create something in regards to artificial intelligence, that's incredibly advanced. Incredibly advanced. It can think like a human. And seem to make decisions like a human. Ok. Fair enough. But it will only be mimicry, because it will never have a soul. We can't create souls. It won't gain sentience some day. That is actually impossible. So don't be afraid of the "terminators" taking over. It will only have so much power and control as we choose to give it since we - humans - are the greatest thing in the physical universe. We're the only thing in the physical universe that is not just physical. We have this soul - this intellect and will - that is superior to anything else. Which is why we were given mastery over the universe. . . .What is the thing we should fear about artificial intelligence? It's not that it'll become aware and who knows what will happen after that. That will never happen, you don't have to worry about that. The fear should be, one: who is programming it? And two: how do they plan to use it. But that's the same with any scientific advancement like the internet, or splitting the atom. It's just another human creation. Artificial intelligence will just be a very, very impressive hammer. . . . That's all it will ever be. What you should fear is human's use of it. . . .So we need to pray for the people who are programming AI. Because it will simply mimic their views. Their philosophies. Their convictions. And it'll make decisions based on those premises. . . . But we all said together in the responsorial psalm: "The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want." Our Lord Jesus Christ is enough. Is that true for you? Regardless of what happens in the world around us. He is our Shepherd. He will take care of His sheep. All I need to do to be assured of my own safety and well-being in the grand scheme of things is: follow the Shepherd. That's my job. I seek to follow the Shepherd, wherever He may lead me, and I leave the rest up to Him. Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b4, 5, 6; 1 Pt 2:20b-25; Jn 10:1-10 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:37
The Jews saw this gift of Law as the greatest gift that God bestowed upon them. He did it through His prophets, through Moses, by speaking His Word to them. As Catholics, we understand that Jesus Christ is the Word of God. What the old law symbolized, Jesus Christ is. The difference between the Old Testament law, and the New Testament Christ is that one is verbal and the other, Incarnate. An actual living law. That's Who Jesus Christ is. He is the living Law of God. . . .Jesus Christ is the completion of everything that was taught to the Israelites before. Remember what Jesus said: "Not a single letter or dot on a letter will pass away from the law. I did not come to remove the law, but to fulfill it." That's what He does. He is the fulfillment of the Law, and as we know, that law in Christ is love. Saint Paul tells us that the summary of all of the law and the prophets as revealed in Christ is love. He manifests that love most perfectly through His Death and Resurrection. . . .Laws - rules - enable relationships. Without rules, there are no relationships. Some rules restrict the relationship, and some require action in the relationship. ultimately, that's the purpose of law and rules. And that's what Christ has come to give us. . . .You need Divine Laws and rules to have a relationship with God. That's where we as Catholics have the greatest gift. In a sense - like the Jews of old - we can take great pride that we have been given God's own Law - His teachings, His life - so that we can have a relationship with Him. And through that bring others - the rest of the "lawless" people of the world - to Christ. These aren't just the Ten Commandments and the moral code. Yes, those are some of the laws, some of the rules. But first and foremost, the laws that enable us to have a relationship with God, with our Father, are the Sacramental laws. The Sacraments. . . . . they are the means by which we offer love and adoration to God. Father proceeds to "break open the Scriptures" and explain howthe road to Emmaus resurrection account is so important for us and how the Mass is celebrated. Acts 2:14, 22-33; Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; 1 Pt 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35 Due to technical issues, we were unable to stream the Mass this Sunday.
If the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it was the Lord, then of course He'd have the power to forgive sins, He's God. But their objection was legitimate. Honestly, it's the same objection that Catholics and Christians in general have about priests hearing confessions and forgiving sins: How can a man forgive sins? Why do I need to go to a man to get my sins forgiven? Jesus says you do. Jesus is the man. The human through which our sins are forgiven. He is the only one through Whom our sins can be forgiven. He has determined the mode by which we, His disciples, come to Him to have our sins forgiven. . . . There is no doubt that Jesus Christ Himself has given this Sacrament - reconciliation, confession - to the Church as the "ordinary" means of the forgiveness of sins. . . . Not only do we know that a man can forgive sins - because Jesus Christ is that Man - and not only do we know that Jesus Himself gave that power to other men, but we also know, even psychologically, why Jesus created that sacrament the way He did. . . . as a human, a personal, connection in order to restore a broken relationship. . . . He created the sacrament of Confession, and He gave the Church this power because you need it. I need it! Because I'm human! It's my nature, it's how He made me. You cannot receive all of the graces that you need if you do not go to Confession to the priest. You can't. A Letter from Bishop Jugis: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,Christ, our hope, has risen. Peace be with you.Like Thomas in today’s Gospel, surrounded by a world of doubts and uncertainties, we have experienced the Lord in our midst, and proclaim with Easter joy, “My Lord and my God!”This past year Pope Francis invited us to participate in a global synodal process in which we shared our faith, fears, hopes, and concerns. Although the national Catholic participation rate was only slightly above 1%, the Diocese of Charlotte exceeded the national average. After prayerful discernment and having listened to the lay faithful and the clergy of the diocese, I would like to share with you six pastoral priorities moving forward.* First and foremost, I earnestly desire all to renew and anchor their lives in the Most Holy Eucharist. Busy lives bombarded by distracting and worldly messages can only truly find the peace for which they yearn in the paschal mystery. * Second, while strengthening our communion with Christ, we must in turn allow Him to strengthen the communion within our families and the Church. Unlike the secular world in which we live, the Church cannot allow herself to be fractured by partisanship. The forces that seek to divide are not greater than the Holy Spirit who unites. We must follow Our Lord who prayed at the Last Supper, “that they may be one, as we are one.” * Third, as a family of faith we must inspire the youth to find their home in the Church. Inherently drawn to authenticity, it is our responsibility to speak to the meaning of a true Christian life. * Fourth, in a time of moral confusion, we must inspire lives of personal holiness highlighting the beauty of chaste love. * Fifth, we must learn to proclaim the faith in a digital age, that we may better evangelize a culture teeming with secular and contrary messages. * Sixth, we must meet the challenges of an ever-growing diocese. In just 50 years the Diocese of Charlotte has grown from 34,000 Catholics in 75 parishes to more than 500,000 Catholics in 92 parishes and missions spread across 46 counties.
As a diocesan family, relying upon the grace and mercy of God, I ask for your help as I shepherd the diocese to meet the challenges of our day. Finally, I entrust these pastoral priorities to the maternal care of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God, our diocesan patroness.May the peace and joy of Easter be with you all.Sincerely yours in Christ,Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Bishop of CharlotteApril 16, 2023 Acts 2:14, 22-33; Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; 1 Pt 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:47
The words that the angel spoke to Abraham are quite profound. He says: "I know now how devoted you are to God since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son." God chose Abraham because he was most like Him, like God the Father. We know this because God the Father perfectly offered His own Son in sacrifice. For love.So if the angel says to Abraham: "You are clearly devoted to God because you are willing to sacrifice your own beloved son", then that means God is devoted to you. Because he did offer his only begotten Son. Think about that for a moment.God is devoted to you. That's the love that the Father has for us. So devoted He did not even hold back that which was most precious to Him. That's the whole message of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That God loves us this much. He is this devoted to us.How devoted are you to God?Are there things in your life that you withhold from Him? Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; 1 Cor 5:6b-8; Jn 20:1-9 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 27:05
You'll recall that it was on this night that our Lord warned the Apostles to stay awake and pray. Stay awake and pray. Every time He went off a little distance to pray, He'd come back, and there were Peter, James and John. Fast asleep. They were just so exhausted they could not stay awake. He warns them: "Get up. Pray. You're going to be tested, you need strength. I've already given you My Body and Blood in the Eucharist. I've washed your feet as a sign of spiritual cleansing. But now it is time to pray." He chides Peter: "Could you not stay awake one hour with Me?"One hour. See, that's our Lord's teaching on the first holy hour. That's why it's been a long standing tradition at the Church - that's why we have a formal holy hour on Thursday nights. That's the night the apostles should have stayed awake and prayed. It's the night Jesus asked for an hour of prayer in His presence. . . . It's not Jesus Who needs your time. It's not Jesus Who needs your prayers. He's the Lord. He doesn't need anything from us. It's we who need to spend this time in prayer. Prayer - like the Sacraments - is not a magic bullet. It doesn't take care of all your problems. But the graces that we receive in the Sacraments are actually strengthened and flower through our prayer. When we're not praying enough, when we're not spending enough time in prayer, then all those grace we've received go unused. And eventually, leave us. Especially this night. Take advantage of the opportunity you have. Spend at least some time with our Lord. Though He needs nothing from us, spend some time with Him trying to console His grieving Heart. Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:24
Men, as the heads of our homes we have a moral obligation to speak the truth to our wives and our children whether they want to hear it or not. Regardless of the consequences. Now, we should do it in love, but we have to remember that obligation. So often, like Adam in the garden, we let things go on because we don't want to rock the boat. We don't want Eve to get upset with us. That was Adam's first sin.Adam's second sin, after not speaking up when he should have, after not defending the Lord's teaching, the Lord's laws when he should have; was following his wife.Think about that ladies, for just a second. Why did Adam eat of the fruit of the tree? because Eve ate it first and offered it to him. Even thought Eve was first to eat of the fruit, it's still called "Adam's sin", not "Eve's sin". Why?Because Adam was the head of the family, not Eve. . . .One of the mistakes we men often make is, we'll talk with our wife about what we should do in a situation, and the wife will say: you need to do this, this is the best way, or this is my recommendation. Husband says, good idea, let's do that. And he does it. And it all falls apart. He says: It's not my fault. It was her idea. I was just going along with the plan!The fact of the matter is, as the heads of our homes, we decided to go along with the plan.If Eve makes a good choice, it's perfectly fine that Adam take her example. But Adam must lead her in the choice. Never follow her.There's an order here to things. Adam is always to lead, even when he's leading based on Eve's advice. What would have happened - think for a moment - what would have happened if Adam didn't eat the fruit but Eve did?What should have happened if that was the case? You see, Adam became the example of all sinful men. But he should have been, even at that time, a type of Christ.Jesus is the perfect "Adam". The sinless one. The perfect husband. His bride - His people, the Church - always sins, always does wrong (Ladies, I'm not picking on you, I'm using a metaphor).The Church - we, the Body of Christ - we always sin. We're the guilty party here. He's the innocent one. He never goes along with our sin. Never. . . . How often does He say: hey, you should be following Me, not Me following you.It's precisely because of His outspokenness that the Jews hated Him and wanted Him dead.His own people who should have followed Him, rebelled against Him.They gave Jesus an option. They said: look if you follow us, we'll let You live. Everything will continue status quo.And Jesus said to them: I cannot do that. You must follow Me.They said: Look, if you insist upon this, we're going to kill you.He said: You must follow Me.And they crucified Him. Love inclines one to suffer for the beloved. Even when you are innocent. Mt 21:1-11; Is 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Mt 26:14—27:66 Homily begins at 39:15 . You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel.
The Church has maintained this tradition of veiling because of what is symbolizes. Women, you are a "type" of the Church. Because the Church is the Bride of Christ, every bride represents the Church - especially every Catholic bride. To symbolize the Church's own desire for modesty, for chastity, and for submission to Christ, women wore veils. That's why whenever you see a picture or a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, She's got a veil on. Even over the last two thousand years when She has appeared in mystical ways to people, She's always veiled. Always. Why?Because of the theological significance. Mary isn't just a "type" of the Church. Mary, the Blessed Virgin, is the archetype of the Church. An archetype is much greater than a type. Mary, she is the perfect type. She perfectly models the Church. She was perfectly chaste. She was perfectly humble. She was perfectly submissive and obedient to Christ in all things. That's why She said "yes" to the will of God. God had authority over Her and She submitted to Him in everything. That veil was a symbol of that obedience, that submission, that humility, and that chastity. It's precisely those virtues that drew God to Her. That lead Him to want Her to be the Mother of His Son. One of the things even Catholic women who wear veils don't know is what Paul specifically mentions in First Corinthians as to why Catholic women at Church should wear veils - why he required it. Again, it's not an official teaching of the Church today. . . . but the reason Paul says God wants you women to wear veils in Church is to be a sign of submission to your husbands. Their authority over you. Paul is speaking on behalf of God through the Holy Spirit. The truth of what Paul is saying remains whether you wear a veil or not. That's the rub isn't it?Whether or not you wear a veil, God expects you wives, you mothers, to be submissive to your husbands in all things as to God Himself. Ez 37:12-14; Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; Rom 8:8-11, Jn 11:1-45 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:50
We know He is the Light of the world. Those that live in sin, live in darkness - they are the blind ones. Those who have been forgiven of sin, set free, have their sight restored to them. Now we know Jesus is not referring to physical sight. Yes, in the Gospel He performed a physical miracle, but that wasn't the point of the miracle. He even said to His apostles before He performed it: the reason this man was born blind is so I could do the will of God here. So I can reveal the Truth.And what is the Truth? Jesus is the Truth. He's revealing Himself by performing this miracle, revealing that He is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. If you put your faith in Him, He can open your eyes. These eyes are the eyes of your soul. This is why He was ridiculing the Pharisees in the Gospel. They claim to be able to see - and of course, they have physical vision - but they were spiritually blind because of their sin. They wouldn't open their minds and hearts to God, to Jesus, because they were closed off inside and rejected Him, they remained blind. It's impossible for someone who is spiritually blind to find happiness or joy. How can you rejoice in the darkness? I thought it appropriate today that we talk about happiness from the Church's teaching. . . . Those who have sight - those who our Lord has healed and given spiritual vision - they see and pursue those things in this life those things which will help them obtain not only perfect happiness in the next, but even a taste of perfect happiness here on earth. And what are those things? . . . There are 14 of them: the works of mercy. The works of mercy are the works that Jesus Christ Himself performs. And since He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, we who follow Him do not walk in darkness. Whenever we perform these works, we are beginning to live and love like Christ, and we begin to experience the love and life of Christ in Heaven even here on earth. The Corporal Works of Mercy* To feed the hungry; * To give drink to the thirsty; * To clothe the naked; * To harbour the harbourless; * To visit the sick; * To ransom the captive; * To bury the dead.
The Spiritual Works of Mercy* To instruct the ignorant; * To counsel the doubtful; * To admonish sinners; * To bear wrongs patiently; * To forgive offences willingly; * To comfort the afflicted; * To pray for the living and the dead.
I recommend each family have the works of mercy printed out, large, and posted somewhere; on the fridge, a bulletin board, where you can see it each day. Challenge yourself, your spouse, even your children, to look at that list and say: Which one am I going to try to do today? 1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:20
You see, hardness of heart is the main problem in our relationship with God and in salvation. But it's also the main problem in our relationships with one another. It's most clearly experienced in marriage, when you harden your heart against your spouse. Why do you do this? Well, for several seemingly justified reasons: they keep hurting you, over and over again, in the same way. You try to get over it, you try to love, you try to forgive, you try to be patient. But after a while you say: I can't do this anymore. It's too painful, I'm done.So even before you end the relationship officially, you close off your heart. The heart is like a light switch - it's either on or off. You can't have your heart open to some and closed to others. It is either open to all, and God. Or closed to all, and God. The moment you close your heart off to anyone - especially a spouse - guess what? It's now hard. Like a rock. Nothing flows from a rock. At least not naturally. So your heart dries up, it dies.It ceases to love the Lord. It ceases to love your spouse. It even ceases to love your neighbor and your children. All of it. You can delude yourself for a time thinking "Oh, I still love some of these people." No. At that point it's all corrupted, tainted and perverted. None of it is true love. That's not how the heart works. So how do you overcome that hardness of heart? Well, in the Old Testament, what did God do? He struck the rock to break it open. Is that what Jesus did with the Samaritan woman? Did he just walk up and slap her: "Repent you sinner!" No! No. So gently. He carefully won her over.That's what He wants to do with each of you. . . . There is a way our Lord can win over your heart. He does it in the same way He won over the Samaritan woman. He always does it gently. He doesn't come outright and demand repentance from you even though that's what He needs. He has the ability to change your hard heart into a fleshly heart.But He won't do it against your will. Ex 17:3-7; Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:30
One of the things (Pope Benedict) clearly explains in Spirit of the Liturgy is why he thinks God wants, at least for a while in the history of the Church, two different rituals to be celebrated in one rite of the Church. One r-i-t-e of the Church. You see, the definition of a "rite" within the Catholic Church is a "way of celebrating the liturgy". So different rites are ways of celebrating the Mass. There's the Coptic rite, Ukranian rite... it's all the same Mass. The same Last Supper of the Catholic Church. But they're different rites.We are the Roman rite. That's what we are. We're Roman Catholics. Every rite should have a singular celebration of the Mass. It is illogical for any singular rite to have multiple celebrations. That doesn't make any sense! Those (different celebrations) would be separate rites. Ultimately, Roman Catholics can't have two rites in the Church. Benedict XVI explains this in Spirit of the Liturgy. Why would God be allowing this right now in history? It's confusing. Look what it's doing to the Body of Christ in the Roman rite. It's causing disunity and disagreements. . . . Why would this be the will of God? To have two rites (within the Roman church) at least for a time.It's because of the abuses and bad implementation of the Novus Ordo after the Second Vatican Council. There was nothing wrong with the Council, it was how its teachings were applied which was not always good. . . .Pope Benedict XVI explains in his book that the reason the Holy Spirit is allowing both of these celebrations to go on in the Church - at least temporarily even though it is causing division - is because the Extraordinary form needs to "rub off" and correct the errors in the ordinary form. Meaning: the ordinary form has to pick back up the good habits that were lost after the Second Vatican Council.Pope Benedict XVI clearly says that's why only for a time are we supposed to have these two forms. But it's supposed to end. (The Extraordinary form) is supposed to be abrogated from the Roman rite because we are Roman rite Catholics and there should be only one rite of the Mass. Not two. Theologically, the last three popes are in agreement. And that has to be the will of God, there's no doubt about it. Why is it happening at this time and in this way? Many of my brother priests and laypeople to whom I speak on this topic are struggling so much. To lose the ability to celebrate and experience the Extraordinary form, is a cross to them because they love it so much. It's like losing a loved one. It's like experiencing a type of death. Why would God be asking this of them at this time? Why is this the will of God for them and for the rest of the Church? Gn 12:1-4a; Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22; 2 Tm 1:8b-10; Mt 17:1-9 Due to technical issues, we were unable to stream this Sunday's Mass. We apologize.
Lent is not a preparation for Easter. It's a preparation for Good Friday, the death of our Lord. When our Lord fasted forty days and forty nights in the desert, He was preparing for his inevitable death. And we - rightly following His example - we prepare for our own deaths by fasting forty days and forty nights each year. But since we don't know when our death will come, it's not enough to do that just once a year and then we don't have to think about death till next Lent.No. Every day. Memento mori. Remember death. Another Latin phrase: Carpe diem. Seize the day. Take advantage of today. Often, in a secular word, that phrase is used to mean "Live it up!" "Get what you want." "Do whatever you want."That's not the reason for the phrase. The reason to carpe diem is because today is the only day you know you have. Take advantage of today, and from our perspective, that means: Get ready for death! I may die tomorrow morning before I wake up. Am I ready for death before I go to sleep this night? Father explains how memento mori can help us maintain our Lenten sacrifices. Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17; Rom 5:12-19; Mt 4:1-11 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:35
Visiting Priest: Fr Philip Mackenzie, Food for the Poor Being Christ for the other person means bringing love to the other person. The love is of course, serving others. A call to perfection, that's what it is. That your body is really a temple of the Holy Spirit. . . . The Lord is saying, let the Spirit of the law exist - not adhering to the law in its strictest sense. Because, out of the Ten Commandments, it is said the Hebrews made over 360 different laws. So people were walking on pins and needles. The Lord, in His moment, said no. If you keep those two commands, you'll have kept all. And what are they? To love the Lord your God with all your mind, your heart, your soul, your strength, your entire being. And to love who? Your neighbor, as we love ourselves. And who is our neighbor? Not the person next door, really. Your neighbor is anyone we meet, as He is saying in the Scriptures today. And in loving the neighbor, sometimes, there's an enemy among. But love the enemy the same way. Pray for those who hate you and persecute you.If you have kept these two commands, then you'll have kept all the commands. . . .And the last commandment before He left: Love each other as I have loved you. A very pointed charge. His love is a selfless love, giving His entire Being for justice and right. And then, there comes peace. And so it is my dear friends in Christ that this morning I am here, speaking on behalf of Food for the Poor. "Love, wonderful love. The love of Christ for me.Love, wonderful love. So rich, so full, so free.Wide, wide as the ocean, deep, deep as the sea, high, high as the heavens above is His love for you and me." Lv 19:1-2, 17-18; Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:17
Jesus is speaking here about our final judgement. He's saying we have to get ready before we die. If we don't "settle our debt" before we go to our judgement - "the court" - we're in trouble.So how do we settle the debt? How do we take care of these issues, these sins, which offend God, while still here in this life? Jesus gives us the answer. He's not trying to trick or deceive us, or make the Christian life impossible. He is setting for us a very high goal: perfect love. But He knows most of us aren't going to make it. Does that mean there's no hope? No. There's hope. That's why He came. That's why He died for us, so He could still offer us hope. In our first reading, a beautiful reading from the book of Sirach, we are told that each of us has two choices: one leads to life, the other, death. The path to life is obeying all of God's commandments. If you do that, you'll be saved. Don't worry. That's Life.But if you break His commandments, that's Death. You're damned, it's over. But most of us fall into that second category. Does that mean that most will not go to heaven? Apart from Christ? Yes. Apart from Jesus Christ, no one goes to Heaven. But with Him, even if I'm not able to perfectly follow the commandments, the Old Testament Law, let alone the New Testament law, I still have hope. And the hope is this: He says, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar. Go first and be reconciled with your brother and then come and offer your gift. The Fathers of the Church tell us Jesus is explaining to us that in order to approach the altar of God (as Catholics we know what that means) to present our gift - which is our self, that's what God wants from us, a gift of self - before we present ourselves before God, He says we need to reconcile with anyone - any "brother" - who has something against us. This refers not only to people in this life, earthly relationships and issues that you currently have, but more importantly, it refers to Jesus Christ Himself, who is our Brother. Through baptism, we are united in the Body of Christ and Jesus call us "family". His brothers. His friends. When we sin, we offend Him. As our God. As our Lord. And as our Brother.He's the one we have to reconcile with before we approach the altar. He's basically saying: go to Confession. We call Confession "reconciliation" because you are reconciling with your Brother, Jesus. He'll forgive you of your sins. Then when you come to the altar to offer your gift, it will be accepted by God. If you refuse to do this, that's when He says: I will take you to court. I want you to pay attention to this change of language. In the first part of this statement, Jesus says that you have a problem with your brother, or your brother has a problem with you. So you need to go and reconcile with him. But if you don't reconcile with your brother, then he's not your brother anymore.What does Jesus call him? Your "opponent".If you refuse to humble yourself and reconcile with someone, you're not family anymore. You're not friends. You're not brothers. You're opponents. God is saying if you don't reconcile with me, I am your opponent. . . .Our Lord is offering you two options. What Sirach says: one of life and one of death. "I can be your Brother. Or I can be your Opponent. You choose." It is our choice. Sir 15:15-20; Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34; 1 Cor 2:6-10; Mt 5:17-37 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:53
What was it? What enabled Dorothy to be so willing, at such a young age, to not only consecrate herself to Christ in chastity, but also to freely throw away her life for her love for our Lord. You see, our culture (and this is not new by the way, it happens generation after generation) has this basic heresy, this idea, that the only real things are what your senses can perceive. Touch. Taste. Smell. Hear. See. Only the physical things, only the world around you that you can touch and measure and evaluate, only that is real. Of course we know better, it's a great error on their part. But it's a very common mistake. . . . The only thing that would allow any human, at least on a purely human level, to be willing to give up the natural goods of this life is if they truly believe that there is something greater than anything in this physical world. That even their physical lives are not worth the reward that they will get for remaining faithful to Christ and sacrificing themselves for Him and for the Gospel.But to have that kind of belief, to have that kind of conviction, is not an easy thing to come by. This is why, as Catholics, the Church requires us to do so many ritual things. Jesus Himself is the One Who gave us the seven Sacraments. All of our rituals are based out of that structure, that design, that theology, that philosophy. . . . There's a reason for the habit, for the action we perform. It's because we believe that this is really Jesus. This poorly tasting cracker is really the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ our Lord. And we have good reason to believe it. That's what informs our choice to genuflect for example. Those little actions and rituals that we as Catholics perform throughout our day - the little things the Church asks of us - are constantly trying to reinforce the fact that what we believe is real. It's not imagined. It's not just a nice idea. . . . I find that I'm happier following the teachings of the Catholic Church - as difficult as they may be at times. But I'm happier with this than with anything the world has ever offered me. . . .We know this intuitively. It's written on our hearts. Our patroness Saint Dorothy saw this so clearly. She realized: There is nothing in this world I want more than our Lord. I encourage you on this day to reflect on her willingness to suffer and die. To sacrifice all for the Lord. What things are you holding onto in this life? What things would you not let go of for Jesus? What would you be willing to sacrifice for our Lord? . . . It's hard enough to endure when God takes something from us. But how many of us are willing to give it up freely? If there is something that you still inappropriately hold on to in this life, give it to Saint Dorothy. She will give it to the Blessed Mother, who will give it to Jesus. Then even if God never takes it from you while you're in this world, at least it won't have a grip on your heart. Your heart will open up, and there will be more room for the Lord to become the most important thing. So that if, God willing, He ever calls you to imitate the example of martyrs, you'd be ready and willing to do so. 1Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20; Ps 31:3cd-4, 6, 8ab, 16bc, 17; 1Heb 9:2-3, 11-14; Jn 12:24-26 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 27:00
In this passage from Isiah, we're told that not only are there certain things we have to do, there are certain things we have to remove to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world! Oppression. False accusations. Malicious speech. You know, about a month ago I preached about gossip and it's come up several times because people keep bringing it up to me. It was one of those homilies that stirred up a lot of concern and conversation. Notice for a moment: false accusations and malicious speech. You have to remove that from your life to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Why? Because if you go around trying to do good, and yet you gossip and slander, then all of those virtuous deeds that you may do become useless and meaningless. The Bible says if you gossip and slander then your praise of God is worthless, and your prayers cannot be heard. You're using the same tongue to call on God and praise His Name that you are using to tear other people down. The gift of speech is one of the greatest natural gifts bestowed upon us after life itself. We can do something that God can do - in fact, what God is. God is the Word. He's given us this power to speak word ourselves. This ability - to speak words, to communicate ideas, truth - has to reflect the Truth. The Word. Anytime I use this gift in a way that is contrary to God - God's own goodness, nature, glory - I pervert the gift of speech. This is something we have to master. You cannot be the salt of the earth and the light of the world without doing that. Why do you think the world is tasteless and in darkness? So how do we master ourselves? The solution is not quick, but it is simple. Practice silence. . . .If you can't quiet your mind, you'll never be able to quiet your lips. Even if it's just for a few minutes, stop by the church and spend the time quietly with our Lord asking Him to teach you how to quiet your own mind. To practice the virtue of silence. Is 58: 7-10; Ps 112:4-9; 1 Cor 2:1-5; Mt 5:13-16 Homily begins at 22:22
You know the old saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. An image, a picture, is able to say so much . . . when this image is an image of Jesus Christ - a holy image of Jesus Christ, or the Stations of the Cross, or the Crucifix, the Word of God - in essence, it's like reading the Bible. It's like reading the Gospel stories. There's no greater mediation that you can do. Having holy images and utilizing them is so important, so helpful in the Christian life. We can close our eyes and see that image in our mind. It brings us to a holy reflection on the love of Christ Jesus, on the suffering He went through to save us from sin. It can be very beneficial for you, for your children in your home. . . . Having an image of Jesus is not breaking any commandment or teaching. In the Old Testament, God gave this law to His people: you are not to have graven images. Now, a "graven" image is an engraved or carved or sculpted image. A lot of Christians have thought that means you can't have any images, any pictures of anything. But if you look back through the history of the Jewish people, they had images of everything. If you went into the Temple , into the Hours of God, the walls were covered with images. Some of natural things: trees, animals, grass. Sun and stars and moon. And of angels. Gilded angels surrounding the immersion walls of the Temple. The images they were forbidden to have were images of God. . . . It's not just any image that's forbidden. It's an image of the Creator. . . . We have this deep desire to have images of those whom we love because those images call to mind that love. They lead us to reflect upon the relationship. . . . The reason there are so many graven images in pagan religions is that humans want to know what God looks like. But our Lord told the Jews: you are not to create an image of Me. Obviously the Jews wanted to be able to see the face of god. That's even in the Beatitudes we read today: Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God. We want to see Him. We want to be able to behold Him. It's a natural desire So why would God deny the Israelites this desire? It's because he always intended to give them His image. Jesus Christ is the image of the Father. Jesus is the image of God. When we see Him, we see God. . . . But the beautiful gift is that God is so much like us. He looks like us. He walks like us. He talks like us, because we are made in His image and likeness. Zep 2:3, 3:12-13; Ps 146:6-10; 1 Cor 1:26-31; Mt 5:1-12a You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 15:28
Father offers a follow-up to last week's homily on gossip. Knowledge, truth. These are good for everyone. But data, facts, and information aren't for everyone. As parents, you know this inherently for your own children. You keep certain information away from them because it's not helpful. They're either too immature, or it's just not important. It doesn't mean that the things you know aren't true, just that they are not ready for it. That's perfectly justified.But as adults, we think "Oh I'm mature enough." "I need to know what's going on out there."Really?How well do you handle the information that you have? Are you able to maintain the peace of Christ in your heart? Are you able to hear the voice of God and focus on Him despite the chaos and bad things in the world? If you can't do that, then you can't handle the information. You have to stop listening to it, reading it, hearing it. You have to remove it from your life. . . . You don't need to worry about things outside of your control. This was a lesson the Lord taught me many years ago, to - in essence - shrink my world view.I am only responsible for certain things in this world. Family. Some relationships with friends. Saint Dorothy's. Lincolnton. That's the sphere of my existence for the most part. . . . As long as I can keep my focus on these thing on which the Lord has asked me to work and minister and care, then I can handle it because I have the grace from Christ to handle it.When I reach out to gain information for things outside my control, our Lord, more often than not, will not give me grace to handle it because He never wanted me to know about it.This easy access to data is not helpful for us. Most of the time. I'm not saying it isn't a great tool. But as with all tools, it has to be used rightly.There's a reason why we like filling our minds with the useless and often harmful information. It's because it's distracting and entertaining. Now, there's nothing wrong with good entertainment, we should rejoice when we are entertained. And there's nothing wrong necessarily with distractions, sometimes you need them. But I would say, upwards of 75-90% of what we're fed through the media, what we read and listen to and watch, is not helpful distraction. Is not holy entertainment.The reason why we fill our minds with these things is because - in truth - we don't want to fill our minds with Christ. . . . Now what does all this have to do with gossip? There's a direct relationship between what comes out of my mouth and what is in my head. Is 8:23—9:3; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17; Mt 4:12-23 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:44
Now, the sin of gossip, typically falls under the eighth commandment: thou shalt not bear false witness. technically it has to do with lying, but any type of sin in regards to your speech.What you might not know, is that the Saints and the Church Fathers tell us it also relates to the fifth commandment. Thou shalt not kill.Gossip, slander, calumny, these things are a form of murder. Obviously it's not the body of the person that you're killing. It is their good name, their reputation. you are murdering three reputation, and they may never get it back again because of what you said.So it's something to consider, how God will judge us for that sin. the Bible tells us very clearly, that every word spoken casually, without thought or consideration, will be brought before you in your judgement. Every word spoken without thought and intention - every one - will be judged. That's how seriously God takes this.There's a simple reason why our Lord takes language. words, conversation so seriously. It's because God is the Logos. Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Blessed trinity, is literally the Word of God.God is Word. And all human words are created and designed by God to reflect His Truth and His Glory. When they don't, it offends Him personally. That's why it's such a grave offense and can be a mortal sin. A damnable offense. . . . The common mistake that all of us - either past or present - make is if you just need to blow off steam, you're doing it wrong. "I just need someone to vent to! Then I'll feel better and I'll be able to handle it." No, that's still gossip. It's still sinful, and God is offended. Do you think He's going to give you grace to deal with the problem when you're gossiping about it just so that you feel better? Talk to Him.Does that mean you can't get advice when you have a problem? No, of course you can.The question is how do you talk about your problems? We know we can't gossip. How do I talk about the issues in my life so that I can improve them? . . . God does not want you to change the people in your lives. He wants you to love the people in your lives. He will change them. For us, it is necessary to be silent for the sake of holiness. Prayer of St FrancisLord, make me an instrument of your peace:where there is hatred, let me sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seekto be consoled as to console,to be understood as to understand,to be loved as to love.For it is in giving that we receive,it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.Amen Litany of HumilityLitany of Trust Is 49:3, 5-6; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10; 1 Cor 1:1-3; Jn 1:29-34 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:17
What lead these men to Christ? It was the star. It was the sign in the sky, that God had placed there, to direct them on their journey to Truth. Each of us in our lives need some type of guiding star. Some sign - some person - to direct us to Christ. We were all lead to Christ by someone else. . . .It is the Lord's plan that a mother and a father be the first people to bring their children to Him. In a sense, they are to be the shining star that points to the manger. "This is where you will find the newborn King. This is where you will find your salvation." That is the responsibility of every mother and father. But sadly, because of sin, we don't always shine that brightly. We don't always point in the right direction. That's where repentance comes in, of course. You have to consider brothers and sisters - those who are married with children - the Lord will judge you on how you pointed to Christ. How you lead your children to the Lord. On some level, if you're anything like me, that should worry you. . . .Now, the most important way that a husband and a wife can reveal Christ, can point to Christ, is their love for one another. Not their love for their children. Your relationship as husband and wife, your marriage, is a sacramental bond that is meant to reflect the love Christ for the Church. The Church has always called you a "domestic church". You're a little church. And the way you love each other reveals the Truth, reveals the Way, to your children. That's why you said those vows: I will love you I good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. Ultimately because of sin, your love for your spouse will require you to be crucified. That's what spousal love does. To be willing to lay down your life for your spouse, even when they want you dead. That's the perfect way in which you can model of the love of Jesus Christ. In fact, you can be an even more perfect model of Jesus Christ when you spouse doesn't like you. And you're patient with them. And you forgive. And you continue to love, and you're generous, and you serve. That's when you shine all the brighter the love of Jesus Christ to your children. . . . that is what is required of us. To be conformed to Christ is to be conformed to Christ crucified. So I thought it was a good idea, on this feast of the Epiphany, for our married couples to renew their wedding vows to remind yourself that you're to serve one another. You're to love one another as Christ loves us, His Bride, the Church. Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13: Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt 2:1-12 you may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:01
This dogma of our faith that Mary is not just the Mother of Christ, She is the Mother of God Himself, is necessary for belief in Jesus Christ. It is necessarily tied to the incarnation and birth of our Savior. We are required to believe it. It was in the plan of the Father that the Logos, the Word, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, His eternally begotten Son, would take on human flesh to save us from our sin. He was sent, He took flesh of the womb of the Virgin Mary, and built Himself up a body. In doing that, this Divine Person: the Logos, the Word of God, eternally begotten Son of the Father, became a real human man.But He's not a human person. This is a very important theological point. It's heresy to say that Jesus is a human person. No, He's a Divine Person. If He's a human person, then He's not actually God. He's not actually eternal. Not one with the Father and the Spirit. He can't be a human person. He's got to be a Divine Person, with a Divine nature, and a human nature. That's what it means when we say He is the God Man. This theology is essential for belief in Jesus Christ. It's precisely because He is fully God and fully man that He is the only one Who can save us from sin. As God, He's the only One who can save us. But He must be fully man, otherwise our human nature isn't saved. It's one of the teachings of the Church: what is not assumed by the Son is not redeemed. If He doesn't take on our nature - a true body and a true soul - then our bodies and souls are not redeemed by Him. All of this theology, all of this doctrine, is tied up in the dogma as Mary the Mother of God. You see, you can't give birth to a human body, without giving birth the the person who possesses that body. You are the mother of the person you gave birth to. Even though you only conceived and gave birth to their body. This is how Mary is the Mother of God. Because Jesus is a Divine person. And though yes, being a created human, She conceived by Divine grace and gave birth to the human nature - not the Divine nature - She did in fact give birth to the Person who is Divine, who possesses that human nature. Father offers us all this philosophy & theology early on a Sunday morning in order that we might know and understand our Lord better, thereby being able to draw closer to Him and love Him more. These truths, these doctrines, these dogmas that have been handed down to us by the Church from Christ Himself, they matter more than anything else in the world. . . . Now the Church doesn't expect you to memorize all the philosophy and theology of it. But She does expect you to believe it. We are required to assent to all of these doctrines and these dogmas with faith. Nm 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3, 5-6, 8; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 26:53
It's a special time of the year - we have high hopes. We get together with family and friends. We give and we receive gifts. It's supposed to be a time of great joy. That makes sense not only spiritually because Christ has come into the world, but because of this opportunity to be with family. To be with friends. To reconnect with one another. But inevitably, when family gets together, tensions can begin to rise . . . if we're not as virtuous as the Saints, obviously not as virtuous as Jesus Christ, then in those moments of tension and strife, and difficulty, we're not going to behave virtuously. That being the case - especially at this time of the year - I want you to keep one thing in mind. When you're with your family, tensions rise. Strains, stress, disrespect; whatever is happening to upset you, just remember: this season is not about you. It's not about you. Don't make it personal. It's about Jesus. That's why we're together, that's what we're celebrating. This is His birthday, not yours.Remember that in those moments of tension and stress, frustration, and even resentment. This celebration is about our Lord. Merry Christmas! Is 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:25
Joseph, after Mary, is probably the most significant Saint in the Church. That's why you see statues of Mary and Joseph in the sanctuary of Catholic Churches. This is the Holy Family. Without Joseph, this would not have happened. He had an essential role to play in the coming of the Christ. It was his job to care for Jesus' Mother and to help raise Jesus as a Child. We don't often appreciate and love Joseph the way we should. He a Saint that we all need in our lives. If you think about it logically, it makes perfect sense that God the Father, in choosing a foster father for His Son Jesus, would only choose the best. He would give that man very powerful graces so that he could become holy. One of the things we know about our Lord is that He tests the Saints. He already knows their response, but He tests them to make sure that they are the right ones to do His will. When we look at our Gospel today, we can see the test that God put him to, to see what kind of man he is. Is he the right man to be the foster father to My Son? Is he the right man to represent Me: Jesus' true Father? We know that he was, and is, because he was chosen.How do we know that Joseph has a heart and a mind so close to God the Father that he would be chosen for this special role? It's in our Gospel today. . . . Why is God so pleased with this response? Because this is exactly what Jesus does. . . . An innocent man who was willing to protect the guilty from their own sins to save them. Is 7:10-14; Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Rom 1:1-7; Mt 1:18-24 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:34
One of Mary's most beautiful titles is "the Dawn". Mary is the dawn. Every morning before you can see the sun, you begin to see some of its light. Mary is the dawn, but Christ is the day. Mary doesn't give light to the world, but She ushers in the sun. That is Her role, that's why She is preeminent. She is the One that ushered the Son into the world not only two thousand years ago, but she continues to do that even into the present. Our Lord has chosen Her in this unique way to be the One that helps prepare the way for His rising.In each of our lives, Jesus wants His Mother to get us ready for Him. . . . Like a good Mother, She wants to make sure we're ready for the Lord. For the Savior. . . . .But She won't force Her maternity upon us. We have to invite her in. So, just look up to her. If you're in need, if you're suffering, if you're in despair, just look up to Mary because She's already looking down upon you with love. . . .I have seen this in my own ministry. Our Lord and our Lady doing amazing things. Just to save a soul. But these were extraordinary circumstances. Imagine how much easier it will be for you and for me to be saved if we don't wait for miracles, and just turn to them. Trustingly. Remember these words - because they're spoken to you: Am I not with you? Am I not your Mother?
Do not be worried or anxious about anything. Do you not stand in My shadow? A
re you not enfolded in My mantle? Is 35:1-6a, 10; Ps 146:6-10; Jas 5:7-10; Mt 11:2-11 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:45
Normally, when a child is conceived in the womb, the body - the body formed by the parents - cries out to God for a soul. And God creates a soul and sends it, instills it, in that newly formed body. Since the body was created in original sin by the parents who have original sin, then the soul is also tainted by original sin. This is not what happened with the Blessed Mother. Even though Her body called out for a soul - with original sin - that's not what He gave Her. He gave Her an immaculate soul.That gift of grace - that "fullness of grace" - that she received when Her soul was bestowed upon Her body, sanctified Her body and She was totally pure from this moment forward. The Church has always believed this. The only reason it was dogmatized was to set all confusion aside. We've believed this since our earliest time, and one of the best ways to defend this teaching is in our Gospel today. When the angel Gabriel - an archangel, a perfect messenger - was sent by God, we know that the words he used to speak to Her were obviously the Lord's. God told him what to say, he came down, and he said it. . . . And he uses this statement "full of Grace" in place of Her name. He is naming Her by the word of God. He is saying not just that She posses fullness of grace, but that it is Hers by right. She is unique and singular. There is no one else like Her. She is the only one who can be called by this name.Full of Grace. . . . Jesus' body - the Body that saves us from sin, the Body that we receive in Holy Communion - came from the body, the cells, of the Blessed Mother. Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk1:26-38 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:07
Only Christ and His Church can establish real peace where the lion lays down with the lamb. . . .What did John call the Saducees and Pharisees? A "brood of vipers". He uses this prophetic language. "You're a bunch of vicious serpents." He tells them, "Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance."It is clear that to join the Kingdom of Heaven and to find the peace that Christ wants you to have, you first have to repent. That is required. Without repentance, there is no forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there is no peace, and no share in Christ's Heavenly Kingdom. John was sent to prepare the people for repentance. "Repent of your sins, the Messiah is coming. He's going to give you a different kind of baptism. I'm just leading you to repentance, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."We know that when we receive baptism by the hands of the Church, we are filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. God literally dwells in us. It's this indwelling of God that allows us to change. To grow in virtue, and to be at peace with one another. It's the Holy Spirit that turns the lion into a lamb. The serpent into a child. Once you've come to that grace, once you've been baptized, then you have to grow in those virtues. But you have all the grace necessary through freedom from sin and the light of the Holy Spirit; this spiritual, internal light to your mind. You can now better understand the Truth precisely because the Holy Spirit enlightens your mind. . . . Every human mind has the power to know the Truth. You have the power. God gave it to you, it's natural. But you cannot know the Truth unless a light illuminates it for you. If your mind is in darkness, then you are blind to Truth. The eyes were meant to see, that's why it's not an ideal to be blind. The mind was meant to know the Truth. Without the light of the Holy Spirit, you cannot know truths outside of this world - you cannot know spiritual truths.We are in darkness without the light of the Holy Spirit. If He is not dwelling in me, then that light is not illuminating the Truth. If I don't know the Truth then the Truth can't set me free, and I am a slave. A slave to my sinful and broken nature. A slave to the imperfections of that nature. . . .You see, sin darkens the mind. It's one of the consequences of original sin. Our minds become darkened and can no longer perceive Truth. We're making the best decisions that we can while being spiritually blind. As Christians though, once we received the Holy Spirit, we can see clearly by His grace. But what happens when I commit grave sin as a disciple of Christ? The Holy Spirit cannot abide in a soul in the state of mortal sin. He must leave it. If the Holy Spirit has left me because I'm in mortal sin, then I am in darkness again!Now, I know what I need to do to receive the Holy Spirit again. I need to go to confession, repent of my sins, do my penance, and - as John the Baptist says - produce good fruit as evidence of my repentance. In other words, do my best to change. God doesn't expect perfection, He expects that I try. But what is it like for a Christian, who had the Holy Spirit and the light of God, to lose that light and return to darkness when they fall into a mortal sin? I know most of you have experienced this. I certainly have. It's important that we reflect upon this so that we better understand the temptations that happen when we are in grave sin. Remember: your mind is now in darkness because the Holy Spirit is no longer illuminating you. However, that does not mean that you forget all the truth that you learned when you had the light. You know you have to get back to confession. You know you have to say your prayers. You know you should not give up, you should get up and try again. You know all these things. You know God loves you. But because you can't see it in your mind any longer, you begin to doubt. Is 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17Rom 15:4-9; Mt 3:1-12
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:12
Since during this Advent season we reflect upon the coming of Christ and we prepare ourselves to celebrate His birth, I think it's a good time to be reminded of the way in which our God has chosen to bring new life into the world. Obviously when Christ came into the world, it was a totally supernatural event. The Blessed Mother conceived Him virginally. Even gave birth to Him virginally. So it was a miraculous birth, a miraculous conception in this regard. Our Lord was very careful however, to preserve the structure if you will, by which this Child, the very Son of God, would be brought forth. It was in a natural family. He had a biological mother and a foster father.We know as Christians that it is God's design that new life - new human life, those made in God's image and likeness - are brought forth into this world through a family. The family is designed around the core of the father and mother, their relationship as husband and wife. In the beginning, God made them male and female. And He said to them: be fruitful and multiply.It is important to remember that the "image of God" as it resides in our human nature is not something that we individually posses as humans. We only posses it as a collective. What I mean by this, is that our God is a Trinity of Persons. He's a single God - a single being or entity, if you will, and yet He's three Persons. If you remove one of those Persons, you have no God. Human beings made in His image and likeness were made in a similar way. The "image" as it resides in our nature is not in me solely as a male, or you ladies solely as females. It's actually in the family. . . . When God first created human nature, He designed it unique and distinct: masculine and feminine, to be united in a holy union called matrimony. The first command He gave them: be fruitful and multiply. So the bringing forth of children completes the Trinitarian image. In order to have a family, you need at least three people: a father, a mother, and at least one child. This is the means by which our Lord has designed for us to participate with Him in creating human life. . . . In the bond of marriage, there are three goods that each husband and each wife should pursue. * The good of the love of the other - the joy that it brings to have this person in your life, * Your responsibility to help them get to heaven, which is clearly important to us, especially as Christians, * and the bringing forth of new life into this world, new human beings.
Of these three goods, or "ends" of marriage, the first is not getting your spouse to heaven. The primary end, or reason, of holy matrimony is to bring forth new life into the world. . . Your marriages, your spousal unions, are an analogy of the true marriage of Jesus Christ and His Church. Your marriages participate and share in that glorious and sacred union. And they are only made sacred and sacramental by Christ's love for his Church. Is 2:1-5; Ps 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:42
He comes in mercy. He comes in compassion to save us. But if we refuse His mercy and compassion, He will destroy us. And we deserve no better. Anyone who would refuse the forgiveness of God deserves eternal damnation. If in their pride and arrogance they do not recognize their need for a Savior, then they do not deserve one. Hell has been prepared for them and for the demons. You can have the merciful, and gentle and loving King. Or the wrathful and judgmental one. Its your choice. You're here on a Sunday morning, so obviously, you prefer the first, as most of us do.Now Christ's Kingship works on three levels, or three types. Let's call them Universal, Particular, and General. The Universal Kingship of Christ is the fact that He is literally the King of everything, even the stars obey Him. Every demon, every angel, every human, every ant. All matter in the universe is subject to His will. In the end He will judge all things. There is also a Particular Kingship. The Kingship that we hear about in the Scriptures and from the Saints, that He wants to be King of your heart. . . . He wants an intimate relationship with each one of you. How many subjects in the Kingdom get to have a personal relationship with their King? That's what our Lord wants. That's how loving and intimate He wants to be with each one of us. Now, the General Kingship of Christ is understood by all those who share in His kingship. Many share in the Kingship of Christ. In fact, all do in varying ways. Every single baptized individual participates, shares in His Kingship. They are in fact, kings. But what are they kings of?Each one of us who is baptized into His life, who share in His Kingship, are kings over ourselves. When Christ says "I set you free", what He means is: I set you free to govern yourself. To rule over your own body and soul. To determine in which direction you will head. Whom you will serve. How you will live. Until He set you free you weren't a king, you were a slave. You were a slave to your own bodily natures, with no hope of growth in virtue or holiness. He wants to set us free. He wants us to be self-directed, self-ruled individuals. This is why we struggle with Him in the spiritual life. We Christians have a problem with God. And the problem is this: we want to be holy, He wants us to be holy, but we want Him to make us holy. To kind of force us into holiness. How often do you get frustrated: "Lord, if you would just make me do the right thing, everybody would be happier! You'd be happier, my spouse would be happier, my children would be happier." We do this constantly, and we don't realize what we're asking. We're asking Him to enslave us. And He would never do that. He offers you the very same dignity that He possesses as King. He will help you learn to rule over your nature, to control your desires and to make good choices. He will help you learn to do that by His grace, His teachings, His Sacraments. But He will not do it for you. You are meant to be a King. 2 Sm 5:1-3; Ps 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23:35-43 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:15
It is through perseverance that we secure our lives. Perseverance. Perseverance is the ability to suffer patiently as long as it takes until you reach your goal. The goal of course for us is salvation, Heaven. Being faithful to Christ, persevering to the end, regardless of the pain and suffering we have to endure . . . if we do that, then Jesus says we will secure our salvation, our lives. Though many people would like to think that the end is near, it's important to remember this final point. The Lord says that before these things happen you will be "persecuted because of My Name". In this country that hasn't officially started - yet. And I say "yet". It's just a matter of time. . . . And what is our response when these things do happen? Simply put, we are to be faithful to Christ no matter the cost. No matter the cost. To your own life, the life of your spouse, the lives of your children. Our fidelity to the Lord must be unyielding. . . . But our job is not to change culture and society. Anybody who tells you that does not understand what Jesus teaches. Our job is to follow Christ. If we follow Christ, that will change culture and society. Our responsibility is to persevere in the faith regardless of the cost. . . . Throughout our day, when we cannot keep a quiet and contemplative mind, (when we can't "work without being busybodies" as Saint Paul says in the second reading) we can't focus on God. If we're not focused on the Lord, when challenges come, we fall back on our bad habits, on our weaknesses and our sins. A mind that cannot remain focused throughout the day cannot hold on to the grace of Christ in those difficult moments. The only way to keep your mind quiet, is to practice silence. Not just silence by closing your lips and not speaking. That's part of it. But spending time each day intentionally in silence. When was the last time you got into the car and drove somewhere and did not turn on the radio? Especially if you were alone. What is it about silence that we resist? It's because it's uncomfortable. And why is it uncomfortable? When someone begins to practice silence in their life - turning off the radio, the computer, the TV; just sitting quietly - the first thing that happens is: they're left alone with their own thoughts. And most of our thoughts are not very good. They're sinful and tempting. Egotistical and self-centered. Regardless, all those thoughts do is bring up our sinfulness and weaknesses. There's actually a reason for this. Our Lord wants those things to come up when you're silent and you reflect. The main reason is that in your silence you begin to see those things about you that keep you separated from God. He wants those things removed from your life so He can draw closer to you. So that you can draw closer to Him. . . . Persevere through the silence. Mal 3:19-20a; Ps 98:5-6, 7-8, 9; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Lk 21:5-19 Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to stream this morning's Mass. We apologize for the inconvenience.
You've got seven brothers in the first story, seven brothers in the second story. And one woman in each. At the end of all the stories, everybody dies. In the first story, the seven brothers and their mother die because they're murdered. They're murdered for the law, tortured by the king. In the second story, the seven brothers and the wife die, we aren't told how. . . . but the reason they all married the same woman was because of God's command. The first reading, the law was against eating pork. Second reading: the law to marry your dead brother's wife to raise up children for him. Why seven men, brothers in particular, and one woman? . . . Seven is a biblical number. It's what we call a "divine number", it has theological meaning. Seven is the number of Creation. God took seven days to create the universe and everything in it. . . . these seven brothers in each account represent Creation. All of God's creation. And notice they are all related. Everything in creation is created and related in that sense. In both instances, these seven brothers who represent Creation, are all about following God's commands, God's laws. In fact, they are willing to die to do it. So Creation should always be submissive, obedient to the commands, the teachings, the laws of God. . . . Throughout our life, whether we die of natural causes, or whether we are threatened and tortured to death, we are not to break the laws of God. Even to the point of death.But what does the woman represent? She's the eighth important person in each story. The number eight represents theologically, not only the resurrection, but ever-lasting life: Heaven. So the woman in both stories symbolizes Heaven. How?In the Old Testament, eight did not represent Heaven, it's only in the New Testament that we learn this. . . . Sunday, technically the first day of the week in the Old Testament calendar, was always understood by the Fathers of the Church as the "eighth day" of the week. Why? The number seven represents Creation. When Jesus rises from the dead (on Sunday), that is a new creation. Something has changed on this new day. The old creation understood death, it's a natural part of existence, sadly because of sin. In the seven days of normal creation, death is a normal part of that. When Jesus rises from the dead, He changes everything. So that Sunday - the first day of the week - has become a totally new day. If you add that new day to the seven days of Creation, you get eight. Which is why the Fathers always realized that eight is the number that symbolizes resurrection and heavenly glory. We have the seven brothers of Creation, all following the law of God. And the woman who symbolizes eternal life, resurrection from the dead. All of them end up dying in the end. But. According to both stories, all are testified as having received heavenly glory because of their fidelity to the laws of God. . . . 2 Mc 7:1-2, 9-14; Ps 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15; 2 Thes 2:16--3:5; Lk 20:27-38 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 15:45
If you don't love God first, then you can't have God, because He's the first good. . . .The Saints have learned to seek all goods in the right order, and God above all others. Which is why when they die and go to Heaven, they get to look at the "goodest" thing ever, for all eternity. The get to bask for all eternity in the greatest desire of their hearts. . . . We were designed by God to seek these things out so that in seeking them we might find... Him, Who is the greatest of all goods. The Saints did that. It's why they're in Heaven sharing in that beautiful good. And it's our job too, to imitate their example and to follow them to receive that same reward. That's why the Church gives us the Beatitudes on this Feast Day today. The Beatitudes are the pre-requisite for sainthood. It's the checklist if you want to be a saint in this life and/or in the next, this is what you need to strive for. When our Lord says "blessed" are these people who are: poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, who are pure of heart, who are peacemakers, and who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness . . . . When He says that these men and women are "blessed" He is saying "They are given My Glory. They get to see My Face, and have nothing but peace and joy forever in eternity." But when we look more deeply into these pre-requisites, there's a lot of suffering required of the Saints. . . .You can't simply choose one of these Beatitudes and say, yeah, I'll just do that one. But the rest, nah. Not my cup of tea. Our Lord is describing Himself in the Beatitudes. He is telling us Who He is, how He thinks, how He acts. He's telling us if we want to be blessed like Him, if we want to be united to Him in holiness in this life and in the next, this is what we're supposed to do. Rv 7:2-4, 9-14; Ps 24:1bc-4b, 5-6; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a You may watch the Mass in its entirety on out YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:26
Why is penance so essential to the forgiveness of our sins? If Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins, why do you and I, when we confess, have to pay at least some price? Because that's what penance is. The mode by which - at least in a small way - we seek to make up for our sin. Obviously our penances are not sufficient to make up for our sin. Only the Cross of Jesus can do that. But He still expects us to contribute. To do some type of act of sacrifice or penance. The simple reason is: out of justice, there are consequences to sin. . . . As human beings, the "ripple effects" that we cause when we sin are twofold. There is the spiritual effect, and the material, or physical, effect. You and I are complex creatures. We're not animals and we're not angels. Angels are pure spirit, animals are pure matter. As humans, we're matter and spirit. So when I do something that has a moral quality to it, it effects both matter and spirit. Jesus pays the price for the spirit. He fixes the problem we have with God when we sin. That's what His Cross makes up for, which is why He can forgive us. But He does not pay the price for the matter, for the natural order of things. That's one of the things He requires us to participate in - the natural consequences of sin. He takes care of the supernatural stuff - that's why we're forgiven by God. We have the responsibility to help take care of the natural stuff. One of the ways we do that is through our penances. Now, the penances we receive in confession don't really make up for much. So it's not like the Lord is necessarily asking us to do the whole thing. The Saints teach us that our Lord, in His infinite wisdom and justice, gives us the penance we need throughout our lives to make up for our past sins. These are the daily crosses that come to us. And if we go to confession, repent of our sins, do our little penance, and suffer patiently the crosses that come to us throughout each day, then we're saved. There's no worry. . . . In our Gospel today, Zacchaeus is going to confession. It's one of the first examples ever of anyone going to confession to Jesus. When he has this encounter with Jesus, he's repenting of his sins. And he's willing to do penance! What does he say? "Lord, half of all my possessions I will give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone I will pay it back four times over." I think that's a very good penance. But it's not his penance that enables Jesus to forgive him, it's Jesus' penance for him - the Cross. Yet, he's still required to some act of penance himself. This is why the Lord says, "Salvation has come to your home." You were humble. You have admitted to your sins and repented. You are willing to do penance. How could the Lord refuse forgiveness to anyone like that? He can't! He won't. . . . .The problem that we have is that we resist these penances.Or we don't freely take them upon ourselves as Zacchaeus does. . . .But the Lord will give you the penances that you need. Every little cross, every little suffering - and the big, of course - that comes to you each day is our Lord's gift to you. . . . Our Lord is a just God. He's infinitely merciful, but He's also infinitely just. He has for each one of us a certain requirement of penance that we're going to have to complete in our lives in order to go straight to Heaven when we die. Now if we don't get that penance done before we die, that's what purgatory is. It's one of the reasons there's a purgatory. I've got to finish up, pay back the small debt that I still owe the Lord. If I have suffered my daily crosses patiently, then when I die - by His grace and the sacraments of the Church - I'm good. I'll go straight to Heaven. Father goes on to explain the grace of the Apostolic Blessing. Don't miss it. Wis 11:22—12:2; Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14; 2Thes 1:11—2:2; Lk 19:1-10 We had technical issues Sunday which prevented the live streaming of the Mass.
We apologize for being unable to post a link here.
What we say when we pray, and what we do with our bodies when we pray reflects our beliefs. . . . Throughout the Mass there are different rituals that we practice with our bodies, different postures that we have to express different things. . . .Why do we kneel during the consecration and yet are forbidden from kneeling during the Our Father? Again, it's because of what the position of my body expresses in those moments. I'm kneeling out of humility because of the miracle that is happening, for the God Who is coming to me. But when I pray the Our Father, I am praying - according to the Church's teachings - in the person of Jesus Christ. Since the Church is His Body and the Our Father is His prayer, when we pray as a body, we stand. Because a Son stands in the presence His Father. When we pray in the words of the Son, we stand, to represent our shared sonship in Christ. What we do with our bodies expresses what we believe in our minds and hearts. Lex orandi. Lex credendi. Lex vivendi. Which means: As we pray (both with our words and bodies), so we believe. And as we believe, so we live. Why was it always the tradition of the Church that if you were not going to receive communion, you would not even approach? The simple reason is because that's the most humble thing you could do. To stay back. If you're not ready or able - for whatever reason - to approach the Holy of Holies, then why approach at all? Isn't that somewhat presumptuous?I believe our Gospel reading today is the reason why the early Christian would not approach (if they were not prepared). . . .You've got this sinner, this tax collector, who knows how offensive his sins are to God. He does not presume to approach. He stays back. Not only does he not approach, but he won't even look up to heaven. He looks down, he's probably on his knees, and hew prays this prayer: "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner."Jesus tells us that because of his humility, his prayer is heard, and he is forgiven. . . .In our first reading from Sirach, we're told that "the prayer of the lowly is heard." It "pierces the clouds" like an arrow. A humble, a lowly person when they pray - even if they're a sinner - that prayer is heard by God and answered. But the words you use when you pray are not enough. Even your body - what you do in your motions, your posture is important because it reflects what you really believe in your heart. So if you, like this tax collector, like this sinner, are unworthy to receive the Lord, should you be approaching? Should you be "taking up your position" to receive communion? Of course not. Our Lord doesn't want you to be singled out. He wants you to express - by your words and actions - the humility, the sorrow and the regret, that is needed. . . .Anyone who receives communion at any Mass is not receiving because of their own righteousness, but purely because our Lord in His mercy has forgiven their sins. You see, it's our Lord Who washed you clean. It's our Lord Who made you worthy. You have no credit of your own. So when you do come forward, worthily, to receive His grace, all you can do is thank God. This is not a rule. It's just a recommendation I am making for you because this is the ancient practice of Christians. Sir 35:12-14, 16-18; Ps 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23; 2Tm 4:6-8, 16-18; Lk 18:9-14 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:04
That's why intercessory prayer is so essential. Moses, the leader of the people was interceding for them to God in his prayer so they could win the battle they were fighting. And it worked. Notice, though, the prayer had to be continuous. Now that seems a little unfair of God, right? We get tired. Humans are finite creatures. We don't have infinite energy. The beauty of this first reading is that it shows us just because you have to "pray without ceasing" doesn't mean you have to do it alone. Moses had his deacons. The two men who assisted him in his prayer when he was not strong enough to do it by himself. Even Jesus Christ had Simon of Cyrene help Him carry His cross when it got too heavy. By God's design, the command to "pray without ceasing" - which is necessary - cannot be done by an individual. This is intentional. God created us this way on purpose. Both the need to pray ceaselessly to succeed, and the fact that we're finite and can't do it alone. That means we have to do it together as a community of people. We need each other to support one another in prayer. The highest prayer is always the prayer of the leader. Our leader is Jesus Christ. . . . When the priest stands up here and prays the prayers of the Mass, he is praying in the person of Jesus Christ. The beauty of the Mass and the raised hands of the priest is that - with the Catholic Church spread throughout the world - in Catholic Churches throughout the world, in every town and village, in every country and nation, there is a Mass being celebrated and a priest's hands being raised at every moment of every day. That is the continuous prayer of the Church. Literally non-stop, the Body of Christ has hands lifted up to God the Father in supplication.How can we lose? How can we lose the battle, whatever the battle may be? . . .Do you believe in the prayer of the Church? Do you believe in the prayer of the Mass? That this is the prayer of Jesus Christ Himself. That's the faith that our Lord is asking of each one of us. When you're going through your daily spiritual battles, whatever they may be, all you have to do is close your eyes and think: Somewhere, a priest has his hands raised. And the Mass is being offered. For me. Father follows this stirring homily with some "particulars".
Specifically about who raises or extends their hands during the Mass.And who does not, and why. Ex 17:8-13; Ps 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; 2 Tm 3:14—4:2; Lk 18:1-8 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:00
In our lives - 99% of the time - this is how God will give you grace. This is how God will answer the prayers that you are lifting up to Him. Whatever you're asking. Whether it's a healing. A conversion. Virtue. Whatever it is that you're asking, God will give you that grace through your ordinary lives. Your ordinary vocations, and the humble obedience and fulfillment of those responsibilities.Like Naaman, we can sometimes be tempted to think, "OK, I gotta pray a thousand rosaries to get this intention from God." Or "I have to go into the church and prostrate myself on the floor, and beat myself ten times a day for a year". Maybe God just wants a rosary. Just give Him one rosary. You don't have to overdo it.Notice how He continually supports the laws of Israel.Do you follow the laws of the Church? Do you keep asking Him for grace but disregarding the teachings and rules of His Church?So often we ask God for special graces. I often ask people: Well, when was the last time you went to confession?Maybe God has already given the grace. It's just there in confession waiting for you.A lot of times you cry out to God for some type of enlightenment. "Lord, show me what I need to do. Lord, direct me!" And He never seems to answer. When was the last time you asked someone for advice? Maybe God has already given the answer to them. You just have to be humble enough to ask this person. It's ordinary.Even the Eucharist, if you think about it, the Eucharist, the greatest miracle that Christ has given to us; His real Presence, His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, is given to us in the most ordinary way possible. Food. Something we do three times a day. What's more ordinary than that? . . .God prefers the ordinary way.But it takes a degree of humility to submit to that. Because it might not be what we prefer.Humble, ordinary obedience to laws. To rules. To institutions. That will be the means by which God will answer your prayers.If there is a grace for which you are praying that is very great, it may take more than the "ordinary things" to obtain. But you don't have to worry about figuring that out.If God realizes that to give you this grace, a greater sacrifice must be offered, He will give you the sacrifice. He will do that, you don't have to go and find it. There's really no need to take on extra penances. Just do the ordinary penances you're supposed to be doing.And if you're crying out to God for the conversion of some loved one who is far from Him, that's a huge grace. So it may require a large cross. Know that, if God sees it is necessary, He will give you those crosses that you need. You don't have to go looking for them. They will come to you.Your job is to humbly submit to them. Not to resist. . . .Christ chose to be weak for us. He chose that. And He wants us to be willing to submit to weakness as well. Because in that submission, in that obedience to His will, we find true humility.Our Lord cannot refuse the request of one who asks with humility.Just be humble. Submit in obedience to the ordinary requirements of society. Of the Church. Of your family. Offer your prayers to God asking for that which you want and need. Expect that through these ordinary means, He will answer your prayer.Yes, it's nice when we get that flashy miracle. But I'm telling you: miracles happen to you all the time. 2 Kgs 5:14-17; Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; 2 Tm 2:8-13; Lk 17:11-19 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:11
Our difficulty with faith is not so much not having it, as it is with other things getting in the way. Remember when Jesus says we are like the ground that needs to receive the seed of Truth, of the Gospel Truth, that He wants to plant in our minds and hearts. But there’s a problem with the ground.
There are rocks in it. Seeds can’t grow well in rocky soil.
Maybe there are weeds or other plants in the way.
To make the ground fertile, you have to till it, pull up the weeds, get rid of the rocks.
In our own minds and hearts, there is so much junk in the way that it’s killing the faith that is trying to grow day by day.
“I want to believe. But….”
All of those “buts”. How do I get rid of that?
First and foremost, you must avoid those things in your life that constantly lead you to doubt your faith in God.
The news is a great one. …You need to stop watching the news. It’s not helping you.
“But I need to know what’s going on in the world.”
Really? Really? You need to know what’s going on in the world? Why? What good does it do you? How does it help you in any way except fill your mind with worrisome things which you can do nothing about?
I constantly fill my mind with things that are totally out of my scope, beyond my ability to influence. And then I expect God to give me peace about them!
But wait, I have an intellect. I have a mind. Shouldn’t I know as much as I can?
The only answer to that is to go back to Genesis when the Lord created Adam and Eve. Remember, original sin is that they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was the original sin that tainted us all. Our desire to have knowledge, not just of good, but also of evil.
Our problem is that we know too much evil. Not only by personal sin which needs to be confessed and removed, but also by filling our minds with all of the evil things people do in the world.
What has to change in me that I can become more like God? That I’m not tossed about, as Saint Paul says, by the winds of this world? Emotionally. Intellectually. That I hold fast to the faith. That I’m grounded in it. Planted in it.
I need to ask the Lord to remove from my mind all of the evil that I have learned over these years. So that, in the end, there’s nothing but Truth.
And yes, by removing this, part of my knowledge base shrinks. It becomes small, and pure, and simple like that of a child. That’s why Jesus tells us we need to become like children.
Children are far more easily at peace with the circumstances in their life, even when they’re suffering, precisely because they don’t know as much as adults do. Our Lord says we need to be like that.
All of that knowledge that doesn’t help you maintain faith and peace? It needs to go.
How do I become detached from the things that fill my mind and negatively impact my faith? So that I too can have the faith of a child, the faith the size of a mustard seed. And have the peace and joy of spirit that will come along with that purity.
Hb 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Ps 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8; 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk 17:5-10:2
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:07
It's an important rule to remember that Jesus is the only one Who can require you to be generous. God is the only One Who can require - according to justice - that we give to those in need. The reason is, is that He is the One Who gives to us when we are in need, even thought we might not deserve it.
Now, why do I point this out? All of us know intuitively that we are supposed to support, so far as we are able, those in need. But it doesn't mean everybody who asks for help needs help. There are lazy people out there. The Bible says: those who do to work, should not eat. . . .
There is no commandment in all the Scriptures that says: give to those who ask of you. To give to those who want.
No. "Give to those in need." Those are the works of mercy. When you visit the sick or imprisoned. When you give food to the hungry. Clothing to the naked, shelter to the homeless. When you provide generously to those in true need, technically whether they deserve it or not, that is because God has done the same with you, and with me.
I do not deserve His mercy, His love, and yet, Jesus, we know, became poor. He emptied Himself of His glory in Heaven and became a slave, a human. So that we would become rich. He would fill us with the wealth of the Spirit.
Because of that great generosity, He requires of us that we give (especially of our excess) to those in need. And for that reason, He can punish us if we don't.
God is pretty much the only One Who rightly can do that.
One of the philosophical errors of our age, and ages past, is that charity, generosity, love, compassion, mercy, can be required of citizens. And that's baloney. You can't require that by law. That is unjust. Do you know why?
Because it's my money. It's my house. It's my car. It's my possessions. I worked for it. I earned it or I inherited it. Either way, it's mine. And ownership is part of the natural order that God has established in creation.
Since ownership is a real thing established by God in nature, that means that some people are going to own more than others. OK. Since they own it, they have the right to determine its use. Whether you or I like it or not. They have the right, according to justice, because they are the owner, to determine its use. If they are hard of heart and don't want to give to the poor and needy, that's on them.
It is unlawful for any government - church or civil - to try and force generosity.
Taxes are different. I know this area gets complicated. There is a difference in requiring some tax in order to care for the needs of the greater body.
But generosity can never be required. Otherwise it's not generosity, it's justice. The only way you can take from what belongs to me and forcibly give it to somebody in need is if that person has earned it. That's the only way it could be just.
This is one of the major problems with socialism and communism. Those are built upon the philosophy that "the ends justify the means". What that means is I can do whatever is necessary as long as my goal is "good". Since feeding the poor, housing the homeless is "good", I can take from the rich and give to the poor.
That's evil. It would be condemned in the sight of God. Good motivation. Bad means.
For an action to be good, not only does the end - the goal - have to be good, but the way you get to that goal has to be good as well. . .
But Jesus Christ and the Church encourage us to bet generous. That's the difference. It cannot be required by law. But it can be encouraged. And it should be encouraged, and rewarded. . . . Jesus give us a reward to motivate our goodness. Jesus says "Hey, you get to go to heaven forever if you do what I tell ya!" There's no greater motivation than that.
But the idea that the ends justify the means, or that any type of governing body can forcibly make you be generous - that is unlawful. And ultimately demonic.
Ex 32:7-11, 13-14; Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19; 1 Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:40
Mary was so conformed to the will of God that She did not only endure the agony of Her Son, but She consented to it. It is said by the Fathers of the Church that if Mary had not consented to the immolation and death of Jesus, God the Father would not have had Him crucified. Mary was so in union with the will of God - like her Son Jesus - She, along with our Lord, consented to this cross.
That's why She is co-redemptrix. No one has so perfectly suffered, alongside Jesus, and united their will with His as much as She has.
This is a degree of union in suffering with God that, even intellectually, we have a hard time grasping. It's why no saint in history will come close to the degree to which She shared in the passion of Her Son.
Now, all of us are called to share in the offerings of Christ. As a member of his Body, we are to be mediators, with, in, and through Jesus; and co-redeemers with, in, and through Jesus. Not to the degree that our Lady is, but along with Christ in certain ways. In fact, when a soul is baptized, God expects of that soul a certain degree of crosses suffered throughout their life. He has already pre-ordained the number of things you and I are supposed to suffer in our lives as individuals to share in the Passion of Jesus.
But we have to do it like Jesus. When I complain, that suffering was not suffered like our Lord. When I reject a suffering. Again, it wasn't suffered the way our Lord wanted.
If you can't endure any discomfort, any crosses, any difficulties without running for some fix, are you ever going to learn to suffer like our Lady? Like our Lord? . . .
Saint Paul actually talks about this in his Letter to the Colossians. In the first chapter he says something strange that many don't understand. Paul says: "Because I am baptized, in my flesh I make up for the sufferings lacking in the Body of Christ, the Church." Paul is saying in his own body, in his own crosses and suffering, he is making up for the sufferings lacking in the Body of Christ. The Church. What does he mean by this?
Did Jesus lack any degree of suffering? No, He suffered perfectly.
So what is lacking in the suffering of the Body of Christ? Paul is referring to the mystical Body of Christ: the Church. Christ suffered perfectly, but each of us, members of that same Body, don't suffer perfectly. Which means the tally of suffering that is required of each one of us isn't paid.
Let's say I fall short of the patient suffering that God asked of me. So what happens? I can't go to Heaven unless that's paid for. That's one of the reasons for purgatory - you've got to finish off the debt. But! You know that just because you can't pay a debt, it doesn't mean that someone else can't pay it off for you. That's what Saint Paul is talking about. He's saying: I've suffered enough for me, now I'm suffering for the rest of you who aren't suffering what you should be. . . .
The highest form of poverty in this life is poor of spirit. "Poor of spirit" refers to not just physical possessions, but even my own soul. I am poor in this sense: I do not require my will. I am willing to sacrifice my will ultimately, for the will of God. That's why our Lady is the best.
Do you think our Lady wanted to sacrifice Her Son? Of course not! But She was willing to do it. Because it was the will of the Father. She gave up Her own will for the will of the Father. There is no greater act of love She could have made. She died to Herself. Her own thoughts. Her own desires. She was totally submissive to God in all things, regardless of what it cost Her. No one has so emptied themselves and become poor in spirit as much as She.
That's the model for us, that's the model of our Christian life.
Each day we have to consider: Am I carrying my crosses patiently? Am I uniting my suffering with the suffering Christ? Am I making up - as Saint Paul said - for those sufferings lacking in the Body? That is the greatest good that we as Christians can do.
Am 8:4-7; Ps 11 3:1-2, 4-6, 7-8; Tm 2:1-8; Lk 16:1-13
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:50
We, baptized believers, make up the members of the Body of Jesus. And that's not just some pious understanding, (Saint) Paul is speaking literally. It's in a mystical way, but it is literally true.
That means, if you and I are united in the Body of Christ, and Christ is the One mediator between God and man, then we share in His mediation. To the degree that we share in His life, we share in his whole life. Even His ministry to bring about the forgiveness of sins, and union between man and God. So anyone who is a member of Christ's Body, has the power - with, in, and through Christ - to mediate, to intercede on behalf of those in need, specifically sinners. Anyone can do this as long as you are united to Christ through baptism. The more sacraments you have, the stronger your mediation power. The more holy you are, the stronger your ability to mediate.
This is why the Church also teaches that no one mediates better than Mary. No one can intercede better than anyone else better than Mary. Except Her Son.
The only reason Mary can intercede for us so well is because She's so perfectly united to Christ Her Son.
This was always our Lord's intention in creating us this way. He wanted to bond us to one another as a family. . . .
Christ as the head of the body obviously has the most influence. But the head alone without the body can't do much good. Mary in a sense is - analogously - like the neck. Everything the head has and receives has to pass through the neck to get to the rest of the body. This is why the Church teaches that Mary is the "mediatrix of all graces". Which means that any graces that any human on earth has ever received has to come through Jesus, He's the one mediator. But it always comes through Mary as well. . . .
This is why we should have such love and devotion to Her because She can do so much for us.
Now sometimes, people do worry: can you love the Blessed Mother too much? . . . Can you be too devoted to Her? . . .
St Maximillian Kolbe says: "Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love Her more than Jesus did." No matter your devotion, you can always have a greater love and devotion to Her because you still don't love Her as much as Her Son. . . .
If you want to love the Blessed Mother rightly, you must do what Christ did. You must offer Her all of yourself. And even that will never be enough. But you don't have to worry. The reason you don't have to worry about being devoted to the Blessed Mother or loving Her "too much" is because She won't let you. She's such a good disciple of the Lord that if you start getting a little overly attached, She's going to send you to Her Son. She's not going to let you worship Her - She'd put a stop to that right away.
I would challenge you to continue to increase your love and your devotion to Her. The classic methods always work:
- Daily recitation of the Rosary
- Wearing Her scapular
- Consecrating yourself to Her and Her Immaculate Heart
- If you have an image of the King of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ, in your home, you should have an image of the Queen.
There are many, many others. But the more devoted to Her you are, the more easily She can intercede for you, because you can more easily hear Her voice and take Her direction.
Ex 32:7-11, 13-14; Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19; 1 Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:35
We are only ever allowed to call upon angels by name if we're referring to Michael, Gabriel, or Raphael.
It is forbidden to attempt to call upon any other angelic name. It's forbidden. Those are the only three angelic names we are allowed to use.
You can't name your guardian angel.
You can't follow other traditions who believe they know the names of other angels or other archangels.
Basically, we know the name of Lucifer - and we don't call on him, the reason is pretty obvious; and we know the three archangels. That's the Church's teaching.
It does not mean we can't call upon the other choirs of angels - in general. It doesn't mean we can't call upon all of the guardian angels - in general.
But if we are using the name of an angel, as Catholics, we're only allowed to use one of these: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael
Now, this has always been the Church's teaching and tradition. This has been the tradition since the Old Testament.
Why?
Because in over two-thousand years of Judeo-Catholic Tradition, those are the only three names we've ever been given! You can study the entire Old Testament, and the entire New Testament.
The only angels that are named are those three. They're the only ones we're allowed to call on by name.
If we attempt to use a supposed other name, thinking it refers to an angel, you're actually calling a demon.
In 745 at the Lateran Council. . . the teaching and writings of a heretic "bishop" were read aloud to the Pope and the Bishops. A prayer that the heretic wrote is very interesting. The prayer for the most part sounded extremely Catholic. It sounds like a really good, Catholic, prayer. And, for the most part, it is. Except at the end of the prayer, he calls upon the intercession of eight angels. By name.
After this was read to the Pope and the Bishops, they became so infuriated, they wanted the documents burned immediately (fortunately, they didn't and decided to preserve it in the Vatican archives). They declared unanimously that he was not calling upon angels. Only one was a true angel and that was Michael. The others were all demons.
But they were names that, if you study a lot of other traditions and beliefs about angels, you may have heard before.
Why would it be the case that if I were to call upon any other name than Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael - assuming that it was some angel: my guardian angel, an archangel or whatever - why would it always be a demon?
The Church has given us this teaching, but the question is: how does it happen?
It's unlikely, that on your own, you're going to figure out the name of a demon. How is it that you may be unintentionally calling upon a demon when you use even a human-sounding, yet unapproved name?
It's because, let's say that the name you use is not attached to any angelic spirit or demon. Since it doesn't refer to a specific spirit, then any spirit can say to itself, "OK, I'm going to adopt that name and make it my own." The good angels would never do this because God has never given them permission. They'd never answer to any other name because that's not the will of God. It's not been revealed by God to us.
So who would adopt that name? Take it upon themselves? Obviously, someone who wants to lead you away from God.
So even without knowing, you may have created a name and some demon says, "Hey, I'll take that. Go ahead and keep calling on me. I'll be there."
This is why the Church so strictly follows the revelations of our Lord. We don't want to be lead astray. We are ignorant on earthly matters, how much more ignorant are we on spiritual matters?
Imagine the rest of the world who does not have the Church to guide them. They have no idea what they are doing. They may be attempting to seek God, but unknowingly seeking demons.
There's a very consoling Scripture passage: God protects the fools, whether that be you or me, or anyone else. God will protect the foolish as much as He is able. But it's not always that simple, so we do need to be on guard about these things.
It's also important to talk about calling upon the intercession and aide of the Saints. We call upon angels and archangels in a general way because we do not know their specific name. In like manner, we need to be very careful when we call upon any human who has died.
Father outlines the Church's teachings about praying for the intercession of our deceased relatives or friends by name and whether this is a good idea or not.
Wis 9:13-18b; Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 & 17; Phlm 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14:25-33
At the end of the recording you'll find our Back to School Litany of Saints which we prayed at the close of the Mass.
Homily begins at 19:33
There's a very good reason why God did not do what (Monica) asked. The Bishop of Milan at that time, was Saint Ambrose. Augustine encountered Ambrose during his stay in Milan. Because of the wisdom and holiness of this man, Augustine was converted.
Now, Saint Monica, again: the example of a holy wife and mother. Her greatest desire is to help obtain the salvation of the souls of her husband and of her children. In her life she got to she the baptism of her whole family. Imagine what a consolation and a joy this was for her.
For those of you who pray diligently for your loved ones, those who may have shied away from Christ or maybe don't even know him at all, Monica is your intercessor. You need to turn to her, she's wonderful. . . .
But just because you're holy, and you're a saint, and you have all the right intentions, it doesn't mean you know what's right for every sinner.
You see, it seems logical, from Monica's perspective that if her sinful son - who can't say no to temptation - goes to the worst city in the known world at the time, he's going to get worse.
Who could have predicted that the Bishop of this bad city was a saint? And God was going to use that man to help convert her sinful son?
We can't predict these things. So we need to be careful when we're praying for our sinful friends and relatives - and even for our sinful selves - not to be too specific in what we ask of the Lord. It's best to entrust the specifics to God. He knows everything. God will save that soul.
God certainly loves Augustine more than Monica did. He's God. She's just a creature. God has more knowledge and more power to help Augustine convert.
God doesn't need anyone to help him save a soul, He can do it Himself. He's God. But He wants to use our intercession, He wants to use our help. It can help provide more graces when we do intercede. So it is a good thing that the Monicas of the world pray for sinners. They need to continue to do so. But they have to do so with a deeper trust in the Lord, and not presume how God will save that soul.
That's the lesson Saint Monica teaches us.
Her sinful son, Saint Augustine, teaches us a slightly different lesson . . . . Conversion takes time, prayer, penance, discipline. It can take years or decades. I think you might be able to relate to this very famous prayer of Saint Augustine. He said: "Lord, make me chaste. . . . Just not yet." Now, yes, the proper way to pray would be: Lord give me the virtues I need to be holy. But what's important about the way Augustine prayed was that he was honest.
He knew intellectually, that chastity, this teaching of Christ, was the right way. But he also knew that because of his sinful habits and the desires of his sinful flesh, that he wanted to sin! There was an internal battle. As Saint Paul says, it's the flesh warring against the spirit. He wanted both things. And he was honest with God. "Lord, I don't want to be chaste. But I do want to be chaste. Please help me."
I think God is so pleased by honesty that He can give more grace when we can be honest like Saint Augustine. It takes a lot of humility to look deeply within ourselves and admit to what we really desire. Sometimes what we desire is multiple things. Yes, God willing, I want to be holy and virtuous and do the right thing but honestly, at times, I don't. That's why I sin.
Learn from Augustine's example. He becomes this amazing saint of the Church. I encourage you to read his writings. This example of a sinner striving to be a saint is what all of us need.
So you have Saint Monica, the one who intercedes and prays for the sinner. And you've got Augustine, the sinner, who prays and intercedes for himself.
This wonderful duo, mother and son, two of the greatest saints of the Church, can be an example for each of us depending on where we are in our spiritual lives. Or, both an example simultaneously.
But regardless of whether we are the sinner, or we are praying for someone else who is far from Christ, we need to have that faith that trusts in the Lord. Ultimately, conversion of the sinner is in the hands of God, and we need not worry about that, because no one loves sinners more than the Lord.
Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Ps 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a; k 14:1, 7-14 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:50
This is an important distinction: the difference between guilt and responsibility. You can be responsible and guilty at the same time. You can be responsible and not guilty. But if you're guilty, you're always responsible.
It's in understanding the relationship and differences between these two things that helps us understand how judgements should be made against individuals who are responsible. . . .
If you're the one - the actor, the mover - in regards to any action, you're responsible. . . .
Justice follows a simple law of physics. For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. If I perform an act, there is a natural reaction that should take place. If the act is unjust, then something has to make it just. Something has to correct the imbalance. . . .
As Christians, we're given a very specific directive from our Lord. It's okay to judge, He's going to judge us all one day. It's okay to judge according to His terms. His Truth.
There's right and wrong. There are rules. You break them, you get punished. If you're willing to accept that punishment it becomes discipline and helps you grow in virtue. If not, it's punishment and you deserve it.
Ultimately, that's the reason for hell. The damned don't want to be redeemed. You see, not all punishment is remedial. But the Lord wants it to be.
So in our judgements of ourselves and of others, we need to be careful not to equate or confuse responsibility and guilt. If I perform the action that is offensive or wrong, I am responsible. I need to take responsibility for that on myself and perform actions to correct what I have done.
But, I should not presume to judge my own guilt, let alone yours. When our Lord says "judge not, lest ye be judged", that's what He's referring to: guilt. Not responsibility. You have to judge responsibility; yours and other all the time.
We as Christians don't judge guilt. We leave that to the Lord.
That's why even when someone has committed a crime, or committed a sin, or done something wrong, we treat them with dignity because we don't know their guilt. Though correction or discipline is necessary in those circumstances. . . .
But I don't need to worry about guilt. I need to be responsible. I go to confession, whether I judge my guilt or not. I repent because I am responsible. But I leave the judgement of my soul up to God. That's what we should do.
We know we are responsible for the punishment due to sin. This is why our Lord asks us to bear certain crosses in our life: to make up for these sins. Even if we're guiltless, we still have a responsibility.
Jesus' cross was obvious, not because of any guilt He had. Jesus was guiltless. But in becoming a man, He made Himself responsible for us. That's why He could take responsibility and suffer the punishment, even though He Himself was innocent. We as Christians can do the same thing. . . .
Who cares if you're responsible or not? Take up the responsibility. Do it freely. Just like Christ did for you.
Is 66:18-21; Ps 117:1, 2; Heb 12:5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:22-30
Due to technical issues, we were unable to stream this week's Mass. We apologize.
...Christ tells us that's not why He came. "I didn't come to establish peace on the earth, I actually came to bring division."...
The reason Christ is, by His very nature, divisive, is because He always speaks the Truth....
You can have a false sense of peace when you simply reject all truth. When you say it doesn't matter what's true. What you believe, what I believe, who cares? That's being lukewarm. The devil can mock peace in that regard, and that's what was happening in our country, and all first world countries for decades.
Absolute relativism. Which made it seem like we were getting along, everything going smoothly, no major problems.
But what that relativism did was enable lies to be taught and encouraged in society.
It was a false unity. You have to believe me on this: it is actually a good thing what we are experiencing politically and culturally right now. Both in our country and throughout the world. It is a good thing.
Remember: the Truth brings division. The more divided we are - it doesn't mean we're following the Truth - but it means the Truth is trying to be discovered and maintained. . . .
The way of God is submission, humility. Self-sacrifice in order to bring about unity through the truth. And what Truth is this? That this (the crucifix) is what real love looks like.
So how do we restore unity in society? How do we come to the truth? . . .
Any act of unity and love in this world that does not look like the Cross of Jesus Christ, is a lie. Because anywhere there is sin, this is the only way to manifest Truth and Love. . . .
We need to pray for the grace that enables us first and foremost to conform to the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church. Remember, Truth must come first. And when we know the Truth, we should seek to implement it in our lives by reordering, or reorganizing, our lives and our decisions to conform them to that Truth.
Jer38:4-6, 8-10; Ps33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22; Heb12:1-4; Lk 2:49-53
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:40
Our Lord today in the Gospel is trying to teach us to put greater faith in Him. That's why He begins by telling the disciples that they should not be afraid any longer. That's a complete statement. He's not saying about some things. There's no reason to be afraid of anything any longer. He calls us His "little flock." The reason we shouldn't be be afraid of anything any longer, He says, is because "your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom."
Of course He's speaking about the Kingdom of Heaven. Ultimately, that's salvation, that's life for eternity with Him in Heaven. But it's even the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth in His Church and in her Sacraments. It's in these things that our Lord wants us to put our faith.
Now, if we have our greatest faith in these gifts, then we won't be afraid of things. The problem is we're still concerned and anxious, like Martha, about many things in this world. . . . It's not that we don't have faith in Christ, it's that our faith in Christ has not yet been perfected. . . .
Faith, first and foremost, is a gift we receive from the Church in her teachings, but ultimately in the grace of the Sacraments, won for us in Jesus Christ. But after this gift has been given to us, we have this obligation to increase, or to grow in our faith. There's an important truth in the spiritual life that the saints teach: there is no standing still in the spiritual life. You're either moving forward or you're falling back. . . . Generally speaking, if we're not striving to grow in our faith, even in small ways, then we are actually losing faith. We're slipping away. . . .
The moment you stop engaging this gift of faith - the truths that have been revealed to you, given to you and strengthened in the sacraments - the moment you stop engaging it, it starts to slip away.
When was the last time you went to Confession? Are you in any grave or mortal sin?
What's your prayer life like?
If you're not living in the grace, the sacraments of the Church, how can you maintain this supernatural gift? It's not run on natural energy, it's only the life of Christ within us that can maintain true faith. . . .
If I'm not communicating with God - intentionally - each day, then the relationship weakens. . . . It's absolutely essential: striving to remain in the state of grace and daily, daily prayer. The goal Christ gives us is to "pray without ceasing". . . .
Heaven is eternal prayer, and your job right now, as a disciple is to get ready for that. To get ready to pray without ceasing.
The gift that is offered to us is far greater than any cost to ourselves.
Wis 18:6-9; Ps 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22; Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 ; Lk 12:32-48
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:47
It is very difficult for us to distinguish between" wants" and "needs". . . We have so many basic needs, and if we seek to fulfill them in right order - and this is what the philosophers teach, the theologians of course too - then you'll find contentment in life. But we're constantly fed this lie that you need more. . . .
It's an important lesson we have to learn: to distinguish between necessity and want. And it's not always clear or obvious.
What did our Lord say to this young man who came to Him and said, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." . . . You'd think: wouldn't God want him to share? Does he really need all of that?
Our Lord's response is "Friend, who appointed Me your judge and arbitrator?" Here is the Lord Who has come to save the world and He's not going to get involved in this dispute.
So often, when we are convinced that we "need something" we go to God, and we pray - we're trying to be good Christians, spiritual people - so we pray. And we think that God agrees with our need. All I have to do is ask, and He's going to work it out. . . .
Why do we oftentimes assume that God's judgement will fit within ours in regard to wants and needs?
It's because we don't realize that ultimately, God doesn't care whether I have money or not. He doesn't. He cares whether having money or not having money will help me get to heaven. . . .
He is concerned with your soul. And He will use whatever external means He needs to help you stay close to Him.
In fact, the greatest needs of each one of us are not the needs of our body, but the needs of our soul. The body can die because Jesus can resurrect that. But if the soul dies - if its damned - its damned forever. We are immortal beings, you have remember this. . . . Once created, we live forever. So out of necessity, the greatest goods for us are the goods of our souls.
We have to stop making these assumptions in our prayers that "my" idea of what is necessary is truly best for my soul or the souls of others. . . . I learned long ago that I'm not in charge of my own life. I wasn't meant to be. I'm not my own god.
We need to pray for a deeper knowledge and understanding of the differences between needs and wants. To have the proper ordering of our needs. The needs of our soul - the highest. And then for the trust and the patience to endure whatever circumstances of our life that may be challenging or difficult, trusting that the Lord has a reason, a plan for it. Nothing can happen to His children apart from His will.
Eccl 1:2, 2:21-23; Ps 90:3-6, 12-14, 17; Col 3:1-5, 9-11; Lk 12:13-21
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 15:34
It is appropriate that we pray today for our brothers and sisters in need, because the readings today focus specifically on the importance of prayer, and on one element in particular which is persistence or perseverance.
Our Lord is telling us in the gospel that you need to be faithful, you need to continue to pray for that which you need, that which you want, that which is good for you, and if you persist, you will receive. . . .
Now, if your neighbor who is not necessarily helping you out of virtue, is willing to give you what you want just to get you off his back, how much more will God - Who Loves you and Who wants to give you what is good - give you that which you ask for? When you pray with persistence. Faithfully. For however long it takes. . . .
The temptation we have I those moments is to say, "Well, it doesn't do any good. I'm going to quit praying, I didn't get what I asked for, obviously, I'm not going to get it."
And that's a huge mistake because more often than not, when the Lord wants you to wait, it's because the gift that he wants to give you is greater than the one you have asked for.
But prayer alone is not enough. Prayer requires sacrifice as well. Jesus prayed on our behalf, but He also sacrificed Himself to obtain that grace.
Oftentimes, one of the sacrifices that God expects from us is perseverance. You just gotta keep praying.
Gn 18:20-32; Ps 138:1-3, 6-8; Col 2:12-14; Lk 11:1-13
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:08
"... Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her."
It is precisely because of this passage in scripture that the Church teaches that the highest vocation, the highest action you can perform in life outside of the sacraments themselves, is meditation.
Here is Mary, sitting there, listening to Jesus speak. Now our Lord does not say, "Martha, Martha loving and serving your neighbor is not good", He doesn't say that. He says in comparison, your acts of love and service, as good and high and exalted as they are, are not as exalted as this: to sit at the feet of the Master and listen to His word. So it is not surprising that in the history of the Church that religious orders have sprung up, not focusing on serving the poor and the needy, but on prayer and meditation.
Why is it true -Jesus said it, it has to be true - that mediation is superior to acts of service? . . .
Knowledge precedes love. Love may be superior in the grand scheme of things, but knowledge is more primary. Until you know, you cannot act properly. Since knowledge is primary - it comes first, even before acts of love - it is the first thing that each of us must do in order to love properly.
Now, the greatest thing we can know is God. There is nothing greater than God's self-revelation. So contemplation, meditation on God, on His words, on His actions; reflection upon these things is the first - the primary - goal that each of us has.
Ultimately, these religious communities of men and women, they want to love God better. That's why they spend so much time thinking about Him. Contemplating who He is, what He wants form them. And it's a lifetime pursuit. You never get done with it because God is infinite, there's always more to learn. . . .
You cannot grow deeper in your relationship with the Lord without mediation. You can't. It's just not possible.
Father Miller proceeds outline serval pointers which will help us begin or deepen our own times of meditation.
Gn 18:1-10a; Ps 15:2-5; Col 1:24-28; Lk 10:38-42
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:55.
The reason the Church set up the Saints, or I should say, Christ sets up the Saints is to be an example to us. Not only to intercede for us, but also to be an example of how to turn to the Lord, how to grow in holiness. We see this in the majority of the lives of the Saints, especially when we know their history. We see that they may have lived sinful lives, but then they convert, they repent, and they grow in holiness.
In our first reading, Moses, obviously speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is telling the people to heed the voice of God, and to keep all of His commandments and statutes. "If you do this, you'll be blessed."
So, all you have to do is obey all God's commandments and all will go well for you. Well, we have a problem relating to that because we struggle and we fail. But again, the Church sets up Saints as - See? They learned to do it, you can too.
One of the most famous "sinner turned saint" is of course Augustine. He was a really wild guy, lived a very pagan and sinful life, but he has this big conversion, he turns to the Lord, and now he's this amazing Saint. He clearly learned to be virtuous, and grew in holiness by the grace Christ in his efforts. This is the typical example we see from the saints.
But it's not exactly who Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang was. What you may not know about him is: he struggled with addiction. His whole life. He was addicted to opium for most of his life and he never was able to break this addiction to the day he died. And yet he's still a saint, he still gave his life for Christ.
During the last thirty years of his life, his local priest refused to give him sacraments. The priest was convinced that he just wasn't working hard enough, wasn't repenting sufficiently enough to get over his addiction. So for his last thirty years he couldn't go to confession. He couldn't receive communion. He couldn't be anointed. Absolutely no sacraments. He had to go to Mass every Sunday never receiving the Eucharist, until the day he died.
Now, I was pleasantly surprised by the life of this saint, because I recognize in him a great hope. Not only for all of us sinners who struggle, but especially for addicts. . . .
Here we have a saint of the Church, canonized in our day and age, who never got over his addiction while he was alive.
The Church's teaching on and understanding of addiction has improved over the last century. Addiction, by its very definition, is enslavement of the will. Meaning you don't actually have the ability to refuse the impulse.
If he were struggling in this day with that type of addiction, a pastor, following the Church's current knowledge and understanding, would probably let him go to communion as long as he was continuing to fight the addiction. Even if he failed over and over again.
The addiction itself is a type of enslavement, forcing their will. Sometimes, they may go along with it, sometimes, they may resist, but in the end, more often than not, they can't refuse it. They're not strong enough.
The idea is if you just repent well enough, and work hard enough, your will will grow and you'll be able to overcome it. That is not always the case. We clearly see that in the life of Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang.
We don't know why God allows certain people to remain in a certain sin. But Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's belief and teaching is that God allows it for the sake of the virtue of humility, because humility is the most important virtue anyone can possess.
Failing, especially in sin, is always used by God to help us grow in that important virtue. And the response to sin, of course, is repentance.
Dt 30:10-14; Ps 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37; Col 1:15-20; Lk 10:25-37
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:10
As human beings, we intuitively recognize that the way we present ourselves, the clothing that we wear matters culturally. It always has and always will.. . . In fact, in many very formal events - a fancy restaurant, the opera - the won't let you if you're not dressed appropriately.
It's not a new thing in this day and age. It's always been like this in every culture because human beings, by God's design, recognize the importance of externals. Now externals aren't everything. They're not the most important thing, that's the internal, the spiritual, the soul. But the externals matter.
And they're important by design. God designed us. He designed human nature such that, all of the external things in the world, are supposed to be a sign of the spiritual world, the hidden world. Our bodies actually reveal the nature of our souls.
We say that the soul is the form of the body. So the body, by its very design and function, expresses the mysteries of the spiritual soul.
Externals matter because they are meant to reveal the hidden spiritual truths.
You all remember a story that Jesus spoke about the kingdom of heaven. It's like a king who throws great wedding feast for his son. He invites all the dignitaries, all the important people, but they all make excuses and can't come. He says to his servants "Go out and find anyone who will come. The poor, the weak, doesn't matter. Bring them all in I'm having a party for my son." Once the party has begun a man is found there at the gathering not dressed appropriately.
The Lord says to to his servants, "Bind his hands and feet and throw him outside into the darkness." Because he's not dressed appropriately for this celebration.
Now, Jesus of course is referring to heaven. . . . He's telling us you have to be dressed appropriately to go to heaven. Now it's not a physical grab, it's a spiritual one that we receive at baptism. It's that white garment, that spiritual cleansing that we receive by the gift of the Holy Spirit and the sacrifice of Christ.
If we don't keep that spiritual garment clean and spotless, then when it's our turn to go to heaven, we might get kicked out, because we're not dressed appropriately. Now that's the higher truth. That's the most important thing we have to focus on.
But it's also true on a natural level. For God the most important thing is your soul. But He also realizes the importance of the externals because the external effect everyone else around you.
So modesty refers to that appropriate dress in appropriate situations depending on who you are. That's why the Church has always had such strict rules about what the priest and the servers should wear in the sanctuary. These external trappings - they're not spiritually necessary - but they reflect the spiritual truth of what we're doing up here.
So when we come to Church, what is the goal of our presence and ultimately, of the clothes which we choose to wear?
Obviously, the purpose of Mass is to worship God. That's the primary reason you are obligated to come to Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. You have to worship the God Who made you and the God Who sent His Son to die for you. It's not to receive communion actually. You come to Mass to worship God.
How we dress reflects our view of what we're dong. Whether we think it's important or not. Whether we think it's sacred or not. . . . If you're not trying to wear the best you have, then on some level, you don't think our Lord deserves it.
Is 66:10-14c; Ps 66:1-7, 16, 20; Gal 6:14-18; Lk 10:1-12, 17-20
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 12:30
On one level, we can consider the Supreme Court decision (Dobbs) a great victory. because federal law forced the legalization of abortion upon the country. So thank God that that's over, and now states can decide. But we're not done, that's just the beginning. The next step for us is to get North Carolina declared a state of life, meaning abortion is declared completely illegal.
The Church explains in the Catechism that the laws of nations- of any nation - must protect life. That's an obligations. It's not an option. It doesn't matter what religion you are or what country you live in. All civil laws must protect life, and if they don't, then all of the laws of that nation are corrupt, because life - individual personhood - is the basis for al law. The good of the person. If you don't protect the innocent life, the rest of the laws can't do any good for those people.
So we have to fight for that first in our state. That's our next goal: to make North Carolina a state where we make all forms of murder illegal.
The second point I want to reference is the Church's teaching on self defense, or "just war theory." The reason it's important that we talk about it at this time is because it's clear that there are many on the extreme pro-choice side, who have been violent, some toward people, some towards buildings and things. . . . So , what are our God-given rights in regard to self-defense? this can be a difficult and sensitive topic. If you want to look it up in the Catechism, it's explained under "Avoiding War". It begins paragraph 2307. It gives the Church's teaching, that has always been held, this is the teaching of Christ as explained by the Church.
Even though war can be "just" - the self defense of a nation - the goal of every Christian is to avoid it insofar as is possible. And that's what we have to begin with in regards to any form of self defense. Where the taking of another life is required, to defend your life or the lives of the innocent, that is always the last resort. . . . You need to avoid doing everything in your power, reasonably speaking, to avoid taking a life. Even if that life is guilty.
1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21; Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-11; Gal 5:1, 13-18; Lk 9:51-62
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:30
So why is Jesus called the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah"? Well, the lion was the symbol of the tribe of Judah - that's the simple explanation. But also the lion, as anybody knows, is the king of beasts. That's the way God made lions, they are absolute top predators.
Oftentimes throughout history, we have had ruling families or kings take the lion as their symbol. Dominance. Power. Authority. This tradition began with Israel. The kings in Israel always had the lion from the tribe of Judah as their symbol.
Jesus, we know, is the King of kings, and He is a child of Judah, of Israel. So the lion uniquely belongs to Him as a symbol because it reveals His power. As God He rules over all things. God is all-powerful. But even as a man, He is superior to all other men because He is perfectly holy and always obeys the will of his Father.
So both as God and man, He is superior to all others. Therefore, He is the King of kings, the ruling One, and the Lion is His name. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And He wants you to think of a lion when you hear that name. He wants you to be intimidated.
We have a natural fear of the power, of the danger of a lion. The scriptures are full of instances in which we are taught to fear God. In fact, fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit. And you should fear Him. Fear His kingliness, fear His power. You absolutely should. And that's why he is the Lion.
But He is also the Lamb. We have to try and resolve this seeming contradiction, because lions eat lambs, not the other way around. So how can Christ be both? Our Lord is trying to reveal to us a deeper mystery of who He is. Humans have never had a problem believing that God is all-powerful. But we do often struggle to recognize how gentle God is. How loving, and how merciful.
That's why He sent His Son into the world. That's why He suffered and died sacrificially in this way. He would say: Even though I am the Lion of Judah, I come to you as a lamb. Gently, in weakness. Just to draw close to you, to be near you.
Our Lord is both these things, and we see this most beautifully in the eucharist. Our Lord has made Himself food for us. That's how close He wants to be to us - to dwell within us. To facilitate that, He transforms bread and wine into His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity so that He could dwell within you. Not just spiritually - He can do that through Baptism - but even physically, where you become one flesh with Him. A holy marriage.
He knows He has to do this very gently, because you're skittish, like lambs. You get scared very easily. So He approaches you like one.
Today is also Father's Day, and I think this is a very important lesson for all of us fathers. . .
Father Miller continues with convicting, insightful encouragement and advice for fathers.
Gn 14:18-20; Ps 110:1-4; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Lk 9:11b-17
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:01
This for us as Christians is actually the greatest mystery of our faith. The fact that our God is a trinity of persons. He is One, truly. One in mind, one in heart and yet three persons, eternal.
Now, we can't necessarily understand how this is, but we always try to glean some understanding, even if just a little bit. There are many things that God has done in creating the world, and creating our natures, to help us better understand Him.
That's why this mystery is so essential. It's actually more important than the Incarnation, the Suffering, Death and Resurrection, even though it's that mystery which saves us from sin.
The Incarnation is merely an extension of God's Trinitarian life in the physical universe. Everything we know, everything we perceive on this level of reality only exists because this trinitarian God made it. And when He made it, He made it based on the same Truth of His own existence.
Everything in the universe is trinitarian. Everything.
To illustrate this point, I'm going to give you one of my favorite examples I learned long ago: every atom is trinitarian. It's based on the very same principle of our God. And it makes sense, since God made up atoms to make up the universe, He'd make them like Him. In its basic components, what makes up an atom? There are three primary parts: protons, neutrons and electrons. How do these parts relate, one to the other?
The nucleus - the center - the focal point you could say of the atom, are the proton and neutron which are bonded together inside the nucleus. That which keeps them bonded together is the electron cloud that surrounds them. . . .
Why is this trinitarian? Not just because you have three parts to that atom, it's even how they relate one to the other.
We know, because of revelation, that the Father and the Son love each other eternally. And Their Love is the Holy Spirit. If you think of it logically, the Father and the Son live in Love. Love surrounds and fills Them, just like the electrons do with the protons and the neutrons. They are bonded in some special bond - what happens if you break an atom? Bad stuff happens! All that energy released. . . . obviously, they are meant to be bonded. They're bonded within this electron cloud. Electron symbolizes the Holy Spirit, proton and neutron symbolize the Father and the Son.
Everything in creation, everything, can be broken down into a trinitarian dynamic because it's all based on the Truth of Who God is, and God is the One that made it. . . .
So if you're interested in this stuff, I encourage you, start looking at things and analyzing them and see how they can fit within the trinitarian design. Everything does.
Everything in the universe finds its meaning in this mystery. . . . am I willing to die for this mystery?
The truths of the faith - ultimately rooted in the Truth of our God Who is a Trinity - these truths are more true, more profound, more essential than you or I.
Prv 8:22-31; Ps 8:4-9; Rom 5:1-5; Jn 16:12-15
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 21:37
The Holy Spirit IS the love of the Father and the Son. He is mutual self-offerings of love. That's why we need Him. Without Him we cannot love properly. We certainly can't love like God.
Jesus show us the way, through His life, as well as providing us the grace necessary, to love like the Holy Spirit. To be that love in the world.
But in a sinful world, if we are to love the way God loves . . . He loves even if His beloved doesn't love Him in return. Which means you're going to empty yourself out and simply remain empty and die. That is the calling. Our Lord says, "Don't worry, do it anyway. And after you die, I will raise you up. " And we say, "But I don't want to die. It hurts!" The Lord says: "I know. I've been through it. I loved until the end." We cannot love this sacrificially without the living love of God within us. Without the Holy Spirit, it is not possible.
This is why when we receive the Holy Spirit, not only in Baptism, but even more powerfully in Confirmation, He gives us His seven gifts.
Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the "power of God." . . . God is all powerful, He can create and destroy. But according to God Himself, that's not His greatest power. His greatest power is love.
These seven gifts that the Holy Spirit gives are necessary to love. . . .
But what does love look like? When it's active, when it's real?
First Corinthians, chapter thirteen. Saint Paul gives you a clear definition of love.
- Love is patient. Are you patient? I'm not saying, are you patient enough. Love is always patient. Always.
- Love is kind. Are you kind?
- Love is not jealous. Do you ever get jealous?
- Love is not pompous. Prideful, it doesn't think itself better than others. Is that you?
- Love is not inflated. It doesn't think more of its qualities and abilities than is true.
- Love is not rude.
- It does not seek its own interests. It's selfless. It seeks the good, the interests of others.
- It is not quick-tempered. It's selfless. That's probably a big one for a lot of people. Are you quick-tempered? Love isn't.
- It does not brood over injury. This is a very important one. Do you still hold on to past injuries, things other people committed against you. Do you constantly bring it to mind, bring it up to them. Does it lead you to resentment? Love doesn't do this.
- Love does not rejoice over wrong-doing. Should be fairly obvious.
- It rejoices with the Truth. Do you rejoice when you hear the truth?
- Love bears all things. Not some things, and not most things. Love bears all things.
- It believes all things. It's not always doubting others, questioning.
- It hopes all things. All possible goods, love hopes for.
- Love endures all things. Any suffering, any cross that comes your way. Love endures. Patiently.
- Love never fails.
If there is any humility in us whatsoever, we have to admit that we don't love like this. Not completely, not yet. There's any number of way I do not love to that degree.
You have to realize that even though you may have the Holy Spirit through the grace of Jesus Christ and the Sacraments, the reason you're not loving the right way - I mean, God's love is alive in you - is because you can actually limit that love. You limit it with your own mind and heart. Your intellect, your will - my intellect, my will - can limit the power of God, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, from functioning in certain areas.
So how do I fix this? Do I just get on my knees and pray? Well, yes, please. But that's not enough.
First you have to diagnose the problem before you can apply the right medicine. Healing a soul is very much like working on a body. You can diagnose it. If you know what love should look like, then you know - because you do it - where you fail.
So you say: ok, I'm not patient, at least in these situations. Once you've diagnosed the specific problem, you go to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and you say in which of these gifts can I find help? In what area of these gifts of the Spirit do I still need to grow? ... Try to hone it down to something precise. What is leading to my impatience in those situations? .... You have to be aware of what you're actually thinking.
Most of us don't grow in virtue because we don't do the work.
Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begns at 20:10
You who are to be confirmed this evening are to receive that power from on High, the power that demonstrates itself in all those fruits of the spirit, to go and change the anger, the hatred, the bitterness, the lies, the discrimination that has disfigured the face of the earth. Not that you're going to change it all by yourself. It's going to be God's power working through each of you one at a time.
But we're celebrating here that gift of the Holy Spirit that was first poured out on the apostles at Pentecost - that great feast we're going to celebrate this Sunday as we close out our fifty days of rejoicing at Easter.
In that upper room on Pentecost, were likely fewer people than are gathered here this evening. And yet, because of the power with which they were clothed from on high, down generation to generation, to generation, to you who are to be confirmed this evening, that good news of the Gospel has been passed on throughout the whole world.
You are saying this evening that you wish to continue that. That you will be faithful witnesses to people not yet born. That you will pass on that faith so that the good news of the Gospel can continue to renew the face of the earth until the Lord comes again.
The Holy Spirit distributes gifts to each one as the Spirit knows we need, and can accept, and can use. Too often, we spend a lot of time and energy - or we waste a lot of time and energy - looking at everybody else's gifts. And wishing we had those. In doing that, not only does it oftentimes burden us with sadness, and even jealousy, but it's also the work of the evil one in distracting us from the work we ought to do in developing the gifts of the Spirit as given to me.
Reflect on that as we celebrate the Sacrament this evening and in days to come: what are those gifts with which God through the Holy Spirit has outfitted each of you? So that in the unique way each of you will be called to do so, you can be faithful friends of Jesus. And people will recognize that in, you and perhaps be changed.
Don't worry about anybody else's gifts. What are the ones that God in His wisdom, in His knowledge, and in His abundant love for each of you, has decided - out of love for you - to give you? What are the gifts that you have received?
It's with those that the Holy Spirit has outfitted you, that you will be faithful friends of Jesus.
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 11:24
Jesus ascended toward the East. This is an important point that sometimes gets overlooked.
Two men in white appear, these are angels. They ask, "Men of Galilee, what are you doing?... This Jesus Who has been taken up from you into Heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven."
So we know that our Lord was taken up on a cloud toward the East, and when He comes again in glory, He will come on a cloud, from the East.
This is why the Church has maintained the tradition for nearly two thousand years, that when we celebrate Mass, we celebrate toward the East. Ad orientum.
From the earliest time of the Church, whenever they gathered to celebrate Mass, they would all face East together in anticipation of His second coming.
That's why I, here at Saint Dorothy's, celebrate Mass ad orientum. It's why the Church for two thousand years maintained this tradition.
So the question is, why after the Second Vatican council did this ancient tradition get scrapped for the most part? . . .
He will return again in the same way He was taken up. We face East together when we worship God, so that we are ready to receive Him when He comes again. We don't have our backs to Him. It's really a beautiful tradition when you consider it. . . . There is a reason for this tradition in the history of the Church. I do believe wholeheartedly that it will return. . . .
For us as Catholics, the ritual performance of our worship is essential. There's a reason that we do what we do. And even if you're never taught those particular reasons, just practicing them begins to affect you and prepare your body and soul for grace. For your relationship with the Lord.
So I pray on this day, on which we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Ascension, that the Church would once again return to this most holy tradition. That as a people, as a body, we face East together always in anticipation of his coming again in glory.
Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17-23; Lk 24:46-53 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:39
It was the Church that gave us the Scriptures, not the Scriptures that give us the Church.
This is one of the basic mistakes that we make. We think that the Word of God is only the Scriptures. But we know that the Word of God is Jesus Christ. And the Word of God can be incarnate - the living Jesus Christ, we know in the Eucharist, His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. We know that the Word of God can be spoken as in preaching. And the Word of God can be written - the Scriptures. It's all the Word of God.
But we forget that the Church is also the Word of God. Because the Church is the Body of Christ and Christ is the logos, the Divine Word.
Jesus Christ gave us a Church. A community of believers that He empowered to hand on His grace and His teachings.
It was that Church which wrote the New Testament.
It was that Church which brought in converts.
It was that Church Who resolved controversies and disagreements among the people.
To help clarify and solidify this point, we're given the second reading today from the book of Revelation. . . . .
You see what the Holy Spirit is revealing to us through the Book of Revelation and the ministry of John is what the Church looks like and how the Church exists.
We know that we are the Body of Christ. The Lord teaches that we are the living stones from which the House of God, the City of God, the Temple of god is built. So when you hear this description of the stonework of the Holy City it's talking about the people of God. It's talking about us. . . .
We're told very clearly on what foundation this City is built. This City had twelve different kinds of stones that make up its foundation. And these twelve stones represent the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb. And we know who those twelve Apostles are.
The ones that Jesus, the Lamb of God, chose to be the foundation of the Holy City. Of His Church. Of His Body.
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Ps 67:2-3, 5-6, 8; Rv 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-29
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:19
In the hierarchy of love, after your family obligations - and again, these are obligations of service and love - then what is the next hierarchically important act of service?
It's your parish family. That's your second family in a sense.
On a real level we know that the parish family is more important even than your physical family, because this is the family of Christ. In regards to your responsibilities, your biological family comes first, but after you've served them, if you have any extra time or energy, or money, then you serve your parish family.
You need to look for ways in which you can love your brothers and sisters in Christ. . . .
So when you're considering, "Do I have the time and energy to serve the Body of Christ? In what ways can I do that?" . . .
I just want to take a minute to go through the various ways in which you can serve your local parish and parish community:
- Altar Server
- Altar Guild
- Ushers
- Lectors
- Choir Member
- Set-up and Clean-up at events like the Feast of St Dorothy, Divine Mercy Sunday, Marian Celebration or the various celebrations we have throughout the year where we need extra hands. The Knights of Columbus barbecue can always use help. Those are just "one day" jobs.
- Assistant Catechists in the Confirmation Class
- The Summer Kids' Camp - that takes a lot of work
So often, when you come to a parish event, you might not realize all of the labor that went into not only preparing it, but running it and cleaning up afterwards. If we don't get volunteers, it usually falls to a handful of people to do that work all by themselves. . . .
We're such a big family, it's much easier for us if everybody who is able just give s little aid, a little help.
I want you to pray about this and consider it. Is there something more that you can do? . . . As you pray, you have to remember this most important thing: for us the calling to serve and the calling to love is not just an invitation. Jesus says it's a new commandment. Which makes it an obligation.
A commandment. And we are to love as we are loved - as Christ loves us.
For more information on how you can get involved, please visit the Ministries page and Groups page on our website. Thank you!
Acts 14:21-27; Ps 145:8-13; Rv 21:1-5a; Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:12
(You may follow along in your Catechism beginning at CCC2270)
"Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. . . . .
The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law."
It's important to note that this is the official Church teaching. This is the language the Church herself has chosen to explain the position that has been handed down to us by Christ Himself and the apostles. This section quotes a document called the Didache which is the teaching of the twelve apostles, handed down in the very early life of the Church. The Didache specifically condemns the grave moral evil of abortion.
So for two thousand years, this teaching has been unchanged and is unchangable.
The passage above needed to be emphasized because it points out from Christ's own standpoint, that every civil society, and every legislature, has a required duty to protect the rights of all individual lives. If they create laws that break the equality and dignity of any human life, society itself, and the laws, and the rule of law that seeks to govern it, are fundamentally damaged. . . .
The Catechism points out very clearly that if any group of persons in a society by law is not protected, then equality in that society doesn't exist. There is nothing we can do in this culture to create true equality among all peoples until this grave evil is overturned.
Pray for the Bishops. Pray for your priests, that they would have the courage to speak out the truth. If we, as the clergy, do not speak the Word of God, then how can the sheep recognize His voice? That's what Our Lord says in the Gospel today: "My sheep hear My voice, and follow Me."
I can tell you Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and anyone in a similar position are not sheep of the flock of Jesus Christ. They may have been at one point, but they are no longer. Jesus says, the sheep recognize His voice and they follow Him. These individuals clearly aren't following Him, they don't recognize his voice, they are not members of the flock of Jesus Christ any longer. Neither is anyone who rejects this very clear and necessary Church teaching.
For those of you who may be concerned, the automatic excommunication that falls on those who participate in the procurement of an abortion, can be lifted by any priest when the person comes to sacramental confession. . . .
If we want to overturn the evils of human sacrifice in our culture and in our world, we must do what Christ did. We must be willing to sacrifice ourselves. Even if we are unjustly condemned. But if you, like Christ, willingly submit to those types of crucifixions in your life, and offer them up to the Father with, in, and through Christ's cross, then you can help to overturn this evil in our culture. That is the only way.
Acts 14:21-27; Ps 145:8-13; Rv 21:1-5a; Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:18
Jesus to Sr Lucia: "Have compassion on the Heart of your most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, which ungrateful men place therein at every moment, while there is no one who does an act of reparation to withdraw them from Her."
Mary to Sr Lucia: "Behold my daughter, My Heart encircled with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment with their blasphemies, and ingratitude. Give Me consolation, you at least. And make known on My behalf that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months confess their sins, receive holy communion, recite five decades of the rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes meditating on the mysteries of the rosary with the purpose of making reparation to My Immaculate Heart."
We're going to begin this First Five Saturdays devotion, here officially at St Dorothy's beginning this month - May 7, continuing, God willing, throughout the year
Father continues and explains the exact requirements needed to fulfill the devotion, the benefits not only to the Heart of Mary but for ourselves, and others.
In 1939, this is what Sr Lucia herself said: "Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion, along with the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently. Especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother in Heaven.”
And why five First Saturdays? Why not four, or ten? Jesus told Sr Lucia there are five blasphemies against our Lady, so the five devotionals are for the sake of consoling Her Heart against all of these blasphemies. They are:
- Against Her Immaculate Conception
- Against Her perpetual virginity
- Against Her divine and spiritual maternity
- The rejection and dishonoring of Her images
Lastly, and this one struck me:
- Neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge of, and love for, this Immaculate Mother.
Our Lord expects - at the very least - every single Christian to instill in their children a love of Jesus Christ and a love of His Holy Mother. That is His expectation.
So it is these five things which we are fighting against. These five ways in which we are trying to console the Heart of our Holy Mother.
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Ps 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; Rv 5:11-14; Jn 21:1-19
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:39
Divine Mercy Sunday - this day our Lord wants us to focus on His Mercy which is manifested first and foremost in His Sacraments. There can be no relationship with God, no love, no sharing between Him and us, if there is not first the forgiveness of sin. There is no mercy, there is no hope of anything else.
All of the sacraments, ideally, are oriented towards that mercy. The very first sacrament all of us receive is baptism, through which we are forgiven of sin. Original and personal sin - washed away.
Those of us who were baptized as infants only had original sin, but then we grew up and started having personal sin. But Jesus thought of that and he gave us confession or reconciliation, so that we could approach Him once more under the sacrament of the priesthood and receive His mercy.
When Jesus appeared to His disciples after rising from the dead, after first telling them to be at peace, and giving them His peace, He said this: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, Whose sins you retain are retained."
Why would our Lord give the power of reconciliation to the Apostles at this moment?
He was able to do it now because salvation had been won. He's died and He's risen. Now is the time for forgiveness of sins. But He also gives it to them at this unique moment because it's the most precious gift He could offer in the new life of the Church. The power to forgive sins in His name.
The Gospel message is very simple: Repent and believe.
Repent of what? Of your sins which you have committed against God's laws and His teachings. Believe in what? Believe in Jesus Christ Who can forgive you of those sins.
That's the crux of the entire Gospel message. Our Lord wants us to have that same peace which He offered to the Apostles on the day of His resurrection. He wants us all to have that peace, but without the forgiveness of sin it is not possible.
And all of you know this. All of you know this. . . . .
No matter how many times you sin, or bad those sins may be, He's already suffered enough and won more than enough grace, to cleanse you of your sins and forgive you. That's it.
In fact, when He was dying, as God, in His Divine intellect, He thought of you. Individually. He thought of every sin you have committed, not only up to this moment, but every single one you will commit for the rest of your life on earth. And He said to his Heavenly Father, "I die for that."
That is the mercy of Christ.
Acts 5:12-16; Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; Rv 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; Jn 20:19-31
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:26
Some of the Fathers of the Church tell us that, at the root of all fear, is the fear of death. Even if you're not necessarily dying, the pain that you're suffering is a small experience of dying, of death.
It's the Resurrection of our Lord from the dead that can ultimately conquer that fear.
It's this Resurrection that gave the apostles such courage as they went forth to proclaim the Gospel. They were no longer afraid to be arrested, imprisoned, beaten, stoned, or to die for Christ. Because they had seen firsthand that He was master of death.
For each of us, as we go through our lives, if you're honest, you'll note that you still have these kinds of fears to one degree or another. There's still a fear of suffering. Still a fear of sickness, and of course, of death. This shows us that on some level, my faith in Christ has not been perfected. I'm not truly convinced of the Resurrection yet.
The apostles have an advantage over us, they actually saw Him rise. They saw Him. They talked with Him. They ate with Him. That experience was obviously so profound, that it made acts of heroic suffering and death much easier for them. That's why Jesus says to Thomas, "Blessed are those that have not yet seen." That's us. Two thousand years later.
The challenge that we have is not sitting in church on a beautiful Sunday morning rejoicing - that's the easy part. It's when the suffering is happening. When they dying is taking place - do you still believe? Because that's when we doubt, that's when we struggle.
Whatever the suffering is, if you're centered in Christ, if you're faithful to your prayer, you'll find in that moment the grace and strength that you need to have faith, and hope. Yes, I may be dying, but I need not fear because Christ has risen from the dead.
Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Col 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9
You may watch this Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:10
Easter Vigil Mass can bee see here.
Oftentimes when we are going through some type of suffering, strong suffering, we can become very frustrated with God. "Why are You doing this to me? Why are You letting this happen?"
Yet, if you are to be conformed to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ crucified, then this passage applies to you also. The Father is pleased to crush you in infirmity.
. . . .
"Why would you let this happen to me?"
Why did He let it happen to His Son?
For the forgiveness of sin. For the salvation of others.
Through our union with Him in the sacraments, our blood is the Blood of Christ. His Blood is ours. So through all of our sufferings united with His, we, with Him, in Him, through Him, help to redeem mankind from sin. There is no greater honor that God could bestow upon you. So remember this. Even though it may be a bitter pill to swallow, when there are times in your life, like our Lord, when you are crushed by infirmity, remember that God is pleased to give you this gift.
Is 52:13--53:12; Heb 4:14-16, 5:7-9; Jn 18:1--19:42
The service may be watched in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 30:07
. . . the profound humility of Christ. He came not to be served but to serve. That mystery is most perfectly revealed in the Eucharist. There is no more humble expression, that He came to become our very food.
. . . The perfect servitude of the Eucharist, that Jesus becomes food for us.
One of the wise proverbs of Solomon tells us this: When you go to your neighbor's house and they provide a meal for you, pay close attention to the food that is provided, because when you reach out to take some, you will be required to make a similar gift in return.
The Fathers of the Church tell us, this is referring to the Eucharistic meal. You come before the Lord to eat at His house, at His table. And Solomon warns you: pay close attention to the type of meal you are being fed, because the One Who gave you this meal will expect a similar one in return.
As Jesus has humbled Himself in service for you, He tells us very clearly that we must humble ourselves in service for one another. . . .
The Eucharist is the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ. It's the whole gift that Christ gives to His Bride the Church. And it's this gift that you receive every time that you commune with the Body of the Lord.
It is this gift that our Lord expects back from you.
Every time you encounter a situation - especially with family - in which they are trying to crucify you, for one reason or another, whether you deserve it or not, our Lord has shown you how He expects you to respond. . . .
There is no way we can die like Christ without the gift of his grace. That's why He gives it first.
Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 24:05
Because He was not the King that they wanted, they rejected Him. Jesus did not come to set us free from any earthly ruler. He came to save us from sin, and death. That's why He had to suffer and die - it was the means by which He obtained our salvation. . . .
In our own lives, even two-thousand years later, we fall prey to the same temptation of the Israelite people. Oftentimes our lives, especially when we're suffering or things aren't going our way, we question the Kingship of Christ: "He's not the King I thought He was going to be." "He's not the King I expected." "He's not the God I wanted."
And we have a choice, just like they did. Are we going to accept Him, and His cross, or are we going to reject Him just to avoid the cross?
We should know better, we have their example. So let us pray that as we continue to celebrate this Holy Week, that we would follow Jesus, not just rejoicing and as our King, but also to the Cross.
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The advice I would give during this Holy Week is: even if you can't make it here to Church during these Holy days, please schedule time during these days to pray. Read over the Gospel passages and meditate on them. . . . If we don't set aside time, and take that time, then what happens is, we're just too busy, the time allotted us has gone by and we've never drawn closer through meditation and contemplation to these Holy mysteries. . . . For all I know, this could be the last Holy Week I'll ever get. I don't know how long my life will be, I don't know when Christ will come again in Glory. We just don't know these things. So it's very important that following the Church's wisdom, we take some extra time this week on these Holy days.
Lk 19:28-40(procession) Is 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Lk 22:14--23:56
This week at St Dorothy's:
Holy Thursday of the Lord's Supper 7:00pm Good Friday of the Lord's Passion 3:00pm Easter Vigil on the Holy Night of Easter 8:30pm
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homilies begin at and
He not only knows all truth, He is all Truth. So you can't trap Him, you can't outsmart the Lord. . . .
How beautiful and brilliant our Lord is in this passage, in defending and protecting this woman, and turning these evil men's intentions upon themselves. But that's not the point of the story at all. In the end, it's the beautiful exchange between our Lord and the woman caught in adultery.
He turns to her and says, "Woman, where are your accusers? Is anyone here to condemn you?" She says, "No one, sir." Then He says, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on, do not sin anymore." You can imagine the humiliation and shame this woman must have felt; not only being caught in this sin, but then being publicly humiliated.
And here is our Lord, not only defending and protecting her. But forgiving her, and sending her on her way. In the eyes of all the people, our Lord was able to justify her.
This is the reason Christ has come, the reason we're celebrating this holy season and, in a few weeks, the Passion of our Lord. Because He wants to save us from sin. From the shame of it, from the humiliation of it, from the damnation of it.
He did not come to accuse us, but to redeem us.
But that's only His first coming, He Himself taught that when he comes in glory, He will not come with mercy. He will come with judgement and accusation. He will take all people, of all time, and He will judge them. Publicly. Bringing up every unforgiven sin.
You think you feel shame for your sins now? Just wait till the final judgement. They will be made known to everyone.
There is only one way to assure ourselves of protection against that final judgement. And that is the mercy He offers us now. Our Lord through His death and resurrection has given us the sacraments of His Church to forgive us of sin. If we accuse ourselves of sin to Him - especially in the sacrament of confession - then He will not accuse us when He comes again in glory. . . .
Our Lord doesn't want to shame you. He wants to protect you. And He has designed the perfect way to do that. It requires, however, your humility. The beautiful gift of the sacrament of reconciliation, is that in the sure and certain knowledge that my sins are wiped away - never to be brought up again - I can go forth from that sacrament with peace in my heart. No fear. No anxiety. In fact, the Scriptures teach that God forgets the sins He forgives. So He can't bring them up to you again. He can't accuse you of them in the future, because He doesn't remember. The Blood of Christ has washed them away.
So if you haven't had the opportunity to go to confession since Lent has begun, you've still got two weeks left before Easter. . . . Meditate on all the humiliations He endured to forgive you of your sin. It will make it easier for you to endure the little humiliation of confessing them.
Is 43:16-21; Ps 126:1-6; Phil 3:8-14; Jn 8:1-11
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:12
Technically, anything in this world can be consecrated, since God made it all, it can all be consecrated to His purposes, and made holy. But the only one who can consecrate someone or something is the person who possesses the authority to do so. . . .Consecration, first and foremost is dependent on the authority that the individual has over the people or the objects being consecrated. If he doesn't have the authority then he doesn't have the power. If he doesn't have the power, then it can't be consecrated. And only someone who has the power of God can consecrate someone or something.
This is why it was the Holy Father's responsibility to consecrate Russia. . . . Only the Pope can consecrate the world and any country within it. Only he has that overreaching authority.
So it was right in 1917 that the Blessed Mother asked the Holy Father to consecrate Russia, because only he could do it.
The reason the Blessed Mother said to the children of Fatima to consecrate Russia is because, if you don't, Russia will spread its errors throughout the whole world. Now, the errors our Lady was referring to, are the errors in communism. Obviously, the Popes did not do it fast enough. China is communist, many other countries of the world are communistic. Communisim is even infiltrating the United States. The Popes at the time - the early twentieth century - did not heed the warning soon enough, and so the errors began to spread. We had another world war.
Eventually they started doing it. John Paul II did it very well, and other Popes have done it too.
Whenever a Pope consecrates Russia, or any country, it does work. He is in the person of Christ. He has the power and authority. He has the keys of the kingdom, and what he binds on earth is bound in heaven. And what he looses on earth, he looses in heaven. Because it wasn't done fast enough, the errors of Communism spread instead of being stopped at their source. . . . The disease has spread and now we do the best we can. It's still effective, which is why the Holy Father has done this. So for us, we should rejoice, and be hopeful to see this consecration play out in the ensuing months and years.
But why did our Lady ask that Russia be consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart? Doesn't Jesus love the people of Russia? Doesn't He pour out His grace upon them through His Church and the Sacraments?
Why do we need to consecrate anything to Mary, as opposed to doing it directly to Christ? . . .
All Christians belong to Christ through their holy baptism. But when we sin against the Lord and the role that we're meant to live in relationship to Him, there are consequences to that. We belong to Him. He belongs to us. We fail to live up to those responsibilities, and those consequences must be fulfilled.
But if we also belong to Mary, if we are consecrated to the Blessed Virgin, she can add to our Lord's already profound and perfect love for us her own concern, and her own protection.
Consecration in essence, is giving oneself to God. But when you consecrate yourself to the Blessed Mother, you're giving yourself to God through Her. So you belong to Her first. She in turn, hands you over to Her Son.
If you think of anyone in the world (besides God) to whom you would want to consecrate yourself, it would have to be the most trust-worthy of persons. So trust-worthy, that God Himself trusted them implicitly. Clearly, Our Lady fulfills this role perfectly because, as you know, it was God the Father who trusted Her so much that He entrusted His Son to Her.
There was nothing more precious that the Father could have given to Her, nothing more valuable to His heavenly Heart.
If God the Father thinks Mary is that trust-worthy, then the least we can do is to imitate Him, and entrust ourselves to Her motherly care. . . .
When you belong to Jesus through Mary, you belong to Her. All of you. Body, mind and spirit. All your relationships, all your possessions. . . . You belong to Her. No one can take one of her possessions from Her, no one. . . . She will watch out for it, She will care for it, She will defend it. She will intercede for it.
Jos 5:9a, 10-12; Ps 34:2-7; 2 Cor 5:17-21; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:16
When you truly love someone, you're devoted to them, committed. You have a relationship with them. ... Devotion is necessary in life and just as necessary in our spiritual lives.
In our relationship with Jesus, our relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, we also need devotion to the Saints. It's non-negotiable. Not an option, you have to have it. You don't need devotion to all of them, pick and choose who you like. ...
But two Saints every Christian must have devotion to are: the Blessed Mother, obviously, the Mother of our Lord, and Saint Joseph. Now I talk enough, we pray the Hail Mary, you know the need for devotion to Our Lady in the spiritual life. But I think, and even for myself, I fail in this regard, in my devotion to Saint Joseph. I don't talk to him as much as I should. I don't pray and seek his intercession as much as I should.
Now, sometimes people think, well, do I really need this devotion? Do I really need someone to intercede on my behalf when I can go directly to Jesus? I would point out to you our Lord's parable in the Gospel today. Here He is talking to the Pharisees and He's warning them: If you don't repent, you'll be condemned, terrible things will happen to you. Repentance is your salvation.
The parable is:a man had a fig tree in his garden, and for three years he came back looking for figs on this tree. He gives the tree three years to produce fruit and, nothing. Finally, he's fed up. He says, let's dig it up and try something new because it's just sucking nutrients from the soil. He tells his gardener, just cut it down and burn it.
Our Lord is saying for those who do not bear spiritual fruit, they are as good as damned. But what does the gardener say to the Lord?
Please, sir. Just give me one more year. I'll cultivate the soil around the tree and then, if it doesn't bear fruit, you can cut it down.
The gardener pleads on behalf of the tree: Be patient, be merciful. It doesn't deserve your mercy, but let me work with it and maybe I can get it to bear fruit. On its own, it won't. But, maybe I can help.
Now, this gardener clearly represents Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the True Adam Who was the original gardener. But, Jesus also sends us the many Saints to assist Him in pleading on our behalf to the Father.
Consider it from this perspective: God the Father has a certain number of years he's willing to wait for each one of us to bear fruit. Once we reach that number of years, that's it. He's done. You're damned, it's over. End their life, it's a waste of time to put any more work into you. But He wants to save you even though you don't deserve it, He wants to save all of us, so He sends His Son to plead on our behalf. It's the Master Who sent the gardener. It's not that the Father doesn't want to save you, but because of justice, He is required to give you a specific length of days.
But to give you more time, He sends His only Son. Now Jesus - the gardener - is working in the world, pleading: Father just give more more time with these "plants" I'm sure I can do something with them. And the Father says, yes, because You asked.
Jesus doesn't stop there. He sends the Blessed Mother, so now the Blessed Mother can plead on our behalf to Him, He can plead on our behalf to God and we get even more time.
The Blessed Mother says "Jesus is so smart, He must have learned this from His Father, I'm going to send Saint Joseph."
Basically, all of the Saints and Angels are working in tandem to give each of us as much intercession, as much time as possible to repent. When we have special devotion to them, they can intercede even more powerfully with us. That's why devotion is necessary in the spiritual life.
Father relates a powerful story about Padre Pio and a woman who came to him because she was afraid her husband was in hell.
If such a tiny act of devotion can save a soul who was so deeply rooted in sin, imagine how much easier it will be for our Lord to save us when we have a strong and abiding devotion, not only to the Mother of God, but to Saint Joseph. We need these intercessors. We need them. Without their intercession, our chances of salvation are diminished.
Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15; Ps 103:1-4, 6-8, 11; 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Lk 13:1-9
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on or YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:00
Why were they chosen to receive this revelation (the Transfiguration) and the others were not? Our Lord actually gives us the reason in a different Gospel. Today we hear the story from the Gospel of Luke. In the other Gospels, when they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus tells them, "Share this with your brothers, not now but later, to strengthen them."
Jesus gave these three men this gift to give to the other apostles. This miraculous event was for all of the apostles, all of them. But it was meant to be seen and then shared by these three. They were chosen by Christ in a sense as angels. The word "angel" means messenger. Jesus certainly could have revealed this to all of them, yet He chose three so they could reveal it to the others because He wanted the apostles to learn to be interdependent. To need one another in their relationship with Christ.
It's a Christian heresy that teaches that individual people can have a relationship with Jesus Christ apart from other believers. "It's just you and Jesus." That's heresy. Jesus clearly acts out and teaches the lesson that we are members of the Body of Christ. We together are united in the Body of Christ, not separate. In fact, if a cell or a limb is separated from the body, it dies. It's the unity of the parts that make up the body, the whole.
To facilitate the unity of Christ's Body, He doesn't give the same gifts to everyone. We have to depend on one another. The other apostles needed Peter, James, and John to tell them about what happened. . . .
Remember Jesus said where two or three witness to something, I am there in their midst. The beautiful thing about that quote is that, that's exactly what happened on this mountain. You have the two, and the three, witnessing to the Truth. Moses and Elijah witness to the Truth because of the past. Moses gave the Law, and Elijah is considered the greatest of the Prophets. So the Law and the Prophets testify to the Truth of Jesus Christ. That's basically the Old Testament.
The New Testament? Peter, James, and John. You see the past and the future all testifying to the Truth for everyone else. . . .
Our Lord wanted to use special instruments so that the Body of Christ would be drawn closer together. So that we would need one another. . . .
He wants us to be united. Why is this so important to Him?
Because God Himself is a unity of persons. It is His Divine Nature, to be three Persons in one Divine unity. As we are made in His image and likeness, the unity of us as people is also necessary for the Divine image. Necessary. Not optional.
Ultimately, it's Christ we're depending on, but we have to do that through one another.
If you're not humble and open enough to listen to whomever the Lord may chose to use, you could actually miss the grace He's trying to give you, the consolation and strength that you need.
If we're not open to the Lord using others in our life to minister to us, then more often than not, we will not receive the grace that He is providing.
Gn 15:5-12, 17-18; Ps 27:1, 7-9, 13-14; Phil 3:17--4:1; Lk 9:28b-36
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:17
Jesus is lead into the desert by the Holy Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil. . . .
There's an important theological element that we must recognize. You see, Jesus is overturning the sin of Adam and Eve. That's the whole purpose of His coming not the world and His suffering, death and resurrection. He's undoing what the first sin did.
It's not surprising if you listen closely to the Gospel, that Satan is tempting Jesus in pretty much the exact same way in which he tempted Adam and Eve.
The Fathers of the Church teach us that when Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan in the Garden with the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the book of Genesis tells us that there were three things that tempted them.
When Eve took the fruit, she saw that it was good for food, it was pleasing to the eyes, and it was desirable for making one wise.
The Fathers call these three things: Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eyes, and Pride of Life. They say that all sins - all categories of sin - fall into these three.
It was "good for food." That's the lust of the flesh. . . . when you cannot control your physical appetites, that is a sin of lust. Whether those appetites are hunger for food, desire for sleep or sex, all of these physical appetites; undisciplined, unmastered, uncontrolled are lusts of the flesh.
In Jesus' first temptation, what does the Devil say to Him? . . . The Devil is smart - he's not going to come to us when everything is going well, he comes to us when we're weakest.
So Jesus has been fasting for forty days and the Devil waits until Jesus is really hungry to come to Him and says, "If you are the Son of God, . . ." A very interesting intro. Jesus knows He is the Son of God. Yet here is the Devil trying to put a doubt into Jesus' mind, a question: Prove to me that you're the Son of God.
It's the same thing he did with Adam and Eve. "Did God really tell you not to eat of fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?" "Well. yes He did." It's a simple answer.
Here's Satan. Same tactics. Thousands and thousands of years have passed since Adam and Eve, he's pulling all the same tricks. "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Obviously, Jesus is the Son of God and could turn the stone to bread. It's no big deal for Him. So what's the temptation? . . . . Satan is trying to tempt Him with the lust of His flesh. He was very, very hungry. He clearly needed food. Satan was trying to get Jesus to use His power for such a weak and earthly need.
Our Lord responds, "It is written: One does not live on bread alone." If you know the rest of it, it is, "One does not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes forth from the mouth of God." It is the Word of God - Jesus Christ Himself - Who is the Bread of Life.
Father continues and shows us each temptation of Adam and Eve, its counterpart with Jesus in the desert, and His response to turn that temptation aside..
In all of these instances, Jesus uses the Scriptures to defend Himself against these temptations, and He does this to teach us all a very important lesson: the Word of God is our defense.
When we are being tempted in any way by Satan, the better we know the holy Scriptures, the better we defend ourselves against temptation and the less we fall into sin. . . . When you're going into spiritual battle with Satan, you want the best weapon you can have to combat his temptations. . . . .
These temptations, that we all have in our lives, are tests that God wants us to endure. It's only when you're tested that you can improve and grow.
Dt 26:4-1; Ps 91:1-2, 10-15; Rom 10:8-13; Lk 4:1-13
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:40
The ashes represent for us two things. They represent that we were made from the dust of the earth. When our bodies die and corrupt, we're going to turn back into dust. But they also represent repentance. Throughout the Old Testament, whenever someone was calling out to God for mercy, they would take off their nice clothes, they'd put on sackcloth - it really itches - and then they would put ashes on their head. It was one of the ways in which they repented.
So on this day in particular, we begin this season of repentance.
It's always wonderful as a priest, because during the Lenten season so many people come back to Church. They come back and they go to confession, and they start trying to be a good Catholic again.
Usually by the end of Easter, they stop coming again. But it's always good to see them back.
This season in particular, God is pouring out special graces on each one of us to help us repent from our sins.
Without repentance, there is no salvation. When Jesus sent His apostles out to preach, the Gospel message was this: Repent. And believe in the Christ. That's the whole Gospel message. If we don't do the first part, the second part can't help us.
It takes a lot of humility to repent, so it's something we have to continually pray for. Not only for ourselves, but for those of our Catholic brothers and sisters that are in need of repentance. . . . Repentance needs to become a way of life for us.
If you're really good at sinning, your greatest hope is creating a habit of repentance. God may be displeased by your sin, but he's going to be more pleased at your repentance. Those who repent are always saved.
Don't worry about how good you are at sinning, just get better at repenting.
Está bien?
Jl 2:12-18; 2 Cor 5:20--6:2: Mt 6:1-6; 16-18
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 9:52
If God went out of His way to allow His Mother to appear in this miraculous manner, perform miracles, and say these words to us, obviously, it's very important that we listen. So if you've never before heard the words of our Lady of Fatima, just listen attentively today.
The reason She came was to warn us - to warn the world - that war was coming. That great destruction and death would come if we did not repent of our sins. That Jesus was no longer able to hold back His hand of punishment because of the sins of the world.
So the message that you'll hear is from that context. And you know what happened, right? World War I, World War II, and the rest of the wars since then. Clearly, we didn't repent well enough and a lot of bad things happened during this last century. ....
As I read to you the words of our Lady of Fatima, I want you to keep in mind a comparison. Think of the world now - 2022 - and how the world must have been in 1917. I think most of us would say that sin is far more rampant in the world now than it was then. ...
If our Lady said these words to the world over 100 years ago, how much more important are they for us today?
The Blessed Mother said to the children, quote:
"I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask for pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord anymore, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day. Pray. Pray a great deal and make many sacrifices, for many souls go to hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If you will do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. Sacrifice yourselves for sinners. and say often, especially when you make some sacrifice, 'Oh my Jesus, this is for love of you, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary'." "The sins of the world are very great. If men only knew what eternity is, they would do everything in their power to change their lives. Fly from riches and luxury. Love poverty and silence. Have charity even for bad people. More souls go to hell for sins of the flesh than for any other reason. Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend out Lord very much. woe to women lacking in modesty."
Sister Lucia quotes from and remarks regarding the Blessed Mother:
"The Mother of God wants more virgin souls bound by the vow of chastity. "
"Confession is a sacrament of mercy. We must confess with joy and trust."
"Many marriages are not of God and do not please our Lord."
"Our Lady can no longer uphold the arm of Her Divine Son which will strike the world. If people amend their lives, our Lord will even now save the world.. If they do not, punishment will come."
"People must renounce sin and not persist in it. It is essential to repent greatly."
"Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from Her and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary." "Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her."
There are some beautiful prayers that were given by our Lady of Fatima that some of us still use to this day. I recommend you do your best to implement them in your life.
- Oh my God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You.
- Oh Most Holy Trinity, I adore You. My God, my God, I love You in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
- Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He is offended.
- By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
- Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.
Sir 27:4-7; Ps 92:2-3, 13-16; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Lk 6:39-45
For more information and to support the Fatima Tour for Peace and the Pilgrim Virgin Statue, please visit: www.fatimatourforpeace.com
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:32
What happens when a Catholic has a spouse that does not want to follow Church teaching in the area of contraception or family planning? ... Are they complicit in that sin if they don't refuse intimacy with their spouse? What do you do? Do you have to remain chaste? And there is no Church teaching on this. The Catholic Church teaches her priests moral theology ... and leaves it up to them to work out some of these more complex moral questions. There's not necessarily one hard and fast rule, priests may differ in their opinion.
However, one of the things that the Lord has brought to my attention when I've been praying and meditating on this question is the Eucharist.
When I was in seminary, they made sure all of us seminarians knew this one important law of the Church: every practicing, baptized Catholic has a right to Holy Communion. They have a right to the Body of Christ. I as a priest, cannot refuse it to them for just any reason. Even if I were to privately know that a person was in grave mortal sin, I still cannot refuse them Holy Communion. That's Church law. ... But all of us in class that day were concerned. What if I know they are in mortal sin? What if I've even told them not to come up to Holy Communion but they present themselves anyway? Am I not therefore complicit in this sacrilege, in this offense against the Body of the Lord, in giving them Holy Communion? The Church definitively says: no.
The reason that we cannot refuse someone who we know at least privately (public sin is another matter) in mortal is because Jesus does not want that person's sins to be made known. To protect the sinners from guilt or shame of anyone finding out that they are a sinner, Jesus is willing to suffer this abuse of His most Holy Body for a sinner who is unrepentant in their sin and still approaches Him for Holy Communion. Our Lord would rather suffer this abuse personally, then shame that person publicly. That is a profound act of humility by our Lord. ... That is the love of Christ for each one of us. And it's quite beautiful.
And this kept coming to me as I prayed about the situation of a Catholic spouse and a spouse who is not in line with the Church's teaching.
Just as the priest is not complicit in any sin in giving the Body - the Body of the Lord - in this loving, intimate, and spiritual way, so too a spouse (is not complicit) who at least has made their position clear - having talked with their spouse about their belief in the Church's teachings and what they want to do. You can't necessarily deny your spouse what we call their "marital rights" even if their actions may be contrary to the Church's teachings.
Now, I do think there's one moral caveat: this is where the act of contraception is an abortifaciaent. That doesn't mean it will cause an abortion but it may. Like the pill. The pill is an abortifacient. That's different. If your spouse is using the pill, I'm sorry, you have to be chaste. Your spouse may conceive and the pill will probably cause an abortion. That's murder, that's a whole different category.
But outside of that, just taking into consideration the Church's teachings on the gift of the Body of Christ to the people of God who have a right to it - unworthy as they may be - I think that same truth would apply to this question. ...
The language of "rights" is very specific. If someone has a "right" to something - or someone - then someone else has an obligation to fulfill it. All rights come with obligations...
The Church's teaching on the rights of husbands and wives toward each other is quite clear. Every wife has a right to the body of her husband, and every husband has a right to the body of his wife, which means: the other has an obligation to provide that. You formed these rights as a covenant when you stood before God in His Church and you vowed yourself as a gift to your beloved. In essence you said: I now belong to you, till death do us part. Your spouse hopefully said the same. In that marital exchange, that bonding covenant, your spouse now owns you.
So the only reason you could ever deny your spouse their rights to you is for a very serious reason.
1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; Ps 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13; 1 Cor 15:45-49; Lk 6:27-38
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:33
When you go against the laws of God, and play games with God, you pay a terrible, terrible price. ... So we should listen to the Word of God. God instituted the marital relationship and it was a beautiful, beautiful relationship that He instituted. That they join together, the two become one flesh, with the same heartbeat, they reaffirm their marriage vows. God puts great joy in the act of love for married couples. The marriage embrace. It's a very sacred event. John Paul II, the great saint, likened that embrace to something like the Trinity's inner life.
Then Blessed Trinity is a mystery. That great mystery is: that the Father generates the Son in love. And the Son returns that love to the Father. And from that love proceeds the Holy Spirit. So actually the third person of the Trinity is the Love of the Father and the Son.
Wow! That's how the marital union is an icon of the inner life of the Blessed Trinity. That's how sacred it is.
Saint Paul likens the union of husband and wife to the union of Jesus and His Church. An inseparable union. That's how holy it is.
How could we do anything in the married life to desecrate that?
But that's what contraception does. It puts a barrier, separating the unitive from the procreative element in the marriage union. The love-making and the life-giving God wants always to be together, never separated. ...
If you don't follow God's design, you're in for deep trouble, and that's where we are today.
For more information on Father McCaffrey and his ministry through NFP Outreach visit www.nfpoutreach.org. If you were unable to donate to his mission during the Mass, please use the link to our Missions appeals and note that you'd like your donation to benefit Fr McCaffrey and his work. Please keep him in your prayers.
Jer 17:5-8; Ps 1:1-4,6; 1 Cor 15: 12, 16-20; Lk 6:17, 20-26
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:40.
God's will covers all things. So nothing can happen to us that is "accidental." It's ordained or controlled or governed by God in one way or another, so clearly when I read this quote from Saint Dorothy, while preparing a homily on Saint Dorothy, that was providence!
It's not just the good things in our life like that which God arranges, but it's especially the bad things. Saint Claude says: "Let us never then attribute our losses, our disappointments, our afflictions, our humiliations to the devil or to men, but to God as their real source." This is where he quotes Saint Dorothy: "'To act otherwise,' says Saint Dorothy, 'would be the same as a dog who vents his anger on the stone instead of putting the blame on the hand that threw it at him.'"
So Dorothy is saying when that stone hits you and hurts you, don't blame the stone. God is the one Who threw it.
Saint Claude continues, "So let us be careful not to say so-and-so is the cause of my misfortune. Your misfortunes are the work, not of this or that person, but of God. What should give you reassurance is that God - the sovereign good - is guided in all His actions by His most profound wisdom for holy and supernatural purposes."
They're teaching us that all of the bad things that happen in our lives, whether individually or collectively, were sent to us by the Hand of God. ...
Saint Dorothy is trying to teach us that we act like an ignorant dog when we blame anyone but God for the bad things that happen to us.
But it's not really a matter of "blaming" God because He didn't do anything wrong. He is all Good. All that He does is good, whether you understand it or not. ...
God has a right to our thanks and praise. Even when He sends us suffering. Because it's always for our good. It's that kind of humility that we can learn from Saint Dorothy, not only by the words that she spoke, but also by her example. Here she is, this young holy woman that has dedicated herself to Jesus in love. Because of the society in which she lived, she was threatened with death if she did not deny Christ.
She joyfully went to her death. She had no anxiety or fear. And she had no anger towards any of the ones who God used to kill her. In fact, she was grateful to them. They helped her to get to heaven sooner.
The only way we can truly have that kind of faith is if we believe that God is in control of all things.
Is 6:1-2a, 3-8; Ps 138:1-5, 7-8; 1Cor 15:1-11; Lk 5:1-11
The book Father mentions during the homily is Trustful Surrender to the Divine Providence: the Secret of Peace and Happiness by St. Claude de la Colombiere
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:15.
We know the attributes Jesus would have looked for in a man to be the husband of Mary, and His own foster father. They're fairly obvious. Jesus would have chosen a man who was just like His Heavenly Father. If this man is going to be His earthly model of fatherhood, this earthly father would have to be a perfect image (as least in so far as that's possible) of the Heavenly Father....
We know that Mary was immaculately conceived, which kept her free from all stain of sin. But Joseph was not immaculately conceived. It's believed that the great grace bestowed upon him very early in life, kept him from any personal sin. We believe Joseph, during his entire life, didn't even commit a venial sin. Now, he was still conceived in sin, he still had original sin like the rest of us, he was still tempted. But God gave him great graces, so he never committed a personal sin.
One of the frustrations about trying to get to know Saint Joseph better is that we don't have a single thing written down in the Scriptures that he ever spoke. Not a word. We have a couple of his actions. The Gospels describe a few things that he did which showed he was a very holy and faithful Jewish man. But not a single word of Saint Joseph's.
This has been a frustration of the Saints for two thousand years. I mean, imagine! Think about this! This man has to be the model of all earthly men, second only to Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Wouldn't you want to hear some of the things he must have had to say throughout his life? Imagine the lessons he must have imparted to Jesus as Jesus was being raised. Those are probably wise and holy lessons. Why aren't they written down?
It's always been a frustration that this great Saint - the greatest Saint of the Church, second only to the Blessed Mother - doesn't have a single word written down that came from his lips.
Recently, I've been thinking about this a lot. And something occurred to me I had never considered before. I think I've figured out why Joseph is so silent in the Scriptures...
Jer 1:4-5, 17-19; Ps 71:1-6, 15,17; 1 Cor 12:31--13:13; Lk 4:21-30
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:09
If we are the body of Christ, then our job is to proclaim the Word from the wood of the cross. Because that's what the body does. Primarily, in this moment, whenever we suffer as Christians, as members of the Body of Christ, we are on that wooden cross - that wooden podium - proclaiming the Word of God to all who will see.
Our job is difficult because we have to do it the way Jesus did it. We're not our own body, we're His body. So when we suffer, we suffer patiently. Like He did. Lovingly. Doing it for the forgiveness of sins. ...
If you can make the connection between your suffering as a member of the Body, and Christ's particular suffering - if you can make that connection in the moment - what you'll find is you'll be able to receive the grace that is already present to you through the Holy Spirit, to suffer more like Christ. And if you do that, just like Ezra in the Old Testament and Jesus on the Cross, you will proclaim the law: both aspects - you break the law, justice demands punishment. But, the law of love means I will suffer for others' sins.
Does that mean you're only the Body of Christ when you're suffering? No, Jesus lived many years, and He was only on the Cross during the last moments of His life on earth. But you are the Body of Christ always. Which means you have to find your place in the body in whatever life you choose to live. Whatever vocation you embrace.
We know there are three primary vocations: the married life, the holy priesthood, and religious life - the consecrated life of men and women to Christ.
Father continues with a beautiful reflection on what part each vocation can play in the Body of Christ on earth.
I want you young men and women to seriously consider a vocation to the consecrated religious life. Saint Paul tells us in the Gospels that he invites all Christians to discern the religious life. I will tell you, in this day and age, it is an easier vocation. ... You'll suffer. Our Lord will challenge you to grow in holiness and intercede for others, if you become a religious and serve Him in this way. But you'll be more conformed to the heart of Christ and you'll experience the very piercings that He did while on the Cross. It's beautiful. So discern it. Pray about it. Look into different religious orders. The key is prayer. As long as you are praying every day, He will guide you to His will, whatever it may be. You can't hear the Lord if you're not praying. Parents, teach your children to pray.
Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; Ps 19:8-10, 15; 1 Cor 12:12-30; Lk 1:1-4, 4:14-21
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 29:16.
With absolute trust in her Son, she just tells us - and anyone, even the disciples listening, whoever serves - "Do whatever Jesus tells you."
Do whatever He tells you.
She's so trusting, He can't refuse her anything.
We have Jesus performing this miracle at the request of His mother for this couple. And the significance is profound on so many levels. You see, what Mary didn't know, was that by performing this miracle, Jesus was more speedily going to His crucifixion and death.
Mary couldn't have known this. She just sees a need and asks her Son to resolve it. She has no idea that her Son, performing this miracle, will suffer sooner.
And He does it anyway.
So often, we make requests of other people, and we don't realize what it will cost them. Only they can see it. It shows such a profound humility and charity in those situations.
Our Lord is willing to do this no matter the cost. For this couple. For His Mother.
Of course the imagery is beautiful. He turns water into wine at the very moment He's speaking about the "hour" in which He will turn wine into His Blood.
At the beginning of His ministry, He's prefiguring the end.
Is 62:1-5; Ps 96:1-3, 7-10; 1 Cor 12:4-11; Jn 1:1-11 2
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:31
Father Matlak from St. Basil Ukrainian Greek Catholic Mission and St Thomas Aquinas is our visiting priest this evening.
You are the key to heaven for those who are living in darkness, and who need the light of divine grace.
This is the imagery of the readings which were chosen by Bishop Jugis for all the parishes tonight as we open the 50th Anniversary year.
The liturgy is a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage out of the darkness of the world into the light, led by the priest who is also on pilgrimage.
Remember what your identity is, remember that you are called from the darkness into the light, remember that you're called to lead other people into the same.
What will nourish you on the pilgrimage? Well, the opening prayer of the Mass, which again was chosen by Bishop Jugis, talked about two things: the Word and the Eucharist. So read your Bibles Catholics, and stay close to the Eucharist. In other words, be like Mary who had the Word in her - the Word made flesh. So may the Eucharist which you are about to receive make you more and more like Mary: the Word alive in you and the Gospel.
If you do those two things, and everything else I said today, you will become a Saint. It's as easy as that. But it's also as difficult as that.
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 10:00
It's always from above that our Lord speaks, and our Lord comes. Why, throughout the entirety of the Scriptures and our Christian tradition do we use this imagery that Heaven is above us? Is that just metaphor? A nice imagery to help us draw closer to God?
It's an important question and one that I've given a lot of thought. I've come to the realization that Heaven is, in fact, actually above us.
Now, I don't mean the sky where the clouds are and the rain comes from, but I do mean physically above us. And I think I can prove it to you.
Not only from all of the examples that are given throughout Scripture and Tradition where if a Saint, Blessed Mother, our Lord descends, it's always from above. They always descend. So set all that aside, which I think is enough proof, but I want to tell you a story most of you might not know about Our Lady of Fatima. After the last visitation, when She was being assumed once more into Heaven, The children explained that as She was being taken up into Heaven, suddenly, the sky was torn open. Through this hole, they could see the night sky, and the stars shining. She went right through that hole and it closed up behind Her. ....
We as Christians know: the edge of the universe is the border of Creation. It's that limit in which Creation exists, outside of which is .... every where else. The only other place we know of beyond the universe, is Heaven. God's domain. Outside of space and time.
So it would make sense that when Jesus ascended into heaven, or assumed the Blessed Mother into Heaven, or when She comes again in some type of apparition, they always come from outside the universe.
It's beautiful that our Lord works according to the laws of the universe that He created. God in His divinity is everywhere. But when His Son comes in bodily form, or when the Blessed Mother comes in bodily form, they pass through the physical universe to get here. And they ascend once again in the same manner.
As believers, we see no contradiction whatsoever between what we believe as Catholics according to our faith, and what science teaches.
Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Ps 29:1-4, 9-10; Acts 10:34-38; Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:34
(The O. Henry story "The Gift of the Magi" ) reveals to us what we all desire in our relationships. We desire people to love us that much. And we would like to be able to love others that much.
Now Jesus, He wants you. He wants you to give yourself to Him. So how do you do that? You all know it's the same message we preach throughout the year: You cannot love the God you do not see, if you do not love those you can see. Jesus says, "You want to love Me? Love your neighbor."
Your closest neighbors are always your family. Spouses. Children. Parents. Those are your closest neighbors, and they're always the hardest to love because they are the closest. Which is why that's the test of love for Christ.
That's the sacrifice He wants from you. What are you willing to give up for Him to them?
It's important that we remember why we are sacrificing for family members. It's not because they deserve it. Most of the time, they don't. It's because Christ deserves it.
You know, Christ would deserve your sacrifice even if He had never died on the cross. The beauty of it is, He sacrificed Himself for us first. He loved us perfectly. He loved us to the end. And He wants us to love each other in that same way.
So that's the test throughout the year: to make this gift of yourself to Christ through sacrifice to those within your own family. You do that, and you will prove your love for Christ.
Father reminds us that at the conclusion of Mass he will offer a blessing to married couples and closes his homily with a brief and beautiful reminder on how spousal love and sacrifice are the models for children which teaches them how to love. "During this commemoration of your vows, remember what you promised, what you offered to God out of love for your spouse. And be willing to fulfill that promise each and every day. "
Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13: Eph 3:2-3a; Mt 2:1-12
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 26:23
It's interesting to note that in the entire Bible, both Old and New Testament, never once is anyone ever called a "Daughter of God." It doesn't exist in the language of the Bible. It actually doesn't exist in the entire history of the Church, did you know that? No one has ever been called - according to official Church teaching or the Scriptures - a "Daughter of God." Do you know why?
Because God doesn't have any daughters. Not a single one. Not even the Blessed Mother is a daughter of God. The only language ever used is the generic, gender-neutral "children," or "Sons of God."
Each one of us is in fact only a son of God. And why is this?
It makes perfect sense if you understand the theology: we are only sons of God because God only has one Son.
And if you want to be part of God's family, you have to be conformed to that Son. In fact you have to become one body with that Son.
That's what the Church is. She is at one and the same time the Bride of Christ and the Son of God. If you know anything about the Bride of Christ, you know the Bride is human, not divine. In regards to her divinity she is a son - the Son. God has no other children. We become divine by grace because we are made members of that Body. And that Body is the body of the Son of God.
We are sons in the Son. Men and women alike.
And we are bride of Christ. Men and women alike.
It's really fascinating when you think about it. The mystical theology of Jesus Christ.
We see in the Blessed Virgin in a unique and special way, both of these roles fulfilled perfectly.
She is clearly the Bride - the one who gives birth to the Son in the world.
She is also the perfect disciple of that Son to whom she gave birth. The perfect follower of the Lord. Conformed to Jesus in a way unlike any one of us, she is the model for all Christian perfection.
As we celebrate her divine motherhood today, we need to reflect upon the fact that each of us in a spiritual sense, is called to be divine mothers of God. How do we do that? The same way that she did it, except spiritually, not physically. Christ must be conceived within each one of us.
Nm 6:22-27; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 16:47
Whenever we hear any readings - from Old Testament or New - on how to live a holy family life, it's always based, in essence, on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. They are the perfect model.
There's really not a lot said in Scripture about them. But the few things that are said, if you take time to pray and meditate on them, are revealing.
Saint Paul, whenever he gives us a teaching on the proper relationships between husbands and wives; between fathers and mothers and children, it's always based on what he learned from the Holy Family.
This model he gives to us in our second reading is a very basic one which he repeats several times throughout his letters.
Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Sub-ordinate. Under the ordination or authority of.
Husbands, love your wives. And avoid any bitterness toward them. Men, we need to be reminded of this, it can be a weakness of ours.
He says to children: Obey your parents in everything. Everything. Not some things. Every thing. For it is pleasing to the Lord.
Then one more recommendation for us fathers; do not provoke your children so they may not become discouraged.
This is probably the simplest expression that Paul has ever given for his recommendations for each relationship in every family.
This teaching is based upon the example we've received from the Holy Family itself. ... In this second reading, before Paul tells us how we should relate to and love one another, he gives us this advice:
Ans children of Christ, as disciples of the Lord, we are to "put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bearing with one another and forgiving one another if you have any grievance" against them. Because the Lord has forgiven you.
If you can't love your family the way Christ loves you, then it really doesn't matter that you try to love others. Of course it's a good thing to strive for, but the real test of virtue and discipleship is how you behave at home.
If you can't truly love your husband, your wife, your children, your parents, then you're not loving yet.
Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Ps 128:1-5; Col 3:12-21; Lk 2:41-52
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 25:55
What makes these men and women stand out is that they bore the Christ.
This is a very important message for each one of us, because, in the end, when somebody looks back on your life, will they remember you? Will you have done anything significant in your life to stand out in history? Whatever you can do - write a book, skydive, whatever it is - do you think in ten thousand years anybody is going to care? In ten million years?
You see, human beings are immortal. Not our bodies, but our souls. A human soul will live forever.
And the only hope we have of being remembered is our association with Jesus Christ. Just like these men and women of the Gospel today. That's what makes them stand out.
Now, God is not asking us to be a part of the incarnation of Christ in the same way. But these are Jesus' great-great-grandparents. They're family.
And if we don't belong to Christ's family, then what is our life worth?
That's precisely why the gift of Baptism is so sacred - it makes us a member of the household of God. We become one with Christ. We become a member of His body. And His Bride, the Church, becomes our Mother.
We are the descendants of Jesus Christ. We are His children, born of a spotless Bride. And that's what makes our lives important.
Our relationship with Jesus Christ needs to be the most important thing in our lives. ... We have to keep in mind that throughout the day - not just on Christmas, but each day - as the sun rises in the morning, we should reflect on the rising of Christ, the coming of our Lord, the light in the darkness. We need to keep Him at the focus of our minds and hearts, each day.
Is 62:1-5; Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Mt 1:1-25
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:40
God can at times make His painfully clear to you, miraculously clear, and you can still doubt. Or say no. Or think you can. ...
Anytime we know the will of God, we should always say the words of the Blessed Virgin: Let it be done to me according to Your Word.
What about when you don't have a miraculous vision of an angel telling you what God wants? It can be challenging and difficult at times to know exactly what He's asking of you.
But there are times in our life when we can know the will of God with absolute certainty. Not because we want to do it, but because it's the only option we have. Those situations in which God simply does not give you a choice: This is what you have to do whether you like it or not. The Saints tell us that in those instances, God is making His will absolutely clear.
Think for a moment about the Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph getting ready for the miraculous birth of Jesus. All the preparations they made in anticipation of His birth. And then suddenly, there's a summons by Emporer Caesar, some pagan in a distant land who rules over you, saying: Guess what? I want you to go to the town of your tribe and be registered in a census.
She was nine months pregnant. I seriously doubt our Lady had prepared for this. And yet, they didn't have a choice. They traveled to Bethlehem, thinking, "Well, He can't be born at home, at least we'll find a good inn or house with a spare room, that would be appropriate."
We all know the story. They go from inn to inn, house to house and are constantly turned away. Again, this wasn't a plan that the Blessed Mother had. This wasn't what Joseph wanted for Mary and Jesus.
Door after door is closed to them until they are offered a space in a barn. Even if you're not the Mother of God, do you really want to give birth in a barn?
I can tell you, Mary had no plans to do this. And Joseph, who was given this great responsibility may have been tempted to think, "I failed you Lord."
But of course, Mary and Joseph had perfect faith. They knew they had done their best, done everything in their power to prepare for the birth of the Messiah. But because of things outside their control, things they could not effect, they had to accept the situation as it was. I have no doubt that both of them believed - yet not understanding why - that this was exactly what God wanted. He wanted His only Son to be born in a stable and laid in a manger.
In the moment, that probably didn't make sense to Mary and Joseph. But it was clearly the will of God.
In our own lives there are many things we can't control, circumstances outside our power. If we like how it goes, no big deal. But most of the time we struggle with the will of God in these situations because we don't like it, we don't want it to be His will - it wasn't our plan, our design.
A book I would recommend to you is The Abandonment to Divine Providence by De Caussade. In it he tries to teach us this lesson: as long as you are striving to follow Christ and live within His sacraments, then anything that happens to you, especially if it's outside your control, is the will of God. Your job is to learn to submit to that will. To echo the Blessed Mother and say; Let it be done to me according to Your Word.
During this week before Christmas, meditate on the Blessed Mother, and on Saint Joseph and how all of their plans for Christmas did not go as they had hoped. But they did go exactly how God wanted.
Mi 5:1-4a; Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:00
To help guide us in our reflection about the Church's call to rejoice, it would be important to talk about the first person to officially rejoice at Christ's coming into the world.
We're going to set the Blessed Mother aside as we know she had joy, but the first person recorded in the Scriptures to rejoice at Chris's coming and to express that joy was John the Baptist in his mother's womb.
What did Elizabeth say when Mary came to her home and greeted her? "At the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.... Blessed are you who believed the angel's words."
So John in fact was the first - appropriately so - to rejoice at the coming of Christ. It makes sense because the prophecy the angel Gabriel gave to Zechariah about the miraculous conception of his son John, was that John would "herald the coming of the Lord." A "herald" is the one to precede the king or Lord, and let everyone know he's coming. John did this even from the womb. The moment the Blessed Mother entered into Elizabeth's presence and greeted her, John was immediately filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit - our Lord, in the womb of His Mother, consecrates John in the womb of his mother - and John rejoices.
Elizabeth says, "How should this happen to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?"
Now I want you to think about this for a moment. We can understand how John would rejoice. He was filled with the Holy Spirit by this miraculous gift, and it's his mission, his calling. ... He can't see Jesus, and yet he knows, spiritually speaking, His presence.
But how does Elizabeth know? ... What enabled her to recognize through the Holy Spirit that Mary had to have been pregnant with the Christ?
Rejoice at the presence of Christ in your life, and with His grace, be forgiven of and turn from sin.
Zep 3:14-18a; (Ps) Is 12:2-6; Phil 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:02
When we look at Scripture more deeply, do we find any language in the Word of God that can convince us of Mary's immaculate conception, of her complete sinlessness? That is why we have this Gospel reading today.
Compare this Gospel account where we hear the angel Gabriel speaking to Mary, and earlier on in this chapter where you hear the same angel speaking to Zechariah. If you ever read these two dialogues side by side, they're almost identical. ... He tells both of them that there's going to be a miraculous birth, it's going to be a boy, ... he describes the type of life and ministry these two men will have. Once he describes this birth, each one of the two - Zechariah and Mary - ask Gabriel a question.
Zechariah says, "How could this possibly happen?" ... What does Gabriel respond? Basically: "How dare you question me? I stand before the throne of God. I came to give you this good message and you doubt me? You will be mute until this child is born." Then Gabriel leaves.... Zechariah was punished because he doubted in his heart....
Mary says, "How can this happen since I have no relations with a man?"
So, Zechariah says, "We're old, and she's barren, how is it going to happen?" Mary says, "I'm a virgin, how is this going to happen?"
Does Gabriel get angered at Mary? Does he punish her as well? No. He answers her question. He totally submits and gives her exactly what she wanted: an understanding of this great mystery. Now, we know that the Blessed Mother would never have doubted the will of God spoken to her by the angel.
But I want you to think of from this standpoint: Who is this girl to Gabriel. Who is she?
She's his Queen. ...
Look at his submission to her. It's clearly a sign of her greatness.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you know Her better. To help you love Her better. The Saints teach us that true devotion to the Blessed Mother is one of the signs of salvific grace in a soul.
Gn 3:9-15, 20; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:20
Abortion is merely a symptom of the use of contraception. If you don't deal with the root of the problem, there no way to actually stop the symptoms. ...
The Church document Humane Vitae was written officially clarifying the teaching of Christ on the use of artificial contraceptives ... as intrinsically evil. Meaning: the use of contraceptives in the marital act, is always gravely offensive to God. Meaning: that one can go to hell for a single act of doing it if they die unrepentant.
That's how serious is the Church's teaching against it.
Why?
The reason why the Church, and why Christ teach so clearly on this issue has nothing to do with any strange moral law. In fact, you can set morality aside. Let's just assume there is no heaven or hell. No God. No judgement on the soul. Let's just assume all that doesn't even exist.
Would it still be wrong to contracept?
Absolutely.
Why?
For one simple reason: it's unnatural. ...
Nature tells us what intimacy is for... The act of marital in intimacy is primarily for what? Procreation. I'm not saying there aren't other goods, but first and foremost it is purely for the sake of procreation. That's it. ...
In every species that has dual sexes that procreate in this way, that's why they do it. To make babies.
It is unnatural to use that act for any other purpose alone. ...
If you ever intentionally, or by action, reject that primary aspect of the marital act, you have perverted the act. Now that doesn't mean the other goods aren't present. Meaning, the pleasure that one gets, and the communal bonding that happens between a husband and a wife. That's all good stuff, and that's supposed to be there. But, the moment you remove the natural good from it, the other goods become distorted and perverted. ...
If each individual is so precious, so sacred in the world because they image God - then the act that brought them into the world is also sacred. It's not just an earthly act, it's a heavenly act. It is a holy act in which God is also involved. We know that God is involved in every procreative act - He's the only One that can make a soul.
The Church's teaching formally condemning these things as evil is primarily for the reason of protecting the sanctity of life itself. ...
If you really want to end the evils of abortion, the real thing we have to do is defend - not just live as Catholics, but defend - our Church's teaching on the evils of contraception. ...
But I warn you: you cannot claim to be Catholic and reject this teaching. By that very fact, you deny the faith. This is one of the essential teachings of the Church, so take this seriously. If you're struggling with this teaching or have not repented of it, don't go to Communion. Pray about it. Call me. Talk to me. Let's work on this together. Go to confession if you're able, and then return to the Sacraments.
The Church belongs to Christ. Not to you, and not to me. We're here because of our conformity to Christ. If you do not want to conform to Christ, then leave.
Bar 5:1-9; Ps 126:1-6; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Lk 3:1-6
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:50
Beginnings are extremely important. For us as Catholics, we know that the liturgical year - which begins today - is not only about keeping us close to Jesus, but to prepare us for His second coming. When He comes in glory, whenever that may be, we'll be ready for Him. ...
He says that the day of His coming will "assault" everyone. I like that word. It will assault you. It's not going to come up nice and quiet... that was Jesus' first coming. The Fathers tell us He came first in silence, in humility, gently and quietly. When He comes again in glory, it will be in power, and that will be shocking for many. But we don't want to be shocked by that coming.
We need to get ourselves ready to face Him. We can do that by considering how we begin things.
We begin our prayer, our work, with the Sign of the Cross. But how often do you actually think about what it is you are doing? You see, if I'm beginning prayer with the Sign of the Cross and I'm not actually thinking about what it means and what I'm doing, then it's very likely I'm going to be as distracted during the prayer itself. If I didn't begin it well, it's no surprise I don't focus during the rest of it.
Something I want you to work on this Advent is when you make the Sign of the Cross really think about what you're doing and why you're doing it. And I'm going to tell you what you're supposed to be thinking....
These small things done well, done with love, can obtain great graces.
Father explains in depth the profound meaning in the Sign of the Cross, and in our genuflection when we come into the presence of our Lord. It's an education you might not have realized you needed.
Jer 33:14-16; Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14; 1Thes 3:12--4:2; Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:24.
Where does the faith of Daniel, where does the faith of St Catherine of Alexandria come from? This absolute trust in God as Deliverer ...
She didn't know whether she was going to be killed by the King after he put her in prison, but she wasn't concerned. Whether God delivered her from that prison, or delivered her from the prison of death itself, she knew she would be delivered.
That's what our Lord is trying to communicate to His disciples, and to all of us, today. He's talking about the end of time, the end of the world, in which death is imminent. It's coming for all of us, you finally can't escape. And that may happen for us before the end of time, whenever we die, death comes for us.
He says to us: "Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand." He's saying don't be afraid even in the face of certain death because I have redeemed you. ...
It's easy in times of peace to say, oh yes, I'll be brave even in those times of persecution. But we have to prepare ourselves for that, even mentally. It's easy to believe you're fearless until you are put into a situation that is truly terrifying. ...
So many of the saints saw martyrdom as a glory. They would imagine ways - how could I die for Jesus? How could I give my life for the Lord, not just for my glory, but for His.
We do this not by killing the enemy in battle, but by sacrificing ourselves in battle - in this spiritual battle. ...
We should have that same fearlessness. ... As adults we should consider this. We should take time, maybe not every day but regularly to consider: How might Christ ask me to die for him? So that, no matter the circumstance of our death, we can at least know we did everything on our part to be ready to love him till the end.
Dn 6:12-28; Lk 21:20-28
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 12:10.
Read the Gospel of Luke 19:11-28. Father refers to this parable extensively in the last half of his homily.
By misunderstanding the definition of "meek" (power under control), we like to think Jesus is weak, lenient, that He's a pushover; that's our attitude. But that's very dangerous....
"I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their King, bring them here and slay them before me."
This is a difficult teaching. Jesus is not either merciful or just. He is perfectly both. He veils His power in order to win us by love. But if that does not work, He will reveal His power and condemn us. Either way, we will submit to Him.
By love. Or by force. Because He is the King. All must submit. ...
Imagine that you square up against another Who is all mighty, and you refuse to humble yourself. That's a very imprudent move. ...
But is Jesus unfair in His judgement of His servants? Notice He says take that one gold coin from the one servant and give it to the other who has ten. And some of the people said, "Sir, he's already got ten." The Lord says, "Those who have will get more. Those who do not have, even what they have will be taken away." What is He talking about?
When our Lord speaks of gold, He is not referring to money. What is precious to Jesus?
Love. Self-sacrificial love.
When He gives that love - that gold - to each one of us who have been forgiven of our sins, He expects the investment He's made in us to also be be made in others. He expects us to take this precious gold of His love and then love in turn our brothers and sisters in Christ, our neighbor.
Father continues to unpack this parable for us. As we head into the Advent season, please listen and meditate on his homily.
Dn 7:13-14; Ps 93:1-2, 5; Rv 1:5-8; Jn 18:33b-37
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:07
Every Sacrament we participate in is a perfect prayer to God through which we receive, first and foremost and in proper measure, the forgiveness of our sins.
The Church teaches very clearly that, except in cases of danger of death, if you have grave mortal sin on your conscience, the only way to you can receive forgiveness is either: a perfect act of contrition, ... or, going to confession. Going to the priest, telling him all your sins, most especially the grave ones, and then him giving you a penance and absolution. That's it. That's the only way our graver sins can be forgiven.
We don't necessarily like going to confession. But speaking for myself, I always love having gone to confession. Once I walk out and it's over and done and I'm forgiven, I always feel great. And I'm happy I did it.
But every time I have to go into that box, I always have that dread, that little pride, maybe some shame that I feel. Confessing the same sins over and over again, falling in the same way.
I read something once from a saint who said we almost always feel some shame when we have to confess our sins, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. However, we can often use that as an excuse to justify not going to confession. Or use that to make other excuses: I'm just so busy, it's just not the right time, I'll go next week. I'll go next week. I'll go next week. All because of our pride, because we're embarrassed. So this Saint said, Jesus - who suffered so much humiliation to give you that Sacrament - deserves that you suffer at least a little humiliation to receive it.
Whenever I think of that, by the grace of God, I get over my pride and just go.
The beauty of the grace of all the Sacraments, ... is that it is in truth the only thing that can take away the fear of damnation.
Saint Paul says we need to work out our salvation "in fear and trembling." But once you know all your sins are washed away, you don't have to fear God, you don't have to fear the second coming.
There's this tension, so to speak, between the "fear and trembling" and the peace that is brought to your conscience when you're freed from sin. You're going to constantly flow between one and the other. Our Lord restores you to grace, you have peace in your mind and heart. Because of weakness, you fall back into sin, therefore the fear and trembling. You repent. Our Lord restores you to grace. So you have peace in your heart. Until our dying breath, that's going to be our life. And that's okay. That soul is not perfect, but they're working on it.
Our danger is when we don't know the extent of our sins so we are not repenting properly. Or we put off repentance or think there is no need. ... Pray for the grace to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ.
Dn 12:1-3; Ps 16:5, 8-11; Heb 10:11-14, 18; Mk 13:24-32
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 19:24
Do you believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ? Do you believe that at the consecration, when the priest takes the bread and the wine and says the words of consecration over them - the words of Christ from the Last Supper -that they are no longer bread and wine. That it is in fact the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ? Now I would hope that all you Catholics would say, "Yes, Father we believe."
Do you act like it?
Does that belief at all effect your life?
You see, Satan believes in the Real Presence. All of the demons believe in the Real Presence. They tremble and are afraid to come into every Catholic Church because of that Presence. They believe more than you do. And yet it does them no good. They're still damned. They're still lost.
Belief alone in Jesus is worthless and cannot save you. James teaches us that faith without works is dead. Just like the faith of the demons. It's dead, it has no life.
If you really believed that Jesus Christ is present in the Blessed Sacrament, what would that cause you to do different in your daily life? ...
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Savior of the world is actually physically here, 24/7.... If you really believe that this is Jesus, then when you have problems in your life, why don't you come to Him first? ... How many difficulties do you have in your life: with sin, trying to grow in virtue, weaknesses, broken relationships, and you'll talk to friends, or trusted family members all before even considering coming here and speaking directly with the Lord. Yet none of them can advise you as well as He can. Or give you the strength and grace to bear your crosses, as He can. None of them loves you as much as He does.
It's understandable why we make this mistake. You can't see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. You can't hear Him speak to you with your ears.
But if you believe it is truly Him, you would still come. Just to be in His presence. How often do you think, "You know what? I should go and spend time with Jesus. I haven't been to see Him lately."
He made Himself bread for you just so that He could be here in this church every moment of every day. To be close to you.
How often do you think of returning the favor?
1Kgs 17: 10-16; Ps 146:7-10; Heb 9:24-28; Mk 12:38-44
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:25
How can putting on make-up and a costume and going to people's houses and basically asking for candy be objectively evil? It's not, there is nothing objectively wrong with dressing up.
But does it matter how you dress up or what costume you wear? The trend typically in this secular celebration is spooky and scary.... ghosts and witches, zombies I'm sure are a big thing too. All these scary things, even little demons sometimes. Should we participate in those kind of decorations? Have those kind of decorations at our house?
You have to think about what it means.
If you don't believe in ghosts and witches and demons, then go right ahead. Because they're just fictional imaginary creatures, like any costume you could wear.
The problem is, as Christians we don't believe they're imaginary things. We know them to be real and we know what they are. And they're no joke. It's not something you play around with. You don't dress your kid up in a little satan outfit. "Oh look at that little devil. How cute." Really? That's what you want to teach? The message you want to express with your costume?
It's one thing for us as Catholics to dress up as something innocent or innocuous, and go trick-or-treating - there's nothing wrong with participating in these holidays if you want to - but you have to be careful not to be sucked into the midst of the world that does not appreciate what we know....
As adults we almost have to be more discerning in regards to Halloween because the parties that adults throw are usually quite sinful.... It becomes an excuse for drunkenness, an excuse for dressing up in lewd and immoral costumes. As Catholics, we have nothing to do with that. That is of the world.
Father uses costumes as a jumping off point for a talk on daily attire, especially at Holy Mass. Modesty in dress means not only covered so as to protect others form lust, but also to make sure your clothing is appropriate to the circumstances and place in which you find yourself. Please listen to this important topic, and discover what any of this has to do with why God asks the Israelites to offer animal sacrifices for sin.
Dt 6:2-6; Ps 18:2-4, 47, 51; Heb 7:23-28; Mk 12:28b-34
Due to technical issues, we were unable to live stream and record the Mass this Sunday. We apologize.
The Scriptures teach us that our Lord is the one Who prays on our behalf, Who offers the sacrifice on our behalf, as a man, chosen by God to reconcile us with the Father.
You cannot communicate with the Father except through Christ. It is not possible. There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. That truth is still maintained in the present day.
If Jesus coming in the flesh two thousand years ago was the only way that we could be saved and communicate with God the Father in holiness, it's still true to this day. ... So where is He? How are you going to talk to Jesus?
Jesus teaches us in the Gospels that the way He saves us, the way He reconciles us with God the Father, is through His human nature. It's always tangible and physical. We Catholics call that "sacramental."...
The only way you can speak to the Father is through Christ. And the only way you can get to Christ is through His body. That's it.
No body of Christ, no Christ, no Father. And you are dead in your sin. ...
If Jesus is not physically here with us now in the world, then we cannot be saved.
Jesus gave us the seven sacraments of His Church to preserve His presence among us. Each one of those sacraments is necessary to maintain the Body of Christ in the world. ...
Consider if you will, that if there were no ordained priests - if Jesus had not given us the holy priesthood through the Apostles - you would only have two sacraments at best: baptism and matrimony. Every other sacrament requires a priest. You would not have the forgiveness of your sins in confession. You would not have confirmation or the anointing of the sick.
You would not have the holy Eucharist.
In order to give you these great gifts and preserve them, Jesus gave another gift: the sacrament of Holy Orders, the sacrament of the priesthood. These men, chosen and set apart, are empowered by Jesus to keep the life of Christ, Body of Christ, alive in the world.
How important it is to pray for your priests. For me especially because I've been given this responsibility to mediate between you and the Lord. You should be praying for me every day. Every day. And our Bishop since he reigns over me, and of course - every day - our Holy Father. Without your prayers it is not possible for us, your priests, to be holy. We're just not strong enough.
Jer 31:7-9; Ps 126:1-6; Heb 5:1-6; Mk 10:46-52
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:47
The role of the priesthood - the nature of this communication with God - is always rooted in sacrifice. ...
But the priesthood doesn't actually begin in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. It begins in Baptism. Every baptized Christian is a priest.
So what is the nature of your priesthood? What are you supposed to offer in sacrifice?
The nature of this ministry that's been given to you, finds its fulfillment and its meaning in the sacrifice of Jesus.
What did Jesus offer?
He offered Himself.
You see, the gift of the holy priesthood that each one of you has received through these holy sacraments is to offer yourselves as living sacrifices.
That's your job. That's your role.
And every time you come to Holy Communion, every time you approach the altar, and you kneel down and you receive the Lord worthily, the Lord is offering Himself to you. "This is My Body. This is My Blood."
He's laying down His life for you once more. And what He expects of you is a similar act of love in return.
Your prayer should be: Lord, thank you for this Gift. I offer myself to You. I give my body, and my blood, and my soul to You Lord. ...
This mutual priestly offering symbolizes the beautiful unity that God wants to have with His holy people. We become one flesh, one Body with the Lord. Saint Paul calls us "the Body of Christ."...
If we are the Body of Christ, and it was the Body of Christ that was offered on the Cross, then our bodies as well must be offered with, in, and through the Body of Christ.
What is pleasing to God about this? Why would He rejoice in this opportunity?
Is 53:10-11; Ps 33:4-5, 18-20, 22; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-4 The Mass may reviewed in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:35
Our visiting priest today is Father Tom Edelen from Cross Catholic Outreach. Please listen to his homily and make your donation today to this worthy ministry which assists the poorest of the poor around the world.
We are called to be ready. In our whole life, to do the will of God. Are we doing great things?
We are called to be ready. In our whole life, to do the will of God. Are we doing great things? Loving our children whether they're little, or maybe they're bigger than we are. What are we doing for our family?
What about our community? What are you doing here in your parish? What am I going to do so that I can say I was a good parishioner? What are you going to do so that you can say: I followed Jesus. I followed his teaching.
you know, not everybody's designed to go visit nursing homes or minister in a prison.... but there are a lot of things we can do. What are we doing?
What's on your bucket list?
Wis 7:7-11; Ps 90:12-17; Heb 4:12-13; Mk 10:17-30
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 13:01
Did you know that kids? Your mommy and daddy should live each other more than they love you. It doesn't mean they should love you less. But mother and father should put each other first. Before even the wants of the children. I'm not saying you don't take care of the needs of the children, but the child doesn't know the difference between its wants and needs, does it?
You are perfectly justified to ignore your child when your spouse needs you more. And even if it hurts their feelings, it will teach them a great and valued lesson. The lesson that our Lord is trying to teach us today: Spouse always comes first.
It makes sense when you think about it. This passage also says "the two become one flesh." Jesus is saying in marriage the husband and wife are so beautifully united, that they become one body.
If you don't take care of your own body, how can you use your body to take care of somebody else? It's a basic rule not only in our temporal life, but even in the spiritual life. If you're not healthy yourself, how can you take care of someone who may be sick? If you're not right with God, how can you help someone else draw closer to the Lord? Every parent knows you need to keep yourself healthy so that you can care for your children. It doesn't mean you love your body more than your love your children. Your body is just the tool you use to care for them.
Well, marriage makes these two bodies one. Therefore it's not enough for a father to care for his own body. His body is also his bride. And that goes the same for every wife. It will actually serve their children, and even their parents, best if they are putting their spouse first.
But we don't always do this.... we don't love as Christ is clearly commanding us to love in holy matrimony. That lack of love is what ultimately what leads to divorce.
This is what our Lord is condemning in the Gospel isn't He? The evils of divorce. This is not how God made you. ...
Why and how does our heart become hard toward the person we should love most in this world? It's because they make us suffer. That person who should love me more than anyone else might not be loving me properly. And it hurts.
We don't cope with hurt well. So what do we do? We harden our hearts so our hearts cannot be hurt any longer.
The problem is a hard heart can't love.
When we harden our hearts against our spouse because of our fear of pain, we stop loving them. And the relationship dies. Is it surprising then that people get divorced? Not surprising at all.
The example that Christ gives us is that He does not harden His Heart towards His people. He lets that Heart be pierced. He is the perfect example of marital love.
"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
Gn 2:18-24; Ps 128:1-6; Heb 2:9-11; Mk 10:2-16
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:39
The homily focuses on the Gospel of Luke chapter7, verses 1-10.
What is it about the centurion's faith that the Lord was so impressed by?...
Without a proper understating of the nature of authority as created by God, we will always have a weak faith.
Consider the Saducees and the Pharisees for a moment. They saw the miracles of the Lord. They witnessed it. And they still rejected His authority. That's illogical, that doesn't make sense. If you encountered somebody who had the power to simply raise someone from the dead, or heal a very serious illness, I would hope you had the right reason to be impressed by them, and realize that this person clearly has significant authority, at least in the eyes of God.
The centurion does - and that's how he manifests his faith. But it's all based on his understanding of authority.
Particularly in this country we have a problem because we do not understand authority as it has been handed down to us through Tradition and through the Scriptures. The Bible teaches us very clear things about authority as created and designed by God....
In nature, there is a hierarchy of authority which has nothing to do with the equality of persons. In the sight of God, all persons are made in His image and likeness. They all have the same dignity, the same inherent goodness and glory. But that doesn't mean they all have the same authority.
I don't obey somebody because they're a good person. I obey them because they have authority over me. In fact, that's the teaching of our Lord. He said in the Gospel of Matthew: "The Scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat on the Chair of Moses. Therefore do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example for they preach but do not practice."...
But we who are under authority do not have the option to disobey because they are not virtuous or holy. This is one of the challenges that we have in our country with authority. We think that if I disagree with the authority, or if they're treating me badly, I don't have to be obedient to them.
Show me in the Scriptures, Old or New Testament, where that is a teaching that comes from God. In fact it's the opposite.
Always, always obey those that have authority over you, in all things as to the Lord. That's what the Bible tells us....
This is where people get concerned. They hear this and they think, "Wait, you're telling me I have to do everything that they tell me to do?"
No.
This is where it gets interesting... Nm 11:25-29; Ps 19:8, 10, 12-14; Jas 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:37
"The wicked say: 'Let us beset the just one because he is obnoxious to us. ... Let us put the just one to the test, that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for in his own words God will take care of him.'"
"The greatest punishment God can give for sin is pleasure." — St Bernard of Clairvaux
Does it follow then that the greatest gift God can give for virtue is pain?
According to our faith, at least in this world, the Lord does not promise to delivery any of us. Now He does promise to deliver you after you die. After you've suffered. In My time, in My way.
So yes, it is true that we can put our faith in Him. But it doesn't mean that we won't be put to the test by the wicked. It doesn't mean that we won't suffer. It doesn't mean that we won't die - even unjustly.
But that still doesn't answer the question: Why would God give pain to someone who is actually doing the right thing, being virtuous? This is where God uses the wicked person to help bring about his will.
God wants His virtuous children to be put to the test. God chastises those whom He loves. His own children. He tests them. Why?
The only way to be sure of anyone's virtue or holiness is to test it.
We may be doing well, spiritually speaking ... when things are going well for us. But suddenly, some type of suffering comes into our lives and we start becoming impatient. Frustrated. Resentful. Judgmental. Selfish. ...
Where's your virtue now? A little suffering and suddenly your true self comes out. That's important though - we need to know how virtuous we really are. You can't be sure until you're tested.
The only way to be certain of our own growth in holiness, is suffering. God doesn't need to test us to find if we're truly virtuous or not, He already knows. He puts us to the test so that we know how virtuous - or vicious - we actually are. If you don't know where you are, you can't get where you want to go.
Out of love for you, to fulfill the very desire of your heart and prayer, God sends you suffering because you're doing the right thing, so that you can know yourself better and then continue to grow in holiness.
Wis 2:12, 17-20; Ps 54:3-4, 5-8; Jas 3:16--4:3; Mk 9:30-37
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:50
What does it mean that Her name is holy and that we can call upon Her by using Her holy name?
We heard in Mark's Gospel today, Jesus asks the Apostles, "Who do people say that I am?" He is basically asking: what do people think my Name is? ... Jesus asks them, "What do you men think is my name?" And Peter, speaking up on behalf of the Apostles says. "You are the Christ." For two thousand years, Christians have always called Him Jesus Christ.
Jesus is clearly revealing Himself to these men. He wants them to know who He is, and He goes on Mark tells us, to explain what it is to be the Christ. ...
If we go back to Genesis, what is the first thing Adam did after God named him? Adam named all the animals. God allowed Adam to do this because when you name a thing, you have power over that thing. You have authority over it.
When God reveals His name to us - His children - He is giving us power over Him. He says, now you can call out to Me by name, and I will answer you. That's the beauty of knowing someone's name.
This is most true with Jesus, but it's also so true with Mary. Jesus has given Her to us as our Mother. She has many names, but most uniquely She is: Mary. She is the Mother of God. She is the Immaculate Conception. These are Her three most powerful names.
When you call upon the Holy Name of Mary, two things happen. She comes to you. And the demons tremble in fear.
Is 50:4c-9a; Ps 116:1-6, 8-9; Jas 2:14-18; Mk 8:27-35
Homily begins at 19:08. You may watch the celebration Mass and rosary procession in their entirety on our Youtube channel.
Teaching is the primary obligation of every priest. Everything else, even the sacraments, is secondary. If you don't understand what you are receiving, then you won't be receiving what the Lord wants to give you.
Every parent has this same obligation in their own home towards their children. On the day of your wedding, before you were allowed to make your vows, you answered the question: Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and bring them up (educate them) according to the Laws of Christ and His Church ? If you don't answer "yes", I don't let you get married. That's how serious it is.
You promised God you would do this. That's why it's actually your primary responsibility as a parent to hand on to them the faith you yourself have received.
If I don't have a reasonable hope that you're going to raise that child in the faith, I cannot baptise. I'm not allowed. And yet baptism is the most important of sacraments because it's the first, and the one through which you're. made a child of God and enabled to approach the rest of the Sacraments and life of the Church.
So when I enforce these laws - and I must - I have to make a judgement call for each person that approaches when they want one of their children to receive any Sacrament. Is there a reasonable hope that they are being raised actively in the faith?Actively, faithfully, to the best of their ability, living their faith.
What does that look like practically speaking?
Mass every Sunday and Holy day of Obligation
Confession regularly, which the Saints typically recommend once a month unless you have mortal sin, then more frequently.
Praying daily as family. Daily.
That's the bare minimum right there. That's a good start. You do that and you'll be doing most of the things you need to do to raise your children actively in the faith.
When you stand before the judgement seat of God, you'll say: Lord I'm sure I didn't do a perfect job, but I did my best.
In comparison to the faith, anything else they could ever learn in their life is meaningless. Absolutely meaningless. In comparison to the faith that you are obliged to teach them.
The only thing the Lord cares about on the day of our judgement is how well we followed Him and His commandments.
Each day, the greatest gift you can impart to your children is the faith.
Is 35:4-7a; Ps 146:7-10; Jas 2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 19:06
The only way your soul can be tainted is from within - not from without. From your own heart Jesus says comes "evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, mallows, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly."
The only thing that can defile as soul, make it impure, is what that soul chooses. No external temptation, action, circumstance can cause us to sin. Sin comes from within.
It doesn't mean that external practices that we do aren't important. They may be important, but they're not necessary.
What is necessary, Jesus is trying to teach us, is the heart. What's in our heart? And is our heart conformed to the law of God?...
The Scriptures this weekend remind us that we should not be just speakers of the law of God, but doers. It's easy to say, "Oh yes, I'm a Christian" but do I act on it? Does it flow forth in my choices each day?
So what does any of this have to do with the veil?
Father shares a family story (names changed to protect the innocent) surrounding this Scripture passage....
From 1Corinthians Chapter 11: "I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God the head of Christ. Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered, brings shame upon his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame upon her head—it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved. For if a woman does not have her head veiled, then she may as well have her hair cut off; but if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil. For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman in the Lord. For just as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; but all things come from God." .....
There's a reason why these externals - not necessary, but important - there's a reason why they matter to us. Because they are not only a reminder, but a teacher of the truth. The deeper truth. The truth that's meant to abide in our minds and hearts. To come from within us.
Father then breaks the passage open further to help us see why God designed the natural order in this way.
Dt 4:1-2, 6-8; Ps 15:2-5; Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 23:00
Peter realizes this is the Lord. The Son of God. I don't have to understand what He says, I believe Him. And he humbly submits to this teaching not yet realizing what it means. ...
Ephesians 5: "Brothers and sisters be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands, as to the Lord, for the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is Head of the Church." ... "Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her to sanctify her. ... So also, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. For no one hates his own flesh, but rather nourishes and cherishes it even as Christ does the Church because we are members of His body."
The body by its very nature is below the head. Sub-ordinate. Under the authority of, under the mission of .... Notice how Paul keeps emphasizing that the relationship between husband and wife is the same as the relationship between Christ and the Church....
Sarah realized - not that Abraham is God, not that he is the Christ - but that he stands in the person of Christ. In the person of the Lord. So her submission, her obedience, her humility towards her husband was given, not for his sake or because of him, but for the Lord. That's what gave her strength to be humble even when he was proud. To be submissive even when he was arrogant and controlling. Obviously that's not an ideal man and husband.
But if we do it for Christ, then even when we struggle, even when we're not being loved in return in the right way, we'll have the strength to do it. Husbands will die for their wives even when their wives are never subordinate to them. And wives will be subordinate to their husbands even when their husbands never die for them. Why? Because we do this for Christ.
Do we do it because we fully understand it, fully comprehend the mysteries of this design, these rules? No. We do it simply because Jesus says so. ...
This is the design God has placed in our natures for a spousal relationship. All of this in imitation, Paul tell us, of the relationship between Christ and His Church.
And it all comes back to the Eucharist.
You see, the real focus of the readings today is the Eucharist which is in fact the one flesh union between the Bride and the Groom. Between the people of God, and Jesus Christ. ...
This union is most perfectly expressed in Holy Communion, and in the roles that are designated by God for each one of us. And the better we fulfill those roles as husbands and as wives, the more holy the union.
So I challenge you with the words from our first reading today of Joshua to the Israelites:
"If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Ps 34:2-3, 16-21; Eph :21-32; Jn 6:60-69
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:20
All She wants is to be with Her Son in Heaven. He's already ascended to the Father. She loves no one more than She loves Her Son. It was an agony enough for Her to wait the couple of decades after He ascended into Heaven. If you can imagine this Mother realizing fully Who Her Son is, watching Him suffer and die, being there at the foot of the cross, and then, forty days later He ascends into Heaven - how Her heart must have cried out for Him.
We believe she was assumed into heaven in her sixties. Imagine all those decades She had to live apart from Her Son....
The one consolation that the Blessed Mother had during Her time on earth was the Holy Eucharist. Jesus at the cross entrusted his Mother to the beloved disciple John. So for the rest of Mary's life on earth, John took care of her. Every day when he celebrated the Mass of the Last Supper, the Mass of the Lord, Mary was there, kneeling, receiving Holy Communion from his hands....
Each time She receives Him in Holy Communion, it's like She conceives Him again in Her womb. There He is, inside of Her. And what a consolation that must have been for Mary throughout Her time of waiting on earth.
If we consider this for the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can see ourselves reflected in that same reality. Every time we have the opportunity to come forward and receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord worthily, we, like Mary are able to, in a sense, conceive our Lord at least for a time and allow our Lord to dwell within us. It's a unique union and bond that we share with Her.
If we can see this bond in regards to her reception of Holy Communion, I would encourage you to think about the fact that each of the graces bestowed upon Mary - each of the singular and unique graces that She received in her life - ultimately, Jesus wants for each one of us. It just won't be in the exact same way. For example...
Listen as Father Miller beautifully walks us through all the graces Mary received from Her Son and likens them to the Sacraments we receive from Him and our Church and helps us see how Jesus is trying to form in us the image of His Holy Mother who is the perfect disciple.
Rv 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; Ps 45:10-12, 16; 1 Cor 15:20-27; Lk 1:39-56
You can watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 21:01
It's either Jesus or it's not. It's either really and truly His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity , or it's not. ... If we believe this - if we truly believe it - then it will effect our decisions, and our actions, not only when we come to Church and to Mass, but especially when we receive Him in Holy Communion. ...
"Unless you eat My Body and drink My Blood, you have no life in you". That is a terrifying statement from our Lord. ...
Jesus, Who designed our physical bodies, our nature, designed our soul; and designed the needs which are the same for each. For the soul to maintain the divine life that it has received in Baptism, it must eat His Body and drink His Blood. Only the Holy Eucharist, worthily received, can sustain divine life in us. Nothing else can. That divine life dies without the Eucharist. ...
He may have given Himself as food to you, but in fact, it is He Who is consuming you. He is changing you by that process into Himself. He can do this precisely because of the Incarnation - because He became a man. This is why He had to enter into our nature, to take on human flesh. When Jesus became one with our human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary, when He united His Divine nature with our human nature, He created something new. The union of God and man.
When we become one with the Body of Christ, our same body is also, for the rest of eternity, bonded to the Divinity. We become bonded to the Divine as well. Our human nature now shares and participates in the Divine nature of Jesus Christ Who is God.
That's the life that we receive in Holy Communion. All because Jesus is really and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
Take a moment and think about this. If I really believe in these truths of the faith, how should I act? What should my behavior be, not only in His presence, but even when I am out in the world?
When I have a need, where should I want to go for help?
When I'm struggling, Who can give me strength?
When I'm afraid, Who can calm me?
1 Kgs 19:4-8; Ps 34:2-9; Eph 4:30--5:2; Jn 6:41-51
You may watch the mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:02
It's a very clear teaching. Jesus says it is better to receive from Him than to give to Him. He wants our love, but He prefers to love us first. ...
Every time we sin against Him? He will give us forgiveness in Confession. Every time we worthily approach the holy altar, He gives Himself to us in the Eucharist. These gifts are what enable us to love Him in return. Without His life in us, we cannot do it.
The greatest good for any Christian is not giving, it's receiving. But it's receiving the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the grace that He gives us in the Sacraments. ...
Receiving the Eucharist is the greatest of all goods. Receiving that is greater than good you will be able to do yourself. You could sacrifice your life for God or somebody else and it would be nothing compared to one worthy reception of Holy Communion. Now, we're still called to charity. To imitate Jesus Christ in our love for one another and yes, to love Him in return to the best of our ability, but all of that pales in comparison to the worthy reception of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
There is no greater gift that has been given. And there is no greater gift that can be received.
In each of the sacraments of the Church grace is being received from God - the gift of Himself. The more we can avail ourselves of those graces, the better our life will be.
It's one of the great tragedies, especially when we put off the sacrament of Confession...
The greatest act of love that we can give to God is first allowing Him to love us
Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Ps 78:3-4, 23-25, 54; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-35
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:02
It's one of those issues that we struggle with, that we're surprised by all of the crosses that we're asked to bear. We always seem to question our Lord in this regard. Why is this? Especially when we consider ourselves disciples of Christ. It is because we still do not know Him. Not fully. Not yet.
In our Gospel today, Jesus feeds His sheep because they're hungry. He feeds His sheep. He proves to us He is a good shepherd - that He takes care of us in our need. That is why they wanted to appoint Him king. ...
We have this temptation, this desire, to appoint leaders over us who are going to feed us, and take care of all things for us so that we don't have to do any work.
Now our Lord, knowing the Israelites intention, knowing their heart, at the end of the Gospel does something that for us should be very sad. "He withdrew again, alone." He could not remain with the people because their desires for Him were wrong. They wanted Him to follow them: "Come with us, we will make you King." And our Lord says: no that's not how this works. I'm the shepherd. I lead the sheep. You follow Me.
And they could have followed Him. But where is He going? He's going to the Cross. And that's the last place any of us would normally want to go.
But to be a member of His flock, to follow Him, is to follow Him to the cross. There is no other option for us.
If we attempt to avoid or circumvent the crosses that the Lord has called us to bear, we do not follow Him. It's as simple as that. ...
Whatever it may be, we should not run from it.
2 Kgs 4:42-44; Ps 145:10-11,15-18; Eph 4:1-6; Jn 6:1-15
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 12:40.
Your job is to be humble, to be a simple sheep who seeks to follow Christ faithfully. And let God take care of the shepherds. God will deal with them. They're His shepherds first.
And that's what we hear in the first reading today from the Prophet Jeremiah. Listen carefully:
Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds. I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD.
The Word of God teaches us very clearly that the Lord will take care of His sheep, the Lord will do this.
It is difficult for us to stand by and wait while there are so many problems in the Church and in the world. But I'll tell you what, we don't need to be worried about the world whatsoever. We should never be surprised by the sinfulness of secular society. The number one thing that contributes to the sinfulness of secular society is the sinfulness of the Body of Christ (the Church). That's the real problem: when we as a Church are not truly following the Lord.
So our desire as members of the Body should be to pray for the sanctity of our priests and Bishops. For the holiness of the people of God. And to do everything on our part as individuals to be holy, so as to be an example.
Your job is to give an example of holy discipleship. The Lord will take care of the rest.
Jer 23:1-6; Ps 23:1-6; Eph 2:13-18; Mk 6:30-3
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:23
(Please continue to listen at the end to Father's additional words which he gave at the close of Mass.)
The first of all vocations is holy matrimony. ...It's not a supernatural calling, but a natural one. Why? Because God made our nature that way: In the Beginning He made them male and female, and He said "Be fruitful and multiply." Marriage was part of God's design built into our bodies, our nature. What sets it apart as a vocation is that Jesus takes this natural vocation which He as God designed, and He sacramentalizes it. Now it is something supernatural which it could never have been before. There is no reason for God to "call" someone to marriage. You're designed for it.... We're taught by the Saints that every single human being is called to marriage. ... If it wasn't a vocation your job would just be to have some kids to continue the species. The vocation - for the purpose of Christ and His kingdom - is the salvation of souls. So when you enter in to the sacrament of marriage, your responsibility first and foremost is to get yourself to Heaven. Your second responsibility is to get your spouse to Heaven. Your third responsibility, to do everything in your power to get your children to Heaven. As a married couple, you're the living embodiment of the sacrament. ... your sacramental bond is the means by which you love the Lord.
The second is actually the highest of all vocations, a religious vocation. When one chooses to give up a personal spouse and give their life solely to Christ. Instead of giving themselves to Christ through their spouse, their offering is a direct offering. ... In this way the religious man or woman actually embodies the life of the Church. That's why it's the highest vocation. ... In heaven, there is no giving and taking in marriage. ... There's only one marriage in Heaven and it's the Marriage of the Lamb. Christ is the Lamb and His bride is His Church.... These religious men and women who devote their lives to Christ even now in the world, are beginning to live that heavenly reality. Instead of participating in marriage, they forsake that for the heavenly lifestyle, even now.... Clearly, this is the highest of all possible vocations because it makes the most Saints.... Saint Paul, in speaking about this vocation, says, "I invite you to live as I live, in celibacy, devoting your life to Christ." Paul's language - which is the language of the Holy Spirit - is an invitation. All of you - especially you young men and women who aren't married - are being invited by the Holy Spirit to consider a vocation to the religious life. Every single one of you. If you can receive this invitation and follow my example, says Paul, then come and follow Christ in this way. ...
The third vocation is of course, holy orders, ordination, the priesthood. According to the Scriptures, this is the only vocation that is actually "a calling", in part because it is the most unnatural of the three. The most supernatural, the most set apart from the other two. Marriage is natural, we're designed for it. A religious vocation - while it may seem extreme - is how we'll live forever in Heaven. ... The purpose of this "calling" that a young man receives is to serve the body of Christ - the Bride of Christ - in the person of Christ, as Christ, in this life. What will be (in Heaven), we don't know.... What's unique about this calling is that God does put it on your heart. When you're a peace, especially in prayer, this hunger, this desire, begins to build in you.... When a young man is called - as long as he doesn't do anything irrevocable to prevent his being ordained - the call never stops. I remember my mother saying to me when I was young, "If you do God's will, you'll be happy." And this is absolutely true. ...
It's one of the lies of the evil one to think you'll be happier in this vocation or that one. No. You'll be happy in the vocation that God has designed for you. ... Regardless of which you choose, all of them are in service to Christ and His Gospel and for the salvation of our souls. ... In our prayer and discernment, and this is especially for you young men and women, you need to approach your vocation from the standpoint of "Lord, what do You want of me? What will make me happiest? What did you make me to do for You?"
Am 7:12-15; Ps 85:9-14; Eph 1:3-14; Mk 6:7-13
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 13:43
It's a danger that any of us can fall into - when we think we know someone, when we're familiar with them - to not hear the truth when it is spoken to us. "Familiarity breeds....contempt", exactly! Any time we think we are familiar, we think we really know someone: "Oh I know them, I know what they're really thinking. I know what they really mean," then we fall into contempt. And even if they speak the truth of God to us, we close our ears. We harden our hearts. And we miss it.
Why is this so dangerous?
It's because, more often than not, God chooses to speak to us through those people. The very people you don't want to listen to. ...
When we die and go to our judgement we may say to the Lord in our defense: "But Lord, I cried out to You so many times! You never responded to my prayer! You never directed me! How could I have known this, that or the other?" And the Lord will simply play before your eyes all the situations in your life in which He spoke to you directly through your spouse, your children, your parents, your co-workers. Even your enemies.
And you did not listen to Him. ...
It's a very powerful lesson: that the Lord may speak to me through the last person I would ever want. If I can't be humble enough to hear the truth when its spoken, regardless of the lips that speak it, then I may miss the voice of the Lord. ...
As Catholics, when we have the fullness of the faith revealed to us, and the fullness of grace in the sacraments. Among all human beings on this planet, we have no excuses when we don't hear the truth. It's always our fault. Always.
If you're struggling to hear the Lord, go to confession. If you're in the state of grace, pray for humility. Without this openness, this humility, to hear the Word of God as it comes to us - regardless of the messenger - not only could fail to grow in great sanctity, but we could lose our salvation.
Ez 2:2-5; Ps 123:1-4; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Mk 6:1-6a
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:07
What is this "richness" of which Saint Paul speaks? That's where the Gospel comes in. Here we have Jesus, in His human poverty, walking among the people, teaching them. ... He opens their minds to Truth, to a greater wealth of knowledge than they could have had otherwise. He reveals to them, through His humanity, the face of God. Through that same humanity, He can even bestow His divine power on those who are sick and suffering. We've got the woman with hemorrhages who just touches his clothes and Jesus feels power go out of Him. Now, as a human man, He doesn't have power to heal anything. ... So where did that power come from? It came from His divinity, from his divine nature. But notice how it flowed through His body and through His clothing out to this woman with faith. It was precisely because of the poverty of His humanity that the richness of His divine nature was able to be transferred to her and bring her healing....
It is through the poverty, the humanity of Christ, that the richness of God comes to us. That is the very nature of sacramental theology. People think: "Oh you don't need sacraments to receive grace." Really? You needed the Body of Jesus to receive grace. Why would you think it's any different now? Grace only flows to us through the poverty of nature. And in particular, the nature of Jesus Christ, the human nature of the Lord, that poverty. And that's what Saint Paul is trying to teach us.
In becoming poor (Jesus) made us wealthy - spiritually wealthy. We have the Truth, we have the grace of salvation. We have eternal life. There is no greater good.
Saint Paul is saying that Jesus has clearly done this for us, and given us a great example, that we, like Christ, should be willing to impoverish ourselves for the good of those in need around us.... That's how the grace of God flows. When one impoverishes his or herself for love of the other, then the grace of God flows through that. ...
Paul continues, "Not that others should have relief while you are burdened.... but that as a matter of equality, your abundance at the present time should supply their need."
What does this mean and how do we apply it in our lives? What one important rule need we always remember?
Wis 1:13-15, 2:23-24; Ps 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mk 5:21-43
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:22
Now, we know that Jesus is the Lord. This is fundamental to our belief as Christians. And yet, how often are you and I still terrified by the storms in the world? And I don't just mean physical storms. Certainly that could scare any one of us. A great tornado or hurricane comes up and we'd all cower in fear and terror. Cry out, "God, where are you? Are you sleeping?! Wake up! Save me."
But there are also many types of metaphorical storms in our life. Political storms. Social storms. Economic storms. Even mental storms. This is the one we struggle with the most, actually. It's the one that produces the actual fear that we feel. When our mind is not at rest. That inner turmoil that makes us afraid and leads to anxiety, depression. These inner storms rage and they terrify us.
What do we do? We cry out: "Lord! Wake up! I know you can fix this! I know You have the power to calm all storms! Why don't you calm the storm in my mind?"
"Why don't You give me peace?"
I prayed this prayer for years and it took me so many years to hear the Lord. He was rebuking me, just as He rebuked the disciples in the boat.
"Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" ....
"Lord, but I'm afraid."
"Yes, but I'm God."
Jb 38:1, 8-11; Ps 107:23-26, 28-31; 2 Cor 5:14-17; Mk 4:35-41
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:30
As Christians, our hearts, like that of Our Lady, are supposed to be one with our Lord. That's really what we strive for in our Christian life - day by day, little by little we struggle to unit our hearts more perfectly to His. And it's a process. It's not something we can do on our own, certainly. It's something we have to allow the Lord to do in us. ...
Like the example the Lord gives in the Gospel today: the Kingdom of Heaven grows like a seed. It grows not only in the Church... Christ doesn't just reside in HIs Church, He wants to reside inside each one of us as a temple, as a church. That means we grow into this temple as any seed would grow.
The difficulty for us is - and Jesus points this out in the Gospel - that even though we witness the growth, we don't know how it happens. ...Still so many mysteries in the regard, and that mystery remains spiritually in our growth.
Our Lady is unique among Christians in that she did not need to grow into unity with Christ. From the first moment of her conception, she was given a special privilege. She was kept free from any stain of sin, so she's Immaculate; and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. That means during the entirety of her life, she was always the temple of God. That's why she's our model.
She was given these graces and these privileges so she could assist us in becoming temples ourselves. In growing in holiness day by day.
Our Lord expects us to turn to His Mother and seek her intercession.
The Fathers teach us that devotion to the Blessed Mother is essential in the Christian life. It's not an option, and it's one of the signs of salvific grace in the soul of a Christian....
If you truly loved our Lord and followed Him, you would love His Mother. It's not possible to love Him without loving His Mother since it was she who brought Jesus to us by the power of God in her, she is the instrument of our salvation. ....
Great things begin with just a small seed. If every time you come to Mass or hear me preach and you hear me say that Hail Mary and you pray it with me, it plants a seed in your mind. "Why is Father doing this? There must be something special about it. I wonder if I should be praying a Hail Mary before I do stuff too?"
That little seed over time can grow, and encourage your devotion to the Blessed Mother which is something our Lord wants for us.
Start with one Hail Mary a day...
Ez 17:22-24; Ps 92:2-3, 13-16; 2 Cor 5:6-10; Mk 4:26-3
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 15:23
There is no salvation apart from a covenant relationship with God. There is no covenant apart from the shedding of blood. And no blood is as precious as the Blood of Jesus Christ the true Lamb of God. We, the covenant people, are privileged to partake in this very Body and Blood. We who become one with not only Christ, but with one another in this Holy Eucharist, have a great moral obligation. A two-fold obligation.
First and foremost: to always remain united with Christ in His Church. We do this by a worthy reception of Holy Communion. And I say that again: a worthy reception. Many souls can be damned to hell for all eternity precisely because they receive the Lord unworthily. They were not in the state of grace, they were in mortal sin. It's simple to figure out if you are in mortal sin or not. Are you following the commands of Christ and His Catholic Church? If not, have you gone to confession and been forgiven of those offenses? If you don't fall into those categories, you can't receive communion. It's that simple. Saint Paul warns us "Do not eat the Body or drink the Blood of the Lord to your own condemnation." This greatest of gifts bestowed upon us, followers of Christ that we are, can also be the sign of our condemnation if we do not worthily receive Him. And He can make us worthy. That's what confession is for. ...
Secondly, it's unity with each other. This is one of the great tragedies of Christian life is that - not only among Christian communities are we not united... there are so many "versions of Christianity and discipleship" - obviously they can't all be right. This disunity is a scandal to the world. The Body of Christ is one in the Catholic Church, but we have to strive to bring about the unity of all believers. It's bad enough that our Protestant brothers and sisters are not united with us. It's even worse when we as Catholics are not united with each other. That's where we have such an obligation to be men and women of peace. Christ is the Prince of Peace. How does he bring about peace? By sacrificing Himself. If we are truly united with Christ inHis Body and Blood, then we would seek to imitate Him. To bring about unity by self-sacrifice. By the shedding of our actual blood if necessary for the sake of the unity of not only the Catholics in the Church, but even Christians at-large. What greater sign of the truth of the Gospel would that be to the world?
How can the Church of Christ be a witness to the Truth if we are not united?
Ex 24:3-8; Ps 116:12-13, 15-18; Heb 9:11-15; Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 25:34
Thomas Aquinas says there is one thing yet to do. You get down on your knees, you bow your head to the floor, and you humble yourself before the mystery. ... We should never presume that understanding of the mysteries is ours by right.... We seek understanding. We want to know Him better. But at times we must merely bow before Him in homage and in humility. And in worship.
How can we be so intimate with our God through the holy Sacraments, and yet He still be so mysterious to us? ... What a profound revelation - that God would let us know His own divine nature. What right do we creatures have to such knowledge of our God? None. And yet He wants us to know about Him, to know Him not just intellectually, but intimately. ...
We can naturally struggle appreciating sacredness. Holiness. Reverence. For so long in recent times in our Church it's been lost in our liturgies. That is a great tragedy for us as believers, because if the sacred and the holy are not lived and manifested in our prayer - in our prayer of Christ in the Church, the Holy Mass - the how are the people ever going to learn it?
There's a simple and basic teaching that the Church has always followed: Lex orandi. Lex credendi. Lex vivendi. Memorize this if you can: Lex orandi. Lex credendi. Lex vivendi. It is translated this way: "As we pray, so we believe, so we live." It's one of the fundamental teachings of the Fathers.
Our prayers are an expression of our belief. Our prayer forms our belief. If I am being raised in a Church where the prayer of the Church is holy and reverent and sacred and true, then I will believe in those things. And if I believe them, I will live them.
"As I pray, so I believe, and so I live." ... We pray for the grace to return to recognizing the holiness of our God, so that as we recognize these great mysteries - yes seeking to understand them to the best of our ability - we would always like Thomas recommended, bow before them in humility and worship.
Dt 4:32-34, 39-40, Ps 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22; Rom 8:14-17; Mt 28:16-20
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:48
But who does (Saint Paul) say specifically are our enemies? Is it our spouse? Our children? Co-workers? Bosses? Politicians? Those people that won't get out of the left hand lane on the highway when they're driving too slow? Are they our enemies?
It may feel like it at times, and I think when we fail to love these individuals, in our mind we actually believe they are our enemy. That's our mistake.
Saint Paul tells us who our enemies are: they are the devil and the evil spirits. ... He doesn't mean the human rulers, he's talking about the demonic ones.
Saint Paul is letting us know that to follow the Spirit, to learn to speak that universal language of love - which is ultimately the perfect way to preach the Gospel - you must do battle. ... It's never against another human per se, that's just an instrument. It's always against the evil spirits....
So the Armor of God is meant to help us fight evil spirits. It's one of the great lies of the devil and his demons that they try to convince the world they don't even exist. Because then you won't fight them! You will just blame your neighbor for why you're not loving.
It's the common thing we all do right? "I would be a much more patient and loving person if they had not" Or "if they would just" and you fill in the blank of whatever situation you find yourself in.
It's so common for us to blame others for our lack of love. And it's never their fault. It's never anyone else's fault. Why? Because Jesus loved even in the midst of very bad people who did nothing but reject Him, and torture Him, and kill Him. ...
Do you think we have an excuse when we die and go before the judgement seat of God? ... We will be judged accordingly. There will be no excuses at our judgement before the Throne of God. Don't fall into the mistake of thinking there will be.
Know who you are battling.
So when you are driving on the highway and that person just won't move over - even when they can! - instead of getting angry at them, realize in the moment the demon tempting you to judgement and hatred. That'sthe one you must battle. And you do that with the Armor of God.
In Ephesians chapter 6, Saint Paul points out to us the tools we need to use to help us in this spiritual battle. (Father explains each piece in detail)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. - Eph 6:10-18
Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23
You may watch the mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 20:14
This practice of celebrating Mass - technically not with my back to you, we're all facing the same direction - celebrating Mass ad orietum, or "toward the East" comes from this day, from this Feast.
When our Lord ascended into Heaven, all of the apostles and disciples were facing East. And that's where our Lord ascended, toward the East.
We know that they stood there after He was gone and watched for a little while, and what happened? Two men dressed in white, we know they're angels, appeared to them and said, "Men of Galilee, what are you looking at?"
Now, they're angels. Obviously they knew what the men were looking at. They weren't seeing Jesus anymore, He was gone. The angels tell them basically: don't worry, He's going to come again in the same way that He is gone from your sight.
These angels, these messengers form God, were the ones instructed to inform the apostles that when Jesus comes in glory, He will come from the East on the clouds of Heaven. From the East.
Ad orientum. Toward the East.
So even though they didn't know when Jesus was going to come, every time they gathered together in prayer to offer the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, all of them - including the presider - would face East, just in case Jesus would come.
For two thousand years in the Church that has been the tradition. Every liturgy. Always. The presider - whether it's the Pope, Bishops or Priests - and the people would face the same direction just in case the Lord would come, so that they were ready to see Him.
That's where this tradition came from, and that's why we've maintained it for two thousand years.
....
Once I was ordained, I began to appreciate, as the celebrant, how important this is.
"Seeing"in any type of temporal vision is not necessary because our eyes are not fixed on time and space, but on Heaven. On eternity. We are waiting for the return of the Lord.
This is the beauty of ad orietum. It daily reminds us to look towards the heavens and to contemplate the return of our Lord.
Acts: 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17-23; Mk 16:15-20
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube Channel. Homily begins at 19:42.
When you love in this way - when you are willing to be expiation for the failings, weaknesses, and faults of another - it's going to leave you empty. If you empty yourself for them, de facto, you have nothing left for yourself.
This is where our Lord promises us that if we do it for Him, for His sake, imitating His example, offering it back to Him in union with His cross, then He promises to fill us with His presence. That's what He means when He says "As I remain in You."
So it's conditional. Our Lord's love is conditional on the fact that He will remain in us, He will fill us with Himself if we fill those around us with the same offering.
When you're struggling in your life, when you realize "I feel like the Lord isn't really working. I feel like my relationship with the Lord is weak," ask the Him for an opportunity to sacrifice for somebody else. That may seem like the last thing you want to do because you're struggling. But that's the perfect thing to do. But that very sacrifice requires our Lord to then fulfill His end of the bargain. ...
You need to practice this in your family. When you find yourself struggling, especially with "that" sibling - every child who has brothers and sisters, usually there's that one at least that they struggle with the most - say a prayer. Ask the Blessed Mother, ask the Lord, "Give me an opportunity to show them some sacrifice of love." Spouses, you need to do this regularly with each other, especially when you're not getting along. Find an opportunity. Ask for one. And it will be given you.
You'll find in that moment when you sacrifice yourself, when you make a gift of yourself in whatever way, then the Lord steps in and fills you. With His presence. With His love. And everything becomes easy after that.
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; Ps 98:1-4; 1 Jn 4:7-10; Jn 15:9-17
Audio homily is from the Vigil Mass with Father Miller. Video is from Sunday Mass with Father Sheridan substituting for Father. You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Fr Sheridan's homily begins at 15:30
We dwell in Him the same way He dwells in us - by making a sacrificial offering of ourselves. How do we do that? The readings tell us very clearly: by following God's commandments. That alone is the sacrifice we need to make. Though, that's not easy. But what will happen if He remains in us and we remain in Him? Like this vine and branches, we will bear much fruit....
He's talking about spiritual fruit. It's the same as physical fruit in the sense that it provides nourishment to the people around you. That's the fruit that we produce in Christ. Our family, our friends, our coworkers, society itself, they begin to nourish themselves on the fruit that we produce.
And when you see society starving spiritually, whose fault is that? It's our fault.
More than anyone, it's the bishops and the priests because we are the leaders, those with the authority and the power of the Sacraments. But after us? It's the lay Catholics fault.
Only you, who have the fullness of the faith and the Sacraments, can truly bear all of the fruit necessary for society.
What would this fruit look like if it was being provided? ...
Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control.
Do you have what it takes to bear this fruit? (hint: if you're Confirmed, the answer is Yes.)
Acts 9:26-31; Ps 2:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32; 1 Jn 3:18-24; Jn 15:1-8
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:22
This passage that Jesus gives to us is not just for His sheep, that you would be reminded of His great love for you, but this is actually, more importantly for the shepherds. For the ones he was going to put in charge of His flock. For the men that He was going to choose as popes and bishops and priests....
Our job through Holy Ordination is to be conformed to Christ, not just sacramentally so that when we say the words of institution it's really Jesus, or when we say the words of absolution you're really forgiven - yes, that's why were' ordained, but even in our mode of shepherding we're supposed to imitate Christ.
And we don't always do this. Oftentimes priests and bishops, and even throughout the centuries even popes, have acted more as hired workers, in it for the pay. Not imitating the Lord. Not loving His sheep as he loves them. This is a great tragedy.
If you remember the words of Saint John Vianney, the patron saint of diocesan priests, he said that:
"If a pastor - a shepherd - is a saint, his people will be holy. If a pastor is holy, his people will be good. If a pastor is good, his people will be mediocre. If a pastor is mediocre, his people will be bad. And if a pastor is bad, God save his people."
...Jesus teaches very clearly from the prophet Isaiah, that God gives to the people the leaders they deserve. He's not speaking just of Church leaders - He is certainly - but he's speaking about every type of leader. It could be your boss at work, your Governor, your President, your pastor, the Bishop, the Pope, doesn't matter: God gives to His people the shepherd they deserve.
... How do we know how we deserve a certain type of leader? It's whether we're striving to conform our lives to the commands of God. Are we seeking after the Lord? Seeking to obey His commandments? To put Him first in our life?
As long as you are seeking to conform your life to Christ, our Lord promises to send you holy leaders.
Acts: 4:2-12; Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29; 1 Jn 3:1-2; Jn 10:11-18
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:20
Everything Jesus does, everything He reveals is teaching them. When He appears to them He allows them to touch Him and eats in front of them. He proves to them that His body is real flesh and bone, that He's not a ghost.
The resurrected body of Jesus can look like anything He wants. To Mary Magdalene He looked like the gardener. The disciples in the beginning of today's Gospel spent an entire day with Him and didn't recognize Him. And these are His followers! He can deceive our senses.
We also know that this Resurrected body is not limited by space and time. While He was spending a whole day with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the Gospel also tells us He was meeting with Peter. At the same time.
Imagine the apostles reflecting on these accounts and being amazed! "How can He do this? The resurrected Body of Jesus is so different than what we knew before!" But it's still His Body, it's still the Body of Christ. It's the same Body of Christ. It's now been glorified. And it is no longer limited by nature, by the limits of the physical world.
And Jesus reveals this to them and to us essentially to teach us one extremely important and necessary lesson: how He is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.... The Lord is trying to teach us - His people - the the Eucharist is in fact His resurrected flesh. All of the properties of the Resurrected Body of the Lord are true about the Eucharist.
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; 1 Jn 2:1-5a; Lk 24:35-48
You may watch the mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:39
I chose this particular image to hang on our confessional because it is the original Divine Mercy image. The "Vilnius image", it was the one Saint Faustina herself had painted.
Jesus would often appear to her. And at one point, He appeared to her under this form. He said to her, "Faustina, I'd like you to have an image of me painted like this."
So Faustina and Mother Superior go to Vilnius and commission a local artist to paint this. Faustina describes to him the vision. He does his sketches and then works up the first draft of the painting.
Over the next year or two, regularly Faustina and Mother would go to him and check on the progress of the work.
Faustina always had corrections. "No, no, the eyes are wrong." "No, it needs to be more blue here." She was always correcting the artist, and it was never good enough. The artist was getting a little flustered. Mother Superior was getting a little flustered. And Faustina was just frustrated that it wasn't perfect.
One day in her cell, Jesus appeared to her and said, "Faustina, the image is never going to be perfect, but it's good enough." So Faustina accepted it,
and the next time she saw the image she said, "Jesus approves." And this is the image we have.
There's something unique and special about this one that I want to share with you, and I learned this during my time with the Marians of the Immaculate Conception.
There was a group of lay people working with the Marians, traveling around and trying to spread devotion to three particular images: Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Divine Mercy image, and the Shroud of Turin. They had large copies of each of these images and used them during their talks.
Once day - I won't say by accident, but by providence, they discovered something very fascinating....
The image of the Shroud of Turin and the Divine Mercy had been laid one atop the other. When the light shone through them, the people were shocked to discover that the faces matched perfectly. The face that Saint Faustina had painted, and the face on the Shroud of Turin when sized correctly, match up flawlessly.
For all intents and purposes, the image that we have, the Vilnius image, is actually a photograph. It's what Jesus looked like two thousand years ago.
If you think about this image, this is how Jesus appeared to the Apostles today in the Gospel. You can imagine Him there....
He appears to Thomas - and this is what He looked like, still with the wounds in His hands, feet and side, in a white tunic, radiating light - and He says to Thomas: "Come. Touch My hands. And My feet. Here, put your hand into the wound in My side." That's the Divine Mercy image. ...
Without mercy we are lost. Without mercy every soul is damned for eternity. But because of this mercy, because of the suffering, death, and resurrection that we behold in the image of Divine Mercy, we have hope and consolation. And we should often make the words written under the image our own: "Jesus I trust in You."
Acts 4:32-35; Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-2; 1 Jn 5:1-6; Jn 20:19-31
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 28:43
In the history of the Church, the people of God figure something out about Jesus quicker than the hierarchy does. They get there sooner.
Why?
Because of their great love and devotion for Jesus. They run faster….
We see that lived out even in this Gospel today. The Beloveds of the Lord run faster than the hierarchy. But, what do we notice from the example John gives us?
He never presupposes or presumes to act on his belief until the authority does.
So though you might get to something before I do, or Bishop Jugis, or the Holy Father, you wait outside until we catch up. And only after we have entered, do you then follow.
...
But there’s a far more personal interpretation that each one of us can take. It’s that Peter and John both represent each one of us. They represent, yes the Church as head and members, but they also represent each individual member of the body of Christ as the head and the heart. …
Christ will often place something on your heart before you will be able to understand it, and embrace it. In the end, the heart must always follow the head, even if the heart sometimes gets there first. ... This is why people who are drawn to the faith, drawn to Jesus, they can’t always explain at first why it is.
That’s this Gospel story come to life in them. This is Jesus bringing their hearts, but they don’t know what to do, they don’t know the next step. And that’s fine, it’s perfectly fine - they have to wait until their head catches up with them.
This is an important reflection, not just in this time of Easter and the new life of grace that has been bestowed upon us in Christ, but also each day. Each day we go through our struggles and our difficulties. Remember that more often than not, your heart is going to get somewhere first. But you must be patient. Be like John, and wait upon the head.
Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Col 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9
There is no video of this Mass. Click here for audio of the Mass in its entirety.
We apologize there was no live stream video on Easter Sunday morning. The Mass in its entirety can here heard here.
Of all the liturgies of the Church, the Holy Triduum is of course the most sacred, the most solemn, and the most glorious. It's in these days in which we recall in a most unique way the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. This is the heart of the mystery of our faith.
In my experience, the number one problem in the world is fear. Pretty much everyone has something of which they are afraid. Some of it's imaginary. Some of it is just hypothetical. Some of it's real. But in the end, if we are truly convinced of the mystery of the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we should be able to overcome all fear.
I often meditate on this one point: with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the salvation of the world is won. But to obtain that salvation, and resurrection, He first had to be tortured, and killed, and buried in a tomb.
And yet, He was innocent. And not only that, He was holy. And not only that, He was God.
What happened to Jesus Christ was the worst evil that could have ever been done by man. No sin could compare to this act. All of the sins of all of humanity combined, compared to the crucifixion of the Son of God, would not even measure up. Among evils, it is the worst.
And yet it is the sign of our salvation. It's our very hope.
If God can take the worst of human evils and use it to bring about the greatest of divine goods, what can he do with our own failings? Our own sins? And even those things of which we are afraid?
If God can bring such a good from such an evil, then if I put myself in His hands, then He can bring good from anything in my life.
(1) Gn 1:1-2:2 (2) Gn 22:1-18 (3) Ex 14:15--15:1 (4) Is 54:5-14 (5) Is 5:1-11 (6) Bar 3:9-15, 32--4:4 (7) Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28 (8) Rom 6:3-11. (9) Mk 16:1-7
The Mass may be viewed in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 1:24:35.
It is necessary that we, in our own lives, strive to provide a similar offering, a similar meal, to our Lord Himself.
How do we do this?
We do it as Jesus often reminded His disciples, by bearing our crosses after Him patiently. As He bore ours patiently.
Many people struggle with this because there is an essential aspect to bearing a cross; you have to actually be innocent of the consequences that you're suffering. Meaning, if you're just being punished because you deserve it, well, you deserved it. ... Remember that Jesus was innocent when He suffered for our sins.
The only true offering we can make to Him is when we suffer unjustly - when we are innocent and we're suffering at the hands of sinners.
That naturally should lead us to some trepidation because when we look at the sufferings in our lives we think: well, pretty much everything I am suffering is my own fault, so there's very little I can offer our Lord.
This is where you're wrong.
This is where you fail to understand the mystical reality in which you participate as Catholics.
You see, being a member of the body of Christ, and living in the grace of the Sacraments, means that even if you were to commit a sin, and then subsequently suffer the consequences of that sin - if you would go to confession and that sin would be forgiven, guess what? You're now innocent. Jesus has made you innocent. Now the suffering you're enduring, even though technically you brought it about, you are no longer at fault for. You can in turn offer that as a cross back to God.
That's the beauty of the Church, the beauty of the Sacraments and how Jesus has designed the Christian life in such a way that there is no wasted suffering. As long as we live in Him.
People are tempted to ask, "Why am I suffering this? Why is this happening to me?" Most of the time it's because we're sinners and we deserve it - but even if its not - it's merely because you are Christian. God is providing you an opportunity to return in kind to the Lord an offering. Certainly not to the same degree or perfection as His in the Holy Eucharist. But at least in some small way that you can love the Lord, that you can walk in His Passion, that you can suffer His Cross.
Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15
The liturgy may be watched in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 31:35
It was at the Last Supper that Jesus consecrated them priests and bishops. It was at the Last Supper that He gave them the power to transubstantiate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. That power has been handed down - bishop to priest - for two thousand years, that's what we celebrate tonight.
Because of this great power and authority bestowed upon them, He knew, as with all of us, the temptation is to grow in pride. In arrogance. So when giving them this great gift, and setting them in this great role, He gave them the best sign He could of humility. He washes their feet. ...
In this, we see the great humility of Christ. He truly has come as a servant.
And that's got to be the heart of a priest. If the heart of a priest is not a servant's heart, then he will not be a good priest - he cannot imitate Christ.
We refer back to Jesus' cry from the Cross: "My God my God, why have You forsaken Me?" As we know from our previous homily, Jesus was quoting Psalm 22. It's a long psalm. And I would say it speaks of His priestly heart. He's crying out in agony and expressing to His Father the suffering and death that He is enduring, while simultaneously giving praise to God and defending the holiness of the Lord.
That's what a priest is supposed to do. That's the heart of the priest really.
Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9; Rv 1:5-8; Lk 4:16-21
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:47
Father Miller finishes his series of reflections on the Seven Last Words of Christ.
Notice that the text says: He breathed His last. The word in Hebrew, "ruah", for breath is the same word for spirit. So He spirited His last. He gave up His spirit. That's when He died. Again, if we stop there, merely on a simple interpretation, we're going to miss so much of what our Lord is trying to communicate to us, even now.
Reflecting on the Gospels, there is one thing Jesus makes clear: no one can take His life from Him. Jesus says: I lay it down freely.
When we look at His Passion at this moment, we can never think, "They took His life." No. He laid it down freely, by choice.
Why is this important?
Because Jesus, being God, and also being in the flesh, is revealing to us what perfect love looks like. Theologically, perfect love is often explained as "the gift of self". Where you give of yourself to another. And to the extent which you make yourself a gift... is the extent to which you have loved.
Jesus - revealing the love of God - gives everything to us. Everything. Every drop of His blood. Every agony. His very physical life. And after He has given everything in love to us for our salvation, the only thing left is His spirit.
But notice He doesn't keep that to Himself at the end of His life- He even gives that away.
Father into Your hands, I commend My spirit.
He was totally empty. Nothing belonged to Him, not even His spirit.
This is the perfect example of love. Of self-sacrifice. Of making of yourself a gift to the beloved.
Mk 11:1-10 (Procession) Is 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Mk 14:--15:47
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 36:01.
Even greater than the mystery of God's nature as a Trinity, is this simple fact: He became a man.
At the moment of her "yes" - her "Fiat" - that is when the Holy Spirit came upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. ...
The entire Godhead is involved in this moment of the Incarnation. It's not just Jesus. And it's not just the Holy Spirit and Jesus. It is the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, all involved; simultaneously present and active in this moment.
We know the role of the Son. He is the One being conceived.
Who is the father of the son? I know that sounds like a funny question. It's the Father, right? Jesus's father is His Father.... By whose command, or by whose will is He conceived in the womb of Mary? By the Father's will. Therefore, who is the father of the son? The same One Who is eternally the Father of the Son.
Who is the Father of the Son in the incarnation? God the Father. No one else can be.
If the Holy Spirit were to act in that role at this moment, that would be heresy! You'd be telling me that the Holy Spirit is the Father of the Son in the incarnation. That's not possible. Only the Father can be the Father of the Son. In heaven and on earth.
So Who is the Holy Spirit? ....
Basically the relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit is one of absolute identity. ... His role in the Incarnation is to empower Mary to do in time what He is eternally.
Is 7:10-14, 8:10; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38
You may watch the mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 14:12.
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ throughout Lent.
What is "finished"? If it's not just His life, what is finished? ...
"My food is to do the will of the One Who sent me and to finish his work."
Jesus is telling us that at this moment, on the Cross, right before His death, He has now accomplished the work of His Father - to save us from our sins. It's the work of salvation, salvation is accomplished.
That alone is profound, that at this moment we recognize from the words of our Savior, the completion of the act of redemption.
But if you look at the words just in their English translation, you're going to miss something even more profound about this statement.
In Latin, Jesus actually said on the cross: "Consummatum est." ... We use this word, "consummate," for the love between a husband and a wife. It's nuptial language.
When a couple comes here before the Lord and exchanges their vows, that's when they enter into the Sacrament of matrimony. However, until that matrimonial commitment is consummated, the marriage is actually not valid. Until the love that they expressed in words is then completed in action, it's not valid.
Here is Jesus Who has lived His life, especially in His public ministry, preaching His words of love and Truth. In a sense, expressing His vows to His Bride the Church. He's saying "This is how I love you", but He's also telling His bride how she should love Him too - He speaks her vows too. So there's this exchange of vows, but the marriage is not consummated yet. Not until the Cross.
On the Cross Jesus finally gives Himself; body, blood, soul, and divinity, to His bride. He has held nothing back. He has offered her everything. And once everything has been offered, He cries out, "Consummatum est."
It's a mystery of nuptial love between god and His holy people.
Jer 31:31-34; Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 15:43.
He was chosen by God the Father to be entrusted with the father's most precious gifts: His only begotten Son, and His Immaculate Mother. No other human being has been trusted as much.
Imagine the type of man Joseph must have been other earth, and now in Heaven. Flawless. Perfect. Absolutely virtuous in every way. Yes, he was tainted by original sin like the rest of us, but it's very likely he had no personal sin. He was ideal to stand in the person of God the Father for His only son, Jesus Christ.
....
Notice what Joseph decides to do: to divorce Mary "quietly." Meaning no formal declaration, no public show. Now in order to divorce her privately, Joseph is de facto accepting some of the blame for the divorce, even though he's innocent. So I want you to consider what he's doing. For all he knows, Mary has sinned. But he still wants to protect Her and Her unborn Child. . ...
He's willing to take some of the blame of the divorce just to protect them. What a perfect man. Don't you see why he was chosen? Even when he had no reason to, he was still willing to defend their honor. Their lives. ...
Something that we know about Saint Joseph - once he knows the will of God he does not hesitate. He accomplishes it immediately.
2Sm7:4-5a,12-14a,16; Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 & 29; Rom4:13,16-18,22;Mt16,18-21,24a
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:46
The Fathers tell us that when Jesus speaks of His "chalice" He's referring to an Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah will have to drink of the "chalice of suffering." And He will "drink it to the dregs", meaning He'll drain it completely.
So when Jesus says to these apostles, "Can you drink of the chalice of which I am going to drink?" He's telling them: will you endure the suffering that I am going to endure?
I think that this statement of Jesus is referring to suffering. "I thirst" He says. He thirsts for the chalice of suffering. Now why would our Lord thirst for this? Why would He hunger to suffer?
Because in the end there's only one thing that Jesus really wants: us. You.
Look how far He went to redeem you. He wants you in His life more than anything else. And the only thing that keeps us away from Him is our sin.
The only way to remove sin is by enduring the punishment for sin, the suffering that sin has merited.
Jesus, in order to remove that sin, wants to suffer for us. He craves it, longs for it. He thirsts for this chalice. Because He thirsts for you. ...
He says: I thirst for you. I thirst for you. We see the longing that Jesus has for us....
The words "I thirst", those belong to Jesus, to Him alone. And He speaks them to each one of you: I thirst for you. And I thirst for the consequences of your sin - so that I may forgive you. ...
When you go to confession, and confess your sins, Jesus is actually grateful to you for your confession. Even though your sins crucified Him. He's grateful. Because you're satisfying the deepest desire of His heart by returning to Him. By allowing Him to forgive you....
You may be grateful that He forgave you, but He's grateful that you let Him suffer for your sins and forgive you. It seems counterintuitive at first, but you have to understand the mind of the Lord. He thirsts for you in a way in which you cannot easily understand.
2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:35
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ throughout Lent.
According to Jesus, this is the most important thing He said on the cross. For our Lord, and therefore for each one of us, this statement is the most important message of all of these essential seven statements. We know this because the statement is a "chiasmus."
A chiasmus is a literary structure like an equation used in narratives to help point to important issues. Like a pyramid, everything in the narrative or in the sentence or in the story is pointing toward one single issue that the reader is supposed to focus upon.
How many last statements did our Lord make on the Cross? Seven. An odd number, which means the center, the one in the middle, is the focus. That's today.
Why would these be the most important words that the Lord speaks to each one of us from the cross? Jesus didn't actually believe the father had forsaken Him. So why say it?...
At the time of Christ, when rabbis would sit and discuss the Law and the prophets, this is how they would quote scripture: they would only quote the first verse of a passage and all the rabbis knew exactly what they were talking about.
Jesus is quoting Psalm 22 . Psalm 22 encapsulates everything our Lord wants us to learn from the Cross. ... It is the only thing that will console us, as it consoled our Lord. I encourage you, not only during Lent, but anytime that you suffer, to return to Psalm 22 and meditate on it.
Ex 20:1-17; Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11; 1 Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:38
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ throughout Lent.
In interpreting these words correctly, we have to realize there are three types of interpretation, all of them true, but all on different levels... the most basic, historical, natural interpretation, to greater and higher truths.
The first reason our Lord took such great pains to say these words is because He loved His Mother. And He wanted to make sure that after He was gone, someone would care for Her. It's a very simple thing. Saint Joseph had already died, they had no other children.... So Jesus, out of concern for His mom, chooses one of His disciples, John, to care for her in His place. ... Even though John, the beloved disciple, was the closest one to the Lord, truly among the twelve the best one to care for our Lady; you can imagine the Blessed Mother's reaction to this - on a natural level. "I don't want another son. I want You." But she, knowing it was the will of the Father that her Son die on the cross, would have accepted as the will of Her Son, this replacement. And John really is the best. He's called the "Beloved Disciple" for a good reason, which leads us to the second level of interpretation.
... John held a special place in the heart of Jesus. So it's right that he receive this title "the Beloved." But why would John use it? What would be his motivation? John recognizes in himself and the Lord's love for him the Lord's love for each of His disciples. You see, to Jesus, all of His disciples are beloved. John, realizing this, would avoid using his own name - it's not about me, it's not about "John". It's about each and every beloved disciple. So when you read the Gospel of John and you hear "beloved" or "beloved disciple'" think of yourself.... John is telling you that that is our Lord speaking to you. That means that from the cross, Jesus wasn't just speaking to John the man to care for His Mother while on earth, He was speaking to each one of His beloved disciples throughout the rest of time. He was entrusting to each one of us His Mother.
From the cross He says these words: "Woman, behold your son." And then He says to us, "Behold your Mother." And what does John write immediately after this in the Gospel? "And from that hour, the disciple took Her into his home." From that hour. The disciple - you and me - took Her into his home. So what is our relationship with the Blessed Mother? ... For John, she was now his family. Not by blood, but by baptism. And he takes her into his home and she dwells with him. Wherever he goes, She goes. The message here for us is that this is the way Jesus expects each of His beloved disciples to treat His Mother. This is the relationship He expects them to have with Her.... One of the marks of salvation in the soul of an individual is a true devotion to the Blessed Mother. If you are truly a beloved disciple of the Lord, Mary will live in your home.
What then is the third and highest level of interpretation? We need to look for the signs and the types....
Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Ps 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19; Rom 8:31b-34; Mk 9:2-10
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 15:47
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ throughout Lent.
The Fathers of the Church tell us that these two thieves represent every human being on earth. You are either one or the other, there's no third option. You fit into one of those two categories. ... It's important that we understand them, how they are similar and how they are different, and why Jesus gave such a consoling message to one, and spoke nothing to the other.
They are both public sinners and criminals. They both committed the same offense against society and against God. They are being punished in the exact same way for those offenses. They both know what they did and know they deserve what they are getting.
The only difference we know between them is what is revealed by their words.
The "bad thief" - whose name we will never know - reveals his mind and heart to us in what he says to the Lord. ... He refuses to take responsibility for what he has done. He doesn't believe in Jesus as the Messiah. ... He wants to avoid suffering by any means necessary, even when it is deserved, let alone for love's sake. That's all that he cares about, and such an individual cannot be saved for one simple reason: they deny their own sin. They refuse to repent.
Now Saint Dismas is the complete opposite. He's the same kind of sinner, no better or worse in regards to the sins that he commits. But what he says to the Lord tells us everything we need to know about him and about his faith....
What does St Dismas do that we can imitate?
Gn 9:8-15; Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 1 Pt 3:18-22; Mk 1:12-15
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 13:33.
Father Miller will offer a reflection on the Seven Last Words of Christ during his Sunday homilies during Lent. He begins this evening with the first "word" of our Lord during His Passion.
It's important to remind yourself that crucifixion was, and probably still is, one the greatest means of human torture. One, because you're hanging up by nails in your wrists and in your feet; and two, you don't die of blood loss. You die of suffocation. You choke on your own spittle. And it takes hours, even days. It's a slow agonizing death because it's nearly impossible to breathe. ...
Just to get a breath was an agony for the Lord. But imagine how much of a breath He had to get in order to speak from the Cross. These Seven Last sayings, these Seven Last Words of our Lord are precious statements. They cost Him more than any other statement He made during His entire life. So He didn't waste words.
"Father forgive them. They know not what they do."
Now I think we can assume that there were at least some people there who knew what they were doing. But He still pleads. And He still make excuses for us sinners. ...
Jesus pleads with His Heavenly Father, making excuses for us.
Imagine if every time someone offended you, you could think of at least one excuse why maybe it wasn't totally their fault. We'd forgive far more quickly. We probably wouldn't get as perturbed or as angry.
"Father forgive them. They know not what they do." I think it's easiest just to use the words of the Lord in our own lives in these instances of suffering when we're offended. "They must not know what they are doing. If they really knew how much they were hurting me, they would not have done it." ... So especially during this season of Lent, don't take offense so easily, don't be so sensitive. Use the words of the Lord yourself in your own little agonies. Just consider: maybe they didn't realize what they were doing when they hurt you. You'll find it is far more easy to be patient, and to forgive.
Jl 2:12-18; Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17; 2 Cor 5:20—6:2; Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 13:09
We know from revelation that love comes in three parts, and those parts have a specific order. There is "agapic" love which is the highest form, "filial" love, or brotherly love, and erotic love. And all of these loves are love. If you really want a beautiful exegesis on this, read Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. One of the things he points out, which was not always understood in the history of the church, is that God's love is not just agapic love -it's obviously that, but not just that - it's all forms of love. ... It's important to understand this, otherwise we won't understand love properly.
Erotic love is the lowest form, and it's not bad, it's good as long as it's rightly ordered. The easiest definition is: it's a desire to possess someone or something. People think it's always sexual, but that's not true. ... As long as it's ordered correctly in the hierarchy of loves, it's good. God, according to Pope Benedict actually loves us erotically, meaning He wants us. He doesn't need us, but that's the beauty of it. He wants us and He wants us to be with Him.
Above that is filial, or brotherly, love. It's basically "I'll love you if you love me." It can almost be thought of as contractual, between equals. God also wants to love us with filial love. Even though He is infinitely greater than we are, He wants to raise us up so we can have a more equal, loving relationship. Filial love has to be reciprocal. ...
Agapic love is the highest. And this is selfless love, or disinterested love. Even if I get nothing out of it, I still love you. It's the highest and most perfect form of love.
Having these loves rightly ordered in ourselves is how we conform to Love Himself. God is Love.
When you dis-order the proper ordering, then you're not loving. It's really that simple, it's not love at all. It's sin.
How do we re-order our loves? That's where Lent comes in.
Lv 13:1-2, 44-46; Ps 32:1-2, 5, 11; 1 Cor 10:31—11:1; Mk 1:40-45
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:49
There are two types of hope. Hope for an earthly remedy, and hope for a spiritual remedy. Now, that doesn't mean you can't have both. You can have both, but one must always be superior to the other, otherwise you will never find peace in this life of drudgery.
Listen to the example that Job gave. He says: "I'm having a restless night and I just wish the morning would come."
But what happens when your hope is in the morning? The night seems to drag on. ... Job is saying that it's your perception. Because your hope in in the dawn, the night seems to to take forever. ...
Whenever we place our hope in an earthly remedy, one: it seems to take forever to get it, and two: when it comes, it never fully satisfies. So the dawn comes but you're still exhausted because you didn't get good sleep. Then the whole rest of the day is even more difficult than the day before.
...
If your hope ends there, if you don't have a higher hope, a spiritual hope, it ultimately will never satisfy you. Why?
Everyone who was cured in the Gospel still ultimately died. Even Lazarus dies eventually after being brought back from the dead. You can only avoid pain and suffering so long. It always catches up with us. ... This desire for an earthly remedy is perfectly natural because things were not created to be this way.
...
Sin is the real enemy here. So for each one of us, if our greatest hope and desire is not the overcoming of sin and His ability to forgive it, we'll never find happiness in this world.
Jb 7:1-4, 6-7; Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Mk 1:29-39 You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:01
She loved the Lord so much that not only had she dedicated her life and virginity to Jesus; she wanted to belong to Him alone and no other man. But she was also willing to die for Him at a very young age.... She's such an example to us. And she was able to do all this because she loved God.
But how did she love God?
You're here on a Saturday morning celebrating her feast because you do love God. And you want to love Him more, but you struggle with that.
We struggle with loving anyone when there is distance between us. So how do we draw closer to the Lord when He's up in heaven. When we pray and we can't see Him, or we listen and we can't hear Him - at least not on a physical level. This is a challenge for us.
So how did Dorothy do this?
It's quite simple, it's by recognizing that Jesus is not just up in Heaven. He is with us here and now.
Our parish has just spent 40 hours adoring Him. Parishioners sitting in His presence gazing on Him. Loving Him. And receiving His love.
Love of the Eucharist is how we grow in our love for God.
You may watch the Mass in its entirety including the end of our 40 Hours Adoration on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 31:00
A prophet, according to the Scriptures, is simply someone who speaks truth. ... God's Truth. The reason we assume something is prophetic, meaning referring to the future, is because truth is truth all the time. Now and in the future.
Most of us, when we hear the Truth for the first time, it doesn't make sense or we don't accept it. Later on, when we finally learn that it was true, we're like, "Oh! It was prophetic!" No, no. It was just true.
It's like, as parents, when you try to teach children and they don't listen to you. Then they come back 10 years laters and say, "Mom, Dad, you were right all along." Well, Mom and Dad aren't prophetic. They just have more experience than you.
Anyone who has experience in life has knowledge, has a certain understanding of things in truth that they can share with others who are less experienced. Well, God is eternal, right? He doesn't need experience. He knows everything.
He is Truth.
He communicates that Truth to us through His prophets. And that Truth is True now, and in the future. It's always true.
Jesus, Who speaks the Word of Truth, is actually the Word of Truth incarnate.
"In the beginning was the Logos..."
Behind all reason, behind all Truth, is Jesus Christ.
Dt 18:15-20; Luke 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75; 1 Cor 7:32-35; Mk 1:21-28
Our live stream was canceled this week due to technical issues. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Do you believe in the words that the Spirit has allowed to come out of the Gospel and speak to us? ....
What I do believe is that I, and you, and you, and you, must become those fishers of men. Parents trying to encourage their children. Children, being respectful of their parents. Married couples being respectful to one another. All those things we have to do!
Oh, I would love to be like the saints. I could get here without getting in the car, I'd just think it and I'd be here. I would never get a cold again, or lose my voice again. I would never lose my hair again!
But it's not that way. I believe in the tumultuous journey of my life. Because I believe that I had the responsibility, in my own very teeny small way, to help build up that Kingdom. And prepare myself and those whom I love, and those who I do not love, and those that I care for, and those that don't care for me to build that Kingdom for all of us by living the life of Christ.
Now is the time.
Come after Me - now - and I will make you fishers of men.
My brothers and sisters, once again: do you believe?
Jn 3:1-5, 10; Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:35
According to the traditions of the Church, there are three possible vocations for the Catholic: marriage, religious life, and the priesthood.... Well said by Pope Saint John Paul II, all three vocations are in essence a" vocation to marriage".
What distinguishes these three types of "marriage"?
The first vocation to the sacrament of matrimony is what we call a "natural" vocation. God doesn't have to go out of His way to call you to marriage because He made you that way. He designed your nature as a human with a body and a soul to be oriented toward natural marriage. If you choose to get married, presumably as a Catholic in the Church, then He sacramentalizes that choice and now, your natural marriage is a supernatural vocation and it'll help you get to heaven.
The second is to the religious life. This is of course religious brothers and sisters, nuns, monks,... this vocation is not so much a "calling" as it is an "invitation". Every single Catholic, according to the Bible, every disciple of Christ is invited to live a celibate life dedicated to Jesus Christ. We know this because Saint Paul directly says it: "I invite you to live as I live, consecrated to the Lord." Each Christian is invited to discern this and to say, "Am I able, am I willing to commit myself to a life of chaste celibacy in a life of service to Christ and His Church?"
The third is the most unique of the three because it is the most "unnatural" of the vocations. They are all supernatural because of God's grace and the life we share in Christ. ...(but)The ministry to which the man is called is such a unique conformity to Jesus Christ, that he can be Christ to his people.. that's the union that Christ shares with each priest in regards to the power of the sacraments. This unique and supernatural vocation is, strictly speaking, a "calling".
Where the other vocations are in service of Jesus Christ, the priestly vocation is in service of Christ's people.
Father goes on to share his own calling and the journey he took to the priesthood.
Please continue listening after the homily, Father offers words an overview of the vaccination issue and the morality of it. "Catholics make decisions not based on danger or fear, but based on truth."
1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10; 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20; Jn 1:35-42
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our Youtube channel. Homily begins at 19:30
In order to save us from our sins, in order to bring about a true union between God the Creator and His creatures, He became one with creation. He took on our flesh. He became a real, living human being, with a real body and a real soul, while still being God.
The Scriptures say this is the "most fitting" way He could save us. Being the best and most fitting way, the Incarnation is the example for salvation.
And when I say incarnation, I mean Jesus Christ, the true union between Good and man, between Creator and creature, between spirit and flesh. ...
If our salvation is dependent on Jesus Christ Incarnate, if that's how we are redeemed and become one with Him, then that incarnate, very earthly, very human mode of salvation will continue through the generations.
So each Sacrament on some level should "look like" the Incarnation. Should look like a union of heaven and earth. All you have to do is take each Sacrament apart in order to analyze it and find that same Incarnational image.
Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Acts 10:34-38; Mk 1:7-11
Due to technical issues, we do not have video of this Sunday's Mass. We apologize.
Many people even pray for that, they ask the Lord, "Lord, just one sign! Just show me! Then I'll believe. Then I'll do it! I promise you Lord." And sometimes our Lord consents and grants the miracle, but most of the time, God says, "No. It won't help you. In fact, it'll probably make things worse. I come to you this way, always. But you must learn to see Me." Not with the eyes of your body, but with the eyes of you mind.
That is the mystery of the Epiphany - to see the Truth as it truly is. And we don't need physical eyes to do that. We need faith.
If we can see the Truth, then everything begins to change for us. Our whole lives are transformed.
Like the Magi in the Gospel today, we're moved by the Truth aren't we? They're moved to leave their hometowns, travel across the deserts and present gifts to the Truth. To praise the Truth. And I'm sure they talked about this with everyone they met. "We're going to see the new King."
We unlike the Magi don't have to travel far to see the King do we? He's right here, in every Church. Unlike the Magi we don't have to present to the King whenever we come to visit Him, gifts of gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
But Jesus doesn't need those things from you. In fact what He wants from you is something far more precious. He wants you to make a gift of yourself.
Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Eph 3:2-3a; Mt 2:1-12
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:50
God chose this means of coming into the world, therefore it is now essential for our salvation. Mary is the channel, the conduit through which He comes into the world, takes human flesh, and redeems mankind.
The Fathers of the Church tell us that the womb of Mary is like a mold ... in which she formed Christ in His humanity by the will of the Father, by the will of God.
If she was chosen among all women to form the body of Christ for us, for our salvation, then she continues to this day to form that same image in her womb in each one of us. We're called to be members of the Body of Christ through Baptism, formed into the image of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
The Lord isn't going to create a new way, a new channel, a new mode of creating His image in children. He's going to use the one He designed perfectly two thousand years ago. That's why ever since, the Church has always recognized her not only as the Mother of God, as the Mother of Christ, but our Mother. The Mother of the Church. The Mother of each individual disciple of Jesus Christ.
She is necessary, not because God couldn't have done it another way, but because He chose Her as His singular instrument to form Christ in the flesh.
The Church Fathers say that one of the marks of salvific grace in the soul of a Christian is true and abiding devotion to the Mother of God.
Nm 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21
You may watch the mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 17:18
Saint Paul, in my opinion in our second reading today, gives us the best summary off how to follow Christ in the entire Bible. You need to know the other scriptures in order to really unpack it, but it's the best summary that exists in the entire Bible: Saint Paul's Letter to the Colossians, chapter 3, verses 12-21.
One of the important things he focuses on in the middle of this reflection, is the need for peace. We want peace in our families but we don't have it. So what does he say? He says, "Let the peace of Christ control your hearts." Control your hearts. Not abide in, but control. The "peace into which you were called in one body."
The reason we fail in love, the reason we fail in unity, is because we're not allowing this peace of Christ to control us.
The saints teach us that the peace given to us in Christ by the Holy Spirit when we're in a state of grace is meant to control, to govern all that we do. We're to be guided by that peace. In fact, it's supposed to be the main sign by which we know the will go God.
So in any moment in your married or family life in which you notice that you don't have peace, one of the basic rules is you have to stop what you're doing and go and find it....
In order to have the peace of Christ, we have to be living as Christ designed us to live, as the Holy Family themselves lived. ... If you forget your place in your home, and what Christ is asking of you, read this...
Sir 3:2-5, 12-14, 14a, 16; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; Col 3:12-21; Lk 2:2-40
The Mass may be seen it its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 23:50
Every time Jesus comes to us in the Holy Mass in the form of bread and wine, we know who He is.
He knocks on the door of our heart and says, "Is there room here for me?"
So often we Catholics haphazardly throw open the door and say, "Oh sure yeah, there's a corner here somewhere that I'm not using."
There's very little you and I can do to actually prepare ourselves for the Lord - He's too good and glorious, and we're too broken and sinful. That's where He steps in and says, "Don't worry I will prepare you to be my dwelling place. I'll do that."
So He gives us His Church and He gives us Her Sacraments.... but do we take advantage of that? Do we dare to approach the Body of our Lord without hearts and souls made pure? Not by our own efforts, but by His grace.
For those of us who do, for those of us who always try to receive the Lord with a clear conscience, it is in these moments in particular that we must rejoice. Because our Lord has come among us.
Is 9:1-6; Ps 96: 1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:15-20
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:13
The only thing in this world that conquers sin is the grace of Jesus Christ. Therefore nothing else can change politics but that.
How does our King rule in His earthly Kingdom? Because His Kingdom does exist, and has existed in this world for two thousand years in every nation. It's here now.
Here is the King, seated in His tabernacle throne. Unlike earthly rulers, you can come and visit Him any time you want or need. He's always close to you. Any Catholic Church in the world: there He is.
The thing is, He's not like other earthly kings, because He doesn't have the same focus. So you bring Him your concerns about politics and worries in the world, and He says, "What are you worried about? Those aren't the real issues. Sin is the problem. Not suffering. Sin." And we get those two things mixed up. We think suffering is the problem in the world. Actually, suffering is the solution.
And that's what He teaches us. Our King shows us that our real power through our union with Him in the sacraments, comes through the cross. That's how He redeems us. Not by any of His miracles, not by any of His profound preaching and teachings, but through His passion and His death. That's how He changes the world.
And don't think for a moment that it's any different for you and me. You want to change society?
Find out how.
2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29; Rom 16:25-27; Lk 1:26-38
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. The homily begins at 16:45.
Now, perception is important. God designed us this way, that from within we would recognize the Truth outside of ourselves, and then come to know it, and love it, and follow it. But what do we do when our perception is distorted (by sin)? There's really not much we can do on our own.
But people are still obsessed with their view of things. "This is what I believe." "This is what I think is true."
As if that really matters. As if your perception, or my perception, is really an issue. Not that it's not important at all. But it's absolutely secondary to what is actually true, because what is real, is real, whether I perceive it or not. That's it. It's quite simple. Even if I had never existed, reality would still be real. The truth would still be the truth.
So how do I come to perceive reality, truth, as it is?
Truth itself, must be revealed to me....
Jesus says "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life." If He does not come into the world and reveal Himself to us, we can never know it....
This is what's most important. Perception only matters if it's God's perception, if it's how God perceives things because He's the only one who perceives things as they are, as He made them to be. My perception, your perception is irrelevant, absolutely irrelevant, if it is not in unity with His.
How will the Truth reveal itself to us?
Is 61:1-2a, 10-11; Lk 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54; 1 Thes 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 17:30
It helped me understand in a more profound way the role of the Blessed Mother in the Church. In our lives. It's very easy to think, "Oh yeah, she's good, she's important, she's wonderful," but we fail to realize how essential she is because we don't know who the Holy Spirit is.
Can the Father and the Son have a relationship apart from the Holy Spirit? It's not possible. There is not Father or Son without the Love of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, by His very personhood, is their union. And therefore, my idea, my theory is that the Holy Spirit is the archetype of mediation itself. And I think that's what femininity is when it comes right down to it.
Womanhood, motherhood, femininity is pure mediation; meaning the ability to unite others in a bond.
And we see Mary does this! Just like the Holy Spirit. She is able to unite God to man in her very flesh, by just being a mother. A holy mother certainly, but by just being a mother, she unites God and man in the Incarnation. ...
Our Lady's role in salvation - in each of our salvations - is essential. Not because God needed her, but because God chose her.
Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38
You may see the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 21:35.
What are the top three sins that damn souls to hell?
Wrath is one of the top three. And none of us should be surprised by wrath; revenge, hatred of someone. We pray in the Our Father "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." If I'm simply unwilling to forgive anyone in my life, then I cannot be forgiven and I will go to hell. It's that simple.
Another is stealing. Stealing! A lot of people don't realize that. Significant acts of stealing are not easily forgiven because most people don't pay back the debt. If you've stolen $1000 and never paid that back in some way, shape, or form, you actually can't be forgiven because you're still benefitting from your sin. The Fathers say many souls go to hell - great numbers of souls - because they've never tried to pay back their debt. They've repented of it, but they've never paid it back.
But the number one sin, or sins, that keep souls out of heaven - and this should not be any surprise to anyone - are sexual sins. Sins of the flesh. From the beginning this has been so. Sins against the 6th and the 9th Commandments. I'll just do a quick recap to remind us what's in these categories.
There are the obvious things: adultery, fornication, pornography, homosexuality, masturbation, lust - that's just an act of the mind. Dirty jokes, immodest stories, immodest clothing, immodest actions. Impurity, it doesn't have to be anything particularly grave, just impure. And there are many, many more.
It's these sins in particular that are the number one sins, according to the Fathers and the Saints, that damn souls for eternity.
And that is so not because our Lord isn't merciful or willing to forgive - of course He is. He's given us the Sacraments. He's given us His Life and His Grace. They damn souls to hell first and foremost because those souls who are weak in these sins do not repent. They're not going to confession! Or they're not being honest in confession. How often does it happen that a soul is not forgiven because they have not made a good confession. They've glossed over some aspect of those sins because they're embarrassed or ashamed....
Humble repentance. That's the first and most important thing! If we're not doing that, then there's no hope. ...
So how do we overcome? How do we battle this?
Is 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; 2 Pt 3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8
The Mass may be viewed in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily beings at 16:07
He came the first time with humility, with silence, and with gentleness because He wanted to show His love and His mercy. He wanted to invite us to repentance and holiness of life. He does not force, in His first coming, His Kingship on anyone.
But in His second coming, He will dominate every soul, every being. There will be no longer gentleness, or mercy, or compassion. And so He warns us to be prepared. ...
In our relationship with Christ, in our need - not desire -but our need to be ready for when He comes, we don't always have the strength of will. Why?
It's not because we don't know how important it is. It's just because our hearts are fixed on other things. Other concerns. Other anxieties.
All you have to do is look at your life at anything that causes you anxieties, or fears, or concern. Or hope, on an earthly level at least. It could be relational. It could be social, political, economic, with your job. It doesn't matter what that earthly concern is. But it's that concern that is taking you away from being ready for Christ when He comes. ...
We have to call to mind daily that Jesus is coming soon. And that takes a concerted effort, it's not easy. But that's why our Lord has given us His Holy Church, that's why He gives us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, that's why He gives us the sacrament of reconciliation, and all of the great devotions we have as Catholics. Devotions to the Sacred Heart, and the Divine Mercy, the Holy Rosary, all the novenas and prayers, the intercession of the saints and angels. All of these things are ultimately given to us to help us keep in mind the second coming of Christ.
I challenge you, especially during this Advent season, whenever you notice yourself becoming anxious or concerned about anything (normal, everyday issues, not sinful things), try to bring to mind the fact that Jesus could come at any moment. Then weigh your anxiety based on that thought.
Worried about a relationship in your life? If Jesus comes tomorrow, is it going to be a problem anymore? If you're worried about politics - if Jesus comes tomorrow, it's not going to be an issue! You see, it doesn't matter what your concern is. Compared to the coming of Christ, it's a non-issue.
Is 63:16b-17, 19b, 64:2-7; Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:33-37
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 18:27
Gratitude always benefits us with God, always. Because it leads Him to be more generous. This is true even for us as individuals. When somebody is truly grateful for some goodwill on our part, it makes us feel good. We want to be more generous. We were designed this way because this is God's own nature.
Now, the mystics teach us that it's not enough to be grateful for the obvious blessings God gives you. These are the things that you like. The things that you wanted or you asked for.
If you really want to be perfect, you have to learn to be grateful for everything. Everything.
Rv 18:1-2, 21-23, 19:1-3, 9a; Lk 21:20-28
you may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 10:05
What's interesting in our Gospel today, is that Jesus gives us the nature of judgement He will make on His flock. ...
Just because one is a member of the flock, just because one is baptized, doesn't mean their salvation is assured. Jesus tells us that He will separate, from His own flock, the sheep from the goats. And what's the difference according to our Lord? ... The difference is those who have loved, and those who have not. Our Lord decides how He judges love.
It's easy for each one of us as sheep individually to say, "Well, I'm doing my best to love." Or, "I'm loving. This is the way I love."
No. We love the way He loves, or we don't love at all. ...
Now, without His grace and strength none of us are able to love as He calls us to love, as He witnesses to us. As He loves us.
And that brings us to an understandable concern many of us have with more upcoming lockdowns. All you have to do is think back to last time when Church was closed. You couldn't go to Mass, couldn't get to Confession. And all of you in one way or another, I'm sure, didn't do really well spiritually during that time. What you found was: the longer it went, the harder it got to love, the more challenging. You lost patience more easily, it was harder to keep up with your daily prayers.
Why? Because you were away from our Lord's grace in His sacraments. We need the sacraments. Without them, without the life of Christ alive within us - without the Kingdom of Heaven being nourished within us, we cannot follow the Lord.
And I don't know what's going to happen in that regard, what the authorities will say. However I have no intention at this time to stop celebrating public Mass, to stop hearing confessions. We'll take it one day at a time, but I have no intention unless I am forced to do so.
Because you need the sacraments. You need the grace of Christ. We all do.
And if Jesus is truly the King, then He sets the rules. It is He Who said: You gather together on Sunday, and you offer My Holy Sacrifice and you worship Me, and I will nourish you. It is He Who said: when you commit serious sin, you come to the priest and confess those sins, and I will absolve you.
Those are necessities. They are not optional. We need them regardless of what physical dangers may come, whether that's the risk of sickness, or the risk of prosecution.
The Kingdom of Heaven is more important than any other kingdom. Christ's Kingship and His authority need to be first in our minds and in our hearts.
Ez 34:11-12, 15-17; Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6; 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28; Mt 25:31-46
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 22:08
Fear Him, because if there is a God, then you better do what you're told.... We believe God is good so when He gives us commandments, when he places responsibilities on our shoulders, we believe it is for our good. But whether you believe that or not is irrelevant. You should fear Him because if you don't obey Him and seek to serve Him, there are dire repercussions.
What happens to the servant in the Gospel today? The good that he did have was taken away from him and he was cast into the outer darkness where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. And we know what that means. Anytime we hear that imagery, that is Hell. Eternal damnation.
So how do we know individually whether we fear God sufficiently?... When you know what God wants of you, and you're still not doing it, it's for the simple reason that you don't fear God enough. You fear the thing that He's asking of you more. That's the grave error. And we usually fear it because of the suffering that will come from doing God's will. ...
It's important that we look deeply into our hearts and evaluate our degree of love and fear of God. ... Many souls are lost, not because they weren't perfect saints, but because they didn't fear Him enough.
Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Ps 128 1-2, 3, 4-5; 1 Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30
Mass can be viewed in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 22:36. We apologize for the audio quality.
What is the mindset that leads to this lack of preparedness? Its a very simple thing: they were foolish because they didn't think they needed more oil. They thought they had enough love in their heart. That was their mistake.
They thought, "Oh, I've loved enough." "I've sacrificed enough." They had decided how much they would suffer for Christ. How much they would give to their neighbor in need. ...
They judged their love sufficient, and of course they were wrong. And so when the Lord came, they weren't ready for Him.
We all fall prey to this error. We judge our love sufficient. And the Lord warns us: You could very well be wrong.
So don't ever assume that you have enough love in your life, that you've sacrificed enough. That you've imitated Christ sufficiently. Seek to do it to excess so that you always have a surplus supply of "oil." And you never have to worry that you'll run out....
Each of us ultimately, individually stands before our Lord on judgement day. And what a terrifying thing it would be to hear these words from His lips: "Amen I say to you, I do not know you."
Wis 6:12-16; Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily beings at 18:10.
God doesn't need your help to save someone else. It's one thing to be moved out of concern for someone and their soul and so to pray and intercede for them. It's another thing to be afraid. As if you had any real power to do anything whatsoever apart from God.
A very important lesson we learned in seminary is that God needs nothing. And God needs no one. At first that can sound a little shocking.
He doesn't need me. I didn't even have to exist and He could be perfectly content without me.
He doesn't need you to pray for anyone you love so that they could receive grace and be saved. He doesn't need you.
He doesn't need any of us. He is the Lord. And don't underestimate that.
The beautiful thing is that He wants you.
He wants to use your intercession and your help. But He doesn't need it. And what that should do for each one of us is take off our shoulders this burden of fear. This burden thinking that our our role is somehow necessary. No. Only the Lord is necessary.
Wis 3:19; Rom 5:5-11; Jn 6:37-40
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 11:45
It's appropriate that on this day - right before our election - to think of the great number of all those little saints in heaven. All of those little aborted babies.
Millions upon millions upon millions of them.
They're innocent... it's very likely they are in glory with the Lord right now. If they are truly there with the Lord, close to Him, being glorified by Him, don't they - like all of the Saints - want to intercede for us.
We should call upon them, all of these little aborted children. We should ask them to intercede for our country. And you know what will be near and dear to their hearts. Not only their family members, and the doctors and politicians who support the murdering of the innocent, but all of the suffering in the country that comes because of it.
On this day in particular we should call upon their intercession. We should ask them to pray before the throne of the Father for us, and for our country.
Rv 7:2-4, 9-14; Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 19:50 and is followed by the praying of the Litany of the Saints
Submission to the will of God, to the Law of God is required to love Him. One of those very basic laws that no Christian can deny unless they reject the Bible, and Tradition, and Christ, is the law against homosexuality. And it is not against the temptation to homosexuality, it's against the practice. You don't go to hell because you're tempted. You go to hell because you do it, because you don't repent, and you don't try to stop doing it.
In order to properly love the sinner - whether that's ourself first, or our neighbor - we must be totally committed to God and His teachings.
... Bergoglio's statement was wrong and should never have been said for two reasons. The first reason is: it's scandalous. It was scandalous for him to say it, period. ...As the Pope of the Church, offering his private opinion in this matter objectively causes scandal and confusion in the simple and the weak faithful of the Church.
The second reason that statement should never have been made is because it's false. It's not true. Civil societies should not make laws that allow for homosexual couples to have civil unions, even if they are striving to live chastely. ...Civil society gives benefits - and they are benefits, not rights - to married couples for the good of their children and for the family. The second reason the statement is false is that homosexual couples should not be living together. Pope Francis assumes that the Christian homosexual couple is trying to live chastely. If they are honestly trying to live chastely, they would not be living together. They're basically living in a near occasion of sin. And if the Holy Father really wanted to help them to love Christ and to get to heaven, he would tell them not that they need civil protection under the law, but that they need to separate and stop being an occasion of sin to each other.
This is obviously a very difficult topic, and I don't like making such statements because even responding to this can scandalize the faithful at times. So let me tell you, Bergoglio is our Pope. Pope Francis is our Pope given to us by the Holy Spirit. There is a reason he is our Holy Father. It doesn't mean he is sinless, it doesn't mean he is a saint. Pope Francis needs our prayers for this reason alone: the smallest mistakes he makes will be judged far more harshly by God than great mistakes by us because of the power and influence he has not just in the Catholic Church, but in the entire world. Even Protestants are scandalized by what he said, and they don't accept his authority. Pope Francis needs our prayers. Ex 22:20-26; Ps 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10; 1 Thes 1:5c-10; Mt 22:34-40 You can watch the Mass in its entirety at our youtube channel. Homily begins at 17:01
What belongs to God is God's. And you must return that to God.
Where do human beings get their value? Well, we have the image of God impressed upon us. And since we possess this image of God, what is our value? It comes from the Maker, the one Who decides the value. Since it's His own image, and He is infinite, then the value of a single human life is infinite....
If every human life is of infinite value because of the Creator, then we understand why abortion is so great an issue in our culture and in the world...
If there is a disagreement on this issue between - let's say - presidential candidates, and one candidate is worse in every other area, if he's more pro-life, you vote for him, or her. Because this one issue, as soon as its corrected socially and culturally and legally, can begin to heal all the wounds of society. Ultimately disrespect for life and its inherent God-given value is the source of all social destruction and disorder.
Nothing else matters in comparison. Nothing else. ... We must pray, we must sacrifice, asking our Lord to show mercy upon our nation. Becase if this is not corrected, we, like every great nation in history, will have to be destroyed. ... So when we vote, we must first look at this in particular.
We also know that in God's great mercy, He can bring about healing and grace in the life of anyone has obtained an abortion or encouraged another to abort. The Lord can forgive any sin.
Is 45:1, 4-6; Ps 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10, 1 Thes 1:1-5b; Mt 22:15-21
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 17:15
"...You're saying heaven is forever the Mass? For eternity?"
Yes. According to the Scriptures, according to the Saints, Heaven is one eternal Mass. A never-ending Mass. ...
If you could see the mystical reality that is actually taking place - if you could truly witness it - you would not be bored. In fact, it's so beautiful, it's so glorious, you would be happy to stay here forever. Forever.
But isn't that what we heard in our first reading today? God's Kingdom is established on His holy mountain. The people of God, they want to dwell there forever. They never want to leave. They want to stay in this Kingdom, this House of God.
Ultimately, that's why we go to Mass here on earth. It's so that Jesus can prepare us to enter his house forever in Heaven.
.... All of these signs and many more continually point and assist us in discerning the Church of Jesus Christ here on earth, because our Lord doesn't want it to be impossible to recognize the invitation and to come to the Feast.
... This places on each of us a great responsibility: to be faithful to Christ and His Church. But also, to do everything in our power - lovingly, respectfully - to help others to receive and accept that same invitation.
Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Phil 4:12-14, 19-20; Mt 22:1-14
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 14:45
The conscience is not necessarily of the intellect. It's more of a response, an emotional response to what you believe is right or wrong. ...
You can't use your conscience to make a decision about things since it happens after the fact. Unless, looking back over the years of your life you recognize a pattern of reaction. These decisions felt good, those decisions felt bad. Using that knowledge, having reflected on my experience, I now make decisions based on what I believe to be true, about my conscientious reaction. That's how the conscience works - we can only use it to make decisions once we've reflected upon it....
All of us know that because of original sin, our wills are weakened, our intellects are darkened - meaning we can't trust ourselves when we make decisions or try to understand something on our own. Look how often we don't make the right decision or we don't recognize the Truth.
Since I can't trust myself because of original sin, can I trust my conscience? Should I? If it's my conscience, it's within me. It's my reaction, my response to what I believe to be morally good or morally evil. Can I trust that?
Not necessarily. It doesn't matter how consistent it may be in my past. I should never act according to my personal conscience alone.
This is why the Church and the Scriptures teach us that the conscience must be formed - at least for the Christian - according to faith. That is the moral obligation of every believer. The conscience must be formed by faith.
And what is faith? Faith is the teaching of Jesus Christ and His Church. That's it.... What I think is right and wrong is irrelevant. It's what Jesus says is right and wrong. It's what His Church says is right and wrong.
In the end God will judge them, not strictly according to their conscience, but as a Catholic, how well their conscience was conformed to the teachings of Christ Jesus His Son, and His Church.
Is 5:1-7; Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-15, 19-20; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43
You can watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 19:20
The moment your body dies and takes its last breath, your soul is now irrevocably, and eternally conformed to its final beliefs. There's no changing.
So when that soul goes before the Lord, especially if it is unrepentant of a life spent rejecting the Gospel truth, and when it is presented with living Truth - God Himself - when it comes face-to-face in a sense with Truth, it can't convert now. It can't repent. And since it has rejected that Truth during its whole life, it's going to reject that Truth in its death.
What will the pronouncement of our Lord be on such a soul? What will His judgement be?
Well, that soul does not want to spend eternity with a God it disagrees with, and God will not force that soul to come to Heaven. Out of justice, He would send it to a place where it does not have to look on Truth. There's only one other place. It's hell.
That's why I pray that she had the grace to repent before she died. It's the same prayer I offer for all of you.
We should continue to pray not just for the soul of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she could be in purgatory, but to pray for everyone on the Supreme Court, all government officials, all those in power. Their judgment will be far more harsh than the rest of society, than the average American, because of their responsibility and their authority. We have a responsibility then, to try to help them with our prayers and our sacrifices to receive the grace of conversion, and ultimately, like ourselves, to come to accept our Lord Jesus Christ.
Is 55:6-9; Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18; Phil 1:20c-24, 27a; Mt 20:1-6a
You can watch the Mass in its entirety here. Homily begins at 16:35
If we don't forgive - our Lord tells us what will happen - we will not be forgiven, which means we will be damned. We'll be lost. That's it. It's very cut and dried.
And yet how often do we struggle to forgive? How often? It's this great effort that we make. I hear it all the time: "Father I'm trying to forgive, I'm really trying. It's just too hard." And I say, "Well clearly you're not trying hard enough. You just need to find the motivation, the reason to forgive."
We hear the reason that all of us should use in our first reading from Sirach. In order to motivate you to forgive someone, for any reason, he says all you have to do is think about the end of your life and your own judgement. That's your motivation!
You have to realize that when you're brought before the Lord, He's going to decide on whether you deserve mercy or not. Now, He wants to show you mercy. He's willing to show you mercy.
But if you have refused mercy to others, then you have none. If that doesn't motivate you to forgive, then what will?
Listen though the end to hear Father discuss the hierarchy of offenses against God in the Ten Commandments. Is taking the Lord's name in vain more serious an offense against God than adultery? Murder? We can find the motivation to forgive even the most grievous offenses once we better understand how gravely we ourselves have offended God and yet received His mercy. "Adultery and murder are more human and personal offenses ... if something like that happened to you or someone in your family, you would be far more offended and hurt than if you had used God's name in vain. Or missed Mass on Sunday without a good reason. And yet, God is more offended by your sin than theirs. When was the last time you thought about that?"
Sir 27:30-28-7; Ps 116:12-13, 17-18; Rom 14:7-9; Mt 18:21-35
Watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 18:25
Why would the Church require us to spend so much money on these vessels for Christ? Because nothing in this world is more precious than the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, nothing. Not you, not me, not our children. Nothing is more precious. How often do we seek to buy the best things for those whom we love? Why should that be different for our Lord?
If He is really and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, then we must treat Him as we would treat anyone else. And since He's more precious and more worthy, since He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, then the honor and glory due to Him is even greater.
So it's very appropriate that we as Christians should, of course, never neglect the poor... but always honor our Lord by buying the best, by using the best in His sanctuary to worship Him.
Ez 33: 7-9; Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; Rom 13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20
Also includes Father's announcements at the end of Mass for new Mass time, Faith Formation, new Missals, some COVID-19 information*, and most importantly, news abut our upcoming 40 Hours Devotion, Thursday September 10-Saturday September 12. Sign up here.
The article Father references about COVID testing from the New York Times* (at 12:34) can be found here.
The new monstrance and tabor were donated by parishioner Thomas Hawk who passed away in April of this year. In your generosity, please remember him in your prayers. Eternal rest grant unto Him O Lord. Let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the departed rest in peace. Amen.
You can watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 13:30
The Cross of Christ is redemption. The Cross of Christ is perfect justice and perfect love. There is nothing more divine than the Cross of Christ. Therefore to reject it must be the opposite of God. And Jesus challenges each one of us in the Gospel today. He says not only can you not reject My Cross, but if you deny your own crosses, if you deny your own sufferings, you can't be My disciple. You can't follow Me. You can't hear Me.
And this is the number one challenge for all believers isn't it? It's not just accepting the fact that Christ died for us. That He redeemed us. But it's that we too must share in His Cross through our daily sufferings. In some way, we act satanically, we act like Satan, when we reject the daily crosses that Christ sends us.
When Lucifer rejected the plan of God, he said, "Non serviam", I will not serve. I will not serve the Lord. ... He refused to humble himself before God and accept his role in God's plan.
Ultimately, that's what rejecting the cross means. "I will not serve. I won't suffer in this way." I want each of you just to think about those relationships in your life - and they're always close to home - in which you have said to yourself in some way, "I will not serve. I will not suffer for this person." ... That's satanic. It's a denial of your cross which God has chosen for you.
Jer 20:79; Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Rom 12:1-2; Mt 16:21-27
You can watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 13:50
God's grace, His power, His love, His goodness, it builds upon the nature of a thing. God's grace can be active in a tree. God can love a tree, and help that tree grow and blossom and produce good fruit. And I mean a physical tree, like an apple tree. But God's grace is not going to make that apple tree get up and start walking around talking to people. It could. But that would be a miracle. That's not an ordinary way that grace works with nature.
Grace works according to the nature of the thing receiving it. Now there's a problem with human nature. Unlike the nature of a tree, out nature has been tainted by sin.
Here we have God's order of being in which He has designed us to receive His grace in specific ways so that we would become saints. Holy. And yet sin has twisted our nature. It has twisted our intellects, our wills, and even our bodies.
So what happens is, grace - which I am actually and truly receiving in the Sacraments - is trying to work with a broken nature. So much of the spiritual life for you and me is trying to grow in natural virtue to allow the grace of God to work more completely and fully in and through us. That's why we fast, that's why we pray, that's why we do these things in our bodies, in our natures, in order to conform them once again to what is natural, what is good. So that the grace of God could work more clearly through us.
Is 22:19-23; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Rom 11:33-36; Mt 16:13-20
You can watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 13:45
This woman doesn't give up does she? She persists. ...
We always must persevere in prayer. It doesn't matter whether God is silent. Or whether His word seems to contradict your hopes and desires. It doesn't matter. Pray. And then pray some more.
And when you're really struggling? When you feel like the Lord is challenging you, what do you do? You humble yourself. You get down on your hands and knees and bow before Him, and cry out, "Please. Help me."
Finally, when He humiliates you, when He says something true but difficult to receive, a bitter pill to swallow, don't give up. Challenge Him back with faith. Question Him! Don't disrespect Him, but question Him. ....
Why do the saints always get what they pray for? They have learned the lesson of the Canaanite woman. They always persevere in prayer. They're willing to wrestle with God, to ask Him the difficult questions, but always be humble before Him.
Each of us can attain to that same sainthood.
Is 56:1, 6-7; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Rom 11:13-15, 29-32; Mt 15:21-28
You can watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 16:53
So Peter has this amazing request. "If it is You Lord - if You have the power to walk over the storms and not be effected by them - I want that power too." And that's really a beautiful request in prayer. On some level that's what each of us say to the Lord when we are anxious about the times in which we live. We say, "Lord, give me peace about this stormy weather, about the unrest in society, or about the dangers in the world around me. Give me peace Lord. Help me to walk over the storm like You do." Peter, as the Pope, really speaks for each one of us.
And the Lord says, "Come. Do what I do."
I always picture Peter stepping gingerly out of the boat, touching the surface of the water, and discovering "Wow, my foot doesn't go through." Then, with more courage, he gets out of the boat and starts walking directly toward Jesus. His eyes fixed on the Lord.
Now, Peter knows he can't walk on water. He's a man, he doesn't have that power. So it has to be the Lord Who is empowering him to be able to overcome this storm and the laws of nature.
But what happens? ... Peter turns his head and he sees how strong the wind is. And he becomes frightened.
Instead of keeping his eyes fixed on Jesus, he turns, sees how strong the storm is, and becoming frightened and insecure, all of that grace is just gone. And he sinks.
1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a; Ps 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18; Rom 9:1-5; Mt 14:22-33
You can watch the Mass in its entirety on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 12:50.
If love belongs to truth, then truth must always precede love. This is a very important point of theology. Truth must always precede love. Until you know the truth, you cannot love the thing that is true. ...
What is the purpose of truth? It's to lead to love. Love is the goal. It's the end of all things. ...
When truth becomes overly fixated on itself and only loves itself, then it becomes perverted. In like manner, when you fixate only on love, you lose truth. you're willing to reject various truths, if not all of them, in order to fulfill your idea of love. I would say that this error, this heresy, is probably one of the greatest ones in the world today. Both in the Church, and in society and in politics.
Is 55:1-3; Ps 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18; Rom 8:35, 37-39; Mt 14:13-21
Watch the entire Mass on our youtube channel. Homily begins at 15:05